Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
Friedrich Merz Fell Six Short in First Round of Voting; Israel's Security Cabinet Approves Expanded Gaza Operation; Newark Airport Delays Caused by Air Traffic Controller Shortage; Friedrich Merz Suffered Stunning Loss in First Round of Parliamentary Voting Today; Happening Now: German Parliament Voting on Next Chancellor. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired May 06, 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)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: This is the scene at the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, where a vote is set to take place after
conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to win an initial vote that would have confirmed him as chancellor. It is 03:00 p.m. in Berlin. It is 05:00
p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Eleni Giokos. This is "Connect the World".
Also breaking this hour, reports coming in indicating Israel and the U.S. are attacking Yemen's International Airport in Sanaa. What we know this
hour. All right, let's check in to see how the markets in the United States are expected to open, that's in around 30 minutes from now, and the numbers
looking pretty dismal.
The NASDAQ down 1 percent as you can see the DOW down around 0.6 percent, the fed has started its two-day meeting with a lot of uncertainty around
tariffs. No real deals have come to the fore, and again, we're seeing corporate America really worried about what that will mean for inflation,
for interest rates and for growth.
But in the meantime, I want to check in on the European markets as well. Really important right now. We're talking about big shifts in Germany's
political environment. The DAX was down around 1.6 percent at some point in this today. The DAX now down around half a percent as those votes are now
set to come in.
You've got the IBEX and the FTSE slightly in the green, but we saw a big dip across the European markets today on the back of the uncertainty in the
German political environment. And we begin with that breaking news an unprecedented and unexpected twist in the election of Germany's next
chancellor.
Now you're looking at live pictures from Berlin, where members of parliament are expected to vote again in the next few minutes. Now it comes
just hours after Friedrich Merz's stunning loss in the first round of voting that would have confirmed his bid to become the country's next
leader.
Just 310 lawmakers approved Merz in that initial vote, 6 short of the majority that was needed, though he had been widely expected to win
smoothly. Well, CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Melissa Bell is following the latest for us from Paris. And look, this was anticipated to
be just a formality.
In fact, this is the first time that we've seen this kind of defeat since, you know, modern Germany. Give me a sense of what happens next, and the
voting now set to begin, Melissa.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there were so many questions until just a short time ago about when this next vote might
take place. We understand that it was senior leaders of Friedrich Merz's city who that pushed for it to come quickly, because, as the secretary
general of the party said, Europe needs a strong Germany.
And that failure of Friedrich Merz to get that vote considered, as you suggest, a formality, specifically after he'd managed to cobble together
coalition relatively quickly, by German standards, a coalition that was considered potentially relatively stable as well, with a great deal of
things on his plate and a great deal of ambition that he was bringing to the sorts of reforms he's hoping to push through.
The fact that he didn't really does not bode well for all of that. So, you showed the markets a moment ago. They, of course, took a hit, and that's
partly because, part of what this coalition, he'll remember that the vote came in February, the coalition was unveiled in March.
This coalition had, apart from anything else, vowed to help get Germany out of that period of economic stagnation that we've seen over the course of
the last few years. There have been a couple of years of recession. The first three months of the year looked better.
But what he had managed to do before the last parliament was dissolved because he knew that given the position of the far right and the far left
in his current parliament. He might not have got this constitutional change through as he managed to change that very strict German policy on
borrowing.
His plan was -- is should he win this vote in just over 10 minutes time, once he becomes chancellor, to push through a very radical program of
investment, radical by German standards, because that fiscal austerity had been, that very stringent rule on borrowing had been such an inherent part
of the German system, such a constitutional part of Germany so far.
That what he was preparing to do hundreds of billions of euros worth of investment, not just in the German military, but in crumbling German
infrastructure in programs it is hoped that will help pull the German economy out of that period of stagnation.
[09:05:00]
All of that now hangs in the balance, because it was considered so ambitious. How does he now go in to this chancellorship, assuming the next
vote goes his way with his image and his ambition and his coalition undamaged, it is looking a lot weaker than it was just a few hours ago now.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
BELL: Because this is a secret vote, we don't know exactly what went wrong, why he fell short those six votes last time. It could have been some
members within his own party disgruntled by those changes that I speak to of in his approach to fiscal austerity versus big spending.
