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Isa Soares Tonight

Trump Administration Holds First White House Briefing; Palestinian Ambassador To The U.N. Slams Israel For Banning UNRWA; Trump's Robust Pressure On Europe To Increase Defense Spending Gets A Surprising Response; Israel's Upcoming Ban On UNRWA; Netanyahu Invited At White House; Palestinians Returning To Northern Gaza; Palestinian U.N. Amb. Condemns Israel's Move To Ban UNRWA; Rebels Advance In D.R. Congo. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired January 28, 2025 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[14:00:00]

ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, the White House faces the press. We'll

bring you the latest on the new Trump administration's first briefing, just finished in the last few minutes. Then the Palestinian ambassador to the

U.N. slams Israel's decision to ban UNRWA, and warns that destroying and impoverishing Palestinian communities will never lead to peace.

Ahead, I'll speak to Riyad Mansour following his powerful words at the Security Council. Plus, President Donald Trump's robust pressure on Europe

gets a surprising response. I'll speak to Estonia's Foreign Minister about the new era of U.S.-EU relations. But first, tonight, the Trump

administration is defending the decision to put a freeze on trillions of dollars in federal funding, a move that Democrats as well as watchdog

groups say could have devastating consequences in the U.S. as well as right around the globe.

The White House says it will temporarily hit pause on virtually all foreign aid, and experts warn it could have also disastrous real world impact, of

course, on things like food assistance and disaster aid. U.S. officials have given agency ten days to answer questions about the federal programs

including whether they receive funding related to undocumented immigrants, climate policy, diversity programs or abortion.

In the last hour, the White House in the last few minutes, in fact, was asked to clarify the scope of the funding paused. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs from the Trump administration.

Individual assistance that includes -- I'm not naming everything that's included, but just to give you a few examples, Social Security benefits,

Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, the impact of the decision is already being felt well beyond U.S. borders. Clinics in Uganda are scrambling to find new sources for

vital HIV drugs, and mobile health units may not be able to treat civilians injured near the frontlines in Ukraine. Democrats like Senate Minority

leader Chuck Schumer are slamming the move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Last night, President Trump plunged the country into chaos. Without a shred of warning, funds for things like disaster

assistance, local law enforcement, rural hospitals, aid to the elderly, food for people in need, all are on the chopping block in this new

administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: So, plenty for us to discuss with CNN Politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson who joins us now. Stephen, let's start with this first

official press briefing that finished in the last what? Five minutes or so. What stood out to you first of all?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, it's been a while since White House press briefings actually conveyed much useful

information. It looks like the trend might continue in this administration. This was very much a show in many ways -- I think the new Press Secretary

Karoline Leavitt was performing as much for the President as trying to, you know, impart some useful information to the press who are basically used as

a foil as they are in much of Trump's world.

So, you know, it was a bit of a circus. You did see some new reporters called upon, mostly those sympathetic with Trump, who made rather

propagandistic points. So, I think it's a real symptom of how the new administration sees the press. So, these things are going to be combative.

And I think the administration sees a political gain in that.

[14:05:00]

SOARES: And we'll talk about the press in just a moment and how that -- how that has changed from what we heard from the Press Secretary at the

beginning. But you said there was a show, a bit of a circus, and many of us as our viewers in the United States, no doubt, looking for clarity

regarding this freeze or what she called a pause on federal grants and loans, and of course, which is set to begin in what? Three hours or so from

now?

We're talking here of hundreds of billions of dollars, right? Stephen, in grants to state and local governments, education, transportation, I mean,

loans to small businesses as well as disaster relief aid as we said. Did we get any clarity on that front?

COLLINSON: Not really. Apart from the big programs like Social Security, which is retirement payments, Medicare, which is health care for the

elderly. There are a lot of programs that people really rely on that she didn't mention and didn't seem to be able to provide much clarity on.

