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Life-Threatening Wildfires Sweep across L.A. County; Thousands Ordered to Evacuate L.A. County; Trump Says U.S. Needs Greenland for "National Security"; Panama States "Sovereignty of Our Canal is Not Negotiable"; Trump's Plan to Designate Mexican Cartels as Terror Groups; Israeli Attacks Continue amid Talks on Gaza's Future; Some Reported Abductees in Kenya Return Home; U.S. Justice Department Argues for Release of Special Counsel's Final January 6 Report. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired January 08, 2025 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:00:00]

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ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): It is 7 pm here in Abu Dhabi. Welcome to the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. It is

7 am in Los Angeles.

Three life-threatening fires destroying homes as they race across Los Angeles County with tens of thousands of people ordered to evacuate for

their safety. We're going to get you live to Southern California in just a moment.

Donald Trump spelling out what America First could mean in the next four years. His latest embrace of an expansionist foreign policy already riling

some world leaders even before the start of his second term.

Well, Trump's Middle East adviser is in Qatar today where talks on a ceasefire and the return of hostages are underway. But as talks continue,

so do Israeli attacks in Gaza, killing at least 30 Palestinians overnight.

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ANDERSON: Well, life threatening, destructive, extreme danger. These are terms being used today to describe the wildfires which are raging out of

control around Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): A fierce windstorm -- and you can hear the wind there -- is fanning the flames across entire neighborhoods, destroying

homes and buildings in mere seconds. Tens of thousands of people are fleeing for their lives, many abandoning their cars as they rush to get

out.

Well, the winds are so strong that firefighters say containment is impossible at the moment. And the mayor of L.A. warned a few hours ago that

conditions are set to get worse.

Well, as the sun comes up there it is 7:00 in the morning. This is sunrise. The biggest focus for firefighters now will be saving lives. This footage

shows first responders earlier, getting residents of a nursing home out of harm's way. Scenes like this playing out across the L.A. metro area

overnight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tough. It's tough. They can't get up. They're stuck on the wheelchairs. We got to lift them up, put them in the vans and

then take the wheelchairs at the same time. So you got to get everybody out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of these people are terrified and they don't have a blanket. They don't have a wrap. They have nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[10:05:00]

ANDERSON: Yes, Donald Trump will also, if not only blame this on forest management. And we've heard him denying the kind of climate change sort of

narrative in the past.

But it's, as you explain just how dry this area has been at what should be its wettest season, I think it's absolutely clear that those denying that

climate change has an impact here, that extreme weather has an impact to really sort of, you know, off, off key.

I do want to bring in -- thank you so much -- I want to bring in Malibu, California, resident Marika Erdely. She was forced to evacuate her home and

fled to her daughter's house.

How are you doing, first and foremost?

MARIKA ERDELY, MALIBU RESIDENT: Good morning.

Well, I think as well as to be expected, honestly. I mean, luckily, my daughter lives locally in Santa Monica, although there's also an evacuation

warning like 10 blocks from her home. And I ended up on the air mattress but, yes, it's pretty scary.

ANDERSON: Just tell us what happened to you.

ERDELY: OK, so I was actually going to be going to a meeting on a solar project. When you're talking about climate change, I'm all about that. And

solar project and an energy audit that we had done at a hotel in Universal City.

I was going to go just leave. I was just about ready to leave, giving myself that hour you need to do in L.A. to get anywhere. And I have a

cousin visiting from Budapest and I'm checking on him because he's been sick.

And I go into the kitchen to look at him before I pack up my laptop and all of a sudden I can see I have -- my home was above the -- is -- was -- I

don't know if it survived -- above the Getty Villa Museum, kind of near PCH and Coastline, which is also right between Sunset Boulevard and Topanga

Canyon.

And it's this beautiful neighborhood of about 500 homes called Sunset Mesa and Pacific View Estates. So part of it's Pacific Palisades. And I'm at the

very bottom of Malibu.

And I look at him and I look out the window, because I have this incredible view of the ocean and the sky. And everything is this very weird orange.

And we both go outside to the patio and go, what is that?

And looking up and look to the left and there's this giant smoke plume of just, I don't even know, hundreds of feet high to my left of me toward

Pacific Palisades. And we're just like, oh, my God.

