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Trump Administration to Dismantle USAID, Workers Fight Back; President Trump Sanctions ICC; Gaza Takeover by Trump, Arab States Reject Plan; Hundreds of Female Prisoners Raped and Burned in Congo; U.S Foreign Aid Freeze Affecting Humanitarian Crisis; Baltic States Cut Energy Ties with Russia; Syria and Turkey Defense Pact, Rebuilding Syria's Medical System; Raising Awareness Of The Amazon Rainforest Through Art; Fallout Over Offensive Tweets By Best Actress Nominee. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired February 07, 2025 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." Nearly 10,000 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development are the targets for President Trump's latest cuts. We'll look at the impact on the international community.
Both Trump and the Israeli Prime Minister says U.S. troops won't be needed in a proposed American takeover of Gaza. Still, the plan faces a severe international backlash.
And the U.N. describes a horrific scene in the wake of the battle for Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We'll look at the humanitarian crisis.
We begin with the Trump administration's sweeping efforts to shrink and dismantle the federal workforce. Some staff have been deliberating whether to accept so-called buyouts, but nearly 10,000 workers at the U.S. Agency for International Development have no such option. Multiple sources tell CNN that all but 294 USAID personnel deemed essential are expected to be put on leave, fired or furloughed in the hours ahead.
The Trump administration's apparent plans to rapidly gut the agency have left workers worldwide concerned about their safety and future. U.S. Secretary of State defended the moves, but also tried to offer some reassurance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We're not trying to be disruptive to people's personal lives. We're not being punitive here. But this is the only way we've been able to get cooperation from USAID. We are going to do foreign aid. The United States will be providing foreign aid. But it is going to be foreign aid that makes sense and is aligned with our national interest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: A pair of labor groups representing USAID staff sued President Trump on Thursday over his efforts to break up the agency. The lawsuit also targets the administration's freeze on almost all foreign assistance, a move that's brought critical work around the world to a halt. CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke to former USAID Administrator Samantha Power about the impact of these measures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMANTHA POWER, FORMER USAID ADMINISTRATOR: This is devastating and it is seeding the field as well to the People's Republic of China, to the Russian Federation and other malign actors who would like nothing more than to see the U.S. ground game in American foreign policy, the face of American values disappear like this. -- That's why the Trump administration --
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: DO you think this is a victory for dictators, autocratic regimes around the world who are competing with the U.S. in Africa, in South America, all around the world for influence?
POWER: What's not even an opinion, they are out relishing this moment and celebrating it, including a statement, an official statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry today. So this is a disaster not just from a humanitarian standpoint, from the standpoint of all the beneficiaries who may in fact die because they won't have access to U.S. resources, but it's a disaster for U.S. national interests and national security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: A U.S. judge has blocked President Trump's deferred resignation offer for federal employees hours before Thursday's deadline. A new hearing on the so-called buyout is now scheduled for Monday. Federal unions have strongly urged members not to take the package, questioning whether the Trump administration will be able to keep its promise to pay workers through the end of September. The White House tells CNN at least 65,000 federal workers have already accepted the offer.
On one of his latest executive orders, President Trump is placing sanctions on people who helped the International Criminal Court conduct investigations. The White House accuses the ICC of engaging in quote, "illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and its close ally Israel."
According to a fact sheet obtained by CNN, the executive order places financial and visa sanctions on individuals who assist ICC inquiries and their family members. The move amounts to an effort to punish the ICC for issuing arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Now, Trump and Netanyahu both claim U.S. troops won't be needed to carry out plans for the U.S. to take over Gaza after the war. The president posted this on Thursday, insisting the U.S. would oversee reconstruction of the enclave and turn it into, quote, "one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth." He promised U.S. soldiers wouldn't be needed. Israel's leader gave a definitive answer when asked about U.S. troop involvement.
[02:04:56]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Mr. Netanyahu, do you think U.S. troops are needed in Gaza to make President Trump's plan feasible?
