Return to Transcripts main page

Connect the World

Iran's Internet Blackout Now in Second Week; U.S. Delegation Meets with Danish and Greenlandic Leaders; European Nations Send Troops to Greenland Amid Trump Threats; Trump Threatens to Deploy Troops Over Anti- I.C.E. Protests; South Korean Ex-President Sentenced to Five Years in Prison. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired January 16, 2026 - 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)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: I.C.E. agents deploy pepper spray and tear gas in the streets of Minneapolis as the U.S.

President threatens to send American troops into the city. It's 09:00 a.m. in Washington and it's 02:00 p.m. in London. I'm Christina Macfarlane, and

this is "Connect the World".

Also coming up, all options are on the table. U.S. won't say whether it will take military action Iran amid a brutal crackdown against protesters

there. Polling on President Trump's first year, almost three in five people call it a failure, with most saying he is focused on the wrong things.

Plus, a Nobel Peace offering Venezuela's Opposition Leader arrived at the White House bearing a gift, but what did she get in return? We'll be

discussing that in the stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now. We're keeping a close eye on that because it looks like a higher start

for U.S. futures there as investors look to consolidate on Thursday's gains.

Now, White House officials say President Donald Trump is keeping all options on the table to support protesters in Iran. Demonstrations there

appear to have subsided as the country's internet blackout reaches its second week. But had the killings of protesters stopped?

Well, President Trump, on Wednesday, said they had, as he appeared, to back off earlier threats to attack Iran. He also seems to be listening to

America's Arab Gulf allies who are urging de-escalation. And CNN has learned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the president to

postpone any planned attack in a phone call on Wednesday.

But in the meantime, a source says the U.S. is moving a carrier strike group to the region at the U.N. Thursday, the U.S. Ambassador reiterated

America's support for the protesters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: We all have a responsibility to support the Iranian people and to put an end to the

regime's neglect and oppression of the Iranian nation. Colleagues, let me be clear. President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see

at the United Nations. He has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Iran's U.N. representative says his country will respond in kind to any U.S. attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GHOLAMHOSSEIN DARZI, IRANIAN DEPUTY AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Iran seeks neither escalation nor confrontation. However, any act of aggression,

direct or indirect will be met with a decisive, proportionate and lawful response under Article 51 of the charter, this is not a threat, it is a

statement of legal reality, responsibility for all consequences will rest solely with those who initiate such unlawful acts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: For one reason, the protests may have subsided. Thousands of fighters from powerful Iraqi militias have crossed the border to assist

Iranian security forces in the crackdown. According to sources in Europe and Iraq. Iranian security officials report 3000 arrests in the recent

unrest.

According to state media, human rights activists believe the actual number is much higher. Ben Wedeman is joining us today from the Iraq, Iran border.

And Zachary Cohen is with us from the latest in Washington. Ben, to you first given what we just mentioned there about fighters from Iraqi militias

potentially assisting Iran. What are you seeing and hearing today there along the border?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well regarding the participation of Iraqi militiamen in the suppression of these protests.

This morning, we were able to speak to an individual who, just two days ago, was able to get out of Iran because he was being pursued by the

authorities because of his participation in these demonstrations.

And he told us that there are among the security forces that are putting down these protests in Iran. There are Arabic speaking individuals in plain

clothed individuals. So that seems to be the case. He also told us that even though it does appear that to some extent, the demonstrations have

cooled down, he says they're still going on.

[09:05:00]

But of course, because of the internet and telecommunications blackout. It's very difficult to get information, but he seemed fairly confident that

they would be going on, and he stressed that fundamentally, the reasons for those demonstrations have not changed. The economy has collapsed.

People are just angry with economic, with government corruption and mismanagement, weary of a country isolated for decades and desperate for

change after 47 years of rule by this current regime. So, it does appear that perhaps there's a lull in the protests, but according to what we're

hearing, they're far from over, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, Ben, stay with us. Zachary, I just want to turn to you, because we are, of course, moving, hearing of this U.S. carrier strike

group being moved to the Middle East, which appears to be fairly significant as we weigh what Donald Trump the administration's pause may

mean. What were you learning about that?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, the movement of this care strike group really a clear sign that the Trump Administration is not

ruling out possible military action. But the movement, also, I'm told, does not necessarily suggest that U.S. military strikes are imminent at this

point.