It could be members of the Social Democrats who are unhappy about a number of his policies, and specifically, he's been very criticized for making
changes to Germany's immigration laws in line, it is said to better capture those disgruntled voters that have moved to the far right AFD.
We simply don't know. So, in just a few minutes, they will try again, and it is possible that this time he gets the votes he needed, if he doesn't,
it will be a stinging second defeat, coming just hours after an unprecedented first one, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yeah, and really good point there and then, to be clear, he was six votes short. You need 316 votes. From my understanding and again, Melissa,
if you could run and take us through this. This is a secret ballot. We understand that political groups consulted now ahead of the second vote,
but is there a limitation on how many votes can be conducted?
And again, our understanding is that it would take up to two weeks. What happens then? Give us some scenarios here.
BELL: That's right, it is a two-week window. What we understand is that constitutionally, should these votes fail, he can at some point be elected
by a relative majority rather than an absolute one. Clearly his party and the members of his coalition who are hoping to be able to get to work are
hoping that, that will not be necessary.
There were many questions about whether in the vote that took place a few hours ago, and remember that this was not meant to happen. I mean, the
Former Chancellor, Angela Merkel, had come out this ceremony was ready for him to be able to take office.
It was planned that he would be here in Paris tomorrow before heading off to Warsaw, because of another big thing on the incoming chancellor's agenda
is going to be Europe and helping it move forward as Europe's largest economy, but also dealing with the war in Ukraine, and this is a much more
ambitious incoming, potentially incoming chancellor regarding that than was the last.
Germany is the biggest, second biggest giver of aid to Ukraine, after the United States. So, there was a lot on his plate. There is a lot on his
plate. What we understand is that there were questions among some of his senior members of his party and ruling coalition about whether it was
simply some of those who were meant to be voting had not turned up, had been sick, had there been defections, and it's very difficult to know where
they came from.
So, you'll understand that there will be a lot of whipping going on. There will be a lot of parliamentary leaders trying to get some sense into their
MPs to make sure that they vote in line with their parties wishes. And clearly, the upper echelons of those parties are hoping, since they've
agreed to this coalition, to be able to get on with the job of governing, particularly with all the challenges currently facing Germany.
And all of the ambition that we heard from the mouths of not just Friedrich Merz, but many, many others expected to join that government over the
course of the last few weeks, about not just what needed to be done, but what it was felt Germany could now be done.
I think you need to remember that again, given the fragility of the last coalition given the disarray in which this German election took place on
the political fractured political spectrum. There was so much hope when he got the result that he did when the coalition came together, as quickly as
it did, hope that all of this ambition could be met.
That really has been, perhaps not quite dashed by this morning's failure to get the number of votes, but certainly it has put off kilter what had
seemed until now, a relatively smooth process of getting Germany and a chancellor back in the driving seat here in Europe.
GIOKOS: Yeah. Well, Melissa, as you're speaking, we're looking at pictures from the Bundestag and Friedrich Merz has now arrived this second vote,
round of voting will be very telling about whether he'll be able to secure that majority support of 316 votes that he needs to be secured as
chancellor.
Melissa Bell, thank you for that update. We're keeping close watch on this story, and we'll update you as we get the latest. Right and breaking news
now part of this region, Houthi run television in Yemen reporting Israel is attacking Yemen's International Airport in Sanaa.
This coming after Israel's military issued an unprecedented evacuation order for the airport, warning that failing to evacuate the area would
endanger lives.
[09:10:00]
On Monday, Israel carried out strikes in Yemen in an apparent retaliation for a Houthi fired missile that landed on the grounds of Israel's main
International Airport. Well Jeremy Diamond standing by for us in Jerusalem. Jeremy, we're receiving these reports about Israel attacks and U.S. attacks
in Sanaa. Bring us up to speed.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, Eleni, and we've also just received a statement from the Israeli military confirming a
series of wide-ranging strikes that the military carried out in Sanaa, Yemen today, including targeting Sanaa's International Airport.
