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Trump-Putin Call Ends with No Breakthrough; Trump Approves Bill to Take Down Explicit Deep Fakes; Biden Shares His Cancer Diagnosis on Social Media; North Korea Shuts Doors to Foreigners. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 20, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, no breakthroughs after a two-hour call between the U.S. and Russian presidents. Instead, Donald Trump suggests he could back off the Ukraine peace talks completely.

The Israeli military intensifies its ground offensive in Gaza as the threat of famine grows.

And North Korea welcomes social media influences into its country until it all backfire.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: I appreciate you joining us.

Ukraine says Russia has launched more than 100 drones on targets across the country, the latest evidence that Vladimir Putin is not rushing to secure a peace deal. For its part, Russia claims its air defenses destroyed eight Ukrainian drones over its territory overnight. This comes less than a day after

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Russia's president by phone. Mr. Trump said the two-hour call went very well though it ended without a ceasefire and without any meaningful progress toward one. President Trump is now indicating he could walk away from the peace process altogether.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think something is going to happen. It's a very big egos involved.

I tell you, big egos involved, but I think something's going to happen. And if it doesn't, I just back away and they're going to have to keep going. Again, this was a European situation. It should have remained a

European situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The Kremlin says Trump and Putin spoke about a quote "prompt resolution and the possibility of direct contact between Russia and Ukraine." Here's what Vladimir Putin said about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The U.S. President expressed his position on the secession of hostilities ceasefire. And from my end, I emphasize that Russia also stands for a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis. We must simply determine the most effective paths toward peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is following these developments from London, she joins us now. Good morning to you, Salma.

So no breakthroughs in this two-hour call. So what exactly was achieved and what comes next?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, ahead of this hyped up call, President Trump's men argued that it was only his force of personality that could jumpstart those peace negotiations that he has promised since day one in the Oval Office. But after a two-hour conversation, we have seen very few concrete results.

In fact, I think the only result we're seeing from this call is just how far apart these sides are. From President Putin's maximalist demands that Ukraine give up sovereignty to President Trump's hopes that peace could be reached within 24 hours to President Zelenskyy, of course, his attempts to continue to protect his country's sovereignty, this call revealed very little common ground.

And it's important to note here, Rosemary, how this all began, how this call came to be, because it started with a European demand for a 30-day ceasefire, something that President Putin continues to brush aside, giving the sense across Europe, and of course, in Kyiv, that this is simply President Putin tapping President Trump along and running down the clock. As for the demands that President Putin is making, those maximalist demands, well, President Zelenskyy had a response. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Nobody will withdraw our forces from our territories. It is my constitutional duty, the duty of our military to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Yes, there are temporarily occupied territories now because of the aggression of such a huge country, but we will accept no ultimatums. We will not give away our land, our territories, and our people, our homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: So you're hearing very clearly there the red lines for Kyiv. What did come out of this call is President Trump saying that there would be direct meetings as quickly as possible between Russia and Ukraine. We saw those at a low level in Turkey last week.

[03:05:06]

No clear details, though, on a date, a time, a place, a location, so unclear when that would be started again and when that would take place and where that would take place and whether those delegations would have any authority, because again, those low-level delegations in Istanbul last weekend were able to yield few results. There is also the specter that's being hung here by President Trump of the United States pulling back from these talks. You heard that there, President Trump saying that if he doesn't see any progress, he could simply just walk away.

Now, this raises a huge other fear for President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, the possibility that the United States could wind down its support for the country at a very critical moment in the fight. Russian troops have been advancing on those front lines, solidifying their gains, intensifying drone attacks and missile attacks on civilian areas. Ukraine feels it deeply needs U.S. support, particularly at this time.

And then, of course, there's this concern from European leaders as well that there will be no consequences to President Putin's action. Again, on that push for an immediate ceasefire, very little movement, very little progress. And then you have to remember that with President Trump, there's very little leeway here when it comes to negotiating with President Putin.

Yes, he can up sanctions, but that has had very little effect, which leaves you with this continuation of violence on the ground. Again, you said over 100 drones fired last night. So, a continuation of violence, while very little progress, very little steps are made towards that peace that Trump continues to promise.

