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South Korean P.M. Reinstates Presidential Powers; Pope Francis Discharges from Hospital, Returns to Vatican for Recovery; Canada's P.M. Announced Snap Elections Set on April 28; NCAA Bares Sweet 16 Teams. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 24, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.

An Israeli airstrike hits Gaza's largest functioning hospital as the Palestinian Health Ministry says the death toll from the war in Gaza is now at 50,000.

New talks about ending the war in Ukraine, representatives from the United States and Russia are to meet today, one day after U.S. talks with Ukraine.

And one of France's most famous actors is set to go on trial today. It's a case that has reignited the Me Too movement.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: I appreciate you joining us.

Well, a new Israeli airstrike hit Gaza's largest functioning hospital on Sunday night.

Israel claims a key Hamas figure who was operating inside the hospital was killed. But Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa T.V. reports that he'd been receiving medical treatment there.

Meanwhile, some minor scuffles broke out when large crowds protested outside the Israeli prime minister's home on Sunday. This came as the Israeli cabinet took the first step toward dismissing the attorney general, who has been at odds with the government.

Well the Palestinian Health Ministry now says more than 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began. And as IDF operations in the enclave intensify, doctors struggle to treat patients due to a lack of supplies.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more. But a warning, the images you're about to see are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four-year- old Janine drifts in and out of consciousness. An Israeli airstrike hit her home last week while she was sleeping, killing her mother and 25 other family members.

Bleeding from her brain, she desperately needs surgery. But her doctor says she won't survive that surgery in this Gaza hospital. They don't have the specialized equipment that's needed.

For over two weeks, Israel hasn't allowed anything into Gaza. No food, no fuel, and no medical supplies. A blockade that is pushing hospitals here to the brink once again, endangering their ability to treat patients like Janine.

DR. MOHAMMED MOSTAFA, AUSTRALIAN VOLUNTEER MEDIC IN GAZA: So this is the drugs that we have in the department.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Dr. Mohamed Mostafa, an Australian doctor volunteering at Al-Ahli Hospital, says they are quickly running out of basic pain medications and anesthetics. And this is now the main hospital in northern Gaza. He says diagnostic equipment is also in short supply.

The E.R. has no ventilators, one working ECG machine, and only one heart monitor can measure blood pressure.

MOSTAFA: When we have these drone attacks and these missile strikes, we could have up to about a hundred patients in here, and only one area that can do blood pressure.

DIAMOND (voice-over): And so, when crisis hits, you can feel this already strained hospital buckling under the weight of it all.

On the night Israel breaks the ceasefire with a massive aerial attack, every inch of this hospital is packed with casualties. In one corner, a relative pumps oxygen to keep his loved one alive, in another, a child screams out in pain.

MOSTAFA: It didn't stop for about four or five hours, we were getting bodies continually coming in.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Dr. Mostafa is two weeks into his second volunteer tour in Gaza, where the lack of resources is forcing him to make impossible choices.

MOSTAFA: I remember I was putting in a chest strain into a man who had quite a collapsed lung, and I felt someone grab my ankle. And it was -- because there were so many bodies, there was a woman underneath the bed that had half a leg missing, who was holding onto my ankle, and she was asking me to help her. And I'm already halfway through the procedure with him, that will save his life, and I've not even assessed her. I don't know if she's got other injuries as well. So I continued

putting the chest strain in him, and she bled out on the floor, holding my ankle. And, you know, that's been very difficult for me to process.

DIAMOND: Where do you think things will be in two weeks? Will your hospital, will the healthcare system be able to survive?

[03:04:59]

MOSTAFA: Unfortunately, I think if there isn't a resolution in the next few days with regards to food, water, electricity, and medicine, and the ramp up of medical personnel, a lot of people are going to die.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Gaza's healthcare system crumbling once again, just as the situation had begun to improve after six weeks of ceasefire that saw a surge of humanitarian aid.

MAHMOUD SHALABI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS, MEDICAL AID FOR PALESTINIANS: We were able to bring in many medications and many medical disposables during the six weeks. It is true, it has improved. The situation has drastically worsened, unfortunately, in the last two weeks due to the fact that the cruisings are closed.

