Language] is what it is in hebrew. A few nights ago, here a young canadian pianist named kevin chan served up some of that hope at a concert at new york citys carnegie hall. He surprised the audience with a performance of this song. Israels official account on social media shared the footage online, Thanking Chan for playing that. I want to thank you so much for joining us on this busy night here. We will be back tomorrow night, of course,. Cnn news night with abby phillip starts right now. New signs there is growing daylight between the u. S. And israel on this war, as the clock ticks on the lives of dozens of hostages in millions of civilians. Thats tonight on news night. And good evening, im abby philip. Two more female hostages are now free tonight after being released by hamas. Both are israeli citizens. Two women, 79 and 85 years old, are now at a hospital in tel aviv after being handed over at the rafah crossing. You will hear from one of their daughters in a moment. But first, cnn is reporting that the u. S. Has been pressing israel to delay its invasion of gaza to allow for the release of even more hostages. And there are some signs that israel is getting impatient. Airstrikes have grown, troops have been massed at the border for a week now, and verbal warnings of an impending assault from the, quote, air, round, and cer multiplying as these days go by. And israel, which denied being asked by the u. S. For a delay says it is not considering any kind of ceasefire. And there are more signs of the Biden Administration has concerns. U. S. Intelligence shows that iranianbacked militias already to ramp up their attacks against u. S. Forces in the middle east. On official telling cnn that red lights are flashing everywhere. And this apparent tension over a Ground Invasion is nowhere they, as we learn that the u. S. Has rushed unamerican Three Star General an expert in Urban Warfare to help the israelis. While the general may be able to advise on how to avoid civilian casualties, in a region that is already it does raise some risks the appearance that may very well be the reality that the u. S. Is linked to the israeli operation, no matter how it goes. And at the center of all of this, of course are the hostages. Here is the daughter of one of the ones that was released, speaking with anderson cooper. When you heard the news, it went through your mind . [laughter] its impossible to describe. My mother, i think she had a good smile, i dont know. Im so delighted, but my heart is with you know, this is a small ray of light in a big story that is still unfolding. My sister is there. There are so many other people, we are waiting for news about everybody. My heart is with all my friends and loved ones and Everybody Else that are still a hostage. I think that this is a great sign that we are moving in the right direction. Lets great straight to anderson cooper, whos on the ground in tel aviv. Anderson, what more have we learned tonight about these two hostages who have now been released by hamas . Yeah, lipschitz, who is 85 years old, and cooper, no relation to mean, whose 79 years old, both were released earlier, going across the Southern Border Into Egypt when they were eventually brought into israel. Both are in a hospital here in tel aviv. I spoke to miss lipschitz daughter who is heading from an airport, i think i talked to illinois about to board a plane at heathrow airport, she is flying here. She is obviously overjoyed. I also spoke to yocheveds Grandson Daniel, who came down from basically the kibbutz where these two were kidnapped from. Lifshitz was one of the founders back in 1957 with their husband, that kibbutz, there is a huge slaughter there of the people that were living their. About a quarter of them are either dead or missing. Many of them had been kidnapped. They are still nine founding bodies of some of them. Those who have survived have been relocated to theres a lot of happiness in this Hotel Tonight because theyre alive, and thats where the family and their Grandson Daniel was. He flew here to tel aviv to see is family there. He said great, they didnt go into a lot of details with her about the nature of our captivity or what she may have seen. But for the family members, and frankly, for everybody here, theres a lot of focus obviously on both of their husbands of the women who are still being held, along with more than 200, there is about 218 right now believed hostages currently being held, very young children, more elderly people, people who have severe lifethreatening injuries and wounds, people who need medication. There is an urgent call for all of the hostages to be released. That of course is all in the hands of hamas. Yeah, and it still remains unknown really what methodology theyre using to decide who they release and who they do not. And just on that note, i mean, there are so many other families, hundreds, really, that are still waiting for any news of their loved ones who are believed to be in captivity. And you actually spoke to one of them. What they say . I did. This is an american couple, john poland and reach troll goldberg, was kidnapped, he was at the supernova music festival. He was hiding in a shelter at 28 other people. Hamas came along, they threw in multiple grenades into the shelter. Many people in that shelter died. Hersh, who is 23, an american, he had his left hand part of his left arm blown off. And there is video, which i was able to get to the family last week, that actually shows him being looted by hamas planted into a pick up truck, along with three other hostages, all of whom seem to have had very serious injuries, and being taken away. His status is unknown. But that family has been very outspoken about the urgent need to free all these hostages, and particularly those who are wounded, those who have