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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Trump Announces $500B A.I. Infrastructure Deal; U.S. States Sue to Stop Birthright Citizenship Order; Jan. 6th Rioters Being Released from Prison; Tensions Rise Over Panama Canal; Real Ice Start-Up Restoring Arctic Sea Ice. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired January 21, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: -- on pace to break the all-time statewide record of four inches. And the winter weather does not stop there. The heavy snow
and strong winds leaving whiteout conditions in southern Louisiana, and even prompting the first ever blizzard warnings in that area.
The news continues now on CNN with Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: It's 7:00 a.m. in Beijing, 1:00 a.m. in Kyiv, and 6:00 p.m. right here in New York. I'm Paula Newton, in for Julia
Chatterley. And wherever you are in the world, this is your "First Move."
And a very warm welcome to "First Move." Here's today's need to know. Donald Trump announces a $500 billion investment in A.I. infrastructure. 22
U.S. states sued to stop the president's executive order ending birthright citizenship. Rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol are being released from
prison after getting pardoned on Inauguration Day. And after Trump pulls the U.S. out of the Paris Climate deal, we speak to a company trying to
combat climate change by restoring Arctic Sea ice. That conversion and plenty more coming up.
But first, President Trump's first full day back in the White House. Less than an hour ago, he announced a massive private sector investment in A.I.
infrastructure. OpenAI, Oracle, and Japan's SoftBank plan to invest $500 billion into an A.I. data center project.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Together these world leading technology giants are announcing the formation of Stargate. So, put that name down in
your books because I think you're going to hear a lot about it in the future. A new American company that will invest $500 billion at least in
A.I. infrastructure in the United States and very, very quickly moving very rapidly, creating over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately.
This monumental undertaking is a resounding declaration of confidence in America's potential under a new president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: This after he signed dozens of executive orders during his first hours as president that will impact policies related to immigration,
climate, and so much more.
Now, President Donald Trump is still answering questions. Let's listen in.
TRUMP: -- people have been killed in the cities, they look like demolition sites. Buildings, massive buildings bombed and coming down. The thing with
Ukraine is that many more people died than you're reporting. You're not reporting the real numbers, and I'm not blaming you for that. I'm blaming
maybe our government for not wanting to release those numbers. Many more people died than what you know about.
When those big buildings come down and they say two people were injured, no, no, many people, thousands of people are being killed. But the people -
- the real killing now is on the war front. It's a very flat land and the only thing that stops a bullet is somebody's body. And you have young
soldiers -- so, Russia's lost about 800,000 soldiers now. Ukraine's lost about 600,000 or 700,000. I think the numbers are low that they're giving
out and -- but they've lost massive numbers of young soldiers, and that war should stop.
It's very flat. You know, it's beautiful farmland and it's flat and really beautiful in a different kind of a way, but they don't have any protection.
The only thing that stops a bullet is a body and those bodies to stop it. A lot of bullets and they're getting -- they're being decimated, both sides.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your conversation with President Xi? What did you tell him in terms of when you expect tariffs and what can you do to
avoid?
TRUMP: About which one? About tariffs? We didn't talk too much about tariffs other than he knows where I stand. Look, I put large tariffs on
China. I've taken in hundreds of billions of dollars. Until I was president, China never paid not 10 cents to the United States. With me,
they paid hundreds of -- $600 billion or so or more, more than that even of tariffs.
And I'm if I didn't do that, you wouldn't have a steel mill open in the United States right now. You wouldn't have one steel mill open in the
United States. So, what I did is I saved the steel industry. I saved other industries, too, with other tariffs.
Other countries are big abusers also. You know, it's not just China. China's an abuser, but the European Union is very, very bad to us. They
treat us very, very badly. They don't take our cars. They don't take our cars at all. They don't take our farm products, essentially. They don't
take very much. We have a $350 billion deficit with the European Union. They treat us very, very badly. So, they're going to be in for tariffs.
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It's the only way you're going to get back -- It's the only way you're going to get fairness. You can't get fairness unless you do that. But the
European Union's treated us very badly. But essentially, everybody treats us badly. You know, everybody treats us badly.
Yes, go ahead. Because we allow them to. Because we've had stupid people doing this and we can't have -- I wouldn't have -- I'd like to have these
three people negotiate for us. Just for one week and would be a rich country again. But we'll be rich.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on A.I. data centers. Will you rescind President Biden's executive order that opens up federal land --
TRUMP: On which centers?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On data centers. Will you rescind President Biden's executive order that opens up federal lands for data centers and energy
production?