You are talking about fuel for the movement of ambulances. It doesn't exist, and people are operating on whatever scarce resources are left from the six weeks of the ceasefire.

DIAMOND (voice-over): As hospitals begin limiting ambulance transfers due to a lack of fuel, casualties now arriving at hospitals on horse- drawn carts. Patients needing specialized care are left in limbo, facing sky-high risks of infection and an uncertain future as Israel ramps up its attacks.

Yesterday's survivors risk becoming tomorrow's dead.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Another round of talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine is set for today as delegates from the U.S. and Russia sit down in Riyadh. Teams are trying to sort out the details of a proposed limited ceasefire. The Kremlin says the discussions will mainly focus on reviving the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

This will come one day after the U.S. team met with Ukrainian officials in what the country's defense minister described as productive talks. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who visited with troops on the front lines over the weekend, says the Russian president must be pushed to end the war.

CNN's Sebastian Shukla is following developments for us. He joins us live from Berlin. Good morning to you, Sebastian.

So, what's expected to come out of these meetings in Riyadh between the U.S. and Russia?

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, Rosemary, this is going to be the second round of talks that have taken place now between the United States and Russia. And I think the pretext to these is also very important before we look forward to them.

Remember that in the last round of talks, President Trump had suggested a 30-day ceasefire, which had been thrown out by President Putin. He said, I can't agree to that.

Here are a litany of reasons of things that I cannot agree to, including the agreement that Ukraine needs to demilitarize and that it must stop intelligence sharing with its Western partners. And so what he did say, though, is I'm prepared to agree to a 30-day infrastructure ceasefire where both sides stop shooting at each other's critical infrastructure, oil refineries, hospitals, etc.

And so what we've seen now is the beginning of this shuttle diplomacy taking place. You mentioned that Ukrainian and U.S. officials had met yesterday. Rustam Umarov, the Ukraine's defense minister, called them productive and focused.

And we know that today, beginning around 10 a.m. Riyadh time, the Russian and U.S. talks are going to begin in earnest.

Now President Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainians are going to be there, but they're not going to be in the room with the Russians and the Americans. A form of shuttle diplomacy is going to take place.

What we're expecting to see out of these talks today is the hammering out around that 30-day ceasefire agreement and also, the Kremlin are saying, discussions around the revival of the Black Sea grain deal, which essentially was that U.N.-brokered ceasefire that allowed vital grain for the entire world to be transited and transported through the Black Sea out of Ukraine and those ships then returning to be refilled.

So we will wait to see what the outcome of these talks will be, Rosemary, but this is the newest and latest effort by the Trump administration to try to draw some sort of ceasefire and this war to a close. Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Sebastian, how will these talks likely address Ukrainian territory currently held by Russia?

SHUKLA: Well, that is a thorny issue of conversation for Ukrainians because the maximalist approach that they have always maintained is that we will not, we want to see a return to our 1991 borders after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which includes Crimea, illegally annexed in 2014.

We are hearing now from the Trump administration, in particular, Steve Witkoff, about what he thinks those concessions and the discussions around those other four illegally annexed territories. Take a listen to what he said earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: The elephant in the room is there are constitutional issues within Ukraine as to what they can concede to with regard to giving up territory.

[03:10:04]

The Russians are de-facto in control of these territories. The question is, will they be -- will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Will it end up, can Zelenskyy survive politically if he acknowledges this? And this is the central issue in the conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUKLA: And so, Rosemary, what we're seeing there and hearing is the discussion around Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Luhansk and Donetsk, those regions which has seen the most intense fighting and many of which are still have and are occupied by Russia and have been illegally annexed in referenda, widely disparaged and disregarded by the Western community.

So we will see now exactly what these discussions take place today, taking place today and whether the issue of territorial integrity will be raised. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Sebastian Shukla in Berlin, many thanks.

With us now from Kyiv is Kira Rudyk, a Ukrainian member of parliament and the leader of the Holos party. Appreciate you joining us.

KIRA RUDYK, UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AND LEADER OF HOLOS PARTY: Hello, Rosemary, and thank you so much for having me.

CHURCH: So U.S. and Russian officials meet in the coming hours for talks in Riyadh, where they will discuss details for a partial ceasefire on land, in the air and on the Black Sea. What do you expect to come out of those meetings and those between the U.S. and Ukraine?

