Return to Transcripts main page

Connect the World

Trump Moves Quickly to Reshape Federal Government; Texas Town Fears Mass Deportation; Israel's "Operation Iron Wall" Underway in West Bank; Ukrainians Welcome Tough Talk from Trump on Putin's War; Trump Signs Order to Pull Out of Paris Climate Agreement; The Search for Syria's Disappeared; Trump Presidency on the Agenda at Davos. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired January 22, 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]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi.

The U.S. starts a new era under president Trump and cities around the country are preparing for mass deportations. We take you to a small town in

Texas for the real consequences of his policies.

The IDF is continuing its large scale military operation in the West Bank. CNN obtained video of raids conducted by the IDF there. What this could

mean for the ceasefire agreement.

And what does a Trump presidency mean for the future of climate change?

The president has already made some controversial moves and reversed some of Biden's policies.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

GIOKOS: Government upheaval and a crackdown on immigration, two big policy issues quickly in the spotlight just days into Donald Trump's second term

as U.S. president, Mr. Trump placing all federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion programs on paid administrative leave ahead of plans

to shutter their offices.

He's also sidelining top Justice Department officials as part of his planned overhaul there.

And the president's hardline immigration policies are taking shape. His acting Homeland Security secretary saying that ICE agents can start

arresting people in places like churches and schools if they use common sense. Alayna Treene joins us now.

Alayna , good to see you. Right. So president Trump, in his first sitdown after 48 hours of signing sweeping executive orders, we know, I mean, and

it's incredible to just go through all of these issues. He's set to do a sitdown with Sean Hannity.

What are we expecting to hear from him?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is going to be Donald Trump's first television interview since being sworn in to the White House.

I'm told that it's going to be an Oval Office interview. They are pre- taping it today.

And then, of course, it will air this evening on FOX News on Sean Hannity's show. Now one thing I want to point out is that Donald Trump and Sean

Hannity are friends. They are close allies. And Donald Trump has a very high opinion of Hannity but also FOX News in general. So this is going to

be more of a friendly interview.

But what I also note is that, normally, when Donald Trump is sitting with these friendly interviewers, he tends to be more candid. He tends to share

more than he would in some more of an adversarial interview. So we could actually learn a lot from Donald Trump through this.

And already, I will point out, as well, he has been very accessible, the president, since officially getting into the White House. We saw him on

Monday speak at length with reporters while he was signing several of those executive orders that you laid out. And then he did so again yesterday

after making that infrastructure announcement.

And so he has been very willing to be very open and having these continued back-and-forth question-and-answers with reporters. So I do expect him to

be candid during that interview with Hannity.

Now what I'm told that this interview will cover -- of course, we have to see what Hannity ends up asking Donald Trump -- but that it will be kind of

looking forward on his agenda.

Some of the other executive orders that potentially he has not signed yet but plans to and kind of walking through just the different priorities he

has as he really kicks off this next four years of his second administration.

GIOKOS: Yes. Alayna Treene, good to have you with us. Thank you.

Well, the new U.S. president's promise of mass deportations is causing panic and anxiety among immigrant communities. His administration issuing

new directives, including one that allows immigration authorities to arrest people near and inside places previously considered off limits, including

schools and churches.

CNN's Ed Lavandera visiting the one Texas city that's now preparing for raids. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

T.J. FUNDERBURG, PRINCIPAL, CACTUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Good morning, Cactus Elementary.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every school day at Cactus elementary starts like this. Moments of patriotism and

reflection with a high energy dose of inspiration from Principal T.J. Funderberg.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are we here?

LAVANDERA: You do that every morning?

FUNDERBERG: Yes, sir.

LAVANDERA: When I looked out on the student body this morning, I mean, it's quite something to think that we're in the Texas Panhandle and that's

what your student body looks like.

FUNDERBURG: It's always very eye opening to people that come here. We've got 13, 14 different languages, all these different cultures represented.

And yes, we're up here in the heart of the Texas Panhandle. Everybody think it'd be farming, ranching country and kids in cowboy hats.

[10:05:03]

And we've got just about a little bit of everything.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The population in Cactus, Texas is about 3,000 people but the diversity is staggering. There's an African restaurant,

safari restaurant in Halal meat. There's an Asian grocery store. There's a Mexican butcher shop. There's a Guatemalan grocery. There's also an Islamic

center.

