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Connect the World

Hamas: Israel "Putting the Captives in Gaza at Risk" with Strikes; White House: Israel Consulted U.S. on Renewed Gaza Strikes; Trump and Putin to Speak by Phone; Nvidia Kicks Off its Annual GTC Conference Tuesday; Israel Official: Renewed Gaza Offensive can End if Hamas Agrees to a Deal to Release More Hostages; Judge Demands Answers from Trump Admin on Deportations. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired March 18, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, this is the scene outside a hospital in central Gaza treating casualties of Israeli air

strikes that have shattered the ceasefire with Hamas. It is 03:00 p.m. in Khan Yunis. It's 05:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi, you're watching "Connect the

World" with me Becky Anderson from our Middle East Programming Headquarters.

We are tracking two stories of enormous geopolitical consequence this hour, Israel breaking the fragile ceasefire in Gaza. You're looking at Israelis

protesting against Prime Minister Netanyahu. And at the White House U.S. President Donald Trump set to speak by phone with Russia's Vladimir Putin

any moment now about a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Well, the stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now. The futures market showing a weaker opening after two winning sessions this

week. More on that at 09:30 Eastern Time, half an hour from now. Well, tonight, we returned to fighting in Gaza. Those were the words of the

Israeli Defense Minister as the country resumed its bombing campaign against Hamas overnight and resumed killing large numbers of Palestinians.

You may find the footage that we are about to show you distressing. Gaza officials reporting more than 400 people have been killed. Hundreds more

are injured or believed to be trapped underneath the rubble of shattered buildings. The death toll rising as survivors turn up at hospitals to find

their loved ones amongst the dead.

She is screaming, why God why, we have nothing to do with Hamas or Islamic Jihad? Why this oppression, she says. In central Gaza, a man described what

he had seen and heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I woke up to the sounds of explosions and fire, so we went out and came here after the ambulances to see that everything was

charred and four bodies were burned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, Israel says it's Hamas' fault that it had to start the fighting again because it was refusing to extend the existing ceasefire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OREN MARMORSTEIN, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: Concrete proposals made by the American Special Envoy to extend the ceasefire. Hamas said, no.

So, with no other choice is what is forced to carry out this activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond joining me now. Jeremy, these strikes came just hours before protests in Tel Aviv

against Benjamin Netanyahu just explain what is unfolding at present.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is true, Becky, and there are so many different factors that ultimately played into the

decision by the Israeli Prime Minister to carry out these strikes overnight, resulting in the single deadliest stay in Gaza since November of

2023, more than 15 months ago, more than 400 people have been killed in Gaza by these Israeli strikes.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 500 others were wounded. And as we see all too often, in this war in Gaza, many of the

victims were children. We have seen children who were injured and being treated at hospitals, as well as the small bodies of motionless children

lying on the floors of the morgues across several hospitals in Gaza.

These air strikes spanned from southern to northern Gaza, hitting every single part of the strip, really, including the tents where displaced

people have been sheltering, and this morning, amid the destruction, absolutely heartbreaking scenes as loved ones mourns the loss of their

loved ones.

Now, Israeli officials have provided a few different reasons for why they have decided to carry out these attacks. First of all, the Israeli Prime

Minister's office saying that Hamas had refused to release additional hostages, refused the latest proposals by the U.S. Special Envoy Steve

Witkoff to release more hostage in exchange for an extension of the ceasefire.

What they have also said was that Hamas was making preparations to carry out attacks against Israel, but they have really provided no evidence to

back up those claims. Hamas, for its part, has said that it was willing to continue engaging in negotiations to reach phase two of this ceasefire

agreement that both Israel and Hamas had indeed signed up for.

[09:05:00]

But what we have seen in recent weeks is that the Israeli government was more interested in finding a way to extend the ceasefire get more hostages

out without having to engage in the negotiations over an end of the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. And that is exactly what Hamas

has been seeking, and so we have seen an impasse at the negotiations.

