Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Gaza Militants to Release Three Hostages Held for 498 Days; Three Israeli Hostages Now in Red Cross Custody; U.S. vice President Slams European Democracies in Munich Speech; Pope Francis Hospitalized for Bronchitis; Three Hostages Now in IDF Custody; Mt. Etna Displays Nature's Power. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 15, 2025 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[03:00:00]

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- will be released later in the day. This generally happens once these Israeli hostages are back on Israeli soil; 36 of them are serving life sentences and 24 of those will not be allowed to go back to their homes.

They won't be allowed to go back to, for example, the occupied West Bank or Jerusalem. They will be deported. Now in the past weeks, we have seen those individuals that were to be deported being sent to Egypt and then on from there to countries that have agreed to take them.

And we also know that 333 of those being released today are from Gaza. They are individuals who the Israeli military has detained and taken to Israeli facilities and prisons during the war in Gaza.

So since October 7th, 2023, now, just as we will be watching to see the medical and physical condition of the Israeli hostages being released, it will be a similar situation for the Palestinian prisoners.

There have been many accusations from those that have already been released, of mistreatment in Israeli prisons. And we also know that many of those that have been released back to Gaza have made allegations of mistreatment as well. So certainly the physical condition will be looked at. Lynda.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. That is what everyone is watching right now.

And I want to go to our Nic Robertson, who is in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, for more on that.

We know three men, three dual citizens, an Israeli American, an Israeli Russian and an Israeli Argentinian are being released as part of this hostage exchange.

What more can you tell us about them? NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, the Israeli Russian, Sasha Troufanov, 29 years old, was being held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has clearly joined with Hamas today to have a joint release inside of Khan Yunis.

Troufanov was -- worked for Amazon, really seen as sort of the life and soul of every place that he was at. That's according to people who knew him. When he was taken hostage on October 7th, he was shot in both legs; his father was killed, his mother, his grandmother, his girlfriend were taken hostage. They were released in November 2023.

But for him and for the others, 498 days in captivity. And interestingly, we're learning one thing about Sagui Dekel-Chen, the 36 year old American Israeli. His wife, Avital, yesterday posted an image on Instagram of her and their three daughters. The youngest daughter there born while Sagui was in captivity.

And we've learned today that Hamas has presented him with a -- has presented Sagui with a piece of gold to congratulate him for the birth of his youngest daughter. We don't have many details on that but what we do know about him is that his father, Jonathan, campaigned tirelessly in the United States.

Going to the White House, going to the State Department, meeting with U.S. officials relentlessly with others, to try to effect his release. A lot of joy within those families at this moment today.

And the other, Iair Horn, 46 years old, described as the social glue inside kibbutz Nir Oz, kibbutz Nir Oz, very close to the fence with Gaza, really hard hit on October the 7th; 117 of its members either killed or taken hostage. That was more than a quarter of the population of Nir Oz.

Iair Horn, Argentinian Israeli, described as a social glue in the in the community there; ran the pub, brought the community together for different social events. The images you see of him on television here on the large screen, are images of some of those happier and better days.

What everyone here -- and we've said this many times already this morning -- what everyone here is looking to see, that first glimpse, that first image of what the condition is of these three men.

Now Palestinian Islamic Jihad yesterday released video, two videos, actually, of Sasha Troufanov. His family didn't want those videos to be shown. CNN and other broadcasters respect that.

But what you can say by looking at those videos is this is somebody who doesn't appear to be emaciated. Undoubtedly, 498 days in captivity, in desperate and uncertain conditions will leave a mental scar. He'll have the physical scars of those bullet wounds to his legs.

Obviously doctors, when they -- when they greet all three of the men, when they get to the Israeli side, first thing they'll be checking is physical condition. [03:05:08]

But trying to get an early assessment of mental health as well, of course, because that is the hard and difficult part of the recovery. And, of course, that's what the families will be waiting to aid them in.

But there are families here, I have to say today, who -- whose kidnapped relatives are not going to be released today and not going to be released as part of phase one, which has another two weeks to run.

