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Connect the World
CNN International: Trump Moves Quickly to Reshape Federal Government; Once-In-A-Generation Storm Brings Record Snowfall to U.S. South; ICRC Head on Upcoming Hostage and Prisoner Exchange; Trump Issues Slew of Executive Orders on Energy; Trump Indicates He's Open to New Sanctions on Russia; Pardoned January 6 Defendants Being Released from Prison. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired January 22, 2025 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: This is the scene in Washington where President Trump is preparing for his first sit down interview since
taking office. It is 09:00 a.m. and it is 06:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Eleni Giokos. This is "Connect the World".
Also coming up, a series of pivotal executive orders, including on immigration and citizenship by the Trump Administration, causing some
concern across the country. As a fragile ceasefire holds in Gaza, Israel launches a West Bank military operation focused on the Jenin Refugee Camp.
And extreme weather in the United States as a deadly winter storm hits the south.
Right, the stock markets in New York is going to open around 30 minutes from now. Let's check in on those futures, all pointing upwards, as you can
see, down three -- 0.38 percent to the higher S&P as well as NASDAQ, looking really strong right now.
Markets really responding to what could be a lot more business friendly policy coming through from the Trump Administration, despite the fact that
many are still very concerned about what a tariff environment could mean for the world and whether that's going to be inflationary, right? We'll
check in on those numbers in around 30 minutes.
Meantime, Donald Trump is moving quickly to reshape the U.S. federal government in the first days of his return to the White House. One of his
first actions impacts employees who work in diversity, equity and inclusion offices, and they've been placed on paid administrative leave. Their
futures uncertain.
The president signed an executive order banning government DEI programs shortly after his inauguration. He's also sidelined top Korea officials at
the Justice Department, including senior lawyers and the criminal and national security divisions, part of a promised Justice Department
overhaul.
While some of these actions for full campaign pledges, Mr. Trump never promised to pardon all January 6 offenders, including those who committed
violent acts. The fact that he did just that drew a mixed response from Republicans, with some supporting the move.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): It was a horrible day. However, the American people have chosen to move on.
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): To me I just can't agree. It was surprising to me that it was a blanket pardon.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): It's not my place. It's the president's sole decision. And he made a decision. So, I stand with him on it.
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): I think we need to continue to be able to say we are a party of law and order, and that is incredibly important to be
able to protect those folks who are protecting us.
SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): The deck is clear. Now. Can we just stop talking about January 6?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: All right, I want to bring in Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak, covering all the latest news out of what we're seeing from the
Trump Administration in the first 48 hours. Kevin putting the Federal DEI employees on paid leave what message is that sending at the start of the
second Trump Presidency?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I think what Trump is trying to do is to demonstrate his willingness to shape the federal
government to his liking, both through the policy but also through the personnel. And what this memo does is place these employees who are
responsible for diversity initiatives within the federal government on leave with the goal of reducing the staffing by the end of the month, by
January 31st.
At the end of the day, as the White House Press Secretary said overnight, this should come as no surprise, Trump ran on a campaign of trying to
eliminate some of these initiatives that President Biden put into place while he was in office. President Biden really putting racial equity at the
forefront of his staffing decisions.
On his first day in office, almost four years ago, Biden signed an initiative to put these initiatives into place. Trump reversing that as
soon as he came into office. And I think it really just demonstrates Trump's willingness to use his executive authority, to use his powers over
federal staffing to try and execute on some of the campaign promises he made as a candidate.
And you see him already doing this, of course, on immigration, which has already been challenged in courts when it comes to federal staffing and to
federal personnel, this is an area where the president has much wider prerogative. He has a much wider executive authority.
And certainly, you already hearing from Democrats and those who advocate for some of these programs that this could set back the initiative, set
back the initiative to try and make the federal workforce more diverse.
[09:05:00]
But in President Trump's mind, these programs were amounting to essentially reverse racism, and you heard in his inaugural address say that his
administration would be color blind, that it would be merit based, and that this, I think, is his first step towards fulfilling that pledge he made as
a candidate.
GIOKOS: I want to talk about the January 6 pardons and the Republican response to this, which has been described as muted. What does this say
about President Trump's grip on the Republican Party?
LIPTAK: Yeah, and we always knew that Republicans in this new administration will be tested again and again when Trump makes some of
these more controversial moves, and certainly he wasted no time in putting them in that position when he pardoned the January 6 rioters, issuing that
blanket pardon.