LAVANDERA: What draws so many immigrants and migrants here to a community like this is the work. And it is brutal, backbreaking work. There is a meat

processing plant that runs 24 hours a day. There are dairy farms that run non-stop.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): These are the kinds of jobs that the United States economy and food supply rely on every day. It's also the kind of work that

only immigrants, by and large, are willing to do.

There are towns like Cactus, Texas, all over the country. And with President Donald Trump promising to carry out mass deportations, a sense of

fear and uncertainty looms over these streets.

LAVANDERA: What are you hearing specifically from people?

ELIZABETH OLIVEROS, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: They, well, they're scared. They don't know if they're going to be able to stay here. You know, a lot of

them have been here for decades. They've built their lives here. Their kids are here. You know, everyone they know is here.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Elizabeth Oliveros grew up in Cactus, the daughter of immigrants who became citizens and earned their living working in the

city's meat processing plant. She went away to college, became a lawyer and moved back to Cactus to work as an immigration attorney.

LAVANDERA: If there were to be mass deportations here in this city, what would happen to it?

OLIVEROS: It'd be quite empty. I think there's a lot of people here that don't have status, that keep a lot of the businesses, the smaller

businesses around here running. So if immigrants leave, I don't know where they're going to find workers as hard working as some of the immigrants.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): As we walk the streets of Cactus, it was clear that most residents, regardless of their immigration status, didn't want to

speak with us on camera and especially didn't want to talk about President Trump's deportation dreams.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I don't like politics.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): I don't like the fear among many in this town and other agricultural communities across the country is that vital food

production would be paralyzed and communities torn apart.

The meat processing plant here says it only hires people authorized to work under different management. In 2006, the plant was raided by immigration

authorities. About 300 people suspected of identity theft or being in the country illegally were detained, many of them deported. Elizabeth Oliveros

remembers the day clearly.

OLIVEROS: I was in elementary school and I remember they had to keep us because they didn't know how many of us. Our parents were gone. And a lot

of my friends, their parents were gone.

LAVANDERA: Wow.

OLIVEROS: They got deported.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The children at Cactus Elementary are mostly oblivious to the political storms brewing outside these school walls.

Principal T.J. Funderburg is bracing for whatever comes next.

FUNDERBURG: It's just the unknown that scares me to death.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): He says as many as half the kids in the school could have undocumented family members. These are the kinds of places where

the reality of mass deportations could play out.

LAVANDERA: To the people who are going to be making these decisions about deportations, whether it's mass deportations just broad or targeted, what's

your message to them?

FUNDERBURG: Just, I mean, come talk to me. Come, come meet these kids. Think, you know, I know there has to be -- there has to be rules, there has

to be checks, there has to be balances.

But it can't just be paper. This community of people that have come together, that are here now, from all these different countries, all these

different places, we can do amazing things.

LAVANDERA: Residents who lived in Cactus, Texas, back in 2006, when those first immigration raids were carried out, say it took the town more than a

year to recover.

Fast forward nearly 20 years, Cactus is a different place, with immigration cases that run the gamut. People who have legal refugee status, are here on

green cards, have pending asylum cases and some who are here undocumented.

And it really speaks to the challenges that the Trump administration will be facing. And it's not as easy as waving a wand and just carrying out mass

deportations. These are complex and serious questions that the Trump administration will be facing -- Ed Lavandera, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right. We're watching the Middle East, where Israel's defense minister is commenting on the military's new operation in the occupied West

Bank.

Israel Katz says the IDF is in the town of Jenin to eliminate terrorists. He's also saying the nation is using lessons learned from the Gaza war.

We're hearing that the Israeli military has killed at least 10 Palestinians in the West Bank after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the

start of what he calls a large scale military operation in Jenin.

[10:10:11]

It comes just days after the Gaza ceasefire came into effect. CNN's Nada Bashir joins us now live from Jerusalem.

Nada, thanks for joining us.

What is Israel's defense minister saying about the military operation underway in Jenin?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've been hearing quite troubling remarks from the Israeli defense minister, who has described this as

marking a shift in the Israeli military's security approach, in his words, to the occupied West Bank.

He has also gone on to say, as you mentioned, that this is not only potentially limited to Jenin, that this, we will see this everywhere. Of

course, the focus of Israel's security crackdown at this stage is the city of Jenin. Jenin is no stranger to these violent crackdowns, particularly,

of course, focusing on the Jenin refugee camp.

But the concern is, as mentioned by the defense minister, that this will continue to expand over the coming days and weeks across the occupied West

Bank.

And in fact, we've heard from the Israeli finance minister, far right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has described this as being one of

the new war aims for the Israeli government, directly linking what we're seeing now in the occupied West Bank to what we have seen, of course, and

potentially continue to see in the Gaza Strip.