And then immediately, right then my daughter is calling me, whose home I'm at and her daughter is at the Chabad (ph), which is a preschool, which is

on Sunset Boulevard, right after PCH.

So she's like, they're evacuating the preschool. So I immediately get in the car, change my shoes because I was still in my slippers, change my

shoes, get in the car, rush down to pick her up. I'm in there. There's like whole turmoil in the preschool of, you know, all these ladies that have

been watching all these babies, like, what's going on?

I run in there; my granddaughter is happy to see me, I can see. I grab her, grab her backpack, out -- clock her out in the app, into the car, back

home. And as soon as I get home, my phone is blasting with these evacuation warnings of "You must immediately evacuate."

And so here I've got a 2 year old. I've got a big yellow -- black Lab and my cousin, who's sick. And so we just -- I'm like going through the house,

pulling stuff together, putting stuff in laundry baskets, ashes of my dogs and my mom and my dad and my best friend, Ed, and all of these personal

mementos that you're never going to have again, right.

[10:10:05]

So all of those, I go into my closet, I have all these really nice suits. I pull out all the suits -- pants, coats, shoes, you know, clothes for just -

- I mean, I didn't even grab as much as I -- there's so many things I didn't grab, pictures I grabbed.

And then we get in the car with -- baby's in the car, dog's in the back. The trunk is full. I got my cousin in the front coughing. And we pull out

and it is just mayhem on PCH. I mean, we're trying to get to Santa Monica.

Northbound PCH is stuffed with cars, people coming down Sunset Boulevard. I'm driving on PCH, there's cars, there's first responder cars in my lane

coming north on PCH. It's just like a constant barrage of noise.

And just basically overwhelming at that point because you're just like, I'm just trying to get out. And luckily, my side of the freeway, besides all

the commotion of the first responders, was pretty open.

So we were able to get to Santa Monica and get everybody out and, yes, made it, made it into my daughter's home so thankfully.

ANDERSON: I hear you.

I mean, this is -- this is -- this is frightening stuff. And thankfully, thankfully, you're safe at present.

What's the plan?

ERDELY: Well, it's interesting because the map of all of my neighborhood is like my house. I'm on a corner and it appears to be OK but we had views

of the Ring camera before it went out last night.

And it was terrible. A house behind, catty corner to me in the back, was on fire. My -- some of my plants were on fire. Luckily, I had had the City of

Malibu come through. They had offered a free assessment and I had, you know, an assessment done.

So luckily, maybe my house made it. We pulled all the patio furniture away from the house. And, you know, we're going to stay put here until we know.

There's no way to know since the Ring cameras and all the maps, they don't -- I don't know how accurate they are. See if my house made it.

But, right now, we're just going to stay put here and wait to see what happens.

ANDERSON: Well, love to you all. And we will continue to cover this as, sadly, things, we are told, could get worse before they get better, of

course. It is sunup at this point. You're safe there where you are for the time being. Thank you for joining us.

Stephanie Elam is back with us this hour from Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles.

And as the sun comes up, what are you seeing there, Stephanie?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's changed so much in like three minutes, Becky, because, behind me, there are three fires that are burning

up on the hillside there. But it just got so smoky you can't really see it right now.

It -- like there was a swirl of air over us and we were in a pocket of fresh air for a second. And now you can see we're completely in the smoke.

But remember I told you I was right against the Pacific Ocean?

I wanted you to see just how close we are. You can see the glow of the city over there. This is how close we are to the water here on the Pacific Coast

Highway. We have been watching all night, watching this building over here starting to burn down up on the top of it.

The top corner of it did burn. Then we saw firefighters and first responders get there in place and they have now blocked off Sunset

Boulevard, which most people have heard of. They've blocked off Sunset Boulevard to everyone because the thing about Pacific Palisades is that it

has a lot of tight and rural streets to get through.

Very windy, very hilly and oh, my gosh, turn around, Kevin.

Kevin, if you could turn around and show the waves, how the wind is blowing the waves here. This is something we just do not see here. These hurricane

force winds on top of it with the fact that it's so dry. You are seeing just unprecedented conditions that I'm having a hard time standing up.

The wind is blowing the wrong direction and blowing the smoke this way, as we're still watching the buildings behind the smoke burn down.