RUDYK: The biggest question right now, Rosemary, is the practicalities of the ceasefire and how would you enforce that? Because we do not trust Putin, we do not trust Russia, and we have seen over the last days that after Ukraine has agreed to unconditional ceasefire, it was on March 11th, we have seen Russia's attacks on peaceful cities intensifying, killing at least three people on a Saturday night.

So the question is, well, if even if Russia says they are ready to do the ceasefire, how would you enforce it? And what would happen if they break their part of the deal, which we have seen happening beforehand? We hope that the new U.S. administration has any answers to those, but we didn't hear that just yet.

And of course, when we have to defend ourselves, we should be able to do that because it is impossible for Ukraine to stand without the ability to protect our people against the threat of Russia that is still there. CHURCH: And what do you want to see included in a pause in the

fighting in the initial stages? Because we did see what happened with the recent partial ceasefire agreement on energy targets. President Putin was striking them within hours of talking with Trump.

RUDYK: Absolutely. And, you know, Rosemary, when the first information about the ceasefire reached Kyiv, it was exactly when the attack on Kyiv started.

So, again, we are telling the world what we have been telling all along. You cannot trust Russia. And even if they say that they are ready for something, you shouldn't take this information as any kind of truth.

So the question is, does the new U.S. administration have any way to dealing with that? Because the only thing that we have seen working with Russia was the language of strength, the language of power, the ability to defend ourselves.

This is when they can limit their striking. This is when they can stop. The diplomatic talks beforehand didn't give us any good result. So I hope with the statements that President Trump is giving, he has like some good ideas that would actually work, because as of right now, we haven't seen those ideas be productive or at least bringing us into like one peaceful night in Kyiv or anywhere else.

CHURCH: And how much do you worry that President Trump and his delegation might be outmaneuvered by Russia's President Putin and end up giving too much of Ukraine away to Moscow in any final peace deal that's decided?

RUDYK: Well, I have hopes that the United States administration would not be giving away any of Ukraine, right? Because we are a sovereign country, a sovereign state, and we were able to show the world that we are responsible for our future. And even if the world does not believe in us or wants to give up on us, we are ready to fight and we will be fighting.

However, yes, there are risks right now that Putin will fool President Trump. President Trump wanted to be seen strong right now. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem that way. And Putin is definitely outmaneuvering and fooling the U.S. administration, the strongest democracy in the world.

And that is upsetting. I want to assure you that whatever agreement there might be, Ukraine will be responsible for our own future.

[03:15:09]

And we hope that nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine will still be the policy that the United States administration will go with.

CHURCH: And Ukrainian and U.S. delegates held productive talks on Sunday. That's according to Ukraine's defense minister. What all came out of those discussions and what more are you hoping for in the coming hours? RUDYK: Well, the next step, we hope, is that Putin agrees to the

limited ceasefire for at least 30 days. At least what we heard, it was President Trump's administration goal for the nearest future.

I think in Riyadh, there could be discussions of the practicalities of that. And then the actual talks would go ahead.

Also, we didn't hear the updates on the rare minerals deal. And I want to stress once again that the President is very limited in what he can sign as a President. And that any kind of enhanced or extensive rare minerals deal will have to be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament. So that will not be a quick process.

CHURCH: Kyra Rudik, thank you so much for talking with us. We appreciate it.

RUDYK: Thank you.

CHURCH: Protests continue across Turkey following the arrest and jailing of a popular opposition figure. Ahead, what this shocking political development means for Turkey's fragile democracy.

Plus, South Korea's top court overturns the impeachment of its acting president. What this means for the country's political future. That and more after break.

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CHURCH: Sunday marked the fifth night of protests across Turkey following the arrest and jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Erdogan's most serious political rivals.

Police confronted protesters in the capital Istanbul with pepper spray. And there were reports of officers striking demonstrators after fireworks and other objects were thrown at riot police.