Now, of course, we have seen troubling video emerging from Jenin, showing the largescale presence of Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers, armed

Israeli security forces, of course, as well Palestinian media reporting that Israeli warplanes had targeted Jenin again. Not the first time that

we've seen this.

The local hospital director also describing the hospital being under complete siege. So a huge moment of fear for many in Jenin. The Israeli

military has said it is targeting militants, that it is focused on targeting terror infrastructure.

But this is a densely populated civilian area. And, of course, we've also seen video from Monday night showing a chain of Palestinians being escorted

by the Israeli security forces. According to local residents, some 60 Palestinians were arrested, including children.

And, of course, it's important to remember this comes just hours after 90 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails as part of the ceasefire

agreement.

And important to underscore that, back in 2023, November 23rd, when we saw that four-day truce between Israel and Hamas, this was something we were

seeing then, too, as well, Palestinian prisoners being released from jails and then more Palestinians subsequently being arrested by the Israeli

forces.

Now this has really sparked concern amongst U.N. officials. We've heard warnings from the U.N. agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, which has

described the Jenin refugee camp as being largely uninhabitable, now that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in this camp have been

displaced as a result of the ongoing violence.

That we've seen, not only, of course, between the Palestinians and the Israeli security forces but also as a result of the Palestinian Authority

forces as well in recent months. But again, real concern as to what the next steps are for the Israeli security forces.

What this could mean, particularly when we are hearing such insightful words from Israeli officials within the government -- and there have been

for some while now, some concerns that a ceasefire in Gaza could mean that we would see an intensification of Israel's security crackdown in the

occupied West Bank -- Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right. Nada Bashir, thank you so much for that update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Daniel Levy is the president of the U.S.-Middle East Project, joining us live from London now for a bit more analysis on the latest news,

specifically after this military operation now that is underway in Jenin.

And Daniel, we have seen some footage of Palestinians being rounded up. We've heard news that 10 Palestinians have been killed.

And this is just days away of what should be phase two of the ceasefire and hostage deal, right?

And we're waiting for more hostages to be released. There's big concern that what we're seeing in the West Bank could derail this agreement.

What is your view?

DANIEL LEVY, PRESIDENT, U.S.-MIDDLE EAST PROJECT: Well, there's a few things going on here and we have seen it's been very transparent that prime

minister Netanyahu didn't want to get to this moment. It upends his coalition stability.

What his coalition partners have offered him is give us the ravages of war and we will give you the tranquility of a coalition that is acquiescent to

you.

So I think Netanyahu, first of all, in the West Bank, is letting them have their fun and hoping that that will placate them. And at the same time

hoping that this will be part of the provocation that unravels the deal that he is uncomfortable and unhappy with. It's unpredictable because of

the way the hostage release plays out inside Israeli society.

[10:15:00]

But not just Jenin. And in Jenin, we see again this distinction between combatant and civilian is being played very loosely. It's not respected. We

see the hospital gone after. We see the amount of checkpoints now throughout the West Bank. We see those very provocative rearrests.

So he's making sure that Israel remains on a war footing. The other thing we can't forget, decontextualized, is this is nothing new in the West Bank.

The intensity has increased but Israel's dispossession of Palestinians, stealing of land, making it as uninhabitable as possible is a longstanding

thing.

GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, president Trump lifting the sanctions on Israeli settlers. And then we saw the Israeli settler violence playing out as well,

which, of course, became very violent. We saw multiple arrests. Two Israeli settlers were also shot.

What is your overall view of the tension that we're seeing and the potential for this to escalate even further?

LEVY: The potential is very significant.

The Trump administration, I think, saw a parting of interests in a very specific sense with Netanyahu on Gaza. This war is a distraction. They want

to see the hostages out. They don't want America dragged more into this.

However, one should distinguish between that and between a Trump Republican ecosystem, which is in any way aligned with genuine peace, ending

occupation, international law, rights for Palestinians, all those kinds of things.

In that respect, I think Netanyahu feels he is in a convenient position. And with the removal of those sanctions, they have created a more

permissive environment in the West Bank. We're seeing that play out.

But we should also acknowledge that, when the Biden administration placed those sanctions, they were really going after the wrong thing. The address

is the State of Israel. That gives the subsidies, defends, allows the stealing of this land.

So if you want to be serious about grappling with these illegalities, you address the state, not a few individuals.

GIOKOS: Yes, it's an interesting point.

