happening now, breaking news. we're just hours away with a truce between israel and hamas, the end of hostilities set to end at 3:00 a.m. eastern time followed by the return of 50 captives. the israeli government says the hostage release won't occur now before friday. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in tel aviv, israel. and you're in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. we're following the breaking news right here in the middle east. the agonizing wait for the first major release of hostages from gaza. let's get straight to cnn's jerry diamond, joining us from not far from the gaza border. we just learned from the israel security council that no hostages will be released before friday. what else are you learning? >> reporter: yeah, that's right, wolf. israel's national security adviser saying the release of the hostages, which was expected to take place tomorrow, will now be delayed until friday. he says in a statement that is the original agreement between both sides and not providing a reason for the delay. i mean, just hours ago, we've been speaking with israeli officials who were telling us the logistics effectively of when and how these hostage releases were expected to take place. but now, wolf, i'm told by an israeli official that not only will the release of the hostages be delayed until friday, but that pause in fighting, that truce that was expected to take place over the course of four days to allow for the release of those hostages will be delayed until friday, which means the fighting we have been hearing throughout the day here with the gaza strip behind me will likely continue tomorrow, as well. that truce had been expected to go into effect in the next -- in about ten hours from now, wolf. and that will also now be delayed until friday. this is obviously a significant change. it's not clear exactly what motivated this change at this point. but what is clear, wolf, is that this simply adds to the emotional roller coaster and the anxiety that so many families of these nearly 240 hostages have been dealing with for weeks now, as they have been watching reports of these negotiations. they have watched as these talks have broken down. now yesterday they saw in the early hours of this this morning, they saw as this deal was approved by the israeli government. only for now to see yet another delay. so obviously, that just adds a whole new layer for those families who are just waiting. wolf? >> as we await to see how it all unfolds, jeremy, what have you been seeing in northern gaza tonight not far from where you are? >> reporter: well, wolf, it is relatively calm now, but that doesn't mean it is entirely quiet. we have been hearing artillery fire throughout this evening. earlier today, wolf, it was a very active scene across from where we are in northern gaza. we saw large plumes of smoke, large explosions, some of which appeared to be controlled detonations. the israeli military has been destroying hundreds of tunnels they have been discovering in gaza. we also saw flares being deployed, which we see with the movements of ground forces. the israeli military said they were going to continue those military operations until that truce began. and now it appears they will have another 24 hours to continue those military operations. what's also clear, wolf, in hearing from the israeli prime minister over the last 24 hours is that this war will continue after that pause in fighting conc con concludes. the has made clear this is not a permanent cease-fire in the fighting with hamas, and after that pause ends, whether it is for four days for the 50 hostages or additional days if hamas releases additional hostages, at some point, the fighting will resume. israeli forces expected to push further south into gaza until hamas is destroyed according to the israeli prime minister. wolf? >> jeremy diamond reporting from israel for us, thank you very much. i want to get to more right now. our correspondent matthew chance is here with me in tel aviv, talking to family members of hostages who are obviously awaiting word on what is happening. what are you learning? >> this pause, this delay rather in the release of the hostages is only going to add to that anxiety,ky i can tell you. i have learned something new from the government, which is they have received a list of hostages from hamas, via qatar. and they're not going to be telling the family members about the names on that list until they have them identified. israeli media has been talking about how they're going to h hhave wait until they can verify who they are. but an incredibly stressful, anxious wait which has been made a little longer for people across this country. