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Isa Soares Tonight
Spain And Portugal Plunge Into Darkness After Being Hit By A Major Power Outage; Putin Orders A 3-Day Ceasefire Next Month; Canadians Vote In Election Overshadowed By Trump; Spain PM Says No Conclusive Information on Cause of Blackout; Russia Announces Three-Day Ceasefire; Israel Boycotting ICJ Hearing; Conclave Date Chosen. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired April 28, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, plunged into darkness. Officials in
Spain and Portugal scramble for a solution to a major power outage. We are live in Lisbon this hour. Plus, Russia's Putin orders a three-day ceasefire
next month in a move met with skepticism from Kyiv. I speak with one Ukrainian member of parliament.
And Canadians head to the polls in a snap election as Donald Trump's threats loom large. We begin this hour in southern Europe, where a massive
power outage has knocked out electricity right across large parts of Spain as well as Portugal, sparking, as you can imagine, major chaos. At this
hour, the country's grid operators say electricity is gradually being restored in some areas.
Investigators are working to determine what actually caused the outage. Right now, Spain's Prime Minister says there is no conclusive answer.
Trains, metro lines, airports have all been severely impacted as well as basic services like supermarkets and banks. Rail services in Spain have
come to a standstill, and authorities say they aren't expected to restart today.
That's the image out of Spain. In Portugal, officials are warning people not to travel, and specifically not to get into cars over these traffic
light failures. Residents say the situation in the capital is chaotic, with traffic lining the streets. Let's get more. I'm joined now by Carlos
Moedas, who is the mayor of Lisbon.
He joins me now from the Portuguese capital. Mayor, really appreciate you being with us. We are taking you via the phone because of connectivity
issues. We appreciate the time. We have been hearing of chaos, stressful scenes across Lisbon, from airports to highways to train stations. Give us
a sense of what the situation is like there.
MAYOR CARLOS MOEDAS, LISBON, PORTUGAL: So, thank you so much for that. I -- the city has been through a very difficult situation. The first time in my
lifetime and in Lisbon that a situation like this happens. So, as the mayor, I've been on the street, all the police, the police and the
firefighters and everybody is helping each other.
I think the situation is calm and serene. We're working with the people, but we don't have any metro or tube stations are closed. We have our buses
and we have really to take care of the people that are in need. And so, we are on the street, but the situation is OK for the moment. We are just
looking forward to the next hours because the night will come.
SOARES: Indeed, and the night will come, and I'm hoping we still have you on the phone. I heard just the last few words, they said the night will
come, it will get dark. And I know that Portugal making a huge effort, as is Spain, to try and reboot the system, mayor, and restore power. Where are
we on that process?
Because we had heard earlier between 6 to 10 hours. We're now what? Eight hours in? How -- what are you hearing regarding the process of rebooting
the system?
MOEDAS: So, the information that I have right now, it will be another 6 or 7 hours, but I'm counting that overnight, probably, the situation will not
be solved. So, I will have everybody that I have in the municipality on the street to help people during this time. What I'm asking people is not to
actually go outside if they can stay in.
SOARES: Yes --
MOEDAS: Not go to school because the situation probably will not be solved yet. But I think the situation really shows what can happen in a city. And
the fact that myself as a mayor, I have to put all my people to work during this -- people in the city are calm, serene, but there's a lot of people
that are getting a little bit anxious.
We had a lot of trouble in lifts and elevators, and --
SOARES: Yes --
[14:05:00]
MOEDAS: We got everybody out in the metro stations. So, everybody is OK. There's no victims, there's no -- of that kind of someone getting or any
kind of problem --
SOARES: Yes --
MOEDAS: Like we are dealing with a situation that is very scary.
SOARES: Absolutely, especially mayor, as you say, as we get into the dark hours, at this time, it's 7 O'clock and Lisbon is still not dark, and in
about two hours or so, it will start to get dark across Portugal. What is the priority? You talked about we need to focus on the people in need.
Priority, imagine would be hospitals. Give us a sense of what you are doing in the short term? Because it's going to take 6 to 7 hours to get power
restored. Where is Portugal placing its priorities?
MOEDAS: So, myself as a mayor, I'm helping the hospitals. That's one priority -- through generators. So we are actually -- you can go to these
hospitals and keep working and having electricity for themselves. Then I have all the public transportation --
SOARES: As -- can you imagine?
