President Biden launches his second Democracy Summit today, with in-person and virtual participation by over 100 world leaders. Today’s summit comes as Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Biden trade barbs over the right-wing coalition's controversial judicial reforms, with Biden hoping they will be abandoned, and Netanyahu firing back that Israel makes its own choices. For more on this, Christiane speaks with Biden ally Senator Chris Van Hollen. 
Also on today's show: Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova; US House Democrat Maxwell Frost

Mar 29, 2023

It’s one day after another mass shooting in America – this time, at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee. It raises the same old, yet vital, unanswered questions? How long will this remain the norm? How long before legislators step in to actually save lives, as in so many other democratic nations? Firearms are the leading cause of death among American children and adolescents aged between one and 19 – and in Nashville, three children were among the six slaughtered at the...Show moreir school. Our first guest tonight is himself a survivor of gun violence: at 17, Joseph Sakran survived a bullet wound to the throat. Now he is a trauma surgeon in Baltimore, Maryland, regularly seeing at close quarters the visceral violence that these weapons cause. 
Also on today's show: Martin Indyk, former US Ambassador to Israel; former tennis star Boris Becker and Alex Gibney, director of "Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker”

Mar 28, 2023

A stunning display of resistance in Israel may have stopped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to weaken the judiciary – at least for now. In the face of massive protests and strikes, the prime minister says the proposal is tabled for the moment, but it could be brought up again as soon as a month from now. Whether this will be enough to calm the outcry is yet to be seen, though, as critics both inside and outside the country say the Israeli leader is making a troublesome slide towards de...Show moremocracy. Reporter Hadas Gold joins the show from Jerusalem, followed by former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. 
Also on today's show: Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief, The Economist; Peter Westmacott, former British Ambassador to France; Michael Specter, author, “Higher Animals”

Mar 27, 2023

The tense competition between the US and China boiled over in Congress this week in a hearing over social media app TikTok and how it handles data. Members of Congress repeatedly voiced their concerns over the app’s ties to China and its impact on American youth. The Chinese government says US lawmakers who want to ban TikTok are just part of a “xenophobic witch hunt,” while for his part, TikTok CEO Shou Chew defended his company’s autonomy and security. Alex Stamos knows all about global online...Show more threats, having worked as Facebook’s chief security officer, and now running a team at Stanford researching all of this. He joins the show to discuss.  
Also on today's show: Mike Chinoy, Author, “Assignment China”; financial journalist William D. Cohan

Mar 24, 2023

The 20th anniversary of the Iraq War this week reminds us of the critical importance of holding governments to account. Whistleblowing plays a crucial role in this pursuit. Daniel Ellsberg is probably the patron saint of modern-day whistleblowers thanks to one giant leap of courage and conscience. Leaking the Pentagon Papers in 1971, at great personal risk, changed the course of history, and revealed America secretly knew the war was unwinnable. 50 years later, Ellsberg is still deeply committed...Show more to peace and transparency, but this month – at almost 92 – he revealed his latest personal battle, after being diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer. He speaks with Christiane from his home in California to discuss his life, this farewell moment, and how to save lives by speaking out. 
Also on today's show: Musician Yusuf/Cat Stevens; Eric Schmidt, former CEO & chairman of Google

Mar 24, 2023

The United Nations says more than 8,300 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since Russia began its war. This as President Putin and his minister for children’s affairs have been slapped with arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court over the forced deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children. To discuss all this and prospects for accountability, Christiane speaks with the head of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, which last year was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. 
Al...Show moreso on today's show: Journalist Imara Jones; “Behayshta,” an Afghan girl prevented from going to school; Orzala Nemat, Research Associate, SOAS University of London; Rina Amiri, US Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights

Mar 22, 2023

The official civilian death toll from Russia’s war on Ukraine now stands at 8,317 – but the reality is that number is likely far higher. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken describes the “massive death and destruction” caused by Russian war crimes, as the State Department report on human rights highlights indiscriminate attacks on civilians and credible reports of execution, torture and rape. The International Criminal Court has just issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest over the case of forcibly...Show more deported Ukrainian children, and their chief prosecutor joins Christiane in London. 
Also on today's show: Neda Sharghi, sister of Emad Shargi, American detained in Iran; Sarah McCammon, NPR National Correspondent; John Kirby, NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications

Mar 21, 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping came together in Moscow today in what Beijing is casting as a “journey of peace.” But with Putin intent on crushing Ukraine’s democracy and Xi hoping for a new world being made more in Beijing’s image, is it more like the rise of the authoritarians? Vladimir Milov is Russia’s former deputy minister of energy, and he joins the show alongside former Pentagon official Michael Beckley. 
Also on today's show: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Author, “A Stranger in Your Own City”; Melvyn Leffler, Author, “Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq”

Mar 20, 2023

First: The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for allegedly deporting Ukrainian children to Russia. 
Next: A harrowing look at the Iraq invasion 20 years on through the lens of an acclaimed photographer. 
Then: An investigative journalist in Mexico dives into cartels, drugs, immigration and what's behind the epidemic of the disappeared.

Mar 18, 2023

A lightning Russian invasion into a neighboring state sends shockwaves around the world. President Putin blames the west, and in particular the United States, for triggering its attack. The White House scrambles to make the right response. Not Ukraine today, but Georgia in 2008, when then-President George W. Bush was stunned by a Russian attack on one of its neighbors. It proved a learning moment and demonstrates how the Bush era continues to shape American foreign policy. For more on this, Chri...Show morestiane speaks with President Bush’s former national security advisor Stephen Hadley, whose new book Hand-Off digs into the top-secret foreign policy memos Bush handed to his successor, President Obama. 
Also on today’s show: actor F. Murray Abraham; neuroscientist/journalist Stephani Sutherland.

Mar 16, 2023