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Israel Strikes Last Functioning Hospital In Gaza City; Moscow Ramps Up Attacks On Ukraine Amid Talks With U.S.; U.S. And Iran To Meet Again Saturday After "Constructive Talks"; E.U. Trade Chief To Meet U.S. Counterparts In Washington; CBS News YouGov Poll: Donald Trump's Approval Ratings Slide; Noboa Declared Winner, Gonzalez Rejects Results; Sanders Urges Coachella Crowds To Fight Trump Policies. Aired 10-10:45a ET
Aired April 14, 2025 - 10:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LAUREN SANCHEZ, FOUNDER, BLACK OPS AVIATION: And all the -- the heart and the feelings and all the things and like seeing Jeff before I left, I just
like, pff, like, you know, I had to come back.
[10:00:10]
I mean, we're getting married, if I didn't come back, I would be -- that would be -- that would be a bummer for me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only you, by the way, would say this to me. You said, Jeff, if he -- if you don't want to marry me, you don't have to send me to
space.
SANCHEZ: You don't have to send me to space.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi, welcome. Hi, hello, and welcome to the second hour of the show. I'm Eleni Giokos, live from our Middle East
programming headquarters in Abu Dhabi, where is just after 6:00 pm.
Coming up this hour, the U.S. and Iran have held a constructive first round of indirect talks. According to both sides, the highest-level contact
between them since 2018. The big question remains, can a nuclear deal be achieved.
Also over the weekend, Russian ballistic missile blast the Ukrainian city of Sumy, and the deadliest attack this year, striking terror into civilians
heading to church services and enjoying Palm Sunday.
And in Gaza, the suffering deepens after an Israeli air strike decimates the last fully functioning hospital in Gaza City as Israel's offensive
expands and intensifies across the Strip.
All right, I want to take a look now how the U.S. markets are doing this Monday, there's been so much volatility, mostly because of President Donald
Trump's tariffs, with a lot of retaliation that we're seeing coming through. Checking in on those numbers right now, we're in positive
territory across the major U.S. indices, the Dow, the S&P and NASDAQ all doing much better after we heard there will be some exemptions on some tech
products, although that messaging from the White House is that they are temporary exemptions, so more news will come through on that as we get
further into the show.
In the meantime, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu says steps are underway to reach a new ceasefire for hostage release deal in Gaza. The Trump
administration has been pushing for a deal, and while U.S. officials have expressed optimism, Hamas has maintained they want a full and permanent
ceasefire to reach an agreement. That includes the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza on the ground. Israel is occupying more territory
by the day, pushing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians into an ever smaller area on the Mediterranean coast.
And this weekend, Israel attacked the last full fully functioning hospital in northern Gaza. The facility is run by the Anglican Church, and you can
see the damage to the adjoining church there hit on Palm Sunday. Administrators say they were only given a 20-minute warning before the
strike, and were forced to rush the patients out onto the street.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED ABU NASSER, AL-AHLI HOSPITAL PATIENT (through translator): All night I was in the hospital, terrified the scene last night was terrifying.
In the middle of the night, where is the patient supposed to go? Where can they go or escape to, or how can they manage? The scene was scary, from
night until now, I haven't slept a single minute out of fear. All night, glass was shattered at us inside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem for us. Jeremy, good to have you with us. I want you to take us through the strike, what it ultimately
means, and also the fact that Palestinians only had 20 minutes to evacuate.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, the Israeli military yesterday issuing an evacuation order for that hospital, and about
20 minutes later, it carried out an air strike on that hospital that severely damaged a reception area at the hospital as well as the hospital's
emergency room.
That emergency room is actually from where I spoke with a doctor who was working at that hospital just a few weeks ago. He was already describing to
me the lack of medical supplies and the shortages that they were facing as they tried to stand up Gaza's health care system amidst these renewed
Israeli attacks, and now this hospital, which used to treat about a thousand patients a day, has effectively been taken out of service.
