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Connect the World
British PM Starmer Under Fire Over Mandelson Scandal; Top U.S. Law Firm Boss Resigns After Emails Become Public; Ukraine, Russia, U.S. Conclude Trilateral Talks in Abu Dhabi; Trump Warns Iran Against Reviving its Nuclear Sites; NBC Host Savannah Guthrie, Family Plead for Mom's Safe Return. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired February 05, 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)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Maybe we can use a softer touch on immigration, an unexpected change of tone from President Trump. But is
it too late for that? It is 09:00 a.m. in Washington, at 06:00 p.m. here in Dubai. I'm Eleni Giokos coming to you live from the World Governments
Summit today.
Wrapping up the last day of what has been a whirlwind of diplomatic talks, push for AI innovations and back door deals. This is "Connect the World".
Also coming up, if you're wondering who will pay the price for the Epstein revelations, you should be looking at Britain, not the United States.
Plus, trilateral peace talks resume in Abu Dhabi, but there are new questions about Russia's interest in ending its war with Ukraine. And
American TV anchor Savannah Guthrie makes a public plea the safe return of her abducted mother. Right, we have 30 minutes to go before the start of
trade in New York.
I want to check in on these markets, which, of course, have been majorly under pressure over the past couple of days, and it's because of what we
call The Magnificent Seven. It's those tech stocks really taking a big dip as we enter the trading day today, you've got the DOW down four tenths of a
percent.
S&P taking seven tenths of a percent knock, and NASDAQ also down almost 1 percent Alphabet actually doing quite badly in pre trade. We'll check in on
those numbers in about 30 minutes from now. All right, we also keeping an eye on U.S. President Donald Trump. He is speaking at the National Prayer
Breakfast in Washington.
We'll keep you posted on what he says. We're monitoring that very closely. All right, I want to begin with the British Prime Minister in a fierce
battle for his political future. Keir Starmer is facing growing criticism of his appointment of Peter Mandelson as British Ambassador to the United
States, despite Mandelson's known ties to Jeffrey Epstein, he was removed from the post last year. Today, Starmer issued a direct apology to
Epstein's victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I am sorry, sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you, sorry for having
believed Mandelson's lies and appointed him, and sorry that even now you're forced to watch this story unfold in public once again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Right, meanwhile across the Atlantic, fresh fallout from the Justice Department's latest Epstein document release. The boss of a top
U.S. law firm has stepped down after email showing he communicated with a convicted sex offender as recently as 2019. I want to get the latest from
CNN's Politics Senior Reporter Stephen Collinson.
He's live in Washington for us. I mean, hearing Keir Starmer's apology to all victims. And of course, it's about helping himself politically in a
way. Or do you believe that it underlines the seriousness of his mistake?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, I think that kind of apology to the victims is quite notable in itself, just because we haven't
heard that from the President of the United States. And that, I think, underscores this big difference between the way that this scandal is
playing out in the U.S. and in the UK.
I think the issue here is that the independent machinery of investigation and accountability in the UK, as well as in Norway, where this is playing
out and in Poland, they are still intact. What we have in Washington is the Trump Administration controlling the Justice Department and appliance
Republican Congress, and that is one reason why we're not getting this sense of accountability.
We have seen, as you said, the head of that law firm step down in recent hours from his position. I think attention now is turning to the people who
knew Epstein and whether they knew more than they were letting on, even if a lot of these people have not got any criminal liability, it does raise
the question of why so many people were still socializing and doing business with Epstein, even after he left office, even after left prison in
2009 after sex offenses that were convicted in Florida.
So, all of that is playing out, and it gets to the same question for Starmer, it's that, how could he have offered Peter Mandelson the job of UK
Ambassador to Washington, from which he was later fired without knowing more about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
GIOKOS: Yeah. Look the prime minister also saying and stressing, frankly earlier that everything has been done to pursue justice for Epstein. I want
you to listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STARMER: I want to be able to release those documents as quickly as possible. I wanted to release them yesterday, in fact, and to talk about
them at prime minister's questions.