There's another 14 hostages of part of phase one yet to be released, who are still hoping that their loved ones, who are anticipated to be part of the phase two, which isn't really into the negotiation, proper negotiation phase as far as we know so far, will get released.

So there's a lot of uncertainty for all the other families and a lot of trepidation even for those 14 other families, waiting and hoping that their loved ones will be released in the next two weeks.

Part of this phase one, we saw just this week how delicate the balance is, that the whole mechanism, the whole exchange process, the ceasefire process, how delicate it is and how close to potentially breaking down.

President Trump only this week said, if not by noon today, that all the hostages would be released, then all hell will break loose. Now he said. If they're not all released, he said this last night, if they're not all released -- people are cheering.

So this is this is Sasha Troufanov, 29 years old, Russian Israeli, shot in both legs when he was captured. And the crowd here, a big applause. Let's be quiet to listen.

(OFF MIKE COMMENTS)

KINKADE: This is the release of three Israelis held in Gaza for some 498 days. Three hostages now being released; Red Cross vehicles set to take them out of southern Gaza. And Nic Robertson is with us in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv.

And Nic, they look in remarkable condition compared to the hostages released this time last week.

ROBERTSON: They do. I'm looking at it over my shoulder here along with everyone else. And I think the sense you get from the crowd here is, yes, this is a better looking scenario than last weekend.

Applause when they saw Sasha, the first one to be released. But I could see the back of Iair Horn's head there walking up to the stage. Sasha on the right as we're looking at that image behind me. Let's see, Sagui Dekel-Chen, I believe, is standing on the left there, on the stage.

And I can't pick out Iair Horn at the moment. But you're right. They don't appear as emaciated as the three hostages released last week. The music being played here is uplifting. And this is an uplifting moment in the struggle for the families to get their loved ones released.

And it really, I think, represents a sentiment across the country today that this is another positive step in a torrid and terrible journey, a journey that's not over. But this moment is a positive moment.

Now, still in the hands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Israelis waiting for them to be handed over to the Red Cross.

They're expected to get in the Red Cross vehicles to drive out of Gaza, in the Red Cross vehicles and then to be met by the Israeli military, where they will get those inspections with the doctors, where they'll be taken to a nearby location for processing before they'll then be sent on to different hospitals, depending on the family's wishes.

But this is, this is Sagui Dekel-Chen that we're looking at here. No, absolutely not as emaciated as the three hostages last week. I met with Sagui's father, Jonathan, several times over the past 15 or 16 months.

He has -- he has relentlessly, remorselessly tried and pushed and cajoled and had conversations, as all the families have, to win their loved ones, win Sagui's release. You know, Jonathan told me about the work that Sagui did on the kibbutz, that he was repairing buses to help disadvantaged communities around where they live.

He's described as a relatively quiet man, a sportsman, enjoyed baseball, a vibrant member of the community.

[03:10:00]

KINKADE: Nic, if you can just stand by for us in Tel Aviv.

For viewers watching here in the U.S. and around the world, you are looking at the three Israeli hostages being released today as part of this latest round of the ceasefire. Gaza militants releasing three hostages in exchange for 369 Palestinians.

Right now those hostages are speaking. We're not going to take that sound. We're not going to bring that sound to you live, because they may be speaking under duress.

But I do want to welcome in a guest, Amir Tibon, a senior columnist with the Israeli newspaper, "Ha'aretz" and author of the book "The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel's Borderlands."

We appreciate your time. I know you and your family are survived the October 7th Hamas terror attack. And unlike, you had plenty of neighbors, of course, who were killed, who were abducted. Just give us a sense of your feeling today, seeing these three young men being released. AMIR TIBON, "HA'ARETZ" COLUMNIST AND AUTHOR: Well it's a moment of

joy for everybody in Israel and especially for the community of kibbutz Nir Oz, from which these three were kidnapped and for their families.

But it's also a moment of great concern because, while we are celebrating today, the release of these three hostages, we still have 73 hostages left in the hands of Hamas in Gaza. And we don't know what will happen next.

