release after 48 days of fighting in gaza is now underway. israel waiting to accept 13 women and children who were kidnapped on october 7th. israeli media reports that hostages have been transferred to egypt. the four-day cease-fire in gaza setting the stage for that deal at midnight. it appears to be holding. but as the idf now awaits the final transfer of the first round of freed hostages, israel's focus is on getting back all of the nearly 140 people hamas has held for 48 days. welcome to a very special hour of "america's newsroom." i'm molly line. good morning, griff. >> griff: good morning, i'm griff jenkins. it is indeed a special hour. bill and dana have the day off. as we watch in exchange for those first 13 hostages israel offering up other prisoners. the amount of prisoner israel gives up is not the top concern. >> molly: alex hogan has details on the unfolding exchange and cease-fire. first we begin with trey yengst live at an air base in southern israel where the hostages are expected to arrive fairly soon. trey, to you. >> this is a day of anticipation for the israeli people and we do understand at this moment those 13 hostages are on the move inside gaza headed to the border crossing between egypt and gaza. they are reportedly in the hands of the red cross, an indication this process is underway and that they will shortly be in egypt. transferred to the israelis and make their way to this air base where they will receive the first medical treatment and be able to call their loved ones. this has been just weeks and weeks of waiting for so many families and so the israeli military and government wants to make sure everything is in order and there are contingency plans in place. we were watching earlier today at the air base as military ambulances arrived. we also understand there are multiple options to get those freed hostages here either by helicopter or by bus. they want to insure once they are here and in stable condition that they are taken to regional medical facilities to receive not only further physical treatment but also psychological treatment. they have psychologists on stand by. soldiers will be assigned to each and every woman and child that is released from gaza today. we are talking about 13 people all together. they are being exchanged for 24 female palestinian prisoners along with 15 male palestinian teenagers. it has been ten hours since the cease-fire went into effect. with the exception of two rocket alerts 15 minutes after the set time it appears to be holding. if the cease-fire moves forward you'll see 50 israeli hostages released as part of the deal broker evidence by qatar in exchange for 150 palestinian prisoners. >> molly: one of the government officials i spoke with said it was bittersweet. sweet for those coming home but bitter for the so many left behind. only a short distance from egypt to where you are there at the air base. could you talk a little bit about what we can expect in the coming hours as the first batch of hostages come out and also those left behind and what it potentially means for them as well in the coming days? >> molly, you raise a great point. this is a bittersweet day for the israely people. they've been waiting seven weeks to get information about loved ones inside gaza. they have been held since october 7th. one part of this equation is the focus on the hostages, making sure they have everything from blankets to noise canceling headphones to sunglasses for when tomorrow they'll face the sun maybe for the first time in weeks if held underground or indoors since this war began. the other part of this equation is the military that continues to operate inside gaza. there are still thousands of infantry troops. israeli population has come together in the after math of this tragedy on october 7th understanding they need to do everything they can to support the troops inside gaza. this is a very dangerous time for the israeli military. we were alongside those forces and talked about how they had to maintain a high alert level understanding they could use the lull in fighting to reorganize and prepare to launch new -- 13 hostages are expected to be released today back into israel. that process will play out over the next three days. but then it's back to the military operation where the israelis say they'll continue their plans to first look for more hostages and second to destroy hamas leadership. >> molly: a great point. thank you for watching this so closely for us there on the ground. trey yengst from southern israel in the midst of his re unfolding this morning. thanks, trey. >> griff: all right. from where trey is at the air base let's head towards tel aviv for more on the latest developments on the ground where alex hogan is standing by. hi, alex. >> hi. griff, what we're seeing here a lot of people eager to see if the hostages arrive later today. the schneider children's hospital, the hostages accompanied by their mothers will arrive. there is a major effort underway to try to keep some of these families together after everything they've been through. we're still waiting on that official confirmation of the israeli government to say the hostages have successfully controlsed from gaza through the rafah crossing to egypt. we have not received that word just yet. we have been seeing some of the images come out of those ambulances there as families here are eagerly hopeful that those families will then be picked up and sent to the air base where we saw trey. when they arrive there, what they will be met with first on helicopters with the noise canceling headphones to try to calm down and comfort the hostages as much as possible and what is an incredibly traumatic day unfolding after incredibly traumatic weeks they've lived together or alone. we don't know the conditions for these hostages if they were kept in solitaire confinement or if the 13 people from this town managed to stay together. when they get to the air base they'll be met with doctors, psychologists, stands and tables with clothing, food and toys for the kids. little ways to comfort them before they arrive to the hospital that are fully prepared and fully staffed and have a separate wing where they can be away from other patients to have a little bit of protection and peace and privacy after everything that they've been through. of course, the curiosity from around the world how it all plays out and what the condition of these hostages will likely be. when we're looking at the cease-fire, it is worth noting that it has been largely peaceful since this cease-fire started earlier this morning at 7:00 a.m. we did have