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Russia and Ukraine Exchange Airstrikes Overnight; Trump and Zelenskyy to Speak This Hour; Republican Representative Confronted at Town Hall over U.S. Stance on Ukraine Invasion; Russia Says Prisoner Swap with Ukraine Now Complete; Kherson Residents Hunted by Russian Drones; Protests in Istanbul after Police Arrest Mayor; Thousands Join Anti-Government Protests in Jerusalem; U.S. Chief Justice Calls Out Trump over Attack on Judge; U.S. Judge Orders Palestinian Activist's Case Moved to New Jersey; British Wildlife Photography Awards 2025. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired March 19, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi.
Just hours after hailing a Trump-Putin agreement over Ukraine, the Kremlin and the White House have different versions of just what was agreed.
And despite the so-called pause, more attacks overnight inflict more death and destruction on Ukraine.
In a shocking move, Turkiye detains Istanbul's mayor, a key rival of President Erdogan, just days before he was due to be named as presidential
candidate.
And hundreds protest outside the Israeli parliament after the prime minister restarts the war in Gaza. An opposition leader says the government
is taking away our democracy.
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GIOKOS: The White House says the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents are set to talk any moment now. They'll call between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald
Trump comes after Ukraine and Russia each carried out overnight airstrikes and follows president Trump's call Tuesday with Vladimir Putin.
With the Russian president saying attacks on energy infrastructure would be temporarily halted. Ukraine says Russia attacked with 150 drones,
inflicting damage on energy facilities and two hospitals and cutting power to parts of the railway network.
Russia says it shot down nearly 60 drones launched by Kyiv. Speaking earlier, Mr. Zelenskyy said President Putin's words on Tuesday were at odds
with reality.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It's after the conversation between Putin and the president of the United States,
Donald Trump, when Putin said that he allegedly had given orders to stop strikes on Ukrainian energy sector.
There have been 150 drone strikes on Ukraine, including on energy, infrastructure, transport; there have been strikes on two hospitals,
ordinary urban infrastructure. So Putin's words are very far from reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine are poised to conduct a large- scale prisoner swap; 175 prisoners from both sides are expected to be exchanged today.
All right. So I've just heard that the prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine has just been completed. We have just got this news into CNN. I
want to bring in Clare Sebastian, who's standing by with more.
Clare, I want to start on with this news. We've just heard that the prisoner swap has just been completed. President Putin says this is a
gesture of goodwill but, frankly, this has been in the works for quite some time. Take us through how significant this is.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we have this now from the Russian ministry of defense, that 175 prisoners have been exchanged on each side
and that, as a gesture of goodwill.
The Russian ministry of defense, using the same wording as we saw in the Kremlin readout of the call with president Trump yesterday, they exchanged
22 severely injured Ukrainian servicemen as well.
They did say in the readout there would be 23. So we're not exactly sure why the number is slightly lower. But it seems to be along the lines of
what they said last night. It was under the mediation, apparently, of the United Arab Emirates. We don't have confirmation of this as of yet on the
Ukrainian side.
But President Zelenskyy has said that this had been previously planned. So this seems to be convenient that it's happening now rather than a real
concession from Russia. And frankly, there have been a lot of prisoner exchanges. There was one in early February. We believe there were 11 last
year.
Hundreds of prisoners have been exchanged on both sides. This really was, up until this point, the real, the only real avenue of diplomacy between
Russia and Ukraine that was still functioning.
So I think, look, it's been presented by Russia as a sort of, you know, part of an opening, perhaps a concession to the U.S. that they are willing
to keep moving forward with this process.
But I think you cannot see it from the Russian side as a real concession; more par for the course of what we've seen in this conflict so far.
GIOKOS: Yes, exactly. And just to confirm that, we've just heard from Russia. Moscow saying that the prisoner swap has just been completed with
Ukraine. So Clare, another big point, Zelenskyy is going to be speaking with president Trump this hour. That's less than a day after that agreement
between Washington and Moscow came through.
[10:05:00]
What are we expecting to hear from this call?
SEBASTIAN: So this will be the first real direct contact between these two leaders since that ill-fated Oval Office spat, which, of course, had really
damaging fallout for Ukraine in terms of the temporary suspension.
It's now been resumed of U.S. military aid. So I think look, there are a couple of key goals for Zelenskyy here. One is to seek clarification on
what was agreed in that call with President Putin. There is still discrepancies between what we've heard from the Kremlin about this and from
the U.S. side.
He wants details of that. He, crucially, wants to make sure that decisions about Ukraine are not being made over his head.