CHURCH: Salma Abdelaziz in London brings us that live report. Many thanks.

William Taylor is a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. He's also a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council. I appreciate you joining us.

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE, AND DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Thank you, Rosemary. It's good to be here.

CHURCH: So, no breakthroughs after his two-hour phone call with Russia's President Putin about a potential ceasefire with Ukraine. With President Trump saying he trusts Putin and believes he wants peace.

But when asked if he had a red line with Putin, President Trump said he did, but would not provide specifics. And this while Putin refuses to make any concessions, repeating the line that the main goal for Russia is to, quote, eliminate the root causes of this crisis.

Does Putin have any intention of coming to the negotiating table, or is he just playing Trump here?

TAYLOR: Well, Rosemary, I think Putin is continuing to play. That is, he's dragging this out. He thinks that by waiting out the Ukrainians, the Europeans, and the Americans, that he can get what he wants.

So I don't believe he has an intention of coming to the table unless and until he's forced to. And there's the question for sanctions and continued military -- increased military support for Ukrainians. That will be the forcing function, that will be the push that would get Putin to the table.

CHURCH: Right. And I do want to talk about sanctions. But first, I mean, both President Trump and his vice president, J.D. Vance, are saying that the United States might pull out of the war in the talks unless Russia takes steps toward a peace deal.

But isn't that exactly what Putin wants, for the U.S. to step back and leave him to his war in Ukraine?

TAYLOR: I think so, I think you're right. That is, I think if the United States were to pull back and not put the pressure on Putin, then Putin gets what he wants. That is the continuation of this war.

He's not interested in a ceasefire. And again, the only way he is interested is if he's pushed to come to the table.

So the United States pulling back would not be in the interest of the United States or the Ukrainians or European security. I'm not sure, however, Rosemary, that the United States will actually pull back. The administration tells people that this war, the resolution of the Russian war on Ukraine, number one, is the top priority in foreign policy.

And so for them to pull back without real success, pull back without making progress, pulling back without the ability to do what they said they were going to do as their top priority, I think that would be a sign of weakness. And I don't think that's what they want to display.

CHURCH: Interesting, because after his call with Putin, President Trump posted on social media that, quote, "Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations towards a ceasefire and more importantly, an end to the war."

But what evidence is there to suggest that's actually going to happen? And why hasn't the U.S. applied those additional sanctions you talk about to pressure Putin to come to the negotiating table? Why wouldn't they do that now?

[03:10:08]

TAYLOR: The United States should do that now in conjunction with European allies. The United States coordinated last weekend with Europeans. The British, French, Germans, Poles got together and talked with President Trump about exactly this, about saying that the next step is a ceasefire, is a 30-day comprehensive air landing ceasefire.

And they agreed that if Putin did not come to the table, agree to that ceasefire, that sanctions would be imposed. That's the right next step -- that is still the right next step. Push those sanctions onto Putin so that he gets serious about these negotiations.

CHURCH: So what do you think President Trump's waiting for then?

TAYLOR: I think he has allowed President Putin to again defer and deflect. When the Europeans and President Trump last weekend agreed on this approach, ceasefire or sanctions, President Putin deflected this by suggesting these negotiations -- bilateral negotiations in Turkey on Thursday.

And we know that that didn't work. President Zelenskyy was there. President Putin ducked, he sent a low-level delegation.

So that's the same thing now. That is, President Trump goes into these negotiations, to this conversation, with the expectation that Putin would agree to a ceasefire.

And President Putin then deflects again and talks about more bilateral discussions or exchanging memos or pieces of paper. This is a deflection. What needs to happen is a serious effort to get Putin to the table.

CHURCH: And just very quickly, what does Putin mean when he says Russia needs to, quote, "eliminate the root cause of this war"?

TAYLOR: Well, he's been saying that forever. For three years, he's been saying. And what that means, very simply, is he wants Ukraine to surrender, he wants Ukraine to capitulate, he wants Ukraine to disarm, to change the regime, to be in a position where they cannot, Ukrainians cannot defend themselves. That's what Putin means when he says the root causes.

CHURCH: Ambassador William Taylor, thank you so much for talking with us. I appreciate it.

