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Israel Strikes Gaza, Shattering Fragile Ceasefire With Hamas; NASA Astronauts Finally Returning to Earth After Nine Months in Space; Judge Demands Answers by Noon from Trump Admin on Migrant Flights. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 18, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, fragile ceasefire shattered. More than 300 killed after Israelis carried out what they call preemptive strikes against Hamas. A doctor in Gaza City telling CNN the majority of patients she has seen are children.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, 278 days overdue. Two American astronauts finally heading home after their week long mission turned into nine months. We've got a new update on how the trip is going so far.

Also breaking, the parents of an American college student who went missing on spring break now asking that she be officially declared dead.

Kate is out today. I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: We begin this morning with breaking news, a fragile ceasefire broken overnight after deadly Israeli airstrikes rocked the Gaza Strip. Minutes ago, Israel's foreign ministry said this was in response to Hamas rejecting two concrete mediation proposals presented by the U.S.

The sound and scene of strikes there in Gaza. In the aftermath, there are horrific scenes coming out of Gaza City. The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 400 people have been killed. Gaza hospitals simply overwhelmed as doctors race to treat heavily wounded patients. One doctor telling us the majority of the patients she's been saying are children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALIA BOLLEN, UNICEF SPOKESPERSON IN GAZA: I could hear people yelling outside screaming. I heard ambulances driving on and off. The bombs have also been hitting tents and other structures where families have taken refuge. There's dozens of children reported killed, many more injured.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv for us. Jeremy, what does this mean for the ceasefire? Obviously, we can see what it means for the Palestinians, but also for the hostages who hang in the balance.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the moment, at least, this ceasefire is very much dead. The war is back on as the Israeli military launched a punishing series of deadly airstrikes across the Gaza Strip from Southern to Central to Northern Gaza overnight. More than 400 people have been killed now, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Latest death toll, more than 500 people have been wounded. And as you noted, a number of those victims have indeed been children. The Israeli prime minister in launching this offensive last night said that it was launched because of Hamas' repeated refusal to release hostages. Here's a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OREN MARMORSTEIN, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER OFFICIAL: Concrete proposals made by the American special envoy to extend the ceasefire. Hamas said no. So, with no other choice, Israel is forced to carry out this activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And so as you can hear, that is the Israeli government's justification. But it is, of course, important to note that Hamas said it was willing to continue to negotiate. While it rejected that proposal from Steve Witkoff, it wanted to go back to the deal that Israel and Hamas both signed on to, meaning negotiating phase two of this ceasefire agreement, which would entail an end of the war in Gaza and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops.

But in recent weeks, the Israeli government has made clear it was not interested in negotiating that phase two agreement, instead looking to get more hostages out of Gaza without making those -- engaging in those overall negotiations.

Now, the real question is whether or not Israel and Hamas can come back to the negotiating table. It is clear that the Israeli military strikes are in part a pressure tactic here to try and get Hamas to agree to these new conditions to release more hostages. But in the meantime, of course, we are seeing what it means for the people of Gaza and also the families of hostages now speaking out as well, expressing severe concern for the fate of their loved ones amid this bombardment of Gaza.

[07:05:05]

Sara?

SIDNER: So the picture is devastating and the families on both sides of this devastated. Thank you so much.

Jeremy Diamond, I really appreciate it. John?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And undocking confirmed. Freedom is free of its moorings. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore begin their belated trip home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Yes, finally, they should have said. Breaking overnight, two American astronauts whose eight-day mission turned into nine months in space. They are finally on their way home. Overnight, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore undocked from the International Space Station after 286 days in space.

They first arrived there in June of last year, but it was determined their Boeing spacecraft could not get them home. For some reason, it took until now to send them back.

Joining us now is the editor-in-chief of Space.com, Tariq Malik. Thanks so much for being with us. Let's focus on today first, very quickly. What is this final leg entail? Anything complicated to it?

TARIQ MALIK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPACE.COM: Well, John, it is landing day for these astronauts, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, as well as two others. And this is their homecoming. They've been up there for nine months, as you said. It was supposed to be eight, maybe ten days. And they're coming back on a very different spacecraft.

