Return to Transcripts main page

The Amanpour Hour

Interview With U.S. Secretary Of State Antony Blinken; Japan's Elderly Are Seeking Refuge In Prison; Interview With "The Room Next Door" Director Pedro Almodovar; The Alliance Between Evangelical Christians And Israel. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired January 18, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

[10:59:46]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: All right. Roy.

ROY WOOD JR., CNN HOST: We should not have term limits on our politicians but every year that you're in office, you should have to climb an extra flight of stairs to get to --

(CROSSTALKING)

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's right.

WOOD, JR.: I'm tired of politicians falling. No other politicians -- You don't see other countries, you don't see failures.

CUPP: If you fall, you're out.

(CROSSTALKING)

WOOD, JR.: And you're out. Yes. If you fall --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know who'll go with that but all right. Ok.

(CROSSTALKING)

WOOD, JR.: -- that's your resignation. And you just add a floor if you keep getting elected. I'm sorry. And this is -- this is bipartisan. That goes for Maxine Waters and Mitch McConnell, both of you, 200 flights.

PHILLIP: And thank you for watching "TABLE FOR FIVE". You can catch me every weeknight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern time with our "NEWSNIGHT" roundtable.

But in the meantime, CNN's coverage continues right now.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. And welcome to THE AMANPOUR HOUR. Here's where we're headed this week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The cease fire itself hopefully, would concentrate minds and get people to agree on what's necessary to get that day-after post-conflict plan in place.

AMANPOUR: As Israel and Hamas reach a cease fire, what legacy does Joe Biden leave behind? The architect of his foreign policy, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, tells me about Israel's war in Gaza and fighting Putin in Ukraine.

Then why the world's fastest aging population is seeking refuge behind bars?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't care if I live or not. I can't tell you how difficult it is to be alone.

AMANPOUR: Also ahead, Oscar-winning director Pedro Almodovar on his new film "The Room Next Door" and coping with life's greatest mystery.

PEDRO ALMODOVAR, DIRECTOR, "THE ROOM NEXT DOOR": We have to be the owner of our death.

AMANPOUR: And from my archive -- the evangelical Christian alliance with Israel's extremist settlers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This land is ours. You cannot occupy something that already belongs to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Welcome to the program, everyone. I'm Christiane Amanpour in the United States this week.

For the first time in over a year of seemingly endless death and destruction, a ceasefire deal has been reached in Israel's war against Hamas. And it comes just days before Donald Trump takes the oath of office for a second time.

As the Biden administration prepares to hand over the reins, they surely want history to remember the last four years fairly.

Under the outgoing administration, the world witnessed a chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Putin's all out invasion of Ukraine, the devastating October 7th attack, and Israel's overwhelming response to it.

Hours before an agreement was finalized, I sat down with Biden's top diplomat, the outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In his final TV interview, he reflected on the last four years rebuilding alliances, navigating global turmoil and the uncertain future of U.S. diplomacy in an era of so much conflict abroad and deep division at home.

And I started by asking him what the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas means.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTONY BLINKEN, OUTGOING U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: First, the firing stops. Hamas, Israel stop firing. Israel pulls back its forces. Hostages begin to be released. Prisoners come out of Israeli jails and go back, and we surge humanitarian assistance to people who so desperately need it. All of that happens during a six-week period.

But also during that six weeks, we have to negotiate the understandings to get to a permanent ceasefire so that Israel pulls all of its forces out of Gaza, Hamas doesn't come back in, and there's the necessary governance, security, reconstruction arrangements so that Gaza can move forward.

AMANPOUR: Is that sorted?

BLINKEN: That's not sorted. We've worked on it intensely for the last six or seven months, intensely but quietly with our partners, with others.

I think there's some basic understandings that we've reached, but the ceasefire itself, hopefully, would concentrate minds and get people to agree on what's necessary to get that day-after a post-conflict plan in place.

AMANPOUR: I don't know whether you agree, but many analysts are saying that actually Trump's arrival has jumpstarted this and has focused people's mind and at least got this ceasefire to be serious.

As you say, it's something that the president planned back in May and et cetera.