MOEDAS: Buses for -- can --
SOARES: Mayor, unfortunately, your line is kind of choppy, understandably, given the situation. I'm just going to try you one last time to see if we
can -- we can get some -- a clearer signal. And you were focusing on the hospitals and the priority of the hospitals. But very quickly, I heard from
the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, who said that the blackout had originated in Spain. What -- you know, what more do you know? What more
can you tell us about the cause of this?
MOEDAS: We don't know yet. I mean, the reality is that nobody knows. And it's very important for people that they should not follow fake news. They
should listen to people like you and international media and Portuguese media that are giving the right information, because the reality is that
nobody -- we just know that it happened -- that the situation now getting back, that important, the situation is better.
In Lisbon, we need more couple of -- we don't have any information about any kind of attack, and we should be very careful because it can be just a
technical issue. But of course, a technical issue that never happened before. So, I understand that people can be a little bit scared by the
situation. But the city is working, the people are working, the transportation is working, the hospitals are working.
And so, I just ask people to keep calm and serene. That's very important at this moment. And as the mayor -- going out and being -- taking care of the
city. But I don't have any information and nobody has --
SOARES: Yes --
MOEDAS: Today --
SOARES: And of course, as soon as we hear from the Spanish government, from the Portuguese government, we will, of course, bring that to the attention
of our viewers. Mayor, really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us, apologies for those with the signals, you can imagine, we're seeing
major power outages, not just in Lisbon, right across the country of Portugal, but also in Spain.
Mayor, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE), thank you very much. (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE). We're going to keep abreast of this story, of course, of
any developments out of Spain and Portugal, any at all in terms of airports, critical infrastructure. We of course, bring that to attention.
But what the mayor says is very much what we heard from Prime Minister Sanchez of Spain.
Still no motive behind it. Don't speculate. Let's just have to wait and see as they try to work through this major power outage. Let me turn my
attention for the time being to the U.S., the White House is promising to further ramp-up its crackdown on immigration. Officials say President Trump
will sign a series of executive orders later on today, including one that actually targets sanctuary cities that don't comply with federal
immigration laws.
Over the weekend, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it arrested nearly 800 people in Florida in what it's calling a first of its kind
operation. Civil rights groups are slamming the administration after three children who are U.S. citizens, including a four-year-old suffering from
cancer were deported with their mothers to Honduras.
While in a newly-published interview in the "Atlantic", the President was asked about the possibility of a legal resident or American citizen being
deported, and his response, nothing will ever be perfect. Now, more from CNN's Priscilla Alvarez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The White House on Monday is keeping the focus on President Trump's signature issue, immigration. And
particularly, highlighting border security and the dramatic drop in border crossings over the last couple of months. Now, those numbers had been on
the decline, including in the final months of the Biden administration.
[14:10:00]
But they have plummeted, and the White House border czar was highlighting that earlier in the day, saying that over the last 24 hours, there was
about 178 encounters on the U.S. southern border, far lower than the upper thousands when it was the Biden administration just a few years ago. Now,
in addition to that, the White House is also highlighting its deportation operations, saying that there have been 109,000 deportations under the
Trump administration.
And that is still lower than the same time last year under the Biden administration. But part of that, according to the administration, is that
because there are fewer border crossings, therefore not as easy to repatriate those who are in the interior of the United States, reflecting
some of the challenges that the Trump administration still faces.
All of this, of course, coming against the backdrop of three U.S. citizen children who were deported with their mothers to Honduras last week. These
are two separate cases, one of them involving a four-year-old with cancer. And the lawyers for these families say that there was lack of due process
here, that they were removed with their mothers without any chance of staying in the United States.
The White House border czar telling me, however, that it was the mother's decision.
TOM HOMAN, U.S. BORDER CZAR: If you choose to have your citizen child, knowing you're in this country illegally, you put yourself in that
position. You put your family in that position. What we did is remove children with their mothers who requested the children depart with them.
This was a parental decision. Parental -- parenting one-on-one. The mothers made that choice.
ALVAREZ: Now, later today, President Trump is also expected to sign an executive order cracking down on sanctuary jurisdictions and also listing
all of those that they say are not cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Thank you very much, Priscilla Alvarez there. Now, Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a unilateral three-day ceasefire in
Ukraine. The Kremlin says the pause in fighting will start on May the 8th, to coincide with the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II, and the
defeat of Nazi Germany.
