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The Amanpour Hour

Interview With Nobel Prize Laureate And Venezuelan Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado; Interview With Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty; Underpaid, Overworked Abused: Guatemala's Garment Workers; Interview With Historian Thant Myint-U; Courageous Leadership Needed In Middle East Post Ceasefire; Sumo Stars In London. Aired 11a- 12p ET

Aired October 18, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:42]

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to THE AMANPOUR HOUR. And here's where we're headed this week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: As President Trump ramps up military pressure on Venezuela, the country's opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner tells me why she wants an American intervention in her country.

MARIA CORINA MACHADO, NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER AND VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER: Venezuela will be free.

AMANPOUR: Plus, what's next for the Middle East? The Egyptian foreign minister, who helped broker the ceasefire, sees real hope amid the many obstacles ahead.

Also ahead, CNN's in-depth investigation into the brutal conditions inside Guatemala's garment factories.

Plus, the grandson of former U.N. Secretary-General U Thant on his legacy when the U.N. really was a peacemaker.

And from my archives, the late Israeli president, Shimon Peres, on the courage and compromise it takes to forge a lasting solution in the Middle East.

And finally to the sumo warriors, a slamming sensation as Japan's serious heavyweights take over London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Welcome to the program, everyone. I'm Christiane Amanpour in London.

In the same week he brings a ceasefire and plans for permanent peace to the Middle East, is President Donald Trump also preparing for war in his own backyard? He ended the week authorizing CIA action within Venezuela to target

the drug trade and the flow of illegal migrants. This as the U.S. continues blowing up boats off Venezuela's coast with a strike that killed six on Tuesday. Trump has also floated targeting cartels with strikes on land.

So far, though, he stopped just short of saying the United States is pushing for regime change. But that is what Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, fears.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): No to regime change which reminds us so much of the endless failed wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and so on.

No to CIA-orchestrated coup d'etat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: But our first guest, the Venezuelan opposition leader and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Maria Corina Machado, supports Trump's military intervention against what both called Maduro's narco terrorist state.

Indeed, in a phone call, she dedicated her Nobel to President Trump for supporting the Venezuelan cause for democracy, she says. Here is our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Maria Corina Machado, welcome.

MACHADO: Thank you very much.

AMANPOUR: So, how do you feel? Because you have been toiling for all these years in danger, you know, to try to change the system in Venezuela. How do you feel about this moment?

MACHADO: Well, we are very honored, grateful and excited because it's a recognition for a whole society that over 26 years has worked tirelessly, has struggled and has suffered much, much harm from a tyranny that it's not a conventional dictatorship, it is a criminal structure, a narco-terrorist structure that has taken over our country, our institutions, our resources; that has brought poverty intentionally; the largest migration crisis in the world. A third of our population has been forced to flee.

And, Christiane, so, we have done great things together. We have worked civically. We won an election last year, a presidential election, even though it was in very unfair, extreme conditions.

And this is a confirmation that the world is supporting the cause for democracy and freedom in our region.

AMANPOUR: And Maduro called you -- what did he call you -- a demonic witch when he heard about you being awarded this. You call him soulless. Do you think they dare to hurt you?

MACHADO: Oh, yes, I do. They are there. They would dare to do anything to stay in power.

But at the end, as we speak, he's more isolated than ever, not only locally. I mean, internally.

[11:04:50]

MACHADO: Even -- he doesn't even trust the armed forces or the police. This crazy idea, which is all fake about, you know, arming militias is because he doesn't trust the military.

AMANPOUR: As you know, and you've talked about it, you just called him the top of a terror -- a narco terrorist state. And so, does the Trump administration call it a narco terrorist state led by a narco terrorist regime.

And they have now done their fifth attack on a boat, which they call a drug boat. There is a huge amount of thought that this is not so much about drugs, maybe, but about regime change. And you yourself have welcomed this U.S. military intervention.

So, walk us through that. Why do you want your country's future to be decided by U.S. military intervention?