TRUMP: No, I wouldn't do that. That sounds to me like it's something that I would like. I'd like to see federal lands opened up for data centers. I
think they're going to be very important. Again, we have a lot of competition for that. So, it's an honor to have these three great people,
great, great CEOs and great geniuses, all three. It's an honor that they want to come to our country, but we're going to make it as easy as we can
for them because other countries want them too.
I'm going to have to go now. Thank you all very much. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One more question. Do you have TikTok on your phone?
TRUMP: No, but I think --
NEWTON: And Collinson joins us and he has been listening in along with us as Donald Trump there still taking one last question.
TRUMP: A warm spot in my heart for TikTok. OK. Thank you.
NEWTON: And Stephen Collinson, I'm sure you heard what I did, which is that he has a special place in his heart for TikTok. So, a wide-ranging
press conference there, discussed Ukraine, TikTok, water problems in L.A., and of course that A.I. investment among other topics.
Let's start with TikTok though. He is saying that he is open to perhaps selling it. That doesn't mean He has any agreement from ByteDance or China
that that would actually happen, but he says he'd be open to Elon Musk perhaps taking a look at it.
I mean, look, we're strapped in and ready to go. This is Trump's second term. We know what the first term looked like. He, once again, is saying
that he's the president who will be making deals on a broad range of issues.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: It almost feels like he never went away in the last four years, just some kind of mirage, because
Trump has got back into the White House in exactly the same manner that he spent the last -- his first four years in his last term.
Although, I think there's a difference here. When he first came in, he almost felt like he was an imposter, and he didn't know what to do. This is
a president who believes he is rightfully elected, he knows exactly what he's going to do, and he's going to be aggressive. That's what all these
announcements are about.
TikTok is a perfect example, because it's a way -- and when he talks about it, he almost seems to be making up policy on the fly, throwing around
ideas. That is the way the Trump presidency works. It's transactional, it's improvisational, in many ways, it doesn't look like there is a plan for
what to do about TikTok.
They've got this 90-day period. And that is what is so uncertain about the Trump presidency. He said himself, he may have to close it down, he may be
able to sell it. If he sells it to Elon Musk, that's going to create even more questions about massive conflicts of interest in the U.S. government,
and even more questions about the way that Trump's new friends in the oligarch tech sector, as President Joe Biden called them, are controlling
massive flows of information that will inform millions of people just how well or otherwise the Trump presidency is going.
NEWTON: You say he's transactional, he's clearly did -- was asked about Ukraine and had it top of mind, even said that he had spoken to President
Xi saying, you need to help us on Ukraine to get this solved. He talked about the losses for both Russia and Ukraine. Look, he said he would have
that conflict solved on day one. That hasn't happened. He knows it.
Do you believe that this transactional nature will work, this ad hoc way that he approaches things that we saw in the first term will actually work
going forward, because hard to believe the world is even more complicated since he left office?
COLLINSON: It's actually been quite fascinating over the last two days to hear Trump talk about Ukraine and the buttons he's starting to press. Last
evening, in a press conference in the Oval Office, which was very similar to this one, he started talking, as he did here, about how Russia needs to
make a deal, how it's really hurting the Russian economy. It's not making President Putin look good. He clearly is trying to build some kind of
pressure on Putin before they meet to try to get him to the table.
I think he's exactly right that China could be a massive influence in ending this conflict, and Trump has all sorts of other issues before China.
So, it's all a big mix of give and take.
[18:10:00]
But the key question still remains, I think, is whether Putin sees it in his interest right now to do a deal. And if there is a deal, will Trump
take a deal because he's so desperate for deal and one that could really hurt Ukraine and give a great deal of territory to Russia, that Russia has
seized, and thereby validate the invasion.
It was very interesting today, President Zelenskyy was talking in Davos, and he was saying that Europe need to be tougher. And the reason for that
is he needs Europe at the table as a kind of a counterbalance if Trump goes too easy on Putin in the search of a deal. So, lots of really interesting
moving pieces on the Ukraine issue in the last couple of days.
NEWTON: Stephen, how do you see the sweep of this? I mean, we are barely two days in here. We understand that it's transactional. I will point out
that even in announcing the A.I. deal, the reason you and I believe he hasn't missed a beat is because we remember announcements like this in his
first term, and some of them did not come to fruition. When we had these long press conferences, we had these elaborate announcements, but people
still did not have the jobs on the ground that they needed.