And secondly, I think this will be, again, about making sure those ties between the U.S. and Ukraine continue to be repaired. We're seeing right
now this sort of tug of war between Russia and Ukraine, each trying to keep the U.S. on side as the de facto broker of these not peace talks yet but
these moves toward peace talks.
So I think we're going to see Zelenskyy continue to try to mend that friendship with president Trump and to, you know, make sure that he
persuades Trump, as to Ukraine's perspective here, that it is not Ukraine but Russia, at this point, standing in the way of peace.
GIOKOS: All right. Clare Sebastian, thank you so much for that update.
I want to stay on this. I want to bring in CNN Politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson and the head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign and
Kremlin critic, Sir William Browder.
Great to have you both with us.
So William, I want to start off with you. Kremlin, White House are at loggerheads about what they agreed on. The Kremlin saying they agreed to 30
days of no targeting on energy infrastructure. That's contrary to what the White House statement says.
And it says energy and infrastructure.
I mean, the question is, do you think that this is lost in translation?
Massive miscommunication or just cracks emerging in this relationship?
SIR WILLIAM BROWDER, GLOBAL MAGNITSKY JUSTICE CAMPAIGN AND KREMLIN CRITIC: Well, I mean, I think we're focusing way too much on the minor details and
not looking at the big picture. The big picture is very straightforward, that Zelenskyy agreed a week ago to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
And Putin rejected that request yesterday with Trump. And he made some very half-hearted offer of not bombing energy infrastructure or energy and
infrastructure, whatever you want to call it.
And then 57 minutes after saying that to Trump, the Russians bombed energy infrastructure in Ukraine, in Slovyansk. And so Putin is a man who lies.
He's a man who has no intention of stopping this war and he has no reason to stop this war.
The only way he would stop this war is if he had to, if there was a boot on his throat. But right now, he feels he's in the driver's seat and it looks
like he is.
GIOKOS: You said a boot on his throat.
Do you think that president Trump will be putting pressure on Putin?
Do you think that's eventually what we're going to be seeing?
BROWDER: It doesn't look like it. And so after this meeting -- and, first of all, the meeting, the meeting was delayed by more than an hour because
President Putin was in a meeting with Russian businessmen.
And so, I mean, he delayed the meeting with the most powerful man in the free world to talk about ending the war so he could have a conference with
a bunch of businessmen?
I mean, that's the first sign of disrespect. And then secondly, he rejected Trump's request. This was an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. And he said
no. And so Trump is spinning it as if it's some type of success. It's not.
GIOKOS: It's not. Yes. I want to go to Stephen now.
And I want to talk about public sentiment within the United States. And, Stephen, I want you to listen to this. It's Nebraska Republican congressman
Mike Flood. And he was basically heckled and booed. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The U.N. ambassador for us last month voted with Russia, North Korea and other dictator countries, that Russia didn't invade
Ukraine and did nothing wrong. This is where we're at.
When are you going to stand up?
And we're also on the Human Rights watchlist.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you going to stand up for?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: So Stephen, take us through what we're seeing here.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think what you're seeing is, if you look at polls, there is some disquiet among
Americans about the way that the president has cozied up to Vladimir Putin.
Since he came back into office following that disastrous encounter when he and the vice president, JD Vance, were berating Zelenskyy in the Oval
Office.
I do think that those kinds of scenes are a little bit of an aberration because, although Ukraine is clearly a massive global issue and there are
many Americans concerned about the implications of the Trump policy.
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It is not in the, I would say, top five or six issues that are really concerning Americans. So it is a significant political factor but it's not
a massive one.
And I think that is one reason why the president believes he has a lot of political cover here. All of his voters believe, most of them, that the
U.S. has already spent too much money in defending Ukraine, even though the figures that the president advances are massively exaggerated. So he has
some political leeway here.
And there is a massive conservative media machine in the United States. And this perception, that Trump is a peacemaker, that only he could do a deal
and that he's going to get Putin to the table, actually helps him politically, even though it's completely untrue.
Because obviously, the events of the last few hours show that the ceasefire on energy infrastructure, if that's what it was, has even less substance
today than it looked like it had when it was first announced yesterday.
GIOKOS: Yes.
And so, William, in terms of the prisoner swap, which Russia just says has wrapped up and has been completed and the Kremlin is saying this is a
gesture of goodwill, when we know this has been in the making for quite some time, we've seen prisoner swaps occurring as well in the past.
What do you think President Putin's stance is here to broach this?
