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CNN International: Israel Breaks Ceasefire, Carries Out Gaza Strikes; Trump To Speak To Putin By Phone; Judge Demands Answers On U.S. Deportations.; SpaceX Crew-9 Begins Return Flight To Earth From ISS; Trump Says He'll Release JFK Assassination Files On Tuesday; Dodgers And Cubs Start Season In Tokyo Today Aired 4-5a ET

Aired March 18, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:31]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane.

Our breaking news coverage begins in Gaza, where a fragile ceasefire has been shattered and more than 320 Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza overnight. The attack was ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, and an Israeli official described it as preemptive strikes targeting Hamas but declined to provide details about what they claim was the militant groups, quote, readiness to execute terror attacks. Hundreds have been injured in the strike, and local officials say some people are still trapped under the rubble. The enclave's health care system was already in terrible shape after the prolonged conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The head of Gaza's biggest hospital says they are completely full and running out of supplies, and the director of all Gaza hospitals is pleading for help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MOHAMMED ZAQUOT, DIRECTOR OF GAZA HOSPITALS (through translator): We call on the international community to urgently intervene to save our wounded, to save what can be saved from these severe injuries, to allow the entry of medical devices, equipment and even fuel for hospitals and medicines, and the entry of medical delegations, and allowing those who can to leave for treatment abroad so that we can reduce the scale of these damages and massacres committed by the occupation against our people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, CNN's Paula Hancocks has been tracking developments, joins us now live from Abu Dhabi.

Paula, these strikes have taken place across Gaza. What more are you learning this hour and whether there has been any retaliation yet from Hamas?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPODENT: Well, Christina, what we've seen over recent hours is the death toll rise at an alarming rate at this point, according to the ministry of health. They say that some 326 people have been confirmed to have been killed. Hundreds more have been injured.

And as you mentioned, there is very little of a health infrastructure left in Gaza to be able to care for those that have been injured. Now we see from the footage coming through to us, we hear from our stringers on the ground as well, that women and children are very much a part of those -- those casualties, as we have been seeing really for a year and a half.

Now, what we've heard from the Israeli military is that this is a, quote, massive offensive. It is in all parts of -- of Gaza, as we can tell at this point in the north, center and the south. We understand from the IDF that they are now ordering civilians to evacuate from certain areas of Gaza. So this is going back to the displacement that we saw before the ceasefire came into effect, January 19th.

Now, there are certain areas like Beit Hanoun, for example, in the north, that have been ordered to be evacuated. These are areas that had been evacuated before, but many families and people had moved back to their homes or what was left of their homes after the ceasefire came into place, many of them without homes, still standing, living in the rubble or putting a tent up close to where they lived. But they now will have to move once again, according to the Israeli military.

Now we have heard from Hamas. As I said, there's been no retaliation as far as we can tell at this point, the -- the airstrikes have been extremely strong. But Hamas did say that this is Netanyahu deciding to break and overturn the ceasefire agreement, also saying its putting the captives in Gaza at risk of an unknown fate.

But it is believed to be an Israeli offensive that could last as long as it takes, according to one Israeli official.

Let's listen to the Israeli ambassador to the U.N.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The Israeli air force initiated a series of attacks against Hamas targets in Gaza. We will show no mercy on our enemies. Let me be very clear: Israel will not stop until all of our hostages are back home. We will make it very clear to the Security Council that if they want to stop the war in Gaza, they have to ensure that the hostages are coming back to Israel.

[04:05:04]

We are committed to bring them back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, Israel said it was necessary to carry this out as Hamas was not agreeing to a bridging proposal that the Trump administration had suggested, meaning extending the temporary ceasefire for about a month and a handful of hostages being released in return for Palestinian prisoners. What Hamas wanted was to stick to the deal that had been agreed to between Hamas and Israel. This three- phase agreement -- agreement, which at the time the U.S. president Donald Trump, had taken credit for.

Now, some within the coalition of Israel are pleased with this development. Certainly, the far right elements of that coalition wanted a return to war and an attempt to -- to destroy Hamas completely, something which even military officials in Israel have said would likely be impossible.