[09:05:00]
But the police have advised that releasing certain information now could risk prejudicing a future investigation or legal process. And however
frustrating from my personal point of view, that is, and it is. I will not take any step, however politically tempting, however popular, that risks
justice for victims, because this is not and must never become a political gain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: You know, there's a lot to be said about why Starmer is so impacted by this, and it's, I mean, very much front of mind, but also importantly,
how President Trump, in a way, is insulated. Are you -- should we be expecting, you know, prosecution in the UK, as opposed to what you're
expecting in the United States? Because the Justice Department is veering away from that.
COLLINSON: Yeah, we know that Peter Mandelson is already under investigation by the authorities in the UK. I think what you saw there was
a prime minister whose credibility was already in deep question well before the latest revelations about Mandelson that came out in those files from
the Justice Department.
This is just a catalyst for more questions about Keir Starmer's judgment and political skills. In the United States, the comparison is very
different. President Trump, although he's not as strong as he once has been politically. He is in no real danger from the Epstein saga, despite being
mentioned in emails that were released by the Justice Department more than 1000 times.
I think part of this is to do with the fact that doubts about President Trump's character have long been baked into his political personality.
Right back to the 2016 election. So, he's done so much that anything that comes out about him is difficult to shock. But again, the organization in
the United States that would pursue justice for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein is the Justice Department.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
COLLINSON: The main point man at the Justice Department on this case is Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. He used to be Trump's personal
lawyer, so you can see the extent to which the president has used the tool of the instruments of government for his own political ends.
There is no evidence that Trump is criminally liable for anything to do with Epstein, but very many people have questions about how the Justice
Department has handled this, and there are no chances right now of any criminal investigations into anything related to Epstein, the likes of
which we're starting to see the United Kingdom.
GIOKOS: Yeah. All right. Stephen, good to have you on the story. Thank you so much. Stephen Collinson for us. Now our second day of trilateral talks
between Ukraine, Russia and the United States has ended in Abu Dhabi. A member of Ukraine's negotiating team calls the talks truly constructive.
Ukraine's Chief Negotiator had described the first day of talks seen here as substantive and productive. The talks are happening as Russia targets
Ukraine's energy infrastructure. The Kremlin saying its military operations will continue until Ukraine makes quote, appropriate decisions.
Today also marks the expiration of the "New START" nuclear weapons treaty between the United States and Russia, leaving both countries without limits
on nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than half a century. We've got Fred Pleitgen for us in Moscow. Fred, really good to see you. So, what
is the view of these talks from where you are?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Eleni. Well, first of all, the Russians are also saying that there is movement,
positive movement that's been happening in these talks. And while there are so many questions that need to be addressed, certainly both sides are
saying one of the things that was achieved in the U.S. is also saying was a major prisoner exchange.
And the U.S. side is saying it's the first major prisoner exchange in the past five months, where 314 prisoners from the respective sides were
exchanged. 157 from each. We were getting some of the first images of that exchange coming from the Ukrainian side.
And the Ukrainians are saying that 139 of those people who are now brought back to Ukraine were actually in Russian custody since 2022. They say the
youngest of those who were brought back was 23 years old. That it was 150 Ukrainian soldiers who were brought back, and seven Ukrainian civilian.
So, the U.S. side is saying that this is the first real, or one of the first real tangible results of these negotiations that Steve Witkoff, Chief
Negotiator for the United States, this president's special envoy is saying that these talks have been constructive and have also been making headway.
[09:10:00]
One of the things that I think is quite interesting, because we know that there are still some delicate questions that need to be addressed,
specifically regarding territorial issues and what concessions the Ukrainians might be willing to make. The U.S. side and the Ukrainian side
are saying that things are moving forward.
And President Zelenskyy of Ukraine came out just a couple of minutes ago, and he says that he wants this process to continue as fast as possible. And
therefore, he hopes that the next meeting, this next trilateral meeting, could happen in the not-too-distant future, in the near future, because the
Ukrainians obviously want to see this get to some sort of result very quickly.