A few dozen patients are still being treated there who were being treated there before, but the hospital is not taking new patients. Emergency
services have been shut down as a result of this strike, and all of this is because the Israeli military says that there was a Hamas command and
control center at that hospital, although they've provided no evidence to back up that fact.
And they also haven't provided any evidence to suggest that the military advantage gained from carrying out this strike would supersede the harm
that this has now done, not only to this hospital specifically, but to Gaza's health care system at large, given the fact that this hospital was
the last remaining fully functional Hospital in northern Gaza.
[10:05:09]
We also know that one patient died as he was being rushed out of the area during that rushed evacuation of 20 minutes before that strike actually
took place.
But obviously this is just the latest sign of the ways in which Gaza's population is being squeezed in so many different ways, the collapse of
medical infrastructure. In this case, literal collapse via an Israeli strike.
And then, of course, you have the fact that so many Gazans have been forced into an ever shrinking part of the Gaza Strip, and the facts that nothing
has gotten into Gaza for more than a month. Since March 2nd, no food, no medical supplies, no water has been getting into Gaza, and emergency and
humanitarian officials say that Gaza is now rapidly approaching a crisis point.
GIOKOS: Yes, I mean to your point on the decimation of the health infrastructure and a continuing story there.
I want to talk about the current states of negotiations. And Hamas delegation is in Cairo right now. What do we know in terms of discussions
that are on the go and whether they're going to lead to any solution?
DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday to pursue negotiations over an attempt to revive this cease fire that
collapsed several weeks ago when the Israeli military began carrying out these strikes in Gaza.
We know that there have been -- there has been a back and forth over the number of hostages who would be released in exchange for a month or a month
and a half long cease fire and the entry of humanitarian aid, as well as for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for those released
hostages.
Hamas had previously only been willing to release, you know, four hostages or so. There was a time where they were only willing to release one and
three who would be the bodies of deceased hostages. Israel has been pushing for the release of 11 living hostages.
And last week, we know there was an Egyptian proposal on the table for eight hostages to be released, and so somewhere along those lines, is where
the negotiations now appear to stand.
The Tikva Forum, which is a group that represents some hostage families, but is quite aligned with the Israeli prime minister's view of the war,
they have said that the prime minister told the family of one of those hostages that they are now negotiating over the release of 10 hostages.
But again, we haven't yet seen the kind of concrete signs that this is truly moving in the direction of an agreement, and so we really have to be
cautious, as so many times we have seen these signs of progress only for no deal to be achieved at all.
But there certainly has been from sources that I've talked to, a sense of progress, a sense of optimism, but it won't be real until we actually see
those concrete signals, until we see an Israeli delegation start to travel. We see and hear positive signs from the United States officially. Those
things haven't happened yet, but certainly there is movements. We will see where that movement leads, Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right, Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.
Ukraine says at least 34 people were killed when Russian missiles hit the city of Sumy as people gathered for Palm Sunday's church services. It was
the deadliest single attack on Ukrainian civilians since 2023 and it comes just days after us envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir
Putin in an attempt to speed up peace talks. Here's President Donald Trump's assessment of those negotiations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think Ukraine, Russia might be going OK, and you're going to be finding out pretty soon.
You know, there's a point at which you just have to either put up or shut up and see what happens. But I think it's going fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: The story for us from Berlin. Fred, after the leading strike in Sumy, President Trump said that he was told Russia, "Made a mistake." What
more can you tell us about that? And what other responses are you hearing from the Americans as they try to broker some kind of peace deal between
Russia and Ukraine?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly what President Trump said. Also on Air Force One, by the way,
saying that he was told that the Russians had made a mistake and that he believed that the strike was horrible, as he put it as well.
However, his envoy to that crisis Keith Kellogg, he came out as well, and he said that the strike that took place in Sumy on Sunday, of course,
during Palm Sunday, was outside any realm of decency, as he put it, and was one of the reasons why President Trump was trying to end the war in
Ukraine.
Now, as you can imagine, there's been a lot of condemnation coming from other places, specifically the European capitals, with several European
foreign ministers who have been meeting, talking about this, calling for stronger action against Russia, claiming that Russia does not want actually
a ceasefire in Ukraine, is dragging its feet, that there needed to be more international pressure. There really were reactions across the board from
leaders here in Ukraine -- in Europe, sorry.
