Return to Transcripts main page
Isa Soares Tonight
Truce Reached with Houthis; Moscow prepares for Victory Day Parade; Friedrich Merz Now Officially Germany's New Chancellor; Electing the Next Pope. Aired 2:00-3p ET
Aired May 06, 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, Canada won't be for sale ever. That is
the message Prime Minister Mark Carney is telling President Trump loud and clear. But the President responds with never say never. We unpack this
latest Oval Office meeting.
Meantime, the U.S. says it's stopping its attacks on the Houthis. We have the very latest on that. And then later, it's a profound and mysterious
process. The papal conclave begins on Wednesday. We go live to Rome for a preview on what comes next. Begin, though, in the United States, and Canada
is not for sale.
That is the very firm message delivered by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been visiting him in the
Oval Office today. The two leaders held a high stakes, have been holding high stakes meeting at the White House amid the backdrop of a trade war
triggered by President Trump and his threat, if you remember, to annex Canada as America's 51st state, that subject led to this somewhat tense
back-and-forth. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As a real estate developer, you know, I'm a real estate developer at heart. When you get rid of that
artificially-drawn lines, somebody drew that line many years ago with like a ruler, just a straight line right across the top of the country, when you
look at that beautiful formation, when it's together -- I'm a very artistic person. But when I looked at that beauty, I said that's the way it was
meant to be.
MARK CARNEY, PRIME MINISTER, CANADA: As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale.
TRUMP: That's true.
CARNEY: We're sitting in one right now, you know, Buckingham Palace that you visited as well.
TRUMP: That's true.
CARNEY: And having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign last several months, it's not for sale, it won't be for sale.
TRUMP: But I say never say never. I've had many things that were not doable, and they ended up being doable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And now, have been meeting now for some time. Do we have a little bit of live images? Because we are waiting to see Prime Minister Carney
departing from the White House, as you can see, the vehicle was ready waiting for him to depart. And he's been there, what? Since 5 O'clock or
so. So what? Two hours, I would say, if not a bit more.
We're keeping an eye on those -- on those images for you. As soon as we see the Canadian Prime Minister, who President Trump has been hosting, of
course, departing, we will bring that to you. President Trump, though, in that same meeting, meanwhile, says that he will make, quote, "a very big
announcement before heading to the Middle East" as we told you last week.
He's expecting to go next week -- as big. He said that this agreement will be as big as it gets. We don't know much more about what that's about. Mr.
Trump also made this surprising statement, though, just a short time ago, about the Houthis in Yemen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The Houthis have announced that they are not or they've announced to us at least, that they don't want to fight anymore. They just don't want
to fight, and we will honor that, and we will -- we will stop the bombings. And they have capitulated, but more importantly, they -- we will take their
word. They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, I will accept their word, and we are going to stop the bombing of the Houthis effective
immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: So many strands for us to get through this evening. CNN's Paula Newton standing by for us in Washington, Kevin Liptak is at the White House
and our national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand is live at the Pentagon. I want to start, though, with Kevin. And Kevin, this had -- and
you and I had discussed this just yesterday, had the potential to be a pretty bruising encounter, but it was somewhat cordial, although at times a
bit tense, with neither side really showing any signs of backing down. Talk us through what we heard today.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, it certainly wasn't the most contentious meeting that we've seen in this Trump Oval Office. It
also probably wasn't the friendliest. It was somewhere in the middle.
[14:05:00]
And I think in the end, that is probably the balance that Mark Carney was trying to strike when he came here to the White House. He obviously was
elected just recently on this wave of anti-Trump sentiment. So, it'd be somewhat odd, I think, if he came in here expressing a great deal of
warmth. But on the other hand, I think Carney, like a lot of world leaders, have come to recognize that there is really just no upside to a great
amount of antagonism in the Oval Office.
It is actually a recipe for disaster. And so, you see him, I think, kind of trying to strike that balance particularly when it comes to this issue of
whether or not Canada should or would become the 51st state. That's obviously something that Trump has been talking about for a long time now.
It has created an enormous amount of contention between Ottawa and Washington, U.S.-Canada ties have now sort of deteriorated to their worst
point in anyone's memory.
The President, when a reporter brought it up in the Oval Office, at first tried to downplay this idea, he said that it wasn't something that the two
men planned to talk about, but then he just proceeded to talk at some length about why he thought it would be advantageous for Canada to become
part of the United States.
Things like lower taxes. And so, you hear the President talking about it at some length, Carney, in his own way, pushed back, saying that Canada was
not for sale. For the most part, Carney did not do a lot of talking in this meeting, it was really President Trump's show, to talk about sort of
anything and everything that was on his mind.