The Russians, as you've noted, have said that as long as there is no agreement, their special military operation, as they call it, will
continue. The Russians, of course, saying that right now, they are the ones who have the momentum on their side on the battlefield, Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right, Fred Pleitgen for us in Moscow, thank you for that update. Now, the U.S. and Iran are expected to hold nuclear talks on
Friday. Iran's Foreign Minister says he will meet with American Envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman. However, Iranian leaders say the talks must be fair and
equitable, but ahead of that meeting, President Trump had an ominous message for Iran's Supreme Leader during his interview with NBC News.
The U.S. President said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should be very worried, because part of his exchange with NBC's Tom Llamas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM LLAMAS, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Should the Supreme Leader in Iran be worried right now?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I would say he should be very worried. Yeah, he should be. As you know, they're
negotiating with us.
LLAMAS: I know they are, but the protesters have said, you know, where are the Americans? You promised them we would have their back. Do we still have
their back?
TRUMP: -- We've had their back. And look, that country is a mess right now because of us. We went and we wiped out their nuclear -- peace in the
Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well President Trump also warning Iran that if it tries to revive its nuclear program at alternate sites after the U.S. strikes in June,
quote, we're going to do bad things to you. The Trump Administration has been weighing another major strike against the Iranian regime.
A U.S. carrier strike group is already present in the waters of Iran. As the U.S. prepares for negotiations with Iran, Israel is moving up a
Security Cabinet meeting, according to an Israeli official. It follows a visit by U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff to Israel on Tuesday, where Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Tehran cannot be trusted.
The Security Cabinet meeting, which was originally scheduled for Sunday, will now take place this afternoon. We got Nic Robertson following
developments for us from Jerusalem. Nic, good to see you. So, what do we know about this cabinet meeting? What is expected to be on the agenda?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, I think we can expect Iran to be on the agenda, and the cabinet meeting. Security Cabinet
meeting is due to get underway right around about now. And it's an opportunity for the prime minister to brief that those cabinet members on
his meeting with Steve Witkoff earlier in the week, to give his assessment of whatever conversations were had about Iran also about the peace deal in
Gaza.
But, you know, this gives the prime minister here an opportunity to shape his narrative ahead of whatever comes out of those talks on Friday. And at
the moment, the talks look like they're going ahead, but there's daylight, very clear daylight, between the two sides. The Iranian Foreign Minister
late yesterday, sort of rushing into Scottish rumors, it appeared that the talks were actually off by saying, no, we're going to meet the Americans
for nuclear negotiations 10:00 a.m. or thereabouts in Oman.
And Oman has now sort of taken over as a venue, not Turkey, along with other U.S. allies from the region, at the table, just the U.S. It appears
those mediators, the Omanis and the Iranians there, but the daylight is this that the Iranian Foreign Minister says they're coming to the table for
nuclear talks.
But just yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran has to talk about their nuclear stockpiles of highly enriched uranium. Those have to be
gotten rid of their ability to enrich uranium. That has to be ended. Not only that, this is what Iran is appearing that it will talk about, but they
have to talk about their ballistic missiles, which threaten United States, Gulf allies, which threaten Israel.
They have to talk about their proxies, and they also have to talk about the way they treat their population. So, there's a whole bunch of stuff the
U.S. is saying should be on the table. So, you know, the question from the Israeli perspective is, is that air gap that could be reduced in these
talks or could get bigger?
Is that going to precipitate some events over the weekend that the prime minister here in Israel wants to get ahead of. I don't think people
genuinely believe that things are that febrile and fragile at the moment, but it certainly gives Prime Minister Netanyahu the chance to brief his
cabinet and have a message about Israel, about Iran and him shaping that message going into whatever comes out of those talks tomorrow.
[09:15:00]
GIOKOS: All right. Nic Robertson, good to have you on the show. Thank you. And still to come, NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie and her siblings make an
emotional plea on social media the safe return of their mother. Plus, Donald Trump is talking about softer touch on his immigration crackdown,
but -- suggested, maybe a little too late. That we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Now to an emotional and tearful plea from NBC News Anchor Savannah Guthrie and her siblings' days after their mother's apparent abduction from
a home near Tucson, Arizona. In this video, watch Savannah Guthrie pleads for her mother's proof of life in response to purported ransom notes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her, we want to hear from you, and we are ready
to listen. Please, reach out to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Investigators have not yet identified a suspect as the search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie enters fifth day. CNN's Marybel Gonzalez is
following the story for us. Marybel and obviously very emotional, and you can hear Nancy's family there, but Savannah also hinting about the whys of
AI in her video to the purported kidnappers.