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: as israelis await the release of some women and children held in gaza, a vigil for one of the hostages who may be left behind. this 22-year-old man was abducted at a music festival october 7. as an adult male, he's unlikely to be among those freed with the latest hostage deal. still, his mother told me she believes her son will eventually be set free. >> i know in my heart they want my son home. i believe this is just a start, you know, because if everyone has to get home, this is a start and there will be more. >> so you're optimistic? >> very. >> reporter: israel insists it's keeping up pressure on hamas. even as the agreed pause in this gaza war approaches. from thursday morning here, strikes like this one in southern gaza should be suspended while israel frees palestinian prisoners and israeli hostages are handed over. hostage support volunteers tell me they're bracing to cancel dozens of traumatized women and children, as they return home. >> maybe sharon and her daughter will be released today, maybe. because it's a daughter and a mother. the way they are going to continue is first of all, we have to ask for their permission to go inside and to do the first step together. >> reporter: of course, there's a possibility that these people could have suffered terrible trauma whilst in gaza. >> we are so afraid of the conditions, that they will come. so we cannot plan the trauma problem, because first, we have to meet them, to understand from the best psychologists what is the best way to deal with it. and then step by step, with the family -- >> reporter: step by step, down a long road. that road has just gotten longer with the fact that the israeli government has now, wolf, announced that it will be -- there will be a delay before the first hostages come out. of course, there will be a delay before the pause in fighting happens, as well. so that long road just got a little bit longer. >> so the israelis are not going to pause in the war, if you will, until they start getting the hostages back. >> it seems to be that way. we were meant to stop this fighting at 10:00 tomorrow morning at local time. it's been set back at least 24 hours. >> let's hope those hostages are freed and freed soon. matthew, thank you very much. matthew chance reporting for us. for more on the u.s. involvement in this very intricate hostage deal, i want to bring in our cnn white house correspondent, who is traveling with joe biden in nantucket, massachusetts. we just heard from a top white house official about the next steps in regards to this deal. update our viewers, what are you learning? >> reporter: the white house's focus is on the execution and implementation of this deal. john kirby said that the administration is cautiously optimistic that this deal will be implemented as it has been laid out. he said the focus is now in ensuring that all sides are keeping to their commitment. he noted that hamas has a history in the past and not always being a reliable outlet in these types of negotiations. so the administration is focussed in this moment in trying to ensure that the execution of this deal follows the outlines that they have set. now, it does come as the u.s. has a working list of about ten hostages that they believe will be released within that first day. what's unclear at this moment is whether any american citizens will be released in that first group. the expectation is that there could be three americans released in this overall hostage deal. that includes that 3-year-old abigail adan, whose parents were killed in the october 7th hamas attack. so the focus for the white house right now is just trying to ensure that this implementation is carried forward. they are hoping it could come, these possible releases, at some point in the next 24 hours. >> arlette, thank you very much. coming up, more breaking news we're following in the united states. we'll have the latest on the investigation into an explosion at a major border crossing between the united states and canada. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." breaking news at the u.s./canadian border where officials are investigating a vehicle explosion at a major crossing point between the two countries. our reporter is gathering new details for us. brynn, i understand the governor of new york just gave us an update. what's the latest? >> reporter: that's right. kathy hochul saying there's no indication right now in the investigation of this explosion that it was a terrorist attack. so that does -- very important information she's putting out there as that was a lot of the questions that was asked at the time. we also know, wolf, that one of the crossings that was immediately shut down in the aftermath of this explosion, it is now open to traffic both ways between the u.s. and canada. so we are starting to see some of the security precautions taken immediately afterwards somewhat being lifted. let me get through what we understand happened as of now. what we are hearing is that there was a car that was actually traveling on a local road in niagara falls at a high rate of speed. it hit a curb, causing this vehicle to actually go airborne and then collide on the side of where a security checkpoint was happening at rainbow bridge. so it wasn't even trying to enter the checkpoint at that rainbow bridge site. so that is the very latest from the investigators that are still working this investigation there on the ground. we have learned that there were, according to the governor, two people inside the car. ly tell you that some of our sources are still trying to determine exactly if there was one or if there was two, only because of the debris field in that area. you can see the fiery explosion. we understand that there was only an engine left of this car. there was debris all around that area. investigators are sort of trying to piece together exactly what happened based on the size of what they're dealing with, and of course, because of that explosion. so that is the latest that we are hearing. the big thing, though, wolf, this does not seem to be a terrorist attack. it does seem to be somewhat of an accident. still, the