Now, what an Israeli official is also telling me is that these attacks on Gaza, which will continue to escalate in the days and weeks ahead,

potentially to involve another renewed ground invasion of Gaza, that it could all be halted if Hamas agrees to a deal to free additional hostages

on terms that Israel is favorable to.

So, this appears to be a return to what the Israeli Prime Minister has long viewed as the most effective way to conduct these negotiations, which is to

conduct them under fire and to use military pressure to try and get Hamas to move its position. But we are also hearing, in addition to the cries of

people in Gaza, the concerns of so many of the families of the hostages who worry for their loved ones still being held in Gaza as the war now resumes

the hostages of family headquarters for the return of the abductees.

They have said that the Israeli government has chosen to give up on the hostages, saying that they are shocked, angry and terrified by the

dismantling of the process to return their loved ones. There certainly is considerable anger among the families of the hostages at the Israeli

government for resuming the war.

And we will see how that comes out tonight, as there are protests expected in Tel Aviv that were previously scheduled due to the Israeli Prime

Minister's attempts to fire the head of Israel's domestic intelligence agency. But now, of course, they will take on new life, I expect, amid

these latest developments, Becky.

ANDERSON: Well, many are clearly upset by this move by Israel, not the far- right ministers who are cheering and applauding this move. Ben-Gvir, in fact, as I understand it, rejoining the government. What do we know at this

point?

DIAMOND: That's right, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Former National Security Minister who quit the government as the -- as Israel, agreed to enter this

latest ceasefire agreement that resulted in the release of 38 hostages from Gaza, both living and dead. He has now decided, as Israel renews its

attacks in Gaza to rejoin the government.

And this was something that he had previously indicated that if the war resumed, he would then rejoin the government. Not entirely clear yet

whether he will return in his position as national security minister, but certainly this will once again bolster the Israeli Prime Minister's far

right base.

Ahead of what we should note is a very important budget vote later this month, which many analysts here in Israel have said is also playing into

this decision to return to war at this moment, Becky.

ANDERSON: Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, thank you. Joining me now from a refugee camp in central Gaza is Sam Rose, the Acting Director of the

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Sam, thank you for joining us. Just walk us through what you heard last night.

SAM ROSE, ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE UNRWA GAZA: Thanks, Becky, thanks for having me on. Look all this started at just after 02:00 a.m. in the middle

of the night. I was woken up, and I have to assume that the entire Gaza Strip was woken up by a series of intense bombardments.

Planes flying over reported about 100 planes were involved in these bombardments that stretched from the north of Gaza right down to the south.

They -- those intense bombardments continued for an hour or so. Things are a bit quieter now, and I say that with number of qualifications, we're

still hearing the drones overhead, the planes overhead, the bombs and explosions every 20 minutes or so, noise of helicopters, et cetera.

But as is often the case, things a bit calmer during the day. Of course, that comes too late for those over 400 already being reported killed and

many, many more who have been injured. And what we also see in these instances is hundreds and hundreds of people on the move again, people

whose homes have been bombed, or in fear of their homes being bombed.

And tens of thousands living in areas that have again been declared evacuation zones, so potentially tens of thousands of people on the move if

this continues.

[09:10:00]

ANDERSON: And can you just explain the psychological impacts on Gazans who have had some temporary relief, of course, for a couple of months, since

this fragile ceasefire went into place.

ROSE: Yeah, it's devastating. It's devastating for all of us here, but it's devastating particularly for Palestinians, particularly for children. These

are children and their parents that have known nothing but fear, grief and suffering over the past 15 months. Children going to bed every night, not

knowing if they're going to wake up in the morning.

We had a respite for eight weeks where people were able to breathe, breathe out, walk the streets, start rebuilding their lives, rebuilding their kind

of shattered minds and bodies, tens of thousands of children back to school, but all that has been shattered again. And people already down on

their knees after 15 months of this.

Many of them on the verge of starvation and famine, their immune systems, their mental health already shot to pieces. We should think about what this

means to their immediate well-being, but also for their longer-term well- being. But of course, it isn't too late to stop this slide into war.

We can pull back from the brink, as we have done before. We can, you know, we continue to call for the ceasefire to be respected, to be restored, for

the hostages to be released and for aid to continue.

