of the middle east. today, a third group of hostages was released as part of a four-day temporary truce between israel and hamas. we learned one of those hostages is american toddler abigail mor edan. who turned just four years old on friday while in captivity. now she is free. as the deal stands right now, 50 total hostages are promised to be released in exchange for 150 palestinian prisoners. this is the first truce after weeks and weeks of fighting. and a rare moment of positive news since the start of the war. tomorrow is day four of this four-day pause, the question is, what happens on day five, day six, the seven? the israeli military has urged civilians who fled to southern gaza not to return home, and has warned them that the idf is still preparing for the next phase of the war once this pause ends. already -- in gaza. according to health officials there. this is allowed hostages to leave gaza and much needed aid to be brought in. but a trucks of entered gaza under the protection of the cease-fire bringing some relief for civilians who have been suffering as their supplies of food, water, and medicine run short. although some aid is making its way in the world health organization says that much more is needed. right now even during these moments of some joy, major questions remain about the family still awaiting the, hostages still held captive and the civilians still trapped in dire conditions. today president biden spoke about the release of these hostages including four year old, abigail, i want to play a portion of those remarks and i'm with top two security adviser, jon finer, on the other side. >> two days ago, two days ago, one of our fellow americans, a little girl named abigail turned four years old. she spent her birthday, that birthday, at least 50 days before that held hostage by hamas. today, she's free, jill and i give -- are praying for the fact that she's going to be all right. she's free, she's an israel no so, those who are now wrapping abigail and loving compare, give her the services she's needs, she's been through terrible trauma. her mom was killed in front of her when her kibbutz was attacked by hamas terrorists on october the 7th. abigail round were dad and, who then was gunned down, gunned down as well while using his body to shield a little abigail. she then ran to a neighbor for help, where they were all taken hostage, the entire house of neighbors taken hostage by hamas. and they were held for 50 days, what she endured is unthinkable, abigail was one third -- released today from gaza. under the brokered and sustained though intense of u.s. diplomacy. she's now safely in israel and we continue to press, expect for additional americans to be released as well. we won't stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones. as i said when i spoke about this on friday, this has been the product of a lot of hard work, weeks of personal engagement, for me and my team. we've been in close contact to the leaders of qatar, egypt, in israel, speaking with each one of them repeatedly over the past few weeks to help secure this deal. we spoke again yesterday with the mayor of qatar, who i owe special thanks to to keep the hostages released on track and push for abigail to be part of the release. i'll be speaking again shortly with prime minister benjamin netanyahu, will continue to remain personally engaged, personally engaged to see that this deal is fully implemented and work to extend the deal as well. for weeks, i've been advocating the pause in the fighting. for two purposes, to increase the assistance getting into the gaza civilians who need help, and to facilitate the release of hostages. and we know that innocent children in gaza are suffering greatly as well because this war that hamas has unleashed is has such consequences. thousands have been killed in from the earliest days of the crisis, i work closely with president sisi of egypt, israeli government, king abdullah of jordan, and leaders throughout the league are -- critical humanitarian assistance to help innocent palestinians in the aid who are not part of hamas. under the deal, it's been pop fighting in gaza has been paused for three days, over that time 58 hostages have been released including the thai, filipino, and russian nationals. dozens of families have been reunited, we worked urgently, urgently to take advantage of the pause, to search aid in gaza, we've moved 200 aid trucks into gadget each day, loaded with food, water, medicine, fuel, and cooking gas. more is needed but this deal is delivering lifesaving results. critically needed aid is going in and hostages are coming out. this deal is structured so it can be extended to keep building on these results. that's my goal, our goal, to keep the pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and we surge more humanitarian relief into those who need it to gaza. we've seen this is a day-by-day approach, nothing is guaranteed, nothing is being taken for granted. and it's proof that this is working and worth pursuing further yes and every smile, every grateful clear that we see on the faces of those families who are finally getting back together. and the proof is little abigail, more than 20 other children, 18 years and younger have been released, released through this deal as well. they've endured a terrible ordeal, they can now began a long journey toward healing. i'm gonna continue working with the mayor of qatar, president sisi of egypt, prime minister netanyahu of israel to do everything possible to see the hostages are freed, all the hostages. i'm grateful for the personal partnership as we pursue this deal. as we work together to see all this implemented and now to try an extended further. we'll continue to work with all our partners to take the hard necessary steps to build an integrated, more prosperous, more peaceful future in the region. a two state solution, it's the only way to guarantee a long term security of both israelis and palestinian people. and to make sure that israel and palestinians alike live an equal measure of freedom and dignity, won't give up on working towards that goal, we thank you very much, thank god she is home. i cannot imagine the enjoyment, i just