fbi there on the ground, the atf, other federal agents trying to answer some of these questions. there are still safety measures that have been taken in response. we're seeing the airports, flights that have been sort of put at a halt right now while they try to answer some of these questions. we're seeing more security measures being taken at the airports because of the busy holiday. so we're starting to see some of that being lifted but not quite yet. again, we're getting more answers as we had so many questions as to what happened at the border crossing. >> i'm sure we'll be learning more a lot more in the coming hours. thank you very much. i want to get reaction right now from our law enforcement and security experts who are joining us. julia, let me start with you. governor hochul said there's no indication this was a terrorist attack. how would authorities have been able to determine that so quickly? >> so by now, they have possession of the car, even if it's damaged. they have denlidentified the pe. they're able to put these pieces together so quickly and in particular because the joint terrorism task force was involved, they would be able to prove that maybe they have no background on any of these people or whatever. so they honestly probably already have a narrative of what exact ly happened, and whether there was any motive involved with the speed by which this car was going, was there other nefarious activities we were talking about early. it's a holiday weekend. the threat environment is high. it's a major crossing between canada and the united states, and it appeared that someone was trying to go through it very quickly. of course, you're going to ratchet up. now we ramp ettchet down. that's the nature of what a response mechanism looks like until you can say it's not terrorism. >> yeah. let me get darnell into this conversation. what are investigators from your perspective looking for right now as they try desperately to determine as quickly as they can the cause of this explosion? >> i think the operative word to be used is "quickly." from the incident to the governor's announcement, i'm not saying it's all clear, but they don't believe there's a connection to terrorism is rapid speed. it's a heavily trafficked crossing, and they have cc-tv that's high quality and license plate leaders. even if the car is demolished, they know the identification of the car before they went in. so they know who the owner is, they can be knocking on that owner's door within minutes and start back tracing. some of that is what we call open source intelligence, looking at a post -- any social media accounts this person has to see if they have made threats or if they know individuals that they believe knew who was in that car. >> julia, what about the fact that the car was pulled to a secondary search area before hitting a curb, going airborne and exploding, what does that all tell you? >> so this is where we will get a determination of the sort of what hand. so it tells me that if there was some sort of secondary pullover, there's lots of nefarious activity that is not terrorism. so if this is the way it unfolded, they may not have wanted to have been caught at secondary in terms of other activity they would have avoid. so it tells me that this was not a situation that wanted or was targeting the crossing. i want to pick up on something really important. it's not simply that these are heavily cameraed areas, these are -- this is the lifeline of canada/u.s. crossings. and for a brief while, we closed four major crossings because we didn't know what it was. so one of the reasons, wolf, to your question, they had to know fast, because you've got to get these crossings back open, you can't leave them closed, especially this weekend. so there was a high incentive to say this was a bad situation, but we've got to get people moving again. that's an important priority. we've got to keep these -- this infrastructure open. >> yeah. somebody who grew up in buffalo, new york, i can tell you how important these bridges between the u.s. and canada are, the rainbow bridge, peace bridge and other bridges, as well. darnell, what are the key questions you have based on what we know about this incident, at least so far? >> well, we don't have the identity of the individuals that were in the car. considering the massive amount of damage, that may take some time. it may have to be dna, particularly if there is charred human remains. i worked in the medical examine're business and did forensic investigations for many years. these cases can take time to confirm the identity of the individuals. why they were traveling at such high rates of speed, how they were able to get that close actually is another question. i think the bigger takeaway, though, if you put a pin out, wolf, and look at what we have been talking about for the last couple of weeks is the threat environment. the threat environment has everyone pretty edgy. i would say that the american public should look at this incident at the bridge and see that their government, loegcal, state and federal are taking that threat environment seriously. director wray came on the hill several times this month and said that the federal government was doing everything they could to protect us, and to engage the public to do so. i think you see that playing out right now. i know everyone is a little jumpy, but the process only played out as it should have and we'll