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Full Israeli Cabinet Set To Vote On Ceasefire-Hostage Deal; U.S. Supreme Court Clears Way For TikTok Ban To Take Effect; Trump Inauguration To Be Held Indoors Due To Frigid Temps; The Global Importance Of The Panama Canal; FAA Opens Investigation Into Failed SpaceX Starship Launch. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired January 17, 2025 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:33]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: A very good day to you. I'm Richard Quest in London. Today, I'm sitting in for Jim Sciutto. I'm grateful for your joining me in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And these are the headlines.
The end of the day is nearing in Israel, and it's a day closer to the ceasefire and the hostage release deal coming into effect. Israel's full cabinet has been meeting for hours and are expected to vote on and approve the agreement, despite some last-minute public opposition from far right members. The smaller security cabinet has already given its approval this morning.
It is progress, but the deal is tenuous. Hamas has accused Israel of deliberate intensification of airstrikes to derail things at the last moment. Since the announcement of a deal on Wednesday, Israeli strikes have killed 117 people. That includes 30 children and injured 266 people, according to Gaza's civil defense. Israel earlier this week said it was striking terrorist targets.
The terms of the ceasefire do not come into force until Sunday.
Bianna Golodryga is in Tel Aviv following developments and speaking to the families of the hostages waiting for the potential release. So it's getting ever closer. And, I mean, I assume that the cabinet, the full cabinet is going to approve this, and then it is a wait and see until Sunday.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It is. And, Richard, we've been talking about this for the past few days. Sunday cannot come soon enough for the family members of those hostages that are expected to be released. And for civilians in Gaza who are desperate for the fighting to stop and for more aid convoys to go in. As you said, the full Israeli cabinet is meeting right now. The meeting has been going on for a few hours now. This was a bit of a surprise because earlier we had expected for this meeting to take place tomorrow after the end of the Sabbath.
But no, just hours after the smaller security cabinet met, the larger cabinet is now currently meeting, and it is expected that this will pass, that the majority will approve of this hostage ceasefire deal, despite the fact that there were elements of the far right coalition of Benjamin Netanyahu's government who tried to derail this deal and spoke out against it, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to resign. He likely will be in the coming hours, as this deal is expected to pass.
And, of course, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich voiced his outrage and disapproval of this deal earlier this week, saying that if phase one -- after phase one, if Israel does not go back into fighting into Gaza, thus blowing up this deal, that that he too would then resign. Nonetheless, the majority of the cabinet does appear to have the support of this deal, and once it does begin on Sunday, is when we can start to see the ceasefire kick in, we start to see the first of the hostages released, the prisoners for every single civilian hostage, 30 Palestinian prisoners will be released. And for the IDF officers, it is 50 Palestinian prisoners that will be released. And as noted, the aid starts to go in at a larger quantity, as soon as that begins as well. Richard.
QUEST: So the way things are moving, what is the actual order of events, if such, there be?
GOLODRYGA: So as we expect the ceasefire to begin, it is around 4:00 p.m. that we are understanding now that the Palestinian prisoners would begin to be released. This is as the Israeli hostages, three of them, three female civilians, are expected to be released to hospitals here in Israel. There are six hospitals that are waiting on standby to take care of and provide aid to the hostages as they are released, and the aid convoy trucks then start to go in as well.
And roughly 16 days into this ceasefire is when negotiations, Richard, would begin for phase two of the deal. In the meantime, phase one would consist of 42 days.
[15:05:01]
The first three hostages released on Sunday.
And then we believe that an additional four hostages who are expected to be the female IDF soldiers, will be released, likely next Sunday. But things are still fluid. And of course, as noted at the top of this segment, Richard, the families here in Israel, civilians in Gaza are very, very nervous that any one thing could set this deal off. It is a fragile deal, but it is the closest we have come to another ceasefire hostage deal since November of 2023.
QUEST: Bianna, grateful. Thank you.
Fawaz Gerges is with me, professor at the LSE and the author of "What Really Went Wrong: The West and the Failure of Democracy in the Middle East".