Medicaid, for example, that's a state program that helps poor -- poorer people who don't have health insurance. So, this is really rippling across

the country. People -- I've heard people who are worried about whether they're going to get their student loan payments paid, for example, as a

new semester starts in American universities.

There are things like meals on wheels, which help, you know, disadvantaged people actually get food. So, this is causing confusion. I think, however,

the Trump administration believes that it's making another political point, which it believes will be popular, that it's taking control of taxpayer

money, trying to ensure it's not wasted.

And what they're trying to do is unravel spending that was passed by the previous Biden administration with the help of a Democratic Senate. That's

what's really happening here. Whether they can pull that off without causing utter chaos in the country, I guess it depends how long this pause

is going to last.

But in the course of making a bigger political point, there's always the possibility that President Trump could be seeing -- sowing the seeds for

his own demise politically in some of these things.

SOARES: Stephen, appreciate you taking us through some of the -- some of what we heard today, even though it lacked clarity throughout. Thanks very

much, Stephen, appreciate it. Well, glad to have with us Larry Sabato to go through what he took away from it, of course, and the political

implications of this.

The director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and the lead author of "A Return to Normalcy: The 2020 Election That Almost Broke

America". And Larry, I'm not sure about you, but I got a sense of deja vu at this press conference. I don't know if you heard Stephen, they're

talking about this being a show, a bit of a circus. What did you take away from this first official White House press conference for this

administration?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: I agree 100 percent with what Stephen just said. This was a show. It was designed

to instill fear and to spread propaganda. This was not an informative session, and I'll grant you, Democratic administrations have done the same.

But what Democratic administrations haven't done is to stuff the press room with minor news organizations that are very pro, in this case, pro-Trump.

And were sure not only to praise the Press Secretary, but Trump himself. So, you have to take a lot of what she said with a grain of salt. Frankly,

I think she's proven why these press sessions should no longer be covered live.

They need to be taken in context. They need to be filmed. But then the portion that the public sees should be the newsy sections and with some

commentary attached. So, I was -- I was stunned really at some of the things she said, just to focus on the most important one that Stephen

stressed.

We have an absolute panic right now going on in the United States because of this announced freeze in federal funding. The only two programs she

absolutely ruled out from cutting, she had to rule out Social Security and Medicare, because I think a lot of people would have gone out to the

streets and started protesting otherwise.

But there is -- I'm at a public university. There isn't a department or a school here that doesn't receive loads of federal funding. That's true

across the board. Now, I think they're just trying to instill fear. That's really what this is all about. They're trying to make people as nervous as

possible, maybe to be grateful when they find out that the funding that is guaranteed by the Congress isn't being provided -- will, in fact, be

provided.

SOARES: And on that freeze or on the pause of federal funding, she was asked by one of the journalists what the goal actually was by this

administration. What did you make of her answer? What is the goal behind this?

[14:10:00]

SABATO: Well, I think I suggested it. It's not really to save money. It is to make sure that everybody knows there's a new sheriff in town, and his

rules are not the same as the last sheriff, and that he is going to be in charge. He is, as he said it, a dictator for a day except they've stopped

the hands of the clock of -- you know, the day is turning into weeks and probably months.

He probably is violating the constitution by the way and not spending money that has already been --

SOARES: Yes --

SABATO: Appropriated by Congress. We've been through this before with Nixon in the 1970s, and of course, most of the reporters there are very young, I

doubt they remember it.

SOARES: Let's talk then about what can be done, because we have heard from Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, who says Trump must rescind the order

suspending government funding and Congress must act, he says, if he refuses. Have a listen to what he said.

We don't have it. But we've also heard, I can tell you this from Senator Durbin, who posted on X -- in fact, while this press conference was

happening, he said "House Republicans are hobnobbing at Trump's golf resort in Miami while the President plans to shut down research funding on

childhood cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes and so much more at 5:00 p.m.

Members should immediately return to D.C. to work with Democrats to undo this threat created by Trump." So, question is, I mean, what can be done?

Does Trump even have the authority to go with this pause, this -- given that it has already been approved? How do you see this playing out here

politically?