MACHADO: Well, first of all, regime change was already mandated in absolutely unfair conditions that we won. People used to tell me that I was crazy, that it was absolutely impossible to win with those conditions.

We built a legion of over one million volunteers. We had no money. We had no media, no one dared to speak. We had no international support whatsoever.

And then Maduro decided to declare war on the Venezuelan people -- war. He -- we didn't want this war. He started that war. And we need the help of the president of the United States to stop this war because it is about human lives. When we totally support it and actually, we're asking other countries in the Caribbean, in Latin America, in Europe to join that international coalition.

AMANPOUR: Now, here's the thing. I'm confused about your relationship with the Trump administration. On the one hand, you welcomed this action. On the other hand, you dedicated your prize to him for his support of your cause.

Have you spoken to President Trump about this? I mean, tell me why you dedicate yours to him.

MACHADO: Oh, because it's absolutely fair. And that's what the Venezuelan people feel. We're getting finally a leadership that is addressing this tragic situation in Venezuela that has been evolving for 26 years, as it should.

We have been asked that this criminal structure be addressed using law enforcement. And that's finally what's happening.

And I did have the chance to speak on Friday with President Trump. And it was a very good conversation. And I was able to convey to him our, you know, gratitude for what he's doing.

And I absolutely think he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize because of incredible events that are taking place currently in the world.

One of them, certainly the conflict in the Middle East and Gaza. But also, because he has understood that, you know, Venezuela is in the heart of the Americas.

AMANPOUR: Do you -- are you calling for American intervention in your country, military intervention?

MACHADO: We're calling for the interventions of Russia, China, Cuba and Iran to be stopped and to be expelled. Venezuela right now is a safe haven where Hezbollah, Hamas, the drug cartels, the Colombian guerrilla operate freely. And they are part of this liaison with the regime.

And what we have done, the Venezuelan people, as I said, it's already mandated regime change. We won and we need help to enforce that decision.

And that help comes in terms of applying, enforcing the law, cutting those flows that come from these criminal activities.

And you know what, making public, unveiling all the information many of these governments have, not only the United States, Latin America, European countries and governments that have, you know, that know that their financial systems are being used by these criminal activities. We want this to be absolutely made public.

And believe me, Christiane, as we speak, the Venezuelan people are organizing, yes, underground, under huge threat, but growing and growing hope and determined -- determined to prevail.

Venezuela will be free.

AMANPOUR: Maria Corina Machado, that was very clear indeed. And congratulations on your Nobel Prize. Thank you very much indeed.

MACHADO: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:09:50]

AMANPOUR: And up next, as Trump's ceasefire plan moves to phase two, I asked Egypt's foreign minister about what lies ahead.

And later in the program, historian Thant Myint-U, on his grandfather, the peacemaker, U.N. Secretary-General U Thant and the golden age of global diplomacy. How John and Yoko even crashed his farewell bash.

[11:10:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back.

A fragile ceasefire brokered by the United States holds for now between Israel and Hamas. While there are few concrete details about the future political resolution to really bring peace. In a region that's been devastated by two years of war following the horrific October 7th attacks. Hostages in Israel, now home, are reuniting with their families and beginning to process the incredible trauma of those two years in captivity.

I spoke to the mother of a former hostage about what's ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEIRAV LESHEM GONEN, MOTHER OF FORMER HOSTAGE ROMI GONEN: We are only in the start of the healing process, and now that when they were brought home, it will be maybe a little faster, but it takes time to heal the body. It takes time to heal the wounds. And it takes much more time to heal the soul.

We can only give them the ground, the love and the possibility to see that there are good things in our life, that the family is strong, that they are being loved here, and they are being protected.

And we do expect all the countries that helped us get this agreement to continue and support and make sure that we will be able to live here, secure.

And also the Gaza people that were under Hamas terror domination. They will also will be able to live in secure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: And that question is fundamental as Palestinians return to the ruins of their destroyed homes with even more bodies buried beneath them.