This is -- this is really tricky, isn't it? Because, you know, both sides are getting something out of it, and neither sides got anything really that it really wants. And from the Israeli point of view, Hamas is still a living force. So where do you -- what do you make of this?
FAWAZ GERGES, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMIC: Well, I think you summarized really the predicament both sides. Hamas is still standing. Hamas has suffered many blows. But according to the American secretary of state, as you know, Richard, Antony Blinken, last week, he said that Hamas has been able to recruit as many fighters as it had lost in the past 15 months.
So the question on the table for the Netanyahu-led coalition, what was the overarching strategic aim of this particular war? If this particular war, the objective, the gain -- I mean, the goal was to destroy Hamas. Hamas has not been destroyed. And mainly now were talking about tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been killed, more than 100,000 injured, 2 million Palestinians who have been displaced multiple times.
And, and, and, Richard, you have the misery and the pain and the suffering of the hostages, the 100 hostages and their families in Israel. So all in all, really, it was a great, horrible sacrifice and loss for the Palestinians, mainly for the Palestinians and the families of the hostages.
QUEST: In this scenario, the next few days will play out. And yes, some hostages will be released. We will find out who has been killed, which hostages we will have release of Palestinian prisoners. But we have this six weeks, don't we, when the Israeli right politicians are essentially hoping that nothing more gets done, and therefore the fighting resumes. That will play into largely whether President Trump, as he'll be, is prepared to put the pressure that Biden didn't.
GERGES: Ask me, how do I summarize? This is not the end of the war. Hamas wants a comprehensive end to the war.
Netanyahu, not just his coalition -- Netanyahu has insisted in the past 15 months about a partial ceasefire. My take on it, and I hope I am wrong, Richard, my take on it is that the 42 days, I mean, the ceasefire will hold, in the -- in the next six weeks.
But after the second phase will not hold because the second phase stipulates that Israel has to end the war in Gaza. And we know now that Benjamin Netanyahu nor his coalition want to end the war in Gaza or pull out their forces from Gaza.
QUEST: Right. But where do you think the new administration in Washington, which seems to have played both sides of the game in to some extent, where do you see Trump coming down?
GERGES: I think the ceasefire could have taken place without the Trump factor. In fact, the reason why all sides basically raced to conclude this deal before next Monday, the inauguration, President Biden made it very clear he wants the war to end.
My take on it is that Trump does not really want the Israel to resume the war, because he does not -- he does not want to deal with this particular migraine. He has bigger fish to fry. Also, I think that Benjamin Netanyahu gifted the ceasefire to Trump
and not to Biden, because its the same ceasefire that was offered to Benjamin Netanyahu about eight months or so, and he consistently refused.
QUEST: Right.
GERGES: So the question you just asked, do I know how President Trump will act if Israel resumes the war? The war? I don't -- but all we know about Trump is that he fully supports the far right coalition of Benjamin Netanyahu.
[15:10:06]
So all in all, it seems to me, I mean, Netanyahu is gambling that Trump will give him everything he wants after he reaches the White House next Monday.
QUEST: The final thought, though, does, you know, every time I talk about this, I just come back to this idea and -- aware of the huge dramatic suffering on both sides. But at the end of the day, we're, you know, on the hostage side, we're talking about getting released. People who were taken hostage more than a year ago have been kept in the most deplorable conditions. And at the same time, as you rightly point out, the Gaza population has suffered so much.
There are, you know, on Sunday and Monday of next week, there will be people of jubilation, to be fair. Yes, both sides, but there'll be no winners, will there?
GERGES: There are no winners. But forgive me, Richard.
QUEST: Sure.
GERGES: The sacrifice on the part of the Palestinians has been hellish. You're talking about more than 50,000 Palestinians who have been killed. More than 100,000 who have been injured, half of them are children and women.
Of course, the sacrifice -- the hostages have suffered a great deal. But you cannot really say that. I mean, the sacrifice has been equal and this is just -- it's not right.
And also, you and I, we have not mentioned there are more than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including children and women.
So the big question on the table is that what has Benjamin Netanyahu achieved in the past 15 months? Hardly anything. And yet he's going to tell the Israeli people that he basically broke the backbone of Hamas, even though Hamas, it will be there for the next year and the year after and the year after.
