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Source: Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau To Resign As Party Leader; Soon: United States Congress Convenes To Certify 2024 Election; President- elect Escapes Consequences Despite Initial Blame. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired January 06, 2025 - 10:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:31]
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD WITH BECKY ANDERSON.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, it's 7:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson.
We are just hours away from the certification of Donald Trump's 2024 victory. The U.S. remembers the January 6th riots four years on.
Also, Brazil at the center of an international legal controversy after an Israeli soldier flees that country. We will explain why.
Plus, a polar vortex hits the U.S. with millions of Americans under winter alerts nationwide, it could even impact the important events we are seeing
on Capitol Hill today.
First up though, political upheaval north of Washington, Canada's prime minister is expected to step down from leading his political party. That is
expected to be any moment now. I want to get you straight to Ottawa and to Paula Newton. Paula.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky. Just breaking in the last hour, we have learned that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will,
within this hour, address the country from his residence and will announce that he is stepping down as Liberal Party leader, not so far as prime
minister.
He will give time to his party to elect a new party leader, but it is definitely an end of an era here in Canada, Becky.
This has been a man who has been in office for more than nine years, elected three times, and was generally touted with having a fairly good
outcome after the pandemic, and that includes the economy.
But, especially, in the last year, Becky, polls for his popularity and his party's popularity have plummeted based largely on the effects of
inflation, certainly an affordable housing crisis, but also legal immigration.
What's been so chaotic though in the last few months Becky is that even though members of his own party -- members of Parliament from his own party
have told him that you cannot win an election, which is supposed to be held by the end of the year. Justin Trudeau was fairly stubborn, believing that
he could hang on. That has changed in the last few weeks.
Lightly, all of this set in motion as well by the resignation of his finance minister, his deputy prime minister, his right hand for so many
years. Chrystia Freeland, who, in a scathing resignation letter, wrote that she could no longer really back his so-called political gimmicks, and that
she felt Canada needed, you know, a better fiscal outlook going into what are threats from President-elect Donald Trump to impose 25 percent tariffs
on all Canadian imports.
OK. So, what happens in the next hour, Becky, he will resign as party leader. As I said, he will stay as prime minister for a few months. But
here is what's interesting, he must go to the governor general, and perhaps, he will ask that Parliament continue to be suspended. It's not
sitting now to the end of the month. He will want to try and give his liberal party as much time as possible to elect and have a good race to
elect a new party leader, but also to be able to take on the Conservatives, and Pierre Poilievre, as I said, have been leading in the polls -- polling
averages by as much as 20 percent. Becky?
ANDERSON: Paula, what is the Donald Trump impact or effect here, if any?
NEWTON: You know, it's interesting, Becky. Certainly, I would say it's not direct. Donald Trump has trolled Canada, and Justin Trudeau, in particular,
calling him a governor, the 51st state. But that would only serve, really, to stiffen the spines of Canadians. Even the Conservative leader definitely
posted on social media that look, the 51st state, that would never happen.
Having said that, given the threats from Donald Trump, Canadians do wonder whether or not, Justin Trudeau is best placed at this point in time to
really negotiate his way out of it. Now, that's not to say that any incoming liberal leader would be any better, but again, Canadians looking
more and more to that conservative party, Pierre Poilievre, he has found certainly some popularity with the MAGA base that have retweeted some of
his interviews and some of his political ads. So, it will be interesting to see if we have an election in summer here or in the fall.
Exactly, if that holds true, remember, a lot of negotiation ahead, because the president-elect says he is going to impose those tariffs very quickly
as he comes into office at the end of the month.
[10:05:09]
ANDERSON: Good to have you. Back to you later this hour. Thank you.
Well, the U.S. Congress just a few hours away from certifying Donald Trump as the winner of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, in what will be a
very different scene that which happened on this day four years ago.
On that day, rioters incited by Trump at his D.C. rally stormed the Capitol building in an insurrection that left several people dead and disrupted the
peaceful transition of power, a cornerstone of U.S. democracy.
I want to bring in a friend of this show, Stephen Collinson, for more on today's election certification.