wish i were there to hold or. >> mister president gavin update on the other americans being held in any sense to when they will be released? >> we are hopeful, but i don't have anything firmly to tell you at this moment. >> reporter: sir, do you expect if you use this momentum to extend the pause, do you have guaranteed fears about proof of life of other hostages or any expectations on you can push this pause? >> look, the deal calls for every ten hostages released we extend another day, i'm hopeful this is not the end, it's gonna continue. but we don't know, i get a sense that all the players in the region, even the neighbors who haven't been directly involved now are looking for a way to end this so that hostages are all relaced and hamas is completely, how can i say, it no longer in control of many portions of gaza. >> joining me now is principal deputy national security adviser, jon finer. john, thank you for joining me this afternoon. i know this must of been a hectic morning for you, i want to start just with the news of the return of four-year-old american abigail mor edan, who is among the hostages as the president just talked about who is returning home. i wanted to ask you, know there's nine other americans who are held either by hamas or other militant groups. do you anticipate tomorrow when there is another day of this pause of there could be additional americans released? >> thanks, jen, as you say it's a rare bit of good news in a situation that remains very difficult overall. as you said, israeli and other families including american families are still worried about their loved ones in harm harms way -- including abigail's family who had her back but some warning that the murder of her parents by hamas. an incredibly difficult circumstances for palestinian families, many of whom have lost family members. in terms of where this all goes from here, we know there's two other americans who meet the criteria, the agreement is based on, women and children, 50 women and children who can come out in the early days, four days of agreement between israel and hamas. but were reluctant to make predictions about exactly who, and when. we're dealing with a terrorist group so there is no trust involved in this, we need to see who ends up getting transferred to the red crescent, red cross, and then moved out of the country, until we see those people the president said we don't to get ahead of any of this because it's not fair for families to indicate confirmation of things until we actually know what has happened. >> what you're saying, john, as you believe it when you see it and you don't want to get too ahead of where the process of this point in time. i want to ask about where these hostages could be held, the numbers have been around 244 sometime, about hamas saying about 100 could be held, but other militant groups the president was asked about this, do you have confirmation of how many are with hamas and how many are with other groups, how confident are you about hamas's ability to work with these other groups to get these hostages back? >> so, one of the difficult aspects of this whole arrangement is that we don't have a lot of fidelity, clarity, about the condition of the hostages or exactly where they are held. we believe a large number are held by hamas but we think there is a significant number of hostages held by other groups, palestinian islamic jihad is one and there might be other hostages in custody of other smaller armed terrorist groups inside gaza. the sheer logistics of assembling all these people in one place, transferring them to the red cross, and then transiting them across the border either into egypt or israel is something that takes hours, and hours of work there, they're snags that occur every day during the course of trying to execute this. we work through those tags with our partners in, the qataris, egyptians, and israelis, and others. and we try to get done what has been agreed and will do that same thing tomorrow. and if the deal is extended, and i'm asked is willing to transfer more hostages which we urge them to do if they like to maintain a degree of calm and pause in gaza, will continue doing that day after day. the president has said, it's our priority to get as many of these people out as we absolutely can. >> the president during his remarks that clearly, our goal in the goal of the united states is to keep this deal going as long as hostages are released. the end of the deal is tomorrow. do you anticipate at this point that it will continue until at least tuesday? >>, so i can't improve on what the president said of us, it's exactly right, as long as hamas is [inaudible] can be extended and will be extended. whether they're willing to do that remains to be seen. i've seen the comments made by the government of egypt. we've also heard indications that it is possible that they will be willing to continue releasing people beyond the end of the deal which as you said is tomorrow. but again, until that is agreed, until that is executed, i don't want to get ahead of things and start making predictions. that will be an intense focus of our time and the presidents time, i can't overstate how personally, directly involved he's been in every aspect of this and will remain so again until all these people are out. >> i want to ask about that. he talked about his diplomacy, his engagement, we've seen the readout of calls, what the president said about the desire to continue this deal, or continue the pause, is that also the view of prime minister netanyahu and the israelis? >> the president has spoken almost daily, -- about this. our understanding is that the israelis are open to continuing the pause if hamas agreed to continue transferring prisoners. only the actual confirmation of all this to the two parties, at the negotiation again is ongoing, will continue, it's our view that if hostages continue to go east and the postured continue. and for the presidents involvement as you just said, it's important to know, something that happened the other day when the president was asked during a news conference he was given after he met with xi jinping of china for an update on the hostage deal, he said, well, i'm reluctant