Now, military planners often will move additional assets into a region when heightened -- our tensions are heightened, and that's certainly the case

right now in the Middle East, with Iran, a carrier strike group really the key and largest asset the U.S. military has at its disposal.

And the closest carrier group right now to the Middle East is the USS Abraham Lincoln that's currently located in the South China Sea. It's

important to remember too that a carrier strike group is not just made up of an aircraft carrier and the war planes that are aboard it, but it also

is surrounded by several other ships with additional capabilities, things like air guided missile cruisers, anti-aircraft warships, anti-submarine

destroyers.

In addition to the carrier strike group, we're also told we can likely expect additional land and air assets to be moved into the region as well,

if anything, just to provide additional layer of protection for U.S. forces that are already there, while also providing Donald Trump with additional

options for military strikes if he decides to go that route.

And I think right now, there's a key question of whether or not Iran is actually going to stop the killing, as Donald Trump had suggested that his

administration was told on Tuesday, there is a lack of information flowing from Iran is complicating this for administration officials who are trying

to get an accurate picture of what's happening on the ground.

The president obviously taking the announcement of a postponed execution of one of the high-profile protesters as a sign potentially that Iran may be

willing to dial back the violence. But also U.S. intelligence agencies have seen no sign to date that the killing has stopped, or that Iran does intend

to stop.

So ultimately, we have to wait and see are sources really at a consensus though, that what happens next, ultimately will be up to Donald Trump and

so these additional military assets that are now moving into the region, giving him additional options for both military actions, but also

potentially ramping up pressure on the Iranian regime to come to the table for some sort of a negotiation process.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And on that note, about the, you know, the difficulty of getting any information, reliable information, out of Iran I just want to

go back to Ben, to talk about the blackout. Ben, the internet blackout, which is still now in its second week surpassing 180 hours.

It's difficult, isn't it, to get a sense of really what's going on inside and the true picture of the numbers of those being reported, arrested and

killed. Are you hearing anything different where you are?

WEDEMAN: I mean, what we've learned from those who have come out is that the number of dead is large. It's obviously they have their own sort of

subjective view of what's going on. So, they don't have anything in terms of a nationwide estimate of the number of dead.

But this individual we spoke to this morning, who left a day before yesterday, told us that he sought a major intersection in a suburb of

Tehran. Many people being shot by government forces there. He didn't have a precise number of dead, but we're talking about just a suburb of a very big

city in a country with a population of 90 million.

So, I don't think a proper death toll from these demonstrations that have been going on for several weeks is going to come out until perhaps the

current regime changes. But the numbers are very high, and this individual who has participated in previous rounds of demonstrations that have taken

up place over the last decade.

[09:10:00]

Said that in terms of the numbers, in terms of the kind of people participating in these protests, the middle class, the merchants, the poor,

that it seems to involve more people in terms of numbers, and more sectors of society than he has ever seen before, Christina.

MACFARLANE: These eyewitness accounts so vitally important at this time. Ben, we appreciate your reporting, and thanks too to Zachary Cohen there in

Washington. Thanks. Now U.S. Senate Democrat Chris Coons is in Copenhagen this hour, leading a bipartisan delegation to meet with Danish leaders and

show their support amid President Trump's push to acquire Greenland.

Earlier this week, leaders from Denmark and Greenland said there was a fundamental disagreement on the future of the Danish territory after

meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Well, CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is live this hour

in Greenland.

So Nic, what more have you been learning about this meeting? And do you think it's going to have any impact on the Trump Administration's decision

making at this time?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The way that the Trump Administration is framing the conversations that JD Vance, Secretary State,

Marco Rubio, had with the Danish Foreign Minister, Greenland Foreign Minister just a couple of days ago, where the understood narrative from the

Danish Greenlandic side was that there was going to be high level talks every couple of weeks to try to address the White House concerns the way

the White House is interpreting that.

We heard from the White House spokesperson yesterday, Karoline Leavitt saying that these talks were merely a process of the technicalities of

handing administration of Greenland to the United States so very, very clearly poles apart. What you have in terms of Senator Coons is visit along

with Senator Tillis, Shaheen, Durbin, other congressional members there as well, is a message to Denmark of unity, of support of close bonds and ties

that already exist, economic, security, diplomatic.

And we understand the language will be about, you know, the common respect for sovereignty of Denmark of Greenland. That means that this delegation is

ways away, pulls apart, if you will, from the White House. And it seems at this moment that high level diplomacy in Washington, D.C., this

congressional visit in Copenhagen.