Do you think it can be different this time and that he realizes it has to be different this time?
COLLINSON: I think things can be, but it's all about the show. Let's face it, Trump has done the easy things so far. Anyone can sign -- any president
can sign 200 executive orders and put the country on a different course domestically and globally. You can make big announcements about jobs coming
to the United States and investment, but it's all about the follow through. That is something that the Trump administration was very bad at during the
first term, not least because the president himself sometimes finds it difficult to keep his focus on one thing, as we saw in that news
conference.
The question of lowering prices, the issue that really helped him get elected as much as immigration, he hasn't really done a great deal about
that, and the reason for that is he needs to get bills through Congress to start to affect the economy. That's why Trump met with senior Republican
leaders today.
So, yes, it started in a blaze of activity and aggression, and it looks like Trump really knows what he's doing this time. But I think, you know,
time has a way of taking away power from presidents. Circumstances can throw up crises that they're not expecting.
So, two days in, it's going fine, but I think it's far too early to make a judgement about whether Trump is any different in his second term than he
was in his first.
NEWTON: Yes. And he articulated that he thought immigration was more of an issue, we shall see.
COLLINSON: Right.
NEWTON: Because he did promise to bring down prices. Tariffs are not going to bring down prices for Americans, that we know. Stephen Collinson, always
grateful to have you standing by --
COLLINSON: Thanks.
NEWTON: -- when we have Trump there at the podium. Appreciate it.
COLLINSON: Cheers.
NEWTON: Now, Attorney general from Democratic states filing a lawsuit to block President Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship. Now,
they say the order violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. constitution. President Trump also declared a national emergency at the southern border,
as he reiterated his pledge to carry out mass deportations. And the U.S.- Mexico border has now been closed to asylum seekers.
Now, his border czar, Tom Homan, was on CNN earlier today. I want you to listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: When we find him, he may be with others. Others that don't have a criminal conviction are in the country
illegally, they will be arrested too. Because we're not going to strike -- and this is the difference between the last administration and this
administration. ICE is going to enforce the immigration law. There's nothing in the INA, the Immigration and Nationality Act, that says you've
got to be convicted of a serious crime in order to be removed from this country.
So, there's going to be more collateral arrests in sanctuary cities because they forced us to go in the community and find the guy we're looking for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Rosa Flores joins us now from Denver, Colorado. And, Rosa, you have been following this issue for years and now we get a second Trump
administration and what it all means. Now, you obtained a copy of Denver's playbook in case these deportations come to Denver. What are you seeing in
their game plan?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what this is, Paula, it's a policy that was sent out to staff members just in case ICE agents try to gain
access to property that is owned by the City of Denver.
And what it is, it lays out several scenarios. So, for example, it states that if an ICE agent tries to gain access to a public space, staffers are
told to go ahead and allow ICE to gain access. However, if an ICE agent is trying to gain access to a private restricted area, for example, within a
public hospital, for example, inside the City of Denver, then staffers are asked to ask for a warrant signed by a federal judge.
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And this policy also states that if an ICE agent tries to get aggressive with a staffer, that the staffer should ask for their badge number and also
that the staffer should not stop or try to stop an ICE agent from making an arrest.
Now, Paula, there's a very important distinction that we should make because there's a lot of talk and rhetoric about sanctuary cities here and
there in the United States. And one thing that we should be very clear about the City of Denver is that, technically, it's a welcome city. And
what that means is that anyone who commits a crime within the city, according to this policy, they would -- will be prosecuted. They are not
going to be protected by the city or by city officials or by the police. This policy clearly states these suspected criminals will be prosecuted.
And in the case of criminals, the city police will comply with risk with requests made by ICE upon that suspected criminal's release. The big
difference, Paula, is that the city will not comply with requests by ICE for civil matters.
In essence, the city is saying that the city is not going to become an arm of the federal government for law enforcement within the city. And so,
that's the big distinction. Paula.
NEWTON: And Tom Homan does say he is going to push back on that as well. We shall see legally where this will come to. But in the meantime, the
immigrant community itself must really have -- they must have a chill up their spines at this point in time, just understanding exactly what might
be coming their way.
FLORES: Yes, you know, there is a lot of fear. I talked to a waitress who said that her daughter asked her not to go to work today because of these
promised mass deportations on day one. We talked to other activists here who say that some individuals have said they're not going to go to work or
that they're not going to send their children to school or that they're going to self deport out of fear. And then we talked to Jeanette Vizguerra.