Lawlessness is rampant in Gaza for now. Hamas is starting to execute rivals and reassert control in areas where the Israeli forces have pulled back from.

Meanwhile, President Trump is confidently declaring that the war is now over starting at that peace summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt earlier this week, where 20 world leaders backed Trump's 20-point plan.

I asked Egypt's foreign minister about what comes next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Foreign Minister Abdelatty, welcome to our program.

BADR ABDELATTY, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Thank you so much for hosting me.

AMANPOUR: Foreign Minister, you know, there was so much hope and excitement over the ceasefire, and you all worked very hard to bring it, but it seems to be hitting some snags already. Can you give us an update?

ABDELATTY: Well, first of all, we are extremely happy with what happened over the last few days with American leadership, with the direct involvement of President Trump.

For phase one, I mean, things is -- are moving well, especially with regard to the release of all hostages. As you know, and we told the American side that as for the remains of the bodies, I mean, that collecting the remains will take some time because they are under rubbles and you have a lot of explosive materials, devices under the rubble. So reaching them will be a bit difficult but we are doing our utmost efforts on the ground in order to collect the deceased bodies and to hand them over to the Israeli side in implementation of the agreement of Sharm el-Sheikh phase one.

But we are expecting, of course, the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, opening of the crossings as soon as possible.

And to allow the flow of materials, humanitarian aid, medical aid because the situation on the ground is catastrophic. And we need literally -- literally to flood Gaza with food and with relief materials and the medical equipments and the materials, of course.

AMANPOUR: And Foreign Minister, because the idea of a Palestinian State and how it's going to happen was not, you know, written down in black and white, that because Benjamin Netanyahu has said, you know, we want to bury any -- you know, him and his coalition have spoken against a Palestinian state throughout this war and beyond.

So, do you think that finally they and the Americans and the stakeholders believe that this is part of this 20-point plan with, I don't know, a Security Council resolution or a formal negotiating process to bring about a two-state solution?

[11:19:40]

ABDELATTY: Well, as you know, we have stages and we have the phases. So, first of all, ending the war, allow food to enter into Gaza, no annexation, no displacement.

And then we have to talk about early recovery and reconstructions of Gaza and we will do it.

And we believe that in order to bring an end to the Palestinian- Israeli conflict, the only game in town will be, of course, the establishment of -- or the realization of the Palestinian State.

What's important now to save the life of the people, to bring them food, to bring them shelter and then to talk about a statehood that's in the Trump peace plan as well as the political horizon which is already on the President Trump peace plan. AMANPOUR: And final question. I hear you saying, with the involvement of President Trump and his continued involvement. I think everybody knows that the president has huge leverage, and as long as he stays on the issue, it could reap benefits.

ABDELATTY: Many Arab and Muslim countries are waiting, are standing ready for normalization with Israel as long as we are settling the Palestinian cause based on the parameters agreed by the International Community and in the heart, of course, the realization of the Palestinian State, which will live in peace and harmony with Israel and providing security, safety, stability to all peoples, including, of course, the Israeli people and the Palestinian people.

We are tired, Christiane. We are, there is a fatigue, you know, so we must move forward with settling down this conflict. And that's why the only game in town is President Trump's peace plan.

And we -- yes, the day before in Sharm el-Sheikh, the International Community -- European countries, Arab countries, Muslim countries, everybody and even Latin American countries, Asian countries, they were there and they said that we are in full support and backing of President Trump and his efforts to put an end to the suffering of the Palestinians and to put an end to this conflict. And we have full confidence on the ability of President Trump to do that.

AMANPOUR: Well, it could really become something really, really special and I hope all your confidence is realized because it's an amazing moment.

So, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, thank you very much for joining us.

ABDELATTY: Thank you so much for hosting me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And after a break, a special report from Guatemala. The women suffering and sweating over the clothes you see and wear every day.

[11:22:49]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back.