As you know, this is us, you know, exchanging people that are, you know, that need medical assistance and so forth and the significance of this.
BROWDER: There's -- the only significance of this is that Putin is trying to offer nothing to Trump, nothing on Ukraine. And he wants to throw some
stuff in that he would have done anyway. As you mentioned, there have been numerous prisoner swaps. It's not a it's not a matter of goodwill.
Putin wants Russian prisoners back and he's ready to give Ukrainian prisoners to swap them. It's not because he's a humanitarian. If he was a
humanitarian, he wouldn't have put nearly 900,000 of his own soldiers to death or disability in the war in Ukraine.
And so I would value that at zero in terms of what it's really worth. But it is a bullet point. It is a talking point for him to say, you know, look
how gracious and respectful we are toward president Trump. And we had a good 1.5 hour conversation.
And there's a lot of issues that we can discuss with the Americans and then do nothing and continue to fight the war in Ukraine. And that's his
intention. And unfortunately, I believe that that is what he will continue to do, no matter what the rhetoric is around these conversations.
GIOKOS: So William, as well, CNN's chief security correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, recently wrote an article, suggesting that the Trump
administration was hopelessly bluffed during talks with Putin.
And you were alluding to this and that was presented as a partial ceasefire is actually the first phase of Russia renewing its decade-long, deceptive
diplomacy.
What implications might this have for the ongoing situation?
Because I think there's a sense that perhaps we'll see a wider ceasefire occurring.
But what in terms of what the Kremlin wants and Putin wants, it seems -- it sounds like Ukraine is the only side that's going to be making major
concessions.
BROWDER: Well, so far, America has forced Ukraine to make major concessions. And Ukraine, Zelenskyy, was browbeaten into announcing a 30-
day unconditional ceasefire. And with the intention that Russia would do the same thing.
But I should just point out that that Russia has agreed to ceasefires before. There was something called the Minsk 1 agreement and the Minsk 2
agreement were both ceasefires and Russia broke both of those. And Russia breaks ceasefires everywhere, all the time. It's not worth the paper it's
printed on.
These promises and ceasefire proposals and, by the way, that was what Zelenskyy was trying to point out in the Oval Office before JD Vance and
Donald Trump jumped down his throat and tried to humiliate him. He was just saying, you can't trust Putin.
These ceasefires don't work. And, of course, Trump said -- Trump can be -- Putin can be trusted. And, of course, that was just shown not to be the
case just last night.
GIOKOS: Yes.
OK. Stephen, I think, you know, you and I have discussed this extensively in terms of president Trump want to be seen as this peacemaker and able to
end the wars, you know, not only in Ukraine but also what we're seeing happening in Gaza.
You've also written about this and just the difficulty around it. And again, to the point that Sir William was making that, you know, you're
dealing and you're trying to negotiate with leaders like Putin, who have who are known to break commitments and not stick to their promises.
COLLINSON: Right. And at the very moment that he was negotiating this agreement, such as it is, with Putin yesterday.
[10:15:05]
The ceasefire in Gaza, which Trump also claimed was reached, pretty much just because he returned to the White House, that also shattered.
And I think what it shows, to be honest, is that this political conceit, that Trump is a great dealmaker, that he was this businessman who knew how
to face down adversaries over the table, will translate to the international scene as really a fallacy or at least there's no evidence to
prove it so far.
The question is, will Trump ever put any pressure on prime minister Netanyahu or President Putin the way he's put pressure on weaker states,
like the country that was invaded, Ukraine?
He's gone after U.S. allies like Canada and Mexico. He's threatened a much smaller country, Panama, with taking back the Panama Canal. Trump's modus
operandi is to cozy up to strongmen and to give them a pass. And he has no record, really, of any real international peacemaking.
And the issue here is, when the United States has been successful in ending wars, for example, with Bosnia in the 1990s, its contributions to ending
the Northern Ireland conflict, it has been after a months-long or a years- long process of intricate diplomacy at lower levels, with the head of state coming in at key moments.
That is not happening here. It's an ad hoc conversation between Trump and Putin. And that's one reason why he keeps getting taken advantage of.
GIOKOS: All right, Stephen, Sir William, great to have you with us. Thank you so very much.
I want to now take you to a tweet from president Volodymyr Zelenskyy just a short time ago and we've got the text for you as well. I'm going to read
some of this.
It says, "Today is another day when Ukraine brings its people back; 175 of our defenders have been released from Russian captivity. Another 22
defenders are returning home through measures beyond exchanges.
Among them are severely wounded warriors, those whom Russia persecuted for fabricated crimes."