QUEST: We'll talk more in the days ahead. And I'm grateful, as always for the input. Thank you.
Wow, what a busy day it's been, a busy few days and more to come. Fans of TikTok are probably worried after today's Supreme Court decision. Now, the Supreme Court, you know, has basically said that the ban can go ahead. Well, what happens now?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:15:33]
QUEST: On Sunday, millions of Americans might actually have to say goodbye to TikTok.
The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for a ban on the popular app to go into effect. The court's justices rejected TikTok's argument that the ban would violate the First Amendment of the Constitution. The Biden White House has signaled it won't enforce the ban, saying that that task will fall to the incoming Trump administration.
In a phone call with CNN, the president-elect said he would decide what to do about TikTok. He didn't reveal whether or not he'd enforce the ban. So now the prospect of saying goodbye to TikTok has emotions of the apps users running high.
CNN's Anna Stewart has been gauging that reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SCREAMING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not ready!
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Emotions are running high for TikTok creators.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is like the first place that I have felt like I could just be myself.
STEWART: For many, it's not a hobby, it's a job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This has changed my life financially.
STEWART: TikTok has 170 million monthly users in the United States, and by its estimate, some 2 million content creators could lose $300 million in just one month.
Estella Struck founded a marketing agency to help sustainable brands grow on social media.
ESTRELLA STRUCK, FOUNDER, VIVIENE NEW YORK: I have been telling my creators to prepare for this and all of their TikTok videos and repurposing them to YouTube shorts and then Instagram trial reels. We will see a new era of new creators rise to the top.
STEWART: Gohar Khan got into not one, but six Ivy League colleges. He then started creating TikTok videos in 2020, giving college advice. Now he's partnered with companies including Google, best buy and adobe, and earns up to five figures a post. GOHAR KHAN, TIKTOK CONTENT CREATOR: It wasn't after I secured my
first brand deal, when I realized that this could be possible financially, and that I could potentially make a living from this.
STEWART: A lot of people just say it's simple, just, you know, move to a different platform. Is it that simple to just replace the monetization you get on TikTok with, say, Instagram?
KHAN: Definitely not. So repurposing your content or reposting your content to these other channels. That part is simple, but to assume that the other channels and that these other platforms will pick your content up in the same way, that's difficult because the TikTok algorithm is different from, say, the Instagram reels algorithm or the YouTube algorithm.
STEWART: If TikTok is banned, the app wont necessarily disappear from people's phones.
ELIANA GHEN, TIKTOK CONTENT CREATOR: It's not really going anywhere. You just cant download it. So at least well have time before like the bugs take over. Wow. I feel like I'm in like a -- we're in a zombie apocalypse.
STEWART: Nobody really knows what will happen on day one. It's likely to be unavailable on App Stores for download or updates. One solution for the creators, find a new content home.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: The Supreme Courts decision followed warnings from the Biden administration about TikTok posing a grave national security threat because of its ties to China. And the justices said one of its deciding factors in the case came from Congress's focus on national security concerns.
I want to bring in Ivan Tsarynny, the co-founder and CEO of Feroot Security, who joins me from Toronto.
And when you read the justices, we always knew they were going to give great credence and precedent to an administration's view on national security. That is the job of the administration. But they also widely quoted President Trump's own -- in his former life, President Trump's own criticisms of TikTok, TikTok and the way the Chinese hover up the data.
That's the problem, isn't it?
IVAN TSARYNNY, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, FEROOT SECURITY INC.: Yes, indeed. Thanks for asking. What we are definitely seeing is that TikTok, amongst other companies that are associated with China, are collecting a torrent of data on Americans and especially the English speaking data.
QUEST: What do you -- what do you believe they do with this data? I mean, is it of great interest to Chairman Xi? You know how many people go out on a Saturday night and get trashed? I mean, what -- what purpose, what purpose are they using the data for?
TSARYNNY: Yeah. Richard, this is a very loaded question. First of all, so some of that is confirmed. There's some of the things that we've seen, for example, where TikTok pixels and what is a pixel. It's a little piece of technology that many websites use. And they act such as like little digital camera that is recording everything people do in a website.