It seems, at the moment, unlikely to shift the dial of the where President Trump stands on this issue. At the moment, what may shift the dial is

what's happening here, or beginning to happen at the Arctic command, Denmark's Arctic Command, where we're beginning to see more NATO activity,

a tiny trickle, but this is the beginning of a much bigger presence of NATO.

That's what's expected to demonstrate how they can provide security in the Arctic and around, specifically Greenland, and that will perhaps be a

stronger demonstration answering President Trump's questions, again, not known if that's going to be enough is certainly indicating right now it

isn't.

MACFARLANE: All right. Our Nic Robertson, there. We appreciate your reporting, Nic, as always. And Nic, new scenes of unrest in Minneapolis as

Donald Trump ramps up threats. Tension flared again on Thursday, in the wake of a second shooting by a federal immigration officer in just one

week.

This comes as the U.S. President says he may invoke the Insurrection Act to send U.S. troops to Minneapolis amid ongoing confrontations between

protesters and I.C.E. agents. Well, the CNN crew in Minneapolis was hit with tear gas as it took this footage of anti-I.C.E. protests.

Number of demonstrators have been arrested in recent days over the ongoing immigration crackdown and recent shootings by I.C.E. officers, including

one that left a woman dead. The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is accusing Democrats of encouraging the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think the president's Truth Social post spoke very loud and clear to Democrats across this

country, elected officials who are using their platforms to encourage violence against federal law enforcement officers who are encouraging left

wing agitators to unlawfully obstruct legitimate law enforcement operations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Meantime, the Mayor of Minneapolis is among local officials urging the community to remain calm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB FREY, MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR: And we're in a position right now where we have residents that are asking the very limited number of police officers

that we have to fight I.C.E. agents on the street, to stand by their neighbors.

[09:15:00]

We cannot be at a place right now in America where we have two governmental entities that are literally fighting one another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is live for us in Minneapolis. Quite stock words there, as we just heard, Julia. What are you hearing about the

ongoing clashes and the president's threat, as we heard yesterday, to invoke the Insurrection Act?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, good morning. What we're hearing from residents here is that they can't even begin to fathom

what that might look like to have the Insurrection Act invoked for Minneapolis and for Minnesota. What would that look like after they already

have thousands of agents on the streets here.

That is why some of them were out there protesting yesterday and the night before. Now we're seeing not a de-escalation, as authorities have been

calling, the governor calling directly for to the president, saying, let's find a way to de-escalate this. So that we can move forward, at least on a

national level.

But residents here, protesters I'll say, not residents. Protesters, did have some clashes with those forces, those federal police officers,

yesterday, overnight, again, an intensification. You know how these go? It's a big flare up and then things calm down again, and it flares up and

it calms down again.

It does feel like here that just any further intensification could cause a bigger bang, and that's the concern, I believe, from those local officials

that are calling again and again for calm. Now we will be out there again today, watching that Federal Building, the Whipple Federal Building, that

has been the site the staging area for I.C.E. over the past few weeks to see if there are more protests later today, but we already know.

Tomorrow there is a planned anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, pro I.C.E. protest scheduled for the afternoon here in Minneapolis, and a counter

protest. Again, we're seeing an escalation, not a de-escalation, of the situation here on the ground. And now, one thing that could be a factor,

aside from those people that have been reminding their fellow Minnesotans to stay calm, is the weather, Christina.

We are seeing temperatures dropping overnight, tonight and tomorrow, going down to one Fahrenheit. I believe that's minus nine, minus 10 Celsius, that

could put a hamper on these demonstrations, and perhaps in a good way, keep things a little bit calmer for a little bit longer. We're not seeing the

rhetoric going away anytime soon.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and I just want to reflect again on what the mayor just said there. We can't have two government entities fighting each other. I

mean, one hopes that the weather might play a part here in damping down those protests. But there must be real, genuine fear Julia, of this

violence continuing to escalate.

JONES: There is, there very much is, and I think that is, you know, the people that we spoke with Christina. That is the regular people. I'm

saying, people who are afraid for their neighbors, who are afraid of their Somali neighbors who may be being targeted by I.C.E. agents, their Hispanic

neighbors who may be targeted.