And I know you often, USG blames Hamas for its role in delaying. But I don't know whether you saw what Itamar Ben-Gvir said to "The Times of Israel" just over the last couple of days. He basically said that, me and Smotrich have successfully prevented any ceasefire deals for the last year, and we still want to prevent this one.

How do you react to that? And are you willing to agree that also Israel has held up what could have been the Biden ceasefire, which could have saved many lives many, many months ago?

BLINKEN: So, should this have happened months ago? Yes. Could it have happened months ago? Yes.

[11:04:48]

BLINKEN: Were there occasions when each side did things that made it more difficult to get this over the finish line? Yes, including Israel.

But predominantly it's been Hamas. And certainly, in the last few months, Hamas has -- had refused to engage.

Look, I think what the basic dynamic has been this. First, what was so important was that there had to be an agreement that this would proceed in two phases. That we'd have these six weeks where everyone stops firing, Israel pulls back, hostages come out, prisoners are released, humanitarian assistance goes in, and final arrangements for an enduring ceasefire are made. For months Hamas wouldn't accept that. The president went forward, went public, in May, very end of May, early June, with a detailed proposal for that. And then we went around the world, and everyone came out in support of it, including the U.N. Security Council. And at that point, Hamas was isolated, and it signed on to that framework.

And ever since, as I said, we've been working to implement it, to get the final arrangements.

But there have been two dynamics that have really, I think, held things back, more than anything else.

One, Hamas was hoping, hoping, hoping that the cavalry would come to the rescue, that it would get a wider war with Lebanon and Hezbollah, with Iran. And the actions that we took along with Israel made it clear that the cavalry was not coming to the rescue. It couldn't count on that.

Second, it hoped that by holding back, pressure would just mount on Israel to give in and to accede to the terms of a ceasefire hostage deal on Hamas' terms. And there again, that hasn't happened.

AMANPOUR: Just finally on this issue, Ben-Gvir and his ilk, they are extremist firebrands that even the U.S. has sanctioned in the past. They want settlements. They say that they want to stay in Gaza.

BLINKEN: Yes.

AMANPOUR: The infrastructure that the IDF is creating in Gaza points to a permanent stay there in some parts.

Are you sure? Is USG sure that Israel will pull out or that it will stay for, I don't know, months, years afterwards?

BLINKEN: What I can tell you is this, Christiane. First, it's our policy and it's been our policy very clearly, including principles that I laid out months ago at the very beginning of the conflict in Tokyo, that there can't be a permanent occupation of Gaza, that Israel has to pull out, that the territory of Gaza shouldn't be changed, and of course, it obviously can't be run by Hamas or used as a base of terrorism.

The ceasefire deal itself requires the Israeli forces to pull back. And then, assuming you get to a permanent ceasefire, to pull out entirely.

But that's what's so critical about this post-conflict plan. They need to come to an agreement on its arrangements, because there has to be something in place that gives Israelis the confidence that they can pull out permanently and not have Hamas fill back in and not have a repeat of the last, really, decade.

AMANPOUR: I'm not going to ask you the genocide question because I've heard you answer it. You don't believe that that's what Israel is doing. Although the leading U.S.-Israeli scholar on genocide and Holocaust studies has told me, he believes after a year of studying this that it does fit that description.

But I'm going to ask you about your own officials here in the State Department. You know, more than a dozen have resigned, and they're very, very deeply concerned that the actual American laws governing the use of military aid have not been followed.

And furthermore, I'm going to ask you about the Israelis themselves who talk about war crimes. Moshe Yaalon, the former defense secretary for Netanyahu, Likud, not a bleeding-heart liberal, ethnic cleansing and war crimes are taking part. And he doubled down on that.

Are you prepared to say that war crimes have been committed by Israel?

BLINKEN: I can't speak to individual instances. I can say, obviously we've had concerns, more than concerns about the way Israel has conducted itself. Understanding, first of all, that this is a unique environment. one we haven't really seen before, one where you have a population that's trapped inside of Gaza.

And virtually every other situation in the world, people are able to get out of harm's way. They become refugees in a neighboring country. That's not a good thing. But it's better than being caught in the middle of this kind of maelstrom.