to give you any more details because i've been tied up for the last four hours so i don't have the latest. he was tied up talking to president xi of china, but that gives you some indication of how closely he's following this that for hours goes by and he believes he needs even further up to date information before he can comment. he's really following this hour by hour. >> i've been there not for this, obviously, but for past moments where the president has been very engaged in diplomacy. give us a sense, if the spending hours in the situation room back and forth, oval office, getting ten updates a day, six updates today, constantly on the phone. what is happening behind the scenes? >> yeah, so, as you can probably picture very well based on your experience, the president's national security team has been in and out of the oval office, providing updates during the course of the last few days during the thanksgiving holiday, providing him with near constant updates by secure phone, when we get information we transferred to him, we get his guidance we think it is useful for him to make a phone call to push or to council one of his foreign counterparts, fellow heads of state. and he has made as you said a number of calls directly on this issue to try and make sure things stay on track and for him, it's gonna have to continue over the days ahead if we're going to finish the execution of this first phase of the deal and ideally extend it. >> one of the arguments that prime minister netanyahu made publicly is that the military campaign put the necessary pressure on hamas to release hostages, he was making this argument in the lead up, is this an argument that the united states agrees with? >> however it and getting done we think the military campaign played a role, diplomacy probably has played the largest role behind the scenes, quiet diplomacy but firm, direct. we're in a place that many people don't think we could be which is a genuine pause in the fighting. and its neighboring by the way, not just the release of the hostages but also the significant expansion of the amount of humanitarian assistance that is going into gaza. we've never condition that assistance on a hostage deal, we said that system should go in, and go in a significant amount regardless. the fact that there isn't any fighting going on in gaza over the course of the past few days has meant a dramatic ramp up in assistance that's making lives easier for the palestinian people in gaza, including thousands of people as you know that have been displaced from their homes. we've had more than 200 checks of assistance cohen over the last few. days >> that's far more than was the case -- we'd like that to be able to continue as well. >> one of the many challenges as the lack of visibility into what's actually happening on the ground. they've been a range of reports and casualty numbers, including estimates of up to 15,000. does the united states have an estimate at the number of casualties in gaza at this point of time? or is that information we don't even have from the government? >> we candidly, sort of like what i said about the hostages and their condition themselves, because we are not on the ground in gaza, and because we don't speak directly with authorities there, we don't have the ability to give accurate estimates that we can verify of things like casualty numbers. what i can say is we believe, as has been reported everywhere, that the casualty numbers are historically high, beyond the level that we have seen and other conflicts in gaza, and that there are large number of innocence, tragically, who have been killed in this conflict. and that is something that all of us, i think, take incredibly seriously, that we speak directly to the government of as a real about in terms of how they're prosecuting the war, and how they may continue prosecuting this war if and when the cease-fire that has been called for the last four days, this pause, ultimately ends. but is quite obvious to everyone, the level of suffering is quite high. i should also say, the predicate for this phase of the conflict, what occurred inside israel, 1200 or more israelis who were killed by hamas terrorist attack, is also and historically high number. a predicate that is really unprecedented after previous -- severe situation right now. >> white house principal dak vt national security advisor jon finer, i know this is a very difficult situation with this for cold questions, but some moments of joy. -- bringing some of these hostages home. for those of you who are just joining us, we're continuing to follow breaking news out of today's hostage release and gaza. 40-year-old american abigail edan is now back in israel. she's one of 17 hostages released by hamas. the israeli government confirmed that in the last hour. i want to bring into people who've been involved in these types of negotiations on behalf of the u.s. government. joining me now, john brennan and former deputy national security adviser to president obama ben rhodes. brandon, i want to start with you. we all want to understand what happens next year. and there are nine americans who remain hostage. some may be by hamas, some by outside militant groups. you're an expert on the region, i should say. what happens now with these negotiations between hamas and the qataris and the egyptians and also these outside militant groups, as we're trying to get these americans home? >> well, jen, i think the effort is to build on these first three days, which is a very hopeful sign, because it appears as though both sides have appeared to the terms of the agreement sufficiently to allow it to the other side to follow through with its obligations in terms of releasing hostages as well as releasing prisoners. so i do think that is president biden so directly stated, it is the intention of the u.s. government to extend this pause for however long is possible to try to get out more hostages, including the other americans that are still being detained by hamas, as well as maybe by some other palestinian militant groups. so i do think the good well, if i can use that term in this situation, has been built up in terms of the adherence to the agreement so far by both