I think when you talk to White House officials, they did not necessarily have a huge amount of expectations for this meeting. It was in a lot of
ways, kind of a check-the-box encounter for, you know, a close ally to the north. I think as they're walking away from it, barring sort of any sort of
huge blow-up in the private part of these meetings, they will have said that it went fairly well.
There was no sort of outward animosity. And I'm just looking over, I can see the Marines getting ready at Carney's car at the West Wing portico as
he prepares to leave. He was in a working lunch with the President that we didn't see. I was behind the scenes, so he has been here for over two
hours. So, I think he's -- you know, I think he will have accomplished what he wanted to accomplish, but certainly a lot more work to be done as they
try and repair U.S.-Canada ties.
SOARES: Yes, and on that, Paula, I mean, Carney, he seemed to have come prepared when it comes to tariffs, when it comes to speaking about his
country's sovereignty, said he -- saying even he had spoken to the owners of Canada, I thought that was a really nice way to put it. You know, Kevin
was saying that he came -- you know, he came, he accomplished what he wanted to accomplish. What did he want to accomplish with this meeting
here?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He wanted it not to be a spectacle, Isa, and I think that is job done at this point in time. And again, he spoke up
as Canadians would expect him to do, to say, look, Canada is not for sale. Beyond that, he's on the President's turf. He allowed the President to
speak as he does in those Oval Office meetings.
I do want to point out, Isa, that beyond the slogans about talking about whether or not Canada will be the 51st state, that is absolutely beside the
point. There were some very tough language there on trade, and I am sure the E.U. and other Asian countries -- other Asian countries were also
listening carefully to say, look, this negotiation going forward is going to be tough.
And a reminder that Canada is the largest buyer of American imports. If the United States exports that much to the -- to Canada, and still says that it
does not care about the relationship, it doesn't need the relationship, this is actually the footing on which all other negotiations were going. I
was actually surprised that the President was so strident about those trade negotiations, even though he conceded, there would be nothing substantive
going on in that working lunch right now.
Still, it is a sobering message, not just for Canada as an ally, but for other allies around the world. Whether you are Japan, whether you are any
country in the EU, this White House seems determined to stand firm on those tariffs. And right now, Mark Carney has made it very clear to Canadians,
that is going to be tough going forward for the Canadian economy.
SOARES: And Natasha, as we look at these images, waiting, of course, from the West Wing, waiting to see Prime Minister Carney depart after his two-
hour or so meeting there with President Trump. We also heard as they were meeting and Prime Minister Carney didn't address this.
But this kind of bombshell that from the President, President Trump, regarding the Houthis, he said that the Houthis had capitulated, that the
U.S. will stop bombing the Houthis. What more do we know about this? Is this immediate? And what are we hearing? I'm guessing we've reached out to
the Houthis. What are we hearing from them?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a huge surprise, especially because the U.S. military has been carrying out a
widespread, massive campaign against the Houthis in Yemen for the past seven weeks or so, and have pledged to not let up until the Houthis also
let up their attacks.
[14:10:00]
But now, we are learning that President Trump has said that the Houthis told the U.S. that they would stop attacking Red Sea shipping, stop
attacking U.S. assets if the U.S. also stopped bombing the Houthis. Now, we have reached out, as you said, to the Houthis for comment, but they have
not responded as of yet.
They did release a statement earlier today, though, saying that they were going to continue their attacks in response to the Israeli strikes that
have hit Yemen in recent days, which were in retaliation for the Houthis attacking Israel's main airport on Sunday. So, all of this is very unclear
in terms of what it means for the U.S. and the Houthis, whether this is going to actually impact, you know, the cessation of hostilities in the Red
Sea writ-large or just against American vessels.
It's also unclear what it means for the -- for the Houthis and Israel. Is Israel part of this ceasefire? As of right now, it appears that it is not.
And the Israelis have been hitting the Houthis very hard in Yemen over the last several days. Are they now going to be kind of left to their own
devices by the United States, and were they caught off-guard by this?
That is all up in the air right now. But this is a very dramatic development, and we're told that the U.S. military was, in fact, told to
stand down on their military strikes last night as these talks were wrapping up. Isa?
SOARES: Yes, and we are expecting to hear from the State Department's spokesperson. We've got our ears and eyes peeled on that to see if they've
got any more details exactly how soon this will happen, what does it mean, and the implications as well for the wider region, of course, as any
developments, we will bring that to viewers attention.
Thank you very much to Natasha, to Paula, as well as to Kevin. Appreciate it. On that point that Natasha was making, Israel has been launching
powerful strikes on Yemen again today to retaliate for Houthi missile strike near Tel Aviv. Israel bombed the main airport in Yemen's capital in
Sanaa, saying it fully disabled it.
It says it also hit several power stations being used for, quote, "terrorist purposes". Israel issued an unprecedented evacuation warning,
its first ever in Yemen, in fact, before the strikes. A Houthi missile got past Israeli air defenses over the weekend and hit near Ben Gurion
International Airport.