SABATO: There's zero chance that Congress will do anything, because of course, the Republicans are in control in the Senate and the House. It's

just not going to happen. So, you have to go through the courts, which is what happened under Nixon. And it was the Supreme Court that ruled his

impoundment of appropriated funds unconstitutional.

The difficulty now, of course, is, this is a Trump Supreme Court. Six of the nine justices are solidly conservative Republican. But I don't think

that even those Republicans, at least, some of them, will go along with what Trump has done because it is radical, and it, in essence eliminates

the other two co-equal branches of government. We are not a unitary system under an autocrat that does not exist no matter how much Trump hopes that

it does.

SOARES: Larry Sabato, really appreciate you being with us for this first press conference. I think it will be the first of many that you and I will

speak. Thanks, Larry --

SABATO: Yes --

SOARES: Good to see you, appreciate it --

SABATO: Thanks so much, appreciate it.

SOARES: Now, President Trump may be facing resistance around the world, but Google is complying with one of his controversial executive actions. The

company posted on X that Google maps will change the name to the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for users in the United States, and it will

list America's highest peak, Alaska's Denali as Mount McKinley.

The company defended its actions, saying it has a longstanding practice of listing names updated in official government sources. A Chinese company's

surprise success with artificial intelligence is putting global tech companies on notice. We brought you that story here yesterday. You saw what

stock market -- how stock markets reacted yesterday.

One of the biggest impacts is on video, which is one of the main suppliers of AI hardware and software. You're looking at the Dow Jones, it's doing

fairly better than it did yesterday at this time. We saw it was red right across the board, particularly on the Nasdaq. The stock, Nvidia stock

plunged on Monday when the Chinese startup DeepSeek announced its own advances in artificial intelligence.

Last week, DeepSeek unveiled its r1 model, which it says can nearly match the capabilities of American rivals such as Google's Gemini or OpenAI's

ChatGPT. And this new competition came as a surprise, well, to many U.S. tech companies. President Donald Trump says the news should be a warning to

Silicon Valley tech companies to be more aggressive.

Our Anna Stewart joins me now. So, Anna, I mean, we saw the reaction yesterday, right?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Yes, it was a bloodbath.

SOARES: It was pretty much a bloodbath. But what has been the reaction? What is the lesson -- you heard from President Trump? How are American

companies taking this?

STEWART: It's been interesting. Yesterday, we saw a trillion dollars wiped off the market caps of some of the biggest tech firms. Nvidia, I think lost

over half a --

SOARES: Yes --

STEWART: Billion dollars, extraordinary. We've seen a little bit of a comeback today, Nvidia shares are currently up around 6.6 percent, U.S.

markets are in the green, they haven't made up for those losses yet. And the reaction from U.S. tech firms like OpenAI have been really interesting.

Sam Altman, for example, actually says he welcomes the competition.

You know, this will only make the field more competitive, it'll give it scale, more reasoning models launching, and it was a similar story from

Nvidia who essentially said they applaud the innovations of DeepSeek. And of course, the world is essentially going to be needing more chips.

SOARES: There has been some doubt, I think it's fair to say over DeepSeek's kind of claims of what it can do of success, and whether it can be

believed.

[14:15:00]

What are you hearing from your -- from your contacts? When you speak to analysts, when you tell them how do they manage to do this with minimal

amount of money where others are spending billions? What kind of answer do you get?

STEWART: OK, so if we just do a side-by-side comparison --

SOARES: Yes --

STEWART: Of say, GPT4, which is by OpenAI which costs around $100 million to develop, and this DeepSeek model, which cost, I think $5.6 million to

develop, according to both of those companies. What does that price include? Does it include the training of the models? The infrastructure?

Does it include the salaries of all the engineers?

Who knows? We're not entirely sure. And there are, of course, a lot of analysts who are a little bit skeptical, for instance, on something like

what semiconductors were used. Now, clearly, there is a big curve from the U.S. on what chips can be exported to China, particularly with Nvidia

chips.

