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Putin Agrees To Temporarily Halt Attacks On Energy Infrastructure; 400+ Killed By Israeli Strike As Gaza Ceasefire Shatters; U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Rebukes Trump Rhetoric On Impeaching Judges; Astronauts Returning Home After Being Stuck In Space. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired March 18, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:42]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster.

Beginning then with that breaking new -- whilst it may not be in everything that the U.S. and Ukrainian officials were hoping for, Russia does say it has agreed to a 30-day pause in attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine. That's after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke for nearly two hours by phone today.

According to a readout of the call, the Kremlin laid out a series of demands it says must be met before it would agree to a full ceasefire. President Trump a short time ago described the conversation as good and productive.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House and joins us now.

President Trump can't be thrilled, though, surely, because he wanted this all out ceasefire. No firing at all, I think one of his people said, over a period of nearly a month.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. And he and his aides had both expressed a lot of optimism that that full ceasefire that Ukraine has already agreed to, that Trump has endorsed, could be happening very quickly. You just heard last night from the American press secretary that they were on the ten-yard line.

I don't know if they would still describe themselves that way after this phone conversation with Putin. Obviously, this agreement to pause attacks on energy infrastructure is significant, and the White House is obviously welcoming that as a good step. But it is well short of the larger cease fire that Trump had hoped that Putin would agree to.

Now, what he says and what the White House say in their statements, is that work will now intensify towards reaching that deal, including talks on a ceasefire in the Black Sea, on ports in that area, and that technical teams will be meeting in the Middle East as they try and work out those discussions. Trump on his Truth Social page just sort of read out in his own way this call and said that there was an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a complete ceasefire and ultimately an end to this very horrible war. But certainly, I think this call is laying bare for the White House

and for President Trump, that Putin is not going to be agreeing to this plan in the near term. He has a number of conditions. The Kremlin said that the biggest one of those would be an end to foreign military assistance to Ukraine. And so, there are a number of hurdles that they will have to reach before, as Trump says -- as Trump says, that this war will come to an end. And so I think the White House probably pleased with the energy pause and attacks there, but still hoping very much to work quickly towards that broader ceasefire.

There were a number of other issues that the men discussed. For example, the Kremlin says that they agreed that there would be a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. They also agreed that the U.S. and Russia would send hockey players to each country to compete in their respective nations. So something of a light hearted moment.

They also discussed the Middle East and Iran, which is notable given that Russia has agreed to help mediate some of these nuclear talks between the U.S., the Europeans and Iran. So that was a point of discussion as well.

But I think at the end of the day, the hopes among White House officials that this call could potentially move things forward significantly and move things forward quickly, I think fell short of that. And I think what we see now is sort of a continued push by the U.S. to get Russia to come along, but with no clear indication of when that might be, Max.

FOSTER: Okay, Kevin, thank you.

Let's go to Moscow. Fred Pleitgen is there.

It does feel like a win, doesn't it, dare I say, for president Putin. The Ukrainians thought he might be playing for time. And he's -- he's got that. He hasn't agreed to this full deal.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, that's exactly what Russian state TV is actually saying, is that they believe that this was a win for Moscow. He says or they say that they believe that right now, the whole dialogue with the United States is a very different one than something that they've seen in the past, where they believe that the Trump administration in Washington and the Kremlin here in Moscow actually see eye to eye on many issues. And some of the ones were the ones that that Kevin was speaking about.

However, you are also absolutely right to point out that the Kremlin so far hasn't really substantially moved very far away from the core demands that it has. And if you look at the readout from the Russian side -- first of all, it's a lot longer than the readout that we saw from the White House.

[15:05:05]

But one of the sentences that's in there is that the Russians say that Vladimir Putin said in this phone conversation that, yes, the Russians are also in favor of a ceasefire and peace as fast as possible. But they also say that the root causes, as they put it, and as they've always put it, need to be addressed of the conflict.