continue to see information that comes out. but i also with rapid speed unlike anything i've ever seen before. >> good point. guys, thank you very much. up next, more news we're following. we'll bring you the latest information on the temporary israel-hamas truce and the hostage release. both delayed by at least a day. stay with h us. you'u're in "thehe situationon " c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's the only we need. go, go, go, go! ah! touchdown baby! -touchdown! are your neighbors watching the same game? yeah, my 5g home internet delays the game a bit. but you get used to it. try these. they're noise cancelling earmuffs. i stole them from an airport. it's always something with you, man. great! solid! -greek salad? exactly! don't delay the game with verizon or t-mobile 5g home internet. catch it on the xfinity 10g network. lsall right. let's get back to the breaking news in the middle east. the first major release of hostages in gaza delayed along with the truce between israel and hamas. let's bring in oren lieberman. what can you tell us about this delay? >> reporter: this announcement coming from the israeli security council in an a statement that gives no explanation that led to the delay when everything was set to take place 10:00 tomorrow morning. the statement reads talks are ongoing. the beginning of the release will be done according to the r original agreement of both parties. so the pause in fighting we expected tomorrow morning, that also delayed by a way. worth noting, the warning of that security council message, not before friday. so the possibility of another delay seems to be out there. and i want to point to something that the idf spokesperson said when he began speaking today. he said, the final deal is not yet completed. there may still be more changes. please wait for official statements, and there may be changes at the last second. so it seems like israel is preparing for the possibility. on that front, it's worth noting many of the details we have gotten how this will play out have not come from the israeli side. prime minister benjamin netanyahu who gave a press conference, didn't give any of the details. you have to believe that he knew this wasn't starting at 10:00 tomorrow morning. >> what does this mean for the hostages with this delay? >> it's another brutal, painful, nervous, anxious day of waiting. they have heard many times before of how difficult it is when they hear a deal simis imminent and then it doesn't happen. that's happened multiple of times. a deal is complete, and it's something in the minute of the details. it's tentative when you have 240 hostages who are waiting to come out. so a difficult situation remains difficult and became even more so for the families who can't wait to see their loved ones. >> all so family for the families and hostages. all right. thank you very much. right now, i want to bring in a man whose friend was kidnapped by hamas. thank you for joining us. we just learned that the first hostage release won't happen, at least until friday at the earliest. how much of an emotional roller coaster is this? are you afraid this hostage release might not happen? >> you know, here in israel, there is a saying you don't believe anyone until you see it in your own eyes. you can't understand how much painful it is to just -- nerve-racking to see, you know, the press talking about hostages released and talking about people there that are getting released maybe tomorrow or today. and we don't know if it's going to happen or not going to happen. we're not dealing with humans, we're dealing with terrorists. and i think that's the main problem that you can't trust the word. and these how the emotions and feelings that, you know, you sit by the tv every day and you just wish for happy news. even if there is happy news, you can't believe that it's really happening. so like the happiness doesn't really come. yeah. >> a mdo you have any sense wher your friend, noah, will be included in the first 50 hostages to be released in this deal, are you optimistic? >> sadly, the sayings now are that they will release children and mothers, and i guess -- i don't know how they concluded this deal, but sadly she's not a kid or a mother, and it seems that for me at least, as i see it, i will do anything to get her back until she's back. i can't believe any rumors that are not really facts, because a fact for me is that she's home and not that she's about to be released or there is a list that she might be on or not might be on. we can't really know what's happening really. and to think about it every day doesn't really do her good. so just believing is the line that we are keeping in our heads, and not thinking about if she's going to be released or not. because that won't be helpful for us. >> have you been given any update about your friend, noah, from the government since she was taken hostage? >> there was a visit on, i think, two days after the event that they confirmed that she was a hostage. but there was no update on, you know, on their locations. i think that it's not even possible for them to know when the red cross is not even in there, right? the red cross didn't even go in to check on the hostages, to check if the 240 people that are in there are really alive or are really there or just, i don't know, somewhere. you can't really know until someone checks them. if no one checks up, how can we know? bringing in the red