And today, Stephen, has been designated a national special security event, what and why? And exactly, what will happen in the coming hours?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, there has been some concern running up to this that there would be demonstrations this time
against Donald Trump, unlike the ones we saw four years ago. Nothing was expected on that scale. But everything that happens in Washington around an
election takes place under the highest security as it happens today, there is about six inches of snow on the ground that would have made any
demonstrations impossible.
Anyway, what will happen today is that the Congress will certify will count the electoral votes from each state. Each state has a certain number of
electoral votes worked out roughly as proportional to their population, which were awarded to the winner of a state and election, Congress will
count them and Vice President Kamala Harris will have the bitter role of effectively certifying her own defeat, as she is constitutionally the
president of the Senate.
ANDERSON: President Biden has called on everyone to remember January the 6th, 2021. But last night, he had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Still believe he is a threat to democracy?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think what he did was a genuine threat to democracy. I'm hopeful that we're beyond that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, in your piece, you say, "The democracy that Trump tried to desecrate will enshrine his return to power. Americans made a choice in
November, and even though he conjured a Day of Infamy four years ago, they picked Trump."
Is there anything else to do at this stage than be hopeful for the coming Trump presidency, as President Biden claims to be?
COLLINSON: Well, you could argue that the constitutional order is being restored today, that this process is going on. It will be presided over by
Democrats, even though they lost the election.
The massive irony, of course, is that the beneficiary will be Donald Trump, who did so much to threaten democracy four years ago in an attempt to stay
in power in a very unconstitutional manner.
I think we have to wait and see how Trump behaves once he's in office. History tells us that he will test the Constitution and the rule of law to
its absolute limits, we will have a Senate and a House that controlled by Republicans.
So, for the next two years, at least until the midterm elections, there's very little chance, I think, that Trump will be constrained by his own
party, but political gravity will also reassert itself.
He's going to have a lot of trouble getting his program through a tiny House majority. We saw that last week with the election of Mike Johnson by
the razor thin margin.
So, politics will happen. The Democrats will have to regroup to the midterm elections. I think we're in for a very rocky time in the United States over
the next two years, because that's the way Trump behaves and the way he set out his political stall.
But for today, at least, the will of the voters is being honored in a way that Trump tried to prevent it being four years ago.
ANDERSON: Stephen Collinson in the House. Stephen, thank you.
Well, you all remember, Stephen, one of the most towering moments four years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMERICAN CROWD: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The threat directly to then Vice President Mike Pence, who was charged with certifying the results. That threat and the interference with
the peaceful transfer of power were crimes that many at the time expected President Trump to be held accountable for, even those in his own party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): All I can say is, count me out. Enough is enough.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately
denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.
[10:10:09]
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): There is no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of
the day. No question about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, what changed in the heart, or perhaps, the rhetoric of Republican lawmakers. Now, that the Department of Justice failed to hold
Donald Trump to account, if those lawmakers were right back in 2021. And these were Republican lawmakers.
Our senior U.S. Justice correspondent Evan Perez is here with some answers, after years of investigations and legal wrangling, and a federal subversion
indictment, fill in the gaps for us. How did we get where we are today, Evan?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky.
Look, it's really hard to believe where we've come from. If you look back on that day where Donald Trump was certainly at the lowest point -- at the
lowest point, you know, you have Donald Trump there being assailed by fellow Republicans.
And if you're prosecutors, you probably believe that there is a lot of political will for this prosecution. Of course, all of that changes.
On part of what we discovered in doing our story, which was published today on cnn.com is we found that in early 2021, probably around June, they
received a tip that Donald Trump had met with members of the Proud Boys, some of the people who were behind the worst violence that day.
In the end, they spent about a year going through down, trying to find evidence to support this idea. They didn't find that. They also couldn't
find anything to link him to some of the financial efforts to bring those rioters to Washington.
They looked into the now infamous Willard room, where a number of people were trying to find ways to overturn the election.
And you saw -- you know, in the end, what in our story we describe, a lost year, essentially, of this effort to prosecute Donald Trump, and which, in
the end, ended up dooming the effort because they ran out of time. Simply ran out of time before the -- he was re-elected as president of the United
States in November.