State media report that Imamoglu and some 100 others associated with him have now been accused of belonging to a criminal group, along with a litany of other charges filed by the Istanbul prosecutor's office. Supporters of the popular mayor, chief among them the leader of his own party, claim the charges are politically motivated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OGUR OZEL, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN PEOPLE'S PARTY (CHP) (through translator): Just like the methods of the Italian Mafia, a message is given by getting him arrested on the day of his candidacy vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: South Korea's top court has struck down the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and has restored his powers as acting president. Han was impeached by opposition party lawmakers in December after serving as acting president for 13 days. Judges on Monday ruled there were not sufficient grounds for his impeachment.

And CNN's Mike Valerio joins us now from Seoul. Good to see you, Mike. So, what more can you tell us about this?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, we should start off by saying it all comes back to Martial Law, declared in South Korea on December 3rd of last year, when troops, the military, are put in charge of law and order.

So what is new today, we learned that South Korea's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has survived his impeachment trial, but the broader, bigger question that still looms is what's going to happen to South Korea's sitting president who is in the middle of the impeachment trial of his own over Martial Law.

So to take you back to these images, what we saw, what we all experienced here on December 3rd, South Korea's sitting president, now suspended president, I should say, because he's going through impeachment, Yoon Suk-yeol. He declares martial law because he says from his point of view, there is a quote unquote "national emergency."

There's a national emergency. Nothing is getting done in the national assembly that's part of his agenda. So he sends troops to the national assembly to, from his point of view, send a message to opposition lawmakers.

Of course, that is seen as horrifying to so much of the nation and the world. You're not supposed to have martial law in a democracy.

So lawmakers vote to impeach the president and they vote to impeach South Korea's prime minister.

What we learned just a few hours ago, South Korea's top court said, there's not enough evidence to suggest that the prime minister, Rosemary, was involved in the planning of martial law. So he returns to his duties.

That means that the number two person on the food chain of South Korean politics is now back in charge of the country before it was the number three person, the finance minister carrying out the powers of the presidency.

So now there is still this unresolved question. What is going to happen to the now suspended president? There were really no clues, Rosemary, in today's ruling as to what the justices are going to do.

All we know is they have until June 26th to decide if South Korea's now suspended president stays or goes important because South Korea is such a crucial ally for NATO, the United States, much of the democratic world.

[03:25:03]

Right now, the president still suspended, and that is a question that is looming over the society. What is going to happen next, Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Mike Valerio brings that live report from Seoul.

Catholics in and around Vatican City are said to gather in the coming hours for prayers concerning the Pope's health. Pope Francis was discharged from a Rome hospital on Sunday where he spent more than five weeks struggling with double pneumonia.

He appeared visibly frail and struggled to speak as he acknowledged the crowds outside. The pontiff blessed them, but lifting his arms appeared difficult. Pope Francis will continue his recovery at the Vatican.

And when we return, a pending deal between the IRS and U.S. Homeland Security could help agents track down undocumented migrants.

Plus, attorneys with the Trump administration will be back in court today amid a growing legal battle over the Alien Enemies Act. Back with that and more in just a moment.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. Want to check today's top stories for you.

A key Hamas figure has been reportedly killed after an Israeli airstrike hit a Gaza hospital Sunday. The Israeli military claims the man was operating from inside the building. There were multiple casualties and the building suffered major fire damage.

Russia's TASS news agency reports that talks between U.S. and Russian officials are now underway in Riyadh, amid efforts to iron out the details of a proposed limited ceasefire in Ukraine. This comes one day after the U.S. team met with Ukrainian officials in what the country's defense minister described as productive talks.

Across Turkey, thousands continue to defy bans on street gatherings to protest the jailing and detention of Ekrem Imamoglu, the popular Istanbul mayor and President Erdogan's most serious political rivals. Imamoglu has denied the corruption and terrorism charges against him, calling them, quote, "a black stain on Turkey's democracy."

The IRS is closing in on a deal to share migrant data with the Department of Homeland Security. That is according to a person familiar with the matter. The unprecedented agreement could mark a major shift at the agency.

CNN's Kevin Liptak reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The Internal Revenue Service is close to finalizing an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security that would allow agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to receive taxpayer data that would assist in President Trump's deportation efforts.

Now, this would be a striking new step for the tax collecting agency. Under this draft agreement, officials from ICE would submit the names and addresses to the IRS for the agency to cross-reference against its own taxpayer data.