This hostage release deal, which was signed just a month ago after strong pressure from president Trump and his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is now in uncertain territory.

Are we going into the next phase?

Will the other 73 be released?

There are strong forces inside the Israeli government who are pushing against the continuation of the deal. I know it's hard to understand, because you saw the pictures in Tel Aviv now, the joy of the Israeli people celebrating the release of our hostages, the return of our brothers to their families.

How can anyone speak up against it?

And yet we have very powerful politicians in our own government, working day and night to derail this agreement and to make sure that it doesn't continue into the next phase.

And this is going to be a major political battle in Israel in the coming days, to make sure that these pictures continue, that we see more hostages returning to their families and really a path to end this tragedy, to end this painful saga.

And in a way, to end October 7th, because until the last hostage returns to their family, for so many people in Israel, including people like my family and our friends who survived, the date remains October 7th.

KINKADE: And, of course, Amir, just a few days ago, this exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners looked doubtful at best. Hamas said Israel had violated the terms of the ceasefire by not allowing enough aid in terms of shelter and that it would indefinitely suspend the release. A lot of threats followed.

What do you believe put this release back on track?

TIBON: There was a crisis around some specific elements of the ceasefire agreement that Hamas claimed were not being implemented by Israel. And there was a very quick and effective intervention by Mr. Witkoff, by the Qatari and Egyptian governments.

These are basically the mediators in order to resolve this issue and allow the release of these three men today. And that's wonderful news. And we need the people who are committed to this agreement, like Mr. Witkoff, to keep pushing, to keep insisting and to make sure that the deal is implemented until the last hostage returns to their family.

And I want to address very quickly what president Trump said this week, where he said he wants to see all the hostages come out and no small groups of them every few days. I think there is a way to achieve this.

There is a way to get a bigger deal. It demands political courage. It demands a decision to go for one grand deal, all the hostages in one stroke, in return for a certain amount of prisoners and an official end of the Gaza war.

And if president Trump will decide to push for this idea, he will have somewhat of a confrontation with prime minister Netanyahu. But I think he will be able to achieve it.

It's a question of does he actually want to do it?

KINKADE: Right now, we're just looking at pictures of the three Israeli hostages being released from southern Ghana -- Gaza, from Khan Yunis.

[03:15:04]

It is Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36 year old who, whose third daughter was born just a couple of months after he was taken hostage. Sasha Troufanov, whose family members were also taken and released back in November. And, of course, Iair Horn, who was an Israeli Argentinian. His brother is still being held.

And, of course, his brother is not on the list of the 33 hostages set to be released in this first phase of this very fragile ceasefire.

But to you, Amir, your father became an outspoken critic of Netanyahu.

From your perspective and from his, has Netanyahu failed the families of those killed or those still in captivity?

TIBON: Well, I will just say what many of the families are saying. You don't need to ask me. You don't need to ask my family. We have our own story. But let's listen to the hostage families, OK?

Let's listen to the families of those who are not included in the list of phase one of the deal but are expecting their loved ones. And they are saying, loud and clear, the prime minister should not succumb to the fanatics and the extremists in his government and he should not place his political survival above the survival of the hostages.

We need to move along with this agreement and get all the hostages released. This is the top priority of a vast majority of the Israeli public.

And with president Trump in office, Israel will have four years to push for better security conditions in the Middle East, to push for new agreements with important countries in the region like Saudi Arabia. Right now, the only thing that we should rush to do and waste no time

in doing is to release the hostages, because every passing day presents a grave danger to their lives. And by the way, also those who are dead; if we are now going to resume the war, we may lose their bodies and their families will be left forever in doubt with no answers.

(CROSSTALK)

TIBON: The only thing that is urgent is to do this deal and complete it.

KINKADE: We appreciate your time today, Amir Tibon. Thank you very much for joining us.