It put him at odds with some statements that even members of his own administration had made in the weeks ahead of his inauguration. Remember
J.D. Vance, his Vice President, said in the lead up to the inauguration that, of course, violent offenders wouldn't receive pardons. Well, when he
signed this pardon, it was a blanket act of clemency.
There was no carve out for people who had committed violence on January 6. And of course, it now puts these Republicans in the position of trying to
defend this action by Trump. And I think what it goes to show is that Trump is going to test the bounds of his executive authority.
The presidential pardon power is one of those actions that really cannot be challenged in court. You won't see lawsuits trying to reverse this action.
It's something that the president can kind of do at will, and it will now put Republicans in the position of trying to defend it.
One thing that Trump was looking at as he was making this decision in the hours after being sworn in was President Biden's decision to issue those
pre-emptive pardons in the final minutes of his presidency. According to Trump's aides, this weighed on to his decision. He essentially felt it gave
him a green light to take the most expansive pardon powers that he could as soon as he took office.
And I think it's another area where President Trump is trying to demonstrate, in the early hours and days of his administration, his
willingness to fulfil all of these promises he made as a candidate.
GIOKOS: All right, Kevin Liptak, good to have you on thank you so much. Well, U.S. President Donald Trump continues to make good on his campaign
promise to carry out mass deportations. The Trump Administration has issued a new directive rolling back a Biden era ban on immigration enforcement
actions in or near schools or churches.
The Acting Homeland Security Secretary claims that these are locations where some criminals have been hiding. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez takes a
closer look at this new policy and other directives the Trump Administration is rolling out.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump's deportation plans are starting to take shape after a spate of key policies that were
released on Tuesday. They included, for example, a new directive that allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest people or take
enforcement actions in or near what are called sensitive areas that is, for example, churches, schools, hospitals.
That is a departure from long standing policy that kept agents from working in those areas. Immigrant advocates, of course, have said and warned that
doing so could stoke fear within immigrant communities and have ripple effects.
But in addition to that, on Tuesday, the Trump Administration also releasing a regulation that expands a fast-track deportation procedure,
essentially casting a wider net of undocumented immigrants who would be eligible for that procedure that would cannot prove that they have been
living in the United States continuously for two years.
Taken together, all of these policies start to provide a clear picture as to how the Trump Administration plans to embark on its deportation pledge.
In addition to that, the White House Border Czar are Tom Homan, telling our Dana Bash that targeted operations are already happening.
And also noting that if other undocumented immigrants are encountered over the course of those operations, and they too, could be taken into
detention. So, all of this starting to ramp up with these policies, and as these operations are underway as again, the Trump Administration tries to
make due on the president's campaign promise back to you.
GIOKOS: To the Middle East now, where Israel's Defense Minister says the nation is using lessons learned from the Gaza war. In its new operation in
the occupied West Bank Israel Katz says an operation is underway in Jenin to eliminate terrorists.
[09:10:00]
And there were protests on the streets of Jerusalem Tuesday after Israeli forces shot and wounded two West Bank settlers during what they describe as
a riot. A joint statement from several Israeli commanders says, quote, dozens of Israeli civilians set property on fire and cause damage.
I want to go now live to Tel Aviv. We've got CNN's Bianna Golodryga standing by. Bianna, good to have you with us. You know, taking a wide look
at this, Jordan Foreign Minister at the World Economic Forum in Davos is saying, the West Bank could, quote, explode. What is happening in the West
Bank, and is Benjamin Netanyahu and his government concerned?
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: We're already seeing images of armored trucks and bulldozers in the occupied West Bank, as well
as this operation enters day two of what the Israeli Defense Forces says could be a multi-day, even longer operation.
The Defense Minister, Katz saying today that it could even expand everywhere, beyond just Janine and what they view as prevent -- preventing
the spread of militancy in the occupied West Bank. And this one could look at the scale of this operation and go back to August and the last time
we've seen an operation this side conducted in the West Bank by the IDF.
It is notable that Palestinian authority security had actually been fighting over the past month with local militants in the occupied West
Bank. They have since withdrawn their forces, and the reporting that we are getting now on the ground there from local doctors, suggesting that the
hospital is under siege.
There, the IDF responding to that claim, saying that they have been protecting individuals in that hospital. Ten have been reported killed over
the last two days of this operation, and the IDF is saying this is from lessons learned from October 7th to prevent the spread of what they see is
more violence in the region.