Now, one of the things that no doubt both sides agreed on today, which certainly will be significant on the ground, is that 30-day pause in strikes on critical infrastructure, energy infrastructure. That was one of the things where in the readout of the Kremlin call, the Russians were saying that Vladimir Putin agreed to that immediately and immediately gave the order to his military to stop those kind of strikes.

Now, of course, Max, over the past year, as we've been reporting so much on the Russian missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, which happened almost every night. So that certainly is something that could offer some respite for the Ukrainians. And at the same time, the Ukrainians themselves, of course, have also become a lot more prolific at using drones, for instance, to attack Russian energy infrastructure, like, for instance, oil and gas installations.

One of the other things that also caught our eye was that the Russians were saying, and the White House as well, is that they were going to try and get an initiative started or revived, as they put it, to try and get to some sort of cessation of hostilities in the Black Sea. Of course, in the early stages of Russia's full on invasion of Ukraine, the Russians used their Black fleet -- Black Sea fleet to target Ukrainian targets on the Ukrainian mainland. That's become more difficult for them because the Ukrainians have been fighting back first and foremost with unmanned sea drones. So certainly that could be something where some movement could be seen.

But then the Russians also saying that they believe that one of the core things that needs to happen would be a stop in Western military aid for Ukraine. And that is certainly something that is very difficult to actually see happen, because, of course, while the U.S. is very important in giving military aid to Ukraine, there are also a lot of other countries that are involved. And right now, at this stage of the conflict, of course, Western military gear, western ammunition, and to a certain extent also Western intelligence are so key to even keeping the Ukrainians in the fight that this is certainly something that would be very difficult for the Ukrainians to agree to, Max.

FOSTER: Okay, Fred, thank you so much for joining us from Moscow.

With that, we're going to go to Israel now, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just been speaking. He's warning Hamas, saying, quote, this is only the beginning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I promise to you, if Hamas did not release our hostages, we will return to battle. And indeed we did. We returned to battle forcefully together with the minister of defense. I accepted the IDF's recommendation to return to a forceful fighting against Hamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: This comes after Gaza's fragile ceasefire was shattered early on Tuesday, as Israel carried out what it describes as extensive strikes on Hamas targets inside the enclave today, marking the worst single day death toll in Gaza in 15 months. Authorities say more than 400 people have been killed by Israeli strikes, including dozens of children.

An official in Gaza says hospitals there are completely full and struggling to treat wounded Palestinians who are flooding in. The broken ceasefire is also shattering hopes for the return of the remaining hostages held by Hamas today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAY DICKMANN, RELATIVE OF HOSTAGE KILLED IN CAPTIVITY: The deal fell and the war broke, and we understand that it puts our hostages in danger. The last time that the deal broke and the war started, my cousin, who was supposed to come back on the deal, was murdered in captivity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Arab nations, meanwhile, are accusing Israel of violating the January ceasefire as Israel and Hamas trade accusations over who's to blame.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more. I'm warning you that some of the images in his report are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israeli airstrikes once again pounding Gaza, marking the end of a two-month ceasefire and a return to the sights and sounds of war. Civilians rushing to the enclave's barely functioning hospitals, carrying the wounded and the dead. In just a few hours, Israeli airstrikes killed more than 400 people, according to Gaza's health ministry. Hundreds more were wounded.

It is the single deadliest day of the war since November 2023. And once again, children are among the victims, some too stunned to speak, others silenced forever. Their small bodies motionless on the morgue floor.

[15:10:01]

Israel says it targeted Hamas commanders, officials and infrastructure, launching the strikes because of Hamas's refusal to release more hostages. Israel now threatening to widen these attacks. Hamas so far not firing back at Israel, insisting it has been committed to negotiating phase two of the ceasefire agreement while accusing Israel of trying to impose new conditions.

In the daylight, the scale of the devastation becomes all too clear, Hazem al-Janad (ph) was preparing a pre-fast meal for her family when the missiles hit the school they were sheltering in east of Gaza City. Sixteen of her relatives were killed, the youngest just 2 years old.

I have no one left, she says. 16 people killed. Why? They are all civilians.