According to DeepSeek, they only needed 2,000 Nvidia chips, which they had before the curbs took place, which weren't very high tech. GPT4 had 25,000

much more sort of high-end Nvidia chips with their model. So, you start to question, is this even possible? And honestly, at this stage, people don't

really know.

DeepSeek does open-source all of its code so people can see how it sort of developed. But in terms of what it took to get it there, it's a little bit

unclear at the moment.

SOARES: And will -- hopefully, we'll get answers to that. But at least the stock markets are starting to stabilize. What was Nvidia doing like today

stock-wise?

STEWART: Today, Nvidia is up 6.6 percent. But let's not forget it fell 17 percent --

SOARES: I was going to say -- yesterday, it was down roughly at this time - - I think it was almost 17 percent, 16.8, 16.9. So, yes, a huge loss, I've had a lot to make up for, Anna, appreciate it, thank you very much. Still

to come tonight, a rare look at the near-suicidal tactics being used by North Korean troops fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine.

Our report from the battlefield, that is just a moment. And then later, U.S. President Donald Trump doubles down on his suggestion to clean out

Gaza. What he's saying now about relocating Palestinians to two Arab countries. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: As U.S. President Trump shakes things up in America, across the pond, leaders in Europe are closely watching his agenda for NATO. Before

taking office, President Trump claimed the majority of NATO members, quote, "weren't paying their bills." He has since called on members to up their

defense spending from 2 percent of their GDP to 5 percent.

[14:20:00]

Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna joined me yesterday from the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. I started by asking him about the NATO

spending pledge. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGUS TSAHKNA, FOREIGN MINISTER, ESTONIA: Estonia is now discussing as well to increase the defense spending up to 5 percent within the next

years. And this year, we are going to have a 3.6 percent to 7 percent, but also we have this special program for fulfilling the Vilnius NATO Summit

regional defense plans capabilities on top of everything, what we have already planned.

So, I think that we are going to do 5 percent anyways. And it is not only because of President Trump entered the White House. Actually, this cap is

approximately like 4 percent to 5 percent we need to reach to fulfill already the NATO decisions, what we made about our regional security and

defense plans. So -- but yes, I'm welcoming actually President Trump's pretty robust pressure to Europe to pay more for our own defense.

SOARES: Let's turn then Foreign Minister to the war in Ukraine. President Putin has called the -- you know, said that the, quote, "the crisis in

Ukraine might have been prevented if Donald Trump had been President", had been in power at the time. Saying he is ready to talk with him about the

conflict. Just explain to us what leverage you think that President Trump has right now that he can apply to on President Putin that can bring him to

the negotiating table.

TSAHKNA: I think that President Trump understands definitely that this kind of negotiations or the meetings can happen only when he will have a

stronger position than Putin. And we have heard already as well the different announcements and tweets from President Trump as well, and then,

you know, he has been very straightforward about pushing Putin to weaker position, announcing as well to lowering the oil price which actually

hitting most the Russian war machine economically.

So, I am pretty optimistic about the start and starting position. But let's see. But it is obvious that there cannot be any peace negotiations about

Ukraine without Ukraine, and also without the strong and, you know, from the strength position. So, it is obvious that Europe must do more as well.

And that's why I asked as well the European Union Foreign Council today that all allies should support this year Ukraine more militarily than we

did last year, and also we could reconsider our long-term agreements from these allies who have made them for the next years to bring these

investments from the next year's earlier for this year.

So, we have this capabilities to support Ukraine, to reach on a stronger position and also as I see that President Trump has the same understanding

of starting negotiations or any meetings with President Putin.

SOARES: Whether it's oil, you know, asking on OPEC to lower oil prices or just the threat of sanctions on Russia. I mean, is that enough you think of

a motivation when you know -- as you well know, Russia is already heavily- sanctioned, sir.