And it comes as we note that we are now three days into a very fragile ceasefire hostage deal now between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. We're
expecting the next transfer of Israeli hostages. Four women are expected to be transferred to the IDF this Saturday.
And there's a lot of concern about what we're seeing transpire in the occupied West Bank, whether that will have any impact on the continuity and
the status of the ceasefire, as we're seeing Hamas now responding to this operation by calling for mobilization in the occupied West Bank.
GIOKOS: Yeah, and it's a really important point. I mean, even President Trump was talking about the fragility of the ceasefire hostage deal. In
terms of what Israel's Defense Minister is saying about the military operation in Jenin. And you mentioned that this could expand and extend too
other -- even further. How much of a concern is the strike now Bianna and the probabilities that could play out?
GOLODRYGA: The concern is two-fold. One is the impact that it could have on, as we noted, the stability of the fragile ceasefire, and also how long
it could last? And what are the regional consequences of another larger scale operation in the occupied West Bank?
Israel had initially said that this could go on for multiple days. It could extend even further. And as noted, we have been documenting an increase in
violence from militants in the occupied West Bank, in addition to settler violence, as well, as you noted in the introduction there. So, the
combination of the two coming at a very precarious moment for the region as a whole is what has many people, many observers, concerned about what this
means down the road.
GIOKOS: All right, Bianna Golodryga, thank you so much. Good to see you. Well, parts of the U.S. South are paralyzed by a once-in-a-generation
winter storm that brought record snowfall in some places and brutally cold temperatures. Five states are operating under states of emergency. The
deadly storm, closing airports and making roadway sheets of ice.
First responders are warning people not to drive until conditions improve. I want to go now to CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa, she's in Atlanta, a city
with snow and icy roads. Elisa, good to have you with us. How long will the stick around? I mean, seeing some of these images incredible to see the
snowfall. And just as we've said, once in a lifetime, winter storm here?
ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is incredibly rare. I mean, we're looking at a sign that says, "Welcome to Florida" and look at all of the
snow piling up on the palm trees. Truly unprecedented, it hasn't happened in decades. This is Bourbon Street in New Orleans. You can see the snow
piling up there, a lot of it compact and icy.
[09:15:00]
That's the concern as we go through the next couple of days. A lot of these cities don't have ploughs and snow trucks to get rid of all of this snow.
New Orleans just wrapped up its snowiest day in modern history, eight inches, nearly tripling the previous record. Just incredible.
I mean, some of these totals, 10.50 inches in Lafayette, more than seven inches from Mobil and Pensacola, we're looking at the snow yesterday on
record in the entire State of Florida, with more than eight inches on the Panhandle there. So again, truly unprecedented.
How did this happen? When we have this Arctic Air in place temperatures 30 degrees below average, and that storm is able to tap into very warm ocean
temperatures, the same ocean temperatures that fuel stronger weather hurricanes. Well, it dumped all of this snow.
GIOKOS: All right, thank you so much for that update. Good to see you. And ahead on "Connect the World" Becky Anderson will be speaking to the Head of
the International Committee of the Red Cross about the enormous challenges in facilitating the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners during
the Israel Hamas ceasefire. More on that story right after this, stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Well, as the world watches whether a fragile ceasefire in Gaza will hold ahead of the next exchange of more hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
One organization is playing a crucial role. The International Committee of the Red Cross is the main group facilitating the return of hostages to
Israel. And the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli custody.
Our Becky Anderson sat down with the Head of the ICRC, Mirjana Spoljaric in Davos, Switzerland. She asked her about the enormous effort that went into
the first release of three hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners the past weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: How complex was that process for your team with the planning the security considerations needed for it
to be successful, and how concerned were you as you were watching these images?
MIRJANA SPOLJARIC, ICRC PRESIDENT: These are indeed extremely complex and sensitive operations. They are also dangerous. They can potentially be
dangerous, not only for our personnel, but especially for those that we are trying to bring back safely to their families.
So evidently, this is not an operation that is planned overnight. It requires extremely tight coordination with both sides. They also need to
know what is required from our perspective and our experience in order to be successful in it. And sometimes it tweaks in the making sometimes it's
days, depending on how much time we have.
[09:20:00]
But all of this, now in Gaza is based on, you know, a decade long presence and a decade long dialog with both sides.