And if you know that name, it's not a mistake. In 2017, she was named Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Now, she's an undocumented mom. She's been an activist for about 26 years. And she says that she is not afraid if she gets round up in these mass
deportations that President Trump is promising. In fact, she says to President Trump, cast the first stone. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANETTE VIZGUERRA, UNDOCUMENTED ACTIVIST: Try, pick up all criminals in this country. He have 34 felonies. He come in more. He is the real
criminal. He not take consequence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: And, Paula, about those promised mass deportations, we have been in contact with Vizguerra who has a wide net here in the Denver Aurora area
with other grassroots organizers with sources within the city and also with a woman who runs a hotline. There's a hotline here in this area that people
are encouraged to call in if they see ICE enforcement or immigration enforcement in their communities. And so far, there has been no mass
deportation that anyone in this community has seen.
We're here at the ICE processing center, the ICE detention center in Aurora, Colorado. If there was a mass deportation of some sort here in this
area, this facility would be very busy right now. We would see the activity visually, like we've seen on the border and you know, I've been on the
border many, many times and at these ICE -- outside these ICE facilities, we have not seen that level of activity, at least here in Aurora, Colorado.
NEWTON: We shall see how all of this unfolds in the coming weeks. Rosa, I know you'll be covering it for us. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Now, U.S. Capitol Hill rioters are being released from prison after another one of Donald Trump's sweeping executive orders. Mr. Trump, on Inauguration
Day, pardoned almost all the January 6th attackers, that included people in prison, people convicted of crimes, and those awaiting trial even.
President Trump also commuted the sentences of far-right extremist members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. Charges for the January 6th riots
included assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy.
CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson joins us now to discuss this. You know, you remind us that pardoning power is broad, it has few constraints on any
president. And while this was a campaign promise, Trump effectively nullified the work of the Justice Department, the courts, the juries that
looked at these cases, that looked at evidence, and then convicted these people, and then they had their sentences.
We're just getting news now from our Katelyn Polantz that a Pennsylvania mom who was convicted of breaking into the Capitol window with an ice axe
has just been released from a D.C. Jail. I mean, Joey, can you help explain all of this in terms of the sweeping power contained in these kinds of
executive orders?
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JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, Paula, that's the issue. And so, what we have to remember is the pardon power,
which really allows the president to excuse the crimes that people have really committed is so broad and ranging.
And we look there right, at the Trump pardons, the members of the far-right groups, you know, the Justice Department cases dismissed that were pending.
And that included, you know, criminal convictions. And so, when thinking about that, under the constitution, the president, it's his prerogative to
consider who he wants to be pardoned.
Now, they'll still have a criminal record. However, you know, there any type of disability that they would have in terms of the right to vote in
terms of possession of a firearm, et cetera, those are released. They're free to have those things, where if they were convicted and they -- which
they have been, but if they weren't pardoned, certainly they wouldn't exist.
And so, this is more of a political consideration. I think a lot of people have met major concerns about that. And I'll sum it up here, Paula, by
saying this, we have to remember however unfair people think certain prosecutions were, right, you should look at them on a case-by-case basis
as opposed to broad sweepingly just dismiss them all.
But remember that jurors, right? We have 12 jurors in the United States that consider cases unanimously, and those jurors vote to convict after
doing so. And so, based upon the president's prerogative that he has the constitutional right to do, he signs a paper, and guess what, you are
pardoned. And then, of course, he could commute sentences. What's the distinction?
The distinction is that a pardon, of course, is something that deals with simply excusing the crime. Although, you know, you -- certainly been
convicted of it. But again, removing disabilities and a commutation, for example, is just commuting the sentence, making the sentence less and
letting you out that way.
And so, there'll be political fodder. There'll be people who scream, but it wasn't a secret that he would do this. And so, therefore it was not at all
a surprise that he did.
NEWTON: And yet, the fact that so many Capitol police are even saying that people that committed violent crimes are actually being released is what's
at issue here. I mean, Donald Trump just spoke again saying that he thought some of the sentences were excessive, at least that's what he said in the
press conference.
But look at this, Joey, we're reading now, CNN is reporting that Lauren Boebert, who is a congresswoman who always denied that anything wrong
happened at the Capitol is now saying they will tour, they will give the J6 rioters a tour of the Capitol building. Just in some form to welcome them
back. I ask you in terms of what Americans voted for here, this is sweeping away the entire justice system in a way.
