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One World with Zain Asher
Thousands More U.S. Troops Head To Southern Border; Border Czar: Deportation Raids Already Underway; White House Orders Federal DEI Employees To Be Placed On Leave; Israel's "Operation Iron Wall: Underway In West Bank; Trump Signs Executive Order To Pull U.S. Out Of The Agreement; Texas Town Fears Trump's Mass Deportation Threats; Royal Unexpectedly Settles With Murdoch Tabloids; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired January 22, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:39]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. You are watching ONE WORLD.
We are starting to see President Donald Trump's immigration policies go into effect. Officials tell CNN the U.S. military is sending thousands of
additional troops to the southern U.S. border. This comes just two days after President Trump ordered the military to step up its presence there.
About 2,200 active-duty forces are already at the border as part of Joint Task Force North. They're mostly performing support roles for Customs and
Border Patrol.
Officials say the new arrivals will be doing much of the same as they're not authorized to perform any sort of law enforcement role.
Let's bring in Natasha Bertrand, who's at the Pentagon for us. So, Natasha, what more do we know at this point?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Zain. So we know at this point that the U.S. military is ordering thousands of
additional active duty troops to the border to augment Customs and Border Patrol activities and mission operations down there.
But they're not going to be engaged in any kind of law enforcement role, because that is actually banned by a law, by a centuries old law called
Posse Comitatus, which prevents the U.S. military from being used domestically and for law enforcement purposes.
So they're primarily going to be, you know, doing things like data entry, transportation of migrants around different facilities, intelligence
support, as well as some additional support in air operations.
But they're not going to be engaging extensively in the day-to-day with migrants. But still, this is significant because it does make good on
President Trump's promise just earlier this week that he is going to augment the presence of the U.S. military at the border.
Now, as you said, there are roughly 2,200 active duty troops already at the border, and they are supported by Texas National Guard contingent there.
And so what this is going to do is essentially lay the groundwork, we're told, for an even bigger military footprint to be sent in the coming weeks
and months to the border.
This is not, you know, something that the president can -- just in terms of ordering them to engage in law enforcement functions. This is something
that the president has the authority to do under the Insurrection Act.
And he has said, you know, in an executive order issued Monday, that if within 90 days he and the Secretary of Defense determine that the border is
not under control and that more resources need to be used to control the flow of migrants across the border, then he can invoke the Insurrection
Act, which would then allow the U.S. military to perform those law enforcement functions like arrests, searches, and seizures, as well as
seizing drugs.
And so this is something that we need to watch for, but for now, this is really just President Trump and the Department of Defense making good on
their promise to augment, you know, Customs and Border Patrol, as well as DHS more broadly their resources at the southern border, as they have been
stretched thin in recent years with the ongoing flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border, Zain.
ASHER: All right. Natasha Bertrand live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. Donald Trump's new border czar says that deportation operations have actually already began.
Tom Homan told Fox News earlier that ICE agents arrested 308 serious criminals in the past 24 hours.
The president says that ICE agents can now make arrests at churches and at schools, which were previously considered are off-limits because they are
sensitive places.
Julia Vargas Jones joins us live now from the U.S.-Mexican border in California, which is, of course, ground zero for the immigration battle.
So, Julia, just the fact that these raids, this rounding up of undocumented immigrants, these arrests have actually already begun. Just talk us through
what the reaction is where you are, especially because California is a sanctuary state.
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly, Zain. Look, people are scared. We're talking to folks who are saying that is -- it's fear and
uncertainty. That's what's being brought here, both for people who are in the immigration system, so folks who are already in the process, that who
have a piece of paper, Zain, that says that they can stay in the United States through their immigration process.
They are quite fearful at this point because they don't know what will happen. There's just been so many changes. And, yes, California is a
sanctuary state. It's also home to dozens of sanctuary cities.
But at this point, people don't know and officials here don't know, people who work with migrants don't know what will come of this. There's just been
too much so quickly.
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We spoke yesterday with a family from Venezuela who came over and who said, look, yes, we got our appointment for asylum. We had our initial interview,
but we don't know if this program will even be standing by the time that we get to the end of this process.
And another thing that happened that I think is important to note is that these organizations, along here the southern border, in California, we have
been working in partnership with federal authorities, like Catholic Charities, which we visited yesterday and we spoke with the CEO, told us,
look, they're saying they're not going to release migrants to our care any longer.