TAYLOR: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Israel is ramping up its bombardment of Gaza, even as it intensifies its ground operation called Gideon's Chariots. Israeli strikes killed at least 49 people across Gaza overnight, according to officials in the Palestinian enclave. This comes just one day after the Israeli Prime Minister announced that Israel is, quote, going to take control of the entire Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the U.K., France and Canada are threatening Israel with targeted sanctions if it continues its military offensive and blocks aid from entering Gaza.

On Monday, aid entered Gaza for the first time in nearly three months. Israel says it allowed five U.N. trucks carrying aid into the enclave. But humanitarian aid groups say more than 500 trucks of aid per day are required.

So let's go live now to Nada Bashir in London. Good morning to you, Nada. So what's Prime Minister Netanyahu hoping to achieve with this military operation?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Rosemary, the Israeli military and the Israeli Prime Minister's office have been clear that they are working to secure all of their military objectives through this renewed military ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, including securing the release of hostages, defeating Hamas.

And they have said, of course, expanding what they've described as operational control of the Gaza Strip or taking control of the Gaza Strip. Through this operation, we've seen the intensification of its aerial assault of the Gaza Strip alongside this now relaunched ground operation in Gaza.

But of course, once again, it is civilians that are bearing the brunt of this operation. What we have seen over the last 24 hours is more than 100 people killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Strip. And of course, we've seen the targeting of civilian areas as well.

While civilians have been warned in parts of Khan Younis to evacuate to so-called safe zones, we have seen the targeting of both northern and southern Gaza. Civilian infrastructure has been targeted once again, including medical facilities, medical supplies, warehouses, as well as displacement camps where civilians have been sheltering.

So this is a deeply desperate situation for many civilians inside the Gaza Strip. And this has drawn fierce backlash, as you mentioned.

[03:15:01]

We've heard from the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Canada in a joint statement warning that they will take concrete action if the Israeli military does not hold this renewed operation, including potentially sanctions. And of course, there has been growing pressure mounting from the international community for more humanitarian aid to be allowed in as well.

CHURCH: And Nada, although some aid is finally getting into Gaza, it's not nearly enough, as we have been discussing. When will more be coming?

BASHIR: Look, Rosemary, we've been talking about the potential for a famine as those warnings have come in from the United Nations for weeks, if not months now. Those warnings have been renewed by humanitarian leaders.

We've heard, of course, from the U.N.'s humanitarian affairs chief, Tom Fletcher, who has described the limited aid that has been permitted to enter the Gaza Strip by the Israeli authorities as a drop in the ocean in comparison to what is needed. UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told CNN just yesterday that Gaza is in need of thousands of aid trucks to be allowed and that the U.N. is prepared and ready to facilitate this.

And of course, we're talking about an 11 weeks long blockade on the Gaza Strip, preventing any food or humanitarian supplies from entering the Strip. More than 2.1 million people in Gaza, almost the entire population, are said to be at critical risk of famine if not more is done.

And of course, this has drawn fierce backlash from world leaders. The Israeli Prime Minister himself, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that this is something that his own allies would not stand to see if indeed famine is brought upon Gaza. So this is a point of huge concern.

But of course, this renewed military operation that we are seeing by the IDF on the ground and in the air will make things extremely difficult in terms of the distribution of aid and the logistical challenges that humanitarian groups on the ground face as well as the security concerns they face.

And of course, there is concerns around the medical facilities that continue to be targeted across the Gaza Strip. We've heard some harrowing accounts from doctors on the ground, including international medical workers who have gone in to support Palestinian doctors on the ground. So some deeply harrowing accounts being shared.

We have seen deeply harrowing videos emerging of those evacuations, including hospitals being forced to evacuate. So it is a desperate situation, which is likely only to get worse as this military operation intensifies. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Nada Bashir bringing us that live report from London. Many thanks as always.

Well still to come this hour, the U.S. Supreme Court clears the way for the Trump administration to end temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans. We'll have that and more after the short break.

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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone.