Now, it's hardly news that the clothes we wear are made all over the world. It's about outsourcing, lowering costs while also boosting the economies of developing nations.

Not only is the political backlash being felt all over the West, but there can too often be a harsh human cost, like in Guatemala's garment factories or maquilas. Mostly women workers are underpaid and overworked as they make pieces that end up in U.S. stores like Target.

CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon has their story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's 5,000 to 6,000 pieces a day.

Some of my coworkers have to make the effort to go even if they're mistreated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never thought there was bullying in the factories. I never thought there was harassment in a factory.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: In recent years, the garment industry has boomed in Guatemala. Thanks to its proximity to the U.S., hundreds of Korean fast fashion companies expanded here to supply big American brands.

But what happens inside these factories, called "maquilas" across the region, rarely sees the light of day. Advocacy groups say the vast majority of maquila workers are women who are paid less than $30 a day and are forced to meet impossible quotas.

Rutilia Cano worked for a Korean-owned factory providing to major U.S. retailers like Target, a company worth billions of dollars.

How many clothes did you make in a day?

RUTILIA CANO, TEXTILE WORKER: We had to do 300 pieces an hour but I was never able to do it.

I could do 150, 175.

POZZEBON: And how many days you'd have to work to afford one of these shirts here?

CANO: Maybe two weeks.

POZZEBON: The disparity of what these people are producing and their purchasing power, it's just striking.

In these complex supply chain, Korean manufacturers subcontract Guatemalan workers to benefit American consumers with affordable clothing.

When her factory suddenly closed, the employer denied Rutilia's wages and her pension benefits. Target, as a third-party client, was not bound to pay. They decided to part ways with the factory after concerns surfaced over working conditions.

Elsewhere, CNN spoke with dozens of maquila workers.

[11:29:48]

POZZEBON: In one factory, death threat graffiti appeared in toilets to stamp out union resistance. In others, they said the abuse pushed even further.

It's the case of a young mother we're calling Alexandra. She has asked for anonymity.

ALEXANDRA, TEXTILE WORKER: The supervisor came over in a creepy way and started touching my neck, like he wanted to rub it. I moved away. Since I rejected him, he started shouting at me and mistreating me.

Many women probably gave in to him because they needed the job.

POZZEBON: What does it mean? Sexual relationships?

ALEXANDRA: Yes. And those people who are with the supervisors always have some privileges. The privilege of not being mistreated, of being allowed to go to the bathroom, to get water whenever they needed to.

POZZEBON: Seeking protection, Alexandra decided to join a union. We met the group outside the maquila.

The products are destined for export to the United States. Household name Carhartt used to be among their clients, but cut ties in 2019. The workers told CNN the quotas imposed on them are thousands of pieces a day. Almost two t-shirts every minute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we don't keep up with what they ask, they check hour by hour.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They tell us to hurry up, that they can't pay us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First they exploit us, and then they tell us they won't pay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They even threw clothes in our faces.

POZZEBON: I think you told me Merida, that there was water in the maquilas so the workers could drink?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water was dirty. Sometimes it even had soap or cockroaches in it.

POZZEBON: These women reported their allegations to local authorities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We came to see what the conditions of the workers were.

POZZEBON: But when the labor inspectors showed up, all the members of the union were laid off, opening a dispute that has yet to be resolved.

CNN contacted factory owners and did not receive a response.

Most of these factories do not even tolerate a workers' union. And getting access to them has been even harder for us as journalists.

But we're on our way to meet someone who has decided to come forward.

Without the support of a union, she has been left to face the abuse by herself in fear, she told us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I was pregnant, I was humiliated because I couldn't get the quota they wanted.

I went to complain when there was an audit. They asked us if we were treated well, and we said no. And then from there, they fired two coworkers.

POZZEBON: Two coworkers were fired because they complained?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.

POZZEBON: Only 76 out of more than 800 maquilas tolerate a union. But they employ tens of thousands of workers and are a crucial part of the economy. For local authorities enforcing rules without risking jobs is a fine line.