This is the second round of Israeli strikes in Yemen within the last 24 hours, all in retaliation, it would seem, for that ballistic missile that
the Houthis fired at right next to Israel's International Airport on Sunday. The Israeli military says that it did indeed strike what they
describe as Houthi targets at that main civilian International Airport in Sanaa.
They say that they targeted, quote, infrastructure belonging to the Houthi terrorist organization at the main airport in the Sanaa region, rendering
it completely inoperative. They know that this follows the Houthi missile attack near Israel's International Airport, suggesting some parity here
between in the retaliation.
We also know, according to the Israeli military, that they also struck several major power stations in the area of Sanaa, as well as a cement
plant just north of that city. That cement plant was also targeted by the Israeli military in those strikes last night. All of these strikes began
about an hour after the Israeli military issued an unprecedented, first of its kind evacuation order for Sanaa's International Airport.
It is also the first time that the Israeli military has issued evacuation orders before striking targets in Yemen. A clear sign of the significance
of this target, and also, of course, the fact that, even as the Israeli military says that the Houthis were using this airport for their purposes,
that this is also the major civilian international airport in the area.
We have not yet gotten any reports of casualties as a result of these strikes, but if there were casualties, I presume those reports will be
coming in very shortly. All of this comes after the Israeli Prime Minister made clear following that ballistic missile attack on Sunday, that Israel
would indeed retaliate at a time and place of its choosing, and also that it would not be a one-off retaliation.
And so that is why we are seeing these Israeli strikes in Yemen, two rounds of strikes within a 24-hour period. Unclear whether more strikes will
follow, also unclear whether Israel will ultimately decide to take direct military action against Iran itself, as Israeli leaders have said that they
hold Iran, which sponsors the Houthis, responsible for all of these Houthi ballistic missile attacks.
Again, the majority of these Houthi attacks have been intercepted by Israel's air defense systems, but this one on Sunday made it through
Israel's air defense arrays, prompting this quite severe response from the Israelis.
GIOKOS: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for bringing us up to speed on that story. Now moving to Gaza, conquering Gaza, that is the goal,
laid out by one of Israeli Minister -- by one Israeli Minister for what the Prime Minister says will be an intensified military operation targeting
Hamas.
Benjamin Netanyahu says Gaza's population will be displaced to the south of the besieged enclave. Quote, for its own protection. Palestinians, they are
now receiving text messages urging them to leave Gaza. Here's how some of them are reacting to renewed calls for displacement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALEED MUSLEH, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN: We will not leave, as the Israeli occupation claims or desires, its plan is to displace the people from Gaza
through pressure and destruction. We will not leave. We have not left since the beginning, and we still will not leave until this moment.
AHMAD MUGHARI, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN: On a personal level, I do want to leave Gaza and go to another country to experience life safety and a future
for me and my children. It's essential to live in a country that has safety, education, health care. However, in Gaza, even these simple dreams
are unattainable. I encourage traveling, but not in the way that Israel is talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, the prime minister's latest comments come on Gaza's -- come after Israel's Security Cabinets unanimously approved the operation with
the stated intention of subduing Hamas and securing the release of the hostages.
[09:15:00]
But those in his governing coalition have stated goals beyond that. Far Right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said annexing Gaza is not off the
table, and that once the new operation begins, the military will not withdraw, even if Hamas agrees to release the hostages.
Hamas, for its part, said an expanded operation is quote, a clear decision to sacrifice the hostages still held in Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump
talks about the current situation ahead of his upcoming visit to the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're going to help the people of Gaza get some food. People are starving, and we're going
to help them get some food. A lot of people are making it very, very bad. What do you -- if you look Hamas is making it impossible because they're
taking everything that's brought in, but we're going to help the people of Gaza, because they're being treated very badly by Hamas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit the White House later today, in his first visit to the U.S. capital since taking office,
but not his first foreign trip. In a break with tradition, he went to Europe instead, and it is likely to be a contentious meeting, given Mr.
Trump's repeated calls to make Canada the 51st state and his decision to upend decades of free trade between the two countries.