Second, uniquely, you have an enemy that intentionally embeds itself within the civilian population in and under apartments, in and under schools, mosques, hospitals.

That does not in any way absolve Israel of the responsibility, the obligation to conduct itself according to international law.

(CROSSTALKING)

BLINKEN: But it makes it incredibly -- it makes it much more challenging. So we look at this very, very carefully. Israel looks at this very, very carefully.

The second thing I want to say is this. I more than respect, I deeply value the fact that we have people in this department and in our system who have different views and speak up, speak out.

We have something called a Dissent Channel in the State Department where people object to a policy were pursuing. They can send me a note, a memo, a detailed brief, and I see it, I read it, I respond to it.

[11:09:47]

BLINKEN: And I've gotten, I don't know, a couple of dozen when it comes to Gaza, as well as other issues. That is a cherished tradition in this department. And I wanted to make sure that people feel that they can do that.

And it's also affected our thinking in many cases, including -- including our actions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Coming up after the break, more of my conversation with outgoing Secretary Blinken on passing the baton to Trump, on America's leverage over Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: We've been determined to make sure that Ukraine had what it needed to defend itself. As the nature of the battlefield changed, we changed, too, in terms of what we were providing them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Also ahead, the loneliness epidemic sweeping the world. A report on the lengths some elderly Japanese women will go for company.

[11:10:31]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program.

Just before the break in the final days of Joe Biden's presidency, I spoke with outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. And in the second part of our conversation, we discussed Americas role

in the other war that will undoubtedly underscore Biden's foreign policy legacy. And that is Putin's all out invasion of Ukraine.

Here we are back at the State Department.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: I want to go to Ukraine because in the fight for democracy, in the fight for, as you and President Biden have been speaking about, especially as you wind down the administration, that these are the big successes of your administration, that you brought this huge alliance together, you expanded NATO, you helped Ukraine survive.

As you know, even within the U.S. environment, people, some experts believe that you didn't go far enough, you didn't give them enough weapons, it's just enough to survive, but not enough to win, or even enough to bring Putin properly to the table seriously.

But I want to ask you about what you've just written with Secretary of Defense Austin, where you have, you know, listed your achievements and then said that this is leverage that we can pass on to Donald Trump and his administration.

And do you think that leverage will be used by the next administration?

BLINKEN: Of course, I can't speak to what the next administration will do. I do know that President Trump often says that he wants and gets good deals. So, one of the things that we've tried to do is to make sure that

Ukraine has but also the United States has the strongest possible hand to play if it comes to trying to get a resolution, to trying to get a ceasefire.

And that really depends on two things. It depends on whether that's what Ukrainians want to do and it depends on whether Putin will agree to engage in that kind of process.

So, we'll see. The jury's out on that.

But Christiane, what I can tell you is this, remember where we started. Putin who sought to erase Ukraine from the map, to eliminate the Ukraine as an independent country, to subsume it into Russia.

This was an imperial project. That project has failed, and it's failed because, obviously, the courage of the Ukrainian people, but it's also failed because we rallied and kept together a coalition of more than 50 countries in Ukraine's defense.

And every step along the way, we've been determined to make sure that Ukraine had what it needed to defend itself. As the nature of the battlefield changed, we changed too in terms of what we were providing them every step along the way.

We not only had to determine whether, you know, a given weapon system was something that we were prepared to do, but could they use it effectively? So, did they have the training? Could they maintain it? Was it part of a coherent operational plan? All of those factors went into every decision.

But the fact is, Ukraine is standing, and that was not at all what was expected when Putin began this invasion. It's standing.

It also has an incredibly bright future as a country that is standing independently, that's increasingly integrated with institutions in Europe, in the Transatlantic community that can fend for itself militarily, economically, democratically.

That is the ultimate rebuke to Vladimir Putin.

AMANPOUR: And you know that Putin has no interest, no expressed interest in anything other than total surrender and to completely obliterate Ukraine as an independent sovereign nation.

BLINKEN: That's right.

AMANPOUR: A vassal state.

What would the effect of that be on -- well, we know what would happen to Ukraine, but Europe, American leadership?