So it raises a lot of questions of what will happen to these people. He said to us, they've -- since 2021, once the Remain in Mexico policy was
lifted and migrants started to be able to stay in the United States while they waited for their date in court, they have been key to helping about
400,000 people to get on the way in the United States to make it to their day in court.
And now where will they go? Will they be held in detention centers here in the United States? Will they be dropped off in these cities across the U.S.
border to be on their own? Or will they be told to stay in Mexico?
All of this just adding to the uncertainties, Zain, that we're feeling here at the U.S.-Mexico border.
ASHER: All right. Julia Vargas Jones at the U.S.-Mexico border, thank you so much.
All right. While Donald Trump is checking off some of his day one campaign promises, he missed his own deadline for ending the war in Ukraine. And now
he's threatening the Kremlin to either come to the negotiating table or face the consequences.
Mr. Trump is warning Russian President Vladimir Putin that he will apply new sanctions and tariffs if Russia does not end the war.
And less than three days in office and already the image of a very different type of America and what it represents is starting to emerge.
Five hours from now, the new Trump administration is ordering all federal employees in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion roles to be placed on paid
leave and eventually laid off. It comes following a late night memo from the Office of Personal Management that also directs all DEI-focused
websites and social media sites to be removed by 5:00 P.M. today as well.
It's a huge priority for the new president who signs an executive order banning DEI programs just hours after his inauguration on Monday and who
campaigned relentlessly on disrupting Washington and overhauling the federal government.
CNN's Kevin Liptak joins us live now at the White House. So, Kevin, listen, from ending birthright citizenship to ending DEI initiatives within the
federal government to rounding up undocumented immigrants in churches and at schools, places that were previously considered safe zones.
Just walk us through how much in terms of these initiatives, how much can Donald Trump actually get away with here.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, it kind of depends. Certainly, the presidential's -- presidential executive authority is more
expansive in some areas than others.
And I think when it comes to immigration, what you're seeing is that advocates are already challenging a number of these steps in court,
including trying to get rid of birthright citizenship, which, of course, is written into the American constitution and will be difficult for President
Trump to reverse.
But in other areas, the presidential prerogative is quite expansive, including when it comes to pardons, those blanket pardons for the January 6
rioters. That's not something that can be challenged even in the Supreme Court. That's something that the president can do with something of a wide
unilateral berth.
Same is true for presidential policy when it comes to federal personnel. The president, of course, putting on a hiring freeze, putting on a freeze
on regulations. And, as you said, alerting workers in these federal diversity offices that they will be put on leave with the goal of reducing
staffing in those offices by the end of the month.
That is something that President Trump said he would do as a candidate now that he sits atop the executive branch of the government. It is something
that he has quite a bit of leeway to do now that he's in office.
And as we heard from the White House press secretary overnight. This is no surprise. We have heard President Trump say, including in his inaugural
address, that he wants his administration to be colorblind. He wants it to be merit-based.
Of course, President Biden, when he was in office, made racial equity a priority for his administration. In fact, on his very first day in office,
he signed the order putting some of these initiatives into place, and Trump has wasted no time trying to strip them out of federal policy.
So when you see President Trump signing all of these executive actions, and we do expect him to keep signing them in the days to come, it really does
depend in the area by area how much effect they will actually have.
[12:10:08]
But certainly when it comes to staffing in the federal government, there is quite a bit of leeway for him to act, Zain.
ASHER: And, Kevin, just in terms of the latest lines we've got, just in terms of the war in Ukraine, Donald Trump now threatening tariffs,
threatening sanctions on Russia if it does not come to the negotiation table with the war in Ukraine.
Just walk us through what we know on that front.
LIPTAK: Yes. And the tone that President Trump is striking here is quite interesting. Of course, he had been not such a vocal critic of Vladimir
Putin during his first four years in office. That really has changed significantly. He has accused destroying Russia during the war in Ukraine.
And now today, we get this threat of new sanctions and tariffs if Putin doesn't end this war immediately. As Trump says, there's an easy way or a
hard way. And he says Putin should take the easy way.
As you mentioned, Trump had set this goal of ending the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. That goal, their deadline has come and
gone. The war still grinds on. But what you see in President Trump's tone here is an urgency to try and fulfill that campaign promise.
What you don't see, necessarily, are the contours of what a settlement agreement would look like. You've heard administration officials, including
the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, say that concessions will be need to -- need be made on both sides, but you haven't necessarily heard what that
might look like.