TSAHKNA: Yes, Russia is sanctioned, but be honest still, Russian economy is enjoying the pretty high oil prices in the world market there. We have an

opportunity to lower the price, and if we do it like at $10 per barrel, it means more than 13 billion euros per year, less income to Russian war

machine.

So, there is a gap we can -- we can actually, you know, still use. But of course, it cannot be the only thing. We need to support Ukraine on military

level, and also I was -- a week ago in Ukraine, and I was speaking with the Foreign Minister and Minister of Defense and many others -- actually,

Ukraine has a solid plan if we just support them as well with the investments to their own defense industry, because they have increased

tremendously their own capabilities for the -- for the future as well.

Not just the deeper -- you know, needed our support. So, there is a plan we can support. And I think that Ukraine will reach on the new level. So, I

want it to be concrete as well about this narrative I don't like at all that Ukraine is losing. Actually, Ukraine is not losing. Instead of six

days of the special operation, Ukraine is fighting already close to three years and Russia has not -- have any strategic breakthrough.

[14:25:00]

Not in Kursk, not as well on the territories and Black Sea is free and the meaning of trade. So, we just need to believe in Ukrainians right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Estonian Foreign Minister speaking to me yesterday. Well, CNN has gained rare insight into the world of North Korean troops who are fighting

for Russia in its war against Ukraine. Kyiv's special forces say some soldiers will fight to the death rather than surrender. Nick Paton Walsh

has the story, and want to warn you, the following images may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): These are the first images on the ground of a capture of North Korean troops by

Ukraine. The soldier is injured, can hardly walk, but they spirit him away.

(EXPLOSION)

WALSH: Russian shelling intensifies to prevent capture. A wild prize pulled through their wires here from brutal fighting in Russia's Kursk region

against a radicalized near-suicidal enemy, but one who'd never seen drones in war before.

(EXPLOSION)

WALSH: The special operations forces who fought them told us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: There's unique challenge here, Ukraine wants to take captives, but the North Koreans seem to prefer to die, they shoot one here in caution. In

the distressing images that follow, they pulled one injured Korean's leg, then realize he has a grenade, he detonates under his chin. His last words

were to scream North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's name, South Korean officials say.

(on camera): It's nothing, I mean, five maybe.

(voice-over): We meet the Ukrainians who show us the faked Russian military papers he was carrying, suggesting he was from Russia's far east and his

military radio codes. Another paper, handwritten pledges of brainwashed courage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH (on camera): These notes from a soldier killed, really a snapshot of mindset inside the hermit kingdom. Declarations of loyalty, even tactics on

how to fight Ukrainian drones, and also the suggestion that their presence here is about helping North Korea prepare for war. It's a remarkable

insight, but also a reminder of how this biggest land war in Europe since the '40s is becoming more global.

(voice-over): But also a glimpse of the fear they live under, how they inform on each other. Notes from an officer writing a critique of his

fellow soldiers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: Ukrainians filmed themselves taking DNA samples from the dead, which they say proved these were Korean. Ukraine says up to a third of the 12,000

here are already dead or injured, and more are coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: Amir(ph) shows us the newish AK 12 rifle and backpack Russia gave the North Koreans. They are over-laden with ammo, he says, but sometimes no

body armor or warm clothes and minimal water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: This thermal drone video shows that speed of attack below seven Ukrainians in a trench facing 130 North Koreans above who race at them and

then try to flank them. Many died here, but they seemed to be learning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: Ready to die, everybody checked for grenades, but not ready for this modern warfare. On a training mission, many won't survive for a future war,

not even glimpsed yet. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Sumy, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: An important piece there from our Nick Paton Walsh and team in Ukraine. And still ahead, a bittersweet homecoming for hundreds of

thousands of Palestinians returning to northern Gaza. They survived the war, but life as they knew it will never be the same.

And then the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. slams Israel's move to ban UNRWA, an agency that provides lifesaving services to Palestinian refugees.