And this is something that has been in the works for quite some time, the two sides negotiating this potential agreement. We should note that it has not been finalized, that the negotiations are ongoing, but it would amount to a major shift for the agency.

Taxpayer data is among the most closely guarded information within the federal government. It is protected by law. Unauthorized disclosures carry criminal penalties.

And certainly the IRS has gone to great lengths to try and protect that information in the past. The agreement that's being finalized right now does appear narrower than some earlier iterations and earlier requests from the Department of Homeland Security.

The IRS would not hand over information to ICE as part of this agreement. Instead, the tax agencies would simply confirm information like migrants' addresses.

But it is raising alarms among certain immigration advocates who say it amounts to a breach of trust between the IRS and undocumented immigrants who have been encouraged to pay taxes for years with the understanding that the information wouldn't be used for law enforcement purposes.

And millions of undocumented migrants do pay their taxes in part with the hope that a record of paying taxes would help them achieve legal status down the road. Now the goal of this appears to be speeding up President Trump's deportation efforts.

[03:35:05]

We know behind the scenes that the president has been frustrated at the pace of deportations. He wants them to go much more quickly.

Now the Trump administration will be back in court on Monday as part of this deportation effort.

In this case, when it comes to the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act, that centuries-old law that the president is using to rapidly deport undocumented migrants accused of being involved in a Venezuelan gang, President Trump continues to go very harshly after the judge in that case writing on social media Sunday that he was a constitutional disaster. Administration lawyers will be in front of that very judge arguing their case on Monday.

Kevin Liptak, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: When it comes to President Trump's attacks on federal judges, Republican Senator John Curtis says he would probably take a different approach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CURTIS (R-UT): I would never be the one to say to the president what he can say and what he can't say. I'm going to tell you if it were me, I probably wouldn't be poking the people that are going to make decisions about me. But that's me and the president's going to do what the president does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, the U.S. is resuming repatriation flights of Venezuelan migrants after the two countries reached a deal. The first flight landed in Venezuela just a short time ago with nearly 200 on board. It comes amid growing outrage in the country after some Venezuelan migrants were sent to an infamous prison in El Salvador last weekend.

Repatriations to Venezuela had been stalled since February after the Trump administration revoked a license allowing the oil company Chevron to carry out some operations in the country.

Let's bring in Natasha Lindstaedt, professor of government at the University of Essex in Colchester, England. Appreciate you joining us.

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROF. OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So President Donald Trump is intensifying his attacks on the judiciary, testing the boundaries of the executive branch of government as his administration prepares to fight a judge's order to block his deportation flights.

Trump's team says the U.S. has a runaway judiciary that's trying to overstep the executive, and they claim voters gave Trump a mandate that no judge can take away. What's your reaction to this test of judicial power?

LINDSTAEDT: I think it's something that is really frightening to see how much Trump is pushing the boundaries of executive power and trying to undermine the judiciary, which of course is really critical to any democracy, to promoting and upholding the rule of law.

And traditionally, presidents have just let the judiciary do what it does, interpret the laws and haven't overstepped, even if they disagree with it, because they know how this is incredibly important. It's the bedrock of any democracy. But we see with the first term, Trump pushed it a little bit. We often

refer to this as constitutional hardball, but not anywhere near to this extent. And I think he was emboldened by the Supreme Court ruling back in July that basically said he was immune from prosecution while he was president.

And so since then, he's been really trying to undermine the judiciary by claiming he wants to impeach certain judges, by saying that they're so-called judges and trying to at least portray to the public that they are not legitimate, while failing to understand how important they are to ensuring that the rule of law is adhered to.

CHURCH: So given this, is the United States heading toward a constitutional crisis as Trump and his allies ignore court rulings and threaten to impeach judges who disagree with him?

LINDSTAEDT: I mean, we are already there. We're already at a constitutional crisis. And it really started in the beginning of his administration with his sort of shock and awe policies of gutting the federal government, of cutting workers, of cutting aid programs that had already been allocated by Congress.

And he's already overstepping what the congressional powers were. And now he's gone on a terror with the judiciary.