ANDERSON: Right. Sam, calls for reinstating the ceasefire are already coming thick and fast from the aid sector your boss, Philippe Lazzarini,

saying, and I quote, a return to the ceasefire is a must. Also, the U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Process, Mohannad Hadi in

a lengthy statement calling what we've seen today unconscionable, but we seem very far from a renewed ceasefire.

Israel says it wants, effectively, Hamas to release hostages and a deal on its terms at this point. What can we or you realistically expect to happen

next?

ROSE: I mean, we don't know what's going to happen next. All we can do is call on the parties to the conflict to live up to their responsibilities

and put the people first. The hostages who are being held here, the prisoners in Israeli jails and the millions of Palestinians here who know

nothing but suffering and grief for the past 15 months.

That's what needs to happen. I can only speak here on behalf of the humanitarian community, on behalf of those workers and those communities

that have already suffered and already lost too much.

ANDERSON: Israel, as we understand it, now, consulted with the Trump Administration. The White House Press Secretary saying, quote, all hell

will break loose, and those are familiar words coming from the Trump Administration with regard Gaza. Israel conducting the strikes we saw last

night. What is your message to the U.S. Administration that is currently backing Israel's moves here?

ROSE: I mean, our message has been clear. It's been clear from the start. We need to put the people first. We need to put the civilians first.

They've gone through too much. This is about their futures today, but also the future of their communities for years and years to come. This can be

stopped.

We can still drawback from the brink. People have gone through unimaginable tragedy here. Palestinians inside Gaza, the hostages inside Gaza, these

people who can do absolutely nothing about the situation that they find themselves in. There are rules for wars, and if, first of all, we call for

the ceasefire to be reinstated.

If that doesn't happen. We call for the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid. We call the -- for the protection of humanitarian workers. And all

these things that we continued to call for, we cannot slide back into what we've gone through over the past 16 months, where hell has already sadly

broken loose several times.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and that aid, of course, frozen since March the second we started this hour, Sam, thank you. With some sound from a woman who has

clearly lost family in these latest strikes. She was screaming, why God why we have nothing to do with Hamas or Islamic Jihad? Why this oppression?

That was how we started the show, and we will continue to cover this story, of course. Now, Israel informed the Trump Administration of its intentions

ahead of these latest attacks in Gaza.

[09:15:00]

Alex Marquardt joining us now with reaction from Washington. He is also covering what is that upcoming Trump-Putin call due to start any time now.

Get to that in a moment. Alex, I want to start with what we've just been discussing Washington as we understand it. Did get a heads up, what is the

Trump Administration's positioning here?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, essentially, they're putting everything on Hamas saying that the demands by

the militant group in Gaza have been unacceptable. Steve Witkoff is Trump's man for the Middle East who has been negotiating this ceasefire.

Remember, he inherited the ceasefire plan from the Biden Administration, and appeared to be completely on board. So, the big question has been for

him, how do we move from the first phase, which has been underway for the past few weeks, into the second phase, which would see a permanent end to

the war?

He was essentially trying to strike a bridging proposal. As these negotiations continued, he is now blaming Hamas for coming forward with

terms that he has deemed unacceptable and impossible without a more permanent ceasefire. So, it does appear that the Trump Administration is

siding with the Israelis on this.

Of course, there was always a possibility, we heard this from Israeli officials, both in public and in private, that they would go back to war

after this first phase, after some hostages came home, and it does appear that, that is what is exactly happening right now. And of course, the Trump

Administration and the Israelis have been working very closely together.

And we do understand that the Trump Administration did get a heads up that Israel was planning this. It remains to be seen, of course, to what extent

Witkoff alongside the --

ANDERSON: OK. We seem to have lost the audio from Alex. We'll see what we can do about that, and get back to him, if possible. Let's turn now to the

focus of that phone call between Donald Trump and Putin. Much more on both these breaking stories after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

ANDERSON: More than 400 people have been killed overnight in Gaza after Israel carried out strikes across the enclave, breaking what has been the

couple of months long ceasefire. The White House was briefed ahead of the strikes and gave its full support, many of those killed with children,

according to eyewitnesses on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJAB ABU SULTAN, GAZAN RESIDENT: Since two in the morning, we've been collecting the remains of people from the streets. They are all civilians,

children. We have been pulling the remains of children since this morning. There are many injuries and martyrs who have reached the hospitals, and we

are still collecting the remains of people, hands and feet.