They are saying to us, this is unsustainable to evoke the words of the mayor once again, that Minneapolis cannot continue this way. And I'll add,

this is also a city that has seen a lot in the last five years, since 2020 George Floyd, and that police has done a lot of work to get the respect and

the trust of the population again.

So having this added layer of mistrust in government entities, be them local or a national. It is still very fresh and very raw here in

Minneapolis that is the general reaction where we're hearing from everyday Minnesotans here, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And we will, of course, continue to follow it hour by hour. Julia, appreciate your, reporting in Minneapolis. Thank you.

Attorneys for Renee Good's family say they are launching their own investigation into her killing. She's the woman whose shooting by an I.C.E.

agent fueled intense protests in Minneapolis.

The lawyers have sent a letter to the federal government demanding the preservation of all evidence related to her death. Anderson Cooper asked

one of the family's lawyers if he is confident the federal government would cooperate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO ROMANUCCI, ATTORNEY FOR RENEE GOOD'S FAMILY: I would love to have all the confidence in our government doing what they're supposed to do. And

that's what litigants do in litigation, is preserve evidence. They don't destroy they don't spoil anything.

[09:20:00]

They store it appropriately. But because we know that we're getting stone wall, our level of confidence decreases, and that's why we have to take the

steps that we're taking. We have to conduct our own civil investigation on a so-called parallel track without any cooperation, or else we're not going

to be able to get to the truth.

But we don't know that we're going to get to the truth only with the federal government investigating this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: All right. Still to come, Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol sentence to prison over his abuse of power, and he's not done with

his legal battles yet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: A South Korean court has sentenced Former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison. The charges stem from his botched attempt to

impose martial law in December of 2024. CNN's Mike Valerio has more on this case. The case that rocks South Korea for months.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a hugely consequential verdict out of Seoul, the ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol found guilty of essentially trying

to use his bodyguards at the presidential residence to keep investigators and to keep police from arresting him.

This all happened back on January 3rd of last year 2025. Corruption investigators go into his presidential residence and are trying to bring

him into custody. Just weeks after this, ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in December of 2024. He did that in short because he

was in a political log jam.

He declared political activity across South Korea illegal put the military in charge of law enforcement, and that only lasted for six hours after

opposition lawmakers came back to the heart of South Korean democracy and overturned his martial law order. So, investigators trying to hold him

accountable tried to arrest him one time, January 3rd, it didn't work.

There was a standoff between investigators and his bodyguards. Tried to arrest him a second time back on January 15th, that attempt was successful.

So, one year and one day later, the ex-president is found guilty of obstruction of justice, where South Korea goes from here.

This is the first verdict, actually, of four trials that Yoon Suk Yeol faces over that botched Marshal law decree. He is also on trial, facing a

charge of Insurrection and Seoul Prosecutors have asked a judge to be able to hand down a verdict of the death penalty for that Insurrection case.

I will say it's very rare in any part of the South Korean judicial system that anybody is given the death sentence, and analysts do not expect him to

receive that sentence.

[09:25:00]

It would be again, exceedingly rare, but the stakes in that trial and that verdict are so incredibly high, and we are expecting that in the middle of

February. Mike Valerio, CNN Beijing.

MACFARLANE: Right, let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been

meeting with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping on a fence mending trip to Beijing. While there, he proclaimed a new strategic partnership with China.

Canada says they struck trade agreements on Chinese electric vehicles and Canadian canola seed. The Utah man accused of killing conservative activist

Charlie Kirk is back in court today. Tyler Robinson's legal team is asking the judge to disqualify prosecutors claiming a political conflict of

interest in the murder case.

Court documents say the daughter of one of the attorneys was at the Utah Valley University event where Kirk was shot. You're looking at flames from

a major fire that erupted in Seoul's Gangnam district, in one of the poorest areas of the city. More than 200 residents living in the area were

evacuated this morning, thankfully, no one was injured.

Took two -- took hundreds of firefighters about eight hours to put out the massive blaze. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Well, a

new CNN poll could serve as a stark warning to President Trump. Americans are unhappy about a lot of things with one word standing out in the survey,

failure. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London, and you are watching "Connect the World". These are your headlines this hour. Iran's

internet blackout is now in its second week as anti-government protests in the country appear to have subsided.

The Cyber Security Watch Dog says the blackout is now longer than during the regime's brutal crackdown on protests in 2019. Russia's President has

been talking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the situation in Iran. The Kremlin says, Vladimir Putin offered to continue

what he calls mediation efforts during a phone call earlier today.