ANDERSON: And your trusted partner. But of course, there's a massive trust deficit between the two parties, the Israelis and Hamas.
SPOLJARIC: Of course.
ANDERSON: How tenuous was this in the making?
SPOLJARIC: Look, it's been in the making for a long time. As we know it's in the public space. We have been insisting since then day one that the
modalities need to be agreed on, so that we can have access and support the release of the hostages, without these agreements, a hostage release is
never possible.
This is how it works. Now, we do not negotiate the deal itself, because that would impede our neutral role and ability to facilitate the
implementation. So, we rely on intermediaries, like in this case, it was Qatar and Egypt, and we work also closely with them to keep them informed
of what modalities we need to have in place in order to support the operations.
ANDERSON: You need the support of the Israeli security forces. You also need to ensure that on the Palestinian side, prisoners are released and
have security. On reflection, did you get what you needed?
SPOLJARIC: We got what we needed, but we continue discussing how in every round we can improve the safety and security. You saw again, the images you
saw the fact that there were hundreds of thousands of people in the street. And I still believe there are means to coordinate even more tightly and to
have certain mechanisms in place that would avoid the exposure of those who need to be brought back to their families.
ANDERSON: The Israeli hostages' side, you have been calling for the immediate release of all hostages and access to them to assess their
conditions. You haven't got either of those at this point. We are now into what is phase one of this temporary or this ceasefire process.
This is a temporary ceasefire for 42 days more hostages are due to be released in the next five weeks. How confident are you that this ceasefire
will hold? Donald Trump has said he doesn't have much confidence. Are you equally concerned?
SPOLJARIC: I do not want to speculate about whether the ceasefire will hold or not. What I want to say is it has to hold. There has been too much
suffering on both sides. We've been insisting on this agreement for so many months because it's the only way, the only means, to alleviate the
situation that is extremely dire.
I mean, I spent two days in Gaza, I stayed overnight. You do not want to imagine what I saw. I spent so many hours with the families of the
hostages. The pain is unmeasurable, and we need this deal to continue. And I think the leaders owe this to their people that you know their suffering
can finally ease and that the healing can begin.
ANDERSON: You were also on the West Bank. What was your assessment there?
SPOLJARIC: It's equally complicated. You know, we need to have more movement to fulfill our mandate. We are also talking to the Israeli
authorities, as we are to the Palestinian authorities.
I met the President of the Palestinian Authority. So, we are talking to both sides on, you know, how they have to conduct these operations and
allow us to access certain groups of people in order to be compliant with international humanitarian law. What you see across the Middle East?
And they've also come back from Syria and Lebanon are, you know, the consequences of a permissive interpretation, if not a violation of
international humanitarian law, and you can see it in the form of human suffering, but you can also measure the cost of war.
ANDERSON: Let's talk about the next scheduled release, Saturday. Talk to me about the implementation of that. Talk to me about what we can expect. Tell
me what you are hearing behind the scenes about how that's going to happen and whether it's going to happen at all.
SPOLJARIC: We don't disclose what we discuss behind the scenes. It's an essential part of how we operate, and this is also the reason why the
International Committee of the Red Cross is very often, if not regularly, the facilitator of such operations. But we do hope to be able to reunite
families again in within a weeks' time.
[09:25:00]
And we hope to be able to continue these release operations based on the necessary agreements, until all that have to be released --
ANDERSON: I have to ask you do you have full confidence that Saturday will happen as scheduled?
SPOLJARIC: Look at the moment we are planning for further releases that I can say.
ANDERSON: You talked about the importance of international humanitarian law. Frankly, there'll be many people watching this who say they just don't
see that or have any confidence in the implementation of international humanitarian law, after what we've seen in Gaza, what we've seen in Syria,
we've seen in Lebanon, we've seen in Ukraine?
What do you say to people who feel that we're living in a new world? They don't have any confidence going forward, that these same rules sort of
exist anymore.
SPOLJARIC: People don't have confidence in the implementation of international humanitarian law, and specifically in the Geneva Conventions.
But what we see -- what we see in Gaza, what we see in Syria, what we see in other places like Sudan, I was in Myanmar in the last few months, is the
consequences of non-implementation of the Geneva Conventions.
So, what does this tell us. If you want to alleviate the suffering, and especially if you want to prevent that level of suffering and destruction,
we have no other choice but bringing the states back to the recognition that this is a treaty that they all have ratified and it's their obligation
to implement.