And so, for the Justice Department, they view it as not necessarily a lost year, they say they had to go down all of these places. They ended up
chasing a lot of ghosts, looking for more direct evidence to tie Donald Trump to that violence, and they ended up not finding it despite four years
of effort. Becky.
ANDERSON: I's fascinating, isn't it? While I've got you, I do want to ask you for your assessment of where Donald Trump stands today when he asks the
Court to delay Friday's hush money conviction sentences. Just again, get his bang up to date on where we are at on this case and what happens next?
PEREZ: Yes. I mean, in the end, this is the only conviction that of the four different efforts to prosecute Donald Trump, this is the only one that
stood. The judge there, Juan Merchan has upheld his verdict on these 34 counts that Donald Trump was found guilty of, of concealing business
records in that hush money case.
And today, his lawyers -- Donald Trump's lawyers, are asking the courts to delay that sentencing, which is right now set for Friday. They are saying
that, obviously, given the fact that there's a constitutional effort, he is the incoming president of the United States, they also say that it
interferes with his constitutional duties, and that they want to obviously pursue an appeal of that conviction. And so, that's the reason why they're
asking for a delay.
We don't know what -- whether the judge will go for this, and whether additional courts may, in the end, Becky, weigh in to try to stop this from
happening on Friday. But one of the important parts of this, obviously, is that when Donald Trump takes office on January 20th, it is very likely that
he will be, at least, by purposes of this -- of this conviction, he will be a convicted felon under New York State law when he takes office, and takes
the oath of office on January 20th, no matter what is happening behind the scenes.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, Evan.
And just to close this one out, Trump spokesman today saying about this requested delay in part, "Today, President Trump's legal team moved to stop
the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.'s witch hunt." That is Trump's spokesman.
[10:15:01]
Well, still to come here on CONNECT THE WORLD, with me, Becky Anderson.
The arrest warrant for South Korea's impeached president just expired after a fee.
Spokesman still to come here on connect the world with me. Becky Anderson, the arrest warrant for South Korea's impeached president just expired after
officials sought an extension. We break down the latest in that country's political chaos.
Plus, tens of millions of Americans are up against what is a crippling winter storm right now. We're going to take a look at what is the
widespread impact after this.
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ANDERSON: Well, it's been said that the war in Gaza is one of the most documented wars in history.
Although international journalists are barred from entering the Palestinian territory, the war has been broadcast in real time on social media.
Palestinians, giving the world a window into the conflict and the devastation from behind their mobile phones.
That though, is not the only vantage point that we have seen. Some Israeli soldiers have documented their own actions in Gaza. Images, blowing up
mosques, looting homes, and in some, rejoicing at the outcome.
But those videos posted on social media, it seems at least now, are coming back to haunt them that the weekend, a former Israeli soldier who served in
Gaza was vacationing in Brazil and fled the country suddenly after a case was brought, alleging he was responsible for war crimes based on videos
that he posted online.
Now, the Israeli embassy in Brazil said it had ensured his, "swift and safe" departure from Brazil. But that didn't quiet the alarm bells in Tel
Aviv. This is just the latest in a series of similar lawsuits brought by groups that are tracking the soldiers' activities in Gaza.
The main NGO tracking these cases, and specifically, the Brazil case, is the Hind Rajab Foundation. The lawyer who brought the case on behalf of the
foundation was quoted in Brazilian media, saying, as Brazil is a signatory to the Rome Statute, it is obliged to ensure that the crimes provided for
in the statute, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, are investigated and punished.
And that lawyer is Maira Pinheiro. She joins me now live from Brazil. It's good to have you, and thank you for joining us today.
The NGO tracking these soldiers, the Hind Rajab Foundation based in Belgium. Tell us how you then got involved in this case.
MAIRA PINHEIRO, BRAZILIAN ATTORNEY: Hi, Becky, thank you for having me. I've been a human rights lawyer for a while now, and I was aware that many
Israelis come to Brazil for vacation in this time of year.
[10:20:08]
And I've been following up on the human rights reports about the situation in Gaza and on the calls for the countries who are signatures of the Rome
Statute to move the domestic Courts under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
So, I reached out to Hind Rajab Foundation and said that I was ready to work anytime they knew that there was an Israeli possible war criminal in
Brazilian territory. They reached out to me around Christmas, and we started working.