So that's something we've seen that that's how TikTok is collecting information on people who never even used the app itself. But what is important is that once the data is collected by companies like TikTok, then under the Chinese law, they are obligated to share that information upon request with the Chinese agencies. Therefore, it can potentially be leaked and used for various nefarious reasons and purposes.
QUEST: Such as what? I mean, I'm trying to understand. Look, I understand the whole GDPR EU. There is a natural wish of privacy, I understand that. What I can't quite work out is what are people so excited about when it comes to the Chinese? What do they think they're going to do with the data?
TSARYNNY: Yeah, that's a -- I will add my personal kind of speculation or opinion or thought here. What data -- what value data provides to organizations or states? It is, for example, in a -- in an era of A.I., A.I. is really powerful. America is the leader in A.I.
China is catching up and is trying to become a leader. What A.I. leaders need is the computation power and the data to train A.I., and how that data can impact what's the risk is they will they can know or they might know everything about you.
QUEST: So to some extent, there was never any way that bite was ever going to be able to satisfy the demands of the U.S., as long as no amount of saying were going to ring fence, saying were going to do this, saying were going to do the other, they were never going to be able to satisfy America.
TSARYNNY: Yeah. The main concern here again, when they are required to disclose information to Chinese agencies, they're also by many laws required to keep the fact of disclosure of that information confidential. So the risk here is that we may not even know if they have or when they have shared any of the information with the CCP.
QUEST: So all these other apps that are coming, you know, that stand to benefit from TikTok's demise, or at least falling off the cliff. And is this many of them are from China as well. You're seeing them on the screen now. RedNote, Lemon8 and Clapper, do they suffer the same fault of having to pass data on? Are they in the same category and likely to find the same problems?
TSARYNYY: Richard, this is really important question. I'm glad you're asking that. So the -- this current band is obviously is in the context of TikTok, specifically as an entity. However, the broader issue is the torrent of information and data on Americans that companies that are associated with China, that are maybe subsidiaries of ByteDance, Tencent, Alibaba or many other organizations that are collecting a lot of information about us that can be used against us at any point of time.
So stricter rules is also important to prevent potentially export of data to countries like that.
QUEST: You know, I was just thinking about a lot of the American politicians are now saying, oh, we must save TikTok. People are saying we must save TikTok, TikTok must be saved. But I also wonder when listening to you and the threat, is this not an example of what Lenin famously said? The capitalists will sell you the rope with which they will hang you.
And I wonder whether there's an element of this with TikTok, all these people wanting its great survival as a beacon of democracy and First Amendment when it's all the information is being sent to a government that stands for everything that's the opposite of what the First Amendment is all about.
TSARYNNY: Oh, indeed. This is a very, very important flashback to the history, and indeed, well, TikTok is really legitimate business. A lot of millions of people use it for, for their, you know, earnings.
However, in my personal opinion, I looking over the recent, you know, decades of technology evolution, there is always something next. So yes, there will be transitions to TikTok, be completely banned if its not sold to you, U.S. or American entity.
[15:25:04]
But the future -- there is future beyond TikTok, whether it's under American ownership or if there is another company will step up and take over the TikTok user.
QUEST: I'm grateful to you, sir. Thank you. I'm very grateful. Thank you.
Now, some of you, of course, may be saying, oh, hang on a second. It wasn't Lenin, it was Marx. And you might be right, I need to -- I need to use a bit of A.I. Let's see what chat says and lets see what Perplexity say.
And on the other side of the break, I'll tell you which one tells me what to say. Who actually said that about that?
We'll also tell you after the break. The crowd size attending Donald Trump's second organization. Look, there wont be any questions about how big, because the swearing in was going to be moved inside because of the frigid temperatures. And it's not the first time this has happened.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: It is one of the few times and dates that's actually in the constitution. On Monday, 20th of January at noon Eastern Time, President-elect Donald Trump takes the office again of the presidency. But this time, he will do it indoors in the Capitol rotunda, because there are going to be frigid temperatures in Washington. And the fear is of people being falling ill in dangerous cold.