The move is being met with skepticism by Ukrainian officials, who say the Kremlin should immediately accept a longer truce proposal from the U.S. The
question, though, remains, can the Trump administration actually broker a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine? The White House has signaled it's
becoming somewhat impatient. A top U.S. diplomat says this week will be very critical. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE, UNITED STATES: This week is going to be really important week in which we have to make a determination about
whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in, or if it's time to sort of focus on some other issues that are equally, if not
more important in some cases. But we want to see it happen. There are reasons to be optimistic, but there are reasons to be realistic, of course,
as well. We're close, but we're not close enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Optimism, some realism there. Let's get more from our Fred Pleitgen, who is tracking all these developments for us from Moscow. And
Fred, I mean, as we just outlined there, the timing of this ceasefire, certainly raising eyebrows. My first question was why May 8th and not now?
What is the reasoning that the Kremlin's giving for announcing this unilateral ceasefire?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Kremlin says that all this is a humanitarian ceasefire because of all the
things that you just mentioned, because the May 8th, May 9th holidays are coming up. And you know, one of the things I think that we have to keep in
mind with this May 9th holiday, it is of course, by far the most important in Russia, celebrating the defeat over Nazi, Germany, and that being the
80th anniversary this year makes it all the more important.
And of course, also, it is a day that is celebrated both in Russia and also in Ukraine, because in World War II, of course, a lot of the fighting took
place in the Ukrainian SSR, which was back then part of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, you are right. The Ukrainians certainly are asking why not a
ceasefire now? Why on May 9th?
And certainly, the Russians are saying that at this point in time, they want the Ukrainians to come to the table. So, I think one of the things
that we're seeing, Isa, is that the Russians are sensing that there is some skepticism within the Trump administration. They hardly -- certainly heard
some of the comments that President Trump made over the weekend, when he was asked whether or not he trusted Vladimir Putin?
And he said, I'll tell you in two weeks. Obviously, saying that right now, seems to be somewhat of a make-or-break period, where the U.S. is waiting
to see whether or not this process is going to come to any sort of resolution that could end in a longer-term ceasefire. But the Ukrainians
are saying that, look, they've signed on to a 30-day ceasefire without any preconditions.
The U.S. says that it wants a 30-day ceasefire without any preconditions, and to then work through all of the issues that led to the Ukraine conflict
in the first place. But it's the Russians who so far are saying that they want all of those things to be sorted out before a ceasefire can go into
effect. And one of the things that we took note of today, Isa, when Vladimir Putin came out with that decree, signing -- declaring that
unilateral ceasefire.
Within that decree, he also once again said that the Russians are ready for talks with the Ukrainians face-to-face without any preconditions. But they
also said that those talks should be aimed at dealing with, with the Russians, say are the root causes of the conflict, once again indicating
that the Russians, at this point in time, not willing to immediately sign on to a ceasefire, but wanting to talk about what they say are the causes
of the Ukraine war first, and then having a ceasefire after that. Isa.
[14:15:00]
SOARES: I feel like -- quote, I'm not sure about you, but I feel like I'm going round in circles in terms of what we're hearing from all sides. But
let me get this, as you were talking, I'm now hearing -- we're now hearing from the State Department who said the Secretary of State Department, who
said the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose clip we just played of, spoke on Sunday with Sergey Lavrov, who is the Russian Foreign Minister,
about what he said the next steps in the Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
According to the readout, Rubio underscored to Lavrov the need to end the war now. And what we're starting to see, Fred, and I'm sure you can tap
into this and expand on this, is the sudden level of frustration from President Trump's side. Of course, with all this coming right on the heels
of this meeting between Zelenskyy and President Trump at the Vatican. Is that frustration from the U.S. side -- is that having any sort of impact,
do you think, from those you're speaking to in the Kremlin?
PLEITGEN: Well, I'm not sure that it's having a big impact, but it's certainly -- it's definitely the case that the Russians are hearing that
and are acknowledging that, that frustration is there. And I think you are absolutely right to point out that, that frustration has been building over
the past couple of years and -- days, I'm sorry.
And it's not just since that meeting in the Vatican between Zelenskyy, between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Trump. It basically seems to have
started after the last meeting of Steve Witkoff, the president's negotiator with Vladimir Putin last Friday here in Moscow, when there really wasn't
much in the way of a readout or anything else coming from the U.S. side, the Russians sort of saying there was some progress and that the talks were
productive, as they put it.
But there really weren't any direct results that were announced because of that. And it was after that, that President Trump then later on Truth
Social posted, first of all, a tirade against the "New York Times" once again, but then also asked whether or not he was being tapped along by
Vladimir Putin.
And that's where that frustration sort of began shining through. And that was after the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And I
think the Russians have definitely taken note of that. But the Russians have also consistently said that they are not going to sign on to any
agreement that does not take into account Russia's core national interests.
And it seems as though, from the Kremlin's perspective right now, things are not there. And that is why the fighting is still continuing. Isa.