And over on this side, along the hillside, you look at the combination of different things happening here. And this is why this is such a dangerous

situation, not just here at the Palisades fire but on the other side of Los Angeles.

There, the foothills, where people are currently evacuating, other people have been put on alert to be prepared to evacuate. Same thing north of us

in Malibu. So there are multiple fires. And we've already seen this mutual aid response where people, firefighters from different regions of

California, are starting to flood the zone.

[10:15:04]

Because this is an all hands on deck need right now. They're asking any firefighters in L.A. County, if you're off, please report to work,

something haven't done I think in some 30 years.

This is because this fire is spreading so much, so quickly that they can't get a handle on it yet. Embers are still flying. There's ash all over our

cars. This is something that we have not seen, especially in January. But we have barely gotten any rain this wet season.

In fact, it's the driest start to the wet season on record. So that's 80 years of record for L.A. County, Becky. So it just shows you how

treacherous of a situation that we are in right now. And I actually just felt some of the ocean water spray up on me. Just bizarre. This is a very

bizarre and eerie situation being out here right now.

ANDERSON: Goodness. And I've known you for long enough to know that, when you talk like that, you really, really mean it. And I'm going to let you go

so that you can have a drink of water, because I know just how difficult those conditions must be.

But thank you. Really important stuff. Appreciate your time and your reporting from what is a very unprecedented situation. This is real news. I

mean, this is -- this is new news. This part of Los Angeles, this doesn't happen there.

And so if you've seen us reporting on wildfires in California in the past, well, this is a very different story.

Coming up, more sharp words from world leaders after Donald Trump's latest proposals to redraw maps and expand American control. What the Mexican

president just had to say about one of Donald Trump's comments. That's coming up.

Plus, the president-elect sets his sights on Mexico as he prepares to return to office. His plan to crack down on the drug cartels after this.

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ANDERSON: Donald Trump has parts of the globe on the defensive today after a string of comments like these.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Canada and the United States, that would really be something. You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that

looks like. And it would also be much better for national security. Don't forget, we basically protect Canada.

Why are we supporting a country $200 billion plus a year?

Our military is at their disposal. All of these other things. They should be a state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, Canada's outgoing prime minister -- because he was calling -- talking about Canada there -- Justin Trudeau says there's not a, quote,

"snowball's chance in hell" of that happening.

As Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland, the president-elect also doubled down on his desire to take over there.

[10:20:04]

Denmark does, in fact, lay legitimate claim to Greenland for about 600 years or so now. Today, Denmark's minister said the autonomous island may

decide to become independent but it will not become a U.S. state.

Well, during that wide-ranging news conference, Trump also chastised the European Union, falsely claiming that the E.U. does not import American

products.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're not going to have it with European Union, either.

European Union, we have a trade deficit of $350 billion. They don't take our cars. They don't take our farm product. They don't take anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, according to CNN's fact checkers, those figures are exaggerated. And the U.S. does export hundreds of billions of dollars worth

of products to the E.U. every year. Be that as it may, he also had some ambitious ideas about revamping the map south of the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, the Mexican president pushing back on that a short time ago. Trump also doubling down on his desire to regain control of the Panama

Canal.

This isn't anything new. He's said it before, saying former president Jimmy Carter brokered a bad deal with Panama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The Panama Canal is vital to our country. Giving the Panama Canal to Panama was a very big mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, Panama's foreign minister responded, saying Panama's sovereignty over the canal is not negotiable.

There's a lot of non-negotiable sort of comments coming out from leaders around the world at present. CNN's Patrick Oppmann is in Havana. He's

watching Latin America's reaction to all of this.

Our Fred Pleitgen is in Berlin with the European view of Trump's latest comments, not least on Greenland.

Let's start with you, Patrick, and the response by Mexico's president, very specifically to the -- to the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of

America. That is very specifically what Donald Trump said he would do.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, of course, you know, the legality of that, the American president just can't rewrite names on maps

necessarily. But Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum was asked about it in her daily briefing today.

And, you know, while it is certainly insulting to many Mexicans, that this body of water, that their entire lives, you know, throughout modern history

has been called the Gulf of Mexico, would somehow be magically renamed the Gulf of America.

She had some fun with it at the press conference and actually sort of poked fun at Donald Trump and actually came back with her own suggestion for what

this body of water could be renamed as.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Obviously, the name Gulf of Mexico is recognized by the United Nations, by a United

Nations agency.