Iran-backed Houthis claimed responsibility, calling it a response to Israel's war in Gaza. Israel says it holds Iran responsible, warning it
will fully bear the consequences. Well, as Israel plans to expand its war in Gaza and move the population south, some Palestinians are asking how an
escalation is even possible, given, of course, the apocalyptic, as you can see, conditions already in Gaza, as one man put it, what's left to bomb?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the IDF is ready for the final moves, his words in Gaza, and intends to hold on to territory it
captures. Some Palestinian civilians have begun receiving text messages urging them to leave Gaza. Many are suffering acute hunger after Israel
blocked all humanitarian aid on March the 2nd.
One woman says they are starving us, we will agree to anything. Others say, the so-called voluntary choice to leave is anything but.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALEED MUSLEH, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN (through translator): We will not leave as the Israeli occupation claims or desires. Its plan is to displace
the people from Gaza through pressure and destruction. But we will not leave. We have not left since the beginning, and we still will not leave
until this moment.
AHMAD MUGHARI, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN (through translator): 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, healthcare. 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)
SOARES: Let's get more. I want us to go to our Jeremy Diamond, who joins us from Jerusalem with more. And Jeremy, we'll talk about Gaza in just a
second. I just want to get your thoughts on what you're hearing on this announcement that we heard from President Trump. We are hoping to get some
more clarity from the State Department as soon as they get underway, their press conference about this bomb -- potential pause in bombing against the
Houthis.
The IDF, as we said, has been hitting several sites in Yemen's capital. Do you know whether this U.S.-Houthi deal ceasefire impacts Israel at all?
What are you hearing?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, I just got off the phone actually, with an Israeli official who is asking themselves those
very same questions. And that's because Isa, I can report to you now that the United States did not give Israel a heads-up about this de facto truce
with the Houthis, as President Trump has announced it before the President actually made that announcement in the Oval Office.
[14:15:00]
And instead, Israeli officials were left feeling quite a bit of whiplash, unclear on a slew of questions, including, for example, what the impacts
will be on these Houthi ballistic missile attacks aimed at Israel, and if indeed those attacks do continue, how will that impact, for example, U.S.
cooperation and support in terms of the air defense that the United States has helped to provide to Israel for those attacks?
So, a number of questions right now, that whiplash, of course, amplified by the fact that it came just hours after the Israelis carried out the most
significant or some of the most significant strikes that they have carried out in Yemen to date. Hours after Israel struck the international airport
in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, fully disabling that airport, according to the Israeli military, after striking runways, aircrafts and other
infrastructure at that airport.
The Israelis also carried out strikes on a number of energy facilities in the Yemeni capital, as well as a cement factory just north of the city. The
Houthis, for now, have indicated that they will retaliate for these attacks. That was, of course, before President Trump talked about this
truce between Israel -- between, I should say, the United States and the Houthis.
So far, there's no indication that it will impact these Houthi attacks against Israel. It seems more limited, at least, according to President
Trump's telling of events to any attacks against U.S. ships and also commercial ships in the Red Sea, which is really where the United States'
interests lie. But certainly, a lot of questions about how this will impact Israel as well going forward.
SOARES: And meantime, Jeremy, are you getting any more clarity? And this is something we spoke about yesterday. In fact, it was the lead on our show
from the Netanyahu administration about this expanded offensive in Gaza. What more are you hearing?
DIAMOND: You know, nothing -- no new details --
SOARES: Yes --
DIAMOND: From the Israeli government on that front. But what we do understand is that the Israelis are trying to see if a deal can be reached
with Hamas within the next week and a half essentially. They are hoping that there can be some progress made while President Trump is visiting
several gulf countries next week.
But it's important to note that nothing has really moved so far, and a statement from Hamas today showed no indication of any possibility of
progress, any possibility of a breakthrough here, as Israel continues to insist on Hamas releasing somewhere around ten hostages in exchange for a
45-day ceasefire, and also demanding that Hamas disarm, as part of this agreement.
Hamas has said that disarming is a red line for them, and so instead, it seems quite clear that the Israeli Prime Minister has now decided, as he
said last week, that the goal of defeating Israel's enemies, including Hamas, is more important than securing the release of the hostages. He has
chosen now to prioritize those war aims in terms of defeating Hamas over the objective of securing the release of the hostages.
And that's why we've heard so much concern, of course, from the families of many of these hostages about how this will impact them. Meanwhile, in Gaza,
we are continuing to see strikes continue to be carried out by the military. So, that certainly is showing no signs of abating even as the
Israeli military prepares for this expanded operation, we are still seeing daily strikes, and we are still, of course, not seeing any humanitarian aid
--
SOARES: Yes --
DIAMOND: Get into Gaza for more than two months now. Isa.