If viewers are just joining us here in the U.S. and around the world, you're just looking at a vision right now of the Red Cross vehicles with the three Israeli hostages that have been held in Gaza for some 498 days, finally able to leave Gaza and head back to Israel.

I want to return now to our Nic Robertson, who is in Tel Aviv; Paula Hancocks, who is in Abu Dhabi.

And Nic, to you, these Red Cross vehicles have picked up these three hostages, who certainly look -- they seem at least in a better condition than the three released last weekend.

Where will these vehicles head?

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ROBERTSON: They'll head to an exit point out of Gaza, where they'll be handed over to the IDF. I have to say, yes, Iair Horn, the 46 year old Argentinian Israeli, he looked as if he had lost some weight. I mean, if you compared the pictures to before, if you will and the after, he has lost weight.

Less so, perhaps the other two. But a huge cheer here in Hostage Square, when the three of them got inside the Red Cross vehicles, because that really does formalize, if you will, the end of their captivity in the hands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

They're now in the hands of the Red Cross. They're now on their way out. They're not on Israeli soil, if you will. Yet they're not in the hands of the IDF yet of Israeli authorities there with the Red Cross.

But it formalizes the end of their captivity. And this long path to recovery and a relatively short path to be in the arms of their loved ones, really, is now underway. And as we've seen in previous weekends and other days when there have been releases, this will happen in fairly fast pace.

The images that will accompany it take a little bit longer. But very soon they will be outside of Gaza. They will be handed over formally by the Red Cross to the IDF, doctors checks and taken for processing before they then go on to hospital facilities and begin that process of medical, physical, spiritual and mental recovery, if you will.

KINKADE: Yes. No doubt a long recovery for these three young men returning now to Israel.

Paula Hancocks, if you're with us in Abu Dhabi, I want to go to you because we're looking at those pictures of the stage.

[03:20:00]

Where these Israeli hostages are -- were brought before being released. And, of course, just in the last couple of weeks, we've had Donald Trump speaking about taking control of the Gaza Strip, saying that the U.S. will own it.

The Hamas soldiers and the militants there in Gaza certainly look in control of the situation, having recruited more soldiers. And they had a sign behind them, a big banner in English, Arabic and Hebrew. It said "No migration except to Jerusalem."

It certainly doesn't seem like they would be willing to leave their homeland. Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not. And any Palestinian that we have spoken to within Gaza as well has said that it's simply not an option. I mean, it was as clear a response from Hamas that, to the U.S. president, that you could see when they had that poster saying, "No migration except to Jerusalem."

Directly negating what the U.S. president said, that he believed that the solution was to displace the Palestinians in Gaza, to rebuild Gaza, to make it the Riviera of the Middle East, as he put it.

And then has said a number of times that he does not foresee Palestinians being allowed back to Gaza but they would be settled elsewhere.

Now this across the board, whether you're speaking to a militant, a civilian, this has been rejected in Gaza. It has also been widely rejected across the Arab region. We have heard from many within the Middle East, the leaders themselves, that this is simply not something that is acceptable.

Saudi Arabia, the country that that the U.S. president wants to woo, to be able to try and normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, was one of the first to respond after president Trump said this, saying that the only option is a two state solution.

The option of Palestinian statehood has to be the way forward. So this has been very clearly rejected, inside Gaza and across the region at large.

But to your to your other point, Lynda, Yes, Hamas looks very much in control today.

This is what we have seen and what we have discussed as well in recent weeks with the prisoner, the hostage releases as well, that the Hamas -- and on this particular occasion and in the past -- alongside another militant group, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are very much in control. They're controlling the crowds.

They are the ones that are talking to the International Red Cross. You have a member of Hamas, is the person on stage with the Red Cross, signing the documents, which officially appear to be the declaration that these hostages will be released.

And they're very clear in the message that they are sending. We also see in these pictures, some of the weapons they are holding are Israeli weapons, clearly having been taken in the -- either in the heat of battle or they have been left behind.

But they are showing that there is one power that is in control in Gaza at this point. These are not the they're not the images that the Israeli government will want to be seeing. We have heard repeatedly from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Hamas has to be completely destroyed. That is his stated war goal.