SOARES: Yes, and I wonder why this ceasefire, as much as it is domestic for domestic consumption, importance of May the 8th, how much this is trying to
placate to President Trump? Fred, as always, appreciate it, thank you very much indeed. And still to come tonight, Canada votes for a new leader, but
it's President Trump that's on many voters' minds as they head to the polls today. We'll have much more on this after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:20:00]
SOARES: Millions of Canadians are going to the polls to select a new government today, but the election is being overshadowed by threats coming
from the United States. The massive tariss(ph) -- tariffs, I should say, levied by Donald Trump, have led to a cloud of economic uncertainty.
And that along with the U.S. President's annexation rhetoric, you remember, have strained relations with Canada's southern neighbor. Interim Prime
Minister Mark Carney of the Liberal Party is facing his biggest challenge for conservative Pierre Poilievre. Mr. Trump, meanwhile, is trolling
Canadians with a social media post, writing that Canada becoming a part of the U.S. was, quote -- as you can see there, "meant to be".
The election is being held just days, of course, after 11 people were killed when a man drove an SUV through a crowd, a festival celebrating
Filipino heritage in Vancouver. Our Paula Newton joins me now live from Ottawa. And Paula, I think the way we frame that really gives us a sense of
what you know, what this election is a kind of backdrop, these elections will be facing.
It's very much an election taking place in the shadow of Trump, be it the attacks, the rhetoric or the actions in the way of tariffs. How much is
Trump impacting polling in these elections do you think?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's been a defining presence even up until this morning, Isa, that isn't something that Canadians appreciate.
They feel betrayed by the United States, and quite frankly, insulted. In fact, if you even look at his post from this morning, that is exactly what
is on the ballot right now.
The vast majority of Canadians do not appreciate the rhetoric from the President, but more than that, Isa, they do not see it as a joke, they see
it as a threat. And so, this election will be about deciding which leader, right, can best stand up to Donald Trump and the United States? Mark
Carney; the Prime Minister right now, he's only been prime minister a few weeks.
You'll remember he was the governor of the Bank of England, before that, the governor of the Bank of Canada up against Pierre Poilievre, who is a
conservative leader, who we have to say historically, Isa, you have to think this man was up 25 points against Justin and Trudeau and liberals.
Justin Trudeau stepped down.
Mark Carney apparently stepped up, and this party, the Liberal Party, if you believe the polls, has been resurrected. That does not mean we know who
is going to be prime minister at the end of this evening. What we do know, though, is that the issue of Donald Trump looms large. And Isa, I want to
point out that whether it's in Vancouver or the rest of the country, you know, the fact that they had this incredibly devastating event, just
shattering, not just for people in Vancouver, but as I say, throughout the country, many will be mourning the loss there and understanding that you
cannot protect people from those kinds of incidents.
And it really does link very closely to societal issues. Police say that they are having with people who are having mental health crises. I want you
to listen now to an eyewitness in Vancouver.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH POTSKIN, EYEWITNESS: We have resilience. We have heart, and we have compassion for one another. And I think that's -- I think that's
what's really important right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: You know, it is that common thread of solidarity that will keep Canadians -- you know, keeping the compassion close on this voting day. And
things are a little bit more somber, especially in Vancouver. I will say, Isa, that in terms of the leaders themselves, they showed uncommon emotion
on the campaign trail yesterday.
And I think most Canadians really do take heart with that. They understand this has been an incredibly civil and substantive election, if even a bit
boring by Canadian standards, and they will wait to see the result tonight, as many are still out voting at this hour.
SOARES: I know you'll -- I know you'll bring us the very latest results. Thank you very much, Paula, appreciate it. Well, it appears the more than
$2 billion in federal grant money committed to Harvard University will remain frozen for at least for the next few months. Attorneys for the Ivy
League institution faced off against Trump administration lawyers for the first time in a Boston courtroom today.
That's where a federal judge set a July 21st date for oral arguments in the case. Harvard is suing the administration after it paused funding for
refusing to comply with government demands, including the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The White House is also
threatening its tax exempt status.
And still to come right here on the show tonight, Russia is looking for a temporary ceasefire, but it's being met with skepticism from both Ukraine
and the United States. We'll discuss this with a member of Ukraine's parliament, that's just ahead. And then the UN's top court begins hearings
on whether Israel is violating its obligations under international law by blocking all aid to Gaza. We'll have both of those stories after this very
short break.