CNN's Paula Newton is live for us in Washington, D.C. Paula, good to see you. A high stakes meeting. No doubt about that. Mark Carney has made clear
what he thinks of the U.S. President. I want you to take a listen to this, because this is important to understand sort of you know the energy and you
know what we can expect from the meeting. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never, that will never, ever happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Hi, Paula, what's your sense? He's got the upper hand here. I mean, a lot at stake. You've got tariffs. You've got the question on the 51st
states, what are you reading in suds?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, look, everyone is being extremely cautious about this meeting on the Canadian side. At this point in time,
they want to put the relationship back on solid footing. That does not mean that Mark Carney did not mean what he said in his campaign speeches.
What was interesting here is that Mark Carney has already gone out of his way in his first press conference as prime minister to say that, look, he
respects the president and that he is, in his words, one of the best negotiators. So far, so good in terms of laying the terms of that.
And even President Trump has called him a nice gentleman, and has also said that, look, given the rhetoric that we just heard there from the campaign
speech, kind of gave him a buy on that, saying, look, he was running for office, I think at the end of the day, going into the Oval Office,
especially, but having this bilateral meeting, everyone has kind of set expectations low in terms of what it means for tariffs, specifically.
Perhaps some of those tariffs between the two countries stay in place. They live to fight another day, perhaps even in 2026, the point is now, can you
do deals with this White House? Will they back away? Will the president back away from some of that 51st state rhetoric?
Because if he does not, especially in the Oval Office, Eleni, it will become very difficult for Prime Minister Mark Carney to not speak up and
defend Canada in that moment. Again, no one here wants us to turn into a spectacle in the Oval Office, and remembering the trading relationship
between the United States and Canada is so important, not just to Canada, but to largely, each and every American.
And for that reason, businesses politicians on both sides of the aisle will be paying close attention to see if these two men can get along and start a
solid foundation for negotiations going forward.
GIOKOS: All right, Paula Newton will catch up with you later, an important meeting happening today. Right, still to come, more flight delays at Newark
Liberty International Airport, triggered by huge staffing shortages. We're following reaction on that story. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:00]
GIOKOS: I want to return to our breaking news happening this hour, the vote we are expecting in the German Bundestag after an unprecedented failure to
elect Friedrich Merz as Germany's next chancellor. This is the first time in modern German history that a leader that is expected to be chancellor
has failed to get those votes.
We've got CNN's Fred Pleitgen normally based in Berlin, are joining us live from Moscow. Fred, I'm glad you could jump on for us. Really important
moment. Friedrich Merz, right now, in the bud, we've got some live pictures of what's happening there. We're expecting a second round of voting.
I'm wondering you watching this, and six votes is what he missed out on. It was almost inevitable that he was going to be voted in as Chancellor.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.
GIOKOS: What do you think went wrong here?
PLEITGEN: Well, I think seemed absolutely inevitable that he was going to be voted in as chancellor. In fact, he already has his next appointments
that were lined up. He was actually going to go straight to Paris and then go to Poland afterwards. He had all of that already in place.
And keep in mind, all of this is very much choreographed here in Germany, where you get voted in as chancellor, there in the Bundestag, as you were
saying, and then you go to the German President, to Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to then get your cabinet essentially sworn in on that very day.
So, all of that those timelines are now completely out of control. It's unclear whether or not they are still going to happen in that way today.
But of course, this is a massive hit, and one of the things, Eleni, that we have to keep in mind is that the six votes that Friedrich Merz missed, that
might not seem like a lot, but it certainly is a lot by German standards.
One of the things that we have to keep in mind about this coalition that has been formed, that is supposed to be formed right now, is that it was
supposed to bring stability, unlike the last coalition that Germany had led by the Social Democrats and then with the liberals and the Green Party also
in it.
And so, this was going to be the coalition that was finally going to bring back stability to German politics, and now it's even failed to get the
chancellor elected. And one of the things that I've sort of been observing as all of this has been going on is that there has been some finger
pointing going on.
Many people wondering who were these six people who did not vote for Friedrich Merz to become chancellor. And if you look inside Germany,
there's a lot of organizations, there's a lot of companies, there's a lot of associations who are saying, look, this is so fundamentally important to
get a stable government in place that they're absolutely shocked by what's going on in Germany right now.