cross to get medications, to check up on them, to give the lists of who is really there, who is being held by hamas, who is being held by jihad, who is being held by some civilians? this is the main purpose of what should -- we should be doing right now to push the red cross to do this, because without this, the government can't really give us updates, because there's no -- >> i know, armit, you said the release of the hostages should be the top priority. do you believe the israeli government, your government, has handled this crisis well and is it doing enough to bring about the release of all of the hostages? >> i believe israel has been in a tough situations. i think israel is here to stay, and israel is a place where tough stuff happens. usually, the government does well with the civilians here. she does well with the army and handling these kind of situations. i believe the government does everything in their power to get back the hostages, and i believe -- i secertainly believ the people here in israel are doing their best. the amount of volunteering here in israel to get back the hostages is so great. it's such an empowering movement to see all the people really gather up to get the hostages back. i believe that this power could really help us get them back. the power of those israeli people i would say, because not all jvsewish people, but it's n just the government and civilians here in israel that do all these amazing things to help bring us back just by pressing all over the world to get the support. >> armit, thank you for joining us. let's hope the hostages all come home very soon. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >> we'll take a quick break and be right back. right now, the world is awaiting a truce between israel and hamas, as well as the first major hostage release since the beginning of the war. both now zdelayed by a day. the truce was made because of the dip lomatic efforts of qata. becky anderson spoke with the lead negotiator. >> within the four-days pause, and each day there will be an obligation on the israelis and on hamas, making sure that they're going to fulfill those obligations each day. so each day, we aim to have a number of releases, because the number is big. so we have managed to get the parties to agree on the releases systematically. in other words, there will be an organized schedule, allowing the releases each day. and each party is quite familiar with their obligations. >> ten hostages released on day one for example? >> a minimum of ten. >> who will be released? >> so this agreement specifically focuses on civilian women and children. on both sides. and we hope that within the four days, we will be able to complete the release of women and children on both sides, moving to the safe side away from this war. by the first hours of the agreements, we will be notified. of the official list of people and each day, and by having that list, we'll make sure that we notify either the size, the parties themselves, or even the countries that have their hostages in the gaza strip currently. >> hamas has said it doesn't have all the hostages, and it needs time to get around to gather information about hostages that it doesn't hold and find out where they are. many have called that just a talking point, a cynical ploy to buy time. >> the obligation of hamas is very clear, they need to provide that list. they have been granted that period of calm, and not only a period of calm, but preventing any military clashes, a ground surveillance. >> you have described in the language of this deal, you described it as a truce in the gaza strip. i think that language is really interesting. the use of the term "truce" means a cease-fire, and the fact that this is in the gaza strip, the main pillar, of which, is clearly the hostage release. what happens as far as humanitarian aid is concerned? what is the commitment on both sides as far as that optic? >> sure. so this agreement has two major components. the first one related to the release of the hostages, the second related to providing not only quantity but also quality humanitarian aid and assistance as needed. one of the most interesting components with that humanitarian aid is the fuel. the fuel has been a debatable issue in the conflict. now we have managed to secure fuel being provide for a wider infrastructure, such as hospitals and others. >> the israelis have been very specific. they have said this is a truce period before it starts, hose t z -- hostilities will continue and once the pause is over, the war will restart. is that useful in negotiations, that sort of language? >> our work is not done. we still are going to continue to talk more to the parties to deescalate and seek a longer period of a cease-fire. >> the israelis are not talking about a cease-fire at this point. they have categorically ruled out a cease-fire until all hostages are released, and at present, you are not mediating talks on the soldiers or men being held by hamas. >> listen, becky, even the temporary cease-fire was not considered by the israelis. so we remain hopeful. our efforts are not going to stop at this level. our work is not done. we're going to continue working with both sides, hoping that we can secure this objective. >> if there are families of hostages watching this interview today, families of hostages who are young men of serving age, what is your message about the likelihood that those israeli soldiers will be