i have to tell you that hug was precious moment for us. we are very, very lucky and grateful to have her back. the happiness and the joy that we all could breathe again and let our heart fill with optimism and happiness right after the holidays. john: hostages freed by hamas and loved ones are breathing sighs of relief. word two israeli russian nationals on their way to israeli territory. far too many remain in gaza, including the 8 to 9 americans still likely held by hamas and time is running out, with the extended truce set to expire hours from now. i m john roberts in washington. sandra, so begins a wednesday afternoon. good to be with you. sandra smith in new york. this is america reports . right now we are waiting the release of another group of hostages but we have still no word on whether any americans are on this newest list. meanwhile, negotiators in qatar are scrambling to extend the truce with the help of cia director william burns. he is pushing for a mas
dana: rescue mission ending with a missile attack against a u.s. warship off the coast of yemen. welcome to a new hour of america s newsroom, i m dana perino. bill: how was your turkey? dana: really good. bill: it was great. we talked since then. nice to get a break, wasn t it? dana: i had a good break. i m refreshed and ready to irritate you. bill: you re welcome, too. bill hemmer, good morning. the u.s.s. mason responding to a distress call from a commercial tanker under attack by pirates. the mason and several aircraft demanding release of the vessel. five armed attackers trying to flee on a small boat. all five have been captured. dana: later two ballistic missiles were fired from yemen toward the two ships. national security council spokesman said they were neutralized ten miles short of their target. this particular ship detected missile launches. launches that would have taken these missiles in the general vicinity of the ship deeming it an appropriat