So, they've spent, you know, the last evening afternoon kind of getting ready. They're resting. It's a 17-hour trip for them. And hopefully by the end -- by dinner time today for them, they will have splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

BERMAN: So, for the last 280 some days, when we've talked to space insiders, they've told us, you know, this happens, no big deal. But I think for the layperson out there, the question has been for nine months, sort of WTF. Like why couldn't they get them home earlier?

MALIK: You know, that was a decision that NASA made fairly closely into the development of the situation. Ideally, they had launched on Boeing's first crewed Starliner spacecraft. That is one of two companies NASA picked to fly astronauts to the station. It was the first time. They never flown astronauts, but there were thruster issues or helium issues on that spacecraft. NASA wasn't sure they wanted to risk putting astronauts on it, but that spacecraft did return to Earth fine.

Still, just to be safe, they put them in a crew rotation, not to disrupt the transport lines of the station over time. And that's what really took this long. They had to clear space on a flight. That's the vehicle they're coming back on now. Make sure they had the spacesuits for this vehicle because they flew up on a totally different one. And that's what kind of put everything in motion.

BERMAN: And any complications once they get home after being in space for so long? MALIK: Well, you know, there is always an adaptation period for astronauts on long duration missions, and especially for these two astronauts, because normally a flight like this would take about six months. They've been up there for much more than that. During that time, they got a lot more done. Suni Williams became commander of the space station again, and they did two spacewalks, but they'll have to use some training to re acclimate their bodies back to Earth.

BERMAN: Sort of a space version of Gilligan's Island here. Tariq Malik, thanks so much for being with us. It'll be good for Butch and Sonny to get back home. Sara?

SIDNER: I love Gilligan's Island. Okay. That's not the news. My bad.

All right, coming up, the Trump administration is facing a noon deadline today. How will the DOJ respond to a federal judge demanding answers about deportations flights?

And with Donald Trump set to speak today to Vladimir Putin, what concessions will Russia make to end the war in Ukraine, if any?

Also breaking overnight, actor and comedian Tracy Morgan taken out of Madison Square Garden in a wheelchair after getting really sick courtside at the Knicks game, trying to figure out what happened there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

SIDNER: A dramatic showdown unfolding, a federal judge in Washington wants answers by noon today from the Trump administration, after it deported hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members under an 18th century wartime powers act. The judge yesterday scolding the DOJ in a tense hearing demanding to know what happened with deportation flights the government allowed to continue Saturday after he had ordered them to turn the flights around.

The White House, this morning defiant. Senior adviser Stephen Miller saying the courts have no right to hold President Trump to account.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: The district court has no ability to in any way restrain the president's authorities under the Alien Enemies Act or his ability to conduct the foreign affairs of the United States.

This judge violated the law. He violated the Constitution. He defied the system of government that we have in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN Crime and Justice Correspondent Katelyn Polantz is tracking all of this. Can you say constitutional crisis in how many ways? KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Sara, this hearing, does have the undertones of what Stephen Miller was saying yesterday on CNN's air about executive power, but that's not exactly what happened at this hearing before Judge Jeb Boasberg in D.C.'s federal district court.

What happened at this hearing at five is that the judge was very stern in demanding answers, both legal arguments that the administration could explain exactly why they weren't following his order, or if they say they were following his order, how they were following his order.

[07:15:08]

And the judge was building a record of facts.

So, what is happening in court, as they build these facts, the Justice Department has to come back with a sworn declaration, and they're going to have to explain a little bit more about exactly when flights were taking off, if there are still migrants in U.S. custody, on U.S. soil, why people who were put on a flight that took off after the judge issued his written order on Saturday, just a couple minutes after he issued it on that third flight, why the Justice Department says those people were not being deported under the president's proclamation that the judge said you can't use to take people out of the country. So, that's building the facts.

But the other thing that was happening at this hearing was that the judge was demanding answers from Justice Department attorneys on whether people were intentionally violating his orders by just not following the possibility that he could be stopping these flights where people being put on planes to get out of the country, even though they were leading into a court hearing on an emergency basis on Saturday.