Do the battle lines stay where they are currently? You also haven't heard who will be responsible for rebuilding Ukraine. So there are a lot of
unknowns in all of this rhetoric. But I think it is clear from what Trump is saying that he wants this conflict to be resolved very quickly.
ASHER: All right. Kevin Liptak, live for us there. Thank you so much.
Let's get some more perspective now on some of these sweeping changes. Let's bring in Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia's
Center for Politics. Larry, good to see you.
I'm interested to get your perspective on this first week of Donald Trump's presidency compared to what we saw last time around. You remember, of
course, in January 7th, 2017, it was one week after President Trump's inauguration that we saw former President Donald Trump at that point
essentially ban immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Just walk us through how the first week, this time around, compares to the first week what we saw last time around.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Yes. And, Zain, there couldn't be more difference. It's night and day. In the
first term, frankly, he was just completely unprepared to be president. He was unprepared to govern because most of his key officials hadn't been
confirmed or weren't even in the White House at that point. So it was very slow in the beginning. And he had a few dramatic actions that actually
didn't pan out very well.
This has been different. He has realized that, first of all, popularity that he ever had in the first term. And with that popular support, he can
take dramatic actions quickly. And he's certainly done that, whether you agree or disagree with him.
He has kept us busy every hour of every day until the wee hours. Doing one thing or another, and we all have seen the controversies that are starting
to develop or will develop.
Though I would caution people, you can't always trust what he says. You have to watch and see what he actually does. And we'll have to do that with
respect to many issues, though not the January 6th insurrectionists, the rioters. So what he has done has caused a firestorm of opposition and
protest in the United States.
ASHER: I mean, obviously, we know that a lot of his policy, so far, is, you know, clearly he's trying to appeal to his base. But I'm interested in what
moderate Republicans, how they view the first sort of three days of Donald Trump's presidency, especially when it comes to pardoning January 6 rioters
and even going so far as possibly inviting some of the January 6 convicts to the White House.
SABATO: Yes, that's a new one. He's going to have some kind of reception for the, quote, hostages. I call them lawbreakers and in some cases,
murderers of policemen. But they're going to be invited apparently to the White House. We'll see whether the violent ones go as well.
What are the Republican moderates saying? Well, first of all, there aren't many Republican moderates left. Just a handful. And even the moderate
conservatives and conservatives, mainstream conservatives, are disturbed that he pardoned the hardened January 6th protesters who attacked 140
policemen, both Metropolitan policemen and Capitol Hill policemen, viciously, savagely, and several died as a result within days.
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How can they defend that? They are supposedly the supporters of police. All the major police organizations endorse Trump. One wonders what they're
thinking now. Some have actually issued statements saying that this was wrong and very unwise. That's the least they can say about it.
So they don't know what to do, and they're having to -- they're having to shuffle. And, of course, they back him. They will not disagree with him
under any conditions. He's given them his marching orders, and they follow, at least for now, in lockstep.
ASHER: Yes. You made an important point about the Republican Party being the party that's supposed to support police officers, and yet, you know,
140 police officers were injured on January 6th, 2021. And, of course, you know, Donald Trump goes on to pardon those who did the injuring, so to
speak.
Larry Sabato, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much.
SABATO: Thank you.
ASHER: All right. Israel's defense minister says the nation is using lessons learned from the Gaza war in its new operation in the occupied West
Bank. Israel Katz says that Operation Iron Wall, as it's being called, is underway in Jenin to eliminate terrorists and terror infrastructure.
The Palestinian health ministry says at least 10 people were killed Tuesday. Palestinian officials described the operation as part of an
Israeli plan to gradually annex the West Bank. This comes as the fragile Gaza ceasefire enters its fourth day.
Hundreds of humanitarian trucks bringing aid are entering the war-ravaged enclave. A senior Israeli minister says the government is working on a
long-term plan for Gaza which has been decimated by 15 months of fighting.
President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, says he plans to visit Gaza to make sure the ceasefire is being implemented.
Let's bring in ONE WORLD Anchor and senior global affairs analyst, Bianna Golodryga. She joins us live now from Tel Aviv, Israel. Bianna, great to
see you.
I think the big question when we think about the raids happening and the uptick in violence happening in the West Bank, a lot of people are asking
what sort of effect is this going to have on the ceasefire in Gaza, especially since that we are just -- you know, the fact that we are just
days away from phase two of the ceasefire deal. Walk us through that.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Zain, good to see you.