JACKSON: Yes. So, a couple of things. And I think that, you know, we know that President Trump is not someone who certainly respects institutions. He
certainly does things differently. He does things his way, but I think what we all have to understand is that prosecutors have a role to play, and that
role to play is to bring people to justice.
Now, you may not like the fact that a person has stood trial, you may not like the fact that they've been convicted, but a jury has spoken. And so, I
think the problem here is that it sends a real signal to those who are prosecuting, attempting to do justice, attempting to uphold the honor and
integrity of the process, that it just doesn't matter. Why? Because if someone disagrees with you politically, they can just wave a magic wand and
have it disappear.
The second issue, Paula, is it's revisionist history. We -- should we not believe our lying eyes. The fact of the matter is, is that, you know, call
it what you will, an insurrection, call it violence, call it destruction, call it whatever, but they didn't look, right, those people who are at
January 6th, like they were having a peaceful protest. They looked like they were really trespassing, committing crimes, where people who were
dying, law enforcement, injured, death, et cetera. And so, it's very problematic.
And so, on balance, you have to look at our institutions, and this way of looking at it in terms of just letting it go away, I think a lot of people
have issues with just because you believe as the president is --
NEWTON: Joey, I only got 30 seconds left, but I do also have to mention what President Biden did on the way out, right, the pardon power, what he
used as well. How much of a precedent does that send? Because that is a Democratic president outgoing, a Republican president incoming?
JACKSON: Yes, that's also terrible. I mean, look, the fact of the matter is that it's -- you know, we should be talking about issues of the Justice
Department being about justice, not an outgoing president fearing retribution, fearing that an incoming president is going to weaponize the
system to go into prosecute people you don't like.
It's not a system to prosecute people you don't like who have disagreements with you. It's a system designed to bring justice. And so, I think what
Biden did is equally sweeping. He even pardoned people who were not even being investigated for crimes, but who Trump promised that he would
investigate. And so, it's the weaponization of a system of justice.
[18:25:00]
And as a practitioner who does these trials, it's troubling, it's disheartening, it shouldn't happen, but such are the times in which we're
living in politically, it's really hard to get --
NEWTON: And we hear you on the message that it sends to prosecutors. Joey Jackson, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Straight ahead for us, the Southern United States hit by a rare winter wallop. The latest on what is being called a once in a generation weather
event.
Plus, a meme-roble few days for the meme coin industry. Both Donald and Melania Trump are getting in on the action. Some crypto boosters are
raising concerns. We'll discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: And welcome back. Donald Trump's first full day back at the White House was a profitable one for U.S. investors. Stocks kicking off the
holidays short and weak with solid gains. Investors relieved that President Trump has, for now, I should say for now, held off from new tariffs on
China.
Now, stocks in the news include Netflix, its shares soaring 14 percent in afterhours trading after posting strong earnings and revenue and a record
jump in new subscribers. Now, the streaming giant now has more than 300 million subscribers worldwide, and it plans to, this is the bad news, raise
prices in the U.S. and Canada.
Now, Oracle shares rallied 7 percent on word that it will partner with OpenAI and SoftBank on a new $500 billion artificial intelligence project.
Also, in Washington on Tuesday, President Donald Trump's Securities and Exchange Commission announced the establishment of a cryptocurrency focused
task force. The goal is to create regulatory rules of the road for Bitcoin and other crypto assets. It could also lead to fewer crypto regulations.
All this after a whirlwind few days for the Trump family in the crypto space.
Now, on Friday, then-President-Elect Trump launched a meme coin commemorating his inauguration, the first cryptocurrency he's endorsed. The
coin's value soared in its first few hours of trading, but lost a lot of its value on Sunday when his wife, Melania, got in on the act and launched
a meme coin of her own.
Sara Fischer is a CNN media analyst and media correspondent for Axios, and she is at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Thanks so much for joining us,
Sara. We will get to that crypto space in a moment.
[18:30:00]
I do want to talk to you, though, about A.I. And look, we have seen announcements from a Trump presidency before, and they don't lead to
fruition, they do not create jobs. Do you think this kind of an A.I. announcement this time is different?
SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST AND MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, AXIOS: I do because you have very big names who are coming out and backing it very
publicly. These are people who sit on top of very large budgets. So, talk about Larry Ellison of Oracle, Sam Altman of OpenAI. They have meaningful
capital to deploy to this.
They also have incentive. Anyone that's working on A.I. right now cannot do it without the critical infrastructure of data servers. That is something
that We cannot even begin to compete with China unless we build out that infrastructure, and it's not really something that one company can do
alone.
