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Sweden's Worst Mass Shooting; Life-Saving Journey Out Of Gaza; Trump: U.S. Will Take Over The Gaza Strip; Toddler Evacuated From Gaza for Urgent Medical Care; Thousands Flee Santorini Amid Hundreds of Quakes; New Asteroid May Have Slim Chance of Hitting Earth in 2032. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired February 05, 2025 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead. A shocking proposal from the US. President Donald Trump says the U.S. will take control of Gaza and permanently displace Palestinians.
Investigators seek answers as Sweden mourns the worst mass shooting in the country's history.
And the unbearable wait is finally over. One toddler's arduous journey for life saving medical treatment with just days to spare.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. Well, in a stunning announcement, President Donald Trump says the U.S. "will take over the Gaza Strip," and he doesn't think there's a permanent future for Palestinians in the enclave. During a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, Mr. Trump suggested Palestinians would move to other countries in the Middle East and the U.S. would, "develop Gaza."
Here's his explanation for what the U.S. might attempt, along with praise from Netanyahu for his "fresh ideas."
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DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. Do a real job. Do something different. BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: I believe, Mr. President, that your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, thinking that has failed time and time and time again, your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas will help us achieve all these goals.
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CHURCH: CNN's Paula Hancock joins me now live from Abu Dhabi. So, Paula, how is the region responding to President Trump's proposal to take over Gaza and forcibly relocate Palestinians to other nations in the Middle East?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, there has been a fair push back as you might imagine, just after this press conference by the U.S. president. There was a statement from the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry reasserting the fact that they support a two-state solution, that they support the creation of a Palestinian state. Now we do know that the U.S. president is keen to push forward a deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel for potential normalization to expand on what he did in his first term.
But Saudi Arabia making it very clear that that the Palestinian state is nonnegotiable. We've heard similar things from Egypt and Jordan when in just recent days, President Trump suggested that they take more Palestinian refugees from Gaza. Both of those countries push back on that strongly. We have heard as well this morning from some Palestinians, from one independent lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti saying that all Palestinians, without exception, completely reject Trump's comments.
Also going on to say that this is in complete violation of international law and represents a call for ethnic cleansing, which is a war crime. Now, putting the legalities and the ethical issues to one side, there is Very unlikely to be any support in this region, bar those far-right elements within Israel itself. President Trump has certainly endeared himself to the far right of the coalition of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
We heard from one of them, Ben Gvir, who has since left the coalition because he didn't support the hostage cease fire deal. He said that this is what he has been talking about consistently, but was criticized for it. He has pointed out that that Palestinians should be moved out of Gaza and that Israelis should settle that area. So, what we are seeing here is really a almost a fringe element of the far- right ideology.
The fact that they believe that there should be Palestinians moved out of Gaza and settled elsewhere really, now become part of the mainstream discussion.
[02:05:12]
It is receiving a significant amount of pushback from many sides, but it is now being discussed, and that is what the U.S. President has done with this this press conference. It will be interesting throughout the day. I'm sure we will hear more reaction from those in this region and also further afield. What we didn't hear much about, though, was what we were expecting this meeting would focus on and that is the ceasefire hostage deal in Gaza.
We are in the process of phase one. The two sides were supposed to indirectly meet Hamas and Israel indirectly discuss moving to phase two of this cease fire deal. Very little was said about that, although President Trump did say he believed that there could be a deal, but that was expected to be the focus of this discussion, and it certainly wasn't. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Indeed. Paula Hancocks bringing us that live report from Abu Dhabi. Many thanks.
Kimberly Dozier is a CNN Global Affairs Analyst. She joins me now from Washington. Appreciate you being with us.
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: And it's an interesting evening on which to join you.
CHURCH: Indeed. And course, in an explosive proposal, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested America take over Gaza and develop it into the Riviera of the Middle East, his words. He said, "We will own it long term." And he even suggested potentially using U.S. troops to forcibly remove Palestinians in Gaza and resettle them in Egypt and Jordan, two nations that have already rejected that idea, along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. I want to get your response.
DOZIER: Well, he outlined a plan that was so outrageous but also so vague that as I've read different headlines, whether it's Al Jazeera or the Jerusalem Post or the BBC, it's like an ink blot test. The way people have interpreted what he said. Now, the worst possible interpretation is he is saying, I do not rule out the possibility of even using U.S. troops to take over Gaza, flatten it, move the Palestinians out and turn it into some sort of development zone, and move those Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt, even though those two countries have already articulated that they don't want any refugees.