The first flight carrying migrants who self-deported from the U.S. has landed in Honduras. It's part of a Department of Homeland Security initiative offering undocumented immigrants $1000 to leave the country voluntarily. 38 Hondurans were on board, including at least four children who were born in the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security says the program is a way for families to stay together and is a significant savings compared to the $17,000 per case it currently costs to deport undocumented immigrants. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S. could be at risk for

deportation thanks to an order by the U.S. Supreme Court. CNN's Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This is a pretty technical decision, but it is still a win for the Trump administration as it will allow them to continue to pursue their sweeping deportation efforts.

In this case, the Trump administration had gone to the Supreme Court asking it to allow the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be able to continue to roll back certain deportation protections. Specifically, we're talking about a form of humanitarian relief known as a temporary protected status, TPS, and particularly when it comes to Venezuelans.

Now, the Supreme Court was asked to do this because back in March, a lower court, a district court judge, had blocked Noem from being able to do this, saying that she could not remove these protections for roughly 300,000 Venezuelans.

Those Venezuelans, the challengers, they argue that she was motivated by racial and political hostility. This is just the latest in a series of challenges to the Trump administration's immigration agenda that have reached the Supreme Court pretty quickly, so on an expedited basis.

Now, we did not get a full opinion from the Supreme Court. We don't have their reasoning or analysis, and we also expect that the litigation here will continue. But while that continues, the administration can start to roll back some of these protections.

Now, we'll note one justice, just in a single line, was noted as having been the only justice who would have denied this request. That is Justice Jackson.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: U.S. President Donald Trump has signed into law a bipartisan bill aimed at protecting victims of revenge porn and non-consensual explicit deep fake images. Technology has been used to target people from celebrities to teenagers. Now, the Take It Down Act makes it a criminal act to share those images.

CNN's Claire Duffy has more.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLAIRE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: The Take It Down Act that President Trump signed into law is going to do two important things to boost protections for victims of revenge porn and A.I.-generated explicit deep fakes. It is going to criminalize the sharing of non-consensual explicit images online, whether they're real or A.I.-generated, so that victims could go after the people who are sharing these images.

It's also going to require that tech platforms remove these images within 48 hours of being notified that they're there. And that means that victims can try to stop these images from spreading across the internet. This is, of course, very important as we've seen the use of sexualized deepfakes, where someone will take a real photo of someone's face and superimpose it on a nude body using A.I., growing as a form of harassment.

Everybody from Taylor Swift, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to high school girls have been targeted by this form of harassment. It's also notable because this is one of the first new pieces of legislation that we've seen that regulates how A.I.-generated content can be used. It received rare bipartisan support, including from First Lady Melania Trump, who was there in the Rose Garden on Monday afternoon alongside President Trump to sign this bill into law.

Claire Duffy, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Just ahead on "CNN Newsroom," the potential for pharmaceutical tariffs. Donald Trump could soon make good on his threat to impose them, what that could mean for U.S. drug prices. Back with that and more in a moment.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.

A two-hour phone call between the U.S. and Russian presidents failed to yield any significant progress toward ending the fighting in Ukraine. After Monday's call, Donald Trump claimed Russia and Ukraine would immediately begin talks, but the Kremlin says there's still no time frame for a possible ceasefire.

Israeli strikes killed at least 49 people across Gaza overnight, that is according to officials in the Palestinian enclave. This comes as the Israeli military ramps up its devastating new ground offensive in Gaza. Meantime, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel plans to take control of all of Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S. could be at risk for deportation. The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to remove their temporary protected status. An appeals court will now review why the administration revoked the protections.

Former U.S. President Joe Biden is addressing his cancer diagnosis for the first time in a post on social media as he expresses his thanks for the outpouring of love and support. Mr. Biden's post comes one day after it was revealed that he's been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men and many times it can be very, very slow growing. But the way it's characterized is by something called a Gleason score.

And we learned from President Biden's office that his cancer has a Gleason score of nine. And typically that describes essentially the way the cells look under a microscope. And lower numbers closer to six show that the cells look closer to normal, a higher number closer to 10 suggests they look more abnormal and suggest it is a more aggressive form of cancer.

And we know from President Biden's office that the cancer has spread to his bones. They say also that the cancer is sensitive to hormone therapy and that that's a good thing.

Doctors we spoke with said that that is typical. When you first start to treat prostate cancer often you do see it respond well to therapy that blocks male hormones. And a question will be does that continue to work for the President?