Israel has been largely silent on the recent antigovernment protests that have erupted in Iran. And security warning level at the U.S. Al Udeid Air

Base in Qatar has been lowered. Sources tell Reuters that's after a heightened alert was triggered Wednesday, amid tensions between the U.S.

and Iran.

U.S. aircraft that were moved out of the air base are gradually returning. And tensions remain high in Minneapolis, as U.S. President Donald Trump

threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy U.S. troops in a Minnesota city.

[09:30:00]

On Thursday night, law enforcement used what appeared to be tear gas and stun grenades on anti I.C.E. protesters. Homeland Security says residents

should be prepared to prove the U.S. citizenship to federal immigration agents. Right, ringing the opening bell, digital payment company,

TechCreate Group.

Let's have a look at how the stocks are getting on at the open after Thursday's gains there you can see the DOW is up alongside upbeat results

from Taiwan's TSMC boosted, which has boosted shares of U.S. chip makers. Now let's turn to new CNN polling that finds President Trump on shaky

ground with Americans in a key election year.

More than half of the people surveyed said they think the first year of Mr. Trump's second term was a failure. The news coming as the president looks

to hold on to his Republican majority in Congress this November. Well CNN's White House Correspondent Alayna Treene is joining us now.

And Alayna, there's really nothing much to take away from this that is positive. Could these numbers really spell trouble for Republicans?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Oh, absolutely. And you're right, Christina. I mean, in every issue that CNN polled the president, the

support he received is under water. Less than half of Americans approving overall on a number of these issues, from the situation in Venezuela to

immigration to the economy and so on.

Now I think that overall number 39 percent is, of course, cause for concern, specifically when you look at where the president's polling

numbers were about a year ago, right after the 2024 election, as he was preparing to be sworn in to office for his second term. He had actually

been enjoying at that point, more positive numbers, probably the most positive numbers he's ever received, actually in his polling his political

career.

Now, a year later, one year almost into office, and he is deeply under water overall, with this 39 percent approval rating. And part of the reason

for that, one of the biggest causes for concern in this data is his handling of the economy. Only 31 percent of those polled said that they

believe that the economic conditions in the country right now is good.

That's compared with of course, 69 percent who said that economic conditions are poor. When you look at the question posed to those surveyed

about the president's specific handling of the economy. 55 percent say that they believe Trump has worsened economic conditions.

32 percent said that they believed he has improved them. 13 percent saying that he had had no effect. I also think you know one number that,

particularly when you're looking at, you know what Republican lawmakers and those who are going to be on the ballot in this year's midterm elections

come November.

The number that's going to be most troubling for them is 29 percent that is the approval rating that the president has with independent voters. The

reason that is so important is because, of course, independent voters are what helped propel Trump to office for his second term in the elections in

2024.

So that's going to be a big cause of concern, particularly again, for Republican lawmakers who are hoping to continue holding on to the majority

come this year's midterm elections. One glimmer of hope, however, in all of this polling is the president's approval rating with Republicans.

They are largely still united behind President Trump, with 87 percent of Republicans saying that they still support the president believe he is

doing a good job in office. All to say this polling does line up with why we know that Trump's advisors, the top political people in his ears, are

telling him he needs to focus not only on domestic issues, but even more so on this issue of affordability, of the high cost of living in the country.

That is an issue that many Americans voted him, voted for him in the 2024 election, believing that he would improve the economy. His numbers on the

economy in this polling are very dire, big sign that they need to try and turn things around and improve on that over the next couple of months.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, definitely seems to be a message loud and clear. And we'll wait to see if President Trump has anything to say about it, given he

has a round table due in the next hour. Alayna, appreciate it as always. Thank you. Now, it may not be the official route to a Nobel Peace Prize,

but it's a win of sorts for President Trump nonetheless.

Venezuela Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado gave her Nobel Peace Prize medal long coveted by Donald Trump to the U.S. President on Thursday.

Machado is due to hold a press conference in the coming hours. Here's what she said on Thursday after handing over that prize.

[09:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER: 200 years ago, General Lafayette gave Simon Bolivar a medal with George Washington's face on it as

a sign of the brotherhood between the United States people of United States, and the people of Venezuela in their fight for freedom against

tyranny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, we now know that all of this happened the same day that CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Venezuela's Acting President Delcy

Rodriguez in Caracas. That's according to a U.S. official. Stefano Pozzebon is live for us from Bogota to look into all of this.