At another hospital, a father opens a body bag to show the face of his daughter. This is an unjust world, he cries. The whole world is unjust. Here are the children. This is a little girl.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad acknowledge a number of their militants and officials were killed in the overnight strikes. But a doctor at one hospital in Gaza City told CNN the majority of cases she had seen were children.

Residents in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza said they had no prior warning of the strikes, which killed families as they were sleeping.

We have been pulling the remains of children since this morning, this man says. Since two in the morning we have been collecting the remains of people from the streets. They are all civilians, children.

The Israeli military now ordering civilians in multiple neighborhoods close to the border to move west as the threat of a renewed Israeli ground offensive looms.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, Jeremy joins us now from Tel Aviv.

I mean, what on Earth went wrong, Jeremy? How did this start up again?

DIAMOND: Well, we just heard from the Israeli prime minister, Max, who made clear why he decided to go back to war in Gaza. He said if Hamas did not return the hostages, that Israel would go back to war. And he said that he was following through on that promise. He made no bones about that decision, even as tonight, including right here at hostages square. We have been hearing criticism of this decision and concern being expressed by former hostages who were released during this latest ceasefire agreement, who expressed their concerns that a return to war in Gaza will endanger the lives of the hostages, that this military pressure that the prime minister says he believes will be effective, will in fact only endanger the hostages rather than secure their release.

Instead, they and so many others who are here this evening and hostages square are calling for a return to negotiations for Israel and Hamas to be able to reach a deal to get to phase two and three of this agreement, as was previously prescribed.

But, Max, what's become clear in listening to the Israeli prime minister, not only tonight but in recent weeks, is that he does not want to engage in those negotiations to end the war and get to phases two and three. Instead, what he was seeking was a far more limited deal, one that would see the release of a handful of hostages in exchange for a short term extension of this ceasefire. And he's very much doing so with the support and the backing of the Trump administration, which is, of course, empowered him to get to this moment, to launch those strikes last night, which have resulted, as you said, in the deadliest single day in Gaza in 15 months -- Max.

FOSTER: Jeremy in Tel Aviv, thank you.

Chief U.S. -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts says calls to impeach judges in the U.S. are inappropriate after President Donald Trump called for the removal of a judge that tried to block his deportation orders. In a rare public statement, Roberts said: For more than two centuries, it's been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.

This comes as some senior White House aides have been ramping up their attacks on the judiciary.

(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.

TOM HOMAN, U.S. BORDER CZAR: We're not stopping. I don't care what the judges think. I don't care what the left thinks. We're coming.

JEANINE PIRRO, FOX NEWS HOST: The administration may continue doing these flights?

PAM BONDI, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Let's bring in chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid.

I mean, this is a pretty profound question, isn't it? It's about democracy. It's about the balance of power. And a lot of people are questioning what the White House really thinks of the judiciary and how relevant it is.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's why this larger case questions about whether the Trump administration defied a judges order to stop some deportations on Saturday.

[15:15:03]

The case is not only about Trump's expansive use of executive power, but also the extent to which he and his lawyers believe the courts can keep them in check. And hear, this extraordinary statement from Chief Justice John Roberts came just a few hours after President Trump posted on social media calling for the impeachment of the judge that made those orders on Saturday.

Now, it is, of course, very rare for the chief justice to issue a statement like this, though not unheard of. Back in 2018, he also responded to Trump's criticism of judges, saying, quote, we do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.

Will this make a difference now in 2025 in terms of Trump's rhetoric about judges? No. He has been through multiple criminal cases. He has been convicted in a criminal court. He has had civil judge's judgments against him over the past four years, while he was out of office, he went through a series of legal cases, and he has made no secret of the anger and bitterness that he holds towards the judiciary.

So a statement like this is not going to get Trump to change his tune. The other question is whether it will prompt the Justice Department to change its strategy, in this case, sort of walking a fine line -- really at the edges of some of these arguments that they are making, saying that, for example, oral orders from judges are something that they are not binding. I mean, just a really an extraordinary argument.