How difficult is it for authorities to determine if the ransom notes or any images of Nancy that the family may have received are real or perhaps a
hoax. What are you hearing from sources?
MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Eleni, well, that is definitely a concern for so many people in law enforcement, but also, you
know, for Savannah and for her family, she understands how many apps there are out there, how easy it is to manipulate, not just photos, but videos as
well, and how good of a job some of these apps can do and make it look realistic.
And so that is one of the reasons why you hear her say, we need something to show a definitive proof that my mother is still alive. That is one of
the things that she says in that video. And I will say that these supposed ransom notes that were sent to media outlets.
You know, investigators have not yet confirmed whether or not those are legitimate, but earlier this week, the Pima County Sheriff said they are
not discarding any possibilities and that they are taking every bit of information very seriously. Now we spoke to an anchor that works at one of
these media outlets that received these alleged notes.
She said that note was sent via email. And this is what was striking to me about that interview with her. She said that it contained very sensitive
information about Nancy, and also information, in her opinion, that only an abductor would be privy to.
[09:20:00]
So that is definitely concerning, but the family is asking for evidence to show that Nancy is alive and well.
GIOKOS: All right, so in terms of the investigation and what more we know on how that is transpiring, how they're able to, you know, get some
information and a few leads?
GONZALEZ: Yeah, so that is something that we were hoping to have updates at this point, day five. We are now on day five of this search. Right now, as
you mentioned, there's no suspects. There's no information, at least made publicly, on the possible whereabouts of Nancy.
Now I should mention that on the very same day that this video was posted to social media by Savannah and her family. Investigators were back here at
Nancy's home, including FBI agents, and they appeared to be taking bags of what appeared to be evidence into their vehicles.
That is significant, because we hadn't seen that type of activity since the abduction happened here in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood. But again,
we still don't have very much information. We know that it's been difficult for investigators to get surveillance camera from this area, because, as
you can see, it's pretty desert terrain.
A lot of the houses are tucked behind vegetation, making it difficult to see, even if they have cameras on their front doors, difficult to see the
street from there. And so, we are expecting to hear an update from the Pima County Sheriff here shortly, in just a couple hours, actually.
And hopefully we'll get some new information on where this investigation is headed.
GIOKOS: Yeah. All right. Marybel, thank you so much for that update. Marybel Gonzalez for us. Now, in a rare sign of yielding to criticism,
President Trump has conceded his administration could do with easing up its immigration crackdown, maybe. In an interview with NBC News, the president
was asked about the impact federal agents had in cities across the United States, and said the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti should
not have happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking of Minneapolis, what did you learn?
TRUMP: I learned that maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch, but you still have to be tough. These are criminal we're dealing with really
hard criminals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: The president's Border Czar Tom Homan already announced some changes happening in Minneapolis. 700 personnel are being withdrawn, and
agents will now be equipped with body cams, but that leaves about 2000 of them still in the city. Joining us now from the White House, we've got
Alayna Treene.
Alayna, good to see you. Do you expect Trump's concession and withdrawal of 700 personnel as a willingness for the administration to de-escalate? Or is
this simply because of the recent polling numbers?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I think it's a mix of both. And look, I will tell you that, of course, in the aftermath of both the fatal
shooting of Renee Good, but then also of Alex Pretti the administration, and particularly people at the top levels, people like the Homeland
Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, the President's Homeland Security Advisers, and one of his deputy chiefs of staff, they were very
aggressive in their defense rhetoric, really defending those I.C.E. agents.
But what I will say is that the tuna shifted now because the president recognizes, as do many of his advisers, that the public is not there when
it comes to what has been unfolding on the ground in Minnesota. And so, part of this, I think, is to your point, an acknowledgement that, yes,
perhaps you know having thousands of agents on the ground to carry out the president's immigration crackdown in Minnesota was maybe a little bit heavy
handed.