They say that will guide really future treatment options which could include things like chemotherapy as well as radiation therapy. So we understand that the President is working with his family and doctors to think about treatment options now.

Now a lot of folks might be asking you know how did this only get caught after it had already spread to the President's bones? And doctors say that's a complicated question because if you look at the screening guidelines for prostate cancer in the United States for men below the age of 70 it's really an individual decision with their doctors whether to screen routinely for prostate cancer based on just how fast the cancer often is growing if it's caught at that stage and the outcomes that change whether you're screening or not.

But for men over the age of 70 the recommendation isn't to routinely screen using PSA or prostate specific antigen testing for prostate cancer. And so while it's unclear if a president would be getting different treatment than the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines it's typically not recommended for men over the age of 70 to be routinely screened.

[03:35:05]

But prostate cancer is a very common cancer. One out of eight men in the United States are estimated to have a diagnosis of prostate cancer in their lifetimes. The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 300,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2025 and more than 35,000 men will die from the disease.

But a lot of folks are living with prostate cancer. In 2022 the estimate was three and a half million people living with prostate cancer. Doctors recommend folks you know really keep on top of their health, talk with their doctors about their own personal risk factors and make decisions about whether screening works for them based on the guidelines and everyone of course wishing the Bidens the best in this journey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Donald Trump could soon take action after threatening tariffs on pharmaceuticals as part of his trade policy that aims to boost domestic manufacturing. Just last week the U.S. President signed an executive order that aims to lower U.S. drug costs by cracking down on what the White House calls unreasonable and discriminatory practices by foreign countries.

Americans have long paid higher prices for many medications than patients in other countries. According to a Health and Human Services report, U.S. prices across all drugs, generic and brand name, were nearly 2.8 times as high as those in comparable countries in 2022. Brand drug prices in the U.S. were at least three times as high.

President Trump recently shared a story about a friend who paid $88 for a weight loss medication in London while that same drug cost $1300 in New York.

Marta Wosinska is a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings Institution's Center on Health Policy. Thank you so much for joining us.

MARTA WOSINSKA, SR. FELLOW IN ECONOMIC STUDIES, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION'S CENTER ON HEALTH POLICY: Thank you for having me on.

CHURCH: So U.S. President Donald Trump is telling big companies to eat the tariff that he has applied to so many goods as he tries to publicly shame companies for raising prices in the midst of his reciprocal tariffs. Will he be doing the same for big pharmaceuticals when those tariffs hit medications that Americans pay more for than most other people around the world?

WOSINSKA: So, one thing to clarify is that we do pay in the United States more for branded drugs, but we're paying much less for the generic drugs than people in other countries, which is really important actually for how tariffs will play out.

As to whether President Trump is going to be expecting manufacturers to eat it, I guess, is the expression that sometimes is being used. It is possible that he will be calling out.

My expectation is that branded manufacturers will want to do it on their own, largely for political reasons. They have a lot of policy, there are a lot of major policy issues on the table in the United States, and I think manufacturers, prescription drug manufacturers have said that they don't actually expect necessarily to be raising the prices. And I expect that this is the reason.

CHURCH: Right. So, what will be the likely impact then when Trump's pharma tariffs are applied to these medications, the generic and all specific medications in this country?

WOSINSKA: So, it depends on the type of the drug. I do expect that we might see, if they were applied to branded drugs, we might see a lot more announcements around on shoring of manufacturing, a lot more movement towards making drugs domestically for the U.S. market. It is possible that prices would rise for these drugs, but I would expect that there would be a lag because of various contracts.

Where I do think we're going to see sort of unexpected results is with generic drugs. Those are the drugs that have very low margins. There's a lot of competition in these markets, and if a manufacturer is facing a tariff and they cannot pass it on, they might leave the market.

And if enough of them do it, or if that manufacturer has a large enough market share, we might actually see shortages.

CHURCH: That would be a big concern, shortages in some of these medications. What happens in a situation like that?

WOSINSKA: I mean, of course, it depends on the type of the drug. If you have a shortage of toenail fungus drug, that's not a problem, but those are not the kinds of shortages that I worry about.

I worry particularly about cancer drugs. We experienced a very severe shortage of those kinds of drugs two years ago.