It was a post that confirmed the mood. Mr. Trump said he would open the nearby Capital One Arena for live viewing, and he would join the crowd there after the swearing in. As the venue changes, we're also learning more about the guest list.
So the Chinese President Xi Jinping will not be in attendance. He's sending a special representative. Mr. Trump had invited the president to the event. The two spoke by phone.
Who will be there?
[15:30:01]
The three richest Americans Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg and a variety of other tech CEOs. Remember, President Biden is calling them the new tech oligarchs. Many of the rioters who stormed who stormed the U.S. Capitol after Trump lost reelection on January 6th. They have been invited.
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley is with me.
Good to see you, sir. Good to have you.
You know, I look I'm embarrassed to say I remember because I was meant to go to the inauguration in 1985 of Ronald Reagan. I was a student at Vanderbilt, and I was invited to go. And it was, of course, put inside. And that's the last time this has happened.
So they take it very seriously when it gets that cold, don't they?
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: They do. And I'm here in Washington, D.C. and there's just an arctic blast. You can feel its coming. They're talking about potential snow.
Back in 1985, temperatures were below zero. This won't be quite that cold, but with wind chill factor might be. So, going inside was a smart choice.
QUEST: There won't be as many seats now. This is when it gets interesting because you know you've got to have the regulars, you've got to have the cabinet, you've got to have the Supreme Court justice, blah, blah, all those people of government. But who will they turf out so the tech oligarchs can get in?
BRINKLEY: What an interesting question. You know, that's going to have to be a seating decision they make. I'm sure Trump will try to enter the stage at Capital arena with a lot of the people that would have been out there, you know, ostensibly shivering in the cold. They'll be now inside, and he's going to give them a speech.
So you're really getting the inaugural, then a Trump speech at Capitol. And then later that evening, there are three balls in Washington. And Donald Trump is committed to going to each one and not just doing a ceremonial slow dance, but to giving another talk, another lecture there.
Meanwhile, expect a blizzard of executive orders being signed by Donald Trump come Monday. He this -- he'll be 100 things that he'll try to blindside Democrats about right out of the gate.
QUEST: That's the interesting bit. I mean, we've had sort of -- we know what his priorities are in terms of tariffs, in terms of immigration and those areas. It is the extent to which he's going to use the EOs right off the bat, because he did it last time, of course, but this time he's a lot more experienced.
Do you have an inkling of what they'll be?
BRINKLEY: Yes. He's more experienced. And also his approval ratings are higher. He's now in the, you know, around 54 percent approval in the U.S. That's very high for Donald Trump. And people know he's going to do these.
But the thing about the executive orders, like last time Trump did one, doing an Arab ban on the United States, the courts say, you can't do that. A lot of this stuff will get kicked back, but he's going to be aiming to dismantle Bidenism, anything Joe Biden did at practically over the last four years, he's going to try to reverse, and he's going to try to get a muscular about undocumented workers and how to start creating an apprehension of those peoples program.
QUEST: We hear that Mr. Musk is going to have an office in the EEOB, next door to the White House. This is this is -- this is unusual on many levels that the world's richest man should have such unfettered access to the worlds most powerful man.
Should we -- should we be worried at this unconventional duopoly of power that seems to be existing where traditional rules of conflict and conflict of interest separation, et cetera, et cetera, have gone out the window, or am I just being old fashioned?
BRINKLEY: No. You're being Theodore Roosevelt-like. TR was so worried about of something like this, meaning, you know, the whole Rockefeller family or the Mellons feeling that they owned the country, that TR went into trust busting and monopoly breaking. He never would have allowed a captain of industry to have an office like Musk is being afforded. And Theodore Roosevelt's our fourth most successful popular president in America.
So I would warn Donald Trump about having Musk in that kind of proximity. It's a bad idea having Musk on his side. I understand it's a help, but starting to feed into the trap of this oligarchy that, Biden said in his farewell address may end up undoing Trump within weeks of his presidency.
Billionaires aren't all that popular in the United States. Musk captures people's imaginations because of space. QUEST: I'm grateful to you, sir. Gosh, you're -- to be able to tap
into your wisdom and knowledge. We are indeed fortunate tonight. Thank you, sir.