[14:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: We'll have much more now on our top story. That massive power outage across Portugal, Spain and parts of France. Grid operators say power
was gradually returning to some areas of Spain and Portugal. Early in the show, if you remember, I spoke to the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, who
told me he's not expecting the situation to be solved overnight.
He actually said it might take 6 to 7 hours, additional hours, and he doesn't even know if it will be solved at night by the end of the day. Rail
services have been badly impacted, airports too, outage, as you can imagine, also shutting off traffic lights in some areas, sparking chaos on
the roads.
We've also heard from the mayor asking people to stay home, to stay calm, of course, hoping that people will heed the advice and also to stick to
official news channels because there is a lot, as he said, of fake news. So, calling on people across the country to pay attention and to stay calm.
And it's just a short time ago, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that, there are no theories, but no clear answers about what actually
caused the outage. Have a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEDRO SANCHEZ, PRIME MINISTER, SPAIN (through translator): We still don't have conclusive information about the reasons for this outage. So, I ask
the public, as we have done in past crises, to seek information through official channels. It's best not to speculate. We'll find out the causes.
We're not ruling out any hypothesis, but now we must focus on what's most important, restoring power to our homes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:30:11]
SOARES: And as you can imagine on this story, you know, we had connections to Lisbon, also to Valencia, because of the connectivity issue we haven't
been able to get through them. Luckily, we were able to get through to mayor of Lisbon. So, it gives you a sense, really of the scale of this
blackout, the fact that we can't even get some of these voices on our air. We will continue trying, of course, as soon as there are any more
developments, we will bring that to you.
I want to return now to Russia's war in Ukraine. Because Russian President Vladimir Putin is offering a three-day ceasefire proposal for next month.
The Ukraine's foreign minister says, quote, "If Russia truly wants peace, it must ceasefire immediately." The Trump administration is echoing a
similar sentiment. A senior official says they do not view Russia's proposal as a meaningful step towards ending the war.
Earlier today, the White House spoke on where the U.S. president stands. This is how they responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He is increasingly frustrated with leaders of both countries. He wants to see a permanent
ceasefire. I understand Vladimir Putin this morning offered a temporary ceasefire. While he remains optimistic he can strike a deal, he's also
being realistic as well, and both leaders need to come to the table to negotiate their way out of this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, let's get more on this. We gave you the perspective from Moscow. Let me get the view from Ukrainian Parliament. Oleksiy Goncharenko,
a well-known face you on the show. Oleksiy, great to see you.
Look, my first thought when I saw the news is, you know, why next week? Why not only -- why not now? Give us your reaction really to this three-day
ceasefire, which of course, coincides with his 80th anniversary of the victory day and the defeat of Nazi Germany.
OLEKSIY GONCHARENKO, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Hello. It's definitely just a game from Putin. It's a poisoned pill from him and he just -- he
tries to show himself negotiable, but at the same time, he doesn't want any peace. He is afraid of the United States, so he plays this game. He tries
to give something to President Trump. It's good that President Trump, taken from what I've heard from White House, understands that this is just a game
from Putin. And all these games should be stopped.
Because Putin is speaking a lot. He's sending to President Trump portraits. He is praising President Trump. But all these on words. In reality, he does
not respect all the efforts which are made by the United States. He wants to continue the war and he will continue to do this, and the only way to
stop it is to put real pressure on Putin, to impose serious sanctions, which were already mentioned by President Trump recently, sanctions on
banking, Russian banks, and secondary sanctions against countries which are buying Russian oil.
I would add to the sanctions against Russian shadow fleet, which transport Russian oil, and that would be absolutely enough to stop this Putin's games
and to really have a result and peace.
SOARES: So, what you're saying, Oleksiy, this is -- you know, this is a game, let's call it a gimmick to try and placate President Trump, who it
does seem like -- you're right, who does seem, as we have heard repeatedly in the last couple of days, kind of frustrated that he doesn't have a deal
yet. But what you are saying is this is an opportunity for President Trump to apply more pressure on Putin.
Where does Ukraine -- how will Ukraine, do you think, respond to this three-day ceasefire? Because, of course, there -- I'm guessing there will
be some leaders who are allies of Russia who will be showing up for these - - for the 80th anniversary. Will you think -- will Ukraine abide by this ceasefire?
GONCHARENKO: Ukraine already commented and we are very clear. We want to have ceasefire right now and not for three days, but a permanent ceasefire.
And by the way, that's my also comment to what I heard from White House. There are two leaders who were mentioned. With all respect, Ukraine has
agreed to everything. We agreed to ceasefire in earth. We agreed to ceasefire on the waters. We agreed to ceasefire everywhere. And just
Kremlin plays these games.