[10:10:11]
And then, of course, the Ukrainian presidency also coming out and accusing the Russians of dragging their feet as far as a ceasefire is concerned,
while civilians are dying, especially there in the north of Ukraine, in Sumy.
Now, the Kremlin has actually also come out as well now, Eleni, and they reiterated that the Russian military only strikes, as they put it, military
or near military targets. There was nothing specific about what happened in Sumy, but that was the reaction to the Kremlin when the Kremlin spokesman
earlier today was confronted by what happened there in Sumy.
The Ukrainians, Eleni, are saying they believe that this attack was so deadly. Because first of all, obviously happened on Palm Sunday, as you
said, many people going to church, possibly coming from church as well. So, the streets would have been filled up there in Sumy.
But they also said that it was the ordinance itself that caused a lot of casualties. The Ukrainian presidency saying that at first a building was
hit by a missile and then a second missile came in. The Ukrainians are saying they believe that cluster munitions were inside the warhead, which
is obviously a weapon directed at hurting as many people as possible.
But again, for now, the Russians, once again, are saying they don't target civilian installations. The Ukrainians, of course, still very much in
shock, especially there in Sumy, with the entire day, really people coming out in that town laying flowers for the many people who have been killed,
and, of course, for the many who remain in hospital having been wounded in that attack as well, Eleni.
GIOKOS: I mean, really tragic images that we were seeing coming out through from Sumy, Fred. Well, thanks so much for that update.
Now, perhaps there's reason to hope for diplomacy on another front, the White House describing talks with Iran on Saturday as, "Very positive and
constructive." President Trump has made it clear his goal is to make sure Iran does not get a nuclear weapon. Here's what he had to say about the
effort to restart the talks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you give us the readout on the Iran talks, sir?
TRUMP: I think they're doing OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was your --
TRUMP: Well, I can't tell you because it doesn't -- nothing matters until you get it done. So, I don't like talking about it, but it's going OK. The
Iran situation is going pretty good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: All right, the talks in Oman were high level and largely indirect, involving Mr. Trump's Middle East envoy and the Iranian foreign minister.
Both sides reported progress in laying the groundwork for nuclear negotiations and agreed to meet again this Saturday.
My next guest says, "Trump could secure a triple win for the U.S., no Iranian nuclear weapon, no war with Iran, and major business opportunities
for American businesses, which will create more jobs in the United States."
Trita Parsi is the author of Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy, and the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for
Responsible Statecraft. He joins me now live.
Sir, great to have you with us. We've been hearing quite a bit coming through on this -- on these talks, which are obviously very significant.
I want you to take a listen to what the Iranian foreign minister had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESMAIL BANGHAEI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): I just want to make note of one point, Iran has never put any obstacles in
front of economic cooperation. This is an American issue. They have imposed a set of complicated and complex and multi layered laws that have deprived
and kept their own people from economic investments in Iran. This is an issue that they will have to think about and resolve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: So, that's a pretty interesting comment. I want us to look at this realistically. Iran is positioning this as perhaps a good deal for the
United States, but Iran has been crippled by sanctions. It is -- it has endemic corruption. Who's going to benefit most from this deal, do you
think Trita?
TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: At the end of the day, (AUDIO GAP) sustainable. You need to
make both sides (AUDIO GAP). Otherwise, you may be able to strike a deal, but it's not going to go everlasting, and oftentimes it ends up in a worse
situation.
So, if you want a durable deal, you have to make sure that both sides win something. Whoever wins the most, I would say, for the United States is
making sure that this enmity with Iran is not, perhaps necessarily ended, but is significantly diminished, that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon,
and that, in and of itself, enables the United States to reduce its truth levels in the Middle East that Trump has promised his base for quite some
time. Those are very, very significant ways.
So, I'm not surprised at all that Trump taking a look at this opportunity very, very serious.