A lot of people here asking the same question, especially families most impacted by this fragile ceasefire hostage deal, and that being family
members of the hostages here and obviously residents in Gaza as well who want to take advantage of a stop in fighting and more aid going into the
enclave.
This operation, one, this large, we haven't seen in the occupied West Bank since last August and is one, as you noted, Israel Katz, the defense
minister said, came after lessons learned from October 7th.
And what he went on to say, we'll expand to everywhere in the West Bank. And not just in the Jenin area. They also said that this operation could
last from a couple of days to even longer. Israel is saying this operation is happening right now because there has been a stark increase in violence
over the past couple of months. And they view it as a ticking time bomb until what they call a terrorist attack could happen against Israelis.
The Palestinians in the West Bank are saying that they have now seen images of armored trucks, bulldozers coming in. A doctor at a local hospital said
that they are under siege with hundreds of detainees in the hospital.
There Israel's response is that they are doing that to protect the lives of those detainees on both sides, acknowledging that, so far, 10 have been
killed in this operation. And the question is, what does this mean for the Palestinian Authority control in the West Bank, Zain?
It's notable that security forces of the PA had actually been fighting against militants in the West Bank for a number of weeks. They withdrew
their forces as Israeli forces went in. But you have an Israeli government here in Israel that has been adamant against a day after plan in Gaza that
would be under the supervision and control of the PA.
So these are two separate instances here and operations, one could say, but given how fragile the situation is here, what happens in the West Bank,
there's a lot of concern could impact what's happening in Gaza right now, especially since there have been talks among some of the far-right members
of the Israeli coalition about even imposing Israeli governance over the occupied West Bank.
[12:20:02]
Now, those are just fringe elements of the government. Actually, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has exited the government, but those kind of conversations do
not help in the quest for some sort of stability right now when a ceasefire is just three days old in Gaza.
ASHER: Yes, certainly a great point, Bianna. So Israel is saying that it is focused in the West Bank on targeting militants and terrorists, but it is
important to note that Jenin especially densely populated civilian area.
It's always a delicate balance for Israel, this idea of targeting terrorists while at the same time protecting civilians. It's the same
story, obviously, not just in the West Bank, but also in Gaza as well.
Just explain to us how it's doing that this time around.
GOLODRYGA: Again, Zain, we are just two days in to this new operation, one, that Israel said had been planning for days now, again, stemming from the
massive failure on their part in terms of security and military response to October 7th. But these are the same claims that have been made by the
Palestinian Authority, that this is an overreach on the part of Israelis.
The Palestinian Authority is saying that this is, in effect, collective punishment. Israel responding by saying that they are doing everything in
their power to only go after the militants and not harm civilians, but even the point made about the hospital that had been under siege.
You have a doctor saying that there are hundreds of people that have been trapped inside of this hospital. Israel responding, as I noted before, that
they are doing that for the safety of the residents here.
There's a lack of trust on both sides. And one thing to note is that Hamas is already trying to take advantage of the situation right now by asking
and demanding that those in the West Bank now stand up in opposition to the Israeli operation right now.
So, again, it just goes back to that question of stability that everyone is seeking right now as the ceasefire is just a few days old in Gaza.
ASHER: Yes. And you brought up a really good point about trust. All right, Bianna Golodryga, live for us there. Always good to see you. Thank you so
much.
All right. The southern U.S. often faces hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding, but rarely do they deluge of snow. We will take you there after
the break.
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ASHER: A major winter storm is paralyzing parts of the southern United States, blanketing parts of the Gulf Coast with record-breaking snowfall
and bringing brutally cold temperatures as well. The storm impacted areas from Texas to Florida and up the Carolina coast.
This was a scene in Houston, Texas, a city that is really not accustomed to extreme weather like this. And this is New Orleans, which has recorded more
snowfall this month than Anchorage, Alaska, believe it or not. The deadly storm disrupted thousands of flights and made roadways sheets of ice.
This once in a lifetime winter storm that is sweeping through the southern U.S. as unprecedented wildfires continue ravaging parts of Southern
California are just two examples of the extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent across the world.
It all comes on the heels of the hottest year ever recorded. Despite that, the U.S. is once again backing out of the Paris Climate Accord.