Why don't we call it Mexican America?

It sounds nice, right?

Since 1607, the Constitution of Apatzingan refer to it as Mexican America.

We're going to call it Mexican America.

It sounds beautiful, right?

And the Gulf of Mexico has been recognized internationally since 1607 as well.

Yesterday, President Trump was misinformed. He was told that Felipe Calderon and Garcia Luna still govern in Mexico. But no. In Mexico, the

people govern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPMANN: So I think this is some of the frustration you're hearing about the region that president Trump, as he did during his first term -- or soon

to be president Trump, as he did during his first term, kind of brings his own facts into the equation.

And certainly that that has been the frustration in Panama, where, of course, the canal, now for 25 years, nearly 25 years, has been in

Panamanian hands. It is being run by Panama, despite what president Trump says, that somehow China calls the shots on Panama.

You know, U.S. officials over the years have said that, while they are concerned by China's rising influence in the Panama in the region, you

know, certainly there's no hard proof that that China runs the Panama canal.

The Panama Canal to run and has actually been expanded. More than double the number of ships now goes through the expanded post-Panamax Canal.

So it is a -- very clearly Panama is to run, even if Donald Trump feels that, however, by force or by economic coercion, he could somehow take it

back out the so-called bad deal of Jimmy's Carter's (sic).

But this is an issue that unites all Panamanians and certainly all, you know, many, many people in the region that remember the years of gunboat

diplomacy.

[10:25:04]

Where the U.S. sort of took over states that had disagreed with or where it saw economic importance. So, you know, whether it's Greenland or Mexico or

Panama, a lot of pushback today from these comments by president-elect Donald Trump.

ANDERSON: It's fascinating, isn't it?

I mean, there will be some -- and let's bring in Fred Pleitgen.

There will be some people in Europe who just believe that much of this is a bit of a, as we would say in Britain, a bit of a windup. But it isn't clear

at this point whether there is any substance to some of these comments that we're getting out of Donald Trump about Greenland, for example, which is a

Danish territory.

Or about the E.U. and how much it imports or doesn't import from the U.S. You know, this is the guy who is, on the one hand, full of bluster, some

might say; on the other, people probably need to think about whether there's any substance to his rhetoric here.

So how is Europe preparing for the return of Donald Trump?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Becky, this is indeed a huge debate. That press conference yesterday

by Donald Trump is all over, for instance, here in Germany, obviously, German media; of course, in Denmark and in Greenland as well after those

comments.

And I do believe that a lot of European politicians do believe that the European Union, European countries in general, are going to be in for a

pretty wild ride. And the discussion that you mentioned is exactly the one that's going on.

And the one that we're really hearing a lot in Central Europe, especially in Germany, is one of the comments that Donald Trump made, talking about

European countries or other NATO countries having to put away 5 percent of their GDP for defense, that he thought that that was an adequate number.

Now anybody who heard that, during that press conference, you might have gotten the impression that maybe that was just sort of a number that Donald

Trump came up with. But it is a big discussion here in Europe.

And if you look at Germany, there's some politicians who are saying this is outrageous, especially from Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats. There are other

politicians, however, who are saying, look, no matter what the number, European countries do need to do more for defense. And the new incoming

president is going to demand that as well.

There are some politicians who are saying, though, look, we can't necessarily take everything that he says at face value. But certainly

European politicians believe that the incoming Trump administration is going to be a lot tougher on Europe than the Biden administration has been

and is going to be a lot more demanding.

And I think one of the things that you're seeing right now, in the runup to the change of power in Washington, is really European politicians sort of

trying to feel Donald Trump out, see what's going to be going on.

You had Giorgia Meloni on the ground in Mar-a-Lago just the other day. But then with the issue of Greenland, that's really a whole different thing,

because that's, of course, is a security matter, a transatlantic security matter, where you have had the Danes come out and said, look, this area is

simply isn't for sale.

But they are also trying to be diplomatic about it, because they do realize that, of course, the United States is extremely important for European

security as well. I want to listen in again to what Donald Trump said about Denmark and Greenland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: People really don't even know if Denmark has any legal right to it. But if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national

security. That's for the free world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: So I think you were saying that that Denmark has had a right to Greenland for 600 years now and that really hasn't been called into

question. I've been in Greenland a couple of times, including the last time in 2019, when Donald Trump tried to say that the U.S. could buy, could

purchase Greenland.