And he goes on to thank their team for their important work in finding Ukrainian prisoners of war and facilitating exchanges.
Grateful to all their partners, "especially the United Arab Emirates, for making today's exchange possible. Ukraine remembers every one of our heroes
and will bring our people home."
And also saying that this is one of the largest exchanges of prisoners of war. This is one of the largest POW exchanges. So that's just coming
through from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X.
This is after we've just heard that the prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine has just been completed, 175 people on either side, exchanged
today.
All right. Moving on, now in Kherson, is a Ukrainian city on the front lines of the war. It remains eerily quiet on the streets out of fear of
what lurks above. Residents say they're being hunted and terrorized by Russian drones and then mocked on Russian social media. CNN's Clarissa Ward
reports for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On the streets of Kherson, anyone is fair game. Every day, swarms of Russian drones glide
across the river on a deadly hunt that locals have dubbed a human safari. They target the old and the young, men and women. Flying low, they taunt
and terrorize their prey.
A man crosses himself, preparing for the worst before the drone buzzes on. Others are not so fortunate. Russian social media is awash with these
videos, complete with heavy metal soundtracks and gloating comments.
But to the people of Kherson, this is anything but a game.
So this is the central square here in Kherson. And you can see it is eerily deserted. Just a few people out on the streets. It was raining and cloudy
earlier, which means sometimes more people go out because that's not good weather for flying drones.
But now again, just a handful of people, all the stores you can see over there are basically boarded up.
The one supermarket open is heavily fortified. For Kherson residents, the simplest daily errand is the riskiest part of the day. Some can't even get
to the supermarket.
We drive to meet volunteers from the local administration.
So we're heading now to the eastern outskirts of the city. This is one of the most dangerous parts of the city and they're getting ready to
distribute some aid. They have to do it quickly and efficiently to ensure that they don't get seen by the drones.
[10:20:00]
The area is very exposed. We're told to hide our body armor under our coats.
OK, so we've just arrived. At this point, you can see they're starting to distribute the aid.
Beleaguered residents emerge from their homes where they live largely stranded. They grab supplies for neighbors who need help. They've lived
through Russian occupation, then liberation, now this.
Yna and her granddaughter tell me that life is so hard here. But there's no time to be afraid. She goes to collect her box of supplies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
WARD: So I told her that she's very strong. And she said, everybody is very strong. We have to be.
A man sets about repairing the roof of his home, undeterred by the near certain prospect of future attacks.
So they're saying that they have heard from the army that Russian drones have taken off from the other side of the river. So they're telling us to
move on now.
We speed through the roads back to a safer part of the city. Nowhere in Kherson is really safe.
The local hospital is surrounded by sandbag barriers. He says, they hit here quite a lot. That's why there's all these protections outside.
Across Kherson region, there were more than 2,000 drone launches just last week. The aftermath of that staggering statistic, clearly seen here.
Elena Sigereba (ph) says she and her friend were walking home from work when they were hunted.
We were two women, all made up without hats, carrying flowers and wearing white jackets, she tells us. They could see we were women, not soldiers.
It's just horror.
In another room, 19-year-old Boris is recovering from lung and leg injuries after the minibus he was traveling in was hit by a drone. Two people were
killed and eight wounded.
"They are Russians. What can I say," he tells us. "They're animals. Nothing else to say."
Pretty much every room in this entire ward has someone in it who has been injured or maimed by a drone. The doctor says they have 28 drone injuries
that they are treating at the moment.
This is just one of three hospitals that serve this city. And he said the number has just been going up and up since last August.
"We steadily received 90 to 100 patients injured in drone attacks a month," he says. "And there were 20 attacks in one week on the hospital's
generators."
Russia has frequently targeted Ukraine's power infrastructure in this war. Rarely has it so flagrantly pursued civilians.
"We can call it a hunt for civilians," Mayor Roman Goroshko (ph) explains. "The Russians send fresh drone units to Kherson region and they trained by
attacking ordinary people with drones, then send these units to Donetsk and Lugansk. Then they send another new unit here to continue the human
safari."
WARD: What can you really do to protect people here?
"There's no panacea to fully cover the city because the Russians are developing their technologies," he says. "There's no jammer that can fully
close the sky."
And so the people of Kherson suffer on. As outside powers bargain for an end to this war, nowhere are Russia's intentions felt so intimately --
Clarissa Ward, CNN, Kherson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Kherson has reached out to Russia for comment on the allegations they are intentionally targeting civilians in Kherson. We have not received
a response just yet.
And coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Hundreds of police officers have been sent to the door of my house, the house of the 16 million people of
Istanbul.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Turkiye's leading opposition figure has been arrested days before he was set to be nominated as a presidential candidate. And the
reaction is fierce and happening right now.
These are live pictures from outside Istanbul's municipality building. We're keeping a close eye on the scene and we'll have a full story for you
just ahead. Stick with CNN.
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[10:25:00]
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR EKREM IMAMOGLU, ISTANBUL (through translator): We are up against a huge bullying but I will not back down. I love you all. I entrust myself to
the people. I will be standing tall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: That was Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, speaking at police -- as police arrived at his house to arrest him. And he says hundreds of
them came to his door. Around 100 other people linked to him were also taken into custody in what critics are calling a major political crackdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS (voice-over): And also, I want to alert you to these images. This is happening right now in Istanbul. People are on the streets in protest
over this move. These are live images from Istanbul coming through to CNN right now. Imamoglu is a key opposition figure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: The Republican Peoples Party, known as the CHP, was set to nominate him as their presidential candidate in the coming days. He is
popular in Istanbul, where he was reelected as mayor last year in a landslide.
Galip Dalay is a senior consulting fellow for the Turkiye Initiative at Chatham House. He joins us now from Istanbul.
Great to have you with us. And we're seeing -- I just want to alert our audience to these live pictures we're seeing, coming through from Istanbul,
where we're seeing some protest action occurring.
Now after the detainment of Imamoglu, importantly, there was also a guidance given that people shouldn't be protesting, that certain parts of
the train station were also shut down. And these images are contrary to what had been given as guidance.
Can you give me a sense of the atmosphere right now in Istanbul after Imamoglu and 100 others were detained?
GALIP DALAY, SENIOR CONSULTING FELLOW, TURKIYE INITIATIVE, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, Imamoglu, the office of the mayor of Istanbul, is the second most
important elected office in the country after the president's office.
And secondly, Imamoglu is seen as the most formidable rival for the president Erdogan going forward in 2028. And as you also mentioned in your
news this weekend, there was going to be an election process for the main opposition, in which Imamoglu was the only candidate.
So therefore, the impact of this on the settlement, the impact of it on the political climate is tremendous. And all these precautions or the measures
that you are seeing, that the authorities are introducing is, for the sake of preventing further protests and further act of the -- for further
protest.
So therefore, the political and the societal climate has been highly right now affected by this. It's highly tense. And then the impact of it on
Turkiye's politics and on major trajectories that Turkiye has been experiencing recently, will be tremendous for the economy, to foreign
policy, to domestic politics.
GIOKOS: So what do you think?
What do you think the actual impact is going to be on Turkish politics right now?
Because the justice minister said that it's utterly dangerous and wrong to characterize the recent arrests, including the mayor, Imamoglu, as a coup
and also saying that it's wrong and dangerous to talk about this as being a coup.
I've already illustrated that but he really was quite emphatic about this. You've got the Turkish lira that dropped 12 percent at one point today.
You've got people in the streets as well. Tell me about the political environment and how Erdogan will be receiving the backlash.
DALAY: Well, the -- recently, actually, the political picture, the economic picture wasn't that bad for the president.
[10:30:00]
So on the one hand, you had the new economic team, which was actually getting the economy under control. The inflation was still high but
nevertheless it was declining.
So you had, on foreign policy fronts, quite some significant gains, the overthrow of the Syrian regime. Now the Europe and Turkiye getting closer
on Ukraine, on European security questions.
Internally, you had the Kurdish peace process, the PKK laying down the arms. So therefore, there was like quite positive steps that was happening.
And also this week, the president Erdogan was going to attend the European summit in Brussels.
That's going to be the first time, after more than a decade. Now all these developments, all these dynamics will be fundamentally affected by this
because the -- as I just mentioned, he was seen as the most credible candidate to run against President Erdogan. And he was the most popular
opposition figure.
So therefore, the potentially, even, let's say on Turkiye, European front, the Turkiye and Europe might get closer still. This despite this because of
the foreign and security policy dynamics in Ukraine.
But nevertheless, the benefits that Turkiye can reap from this convergence with Europe will be very limited, because now the climate for more
engagement with Turkiye will be less so.
You have the issues such as the customs union, modernization on the agenda. It's not only about economy, it's about politics, it's about rule of law.
It's about the legal, the issues.
And with the rest of that kind, with an intervention of that kind to the political picture, to the electoral picture, will dampen the appetite for
the cost of modernization at the European, at the European level.