ANDERSON: Do you have confidence that this new Trump Administration buys that argument?
SPOLJARIC: The International Committee of the Red Cross is the founding member of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. We've been there for 160
years, through World Wars, through numerous U.S. administrations. And we will continue to work with every U.S. administration and throughout
history, the U.S. have always been a steadfast supporter of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
ANDERSON: That wasn't my question with the greatest of respect. This is a new Donald Trump Administration. My question was very specifically, do you
have confidence that you and others will get the support from this very specific administration?
SPOLJARIC: I will -- first thing, reach out to them and ask for this support to continue, of course.
ANDERSON: Have you spoken to the Trump Administration?
SPOLJARIC: No, not yet, but I plan to do so as soon as possible.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Right. You're watching "Connect the World". There's more news just ahead, stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi, and you're watching "Connect the World". These are your headlines. The Trump Administration has
issued a new directive allowing immigration authorities to enter schools, churches and other so-called sensitive areas to conduct arrests.
These are the locations where some criminals have been hiding, according to the acting Homeland Security Secretary. The move is among the latest to
rescind Biden era policies on immigration. Israeli military forces say they were responding to riots in the West Bank when two Jewish settlers were
shot and wounded.
Jordan's Foreign Minister speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, warns the West Bank could, quote, explode. This comes as the IDF presses on
with a new military operation in the West Bank town of Jenin. People across the U.S., South and Gulf Coast are dealing with record snowfall and frigid
temperatures.
Parts of New Orleans are buried in snow. Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi are operating under states of emergency. First
responders are urging people to stay off the icy and hazardous roads. Funerals have begun for victims of ski resort fire in northwestern Turkey.
Officials now say at least 76 people were killed, dozens more were hurt. The nation is in mourning, and the Turkish President says anyone found
responsible for Tuesday's blaze will be held to account. President Trump has pledged to rev up the U.S. economy and energy as a major part of his
plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Energy is the big, that's the big baby, and we declared a National Energy emergency to drill,
baby, drill. Our term that we use we're going to drill, baby, drill like never before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Mr. Trump is pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, rolling back environmental protections and streamlining approvals for oil and gas
projects. But that raises the question, is the private energy sector on board with the president's promise to drill, baby drill?
I want to bring in an expert to guide us through all of this. We've got Helima Croft, who is the Head of Global Commodity Strategy at RBC Capital
Markets. She joins us now from Rhode Island in the United States. Helima, great to have you with us. There are so many facets to this.
The drill, baby, drill strategy at a time where the U.S. is currently under peak oil production, and whether the oil price makes sense for the private
sector and oil companies to go look for new frontiers. How are you weighing this up?
HELIMA CROFT, HEAD OF GLOBAL COMMODITY STRATEGY AT RBC CAPITAL MARKETS: I think the energy industry in United States is certainly happy to have a
more permissive regulatory environment going forward. But at the end of the day, the most important CEOs in the United States are still talking about
capital discipline.
So, they are not looking to massively ramp up U.S. production if that means it will hurt the bottom line of the companies or shareholders. So again, I
think the U.S. oil and gas industry is very happy to have President Trump back. But to the economics opening up production, for example, in deep
water or in federal land. Is it really compelling for these companies to start drilling in these areas? The economics have to warrant drilling.
GIOKOS: Well, let's look at the Brent crude price right now, which is around $75 a barrel. It has been under pressure because, you know, people
are anticipating more oil in the markets. I mean, what you've also got to weigh up is whether we're going to see Iran and Venezuela being squeezed,
for example. I mean, there's so many things. How are you looking at supply, demand dynamics? And what is being priced in at the moment?
CROFT: I mean, certainly before we had the Biden sanctions on the Russian energy sector, the sort of last sanctions he imposed on Russia on his way
out. A lot of the focus for this year has been on what was demand going to look like in the all-important China market. And there had been real
concerns about faltering demand.
There are people were looking at demand for refined products, diesel and saying, China does not look awesome. And then you have the Biden
Administration come in and sanction 183 tankers, some of the biggest Russian energy companies, insurance companies.
[09:35:00]
And all of a sudden, people started looking at maybe the loss of maybe 1.4 million barrels of Russian oil on the market at the time when we're also
anticipating more Iran sanctions, or at least a more stringent enforcement of Iran sanctions, with a return of maximum pressure.