one rocket fire from hamas very early on. it was 15 minutes in. since then we have not seen any escalation whatsoever. as a result of that we've actually seen some people from around israel going back to those small border towns along the border with gaza. the first time that they've been able to go back to their homes potentially collecting belongings and checking in on a lot of people left cats behind, for example. checking in on those pets will be another major concern. when we're looking at some of the things that we did see earlier, there was that smoke rising in gaza. that was just from the 15 minutes into that first announcement of the cease-fire, really largely besides that we have not seen anything else. now there is also worth noting the big humanitarian effort underway in gaza now. 150 palestinians will be returned to gaza. these are people who largely have been charged with minor crimes, throwing rocks and that sort of thing is what we've heard in regards to why they were in prison. 150 people over the next four days. there was also going to be a big humanitarian push. more supplies going into gaza, israel has told people in gaza to try to stay in the south again, not to return to the north. there will be that one humanitarian corridor that allow people in the north to go south. meantime we are looking at these ambulances as we await for official word that these 13 hostages have successfully left the rafah crossing. one effort that is underway here is to try to make the transition as fluid as possible, griff and molly. one way the israeli government is doing that here is consulting with holocaust survivors asking them what would be the best possible way to make this transition as comfortable as possible given the trauma that they have all been through. griff and molly. >> griff: alex, as you talk about this process and we continue to watch here at the rafah crossing, the red cross is receiving this first batch of the 13 israeli hostages and i believe the 12thai hostages as part of this. we have since learned this morning the truce now holding for some ten hours going into the 10th hour. is it your sense that if things continue to go as planned and as smoothly as they appear to be going at the moment, that will be the model for the next four days for the entirety of the agreement? >> well, if this is the model, this would be seen as a major success here in israel. not only they would be receiving the 13 hostages that were promised but also the additional 12 hostages taken, thai foreign workers here in the country. the prime minister in thailand did confirm that those hostages have now safely been released and they are free. there will be some conversations managing to get them back to thailand and reunite them with their families after they also have received the healthcare they need. the psychological checks as well to see what they have been through, what they have suffered and also what they are going home to. worth noting the children that necessarily are coming here aren't all being reunited with their families. we know that soldiers have been told specifically that if the child you are caring for has lost their family, don't tell them until they arrive here because of the trauma they've endured. some of these kids don't realize or saw it when they were being kidnapped that their parents were killed. while we talk about that, this is a moment of hope and relief for the 13 families getting loved ones back, some of the hostages are not coming home to families because those families have been killed. for the families who aren't getting their hostage loved ones back, there is a great sense of dread. there is concern that if the others will be released eventually, if there will be more negotiations will take place. after these four days qatar will try to start brokering another hostage deal to release more hostages. but even for the families who are going to be reunited hopefully with their loved ones today they feel the grief of the other families not seeing their loved ones. these families that were all strangers have been marching together and standing side-by-side at these demonstrations now for seven weeks, griff. >> griff: moments of hope, anxious and heartbreak and we watch this play out on our screen. alex hogan outside the medical center in tel aviv. >> molly: let's go back to corey mills and helped to bring home hundreds of americans stranded in israel last month after the hamas attack and he joins me now. thank you, sir, for sticking with us on this remarkable and historical day. we just got word that 13 hostages and now getting word as well additional thai hostages have reached egypt at this point in time. your thoughts on that given your experience getting people out of difficult situations. we're at the beginning of that. they have yet to get to the air base and to the hospital. but some early good word. >> well, i can tell you that having conducted rescues or evacuations out of both afghanistan in 2021 and recently in israel there is no greater relief when you get to a point or a third party nation in which you can take a sigh of relief and say we're safe now, we still aren't to our destination but we're out of the situation that we were in. this is very complex. you have many third parties who are working this, not just the qatar and egypt but also the icrc. and unlike your more traditional hostage rescues or transfers where you are actually face-to-face with the other individual, both of these nations or both of these individuals, idf and hamas still and the end to try to destroy one another. that also creates a lot of different complexities with all this. here is the bigger thing that i always fear is when you do these types of cease fires and both parties have all intent to try to go ahead and fulfill this. in this case over the next four days utilizing egypt as this intermediary launch point, it only takes 1 or 2 bad actors, one soldier to be killed, one hamas fighter to be injured for this to completely fall apart. that isn't always on behalf of the leadership of either one of those two. it could be a person who wants to be a disrupter. why this is so complex, this isn't as if it's a cease-fire where drawing a treaty and trying to come to a solution. it is a temporary halt for a hostage prisoner exchange will, once concluded, potentially go forward with israel's right to eliminate the activity organization. a lot of complexities here. over the next four days it will certainly be minute to minute, hour to hour day-by-day as we look at all the various things, the conditions of the prisoners and the hostages