We had a rare opportunity to put our findings to the Guatemalan president.

BERNARDO AREVALO, GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT: We are, for example, committed to the rights of labor. We have increased the minimum salary 10 percent, which is more than --

POZZEBON: 6 percent for maquila workers --

AREVALO: -- 6 percent for maquila workers. But it is precisely in the -- in the line of recognizing that there is a need to -- to support their well-being. And we are going to continue to observe the situation.

POZZEBON: Bernardo Arevalo is the first progressive leader elected in Guatemala in decades. His government raised hopes to tackle the rampant corruption that allowed workplace abuse to proliferate.

The jury is still out.

Before leaving, Rutilia told us the collective lawsuit against their former employer was being settled. The workers met with the management at the corporate building downtown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We feel a little nervous because we don't know what might happen.

POZZEBON: She doesn't know if she will be paid what is due to her in terms of pension, and the fact that she worked for almost three decades for this factory.

And now it's the moment she's going to find out what the management of the factory is offering her for the termination of the contract?

Rutilia, how are you?

CANO: I'm fine, thank God.

POZZEBON: How did it go?

CANO: We ended up with another meeting. POZZEBON: Weeks after our travel, Rutilia is still doing odd jobs. She

has been promised up to 92 percent of her severance through a settlement plan. But it is unclear when any payment will be made.

Stefano Pozzebon, CNN -- Guatemala City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Coming up next, a time when the United Nations and its secretary general were actually peacemakers. My conversation with the renowned historian Thant Myint-U about his grandfather U Thant's legacy -- in a moment.

[11:34:38]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back.

From Sudan to Ukraine to the Middle East -- with so many global crises raging, the need for real diplomacy has never felt more urgent. The United Nations, built after World War II to prevent further war, has never seemed so paralyzed, powerless and ignored.

But it wasn't always this way. There was a time when the U.N. and its secretary general carried real weight.

[11:39:47]

AMANPOUR: One of them was U Thant, a humble Burmese schoolteacher- turned-diplomat who rose to lead the organization over the 60s and 70s.

He played a crucial role in resolving massive events like the Cuban missile crisis. So what can we learn from his legacy as a new secretary general will be chosen next year?

I asked his grandson, Thant Myint-U, author of a new book, "Peacemaker".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Welcome to the program.

THANT MYINT-U, AUTHOR, "PEACEMAKER" AND GRANDSON OF FORMER U.N. SECRETARY- GENERAL U THANT: Thanks very much.

AMANPOUR: And I have to say that we go back to when you were a U.N. spokesman during the Bosnia war. So, I know that you are steeped in U.N. history.

But first, tell me about what did you find out about your grandfather that you might not have known and his utter lifelong commitment to peace?

MYINT-U: I mean, so much because I knew the broad outlines of his life, having grown up with him as a child and working for the U.N.

But it was only when I started looking at the archives, which had been declassified, digitized over the past few years, that I realized it was an entire story that people didn't know. A missing piece of the puzzle in terms of not just the 1960s, but how the world that we have today was actually created.

AMANPOUR: So, how did he rise from that fairly, you know, humble start in that village without electricity in Burma to where he ended up?

MYINT-U: Yes, it's an extraordinary story. I mean, he was from a well- to-do family, but suddenly impoverished, so he couldn't finish university. Until he was almost 40, he was a schoolteacher, then headmaster in this little town that was a day's steamer ride away from Rangoon, which was then part of the British Empire.

And at almost age 40, he decides on a midlife career change. Within 10 years of government service in Rangoon, he finds himself the Burmese ambassador to the U.N. Burma just become independent in the middle of this new global politics living in midtown Manhattan.

And within just a few years of that, he becomes the only human being in the world that Kennedy and Khrushchev can agree on to save the U.N. at a time of deep crisis and Cold War conflict.