And it has been really, since day one, every time there is a hostage release, it is very clear that that stated goal has not been accomplished.

Now, of course, we have to preface this with -- we are just seeing one small pocket of Gaza. We're seeing one small pocket of Khan Yunis in the south of Gaza. We can't say whether this is the case across the whole of the Gaza Strip.

But certainly when it comes to these hostage releases, Hamas is very much in control. And that is the image, the message that they are sending across the world.

KINKADE: Yes. As you say, that stated goal of Benjamin Netanyahu to destroy Hamas, it doesn't seem to have happened after 15 months of war.

And Nic Robertson, we know these three trucks, these vehicles, these Red Cross vehicles are now making their way across the border to Israel to be handed over into the custody of the IDF.

What happens after that?

ROBERTSON: Lynda, if you're if you're speaking to me, what happens after that, they will get immediately medical checks from IDF doctors. And this will be the first opportunity that the Israeli authorities have to see the actual condition that these three men are in.

[03:25:04]

They will then be taken to a nearby base for further processing. It could be there that they get the opportunity to meet some family members before they are then taken on to hospitals.

The families have an opportunity to sort of decide whether with authorities which hospitals they should go to. So they will then go to hospitals. They may not all go to the same hospital together. But the beginning of this process is really the first time that they

will get to talk to other Israelis face to face. For 498 days, the first time that officials will begin to learn of their condition, of perhaps trying to glean a little more information about if they've come in contact with other hostages.

What other useful information might they have?

But it's the first opportunity for the three, for these three men, to feel that they are safe. And that's a feeling that it will take likely a long, long time to become real because of the stark contrast.

This is what we've heard from the other hostages who have been released. They've talked about the dire and desperate and difficult and awful conditions that they were kept in.

We heard just yesterday from Keith Siegel (ph), who spoke about, when the, you know, when the war was at its at its peak, when the tensions were at their highest, he said that's when, as hostages, they were being treated the worst.

And he paid a lot of tribute to president Trump for what president Trump has done and, in his view, to bring about this current ceasefire, to bring about the hostage deal. A lot of pressure being put on president Trump to weigh in more, to get more and all the other hostages home.

And I think that, as your guest was mentioning earlier, that's going to become a stronger and growing theme that we'll hear. We don't know if we'll hear it from these hostages. We don't know when these three hostages will actually make any public pronouncements.

Typically, hostages waiting a number of days, weeks, even; some obviously still silent, each one going through, their own trauma and their own reconnection with their family and reconnecting to their lives, reconnecting to everything that has happened, reconnecting to news that they weren't aware of.

One of the hostages last week, for example, came back to learn of the loss of wife and others in his family. Itan (ph), Iair Horn, still captive.

Does he know that?

That's something that he may be finding out fairly soon.

KINKADE: Yes. And of course, Sagui Dekel-Chen, his third daughter, born two months after he was taken captive. So certainly, a lot in terms of the reunions we'll see between these three hostages and their families in the coming days.

But right now, we're going to take a quick break. Our thanks to Nic Robertson in Tel Aviv, Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. Just stand by for us.

We'll have much more on the three Israeli hostages that have been released from Gaza in just a moment. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

KINKADE: Welcome back. An update now on this hour's breaking news. The Red Cross is taking three Israeli hostages to the Israeli military. From there, they'll be taken back to Israel to be reunited with their loved ones.

Hamas and the group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, released this just a short time ago. The three men appearing to be in better health than the three hostages released last weekend, whose condition drew condemnation from Israeli officials.

In exchange for these three Israelis, we understand that 369 Palestinians are currently being held in Israel, will be released. Stay with CNN for more on this breaking news throughout the hour.

Well, U.S. vice president JD Vance is back home on the heels of his bruising speech at the Munich Security Conference on Friday. He laid into European allies, accusing them of backsliding on democracy and restricting basic freedoms.