Just hours after his inauguration on Monday, President Trump wasted no time signing an executive order withdrawing America from the world's largest
coordinated effort to tackle rising temperatures. And he vowed to ramp up fossil fuel production.
CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir joins us live now in New York.
So obviously this is not the first time we've seen this, right? We saw this just a few years ago when Donald Trump backed out of the Paris Climate
Accords previously. But that time, it only lasted four months, four or five months or so, because then President Biden reinstated the U.S.
But, Bill, just explain to us what the consequences were the last time around, especially when it came to international climate diplomacy.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the thing, Zain. You know, the United States, biggest, richest country in human history,
owns the most of the pollution over the Industrial Revolution, historically.
So to walk away from other countries that are just getting their arms around the crisis right now, sends a pretty powerful message. It did
before. But there were still plenty of Americans willing to work with those countries in Europe and elsewhere that earnest about this.
Governors, mayors of huge cities where a lot of the American GDP happens, a lot of private industry. Corporations pledge their support to the goals of
the climate accord, regardless of politics.
At this point now, we're eight years since then, since the first Trump administration kicked in, there's so much momentum in climate technology
and electrification around the world. Whether this changes -- this really can't change the trajectory of that, I'm told by experts, but it could slow
it down and it could sacrifice massive wealth that will be generated in these new technologies going forward.
China is now dominating the next phase of human mobility when it comes to electric vehicles. They're electrifying at a staggering rate. And the Trump
administration seems determined to try to force the country, despite the economics to stay with fossil fuels, even though they're no longer the
cheapest energy option. So there's a lot to play out here.
Some of the early executive orders that he made could be little more than just memos on White House letterhead. He wants to shut down the wind
industry, but Texas leads the nation in wind. Twenty percent of Texas' electricity comes from those wind turbines that he is trying to somehow
take down.
So a lot of this will be hashed out in courts and at legislative levels, at state levels even, but it is -- it is no way we can undersell the top line
story that the most powerful economy is walking away from the climate fight at the worst possible time.
ASHER: All right. Bill Weir, live for us. Thank you, Bill. Good to see you.
All right. Still to come, what Donald Trump's top international advisors are saying about the possibility of Israel annexing the West Bank? That
story, next.
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ASHER: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.
Let's return now to one of our top stories, Israel's stepped up action in the West Bank. Israel's defense minister says that lessons learned in Gaza
are being applied right now to Operation Iron Wall going on in the West Bank town of Jenin.
Israel is launching raids into Jenin, especially around the refugee camp there and a nearby hospital. Israel says it is rooting out terrorists in
Jenin. But the U.N. secretary general says he thinks Israel may be thinking about annexing the entire West Bank. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: The other possibility is for Israel feeling emboldened by the military successes that it has had,
to think that this is the moment to do the annexation of the West Bank and to keep the Gaza in a kind of limbo situation with an unclear, unclear form
of governance.
It is clear for me that Israel is not fundamentally interested in Gaza. It's fundamentally interested in the West Bank.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: But Donald Trump's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the U.N. has a very different view of the situation. During her confirmation hearing in
the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Elise Stefanik, was asked about Israel annexing the West Bank, and her one-word answer was telling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): I did ask you whether you subscribe to the views of Finance Minister Smotrich.
REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): Of Who? I'm sorry, Finance --
VAN HOLLEN: Smotrich. This is the Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich and the former National Security Minister Ben-Gvir who believe that Israel has a
biblical right to the entire West Bank.
And in that conversation, you told me that, yes, you shared that view. Is that your view today?
STEFANIK: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. Time now for The Exchange. Joining me live now is Ghaith al-Omari. He's the senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy and a former advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Ghaith, thank you so much for being with us. So you've got people like, not just Elise Stefanik, but also Mike Huckabee as well, saying things like,
you know, Israel has a biblical right to the West Bank. You've also got the fact that Donald Trump himself is lifting sanctions on Israeli settlers.
What does all of that tell you about what the U.S. policy towards the Middle East will be, specifically Israel, will be under President Trump?
Give us your take.
GHAITH AL-OMARI, SENIOR FELLOW, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: To be honest, it's actually too early to tell. And it's too early to tell
because you have two conflicting, let's say, trends within the administration.
One you just highlighted with Stefanik and with Huckabee, who want annexation, et cetera.
On the other hand, the administration has made it very clear, the president has made it very clear, that he wants to get Israeli-Saudi normalization.