And so, we're starting to see that draw down that we had heard his Border Czar Tom Homan a kind of signal after arriving in Minnesota, of course,
again because of the protests and the backlash that this administration had seen following those shootings. But I also do think this is, of course, an
acknowledgement of the polling.
President Trump is someone who very much takes polling into consideration. He views polls all the time in that building behind me, and he recognizes,
you know, he knows how to read the room, I guess, in a sense, when it comes to things like this. And I think this was one of those moments where they
realized that their messaging and their tactics were more aggressive than much of the country had actually wanted.
And so, we're seeing that kind of be changed. And I will say we'll have to actually see if that's actually what happened. Sure, they're pulling out
700 agents. The president is using a much more conciliatory tone than, really, he ever has in the past. He's not one to typically admit when he
thinks he has taken a wrong approach.
But we'll have to see if that actually leads to real substantial de- escalation on the ground. We of course, have heard from local leaders, including the Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey saying, you know, 700, yeah,
it's a good start, but it's not really enough.
[09:25:00]
So, we'll really have. To see how this plays out on the ground in the state, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yeah, very quickly on the body cams. And that could change things in terms of understanding interaction, you know, with civilians and also
the people that are, you know, caught with I.C.E. So, give me an idea of how that changes the calculus.
TREENE: I think it's a huge deal. Then there's a couple things I'd keep in mind. One that it has actually required previously by the Biden
Administration to have all of these CBP and I.C.E. agents wearing body cams. It was revoked that provision by the Trump Administration in his
second term.
So, this is a big departure I actually had in the days after, just two days after Alex Pretti was fatally shot. I had asked this question of Karoline
Leavitt, the Press Secretary, in one of her briefings. They said, why not mandate these body cameras? And she said, we are looking into that.
Now, of course, we know their decision, but it took them a while to get to this point. What will change is that there is going to be real footage now
of all of this, and every single agent is going to know that how they act is going to be on camera. And so that is supposed to be, I think, in many
people's eyes, hopefully, a deterrent to some of the harsher tactics that have been used.
GIOKOS: All right. Alayna Treene, good to see you. Thank you so much. Now the past year has seen massive cuts to foreign aid by developed nations
laid by the United States. After the break, I'll be speaking to the Former Head of the African Development Bank on how the continent is looking to
fulfill financing gaps. Stick with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai, and you're watching "Connect the World". Great to have you with us. These are your headlines.
Ukraine and Russia are exchanging 314 prisoners of war. That announcement coming amid the latest round of trilateral peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
This video shows ambulances carrying wounded Ukrainian soldiers, home. The second round of talks involving the United States, Ukraine and Russia
concluded a few hours ago. Ukraine's President says a third round will be held in the near future. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has apologized
to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson as UK's Ambassador to the United States.
Starmer accused Mandelson of lying about the strength of his ties to Epstein. Mandelson was removed from his post last year. Iran's Foreign
Minister says talks with the U.S. are scheduled for this Friday in Oman. The negotiations have been moved from Istanbul, with Tehran looking to
focus specifically on its nuclear program.
[09:30:00]
The U.S. has threatened strikes against Iran, with President Trump saying the Iranian Supreme Leader should be, quote, very worried. Right, we're few
seconds away from the start of trade in New York. There you go. That's the opening bell. And of course, it is a risk of day, and it seems there's a
lot of concern about what's happening in the tech stocks.
Earnings are coming through, and that's also impacted what we're seeing in the numbers. S&P 500 down eight tenths of a percent. DOW JONES INDUSTRIALS
average down six tenths of a percent. Hey, even silver is taking a big knock today. We're also seeing Bitcoin coming under pressure.
So, it is red all round. All right, here at the World Governments Summit, African leaders are working to take matters into their own hands after a
string of foreign aid cuts. The United States does not commit any funding to the African Development Bank fund for low-income countries last year.
Spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury says the fund is too focused on climate change, on gender as well as social issues. It follows a broader trend of
cutting foreign assistance. The Trump Administration immediately moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development after it took
office one year ago.
Other developed nations, including the United Kingdom, Canada, as well as Germany, quickly followed suit and also slashed their own funding. Now my
next guest is the President Emeritus of the African Development Bank. Today, he launched the Global Africa Investment Summit.
