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Trump Vows U.S. Will Take Over Gaza; Worst Mass Shooting in Swedish History, About 10 Dead. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired February 05, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip. I don't want to be cute, I don't want to be a wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East, it's right now a demolition site.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Secretary of State Marco Rubio tweet out, make Gaza beautiful again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A gunman went on the rampage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They believe that he acted alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This attack, the worst in Sweden's history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These men described as the worst of the worst. It's tense and uncomfortable. Once they're inside one of these sectors, they never leave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and around the world. I'm Max Foster.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christina Macfarlane. It's Wednesday, February 5th, 9 a.m. here in London, 11 a.m. in Gaza, which U.S. President Donald Trump says could become the Riviera of the Middle East.
FOSTER: During a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Trump said the U.S. will, quote, take over the Gaza Strip and develop the area. And in a stunning break with decades of U.S. foreign policy emphasizing a two-state solution, he suggested the Palestinians could be permanently relocated to neighboring countries. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative. It's right now a demolition site. They can live out their lives in peace and harmony instead of having to go back and do it again.
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. We need to do something that could be phenomenal.
And I don't want to be cute. I don't want to be a wise guy. But the Riviera of the Middle East, this could be something that could be so bad. This could be so magnificent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well some U.S. lawmakers are reacting to this proposal with alarm. Senate Democrat Chris Murphy posted online that a plan like this would lead to, quote, the slaughter of thousands of U.S. troops and decades of war in the Middle East.
FOSTER: President Trump said earlier on Tuesday that he thinks Palestinians wouldn't want to go back to Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't think people should be going back to Gaza. I think that Gaza has been very unlucky for them. They've lived like hell. They lived like you're living in hell. Gaza is not a place for people to be living. And the only reason they want to go back, and I believe this strongly, is because they have no alternative.
What's the alternative? Go where? There's no other alternative. If they had an alternative, they'd much rather not go back to Gaza and live in a beautiful alternative that's safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: CNN's Paula Hancocks is joining us from Abu Dhabi with reaction to this. Paula, this coming on the day that we were really meant to be discussing phase two of the ceasefire deal in Gaza. But instead, what has been the reaction to this explosive proposal across the Middle East?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, you make a good point. We were supposed to be talking about phase two of the ceasefire, and that was barely touched upon, given what everybody is talking about now and President Trump's idea that there has been some fairly solid pushback from the region, as you might imagine.
Just after that press conference, there was a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Saudi Arabia reiterating that they support the two-state solution, that they support the creation of a Palestinian state, saying that their support for that is firm and unwavering.
Now, that may be key because we know that the U.S. president wants there to be a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, wants normalization to build upon the Abraham Accords that he started in his first term. But that was a very solid pushback there.
We've heard in recent weeks as well, as Donald Trump has suggested, that there should be more Palestinian refugees in Egypt and Jordan. Those two countries have been very strong in their resistance as well.
So this is not expected to be welcomed anywhere except within Israel and within the more extreme conservative side of Israel. This is an idea that had been pitched within Israel and within the more extreme conservative side of Israel.
This is an idea that had been pitched by the far-right elements in Israel. And in fact, one man, Ben-Gvir, who had been pitching it, said that he was called crazy and out of touch, but pointed out that today the president of the world's greatest superpower is saying it. So President Trump has made this fairly fringe idea be discussed in a far more global mainstream situation.
Now he was asked for more specific details in the press conference. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are talking tonight about the United States taking over a sovereign territory. What authority would allow you to do that? Are you talking about a permanent occupation there?
TRUMP: I do see a long-term ownership position, and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East and maybe the entire Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: Now, it's certainly not going to be welcome in Gaza. We have seen over recent weeks since the ceasefire hundreds of thousands of Palestinians heading back to their homes. Many have been speaking to CNN and other reporters saying that even though they know that their house has been destroyed, they want to return to where their home is and their homeland. So this will be anything but welcome there.
We've had a response from Hamas saying that this is a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.
And, of course, this is just the reaction that we've had so far. We are expecting more throughout the day. And this is also from the political point of view. Before you even get into the legal or ethical issues that you can come up against, the Geneva Convention, for one, being very clear on how this would be interpreted -- Max, Christina.
FOSTER: Paula in Abu Dhabi, thank you for that.
Well, one expert tells CNN President Trump hasn't just rattled officials and Americans with his announcement, but he's also given the Israeli prime minister powerful talking points to take home. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) AARON DAVID MILLER, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: The real takeaway from this meeting, other than an unserious proposal from an unserious man, is the reality that there is absolutely no daylight now between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump. Anyone who thought, as a headline, that somehow this would be a meeting in which Trump would lower the boom, push Netanyahu through the second phase, he hasn't done that at all.