GIOKOS: OK, I want to talk about the potential of a deal between the U.S. and Iran. What would that possibly look like? We know that it must include
no nuclear weapon.
[10:15:05]
Clearly, Iran wants sanctions lifted. Clearly, there must be some kind of business deal, because Iran is speaking Trump's language for now. But what
does that mean for Iran's proxies, for Hezbollah, for Hamas, for the Houthis? Is that going to be part of the negotiation and should it be?
PARSI: Well, it's not clear yet whether that will be part of the negotiation or going to be part of the discussion. I'm pretty confident
that they're going to be taught those different things.
But you have to prioritize and decide what is most important to you. If you throw in too many different variables into negotiation, you may end up
losing all of them. And I think it's quite clear that the nuclear file is for the United States, the most important.
Now, if you're sitting in Abu Dhabi, if you're sitting in Riyadh, (AUDIO GAP) you will have our concerns as well, but Trump has prioritized U.S.
interest here. If he throws in too much, he will end up getting nothing.
So, the -- if we listen closely to what he's been saying, he's been -- his only red line is a nuclear weapon. That does not mean that he will throw
the other (AUDIO GAP) it just means that he has to prioritize the chosen prioritize issue that is the most important to the United States security.
GIOKOS: Trita, I just wondered, because Iran is positioning the country as the sort of untapped emerging markets that the United States hasn't taken
full advantage of. Do you think that is an interesting thing to dangle with President Trump, and do you think that his administration is going to be
taking that seriously as, you know, he's trying to increase jobs and industrial capacity and, in fact, export more out of the United States?
Does that sort of scenario work?
And I just wonder what this means geopolitically as well, because this isn't just about business. This, frankly, is very much entrenched in the
geopolitical environment in the region.
PARSI: Absolutely, I do think that the Trump administration will probably take seriously some of those opportunities there.
And if we look back at what Trump was complaining about Obama's deal in 2015, a key point that he was raising was that this deal does not allow
American businesses to go into Iran, it only allows European and Chinese and Russian businesses to go into the Iranian market. And he kept on saying
that, that's unfair, that's unfair.
Here's an opportunity to fix that, essentially, the Iranians are dangling this, no doubt. But at the same time, Iranians have also concluded, unless
you have sanctions that's both primary, meaning sanctions on U.S. businesses and secondary, meaning, sanctions on other countries, then those
secondary sanctions are not going to be sustainable. That's what it was during the JCPOA. Only secondary sanctions were lifted, and that ended up
working out because (AUDIO GAP) the United States to withdraw from the deal itself, because it wasn't hurting U.S. businesses by withdrawing.
So, I think the Iranians want to make sure that they throw something else in there in order to make sure it's as difficult as possible for the U.S.
to withdraw from the deal in the future.
GIOKOS: All right. Trita Parsi, thank you so much for that update. Good to have you on the show.
Coming up next, a man with a mission. The E.U.'s trade chief is in Washington with hopes of reaching a potential deal. As the global trade war
rages on.
And a new poll showing a majority of Americans are giving a thumbs down to the Trump tariffs, we'll look at the numbers a lot more closely. Stay with
CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:20:41]
GIOKOS: A new week has just begun on Wall Street, and investors are reacting to Donald Trump's decision to exempt some electronic goods
temporarily from his reciprocal tariff plan.
Now, in the face of extreme uncertainty, the E.U. is hoping it can get some answers, as its trade commissioner holds talks in Washington today. And as
you can see, the Dow has got a bit of a boost. It's up 1.8 percent.
In the meantime, Maros Sefcovic will meet with the U.S. Commerce Secretary. President Trump has scaled back a 20 percent tariff on E.U. imports to 10
percent for at least 90 days.
Nic Robertson is following developments from London for us. It's all about these negotiations, Nic, and I mean, look, the E.U. does have some
leverage. It has said that it's looking at counter measures. The question is, how far will the E.U. want to go, and whether they can find common
ground?