I do not think that because of the statement from the chief justice, they are going to change the merit of their argument. Instead, they believe that, look, Chief Justice John Roberts is trying to show support for lower court judges, but they do ultimately believe that on the merits of their argument that this judge went too far and tried to restrict Trump's vast power over foreign affairs. They still believe that if that question reaches the Supreme Court, that they will win on the merits, despite this statement from the chief justice.

FOSTER: I mean, you do wonder, though, don't you, as well, because when you look at the Trump administration, if you go if you sort of go on the offensive with them, they often come back harder. But I just wondered what the White House was saying today about the deportation cases and the progress on that theme.

REID: So they had a noon deadline today to share additional information with the judge. The judge laid out in a written order for specific questions that he wanted answers to. And for the most part, the Justice Department did provide those answers by the deadline. But the judge has asked for additional information, so it's clear we're not yet done with an assessment of whether the administration violated that judge's order on Saturday.

FOSTER: Okay. Thank you so much, Paula Reid, for joining us.

Now, still to come, Russia's leader says he's willing to make some concessions towards peace in Ukraine. But will it take -- what will it take, though, for President Putin to accept a full ceasefire? He's given some conditions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:01]

FOSTER: And more now on our top story. Russia has agreed to stop attacks on energy infrastructure inside Ukraine for 30 days. The announcement from the Kremlin follows a nearly two hour call between President Trump and Putin today. The White House says talks about a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea will begin immediately as well.

We're joined now by Ekaterina Kotrikadze, news director and anchor of TV Rain, the only independent television channel in Russia. It was forced to shut down in 2022 by the Russian government. She now lives in Europe and continues to broadcast online.

Thank you so much for joining us.

It does feel like the Ukrainians are right on one level, that Russia, Putin, wants to just play for time as long as possible before they get to any sort of ceasefire and that, you know, evidence today by agreeing to talk about a partial ceasefire.

EKATERINA KOTRIKADZE, NEWS DIRECTOR AND ANCHOR, TV RAIN: Absolutely. Thanks for having me, first of all.

I agree with the Ukrainians. They are in Russia. They are trying to -- to play with Donald Trump right now. Putin is raising the stakes, and we are all witnessing this.

So 2.5 hours of the conversation between Russian president and American president led to a partial ceasefire. As I understand, as everyone understands, Donald Trump was looking forward to stopping immediately the war in Ukraine for 30 days. And this is something that Russia was, you know, almost ready to agree with. But they did not do that because they are trying their best to understand what kinds of concessions they can get from Ukrainian side, and, of course, from the American side.

So Vladimir Putin is walking on a very thin ice here, by the way, because he is in general thinking that he can make friends with Donald Trump. He wants to become a partner for Donald Trump and to -- to share the spheres of interest and influence in the world. So he wants the global conversation with the American president right now in the context of Ukraine. He is trying to get as much as possible, but he is risking with everything right now because Donald Trump is very emotional, as we understand.

So in any moment he can say, okay, I'm done with this. I'm tired. And this is a very careful game that Vladimir Putin needs to play. But still, let's see what happens next, because on this stage it's not -- I mean, as a lot of Russian observers right now think, it was a total failure of the negotiations. I don't think so. I think that it's already a very important news that we're getting, that there is a partial ceasefire agreement.

But then it depends actually on Donald Trump, on the president of the U.S., how he reacts to this gambling of Vladimir Putin. Would he push Vladimir Putin? Would he press Vladimir Putin? Donald Trump needs to be strong here. I don't know if he can be strong with Putin.

FOSTER: Well, he's -- you know, Putin is in a strong position, too, isn't he? President Trump, as you say, promising to bring peace to that region. He's not going to get it without President Putin. And President Putin knows that.

So this is a high stakes negotiation, isn't it? The problem here, of course, Ukraine hasn't yet agreed to this partial ceasefire. And President Putin is talking about this condition, which is that America can't continue to arm Ukraine, which, of course, is something that Ukraine would never agree to.

Are you saying those sorts of conditions Russia will climb down on?

KOTRIKADZE: You know, this is not for Ukraine. Unfortunately, this is not for -- for Ukraine to decide whether the West would stop militarizing Ukraine, to stop delivering weapons to Ukraine.