And in German politics, one of the parties that, of course, has been talking about this a lot that has been saying that it's absolutely
embarrassing for Friedrich Merz and for his upcoming coalition, is the AFD. We see Friedrich Merz there sitting in the first row next to Alexander
Dobrindt, who's also going to be part of the government.
And the person who's speaking there right now is Bernd Baumann. He is part of the AFDs the leader, actually, of the AFD faction in Parliament. They
were the ones who came out and said, look, we told you, though. So, they were the ones who initially came out and said that they were not going to
support a second vote taking place on this day.
But it seems as though the parties have now come together. They've spoken to one another, and they have now decided that the second vote is going to
take place, because there are so many people who are saying it is so fundamentally important for Germany to at least have a government in place,
once again, to tackle some of these very important things that need to be tackled and that voters have demanding needed to be tackled -- need to be
tackled as fast as possible.
The big question now, of course, Eleni, is going to be is Friedrich Merz going to get those votes that he needs in place. We know that there have
been a lot of closed-door meetings that have been taking place in the Bundestag between the parliamentary factions, especially the ones of the
conservative you keep seeing those cutaways from Bernd Baumann speaking right now to the government bench with Friedrich Merz already sitting there
where the German government were normally sit.
[09:25:00]
But of course, this is turning into a real nail biter. And one thing where a lot of Germans are saying, this is an -- already an absolute
embarrassment for German politics, Eleni.
GIOKOS: We're staying close to the story. Fred, thank you so much for that analysis. And we're looking at live pictures right now of the Bundestag
keeping a close eye on that vote. And of course, we'll bring you an update as that happens. All right, so now, one of the busiest airports in the
U.S., Newark Liberty, is still plagued by flight delays caused by staffing shortages.
These five FAA employees have taken 45 days off from work to cope with the stress of equipment failures that led to a communication breakdown with
aircraft last week. They leave of absences, compounding an already dire staffing shortage. Air traffic control audio obtained by CNN reveals the
tense moments authorities say triggered the employees to temporarily walk away from their jobs. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you do not have a Bravo clearance. We lost our radar, and it's not working correctly. Radar service terminates. Squawk
VFR, change approved. If you want a Bravo clearance, you can just call the towers when you get closer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, I'll wait for that frequency from you. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, no, the Squawk VFR, look up at the tower frequencies. We don't have a radar, so I don't know where you are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, the Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged Monday that the agency's antiquated air traffic control system is affecting its
workforce. And now lawmakers are demanding an investigation. CNN's Brynn Gingras joins us now from Newark Airport. Really shocking audio, frankly,
hair raising.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.
GIOKOS: The FAA has announced new ground delay today. Take us through the impacts of that and what you're hearing.
GINGRAS: Yeah, Eleni, I mean, like you said, there's really hair-raising audio. Listening to the fact that these air traffic controllers had no
visual, no audio connection with the planes that were in the air for a certain amount of time, and now they have taken leave. And as you said,
that has compounded the issue, which was already a national shortage of air traffic controllers here in the U.S.
That's just only a little bit of the problem that we're seeing here at Newark. The other issues here, there's a runway that is closed for
construction. There's actually low cloud cover today, so flights are delayed because of that as well. And of course, that antiquated system that
you know resulted in this loss of communication with the plane.
So just issue after issue after issue here at Newark Airport currently, at this hour, it's still early in the morning here, there are over 100 delays,
and there are nearing 100 cancelations in and out of Newark Airport, and the FAA has put a ground delay. That means flights coming into Newark
International Airports are staying on the ground at their location before being able to come here and get cleared to arrive at Newark Airport.
So just a number of issues, and the board behind me, it says delayed. It lights up even more as the day goes on. These numbers just keep on ticking
up and up. So, the bad news here is that it's the ninth day of this because of that added shortage of air traffic controllers, and it doesn't look like
there's going to be any sort of clearance, any sort of better situation for a number of days.
And you can imagine how that is impacting travelers. And it's important to note, Eleni, that this isn't just domestic flights. We're talking about
Newark International Airport has a number of international flights coming in and out of here, and most people think, oh, I'm on an international
flight.