What he's done, frankly, is to provide Netanyahu, not just in the visit, but in these talking points, with ammunition to use against his right wing as to why it's important to go through the first phase to keep Trump on Israel's side and maybe even to get somewhere through the second, because he's basically saying to the right wing, look what this man, our friend, my friend Donald Trump, is going to do.
He's going to take care of Hamas. He's going to force the Saudis to pay for reconstruction. He's actually going to help depopulate Gaza, which could facilitate Israeli settlement.
I don't want to give President Trump too much credit here, but there's no question that he armed Netanyahu with a set of talking points that will be very effective in helping him politically at home at a very critical moment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: A day after the worst mass shooting in Sweden's history, investigators are still searching for a motive. 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 wasn't terror- related.
MACFARLANE: Well, they say the suspect acted alone and is among the dead. Swedish officials and witnesses describe the scene as shocking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARWA, WITNESS (through translator): The guy next to me was shot in the shoulder. He was bleeding a lot. When I looked behind me, I saw three people on the floor bleeding.
Everyone was shocked. They said, go out, get out. My friend and I tried to save the life of this person.
People were very shocked. The police were not on site and neither was the ambulance, so we had to help. I took my friend's shawl and tied it tightly around his shoulder so that he wouldn't bleed so much.
ULF KRISTERSSON, SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We've today seen brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people. This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: More now from CNN's senior international correspondent, Melissa Bell. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL 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 shocked nation in a country that so rarely sees school shootings or mass killings that the Swedish prime minister spoke.
[04:10:00]
KRISTERSSON (through translator): We've today seen brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people. This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history.
BELL: Police say that the death toll could continue to rise given that there are still several wounded people in hospital. They've also said that they're 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: All 67 victims of the deadly mid-air collision between a passenger plane and a U.S. military helicopter have now been recovered and all but one have been positively identified.
MACFARLANE: Authorities say they're now focused on salvage operations and clearing the remaining wreckage from the Potomac River in Washington. The plane's tail and part of the fuselage were pulled from the murky water on Tuesday.
FOSTER: The so-called black boxes are being studied but there's no official word yet on the cause of the tragedy. The National Transportation Safety Board released early findings from the airport control tower.
MACFARLANE: They indicate the Blackhawk chopper was at 300 feet before the collision, or about 91 meters, even though it was supposed to remain at a maximum altitude of 200 feet, or 61 meters.
FOSTER: Now, still to come, a rare look inside El Salvador's mega prison. It houses some of the country's most violent gang members and it's where Donald Trump is now thinking about sending U.S. prisoners as well. MACFARLANE: Also ahead, his views on vaccines have made him a controversial choice to become the top U.S. health official, but RFK Jr. is moving closer to confirmation thanks to the support of one key Republican.
FOSTER: Then, why tariffs and a new announcement from the U.S. Postal Service could spell trouble for Chinese e-commerce giants, including that one.
[04:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Two of President Trump's most controversial picks for top government roles have cleared the last major hurdles on their paths to confirmation. The Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines to send Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination as Health and Human Services Secretary for a vote by the full Senate. Republicans hold a 53-to-50 -- sorry, a 53-to-47 majority. But Kennedy's stance on vaccines could still cost him votes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): As you know, I had expressed the concerns that I had about his position on vaccines. I'm looking for -- just to understand clearly his commitments there. But it certainly appears that he's moving closer to confirmation.
SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): Now, Mr. Kennedy and the administration reached out seeking to reassure me regarding their commitment to protecting the public health benefit of vaccination. To this end, Mr. Kennedy and the administration committed that he and I would have an unprecedentedly close, collaborative, working relationship if he is confirmed. These commitments and my expectation that we can have a great working relationship to make America healthy again is the basis of my support.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, Tulsi Gabbard, President Trump's choice for Director of National Intelligence, survived a narrow party-line vote in the Senate Intelligence Committee. She, too, will go before the full Senate for confirmation.
Well, tens of thousands of federal workers could soon be out of a job due to the Trump administration's plan for widespread government layoffs. With a stroke of a pen, Donald Trump aims to dismantle a number of federal agencies through executive order or outright abolish them if he can get Congressional approval.
FOSTER: That includes the Department of Education. Sources tell CNN the White House has begun drafting an executive order to eliminate the department in a two-step process, starting with directing its yet-to- be-confirmed Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, to take action to diminish the department.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: What I want to do is let the states run schools. I believe strongly in school choice, but in addition to that, I want the states to run schools, and I want Linda to put herself out of a job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, steps to dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, are also underway, raising concerns about the impact on global humanitarian efforts. A new directive issued just hours ago states all of the agency's staff around the world will be placed on administrative leave this Friday, and those overseas will be ordered to return to the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounds like you're going to wind down USAID.