But it's important to notice, by the way, that Putin is saying that the whole West should stop weaponizing Ukraine. It means not only the U.S. but also Europe. So if Donald Trump even agrees, to, you know, agrees to stop delivering weapons to Ukraine, I'm not sure that Europeans would.

So this is really, a very interesting situation. Vladimir Putin, as I said, is raising the stakes. And I'm not sure whether Ukrainian and European allies would agree with this. So it's going to be more and more messy. But at the end of the day, I am sure that Vladimir Putin would be ready to agree for this 30 day ceasefire.

Another question is, what would be happening between the parties when they start negotiating? Negotiating the big, you know, big peace deal, which would include the territorial concessions from Ukrainian side and which would include actually very, very important, important questions for, for -- for Kyiv, including, you know, the parts of territories which are occupied right now. What would they what would they think about, for example, Russia's -- Russia's Constitution, in which there are Ukrainian regions even not occupied right now, regions that Ukraine still occupies. But Putin thinks that he -- he already has them.

So, I mean, it would be a very complicated conversation right now when we watch this complicated again, when we watch this very tough dialogue between Putin and Trump, it's really hard to imagine what would be the next steps and what would be on the next level of this negotiations.

Right now, Donald Trump -- I mean, Donald Trump is the one who needs to be very tough on Putin right now. So it's hard to tell. Yeah.

FOSTER: Ekaterina, thank you so much. You're right. There are so many elements to this and its one step at a time. You just can only hope that they get to the next step. Thank you so much for joining us.

KOTRIKADZE: Yeah. Thank you.

FOSTER: Still to come, we are live in Tel Aviv, as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:43]

FOSTER: An update now on one of our top stories, Israel's renewed war in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning Hamas, saying, quote, this is only the beginning after extensive airstrikes killed an estimated 400 people. As civilian casualties mount, the U.N. ambassador of Palestinian territories told the Security Council, quote, the same images are back to haunt us. And he continues, small children on gurneys, little siblings injured and disoriented, trying to comfort and reassure each other. Entire families killed.

Gaza experienced its deadliest day since November 2023, according to a CNN count. One civilian told us she witnessed an attack on a school. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We were sitting at the displacement school and getting ready for the suhoor. I was about to connect my phone to charge when all of a sudden all the rubble fell on me. The woman started screaming.

Behind the school there were humans in pieces. My son was injured.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Between Israel and Hamas, begin to or they began to unravel shortly after it began, phase one of the ceasefire began on January the 19th and was supposed to last six weeks. Hamas wanted a commitment from Israel in phase two to permanently end the war in exchange for all Israeli hostages being released, but Israel wanted new terms and ignored the February 3rd deadline for phase two talks.

Last week, Israel says the U.S. Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, proposed a month's extension to the ceasefire. Without those commitments Hamas was asking for, but with Israel lifting its blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza, Hamas rejected that plan.

Last Friday, it offered to go back to the original ceasefire plan in exchange for releasing an American-Israeli soldier. That offer was rejected by Israel.

Let's take a look at what this means politically for Benjamin Netanyahu. Today, we saw protesters in Jerusalem demonstrating against a renewed war in Gaza. The brother of an Israeli hostage says he's nervous about the unfolding situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ILAY DAVID, BROTHER OF HOSTAGE EVYATAR DAVID: I hope this decision is synchronized with the American administration, with -- I know it is synchronized with the IDF and the security forces. So hopefully all this move will bring us the hostages faster. Of course I'm anxious. I'm super anxious to know that Evyatar is right now inside a war zone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The resumption of deadly airstrikes on Gaza has brought far right politicians back into Netanyahu's orbit. Itamar Ben-Gvir announced he would rejoin the government today. The hardliner politician resigned as a minister in January in protest at the ceasefire deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just been speaking and he's warning Hamas, saying, quote, this is only the beginning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU: I promise to you, if Hamas did not release our hostages, we will return to battle. And indeed we did. We returned to battle forcefully. Together with the minister of defense, I accepted the IDF's recommendation to return to a forceful fighting against Hamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Now, coming up, the chief justice of the Supreme Court and what he's been saying about the current situation with democracy in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:37:24]

FOSTER: Let's get back to Israel. The political future of the prime minister, who is obviously overseeing the collapse of that ceasefire, currently, although talks may continue.