We'll speak with Riyad Mansour after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:34:02]

SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. U.S. President Donald Trump is doubling down on a suggestion that critics say amounts to a call for ethnic

cleansing. Last night, he elaborated on his proposal to just clean out Gaza and send Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan. Mr. Trump says Gaza has been

hell for so many years, his words, and Palestinians may be a lot more comfortable, also his words, in a safer area. He says he spoke with Egypt's

president about the plan, but Egypt denies a call took place.

Many Palestinians in Gaza, meanwhile, say they would prefer to live in rubble than leave their homeland. Officials say more than 300,000 people

have now returned to the north as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues to hold.

Meantime, the office of Israel's prime minister has just announced that Donald Trump has invited Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the White House next

week. Our Jeremy Diamond filed this report just before the news broke.

[14:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, discussions are underway for Prime Minister Netanyahu to travel to Washington and meet with

President Trump. We're told that the -- this meeting could happen as early as next week, but it's certainly expected in the coming weeks.

If so, Netanyahu would be the first foreign leader to travel to the White House to meet with President Trump since his inauguration. And that, of

course, speaks to the importance of that relationship for both men really. This potential meeting would come at a critical time, not only as the

ceasefire in Gaza has now taken hold, as Israel and Hamas prepare to negotiate the next phases of the ceasefire and questions abound about

whether or not the ceasefire will be extended beyond the six weeks, and whether all of the remaining hostages being held in Gaza can ultimately be

released.

The Israeli prime minister also has strategic foreign policy goals that he would like to achieve. There are discussions of course in Israel about

whether Israel would carry out strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities. We know the Israeli prime minister obviously wants the U.S. president's

support for that, and President Trump has been eyeing this broader regional cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu is also at a pretty precarious political moment as well, as his right-wing coalition expressed opposition to this ceasefire agreement that

we are now in. A meeting with Trump could help him shore up some of the support that he has been losing from the right-wing of Israeli politics.

Now, beyond that, we know that the Israeli government has now learned from Hamas that eight of the 33 hostages set to be released during this first

phase of the agreement are indeed dead. Israel has not confirmed exactly which of those hostages are among the eight, but obviously, has transmitted

to some of the families that they have serious concerns about the fate of their loved ones.

We are expecting three hostages to be released this coming Thursday, including one of the last female civilian hostages being held in Gaza,

Arbel Yehud. And the last female Israeli soldier, Agam Berger, both set to be released alongside a third hostage on Thursday, and three more hostages

set to be released on Saturday.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. says Israel has destroyed everything in Gaza, except the sacred bond between the people and

their land. Riyad Mansour spoke at the Security Council today as it discussed the situation in Gaza and Israel's move to ban the U.N. agency

that provides lifesaving services to Palestinian refugees. That ban is set to take effect on Thursday, just two days from now.

Mansour talked about the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now returning to Northern Gaza, saying their roots, the land run too deep for

Israel to destroy. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIYAD MANSOUR, PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Their homes have been destroyed. Their neighborhoods have been obliterated. Their schools and

hospitals have been bombed. They know that all the requirements of life have been deliberately targeted. And yet, still, they went back. That image

tells you all you need to know about the Palestinian people. This is who we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Ambassador Mansour joins me now live from the United Nations. Ambassador, welcome to the show. Thank you very much for taking the time to

speak to us. Let me start really with those words that we just heard from you, those images that we have been seeing out of Gaza, incredibly moving

bittersweet, people leaving -- tens of thousands of Palestinians returning to their homes for the first time in months.

We've seen the hugging, we've seen the embrace with so many friends and families meeting, but so many returning to utter devastation, Ambassador.

And all this, at the same time, we're hearing President Trump now doubling down, second day now, on his proposal, his words, to clean out Gaza. Just

your reaction to those words from the president of the United States.