They're usually saved from delays or cancelations. That is not necessarily the case. They are impacted as well. So, people are saying, officials are
saying, really, make sure you check your flight before you head to Newark, currently, because the situation again not getting worse, and there doesn't
seem to be relief in sight anytime soon, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Absolutely Brynn, thank you so much for that update. And still to come, we're minutes away from the opening bell on Wall Street, following
losses on Monday that brought the DOW and S&P winning streaks to an end, futures are in the red yet again. We'll be speaking to an economist about
what's impacting markets in the U.S., as well as across the world. You stay with CNN, that's all coming up, just ahead.
[09:30:00]
GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi, and you're watching "Connect the World". These are your headlines this hour. Israel is
confirming it struck Houthi targets in Yemen for a second straight day. The IDF says it hit the International Airport in Sanaa and other targets in the
capital.
It had earlier issued an evacuation order for the airport. The strikes come after a Houthi five missile landed near Israel's main airport over the
weekend. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says his team will announce a plan to radically transform the country's outdated air traffic
control systems on Thursday.
The FAA acknowledged Monday, the agency's antiquated system is affecting its workforce and contributing to continued flight delays. All right, and I
want to return now to our breaking news this hour, the vote we are expecting in the German Bundestag after under an unprecedented failure to
elect Friedrich Merz as Germany's next chancellor.
This is the first time in modern German history that the leader expected to be chancellor has failed to do so. CNN's Fred Pleitgen normally based in
Berlin, joins us now live from Moscow. Fred, good to have you with us again. You know we were chatting a short time ago, and we're waiting.
We're watching very closely, and just so our audience knows that what's going on right now in Bundestag that all political parties had requested
three minutes to speak, and that's what we're seeing right now before the vote gets underway. But I also want to get a sense from you, does the FD
sees this defeat as an opportunity, and how would they capitalize on this?
PLEITGEN: Well, I think they certainly have already seized on all of this. They have already said they believe that Friedrich Merz is new government,
already an embarrassment, that all of this is an embarrassment to German democracy, that this is an embarrassment for German voters, and certainly
for the incoming chancellor before he even takes office.
One of the things that we have to keep in mind, Eleni, is that during the election campaign, one of the big rivalries was really between the AFD and
the conservatives under Friedrich Merz, where they're sort of trying to get the same group, or not the same group, but that similar groups of voters to
vote for them.
So really at the conservative edge that the AFD did manage to get a lot of votes. And so, the AFD was going out and saying, look, if you want real
conservatives to be in office, to be in power, then just vote straight for the AFD. Don't vote for Friedrich Merz, who is trying to go into a
coalition with the more left leaning Social Democrats.
But of course, Friedrich Merz said, look, a lot of the people inside the AFD are absolutely out of bounds in what German political dialog should be
like, and that's where he was trying to get a lot of the votes. So, there is a big rivalry that is there between those two political parties.
And you can already see the AFD going out and saying that they believe that there should be completely new elections, not just this vote. What they did
do is they did agree that the second vote should take place, as did all the other political factions inside the Bundestag as well.
[09:35:00]
The AFD is saying that they believe that they are now the strongest political force. And it's been quite interesting to see, actually, as
Friedrich Merz was forming his shadow government, trying to get that coalition agreement going with the Social Democrats, every time there were
problems between the two coalition partners and the two parties that wanted to become coalition parties.
In the polls, the AFD's numbers went up. So, they certainly believe that as long as or if there is political disarray between the so-called established
parties, between the parties that are trying to form this coalition government, that today want to put the chancellor in place, want to put the
ministers in place, that they are the ones who are going to increase their political capital.
And that's one of the reasons why they believe, or they say they believe, that there should actually be new elections, because there is a very good
chance that they would come out of the strongest political party if new elections would take place. Now we are nowhere near that.
The conservatives in parliament have said that they believe that Friedrich Merz, not getting enough votes to become chancellor in the first session or
in the first try, that that is nothing more than a political hitch, that they are going to get this done. But at the same time, and we've been
saying this, this is Julia Klockner, by the way, one of the most powerful people in the Christian Democrats, who is speaking right now that the six
votes that he was missing.