BRINKLEY: Thank you.
QUEST: Now, renewed interest in the Panama Canal, and it's largely thanks to Donald Trump. The president elect says U.S. ships are charged too much, and he thinks control should go back to the United States.
CNN's Phil Mattingly takes a look at the importance of the canal, both to the U.S. and the global shipping market.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the Panama Canal, a 51-mile corridor linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Its creation helped the United States become a global superpower.
Most people don't get access to this. But what you're standing on top of right now, it's a modern marvel. It is an engineering miracle. Only twice in the history of the Panama Canal has transit actually stopped. It's that invaluable to world trade, to the world economy, to geopolitics in general.
It also underscores why any president, President-elect Trump being one of them, cares so deeply about its operations.
Now, Trump's interest in the Panama Canal, it makes a lot of sense. It's 4 percent of global shipping. That's what comes through here on an annual basis, 40 percent of U.S. containers come through this waterway. But what people here unequivocally do not understand is why, after 25 years of smooth operations under Panama's control, all of a sudden Trump is threatening to take it back and refusing to rule out using military force to do so.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Panama Canal is a disgrace.
MATTINGLY: He's railed against how the canal is being run and China's growing influence around the waterway.
TRUMP: They charge more for our ships than they charge for ships of other countries. They charge more for our navy than they charge for navies of other countries. They laugh at us because they think we're stupid, but we're not stupid anymore.
China's at both ends of the Panama Canal. China is running the Panama Canal.
MATTINGLY: I asked the man who was in charge of the canal for seven years, Jorge Luis Quijano, about those claims.
Does the canal charge U.S. ships more than others? JORGE LUIS QUIJANO, FORMER PANAMA CANAL ADMINISTRATOR: No.
MATTINGLY: Does the canal charge the U.S. Navy more than others?
QUIJANO: No.
MATTINGLY: Are there Chinese troops operating in the canal?
QUIJANO: No.
MATTINGLY: Does Beijing or the Chinese Communist Party operate the canal?
QUIJANO: Definitely no.
MATTINGLY: Trump's current Panama fixation has left officials here perplexed and frustrated, but also cognizant of the former real estate magnate's roots in the country, long before his turn to politics.
TRUMP: Well, my interest in Panama really began when we had the Miss Universe contest in Panama, which I own. I own the Miss Universe, and it was one of the most successful contests we've ever had.
MATTINGLY: Not all of his business dealings in Panama have been a success.
There's a complicating factor for Panamanian officials trying to figure out what the president-elect actually wants here. And that starts right here, because this building, this building is the tallest building in Central America, and it is a building that used to be known as the Trump International Tower and Hotel, also home of the Trump Ocean Club.
Now it is neither.
The gleaming 70-floor resort marked Trump's first international hotel venture, a massive project, mired by mountains of litigation and confrontation that led to the removal of Trump's name from the property, halfway through his first term in the White House.
As for Trump's attack on the terrible deal that set in motion the U.S. handover of the canal and its surrounding zone to Panama, that's rooted in an even longer standing preoccupation.
TRUMP: Jimmy Carter gave the Panama Canal away for nothing. Zero. In other words, they said, we want the canal. He said, oh, okay, even though we spent the equivalent of many billions of dollars to build it.
MATTINGY: Now, Trump is calling for Panama to reduce the tolls and rates U.S. ships pay to transit the canal, or else.
ILYA ESPINO DE MAROTTA, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CANAL: That was one of our dredges working on it.
MATTINGLY: I put that to Ilya Espino de Marotta, deputy administrator of the canal.
You know, one of the things that you hear from people in the United States is just all Trump wants is you just cut the rates a little bit for U.S. ships or make some adjustments there just for U.S. ships.
Is that a plausible option?
DE MAROTTA: It's not a possible option.
MATTINGLY: Why not?
DE MAROTTA: Because of the treaties.
MATTINGLY The same treaties Trump rails against mandate equal treatment of all vessels. No U.S. carve-outs.
Trump has also ignored that the canal today is far bigger than the one handed over by the United States.
There was an expansion.
DE MAROTTA: Yes.
