done before the fighting is set to resume? later, loved ones reunited. how the families torn apart by that october 7th attacks -- >> i hope no one will ever have to go through, any nation, any nationality, to go through this situation where innocent civilians -- we just woke up that morning, just snatched from their beds. >> also happening right now, attorney general merrick garland expected to address both the ongoing hostage negotiations and the increase in violence against the jewish and muslim communities here at home. ♪♪ hello. it is 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. we begin with breaking news, the fourth and what could be the final day of the final truce between israel and hamas. any moment we're expecting more israeli hostages to be released by hamas in exchange for more palestinian prisoners to be set free by israel. this on the heels of 17 hostages released by hamas yesterday including young israeli american abigail edan who celebrated her fourth birthday while in captivity on friday. today there is hope this fragile pause could, could be extended. both hamas and israeli prime minister netanyahu expressed willingness to extend the pause. now we're learning from egypt that efforts to extend the truce for another two days are, quote, close. nbc's raf sanchez is in tel aviv, israel. and keir simmons is joining us from dohar, qatar. how many hostages are we expected -- expecting to be released today? >> ana, in that same statement the egyptian government is saying today's exchange will be 11 israeli hostages for 33 palestinian prisoners. those numbers not yet confirmed by either israel or hamas. it's a little bit lower than what we've seen over the last previous three days where it was 13 or 14 israelis in exchange for 39 palestinian prisoners. but if there is an exchange at all, that will be good news because just a couple hours ago, things were looking, once again, very uncertain. there have been a lot of ups and downs over the course of this cease-fire period. normally we expect, and according to the deal we should see the hamas beginning to hand over the israeli hostages around 4:00 p.m. local time. but it's 3:00 p.m. here, the prime minister's office here in israel putting out a statement saying they were still negotiating over the list of hostages who would be released today. that was causing a lot of anxiety among the families of the hostages who expected to know by that point that their loved ones were coming out. but the latest we know is the statement from the egyptian government, 11 israeli hostages in exchange for 33 palestinian prisoners. >> we're seeing that border crossing area where we anticipate activity will happen once this hostage deal is moving again. hold on, guys. i'm being told the attorney general here in the u.s. is speaking in new york. let's listen in to merrick garland. >> the justice department's victim services office including office for victims of crimes and the fbi's victim services division stand ready to provide assistance for released americans and to their families. we also remain committed to working with our pasters in across the u.s. government to secure the return of all missing americans, including those still held hostage. as always, but especially now, the justice department is remaining vigilant in the face of the potential threats of hate-fueled violence and terrorism. we are closely monitoring the impact that the conflict in the middle east may have inspiring foreign terrorist organizations, home-grown violent extremists and domestic violent extremists both here in the united states and abroad. all of us have also seen a sharp increase in the volume and frequency of threats against jewish, muslim and arab communities across our country since october 7th. there is understandable fear in communities across the country. even as we speak, the atf and the fbi are investigating the tragic shooting of three men of palestinian descent in vermont. that investigation, including whether this is a hate crime, is ongoing. investigative updates by law enforcement officials in vermont will be coming soon. the justice department is poised to provide assistance, any assistance that our state and local law enforcement partners need as we work together to protect our communities. last month i directed the fbi and every one of our u.s. attorneys to meet with law enforcement and community leaders to discuss what they're seeing on the ground and how we can best support them with regard to these threats. senior leadership at the justice department and i, myself, have done the same. in my conversations with law enforcement community and religious leaders, i have reiterated that the justice department has no higher priority than protecting the safety and civil rights of everyone in this country. protecting all people in all communities from hate-fueled vial lens was the justice department's job in 1870 and remains our urgent responsibility today. no person and no community -- >> we're listening to attorney general merrick garland right now addressing several different things there, the hostages that have been released and the violence that's been increasing in both the jewish and muslim communities in the u.s., as well as the shooting that happened of three palestinian descent students in vermont over the weekend. our ken dilanian is listening in with us here. ken, your top takeaway and why the attorney general felt he needed to make this announcement or address these issues today. >> reporter: ana, first of all, the fbi in particular plays a leading role in hostage recovery efforts. it coordinates the efforts of other departments. there's an fbi hostage fusion recovery cell that calls on state department, treasury, defense. technically merrick garland is the head of all that. he wanted to address what the justice department and the fbi is doing to assist in the recovery of american hostages. then, of course, he spoke to the incredible climate we're seeing in the united states where there's a massive increase in threats and hate crimes and potential hate crimes. he spoke in particular to this awful situation in burlington, vermont, where three palestinian college students were shot. a 48-year-old man has been arrested and is facing charges of aggravated assault. as garland said, the fbi is continuing to investigate whether that is a hate crime and whether federal hate crime charges are warranted. they haven't come to coop collusion and garland said that investigation is on going. local officials have made it clear that they believe there's strong indications that this was, in