He was six votes short, but this seems more people who didn't actually vote for him that, that is quite a large number. That's certainly a lot more
than anybody would have expected. Normally, the governing coalition does have a pretty solid majority in German parliament, and it is a real
political problem for Friedrich Merz, and certainly exactly the opposite of what German voters thought that they were going to get.
The big selling point for the new elections for Friedrich Merz was that this was going to be a more conservative, but first and foremost, a more
stable government than Germany has had in the past years. Of course, back in the past three years, sorry, they had a government that was of the
Social Democrats, the Green Party and the Liberal Party.
They had been an absolute disaster, working together, working with one another, that coalition fell apart. The Germans had been saying they need
political stability, and they need a lot of very important political decisions coming up and Friedrich Merz himself said I was at his first
press conference after he won the election.
He said he understands that if he does not deliver, if things don't get better, considerably better in Germany within a fairly short period of
time, that the AFD could win the next election, that they could then be in power. So, it certainly is something where, I think Friedrich Merz says,
understood the threat that is out there.
It seems as right now they're getting ready to hold that second vote with things being readied right now they're inside the plenary of the Bundestag.
So, it is very important for him to project that stability. You see the members of parliament now leaving to get their voting cards, and they are
then going to go to the ballot boxes and drop those into the ballot boxes to then cast their vote.
It's a process I think, is going to take about 15, maybe 20 minutes, and then the votes will be counted, and we're going to see whether or not
Friedrich Merz in the second go around is going to be able to get the votes that he needs to then be voted into office and become Germany's next
chancellor, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yeah. And we watching these live visuals and confirmation that the voting now has begun. It is a secret ballot, Fred and I want to -- because
this is so unprecedented, I also want to talk about what could happen in the next few moments. We don't know if you'll get an outright majority and
be confirmed as chancellor.
But the other scenario is that, and according to the rules, there's no limit to the number of possible votes within a two-week period. But I
wonder how much political capital he'll actually have to deal with another unprecedented low voting number. What scenarios are we anticipating here?
Take us through the possibilities.
PLEITGEN: Well, it certainly doesn't seem as though he has a lot of political capital at this point in time. I think that if this vote once
again goes astray, that he would be in a lot of trouble, certainly. But one of the things that we saw during the election campaign is that his
political party, the Christian Democratic Union, that of course, is together with the Christian Social Union, which is essentially the Bavarian
wing of that same party that they put out Friedrich Merz as their main candidate.
There really wasn't anybody else out there who could be voted into office. One of the things that we know is that, according to the rules of the
German parliament, that there can be several more votes within, as you said, within a span of two weeks, and that anybody else could also be voted
in as chancellor.
But within the political parties that are trying to form a governing coalition, none of that is in place. They don't really have anybody else
who could just take the reins, and there certainly isn't anybody else who is at this point in time in a position to do that.
[09:40:00]
Because one of the things that we have to keep in mind is that the Social Democratic Party and the Conservative Party, they have spent the last
couple of months ironing out a coalition agreement by which they want to govern Germany for the next four years. There are certain things that are
written down there, and all of this was done under the leadership of Friedrich Merz.
And so that is why it would be very difficult situation if this vote, once again, goes astray for Friedrich Merz, for German democracy. It's going to
be very interesting to see if that does happen, how things move forward. But again, so far, they are saying they believe that they can get this
done, Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right. Fred Pleitgen thank you so much. We're watching live pictures of the Bundestag and waiting to see whether Friedrich Merz can
secure the 316 votes that he needs to secure the -- to be chancellor in Germany. Will bring you that story as it happens, right after the short
break, stay with CNN.
GIOKOS: And now an update on our breaking news this hour. Israel, confirming it hits the international airports in Sanaa, Yemen and fully
disabled it and struck other targets around the capital. The strikes come after a Houthi 5 missile landed near Israel's main airport over the
weekend.
Now a reminder of our other breaking news, German lawmakers have begun voting in a second round after a stunning and unprecedented defeat for
Friedrich Merz in a vote to confirm him as chancellor. I will bring you an update on those two breaking stories in the next hour. For now, we're going
to go to our sports update, and I'll be back at the top of the hour. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
END