sides. it's something that the qataris, the americans, the egyptians and the israelis can capitalize on, and see whether or not there can be an extension of this in addition to being able to bring more humanitarian aid into gaza so the people who have been suffering for the past seven weeks are able to get some relief. >> hamas is claiming, as i was just asking doctor brandon about, but they don't have control over roughly 100 hostages. how confident do you think the u.s. government can be -- everyone's trying to understand who these groups are, and how actually we can get these hostages back. >> well, we really can no. as john said, and these types of situations, the only thing you know is whether or not the party are dealing with can deliver on something they say they're going to do. and so, you're testing with each agreement, with each day, essentially, what hamas is capable of delivering here. i think this is a multifaceted circumstance, right? we're not a lot of people have a lot of bias and gaza. and particularly when the military operation is ongoing, it is truly a chaotic scene, and the capacity to locate and colocate hostages, and to move them out of gaza, it's really impossible. it takes this kind of pause in order to colocate and move hostages. i think what we have learned, though, is this capacity to kind of work through qatar and egypt to hamas, to people on the ground. this is, you know, an elaborate game of telephone, essentially, we have hamas political leadership in qatar, you have contacts through the egyptians, you have, i'm sure, hamas leadership in gaza, but then you probably have a diffuse set of hostages and lot of different hands here. and there's an effort, i'm sure, by hamas to try to -- capacity to identify them. but really, i think all we can have confidence in is what is delivered on a day-to-day basis here. and i think what we have learned, however, is that diplomacy is the most effective means of extracting hostages and getting them back to loved ones. trying to do that in a very violent and chaotic middle terry environment is much more difficult than doing it with a pause like this. >> what we're watching right now, some footage from egyptian tv, we don't know that these are the hostages. we'll bring more footage to everyone as we get more details confirmed and more becomes available. director brennan, one of the factors here is, of course, what hamas will do during this time of a pause in the fighting. as much as there is some good well perhaps being developed among all the parties, there is the suggestion that they could be rebuilding their capacities. is that an area you think they should be concerned about? >> i think we have to be concerned, but also, needs to be understood that hamas is not a monolith. you have individuals within hamas that are the most brutal, barbaric terrorists that perpetrated the attack on october 7th, but you also have those that are much less extreme, more pragmatic, those who are concerned about the welfare of the palestinian people in gaza. the ones who recognize that there is some benefit to this pause, and disengagement with the united states and qatar and the egyptians. therefore, i think there's a spectrum of folks, this is probably divisions within hamas right now about the way forward, because i'm sure that some of the militant core wants to go forward and try to reposition their forces so that they can then attack israeli troops once this pause ends. but also, i think there are some within hamas that recognize that there needs to be some way to alleviate the suffering of the palestinian people, and not just continue to escalate this. because it clearly is -- outgunned, outmanned, and ultimately, hamas is going to, you as a terrorist organization, it will be destroyed. hamas is the organizations nation i think is gonna be forever illegitimate. the palestinian people in gaza will ultimately need to have someone representing them that is going to be able to advance their very legitimate interests. >> this is such a -- we've talked a lot about the next day plan, or what the next day plan actually is. and i want to ask you, israel is facing a great deal of international pressure, including from within the united states, over civilian deaths in gaza. the pressure is only likely to intensify, especially as we see more happening and more of the devastation on the ground. what will you be watching for over the next couple of days, or weeks, in terms of a shift, globally, a shift within the united states, about the type of support that global powers are willing to provide to israel? >> well, i think, first of all, israel had been proceeding with clearly maximalist objectives in the military operation. kind of working methodically through the north of gaza, and really having plans to move to the south, where they're up to 2 million people, many of whom are displaced from their homes. he also had prime minister netanyahu indicating that there was gonna be this kind of open-ended israeli administration of gaza, which is directly contradicting what president biden has set, which is that he does not want to see reoccupation of gaza, and they like to see a power stanley governing authority, perhaps the palestinian authority itself, as some control of gaza. so what i'm watching is, jen, i think if this military operation resumes at the scale that it was at, i think that the international blowback to that is going to be very severe. because we've never seen civilian casualties like this. there are nearly 15,000 people that. there are also probably, i don't know, 1 million people who are homeless? whose homes have been destroyed? what's gonna happen to them? i think -- united states is gonna be pressing, what is the plan here? what is the endgame? what is this and? because if it's an ongoing, open-ended military operation, and -- that's on the scale. it's such a densely packed area, that's not an answer to the question about who's gonna administer gaza and what's gonna happen to all these people who lost their homes, and what is the plan to be railed here. so what i'd be watching for, jen, is does the operation resume at the scale at that it's at, or is it more targeted? is there a clear, you