So, I think we need to have a consultation with American partners. If American allies are telling us to support it, maybe it can be supported.
But in reality, there is no sense. Because if Putin really wants peace, there is no sense to wait 10 days more for some celebration. I mean, it's
ridiculous. And I don't see big sense to play these games, but I think Ukrainian reaction should be synchronized with American partners.
[14:35:00]
SOARES: I wonder whether you feel, Oleksiy, and this is me throwing ideas out for you here, whether you feel that this demonstrates -- this three-day
ceasefire that, you know, you say it's a game or gimmick, that this shows a level of paranoia, of nervousness even from the part of Putin, because
obviously late last week, we had a Russian general killed near Moscow with these events taking place. I wonder if you think that shows a weaker hand
on Putin's side.
GONCHARENKO: Absolutely. Putin is -- like if Putin would feel himself really strong, he would just say, I don't care. I continue the war because
he hates United States of America. And he said it, it's not me saying this, it was Putin who said this many times that he hates United States.
And the fact that he tries to show something, as he thinks he tries to feed something to President Trump by all these one-day cease fire on Easter,
three-day ceasefire on some other holiday, but that shows that he's really -- he tries to prolong, he is afraid of these serious sanctions because
Russia is very vulnerable economically.
And if Trump will go seriously on sanctions against Russia, then Putin will run to the negotiation table. I'm absolutely sure about this.
SOARES: Yes. Let me just very quickly look -- talk about this peace proposal. Of course, tomorrow is 100 days since Trump -- President Trump
became president. He famously said that he would end the war in 20 -- in a day. We don't have that agreement yet. But we have heard from Germany's
defense minister who basically said that ceding kind of large weights of Ukrainian land under this peace proposal that is being proposed by the
United States would be, quote, a capitulation.
What is your sense there? I mean, is this being seriously considered? I'm thinking -- I think the discussions over Crimea here.
GONCHARENKO: We are not going to cede in any territory, but we need to clarify what does it mean ceding. Ukraine is not ready and we will not
recognize any -- each of our territory as Russian. At the same time, we are aware when the -- this war will be frozen and we are moving to the freezing
of the conflict if efforts of President Trump will be successful in this case, Russia will continue to control part of our territories.
This is the reality and we understand it. But once again, actual control of Russia on some of our territories doesn't mean that they are legally owning
these territories. These territories will continue to be illegally occupied by Russia, but they will control it.
SOARES: Oleksiy Goncharenko, always great to get your insight. Good to see you, Oleksiy. Thank you.
GONCHARENKO: Thank you.
SOARES: Now, Houthis in Yemen say, U.S. airstrikes has killed 68 people at detention center holding African migrants. And we want to warn you, the
video you're actually about to see is disturbing, even though we have blurred the gruesome scenes. Houthis-controlled TV aired footage of bodies
covered in dust and debris after the attack inside a government.
Aid officials say hundreds of thousands of Africans trek through Yemen each year in an effort to reach Saudi Arabia. The attack is the deadliest in
weeks of intensified U.S. strikes when Yemen meant to punish Houthis for their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
Lebanon's president is condemning an Israeli strike on Southern Beirut, accusing Israel or threatening the security as well as stability of the
entire region. Israel says it struck a Hezbollah facility which stored precision missiles. It issued an evacuation warning before Sunday's attack.
Lebanon is urging the United States as well as France to compel Israel to stop its attacks. Those countries are guarantors of the ceasefire reach, if
you remember last year, between Israel and Hezbollah.
Well, Israel has blocked all humanitarian aid into Gaza since March 2nd, all food, water, and medicine as acute hunger as well as disease take hold.
Today, the International Court of Justice began hearings to determine whether Israel is violating international law. The U.N.'s legal counsel
says, Israel, as an occupying power, must facilitate aid in Gaza. A Palestinian diplomat at Israel is using humanitarian aid as a weapon of
all. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMMAR HIJAZI, PALESTINIAN DIPLOMAT: It is about Israel destroying the fundamentals of life in Palestine, while it blocks U.N. and other
humanitarians from providing lifesaving aid to the population. It is about Israel unraveling fundamental principles of international law, including
their obligations under the U.N. charter. It is about Israel turning Palestine, in particularly Gaza, into a mass grave for Palestinians and
those coming to their aid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:40:00]
SOARES: Well, Israel is boycotting in the hearing, calling it circus and shameful. Israel has said it's blocking aid into Gaza to pressure Hamas to
release hostages and accepts his terms for ceasefire. It has also effectively banned the U.N.'s Relief Agency for Palestinians, which has
provided lifesaving services for decades.