And even back then, that idea was shot down. The influence that Denmark has is there but it certainly isn't something that is in a big way, that you

would feel in the big way. Certainly Greenland does administer itself to a large extent.

Nevertheless, the arctic region is becoming more important, both militarily and economically as well. So the U.S. certainly has some interest there.

But one thing that I think is really important in all this, Becky, is that Denmark is probably one of the U.S.' most loyal allies on the European

continent.

Almost every military operation abroad that the U.S. went into, the Danes were by their side. And the Danes certainly are very loyal to the United

States in NATO as well. So, hitting out, lashing out at one of your staunchest allies like that is certainly something that a lot of people in

Europe aren't taking very well -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, it's going to be a fascinating next period for Europe. Bracing for it, perhaps, is how we should describe it although, talking to

Melissa Bell earlier on, the position in Paris seems to have been sort of cautious optimism.

Perhaps things not quite as hectic or chaotic as the first Trump administration for Europe but certainly some caution, if not a little

optimism there as well. Good stuff. Thank you very much indeed.

[10:30:00]

As Donald Trump then prepares to return to office, sources say he is looking to revisit a plan from his first term and that is designating

Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.

Now the cartels rake in billions of dollars, control much of the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S. and are, of course, involved on a huge scale in

human smuggling or trafficking. Well, in 2019, Trump was close to designating them as terror groups but held off at the request of the then

Mexican president.

Well, the plan now seemingly back on the table. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now from Washington with more -- Priscilla.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, you can put this in the bucket of things that the president-elect's team is looking at

the first term to see what they can bring back.

And this is an idea that they want to resurface. It's also an idea that has continued to gain momentum among Republicans over the last several years.

And, of course, that is designating Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Now as you mentioned there, Donald Trump came close to doing this in his first term but then held off at the request of the then Mexican president.

But there was also pushback internally, according to sources, because it is a controversial idea.

Of course, it prefaces the use of the U.S. military on Mexican soil. It also can lead to tougher financial penalties and legal ramifications. Now

there are tools at the disposal of federal agencies to crack down on cartels and their human smuggling networks, as well as what they do in drug

trafficking and gun trafficking.

And that has been put to use by those federal agencies over the last several years.

But what Republicans argue and what the president-elect's team is considering is that something like putting cartels on the foreign terrorist

organization list would allow the U.S. government to do even more and to go even further in their crackdown of these criminal organizations.

And Republicans are even continuing to talk about it on Capitol Hill, with the lead of House Speaker Mike Johnson, in hopes that they, too, can move

legislation on this, as they have introduced over recent years.

Now to do something like this, Becky, it goes through the secretary of state, in consultation with the attorney general and the Treasury

Secretary. They would then notify Congress to do this.

Some of those that are already on the list, for example, ISIS and Boko Haram. So certainly this would be a major step, should they move forward

with this. And it's unclear from the sources I'm talking to when exactly they would do it.

But the intent is definitely there. Now another source I spoke with said, look, even if this doesn't give us that many more tools at our disposal to

go after these cartels, it very much puts pressure on the Mexican government to cooperate with the United States.

And so that is part of the lens that they are viewing this through, which is to make sure that they have that cooperation from Mexico to crack down

and double down on these cartels, which, in addition to the drug smuggling, are also partaking in human smuggling, which connects directly to the

president's agenda on border security.

So again, sources say that this is all under review and discussion. There is still some internally who believe that it may not be worth it. But there

are other voices who say it is time to do exactly this now, in the second term, after the president-elect spoke of it so often on the campaign trail

but also before then, during his first term, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.

Priscilla Alvarez, with us here on CONNECT THE WORLD. Still to come, more than 15 months into the war in Gaza, the Biden administration admits

efforts to broker a ceasefire deal have been challenging as the IDF continues to bombard Gaza. A live report from Israel is just ahead.