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now, there has been enormous backlash to President Trump's plan for Palestinians to be relocated to neighboring countries while the U.S. takes ownership of Gaza. Rights groups and leaders from the Middle East and beyond reject it as illegal and say it amounts to ethnic cleansing, but Netanyahu called it a quote, "remarkable idea" and ordered Israel's army to draw up plans for large numbers of Palestinians to leave the enclave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Silence the guns. Stop the escalation. It's time for mediation. It's time to end this crisis. It's time to peace. Let us all act together for peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The U.N. secretary-general there on the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has left 3,000 people dead in Goma over the past few weeks. Rwandan-backed rebels are now on the move heading to another key city. Neighboring Rwanda, is accused of helping the rebels. The president is expected to meet with his Congolese counterpart in the coming hours.
We're also learning about the horrific fate suffered by female inmates during a prison break amid the chaos of Goma's capture. The U.N. says male prisoners started a fire at the facility but the battle for the city was underway last week. Salma Abdulaziz explains what happens next.
SALMA ABDULAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is truly horrible and a trigger warning to our viewers. We are learning that at least 165 female prisoners were raped. This video shows where and when this horrifying mass rape took place. You are looking at inmates fleeing from a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now more than 4,000 detainees made it out that day, but before their escape, some of the men carried out the mass rape of 165 women. Then they set the prison alight.
Most of those rape victims died in the fire. That's according to the United Nations. Only around a dozen female inmates who had also been raped survived the blaze. Now, fighting has been taking place after a feared and dangerous rebel group called M23 battled government troops for control of Goma, sitting (ph) in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In a matter of days, the M23 rebels forcibly seized control of the city. Systematic sexual violence has long plagued the country, and with the conflict now spiraling out of control, women and girls are yet again at risk. Salma Abdulaziz, CNN, London.
BRUNHUBER: And for more, we're joined by Luc Lempriere in the DRC's capital, Kinshasa. He's the director of the Forum of International NGOs in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thank you so much for being here with us today. So what happened at that prison is just one example of the horrific scenes happening in Goma. What is the latest on the situation there?
LUC LEMPRIERE, DIRECTOR, FORUM OF INTERNATIONAL NGO IN D.R.C.: Good morning. Yes, thank you. Yes, the situation as the example you just mentioned is horrific. Every day we are getting more information on numbers and examples of the worst kind of thing that happened over the past few days. The number of deaths and casualties is enormous. We're talking about thousands. The hospitals have been totally overwhelmed. The health system is really under a threat of collapse.
A lot of stocks of medicines have been looted or destroyed. NGOs are, I would put out about more than 50 NGOs that are present in the area, one of the international NGO's are in the areas and walking (ph), it's very, very, very difficult. We are trying all we can to be present and active, but there's a really an urgently to make sure the life stream of offer and aid is continuing.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. It's so --
LEMPRIERE: It's very difficult. The airport is (inaudible) difficult to get access and some things.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. And it's so necessary because even before the battle for Goma, some 800,000 people who'd been displaced from their homes elsewhere in the country were living in and around the city. So what's happening to them now with the rebels controlling all the ways in and out?
LEMPRIERE: Yeah, the situation is really confusing, but at the same time, we know that there's -- on top of this, 800,000 people you talked about, we have seen that over the past few weeks and days about 500,000 people are again on the move. We want to make sure to understand where they are going, in which conditions they are going.
[02:09:57]
Movement has to be done voluntarily and sometimes it's not, it's done under pressure because of the situation, because of threats and unknown situations. People are really, really worried. They are going in all sorts of directions and it's very difficult for them. So those movements of populations are important. Again, people are on the move again. They are in overcrowded areas and sometimes they are on the move to different areas. So we're trying to do everything we can to assist them.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, and you talked about the challenges of the flow to aid. The problems of course extend far beyond Goma. The rebels have captured several other towns recently and they've also captured or shut down airports which are vital of course for aid delivery.