know, coming together of the israeli and american an international positions about what the future of gaza's? and if not, does the biden administration move to, i think, a more willingness to publicly differ from the netanyahu government on this? because -- in public, and deliver tough messages in private, i think that's gonna get harder and harder if the military operation resumes at the scale it was at. the only thing i want to say, jen, because it's important, it's not reverting to an october 6th status quo. part of what happened is israel's guard was down on october 7th. i don't think there's any scenario in which that border is not heavily, heavily manned by -- taking shots at anything they see that hamas is doing that they don't like. and so i think we do have to be clear here that i think israel is going to be more secure, even without an ongoing military operation, and they wear on the day the attack took place. that's a good thing, obviously, and that should allow for space for conversation about what is the future of gaza, and how do we address the humanitarian and political crisis there. >> the future of gaza, this is such a big question. there hasn't been enough focus on it. and you've been raising this from weeks ago, kind of what happens next. because there's hamas, there's the political faction, there are not other countries in the region that necessarily want to govern in gaza, what does it look like? what should we all be watching? >> it's so hard to tell. and i think we have to take this day by day. but looking at into the future, it's clear that the israeli military is gonna remain inside of gaza for quite a bit of time. there's no way that they're going to pull out and just allow hamas to reconstitute itself there. so there's gonna be some type of israeli presence to try to ensure that hamas does not pose a terrorist threat to israel. but then, we have to find a way for the palestinian people to be working with the fellow arab states, as well as with the international community, to see whether there can be some semblance of a governing authority that is going to be able to take care of the palestinian people. but this is something that i think is gonna be very long. it's gonna be very complicated and very difficult. but i do think -- impossible for the palestinian people buy themselves to be able to reemerge from this crisis, this conflict, this devastation of gaza by themselves. they're going to need the resources of the arab states, of the qataris, of the saudis, and others, but they also, i think, need some international support from the united states, and multilateral organizations that are going to help them rebuild gaza but physically as well as figuratively in terms of being able to put back in place something. but this has to take place along with discussions about having the palestinian aspirations for a palestinian state realized. there has to be some track there. it can't just because the separately from the west bank. it has to be the palestinian people overall that really need to realize their rights and aspirations that they have sought for so long. and that's gonna require a change of netanyahu's government and the israeli government -- >> you mean new leadership? >> i think new leadership is definitely gonna be required here. but this is gonna take a bit of time. but there needs to be a process that's gonna be supported and endorsed by the international community, by the palestinian people, and by the israelis themselves. >> do you think, if and when fighting starts again, that israel will take less maximalist approach? i >> think they're facing significant pressure from the biden administration right now, as ben says, to reduce the scale and scope of the strikes. they have to be more precise in terms of the targeting. they have to think about proportionality. we have to think about distinguishing between civilian and militant targets. this is something that i think they cannot just repeat what they've done over the last six and a half weeks or so, before this pause. because the international combination of israel's growing, and the united states, if we start to publicly criticize and even condemn what israel is doing, it's really gonna hurt israel. so i think that maybe this period of pause not just is gonna result and release of these hostages and prisoners, but also it's gonna give the israeli military and the israeli government officials time to recalibrate what they're doing to try to address directly a terrorist threat, but not caused great devastation and bloodshed that these seven weeks or so of strikes have resulted in. >> it'll be an interesting thing to watch. we are seeing some footage of red cross fans with hostages, they are arriving at the rafah crossing right now, so we will see some footage, hopefully, of hostages getting off of these buses in vans, as we've seen over the last couple of days. ben, i just wanted to ask you about domestically, what's happening here in the united states. because there's unquestionably -- we have seen a very strong reaction, and opposition i think it's fair to say, especially from young people, to the actions of israel in gaza. do you -- also, there have been some in congress who are calling for conditioning of aid. i wanted to ask you, it hasn't been an overwhelming number of people calling for conditioning of aid at this point, but you've seen movements like this in congress before. do you anticipate this will be a real question congress is considering? and how are you viewing the politics of this in the united states at this point? >> well, i mean, jen, i think we should just be honest. there is a pretty significant disconnect between the majority of democrats elected in congress, and really key elements of the democratic base. young people, voters of color, arab and muslim voters, who aren't just kind of casually observing this and disapproving. i think there is an intensity of people feeling like they don't see themselves in american policy, that offers a blank check of support to the kind of suffering that we are seeing in gaza. and the idea of seeking billions of billions of dollars in assistance for military efforts that are killing this number of