MATTINGLY: The U.S. government played what role in the expanded version?
DE MAROTTA: Okay. As far as -- financially, none.
MATTINGLY: More than half of the revenue that comes in from the Panama Canal doesn't come in through the one that the United States was integral in building. It comes in through the expansion.
DE MAROTTA: That's right.
This is the Atlantic side.
MATTINGLY: Marotta led the massive $5.2 billion project, which dramatically expanded the size of cargo ships that can traverse the canal.
So when President-elect Trump says he's taking -- he wants to take the canal back, do you guys get to keep the one you did?
[15:40:01]
QUIJANO: No, no. No, no, no. We get -- we get to keep everything.
MATTINGLY: Phil Mattingly, at the Panama Canal, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Now to the deadly wildfires still plaguing southern California. The Palisades Fire is now 27 percent contained, as crews also work to determine what sparked it, what set it off. Firefighters have some friendlier winds over the weekend of another possible sundowner wind event next week. To help with the recovery efforts, a benefit concert has been announced. Among the artists, it will feature native Angelinos Billie Eilish and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And today, the dodger stadium is hosting a donation event where victims can come and get essentials.
And that's where Julia Vargas Jones is, and at the stadium. So it looks a large event. How is it proceeding?
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Richard, this is a place where families who were displaced by the fires can come and get some essentials. They can get school supplies, some, you know, fun gear from their favorite sports teams. Perhaps kids can even meet some of the Dodgers players I spoke to and saw a lot of very happy, grinning kids, just kind of trying to have reprieve from what's been surely a very difficult week, you know, and what we are seeing in the middle of all of this devastation is this spirit of community, this kindness that Angelinos have shown to each other.
And I personally saw that even in the middle of the fires, with people helping each other. And now to have it come from these beloved entities, the Dodgers, as well as other sports teams have pledged about $8 million in recovery and help to firefighters and other frontline workers who are working on putting off these fires, Richard.
We are also hearing about this big concert, this fire aid concert, in less than ten days with some native Angelinos like Billie Eilish and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lady Gaga, Joni Mitchell, a personal favorite of mine and all of this is to support in the rebuilding phase. All of this is to help L.A.
You know, the estimates of how much this is going to cost to put together there, just off the charts. The governor, Gavin Newsom, trying to bring some funding from California, more than $2.5 billion, that is already not going to be enough. Celebrities are stepping up as well, from Beyonce to Taylor Swift, giving as much as they can, I assume.
And, Richard, this all happening as families have to come to grips with, you know -- yes, we want to come together and be in community, but also the indignation and feeling many of them like not enough was done asking questions from both the fire department, the fire chief and saying, look, its time for us to come home. They want to go and survey the damage. They want to be able to tell their kids, at least, you know, when is it that we can return to something, a semblance of a home?
QUEST: All right. Thank you.
This is CNN. Back in a moment.
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[15:46:24]
QUEST: There's an urgent need for aid in Gaza. Hospitals in the region are nearly all destroyed, and some people can't afford to wait for the ceasefire to begin to get the medical care they desperately need. It's hoped the pause in fighting will enable patients to leave Gaza to get life saving treatments overseas.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has the story of one girl in a race against time to treat a rare genetic condition, and a warning her report contains graphic images that some of you may find disturbing.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Habiba. She's just 2 years old, but Habiba may not have long to live. What you're seeing all over her body, doctors believe, is caused by a rare genetic condition, protein C deficiency. It causes excessive blood clotting, which spreads all over her body.
What's spreading through her body doubled in size or even more in a matter of minutes, her mother Rena (ph) says. I saw the blood starting in one arm and spreading to the other. Habiba is in so much pain, she can't eat or sleep.
Leave me alone. Leave me alone, she cries. Even her mother's gentle touch is too much.
She says, mama wawa or ouch, and I can't do anything for her, Rena says.
Habiba's condition is rare, but it could be treated, just not in Gaza, where health care has been decimated by Israel, where medical workers have been left with little to save lives.
And parents like Rena left helpless as they watch their children suffer and die a slow death.