[03:40:03]

And as I sort of analyze the markets and think about what kinds of markets might be most vulnerable towards shortages, it's actually cancer drugs, old chemotherapy drugs that might actually be not available. And that clearly disrupts life-saving treatment for patients.

CHURCH: Yes, that is a real concern. So, what do you think the Trump administration's multiple goals are for tariffs on big pharma?

WOSINSKA: Well, I'm glad that you're actually mentioning that there are multiple goals because it's not just one goal that is here at play. So, clearly creating jobs, manufacturing jobs is one goal.

It is also a national security concern. There's been a lot of concern around the exposure of drug supply chains, not just drug supply chains, but including drug supply chains to China. So, the idea is that if we were to onshore, we might de-risk supply chains from China.

And then third, the president has not been particularly happy with branded manufacturers placing manufacturing outside of the U.S., especially manufacturing in Ireland where the tax rates are lower. And basically, they consider this a tax evasion. So, that's sort of another reason for trying to get manufacturers to come back to the U.S. and stop offshoring the profits. CHURCH: Marta Wosinska, thank you so much for talking with us. I

appreciate it.

WOSINSKA: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: Edan Alexander's mother says she has not stopped smiling. Coming up, CNN speaks with the parents of the freed Israeli-American hostage just over a week after his release by Hamas.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: After days of intense airstrikes, Israel insists its major new ground operation in Gaza is aimed at defeating Hamas once and for all, and securing the release of the remaining 58 hostages living and dead.

Last week, the last Israeli-American captive believed to be alive in Gaza, Edan Alexander, was released and re-entered the Gaza Strip. He is now in the Gaza Strip, reunited with his family. CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke with Edan's parents, hours after he was discharged from the hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YAEL ALEXANDER, EDAN ALEXANDER'S MOTHER: We are wonderful, you know. Wonderful, I cannot stop smiling.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I think this is the first time I've seen you guys smile since then.

Y. ALEXANDER: Right. We look different. Hope better.

ADI ALEXANDER, EDAN ALEXANDER'S FATHER: Yes, it's a real, really like a surreal view and feeling. It's unimaginable to see our son after 584 days walking, look the same, tall, beautiful kid. Unbelievable.

COOPER: You never gave up hope, either of you, did you?

Y. ALEXANDER: No, we never, we never.

A. ALEXANDER: One of the first questions Edan asked me, if I thought he's going to die and I'm never going to see him again. And I told him never in my life. I never thought that, I was absolutely positive we will see him again.

And we fought for him. He saw that and it gave him a lot of strength down there.

COOPER: I just want to play for our viewers again, Yael, the moment when you were reunited last Monday.

(VIDEO PLAYING) I mean, is it? I mean, you must have thought about that moment for a long time or maybe you didn't allow yourself to, but you must. Maybe you thought about it for a long time. It's got to be impossible to even describe what that felt like.

Y. ALEXANDER: So I was imagining this moment, I think, a million times. I had dreams about this moment. But you know what? When it happened, I was like, oh, my God, I just start to run, running and screaming.

And we almost fell because I came in full power to Edan and I was crying and he was crying and it was so amazing. I couldn't ask for more, you know, from this moment.

COOPER: I know it's got to be a complicated process in these days. I'm sure people have talked to you about how to kind of navigate the coming weeks.

Do you ask Edan questions about what happened? Do you just let him tell you what he wants? How do you handle this?

Y. ALEXANDER: So he's just telling us whatever he wants. We cannot tell him what to do, we're giving him options and we are looking for an answer that he would love to do, you know.

COOPER: When do you think you will bring him home to New Jersey? I mean, I can't imagine what that reception is going to be like.

[03:50:00]

A. ALEXANDER: He suffered some injuries on October 7 and some more injuries in the captivity, but -- and it needs to be taken care of here. So hopefully in a couple of weeks from now. And that's our hope. And this is what we will be pushing for.

COOPER: Did you guys know the strength that Edan has? I mean, did you know, you know, he's 21 now. He was, you know, not even 21 when he was taken. Yes, did he surprise you?

Y. ALEXANDER: He's our hero. We know our son. And that's why we had such a strong hope that he's surviving and he's strong because it's Edan, you know, he's so tough.