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[10:35:00]

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ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're with CONNECT THE WORLD and me, Becky Anderson. Time here just after 7:30 in the evening. In fact, 7:36 here in

Abu Dhabi. Your headlines:

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ANDERSON (voice-over): It's 7:36 in the morning in Los Angeles. And a fourth wildfire has now broken out in Los Angeles County as a fierce

windstorm with hurricane force gusts fans the flames; 1,400 firefighters deployed around the Los Angeles area. Containment, for now, though, they

say, is impossible.

The fires are destroying homes in mere seconds. One resident, who got out with her family on their third evacuation attempt, says the streets of her

neighborhood are unrecognizable.

Rescue teams are searching for survivors after a deadly earthquake in Tibet. China's state broadcaster says at least 126 people have been killed

after a 7.1 magnitude quake struck a remote region of Tibet on Tuesday. Tremors have been reported across the Himalayas in neighboring Nepal.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has been freed from an Iranian prison and is on her way home. That's according to the office of the Italian prime

minister. Sala spent weeks detained after being arrested while reporting in Tehran last month.

ANDERSON: Well, a White House official says ceasefire negotiations for the war in Gaza remain, quote, "difficult." The Biden administration has tried

for well over a year, of course, to help broker a deal, the last deal and temporary ceasefire back in November of 2023. And there's still no letup in

Israel's deadly attacks since then across the enclave.

Palestinian authorities say dozens of people were killed on Tuesday, at least 20 of them, including nine children, in the Khan Yunis area. The IDF

says it was targeting militants who took part in the October the 7th attacks.

Well, CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the very latest for us from Tel Aviv.

And, Jeremy, let's start in Gaza and then widen the lens to these ceasefire and hostage talks ongoing, if you will.

What's the latest on the ground?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, inside the Gaza Strip, we have seen one deadly day after another, as the Israeli military is

certainly not letting up in its assault on Gaza as these negotiations continue.

Dozens of people were killed in Gaza yesterday. Overnight, another deadly night, where we saw 19 people who were killed in southern Gaza alone,

including eight children, whose bodies were found amid the wreckage.

Just as we are watching the death toll for children, rising steeply already in the early days of 2025, at least 74 children have been reportedly killed

in Gaza, according to the United Nations.

And we are also monitoring a deadly incident that happened in the West Bank as well, where an Israeli airstrike killed three people. Two of those were

children. The bodies of an 8- and a 10-year old were returned to Palestinian officials via the Palestinian Red Crescent just a few hours

ago.

But as you said, the backdrop to all of this are those ongoing ceasefire and hostage negotiations, which, if successful, could indeed bring, if not

an end, then at least a lengthy pause to all of this carnage that we have been witnessing for over a year now.

[10:40:00]

The question is whether or not a deal can be reached, in particular, before president-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20th. Both Biden and

incoming Trump administration officials have made very clear in the last few days that their goal is indeed to get a deal before Trump's

inauguration.

The president-elect made that clear himself just yesterday. And we know that Steve Witkoff, his envoy to -- president-elect Trump's envoy to the

region, incoming envoy, I should say, was set to arrive in Doha today to join Biden administration officials, who are leading those negotiations

right now.

A Biden administration official, though, saying that things still remain very difficult in terms of actually being able to reach an agreement.

And Israeli officials have made clear that, despite reports of this list of 34 hostages who could potentially be released in the first phase of an

agreement that they have still yet to receive from Hamas, a list of the living hostages who remain in Gaza.

And that has been a critical demand from the Israelis in order to get to a deal. You know, we are still talking effectively about the same contours of

a deal that was initially reached in terms of a framework back in July. And so that is months of start and stop negotiations.

Whether or not they will culminate in a deal is certainly the hope from those in the region and from the U.S. officials, both Trump and Biden

administration officials. But whether or not it will happen is another question altogether -- Becky.

ANDERSON: And those I speak to in the region, who, you know, have been briefed on the matter, do say that there is an awful lot going on behind

the scenes. And while things are difficult, there does just seem to be a sense that this could get across the wire at this point.

But again, we caveat this by saying, you and I have been talking about, you know, getting a -- getting a deal, a temporary ceasefire, which might lead

to a end to this conflict.

We've been talking about that since November, 14 months ago, the last time there was any sort of silencing of the guns there in Gaza and the release

of some of those hostages in exchange for some Palestinian prisoners.

Always good to have you, sir. Thank you very much indeed.