fact, a heat crime. we'll wait and see what happens there. >> ken dilanian, thank you. we should note the suspect in that shooting is due in court this hour. we'll take our viewers there as soon as that happens. meantime, i want to head back to israel and our raf sanchez who is standing by there, discussing the hostages we anticipate will be released toda. raf, what do we know about the hostages that have been released so far and how they're doing? >> reporter: ana, it sounds like all the children who have been released are in good condition which is obviously very encouraging. that includes 4-year-old abigail edan, she's at schneider hospital which is a pediatric hospital in the tel aviv area. her family says she's doing well, given she spent 52 days in hamas captivity. we don't know yet if someone has explained to her that she is an orphan, that both of her parents were killed on october 7th by hamas terrorists as they overran the kibbutz kfar aza where she was living. she has a long, long journey ahead of her, as do the other kids. we know there was an 84-year-old woman who came out of gaza yesterday. she's said to be in serious medical condition. she's in hospital right now. people here really, really hoping for her. the choreography of the release of hostages yesterday was different from the first two nights. normally the hostages going from gaza south into egypt and back into israel, last night they were handed to the red cross in gaza city and then taken straight over the border into israel. the reason for that was it was clear that this woman needed urgent medical care. she was flown by military helicopter from the border directly to the hospital. so people really here hoping and praying for the well-being of all those hostages. >> no doubt about it. we're seeing the smiles on family members as they hug their loved ones who were just freed in the last couple of days, again, as we await the additional hostages to be released today. could happen at any moment. we're keeping a close eye on developments there in israel at the border with gaza. keir, you're there in qatar where the bulk of these negotiations are occurring. what more are you learning about what's next and what's happening right now? >> reporter: i think, ana, at this stage we can probably be relatively confident that there will be another handover of hostages and potentially there will be an extension of the truce, perhaps for a couple more days. we don't know that for sure, but as raf was reporting at the beginning of this hour, the egyptians are suggesting that there might be 11 hostages released today and 33 palestinian prisoners. that same egyptian official is also talking about ten hostages each day for two more days with 30 palestinian prisoners each of those days. we know that the israelis and hamas have been indicating that they would be open to the idea of an extension of this the truce, and certainly the qataris here are pushing to try to have that happen. that is what they want. now, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks has told me that there are slight issues today, or at least there were, over the release of prisoners. it's to do with the names on the list of the prisoners -- the palestinian prisoners on the list of the israeli hostages. that was described to me as a slight issue. so i think we may overcome that. all this feels a little bit familiar now, ana, after a number of days of this, particularly on saturday where it was very, very challenging and very tense. hostages didn't get released until midnight. we likely won't see that today. as we've said so many times over the past week or so, it's not done until it's done. that's the case here, too. i think it's worth just pointing out, too, that no matter what happens, we are a little bit in the eye of the storm here. it's calm. we've gone through a massive storm, but at the same time, i think another storm is coming because inevitably at some point it seems as if the fighting will resume. that's certainly what the idf is saying will happen, saying it wants to reach the south part of gaza, and there are lots of questions about what that's going to look like and what kind of response there will be around the world to that. >> people collectively are holding their breath, at last check it was 184 people who remain hostage after those october 7th attacks. thank you keir simmons and raf sanchez for your reporting. joining us joel rubin former u.s. secretary of state and the former national security adviser and former head of israel's national security counsel. the world is watching very closely and wondering what's next. do you expect the truce and more hostages to be released? >> first, we need to see this deal come through. the delay today is -- i wouldn't say unexpected because we've had drama with hamas over the last two days as well. i want to assume the entire group of hostages will be released and the truce can be extended for two or maybe three more days. that is the hope of everybody in israel. we need to get the live hostages back while they're still alive, still in good shape. there's a 10-month-old baby waiting to be released that is supposed to be in the last group. that is the hope. we'll have to see if hamas can live up to the expectations. >> so far our understanding is the ages have ranged from 2-85 in the anyone ishl groups of the hostages released. young, young children, the very elderly as well, including that woman who had to go right to the hospital. joel, we understand the u.s., egypt and qatar helped broker this truce. it seems like qatar has had the role of direct negotiations with hamas. can you take us behind the scenes as a potential extension is being discussed? who is doing what? what kind of calls are being made, what kind of verification and so on? >> ana, this is clearly multifaceted in the negotiating seattle long with the united states and israel. within hamas, there's the political bureau in doha, in qatar, and then they engage with the military wing in gaza. so there's a two-step there regarding hamas. the qataris, when they're in doha speaking with the hamas political wing, they're still waiting for word from the field from gaza. and when they get information back, they share that jointly with the united states and with israel at the same time. egypt historically has played pa key role as a third party transit between the palestinians and between israel and many other arab states as well. that's where the juggling -- for us, the united states, bill burns, our cia director has been very engaged actively in doha, meeting with israeli, security