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Canada, Mexico, China Fight Back Against Trump's Tariffs; Trump to Speak to Canada, Mexico in Coming Hours; Trump Revokes Status of Thousands of Venezuelan Migrants; Congolese Civilians Fear Violence, Rape and Rebel Advance; Improved Drones Able to Deliver Aid in Hard- to-Reach Areas; Former Spain FA Chief on Trial Over Forced Kiss at World Cup; Music's Big Night. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 03, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello wherever you are in the world. You are now in the CNN Newsroom with me, Ben Hunte in Atlanta. So good to have you here.
Coming up on the show, consumers and companies around the world brace for impact as Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs ignite a trade war. The U.S. president admitting this may cause some pain. Thousands of Venezuelan migrants lose their protected status in the U.S. leaving an entire community vulnerable to deportation. And it was the unsolicited kiss that triggered international outrage. Now Spain's former football chief will stand trial for the infamous Women's World cup incident.
With just one day to go until U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs roll into effect, he's now preparing to deal with the consequences of his decision. Canada, Mexico, and China are all fighting back with countermeasures of their own. President Trump says he'll speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as well as officials from Mexico within the coming hours, but he doesn't expect anything dramatic to come out of those conversations. Mr. Trump defended the tariffs as necessary to curb illegal immigration and the drug trade.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That has to balance out their trade. Number one, that got to stop people from pouring into our country. And we've stopped it. They haven't stopped it. We've stopped it.
They have to stop people from pouring in. And we have to stop fentanyl, and that includes China. Fentanyl has killed this year at least 200,000 people. It's pouring in from China through Mexico and Canada, and they've got to stop it. And if they don't stop it, the tariffs are going to get worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNTE: Well, Canada has already implemented its own counter tariffs. Mexico says it will be unveiling its plan later today. And China says it will reveal corresponding countermeasures, but didn't elaborate on that. The world is bracing for all of this to impact global markets and trade. Already, markets in Asia have tumbled, for U.S. Futures are sharply lower and a sign that investors are worried a tariff war could spur inflation and be a drag on growth.
Many economists have warned that American households will likely bear the brunt of these tariffs. CNN's Alayna Treene has more on that.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, just one day after citing steep tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, President Donald Trump acknowledged what many economists, people on Capitol Hill and even some of his own advisors in their previous lives, I should note, have been warning all along, which is that Americans may feel the impact of these tariffs on their wallets. This is what Donald Trump posted on Truth Social earlier Sunday morning. He said, quote, "This will be the golden age of America. Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe and maybe not. But we will make America great again and it will all be worth the price that must be paid."
Now, really, that last line there, I think is the most notable. He says it will be worth the price that is paid. This is really a warning to a lot of Americans. One is that the president is very serious about wanting to stop the stem of migrants, undocumented migrants, I should say, and drugs, specifically fentanyl, from coming into the United States. But he also his warning that, you know, doing so may be uncomfortable or even worse for many Americans who are already contending with the high cost of living.
Now, one thing that's still unclear is when some of these higher prices or the impacts of these tariffs might start to be felt. We know that they are slated to go into effect on Tuesday beginning at 12:01 a.m. And another thing that's still unanswered right now is if there is an off ramp. We know that some of these other countries, Canada, Mexico, China, all of them have tried to see if there is any sort of resolution that they have could have reached or are kind of convinced the Trump administration in order to back away from these tariffs. But we heard the president himself say on Friday that there weren't any concessions that he believed they could make at this point.
And on a briefing call with reporters on Saturday evening, White House officials also declined to lay out specific benchmarks that Canada or Mexico could reach in tightening their borders or curbing fentanyl flows that would allow the tariffs to be lifted. We also know that in the fine print of these tariffs that Donald Trump signed on Saturday, it does have a retaliation clause. That means that he could perhaps raise these tariffs even further if he believes that these countries are responding in a way that he doesn't necessarily agree with.
[01:05:05]
Alayna Treene, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
HUNTE: Canada is now retaliating with its own tariffs on more than $150 billion worth of U.S. goods. And the country's finance minister doesn't see an immediate exit ramp.