There was no prior warning. It all happened unexpectedly, and people were in their homes, not even outside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, the prime minister's office put out a statement saying Israel is attacking Hamas targets, quote, with the aim of achieving the war

goals as determined by the political echelon, including the release of all our hostages, living and dead. And more of this, of course, coming up.

Now to the phone call between the U.S. and Russian Presidents scheduled to start any time now. A source tells CNN a key focus will be on any

concessions that Vladimir Putin is willing to make to accept the U.S. 30 days ceasefire plan already agreed to, by Ukraine ahead of the court,

Donald Trump shared his hopes for today's talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 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)

ANDERSON: Well and the president also posting on social media that he is looking forward to the call, saying, while many elements of a final

agreement have been reached, much remains to be discussed. We have reestablished our connection with Alex Marquardt. Alex, I want to talk

about this call as we understand it.

It could happen any time now, from those that you are talking to in Washington. Where are we at with regard any potential ceasefire agreement

at this point?

MARQUARDT: Well, Becky, things are certainly moving quickly. I mean, we had this ceasefire that was proposed by the U.S. last week that Ukraine

immediately agreed to, that the Russians did not agree to. Now we have this phone call between the two presidents, which normally happens farther along

in the process.

I think that was a remarkably honest post from President Trump, acknowledging that there's a lot of work that still needs to be done. I

think he's understood that, contrary to what he said and believed before about this war being wrapped up in 24 hours, that it's actually going to

take longer than that.

The Trump Administration has approached this, Becky, in two steps, essentially establishing a ceasefire, getting the fighting to stop, and

then negotiating really the thornier subjects, the tougher issues that are going to be need to be resolved in order to get to a long-term peace deal.

But you just heard President Trump there saying that they're already talking about some of those final elements, the big one, of course, is

going to be territorial concessions. What land does Ukraine get back, if any? What land does Russia hold on to that it has occupied?

Certainly, Russia intends to, very much do that. And then there are all kinds of other reservations and issues and questions that that President

Putin has raised, both in terms of a short-term ceasefire and then the longer-term peace proposal. Now, the Ukrainians have said that Trump, that

Putin, rather, is playing for time that he simply is trying to drag this out, and there are reasons that the Russians would want to do that.

But clearly there's a lot of impatience in the Trump Administration with President Trump himself. And so, if he starts to feel on this phone

conversation today with Putin, that Putin is just complaining, airing grievances, putting conditions on this saying, well, actually, you know, we

need a lot more and demanding a lot more.

I think we need to keep an eye out for whether President Trump actually takes a harsher line with the Russians, saying, in fact, you know, if you

don't go along with this immediate ceasefire, right now, we will put sanctions on you. We could send more weapons to Ukraine.

Of course, in the past, Becky, we have seen President Trump taking a rather soft line with President Putin. And critics have said that President Trump

has offered too many concessions to the Russian before these negotiations really even get underway, Becky.

[09:25:00]

ANDERSON: Well, that phone call scheduled for any time now. More on that as we get it. Alex, always good to have you, and I'm glad that we were able to

reestablish with you. Thank you. Let's get you up to speed, folks on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now.

And Syria and Lebanon have agreed to a ceasefire after 10 people were killed and dozens injured during a cross-border clash, that is, according

to Syria's state run SANA News Agency. The agreement follows an escalation of tensions between Beirut and Syria's new Islamist led government.

Well U.S. officials say Navy fighter jets and warships carried out a series of strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen over the past 72 hours. They said

attacks were launched against weapons manufacturing sites, command and control hubs, drone infrastructure and more.