Israel's minister -- foreign minister, I should say, says is UNRWA is, quote, "infested with Hamas terrorists" and suggests antisemitism -- pardon
me -- is at the root of the ICJ case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIDEON SA'AR, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: Israel is the most attacked country in the world, militarily, but also on the political and legal fronts. We
will not grant any legitimacy to this farse. If the ICJ continues to be abused, like the ICC, for antisemitic purposes, it will lose its
credibility and its legitimacy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's bring out Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv for more. So, Jeremy, Israel's actions once again back in front of the ICJ. But as we just heard
there today from Israeli ministers, including Gideon Sa'ar, saying, you know, they did not want to take part in what it's called in this circus.
So, what exactly, just to expand on this, are their objections? Because it's not just about UNRWA here.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, without a doubt. And look, you heard right there from Israel's foreign minister saying that he
believes that these actions carried out by the U.N. are antisemitic, that he is calling them shameful proceedings, and that Israel doesn't want to
legitimize these proceedings by participating in them. That, of course, is a change in strategy.
As you know, Israel has participated in the ICJ trial, accusing Israel of genocide. Israel has gone to that court to defend itself against those
allegations. But in this case, Israel has chosen not to. You know, beyond those accusations that Israel is leveling back at the United Nations,
including its largely evidence free claims of UNRWA being infiltrated by, you know, hundreds of Hamas operatives without providing any of that kind
of public evidence other than a handful of cases.
You know, Israel also disagrees fundamentally with one of the core tenets of this case before the ICJ right now, which is the notion of Israel being
an occupying power in Gaza and the responsibilities that that entails, whereas the United Nations and UNRWA have said that Israel, as the
occupying power, must allow aid into Gaza. Israel fundamentally believes that it is not classified as an occupying power as a matter of
international law.
SOARES: And important to point out, you know, the court's advisory opinions have no binding force from what I understand. But many of Israel's allies
have openly talked about the blockade, and you can expand on this, Jeremy, as pretty intolerable. So, just speak to the reality on the ground, because
we haven't seen any aid going in for some two months even.
DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. We hit that two-month mark this coming Friday actually since any aid, any commercial goods got into the Gaza Strip. This
is the longest ever siege that Israel has carried out on the Gaza Strip. And we are already watching as the humanitarian conditions in Gaza are now
beginning to spiral up quite rapidly.
Just last month alone, there were 3,700 cases of acute malnutrition, that's up 85 percent from the previous month, and we're talking about March.
That's not even counting April, according to the United Nations. We are now seeing as bakeries have shut down, soup kitchens are only giving out one
meal a day. We have seen numerous mothers in Gaza scraping through garbage to try and find something to feed their kids with. And the situation is
expected to get worse in the coming weeks as many of these eight groups believe that the last of their food stocks will likely be depleted.
We have, of course, heard international criticism from countries like France, Germany, the United Kingdom urging Israel to open those crossings
in Gaza. Last week we heard President Trump make some kind of offhand comments in response to a question from a reporter about the need to take
care of Gaza. But there has been no real pressure from the United States.
And what's more, the U.S. ambassador to Israel has effectively backed up Israel's strategy of using this blockade of aid as a way of pressuring
Hamas, saying that when he was asked by a World Food Programme official to pressure Israel to release this blockade, that he responded that the
pressure should instead be applied to Hamas.
So, we should make clear here that it is United States diplomatic capital and cover that is indeed helping Israel to continue to carry out this
blockade on more than 2 million people living inside of Gaza. Isa.
SOARES: Jeremy Diamond, such important context there. Thank you very much, Jeremy.
[14:45:00]
Well, the date for the Vatican's next conclave has been set. Paving, really, the way for a new Pope to be elected and to lead 1.4 billion
Catholics around the world. We'll have all the details for you. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Well, the secretive process to elect the next pope begins on May 7th. That is the word from the Vatican. The conclave is held within the
Sistine Chapel and usually takes less than a week. On Saturday, Pope Francis was laid to rest with dignitaries and hundreds of thousands of
people attending his funeral in St. Peter's Square. He died exactly one week ago from stroke as well as heart failure.
Our Christopher Lamb spoke with Cardinal Michael Czerny me about what the pope meant to the faithful
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARDINAL MICHAEL CZERNY, PREFECT, DICASTERY FOR PROMOTING INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: Pope Francis is not interested in having his legacy continue.
He's interested in a pope, in that sense, like himself, who responds to the needs of God's people and the life of the church.