LEMPRIERE: Yeah, absolutely. I mentioned the looting and destruction of medicines and other stocks. On top of the crisis, there's also disease, there are measles, there's an influx crisis, there's cholera concerns and a number of other health issues. So we need to be able to access this. Funds is really needed, it's really important.
About 70 percent of the funding for the response is funded by the United States. So the current freeze in USA is really an important element to take into account. So we have to make sure that the flow of funding continues. It's an absolute emergency and we hope that we are heard on this one.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, it's such a huge worry and short-sighted even from an American perspective because of course in addition to the acute danger from the fighting there's what you alluded to as well the threat of disease, communicable diseases which could spread and cause pandemics.
LEMPRIERE: Absolutely. On top of the existing disease and you know, M. pox is an example. Cholera and a number of other disease (inaudible) talking about 3,000 dead, morgues and hospitals that are full and lack of electricity. And you can imagine all the health impact of that. So it's really, really important that medicines are in.
We have no -- the imports are needed. There is a need to make sure that all those medicines are getting into the country. If they are in the country, they will get access to them. So we are calling for an air bridge into Goma, into the area, which requires, of course, the airport to restart.
BRUNHUBER: As you say, this pause in funding from the Trump administration couldn't come at a worse time. It's such a critical time right now for the country. Luc Lempriere, thank you so much for talking to us. Appreciate it.
LEMPRIERE: Thank you very much.
BRUNHUBER: The Baltic States cut off one of their last remaining ties to Moscow. When we come back, a year's long project to dismantle Russia's links to their power grid. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Moscow is playing down reports that Presidents Putin and Trump could meet soon. The Kremlin says the two haven't had any contact to discuss if or when they should meet. Now, the comment comes days after Trump said the U.S. was engaging in constructive talks with both Moscow and Kyiv about the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelensky said Thursday his country received its first batch of French Mirage 2000 fighter jets and U.S.-made F-16 fighters from the Netherlands. The shipment is part of European allies' efforts to strengthen Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
The Baltic states are officially disconnecting from Russia's power grid this weekend after years of planning. CNN's Clare Sebastian looks at the security concerns as Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia try to turn the page on their Soviet past.
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cutting one of the last ties to Moscow. This is an old Soviet electrical cable that until recently linked Lithuania to a Russian-run power grid. Dismantling it is one of the final stages in a years-long project by the three Baltic states to take back control.
VOOTELE PAI, ADVISER TO ESTONIA'S INTERIOR MINISTRY: Here in this region, we understand fairly well that the cheap Russian energy, in whatever form it comes, it always comes at a price that no democratic European country should be able to afford.
SEBASTIAN (voce-over): More than 30 years after Soviet troops rumbled back over the border and two decades after joining NATO and the E.U., Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are once again looking nervously to the east.
The war in Ukraine revealing just how willing Moscow is to both weaponize electricity and, as NATO warned again this week, disrupt daily life in Europe through suspected acts of sabotage ranging from cyber-attacks to arson.
(On camera): Now the Baltics have been preparing for this moment for many years, building three new undersea cables to the Nordic countries and a critical link to Poland. And that meant that they were actually able to stop buying electricity from Russia more than two years ago. But Moscow still controlled the shared grid and managed the frequency. And so they were vulnerable.
(Voice-over): Ahead of the switch, security has been stepped up around energy infrastructure.
DOVILE SAKALIENE, LITHUANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: We are increasing our surveillance efforts, we are increasing our additional security measures. We are going to watch this with an eye of a hawk.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): And NATO now has a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic after a string of incidents, including one right here, the Estlink-2 power cable badly damaged on Christmas Day.
[02:19:58] This ship, which was en route from Russia, suspected by Finnish police, of dragging its anchor almost 100 kilometers along the seabed. Russia has denied any involvement, Moscow calling it anti-Russian hysteria.