But we've also heard from an advocacy group which is representing some of the families of those hostages still being held in Gaza, and they say that their greatest fear has come true, adding the government has chosen to give up on the hostages and that they are shocked, angry and terrified -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, one does wonder what this will spell for those hostages still left in the enclave. And what is the likelihood now, Paula, that this fighting will return to full scale fighting before the ceasefire was declared on January 17th to troops on the ground, to what we have seen essentially in the many months before this.

HANCOCKS: Well, what we've just seen, Christina, in recent hours, since the ceasefire was broken by Israel, was an intense bombardment. We're hearing that from -- from those on the ground in Gaza that it was extremely intense. We're hearing from an Israeli official that it will continue as long as necessary and will expand beyond airstrikes.

Now, that's a very clear suggestion that there will be, the ground troops that are in Gaza at this point, moving back potentially into population centers. At this point, they are really focused along border areas between Israel and Gaza, between Gaza and Egypt. And then, of course, you do have these orders from the IDF for Palestinians in certain neighborhoods to evacuate, to move to another area.

So it does very much look like we are back where we were pre-January 19th. But certainly when you look at the intensity of the airstrikes, when you look at the -- the death toll, more than 300 being killed in just a matter of hours, there are concerns that this would be even more intense than we have seen before, as the IDF says, a massive offensive.

And of course, the question is where is the off ramp? What is the path forward to try and bring these -- these sides back to a ceasefire proposal? Potentially, Israel is -- is doing this to try and put more pressure on Hamas to agree to their version of the -- the ceasefire.

But at this point, there is a U.S. president in Donald Trump who fully supports Israel, who is not, as the former U.S. President Joe Biden was doing, will not try to pressure or suggest that they temper their actions against those in Gaza. Now, it wasn't very successful when the former president tried it, but there doesn't seem to be any pressure on Israel at this point from the United States to -- to push this back to, to any kind of ceasefire negotiations.

HANCOCKS: All right. Paula Hancocks, thank you very much.

Let's get more now from Gaza. I'm joined now by Rosalia Bollen, UNICEF spokesperson in Gaza. She joins me from Rafah.

Thank you so much for your time. Rosalia, I'm sure the situation there is fraught.

Just talk to me a bit about what you have seen and experienced in the last few hours.

ROSALIA BOLLEN, UNICEF SPOKESPERSON IN GAZA: I mean, it's been a really, really tough night for all of us here in the al-Mawasi/Rafah area. This is the area where families had fled to during the war. Some of those families have been going back to the north, to eastern Khan Younis, to Rafah, to their homes there. But others have stayed out of fear of the precarious nature of the ceasefire.

We woke up around 10 past 2:00 a.m. local time in Gaza by very heavy, loud explosions so loud that our building that we stay in was -- was violently shaking. And those bombardments continued very intensively for about 15 minutes. Every five, 10 seconds or so, very loud explosions nearby.

After 15 minutes, when that subsided somewhat, I could hear people yelling outside screaming. I heard ambulances driving on and off and the bombing has continued throughout the night, but with more space in between those explosions.

We've seen reports of several dozen children killed. Healthcare in the Gaza strip has been decimated after 15 long months of very brutal war. I was just in Al-Aqsa the other day in the neonatal intensive care unit, and there the nurses told me that they're lacking antibiotics and other hospitals that I visited -- visited. They're shortages of medical disposables like gowns and syringes.

And these hospitals will now again be overwhelmed with very severely injured people. And beyond those hundreds reported killed, there will be many more very badly injured, including scores of children. So we call for the reinstatement of -- of the ceasefire. This is absolutely critical to save children's lives.

And I would also like to remind the viewers that this bombardments, they come right on the heels of a blockade of aid supplies. We, as UNICEF and other humanitarian organizations, we haven't been able to collect our supplies from the crossings for two weeks now. We have lots of humanitarian assistance that is ready to go in, including over 180,000 routine vaccines, childhood vaccines that would be sufficient to vaccinate 60,000 children under age two.

And we have ventilators, very specialized equipment for neonatal units that help preterm babies breathe, ready to be brought in. If only we were allowed to. And we have nutrition supplies, hygiene supplies, all sorts of critical assistance that we would love to bring in. Because in the first six weeks of the ceasefire, the aid that we have been bringing in, we've largely been distributing that.

We haven't been pre-positioning that aid to build up a large stock since the needs are so high, families in Gaza remain in need of everything. And so it's critical that this blockade is lifted. And that the ceasefire is reinstated imminently.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. Critical that the blockade is lifted. But now, we are seeing a slide back to what appears to be full war in the Gaza Strip. And we're being told here that the target, the targets are Hamas militants.