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DOMINIC LEBLANC, CANADIAN FINANCE MINISTER: I'm very pessimistic that by Tuesday we can get out. My conversations with Howard Lutnick and others in the administration tell me that perhaps in March there's a window again. But most of this is so unpredictable.
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HUNTE: However, the Canadian ambassador to the U.S. is more optimistic.
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KIRSTEN HILLMAN, CANADIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: This is a disrupting and incredibly successful trading relationship, a trading relationship that was just renewed by President Trump in his last term when we renegotiated the NAFTA and brought our trade between our two countries to 99 percent tariff free. So we're really disappointed and we're hopeful that they don't come into effect on Tuesday. This is not something that Canada wants to do. This is not a path that we are interested in going down. We are actually interested in being and continuing to be your best customer.
We buy more from you than any other country on the planet. And we love our American products. So, we support 8 million jobs in the United States through the exports that you send to us. Let's keep that going and let's build on that. Let's not -- let's not diminish it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTE: Well, in the coming hours, Mexico is expected to reveal its own details on its own retaliatory tariffs on goods from the U.S. The Mexican president has previously said the plan would include both tariff and nontariff measures. Meanwhile, Claudia Sheinbaum is rejecting the Trump administration's accusations that her government has ties to drug cartels. She says the U.S. has done little to fight drug trafficking. But amid the escalating trade conflict, she does acknowledge that problems are addressed through cooperation.
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CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Mexico does not want confrontation. We start with collaboration between neighboring countries. Not only does Mexico not want fentanyl to reach the United States, but we do not want it to go anywhere. Therefore, if the United States wants to combat criminal groups and wants us to do so together, we must work in an integrated manner, but always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration, and above all, respect for sovereignty. Sovereignty is not negotiable.
Coordination, yes. Subordination, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNTE: Meanwhile, China has said there are no winners in a trade war, but has been preparing for the tariffs promised by Donald Trump. CNN's Marc Stewart has more from Beijing.
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In many ways, this is not a surprise to China. It's something that President Trump talked about on the campaign trail. And in many ways, China has been preparing for this tariff threat, expanding its export base beyond the United States to a wider branch of countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, even Russia, kind of a preemptive move, but also part of its effort to establish itself as a leader in a new world order.
As far as retaliation, what will China do? Tariffs are always a possibility, but right now, the Chinese economy is dealing with a lot of struggles. The economy is shaky. People are wary and leery about spending money. China is also dealing with trade tension in Europe. So tariffs may not necessarily be the route of action it takes.
China does have something working in its favor, and that's its factory system. The factories in China are big. They are sprawling. They're also very nimble and can adjust quickly. So, for example, if a clothing company wants to change the color or style of an item, it's something that China can do quickly and that gives it a lot of value.
In addition, China makes a lot of products that Americans depend on every day, things such as clothing, electronics as well as furniture, everyday household items. So in that sense, China does have perhaps the ability to leverage its supply chain.
Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.
HUNTE: Well, there is a lot to get into, so let's break it all down with Washington State University's economics professor, Christopher Clarke.
Christopher, thank you so much for being with me. How are you doing?
CHRISTOPHER CLARKE, ASST. PROF. OF ECONOMICS, WASHINGTON STATE UNIV.: I'm doing very well. Thanks for having me tonight.
HUNTE: You're so welcome. Firstly, I just want to talk about the international effects of these tariffs. Assuming that America's allies are actually still its allies, how is all of this affecting those very relationships?
CLARKE: Well, this is a huge break from decades and decades and generations of strong work. It took years of negotiations to create NAFTA in 1994, the free trade agreement between Canada, U.S. and Mexico. It was revamped under the Trump administration's first round and then it's just thrown all out in one weekend here.
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HUNTE: My goodness. And do you think that this is actually temporary or these tariffs here to stay now? CLARKE: Well, I think, as we've already heard, there's not an exit ramp given by the Trump administration. Multiple justifications have been given. He said it's about fentanyl, but they're not apprehending much fentanyl coming from Canada. He says it's about the trade deficit, but the trade deficit with Canada is really small. He says it's about immigration, but again, where's the immigration from Canada?