Germany's defense minister is calling the accusations "unacceptable." Vance also met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who made it clear that Kyiv needs security guarantees in any future peace deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Well, we're thankful for American support. President Trump, we have good conversation today. Our first meeting, not last I'm sure. And really what we need to speak more, to work more and to prepare the plan, how to stop Putin and finish the war.

We want -- really we want peace very much. But we need real security guarantees and we will continue our meetings and our work. And we will be very happy to see General Kalikovsan (ph) in Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: In his criticism of Europe, Vance didn't mention the real autocrats, like the leaders in Russia and Belarus. But he said this about European Democracies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe deeply that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions and the conscience that guide your very own people. Europe faces many challenges but the crisis this continent faces right

now, the crisis I believe we all face together, is one of our own making.

[03:35:00]

If you're running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is in Moscow with Russia's reaction to what they are hearing from the Trump administration on Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Russians also seem to be trying to figure out what exactly to make of the Trump administration.

A couple of days after what the Russians deemed to be a very successful phone call between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin, essentially paving the way for possible peace talks to try and end the war in Ukraine but also for a possible direct meeting between Putin and Trump in a third country.

The Russians now hearing from JD Vance, the U.S. vice president.

In an interview with "The Wall Street Journal," essentially threatening the Russians that, if they don't sign on to a peace deal, that the U.S. would have both economic and military levers at its disposal to try and get the Russians to come to the negotiating table and to get to some sort of agreement.

Now I texted the spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, about all this and he texted back that he was hoping and the Russians were hoping to clarify everything through direct contacts; meaning, obviously, the Russians want to get in direct contact with the Trump administration.

Now that is, of course, already happening. The Russians are saying they're already trying to put together and putting together teams for possible negotiations for an end to the war in Ukraine.

But the main thing for the Russians, the first thing that they want to achieve, they say, is a direct face to face meeting between president Vladimir Putin of Russia and the U.S. president, Donald Trump.

Now we heard from the Trump administration that they believe that such a meeting could take place in Saudi Arabia. The Russians have not yet confirmed that. But they are saying that they are already putting teams together to try and set something like that in motion.

And the spokesman for the Kremlin also said that he believes that a meeting like that could take place within a matter of weeks at most, within a matter of a few months.

Now the Russians are cautioning, though, that any sort of way to an end to the war in Ukraine might not be as easy, as president Trump may have let on before taking office and shortly after taking office. The Russians are saying that there are a lot of issues for them, that they simply will not budge from.

One of the ones -- and this was also set out by the Kremlin spokesman -- is the territory that Ukraine currently holds inside of Russia, in the Kursk region, where the Russians are saying they want to militarily oust the Ukrainians from that territory. They do not want that to be part of negotiations going forward.

And then, of course, there is also the question of all the territory that the Russians hold inside of Ukraine and the question of possible Ukrainian NATO membership in the future.

Of course, there again, we've heard mixed messages coming from the Trump administration, some Trump officials saying they do not believe that Ukraine will be a part of NATO. Others saying that it is something that might happen in the future. The Russians certainly also wanting to clarify that -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, Pope Francis was admitted to hospital Friday. The pontiff has been suffering from bronchitis and is now undergoing treatment and tests. Joining us live for more on this is CNN's Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb.

Good to have you with us, Christopher. So the pontiff is 88 years old. Before going to hospital, he did hold audiences at the Vatican on Friday.

What can you tell us about his condition right now?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Pope Francis has been hospitalized at the Gemelli Hospital behind me in Rome. He has been suffering from bronchitis for several days and he's clearly got a severe case of it.

And that's why this hospitalization happened yesterday. Despite having this infection, he has been keeping up a hectic schedule of events and meetings, as you mentioned. And I actually met him yesterday, when he received Mark Thompson, the CEO of CNN, in a private audience in the Vatican, just before being hospitalized.

To me, the pope was clearly struggling to speak for long periods due to his breathing difficulties. But mentally he seemed very alert. Now last night, the Vatican gave an update on the pontiff's condition. They said that he has a respiratory tract infection and a slight fever but generally his condition is fair.