But from what you're seeing, Rosalia, talk to us about the victims here of these strikes, of these attacks.

BOLLEN: Yeah. So 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. And this is just heartbreaking. As children in Gaza are already deeply traumatized by 15 long months of relentless war.

Children in Gaza have been stuck in this permanent cycle of exposure to violence, but also very toxic stress. The realization that nowhere is safe in Gaza. And as of last night, again, nowhere is safe in Gaza.

Children are acutely aware of that. They've been speaking to me about fear of dying. They've spoken about the relatives they've lost, the friends that they have lost. UNICEF estimates that every child in Gaza today is in need of mental health and psychosocial support because of the preceding 15 months of violence.

So children are bearing the biggest brunt. They are the biggest victims in this war.

MACFARLANE: It is a devastating scene there, and we wish you and your team well as you navigate this, I'm sure, a very difficult situation on the ground right now.

Rosalia Bollen, we appreciate you joining us. Thank you.

BOLLEN: Thank you for having me.

MACFARLANE: Well, meantime, U.S. President Donald Trump is doubling down on threats to Iran after he ordered airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

U.S. Central Command confirms American forces are continuing operations against the rebel group. In response, the Iran-backed Houthis claimed to have launched 18 missiles and drones at U.S. air carriers in the Red Sea.

President Trump posted on social media, quote, every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon from this point forward as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of Iran, and Iran will be held responsible and suffer the consequences. And those consequences will be dire. The White House says a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine has never

been closer, ahead of the high stakes phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in the hours ahead, the U.S. president says negotiators have already have topics they want to discuss, including land power plants and, quote, dividing up certain assets.

The Kremlin says the call will focus on issues related to the Ukraine conflict, as well as restoring dialogue between the U.S. and Russia.

[04:15:07]

Last week, President Trump said Ukraine had accepted a proposed 30 day ceasefire, putting the balls in Russia's court. Vladimir Putin has suggested he agreed with the plan in principle, but made further demands and said more discussions are needed.

On Monday, while touring the Kennedy Center in Washington, Donald Trump repeated disputed claims from Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian troops are now surrounded in Russia's Kursk region. The U.S. president also discussed his hopes for Tuesday's talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to have a very important call. You know, we've had calls, but we're getting down to a very critical stage and we want to get the whole Russia-Ukraine thing done. And I think Ukraine wants it. I know they want it, everybody wants it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, CNN's Fred Pleitgen has been following developments from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Excitement on Russian state T.V. The leading talk show previewing President Trump's latest diplomatic advances towards Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The pace of negotiations between Moscow and Washington has accelerated, the anchor says tomorrow there will be a phone conversation between Putin and Trump. The U.S. President announced a new call to the Kremlin.

As the unrelenting battles continue on the ground, the White House claims it's making progress towards a possible ceasefire. With the Ukrainians already on board, President Trump now trying to convince Putin to sign off as well, even as the Russian leader says many issues still need to be sorted out.

TRUMP: We'll be talking about land, we'll be talking about power plants. That's a big question. But I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We're already talking about that. Dividing up certain assets. PLEITGEN: Dividing up assets between Ukraine and Russia. While Moscow's forces are seemingly on the brink of ousting Ukrainian troops from their shrinking foothold in Russia's Kursk region, soldiers collecting war trophies after hard-fought battles.

The Russians say they're also pressing on various other frontlines and they don't want to give any of that territory back to Kyiv. Moscow also giving a big net to the idea of putting European NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine as peacekeepers. The Kremlin lashing out at the notion.

We are talking about the fact that viable regulation is only possible by taking into account and solving the root causes of the problems associated with Ukraine. And they are going to create additional root causes.

But on Moscow's streets, optimism that an end to the war may be in sight brokered by the U.S. president.

PLEITGEN: Do you think that progress is possible in this phone call? To end the war in Ukraine?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think progress will be definitely.

PLEITGEN: Definitely? Why do you think so? You're very optimistic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

PLEITGEN: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I love my life. I love my country and I think all this will be good for our country.