Gideon Levy is a columnist for the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz". He also was an adviser to the former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. He joins me from Tel Aviv.

Thank you so much for joining us.

I mean, what did you make of this move by Netanyahu to go back to fighting? He says it's just the beginning. I mean, how is he making his decisions? Who's he leaning on?

GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, HAARETZ NEWSPAPER: First of all, there is only one word to describe it. And this is a catastrophe, or outrageous or really, the vocabulary does not contain enough adjectives, adjectives, adjectives to describe what is happening now and where are we aiming to?

Seventeen months of -- of real slaughterhouse in Gaza were not enough for Israel. And now, we are aiming for another 17 months or seven months or 170 months of slaughtering the people of Gaza without any purpose. It has nothing to do anymore neither with the original targets of the -- of the war, namely, for sure not releasing the hostages. And for sure not beating Hamas or punishing Hamas for the 7th of October. We are so far away from there. It is just to maintain the government and maybe to maintain some crazy ideologies.

FOSTER: But Israel is saying Hamas was the block here. They wouldn't go ahead and agree on the second phase. It wasn't Israel's fault. They had no choice.

LEVY: Even the best propaganda of Israel cannot claim this, because it was very clear there was an agreement. One and a half months ago. We had to start to discuss the second phase, and Israel refused to do so. And Israel -- and it was very clear from the beginning that Netanyahu has no intention to implement the second phase and to blame Hamas for this is really just a joke.

Hamas has so many crimes and so much blood on his hands, but not implementing this agreement is not one of them.

FOSTER: We're looking at images from Tel Aviv, where you are of the families of the hostages and associates.

[15:40:01]

I mean, it's quite a crowd there. They're pretty furious about this as well.

If political pressure is going to come from anywhere on Netanyahu, it's going to be from this group here, isn't it?

LEVY: No, no, unfortunately not. The devoted crowd that you see in the streets of Tel Aviv is not Netanyahu's crowd, and he can easily ignore it. That's not his political basis, and those demonstrations are very impressive and has very, very, very little influence.

But let's not forget that not only the hostages are going to be the victims of this renewal of the war. I mean, in Israel, we focus only on the hostages. There are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are now in fear from another round.

Let's not forget them, for god's sake.

FOSTER: How much support is there for these crowds in Tel Aviv that we see at the moment? I mean, are we talking about a divided nation? I mean, just give us an insider's point of view.

LEVY: So, first of all, let's be very clear. Those crowds in Tel Aviv are protesting in favor of releasing the hostages and getting rid of Netanyahu. They don't oppose the war or the crimes of war as such.

Now Israel is divided, and this division can be overreached. But over two subjects. Releasing the hostages and getting rid of Netanyahu and Netanyahu. Like Netanyahu. He is the most beloved and the most hated Israeli politician ever. And both camps have a very solid support. And one camp can ignore the other.

FOSTER: It's difficult to rely on what Hamas says, of course, but we have just heard that they are saying they wanted to continue with a ceasefire agreement with Israel when the -- the strikes started. I mean, what do we make of that?

LEVY: Look, we shouldn't give compliments to Hamas because it doesn't deserve it. But when it came to implementing the agreements, which were signed by Netanyahu Hamas plays his role -- played this role and Israel didn't. Israel violated this agreement. And no propaganda can cover it.

And, you know, say that the to blame Hamas for everything is very easy. But from time to time, it's also important to look at the reality.

FOSTER: Okay, I really appreciate your time. Gideon Levy as ever, as those scenes play out in your city.

Now to the U.S., and its almost unheard of for the chief justice of the Supreme Court to weigh in on political matters. But Donald Trumps calls to impeach a federal judge have inspired just that.