So therefore, this step probably will deepen the discontent, will deepen the opposition's sense of dismay, the sense of injustice. So, therefore,
the settled discontent, the disaffection will very much deepen.
(CROSSTALK)
GIOKOS: So let me ask you this about -- that. Yes, I don't -- we don't know the charges but what we do know, the allegations of corruption and
terror related offenses.
Do you think that there's any merit to this?
And also 100 people around Imamoglu were also arrested, really significant number there.
DALAY: Well, I mean, we don't, as you mentioned, we don't know the details of these charges. But nevertheless, what we know, the settled perception or
the political perception, that is not seen as a legal case. This is seen more as a political case.
And this is like how it is going to very much shape the domestic political picture in the country. In the coming days, probably we will see more
details coming from it. But irrespective of it, right now, the political, the picture in the country is the picture at this particular.
The opposition but not on the opposition side of the base; it is more across the board that this is a political rather than a legal case.
GIOKOS: Yes. Galip Dalay, thank you so much for your insights. Good to have you join the show today.
Well, coming up after the break, protests also happening right now in Jerusalem. People there are angry at the Israeli government and angry at
the prime minister in particular. We'll take a closer look. That's coming up next.
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[10:35:00]
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GIOKOS (voice-over): Welcome back. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos and these are your headlines.
Protesters are on the streets in Istanbul after police arrested Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. Imamoglu is widely seen as the opposition's best chance of
unseating president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next election. Authorities say the arrests are part of an investigation into corruption and terrorism.
Russia's defense ministry says a large-scale prisoner swap with Ukraine has been completed. It says 175 servicemen from both sides were exchanged. As
well as that, it says 22 seriously wounded Ukrainian prisoners of war were handed over in what it calls a gesture of goodwill.
Israeli airstrikes hammered parts of Gaza overnight, with more than a dozen deaths reported. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since Israel
shattered the ceasefire with Hamas a day earlier. The IDF also dropped thousands of fliers over Gaza, warning residents to evacuate.
Meantime, crowds in Israel are protesting outside parliament after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu greenlit those new airstrikes. He continues to
say it's the only way to get the rest of the hostages back. But many disagree.
And as some, as you're seeing some now on the streets, these are live images coming through from Jerusalem.
Joining us now, we've got Israeli businessman Ami Dror. He's also one of the organizers of the anti-government protests.
Ami, thanks so much for taking the time today. We've got these live images that are coming through right now.
What is the objective?
What are you and the people that we're seeing on the streets right now protesting?
AMI DROR, ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTEST ORGANIZER: Sadly, we have we have many objectives. You know, the main one, the reason why we are here is the -- is
that we have to protect the gatekeepers in Israel, which is the head of the Shabak, our central security forces and the judicial arm of the government.
Netanyahu is trying to eliminate every possible power and pretty much trying to turn Israel into a version of a dictatorship. On the same time,
we have 59 hostages waiting to be rescued in Gaza.
And clearly, everything that we see right now in the Israeli government is intend to keep them there. Just recently, yesterday, he brought back Itamar
Ben Gvir, a convicted terrorist, into the government, to be our minister of internal security.
The only reason why he did it is because he need to pass the budget in the next, in the next week. Otherwise his government is dissolved. So
everything we're seeing right now in Gaza and here is related to Netanyahu that is trying to survive in office.
GIOKOS: So you're saying this is about Benjamin Netanyahu's survival. You also mentioned the key budget that needs to be passed by the 31st of March.
So he clearly has deadlines that he wants to keep.
But I have to say that what we're seeing is also reminiscent of the massive protests against the judicial overhaul that happened way before October
7th. As well we've also seen Benjamin Netanyahu saying this is just the beginning in terms of targeting Gaza once again and breaking up the
ceasefire.
What is the sentiment around what we've seen this week that's clearly timed with what you're doing in the street?
DROR: The sentiment is terrible. We need to get our hostages back ASAP. This is the first priority. It's a higher priority than anything else,
higher than the judicial coup that he's trying to do.
You also need to keep in mind that that Alina Habba is dealing with treason charges. After we learned that people in his closed circuit, in his bureau
been working for Qatar while working in the prime minister's office, all this together, it pretty much locks him from every possible angle.
And the only way he can stay in power is to bring back Itamar Ben Gvir. And therefore, he can stay in power, start a budget. So he is, in our terms,
he's killing our hostages just to stay in power. Everything that you see right now is about it.