So that is why we've had rent prices recently rallied, because of an expectation that you could see a loss of supply amongst these two key
producers. So that's what where people are weighing up is, what is the demand picture going to look like? And that's where tariffs come in as
well.
The question about, will tariffs on China hurt demand, or will tariffs on Canadian oil potentially raise prices in the United States? So, all of
these factors, people are weighing up when they think about what is the roadmap for energy in 2025.
GIOKOS: Yeah, there's so many interesting assets to this. Look, one of these arguments is to try and temper inflation in the United States. And
the only way to do that is to try and bring oil prices down. Everything you've just said, and the calculations that we're basically looking at the
big picture, I just can't see this happening in the U.S. How are you viewing this conundrum for President Trump that clearly everyone voted on?
CROFT: This is the challenge for President Trump, again, as you can be very, very supportive of the U.S. oil and gas industry. But the United
States is not a national oil company, and so decisions will be made in boardrooms.
So how do you compel U.S. producers to produce more if the economics are not right? And so, the question is, will President Trump then potentially
scale back sanctions? Will it be pedal to the metal when it comes to dealing with countries like Venezuela, Iran, potentially Russia?
So, these are the things he has to weigh up. He's also pledged to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as well. Again, something that you would
not say is necessarily going to lower prices. Remember, the Biden Administration really engaged in an aggressive drawdown of the SPR in
effort to contain prices.
So again, for President Trump, he's really going to have to weigh up what's his top priority going after some of these foreign policy adversaries that
happen to be oil producers, or is he going to have to focus on trying to keep the oil market well supplied?
GIOKOS: Yeah. Good, quick -- I mean, look, we were actually at the same conference in Riyadh, the Future Minerals Forum.
CROFT: Yes.
GIOKOS: And the big conversation was supply of critical minerals.
CROFT: Yes.
GIOKOS: And how China basically dominates?
CROFT: 100 percent.
GIOKOS: And where does the U.S. stand on this. You know and who's going to dominate this whole sector, so the U.S. -- so actually, Trump announcing
data centers. None of this can be done without critical minerals --
CROFT: -- 100 percent.
GIOKOS: And that's going to be another huge point of competition, frankly.
CROFT: I mean, that's a huge national security challenge for the United States. And that conference was so fascinating, particularly the comments
by the Saudi Oil Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, where he said that really, the geopolitics that we're going to be focusing on is not going to
be necessarily the geopolitics of oil, but the geopolitics of gas and critical minerals.
That's where the issue of like security of supply is really going to come in. Because if you look at critical minerals, you don't see anywhere the
same type of concentration when it comes to refining or countries that dominate the supplies, for example, the DRC for cobalt, you have much more
concentration in the supply chains of critical minerals than any -- almost any other commodity.
GIOKOS: Yeah, I feel like critical minerals all the new oil, frankly. But I want to talk about OPEC's response
CROFT: Yeah.
GIOKOS: Saudi Arabia still relies on oil imports for their foreign exchange earnings, and despite the fact that everyone's trying to diversify their
economies and so forth. Everyone's going to be watching very closely these supply demand dynamics. What do you anticipate OPEC's response will be?
CROFT: Such a great question, because, again, we're at the Critical Minerals Forum. And Saudi Arabia really has this incredible ambition to
really play a really important role in the critical minerals processing supply chains going forward. But yet, you know, oil remains an important
driver of the diversification effort.
And we saw no indications, or heard no indications, based on our conversations on the sidelines of that conference, that OPEC has any
intention to break the agreement that they basically announced in December to extend these production cuts for the full 2025. And at this stage, their
view is like, look, the United States has made a decision on sanctions policy.
And it's really not the role of OPEC to provide a barrel assist at this stage. In 2018, they front run a million extra barrels in the U.S.
announced that it was exiting JCPOA. And yet we issued exemptions from reporters of Iranian oil and cause prices to crash by 30 percent in
November of that year.
So, OPEC is not looking to unleash their production in response to a U.S. policy. So again, it goes back to the conundrum of President Trump, because
we did see in his first administration.
[09:40:00]
He was very active with his Twitter fingers, making phone calls to Vienna and the key oil producing countries to ask for more barrels. But if they
are saying, President Trump, we may be happy to have you, back. But you're going to have to look to your own production or your own policies to deal
with energy prices. That puts the pressure back on the new administration.