And on that note, I want you to take a listen to the confirmation hearing of Trump's pick for the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm rarely surprised by answers in my office. But I did ask you whether you subscribed to the views of finance minister Smotrich,

who --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Smotrich. This is the Israeli finance minister, Smotrich -- and the former national security minister Ben-Gvir, who believe

that Israel has a Biblical right to the entire West Bank.

And in that conversation, you told me that, yes, you shared that view.

Is that your view today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Right. So, yes, Biblical rights, right, to what is sovereign land at the moment.

How are you assessing her stance?

And frankly, we've got to remind our audience that the U.N. has veto power at the U.N. Security Council.

So what do you think is going to happen, based on what her views are?

LEVY: First, I don't know if other people reacted this way but I never cease to be a little bit surprised at how this thing, that they have such a

commitment to this greater Israel, whatever Israel wants, they have so little knowledge of.

Like who?

Who is this person you're talking about?

Are you really not paying attention that much?

Anyway, what we have here is a clarity that the office holders in a Trump administration will often have these extreme positions that very much align

with those who seek to permanently remove the Palestinians, create a greater Israel.

And, of course, you can't go anywhere with that. In practical terms, the -- what we saw with Biden was sometimes his ambassador at the U.N., Linda

Thomas-Greenfield, spoke the nice language.

But the vetoes, the actions, what they actually did, the defunding of the U.N. agency, UNRWA, crucial for humanitarian assistance, all of that was

the policy that will be continued.

I think it's illegitimate to ask her what will be the impact in an already very frayed, fragile international architecture and the position of the

U.S. within it?

How much credibility can someone like that have at the U.N.?

Someone like Stefanik?

And are they going to accelerate?

What is anyway a shift toward people questioning?

Can the U.N. continue as it is?

And what role does the U.S. have?

And this is in the context of a of a new geopolitical reality. We have BRICS. We don't have American unipolarity. And they are undermining America

in that way.

GIOKOS: Yes. Look, you know, president Trump is known to be unpredictable. Well, one thing, if we look back at his first term, he was behind the

Abraham Accords, right, which was very significant; moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

[10:20:00]

So what are you expecting in the next four years?

You've been part of peace negotiations, Palestinian and Israeli peace negotiations.

So what do you expect could happen?

Because it's the U.S. that wields the power in terms of its being Israel's biggest ally and, importantly, supplier of weapons.

LEVY: Yes. So it's important to remind ourselves that, even if Trump distanced himself in comments the other day, saying, well, it's not our

war, he will soon learn just how much this is America's war.

This could not go on for a day without those weapons, without the aid and the assistance, without the diplomatic and legal cover the U.S. runs for

Israel at the U.N., the attacks it launches against the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. This is America's

war as well.

I think we should expect there is a track for the Trump position on the Palestinians to remain largely what it was, which is antithetical to peace.

We had those Abraham Accords but now the jury is in. We see that the worst conflicts, the worst violence has happened since those accords.

Not blaming the accords but clearly they are not a building block for peace. However, at this moment (ph), there is part of that Trump -- we're

hearing some of those statements -- that do not see a benefit in America being drawn into fighting other people's wars in a place like the Middle

East.

All the other things that they're trying to achieve as an administration may be undermined by this. So I think, when it comes to broader military

action -- for instance, Iran -- the jury may well be out.

Unfortunately, the degree of dehumanization of Palestinians and the degree of willful ignorance when it comes to this whole issue in the American

political ferment.

And that crosses over deep into the Democrat Party, as we saw with the really complicit and terrible policies of the Biden administration, make it

unlikely that, on the Palestine-Israel situation, we are going to get progress or anything constructive.

I would argue that that sounds like it's great for Israel. It's actually going to be bad news for Israel. Israel has failed to defeat Hamas. Israel

is really exposing a lot of vulnerabilities. And Israelis also, of course, Palestinians will suffer dramatically.

But Israelis also are not going to know security unless they get to grips with the root causes, with the dispossession and denial of Palestinian

freedoms. And I don't think America will be there for that.

GIOKOS: All right, Daniel, thank you so much for your insights. Good to have you on the show.

Daniel Levy for us.

And still to come, Prince Harry settles his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's tabloid group. We'll explain this twist in the long running legal

drama. Stay with CNN.