SOARES: Jeremy Diamond with the very latest there on the ground. Thank you Jeremy. Let's get more on all these strands actually. Gregg Carlstrom;
Middle East correspondent for "The Economist" and author, "How Long Will Israel Survive the Threat from Within?". Gregg, great to see you. Let me
pick your brain really about those comments we heard, first of all, from Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding the Houthis.
The Houthis announced they don't want to fight anymore, we will stop the bombing against the Houthis. They have capitulated -- first, what do you
make of that? And then we can talk about Israel, because what we just heard from our Jeremy Diamond is that, you know, that the U.S. did not give
Israel a heads up on this. So, clearly caught off-guard on this.
GREGG CARLSTROM, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT, THE ECONOMIST: I had two big questions watching President Trump make that announcement just now. The
first of which is whether there's going to be any confirmation of this in the coming days from the Houthi leadership. I think it's important to
remember --
SOARES: Right --
CARLSTROM: There hasn't been a Houthi attack on a commercial ship in the Red Sea since December. Vessels have mostly stayed away from the Red Sea
anyway, out of fear that Houthis could resume this campaign. But it's been five months without an attack now.
[14:20:00]
So, the question now, I think is, you know, if Trump makes this unilateral announcement, but Houthis don't confirm it, and I would be very surprised
if they do confirm it. That's not -- that's not how they operate, making those sorts of public concessions. Will that be enough to convince shippers
and insurers that it's now safe to go back into the Red Sea? Or will this sort of de facto blockade that we've had for the past year and a half, will
that remain in place?
Because this is only a one-sided announcement. And then the other question has to do with what Jeremy was saying, that very --
SOARES: Yes --
CARLSTROM: Pointed omission from Israel from Trump's comments, that seems like quite a break between the American government and the Israeli
government. Trump effectively saying, you know, we got what we wanted. We got our own interests here, and so, Israel needs to figure out how to
protect --
SOARES: Yes --
CARLSTROM: Itself from possible missile attacks.
SOARES: Let's break that down then further in that case, take your first point. I think that was really interesting because we -- you know, CNN has
reached out trying to get a response from the Houthis, I can say we've not heard back. But why do you make, Gregg, of why now? I mean, this is a
tenacious group, the war on Gaza is still ongoing, which was the reason they gave reportedly for the attacks on the Red Sea and the shipping in the
Red Sea. So, why now, then?
CARLSTROM: Well, I think one reason for why now might have to do with what's happening next week with --
SOARES: Yes --
CARLSTROM: Trump's planned visit to the gulf. There have been a lot of talks in recent weeks between officials in the United Arab Emirates and
American officials. And the UAE has been lobbying the U.S. to support a renewed ground offensive in Yemen. Basically, the Emiratis want to
reactivate some of the militias that they have sponsored in Yemen over the past decade, and they wanted them to make a push to seize ground from the
Houthis with American air support, with American backing.
That idea, which I'm sure the UAE would have liked to sell to Trump on his visit to Abu Dhabi next week, that's now dead in the water because the U.S.
has announced this truce. Obviously, there won't be American support for a ground offensive in Yemen. So, I think for the Houthis to agree to this
now, if they did in fact agree to this, I don't see it as more than a temporary tactical retreat. I don't think they are --
SOARES: Yes --
CARLSTROM: Permanently promising peace and calm in the Red Sea, but it's a very good moment for that tactical retreat, because it takes away this
threat of a ground offensive.
SOARES: And on that trip next week, I think it's interesting because you also heard the President say, and I'm quoting him here, that the very big
and positive announcement, he said, Gregg, is coming in the next five, six days. So very much before he departs for this trip to the Middle East
without really specifying the subject.
He said -- he didn't say it was tariffs, so that, you know, made this thing perhaps as something to Middle East. What are you expecting if it is to do
with some sort of deal in the Middle East?
CARLSTROM: Well, there have been some last ditch efforts to again, as Jeremy was saying, to try to --
SOARES: Yes --
CARLSTROM: Get back to at least a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. But my understanding is that, the positions are still basically frozen there.
We're stuck with the same dilemma that we've had for more than a year, where Hamas wants to know there's going to be a permanent end to the war,
and the Israeli government is not willing to offer anything more than a temporary truce.
So, it doesn't seem to me at least as if Trump has found a way to bridge that gap. So, if it's not related to Gaza, perhaps it is something related
to Iran. There's going to be another round --
SOARES: Yes --
CARLSTROM: Of talks on Sunday between American and Iranian negotiators, perhaps, he's going to say there's been some sort of at least initial
progress towards a deal there. But honestly, it's unclear as with many things that Trump says, it's unclear what he means right now.
SOARES: Indeed, yes, that's the only thing I could think of when I heard it, maybe whether this announcement paved a sort of -- paved for a broader
agreement with iran, given that they are expected to meet over the weekend. But we shall see. Gregg, always great to get you on the show. Thank you
very much indeed.