BLINKEN: Well, I think two things are important to keep in mind. First, when it comes -- if there is going to be some kind of ceasefire, it's essential that that have embedded within it some kind of deterrent to make sure that Russia doesn't attack again because we know what's in Putin's mind.

Putin, if there is a ceasefire, will, yes, try to use the time to rest, to refit, and to re-attack. So, there has to be a strong deterrent in place to make sure that that doesn't happen.

There are different ways of doing that. But that's going to be critical.

More broadly, you get at what this has always been about. Of course, it's about Ukraine, it's about the Ukrainian people, but it's about something much broader. It's about the fact that Russia committed an aggression against the very principles that are at the heart of the international system that are necessary to try to keep the peace, to try to preserve stability, to try to prevent war.

The notion that you can't just violate another country's borders by force, that you can't simply go in and try to take over another country and run its future.

And we know that had we not stood up for those principles, had Putin been able to violate them with impunity, the message that would have sent to would-be aggressors everywhere, well beyond Europe, all over the world, would have been crystal clear.

[11:19:49]

AMANPOUR: Do you think in the full fading light of this administration after all that you've done that you Wish that you had done more. For instance, the former Russian foreign minister said to me in the aftermath of the invasion, all Putin understands is strength.

The former French president, mild-mannered, you know, Francois Hollande, told me that the West is afraid of war, Putin is not afraid of war, that's what gives Putin his advantage.

We know that the U.S. government has been intimidated by the saber- rattling -- the nuclear saber-rattling. Do you really think that he would have followed through with that, and should you have called his bluff as a massive U.S. and NATO force?

BLINKEN: Well, I'll take objection to one part of your question, the notion that we've been intimidated. We certainly haven't.

Look at what we've been able to do, not only ourselves, but dozens of other countries that we brought together and that we've kept together in terms of what we provided Ukraine. And Ukrainians have been willing themselves to carry this fight.

President Biden has a responsibility that none of us ultimately have. The buck really does stop with the president. And that's to make sure, on the one hand, that we provide all the support that we can for Ukraine, so that it can effectively defend itself.

But also, yes, avoid getting into a direct conflict with a nuclear power. And he's managed, I think, to do both very, very well. We also have a NATO alliance that's stronger, that's bigger, that's better resourced than it's ever been. That's the best deterrent to making sure that there's not further aggression coming from Putin. He does not want to take on NATO, and we've seen that time and time again.

AMANPOUR: Do you think Marco Rubio and company, who have expressed, you know, doubts about supporting Ukraine and have actually, you know, prevented aid going there in a timely manner.

Do you think that they will maintain this alliance that you have rebuilt? I know you can't look into the future, but what do you -- what's your fear? What's your worry?

BLINKEN: Well, yes, of course, my concern is that there will be a move away from what I think is a signal achievement of this administration, which has been to re-energize, to re-engage, to rejuvenate, even to re-imagine our alliances and partnerships, because we believe fundamentally that we're stronger, we're more effective when we're working with others.

The fact that we did that is what enabled us to bring so many countries together in defense of Ukraine, to make sure that they were picking up the burden, not just the United States.

The fact that we did that, made that investment in allies and partners, that's why we've been able now to focus everyone in a very similar way on the challenges posed by China.

I've had really good conversations with Senator Rubio, soon to be Secretary Rubio. And he's someone who is deeply-steeped in these issues, longtime service on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on the Intelligence Committee.

He knows the issues well. He's very thoughtful about them. And I believe, but I don't want to speak for him, I certainly don't want to damn him with praise, that he's someone who understands the imperative of American engagement and American leadership.

AMANPOUR: Secretary Blinken, thank you very much.

BLINKEN: Thanks, Christiane. Good to be with you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: After the break, an extraordinary report on why Japanese pensioners are trying to become prisoners.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): There's no one to take care of them outside, and they're repeatedly abandoned. They come here because they don't have anywhere else to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:23:07]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back.

The world's population is aging. The proportion of people above 65 is increasing everywhere. Here in the United States, the nation is grayer than it ever has been before.

Here and everywhere, who will care for the elderly? How will the workforce be impacted? How will they deal with loneliness or even pay for health care, rent and other costs?