It aims to draw in capital and show the world the continent is an investment opportunity, not a development project. I want to welcome
Akinwumi Adesina to the show. So great to have you with us.
AKINWUMI A. ADESINA, PRESIDENT EMERITUS OF THE AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK: Always good to see you.
GIOKOS: Always, always. You know, we've spoken so many times over the years, and you know, I want to just quickly touch on what the United States
has done, and actually, other countries have followed suit, where you're seeing concessional funding for developmental agencies like the African
Development Bank, which, of course, you were president of until mid-last year.
Who's going to fill in those gaps? Where are you going to see the money coming from when you've got big donors and big funders moving away?
ADESINA: Yeah. Well, I think first and foremost, what we are saying is the world is so different in many, many ways, geopolitical issues have become
the agenda of the day. In fact, development doesn't really seem to be the focus today. Every time it's all about tensions, it's all about wars and
all conflicts.
And so that has actually had a lot of effects. And first and foremost is that you look at Europe, for example, they increase significantly the
number of resources that is going into defense. That means, what, it means that somebody has something has to give in developing financing is what is
affected.
And in the case of the United States, you know, the United States is shifting. I think, under President Trump, its own approach. You know, every
country has their own strategy. We can't force a country to have a particular strategy we want.
GIOKOS: Don't you think it's a mistake? Look, I'm not saying about the aid side of things. I understand. We're going to talk about that in a bit. But
I'm talking about developmental funding. I'm talking about the project that President Obama started, which was Power Africa, to get 30,000 megawatts of
power on the continent. That was money making projects.
ADESINA: Yeah, what I'm saying is that, you know, it's a different strategy that they are taking, and I think that strategy is fine as well, which is
that it's not just going to be about aid, it's going to be about investment. Look, you have the U.S. approach for today. They have United
States Development Finance Corporation that is massively financing infrastructure in Africa, financing energy, financing the transport
corridor, Lobito Corridor.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
ADESINA: Which is one that we call financed, also with them, financing value chains in Africa. So, I think what you're probably seeing, what
you're saying, is a change in approach, from your classical aid into investment giving approaches.
GIOKOS: Which is a good thing -- so I want to talk about your Global Investment Summit. You're very good at, sort of putting minds together and
putting pockets and wallets together and trying to extract for the good of development. You're here in Dubai. Have you signed deals? Have you seen
interest?
ADESINA: Well, you know -- we -- Eleni, we launched a Global Africa Investment Summit.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
ADESINA: Because if you take a look at it today, you were just talking about this. What does Africa have? Aid is gone.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
ADESINA: And so, aid way is not the way to develop. What Africa conception of financing we're talking about it is also limited and also declining. So,
what Africa has in abundance are its own assets. It has mineral, oil, gas. It has rare earth. It has a lot of these assets to total value of those
assets.
Guess what is $6 trillion. So how do you have $6 trillion and I'll be able to finance your own development? So, what we are doing through the Global
Africa Investment Summit is to put together a structure that allows Africa to interface global capital with its own sovereign assets to actually have
this asset to deliver value.
[09:35:00]
Africa's assets as huge as they are, they are underpriced, they are undervalued, and they are also on their leverage. And so, this particular
platform is the goal is very simple. Structure Africa's sovereign assets in such a way that they are the risk to be able to have investment grade level
of portfolio that global cap that will invest --
GIOKOS: So, here's my question, in a world where there's a scramble for critical minerals, the continent has it, right?
ADESINA: Yeah.
GIOKOS: I mean, there's so much the continent can offer, and you're seeing, you know, constantly, who's going to have influence in Africa, and it's
really going to come through on investments, where you're seeing the money flowing from right now?
ADESINA: Well, the money is actually what the thing is, the money is flowing into Africa with a lot of interest. People are going in and out.
The question is, was Africa getting out of it?
GIOKOS: Yeah, are these deals suited to the continent, or we were just signing back deals again?