I was hired, and we started working the evidence and presented it to the Court. And the federal prosecutor and the federal judge both recognized
that there were enough elements to start an investigation.
And before the federal police could execute these investigative measures, the Israeli government intervened to help him evade Brazilian authorities,
which is very telling to -- this exceptionality.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: So, how did -- how did you find out the soldier was in Brazil? I mean, you've explained that you knew that you been working with the NGO.
But what sort of verification process did you undertake to ensure that the elements that you presented were checked, verified, and what were those
elements?
PINHEIRO: That's a great question. I thank you for it. So, we have an investigation team of open-source intelligence investigators, which is
nowadays one of the main ways that international crimes and international human rights violations are being investigated.
This didn't start in Gaza, this actually started during the Syrian civil war, and also was very present in Ukraine. There are protocols regarding
how the chain of custody of digital evidence should be observed. We also have Brazilian laws that apply to the chain of custody and chain of custody
of digital evidence.
We observed very rigorous parameters regarding how we were going to document this evidence, and we presented proof that he posted about being
involved in the control demolition of multiple residential homes. We also presented evidence of other Instagram profiles of other members of the same
battalion that is part of. That capture the same houses from different angles and portray the houses being rigged with explosives in a context
that is logically incompatible with a context of combat with a military objective, because, if you have time to pose for smiling selfies while
you're rigging multiple houses with explosives, you're not in a combat situation. That's not a legitimate military target.
And as the investigation went on after we presented the case to the Brazilian authorities, we also managed to -- our investigation team also
managed to reach out to three of the families who owned those homes, so, the actual victims of these war crimes, and we also found out that those
houses were housing people who had been forcibly displaced from other areas of Gaza.
And we also reached --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Right.
PINHEIRO: Researched breaking news reports and identified that during the time that they were doing the ground invasion that happened before they
rigged those multiple residents with explosives, the entry of the Israeli army was very violent, and people were killed, civilians was -- were
killed, and especially, children were killed in the same day.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: So --
Thank you. Yes, I think -- I think -- and I think this explanation is important, and clearly there is been a lot of work being done. Israeli
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar had this to stay. "Everyone knows that what we are witnessing is a systematic and anti-Semitic campaign aimed at
denying Israel's right to self-defense. Countless international actors and many countries are complicit in this."
These are the words of the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar. And the foreign ministry calls this "baseless legal proceedings." Your response.
PINHEIRO: Well, my response to that is that international law and humanitarian international law still exist, and it still applies to
everyone.
[10:25:03]
And the Rome Statute has jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories because Palestine is a state member of this international
treaty.
So, every country that is a member of the Rome Statute has the duty to investigate when it comes to its knowledge that war crimes took place. And
we presented evidence that war crimes took place and that they were committed, specifically, by this individual, among other people.
So, the Israelis politicians --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Right.
PINHEIRO: Certainly, are not referring to the actual investigative work that we did with very rigorous standards for documenting evidence and
presenting geolocation reports. And that's the beauty about open-source investigation nowadays, that it's a genocide that is being livestream by
its perpetrators.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: The Israeli government aided in this soldiers' evacuation from the country. What will -- what will the soldiers' evacuation from the
countries no longer in Brazil? What will this mean for that -- for the case? What are the next steps?
PINHEIRO: So, Brazilian law, The Brazilian Penal Code establishes that once the agent is inside Brazilian territory, we have jurisdiction to
investigate a crime that took place abroad. If the Brazilian state is obliged to prosecute these crimes by international treaties. So, this
establishes our jurisdiction.
Our law doesn't say anything about the jurisdiction ending was the person leaves the Brazilian territory. Since it's an investigation that is based
mostly on open-source intelligence, and nowadays we can even produce witness testimonies from a far through video calls, for example, with also
very rigorous standards of documenting digital evidence. I see no reason why this investigation should stop, and I hope that the Brazilian
authorities will agree with this understanding.
We just finished today the on-call system for the holidays and the case will be assigned permanently to a federal judge who will decide on this.
And I hope that we keep on investigation -- investigating, because there's lots of evidence we can still produce. We located victims. We located
people who were violently displaced from these residences, and there is no reason to stop investigating this.