Japan is the world's fastest aging country, and pensioners there are taking matters into their own hands.

In this incredible story, we see more and more of them are committing crimes to land themselves in prison.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery explains this phenomenon from Tokyo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Despite what you see, this is no nursing home.

Its Japan's biggest women's prison.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I celebrated my 81st birthday in here.

MONTGOMERY: Tochigi Women's Prison is on the front lines of Japan's loneliness epidemic among seniors. One in five inmates here are elderly. You see it in the wrinkled hands, gripping walls. Hear it in a slow shuffle of walkers.

And you feel it too. A strange serenity blankets this place. Security more a formality than a necessity.

This is the first and only security checkpoint that we've gone through to enter this prison. Inside we see inmate after inmate with gray hair, bent backs.

The 81-year-old prisoner, who's anonymous to protect her privacy, tells me she's here for shoplifting. But it's not her first time behind bars.

20 years ago, she was in for the same crime, she says. The only way she knew how to get back to prison.

[11:29:43]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I got caught this time, I thought, I don't care what happens to me anymore. I want to die. I don't care if I live or not. I can't tell you how difficult it is to be alone. MONTGOMERY: Japan's crime rate is one of the lowest in the world, but

its prison system is now flooded with senior inmates who increasingly see prison as home.

MEGUMI, CORRECTIONS OFFICER (through translator): There's no one to take care of them outside, and they're repeatedly abandoned. They come here because they don't have anywhere else to go.

MONTGOMERY: The Japanese government says the country's aging population means more lonely seniors and a surge in elderly crime.

In the last 20 years, the number of elderly inmates has nearly quadrupled. And it's changing life here for everyone.

TAKAYOSHI SHIRANAGA, CORRECTIONS OFFICER (through translator): Now we have to change their diapers, help them bathe, eat. At this point, it feels more like a nursing home than a prison full of convicted criminals.

This inmate, in for drug use, tells me she earned her nursing license behind bars after spending so much time caring for elderly prisoners.

We are shown a workshop where guards don't bark orders but help elderly prisoners with their medicine, making sure they don't hurt themselves. Meals are taken in cells alone and in silence. But for some, just knowing someone is nearby is enough.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son tells me to disappear. He says, I don't care when you die.

They are very good people in this prison. I am very thankful that in prison I can live a regular life every day.

MONTGOMERY: With no one and nowhere to go, some of Japan's elderly are choosing a life of crime, as freedom is a cheap price to pay for the chance to not die alone.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN -- Tochigi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Dealing with desperation there.

And when we come back, friends who are dealing with death. The Spanish director Pedro Almodovar joins me to discuss his new film, "The Room Next Door", starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALMODOVAR: But we also -- we also have to be the owner of our death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:32:03]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) AMANPOUR: Welcome back.

We turn now to an issue that's heavily-debated around the world, assisted dying. Late last year in the U.K., parliament voted in favor of a bill to legalize it in England and Wales. It will face more scrutiny and a vote before it becomes law.

Here in the United States, the most recent Gallup poll found that most Americans favor legalizing euthanasia, as they call it. This sensitive topic is beautifully explored in a new film called "The Room Next Door", and it's by the celebrated Oscar winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar.

It stars Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. Here's a clip from the trailer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TILDA SWINTON, ACTRESS: The snow was falling, falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling on all the living and the dead.

Ingrid, do you think I need to say goodbye to my closest friends?

JULIANNE MOORE, ACTRESS: I think you should do whatever you want to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: And Almodovar joined me from Madrid to discuss his latest work. It's his first in English.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Pedro Almodovar, welcome to the program.

You are such a legend in this industry and in the cultural world. You're a two-time Oscar winner. Your latest film, which we want to talk about, is called "The Room Next Door", it's really quite an amazing film. You have two massive actresses, Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. And it's about death.

Why did you choose the subject of death?

ALMODOVAR: Yes. Well, everything started when I read the book of Sigrid Nunez called "What Are You Going Through". In the middle of the book, then I found a chapter when there is a character, the character of Tilda, Martha, that is very sick and Julianne Moore character, Ingrid, goes to visit her.