ADESINA: Well, there are different kind of things.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
ADESINA: And we shouldn't do that, because what happens is a lot of things happen in Africa that the process of actually discovering the assets, the
process of valuing the asset and structuring the assets, is the most critical thing. And what the Global Africa Investment Summit will simply do
is to help African countries to navigate this complexity by having a platform that can allow you to de risk all those areas in those particular
sectors, but also give confidence to investors that want to come to Africa.
Take a look. You know, you and I have talked over the years to even find out the transaction costs are very, very high. The due diligence takes a
very, very long time, and there is no trusted global platform for global capital to interface with Africa's sovereign assets.
And so, this is a way in which we are going to restructure all of Africa's sovereign assets these --
GIOKOS: How will it take you to do I mean, we're talking about it now. We know enough bank -- we need enough bankable projects on the continent. We
need to see, you know, a rejigging of the way that, you know, I think risk is absolutely mispriced in Africa, right?
ADESINA: Yes.
GIOKOS: So, it's just a lot more expensive for everyone.
ADESINA: Yeah.
GIOKOS: Why only now?
ADESINA: Well, why now for various reasons. When we started by saying that aid is gone. Secondly, what you are talking about in terms of the critical
minerals globally, right? You're having a repricing right, of the supply chains. In terms of repricing Africa's critical minerals energy, which are
also going to be very critical for AI, for defense systems, but also for energy transition that we are talking about.
And if you also look at what the world is looking at in terms of ESG investors, they are looking for parts of the world in which they can
actually have great assets that will give them high yields. And the kind of assets that Africa has falls right in the middle of that particular
intersection.
And so, what the Global Africa Investment Summit, will do is to allow the global capital to be able to interface with all those assets through a
structured way. And that's very new. I was excited to have four presidents here. We have the President of Angola, the President of Tanzania, the
President of Ghana, and the Prime Minister of Mozambique.
And they are saying, they are ready to engage in a different way by actually creating value out of what they have, not depending on somebody
else. So, I believe that Africa is not about aid. Africa is the alpha in the world today. Is the frontier that whether you're talking agriculture,
but they are talking about the case of critical minerals. Africa is not about it. Africa is about the alpha from the world today.
GIOKOS: Well, thank you so very much for your time and all the best.
ADESINA: Thank you.
GIOKOS: Akinwumi Adesina for us. All right, moving on now, and heavy snow is impacting the slopes in Italy, with practice canceled. Is that good or
bad news for Lindsey Vonn. We discussed that. That's coming up next. Stick with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:00]
GIOKOS: The 2026 Liv Golf season is now the way in Riyadh captains Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm were among the stars hitting the links. Four-year-
old Liv has been at loggerheads with the long running PGA, which has punished players who joined the Saudi backed league by banning them from
tournaments.
But this year, for the first time, some Liv players will be able to earn official world rank golf ranking, points to qualify for major
championships. Now, the Olympics' opening ceremony isn't starting as all Friday, but events already underway. All eyes are on the slopes in Cortina
to see how American skier Lindsey Vonn is holding up.
We've got Patrick Snell. He's going to tell us exactly what is going on. Patrick, it's good to see you.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hi. Yeah, Hi there, Eleni. Yeah. All eyes on Lindsey Vonn, indeed, a global powerhouse name in the world of skiing,
but kind of mixed use for her on the surface, at least on Thursday, when she and her fellow competitors weren't allowed to train.
The weather conditions there, Milano Cortina not allowing the training. It was canceled the downhill training for this day. She has to get one
practice session in before she competes for real on Sunday. So, she has to get that one under the -- Of course, we're watching the situation with Vonn
very closely Indeed, after she revealed that she is competing this year, all being well.
Gosh, can you believe this on a ruptured ACL. She's going to go ahead and this video from a little earlier today showing her really powerful images,
actually, as it shows her working out, sending out a message there that she's doing all she can to be fit and ready to go, but certainly wish her
well.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
SNELL: One thing we've always learned with Lindsey over the years, Eleni, is to expect the unexpected. She is one courageous competitor. Back to you.
GIOKOS: She is indeed. I mean, incredible videos there. Patrick, good to have you on. We will see you right after the short break with more sports.
And I'll be back at the top of the hour. Stay with CNN.
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[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
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