Well, it's been a month since Syrians broke free from the Assad regime's shackles after more than two decades of Bashar and nearly 30 years of his

father, Hafez.

Well, for many, it's still hard to believe that this change has happened. And while there is uncertainty and fear about everything, from government

and security to jobs and education, for the first time in a very, very long time, Syrians can walk freely in their own country.

They can go and buy spices at the market. They can even set up a stand at the market to sell whatever they want. They can feel like human beings,

living in dignity in the place that they call home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED MAYO, SYRIAN RESIDENT (through translator): It's an indescribable feeling.

Thank God that we got rid of such an oppressor. He was starving us and things couldn't be worse. Thank God there is commercial activity, human

movement and water.

RANIA OUHARSSIAN, SYRIAN RESIDENT (through translator): There had been tyranny, oppression and starving of people. There had been no policy to

improve life and allow people to live freely and with dignity. So we are optimistic.

AHMED TABBAKH, SYRIAN RESIDENT (through translator): We say nothing but thank God. The situation is hopefully becoming better. I hope the situation

in the country gets better and blessings spread on everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Just some of the some of the voices from Syria for you today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): Ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD, you are looking at footage of a man being abducted near his home outside Nairobi. Up next, our

report looks at why people are disappearing in Kenya and some who have made it back home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[10:45:00]

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ANDERSON: Well, four people reported missing after criticizing Kenya's government online are now back home. A human rights group says more than 80

government critics have gone missing after a protest movement erupted in June, one that we reported on against the controversial finance bill.

Well, Kenya's president has vowed to stop the abductions after denying for months that they were even happening. Well, CNN's Larry Madowo has been

talking to some of the people who say that they were snatched but have now been released. He filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At least 82 people have disappeared in Kenya since the first protests in June. Many of them either attended or

organized protests or were critical of the Kenyan government online.

Kenyan authorities say they're not involved and they don't know who took them. The police have gone out of their way to say they don't abduct people

and they're not being held in any police stations in the country.

But the police have been criticized for making no effort to investigate these disappearances, to collect evidence, to question eyewitnesses or to

open files.

MADOWO (voice-over): Peter Muteti was paying for groceries at his apartment outside Nairobi in late December when two men grabbed him,

bundled him into a car as he screamed for help. Peter's family was shocked to see his abduction on video after looking everywhere for him.

ANSITY KENDI CHRISTINE, COUSIN OF MISSING MAN: We are a democracy on paper, not on the ground. Power is power, we understand but where do we

draw the line between power and dictatorship when you abduct 22 year olds.

MADOWO (voice-over): Peter returned home on Monday but is too traumatized to speak, his family said. In the six months since youth- led protests

rocked Kenya, dozens of people have disappeared after criticizing President William Ruto, according to human rights groups.

Six of them disappeared in December alone. The protest forced President Ruto to drop proposed tax hikes and fire his cabinet.

Online opposition to his government remains strong. And after initially calling the abductions fake news, Ruto said this.

WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT (through translator): What has been said about abductions, we will stop them, so Kenyan youth can live in peace but

they should have discipline and be polite so that we can build Kenya together.

MADOWO (voice-over): Since then, five of the missing have been released but many more remain unaccounted for.

BOB NJAGI, ACTIVIST AND FORMER ABDUCTEE: It was right here, OK?

MADOWO (voice-over): Activist Bob Njagi took us back to where he says he was pulled from a bus by four hooded men last August.

MADOWO: The police said they did not abduct you. They don't abduct people. Do you believe them?

NJAGI: No. I don't believe that. Larry, these guys had handcuffs. They had guns. OK?

They had walkie-talkies.

MADOWO (voice-over): Bob says he was driven blindfolded to an undisclosed location, beaten, stripped naked and handcuffed to the floor. He says he

was held for 32 days alongside his neighbors, brothers Jamil and Aslam, who say they were also forcibly detained. They resurfaced after public pressure

about their disappearance.

ASLAM LONGTON, FORMER ABDUCTEE (through translator): I still have trouble sleeping, sometimes I accidentally hit my wife in bed because I have

nightmares of those guys returning. So I'm mentally and physically traumatized.

MADOWO (voice-over): Human rights groups accuse Kenyan authorities of being behind and forced disappearances, decrying a return to repression.