Basically, I made and I select this novel -- I mean, the adaptation of this novel. When Martha has a meeting with her friend and tells her that she decided just to make euthanasia and that she both appeal to do it and that she asked her to be living with her in the room next door.

AMANPOUR: I want to know how you're feeling about death and mortality. ALMODOVAR: I feel like a kid, like a child. I cannot accept it and also, I cannot understand it.

It's true that with this movie, I was very close to the Ingrid -- to Ingrid's character, and I also -- I was closer to accept death and to understand it.

[11:39:44]

ALMODOVAR: But after making the movie, you know, I -- in my -- among the friends of mine, there was a big loss, and then I realized that I feel the same in front of mortality.

I feel that the like -- she said, "I don't understand it." And I think it's like a contradiction for something -- that something that is alive should die.

AMANPOUR: You know, you mentioned your friend and we know because it was reported, and of course, we give you our sympathies.

Marisa Paredes, who died suddenly in December. I guess you must be processing her death and the loss of this friend and this person who you worked with so much.

You have her, Penelope Cruz, a group of women I, I don't know, the Chicas Almodovar, who are so identified with you, with your film, with your work, and who are so faithful and loyal to you and your vision. It's really an incredible grouping, really. How does that figure in your life?

ALMODOVAR: I think I was very lucky because all of them, they are very good actresses. I was lucky to work with the best Spanish actresses. There are more that I didn't work, but I mean, Penelope, Julieta Serrano, Marisa Paredes, Chus Lampreave, Elena Anaya.

And many, many, many, many of the actresses I was very lucky. And it's -- you know, we leave our work like in the theater. I mean, you have a company of theater and a stable company. We feel like being part of one stable company to make movies.

So, we still been friends. The -- if there is always a character that they can do it, I always absolutely, I asked them.

And yes, the last of Marisa was, you know, this -- the example that are something that I can't understand. I didn't believe that that she died like that in one day for another day.

I mean -- so, well, I'm working on that, you know, because I don't want to -- because that feelings -- that feeling make me feel weak. And this is a sensation that I don't want to have. Because I want to -- I mean, to keep on working, and without any fear.

AMANPOUR: I understand. I want to ask you something because I think it's related. You know, this film and what you've just gone through, obviously, are very deep, very tragic, deals with death. Many of your other films have dealt with, you know, a lot of very, very difficult parts of the human experience.

And yet, we always, always, always see you emblazoned in color. You're wearing an incredible sweater right now. Your background is bright pink. Tilda Swinton was dressed in bright, bright colors.

Tell me about color, because it's unavoidable. We can't avoid commenting about it and luxuriating in it.

ALMODOVAR: This is the way that I make movies, with bright colors. And the -- and also, in this case, I want that not to be dark or creepy because the decision to die is a sign of vitalism.

I mean, it is taken by Martha in a very vital way. So, I wanted to give the impression of vitality in this last period of her life in the house of the friend, just to represent the character of Martha.

Because I think, really, that -- I mean, the person should have the owner of our life or his life or our life, but we also have to be the owner of our death. Just when, in the case of Martha, when life only offers you an awful pain. So, I think this is a human right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: An honest and moving conversation.

And you can watch the rest of my interview with this director on our Web site.

Up next, why support for Israel's settler movement isn't going away anytime soon. From this week's look into my archive, my 2007 report on American Evangelical Christians pumping money into the Occupied West Bank.

[11:44:42]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Welcome back.

With President Trump's inauguration around the corner, how will the war in Gaza end? The newest ceasefire is just the first phase, but less attention is being paid to the ongoing violence and continued settlement expansion in the Occupied West Bank, considered the biggest roadblock to any future two-state solution, which is backed by successive U.S. administrations.

[11:49:49]

AMANPOUR: In the last election, according to one poll, 79 percent of Jewish Americans voted for Kamala Harris, and a majority of Americans support a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.

Christian Evangelicals who backed Donald Trump also call themselves Christian Zionists. They form a major support network for the extreme ideology of Israeli settlers, citing biblical chapter and verse. I first saw this among evangelical communities here in the United

States when I was reporting for my "God's Warriors" series back in 2007.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SONDRA OSTER BARAS, ORTHODOX JEW: Good to see you.