and thousand how they have been treated will be paramount and insure they have the necessary psychological and medical treatment. i'm sure conditions weren't always the best. a lot going on here. good they are in egypt. when i got miriam and her three children out of afghanistan after one days to get them to finally get them across a border the sigh of relief from the mother when we brought her across. i looked and said miriam, you and your children are safe now. that's one of those moments where it is certainly a sigh of relief for everyone involved. >> molly: i'm sure soldiers want to have that moment as well with the children and wives and mothers. you are finally home and safe. you raised a great point. the idf and hamas are not in direct talks. there is a lot going on with qatar, u.s., egypt involved in bringing the deal together and making it happen. a spokesman for qatar's foreign ministry said the first light at the end of the tunnel. days to come and one bad actor. how much leeway does each side give? they understand that as well. one person could throw a wrench in things. how much power does that one person potentially have? >> the issue is i'm not concerned about the israeli defense force command. i know they are a very well-trained and well-organized and well-conducted military force. the issue is when you have terrorist organizations such as hamas, where not everyone subscribes to the full acceptance of working with who they perceive to be their enemy, all it takes is one person to start firing a shot or to try and attack one of the idf soldier and the idf soldier defend itself and you'll have a similar situation that has been going on where when the idf retaliates for attacks against them hamas organization tries to utilize their prop gpropaganda. there are a lot of things that could go wrong quickly. i am hopeful and praying the next four days goes as smooth as possible. again, i think the next hostage negotiation -- there are more hostages needing to be released. i think the next hostage negotiation to help coordinate through proof of life and medical treatment evaluations by icrc will have a lot larger request and asks with regards to what idf has to do in order to receive more of the hostage releases. >> molly: one of the big asks have been made to find out who it is that is still alive that hamas has in custody. perhaps some of the hostages coming out will give some insight into that. we don't know they were held all together or that families have been kept together and in what circumstance. we know it's horrible. alex hogan talked about what they are standing by and waiting for at the hospital. seeking insight from holocaust survivors, noting the people coming out may not know who among their loved ones have survived to this point. essentially the horror and torture isn't yet over for some of these folks being released. your thoughts and the psychological aspect of this and the information they may have. >> they will certainly go through a series of different things. the first is a medical evaluation to look at any type of treatment that is necessary, any type of injuries that they've sustained being completely taken care of. there will be a psychological evaluation that will have to be conducted. but then it goes into a third phase of having the idf and the israeli intelligence special forces try to get more information. for the debrief comes into play. what did you see? who did you hear? did you recognize names? identify those who speak arabic and hebrew and get as much information as possible into the tunnel system. were you in the tunnels. were you not? were you transferred to multiple locations? were kept in the same place? do you know if there were other hostages at the location you were at? they'll try to evaluate and potentially if the next four days goes well and obtain intelligence to give them indication of where other hostages are being kept and coordinate a continual peace deal in an effort to try to get these hostages out. if that fails at least they have the intelligence to do a force on force hostage rescue given the information and intelligence they collect from the first 13 given away. but i will tell you that i would speculate that hamas is smart enough the 13 that they are releasing probably didn't have a lot of access. they were probably all kept singularly together. i predict there are multiple locations hostages are being kept not one singular place. very limited intel but it all will be determined once they do the final debrief. >> molly: this was all part of hamas's plan taking the hostages and likely this exchange as well part of what they planned all along. congressman corey mills. thank you very much. you are generous with your time and appreciate your insights this morning. thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me, god bless. >> griff: we're witnessing history playing out in realtime on our screens as fox confirms 13 israeli hostages are on the move into israel. they will make their way now either by bus or helicopter to an air base in southern israel where we find trey yengst for the latest. what can you tell us? >> griff, we understand israeli officers are meeting with the hostages in egypt at this moment. remember the israelis want to confirm that everyone on the list released today matches the initial list that was provided by hamas as part of this qatar negotiated effort to get these hostages home. if we think about what that moment is like for these hostages, the first time in 49 days that someone will be speaking to them in hebrew. this is an opportunity for the israelis to not only confirm that these are the identities promised to be released as part of this deal but also the first time they are going to be able to get a sense of how these hostages are. what sort of support and medical attention they need in the short term and reassure them they will be okay and brought back to israel shortly. they will be brought to the air base behind us where they will have an initial evaluation. we were watching earlier today as the ambulances came to this air base. they are making sure they have all the medical supplies needed here before transferring the women and children to regional hospitals where they will not only receive physical treatment but psychological treatment. each and every hostage freed will have a doctor assigned to them and also a psychologist assigned to them. there is an understanding of just how traumatic this event was for these hostages, the first group expected to come back to israel in the next few hours as this process plays out. remember, this is jus