SAKALIENE: To imagine that this series of incidents are happening just before we disconnect from the Russian network, again one more coincidence really.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): The Baltic power switch is a blow for Moscow, experts say. Its westernmost outpost of Kaliningrad, home of its Baltic fleet, now even more isolated. Its power lines, relics of a superpower past, redrawn. Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: Now, still ahead, after years of deadly conflict in Syria, how the medical system is coping. We'll go live to Damascus. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." A new report says Syria and Turkey are discussing joint defense pacts. Reuters says the agreement could let Turkey establish air bases in Syria and help train Syria's new army. The report cites one Turkish source saying it's too early to talk about a defense pact, but says Turkey's priority in Syria is achieving stability and security. Rebels in Syria overthrew the Assad regime in December after years of deadly civil conflict.
I want to bring in Dr. Mufaddal Hamadeh, who's the president of the Syrian American Medical Society, and he joins us live from Damascus. Thank you so much for being here with us. So just to explain, your group of volunteers has been working for years to help with medical relief and teaching in Syria. Syria's medical system has been described as being on life support after years of conflict and sanctions. So what are you seeing now on this latest mission? You've been there again in Syria for about a week or so. What are you seeing?
MUFADDAL HAMADEH, PRESIDENT, SYRIAN AMERICAN MEDICAL SOCIETY: Thank you for having me. Yeah, SAMS, the Syrian American Medical Society, has been involved in strengthening the healthcare system in Syria for the last 14 years from the early days of the war in Syria. Currently, during our current mission in Syria, 23 of our doctors have participated in medical procedures, teaching, and exploring the healthcare system readiness and our capabilities currently, which is basically, as you said, on life support.
Unfortunately, the health care system is dilapidated. Hospitals lack basic supplies, basic equipments. Equipments are basically in dire need for repair and upgrades. Medical students and health care professionals are suffering from lack of equipments and basic needs so they can continue on with their trainings. So it is really in a very bad shape.
As you said, sanctions have played a role in this, but also corruption, neglect, and I think we are in a critical stage because many patients are suffering, many patients are dying because of lack of basic needs. So our organization started a while ago, maybe two or three weeks ago, a $1 million campaign to support the health care, the health ministry by providing basic needs, equipments, consumables, hospitals and medications also.
Our rounds, teaching rounds and seminars and workshops are contributing a great deal to the healthcare system to improving the quality of healthcare.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. But there's only so much volunteers like you can do on short missions like the one you're engaged in right now. I mean, how does the country get back on its feet and rebuild and are you confident that with the current government it's on the right path now?
HAMADEH: I think they are. The health ministry or the -- are trying to do its best and I think they are being responsive to the requests and demands of people, but as much as they can. The task is huge and I think they have inherited a collapse system so, it's going to take a while but it's going to require a lot of help. You're right. Our organization cannot place a health ministry. It cannot be a government. There is so much we can do but everything we do counts.
BRUNHUBER: Well, let me jump in and ask --
HAMADEH: -- and I really mean --
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Let me jump in and ask about that help because the problem is the U.S. is the largest foreign aid provider to Syria and according to U.S. government figures, USAID humanitarian assistance reaches more than four and a half million Syrians every month. So with so much uncertainty around aid for Syria now, what effect could that have in terms of your specialty rebuilding the medical system and the future of the country?
HAMADEH: Yeah, there is so much about that because I think this is absolutely the wrong step to take at this point in Syria's history.
[02:30:04]
It is important for the recovery of Syria, which is reeling from 14 years of war, devastating war. Many people depend on USAID. It's the softer face of America here.
And I think it has done a great job over the years, particularly supporting us, supporting SAMS and many hospitals depend on those grants.
We're waiting for the verifications, from which services are going to be cut. We are also very anxious about some of the services that we are going to need to sustain now, whether they're going to compensate us for sustaining them, some of those are labor and delivery and incubators, children's services for newborns. These all depends on USAID, mental health, treatment for autism.