And I wonder if that common ground lies in LNG or fossil fuels, like some kind of fossil fuel deal that might be able to deescalate this tariff war.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I think that's exactly the sort of thing that the European Union is wondering. They're
wondering a lot because the messaging and signaling coming from the White House has been so confusing and sporadic.
And look, just last week, the European Union, after many, many weeks of careful consideration, decided what their response would be to President
Trump's 25 percent tariffs globally on aluminum and steel, that was announced in February.
So, last week, they got to the point of deciding how the European Union should respond, which happened to coincide with the moment that President
Trump decided to dial back, it seemed, the bond market.
So, he decided to dial back those tariffs, dropping the European Union from 20 to 10 percent holding it for 90 days. And the European Union said, OK,
take a note of that. We're not going to apply these tariffs that we've considered now on aluminum and steel.
So, the European Union's point was, we don't want to escalate. We want to get in a conversation, but we're ready to take tough measures, tough
positions. So, Sefcovic will be in there today, later on today, having those discussions with Howard Lutnick and the context would be OK, is it
LNG, and how much and what are you looking for us to do with this product, over what period of time do you want us to take it?
The European Union feels genuinely pretty confused about where -- precisely what the United States wants and I think the European Union is trying to as
well, which is a massive, the biggest trading partner with the United States, and trades massively with other countries around the world. It has
450 million people. It's a very important trading block. It's very important for other countries outside of the U.S. to trade with as well.
And they're trying to show to those other trading partners that they are not what the U.S. is. They are stable, they are calm, they are considered,
they are collected.
So, in the way that they're dealing with the United States and going into these conversations today, the first time they'll talk face-to-face about
these tariffs, is a way that they want to construct for their own markets to see that they are being sensible and smart and careful and considered,
as well, as trying to want to understand where this negotiation, where these conversations go with the U.S.
And I don't think anyone's expecting, you know, a product -- a product at the end of today, 90 days to reach a conclusion or head in the right
direction. I think they're just trying to find out what it is the U.S. wants at the moment.
GIOKOS: All right, Nic Robertson, thanks so much for breaking that story down.
Well, the uncertainty surrounding the Trump tariffs is taking a toll on the president's approval ratings. A new CBS News YouGov poll shows that 56
percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of the U.S. economy, a seven-point increase from February. And his overall approval rating has
slid lower over the past few months.
A majority of Americans expect at least short-term price increases and economic harm from the President's tariff policies.
Alayna Treene is back with us this hour to break down the numbers. Alayna, these tariffs are just not sitting well with many people in the United
States, because, frankly, they're looking at their investments, and they see the uncertainty that it's causing, and they're saying, is it worth it?
Is it going to have the desired effect? What are you hearing?
[10:25:07]
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Eleni, and I think part of it too is that so much of this, of course, is self-inflicted. These
are policies that the Trump administration has put in place that some Americans are arguing, and we've heard this from Wall Street down to
Capitol Hill, including some Republicans on Capitol Hill saying, are these necessary and how far should they go? I think that's, of course, a key
question is, how much pain is this White House, is the United States willing to take until we start to -- start to see some changes?
Now, one example of that, of course, is that last week, we saw the Trump administration announced a 90-day pause on some of its reciprocal tariffs
on all countries, except for China. And then Friday, we did see the market have somewhat of a come down, when the president, or this White House, I
should say, announced that they were going to have clarification of the exemptions, essentially saying that they were exempting electronics from
some of those tariffs that were placed on Beijing.
However, yesterday, we heard the president say that he's going to be announcing new tariffs over the coming days on semiconductors. All to say,
I think we are kicking off another week of uncertainty.
Now, to get back to some of these polling numbers, I think it really shows how Americans are feeling about this. And clearly the numbers are not
necessarily going in the direction that I think President Donald Trump and his team would like them to be seeing.
Just to reiterate some of what you said, to look at the president's handling of the economy, 44 percent of people approve of his handling of
the economy. That's compared to 56 percent who disagree.
If you go back to beginning of March, March 2nd, where the CBS YouGov also polled this, then it was 51 percent of people approved of his handling of
the economy. And 49 percent disapproved.