The judge in question is James Boasberg, a top federal judge in Washington, D.C. His moves to block the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members were criticized by the Trump administration, who deported them anyway. Now, Chief Justice John Roberts says that calls to impeach judges are, quote, inappropriate or not appropriate. His rebuke came in a Supreme Court statement that didn't mention Mr. Trump by name.

And Boasberg is not backing down. He's ordered the Department of Justice to answer his questions about the deportation flights by noon on Wednesday.

Areva Martin is a civil rights attorney and joins me now.

I mean, they seem like pretty basic questions. When did the flights leave? And so they can try and build a picture of exactly when this decision was made. But do you really expect the Trump White House to answer them? You know, they're running things.

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY & LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Yeah, Max. It is a very basic question for a federal judge to ask lawyers from the Department of Justice. And it's unprecedented for these lawyers not to respond to the judge's request. But we are living in unprecedented times.

And I think it's kind of rich for the chief justice to make the rebuke or the statement that he made, although he didn't identify Trump directly, because this is the same court that essentially gave Trump unlimited power, basically said that he could operate as a king, that he was above reproach. He was above the law, and he pretty much could act with impunity in every legal situation we can almost imagine.

So here we are now with Donald Trump defying a federal judge his order not to deport these alleged Venezuelan gang members and his Department of Justice refusing to answer very basic questions.

FOSTER: Is it wise for high profile members of the judiciary to challenge Trump and his team? Because we see how Trump reacts to that. He comes back harder.

MARTIN: I think it's the only form of resistance that has any chance of being successful. In this moment, we see that Congress has pretty much ceded its power to Donald Trump, even though they are a co-equal branch of government, they are not stepping up and preventing him from engaging in unconstitutional behavior.

[15:45:09] So it is the court system that people that fired workers, that civil rights groups are looking to, to be the guardrails for this administration that truly is acting as if they are, you know, that this is a tyranny. This is a dictatorship. This is not an executive branch that has two other co-equal branches of government that is bound by our Constitution.

FOSTER: What if the Department of Justice ignores this deadline, doesn't answer the questions asked of, asked of it? What do you expect the judge to do after that? I mean, what how far can this go?

MARTIN: Well, hopefully the judge will continue to stand firm in his rulings, will hold the Department of Justice in contempt.

The court has the ability to haul employees from the Department of Justice into the courtroom, to have those employees arrested for failing to comply with a legitimate court order. We haven't seen that to date, but that is the powers that the court system has. And if the DOJ lawyers continue to engage in this kind of obstructionist, I would hope that the court uses every power available to it to hold the Department of Justice to account and to make those lawyers do what any other lawyer appearing before that court would be forced to do.

FOSTER: Okay, we've also heard in the last few minutes that a federal judge has indefinitely blocked the dismantling of U.S. aid, USAID, saying the shutdown likely violates the U.S. Constitution. I mean, how would it do that?

MARTIN: Well, the court has issued this preliminary injunction preventing Elon Musk and DOGE from dismantling this department, saying that it is a violation of the Constitution. It's a violation of the appointments clause and the separation of powers.

Again, we have three co-equal branches of government and the executive branch of government cannot undo what has been passed into law, signed into law by the Congress. But yet, we see Elon Musk acting again without any kind of appointment himself, as he has (AUDIO GAP) go and shutter government departments.

And it's important to note, Max, pretty much every lawsuit that has been filed against Donald Trump and his efforts to dismantle federal departments to fire federal workers, the payment of federal grants, federal courts have stepped in and have prevented that. They've issued temporary restraining orders. They've issued injunctions. They are at this point, the only branch of government that seems to be holding this administration to account.

FOSTER: Well, that is their job, isn't it? But you know, some people have accused Donald Trump as acting in an autocratic way, thinking that the executive is somehow above the judiciary and the other branches of government.

But, you know, this is a real departure, isn't it? He's just trying to do things differently. His team would say, and, you know, doing things the same, not showing leadership. We just plod on as we are without making any real progress. MARTIN: Well, there's -- there's difference. And then there's

violations of the law.

