Crossing operation critical and urgent need. Without electricity this hospital will be a mass grave. We desperately need a humanitarian cease fire. The troops are ready. Theyre ready to go. Well, good morning, everyone. Im Phil Mattingly with poppy harlow in new york. Erin burnett is live in tell aveef. We heard from one of the hostages released by hamas yesterday. The grandmother described her abduction in captivity. Her daughter was by her side translating. Hordes of Hamas Fighters Storm Herd Kibbutz and kidnapped her and beat her with sticks once in gaza. She was held under ground with five other hostages. She said they were treated well by guards, a doctor and paramedic who made sure they had the medicine they needed. She says hamas had a stockpile of shampoo and other toiletries ready for them. There are a huge, huge network of tunnels underneath. It looks like a spider web. When she first arrived, they told them that they are muslims and theyre not going to hurt them. And that they shared they ate the same food that their that hamas was eating. Hamas has now released four hostages as israeli troops gear up to launch an assault on gaza by ground, sea and air, according to top officials. The Israeli Military says it struck more than 400 targets across gaza in the past day, killing hamas commanders and fighters. More than 200 hostages are still believed to be inside gaza, including 30 children. Lets go straight to erin burnett live in tel aviv. One of the most striking things, erin, in listening to the entire thing was striking given the lack of visibility we have had into how hostages are being treated, but was the care that they had or the availability of the care. Take a listen. Yeah. We had close doctor who came to see us every two to three days. The paramedic took it upon himself and took care of medicines. If there were not medicines, they would bring substitute medicine, equivalent medicines. Erin, when you heard that, were you surprised . You know, phil, on one hand, of course, right, because, you know, Last Night Somebody who spent a Career Speaking to hamas leaders and, in fact, was texts with one of them on the day of the attack told me about a video he had seen from a hamas go pro camera they had on. Of course we know they were wearing there, describing the absolutely brutal rape of a young woman who was dismembered and bloodied and the actual rape son camera as he described it that he saw. Even saying that, i have to pause, right. Then you talk about what youre hearing here. That the care of the hostages that hamas wanted it to be this way. They prepared for it to be this way because they eventually wanted the sound bites that youre getting now, that they were humane and took care of their hostages. Of course, still hostages. You must celebrate we have four home and that hopefully there will be more. But this is very much a part of what hamas wants to portray to the world, right, their the david against the goliath and they take care of their hostages but its humane. But you have to remember what it is that they were also doing that day on october 7th. And it is that juxtaposition, yes, on the one hand is so surprising and shocking and impossible to hold those two things as true in your head even though they are true, but on the other hand, phil, yes, this is in a sense what could be expected because this is the Public Relations perspective they would want to impose upon a broader world to gain sympathies. That is such a crucial point. One cannot really be said, erin, without the other truth of the massacre on october 7th. Also the fact that we heard from her daughter after the News Conference about the fact that her mothers husband, so her father, is still missing. Listen to this. My mom and my dad were separated at the very beginning. And so, we do not know, from my moms story, what happened to my dad. We do know that he was injured. So erin, thats also the brutal reality. They were separated. And they have no idea where he is. Right. And this is actually a crucial point, right. She referred to a spider web of tunnels. We know thats the truth, that there is a complex network of tunnels, some of which are very deep under the ground and perhaps even in that sense immune to israeli munitions unless they move to some sort of Bunker Buster Bomb Type of situation. But also consistent with what the idf said since the beginning which is that they believe that the hostages were not only being held under ground, but in locations under ground, tunnels, that in the past had not been hamas had not been known to use which is a little different than saying israel doesnt know where they are. Their wording was very careful on that. But it does show, right, theyre going to release the wife but not the husband. This context really matters when you talk about what this is really about, right . And you want to say humanity and well treated. They shouldnt have been there in the first place. They shouldnt be separated. And these realities all exist at the same time, poppy. They do, absolutely. Erin. Thank you. Well get back to you very soon. Joining us now, cnn Law Enforcement analyst andrew mccabe. Thank you for being with us. To start with, you heard the level of preparation one guard for every hostage. Lets take a listen to it. We were five and for each of us there was a guard. They took care of every details. And again, i keep saying so many elements of this were striking. But the preparation, the leadup to the attack i think was stunning to everybody. The preparation clearly to take the hostages and be prepared for them was also done. What does that tell you . It tells you, its incredibly well organized, well planned. They