So, you can point these things to China, Mexico and Canada in some respect, but there is no clear exit ramp. So, here to stay for now.
HUNTE: And have you been surprised by how fast all of this seems to be happening? It feels like the world wasn't really prepared --
CLARKE: Yes.
HUNTE: -- for Trump 2.0.
CLARKE: No, definitely not. There were so many different campaign promises, many contradictory. Many didn't know what was going to happen. And when he announced 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, we all thought -- I thought this was going to be about China, geopolitical issues going forward, or manufacturing. But Canada and Mexico have had a well-integrated economy with us, have been close friends and allies for generations.
It has been quite a shock to see these things finally come into fruition.
HUNTE: I actually asked my guest on yesterday's show whether she thought the voters were lied to because I thought that people wanted Trump in order to stop inflation, bring down the price of eggs. What do you think? Were people lied to?
CLARKE: Well, I always hesitate to attribute motive to anybody.
HUNTE: OK.
CLARKE: But if they were promised that eggs would be lower, if they promise inflation would be lower, tariffs are not how you do that. Tariffs do the opposite. I mean, we're expecting the inflation to go up by half a percentage point. We're expecting American families to be paying $1,000 more a year in higher prices from goods we import from our neighbors.
HUNTE: We've already seen the reaction on global markets. How much will it really impact the world? Break that down for me.
CLARKE: So the estimates that we have when we plug these things into kind of standard macroeconomic models is that the United States economy is expected to grow a half a point less. For reference, the U.S. economy is growing two and a half percent to 3 percent. So it's not going to cause a recession, but it does lower our potential. And that means less more -- less jobs will be created in the future and a less robust economy than otherwise. HUNTE: Well, I just learned so much from that, and I'm sure there's more to come. So, Chris Clark, thank you so much for now. Really, really appreciate it.
CLARKE: Thank you for having me. It was fun.
HUNTE: The U.S. president issued a warning to Panama just hours after his top diplomat Marco Rubio paid a visit to the Panama Canal.
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TRUMP: What they've done is terrible. They violated the agreement. They're not allowed to violate the agreement. China is running the Panama Canal. That was not given to China, that was given to Panama foolishly. But they violated the agreement, and we're going to take it back or something very powerful is going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTE: Rubio's in Panama as he launches his inaugural trip as secretary of State. He met with the Panamanian president and discussed the White House's concerns over China's presence around the canal. Panama's president repeated that sovereignty over the waterway is not up for debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSE RAUL MULINO, PANAMANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): There is no doubt that the canal is operated by our country, and it will continue to be so. I do not think there has been a discrepancy in that. The president has his opinion about the Chinese presence, which will be clarified at the appropriate time in the technical instances of the canal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTE: But he also seemed to offer a concession over what's turned out to be a surprising fixation in Trump's foreign policy. Our Patrick Oppman has the details.
PATRICK OPPMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At his first stop on his first trip abroad as Secretary of State, Marco Rubio visited Panama, which has emerged as a surprising point of contention during the second Trump administration as President Donald Trump has claimed without any evidence that the Panama Canal has fallen under Chinese military control. During his trip in Panama, Marco Rubio called on Panama's government to make immediate changes to show that the Panama Canal is not under Chinese control, something that Panama's government has consistently denied.
On Sunday, Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino told Rubio that Panama would no longer take part in the Chinese investment program, the Belt and Road Initiative, which would appear to be a major concession to the U.S. all the same, though, Rubio and the Trump administration are turning up the pressure on Panama, which of course has been a longtime U.S. ally. All the same, though, Trump has been fixated on this point, saying that the Panama Canal will once again fall under U.S. control. And for the Panamanian government there is some sense of frustration of how do they prove that the canal that has been administered now for more than 25 years by Panama is not secretly being controlled by the Chinese. Of course the U.S. gave back control of Panama in agreement -- in an agreement with that country almost 50 years ago.