Well Chinese electrical vehicle giant BYD says new charging system will let its vehicles travel 400 kilometers after only a five-minute charge. The new

charging station, called Super Eve platform, was unveiled on Monday. We are just minutes away from the opening bell on Wall Street.

Uncertainty over tariffs, geopolitics, unsettling the markets. We've got a fed decision on interest rates coming up today that will be closely watched

by these markets, as well as will the press conference held by the fed afterwards, when you generally get a sense of where the fed is headed and

what it is thinking. We will get back to Wall Street after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: All right, we're getting at the opening bell on Wall Street, momentarily, markets had been edging slightly lower on the futures after

two consecutive winning sessions.

[09:30:00]

Investors today watching concerns, of course, out there are about softer U.S. data and this sort of on again, off again, tariff concern. That is the

bell the markets out of the gates. We will just let them settle for a moment. The S&P, of course, officially entering correction territory last

week. It has clawed back from that.

The NASDAQ, of course, still in correction territory. Correction, of course, is when an index falls by at least 10 percent from its recent

highs. So, we are out of the gate. Let's have a look at the markets for you. Well, it is. There you go.

Following on from these futures markets, as I say, after two winning sessions, crude oil prices ticking up again. Let's get a look at those

after the U.S. promised more attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen, the upsurge in violence, triggering speculation about possible interruptions, of

course, in crude oil supplies, those waters around the Red Sea, incredibly important.

And the price of gold also on the rise. The price of gold always a hedge against uncertainty. The rise, reaching a new record above $3,000 an ounce

for the second time in a week, gold was considered a safe haven asset amid concerns over President Trump's trade war and his very volatile

geopolitical picture that we see at present, Mr. Trump's top Economic Adviser admitting uncertainty could continue in the near term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Yeah, absolutely between now and April 2nd, there'll be some uncertainty, but as April comes

along, markets will see that the reciprocal trade policy makes a great deal of sense, and that for a lot of countries, they play by the rules, they're

not going to be very upset at all at the way that the U.S. moves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Anna Stewart covering the latest for us from London. What do you make of what we've just seen on these markets?

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're seeing just more volatility, which is really no surprise. Investors are really struggling to know where

to put their money right now. If you look at the impact of the barrage of tariff news from last week, where we saw stock markets really taking a

massive hit.

Part of it is because of the on off nature of the threatening tariffs, the implementation of tariffs, and the rolling back of tariffs. And then, of

course, we have the other geopolitical tensions to consider, whether we're looking at Gaza or Ukraine, the U.S. strikes on Yemen, of course, impacting

oil prices quite significantly.

Brent Crude up just over $70 a barrel right now, although I think, to give oil some context, of course, oil prices were $110 a barrel at the beginning

of this year. There's so much to consider if you are an investor right now. You have tariffs from China on U.S. energy. You have tariffs from the U.S.

on Canadian oil.

You have potentially Russian oil coming back onto the market if the war in Ukraine were to end. You have this geopolitical tension around the Red Sea.

We also have OPEC actually producing more oil come April. So, I think the IEA warned last week that they're expecting maybe 600,000 barrels a day

surplus this year. So, we're actually going to see potentially oil creeping down even lower in terms of the price.

ANDERSON: Very good points. I want to have a look at the tech markets, very specifically. AI Chip Maker Nvidia. It kicks off its Annual Tech Conference

in California today. Wall Street will be closely watching the Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang. He is set to deliver the keynote address at the event in just

a few hours from now.

Look, it is -- you know, we've -- I was explaining we've seen the NASDAQ in correction territory off more than 10 percent from its recent highs.

Nvidia's share price, they're down another 1 percent today at 118 it was not very long ago that we were looking at a significantly higher share

price. What are we -- what are we listening for today?

STEWART: So, Nvidia news is always a massive market mover. So, investors will be watching this conference really carefully. What they want to see is

what sort of returns Nvidia can bring? And at the moment, that's likely to rest on what technology it's bringing out.

So, there's a lot of expectation that there might be an announcement about a new generation of AI Chips called Rubin that could potentially push the

technology further. If that doesn't happen, there will be quite a lot of disappointment. They also want to see updates on the current generation of

AI Chips like Blackwell Ultra.