[10:40:00]
And that's why hundreds of thousands of Israelis went to the streets today. We plan to stay here. Symbolically, we are in Gaza Strip right now where
the prime minister's house is located. And we plan to stay here in order to protect the people that we need to protect here and the hostages in Gaza.
GIOKOS: OK. So I have to ask you this.
What do you and people around you today feel about the fact that the ceasefire has now completely unraveled and fallen apart and the prospect of
phase two is now diminishing?
DROR: It's terrible. It's terrible. Our soldiers are putting our hostages at risk right now for purely political reasons.
That's the only reason. There is no security reason. It's a purely political reason. And our government are putting my brothers and sisters
under severe risk of being dead only so Netanyahu's government will stay in power.
I have to remind you, we call Netanyahu the financier of the Hamas. This is the person that armed the Hamas, provided Hamas with $30 million in cash in
suitcases every month and he still keeps collaborating with them.
The only threat to Hamas is that you introduce another form of power over there. But, no, Netanyahu is staying with Hamas, is keeping the same
allies. And the price we are paying it, we're paying it with our hostages. We're paying it with our soldiers.
And, you know, this is -- this is an army when everybody serves in the army. So it is my family and my friends' family and all of it is just to
keep Netanyahu out of jail. And it's tragic.
GIOKOS: Ami, thank you so much for taking the time. Thank you for your insights and sharing a little bit of what we are seeing on the ground
today. We appreciate it.
Ami Dror there for us in the streets of Jerusalem in the pro-democracy protests there in Israel.
Well, still to come on CNN, how president Trump is reacting to Chief Justice John Roberts rare rebuke after Trump calls for a federal judge to
be impeached. We'll bring you a live report straight ahead right here on CNN.
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GIOKOS: All right. The White House versus the Supreme Court. In a rare public statement, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has called out
the actions of the president. But Mr. Trump shrugged that off in an interview with FOX News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He didn't mention my name in the statement. I just saw it quickly. He didn't mention my name but many people have called for his impeachment,
the impeachment of this judge. I don't know who the judge is but he's radical left.
What do you do when you have a rogue judge?
The judge that we're talking about, he's, you look at his other rulings. I mean, rulings unrelated.
[10:45:00]
But having to do with me?
He's a lunatic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Attacking the judge, handling immigration is exactly why the chief justice spoke up to begin with, saying, "For more than two centuries, it
has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.
"The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose."
CNN's chief Supreme Court analyst, Joan Biskupic, joins us now.
Joan, always good to have you with us.
Just how unusual is this for a chief justice to call out a president like this?
Have we seen this before?
JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Only once before. And it's good to see you today. You know, John Roberts is the head of the judicial
branch. Donald Trump is the head of the executive branch.
Those two individuals throughout history have not had this kind of clash. But John Roberts has clashed with Donald Trump before and it was in the
same kind of politically charged moment, when Trump was complaining about a so-called Obama judge. That was back in 2018.
And Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rebuke and then didn't say anything more. This time, you know, Eleni, a lot of our audience is going to hear
what you just read about what John Roberts said, which bottom line was, if you disagree with a judicial ruling appeal, that's what you should do,
appeal.
That's actually a quite modest statement but it is unusual for him to enter the fray, especially with someone like Donald Trump, who we know just keeps
escalating and escalating.
And late last night, after he had that one interview that you played, where he said, well, he didn't call me out by name and criticized one of the
lower court judges who was hearing a deportation case, Donald Trump, later in the evening, criticized him again.
And that's the backdrop here, is that so many U.S. district court judges, who are on the lowest tier of our three-tier system, the ones who are
actually on the front lines, hearing all these challenges to Donald Trump's executive orders, they're being threatened.
They're being you know, accused of being vulnerable to impeachment. And I think that's where the chief justice was coming from, trying to at least
stand up for the people in the third branch, who do have the benefit of being appointed for life but aren't used to being buffeted so much in this
political atmosphere.
GIOKOS: Yes, exactly. And you mentioned something so important because, I mean, if you think about it simply, you've got the man in charge, you know,
the highest level of the government, so the president, that basically is berating, questioning the validity of the judicial system.
And it just -- it just creates so much, you know, concern. I would say, that, if you're doing that to your own country and your own judicial
system, does that mean that there's going to have ramifications or some kind of spillover effect where people are going to be waking up and
questioning, the validity, validity and the thinking of these judges?
BISKUPIC: That's exactly what the chief is worried about. And that's what a lot of people in the legal orbit are worried about, Eleni, because the
judiciary here does not have the benefit of appropriations the way Congress does.