CARLSTROM: Thank you.
SOARES: Now, we have breaking news coming to you out of the United States Supreme Court. In fact, it now says the Trump administration can
immediately enforce a ban on having transgender people serve in the military. The court's three liberal members publicly dissented from the
court's decision.
Let's go to Joan Biskupic with the very latest. And, Joan, just talk us through this, because to me, this looks very much like a win for President
Trump here.
JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: It's very much a win for President Trump. And one of his biggest initiatives, in fact, this is
something he ran on last November. You know, he's had really so many criticisms of the trans community, and he vowed that if he won, he would
start to ban transgender service members.
He signed an order that would do that, and it was blocked. It was blocked in March by a lower court judge. But today, the Supreme Court, with only
three justices dissenting, let the ban take effect. And what's important here is not just, will this affect any new recruits coming into the
military services who would be transgender?
[14:25:00]
It affects any transgender individuals now serving. So, this goes very much farther than what could have even happened during Donald Trump's first
administration. So, as of now, with the Supreme Court having the last word, President Trump is allowed to enforce his ban on transgender troops in the
military here.
As I said, it just came from the Supreme Court, only three justices noted any kind of dissent, and they didn't write anything. They just noted that
they would have -- they would have allowed the lower court action stopping President Trump from enforcing this order while it's being challenged.
The merits of his order and the claims that members of the trans-community have brought against this order as violating equal protection rights has
not even been tested yet in the courts, but yet it's going to be able to go into effect by the --
SOARES: Joan, I'm sorry to interrupt, Joanie. Joan, I'm sorry to interrupt --
BISKUPIC: Yes --
SOARES: We've got a very busy day. I want to go to the State Department because they're talking about --
BISKUPIC: Sure --
SOARES: A possible Houthi deal that President announced. Let's have a listen.
TAMMY BRUCE, SPOKESPERSON, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: Andrea(ph) --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, can I follow up on that, please?
BRUCE: Sure, of course.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does this ceasefire also extend to the Houthis not attacking Israel, and Israel not attacked -- does this ceasefire also
extend to the Houthis not attacking Israel and Israel not attacking the Houthis, as they have just today in retaliation for the attack by the
Houthis against the area near Ben Gurion just a few days ago?
BRUCE: Well, and just looking at the President's remarks, looking at this particular message from the Omanis, this is about the Red Sea, the
attacking of ships and the nature of the action that the United States had taken, making it very clear at the time that this was not going to be a
pinprick operation, that we were going to continue this operation until the Houthis stopped attacking shipping in that framework. That is what I've
seen here, and that's all I can -- I can remark on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Ambassador Witkoff said last night at the Israeli Independence Day celebration that very shortly, there would be
announcements on expansion of the Abraham Accords. The President also today said that there would be a big announcement next week that is very
positive, that he was just, my word, sort of teasing about it, but --
BRUCE: I think it would be a classic, you know, talking about something before it lands without, you know, giving too many details. That is
certainly, of course, my situation here as well. But when the President says there's going to be a big announcement, I would take him seriously.
And he would, of course, I think put it that way, and the fact that it's very good news for people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what about Ambassador Witkoff saying very shortly, there would be an expansion of the Abraham Accords?
BRUCE: Well, I will wait for the secretary when it comes to the details of what's going to be described and announced in that regard. Of course, we
know of the importance of the Abraham Accords, starting with the success in the first Trump term and what that meant for the egion, something that no
one ever thought would occur.
Once again, Trump has a tendency to accomplish those kinds of things that make a huge difference for a long time. So, I have nothing to report for
you right now. But clearly, it appears as though I will later on in the week. Nadia(ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. I want to follow up on Yemen. Despite the statement by the President and the Secretary on the ceasefire, and also the
Omani, Foreign Minister just confirmed it. The other side, which is the Houthis themselves denied it. They're saying that we are not going to stop
attacking the ship. So, how do you explain that? They're not receiving the message --
BRUCE: Well, they're a terrorist group. So, you know --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or the -- crying for public attention or what?
BRUCE: I just -- I use for my basis of who to listen to and who to take seriously, of course, is the President of the United States, Ambassador
Witkoff, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I think that as what we've said, of course, also, when it comes to other situations, is that we look
to actions, not words.
And clearly, there's been a development here that the President shared. And I think his words are the words that one needs to rely on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the attack on the Port of Sanaa, as you know, Sanaa --
SOARES: Well, we just stepped in there, as we promised we would once it got underway to the U.S. State Department's spokesperson looking for some
more clarity and detail following on what we heard from President Trump when he was at the Oval Office besides the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark
Carney, when he announced that the U.S. will stop attacking the Houthis.