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And despite the fact that Panama has been helping the US when it comes to immigration, the number of migrants that come through the daring gap between Colombia and Panama, something that Marco Rubio complimented in Panama, something he said that Panama has been an ally to the United States on very clearly when it comes to this issue of the canal, something the Trump administration has threatened military action on if they don't see the results of their pushing for very clearly despite the visit of the Secretary of State over the weekend. More diplomacy is needed.
Patrick Oppman, CNN Havana.
HUNTE: Recovery crews in Washington are searching for the remains of a dozen people presumed killed in Wednesday's deadly midair collision. What's next for the recovery efforts after the break? Plus, the cease fire deal between Israel and Hamas is about to enter the second phase of talks. We'll explain what that means just ahead. You're in the CNN Newsroom.
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HUNTE: In just a matter of hours, recovery crews will begin clearing the wreckage of Wednesday's fatal midair collision over Washington, but they have not found the remains of 12 people presumed killed in the crash. Engineers plan to remove pieces of the jet from the Potomac River before removing the Black Hawk helicopter. So far, officials have recovered and identified 55 bodies from the crash, but mango debris has made recovery efforts especially difficult for dive teams. There was a powerful moment on Sunday where families of victims gathered along the banks of the Potomac near Reagan International National Airport to honor their loved ones.
And five people remained hospitalized following the Medevac plane crash in Philadelphia on Friday, three in a critical condition. Authorities are working to figure out what caused the crash and now have the cockpit voice recorder to help in their investigation. The crash killed seven people, including the six Mexican nationals on board the air ambulance. The operator, Jet Rescue, confirmed the identities of the four deceased crew members pictured here. A child patient and her mother were also killed on the flight, which was bound for Tijuana.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington at this hour. He's scheduled to meet Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump when Netanyahu meets with Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. He's scheduled to meet Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump, and he'll be the first world leader to meet with the president since the inauguration. The meeting comes at a critical time.
In the Meantime, families of the latest group of freed hostages thanked the government involved in their release, but urged Israel to reach a deal to free all of the remaining hostages in Gaza, offer his home.
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SHARON KALDERON, SISTER-IN-LAW OF HOSTAGE OFER KALDERON: After 484 days in hell, we had the privilege to hug him again. We want to take -- to say thank you for the French government, President Macron and Claire Legendre and Paul Soler of all the help that they gave us. Thank you for the President Trump and his team that they pushed to the deal that brought us Ofer back. We have finished this struggling about Ofer's life is here. Now we are joining to the struggling of bringing everyone back until the last hostage.
We are not going to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTE: On Sunday, the Israeli military blew up several buildings in a West bank refugee camp. You can see debris rising from the explosions in this video. The Palestinian news agency says nearly 20 buildings were blown up in Jenin, leaving Palestinian families displaced. Israeli military launched a large scale operation in the west bank on the heels of the Gaza ceasefire deal. Israeli officials say the buildings were used as terrorist infrastructure.
Israel has provided no evidence to support that claim.
Still to come, more on President Donald Trump's steep tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China and the things that are expected to get more expensive in the U.S. as a result. Plus, thousands of Venezuelan migrants in the United States have just lost their legal status. What's next for them ahead?
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HUNTE: More on our top story this hour. Stocks in Asia and U.S. Futures are plunging as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs spark fear of a trade war. The tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China are expected to take effect in less than a day. Already, Canada has unveiled details of its counter tariffs. Mexico and China are planning to do the same soon.
President Trump says he'll be speaking with the Canadian prime minister and Mexican officials in the coming hours. But experts are concerned the tariffs could mean higher prices for American households on a wide variety of goods. CNN's Rafael Romo has more on what could be impacted the most.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The tariffs are set to take effect on Tuesday and the impact on American consumers may be deep. When it comes to U.S. trade with Canada, China and Mexico, it's very important to put the commerce with these nations in perspective. About one third of U.S. imports come from those three countries being targeted with tariffs by Trump. The president declared the national economic emergency to put the tariffs in place.