So, I actually think that this initiative is going to work. I think it will create jobs. The question becomes, how do you take certain players in the
private sector who are going to champion it and ensure that it gets rolled out equitably all of this infrastructure across the entire industry? That's
the thing I'm going to be looking to understand.
NEWTON: It is certainly an intriguing partnership. And then, we have the crypto space. I mean, I could not believe the astronomical amount of money
being thrown around here. Where is it all going to lead, Sara?
FISCHER: Well, I think a lot of people in the crypto space have been caught off guard by this, especially because President Trump launched it
sort of surprisingly just days before he became president at a big crypto ball in Washington, D.C.
I was talking to sources in the room who are big crypto executives, and they felt caught off guard because they were at a big party and they
couldn't even get in on the trade. But where is this all going? Probably the same place that all meme stocks go, which is in a very volatile place.
Yes, they will trade very high on the popularity and the zeitgeist before typically tending to crumble. And also, that's why a lot of people are
critical of this move. Donald Trump came in saying he was going to clean up the crypto industry, yet he launches a meme coin two days before taking
office. You're not exactly signaling that you want to do a slow and steady rollout of regulation and introduction of leadership around crypto with
that.
NEWTON: Yes. When you talk about conflicts of interest, which are obvious, having the president take the lead here is a bit circumspect. I am glad
that we have more time to talk to you about TikTok. The president, again, just moments ago saying that he believes it should be sold, half should go
to the United States and that he was open to Elon Musk possibly buying it.
I mean, look, I know you've been looking into this for weeks now. What's at stake here? And what do you think is lightly likely to happen?
FISCHER: So, China signaled the other day that it was actually open to letting companies decide whether or not they wanted to sell. That's a
massive reversal from the spring when it took a hard line saying that a Chinese tech firm couldn't sell. So, for the first time, I actually feel
more optimistic that a deal could get done.
Now, could it get done in that 75-day extension? I'm a little bit more skeptical of that for a few reasons. One, it's a ton of capital. I mean, we
don't quite know what this asset is valued at in part because it's hard to tell what is actually separated from China's infrastructure servers,
engineers, all that, but it's anywhere between $20 and $100 billion dollars.
You might think, oh, rich people could just come up with that money. It took Elon Musk quite a bit of time to figure out how he was going to fund a
$44 billion Twitter bid. And when it comes to this money, you can't just have a big tech company come in and pour a lot of cash because regulators
have been very skeptical of letting big tech invest in a lot of acquisitions, mergers, and even A.I. startups.
So, you're probably going to need individual wealthy investors to come together to foot the bill. Are there investors interested? Yes. Getting
them all on one bid unified under one person. The only person that's done it in the tech industry recently at that scale have been some of the big
A.I. leaders. I'm very curious to see how they could get this done.
But to give China a minority share, a Chinese company, and give a U.S. partner, you know, 51 percent share, that makes it even more complicated.
So, I just don't know how this gets over the finish line in such a short window.
NEWTON: And then, of course, the big question, are they going to turn over the algorithm, the secret sauce to that if this does come into it. Sara
Fischer, we got through a lot there. Thank you so much. And we'll check in with you later at Davos. Appreciate it.
And we will be right back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:35:00]
NEWTON: Snow is falling in parts of the U.S. that rarely get to experience a white winter. Along the Gulf Coast, if you can believe it, states from
Texas to Florida are setting record for snowfall. Look at that. That's Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The National Weather Service calls the sweeping system a once-in-a- generation winter storm. Despite travel delays and school closures, people are using the occasion for sledding and snowball flights. Everybody's
having fun there. And memorable pictures like this video from a snow covered Jackson Square in New Orleans. It's been snowing in Atlanta. That's
where Chad Myers joins us. I'm not sure if you guys are having fun in the snow or not. This is the second time in a matter of weeks, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. I mean, the last time we had three to five inches here, because it was a very heavy wet snow, this was more of a
light, just almost nonexistent moisture snowman. But when cars ran over it, it packed down to the ground and just became a black ice mess across parts
of Atlanta.
But yes, you talked about the snow that's coming down along the Gulf Coast, 10 inches, 12 inches of snow. Even New Orleans, one of our reporters, Elisa
Raffa, a meteorologist here, has relatives in New Orleans, and she just took a picture that was a nine-inch ruler in the snow all the way down. So,
yes, we have big numbers coming out here across the Gulf Coast. Some of the numbers have been record numbers for sure for the day. Once-in-a-
generation, maybe even once-in-a-lifetime event.