ANDERSON: Thank you for your time. Good to have you. Thank you.
Well, earlier, optimism appears to be fading around renewed talks for a ceasefire and a hostage release. A source familiar with the indirect
negotiations tell CNN there is not much progress to report.
And U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters today that Israel and Hamas have yet to agree to any final points. The Israeli prime
minister's office denying a report from Reuters that Hamas has approved a list of 34 Israeli hostages to be exchanged in a potential ceasefire
agreement.
Let's get you up to speed and some of the other stories that are on our radar right now. And Russia's ministry of defense says its forces have
repelled the Ukrainian counter attack in the southern border region of Kursk.
It comes a day after Ukraine said it launched a surprise attack. Russia says the response was decisive. CNN cannot verify battlefield reports.
Four people reported missing after criticizing Kenya's government online have resurfaced today, Monday, comes ahead of more planned protests against
the abduction of dozens of government critics.
Kenya's president has vowed to stop the abductions, having denied for months that they were happening.
In South Korea, the country's anti-corruption agency, on Monday, requested an extension of the arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Just minutes ago, that warrant expired.
CNN's Mike Valerio is in Seoul, reflecting on another day of political turmoil.
MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, investigators here in Seoul did two major things today, and let's spend some time talking about the
first thing.
Corruption investigators asked South Korea's police force to take over to carry out the arrest warrant against South Korea's suspended President Yoon
Suk Yeol. He is suspended because lawmakers voted last month to impeach him after he declared martial law on December 3rd into the early morning hours
of December 4.
He has not been removed from office. That decision is up to a Court, and that decision could be made within the next six months.
So, why would corruption investigators here asked the police force to carry out this warrant?
[10:30:03]
It is because, on Friday, these corruption investigators tried and failed to arrest suspended President Yoon. They went to his home, but Yoon's
Presidential Security Service and members of the military formed a human shield protecting Yoon from arrest. Now Yoon's lawyers say the warrant was
illegal and invalid. So again, why move this into the hands of South Korean police rather than keep this with those same corruption investigators?
Well, the police have a larger force, more people and more resources to carry out an arrest, but it is still anybody's guess if this will be
successful because Yoon has told his supporters he does not intend to turn himself in. Investigators are also working against the clock here. That is
the second major thing that they did today. They have requested an extension of their arrest warrant because they were facing a midnight local
time deadline.
Now, even though suspended President Yoon has managed to escape arrest, at least up until this point, there is still the first trial session for his
impeachment process that has been set for next week, and again, that process is what could remove him from office.
Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.
ANDERSON: Well, still to come, four years after his supporters invaded the U.S. Capitol, Congress will meet there to certify Donald Trump's reelection
as president. We're going to speak to an ex-GOP official who was critical of the incoming president and is now calling for unity in his party.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me Becky Anderson. Your headlines this hour. The U.S. Congress convenes in a few
hours to certify Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election. This, of course, comes exactly four years after Trump supporters stormed
the U.S. Capitol. Outgoing President Joe Biden says he is determined to see a peaceful transfer of power this time, unlike four years ago, not expected
to be any congressional challenges to these election results.
Well, mourners in the U.S. state of Georgia are paying their respects to Jimmy Carter. The late president is lying in repose at the Carter Center in
Atlanta. On Tuesday, his casket will be moved to Washington, D.C. where the 39th president will lie in state until his funeral on Thursday. President
Joe Biden is declared January 9th a National Day of Mourning in the U.S. to honor a man who changed expectations, what a former president can
accomplish.
[10:35:06]
And the arrest warrant for impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has just expired as of midnight in South Korea. The country's anti-
corruption agency had requested an extension on Monday. Yoon is accused of abuse of power and leading an insurrection over his botched attempt to
impose martial law last month. Investigators tried to arrest him on Friday, but were prevented by doing that by Yoon's security detail.
All right. Let's get you back to our top story this hour. The U.S. Congress just a few hours away from certifying Donald Trump as the winner of the
2024 presidential election. So, I say four years to the day since his supporters interrupted that process the certification of President Joe
Biden's own 2020 victory. Well, that day was watched around the world and these are images of that day.