TRUMP: It sounds like it. Some of the money is well spent, I guess, but much of it is really fraudulent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, humanitarian organizations are reeling over the decision to gut USAID.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JAVID ABDELMONEIM, MSF DOCTOR: The impact has been felt already. I'm ashamed to say, I think this is an extraordinary act on behalf of the United States to withdraw in this way, and it's effectively a death sentence. I have, in the last four or five days, been receiving requests for support to be able to jump in.
We're independent of the MSF. We don't take U.S. government money, but we can't jump in to fill the United States, and nobody can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:20:02]
FOSTER: The 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.
MACFARLANE: 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 to take the offer.
The Trump administration has begun a campaign of deporting migrants to Guantanamo Bay, and it's not waiting to find out whether the move is legal. President Trump says he wants to ship tens of thousands of undocumented migrants to the notorious detention center in Cuba.
FOSTER: The White House is quickly, or working quickly, to expand the prison camp. U.S. Marines are there putting up tents to house migrants, and members of the U.S. Army will soon head down to provide police, food and medical services. Meanwhile, Mexico's foreign minister sent a diplomatic note to the United States insisting that no Mexican citizens can be sent to Guantanamo Bay under any circumstances.
Still to come, more on what U.S. President Donald Trump had to say about the future of Gaza and what the rebuilding process of the enclave could look like.
[04:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Hi, welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. Here are some of the top stories we're following today.
Sweden is reeling after the worst mass shooting in the country's history. At least 10 people are dead, including the gunman. The attack happened inside a school for adults about 160 kilometers west of Stockholm. Police believe the suspect acted alone and fear the death toll may rise.
The U.S. Senate voted late Tuesday to confirm Pam Bondi as Attorney General. She was President Trump's second pick to lead the Justice Department. Former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz was forced to withdraw from consideration due to a lack of support from GOP senators.
The Aga Khan spiritual leader of the world's Ismaili Muslims has died at the age of 88. Prince Karim Al-Hussaini died in Portugal Tuesday, surrounded by his family. His followers considered him to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and they consider it a duty to give up to 10 percent of their income to him.
FOSTER: More on our top story this hour. President Donald Trump announcing his alarming plan for Gaza's future during a joint news conference with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It includes the U.S. taking over and developing the enclave, with Palestinians potentially permanently resettled elsewhere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: The Israeli Prime Minister called Mr. Trump, quote, the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House and he praised his plan. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: President Trump is taking it to a much higher level. He sees a different future for that piece of land that has been the focus of so much terrorism, so many attacks against us, so many trials and so many tribulations. He has a different idea and I think it's worth paying attention to this.
We're talking about it, he's exploring it with his people, with his staff. I think it's something that could change history and it's worthwhile really pursuing this avenue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Hamas is calling the proposal a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region and although several Arab nations have pushed back on any suggestion to displace Palestinians from Gaza, a senior analyst says Israel's far right is likely having the opposite reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: You even had Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who's on a trip right now, tweet out, make Gaza Beautiful Again. That is music to the far right in Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more on what a U.S. occupation of Gaza could look like.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Trump isn't just talking about the United States owning and occupying the Gaza Strip, he is talking about the forcible permanent displacement of about two million people from their land. And he's also floating the idea of potentially using U.S. troops to do that, which would see U.S. troops in combat in Gaza as Hamas militants would obviously not willingly leave the Gaza Strip. And of course that would also involve U.S. troops forcibly removing Palestinian civilians who have made very clear in recent weeks that they do not want to leave their homes in Gaza.
[04:30:00]
Even if you put aside this idea of U.S. ownership, the United States occupying the Gaza Strip, just take this idea of the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, and you contrast that with what we've seen over the course of the last couple of weeks, and that is hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians moving back to northern Gaza, even as they know that much of that area has been decimated by Israel's bombing campaign, but returning to that area because they so want to see their homes again, because they feel such a strong connection to the land. And obviously, this idea of displacing Palestinians also has historic resonance, decades over decades of Palestinians being displaced over the course of this conflict, and that is also why we are seeing countries like Jordan and Egypt, whom President Trump wants to send the Palestinians to these countries, they are also opposing this step, not only because it could potentially be destabilizing to their countries to see so many refugees coming in all at once, but also, of course, because there's tremendous support for the Palestinian cause in their countries, and this would effectively be abdicating that cause, at least as it relates to Gaza.
Now, beyond this issue of the Gaza Strip, President Trump also made significant news, as he indicated that he would be making an announcement in the next four weeks about annexation of the West Bank by the Israeli government. We know, of course, that that is something that the Israeli government has been considering and perhaps something that Prime Minister Netanyahu sought President Trump's support for. Whether or not that is ultimately what he will get remains to be seen.
But there's no question that the Israeli Prime Minister was quite thrilled as he was watching President Trump make all of these comments throughout the day. You see him in the Oval Office there with a very broad smile, as many of President Trump's ideas are coming right out of the playbook of right-wing Israeli politics, and they certainly are being welcomed as such by far-right figures here in Israel.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[04:30:00]