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Because we have heard some voices saying that the focus of the next pope should be unity, to which the
question would be, well, was there not unity under Francis? What -- why --
CZERNY: No, no. I agree that unity is a wonderful -- a beautiful gift of the Holy Spirit, and we will enjoy unity in our dedication to the mission
and including in the diversities. So, unity itself is not a program, it can't be a policy.
LAMB: But what's behind that emphasis that we're hearing on unity? Is that code for something else, perhaps?
CZERNY: No, it's not very coded. It's quite obvious. It's quite obvious that we have -- we suffer from divisions and disagreements and if you want
the strong word, polarizations, but who doesn't? I mean, it's -- in other words, it's part of life. And the terrible dangers is if you make this your
obsession and if you try to promote unity as your primary objective, you end up with uniformity. And this is exactly what we don't need. We spent
decades now trying to learn to get beyond uniformity to a true catholicity, a true pluralism.
LAMB: Unity, but not uniformity.
CZERNY: It's interesting, the words are so close, but the difference is huge. Huge, huge, huge.
LAMB: Yes.
CZERNY: And one is, I think one is the kiss of death and the other is life and abundant life.
[14:50:00]
LAMB: So, the next pope needs to be a risk taker.
CZERNY: Of course. Life is risky. The world is very risky. And in fact, our living tradition is risky. That's why we have martyrs.
LAMB: But what about this idea that the cardinals don't know each other very well?
CZERNY: It's a relatively small group. When you think of other groups that we know, for example. Yes. No, no. I think, you know, it's a very
traditional process and it's puzzling despite the good movie. It's still puzzling and it will remain puzzling or mysterious. But we -- I think every
one of us trusts it and we will each give our best and the result will be what God wants.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: And our thanks to Christopher Lamb for that interview. And still to come tonight, Spain and Portugal are working to bounce back after major
power blackout. We have the very latest for you after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: If you're just joining us, let me recap our top story this hour. Grid operators say power is starting to return some parts of Spain and
Portugal that have been hit by massive power outage. All of the Iberian Peninsula has been impacted since about 11:30 this morning, and the
disruption has caused chaos really across airports, train stations, as well as on the roads. Parts of Southwest France were also briefly affected by
the outage, but France's electricity operators says it's now focusing on helping Spain.
CNN's Melissa Bell has been tracking developments from Paris. So, Melissa, just very quickly on France. I'm guessing everything is back to normal in
France and the south part -- southwestern part of France has been affected.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Back to normal, Isa. We were considering here the French parts of the Basque Country. So, that
part of Southwestern France that had been hit very -- for a very short time.
What you've seen though in Spain and Portugal has gone on for many hours. In fact, as you said a moment ago, Isa, there is electricity now coming
back to parts of both countries, but it was from a half past 12:00, about lunchtime for both countries in the Iberian Peninsula sudden outage that
affected everybody. Imagine, as you mentioned, the airports, the train stations but also people at home, their lights went out, their phones
couldn't be charged, and that will have led to a great deal of anxiety.
[14:55:00]
In fact, what we've seen over the course of the day are queues forming outside supermarkets in cities across Spain and Portugal as people sort of
panic stocked, not knowing how long that was going to go on. And we've just been hearing from Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister, more about the
very latest of what we know, not just the fact that power is slowly returning to parts of Spain, but also, that they continue to investigate
exactly what went on, urging people not to speculate. Because, of course, outages like this that affect such huge parts of Europe will of caused
extreme concern to many people who suddenly wondered what was going to happen next.
One of the biggest concerns, of course, Isa, was what had caused this. Whilst we don't know exactly what is behind it, we have been hearing from
officials, both at the Brussels level and from the Iberian Peninsula, saying they do not believe this was the result of a cyber-attack. So, those
security concerns have sort of been set aside as have major security concerns that might have resulted from the power outage, that's another
thing. We heard from the Spanish prime minister who just spoke in a press conference.
So, the question now what could have caused this to happen? It was things like traffic lights that suddenly came to a standstill. You could have --
you can imagine the sort of concern that this would've caused the widespread chaos in the sense of panic. But the fact that this was neither
the -- neither caused by a security concern nor resulting in security concern, I think a relief to many, even as we watch power return and even
as we continue to ask what could have caused it to begin with. Isa.
SOARES: Yes. We don't know the answers. I was speaking to the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas. He -- may saying, Melissa, it may take another five
to six hours, especially now as it starts getting dark. That's when people start, of course, becoming increasingly worried. Melissa bell there for us
in Paris. Thank you very much, Melissa.
That does it for us for today. A very busy news hour. Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