GIOKOS: Yeah. And will be interesting to see how the relationship between the U.S. and some of these big economies here in the Middle East evolve.
Helima Croft, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for your insights. An absolute pleasure. All right, after the presence of major tech
leaders at President Trump's inauguration, three more appeared at the White House on Tuesday to announce a major new AI company.
OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle say they plan to invest up to $500 billion into Stargate. CNN's Clare Duffy explains what new venture will do.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: This is three major technology firms that are now teaming up to start a new company called Stargate that will be
dedicated to building AI infrastructure in the United States, things like data centers, but also potentially the chips and water and electricity
resources that are needed to power these data centers.
These companies, Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank say they plan to invest $100 billion on this project to start with, the plan of investing as much as
$500 billion over the next four years. They say their first data center is already under construction in Texas.
And look AI leaders, especially OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have really been ringing the alarm that the United States needs to invest more in AI
infrastructure to keep up the pace of development, and crucially, to stay ahead of China in the AI arms race.
Because, of course, artificial intelligence is going to have serious implications for the economy and military technology. Altman said
yesterday, I think this will be the most important project of our era. Trump also said that Stargate is expected to create 100,000 U.S. jobs.
Of course, we expect that those jobs will probably be created more in the construction phase, because once you have a data center up and running,
that doesn't require a whole lot of human workers. And of course, it could take some time to get to that 100,000 number.
I also think it's interesting that we saw Trump on Monday rolling back a Biden executive order related to managing AI safety risks. And so, we're
starting maybe to see some of the benefit for these tech CEOs of cozying up to Trump, where he is supportive of their building, but he's also removing
some of the guardrails for this industry. Clare Duffy, CNN, New York.
GIOKOS: Well just ahead Chinese Leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to strengthen their ties, just hours after U.S.
President Donald Trump's inauguration. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
GIOKOS: The U.S. President has issued new remarks that raise questions about his relationship with Russia's President. Donald Trump said Vladimir
Putin is ruining Russia by continuing its war on Ukraine. Adding that he'd consider new sanctions if Moscow doesn't try to make a deal. CNN's Fred
Pleitgen has the details for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just hours after President Donald Trump's inauguration. Kremlin control TV
already poking fun at the new U.S. leader, at Trump's pledge to end the war in Ukraine on day one. In the U.S. they call the expression stop the war in
24 hours, a bright example of Trump's hyperbole, the host says.
But Trump himself says he intends to keep his promise, and that his meeting with Putin is soon ahead. The tone on state TV very different than before
the inauguration, like in December, when Trump had criticized the Biden Administration's decision to allow Ukraine to use U.S. supplied ATACMS
missiles to fire into Russia.
More absolutely sensational news, the anchor said then. Donald Trump condemned the use of ATACMS for attacks on the territory of Russia. Shortly
after taking office, President Trump, who claims to have good relations with Putin, appeared surprisingly critical of the Russian Leader.
TRUMP: Zelenskyy, wants to make a deal. I don't know if Putin does. He might not. He should make a deal. I think he's destroying Russia by not
making a deal. I think Russia is going to be in big trouble.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): But Putin unfazed, showing whom he considers to be his most important ally and friend Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, even after Xi
took the rare step of calling Trump shortly before the inauguration. Xi and Putin now making clear in a virtual summit.
China and Russia will stand together no matter what Trump does. These connections are self-sufficient and independent of domestic political
factors and the current global situation, Putin said. This year, I am ready, together with you, to elevate Chinese-Russian relations to a new
level, she added.
To counter external uncertainties by preserving stability and resilience of Chinese-Russian relations. As Ukraine continues to lose ground in many
sectors of the vast front line, Ukraine's President, speaking at the Davos Economic Forum, appeared concerned about whether Kyiv's allies can achieve
what Ukraine would consider a just peace.
If there are weak guarantees, uncertainty, only words, then you will only get words from Russia, and they will come back with war again. Fred
Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Right. Let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now. Search teams and emergency workers remain on the scene
of a ski resort in northwestern Turkey, when early morning fire killed at least 76 people on Tuesday. Some of the victims are said to be as young as
10 years old.
Turkey is observing an official day of mourning. Today marks Roe v. Wade Day in the United States, the anniversary of when the Supreme Court
legalized abortion nationwide, back in 1973. The High Court overturned the landmark decision in 2022 ruling there is no federal constitutional right
to abortion.