lifethreatening conditions. Seeing that video in general gave us a dose of optimism. As horrible as it is for a parent to see your kid under gunpoint being pushed with one arm, the composure with which hes walking on his own legs, pulling himself with his one week hand, hes a lefty, and his left arm is blown, off peninsula this one we cant onto the truck, gave me a real dose of strength that is handling a horrible situation. And hes doing it with composure. I, mean were saying he walked out calmly, which he did, but i think it was for shock. That video that theyre talking about is a video i actually had been shown by a soldier here about a week ago. And while i was interviewing that couple about a week ago live on television, i realize as they were talking with the injury their son had, i realized i had seen this video and i had it in my possession that they had never seen before, they had no proof of life for him. So is able to get them that video, send it to them. But and its given them a little bit of hope because it is evidence that he was alive with that injury, got in the vehicle, they still do not know what is current status is. Wow, thats really incredible. Anderson, thank you for sharing that with us and thank you for being there. Thanks, abby. Two hostages freed tonight but the families of hundreds of others are waiting desperately for news about their loved ones and hoping that they will be the next to come home. With me now is his family lives in Kibbutz Barrie and he recently found out that his sister did not survive the attack by hamas militants. A hall, thank you so much for being here. When we last spoke, you had so much hope for your sister and your family, im so so worried here about your loss. How are you holding up tonight . So im now back in israel with my family. I think its extremely just extremely sad, a lot of pain, grieving, such a beautiful person, you know, killed for, i dont know, being jewish, being an israeli, just very sad. We yeah, so, please. No, and theres nothing to be sorry about. Im so sorry to hear that. I wonder, have you been able to get any information about what happened to her and her family . She seems to have been separated for her from her husband anything nephew. What do you know about what happened there . You know, so we know nothing, really. So we just know that but 180 bodies bullet of kibbutz beeri, where i grew up, where my dad and other sister lived. And they were just put in a bag, and then being identified. And now, she is dead. And you know, i if i may, i wanted to talk about something that goes over and above my own grief and pain and the pain of my family and for the experience here in israel. You know, i think what happened here with hamas and this evil terrorist organization doesnt just hijack israel ladies, they also hijacked the palestinian cause. And i think this does tremendous disservice to this cause because now calls for free palestine, from the river to the, seek become slogans like [speaking in a nonenglish language] which means murder the, because they all now behind this evil i. S. I. S. Like, National Socialist like organization, and theres the ones who want to free palestine. So i think palestine must separate themselves from this organization because and them and the progressive putting themselves behind this evil in away makes them in a way accomplice to all this. And also, i dont think this serves the purpose of getting the state funding, i really dont. And i really hope the death of my sister and applying to what im going through, not just, me many others here with the same situation as me, looking for loved ones, and really dont know what is the situation, husband and two kids, i still consider to be captured. And theres a tremendous avoid that one has it when you have no information of the people that you love, its very difficult. Yeah, you made such an interesting point, and i think thats your perspective, you know, as it relates to the Palestinian People. I do wonder, i mean, the rest your sisters family could very well be in gaza right now. And you have concerns about their safety if there is a Ground Invasion . You are a former navy seal, a Ground Invasion that could involve street by street combat, Urban Warfare. Are you worried for them . Of course im worried. But you know, i think i believe there is a chance that if there is a Ground Invasion, they will be released by the israeli army. And i think in the bigger picture, the dismantling of hamas and the destruction of this evil Islamic Radical organization should not be hindered by the plight of the hostages to be a parallel thing. Give some time now, because theres some chance, maybe people with u. S. Citizenship, maybe children, maybe mothers, maybe babies will be released, because they took all of them hostages. And then after this, you know, you need to do something about this concept or it will kill us. So its difficult. But i dont think that you should forever hold a Ground Invasion, whatever it takes to dismantle this i. S. I. S. Level organization. And you see this deal with it as well, and parallel to trying to get of the hostages. Thats my view. All right, thats really an interesting perspective. And we appreciate you joining us again and sharing that with us. And we continue to hope with you for the rest of your family, ahal, besorai, think you so much. Thank you, abby, thank you. And up next, the red lights are flashing everywhere. The new u. S. Intel that shows iranianbacked militias are ready to attack u. S. Interests. Plus, i will speak with a former Army Special Operations member about the challenges of saving those hostages we are just talking about. And former President Obama is now speaking out on this crisis, warning israel how revenge could it backfire. Tonight, two more hostages are safely out of gaza, but