And for that, obviously, the Saudis have been very clear. They want a pathway, a credible pathway to a Palestinian state.
[12:35:13]
So these two trends are going to be in tension. We've seen that in the first Trump administration. Who wins? I don't know. But my suspicion is
that this in the first year of the administration, those who are calling for normalization with Saudi Arabia will be on the ascendance.
ASHER: That's a good point about the sort of very two sort of conflicting viewpoints we're already seeing out of the Trump administration.
Obviously, we've got ceasefire agreements happening right now in Gaza and in Lebanon. And with those two wars on the backburner, temporarily, if
you'd like, the Israeli government is clearly turning its attention to the West Bank and sort of stepping up operations there. There's been an uptick
of violence.
Walk us through what you think Israel's end goal is at this point in time in the West Bank. And what sort of impact the violence in the West Bank is
going to have on the ceasefire with Gaza specifically?
AL-OMARI: Let me start with the latter, maybe. I don't think there is going to be much impact of what's happening in the West Bank and Gaza. In Gaza,
at this moment at least, both Hamas and Israel have an interest in the ceasefire holding. And I see it holding, at least to the end of the first
phase.
At the same time, Hamas is trying to throw instability into the West Bank. They've been trying to do that since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
Unfortunately, what I see in the Israeli operations in the West Bank is that it is helping Hamas in that way.
Yes, I understand there are serious terror threats coming from Jenin and elsewhere, yet, the way it's being done, both strengthen Hamas' message and
Hamas has been calling on its supporters to take up arms and to rise up in the West Bank.
But as importantly, it weakens Hamas' rival in the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority has just concluded its own security operation in
Jenin. And with the Israelis coming right on the heels of that operation, it makes the Palestinian Authority look like a collaborator, further
weakening its standing and its capabilities.
ASHER: So it weakens the Palestinian Authority. It strengthens Hamas. Just in terms of Benjamin Netanyahu's political calculation with turning his
attention now to the West Bank, what do you think that is? And how much is it to appease some of the far-right members of his government?
AL-OMARI: First of all, there is no doubt that there are serious security concerns that Israel has in the West Bank. So that's certainly part of the
calculation. Yet, also to my mind, there is no doubt that this was part of the deal that he made with Smotrich, which basically said Smotrich would
maybe not support, but refrain from leaving the coalition over the Gaza deal.
In exchange, he will get more authorities in the West Bank. Some will relate in -- or will manifest in security operations. Others which is
frankly more of my concern as the longer term will manifest in expanding settlement construction, et cetera.
It is very clear to me, at least at the Israeli security and military establishment, while they do want to make conduct these operations, they
want to do it in a way that does not create increased instability. And they still look at the PA, the Palestinian Authority, as a partner.
On the other hand, people like Smotrich, and not only Smotrich, even people from within Netanyahu's own party, the Likud, see the Palestinian Authority
as a liability and want to get rid of it.
And again, so there is a tension within Israeli decision making. And it's very hard to tell where Netanyahu is within this tension.
ASHER: And, finally, talk to us a bit about the Jenin refugee camps. Obviously, this is not the first time we've seen an uptick in violence in
Jenin. You know, there has been a history of clashes with Israel saying that, you know, there are terrorists that it has to root out. But
obviously, there is a very strong civilian population there as well.
Give us your take on what is happening around Jenin and also the history of Jenin when it comes to violence in the West Bank.
AL-OMARI: You can go back actually to the 1930s. I'm not going to go back that far. But even if you look at the beginning of the century in the early
2000 during the second Intifada, the bloodiest episode of that period was in the Jenin refugee camp.
It's a refugee camp that has very strong presence of different Palestinian factions from the Fatah, the ruling Fatah party in the West Bank, to
Islamic Jihad, to Hamas, et cetera. It has a very independent streak.
It's not only been a problem for the Israelis, actually, has often acted as an ungoverned territory vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority itself.
A few months ago, President Abbas, the PA president, wanted to go to the Jenin refugee camp, and he had to cut his visit short because people were
arrested there.
So it is a restive area. It's an area that's also underdeveloped. The economy, the infrastructure is very poor.
In the past, it used to depend on trade with Israel and mobility between Israel and the West Bank. This has not been the case. And again, this is
not only a Hamas or Islamic Jihad problem.
Even members of the Fatah party, the more militant members there, are not taking orders from the Palestinian Authority.