So, again, those numbers not necessarily moving in the right direction when it comes to how people are viewing this. And of course, a key question as
well is, you know, this is hitting people's retirements account. We look at their 401(k)s, they look at the volatility in the market, and they are
figuring out and trying to assess how long that this is going to be an issue for them and if everything will stabilize.
And that's just a question right now that this Trump administration cannot answer, because again, we are seeing more tariffs come into play. It's not
just semiconductors that are expected. The president's talked about wanting to put tariffs on pharmaceuticals. All of that going to continue to add to
a lot of the uncertainty that we are seeing in the economy, and adding to some of those fears of a potential recession, something we've also heard
many economists and experts warn could still be on the horizon, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Alayna Treene, good to have you on. Thank you.
Immigration takes center stage at the White House. In the meantime, as President Trump sits down with a major ally in his sweeping immigration
crackdown. Details on that story just ahead.
And celebrations as Ecuador announces the results of its presidential election. But not everyone is happy. We'll tell you why, after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:30:23]
GIOKOS: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD, with me, Eleni Giokos. Here are your headlines.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Vietnam and will visit Malaysia and Cambodia this week on a tour to strengthen regional trade ties. He says he
plans to emphasize stability and cooperation in trade, in an apparent contrast to the chaos surrounding U.S. trade policy amid the Trump tariffs.
Sudan's para paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, say they've taken control of the major camp housing displaced people in North Darfur. It follows a
four-day assault that left hundreds of people dead or wounded, according to aid groups and the government.
War has raged in Sudan for two years, fueled by a power struggle between the army and the RSF.
A star-studded group of space tourists is back on the ground after a 10- minute trip to space. Pop Star Katy Perry and journalist Gayle King were on board, the all-female flight. Blue Origin called it a very soft landing
when the capsule floated safely back to Earth last hour.
The Trump administration is pushing back on a federal judge's order to help with the return of Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia, this, even though
U.S. officials admit he was deported to an El Salvador supermax prison because of a clerical error. It comes just as President Trump sits down
with El Salvador's leader, Nayib Bukele, next hour at the White House.
Mister Bukele is a top ally in the U.S. immigration crackdown.
Joining us now, we've got CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, live from Washington, D.C. Priscilla, good to have you on.
Bukele has used tough tactics to reduce crime in his country, imprisoning two percent of the population while suspending civil liberties. He's also
been paid to -- paid millions to accept prisoners from the United States, where Garcia is being held right now in one of those prisons.
Tell us what you expect from this meeting and whether Garcia is going to be discussed.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House has said that CECOT, that notorious mega prison in El Salvador, is going to be
one of the topics of discussion over the course of this bilateral meeting between President Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who is also
a Trump friendly president, and as you mentioned there, a key ally to the United States.
Now, it's unclear if Abrego Garcia's case is going to come up, but given this legal battle is ongoing and the headlines it's garnered, including the
president being asked about it over the course of the weekend by reporters, it also seems likely that it could.
Now, the administration's position up until this point is that they do not have to provide information to the Court that they deem sensitive when it
comes to anything being -- that is happening in retrieving Abrego Garcia from the Salvadoran prison.
In fact, more bluntly, they have said that they do not -- they are not required to have to work with Salvadoran officials on this matter that this
goes into foreign policy matters.
Now, that part right there, foreign policy, that was part of the key points in the Supreme Court decision last week, because while the Supreme Court
said that the administration had to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia, they stopped short of requiring it, and did put an emphasis on due
deference to foreign relations. And it is that point in particular, the administration is leaning in on, including in a filing yesterday.
The justice department saying this, "The federal courts have no authority to direct the executive branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular
way or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner." That, a quote from the Justice Department filing.
So, you can see there how they are digging in on this issue of foreign policy. But of course, the timing here is remarkable, because, as they are
doing that the presidents of these two nations, the United States and El Salvador, are going to be meeting in the Oval Office as all of this is
happening.
Now, again, we have seen senior Trump officials come out over the course of the morning, saying, essentially, that abroad, Garcia should be in El
Salvador, despite having previously conceded that they made a mistake in deporting him.
The Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, also saying that Today's conversation between the two presidents should be, "beneficial". And
everyone, and by that, I mean, those senior officials that are working on immigration for this administration, say that El Salvador is a country that
they intend to continue to lean on as they execute on the deportation pledge of the president, including sending more migrants to that notorious
mega prison.
[10:35:02]
Something that they can do, according to that Supreme Court decision, if they also provide some level of due process to those who they are going to
send there. Meaning, for example, providing notice and allowing time for them to file a complaint.
But again, this is all happening in real time, and we'll see what happens in this Oval Office meeting. But what is very clear is that these are two
presidents that are friendly to one another, particularly, the Salvadoran president, and he has been key to so many of these controversial efforts in
the first days of the administration.
GIOKOS: Yes. All right, we are watching closely for that meeting. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.
Ecuador's president, meantime, won re-election in a run of Sunday, but his rival is rejecting the results and will call for a recount.
Daniel Noboa says there is no doubt he won by more than a million votes. Both he and rival Luisa Gonzalez, vowed to crack down on rampant gang
violence and to improve Ecuador's ailing economy.
Noboa is the son of a billionaire businessman, and says he will partner with U.S. troops to fight crime.
So, what will the next four years look like for Ecuador? CNN's Espanol Fernando del Rincon is in Quito, and has more on the race for us.
FERNANDO DEL RINCON, CNN EN ESPANOL ANCHOR: It was expected to be a tight race, but with over 90 percent of votes counted, Ecuador's conservative
incumbent Daniel Noboa will hold office for four more years after beating leftist candidate Luisa Gonzalez on this Sunday's runoff election.
Noboa will now have the opportunity to continue his war against criminal groups That turned this one's very peaceful nation into the murder capital
of Latin America.
Noboa has been pushing for help from the international community to fight the violence, and is even trying to change the Constitution to allow the
presence of foreign military bases.
The big questions now are, with the ban be lifted, and will U.S. troops return to Ecuador after exiting the country in 2009, shortly after the
results started coming, and challenger Gonzalez question the results, saying that polls have very different numbers, and said she will ask for a
recount.
However, the numbers are clear. Novo has over 1 million votes more than Gonzalez, according to the official data from the country's electoral
council.
Noboa is said to be sworn in on May 24 to serve his first full-term where he will seek to improve security and reactivate the nation's struggling
economy.
Fernando del Rincon, CNN, Quito, Ecuador.
GIOKOS: Ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD, a U.S. Senator's call to action as an unlikely venue. We'll bring you an update on that story right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: A call to action from a surprise guest, during the first weekend of the Coachella music festival in California.
[10:40:04]
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders took the stage, urging the thousands in attendance to fight the Trump administration's policies. Here is what he
told the crowd after introducing singer songwriter, Clairo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT): I'm here because Clairo has used her prominence to fight for women's rights, to try to end the terrible, brutal war in
Gaza, where thousands, thousands of women and children are being killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Gabe Cohen has more on Sanders' drive to reach out to younger Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDERS: Well, we've got a president to the United States, who --
AMERICAN CROWD: Boo!
SANDERS: I agree.
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): That's Bernie Sanders, making a surprise appearance at Coachella, Saturday night, where festival goers
booed the mention of President Donald Trump.
SANDERS: And the future of what happens to America is dependent upon your generation.
COHEN (voice over): It was an appeal to younger voters.
The Vermont senator spoke ahead of singer-songwriter Clairo's set.
Sanders emphasized many of his long-standing political views, like economic inequality and universal health care, urging the audience to vote against
Trump's policies.
SANDERS: We need you to stand up to fight for justice.
COHEN (voice over): The Coachella appearance comes just days after CNN's town hall with Sanders, as the senator continues his nationwide tour of
political rallies with New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: All right. Still to come, more than a decade after his game collapsed in spectacular fashion. Rory McIlroy roars back to the history at
Masters. Don Riddell will have more on Sunday's dramatic ending straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WORLD SPORT)
END