released any time soon? >> so we're doing everything that we can. as soon as both parties wants to keep seeking our assistance in mediating, we're going to respond positively to that request. so we know that our mission did not finish, and our work is continuous for the bett ter portion, our hope is that we see a period to put an end to this war and let the people leave and reduce this humanitarian suffering for the people in gaza. >> reporter: wolf, he describes the past 45 days as intense and at times, extremely difficult. he's obviously relieved to have got these mediation talks across the line. but he says his work is not done. qatar, as a state, has been very vocal about the fact that it wants to see a permanent cease-fire. that is not what we have here. this humanitarian pause is a first step and will be a huge relief to many of those families of hostages who may get the chance to see their loved ones over the next four days and provide opportunity for those who are unlikely to see the soldiers, the men coming out any time soon. it provides them at least some sense that there is still a system in place that is working towards a solution. wolf? >> let's hope that it happens. becky anderson reporting for us. thank you very much. coming up, one of the busiest travel days of the year in the united states is now well underway. we're going to bring you the latest update and how your holiday plans might be impacted. in order for small businesses to thrive, they need to be smart, efficient, savvy. making the most of every opportunity. that's why comcast business is introducing the small business bonus. for a limited time you can get up to a $1000 prepaid card with qualifying internet. yep, $1000. so switch to business internet from the company with the largest fastest reliable network and that powers more businesses than anyone else. learn how you can get $1000 back for your business today. comcast business. powering possibilities. the thanksgiving rush in the united states is now in full force as millions of people take to the roads and the skies for one of the busiest travel days of the year, but there are some weather-related delays already. cnn aviation correspondent pete muntean has the story. >> from slammed traffic on the 405 in l.a. to snaking airport security lines in d.c., the thanksgiving travel rush is at its jam-packed peak. >> this is crazy, you know. i thought it wouldn't be like this and i'm three hours in advance for my flight. >> the tsa says it will screen 2.7 million passengers on wednesday making it biggest day for air travel leading up to the holiday. leading clouds and congestion caused the faa to slow the pace of flights at new york's laguardia and jfk as well as houston, fort lauderdale and orlando. 5500 flights in the u.s. were delayed on tuesday as cold wind and rain pummeled east coast airports. >> the weather always is the key. we've been working with the faa to adjust routes to move things around. >> from its station operations center in washington dulles, united airlines has a team of 50 monitoring weather, flight connections and even bags. >> we're going to move up approximately 6 million customers this holiday season and we expect to do that very reliably. >> on the roads, aaa says wednesday is the toughest for traffic with trips in many major metro areas forecasted to take up to 80% longer. >> the reality is the many people are leaving on tuesday, on monday and also may be coming back the monday after thanksgiving. >> but some like school teacher katie bell have no choice, but to travel on one of the biz university days of the year. >> everyone is doing the best that they can. so assume the best in people and be kind to people. >> in all, airlines have delayed about 8,000 flights over the last two days, but the good news is cancellations have remained relatively few. in all, airlines could serve about 2.9 million people on sunday and that could be an all-time air traffic record, wolf. >> amazing. all right. pete muntean over at reagan national airport for us. thank you very much, pete. despite in travel delays, weather disruptions have been easing in the united states. i want to the go to our meteorologist chad myers. he's over at the cnn weather center for us. chad, how is it looking? >> compared to the rain we had in the northeast yesterday and we've still got all of the planes other than 70 of them somewhere where they were supposed to be, today is a much better day. i widened the view and everything looks great across the united states and that's good news, wolf, because there are 6,700 planes on this map currently in the air. this is give your air traffic controller and pilot a thank you today because -- wow, look at that. every time i look at that i am just amazed that they get where they belong. we will see good weather for tomorrow, as well, if you're going to the macy's day parade, 52, somewhere around well and the winds will be 10 to 15, and if you're flying home on the week end you might see some snow in the rockies, but if you're skiing in the rockies you will like this forecast, a foot or more in many of the resorts out west, wolf. >> all right, chad. thank you for that update. chad myers reporting. coming up, we are following major developments including the start of an agreed temporary truce between israel and hamas. that is now delayed and so is the release of some hostages held by hamas. that's next right here in "the situation room." ♪