[12:40:09]
And by the way, interestingly, one of the people released in the first phase of the hostage deal between the Israelis and Hamas is a guy who was
the leader of the Fatah militants within the Syrian refugee camp. So it's going to continue being a problem.
Yes, security measures will be needed there, but also ultimately there has to be a political understanding between the militants and the Palestinian
Authority to find a solution to creating some stability in that area.
ASHER: All right. Ghaith al-Omari, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.
All right. Still to come, CNN travels to a small town in Texas to see how people there are reacting to President Trump's promise of mass
deportations. We'll have that story for you after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Donald Trump is making it clear that he is about to implement one of his signature campaign promises.
On Tuesday, he said he plans to slap a 10 percent tariff on all goods coming to the U.S. from China, starting February 1st. He said, he's likely
also going to hit Mexico and Canada with 25 percent tariffs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STAES: We're talking about a tariff of 10 percent on China based on the fact that they're sending fentanyl to
Mexico and Canada.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How soon? How soon on those tariffs?
TRUMP: Probably February 1st is the date we're looking at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: A 10 percent tariff will actually be smaller than what President Trump has threatened in the past with China, but China still says it is
unfair.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAO NING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): We always believe that there is no winner in a trade war or tariff war. China
will always firmly safeguard its national interests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Meantime, President Donald Trump's promise of mass deportations in the U.S. is causing panic and anxiety among immigrant communities. His
administration is issuing new directives, including one that allows immigration authorities to arrest people near and inside places previously
considered off limits, and that includes schools and churches.
CNN's Ed Lavandera visited one Texas city that's now preparing for raids.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
T.J. FUNDERBURG, PRINCIPAL, CACTUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Good morning, Cactus Elementary.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every school day at Cactus Elementary starts like this.
(MUSIC)
Moments of patriotism and reflection with a high energy dose of inspiration from Principal T.J. Funderburg.
[12:45:05]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are we here?
LAVANDERA: You do that every morning?
FUNDERBURG: Yes, sir.
LAVANDERA: When I looked out on the student body this morning, I mean, it's quite something to think that we're in the Texas Panhandle and that's what
your student body looks like.
FUNDERBURG: It's always very eye-opening to people that come here. We've got 13, 14 different languages, all these different cultures represented.
And, yes, we're up here in the heart of the Texas Panhandle. Everybody think it'd be farming, ranching country and kids in cowboy hats. And we've
got just about a little bit of everything.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The population in Cactus, Texas is about 3,000 people, but the diversity is staggering. There's an African restaurant,
safari restaurant in Halal meat. There's an Asian grocery store. There's a Mexican butcher shop. There's a Guatemalan grocery. There's also an Islamic
center.
LAVANDERA: What draws so many immigrants and migrants here to a community like this is the work. And it is brutal, backbreaking work. There is a meat
processing plant that runs 24 hours a day. There are dairy farms that run non-stop.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): These are the kinds of jobs that the United States economy and food supply rely on every day. It's also the kind of work that
only immigrants, by and large, are willing to do.
There are towns like Cactus, Texas, all over the country. And with President Donald Trump promising to carry out mass deportations, a sense of
fear and uncertainty looms over these streets.
LAVANDERA: What are you hearing specifically from people?
ELIZABETH OLIVEROS, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: They -- well, they're scared. They don't know if they're going to be able to stay here. You know, a lot
of them have been here for decades. They've built their lives here. Their kids are here. You know, everyone they know is here.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Elizabeth Oliveros grew up in Cactus, the daughter of immigrants who became citizens and earned their living working in the
city's meat processing plant.
She went away to college, became a lawyer, and moved back to Cactus to work as an immigration attorney.
LAVANDERA: If there were to be mass deportations here in this city, what would happen to it?
OLIVEROS: It'd be quite empty. I think there's a lot of people here that don't have status, that keep a lot of the businesses, the smaller
businesses around here running. So if immigrants leave, I don't know where they're going to find workers as hard working as some of the immigrants.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): As we walk the streets of Cactus, it was clear that most residents, regardless of their immigration status, didn't want to
speak with us on camera, and especially didn't want to talk about President Trump's deportation dreams.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I don't like politics. I don't like.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The fear among many in this town and other agricultural communities across the country, is that vital food production
would be paralyzed and communities torn apart.
The meat processing plant here says it only hires people authorized to work. Under different management in 2006, the plant was raided by
immigration authorities. About 300 people suspected of identity theft or being in the country illegally were detained. Many of them deported.