took their time putting this entire thing together. The Hostage Piece is a big part of that strategy. We have to remember, phil, that the hostages are an asset for hamas now. They stand between they are the kind of final barrier between a fullon entry into hamas, a tactical resolution by the israelis. And they will continue to use the hostages to buy time. They have many to work with. The reports have been upwards of 200 hostages. And we will likely see a continued, very small drip day in, day out of the few releases now and then to kind of maintain this anticipation that a diplomatic resolution to getting them all returned is right on the brink. And therefore, you know, maybe the israelis should hold off a Major Military operation. You know what was also striking is that in this press conference, lets remember, she just got out of the ambulance, just released from ones worst nightmare, she also took a moment to speak about her criticism of the idf and lack of preparedness despite some Warning Signs for this. Lets listen to what she said. Translator the Lack Of Awareness by idf. They warned us three weeks beforehand. They sent fire balloons. And the idf did not treat it seriously. We also know from some cnn Investigative Reporting that dug up social media posts that showed literally models of the kibbutzing they had made and practiced attacks on that was online before this attack happened. Its extraordinary. And i think the levels of well, lets say the questions about the Israeli Defenses and particularly their intelligence collection in the lead up to this massive attack, those questions are important. And the further we go, i think the more people are going to be looking very critically at their preparation or the lack thereof. The strategic intent of releasing two hostages on friday, two hostages again yesterday as the u. S. Clearly has been trying to ask Israeli Forces until you know exactly what youre doing, we want to try to get more people out. Right. How does that end . It just feels like that would be stretched as long as possible. And i dont think the israelis have the patience for that at this point. Its almost impossible to imagine theyll play it that long, right . You have to remember that every Hostage Recovery Operation begins with intelligence. You need exquisite intelligence on the location, the conditions, the numbers, the numbers of guards, the infrastructure around containing them. From all publicly available reporting, were far from that level of intelligence. So there really is no legitimate, tactical option right now, which is why theres so much emphasis on the diplomatic resolution of getting these folks out. If were getting some out, that continues to hold the carrot on the end of the stick to say lets hold off until we can save as many lives as possible. The criticism of that, every day you give hamas thats right. They gain more strength. You deny the israelis the response that their society so desperately craves right now. Thats right. Thats right. Thank you, andy. Sure. New this morning after two more hostages were released from hamas captivity, one man was abducted alongside the two u. S. Citizens who were also released on friday. Well speak to his family next. And moments ago, Benjamin Netanyahu says the war against hamas can, quote, be a long war. What were learning about the timing and potential Ground Invasion. Thats next. I hope we can share in this happiness is when we can all join together. This is not over. My mom my father is going berserk. Everybody is happy for us, but i want to also be happy for them. That was the daughter of released hostage Yocheved Lifshitz. Lifshitz is one of two israeli women released by hamas yesterday. We heard about her experience in captivity just a short time ago. Her release comes just days after hamas released american Hostages Judith and natali raanan. They are Still Holding more than 200 people captive israeli husband and father, you see him right there, is believed to be among them. His wife says she watched him being taken away from their kibbutz in handcuffs. Joining us now is his brotherinlaw. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Good morning. The pain is something no one can imagine. Who has not gone through this. But, what can you tell us about any hope you may have now that we have seen four hostages freed . Does it bring you some hope . It does bring some hope. Its a conflicted feeling. I think were realizing that dual nationals first of all will be prioritized by all parties involved. And second, probably women and children. My sense is that my brotherinlaw hopefully will be released eventually but my sense is that it will take a long time. Do you have theres been such a dirth of information for anyone, and such an incredibly difficult time. What have you been told about the status of any of whats happening right now . It took the government and all relevant bodies a long time to understand who was taken. Theres still a lot of people who are missing actually. Theyre finding, discovering sadly bodies everyday and discovering new people apparently in the gaza strip. We know that hes there. We he is confirmed hostage there, but theres no signal from his phone which was taken. Theres no information about his whereabouts or his physical situation. So we dont know much. We just know that he was taken by hamas, and we hope that he is given the circumstances well or if hes unwell hopefully receive some treatment. And thats all we know right now. We did hear from Yocheved Lifshitz that the medical treatment they got was pretty remarkable for being held as hostages. I hope that can give you some comfort. We were just looking at these pictures. Beautiful family. What do you want people to know about him . He is a gentle, soft speaking guy. He was a wonderful father. He invested a lot of time raising his and my sisters two daughters. 