civilians, i think that this is a real issue. and again, like assad, there's an intensity to it. and i think that there is good questions that younger people are asking, like if the administration is saying that they believe that the israeli military campaign has to take into account the lives of palestinian civilians, have to follow the laws of war, but if there is absolutely no consequence, if israel doesn't heed that advice, then what exactly is our leverage here? so i do think you're going to see more and more voices calling for conditioning of assistance, based on the proportionality or based on regard for civilian casualties. but also based on this question of what the endgame is. if there is not -- keep in mind, this israeli government, under netanyahu, is not committed to a two state solution. they don't believe in a two-state solution. and they have some of the most aggressive settler constituencies pushing deeper into the west bank to make a two state solution impossible. that was the policy of the netanyahu government, when this war began. and so i think that the logical questions, and i think need to be asked by some democratic members of congress, is how can we not condition assistance on an israeli government at least having a commitment to a two-state solution? at least agreeing to rein in the kind of settler violence that we've seen in the west bank, at least agreeing to try to follow the laws of war in their military campaign in gaza. i don't believe, jen, that's going to be the majority of the democratic caucus. but i do believe that that's something that a number of senators and members of the house are going to start to push, and i also think that this is a sentiment that is going to continue to come up from particularly younger voters in the democratic party, and that's not going to go away. i think this is an issue that people really deeply care about. >> no, it's such an interesting, almost movement among young people and so many people of the democratic base to watch. i know you've been closely watching, as have i. director brennan, beyond the domestic politics here, around the world, if you are sitting in your old job, part of your responsibility would probably be to be staying in connection and rebuilding some of these relationships with countries in the arab world who may be frustrated about the role of the united states. what have those conversations looked like, sound, like most of them are happening behind the scenes, of course. >> i think there's general consensus that israel's security needs to be assured. and so there's recognition that we need to do everything possible collectively, internationally, to make sure that terrorists are not able to carry out these atrocious attacks. at the same time, though, i do think sympathy for the palestinian people is growing, and sympathy for the israelis is dwindling. because we recognize that this large scale death in gaza, 14, 16,000, whatever, including so many women and children, is something that needs to stop. and therefore, they see that israel has this big powerful military that's just pummeling the residents of gaza. so i think that this international support that israel has enjoyed for many years, but -- is dwindling, especially among developing nations and countries that really are identifying with the palestinian people. those individuals who have long sought freedom and liberty themselves, see that the palestinians, for the past 75 years, have not been able to realize those legitimate rights and freedoms that they deserve. so this is something that i think netanyahu has been ignoring for so long, but this is something that i think most of these really people, i'd like to think that most of the israeli people, recognize. just like israel has a right to exist peacefully, so to does the palestinian state have a right to exist. and there needs to be mutual recognition on both sides about the others rights. >> director brennan, thank you so much for bringing your expertise here on such an interesting day. ben rhodes, thanks as always for joining us. our breaking news coverage continues after this quick break. stay with us. >> i am, jessica layton, with a look at what's happening. police in burlington, vermont, are's -- the young men were walking to a dinner near the university of vermont saturday when a gunman opened fire on them. according to the arab american anti discrimination community -- two of them were wearing traditional palestinian scarves at the time. one victim is in serious condition, the other two are stable right now. no suspect is in custody at. stick around for more inside with jen psaki right after this. with jen psaki right after this. >> because i switched to every-other-month cabenuva. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete long-acting hiv treatment you can get every other month. it's two injections from a healthcare provider. now when i have people over, hiv pills aren't on my mind. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients, or if you're taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions, post-injection reactions, liver problems, and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection-site reactions, fever, and tiredness. if you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. it feels good to just live in the moment. with every-other-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. ask your doctor about cabenuva today. my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose new neuriva ultra. unlike some others, it supports 7 brain health indicators, including mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. two days ago, two days ago one of our fellow americans, a little girl named abigail, turned four years old. she spent her birthday, that birthday, at least 50 days before that, held hostage by hamas. and today, she is free, and jill and i, together with so many americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be all right. you know, she is free, and she is in israel now. >> moments ago, president biden spoke about the release of an american hostage, four-year-old abigail mor edan, who just celebrated her birthday on friday. joining me now with more is amen, he