He said that they had -- they had agreed to stopping the fighting. We're looking for some sort of clarity on this regarding the ceasefire. CNN has
reached out for clarity on the Houthis, we have not heard back. But the press -- she was asked there just for -- by a journalist, pardon me,
whether she thought that this ceasefire also extended to the Houthis not attacking Israel, Israel not attacking the Houthis. And the tit for tat
that we have seen that Jeremy Diamond was talking about there. She said that it was not about that. It is about simply the attacks on the Red Sea,
but did not provide any more clarity on that. We'll continue to listen to that.
[14:30:00]
We did hear though from the spokesperson that -- from secretary -- that Rubio will merge the Office of Palestinian Affairs into the U.S. Embassy in
Jerusalem. So, that is the only thing we heard that in terms of clarity. Mr. Trump though giving that surprise announcement on the Houthis, catching
many by surprise in the region, including, as our Jeremy Diamond said, including prime Minister Netanyahu's administration. We will keep an ear
out and see if there are any more developments, we will bring that to you.
I want to turn my attention, though, and your attention to Russia, because as Russia prepares to celebrate Victory Day, the Soviet Union's victory
over Nazi Germany in World War II, a stark reminder that the current conflict with Ukraine is far from over.
Russia says Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow for a second straight night. There are no reports of any casualties or serious damage, but flights have
been suspended at four of Moscow's airports as a safety precaution. And the attack comes as Russia's capital prepares for its massive Victory Day
parade on Friday, which will be attended by world leaders including China's Xi Jinping.
Our Fred Pleitgen joins us now from Moscow. So, Fred, give us a sense of, you know, first of all, the impact of these drone attacks and whether that
has any sort of impact on the parade in just a couple of days.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the Russians certainly are concerned that it might and some of the things
that we've heard in the statements. And I think one thing that we need to keep in mind, Isa, is that the extent of what these drone attacks as the
Russians say do is a lot bigger than many people think.
There are airports here in Moscow, all of them were actually -- or the major ones at least were shot down -- shut down tonight, the big airports
here in Moscow, but also, in many other regions in Russia as well. If you look at the southeast of the country, the southwest of the country then
there were a lot of airports here that were also shut down, or were at least flight were extremely a lot less than they usually are.
So, certainly, this is having a big impact on planes being able to land at a lot of these airports, but certainly, also, the Russians fear for the
safety of some of the many guests that are going to come. And it's not only, of course, Xi Jinping, Nicholas Maduro, for instance, and other world
leaders that are coming, there are thousands of guests that the Russians expect to come here in the next couple of days.
And if we look at, for instance, Xi Jinping, he's going to land here in a couple of hours from now, and then, of course, has some very high-level
meetings with Vladimir Putin. And the Russians certainly fear that all that could be derailed simply by the threat of these drone strikes.
And when we say that there was no substantial damage done, one of these drones did actually land on a pretty major highway in the Moscow area.
There wasn't any real substantial damage. But certainly, that is something that does cause a lot of fear and a lot of concern also in the Russian and
in the Moscow population as well.
So, the Russians are telling the Ukrainians obviously to stop this, that there will be consequences if they don't stop this. The Ukrainians for
their part are saying, look, drone and missile strikes in Ukraine are continuing by the Russians as well. And the Ukrainians also saying, and
this comes in the form of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, that it's not Ukraine's job to guarantee the safety of the May 9th parade.
But this is of certainly a big concern for the Russians. It's something that the Kremlin has been talking about and it's also something where the
Russians are saying, this could further escalate the situation between Ukraine and Russia if there are any incidents that take place at the May
9th parade, which is of course even more important to the Russians this year than it usually is because it is the 80th anniversary of the defeat of
Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union. Isa.
SOARES: Yes. And just last month, I remember you and I discussed this last month, Putin declared, I think it was a three-day ceasefire. I think he
kind of rolled its eyes at it. Where are we in terms of, having a longer- term ceasefire, which was of course what Ukraine has been asking for and what the U.S. has been trying to achieve, where are we on those
negotiations, Fred?
PLEITGEN: It's a very interesting and very tough question. First of all, the Russians are saying that three-day ceasefire still stands from their
point of view. They are ripping into the Ukrainians publicly at any setting that you can imagine saying that the Ukrainians haven't agreed to that yet.
They believe that the Ukrainians won't agree to that. They will believe -- they believe that the Ukrainians won't stick to it, but the Ukrainians
continue to say, this goes from the Ukrainian president to other Ukrainian politicians as well, they want a 30-day ceasefire now. They say that
they've signed up to that, and if the Russians really are serious about having a ceasefire, they shouldn't put one in place that only lasts for
three days, but one that puts -- that goes in place for 30 days, and they should do that immediately.
So far, very difficult to see the two sides coming any closer to one another. The Russians certainly are saying that their three-day ceasefires,
something that they're going to stick to unless it's breached, and in which case, of course there will be an answer by the Russians as well.