It's going to have snow from Texas along the coast across Florida and all the way up to Delaware, all on the beach. I don't mean inland, but there's
going to be snow on the beach, and there already is. Panama City all the way toward Destin, snow on the sand itself. And then, very big, significant
travel problems here. This is a major travel area here, I-95, I-10, they're both going to be in really, really bad shape. Even I-85 right now through
Alabama is at a standstill.
More snow all night, overnight, and then it finally moves away for tomorrow, but not before six to 10 inches of snow will be coming down in
places that wouldn't get six to 10 inches if you added up the last 20 years altogether. Paula.
NEWTON: You mentioned nine inches, I believe, in New Orleans. Let's have a look at a shot from New Orleans right now. You can hardly believe -- look
at this. I mean, you could tell me that's New York and I wouldn't know at this point in time. New Orleans, Louisiana, nine inches. Not maybe in that
location, but that is accumulation.
[18:40:00]
OK. Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: It's happening.
NEWTON: It is happening. We have the proof. Ted Myers for us. Thanks so much. Coming up, President Trump is threatening to take back the Panama
Canal. He claims it's being operated by China. We'll talk to one expert who says the U.S. has reasons to be concerned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: And welcome back. Perhaps one of the most shocking statements in President Trump's inaugural address on Monday was about the Panama Canal,
saying the U.S. will, quote, "take it back" from Panama. And so far, he has not ruled out military action.
Now, the Canal is a crucial part of Panama's economy, making nearly $5 billion in profits last year alone. That's generating more than 20 percent
of the nation's annual income.
One of President Trump's main issues is Chinese involvement in that canal. So, joining me now on this is Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese politics at
the Asia Society Policy Institute Center for China Analysis. And I thank you for joining us.
Now, you point out China does not own the Panama Canal. Panama owns the Panama Canal. Panama does not charge U.S. ships more than other ships.
Panama is a U.S. ally, and yet, you do highlight the fact that China's involvement in the infrastructure there in the Canal could be of concern to
the U.S. Why?
NEIL THOMAS, CHINESE POLITICS FELLOW, ASIA SOCIETY POLICY INSTITUTE: That's right. And thanks for having me on. So, China does not own the
Panama Canal, but Hong Kong companies, Hong Kong being a territory of the People's Republic of China, do own the port terminals on both the Pacific
and Atlantic ends of the Panama Canal. And there is a possibility that in, you know, a time of conflict, the Chinese government could order those port
terminals to be weaponize or be shut down and cut off shipping or it could direct these companies to engage in surveillance or other intelligence
gathering.
These aren't necessarily live things that are happening. There's no evidence as far as I'm concerned that I'm aware that that's happening, but
it is a possibility.
NEWTON: And so, while the risk might be remote but credible, what can the U.S. do to better safeguard what's going on there? I mean, they knew this
was happening in the last few decades in Panama. They knew who was controlling those sites, whether it was Hong Kong companies or Chinese
companies.
[18:45:00]
THOMAS: Exactly. And the potential threats are also, you know, potentially quite remote as well. The intelligence you could gather probably isn't much
better than you could get from commercial data providers or from satellite imagery that the Chinese government could procure, and the threat of a war,
if that happened the American military is a lot more powerful in Latin America than the Chinese military.
So, if they did try anything, it'd be quite easy, and it would be legal under the terms of the Panama Treaty for the U.S. to intervene and to
restore the normal operation of the Canal. So, the threat that potentially does exist is actually quite a small one. And really, the more productive
thing that the United States could be doing would be to, you know, put some rubber to the road and actually compete with China.
So, put in more investment into Panama, invest in more diplomacy with Panamanian authorities. And really show that the United States is there for
Panama in a way that there's an alternative to China.
NEWTON: You know, in terms of national security, and we've heard a lot from President Trump about this in the campaign and now even in office in
the last few hours, he sees this as a national security issue. Given the fact that he may not want to negotiate, is there anything else that he
could do in any way, shape, or form in the region to put more pressure on Panama?
THOMAS: Well, the United States is Panama's top trading and investment partner, even though China has been increasing its presence there in recent
years. So, if Trump wanted to play hardball with Panama, he could put tariffs and other kind of economic controls on Panama and make life
difficult for them economically, that would potentially help in the short- term with getting Panama to reduce shipping fees for U.S. passage through the Canal, that would be a win.
