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CNN International: Trump Plans New 25 Percent Tariffs On Steel, Aluminum Imports Into U.S.; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau To Shut D.C. Headquarters; Pres. Trump Attends Super Bowl, Prepares To Unveil New Tariffs. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired February 10, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
And ahead on CNN Newsroom, the trade game, President Trump announcing his plans to unveil more tariffs this week. We'll have the latest from the White House. Plus, ready to talk, President Trump says that he has spoken with Vladimir Putin. We'll look at how he is hoping to bring an end to the nearly three-year-long war in Ukraine. And this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No "3-peat". No dynasty. In Philly, South Philly, baby. That's where it is, here.
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SOLOMON: Yes. The sea of green, as we all collectively say, fly Eagles fly, sweet revenge for the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia totally dominating the Chiefs, denying Kansas City a historic third consecutive Super Bowl victory.
All right. It's a new week, and new tariffs are being leveled by President Donald Trump. In the coming hours, the White House is expected to announce a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What countries will those go on?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Everybody, steel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Including Canada, Mexico?
TRUMP: Yeah. Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 percent tariff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about aluminum, sir? TRUMP: Aluminum too.
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SOLOMON: Now, those tariffs will hit Canada and Mexico hard, two of the largest steel exporters to the U.S., the week after the President delayed other tariffs against them. Now, these new levies will be on top of the ones already in place on exports from places like China and Mexico. China, meantime, declared retaliatory tariffs on $14 billion worth of U.S. goods, things like coal and natural gas, that go into effect today. Mr. Trump also saying that he will launch new reciprocal tariffs, promising a detailed plan, including which countries specifically will be targeted.
Let's now bring in our Kevin Liptak, who is at the White House. Kevin, obviously, sometimes these details fly pretty quickly. What's the latest now?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the White House is saying that these will go into effect later today. They haven't necessarily provided a huge amount of detail, but President Trump was certainly pretty explicit when he was talking on Air Force One last night, talking, one, about these reciprocal tariffs that could go in place later this week, essentially an eye for an eye on countries that impose tariffs on American exports, but also these metal tariffs that he says will go into place later today, 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum, that would affect the United States' neighbors, Canada and Mexico, which are the largest importers of steel into the United States.
Of course, President Trump had already threatened tariffs on those countries a couple of weeks back, only to step back from actually imposing them for 30 days, as the two countries work out these arrangements to try to curb the flow of fentanyl and migrants across the border. It remains to be seen whether the President will find ways to exempt American allies from these metal tariffs, or if, because he thinks that this poses a national security threat, he will go through on imposing them. And you'll remember President Trump previously, when he was President, the first time around, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum. They were lower than the 25 percent level that he will impose today.
But, I think he is serious, and he talked about this, when he was a candidate, in trying to restore the strength of the American steel industry. Low steel prices caused by Chinese overcapacity has in a lot of ways hurt American steel workers. This is critical in the American state of Pennsylvania. That's a critical battleground. And so, this is all sort of wrapped up in the politics of the United States as well.
But, certainly, American allies will be affected by this, in addition to Canada, which is the largest importer of steel into the United States. You also have Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Vietnam, who could all potentially be affected by this. During his first term, the President exempted certain countries from these tariffs. It's not clear he'll do that this time around, but I think you will start to see this build and pick up. One country that isn't going to be affected directly by these tariffs,
at least in a big way, is China. China doesn't export a huge amount of steel and aluminum to the United States, but it is the cause of these lower steel prices around the world, because of what the U.S. says is flooding the -- flooding countries with cheaper steel due to its own overcapacity. And I think the hope in the White House is by applying these tariffs, it could sort of realign all of that going forward.
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SOLOMON: OK. We will see. Kevin Liptak, thank you.
And President Trump and Elon Musk have been taking a sledge hammer to the U.S. government, and today, the Trump administration is targeting another federal agencies. In their cross hairs, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, its D.C. headquarters will be closed this week, and its staff have been told not to do any work at all, according to an email obtained by CNN. That's the federal watchdog that stops unscrupulous and fraudulent business practices, and the President plans to have Elon Musk target other federal agencies as well.
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TRUMP: Then I'm going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours to go check the Department of Education. He is going to find the same thing. Then I'm going to go to the military. Let's check the military. We're going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse. And the people elected me on that.
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SOLOMON: All right. Let's bring in CNN Business and Politics Correspondent, Vanessa Yurkevich with us now. Vanessa, what's the latest on this? What are you hearing?