MADOWO: People who were abducted reported hooded men with guns. At protests, we've seen similarly hooded men with guns. Every time we try to

get close to them, they run away.

OKIYA OMTATAH, SENATOR, KENYAN OPPOSITION: It looks like there's a war which has been declared against anybody who criticizes this government.

MADOWO (voice-over): Opposition Senator Okiya Omtatah met with Gideon Kibet, a student behind viral cartoons critical of President Ruto. Kibet

never made it home. The lawmaker blames Kenyan security forces for abducting the artist on his way home.

[10:50:00]

MADOWO: The inspector general of police claims that the police have not abducted anyone and they're not being held in any police stations in Kenya.

OMTATAH: They are being held in some extra-judicial detention centers. The police never take any action. It's like they know what is happening.

They're in support of it or they're helpless.

MADOWO (voice-over): Kenyan authorities declined to comment when contacted by CNN for this report. But police say they're thoroughly investigating the

disappearances.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is my son, your honor?

MADOWO (voice-over): This distraught dad was reunited with his son but for many parents still searching for their kids, every day is a nightmare.

MADOWO: Even though five of the six people that disappeared in December have resurfaced, there's still about 2 dozen who are still missing,

according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

And those who have come back, many are unwilling to even discuss what happened to them while they were gone.

Who took them?

Where were they?

Many are severely traumatized, according to family members. And the police now say they're investigating thoroughly what happened. But many in the

country just don't believe that there can be a true telling of who exactly took them and why -- Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: We are back after this quick break. Stay with us.

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ANDERSON: Well, right now, powerful winds are fueling four -- four -- active wildfires in Los Angeles County. Tens of thousands of people have

been ordered to evacuate as the fires rapidly spread across the Southern Californian region.

Wind gusts up to 160 kilometers an hour are fanning those flames, torching homes, businesses and vehicles in their wake. It's nearly impossible to

contain all of the wildfires right now. First responders are focused on just getting people out of harm's way and saving lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN SHEILA KELLIHER, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: I wish you could see -- I don't know if you can see over here but this hillside, it's

pretty hard to see with my camera --- is burning.

And it's just whipping tornado-like, you know, columns and spouts. So it's the perfect storm, as they say. People understand how bad a hurricane is or

how bad a tornado is. You know, you can't stop those. The wind is so strong. There's nothing you can do. You wait until it passes through and

then you fix what's left. Right?

Well, and add fire on top of that. And that's what we're up against.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, the U.S. Department of Justice is arguing that it should be able to release the special counsel's findings on the January 6th

insurrection, just days before Donald Trump takes office.

But the DOJ told a federal appeals court that it would only release the part of its report that relates to the insurrection, not its investigation

into the alleged mishandling of classified documents. Both were blocked by a judge's earlier ruling. Let's get you Katelyn Polantz on this.

We are close to the back end of this show but this is important just to -- just get us up to speed.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So there are two volumes of this report from the Office of Special Counsel around the

prosecutions of Donald Trump.

Both cases against him that are dismissed, one related to the 2020 election, one related to the classified documents case. That final report

is now, according to the Justice Department, in the hands of the attorney general. And the attorney general has a plan for it.

[10:55:00]

He wants to publicly release Volume I of the report related to the 2020 election aftermath, the attack on the Capitol. He wants to release that

publicly, both to Congress and to the general public. He says it's in the public interest.

Volume II, about the classified documents investigation, where Donald Trump was alleged to have mishandled many classified records at Mar-a-Lago, his

estate in Florida, after he left the presidency in 2021, that part of the report, the attorney general says now he's not going to release that.

Because there could be an ongoing case that's revived against two co- defendants accused of obstructing justice with Trump. But very important here that it's all in court. And currently the Justice Department is

blocked from releasing this.

So what is happening is that the attorney general is telling a federal appeals court, please sign off on this plan I have so that I can release

Volume I about the 2020 election, the case against Donald Trump to the general public.

The clock is ticking, though, Becky; 12 days until Donald Trump is president and Merrick Garland is no longer the attorney general to make

decisions like these.

ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. Good to have you as ever. Thank you, Katelyn.

And that is it for CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. Just about five minutes before 8:00 in the evening here. Just before 8:00 in the

morning in Los Angeles County. Do stay with CNN for the very latest on those California wildfires.

END