But in the longer-term, that could really be counterproductive because those hardball tactics would, you know, lead Panama and potentially other
countries in the region to view the United States as more transactional, more cynical, and actually that would make China potentially more
attractive as an economic partner in the longer-term.
NEWTON: Yes, it will be interesting just to see how this unfolds in the coming weeks. Thanks so much. Neil Thomas for us. Appreciate it.
THOMAS: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now, coming up after a break, you've heard this before, right, drill, baby, drill, was President Trump's energy battle cry at his
inauguration. And before that, we'll hear from one startup doing that in the Arctic. They say they're doing it to protect our climate. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: President Trump's decision to take the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement has been met with both disappointment and concern
from the European Union.
[18:50:00]
The E.U.'s climate commissioner described it as truly unfortunate. Instead, President Trump is relying more on fossil fuels to pump and export oil in
order to beat inflation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices. And that is why today I will also declare a
national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: So, as the president replaces green initiatives with more drilling in the Arctic, they're drilling to protect sea ice from the effects of
climate change. U.K.-based Real Ice plans to use automated underwater vehicles powered by green hydrogen. They use small pumps to bring water
from below the ice to the top, creating a lake that then freezes, thickening the ice sheet.
Now, another benefit is that the white surface would bounce UV rays back into space, if you can believe it, helping cool -- helping to keep the
Arctic cool. Now, the project is, of course, just in the early testing phases right now.
Andrea Ceccolini is a co-CEO of Real Ice, and he joins me now from the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, and I know that is a privilege to be
up there. We're glad to see you there. I want to ask you your reaction to President Trump and everything he is saying and the effect it will have to
actually pull a country like the United States out of the Paris Agreement.
ANDREA CECCOLINI, CO-CEO, REAL ICE: Right. It was a -- but still unfortunate, obviously still disappointing that something like these
happens from the United States. There's no doubt that it will slow down the fight to climate change. But I'm still optimistic. I hope big parts of our
society, including parts of the American society, we react and we'll continue to with this fight. So, I want to be optimistic.
NEWTON: And in terms of the optimism here, can you explain the technology that you're using and crucially how it can be scaled up, right? Because
that's the issue, it needs to be scaled up.
CECCOLINI: Sure. So, first of all, we use very simple electric pumps. We pump water from under the ice to the top of the ice to create an extra
layer of thickness, hoping that these will help the ice survive the following summer and continue to reflect the solar radiation back to space,
which is what the Arctic has been doing for millions of years, keeping the planet cooler. So, this is what we are trying to do.
So, the base technology is very simple. It's electric pumps. The problem is scaling it in such a harsh environment. What we are doing, we are designing
underwater drones that will carry these pumps and will move autonomously, intelligently where it's needed, make a hole in the ice.
So, we drill the ice, we pump water. And covering, you know, as much as possible in terms of area to freeze and to preserve and restore the Arctic
Sea ice, which is so important for the planet.
NEWTON: It is truly important. And how soon do you think you'd be able to know whether this is working properly and if it can be made to scale?
CECCOLINI: So, we have a plan over the next two to three years. This is still a research project. So, we are working at research scale, something
like, you know, half a square mile this winter. We are hoping that over the next two to three years, we'll demonstrate that the method works and it
doesn't have important side effects.
In parallel, we are building the underwater drone technology and we'll take it to a place where, if the method works, we'll be ready to produce it at
scale. We will propose a design that can be scaled. It's very simple. I mean, it's got the complexity, if you want, of an e-bike. You know, a small
electric engine for a drone, a battery and it carries an electric pump.
So, we want to keep it very simple, existing technology. We don't need to invent anything. We just need to make sure the methodology works and we are
willing to invest in this important challenge, saving the Arctic Sea ice.
NEWTON: It is an important task. I know that they have seen the effects of certainly climate change where you are right now at that research station,
and I'm sure innovation will have to play a part in order to preserve that Arctic ice. Andrea Ceccolini, thank you so much. Again, CEO of Real Ice
joining us from that Canadian research station. Thanks so much.
CECCOLINI: Thanks for having me. Thank you, Paula.
NEWTON: And finally, for us here on "First Move," Japanese baseball legend Ichiro Suzuki becoming the first Asian player in Major League Baseball's
Hall of Fame. He joined the Seattle Mariners in 2001, winning American League Rookie of the Year and MVP in that same season. He's also a 10-time
All-Star and 10 time Gold and Glove winner. And congratulations to him.
[18:55:00]
That does it for our show. I want to thank you for joining us here on "First Move." Appreciate it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END