So, Stefano, what do we know about this meeting with the CIA Director and Venezuela's Acting President?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, we don't know that much. It was first reported from "The New York Times". We knew yesterday that several,

actually more than one, plane that are normally used by the Department of State, were traveling to Caracas. These are planes that we're able to track

on open devices here at CNN. So that means that they're not flying with their transponder or transponders off.

They're flying making sure that everybody sees that they are traveling to the Venezuelan capital. And today we were able to confirm our team in

Washington was able to confirm, Christina, that the CIA Director was on that flight, and met with the Acting President of Venezuela Delcy

Rodriguez, who, by the way, yesterday, delivered her first State of the Union address as the new Venezuela Leader after taking over from Nicolas

Maduro.

And of course, this is clearly a sign of trust, a sign that the despite the meeting in the Oval Office, and despite the meeting with Maria Corina

Machado, Donald Trump, seems to be willing to test out his relationship with Delcy Rodriguez is the first time, of course, that a sitting cabinet

member is traveling to Caracas since at least before the pandemic, if not even earlier.

So, we see that relationship between Delcy Rodriguez and Donald Trump is warming up, regardless of the visit of Maria Corina Machado, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And Machado is actually set to speak in a press conference in the coming hours. It's a bit unclear what she got in return

in Washington yesterday for you know, obviously donating her peace prize. But what might we expect? Do you think from this speech upcoming?

POZZEBON: Well, she got a gift bag. We saw her leaving the White House with a gift bag branded with Trump, a red gift bag with Trump signature in gold.

What I think she will say? She will say that the removal of Nicolas Maduro is a step in the direction. The right direction is a necessary step in the

right direction.

And she will probably say the same as she said yesterday, and the same that she said a couple of hours ago in an exclusive interview with Fox up in

Washington, saying that Donald Trump is committed with the cause of freedom in Venezuela, and that the cause of freedom is now closer, just because

Nicolas Maduro has been removed.

Regardless of that, we do not see that happening anytime soon. It was interesting to hear yesterday from Karoline Leavitt to the spokesperson at

the White House, when she was asked whether the White House is committed to a transition to democracy in Venezuela. She said that yes, that is the

intention of the current administration up in Washington.

However, they're not ready to discuss a timeline just yet, which, frankly, I see it as a sentence that dashes the hopes of Maria Corina Machado and

millions of Venezuela's who want to see their country fully embracing freedom and democracy after the ugly parentheses and the ugly chapter of

Nicolas Maduro.

That hasn't happened yet, and it seems to me that Donald Trump is more willing to explore business deals with the current leadership of -- in

Venezuela, rather than pushing for a full transition Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And for what it's worth, I'm not sure receiving a gift bag from Donald Trump makes it better or worse for Machado, but we'll watch

to see what she has to say in the coming hours. Stefano, appreciate it. Thank you. All eyes are on Rod Laver Arena as we count down to the

Australian Open.

But it wasn't for any of today's stars. We'll tell you about Roger Federer's return to courts, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

MACFARLANE: Well, tennis first major of the year, the Australian Open is set to get underway this weekend in Melbourne. Plenty of eyes will be on

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, but arguably the most anticipated practice session took place on Friday. This man, Roger Federer, took to the

court once again. Amanda is here to tell us why.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: You know -- so many people on social media have been getting involved in that 2026 is the new 2016 trend. A lot of

people woke up and saw this and thought this was pictures from 2016 but no, this was today, and Roger Federer, despite nearly being four years into his

retirement, was back out on the Rod Laver Arena, and he's still got it.

Casper Ruud, current world number 12, lost seven points to two in a tie break. It was only the practice session ahead of an exhibition opening

ceremony. They're doing an interesting battle of the world number ones. So, Federer is going to be up against the likes of Andre Agassi and Pat Rafter

and Lleyton Hewitt.

MACFARLANE: -- great idea.

DAVIES: Yeah. And it's also a bit of a farewell for him in Melbourne, which he didn't get officially ahead of his retirement. But one man who is there

this week, and it is going to be his official retirement, Stan Wawrinka, and we've got an interview with him coming up in just a couple of minutes.

MACFARLANE: Looking forward to it. Stay tuned. It's tennis season again, everyone and Amanda be back after the break with more "World Sport". Stay

tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

END