Looking at the share price, and it was down actually on the closing session yesterday, down again today. Investors clearly really bracing for what may

come. But text had a rough ride in the last couple of weeks, largely impacted by the -- you know never ending U.S. news in terms of politics.

[09:35:00]

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Anna, thank you. Well, despite warnings of more uncertainty over tariffs, President Trump's Commerce Secretary

insisting that the U.S. is not headed for recession. Check out CNN Digital for more on Howard Lutnick's role as Mr. Trump's tariff cheerleading and

why one Wall Street executive says that Lutnick has a bit of a curse on him.

Well coming up, a doctor in Gaza describing the bloodshed overnight as unlike anything she's ever seen. And more on the phone call due any time

now between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. What concessions, if any, will the Russian President offer to achieve peace with Ukraine?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson. 37 minutes past 5 here in Abu Dhabi and the renewed Israeli

airstrikes on Gaza raised alarm among family members of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. For some hope of being reunited with their loved

ones is now slipping away.

One family accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu choosing cheap politics over our children, our brothers and our sisters who are in

captivity, adding, quote, this is a war that will bury our families if it is not stopped. The brother of a slain hostage sums up what many are

feeling during what is this dark moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY ELGARAT, BROTHER OF SLAIN HOSTAGE ITZIK ELGARAT: The Government of Israel has decided overnight that the fate of the hostages will be like the

fate of Hamas. Hamas is going to be destroyed, and also the hostages are going to be destroyed. It's a dark night, dark day for the State of Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Hundreds of anti-Netanyahu demonstrators are gathering near parliament to protest the prime minister's decision to resume military

operations in Gaza. Inside the Enclave, hospitals overrun. Supplies are out. We've got graphic images coming into us.

Just going to take a moment before I bring up the first. You can see in this the bodies piled up outside the doors of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza

City. A doctor at another hospital told CNN that she had personally pronounced at least 15 to 20 people dead. She described it as nothing close

to anything that she has ever experienced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RAZAN AL-NAHHAS, PHYSICIAN, AL-AHLI HOSPITAL: 1, 2 and 3-year-olds just lined up for five to a structure. And many, many you know, young women,

entire families wiped out take care of one patient and it will be a family or 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 jacked me and taking his final breath.

[09:40:00]

I didn't need 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)

ANDERSON: Well, Paula Hancocks is following developments with me here in Abu Dhabi and her latest analysis for CNN, she writes quote, the images

coming out of Gaza are horribly familiar the jubilation of two months ago when the ceasefire was declared. Now seems like a cruel joke. Does

Netanyahu and any reason to stop this bloodshed now? And what is the strategy here is it clear?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what they have said, I mean, what they have made clear to us is that they believe this is because Hamas

wouldn't agree to any kind of deal that the U.S. was trying to put forward. Now that is being rejected from a number of different areas, not least some

of the countries here in the region, and also the families of those hostages that are still being held.

What we know at this point is that Benjamin Netanyahu has shored up his own political future. For example, Ben-Gvir, who was the far-right minister who

resigned after he originally signed this ceasefire deal, has now said he will come back into the fold. He will strengthen the coalition.

And without these far-right elements in this coalition, Benjamin Netanyahu simply cannot survive politically. So, he's managed to do that. He also

knows that he does have at this point the undivided support of the U.S. President, Donald Trump, so there's no pressure on him to try and push

things back to a ceasefire deal that he is not 100 percent happy with.

ANDERSON: And this ceasefire deal that Israel is promoting or suggesting Hamas is simply not prepared to sign up to is a deal which is effectively

being presented by the Americans at this point. You've made the point that Israel has turned away from mediators, effectively in Egypt and in Qatar,

and towards the Trump Administration.

The Egyptians are scrambling to negotiate at this point. We are not seeing the delegations going in and out of Doha that we were seeing in the past

when the Qataris were involved. I mean, what sort of traction do we believe there might be, if any, for a deal anytime soon?

