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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump, Zelenskyy Discusses Proposed Pause In Energy Attacks; Trump To Sign Order To Dismantle Education Department; White House: Judges Are Usurping Trump's Authority; Israel Launches Ground Offensive, Retakes Key Area In Gaza. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 20, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:35]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and welcome to our viewers, joining us from the U.S. and all around the world.

I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Thursday, March 20th, 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump spoke with President Zelenskyy. Trump said it was, quote, a very good telephone call.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Ukraine and America will continue working together to bring about a real end to the war. The two leaders agreed on a partial ceasefire against energy.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: A massive military operation has started. Gazans forced to flee their homes again.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Fire season has gotten hotter and longer.

And the weather is only getting weirder. So this is a search for the helpers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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SOLOMON: We begin this hour with the war in Ukraine. Talks are scheduled in the next few days to work out the details of a limited pause in the fighting. Those talks set to take place in Saudi Arabia. U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart by phone on Wednesday, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to the pause, although it's still not clear if it covers attacks on civilian infrastructure or only energy targets.

Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of new attacks overnight, including residential buildings and an airfield in Russia. Ukraine says that at least five people were killed and close to 30 injured when Russia hit civilian and infrastructure -- infrastructure targets. U.S. president meantime praising the pending agreement to pause some strikes, posting on social media just completed a very good telephone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. We are very much on track.

And the White House press secretary was defiantly optimistic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: A couple different readouts from the Kremlin and the U.S. on a couple of different points. One was energy and infrastructure. The U.S. statements that energy and infrastructure. The Kremlin said energy infrastructure.

What is your understanding of what the actual substance of that disagreement was? And then one other question on that.

LEAVITT: I would refer you to the readout that was provided by the White House. That's our understanding and that's the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Okay. Let's bring in CNN's Clare Sebastian in London for us.

Clare, safe to say, with these accusations on both sides, that the pause seems off to a slow start. I mean, what's the latest here?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think that's the key point, Rachel, that despite this feverish diplomatic activity, which is, as you say, set to continue the reality of the facts on the ground have not changed at all, really. The Kremlin claimed on Wednesday that it had called off a drone strike after President Putin promised to do so. In that call with Trump, but they still managed to hit an electricity facility supplying part of the railroad.

And then again overnight into this morning, Ukraine claims that it had to deal with a massive barrage involving 171 Russian drones. And on the flip side, Ukraine continues to fire drones at Russia.

The governor of the Saratov region, claiming that there's a fire on the territory of an airfield in the Engels region. We know that that's a region that houses a strategic bomber airbase that's been targeted before. So the attacks are certainly continuing. And meanwhile, there is still confusion around what was actually agreed by Trump and Putin in that call on Tuesday.

Take a listen to how President Zelenskyy explained his understanding of it on Wednesday.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We received signals from the American side that most likely it involves energy silence, ceasefire, meaning no strikes on the energy infrastructure of both countries as well as civilian infrastructure. Here, I told President Trump that civil infrastructure is a very comprehensive concept. We agree that we will do everything from our side to prepare a list of objects that we consider priorities and what we consider civilian infrastructure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So again, I think there's still confusion around this, clearly, from Ukraine's point of view, it's preferable if this agreement that seemed to happen on Tuesday between the U.S. and Russia includes both energy infrastructure and civilian infrastructure, because that is a much broader, obviously, ceasefire. But clearly, a lot of work needs to continue on that.

And I think look tangibly as a result of what we've seen so far this week, the biggest deliverable in diplomatic terms has to be that the U.S./Ukraine relationship appears to be on a sounder footing. President Zelenskyy saying that he felt no pressure from Trump. The White House readout of that call on Wednesday called it a fantastic phone call.

[05:05:01]

So I think that clearly is good news for Ukraine. They absolutely could not afford another meeting, the likes of which we saw in the Oval Office some three weeks ago.

SOLOMON: And the reporting also that Zelenskyy thanked President Trump multiple times during that phone call. That was something that was also emphasized.

Clare Sebastian in London, Clare, thank you.

Meanwhile, Kyiv and Moscow have conducted what Ukraine's president calls one of the largest prisoner swaps since the war began. One hundred seventy-five Ukrainian soldiers returned home on Wednesday in exchange for the same number of Russian POWs released by Kyiv. More than 20 other Ukrainians were also released through other measures.