And he's also encouraging people inside captivity. That was the testimonials that we got from people that released you from the first release, the second release.

Everyone that saw Edan told us how encouraging he was and how optimistic it was. He was and it was amazing to hear.

A. ALEXANDER: I never got a doubt.

COOPER: You didn't have a doubt?

A. ALEXANDER: No, absolutely. He's an athlete. We consider ourselves like super lucky. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The Alexanders expressed their thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff for securing the release of their son.

Well North Korea shuts down again, cancelling visas not long after letting foreign tourists back inside the country. We'll have the details on the other side of the break, stay with us.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

The Hermit Kingdom might not be on every traveler's bucket list, but those wanting to visit are having a tougher time. North Korea was closed for years during the pandemic, then opened its borders again to foreign tourists just a few months ago. But now the doors seem to be closing again.

CNN's Will Ripley explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY JAGGARD, BRITISH YOUTUBER: All the Koreans are smiling and waving, heading to work.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): British YouTuber Harry Jaggard had never run a marathon, but when North Korea announced a handful of foreign spots for the Pyongyang Marathon --

JAGGARD: This is where all the military parades are.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Harry hit the ground running.

JAGGARD: These are not paid actors, these are real people.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Joining the first group of Westerners since COVID to visit North Korea's capital.

JAGGARD: Ten percent of the trip were athletes, runners, and then 90 percent were like content creators.

RIPLEY: Do you think the North Koreans knew that most of the people in your group were content creators like you?

[03:55:03]

JAGGARD: The tour guides definitely weren't expecting it. They said that the tour guides, they said that they'd never seen this many cameras like pointing at them.

Can we not mingle? Can we not mingle? They're going to bring one actor.

RIPLEY (voice-over): North Korea tries to carefully control every aspect of foreign tours.

JAGGARD: And one of the rules they told us was just like, you've got to ask your tour guide to film. If they tell you not to film, just don't film. And people were like filming in places they shouldn't be filmed.

RIPLEY (voice-over): They could not control questions like this.

JAGGARD: Do you feel like you know him?

UNKNOWN: Yes.

JAGGARD: He has a daughter.

UNKNOWN: I think so.

JAGGARD: And she will be the next leader?

UNKNOWN: Maybe? I'm not sure.

JAGGARD: Oh, okay. Okay.

RIPLEY: He looked pretty uncomfortable when you asked him that question.

JAGGARD: He was definitely uncomfortable. I found out after that, like, they don't really talk about the future, like the future leaders. They just talk about the present.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Soon after the marathon, North Korea hit the brakes, abruptly cancelling foreign visas for its international trade fair in Pyongyang.

RIPLEY: You guys already had flight tickets, hotels booked.

JUSTIN MARTELL, TOUR OPERATOR: We had our visas issued and then abruptly cancelled. That wasn't just us. That was actually over 200 Chinese and also Russian visitors as well.

RIPLEY: Did they say why?

MARTELL: They just said that it was in the national interest.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Tour operator Justin Martel was supposed to lead a 20-person business delegation. He also led tours to Rason, North Korea's special economic zone, earlier this year. Social media influencers quickly snatched up those spots.

MARTELL; Controversy creates clicks. It creates cash. The more sensational your video is, the more views you're going to get, the more followers you're going to get.

RIPLEY (voice-over): That reopening lasted less than three weeks. All trips suddenly cancelled without warning or official explanation.

MARTELL: There are some people in Pyongyang or higher up in the North Korean government who looked at the footage that came out from those YouTubers and thought that it didn't reflect positively. It's called the hermit kingdom for a reason. So all we can do now is hope for the best.

JAGGARD: These are the different haircuts we can get.

RIPLEY (voice-over): The closures mean, for now, none of this.

JAGGARD: Haircut like Kim Jong-un. Kim Jong-un haircut.

RIPLEY (voice-over): And more of this.

North Korea's carefully controlled state propaganda. A way to project power and military prowess without having to worry about anyone going off script.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And thanks for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. Have a wonderful day.

"The Amanpour Hour" is next. Then stay tuned for "Early Start" with Rahel Solomon starting at 5 a.m. in New York, 10 a.m. in London.

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