Today, however, democracy is on Donald Trump's side and while the Capitol Building is under heavy security, no such protests are expected. Well,
joining me now is CNN political commentator and former Republican Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan. Once a fierce critic of
Donald Trump. He even endorsed Kamala Harris during the campaign. She didn't win. President-elect Donald Trump did.
And Geoff, you are now advocating for a united Republican Party that can bring about tangible outcomes. Just explain what you mean by that. What do
you expect from Donald Trump's second term?
GEOFF DUNCAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, that's actually what I advocated for within hours of the unfortunate events on January 6th, four
years ago was trying to find a way to use the awfulness of that moment and the pathway that we got there as Republicans to try to heal and rebuild a
party. And I was unsuccessful doing that, watching us reelect Donald Trump is it's uncomfortable at best.
It's unfortunate, additionally, but we did. The election was legal, the math was correct, and what's happening today is exactly democracy happening
at its finest, unlike it was four years ago. And so, I don't support Donald Trump. I do support America. I hope he's successful. I hope he decides to
take this four years more serious than he did the last four years. I hope he decides to focus on 350 million Americans instead of him and 10 or 15
others in his inner circle.
If he does the latter, we've got a rough four years, and the world is going to continue to laugh at us like they did four years ago when we went
through this moment.
ANDERSON: More than laugh. I think people were genuinely outraged and concerned about the future for America on January the 6th, 2021. In a
Washington post op ed, President Biden, this weekend, urged Americans to remember January the 6th, 2021. "In time, there will be Americans who
didn't witness the January 6 riot first hand, but we'll learn about it from footage and testimony of that day. From what is written in history books
and from the truth we pass on to our children."
Do you trust your colleagues in the Republican Party to stay true to that history?
DUNCAN: Well, certainly the Republican Party has not held MAGA or Donald Trump accountable for not only the events of January 6, but then the follow
through events on both sides of that, right? One, the 2020, election debacle that played out here in Georgia. Had a front row seat for lies and
lawlessness around that process on Donald Trump and MAGA side. And then also the process afterwards and the unaccountability.
I think history is going to show that one of the biggest unfortunate tests of democracy in this country didn't even require an apology, more or less a
sentence or an affirmed conviction in this process. I think that's what history is going to realize. But I do -- I do think -- two things can be
true at the same time. One, this country has a strong democracy and that was tested to its infinite degrees on January 6th, 2021.
And it's also about the character the people that are willing to push that democracy. And fortunately, our paperwork stood up. The heart and soul of
our country stood up four years ago and now we still have a forward-looking future that hopefully is bright.
ANDERSON: I get your pragmatism and I sense it's, you know, it's a fairly uncomfortable position to a degree. You're calling for the unity of the
Republican Party. Republican leader, of course, is Donald Trump. Some would argue that this is, you know, MAGA is a libertarian effort, rather than a
Republican one.
[10:40:08]
I don't know whether you want to comment on that. It certainly doesn't look and feel like a Republican Party that we might have known of the past.
Republicans, though, are looking to pass a Donald Trump agenda in one sweeping bill when he takes office. Given their unity and the very narrow
majority in Congress, do you expect this administration to be effective from the outset?
Because I hear what you're saying about, you know, this being uncomfortable, but again, you've called for the unity of the party and you
have said you hope that Donald Trump will stand true to his campaign promises for an America which, frankly, voted for him in historic numbers.
DUNCAN: Well, I think this ball rests in Donald Trump's court. If he decides to be a serious player that looks forward, like I said earlier in
this interview, and cares about the 350 million Americans and their families and their paychecks and their retirements and their safety, then I
think this is going to be a Republican Party that does rebuild from within. But if this continues to be about Donald Trump and about the reality T.V.
show playing out at the White House every day, then I'm very fearful of where this ends up.
And I don't think to your point earlier, this is feels like more of a libertarian movement. I don't recognize Republican principles that I that I
put my family through the wringer to win a statewide election and be in politics and certainly write a book and do all the things that Republican
and conservatives do, like take tough votes. I don't recognize a lot of those characteristics inside the MAGA world.