officials, intelligence officials, alongside the qatari process to get the names and ensuring people can get out healthy. >> eyad, who is prime minister netanyahu listening to? >> granted, the government at this stage isn't the best we've had. we've hat rifts within the government and within the public from the beginning of the year with extreme ministers in this government. when the war cabinet was formed with two former joint chiefs of staff of the idf, i think the military -- the crisis cabinet we have, the war cabinet we have now has the most experience in terms of the military capabilities in israel. the hope is that within them, this is what the public in israel hopes, that within this small group of situation making level, sound decisions can be made to navigate. we have very tough decisions ahead of this government. mr. netanyahu will have to make very hard decisions in the end when this truce ends and clearly israel needs to go back to fighting until we eradicate hamas from ruling gaza. there will be tough decisions there. the hope of the israeli public is that this war cabinet can do the right things and make the right decisions. >> joel, how might this next phase be different than what got us to the initial hostage release deal? >> the next phase will be very tenuous. you can see how both sides are taking a pause for their own strategic regions. israel is looking for a renewal of the fight. there's nothing humane about what hamas did by kidnapping civilians in their sleep. this is a truce to get these kidnapped israelis out of harm's way. i do think we're going to likely see renewal in fighting. the question is how much time will lapse and what will president biden and his team do to chart a path for all this? remember, ana, that's an open question about what comes after this military action? who will govern gaza? what about the prospects for peace between israel and the palestinians, a two-state solution, diplomatic solution is not forgotten. those are all parts of the immediate discussion and very much top of mind. >> really appreciate you bringing all that up. thank you, joel rubin and eyal hulata for your insights. when we're back in 60 seconds, i'll talk to a woman who just had two family members released by hamas, but she's still waiting for more family to be freed. also ahead, insight from the former director of hostage recovery. we'll talk about the protocols once these hostages are home. a suspect apprehended in the vermont shooting of three men of palestinian descent. how the community is reacting. we're back in one minute. stay right there. n one minute stay right there that i coulds without losing my breath. i couldn't make it through the airport, and every like 20 or 30 yards i had to sit down and get my breath. every physical exertion seemed to exhaust me. and finally, i went to the hospital where i was diagnosed with afib. when i first noticed symptoms, which kept coming and going, i should have gone to the doctor and told them what was happening. instead, i tried to let it pass. if you experience irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or light-headedness, you should talk to your doctor. afib increases the risk of stroke about 5 times i want my experience to help others understand the symptoms of atrial fibrillation. when it comes to your health, this is no time to wait. we're back now with more on the push to extend the pause in fighting between israel and hamas and bring more of those 184 hostages still held in gaza home. take a look at the emotional family reunions we're seeing as the hostages return with entire communities celebrating their release. i want to show you one special reunion here. here you can see danielle aloni and her 5-year-old daughter emilia in the back seat of this car as they drive by and the crowd lining the street waving back at them holding israeli flags helping to welcome them home. danielle and' mill yeah were visiting her sister when they were all abducted. sherrone, her husband and 3-year-old twin girls are still in captivity. danielle and sherrone's cousin ilan nah are joining us now. we know dani and amelia were among the first group released on friday, thank goodness. that's been a couple of days. what can you tell us about how they're doing and what their return home has been line for them and your family. >> they're doing okay. so we know they're in good health. that has -- we're so, so grateful for that. they're happy to be home, happy to be back with their family. amelia was reunited with her own cousin, my cousin moan's daughter. i was able to see photos of that, being so sweet. we're so relieved to have them home. i can't stop looking at pictures of them. i'm eager to talk to them. i haven't been able to yet. it's a slow process. she needs to gently kind of return to her life. to your point, it's bittersweet. we're in purgatory. on the one hand we have amelia and danielle. on the other hand, we're waiting for cher ron and david and the twins. >> are you able to sheer what happened to your family while they were in held hostage? >> i don't have any of that information and don't have anything to share about that. >> your other cousin and their family, they're still being held hostage. tell us about them and any word on their current status. >> no word. we don't know if they're altogether. we don't know about their well-being yet. we are desperate to see them back. we're obviously watching the news a lot and reading whatever is on the internet about the lists coming out. nothing is confirmed. i'm concerned that we've seen they've been releasing children without their mothers. will that happen here? we don't know. it's really an awful emotional state to be in. >> we're told 11 more israeli hostages are expected to be released today. we're all awaiting to learn how whose different people are. what are the top questions you have on your mind right now in this moment of such anguish? >> there's one question. are they coming back to us? are we getting them back and are they okay? >> that's the most important question, obviously. in your home state of new york fion fifth avenue was stoppe on friday by pro-palestinian demonstrations. we're showing that video. you wrote in "the new york times" earlier this month that you have seen too often the hijacking of the cause of palestinian liberation to stand against the lives of israeli children who have been in captivity. do you still feel that way? >> certainly there is a faction of people out there who i do still feel that way about. they aren't my priority, what i focus my energy and time on. i'm much more focuse