Elizabeth Oliveros remembers the day clearly.
OLIVEROS: I was in elementary school, and I remember they had to keep us because they didn't know how many of us. Our parents were gone. And a lot
of my friends, their parents were gone.
LAVANDERA: Wow.
OLIVEROS: They got deported.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The children at Cactus Elementary are mostly oblivious to the political storms brewing outside these school walls.
Principal T.J. Funderburg is bracing for whatever comes next.
FUNDERBURG: It's just the unknown that scares me to death.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): He says as many as half the kids in the school could have undocumented family members. These are the kinds of places where
the reality of mass deportations could play out.
LAVANDERA: To the people who are going to be making these decisions about deportations, whether it's mass deportations just broad or targeted, what's
your message to them?
FUNDERBURG: Just, I mean, come talk to me. Come meet these kids. Think, you know, I know there has to be -- there has to be rules, there has to be
checks, there has to be balances. But it can't just be paper.
This community of people that have come together, that are here now, from all these different countries, all these different places, we can do
amazing things.
LAVANDERA: Residents who lived in Cactus, Texas, back in 2006, when those first immigration raids were carried out say, it took the town more than a
year to recover.
Fast forward nearly 20 years, Cactus is a different place with immigration cases that run the gamut. People who have legal refugee status are here on
green cards, have pending asylum cases, and some who are here undocumented.
And it really speaks to the challenges that the Trump administration will be facing. And it's not as easy as waving a wand and just carrying out mass
deportations. These are complex and serious questions that the Trump administration will be facing.
[12:50:03]
Ed Lavandera, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Prince Harry's long battle against a group of tabloid newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch took an unexpected turn on Thursday after he chose
to settle the case before the trial began.
Prince Harry accused News Group Newspapers of illegally obtaining his information on his family and friends. His lawyers said the tabloids
offered a full and unequivocal apology and will pay substantial damages. Prince Harry calls the settlement a monumental victory.
CNN's royal correspondent Max Foster is with us following the story from London.
So, Max, just walks us through the ways in which these newspapers have been accused on intruding on Prince Harry's privacy and that of his late mother
as well and what we know about this settlement which has been described as substantial.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: So an acceptance that there were illegal activities, phone hackings, for example, hacking into private
information. "The Sun" making it very clear that none of its staff were ever involved in this, rather private investigators that they had hired and
obviously they use that information.
If we had got into the trial, a big part of it would have been the cover-up as well as Prince Harry saw it, which was senior managers being aware that
this was going on and allowing it to happen.
We didn't get into that stage, but Prince Harry's team certainly feel that this has been a huge triumph and exposure of this nasty culture. And
they're hoping now for a police investigation.
You know, this was a civil case. Civil cases are designed to ultimately be settled out of court. And he got an extraordinary figure, eight figures in
this payout as we understand it. We haven't been told how he's going to use that money, but he's seen as a success.
Even though in the past he had talked about wanting his moment in court. He's obviously sat down and figured out what he wants from this and the
message is out and he was representing people who couldn't afford or had the profile to be able to have this sort of action and he feels a message
has really gone out to the very top of the organization which, of course, ends with Rupert Murdoch.
ASHER: Obviously, the news of the world has been shuttered for quite some time, but this has been a really long fight that Prince Harry has been
involved in. Just take us through that.
FOSTER: Well, the fight goes back to his childhood, you know. And "The Sun" newspaper, that group, did talk about invasions of privacy of Diana,
Princess of Wales. You remember images, Zain, of Diana being surrounded by photographers. Harry grew up amidst that. He hated that invasion of
privacy. He then suffered it himself. He felt that his wife suffered from it as well.
[12:55:11]
So this was a wider war against the tabloid media trying to change that British culture, which in many ways was defined by Rupert Murdoch in his
sense back in the '80s when he created these very powerful tabloid newspapers.
So a war on the entire industry. There are other newspapers as well he's gone after, but this was the big one and he feels he got what he could from
it.
Whether or not a police investigation follows, that will be the big question. That's what he really wants. He wants criminal cases to be held
against the managers, much more than the reporters in this situation.
ASHER: Yes. He always wanted to sort of hold these newspapers accountable in an open court, but he did get a full apology and he ended up settling.
Max Foster, live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. That does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher. I appreciate you watching. "AMANPOUR" is up next. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:00:00]
END