I think he thinks that he has a more pliant Supreme Court. He was really gracious towards Chief Justice Roberts originally, thanking him, what we thought was for that decision on immunity. But we also see him going after lawyers, going after law firms that have chosen to file lawsuits against him.

One of those law firms has decided to capitulate and basically agree to some of his demands.

[03:40:00]

Another law firm is taking it to the courts, but it's very risky for many of these people, these lawyers that are working at these law firms that are trying to promote civil liberties and defend human rights. And at times they have to go after the Trump administration and they fear that they are going to face retribution.

CHURCH: And meantime, of course, Democrats are in disarray with a leadership struggle underway. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer defending his decision to vote for the Republican spending bill to avoid a government shutdown and he's refusing to step down despite pressure to do so. How big are the problems facing the Democrats at a time when leadership is needed and what do they need to be doing right now?

LINDSTAEDT: So the Democrats are in trouble. Their approval rating is under 30 percent. It depends on the poll, but it's 29, 27 percent, which is terrible at a time when you're fighting against autocratization, when you're trying to promote democracy.

The opposition party has to be united. They have to be really strong and they have to have good leadership and a direction and a strategy. And the Democrats have none of this.

In fact, you have about 65 percent of their supporters that think they need to take a tougher stance and act more like a real opposition party. If we go back to 2008, 2009, 2010, when the Obama administration was in power and you had Mitch McConnell being able to orchestrate a much more robust response to what the Democrats were doing with Obamacare, the Republicans under the Tea Party were much stronger.

And some of the Democrats are talking about trying to emulate Mitch McConnell's policies of not agreeing to anything, really making the Democrats own it and really pushing them into a corner rather than trying to come up with agreements with them.

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Natasha Lindstaedt joining us there. I appreciate it.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Canada's new Prime Minister has announced a snap federal election. It's set for April 28, a very short turnaround. It comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney says the country faces, quote, "the most significant crisis of our lifetime," forged by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and promises to turn Canada into the 51st U.S. state.

Mr. Carney will face off against his main rival, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. They are both promising that their party will put up a strong fight against Donald Trump's existential threats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I'm asking Canadians for a strong, positive mandate to deal with President Trump and to build a new Canadian economy that works for everyone. Because I know we need change, big change, positive change.

PIERRE POILIEVERE, CANADIAN CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER: I will insist the president recognize the independence and sovereignty of Canada. I will insist that he stop tariffing our nation. And at the same time, I will strengthen our country so that we can be capable of standing our own two feet and standing up to the Americans where and when necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Still to come, he is one of France's most famous actors. Gerard Depardieu is expected in court today as his sexual assault trial begins in Paris. Back with that in just a moment.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Gerard Depardieu is expected in court later today as his sexual assault trial begins in Paris. The case is attracting attention for reasons beyond Depardieu's status as one of France's most famous actors. It's also reigniting the MeToo movement in a country where it previously stalled.

CNN's Saskya Vandoorne explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): He's France's best known actor.

Now on trial, accused of sexual assault by two women who claim Gerard Depardieu attacked them on a film set in 2021, according to the prosecutor's office. Both women allege that on separate occasions, the actor pinned them between his legs and touched their genitals, buttocks and chest over their clothes.

While Depardieu has denied the allegations, the case has reignited the MeToo movement, stalled in France as prominent actresses supported men's freedom to pester and defended art.

Actress Judith Godreche says art is no excuse for crime.

JUDITH GODRECHE, ACTRESS: In this country, I feel that it's not just the men who are the abuser who are trying to shut down the women, it's the society.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): But now a societal reckoning brought on by the Pelicot trial. Dominique Pelicot was found guilty of the drugging and mass rape of his then wife Gisele Pelicot, an abuse that spanned nearly a decade. The case sparked a national discussion around sexual violence and consent.

MARINE TURCHI, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, MEDIAPART (through translator): The Depardieu and Pelicot cases have played an important role in raising public awareness and changing how we view certain behaviors, that they are not about seduction, but rather about power dynamics and domination. It is now a collective issue, not just a women's problem.

[03:50:08]

VANDOORNE (voice-over): The plight of household named Depardieu has gripped the nation.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (translated): I'm a great admirer of Depardieu. He makes France proud.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): The president's defense over two years ago, still sparking outrage today.