I just don't, and I don't think anybody could. It's a totally different type of movement. It's about how much glass you can break every day, not
how many problems you can solve every day. And I think this all sits in Donald Trump's court. If he decides to wake up and look, he won the
election, he deserves the right to test drive this this second term, if he wakes up and decides that this is a serious effort and he wants to take
America to a better place, then he's going to certainly have the attention of tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people to do it.
But if he doesn't, then we're headed straight back to the gutter, like we saw in the tail end of 2020 as he walked us through COVID in a
dysfunctional way, as we walk through a fallout of the 2020 election in a lying, misleading way, as we watched an encouragement of a January 6th
moment four years ago. That was un-American in every way, shape and form as we've watched him dodge and weave legal actions that are absolutely backed
by proof in facts.
We'll see. We'll see which Donald Trump shows up. I hope the serious one that's ready to go to work is the one. But I'm hopeful, but not optimistic.
ANDERSON: Well, I -- I'm not just hopeful, but I know that you and I will talk more often as we approach January the 20th and a Trump administration
today is a day for certification. Good to have you, sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us on international.
More than 55 million Americans are under winter storm alerts across the United States as we speak, as a powerful weather system sweeps through the
Midwest mid-Atlantic regions and it could even impact what is going on at Capitol today. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now with a closer
look.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It certainly is impacting the capital where all eyes are on this day as we certify the election results.
The U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. blanketed in fresh snow, and there's still more snow to come. There's actually a snow emergency in D.C., the
District of Columbia, as the snow has become so difficult to drive in that obviously they're taking the necessary precautions to prevent that.
You can see, this is the national mall right here. There's the Lincoln Memorial that shrouded in cloud and snow that is falling from the sky, and
temperatures right now negative four degree Celsius, right? Just what we need. Hello, Winter. But this storm system is very dynamic, and it's quite
large. It's impacting much of the eastern half of the country. Right now, we've got a severe component heading southward into Florida.
We've got ice and freezing rain across central portions of Virginia. And, of course, this shading of white is snow from D..C westward towards
Cincinnati and now just exiting the St. Louis region but all in all, this storm spans from west to east over roughly 1000 kilometers. So, an
incredible system that has dropped a sheet of ice on some of our interstates and highways. Watch this moment that this driver captured a
jackknife 18-wheeler truck on a highway.
I mean, that was a close call. Look at that vehicle getting so close to that truck, could have been a disaster. Fortunately, they averted that. But
that just gives you an idea of what people are dealing with on the roads and of course, not to mention what's happening in the skies as well,
impacts to the airlines, especially around Dulles or Reagan National Airport here in D.C.
[10:45:09]
Temperatures are cold for snow, but you put in that type of weather, and of course, you're going to have some concerns on the roads and in the skies as
well. So, lots of wind behind this system with the ice accumulating on the electrical lines and the tree lens, it's taking down some of the power. At
last check, Becky, we have over 300,000 customers without power. Some of the most right now in Virginia, thanks to the ice that is accumulating as
we speak.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, sir. Thank you. We're watching Canada right now, expecting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take to the podium any
moment now to step down as leader of his political party. Canada, entering a new political era. More on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, more now on our breaking news out of Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is resigning as the leader of his party. He will remain
Prime Minister until a new leader is chosen. Now, Mr. Trudeau is facing a mounting set of crises, from threats by Donald Trump to slap tariffs on
Canadian goods to a steep slump in his poll ratings. We are expecting to hear from Justin Trudeau any moment now.
Paula Newton joining us from Ottawa. Paula?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, Becky. An historic hour to come here for Canada. You have to think this is the person who has been
Prime Minister for nearly a decade. He came in with a very progressive agenda, executed on some of that, we then had the pandemic. And while he
got fairly good grades for how he handled that, things have soured ever since.
Canadians really very upset with the way inflation has been heading in this country, the fiscal health of Canada in general. There has been an influx
of immigration. In fact, there have been record highs to the population here in Canada, and all of that has put a strain on public services. You
add to that the fact that his deputy prime minister, his finance minister, resigned just a few weeks ago, accusing the prime minister fairly bluntly
of political gimmicks when he came out with a sales tax cut for a brief period of time right now.