[14:35:00]
But the Trump administration, I think this is something that's key, because of course, all of this also revolves around these negotiations that
President Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, has been leaving, the Trump administration is saying they want a 30-day ceasefire. They want a real
unconditional ceasefire in place. But so far, it doesn't seem as though the two sides or three sides, if you'll put it, are any closer to achieving
that. Isa.
SOARES: Yes, very much the U.S. calling for a permanent ceasefire, but it does seem like we are very far away from that. Fred, great to have you on
the ground there. Thanks very much.
And still to come tonight, unexpected political drama in Germany. Details ahead on the bumpy road it took for Friedrich Merz to become chancellor. We
have the latest on that.
Then cardinals who will take part in the conclave are starting to cutoff contact with the outside world. We'll have details on what to expect once
the secret voting begins tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. It seems second times the charm. Friedrich Merz is now officially Germany's new chancellor of facing a historic
embarrassment just hours earlier. This was a scene a short time ago in Berlin when Mr. Merz won the parliamentary ballot on his second attempt.
Failure in today's first vote signals there is discontent within the CDU/SPD coalition. This moment also gives the far-right IAFD Party a new
opportunity to ruffle the political establishment.
Let's discuss more with my next guest, chief political editor for Deutsche Michaela Kuefner. Michaela, great to have you on the show.
[14:40:00]
Look, he's through caught many by surprise, but it really, truly emphasizes potentially the fragility here of the coalition and the fragility of Merz.
How much of a political bombshell was this?
MICHAELA KUEFNER, CHIEF POLITICAL EDITOR, DEUTSCHE WELLE: It was a huge bombshell because literally nobody, not even his adversaries expected this
to happen. And that's why the pictures aren't actually this -- that dissimilar. When he lost in that first round, he was shell-shocked and he
didn't move. And it seems when he then finally won, he was stunned that he had now actually won and that this wouldn't get snatched away from him at
the last moment once again.
It doesn't point to an overall fragility of the coalition. What it does point to, and I've had many conversations today, is that there's seems to
be quite a few individual egos around as MP colleagues of social Democrats and conservatives put it, and that is seen as something that could also
prove to be a problem in the future.
SOARES: Right. Egos in politics, that shouldn't catch anyone by -- take anyone by surprise, Michaele. But look, it is -- right, it is a rocky
start. But clearly, he needs to make this coalition a success and put the setback behind him. Can you think he recovered from this? What would you
say are his biggest challenge is right now?
KUEFNER: Yes, he can do. He will have to put his political house in order, that's for sure. But what it does do is it puts him on the defensive. When
he promises leadership abroad, when he now goes to Paris, Warsaw, other places, Ukraine, everybody will have in the back of their minds, what will
he actually get the majorities together.
So, he is now on the wrong foot. He needs to prove something that was taken as a given. He is a strong leader. Everybody testifies to that around him,
but he did spend more than a decade in big business and he needs to rework his CEO style of politics into something that actually works in the German
context, which is built on what many politicians describe as tedious coalition forming.
That's simply how our system is set up. It's not a presidential system. The winner does not take it all. And frankly, he wouldn't have taken it all
because his popularity ratings were never so sky high that he could have benefited from that.
SOARES: Yes. I saw some of the polls, they were quite low in fact. Although, he is well known across Germany and very well recognized. And the
far-right, and we had mentioned the far-right, Michaela, the AfD. I mean, they and meanwhile are kind of waiting in the wings, robbing their hands
with glee, of course, waiting to poke the coalition and tear it apart.
How are united then? I mean, you're talking about the egos and that first answer that you gave me, how United and Stable is Merz's cabinet? Speak to
some of the voices within it.
KUEFNER: Well, I think it's too early to say on how united they are, but everybody seems very much motivated to avoid what sparked those snap
elections in the first place. The social Democrats are now the junior partner in this coalition. They led that last coalition into that abyss of
its implosion essentially six months ago. And everybody's aware that the far-right AfD Party, which has just been labeled right-wing extremists here
by domestic intelligence services who say they've got enough evidence to prove it, and that is the real adversary everybody claims and they feel
that's the glue that will hold them together.
Having said that, with the coalition deal and a lot of it is not set in stone. So, there will be a lot of debate and infighting, and the question
will be whether they can actually keep it internal.
SOARES: And speaking of debates and relationships and infighting, you know, we saw -- we showed our viewers, Michaela, Prime Minister Carney of
Canada at the Oval Office with President Trump. One of the most important relationship I imagine for Friedrich Merz is going to be with Donald Trump.
How do we expect that to work out? I mean, relations, I imagine, are not particularly great between both. I know the U.S. administration's made no
secret of its admiration, if I can call it that, for its ideological partner. What do we expect from this relationship between these two
leaders?