Right. Plus, they're buying even more trade and even closer ties and firm support for each other. This annual chat, perhaps carrying extra

significance this year.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

GIOKOS: 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 lawyers 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 coverups are exposed and today proves that no one stands above

the law. The time for accountability has arrived.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: CNN's Max Foster has more on the story for us and he spoke to my colleague, Amara Walker, a short time ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: In a civil case, civil cases are meant to end up with a settlement out of court. That's where they're

ultimately going. Harry had said he wanted his day in court and he wanted to hold power to account.

He wasn't really pursuing the reporters in this case. He was pursuing the leaders of the organization right up to the top, they said, which would

mean Rupert Murdoch and the culture that existed in his newspapers and their awareness, frankly, that this sort of illegal activity was going on.

But there is a figure, as we understand it. It's something like eight figures, an eight-figure payment out to Prince Harry, a huge amount of

money. So he settled on that. His lawyers would have advised him to settle on that. And they've got the full apology that they say they wanted.

There are still some questions about the evidence that would have come out in the trial, which certainly his lawyers have told me they wanted to use

to push for a criminal prosecution. That now won't be coming out. But it is a huge triumph as far as they're concerned. And Prince Harry seems very

happy with this result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Our thanks to CNN's Max Foster for that report.

China's president is vowing to break ties with Russia to new heights this year. That pledge from Xi Jinping came in a friendly video conference with

president Vladimir Putin, one day after Donald Trump's inauguration.

President Trump is threatening a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods as a means to stop the flow of fentanyl to North America. And he's had some

harsh words for President Putin about Russia's war against Ukraine. Our Nick Paton Walsh reports, Ukrainians desperate for peace were happy to hear

it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: In a war where the unexpected has continually happened, Ukraine holding back Russia,

vanquishing it at times as well, we've now seen president Donald Trump criticized in his first term for being too cozy with Vladimir Putin.

In his first comments since coming to power about the war in Ukraine, starkly critical about the economic damage this conflict is doing for

Moscow. And that perhaps suggests that he might be taking a position that would be deeply favored here in Kyiv of trying to negotiate some kind of

peace from a position of strength.

WALSH (voice-over): Neither Ukraine nor Russia got a mention here. But hours later, Trump gave reporters his most stark criticism yet of Putin's

war.

TRUMP: He should make a deal. I think he's destroying Russia by not making a deal. I think Russia's going to be in big trouble. You take a look at

their economy, you take a look at the inflation in Russia. So I would, I would hope -- I got along with him great. And, you know, I would hope he

wants to make a deal.

WALSH (voice-over): He said Europe should almost double its defense spend and he would meet Putin soon.

Trump's words long awaited and welcomed here in central Kyiv's fog.

WALSH: All the talk of peace deals, the conditions for it of negotiations, somewhat distant and theoretical from the real dangers people in Kyiv here

go through every day, the siren sounding so frequently and this vast sea of loss.

Clearly, so many Ukrainians desperate for peace but also to see the sacrifice that's made yield some kind of future they can be happy with.

WALSH (voice-over): As the sea of grief spreads to fresh grass, hope is their only option. Nazar is just back from the recruitment office.

Perhaps even in the coming days, he says, Trump should give more information about what he plans to do. But I don't believe in Trump alone.

This is such a war that it will not be ended by the actions of one person.

Yulia is here to remember her son, Yevgeny, who died fighting two years ago.

Maybe we'll be given more planes and weapons to win faster, she says. We really hope so. We have great hope that he will help Ukraine.

[10:30:00]

Ukraine's president delivering a gentle dressing down of his European allies in front of their elite in Switzerland.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: European leaders should remember these battles involving North Korean soldiers are now happening in places

geographically closer to Davos than to Pyongyang.

WALSH (voice-over): As his forces fought to hold back Russia here in Toretsk, he reminded the European elite, some of its governments were less

powerful now than TikTok's algorithm.

Trump baiting Putin. Zelenskyy baiting Europe. Day one and change of a less expected sort is here.

WALSH: Now make no mistake, this is simply the beginning of a process. And diplomacy is something which the Kremlin has used in the past distinctly to

its cynical advantage, pursuing its military goals right while it sits at the negotiating table.

And so, while Trump's first comments here suggest that the United States is not about to suddenly fold, there's a long road ahead here. And it's a road

in which the Russians are making incremental but steady and time significant advances on the battlefield that will dictate any final

settlement.

And it's certainly souring the mood here in Ukraine with a sense behind that hope, you saw from people on the streets of desperation, that things

need to change fast -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: And still ahead, how parts of the southern U.S. will try and dig out from a once-in-a-generation winter storm. We'll have the details for

you just ahead.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

GIOKOS (voice-over): Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD, with me, Eleni Giokos. Here are your headlines.