He's ordering 25 percent taxes on Mexico and Canada and an additional 10 percent on China.
The U.S. imported $97 billion worth of oil and gas from Canada last year, that country's top export to the U.S. And according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. has become more reliant on Canadian oil since the expansion of Canada's Trans Mountain pipeline.
The White House is not treating all products the same. The tariff on Canadian energy products is only 10 percent, not the 25 percent tariff announced on other Canadian exports.
Mexico is the largest supplier of fruit and vegetables to the United States. Last year, the U.S. imported $46 billion worth of agricultural products from Mexico, according to USDA data. And the biggest category of agricultural imports from Mexico last year was fresh fruits, of which the U.S. imported $9 billion worth, with avocados accounting for $3.1 billion of that total.
Over the weekend, Trump warned Americans of some pain to come in the aftermath of his decision to impose sweeping tariffs on America's three largest trading partners.
Trump declared a national economic emergency to put the tariffs in place. The president says the tariffs are aimed at curbing the influx of undocumented migrants and fentanyl across U.S. borders.
Rafael Romo, CNN -- Atlanta.
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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Newly-installed U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will travel to the U.S. border with Mexico on Monday. The Pentagon says he'll meet members of the military working on President Trump's border crackdown in El Paso, Texas.
His visit comes as the Pentagon announced its preparing to deploy around 1,000 more active-duty troops to the border.
The Trump administration has revoked the Temporary Protected Status designation for thousands of Venezuelan migrants in the United States. Former President Joe Biden granted that status, and it gave them legal protection from deportation. But now they're back in limbo.
Stefano Pozzebon reports.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: President Donald Trump's decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status for thousands of Venezuelan migrants on Sunday was widely expected.
CNN had reported on the plans on Saturday.
And yet Sunday's decision will have enormous impact for migrant communities and families, especially in Florida, which is a state that Donald Trump famously carried in the November election.
The Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem explained the decision was made because the program was, and I quote her words, "abused", and that the Venezuelan government had taken advantage of the protection status to send criminals and mentally-ill to the United States. She said these without offering any proof.
Venezuela is home to one of the largest migrant diasporas in the western hemisphere. According to the United Nations, almost 8 million people, and that is about 25 percent of the total Venezuelan population, had left the country under the rule of authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro. Mostly because of the deep economic and social crisis in the South American country.
Over half a million of these migrants now reside legally in the United States. And many of them have been touched by this revocation of a Temporary Protected Status.
While it's unclear exactly how many migrants and migrant families have been touched by Sunday's decision, most of them will have until April to either relocate or they will be at risk of deportation.
For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon -- Bogota.
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HUNTE: In a move that could impact thousands of FBI staffers, the Trump administration is demanding the names of all bureau employees who helped investigate the Capitol insurrection.
The Justice Department says it wants to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary. Donald Trump has vowed to strike back at agencies he feels were weaponized against him.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says the president has the right to push out senior leaders who don't share his vision. But the purge should not extend to rank-and-file employees.
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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Now, if you're an agent working on the January 6th case or some other case and you were assigned to do it, and you know, you shouldn't be punished just for doing your job. This idea of keeping everybody in place --
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HUNTE: FBI employees say the January 6th case was the largest investigation ever worked by the bureau, with nearly everyone involved in some aspect of the case. [01:34:49]
HUNTE: The Trump administration is also targeting USAID, America's agency for international development. Its Web site disappeared from the Internet over the weekend.
The Democratic lawmakers fear that the White House is trying to dismantle the independent, congressionally-funded humanitarian agency and fold it into the State Department.
Lawmakers say it's illegal for the president to unilaterally eliminate a federal agency without consulting Congress.
On Sunday, two of USAID top security officials were placed on administrative leave after trying to stop Elon Musk's DOGE office from accessing classified material.
Musk responded to CNN's report about that with a threatening tweet about the agency, saying, quote, "Time for it to die".