6 months old and 2 years old. He really wanted to let my sister continue developing her career and supported her. He was a therapist and he started also healthcare management. Was really connected to nature. And would go with his doctors all the time to the Fields Outside and avid basketball supporter. We supported the same team in israel. He was a wonderful is a wonderful man. And i cant wait to see him again. And all of us in the family hoping that we will see him again. His daughters really need him. The 2yearold already expresses her emotions. She knows exactly what went she understood the violence she experienced in front of her eyes and on her with guns pointed at her face. With a body next to her of a teenage girl. And she cries every night for her father. And we cry with her. So, its hard for us to see because were so connected and involved in raising your family, this is hard to see how this was taken from his daughters. The pain is incomprehensible. I think if youre not going through it, were grateful for your time. Were thinking about you and your family and extremely hopeful for what comes next. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. To washington, it has now been three weeks since the house had a speaker. Were going to take you live to capitol hill with the latest on the chaos in congress. And dense fog is being blamed for more than 150 crashes and 7 deaths on Interstate 55 west of new orleans. Well bring you the details next. The power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. Top House Republicans are hoping they can finally elect a speaker maybe even by tonight. Theyre set to hold a secret ballot election to pick a nominee from eight candidates. Unclear if any can get to 217 votes they ultimately need to get the gavel. Cnns lauren fox is live for us on capitol hill. They believe they could have a speaker by tonight. Have they been living in a cave . Can any of it eight . Theyre desperate, knowing that there constituents are fed up. That theres frustration within the conference. And they want this all to be behind them. We are now at the threeweek mark since House SpeakerKevin Mccarthy was ousted from the job. That is why there is desperation and optimism that they could pull something together and get a speaker by this evening. It may be Wishful Thinking but it is the thinking that so many of them are holding on to right now. At 9 00 a. M. , they are going to gather Behind Closed Doors for a series of votes until one candidate gets the majority. Once that happens, there is some discussion about trying to make sure that that person can get 217 votes before they head out to the floor to avoid the embarrassment that jim jordan had to face going to the floor three times and never clinching the speakers gavel. So that is under discussion right now. There is some sense that they could move to a floor vote tonight if they feel like that person can get 217 votes. But here is the huge if, phil, that is assuming that anyone, any of these eight candidates, are going to be able to garner the support they need. One interesting tidbit from our colleague manu raju last night, he asked a series of House Freedom caucuses if they with would support tom emmer, the whip, largely seen as the frontrunner, they were noncommittal. They wouldnt say if they would vote for emmer on the floor. Theres a sense within the republican conference there needs to be new leadership, new blood and just pulling from the ranks of leaders that have already existed in the House Republican conference that may not be good enough for some conservatives. Again, important to remind everyone, this is a very narrow republican majority, which means whoever goes to the floor today dependent on attendance issues can only lose four votes. Phil . Yep. Those guys who think it might happen by tonight, whatever theyre having, if you could grab me some of it, i would appreciate it. Lauren fox, appreciate you as always. Want to update you on what happened in louisiana. Very dense fog there is being blamed for more than 150 crashes. This happened on Interstate 55. Just west of new orleans. Seven people were killed. Look at that. State police say more than two dozen people were injured. Wild fire smoke and very damp conditions created what meteorologists call super fog. It made visibility less than ten feet. Some vehicles, including trucks caught on fire. First responders were forced to go on foot because the area was just completely gridlocked. Theres new reporting out this morning that says israel may be willing to delay its planned Ground Invasion of gaza to negotiate the release of a large number of hostages. Reporter with that news joins us next. Hamas is responsible for civilian casualties, but we will do every effort to avoid them and to fight this war as speedily and as rapidly as we can, but it could be a long war. That is israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu saying this could be a long war. The idf says it has struck more than 400 targets in just the past 24 hours. As you heard the Prime Minister say what they are bracing for. Here with us now, cnn military analyst, former nato Supreme Allied Commander general wesley clark. So appreciate your expertise. Good to be with you. Especially on a morning like this. We now know that a commander of Marine Forces special Operations Command marine corps Lieutenant General james glen is in israel advising israel on next steps. Can you speak to what he would be doing in a momen