So, yes, executive -- the executive branch, the president of the United States has a great deal of latitude to issue executive orders, but he doesn't have the ability. No president has the ability to undermine the U.S. Constitution. And that's what seems to be lost on this president, lost on his Department of Justice. The lawyers that are appearing before these judges, believing that they can go into a federal court and not respond to legitimate questions from a federal judge.

And with regards to the deportation of these alleged gang members, its not even clear that they comply with the judges order. In fact, it appears that they disobeyed the federal order to halt the transportation of these alleged gang members. So we are living in unprecedented times. We've not seen a president act in the way that Donald Trump is acting, that has such flagrant disregard for our judiciary, for our judicial branch of government.

FOSTER: Okay, Areva, thank you so much for bringing us your context on all of that. You know, it's complicated stuff, but it's hugely profound, isn't it?

Now, staying with Elon Musk, he's saying a recent spate of arson attacks on Tesla facilities is terrorism. This was the scene in Las Vegas overnight where several cars were set on fire at a Tesla collision center. Police say it was a deliberate act.

Musk, who is, of course, Tesla CEO, has attracted criticism for his work leading Donald Trumps department of government efficiency at Tesla factory in Berlin also suffered an arson attack earlier this month.

Still to come, a return to Earth, the two astronauts, stuck in space for months, are back on their way home.

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We'll have a live report for you tracking their progress.

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FOSTER: Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are on their way back at home at last after leaving the International Space Station. That was earlier today. They are on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and are expected to land in a few hours. The duo have been stuck in space, would you believe, since June, when their Boeing Starliner spacecraft malfunctioned, they really didn't expect to be there that long.

But tracking their voyage home is our Ed Lavandera. He joins us now. People are going to be glad to see them back, and they're going to be thrilled. I'm sure. ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, you can

imagine, right? Two hundred and eighty-six days in space, Max. And in the last few hours since that SpaceX capsule docked away from the International Space Station just after 1:00 a.m. Eastern Time here in the United States, the this crew of four astronauts, the two that we've been talking about Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, as well as two other astronauts have been orbiting the earth preparing for the final entry here into the earth's atmosphere before descending into the Gulf waters just south of Tallahassee and the Florida panhandle, where in just a little over an hour, this SpaceX capsule will begin the process of reentry.

Imagine this capsule is coming in at about 17,000 miles per hour. Shortly after coming through the atmosphere there, there will be a series of deployments of -- of parachutes that will slow the capsule down to about 20 miles per hour before it plunges there into the gulf waters. And then several boats will descend on the capsule, and that will begin the process of getting the astronauts back onto shore.

We are told that that process of getting them onto a vessel there in the Gulf waters will be about 45 minutes. They will then be helicoptered on shore and then flown here to Houston in the Johnson Space Center, where they will continue their medical checkups. And this is a process that will take several hours. And we expect NASA officials and SpaceX officials here to brief reporters on how all of this goes here in the coming hours.

But we are a little more than an hour away from beginning to see this SpaceX capsule begin the process of reentry here, Max.

FOSTER: Okay. Ed Lavandera, thank you so much for that. We're going to be watching incredibly closely. There is the timeline.

Now, the Los Angeles Dodgers are continuing their winning ways just a little further from home, though the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs kicked off the Major League Baseball season in Japan, giving the Dodgers a 4- 1 win.

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They're big fans, of course, of the game over there and him taking center stage during the series is Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani led his Dodgers to a World Series championship last season. Of course, he also captured his third MVP win, the second game in the series is Wednesday.

Take a look at this beauty, a sea creature once deemed the worlds ugliest animal, has had an underwater Cinderella story you'll be glad to hear.

After being declared the worlds ugliest animal back in 2013, the blobfish has now been voted New Zealand's fish of the year. It's a story of triumph. The competition is aimed at raising awareness of the country's marine life and its fragile ecosystem. The gelatinous creature, I think that's right, can grow up to 30

centimeters long or about a foot and look like a big, blobby tadpole, some say with a big nose and beady eyes. They're on display for you, finishing the show off, and mine.

I'm Max Foster. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" with Richard is up next.