It all depends on which, you know, after the verifications and classifications, whether those are life saving services or not, it all going to be up in the air and its causing a great deal of anxiety. This is not a good time to cut aid on Syria. This is a time to support it.
And actually and I think, every dollar you spend on this is a dollar very well spent.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah. As you say, so much depends on, on this aid and there's so much uncertainty. It's really frightening to hear about the litany of life saving things that are possibly on the chopping block here. Unfortunately, we'll have to leave it there. But wish you and the rest of the doctors who are doing a great work out there all the best.
Dr. Mufaddal Hamadeh in Damascus, thank you so much.
And we'll be right back. Stay with us.
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[02:36:21]
BRUNHUBER: Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado is known for capturing the beauty of the Amazon forest. The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City is holding an exhibition of Salgado's work. It aims to raise awareness about the need to protect the Amazon's crucial ecosystem.
The work also highlights the people and cultures of the rainforest. The exhibition of more than 200 photos will be opened at the Mexico City museum until April 30th.
Netflix is distancing itself from Karla Sofia Gascon, the Oscar nominated star of the movie "Emilia Perez", amid the growing scandal over her now deleted offensive tweets.
Gascon is the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for an Academy Award.
Here's CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Emilia Perez," Netflix's big Oscar contender with 13 nominations now reduced to a tearful apology from its breakout star, Karla Sofia Gascon, whose controversial tweets shocked Hollywood at the height of her Oscar campaign. The tweets, uncovered by an independent writer, included this 2016 post. Islam is becoming a hotbed of infection for humanity that urgently needs to be cured.
Alongside a Muslim family photo, she called Islam a deep, disgusting humanity. During protests over the police killing of George Floyd, Gascon called Floyd a drug addict swindler whose death has served to once again demonstrate that there are people who still consider black people to be monkeys without rights and consider policemen to be assassins. They're all wrong.
In an exclusive interview with CNN and Espanol's Juan Carlos Arciniegas, Gascon apologized and said she's not a racist.
I have been condemned and sacrificed and crucified and stoned without a trial and with no option to defend myself, she said, tearfully adding that she thought the public made her out to be a terrible monster.
It's a stunning turn of events for Gascon, who made history just last month as the first openly transgender actor to ever be nominated for an Oscar.
CLAYTON DAVIS, SENIOR AWARDS EDITOR, VARIETY: The reconciling of the moment is like this historic nomination we're supposed to be celebrating. She would have been prominently displayed and cut to during the Oscar telecast.
WAGMEISTER: In another resurfaced post, Gascon mocked the Oscar telecast itself, calling it a vindictive film awards ceremony. I didn't know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or March 8th, apparently referring to International Women's Day.
The Academy immediately unfollowed Gascon on social media, and her co- stars in the film's director are distancing themselves, too.
ZOE SALDANA, ACTRESS: He desires to remain anonymous.
WAGMEISTER: Zoe Saldana, who won the Golden Globe last month, is now vying for her first Oscar and spoke to Variety's Clayton Davis.
SALDANA: I'm very sad. I'm -- I'm also disappointed.
WAGMEISTER: Despite the growing backlash, Gascon says she won't pull out of the race.
I cannot step down from an Oscar nomination, she said, because I have not committed any crime, nor have I harmed anyone.
Few doubt the power of Gascon's performance. She plays a complex role, a cartel leader both as a man and a woman. But now many are asking how Netflix missed a huge landmine on its road to Oscar gold.
[02:40:01]
DAVIS: All that work and money was flushed down the toilet just a week ago.
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WAGMEISTER (on camera): Now, Netflix has not publicly commented on the situation at all. I have reached out to Netflix. I have not heard back, but I do hear that they are actively distancing themselves from Karla Sofia Gascon in an effort to salvage this campaign for the rest of the cast, crew and creatives who worked so hard on this film.
Back to you.
BRUNHUBER: And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
"WORLD SPORT" is next, and I'll be back in about 15 minutes with more news.
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[02:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