MANSOUR: Well, first of all, thank you very much for having me. I think the hundreds of thousands who have walked back from the southern part of Gaza

to the northern part of Gaza is a testimony to what the answer of the Palestinian people is. The official answer was declared by the office of

President Mahmoud Abbas and also all the Arab countries, including the government of Egypt and Jordan, that we will not participate in anything

that would uproot the Palestinians from their beloved part of the State of Palestine, in this case is the Gaza Strip.

[14:40:00]

And I believe that those who are interested in the welfare of the Palestinian people is to make the ceasefire hold, to continue with

humanitarian assistance at scale to all people in the Gaza Strip, to stop the aggression against our people in the northern part of the West Bank and

also in East Jerusalem. And to not participate in the crime against humanity for force -- for displacing people from the areas where they used

to live.

Our people want to go back, even to a destroyed spot, in order to rebuild their lives, to rebuild the Gaza Strip, and to look forward to peace.

Peace, which guarantee for the Palestinian people the implementation of their inalienable rights, including their right to self-determination, to

statehood, and the right of the refugees to return.

This way, we will open door for peace and stop these cycles of war and viciousness and killing and hatred. We need to see two states living side

by side, next to each other so that we can open a new chapter in the relationship between the two states and the two people and build on it.

SOARES: Let me get your take in terms of what we are hearing from this new administration. As our Jeremy Diamond just reporting there from Israel,

Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to visit President Trump. And President Trump's designated ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, he has

said -- and him and his nominee for the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., have variously said that there is no such thing, Ambassador, as a Palestinian,

and that Israel has a biblical right to the West Bank. Just your reaction, Ambassador, to those claims and to those words.

MANSOUR: We have also a connection with this land that goes back to thousands of years. The remarkable position of the Palestinian people and

their leadership is saying that in that holy piece of land, we can live with two states.

One state has been in existence since 1948. The other one is in existence, but it's living under occupation. It is high time for this occupation

labeled by the International Court of Justice as being illegal and it should be terminated as quickly as possible. The General Assembly said it

should be terminated in one year.

Let us try peace through the fulfillment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, peace for the two states, peace for the two people. And

then, enter a different kind of relationship, not trying to negate the other side, not trying to demonize and label the Palestinian people with

all of the awful things being labeled with -- by the Israeli side. That is not conducive environment for peace. What is conducive environment for

peace is to look at the Palestinian people and their rights and try to fulfill them.

My understanding that President Trump was happily saying that during his first tenure, there were no wars and he wanted peace. Now, let's see what

is now needed is peace. He played a role, which we acknowledge in putting an end to this vicious, criminal, genocidal war against our people in the

Gaza Strip. Let him proceed with steps towards peace and peace requires the two-state solution and the two people and the two countries to live in

peace and harmony and to be accepted in the atmosphere of the Arab countries in the Middle East and beyond. Let us try that.

SOARES: But then going with peace, if that's what he's calling for, in your words, is peace, I mean, he is calling for proposal to clean out Gaza.

We've also heard him saying that removal of Palestinians may be temporary, he said, or long-term.

I mean, we know that Jordan is currently home to, what, more than 2 million -- 2.4 million Palestinian refugees. We know that the Jordanians, we know

that the Egyptians have both really turned against -- rejected a proposed, I should say. But what would you like to hear from other countries in the

region, the Emiratis, the Saudis on this when you hear this sort of language? Because they have been pretty silent so far.

[14:45:00]

MANSOUR: No, the Arab countries and the Muslim countries had during the course of the last year, two summits in Riyadh. In these two summits, they

unanimously adopted a platform composed of mainly -- composed of many ideas, but related to what we're talking about. They said a ceasefire to

stop the aggression against the people -- the Palestinian people in Gaza, to have humanitarian assistance to the level of the needs of the people in

the Gaza Strip. And thirdly, to oppose vehemently that the imposed transfer against the Palestinian people from the north to the south, and the

possibility of pushing them into Sinai.

So, that -- these are the positions of all of the Arab countries and all of the Islamic countries, the 57 of them. They adopted these positions in

summits. So, therefore, that is the official policy. Whether they issue some of them a statement related to this specific issue of trying to

displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in the direction of Egypt or Jordan. I know that these two countries made their positions. They rejected

this suggestion by President Trump.