That is the best -- that's the most alarming way that it's being interpreted in parts of the Gulf by some of the diplomats who reached out to me. But he could also mean it in the New York real estate way that the U.S. would be owning the redevelopment of Gaza, in which Palestinians could return. And that is also how it's being interpreted in some other corners and I think that's probably what Trump's National Security team right now will probably be trying to pull together.
Because they don't want to put U.S. troops in harm's way and take on the multibillion-dollar cost of demilitarizing and rebuilding Gaza.
CHURCH: Right. And of course, this meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu was supposed to tackle the second phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal agreed to by Israel and Hamas. What happens to that fragile agreement, given this brazen proposal from Trump? I mean, how will Hamas respond to this? DOZIER: Well, Hamas has already said in some comments in social media that this is unhelpful. The proposal for phase two, the tension between the two men was going into this meeting that President Trump wants the fighting over so that he can get on to the rebuilding and expanding the Abraham Accords, the talks about peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia and then beyond, whereas Netanyahu, for his coalition to survive, needs to continue to fight against Hamas to remove them from Gaza, possibly before phase two.
So, that was the tension going into this meeting. This proposal upends that discussion, and also sort of takes the heat and the pressure off Netanyahu. It will be surely seen as Trump's commitment to work with Israel to remove Hamas from Gaza, at the very least. And that was the allowance for a return to fighting that Netanyahu was looking for when he came to Washington.
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CHURCH: And as we discussed Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have all rejected President Trump's proposal to
permanently relocate Palestinians from Gaza. But Trump dismissed their rejection, didn't he? Suggesting they will eventually accept His plan. How likely is that and what do you think he means when he says that?
DOZIER: Yes. That will be perceived as downright insulting in those various capitals. I mean, Saudi Arabia was quick to put out its statement again, saying no, there will be no expansion of the Abraham Accords without a two-state solution, without Palestinian independence, and I've gotten similar muted comments from some of the other players. This is a nonstarter across the Arab world, especially in the Arab Street
The population in Arab and Muslim communities have been watching the horror in Gaza. They will not stomach the displacement permanently of the Palestinian population from Gaza and those 1.8 to two million Gazans inside that territory right now, only some of them currently support Hamas. But if they are ordered to leave by the United States, I think you recruit every single one of them to the cause to fight, not just Israel, but any U.S. troops that might dare try to enter their territory.
CHURCH: Kimberly Dozier, our thanks for your analysis. Appreciate it.
CIA is now the first major national security agency offering buyouts to its entire workforce. A radical step as Donald Trump looks to shrink the federal government. Every employee at the Central Intelligence Agency can get about eight months of pay and benefits if they voluntarily quit their jobs. But sources tell CNN some areas of expertise are likely off limits and won't be eligible for the offer.
Now this comes as the Trump administration is planning widespread layoffs across a number of federal agencies giving tens of thousands of government workers until Thursday to either accept a buyout or risk losing their jobs. One administration official says more than 20,000 federal workers have agreed to the so-called deferred resignation offer. That represents about one percent of the roughly two million federal employees who received the offer.
The White House says its target is between five and 10 percent of employees to resign. Federal Workers Unions, however, are challenging the legality of this in court. Congressional Democrats are also opposed to the resignation offers, and they're calling out tech billionaire Elon Musk for leading the effort to weaken government agencies.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To our Republican colleagues. If you do not see the light, we will bring the fire. Resist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going to be in your face. We are going to be on your asses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have days to stop the destruction of our democracy. We have work to do. Tell Elon Musk to take his hands off your money.
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CHURCH: The U.S. Postal Service says it will not accept incoming parcels from China and Hong Kong until further notice. The government agency did not provide a reason for the temporary suspension, but said the flow of letters will not be affected. The announcement comes just days after Donald Trump ended an exemption that allowed anyone to ship packages worth less than $800 to the U.S. without paying duties or undergoing inspections.
This move from the Postal Service comes just one day after U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports to the U.S. took effect with China introducing its own retaliatory tariffs.
Well, meanwhile, Donald Trump is shrugging off China's response. On Monday, he said he intended to speak to China within 24 hours, but now he says he is in no rush to talk with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. CNN's Will Ripley picks up the story.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTENATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The retaliation from China fast and fierce just minutes after President Donald Trump's sweeping 10 percent China tariffs kicked in. Beijing fired its own economic salvo. A 15 percent tax on some U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas. A 10 percent tariff on American crude oil, cars and farm equipment. New export restrictions on rare minerals, vital for us, tech and defense.
RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: When you're dealing with the Chinese government, you really are looking to try to find a way that nobody really looks bad.
RIPLEY (voice-over): With tariffs piling up and both sides digging in, all eyes are now on a crucial upcoming call between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. [02:15:06]
That conversation could set the tone for whatever comes next. A last- minute deal or a full-blown trade war.
JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: Trump has shown himself frankly to be an unreliable partner. I'm not sure I'd want to invest in the United States right now if I were a foreign entity, given that these sorts of shenanigans can be on again, off again, according to the president's whim.
RIPLEY (voice-over): China also announced it's going after Google, launching an antitrust investigation. Google's search engine is not available in China, but it does have limited operations there. The move signals Beijing's willingness to target major U.S. tech firms in its retaliation.
One wild card in Trump's China strategy, Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO has deep business ties in China. The Shanghai Gigafactory produces a significant portion of Tesla's global output. His close relationship with the Chinese authorities could make him a pivotal figure in the unfolding trade tensions.
LEV NACHMAN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY: Not only does Donald Trump think he is -- I believe his wording, was super genius, but we know that the PRC is also very invested in Elon Musk maintaining his business within China.
RIPLEY (voice-over): China is also taking the fight to the World Trade Organization, accusing the U.S. of violating international trade rules. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce says, trade and tariff wars have no winners.
Trump and Xi once shared what Trump called magical diplomatic moments, from their first meeting at Mar-a-Lago to an unprecedented state visit to Beijing's Forbidden City. He's even called Xi brilliant.
TRUMP: I have a great respect for their president, as you know, President Xi.
RIPLEY (voice-over): But now, Trump is ramping up economic pressure, still insisting he can strike a deal with Beijing. A fast-moving, high stakes economic battle that may be just beginning.
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RIPLEY: And China is signaling the potential for more retaliation, saying there could be more countermeasures if the U.S. doesn't back down here, no indication from President Trump that that will be happening anytime soon. Also, he's saying he has no rush to speak with Xi Jinping, saying that the U.S. will be just fine. Beijing, though, taking a much harder line than Mexico and Canada, which at the last minute, struck deals with President Trump to at least delay those U.S. tariffs.
China has made no such concessions, particularly on the issue of fentanyl, which they insist, in their words, is America's problem.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
CHURCH: We're getting new details about a mass shooting at a school in Sweden that left about 10 people dead. Why police believe the death toll could rise.
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CHURCH: Officials in Sweden say they're in the early stages of their investigation into the worst mass shooting in the country's history. Police say about 10 people were killed and many others injured when a gunman opened fire at a school for adults. Police believe the shooting was not terror related, and the gunman who acted alone is among the dead. CNN's Melissa Bell has more.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Some new details are emerging after the dreadful shooting that took place just after midday in the town of Orebro in western Sweden where a gunman went on the rampage at what we understand was an adult learning center, but on campus, where there are schools for children as well. Police are saying that multiple people died in the attack and it was to a shock nation, in a country that so rarely sees school shootings or mass killings that the Swedish Prime Minister spoke.
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ULF KRISTERSSON, PRIME MINISTER OF SWEDEN (through translator): We already all said that we've today seen brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people. This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history.
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BELL: Police say that the death toll could continue to rise, given that there are still several wounded people in hospital. They have also said that they trying to figure out what this man's motive may have been. They say the perpetrator was a man and that they believed he was killed during that shootout itself. The question of why he acted the way he did now at the center of the investigations that are ongoing.
What police have said about him, though, is that he was not known to police services, nor did they think that there was a terror motive behind this attack, the worst in Sweden's history.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
CHURCH: At least five people have been killed in a Russian strike on a town in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region. The Regional governor says he believes the Russians used a ballistic missile in the attack. At least 55 people were injured. It comes as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported more than 45,000 Ukrainians have been killed in the three-year war, with more than 390,000 injured. Still to come. A two-year-old Palestinian girl finally arrives in Jordan for life-saving medical treatment, but not before a harrowing, weeks long journey to escape from war torn Gaza.