PLEITGEN: But the Kremlin has cautions. Diplomacy is still in its early stages and many hurdles will have to be overcome to silence the guns on the battlefield.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, the call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will come one week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accepted the U.S. proposed 30 day ceasefire. He's now accusing Russia of doing everything to prevent it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It has been nearly a week since it became absolutely clear to everyone in the world that it is Putin who continues to prolong this war. For a week now, Putin has been unable to muster a simple yes in response to the cease fire proposal.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MACFARLANE: And we will wait to see what comes out of that call later today. Meetings between U.S. negotiators with representatives from Ukraine and Russia are expected to continue this week.

Okay. Still ahead, the latest on the White House's legal drama over its immigration crackdown and an inside look at the notorious prison in El Salvador housing U.S. deportees.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:24:00]

MACFARLANE: We're following breaking news this hour. The ceasefire in Gaza appears to be over. The IDF has announced a, quote, massive offensive in Gaza and ordered civilians to evacuate from multiple neighborhoods.

Overnight, Israeli airstrikes killed more than 320 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry. A Hamas leader responded by calling the strikes a, quote, death sentence for Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza. Families of those hostages are demanding to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials to find out how the military action will impact the safe return of their loved ones.

Earlier, an Israeli official described the airstrikes as a, quote, preemptive targeting of Hamas leaders without providing details would, of course, continue to follow this story and bring you updates across the hour.

The U.S. federal judge is demanding answers from the Trump administration after it deported hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members under an 18th century wartime act. The judge characterized the Justice Department's reasoning as we don't care. We'll do what we want.

[04:25:02]

The White House isn't disagreeing, even going as far as to question the bedrock principle of judicial review.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR POLICY: 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. District court judges do not have the authority, as a general matter, to enjoin the functioning of the executive branch, but their authority is at its lowest point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, CNN's David Culver recently got an exclusive look inside El Salvador's infamous terrorism confinement center, where these deportees have been sent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN U.S. SECURITY NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Under a veil of darkness, they arrive, shackled and seemingly shell- shocked, bound for a prison where the past is erased and the future is a door that never opens.

More than 250 alleged criminals deported from the U.S., arriving in El Salvador over the weekend. Most are from Venezuela, accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua, a violent transnational gang.

Their destination, El Salvador's terrorism confinement center, known as CECOT, a supermax prison built by President Nayib Bukele to house his country's most dangerous criminals. One by one, hundreds of guards process these new arrivals, who are stripped of choice, power and identity.

It will cost the U.S. about $6 million to keep them here for at least the first year. These images, released by El Salvador's government and proudly shared online by president Bukele, highlight his controversial yet seemingly effective gang crackdown while also positioning him firmly in President Trump's good graces, helping to fulfill Trump's mass deportation promises.

President Trump thanking Bukele for his understanding of this horrible situation, adding we will not forget.

CECOT was built to contain, to isolate.

All right, we're going to go in here.

And late last year, we stepped inside to see it for ourselves. These men described as the worst of the worst, tattooed with reminders of El Salvador's dark past. It's tense and uncomfortable. But here, officials say comfort isn't meant to exist.

There's no mattresses, there's no sheets. You've got a toilet over here for them to go to the bathroom. You've got this basin here that they use to bathe themselves. And then you can see there there's a barrel of water that they can drink from. And he says, there's always somebody standing here in front of the cells.

And then if you look up, there's another corridor with more security personnel.

Twenty-four-seven light.

The prison sits like an isolated fortress nestled in mountainous terrain about an hour and a half drive from the capital. It's been equated to seven football stadiums. It's almost multiple prisons within the prison. The far end, you have one that's nine meters high of concrete. And then above that three meters of electrified fencing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifteen thousand volt.

CULVER: Fifteen thousand volts.

More than a thousand security personnel, guards, police and military are stationed on site.

Inmates are assigned to one of eight sectors. Each sector holds more than two dozen large cells.

Roughly 80 inmates per cell. But it can fluctuate.

CULVER: What is it like to live here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's probably not a hotel, five star, but they give you the three times the food. They give you some programs. You go to -- you go to do exercise, some church religion program, too.

CULVER: But that's limited to just 30 minutes a day. The other 23.5 hours, they're kept inside and locked up.

For inmates who get violent with other prisoners or guards --

We're going to close the door. I just want to get a sense of -- wow.

Solitary confinement awaits.