That is a question that the Justice Department very much avoided answering in court. They didn't want to give the judge a lot of information. They didn't want to give specifics. They waived the possibility of having classified information. So, there is going to be more coming into the court record tomorrow or today. And the judge is going to continue looking whether there is additional things that he needs to know before he says anything more. Sara?

SIDNER: It sounds like a Battle Royale is being set up here. Thank you so much, Katelyn Polantz, for all your reporting on this story.

All right, ahead, get ready for round two of Trump tariffs. What will it mean to you and manufacturing if the second round of tariffs go into effect in April?

All right, America's games starting the season off in Tokyo. And Tokyo is going wild as Shohei Ohtani returns home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00] BERMAN: So, the madness begins tonight, March Madness, that is. The first two contests were essentially play-in games that don't affect most brackets, but at least one of these games has stirred controversy.

Let's get right to CNN's Andy Scholes. First of all, A, stunning that North Carolina has to play in to the tournament, given how great North Carolina has been over the generations. And, secondly, why is everyone so ticked off about it?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, you know, John, you get 68 teams. Normally, there's not much of a debate if you're in or you're out. But there is this time around because North Carolina, they were 1 in 12 against quad one teams, which means they only beat one good team all season long and West Virginia, meanwhile, they went 6 in 10 in quad one games, but they did not get in, really causing an uproar in their fan base.

The NCAA Selection Committee, it is headed by Bubba Cunningham. He's North Carolina's athletic director. Now Cunningham did recuse himself and leave the room when the Tar Heels selection was being discussed by the committee. But West Virginia fans still quite upset about this, including Governor Patrick Morrisey who says he's opening an investigation into what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PATRICK MORISSEY (R-WV): West Virginia deserved to be in the NCAA tournament. This was a miscarriage of justice and robbery at the highest levels.

I know that the attorney general and I are going to leave no stone unturned during this process. We need to get to the bottom of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. Well, the first four, it does tip off tonight in Dayton at 6:40 Eastern. St. Francis takes on Alabama State for a 16th seed. Then it is North Carolina and San Diego State battling it out for an 11th seed. You can watch both of those on our sister network TruTV.

All right, and the NHL teams around the league wearing green jerseys yesterday celebrating St. Patrick's Day and, well, Jon Merrill looking and acting like a superhero in his green uniform. Check him out here, bailing out his goalie with a miraculous stick save at the goal line. Merrill quite humble about it afterwards saying, he just got lucky. Minnesota would go on to beat the Kings now in 3-1, solidifying their hold on a wild card spot in the process.

All right, hey, believe it or not, the Major League Baseball season is underway. Shohei Ohtani and the world champion Dodgers opening the season this morning against the Cubs in Tokyo. And the interest in these first two games in Japan has just been enormous. Guggenheim prize has stepped up for both games around $3,000 in the starters for today. Both Japanese stars in Yamamoto for the Dodgers, Imanaga for the Cubs, right now, the Cubs leading that one, one to nothing in the fourth inning.

You know, John, nothing says opening day, like March 18th, right? Like playing two games in Japan and then going back to spring training is always an odd thing for me.

BERMAN: It is, but I was just saying, sort of our national nightmare sports desert the weeks after the Super Bowl and before March Madness and baseball. It's over. Today's the end, Andy. We have sports again starting tonight, which is awesome. March Madness. I'm happy to see baseball. Real life opening day is really just in a few weeks. It's all going to be okay. That's the lesson here.

SCHOLES: Yes, those last two weeks in February are always a grind. Always brutal to get through, but we made it.

BERMAN: We made it. Thank you for all the work you've done on that, Andy Scholes.

All right, we're standing by for the critical phone call between President Trump and Vladimir Putin that could determine the future of Ukraine, concern around the world this morning over the concessions that the president might make.

[07:25:02]

And breaking this morning, the family of an American student who's been missing for weeks is now officially asking for her to be declared dead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, a high stakes call with the future of Ukraine hanging in the balance. President Trump says he will speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming hours about a potential deal to end the war in Ukraine. Trump teased the two may have, quote, something to announce after speaking today.

[07:30:03]

Ukraine has already agreed to a 30-day ceasefire, but there are a lot of questions over what Ukraine might be forced.