is the host of ayman on msnbc, and he's reported extensively from the region and from gaza. ayman, thanks for joining me, and for keeping us all informed throughout the past 50 days. i just want to start by asking you about your reaction to what you've seen over the last couple of days, what are people not talking about, or what has been sticking out to you? >> i think the most important thing is the mechanism of releasing the hostages and creating a diplomatic framework that now is clearly working to deliver both the safe passage of hostages back to israel, but at the same time, allowing for humanitarian aid to be delivered into gaza. the release of palestinians that have been held inside israeli jails, being returned to their families. so what has clearly been established over the past couple of days, which is what i think a lot of the officials have been speaking to in the region are hopeful about, is that this diplomatic mechanism, this framework for dialogue that has allowed the last three days to bear fruit can actually be prolonged. keep in mind, this was something that certainly the qataris believed could have been established much earlier on in this conflict, when this war broke out. they had actually shown to the americans and the israelis that hamas, based on what they were saying publicly and willing to do on the ground with the release of the americans and the two israelis early on, they were prepared to enter into this kind of framework. but here we are almost seven and a half weeks later, and it has taken -- i think the focus is how to they build on this momentum to prolong it so that the suffering in gaza comes to an end. >> you've done some really interesting reporting on the roll of the qataris in this, explain to us a little more about why there was that delay. why it didn't happen earlier, as you reported. >> so, according to the sources that i was speaking to, jen, when this conflict broke out, when the attack happened on october 7th, the terrorist attack against israel happened on october 7th, it was clear from that moment that qatar was going to play an important role, for one very simple reason. that hamas's leadership, it's political leadership, resigns right now in doha. so they were able to gather the leaders of hamas there and begin to speak to them about what had happened, what they knew about these hostages, and more importantly, why they wanted to take these civilian hostages. and from that moment on, it became clear that the chaotic situation that unfolded after october 7th included many layers of information that i think we are still learning about. who kidnapped all of the hostages, who was responsible for them, which of the palestinian faction had them under their control. and as the qataris began to assess that information, relate to the americans, relate to counterparts they were talking to inside israel, it was clear that hamas was willing to release some of these hostages, certainly the civilian hostages, that they weren't interested in keeping. so the pressure began to mount from the qataris, with the americans on the israelis as to whether or not the priority of the operation, the military operation going into gaza, was going to be about releasing the hostages, or, as they claimed, to try to destroy hamas. and it seems certainly to negotiators at those odds in the beginning were somewhat contradictory. but if you really wanted to release the hostages, and had been demonstrated, there was going to be this attempt, as the military wouldn't have shown, they were willing to release the hostages without any preconditions. so qatar played an important role in beginning that confidence building measure. but there are certainly things and calculations that the israeli government that was making that were not -- as to why they still went ahead with the bombardment, the ground invasion, up until what we saw three days ago. >> such interesting reporting, i encourage everybody to read it. he's written about this. ayman, i want to ask you. tomorrow is day four of a four -day pause. what happens on day five, six, and seven? some of this we don't know, but what are you expecting, what are you watching for? >> well, the first thing i'm watching for is whether or not hamas is able to consolidate the remaining hostages that israel believes currently exists inside the gaza strip. and i say that because what emerged from the early days of the reporting around this was that hamas was telling the intermediaries they did not have all of the hostages that were being reported to be missing under its control. some had been taken by other palestinian factions, including islamic jihad, others had been taken by palestinian gangs and smugglers and individuals. so hamas was trying to say to their intermediaries that if you wanted us to try to consolidate all of these hostages that you say are currently inside the gaza strip, you'd have to give us time, you'd have to pause so that we could find it where they are to try to bring them under our control so that we can secure the release. the reason why we were able to get the four-day truce is because they were able to establish and demonstrate that they had at least 50 hostages in their custody, at the beginning of the truce. so we knew that they could guarantee the release of at least 50 hostages. they have claimed that they have about 70 hostages that are israeli soldiers that they will not be releasing until more negotiations and a complete cessation of the violence. so you can take those 70 or so is really soldiers out of the mix for now, but that leaves about 100 or so that are still unaccounted for. so hamas is saying to the international mediators, to their countries and the egyptians, if you want to prolong this cease-fire, then we would be able to go out, find out where these other hostages are inside the gaza strip, bring them into our control under our consolidated control, and begin to release them as we have been doing with the civilians. but if the war resumes, we will not be able to guarantee the safety of the remaining civilians that you claim are inside gaza, being held by other factions or other palestinians. >> it's such an important thing to watch, as you just outlined. because all of these hostages, as you just explained, are not necessarily with hamas. they could do with these other militant groups, hamas is responsible for negotiating with these groups, it's a very challenging situation. ayman, thank you so much for all of your reporting. also for joining me this afternoon. our breaking news coverage continues after this quick break. congressman eric swalwell is standing by, stay with us. things changed for me. breztri gave me better breathing, symptom improvement, and reduced flare-ups. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri 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[dog barks] no it's just a bunny! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ welcome back. we're continuing to follow breaking news out of israel and gaza. today, 50 days after the october 7th attack, 17 additional hostages were released. including four-year-old american abigail mor edan. joining me now is democratic congressman eric swalwell of california. i want to start, we've all been watching and reading about abigail's story, and just to get your reaction watching these hostages released, and also hearing about her release. >> i'm thrilled that she's with her family and what remaining family she has. she's lost her parents, she spent her fourth birthday in gaza on friday, and i met with her family, i know some of the members of the family, and she's the first american to be released, and so that's a good thing. and with three little kids of my own, you don't want to see any more children in this conflict hurt. >> we were just talking about it, because our kids are similar in ages, just thinking about the older siblings watching their three year old sister hide under the bed, i just can't even imagine that. moments ago, president biden also spoke and he said he hopes the truce can be extended as long as possible. let's just take a quick listen to what he had to say. >> how many days would you like to see the pause go on for? >> i would like to see us move to a point where we are able to -- let me put it this way. i'd like to see the pause go on for as long as prisoners keep coming out. >> there is a lot to weigh here, obviously, because bringing every moment somebody is reunited with their family as a joyful moment, in what has been a very difficult, horrific situation to watch. there's obviously been thousands of casualties, civilian casualties on the ground. what is your hope in terms of how long this truce extends, with the conditions should be? >> every hostage needs to be returned to their family. so i think first, that has to be the priority, including the americans coming home. hamas has to be defeated, can no longer rule over gaza. and israel has a supreme responsibility to protect against the loss of innocent life, and allow humanitarian aid to come in. and also, in a way that we have not seen in the past, to make sure that palestinians and the jewish people can each have a state of their own. and have economic prosperity, and safety. there is nothing easy about this, this is a complex conflict that has raged on for decades. but if the united states is going to be involved, those are expectations that we must have. >> watching the situation on the ground has also been devastating. the loss of civilian life in gaza, the lack of food, water, more trucks are going in, more needs to happen. some of your colleagues have called for conditioning of aid to israel. what do you think of that? >> we should've expectations that israel commits to a two-state solution, that israel does allow humanitarian aid in. but we should support their efforts to defeat hamas. because hamas will continue to bring barbaric attacks against the jewish people, and people in the united states, who they have also declared as their enemy. again, there's nothing easy about this high wire act of defeating hamas, protecting innocent palestinians, and protecting the jewish state. but if you step back, i think you have to be an aggressive listener in the situation, my district has one of the largest muslim american arab populations in the country, and understand the islamophobia that they're experiencing, the family members they have in the conflict, and also to understand that antisemitism is at a peak in this country right now, parents are concerned about their kids being out in the community. you can do all of that, you can say hamas is a terrorist state, you can say israel should protect against innocent life, you can be pro palestinian, anti hamas, and pro jewish state, and against the leadership of israel right now, and not be contradictory. as i say, you have to be an aggressive listener right now, and i think we will all be better off, and the policy would be better if that's the approach we take. >> would you like to see the united states doing more to pressure prime minister netanyahu to take more steps to reduce civilian casualties? >> yes. first, president biden has done that. and i'd also like to step back and think about the heat president biden has taken, and think what the alternative would be? if donald trump was president at this time, can you imagine what the scenario would be in the middle east? it would probably be israel and palestine in a world war three like scenario with iran, hezbollah, and hamas. president biden has not sent a single american into the conflict, and he is now pulling american hostages out of the conflict. we're supporting israel, we're getting aid into the region, so far we've held off other enemies of israel and america, that's why president biden was elected, and that's why i think he needs to be given the room to negotiate what is ultimately the resolution of this conflict. >> congressman eric swalwell, thank you so much. so much to discuss, in a future conversation about congress, about families with different political views, i hope you come back very soon. >> thanks don. >> that does it for me today, we will be back tomorrow night at eight pm eastern what we will bring you updates on all of this and more, and of course we will be back next sunday at noon eastern. stay right where you are, because there's much more breaking news coverage coming up after a quick break on msnbc.