The only light you get is through this hole, and they can be in here for 15 days, potentially.

All right. I'm ready to get out.

Critics point specifically to the prison's strict control and isolation of inmates, calling it a violation of human rights.

The director brought up that a lot of folks will raise concerns from a human rights perspective, and an abuse of human rights, that he's calm hearing that because he sees it day to day. The process they go through to maintain as he sees it proper punishment.

And now that proper punishment isn't just for alleged Salvadoran criminals, it's also for those the U.S. decides to send away, an outsourcing of confinement into Bukele's prized prison, merciless for those inside.

[04:30:03]

But to many beyond these walls, CECOT stands as a symbol of El Salvador's restored security.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: CNN's David Culver there with that incredible reporting.

So the big question, will President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act have any legal merit, especially in front of the highest court in the land?

Well, CNN senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig breaks that down for us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: There's two things that the administration is going to have to show to any court. Maybe eventually the Supreme Court, in order to uphold the way that it has used the Alien Enemies Act here. First of all, that there is an invasion. And if you look at the presidents declaration from hours before this all started, he says, were under an invasion by this gang.

The second thing that they're going to have to show is that the invasion had something to do with a foreign government, and so there's all this language in the proclamation about how this gang Tren de Aragua is actually an arm, a branch somehow affiliated with the Maduro government in Venezuela. I think both of those arguments, just from an objective point of view, I think both of those arguments are uphill. I think they're stretches.

But the real question is going to be how broadly does this Supreme Court define the executive's authority? And given the conservative leanings, given the pro executive leanings of the Supreme Court, I would not be shocked if the Supreme Court ultimately says that this is a valid use of that power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: New developments in the case of deported brown university assistant professor and Dr. Rasha Alawieh. A source says federal agents at Boston airport found photos of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on her phone when she returned from Lebanon last week. And Alawieh acknowledged she attended his public funeral.

On Monday, protesters gathered in support of Alawieh, a Lebanese national and a U.S. visa holder. A federal judge has delayed her deportation hearing until later this month, after her lawyers withdrew from the case.

All right. Still to come, we'll bring you the latest on the deadly Israeli strikes in Gaza. A live report from the region is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:36:47]

MACFARLANE: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane.

Let's check today's top stories.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will speak by phone in the coming hours about a possible deal to end the war in Ukraine. The U.S. president says the call will focus on dividing up assets like Ukrainian territory and energy infrastructure, which could include the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

A showdown between the White House and the judiciary, Trump officials are arguing a federal judge's order halting deportation flights has no basis. Meanwhile, the judge is demanding the Justice Department explain why it defied his court order in the coming hours. And it's morning in Gaza right now, after the enclave was pounded by

deadly Israeli airstrikes overnight. The Palestinian health ministry says more than 320 people are dead and hundreds more injured. It effectively ends a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

The families of hostages are demanding a meeting with top Israeli officials to ask how the hostages will be harmed -- will not be harmed by military pressure and how the government intends to bring them home.

Let's bring back CNN's Paula Hancocks.

Paula, we spoke a short time ago at the top of the show. Just bring us up to date with developments since then relating to these deadly strikes.

HANCOCKS: Well, Christina, the strikes are ongoing, as were hearing from those on the ground, not to the intensity that we saw in the first few hours, but they are continuing, and we are seeing the death toll continue to rise as well. Now, we've heard from a number of medical staff and NGOs within Gaza saying that they have seen a number of those killed have been women and children. Also, a number of those injured, hundreds have been injured at this point in a place where the health infrastructure has been decimated.

Now, we've heard from the Israeli military that this is, as they call it, a quote, massive offensive. And they are also starting to order civilians in certain areas of Gaza to evacuate to other areas. So the displacement that really punctuated the year and a half of this war is something we are starting to see again.

So we would expect to see evacuation of families who have in the past two months, since the January 19th ceasefire, moved back to their homes or what was left of them. Some of those, in particular in the northern part of Gaza, will now have to -- to move elsewhere.

Now we are hearing from an Israeli official that these are called preemptive strikes to prevent Hamas rearming, to prevent them. Executing terror attacks, as they said, and building up their forces, and that the strikes will go on as long as is necessary.

So at this point, we haven't had a clear timeline from the Israeli military, the Israeli officials telling CNN that they will expand beyond airstrikes so we could well see the Israeli military back in the population centers of Gaza.