HANCOCKS: This time around, there doesn't appear to be a clear off ramp. There was before, as you said, we had Qatar, we had Egypt, who had sway who

had the power of mediation, and that was, of course, under the Former U.S. President Joe Biden, who also had empowered these mediators.

The Israeli Prime Minister is bypassing that entire process. They -- he doesn't feel the need to go to Qatar or to Cairo and try and secure a deal

with Hamas that way, because his path forward, as far as he's concerned, is with the U.S. President, Donald Trump.

And there's an argument to be made that as soon as the U.S. President said a plan could be to displace more than 2 million people from Gaza and

create, as he called it, this Riviera of the Middle East, then the mediation was over, the deal, the ceasefire hostage deal, had effectively

been shelved because there was this other option that was going to be far more, far more appliable to what the Israeli Prime Minister wanted. So, at

this point, it's very difficult to see where the path for another ceasefire lies.

ANDERSON: One of the other far right ministers, and you've made the point that Ben Gvir is coming back into the government, Smotrich, writing or

posting on X, that this is just the beginning of more to come as far as Israeli strikes on, Gaza are concerned. What has Israel said at this point?

HANCOCKS: There's no timeline. We've had one Israeli official telling us that this will go on as long as necessary --

ANDERSON: Necessary for what?

HANCOCKS: -- necessary to create what they are looking to create. That's the thing. We don't know exactly what their end game is. They say it is to

secure the release of all the hostages. We've heard from the families of those hostages saying, this is not the way to do it, as you said.

You heard from one of the mothers saying, you will bury our families if you continue to do this. So, at this point, if the end goal is not very clear,

it's difficult to see how long it will take. They had a war goal, and they say it still stands, of completely destroying Hamas, but both political and

military officials within Israel have said that you cannot completely destroy Hamas.

You can -- you can make sure they can never govern again. They can never be a threat to Israel again. But the idea of completely annihilating Hamas is

not practical. It's more of an abstract idea. So, all we've heard at this point is it will go on as long as is necessary.

[09:45:00]

ANDERSON: Paula Hancocks with me here in the studio in Abu Dhabi. This is our Middle East Programming Headquarters. I'm Becky Anderson. You're

watching "Connect the World". Let's get you back to the phone call between the U.S. and Russian Presidents scheduled to start any time.

Source tells CNN a key focus will be on concessions that Vladimir Putin is willing to make to accept this U.S. 30 days ceasefire plan already agreed

to by Ukraine. Donald Trump posting on social media that he is looking forward to the call, saying that while many elements of a final agreement

have been reached, much remains to be worked out.

I want to bring in Clare Sebastian from London. We should talk about the expectations here. So, let's have a look at this through the lens of both

Russia and Ukraine, if you will. And then step back for a moment and consider what Donald Trump is ultimately trying to achieve here.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Becky, if we start with Russia, I think agreeing to a 30 days ceasefire deal, as it was presented last week

and agreed to by Ukraine, would be, from Russia's perspective, a concession in itself. They have made it very clear that they believe a temporary

ceasefire only benefits Ukraine.

And would give Ukraine the room to rearm and keep training its troops. So, I think -- you know at best, perhaps we can expect that one of the options

here is that President Putin tries to attach conditions to this temporary ceasefire, be it -- you know suspension again, of U.S. military aid,

Ukraine withdrawing from course.

Perhaps all the way to bigger issues that we know it wants to discuss as part of a quote, final settlement, as President Trump said, like the

international recognition of the occupied territories, sanctions relief, perhaps no coincidence that we've already heard President Putin in a

business Congress this afternoon talking about sanctions, and being extremely critical of Western sanctions on Russia.

And I think the other option here is that they tried to slow ball. We've seen this in the past, that Russia has done this in previous ceasefire

agreements, the Minsk Accords, for example, that they might try to slow ball, perhaps long enough, at least to finish their effort to push Ukraine

out of the Kursk region, where it's still holding on to a small amount of territory.

But I think what is a very safe bet from Russia's perspective here is that they really try to step up this charm offensive with President Trump, that

President Putin will try to really cement that personal relationship number one, because, of course, the reset with the U.S. really matters to Russia.