And saying that Canada need to get its fiscal house in order, in order to combat the threats from President-elect Donald Trump was threatening 25
percent tariffs on all imports going from Canada into the United States. The Prime Minister himself, I can tell you, Becky, fairly reluctant to
leave. But again, with this resignation of his finance minister, plus members of Parliament from his party, really, many of them encouraging him
to leave, not believing that he could actually weather another election and be elected for a fourth time here in Canada.
[10:50:11]
Deciding that they needed to part ways. I'll remind our viewers that the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, who's never been Prime Minister
before, but has certainly been an M.P. for many, many years. His polling averages show his party, the Conservative Party, up by about 20 percent
right now. All of that pointing to what they will call is a rejuvenation of the Liberal Party. Again, an election must happen by the end of this year.
So right now, a hotly contested Liberal Party leadership race will begin. Becky?
ANDERSON: Yes. And Trudeau's leadership has been under fire, then, from both the party and the public. And we are looking at images of his resident
where we are expecting to see Justin Trudeau any moment now. We're expecting, as you say, to see him resign today, but stay on until his
liberal party picks a replacement. You and I have been discussing in this sort of hour or so since we've known that this was likely to take place
that there has been little Donald Trump effect, perhaps in all of this questions about whether the threats of huge tariffs against Canada from
Donald Trump might have had an impact on what we are expecting to see today.
Can you explain just how those threats landed across the country and whether or not that impact really did play a part in what is happening
today?
NEWTON: Well, they didn't land calling Justin Trudeau a governor in a 51st state, regardless of your political persuasion here in Canada does not go
over well. I like to say it stiffens the spine of Canadians that they really want to be in charge of their own economy. Pierre Poilievre, the
Conservative leader, even posted saying that, look, Canada would never be the first 51st state. Having said that the President-elect certainly by
trolling Justin Trudeau gave Canadians second and third thoughts that they were already having some reservations about whether or not Justin Trudeau
could go into his next term and, quite frankly, a second Donald Trump term as the best negotiator for Canada.
So, it certainly inserted some doubts into that. You know, Becky, I want to remind our viewers, when he first came into office in 2015 and then as
Donald Trump had his first term, he was certainly seen as a brand that was complete -- a political brand that was completely opposite from Donald
Trump. Progressive views, certainly on so many issues globally, not just here in Canada.
But then he did sit down and negotiate a landmark trade agreement with the first Trump administration, something that was good for Canada, and many
say was also good for the United States. It's not necessarily that he was proven not to be a good negotiator, but as we have been saying so much in
the past few weeks, Becky, Trump 2.0 will not be like his first term. And I think many Canadians having already soured on where Canada was going,
especially when it came to the economy, did not trust him to really do the right thing the second time around.
I want to point out as well, he was the first leader, major leader, to go to Mar-a-Lago, G7 leader to go and sit down with him. He tried to get him
to convince to take the tariff threat off the table. That did not happen. Canadian government officials, being very blunt, that even if they brought
a package of border measures, stricter border measures, to Donald Trump, it's worth about a million U.S. dollars right now, Becky.
And still, that was not enough. Many people still expecting that the President-elect will levy those tariffs. And then the trolling certainly
showed a level of dismissiveness of the Prime Minister that Canadians while they didn't appreciate also thought, is it really shrewd of us? This is
also a situation, Becky, where Trudeau was -- how do you say convinced in order that he had to resign by his own party members?
ANDERSON: Paula, stand by. I want to take a very short break, but stay on these pictures. We are monitoring them and I'll get you back just as soon
as we see Justin Trudeau there outside his residence today, expecting him to resign.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:56:02]
ANDERSON: Well, a reminder that we are watching this door in Ottawa in Canada for the appearance of the Canadian Prime Minister any second. Justin
Trudeau is resigning as the leader of his party but will remain Prime Minister until a new leader is chosen. Mr. Trudeau is facing a mounting set
of crises, from threats by Donald Trump to slap tariffs on Canadian goods to what is a steep slump in his poll ratings. Stay with CNN.
We will continue with this breaking news for you. That's it from our show, my show, CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson and the team working with
me. But stay with "CNN NEWSROOM" which is up next with much more on this story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