VANDOORNE: And this trial may not be Depardieu's last. Lawyers say he's been accused of assault by over a dozen other women and is embroiled in a separate case where he's accused of rape.

JEREMIE ASSOUS, LAWYER FOR GERARD DEPARDIEU (through translator): These are nothing but slanderous accusations, each more serious than the last, so he's been deeply affected. But he will finally have the chance to defend himself in a setting where the principle of fairness is upheld, as for months, even years, he's been facing numerous accusations.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): If convicted, Depardieu faces up to five years behind bars. A verdict is still months away, but in the court of public opinion, especially in the wake of the Pelicot rape trial, the pedestal Gerard Depardieu once stood on so proudly is already long gone, while the Me Too movement has been truly resuscitated.

Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, this unique creature thrives in one of the harshest environments on earth, but now the ice dragon is being threatened. That story and more after the break.

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CHURCH: Extreme hail rained down on parts of Bolivia on Sunday during what meteorologists are calling an exceptional rainy season. It was so powerful people had to seek shelter until the hail stopped.

Rainfall has reached record levels in some areas, prompting the Bolivian government to approve $75 million in disaster relief. Bolivia says nearly 800 homes have been destroyed by severe weather this year.

Well Glaciers across the planet are melting faster than ever, reshaping our environment, also threatening the habitat of one unique creature that lives in the frozen world. CNN's Tyler Mauldin looks at the danger facing the Patagonian ice dragon.

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TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): The harsh environment of a glacier is too extreme for most wildlife, but it is home to this creature, Chile's Patagonian ice dragon.

This tiny black insect lives its entire life cycle in freezing glaciers, surviving up to 40 meters deep. It acts as a natural filter for glaciers, feeding off algae and bacteria from the ice.

Now, the ice dragon is endangered because its habitat is quickly diminishing.

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Glaciers are melting faster than ever due to global warming. According to a new United Nations World Water Development report, the last three-year period saw the largest glacial mass loss on record.

The loss totals 9000 gigatons of ice since 1975. Here's what that means. MICHAEL ZEMP, DIRECTOR, WORLD GLACIER MONITORING SERVICE: Now, this is

just a huge number and hard to imagine. So again, if you take the example of Germany, it would be an ice block of the size of Germany with a thickness of 25 meters. That is the ice that we lost since 1975 from glaciers.

MAULDIN (voice-over): Melting glaciers are not just harmful to these endangered insects, they pose wider risks to people everywhere.

STEFAN UHLENBROOK, WMO DIRECTOR FOR HYDROLOGY, WATER, AND CRYOSPHERE: It's putting at risk the water supplies, it's putting at risk food security, energy security, as well as the ecosystem services that water resources and other resources provide. But you shouldn't also forget the social, the cultural, as well as the spiritual values glaciers have.

MAULDIN (voice-over): As glaciers continue to melt, researcher Maribet Gamboa hopes that the resilient ice dragon can serve as a natural barometer for glacier health.

MARIBET GAMBOA, RESEARCHER, UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE LA SANTISIMA CONCEPCION (through translator): The research attempts to understand the glacier a little bit and understand how the Patagonian dragon lives there and how it can be a sentinel to detect changes in the glaciers because it only lives in extreme areas like in the glaciers and here especially in Patagonia.

MAULDIN (voice-over): Tyler Mauldin, CNN.

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CHURCH: The Sweet 16 is now set in the NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament. March Madness, as it's known, is once again living up to its name, including a thriller between the number one seed Florida Gators and the two-time defending champion UConn Huskies on Sunday.

The Huskies led for most of the second half, but Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. took over late in the game, finishing with a team-high 23 points to help the Gators to a 77-75 win. They're now headed to their first Sweet 16 in eight years.

And how about this finish on Sunday? The fourth-seeded Maryland Terrapins, down by one to Colorado State, less than four seconds to go and Maryland's Derik Queen hits a shot at the buzzer, the Terrapins winning 72-71. Maryland now headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016 and they'll face the Florida Gators on Thursday.

I want to thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day.

"The Amanpour Hour" is next, then stay tuned for "Early Start" with Rahel Solomon starting at 5 a.m. in New York, 9 a.m. in London.

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