Fears of further attacks and sexual violence are growing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where M23 rebels are continuing their advance in the country's east. They seized the key city of Goma, on the border with Rwanda early last week and have since moved further south, making it dangerous for civilians trying to escape the fighting between the rebel group and government forces.
Thousands of people have been displaced in the war-torn region, though many were displaced before and living in relief camps after fleeing previous skirmishes.
Civilians say the violence they've encountered isn't just on the battlefield. Some are recounting horrific stories of women being raped and people being attacked as they flee.
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FLORIDA FURAHA, DISPLACED PERSON (through translator): I fled the rebel bombardments because they had killed many people. I lived for one year in a town as a displaced person, but there too, the recent war made me flee to another place.
And we had to flee again after being attacked by looters who took everything from us until we arrived here at this school. We sleep on the ground with nothing. As you see us here, we have nothing, neither food nor anything to sleep on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTE: UNHCR says more than 400,000 people have been displaced in the region this year alone, and paints a grim picture of life in the conflict zone, with reports of human rights violations, including murders, kidnappings and arbitrary arrests.
Hospitals are also nearing capacity, with injured civilians. And vulnerable people like children and the elderly, are forced to live in overcrowded conditions with limited access to food and water.
Innovations in drone technology could offer hope for displaced populations like those in eastern Congo. More durable and efficient craft are being developed that could deliver humanitarian aid to desperate people in remote war zones.
CNN's Nick Valencia has this story.
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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a new vehicle to deliver aid and relief to areas previously beyond reach. And its name is Ultra Mark 2.
It's the newest version of the Windracers company's self-flying cargo drones.
SIMON MUDERACK, CEO, WINDRACERS: So what you see is a platform (INAUDIBLE), they look similar to the previous incarnation but with double the power, double the payload, 80 plus changes that increase its usability and its dependability.
VALENCIA: Also included in the upgrade is its ability to remain overhead for up to nine hours, with a range of up to 621 miles or 1,000 kilometers.
The drone can take off and land on almost any terrain, and can operate day or night without the aid of a remote pilot and with minimal ground operator oversight.
Created to cut down the costs associated with delivering humanitarian aid to remote communities, the Ultra Mark 2 will accomplish just that in a partnership with the French NGO Aviation Sans Frontieres.
BENOIT GABORIT, AVIATION SANS FRONTIERES: The daily drop for ISF is going where the others cannot go anymore for the normal airlines, the regular airlines.
VALENCIA: Humanitarian aid groups like the World Food Programme are also among many organizations on board with the idea of unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs.
While they don't believe the drones will replace the traditional method of delivering aid, they do believe the drones will help alleviate humanitarian challenges by delivering time-critical items to hard-to-reach areas.
GABORIT: That's why we want to use the drone, because the access of the population and the risk of the aid worker is increasing every day.
VALENCIA: In addition to providing humanitarian aid, the Ultra MK2 will be used to hold radar systems for the Norwegian Research Center in an effort to detect Antarctic climate changes.
Nick Valencia, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTE: The former president of Spain's Football Federation is about to go on trial for an unwanted World Cup kiss. That story when we come back.
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HUNTE: The former president of the Spanish Football Association goes on trial today for sexual assault. Luis Rubiales is charged with one count of sexual assault for his unsolicited kiss of national team player Jennifer Hermoso after Spain's World Cup win. He's also facing one count of coercion in the aftermath of the kiss.
The incident made global headlines and sparked a national debate in Spain about sexism.
CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan joins us now. Hey, Christine, how are you doing?
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Ben, it's great to see you. I'm doing well. Thank you.
HUNTE: Amazing. Amazing.
Well, let's get into this. I feel like in 2023, the world was talking about this. A lot has happened across the world. And as a result things have moved on. But it's about to come all the way back.
Can you just give me a bit of a refresh on the latest? What's happening now?
BRENNAN: Yes. Well, now finally, the trial of Rubiales and a few others that that we expected would happen. But like everything else, you know, you have the incident and then you have a long wait more than a year. But I think people will once again talk about it.