AMANPOUR: Sondra Oster Baras is an Orthodox Jew.

BARAS: You look beautiful.

AMANPOUR: Doing an unorthodox job.

BARAS: If you would ask me 10 years ago what I would be doing with my life, I don't think I would have told you I would be in church.

AMANPOUR: Sondra stumps for money from Evangelical Christians to support Jewish settlements in the occupied territory, land she calls "Biblical Israel".

Tonight, she's visiting Pastor Gary Cristofaro, at his First Assembly Church of God in Melbourne, Florida.

PASTOR GARY CRISTOFARO, FIRST ASSEMBLY CHURCH OF GOD, MELBOURNE, FLORIDA: It wasn't for what the Jews brought to Christianity, there would be no Christianity.

AMANPOUR: Pastor Gary and his flock take their Jewish roots so seriously they hold services on Friday night, the Jewish Sabbath.

This is not only religious ritual, they support Israel, which to them includes Jewish settlements on the Occupied West Bank.

CRISTOFARO: There is a promise to those who bless Israel to be blessed; for those who curse it will be cursed.

AMANPOUR: Back in Israel, Sondra takes church members on tours of the settlements in the occupied territories.

BARAS: This land is ours.

AMANPOUR: And they donated more than $100,000 to support them.

Gary Cristofaro and Sondra Oster Baras are part of a growing alliance between Evangelical Christians and Israel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are celebrating Israel tonight.

AMANPOUR: A recent poll found that 59 percent of American Evangelicals believe Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you give, it may be that you give in an envelope and put in it a bucket but in actuality an angel is going to scoop it up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those of you who are helping two Jews or more, we would like to say thank you by sending you this "Box of Blessings".

AMANPOUR: One of the most successful Jewish fund-raisers, Rabbi Yakil Epstein (ph), raised $39 million last year from Christian Zionists to fund human services and humanitarian work in Israel and in the Jewish settlements.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love Israel.

AMANPOUR: And when Christians Zionists turn out in the thousands to demand that Washington politicians support Israel, the politicians respond.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Greetings from the president of the United States. This letter from George Bush.

BARAS: Amen? OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Pastor John Hagee, a major force in the Evangelical Zionist movement, continues to influence Republican politics and President- Elect Donald Trump to this very day.

And the question of a peaceful political solution to this endless Middle East war remains dangerously unanswered.

When we come back, "Babygirl", the movie that's shocking and delighting audiences in equal measure. I speak to the filmmaker Halina Reijn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALINA REIJN, DIRECTOR, "BABYGIRL": So throughout my whole film, there's constantly the theme of the animalistic, the primal against the civilization, the organized, the structure, chaos versus order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:53:52]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: And finally, to the bold erotic thriller stirring up conversation and awards buzz. "Babygirl", starring Nicole Kidman, tells the story of a powerful female CEO who succumbs to an affair with a much younger male intern.

Beyond the age difference and the power dynamics, the movie challenges relationship norms, exploring issues of shame, sexuality, and feminism.

Here's a clip from the trailer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey. NICOLE KIDMAN, ACTRESS: Hey.

We need to have a conversation.

You're very young. I don't want to hurt you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think I have power over you because I could make one call and you lose everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: And this week, I asked the writer and director Halina Reijn, what compelled her to make this film.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REIJN: You know, I'm trying to make a universal story that hopefully speaks to everyone. And so I thought this would be an amazing theme to give it that kind of backstory, to create a story about order versus chaos.

And I think, again, I think a lot of women, and I will speak for myself, I struggle with the fact that I think I should be this creature that has almost no blemishes, not in my body, that has a certain weight, that looks a certain way, but also on my soul, you know, on my -- on my sort of like, existential DNA.

[11:59:48]

REIJN: And she's trying to get rid of all of that through therapy, through Botox, through ice baths, through the whole shebang. She's trying to become this perfect, almost robotic creature.

So throughout my whole film, there's constantly the theme of the animalistic, the primal against the civilization, the organized, the structure, chaos versus order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: That's all we have time for this weekend.

Don't forget, you can find all our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/audio and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in New York. Thank you for watching and I'll see you again next week.