[04:40:04]

At this point, they had been moved to -- to border areas with -- with Egypt and with Israel. But we could well see that changing.

So this all happened in the early hours of this morning, taking civilians by surprise, who had been enjoying that relative calm since January. And the question now is, how long will this last? And of course, what is a potential path back to a ceasefire? Because many that we have spoken to at this point do not see an off ramp of where we are at this particular time.

Now, there are many in Israel that do support what is happening, most notably within the coalition of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The more far right elements saying that there was a necessity to go back to war, to completely destroy Hamas and to put pressure on the group to release the hostages, almost 60 of them, that they are still holding.

We have, though, heard from one of the advocacy groups of the hostages and the families that are still being held in there, and they do not support this, saying that the greatest fear has come true, saying that this return to the war has left them shocked, angry and terrified -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right. Paula Hancocks, for now. Appreciate it. Thank you.

A doctor volunteering in Gaza says the aftermath of the Israeli strikes has been absolutely horrific. Dr. Razan al-Nahhas says medical workers are struggling without supplies, and now bodies are beginning to pile up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RAZAN AL-NAHHAS, HUMANITY AUXILIUM, GAZA CITY: I was just standing on a -- on a balcony in one of the hospital buildings that has the operating room and the ICU, and from the balcony, there's no morgue here. From the balcony, you can see all the bodies of the people that have been killed lined up.

And I tried to count. And there's at least 50 of them there just wrapped in blankets. And, you know, just waiting. I guess the families were just waiting to -- to figure out the next steps. And they keep bringing more bodies. I, I lost count of how many patients, you know, I pronounced dead myself, but it was at least maybe 15 or 20 with just myself.

The majority are women and children. I mean, I just babies like one, two, three year olds just lined up 4 or 5 to a stretcher. And many, many, you know, young women, entire families wiped out. I'll be -- I'll take care of one patient and it will be a family or a neighbor that will tell me -- it's the only -- they're the only survivor.

I just was taking care of a seven year old boy who was gasping and taking his final breaths and begging me to try to save him, because they're telling me that his entire family was killed. Multiple siblings, parents, but the majority of cases that we've seen tonight are children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: That was Dr. Al-Nahhas speaking to CNN earlier from Gaza.

Okay, let's move on. The SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon capsule has successfully departed from the International Space Station. It's four person crew is now en route back to earth. Aboard are NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been on the ISS for nearly nine months.

The spacecraft mishap back in June turned their week long mission into an indefinite orbit around earth. NASA moved up this return flight timeline to take advantage of favorable weather conditions throughout Tuesday. The Dragon capsule is expected to splash down off Florida's coast this evening.

Well, CNN's Nick Valencia reports on the astronauts' extended journey and the different political world awaiting them on Earth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What a long strange trip it's been.

It's been a nine-month odyssey that was supposed to last about a week. Last June, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore rode on an initial wave of excitement as Boeing's Starliner capsule flew to the ISS with the crew aboard for the first time.

But it was a bumpy ride marked by helium leaks and propulsion issues and NASA decided a return trip with astronauts onboard was too risky.

Looking back on the extended mission, Williams told CNN, it was all part of the job.

SUNI WILLIAMS, ASTRONAUT: They do what's right for the team. And what was right for the team is to stay up here and be expedition crew members for the International Space Station.

So, you know, you have to just pivot. You have to change your plan and then go with it and make the best of it.

VALENCIA: But Butch and Suni are also coming back to a different world, at least politically, having spent the election and the first weeks of Trump's second term in space.

TRUMP: We love you and we're coming up to get you and you shouldn't have been up there so long.

[04:45:02]

VALENCIA: Their extended stay at the ISS has become kind of political kryptonite after Elon Musk suggested the Biden administration denied an offer from SpaceX to bring Williams and Wilmore home earlier for, quote, "political reasons."

A former senior NASA official tells CNN no offer was communicated to NASA's leadership and last summer NASA said a dedicated mission to retrieve the astronauts was not being considered. The extra cost would have been in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The crew says they're happy to be working in space and that they'll trying to stay above the controversy.

BUTCH WILMORE, ASTRONAUT: From my standpoint, politics has not played into this at all. From our standpoint, I think that they would agree.

We came up prepared to stay long even though we planned to stay short. That's what we do in human spaceflight.