The Vatican spokesman added that the pope is in good spirits and has been reading some newspapers. But obviously it is a concern because the pope has shown vulnerability to these respiratory infections in the past.

He was hospitalized in 2023 with bronchitis and, as a young man, had part of his right lung removed.

Now Francis is on the 10th floor behind me, where there's a special suite of rooms for treatment and tests and he will be there, at least for the forthcoming days, because the Vatican has said that his meetings for today, Sunday and Monday have all been canceled.

[03:40:05]

We're waiting for further updates from the Vatican later today. Lynda.

KINKADE: All right. Christopher Lamb, we will check in with you later in the day. Thanks so much for that update from Rome.

And we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll have the latest on the three Israeli hostages just released by Hamas. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

KINKADE: An update on this hour's breaking news. The Israeli military now has the three former hostages, released in Gaza a short time ago. They'll be heading to Israel to be reunited with their loved ones.

[03:45:00]

The three men appeared to be in better health than the three hostages released last weekend, whose condition drew condemnation from Israeli officials. Well, in exchange for the three men today, Israel is set to release some 369 Palestinians that it's currently holding prisoner.

Well, stay with CNN. We've got updates on this right now. I want to welcome back CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson, who's live for us in Tel Aviv, and our Paula Hancocks, who's live for us in Abu Dhabi.

Good to have you back with us. And, Nic, I want to start with you, because we are seeing some reaction from family members of those three young men, including 36 year old father of Sagui Dekel-Chen, this 36 year old man, who's -- his third daughter was born just a couple of months after he was taken hostage.

No doubt for these families, Nic, absolute joy and also relief.

ROBERTSON: Yes. Avital, Sagui's wife, you know, talked to her and the communities talked about how much time he spent with his kids, teaching them to swim, teaching them about farming, teaching them about all sorts of things, making a lot of time for them in his life.

And, of course, another daughter now to pick up in that embrace, that was so abruptly torn apart October 7th, 2023. There was an image that Avital posted on Instagram yesterday of her with the three daughters, waiting for Sagui to come back.

Now we know that he and Iair Horn, who, by the way, appears to have lost a lot of weight, and Sasha Troufanov have now been handed over to the IDF. So officially in Israeli hands, getting medical checks, on their way to the next phase of processing, on the way to the first phase of reconnecting with their families.

Very emotional day for those families. And quite an emotional time here as well in Hostage Square. Huge cheers going up when the three first appeared, brought out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

And then cheers even when the Red Cross cars showed up. Cheers when they got in the Red Cross vehicles. Huge cheers when it was announced that they'd been handed over to the IDF.

And on the big screens there, as well as you were saying, gatherings, some of Sagui's friends were gathered in a room there, waiting to celebrate his return, celebrations beginning in earnest now for them. They can really get underway with that.

And we understand as well from the families' forum that that some of the community will be going back to the pub in Nir Oz that Iair Horn, the 46 year old Argentinian Israeli, was running, the social glue of Nir Oz.

But to give you a sense of how smashed apart that glue, that social fabric of Nir Oz, the kibbutz that the three came from, close to the fence with Gaza; 117 members either murdered or taken hostage; 76 taken hostage. That was the biggest number of hostages taken from any kibbutz.

Now the majority have been returned; not all of them. Etan (ph) that's Iair's brother, is still held captive. But friends will be going to the pub in Nir Oz today to celebrate Iair's release because he ran the pub here.

That was part of the social glue, organizing social events and keeping, bringing the community together, a community of little more than 400 people, shattered, of course, by October 7th, decimated by October 7th.

But in a small way, today, getting three pieces of that community back to help ease a little bit of the pain and help a little bit of their rebuilding and beginning again. But, of course, so many in that community not coming back and lost.

And that will be reflected what -- when they meet each other again as well, because there will be stories to be shared that these three captives will not know about. They will not know how the others in the kibbutz fared. They will not know the number, 76 taken hostage.