But the official position of all of the Arab countries and all of the Muslim countries is in the same position as Egypt, Jordan, and the State of

Palestine.

SOARES: And I'm grateful for you for clarifying that, Ambassador. But now that I have you here, let me get really your reaction to this decision that

we've seen today, taken by Israel to bar UNRWA from operating in territories Israel occupies, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem. What

impact, Ambassador, will this have on aid distribution in Gaza?

MANSOUR: In fact, until this moment, more than 45 percent of the distribution of aid in the Gaza Strip is being done by UNRWA. It has the

capability, the capacity, the facilities, the personnel to be able to undertake this noble humanitarian mission.

The Israeli government, from a long time ago, it's not from the time of October 7, they are trying to destroy a key component of the rights of the

Palestinian people, which is the right of the refugees to return to their homes and to have compensation. So, trying to destroy UNRWA is an effort in

the direction of trying to destroy the refugee question.

As they failed in the past, I believe they will fail this time because there is almost global unity by the International Community, by many

friends of Israel in the -- in admissibility of doing away with UNRWA. And they see UNRWA to continue doing what they're doing. And UNRWA has its

mandate from the General Assembly.

And by the way, the first draft of the mandate of UNRWA was drafted by the United States of America in 1949, and the essence of that position has been

reiterated annually in resolutions in the General Assembly, almost receiving the voting of the entire membership of the United Nations.

So, UNRWA has a very massive support by everyone in the International Community, and Israel should not, and hopefully will not succeed in trying,

you know, to destroy UNRWA. UNRWA is extremely important until we accomplish the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, then the

General Assembly will decide what the mandate of this fabulous organization would be.

SOARES: Ambassador Mansour, thank you very much, sir, for taking the time to speak to us here. Thank you, sir.

MANSOUR: You're very welcome. Thank you.

SOARES: We're going to take a short break. We'll see you on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:00]

SOARES: A rebel alliance is claiming the capture of the biggest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eastern region. As gunfire rang out,

thousands of panicked civilians fled the area on Monday. This, as a coalition that includes M23 rebels, says it's seized Goma. Rwanda's accused

of backing these militia fighters, which it denies.

Far to the west, videos posted on social media and geolocated by CNN show protests and a fire outside the U.S. embassy in the Congolese capital of

Kinshasa. And this video shows protesters attacking and firebombing the French embassy. France says the protesters weren't able to enter the

perimeter. And we've just learned the U.S. embassy is telling its citizens to leave Kinshasa. We'll of course stay across developments on that story

for you.

Still to come tonight, if you fancy yourself to be an amateur chef or just a foodie, you'll want to hear the flavor of the year. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:55:00]

SOARES: Now, the winners of the Travel Photographer of the Year contest have been announced. And here's just a handful of the winners. Some truly

incredible work submitted from all four corners of the world. People of all ages vying for the top prizes, everything from urban spaces and festivals

to landscape as well as wildlife. But the winning shot goes to American- born Paige Mackay. This is just one of the pictures in her winning portfolio of a Kenyan girl in traditional dress.

And if you've got a sweet tooth but love anything hot, how about something swicy? Is that -- am I saying it right? That's how people are describing

the new flavor of the year. If you can't quite imagine what that tastes like, the top seller of seasonings McCormick says the Aji Amarillo. Is that

-- am I saying -- hits the nail on the head. It means yellow chili pepper in English. Imagine a fruity taste like mango or passion fruit, then

combine that with the heat of cayenne pepper.

McCormick says it can be used in all sorts of dishes, from charred vegetables to even adding an interesting twist to a cocktail. There you go.

New word, swicy. Is that in the dictionary? I shall look for it.

That does it for us for tonight. Thanks very much for your company. Do stay right here. Newsroom with Jim Sciutto is up next. I'll see you tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day. Bye-bye.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:00]

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