VALENCIA: Both astronauts said they're looking forward to seeing their families again. NASA says Williams and Wilmore completed hundreds of hours of research and science experiments while in the ISS, including a spacewalk together.

WILIAMS: We are just fortunate and thankful though that we have seats, and we'll be coming home riding the plasma, splashing down in the ocean. So that's what we're looking forward to.

VALENCIA: Nick Valencia, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Up next, baseball is back. The MLB season gets underway in Tokyo in what's set to be a special night for the Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani.

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[04:51:05]

MACFARLANE: President Trump says he's releasing about 80,000 unredacted files Tuesday on the assassination of former president John F. Kennedy, fulfilling a lifetime campaign promise. Shortly after taking office, Trump ordered the release of files related to the assassinations of Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. Ninety percent of the records on JFK's 1963 assassination have already been made public, but the FBI said last month it discovered around 2,400 new records following Trump's executive order.

Now, the first pitch of the 2025 Major League baseball season will be thrown today as the World Series champion L.A. Dodgers take on the Chicago Cubs in Japan. Tickets for the two game Tokyo series sold out quickly last month, as fans rushed to the chance to welcome home their national hero, Dodgers superstar and three time MVP, Shohei Ohtani.

Well, CNN's Hanako Montgomery joining us now from outside the Tokyo Dome.

How is the atmosphere building there, Hanako?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Christina, I wish you could be here -- be here with me right now because the energy, the excitement is just absolutely electric. Behind me, you can see, there are thousands of people in their Dodgers blue caps, in their Dodgers uniforms. It truly is a sea of Dodgers blue because people are showing out for their favorite baseball superstar, Shohei Ohtani.

And, Christina, we were here since 1:00 p.m. local time, about four to five hours ago, and I can tell you there were still thousands of people there as well. People just reveling in the atmosphere, taking photos with other super fans, chanting their favorite players' names. And you know, I was speaking to one person earlier today and they

described it as the Japanese version of a Super Bowl, and that is a perfect, perfect description because it truly does feel such good energy and such a great atmosphere.

And, Christina, we have to remember that for many of Japans fans of Shohei Ohtani, this is their only chance to see their homegrown hero showcasing the skills that he picked up back in the United States in a proper Major League Baseball game.

So this truly is a fantastic experience, a fantastic moment for many of his fans. And we spoke to one such superfan earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAK OZAKI, OHTANI SUPERFAN: I wouldn't say god, but it's like -- it's like a Beatle. It's like Beatles first came to Japan like back in '65, or something. It's like the same fever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MONTGOMERY: Christina. So you can tell just how excited fans are to see Shohei Ohtani back here.

And also, Christina, it's important to note that baseball has been big in Japan for over a century now, but his star power has really elevated the sport to absolutely brand new heights. According to the sports memorabilia company fanatics, sales of Dodgers merchandise has gone up by over 2,000 percent in Japan since he joined the Dodgers team, and even tickets to today's game and Wednesday's game, they sold out in about an hour and according to some resale sites, some of those tickets are going for about 17,000 U.S. dollars.

So clearly, Christina, I mean, this is a really sought after game. This is a really such a wonderful moment for Japanese -- Japanese fans and for fans of Shohei Ohtani who get to see their favorite national hero back on Japanese soil -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Two thousand dollars per ticket. You've got to really want to be in that stadium, haven't you? And I hope you manage to make it in.

Hanako, we will wait and see. Thank you so much, live there from Tokyo for now.

Now, the world of long distance running will soon see a new contestant. A Chinese robot is set to run a half marathon in Beijing. The humanoid robot has been training and undergoing testing for next months competition, which is open to companies around the world.

Both robots and humans will race, but on different tracks for safety upgrades to the robots older version have helped increase its speed and stability.

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[04:55:02]

WEI JIAXING, BEIJING HUMANOID ROBOT INNOVATION CENTER (through translator): It's highest speed is 12 kilometers per hour. Considering the stability and endurance of the robot when running outdoors, we may slightly reduce the speed, but we are still very confident that it can complete the half marathon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCFARLANE: So far, nearly two dozen robotic firms have signed up to run in the half marathon.

And that'll do it for now. Thank you for joining me. I'm Christina Macfarlane. Stay with us. I'll be back with more news after this quick break.

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