far outside of the borders of gaza tensions are boiling in the region with new warnings over iranianbacked groups preparing for attacks against u. S. Forces in the region. And joining now is alec pizzas, hes a former member of the Army Special Operations unit. Alex, you are really excellent person to talk to about a whole host of things happening there. I want to start with the hostages because weve seen two americans released, now two israelis. Clearly hamas is seeing some kind of strategic advantage here in releasing the hostages. What is it, in your mind . I have responsibility for Hostage Rescue Operations and policy at the pentagon of this is by far the most complicated Hostage Policy or of Stooge Operation of a scene. There are 200 people in tunnels, where they are located, different groups trying to do simultaneous rescues is going to be extremely difficult which is why were seeing negotiations. So, the drip of two people out, to people out a think it benefits hamas. One, the longer they drag this out more focus is on the humanitarian conditions in gaza as opposed to what happened with 14 other people were murdered. One other thing that were learning is that these hostages were released out of the rafah crossing, right around here. Right in the south of gaza. So, just a couple of things. We already understand, im gonna go this other map here, this is northern gaza, this is where the israelis have said evacuate because going to be active in this area. This is raw fall down here, does that have a sense of where the hostages might have been, where they might have traveled to, anything like that . Sure, most of the other crossings are closed. The main crossing right now, that will be in egypt, would be rafah. So, the israelis have asked this citizens of northern gaza, gaza city to move south of the green line that youve drawn there. So thats about 1. 1 million people, or have the population, so gaza itself is like an and farms. Or somewhere between 15 to 100, not just tunnels, but Tunnel Complexes under the ground. So the hostages are dispersed all over the place. One of the other factors in this is the risk of regional escalation. The u. S. Now saying that they are seeing real activity from iranbacked militias all around the region. That has a lot of people worried. When you look at this map, this is a map of israels, they like to say a very dangerous neighborhood right here. So, when you look at this, what do you see are the risks here for escalation . Sure, there are a number of risks for escalation. Right now, hamas is sponsored by iran in terms of being a proxy force. Iran has sponsored a number of proxies in the regions for a number of years. I myself at the battle of city in 2008 against the she about her militias. So they backed the militias in iraq, syria, and then Southern Lebanon with hezbollah. So its known as the shia crescent. Basically tehran basically controls policy to tehran, damascus, baghdad, to the Southern Lebanon and where the saudis and riots had fought of proxy war for quite some time. Each of those represent a particular risk and the iranians early on in the conflict it stated that if they were to be attacked directly they would respond with proxies from these locations. So weve seen in the last couple of days, weve seen two strategic Ballistic Missile launches by the rebels in yemen that had to be taken down. This is down . Here exactly, by u. S. Navy ships that were bringing missiles down. And u. S. Bases in iraq and syria, which is a message from the iranians. This is what were showing up here. This has been a really active area here and it has gone from a question of whether this attack down here was something that was perhaps coincidental, now were seeing more attacks happening in the region. It is looking not coincidental at all, but more plant. Youre entirely right. Given the timing, all within a matter of hours one another, and particularly the missiles in yemen. We havent seen Ballistic Missile launches like that and theres no way that the Strategic Asset would be authorized, even if its just iran saying, and guys, im fine with you guys doing what you, want theres at least sometimes of tested permission from the iranians if not a coordinated message from the we can reach out and touch whenever you want and if this Ground Incursion goes forward thats the risk that youve been. Its a jurors earns message from the iranians. Similar to the u. S. Handling more firepower into the region as well. Alex plitsas, thank you so much for joining us on all of that. And former President Obama now has a new warning for israel as it threatens a Ground Incursion and also a plea to americans about of the dialogue around this war. Plus, fans reportedly walking out of Dave Chappelles show after the comedian criticized israel. One democratic lawmaker called it a week answer and tonight the white house is clarifying its messaging around the rise of antisemitism following this afternoons press briefing, when initially asked by cnns mj lee about the president s level of concern, specifically about threats against the jewish community, the White House Press secretary said this. Look, we have not seen any Credible Threats. I know there have all these questions about Credible Threats and so i just want to make sure that that is out there. But look, muslims and those perceived to be muslim have endured a disproportionate number of Hate Field Tack and certainly President Biden understands that many of our muslim arab americans, and palestinian loved ones and neighbors are worried about their hate being directed at their communities. Now, there was a lot of criticism for that response to a question that started about antisemitism. Her answer was focused, instead, on antimuslim rhetoric. Now, secretary, press secretary Karine Jeanpierre has since posted