U.S. president Donald Trump is moving quickly to reshape the U.S. federal government. He's pledged all federal diversity, equity and inclusion

employees on paid administrative leave ahead of closing down their offices.

He's also sidelining some 20 top officials at the Justice Department. Meanwhile, Republican response to the president's decision to pardon all

January 6th rioters has been muted, with some lawmakers voicing support for the move.

Israeli military forces say they were responding to riots in the West Bank when two Jewish settlers were shot and wounded.

Jordans 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.

The presidents of China and Russia are hailing their countries' increasingly close ties.

[10:35:00]

They spoke via video one day after Donald Trump started his second term in the White House. Xi Jinping called for deeper cooperation to respond to,

quote, "external uncertainties."

Vladimir Putin applauded expanding trade between Russia and China and called for a, quote, "more just, multipolar world order."

And we are watching two weather extremes in the United States right now, the threat from wildfires in Southern California with the return of gusty

winds plus a rare winter storm in the South.

Several southern states are at a standstill today after record snowfall in places not equipped for it. It's also meant power outages and flight

disruptions. Frigid temperatures won't help much with melting today.

Get this: New Orleans has just gotten more snow this winter than Chicago. And in Southern California, more red flag warnings. Fierce Santa Ana winds

have sparked new wildfires while firefighters are still struggling to contain the existing ones.

Now despite those catastrophic wildfires and on the heels of the planet's hottest year on record, president Trump is wasting no time reversing

America's progress on climate change and clean energy.

Day one in office, Mr. Trump signed a slew of executive actions, including an order to pull out of the Paris climate agreement. The president also

says he'll declare what he calls a national energy emergency and he's cementing his intent to double down on fossil fuels, repeating in his

inaugural address the rallying cry "Drill, baby, drill."

CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir has the latest for us from New York.

Bill, good to see you.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.

Conversation we're having again, the United States out of the Paris agreement. It's a bit of deja vu and we've just come off the hottest year.

We've been having these conversations, remind us what happened last time the U.S. pulled out.

Did it take the world back?

And what you're expecting to see this time around?

WEIR: It's a really fascinating question. I think the story of the next decade is going to be China, which is becoming this massive power and a new

energy future, and the United States, which is trying to cling to an energy from the 20th to the 19th centuries.

Declaring a national energy emergency at a time when the United States produces more fossil fuel than any country at any time is Orwellian,

really, almost in a -- in a turn of phrase.

Joe Biden was being encouraged to declare a climate emergency, given the state of the planet, given the temperatures, given the results that we can

see everywhere. But it seems like the Trump administration is set up to do the opposite.

And the consternation we're seeing from around the world, as China's foreign minister says, "No country can stay out of climate change and no

country is immune from it."

Brazil's environmental minister saying this goes against common sense and science.

And so, while big city mayors, governors of more Democratic, progressive states will stay in the game, they say, pledging to continue their climate

goals at the local, state, regional levels -- and a lot of industries might still be in this game -- the direction is going in toward electrification.

Just as humanity has evolved through all different fuels through history, it's going this direction. Donald Trump is the one person who seems hell

bent on trying to keep the United States out of that track. And it could it could slow down the progress. But most experts I talk to say it won't

change the track.

GIOKOS: Yes. I hope, I hope not. I mean, that's the big concern, whether it's going to embolden other countries to say, well, we can also start

taking it a bit slower.

Bill, I want you to stay with us. I want to continue our conversation. You're going to join in. We've got Leah Stokes. She's an associate

professor at the University of Santa -- California, Santa Barbara and a political scientist specializing in environmental policy.

Leah, great to have you with us. I'm sure you just heard what Bill said and where we stand right now. Major, major concern. I remember that, you know,

one of the big points of conversation in the early 2000s was that the U.S. never really ratified the Kyoto protocol, which was a precursor to the

Paris agreement.

And if the U.S. is not in lockstep with the rest of the world when it comes to the climate agenda, where are we truly going?

So what is the U.S. saying to the world by pulling out of the Paris agreement?

LEAH STOKES, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA/SANTA BARBARA: Yes, you know, the United States has the dubious title of joining just

three other countries that have not ratified the Paris climate agreement. Those countries are Libya, Yemen and Iran.

So the United States doesn't exactly have a lot of fellow countries who seem to think that the best idea is to stick your head in the sand when the

second largest city in your country, in that case, Los Angeles, is burning.

You know, climate change is happening now. And under the Biden administration, there really was unprecedented leadership from the United

States making a pledge to cut pollution in half this decade.