She tells me, mama, help me stand up. Mama, I want to walk. I want to put my shoes on, so I can go bye-bye, Rena says. She wants to play. She can't even do the most basic things like hold her pacifier.
This was Habiba just a few months ago. Her mother says she was a happy child, so full of life. Now she lies motionless on a hospital bed. Surgical gloves turn into balloons to try and cheer her up.
After massive effort by aid groups, the Israeli military approved Habiba for a medical evacuation. A U.N. and Red Crescent convoy moved her and her mom out of Gaza City.
It's only a first step in what's usually a long and complex process of getting Palestinians out of Gaza for urgent medical treatment. A comment to CNN, Israeli authorities say they have facilitated the evacuation of more than 1,000 Palestinians abroad for medical treatment in recent months, but more than 12,000 Gazans have been waiting for Israeli approvals for months.
In one of the last hospitals in the South, Rena's reunited with her sister for the first time in 15 months. They're like so many families torn apart by a vicious war. And now this mother was forced to make an impossible choice.
To stay by Habiba's side, she had to leave her 11-year-old son behind. Habiba's condition is deteriorating by the day. They don't know when she'll be allowed out of Gaza. Even with the ceasefire deal, it could still take time. Time Habiba doesn't have. Doctors believe it's too late to save her right leg. Her other limbs and her life are now at risk.
[15:50:01]
And unless they get her out of Gaza soon, it might be too late to save little Habiba.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: You know, as you and I continue our discussions tonight, SpaceX and the starship that exploded shortly after take the pictures were impressively dramatic from those who saw what happened.
But, of course, SpaceX needs to understand the reasons before it proceeds further.
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QUEST: In the United States, the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration has announced it's investigating the property damage that was caused with the debris that fell from SpaceX when it failed to launch on Thursday.
Now, it was 8-1/2 minutes into the launch of the mega rocket Starship when the thing exploded, debris was sent streaking across the sky, which was extremely impressive. Unless you were on the Turks and Caicos island, where a lot of that debris seemed to fall on top of you.
There were certainly flight delays. Starship was on its seventh uncrewed test flight, had already climbed 90 miles in altitude and was traveling at 13,200 miles an hour. And then SpaceX calls it a rapid, unscheduled disassembly. You and I would call that a crash or a blowing up.
All flights of the spacecraft and rocket system are grounded as the investigation continues.
CNN's aviation correspondent Pete Muntean, on what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This is significant because it could be the first time that falling space debris has ever had a major impact on air travel like this, though not the first time that falling space junk has been seen by pilots. Remember, it is the Federal Aviation Administration that controls the airspace in the United States, these same federal agency that grants the launch license to SpaceX.
So there could be an interesting rub developing here. Pilots reported seeing the view of Starship breaking up about ten minutes into its test flight, 90 miles above the earth. That's when the link to Starship was lost, and there was apparently real concern that some of this could fall on a commercial flight below, because the airspace in the Caribbean can be very busy, especially in the wintertime.
So the FAA put into place a rare sweeping delay for flights leaving Miami International Airport. Also, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. And this was the peculiar line. Flights were delayed an average of 45 to 60 minutes because of a rocket launch anomaly.
[15:55:06]
A separate alert said this was due to debris. Want you to listen now to this recording from liveatc.net of pilots telling air traffic controllers of the colorful display that was unfolding in front of them. Listen.
PILOT: Just got a major streak going from at least 60 miles. There are all these different colors. Just curious, it looked like it was coming towards us, but obviously because of the distance. Just -- just letting you know.
MUNTEAN: The good news is this did not last for all that long.
And here's the statement from the FAA: The FAA briefly slowed and diverted aircraft around the area where space vehicle debris was falling. Normal operations have resumed.
The FAA says it was able to divert some flights away, but also keep incoming flights out of the area of concern. This is exactly why the FAA restricts airspace and will slow flights for a launch. Private space flight really makes the skies even more crowded than they already are.
So this is the first time that this has happened, but maybe not the last. The FAA says it establishes what it calls a debris response area when something like this happens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Pete Muntean reporting there.
And I thank you for your time and attention. I'm Richard Quest. On the other side of this break, I'll have "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" with the bell.