It gives them a sort of opening to resume a seat, their rightful seat, as they see it, at the top table of global politics. And of course, offers

potential lucrative business opportunities that were floated at that meeting in Saudi Arabia several weeks ago.

And secondly, because what they really need to do at this point, having seen Ukraine come back into the U.S. fold last week, is to try to reverse

that, to try to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Ukraine, I think, not least because they have already tasted the very real outcome of that with

the suspension, although now it's been resumed.

But that suspension of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, but I think from the perspective of President Trump, the big question here is, will we see a

continuation of the sort of carrots only approach that we've seen so far in the U.S. dealings with Russia, or will we see some pressure brought to bear

to try to get this sort of quick victory, these initial 30 days ceasefire, agreed to?

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. And as I say, we are waiting on this call scheduled to start in this hour, or at least we

were given a window that included this hour. Of course, as soon as we get more information on that, we will get it to you folks. Clare, thank you.

Still to come, the Trump White House versus the courts. What can judges do if the administration in the states flat out defies their orders? That's up

next. Plus, 278 days overdue, two American Astronauts finally heading home after their week-long mission turned into nine months the latest on their

return journey.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:00]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. Time here just after 10 to 6 in the evening. It's just after 10 to 10 in New York markets

there have been open for about 20 minutes. Let me just give you a sense of what is going on that NASDAQ really has fallen out of bed, hasn't it over

the past couple of weeks, falling at least 10 percent from its recent highs and lower today.

That is officially correction territory. Keep an eye on the DOW and the S&P. of course, both those markets have been struggling, although they come

off to winning sessions and winning relatively speaking, given what we've seen over the past month or so, still, concerns about slowing growth, about

what is going on with regard tariffs and trade wars.

But a correction also going on, some, as described by some analysts in the market, some nasty technical affecting these markets of late. Those are

over, or certainly were. This is more of a sort of macro picture now that investors are looking at, waiting on the Fed to make a decision on rates

today and so more on that as we get it.

Well, a U.S. Judge has given the Trump Administration until noon, Eastern Time today to explain why justice officials allowed deportation flights to

continue on Saturday night after the judge had ordered those flights to be returned to the United States. Presidential Adviser Stephen Miller says the

courts have overstepped.

(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 its ability to conduct the Foreign Affairs of the United States. This judge violated the law. He violated the constitution;

he defied the system of government that we have in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: This judge violated the law CNN Crime & Justice Correspondent Katelyn Polantz, following all of this. I just want to get your response to

what you've just heard there from Stephen Miller?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Stephen Miller is quite incensed when he's talking on camera, but that is not what the

approach has been of the Justice Department. That is not the argument that they are making in court to Judge Jeb Boasberg.

Who told them on Saturday, first verbally, and then a couple hours later in a written order, that the planes that had migrants who were being deported

under a presidential proclamation, a specific presidential proclamation that those people needed to be turned around if they were in the air and

brought back to the U.S.

What Judge Boasberg is doing is not yet holding any lawyers or any administration officials in contempt. He is not yet calling this a

constitutional crisis. What he is doing right now is he is trying to get facts. So today, the Justice Department does have to provide some sworn

statements and additional information about the flights that took off on Saturday.

Two of them before Judge Boasberg's written order was issued, and one after, just a couple minutes after that, written order from Judge Boasberg

came out.

[09:55:00]

The administration, from a legal perspective, Becky, they're making a lot of different arguments here. Not what Stephen Miller is saying, that

Boasberg has no jurisdiction whatsoever, that is something they've been hinting at, but their primary legal arguments right now are they're picking

about the times of when the orders came from the judge.

And they're also saying that a number of the migrants specifically on that third flight that took off from U.S. soil after the judge's written order

was issued on Saturday, that the people on those flights were not being deported under the presidential proclamation that they were being deported

under other authorities that the President of the United States has. So, Becky this is going to continue on in court. We'll see if it escalates

more.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you, Katelyn. That is it for the first hour of this show. I will be back at the top of the next with more stay

with us, a short break.

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END