Now, some of these troops have spent about three years in Russian captivity. They describe the feeling of being back home as, quote, amazing and magnificent.

In just a few hours, President Trump is set to sign an executive order to start dismantling the Department of Education. Now, that would fulfill a major campaign promise. Although a complete shutdown of the department would require an act of congress, the president is directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take steps to effectively put it out of business.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told Linda -- Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job. I want her to put herself out of a job. I want the states to run schools, and I want Linda to put herself out of a job. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: A senior administration official said that the executive order will not change federal funding for students with disabilities. Funding for low income schools or federal student loan payments.

A U.S. district judge has extended a deadline for the Justice Department to turn over information about the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador last weekend. The operation appeared to go ahead despite an order by the judge for a temporary delay.

The White House says that the crackdown on undocumented immigrants and mass deportations will continue, but did not say that deportations, like last weekends, will happen again.

Take a listen.

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LEAVITT: The judge in this case is essentially trying to say that the president doesn't have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists from our American soil. That is an egregious abuse of the bench. This judge cannot -- does not have that authority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now, the judge has pushed back against those White House claims, but also said that the administration could avoid divulging the information about deportations by invoking privilege, although he said that he doesn't see how complying with his order would jeopardize state secrets.

All right. And we are still several hours away from the start of the new trading day here in the U.S. Lets take a look at where U.S. futures stand at this hour.

Still, very early on a Thursday morning, but green across the board. A nice sight that also follows a positive day on Wall Street as investors reacted to the latest moves by the Federal Reserve. Fed chair Jerome Powell saying that unusually high uncertainty is making it hard to predict where the U.S. economy is headed.

The Central Bank deciding to hold interest rates steady. That was expected between four and a quarter and 4.5 percent. Powell said that the economy remains strong overall, with inflation easing and the labor market in good shape.

Still, though, he said that president Trumps tariffs are likely contributing to higher inflation forecasts. And he said that the presidents other economic policies, well, they could also have a strong impact.

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JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: In our summary of economic projections, the median participant projects GDP to rise 1.7 percent this year, somewhat lower than projected in December. Inflation has started to move up now, we think partly in response to tariffs. And there may be a delay in further progress over the course of this year. Forecasting is always very, very hard and in the current situation, I just think its uncertainty is remarkably high.

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SEBASTIAN: Now, the Fed also released its quarterly dot plot, which suggests what policymakers expect on things like GDP, unemployment and rate cuts. Now, most members still expect to see cuts this year, and that was enough to send the Dow higher on Wednesday.

The economic projections, though more worrisome. The Fed raised its inflation forecast slightly, also lowered its expectation for GDP growth.

Still to come ahead for us, Israeli airstrikes killed dozens overnight in Gaza. We'll go live to Jerusalem.

Plus, as spring officially begins, a cross country storm unleashes snow and tornadoes and fuels wildfires in the Midwest.

And later, Disneyland calls itself the happiest place on earth. But a new happiness report actually leaves it off the list, where you can apparently find the world's happiest people, coming up.

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[05:14:14]

SOLOMON: Tens of thousands of people there in Istanbul defying a new ban on public demonstrations on Wednesday to protest against the governments detention of the city's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, is a key political rival to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He was detained on Wednesday as part of corruption and terrorism investigations, although opposition leaders and the wife of the detained mayor slammed the arrests as politically motivated.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): What has been happening since yesterday has a name. Let's give it that name. What has been happening since yesterday is a coup attempt.

DILEK IMAMOGLU, WIFE OF DETAINED ISTANBUL MAYOR EKRAM IMAMOGLU (through translator): If we accept it, democracy dies the day our government determines its rivals is the day that our democracy dies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Detention orders were also issued for around 100 others connected to the mayor.

[05:15:01]

Now, beyond Istanbul, protests erupted in Ankara and some clashed with police. Opposition lawmakers also demonstrated in parliament.

The Vatican is sharing some positive developments on the pope's health as he recovers from double pneumonia in the hospital. Pope Francis is still receiving oxygen therapy but is not reliant on assisted breathing at the moment, though the Vatican did not rule that out as a possibility in the future. For now, he's only receiving noninvasive ventilation through a mask while he sleeps. The pontiff has been in a Rome hospital since mid-February, but his condition is said to be improving.