[10:40:00]

And president Trump seems to think that the best thing to do is nothing about a crisis that is unfolding for millions of Americans, millions of

Americans right now.

GIOKOS: Yes, and it's happening right now. I mean, I've covered wildfires. I know how dramatic it is and how difficult it is to contain. But while

we're seeing this crisis playing out in the U.S. at the same time of getting the strategy of "Drill, baby, drill," give me a sense of what this

ultimately means.

If president Trump wants to see more oil production at a time where we should be thinking about decarbonization, because he's focusing more on,

we've got to have enough electricity to get the data centers going and our technological advancements.

WEIR: Yes, there's a huge appetite for energy, preferably clean energy from tech giants who are reviving entire nuclear power plants to run these

data centers. It has really sparked this renaissance toward clean, sustainable energy at a time when much of the world is embracing this.

So what this does long term, of course, it slows down the transition, makes these climate events more violent and more destructive across all borders.

It doesn't stop regardless of who's in charge in the United States or whether or not, as they did, the Trump administration just removed the

climate change page from the White House website. This is still happening.

But it also cedes a real economic boon to these other countries; the United States, not having a seat at the table as China electrifies -- almost half

the cars in China now are electric.

They're going in that direction; 60 percent of the electricity created in Iowa comes from wind, which president Trump seems determined to shut down

that entire industry. So it's not only health and happiness of humanity that's at risk as the planet overheats. It's giant fortunes. Prosperity is

really on the table right now.

A massive technological revolution is happening almost in quiet in the United States. You don't notice it but giant fortunes are being made in

rebuilding everything in our lives in a more sustainable, less carbon intensive way.

And stepping back from that and relenting that and pretending it isn't happening, it'll be fascinating to see the effects of this long term but

also terrifying, given what the warnings, the scientists, like Professor Stokes and others have been saying and how, as you said, Eleni, this could

embolden climate denialists.

Like the president of Azerbaijan, you know, who held this COP and said this, these fuels are a gift from the gods.

GIOKOS: Yes, that's very true.

I mean -- and, Leah, I want you to jump in here about Trump repealing the so-called EV mandate. And now, you know, people can buy internal combustion

engine or an EV if they choose.

And I wonder whether Americans are going to be looking at this and saying, you know, what is the right thing to do?

Because you're putting the decision, the choice back in the hands of consumers and people are going to go for the easiest route. People don't

want friction in their lives. They might be worried about the environment but ultimately our behavior isn't what it should be.

STOKES: I mean, here's the reality. Electric vehicles save people money. I have two, they're -- costs like $2 a gallon to fuel them. And president

Trump is currently talking about putting tariffs on Canada, which will jack up the oil price in parts of the Midwest if he does that.

So you know, EVs save people money. In addition, there never was an EV mandate. That's just made up. There was no requirement that people had to

buy EVs in California. One in four people are right now choosing to buy an EV.

But you know, people get to make a choice about what cars they want to drive. And just because he says something, as we know, it doesn't make it

true.

And the really big question that a lot of people have right now is, you know, with all these executive orders he signed, how many of them are

actually legal, right?

Because he's doing things like, for example, breaking contracts that the federal government has signed with states, including, I might add, many

Republican states. And that is not something that the federal government should be doing.

That's taking things from other people that you've already agreed to give them; including, for example, the state of Texas. He's also done things on

wind energy, like trying to shut down the entire industry.

And I'll just point out again that Texas is the number one state in the country for wind development. So he is really doing things that are going

to hurt Republican communities.

And you're already seeing senators, Republican senators, question whether or not he should be stopping the flowing of bipartisan infrastructure law

money to do things like rebuild bridges in this country, including and, of course, many conservative parts of the country. So that really is the

question.

Is he even doing things that are --

GIOKOS: Yes. You know, Bill made a really -- yes.

So yes, Bill made a really important point that, you know, China really jumped on this, you know, moved to decarbonize and finding alternative

sources of energy.

And I wonder because, of course, in the United States, we also saw a big push for that.

Do you see a reversal of investment into clean energy?

[10:45:00]

And that could set America back and, frankly, could actually make the United States fall behind in many senses.

STOKES: Yes. So what president Trump has done so far is try to slow down funding that Congress has already appropriated for various ends. And that's

not legal. So you know, there'll be a question for if that money starts to flow again.

And as I mentioned, so much of that money is flowing to red districts, Republican parts of the country. There are also tax credits that exist.