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CHURCH: The pain and suffering of war continues despite the ceasefire in Gaza. A Palestinian toddler forced to wait weeks for permission to leave the enclave for life-saving medical treatment is finally in Jordan, receiving critical medical care.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has more on the little girl's journey out of Gaza. And a warning, this report contains disturbing images.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dennis preparing her baby girl for the big day. Habiba is finally leaving Gaza for life-saving treatment. This is what the wait has done to the two-year-old.
[02:30:06]
The black and shriveled skin you see is gangrene that has worsened dramatically in a matter of days. We followed Habiba's fight for her life for weeks. After our CNN report, Jordan heard her cries for help and decided to evacuate her for treatment for a suspected rare genetic condition.
But it took nearly two weeks, time Habiba doesn't have to make it happen. The negotiations with Israel described as difficult by Jordanian officials. Israeli authorities did not respond to CNN's repeated requests for comment on the delay in Habiba's evacuation. Over the past week, as her mother helplessly watched Habiba teeter between life and death in intensive care, Rana had to also go through a rollercoaster of emotions.
As they prepared to leave for an evacuation that was later canceled. Rana got crushing news. Israel would not let her leave Gaza with Habiba, forcing this mother to make an impossible choice, to let go of Habiba to save her life.
Dear Lord, if this is your will, I'll accept it, she prayed, but it was just too much to accept. Rana has to stay strong. She is Habiba's everything. On Monday, they woke up to good news. Jordan had secured approval for Rana to travel with Habiba. But this time, just as they got ready to go, they were told her son no longer had Israeli permission to leave.
You are a big boy. I know how hard this is for you, Rana says. God will take care of you better than I ever will. No one can make Habiba smile and forget her pain like her only brother, Soheib. He even brings out her cheeky side. I'm going to go and leave you, Habiba says, but the thought of being left all alone is just terrifying for the 11-year-old. I don't know what I'll do without them. Where do I go now? Soheib cries. It's time to go. The ambulance is here. Soheib puts on a brave face for their goodbyes. But soon after they head out another twist, Soheib is cleared to join them.
Jordan tried to spare Habiba this harsh long journey by land, but Israel wouldn't approve a Jordanian airlift. Across the border in Jordan, there's no time to waste. The military medevac chopper King Abdullah ordered is here for Habiba, ready for when she crosses into Jordan. With nightfall, the moment they've been waiting for, medics move fast to get the toddler.
Habiba peeks out quietly from under her blanket, too young to understand what this is all about. As they head to the chopper, she wants mama. They need to get her fast to the hospital, but they do it gently.
KARADSHEH: It's a quick trip to the hospital. The medical team is here and ready. They're going to be monitoring Habiba every second of this trip.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Habiba is stable, but she has just arrived from an exhausting journey out of intensive care. For a shattered Rana, it is too early to feel relief. As we get ready to take off, the team comforts Habiba. It's the first time this family is flying, their first time seeing the world outside of besieged Gaza. Habiba's story is one out of thousands of children who have become another faceless statistic of this war, trapped in Gaza and deprived of life-saving medical treatment.
On Monday, Israeli authorities said they approved Habiba's evacuation is an "exceptional humanitarian gesture." As soon as she arrives at the hospital, medical staff begin what doctors in Gaza couldn't do, a full clinical diagnosis over the next 24 hours. Doctors here hope they'll be able to save Habiba's right leg and her arms, but they also fear it may be too late. Her journey out of Gaza may be over, but another difficult battle now begins for little Habiba.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Amman.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": And we'll be right back.
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CHURCH: Known as Greece's Instagram island, Santorini is typically flooded with tourists. But right now, visitors and many residents are heading back to the mainland as hundreds of earthquakes rattle the famous hotspot. Over the past three days, about 550 quakes with a magnitude of 3.0 have been recorded in the Aegean Sea, just offshore from Santorini, and the island was hit by a 4.8-magnitude quake Tuesday morning. Officials predict the unprecedented seismic activity could continue for many more days, if not weeks.
Well, scientists are monitoring an asteroid that has a very small chance of hitting the earth in 2032. The (inaudible) called Asteroid 2024 YR4 has an almost 99 percent chance of safely passing our planet, but a possible impact can't be entirely ruled out.
[02:40:00]
Scientists estimate the asteroid is a little smaller than a football field and it's traveling at around 15 times the speed of a bullet. And they're working on measures to prevent it from striking Earth. Last year, NASA successfully tested a spacecraft designed to change the path of a space object that might be on a collision course with earth.
I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then I'll be back in about 15 minutes with much more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around.
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[02:45:00
(WORLD SPORT)