Hundreds of same sex couples are expected to tie the knot across Thailand, Thursday. That's when a marriage equality bill passed by Parliament last
year officially takes effect, following more than a decade of efforts by the LGBTQ Plus activists. Thailand is the first country in Southeast Asia
and one of the few on the continent to recognize marriage equality.
Prince Harry's long battle against a group of tabloids owned by Rupert Murdoch took an unexpected turn after he chose to settle the case before
the trial began. Prince Harry accused "News Group" newspapers of illegally obtaining information on his family. His lawyer said the tabloids offered a
full and unequivocal apology and will pay substantial damages.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID SHERBORNE, PRINCE HARRY'S LAWYER: Today, the lies are laid bare. Today, the cover ups are exposed, and today proves that no one stands above
the law. The time for accountability has arrived.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Right. Still ahead, CNN speaks to some of the January 6 rioters freed from prison after President Trump's pardons and commutations, we will
be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:50:00]
GIOKOS: The outgoing and incoming U.S. Presidents are facing criticism from police organizations for issuing pardons or commutations for those
convicted of killing or assaulting law enforcement members. Biden issued a commutation to an activist convicted of killing two FBI agents 50 years
ago.
But it was President Trump who pardoned or commuted the sentences for all January 6 defendants. He says they've served their time in horrible
conditions and deserve to be free because they love their country. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan spoke with some of the writers already released from jail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are true patriot --
RACHEL POWELL, PARDONED JANUARY 6 DEFENDANT: I don't even know what to feel. I mean, I guess I should feel joy. I just -- maybe I'm just shocked.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The end of a long road for Rachel Powell, pardoned by President Trump and released Tuesday
from a jail here in Washington, D.C. Rachel became known as the pink hat lady when footage emerged of her breaking a window at the Capitol with an
ice axe during the January 6 attack.
A mom to eight and a grandmother to seven. I interviewed Rachel before she began what was supposed to be a years' long prison sentence last year.
POWELL: How did I have time to plan an insurrection when my life is busy like this?
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): On her release, on Tuesday, she was met by activists who gave her new clothes, new boots and a new pink hat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Thank you, Lord.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This man came from the Philadelphia jail. He got out at 03:00 a.m. That doesn't make sense. He's wearing prison shoes and
Philadelphia's finest prison gear.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Pardoned January 6ers from elsewhere began arriving in Washington, like William Patrick Sarsfield, the third, who was
convicted of a felony offense of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder.
WILLIAM SARSFIELD, PARDONED JANUARY 6 DEFENDANT: Well, I was heard through different apps and different programs and different phone calls from people
that we still had, brothers and sisters that were still locked up and haven't been released. And being somebody that's been in D.C., that
everybody should be released, if it's a pardoned for Jan 6ers, it's for all of us.
O'SULLIVAN: You got out of prison last night.
ROBERT MORSS, PARDONED JANUARY 6 DEFENDANT: Well, I was locked up for 3.5 years, and I was taken to the halfway house on August 29th.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Robert Morss, says he was released from a halfway house in Pittsburgh late last night, and came to D.C. to celebrate. Morss
say a former army ranger was found guilty of assaulting police officers, among other crimes on January 6.
MORSS: I had no intention of going anywhere near the Capitol that day. That's how crazy this got. So, a lot of people were taken advantage of and
we were lured into a lobster trap that January 6 was designed to be.
[09:55:00]
O'SULLIVAN: In terms of personal responsibility, do you take, I mean, do you --
MORSS: -- without a doubt. I said that in my sentencing speech, I said the words Donald Trump did not force me or coerce me to do what I did that day.
I did it on my own accord.
O'SULLIVAN: What's your message to people watching this who say she shouldn't have been pardoned? None of these people should have got out of
prison. They're criminals.
POWELL: OK. You know what? It's time to stop worrying about that and move forward in this country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Folks there feeling very emboldened clearly by President Trump's pardons. And what we're expecting over the course of the
next few hours and the next few days is as these cases continue to be processed, these pardons continue to be processed.
We'll see people trickling out of jails like this one in Washington, D.C., and also out of jails and prisons all over the country. Donie O'Sullivan,
CNN, at the D.C. jail.
GIOKOS: Right. We are wrapping up the first aisle of "Connect the World". I'll be back right after the short break with more news. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END