And I think the conversation is so essential and so important. What we're talking about, of course, is the forced kiss, basically what was described by Spanish authorities as sexual violence or sexual assault on the world stage after Spain won the women's World Cup in 2023, Jenni Hermoso, one of the stars of the Spanish team.
You had Rubiales, the president of the Spanish Federation, literally take her head in his hands and forced a kiss on her. I imagine five years ago, ten years before that -- certainly any time in the past before that -- people would have said, oh, so what?
Well, guess what? The world did not say so what. There was outrage. And within not a long period of time, he lost his job and so did the coach.
And it was a wonderful and important conversation for women around the world who have been harassed or assaulted or men who've been harassed or assaulted to see a woman like Jenni Hermoso speak out, and to see a man be punished for his abusive action.
HUNTE: Well, let's dig a bit deeper into that, because initially he didn't want to resign, right? He was holding on to that job. Has there been any wider impact of this incident on the rest of sports?
BRENNAN: Well, I would say that certainly seeing that empowers a lot of young people to say, ok, if she can come forward, if he can be punished -- and yes, he didn't want to give up his job. Of course, he didn't want to give up his job, but he had to. The force of the conversation worldwide made it impossible for Rubiales to keep his job.
Thats something that definitely would not have even happened five years earlier. So there, there, you see the difference.
And you know, the fact that we're not seeing this kind of behavior on the world stage for female athletes, I think tells us that maybe there was a message that was sent out, although we should have never seen it on the world stage before it happened.
One wonders what was going on behind the scenes in the Spanish Federation if he felt so comfortable doing that in public as the world was watching at the end of the women's World Cup.
But when we see female athletes having extraordinary success, and today is just the greatest day for women athletes around the world until tomorrow. And then the next day we see people like Caitlin Clark.
We see others just having, you know, just obviously making millions of dollars and the attendance going up. And the TV ratings as never before. And they are being treated properly.
And so I do think that that may not be a direct result then of what we saw with the egregious behavior of Rubiales, the fact that that conversation happened may well be preventing other men from doing whatever awful things they were thinking of doing.
HUNTE: Well, on that, it isn't even just Rubiales, is it? Because there's other colleagues of his who are on trial as well for potentially holding back this case from getting to the point that I guess we're at now.
But what are your thoughts around the potential outcomes of this trial? Because I'm looking here and it says prison time.
BRENNAN: The fact is that Rubiales had to on the team flight back home when they stopped and refueled, he had to film an apology.
So the man who obviously felt untouchable felt that he could do this to a woman, a female athlete who just represented his country, winning the one of the greatest things you can win, the women's World Cup.
The fact that he had to step off the plane and film an apology within what, less than 24 hours, I think tells us a lot about the conversation and where it was going. And then, of course, he lost it all and his mother was on a hunger
strike for a while. And the coach was let go.
So I think it was pretty clear pretty early on. And I think anyone who supports women or knows a woman, which is pretty much the world, would feel very strongly that women should not be treated in that manner.
So I think the message was sent very strongly. I don't know enough about the Spanish legal system to know exactly what's going to happen, but I do know when you had the equality minister speaking out within hours, calling it sexual violence and sexual assault, that was quite a powerful statement that I think superseded almost all other statements.
[01:49:51]
HUNTE: Christine Brennan, thank you so much for joining me. Really appreciate it.
BRENNAN: My pleasure. Thank you, Ben.
HUNTE: The Grammy Awards brought music's biggest names to L.A. on Sunday. Despite stiff competition this year, the Queen Bee Beyonce took center stage. We'll have more on the star-studded night just ahead.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Goes to -- Cowboy Carter. Beyonce.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTE: Beyonce was the big winner at Sunday night's Grammy Awards in L.A. Despite being nominated several other times, this was her first win for Album of the Year.
Beyonce also became the first black woman to win Best Country Album. While accepting that award, she had a message for all artists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEYONCE, SINGER: Wow, I really was not expecting this. Wow.
I want to thank God, oh my God, that I'm able to still do what I love after so many years.