Ben & Jerry's is suing its own parent company for firing the CEO of the ice cream brand. It claims that David Stever was ousted because of the brand's progressive political views. It also accuses Unilever of breaching their merger deal by removing him without the board's approval.

No comment so far from Unilever. Last year it said it was looking to sell Ben and Jerry's and other ice cream brands, but has yet to complete a deal.

And sticking with food now, Germany will reportedly not help American consumers get a break from high egg prices. According to the broadcaster RTL, the U.S. has reached out to Germany for more egg imports, but the German egg association said no, partly because of high demand ahead of Easter. Eggs are not cheap in Germany either, with consumption on the rise even outside of Easter, egg prices in the U.S. have surged to record highs in the last month because flocks of hens have been decimated by avian flu.

And today is the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. But thanks to a powerful storm, it really doesn't look like it in parts of the U.S. Midwest. The National Weather Service warns that whiteout conditions could be potentially life threatening. Blizzard shut down portions of highways in several plains states. The storms have left nearly 200,000 customers in the dark in parts of Nebraska, Missouri and Arkansas. That's according to poweroutage.us.

Meantime, strong winds from the system are increasing the threat of wildfires. While nearly 7 million people remain under tornado watches.

Still ahead, a well-known undocumented activist in the U.S. has been arrested by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Colorado. More on her case and what her children are saying ahead this hour. We'll be right back.

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[05:21:50]

SOLOMON: Sirens went off around Israel as the IDF reports that it intercepted a missile launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Iran backed group claimed responsibility and said that it was fired in response to Israel's renewed bombardment of Gaza. It's the second missile attack to target Israel since Tuesday, and the Houthis say that they will continue assaults on American and Israeli interests until the hostilities in Gaza end. Meantime, it was another deadly night of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

Hospital officials say that at least 59 Palestinians were killed. That's in addition to 70 killed on Wednesday, and more than 400 on Tuesday.

Footage released by the IDF claims to show new ground operations, or what they're calling, quote, targeted ground activities after Israel shattered a two month ceasefire with Hamas, the militant group is calling this a, quote, new and dangerous breach, but says that it is still committed to a ceasefire.

Meantime, police clashing with protesters denouncing the Israeli government's actions.

Let's get to CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson, who is following all of these developments from Jerusalem.

Obviously, Nic, a very eventful 24 to 48 hours there. What's the latest?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, that overnight siren sounding not just here in Jerusalem, but in Tel Aviv and all across central Israel. The missile that the Houthis tried to fire at what they say was Ben-Gurion International Airport, that was intercepted outside of Israeli airspace, was the first missile from the Houthis to trigger the warning system, the alert system across the whole of the center of Israel since the 19th of January, when that ceasefire went in place.

So it was a -- it was a its been a long time since Israelis in some parts of the country have sort of woken to that siren and people, passengers at Ben-Gurion Airport early in the morning were running to take cover there in Gaza. As you say, the death toll is continuing to mount strikes in Rafah in the south, in Khan Younis, in the center of Gaza. Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun in the north of Gaza as well, were also the targets.

One of the hospitals in the north of Gaza, reporting receiving many, many bodies of victims of those strikes this morning. And what we've heard from Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, describing a ground offensive and a military campaign that would be worse than the previous, that there could be what he says, complete destruction and ruin. If the residents of Gaza themselves don't chase out Hamas.

So the indications from the defense minister, the strong language that's been used about this new offensive by the prime minister indicate that the military operations inside of Gaza could get more intense. That certainly if -- if -- if the Hamas and international negotiators are not able to bridge some of the fundamental differences they have with Israel at the moment.

Of course, the -- the deal that Hamas and Israel agreed back in early January, mid-January was of a three phase solution.

[05:25:07] And Israel has so far not been willing to get into phase two of it. And Israel is saying that Hamas is the one that's defaulting on the ceasefire. Hamas is saying very clearly, Israel not getting into phase two, as was agreed, that they're defaulting.

So at the moment it appears these ground operations, limited at the moment, could really, in the words of the defense minister, get much stronger.

SOLOMON: Okay. Nic Robertson reporting live for us in Jerusalem -- Nic, thank you.

Still to come for us, an upcoming race in Beijing will feature robots competing with human runners. That story still ahead this hour, when we come back.

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