And analysis from all kinds of folks has shown that three-quarters of that money for things like building batteries in the United States, building

electric vehicles, building solar panels, three-quarters of that money is going to Republican districts.

So are Republican House and Senate members are really going to say, yes, you know what?

Stop funding jobs, manufacturing jobs, the best kind of jobs in my district. I doubt that very much.

The unfortunate thing is that we know from reporting, from "The Washington Post" last year, that Trump said to the fossil fuel industry that if they

donated $1 billion to his campaign, he would do whatever they wanted.

And that is clearly what he's trying to do right now. But unfortunately, he's probably breaking the law when he tries to do many of these things.

And he's certainly going against so many Republicans, who are representing people who are working in the clean tech industry.

GIOKOS: All right, Leah and Bill, great to have you with us. I suspect we're going to be having a lot of similar conversations over the next while

about this pressing issue. I appreciate your thoughts and insights. Thanks for taking the time today.

All right. Just ahead, our Becky Anderson spoke to the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross about the massive, complicated

search underway for Syria's missing and disappeared. We'll be right back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

GIOKOS: In Syria, the search for the country's missing and disappeared is ongoing after the ouster of the brutal dictator, Bashar al-Assad, last

month. Mass graves revealing the scale of killing and torture by the Assad regime against its own people in notorious prisons.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is working with authorities on the ground to try and get families answers and bring them closure. Our

Becky Anderson discussed the ICRC's work in Syria with its president, Mirjana Spoljaric.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: You've been in Syria. The ICRC has assessed that there are some 40,000 people still missing. It is estimated that there may

be as many as 100,000 who've disappeared since 2011. You've met with some of the families of the disappeared. I know, they're seeking answers. They

are seeking closure.

Where do you or how do you start helping deliver some of those answers at this point?

MIRJANA SPOLJARIC, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: We are talking to the new leadership. We are talking to everyone who can help

us, you know, ensure a coordinated approach to the management of the missing found.

[10:50:03]

Of course, the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement plays an important role. Our tens of thousands of volunteers help to collect the necessary information.

But then this information needs to be managed.

The authorities need the capacity to, you know, open the graves to identify those who were buried and to, you know, to have the necessary amount of

adequate information to identify the people and then inform the families. It's a huge caseload. And it's at the moment something that will take a

long, long time to master.

And we are now talking to the relevant authorities on how we can, first and foremost, provide the technical assistance that they need, because we need

a central hand owning this file and, you know, coordinating this file.

We are not in the lead but we are an essential part in helping them to become able to inform the families as quickly as possible. But it will take

time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

GIOKOS: President Trump's agenda for his second term is a hot topic at the world economic summit this week. Our Richard Quest is in Davos with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Yes. It's a wrist movement, isn't it?

As opposed to a golf swing. Right.

So this mini course, it is all about ice hockey. It is perfect to exhibit the problems facing the global economy in the new era of the Trump

administration. So here we go.

This one, of course, is tariffs. Lots of tariffs. And there's many different countries that could be tariffed and that is going to be the goal

of economic growth. So let's see, can we do it?

Pull it back and one and we've hit a tariff. Two-three and, oh, another tariff. The problem with tariffs is once you have got into the mess of

tariffs, you can't get out of them as you can see from this.

Do I go this way?

But I've got no leverage, look. No leverage. Or do I go this way and I have to go back?

This is very difficult.

Oh so close and yes, we have beaten the tariff war. Let's go to Greenland. This is Greenland.

Now you see the problem. European Union, Denmark, Greenland. The first thing we've got to do is get over this. So the temptation here is to give a

good solid whack. You ready?

Oh. Hey. After the Panama Canal, this looks like the Panama Canal. We are going to have one go.

Yes. I got through. Whatever happens, the challenges over the next four years are not going to be easy. But we will get there.

You ready at the other end?

Did it come out at great speed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it hit me.

QUEST: Did it hit you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

QUEST: I think global politics is easier than this actually. This is way too difficult.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[10:55:00]

(LAUGHTER)

GIOKOS: Our Richard Quest having fun in the snow in Davos.

And friendly rivalries have emerged as rare snowfall dresses part of the southern U.S. in white. In Houston, a snowball fight broke out between the

fire and police departments. Emergency responders taking to the snow to battle it out in between calls.

And in Louisiana, prayers in the St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church were paused as these nuns and priests seized the unexpected snow day for

some light-hearted shenanigans.

Look at that. A lot of fun in the snow.

All right, well, that's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos stay with CNN. "NEWSROOM" is coming up next.

END