It doesn't have the benefit, you know, as they say, of the sword of an army. It has its institutional stature. And for more than two centuries,
its institutional stature has ensured that its rulings are followed.
And if the if people start questioning that and especially if the president of the United States starts questioning whether you have to follow court
orders, that could be a very troubling situation.
But I do have to say that Donald Trump has addressed that point and said, I'm always going to follow orders. Now he will say that. But he's certainly
given people grounds to believe that he and his administration allies will continue to try to sidestep judicial orders and, maybe at one point,
outright defy them.
GIOKOS: All right. Joan Biskupic, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for breaking that story down.
All right. And we've also got a quick update on our breaking news this hour. The U.S. and the Ukrainian presidents are speaking by phone right
now. And that's according to the White House.
The call follows president Trump's call Tuesday with Vladimir Putin, with the Russian president saying attacks on energy infrastructure would be
temporarily halted.
So the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, currently on the phone with president Donald Trump. We'll bring you news on that story as it
happens.
Now a U.S. federal judge has just ordered that the case of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil should be moved to New Jersey, siding with the
Trump administration over Khalil's attorneys on that issue.
But the judge did deny the government's request to transfer the case to 1,000 kilometers away to Louisiana, where Khalil is currently in custody.
[10:50:04]
Now you remember the video of his arrest near Columbia University for his role in campus protests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
You're going to be under arrest. So turn around, turn around, turn around, turn around, turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. He's not resisting. He's giving me his phone, OK?
He's not -- I understand, he's not resisting. Like --
(OFF MIKE COMMENTS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to have to come with us.
MAHMOUD KHALIL, PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST: Don't worry. I'm coming with you. don't worry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one's resisting. No one's getting worked up for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You guys really don't need to be doing all of that.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Officers in plain clothes, as you can see, taking him in into unmarked car, while his wife, who is eight months pregnant, tried
to get answers. Khalil spoke out for the first time about his case in a letter he dictated from his cell, calling himself a political prisoner.
And writing that his deportation case is, quote, "a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and
an end to the genocide in Gaza, which resumed in full force Monday night."
Khalil, a legal U.S. resident, added, "The Trump administration is targeting me as a part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent. Visa
holders, green card carriers and citizens alike will all be targeted for their political beliefs.
"At stake are not just our voices but the fundamental civil liberties of all."
The Trump administration has, without presenting evidence, accused Khalil of being pro-Hamas and has struggled to explain what crimes it believes he
has committed.
We're taking a very short break. We'll be back right after.
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GIOKOS: All right. The United States should bid adieu to the Statue of Liberty or at least according to a French politician. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAPHAEL GLUCKSMANN, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER (through translator): To the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans
who say researchers must have this proof of scientific freedom, we're going to say two things to the Americans.
First, give us back the Statue of Liberty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: European Parliament member Raphael Glucksmann talking about the U.S. giving back Lady Liberty, for, in his words, "siding with tyrants."
The statue was a gift of friendship from France, with a Roman goddess bearing a torch, welcoming all immigrants.
The White House didn't take those comments very well. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying it's only because of the United States of America
that the French are not speaking German right now, so they should be very grateful to our great country.
After 13,000 submissions, the winners have been announced in this year's British Wildlife Photography Awards. And they are tonight's "Parting
Shots." The competition, in its 13th year, spotlights Britain's nature. And here's CNN's Lynda Kinkade with some of the winning images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Photographer Simon Withyman says he spent three years tracking this red fox around Bristol, England. When he
spotted her perfectly framed between the railings on this pathway. He knew the shot was a winner.
It sure was. It earned him the grand prize of more than $4,500 at the British Wildlife Photography Awards.
Among the other winners was this photo of a red grouse looking positively shocked while coming in for a landing in a field of heather.
[10:55:00]
And this image of a reindeer living up to its rainy name (sic) as it roars at the heavens.
The contest also includes underwater photography. The award for best coast to marine photo went to this shot of a blue shark searching for some squid
or small fish to feed upon.
There's even a young photographer contest. This early morning shot of a bird called curlew took the grand prize. It was shot by 9-year-old Jamie
Smart, whose parents had driven her four hours to get the image.
And we couldn't leave you without sharing this winner in the 15- to 17- year-old contest, Ben Lucas set up a GoPro in a bag of French fries to capture these pigeons doing what they do best -- I'm Lynda Kinkade, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: All right, the pigeons and the French fries definitely a winner. What a fantastic pick.
All right, that's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. I'm Eleni Giokos. "ONE WORLD" is up next.
END