KUEFNER: Well look, Germany's not for sale either. But Friedrich Merz actually has a bigger chance than all Olaf Scholz, who's even actually
people who admire him say that he's socially somewhat awkward.
[14:45:00]
Friedrich Merz knows how to speak business and he will for sure be better at having the business talk kind of deal making language. And this will be
very interesting watching him tread that very careful line of upholding principles and international he stands for, and then still finding a way to
do a deal with Trump while at the same time uniting the European Union. It looks like squaring the circle. Let's watch him try it.
SOARES: Yes. I really appreciate you breaking it all down, Michaela. Very busy day in the Bundestag with plenty of political drama. Who'd have
thought. Great to see you. Thanks, Michaela.
And it's a busy day, in fact, here on the show. We have just this coming into CNN. Oman says it mediated the ceasefire deal between Yemen's Houthis
and the United States. If you remember, we brought you this at top of the hour, this is our top story today. President Trump announcing just a short
while ago that the U.S. will stop bombing the Houthis, saying the group had agreed to stop interfering with shipping lanes in the Middle East. And his
announcement has caught the region, especially Israel, by surprise.
And we heard that from our Jeremy Diamond in the last, what, 15, 20 minutes saying they did not know about this. They didn't know what this would mean.
Of course, because we've seen the tit for tat between Israel and the Houthis. But this deal marks a huge shift in policy for the rebel group,
which is aligned with Iran. This just coming in to us. We'll stay across this developing story.
We are going to take a short break. And still to come tonight, Catholics all over the world are anticipating the election of the new pope. We'll go
live to Rome to find out what to expect when the conclave begins. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Well, it's a profound and mysterious process, those are the words of Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., about the
secret conclave that will elect a successor to Pope Francis. 133 voting cardinals will take part in the process that begins Wednesday in the
Sistine Chapel. All of them have now arrived at the Vatican and are starting to seclude themselves from the outside world as they check into
hotel rooms.
Cardinals are having to give up their phones as well as electronic devices, and it usually takes multiple rounds of voting for a pope to be chosen.
There is feverish, as you can imagine, speculation about who the next pope will be.
Let's head to Rome and our Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman, he joins there from the Vatican in fact.
[14:50:00]
Ben, speculation, fever to speculation as well as excitement. You have covered, I believe, the last conclave. How is this one feeling?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This one really feels like there's a lot of anticipation. I think back in 2013 the anticipation
of the conclave was combined with a bit of shock after Pope Benedict XVI resigned back then. This time around, I think people are really wondering
what sort of pope will follow Francis?
Keeping in mind of course, that Francis appointed 80 percent of the 133 cardinals who will be participating in the conclave, which begins in just a
little less than 20 hours from now. At 4:30 p.m. Rome time tomorrow those 133 Cardinals will file into the Sistine chapel without any, as you said,
mobile phones or communication devices, and they will have no access to them until they finally agree on a candidate.
Now, in 2013, it took five rounds of voting to finally decide on a pope. And of course, that was Jorge Bergoglio who took the name of Francis.
Now, yesterday, we saw an interesting ceremony where the Vatican staff who will be assisting in the conclave had to one by one make an oath of
secrecy, to promise not to divulge any details of what they might see or hear during the conclave. But there is a huge amount of anticipation.
Last week was kind of a period of transition from mourning for the passing of Pope Francis to the anticipation to this conclave. At this point,
there's a huge amount of speculation of who might be the most papabile, poppable as they say. But at this point, it would be foolish to suggest
that there might be any one specific candidate who is most likely to become the next pope. Isa.
SOARES: Indeed. All waiting to hear for Habemus Papam. That is the moment, of course, as well as the white smoke. Ben, great to see you. Appreciate
it.
And just a reminder for you that our live coverage of the conclave gets underway tomorrow. Special coverage begins at 4:00 a.m. Eastern. If you're
watching in Rome, that is 10:00 a.m. We'll have much more after this short break. Do stay right here with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:55:00]
SOARES: And we saw a celebration of black excellence at this year's Met Gala. Their theme in New York was tailored for you, inspired by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibition or super fine black style. It is the first time the dress code focused on men's wear with stars like Lewis
Hamilton, as you can see there looking great. Embracing the dandy look in a custom Wales Bonner tuxedo.
Plenty of the women did the same, Janelle Monae sporting a suit within a suit. I loved her whole outfit. And the big hit of the night among others
was Diana Ross making a grand, I'd say grand return to the Met Gala after more than two decades. The living legend wore an 18-foot-long train
embroidered with the names of her children and grandchildren. She need plenty of help to get up those stairs too.
And that does it for us for tonight. Do stay right here, Max Foster, my colleague, he's got a new show, "What We Know with Max Foster," is up next.
Find out what he is got installed. That's up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