They will not know, 117 murdered or taken hostage. So all of that part of their -- part of their rehabilitation, if you will. KINKADE: Yes. And certainly a bittersweet for Iair Horn, whose

brother, of course, is still being held in captivity in Gaza. Thanks to you, Nic.

I want to go to you, Paula, because, there's going to be reunions for Palestinians as well, right?

In exchange for these three Israeli hostages, some 369 Palestinians will be released from Israel, Israeli jails.

[03:50:00]

What can you tell us about those?

HANCOCKS: Yes. So, Lynda, this will happen later today. Traditionally over the recent weeks, it has been a number of hours before this takes place.

But what we'll see today is 369 Palestinian prisoners, as you say, they are the names on the lists given to us by both the Palestinian prisoner society and also by the Israeli side.

Now of those, 333 are from Gaza. These are individuals, we understand, that were detained by the Israeli military during the war. So since October 7th, they were detained in Gaza and then brought to Israeli facilities, Israeli prisons.

So 333 will be released into Gaza. We understand of the total number as well, that some 36 are serving life sentences.

Now not all of those will be going back to their families. In fact, 24 of them, we understand, will be exiled, meaning that they can't go back to where they have come from, Israel deeming them too dangerous to be able to release them back into the occupied West Bank or into East Jerusalem, for example.

Now in recent weeks, we have seen those to be exiled were sent to Egypt. And then from that point, there were other countries that had agreed to take them, to agree to house them and they were then moved on from there.

So this will also be an emotional time for some Palestinian families later today, although we have consistently heard from the Israeli authorities that they do not want to see scenes of celebration, of jubilation outside prisons that are releasing these prisoners.

In fact, we have seen many scenes of tension between the Israeli military, the police and those families in recent weeks. Lynda.

KINKADE: All right. Paula Hancocks for us in Abu Dhabi. And our Nic Robertson in Tel Aviv. Good to have you both on this breaking news story, three Israeli hostages now back in the hands of the IDF. Thanks very much.

Well, sources say more than 300 workers who managed America's nuclear stockpile were fired, fired on Thursday amid president Donald Trump's efforts to shrink the federal workforce.

Four sources telling CNN that officials did not seem to know that the national Nuclear Security Administration oversees the country's nuclear weapons. The terminations were reversed Friday morning after members of Congress raised concerns.

An Energy Department spokesperson disputed the number of people affected, telling CNN, quote, "less (sic) than 50 people were dismissed."

President Trump also fired thousands of probationary workers on Thursday, who have typically been employed for less than a year. This is a list of some of the agencies targeted. We'll have much more on this in the coming hour.

Well, a close encounter in the waters off the coast of Chile, when a kayaker near southern Patagonia was suddenly swallowed by a humpback whale.

Adrian Simancas was dragged beneath the surface for several seconds before the whale spat him back out. Well, the video was captured by his father, who helped him to safety. Soon after, he reemerged. Humpbacks are carnivores that eat small sea creatures like krill but not large mammals. This is Adrian's take on that encounter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIAN SIMANCAS, KAYAKER: When I turn around, I saw some blue dark colors and white flashing right through my face. And I felt a slimy texture in my cheek. And then it shut down on me and took me underwater.

I closed my eyes because I thought that something would crash into my face. It was like one second of that strange feeling, where I thought that I was already eaten by some kind of giant fish. But then I started to feel my water vest that was pulling me outside of the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Certainly a lucky escape. And despite getting a little too close for comfort, when the father and son were asked if they would go kayaking again, without hesitation, they both said, of course.

Well, Mount Etna delivered a show stopping performance. The volcano erupted Friday, spewing fiery lava from a newly active crater. Footage captured a closeup view of the volcano in action, as several earthquakes were felt throughout Sicily.

[03:55:00]

Mount Etna boasts the longest documented history of volcanic activity known to science. It dates back to 425 B.C.

Well, thanks for joining us for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. We'll have much more on the release of those three Israeli hostages from Gaza when Ivan Watson picks up our coverage from Hong Kong after this short break. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.