AMANPOUR: Let me ask you about a key chapter in your book slightly later on about Thant, your grandfather, secretary-general, trying to intervene to bring peace in the Middle East. At that time, it was between Israel and Egypt. It was the '67 --

MYINT-U: Six-day war.

AMANPOUR: -- six-day war. Yes. So, what happened? Because it was very difficult then.

MYINT-U: Yes, absolutely. And I spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether he was to blame, actually, for, you know, these decades of conflict that we've had ever since.

AMANPOUR: Why so?

MYINT-U: Well, because the six-day war ended with the Israeli occupation of Sinai, Gaza, West Bank, Golan Heights, and set the stage for the Yom Kippur War in '73. And really all the half century of tension, conflict, displacement, everything else that we've had up until that point.

So, I went back to that origin, the six days of the war and the weeks leading up to it. And he played a very decisive role because he pulled out U.N. peacekeepers from the front line. So, many blamed him for that. Blamed --

AMANPOUR: Why did he do it?

MYINT-U: Well, Nasser, who was the leader of Egypt at the time, it was a time of growing tension with Jordan, with Syria as well. The Israelis felt threatened.

But some on the Israeli side also felt this was an opportunity, not just to sort of settle scores, but to kind of expand Israel's military presence in the region, if -- even if just for defensive reasons at the time.

And now, we know that the Lyndon Johnson administration had greenlighted the Israelis in attacking Egypt.

But the Egyptians, not really fully aware of this, thought they would rattle their sword and move tens of thousands of Egyptian troops up to the front line.

So, they demanded these peacekeepers withdraw. I mean, the peacekeepers were lightly armed. They wouldn't leave anyway. So, there was not much my grandfather could do.

But he was a useful scapegoat by those who wanted to say they had no alternative but to take military action --

(CROSSTALK)

AMANPOUR: And you fast forward to when Nasser was dead and Anwar Sadat was president and it was the rumblings of a new war, the '73 war. And you talk about how Thant -- U Thant got some kind of agreement from Sadat to not, you know, become another warrior in terms of -- but there was -- Israel disagreed with that, right?

MYINT-U: Yes. And not just Israel, because, I mean, Richard Nixon actually wanted --

(CROSSTALK)

AMANPOUR: And America, yes.

MYINT-U: -- the U.N. at first to play a role in this. So, U Thant, with his mediator, engaged in this sort of shuttle diplomacy and basically pulled together an agreement where Israel would actually withdraw from all of the occupied territories.

And in return, there would be airtight security guarantees for Israel, a huge peacekeeping force of maybe 30,000 including Soviet and American troops surrounding Israel to protect it. And that would be the basis of a permanent peace.

And at the last minute, it was Henry Kissinger who undermined it by basically advising Golda Meir, who had just about accepted it, to go against the plan that was there --

(CROSSTALK)

AMANPOUR: And she was the prime minister at the time.

MYINT-U: And she was the prime minister of Israel at the time.

[11:44:46] AMANPOUR: And here we are all these decades later --

(CROSSTALK)

MYINT-U: Yes. And that was a lost chance. And he felt that.

AMANPOUR: You start your book with the farewell ceremony for U Thant. He completed his two terms --

MYINT-U: That's right.

AMANPOUR: -- and very sadly, though, he had cancer and he died several months later. I think you were only eight when he died.

MYINT-U: I was eight. He was in his mid-60s.

AMANPOUR: Yes, it was very quick. But he did have a very interesting and fulsome farewell ceremony to which John and Yoko arrived without an invitation.

MYINT-U: Yes.

AMANPOUR: Tell us how that went and why you wrote about it.

MYINT-U: It was a particular moment, I think, in New York history and in kind of the social history of that time, because there were so many Americans who were very much supportive of the U.N. There was a real internationalist spirit there as well.

So, at this party, you had hundreds of the kind of usual suspects, U.N. diplomats and officials, but you also had people involved like Jackie Kennedy, Thor Heyerdahl, Buckminster Fuller, Arnold Toynbee, Edmund Hillary. Pete Seeger was meant to do the music, and he did, and he sang.