I think sometimes genre is a cold word to keep us in our place as artists. And I just want to encourage people to do what they're passionate about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTE: The L.A. fires also played a role in the show. The Grammys honored emergency workers and highlighted fundraisers for wildfire relief.
Earlier, I spoke with Michael Musto, an entertainment journalist with the Village Voice, to get his take on all of the Grammy's biggest moments.
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MICHAEL MUSTO, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST, VILLAGE VOICE: Beyonce was, and still is, the most Grammy-winning artist in history. She had 32 Grammys. Then she had two more today, one of them was Best Country Album. So 34 Grammys going into Album of the Year. This is her fifth shot at Album of the Year.
There were times in the past when the people who won said Beyonce should have won. Remember, Adele won. And she said, Queen Bee, Queen Bee should be up here.
The winners were saying Beyonce should have gotten the award, so it was a very gratifying feeling to see her finally win.
I was surprised at how calm she was. I thought she'd be hysterical.
HUNTE: I mean, I'm glad you just snatched the mic and ran away with Beyonce there because I wanted to talk Beyonce. She is the most Grammy-winning artist in history.
But I want to talk about the fact that she had never won that Album of the Year.
[01:54:46]
HUNTE: What does this moment mean to the industry and especially to those industry bosses who ignored her for so many years?
MUSTO: It means a lot because she has done so much for the industry. She has sold so many records and created so many different genres that she said this is a country album.
That was extremely controversial. Remember, she didn't get a single nomination with the Country Music Awards. They found her to be too white, too -- too bright, I'm sure. What am I saying? You know what I'm saying?
In this case, she's saying that country music belongs to everybody. I remember in the 1960s -- that's how old I am. I bought an album by Diana Ross and the Supremes, and Diana was great on the Grammys, and they sang country music and it was not a problem.
Beyonce, how many years later, comes out with it and suddenly, oh, we own country music. She's saying nobody owns any genre of music. And it's also a terrific album. That's the important thing.
She didn't just win as a symbol. She won as a true artist.
HUNTE: Yes, indeed. I mean, me and my producer were celebrating upstairs on the arrival of the tour dates. I can't wait for this. What's going to be happening with the tour?
But more than that, Brat Summer may be over. But this has been a huge year for new or newer artists.
I mean, we're seeing on social media some people reacting that they didn't even know, some of the people that were winning awards tonight. So can you tell me a bit more about these newer artists?
MUSTO: Yes, well, the Best New Artist category has become more of a best breakthrough artist because some of the artists have been around. They're not really that new.
Sabrina Carpenter has been around for several years, but she's terrific. She even tapdanced tonight. She's sort of an old school entertainer, in my opinion.
But I've had a feeling Chappell Roan was going to win Best New Artist and she did. She's the newest in the line of like Madonna, Lady Gaga, who was also amazing tonight. And now Chappell Roan, sort of an avant- garde, expressive, humorous, artistic performer, richly-deserved. And her messages are all terrific.
And there were so many messages tonight of social consciousness from Alicia Keys talking about diversity. Lady Gaga promoting trans people. Chappell Roan talking about health insurance and the importance of it for artists and for everybody.
So I found the whole thing to be very refreshing. And the whole emphasis was always on raising money. It was a telethon and celebrating L.A. and California.
But it wasn't really that mournful when you consider that look at how they dressed, the people dressed tonight for a party. And so they really helped lift our spirits by treating it like a party.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTE: One of Greece's top tourist spots is issuing warnings after experiencing more than 200 small earthquakes. Officials are telling people to avoid large indoor gatherings on the volcanic island of Santorini. Millions of tourists visit the island each year, and so far there's been no damage.
But officials are telling people to stay away from ports, including one that's popular with cruise ships. Santorini is also closing schools on Monday. The island hasn't been hit by a large earthquake since 1956.
Ok. Well, that's it. Thats all I've got for you. Thank you for joining me and the team.
I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. It's been so real. Let's do it again in two weeks' time.
But before that CNN NEWSROOM continues with Rosemary Church right after this break. [01:57:57]
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