Steven Reed, mayor-elect of Montgomery, Alabama, joins Christiane Amanpour to discuss his historic victory as the African-American mayor of the former Confederate capital and battleground of the civil rights movement. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, exiled Russian businessman and former oligarch, talks about Russia's unique form of gangster capitalism. Alex Gibney, director of documentary "Citizen K", speaks about creating his new doc that delves into the extraordinary and complex life of Khodorkovsky. Our Michel Martin sits down with Megan Phelps-Roper, former member of the notorious Westboro Baptist Church, to talk about why she left and how she feels about religion now.

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Amanpour: Steven Reed, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Alex Gibney and Megan Phelps-Roper

Amanpour is CNN International's flagship global affairs interview program hosted by Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

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Draft Episode for Apr 25, 2024

After six months of Republican obstruction, President Biden today signed into law a massive foreign aid package with nearly $61 billion earmarked for Ukraine. But the months of inaction highlighted Ukraine’s vulnerability to western politics, as well as a worrying shortfall in defense production across NATO. That's why British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to lift UK defense spending by almost a hundred billion dollars, investing 2.5% of GDP by 2030. Labour MP David Lammy could become the country's next foreign secretary and he's making a case for what he calls “progressive realism.” He joins Christiane to discuss. 
Also on today's show: author Salman Rushdie; Anne Applebaum, Staff Writer, The Atlantic 
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UK Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy

The desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to worsen. Amidst this crisis the US, the UK and others are still withholding funding to UNRWA, the main relief agency there. This was in response to Israel’s claims that some UNRWA staff members took part in the Hamas atrocities of October 7th. An independent review headed up by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has concluded that UNRWA’s neutrality must be strengthened. She joins Christiane from New York to discuss her findings. 
Also on today's show: David Vardanyan, whose father is imprisoned in Azerbaijan; historian Doris Kearns Goodwin; Ukranian conductor Oksana Lyniv 
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Chair of UNRWA Review Catherine Colonna

Opening arguments were heard today in the first ever criminal trial of an American president, as a jury of twelve detainees determines whether Donald Trump engaged in 2016 election interference over the payment of hush money to an alleged lover. This is happening just six months from the 2024 election where he is vying to get his old job back. Foes and allies of the United States around the world will be watching closely. To discuss all this, Christiane is joined by foreign policy experts Kori Schake and Nathalie Tocci. 
Also on today's show: climate reporter/author Abrahm Lustgarten; Palestinian and Ukrainian Refugee / Peace Ambassador for One Young World Zoya El-Miari 
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Foreign policy experts Kori Schake and Nathalie Tocci

We begin the show with the wider war nobody wants and the chain reaction playing out in the Middle East. With Israel and Iran’s decades-long shadow war now playing out in the open, the rules of engagement are being completely re-written. Christiane spoke to Britain’s former top spy John Sawers about the volatile situation. Meanwhile, in the absence of vital US aid for Ukraine, other allies are stepping in to fill the vacuum. The Czech Republic is now leading an international effort to deliver a million and a half artillery shells to Ukraine within a year. Czech President Petr Pavel - a former army general, and senior NATO official – joins Christiane from Prague. The world's biggest democratic exercise is underway in India as nearly a billion eligible voters decide whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserves a third term. CNN’s Will Ripley explains what’s at stake for this crucial US ally. Ukrainian Maestro Oksana Lyniv is a classical music trailblazer with a passion for conducting shaped by her life and the war in her homeland. Christiane met her at the New York Metropolitan Opera. From the Amanpour Archive this week, we revisit Christiane’s conversations with the stakeholders at the center of the aborted 2015 nuclear deal, which would have reshaped the Middle East as we know it. And, with military aid locked up in congress, Ukraine’s air defense crisis deepens by the day and Putin is pressing the advantage. Christiane asks Donald Trump's former Defense Secretary Mark Esper if he thinks GOP holdouts have fallen victim to Putin’s propaganda.
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Amanpour: Steven Reed, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Alex Gibney and Megan Phelps-Roper

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