And then towards the very end, John Lennon passed him a little note. Pete Seeger gave him his guitar. And John Lennon said, I'm going to play everyone a song that you've probably never heard before, because I've never played it before in America.

And he sang "Imagine" for the first time, and this was at the lunch for my grandfather at the time. It was December '71.

(CROSSTALK)

AMANPOUR: That's amazing. That's really amazing.

Thant Myint-U, thank you very much indeed.

MYINT-U: Thanks very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: "Peacemaker" is out now and it is a great read.

Up next, more courageous leadership in a man who embodied true diplomacy. From my archives, my report on Shimon Peres and the courage needed in the search for a lasting peace.

[11:46:29]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back.

While a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holds for now, what comes next remains deeply uncertain. And the path to rebuilding and healing is a long one. It's a complicated and delicate time that demands courageous and persistent leadership, the kind willing to build bridges and find a way to coexist even with one's worst enemies.

This week, from my archives a true warrior for peace, the former Israeli foreign minister, prime minister and president and Nobel Prize winner Shimon Peres.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: In a world of division, Shimon Peres stood as a towering figure of peace.

CHEMI PERES, SON OF SHIMON PERES: My father used to say, and I'm quoting, "You're only as great as the cause you serve."

AMANPOUR: For Peres, that cause was finding common ground with Israel's neighbors and enemies, especially the Palestinians. And he will forever be remembered for his role in negotiating the Oslo Peace Accords that envisioned a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

A year later, as part of the regional outreach, foreign minister Shimon Peres helped make peace with Jordan. That was 1994, and it remains in place to this day.

The historic Oslo Agreement provided the foundation for ensuing decades of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. And in 1994, Peres shared the Nobel Peace Prize with his boss, then- prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, and with Yasser Arafat.

This is what he told me many years later, when President Barack Obama awarded him the Medal of Freedom in Washington.

SHIMON PERES, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: In my judgment, Jewish people were not born to rule another people.

AMANPOUR: Were not born.

PERES: No, no. It stands against everything that we stand against.

And we must keep our moral foundation. I cannot imagine a Jewish people without a moral foundation.

AMANPOUR: But despite his best efforts, the Middle East peace process has all but collapsed. Even talk of a two-state solution has begun to fade. Even so, Shimon Peres continued to meet with Palestinian officials and

foreign leaders. He remained true to his cause to the very end, if often amusing and self-deprecating, at least in public.

What do you think your contribution to history has been?

S. PERES: That's one of the things I can't understand. I really don't know. I'm trying to do my best all my life, but I don't know what was the reason. What were the reasons? And I don't really expect -- I really don't know.

AMANPOUR: Shimon Peres never lost hope and reportedly was fond of quoting the words of a Greek philosopher, "In war, the old bury the young. In peace, the young bury the old."

Peace has not yet come to the Middle East. The old are still burying their young. But against all odds, Peres died trying to change all that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Peres died nine years ago. But everything about the Trump 20-point peace plan depends on that kind of commitment and focus and moral authority.

When we come back: far from home, more than 40 of Japan's top sumo wrestlers are squaring off right here in London, delighting sumo superfans and locals alike as they hit the town.

[11:54:48]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: And finally, hello, the Japanese art of sumo is saying konnichiwa to London. More than 40 of the top rikishi or wrestlers have taken the British capital by storm for the first sumo championship in the U.K. in more than 30 years.

[11:59:47]

AMANPOUR: The Royal Albert Hall, no less, which is hosting the event, has been transformed to accommodate its new guests. There's a purpose- built wooden roof to hang over the mat, which matches a Shinto shrine. Ringside cushions to mirror traditional seating and apparently much stronger chairs, reinforced toilets and hundreds of kilograms of rice to facilitate and feed these fearsome fighters.

That is all we have time for now.

Don't forget you can find all of our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/audio and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. Thank you for watching and I'll see you again next week.