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that employees of the CFPB over the weekend got a flurry of emails telling them not to show up to the office this week, that their offices would be closed, and essentially to stop all work. This was at the direction of the Director of the CFPB, who said, essentially, things are shutting down. Now, for how long? We do not know.
But, really, Rahel, this was messaged on Friday. We saw from Elon Musk a tweet go out that said, 'CFPB RIP'. So, people were saying, OK, is this bureau next? Is this the next government agency that is next on the chopping block, and that is looking like what is happening? Also, the web page for the bureau is completely shut down, the front page of the web page. Also financing, coming from the Federal Reserve, not from Congress, it's overseen by Congress, but the financing for this bureau comes in from the Federal Reserve, apparently, that has been put on hold as well. And we are learning that DOGE, that is the agency that is run by Elon Musk, now has access to the internal systems of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.
So, this is looking like an unraveling of this government agency, as you mentioned, just the next in a long line of agencies that Elon Musk has been tasked with dismantling at the direction, Rahel, of President Trump.
SOLOMON: And Vanessa, the CFPB, I mean, sometimes, for those not familiar, the agencies in Washington can sound like a bit of an alphabet soup of acronyms, talk to us exactly about what this agency is and why supporters say its work is really important.
YURKEVICH: Yeah. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau does exactly what its name entails. This was created in 2007-2008 after the financial crash, to basically hold large financial banking institutions accountable. It is the watchdog for consumer protections. So, you see right there, those numbers on your screen, about 205 million people are eligible for relief under the work that the bureau does, and about $363 million has been given out over the past number of years to veterans who were defrauded in some situations, then $6.1 billion estimated in refunds for Americans in overdraft fees annually. So, those are some big numbers that really paint the picture of what this watchdog group does.
It essentially is the checks and balances for American consumers who can file complaints with the agency over what they feel are unfair financial practices by whether it's banks, institutions and companies. So, without this watchdog, who does look out for the American people, and who do the American people go to in order to be able to file these claims? And Rahel, the big question is, is this legal? Is this unraveling, undoing of this agency? Legal? It is overseen, as I mentioned, from Congress, but it doesn't get funding from Congress, and that was done intentionally to kind of keep it separate from the political arena.
But, a lot of employees now have filed lawsuits, Rahel, over what's going on right now. And these things can move pretty quickly, as we know, Rahel. A judge can decide to put a pause on this unraveling of this agency. We saw it done with USAID. Could this happen in the next 24 hours? I mean, Rahel, so much changes minute to minute. We will just, again, have to wait and see what happens in the next few hours.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Yet again, another example of the court sort of stepping in here to decide.
Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you.
YURKEVICH: Thanks.
SOLOMON: All right. Lots to break down now with CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein. He is also a Senior Editor at The Atlantic. Ron, always a pleasure to have you. Let me pick up where Vanessa has left off there, these moves with DOGE. I mean Trump, for his part, he enjoys pretty widespread support from Republican lawmakers.
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You can't (ph) exactly say the same about Elon Musk and these efforts with DOGE.
Ron, does Trump run the risk of overplaying his hand here, and Musk essentially wearing out his welcome very quickly, and it backfiring politically? How do you see it?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, & SENIOR EDITOR, THE ATLANTIC: Well, clearly, Trump has been using Musk, or Musk has been using Trump, I suppose, to go -- to press the absolute outer boundaries of executive authority. I mean, we were talking about agencies that were created in statute, USAID, Consumer Finance Protection Board, that the administration, through Musk, is attempting to shut down, in effect, through executive action. And obviously, it has come to the courts to adjudicate whether that violates the underlying statutes, because Republicans in Congress have really shown no interest in defending their institutional prerogatives, that an agency created by Congress really can only be shuttered by an act of Congress.
I'm guessing that when we get a better look at public opinion that Americans will, on the one hand, certainly agree that the federal government can use a tune up, and its management of information systems or its efficiency, but will not be entirely comfortable with the idea of an unelected billionaire whose kind of persona is one of disruption and erratic behavior when he is not exactly a figure of stability and probity, Musk, having access to the inner workings of the federal government and potentially their most sensitive financial information. So, this could be an area where the public, I think sooner than later, use what's happening as an overreach, even as the courts are raising, I think, the very legitimate question of whether it's an overreach legally.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It's an interesting point. I mean, anecdotally, we've already heard from some lawmakers, including Republican lawmakers, who say that their phones have been ringing off the hook --
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
SOLOMON: -- levels that they've never seen with constituents calling with questions and concerns about what Elon Musk is exactly doing in Washington.
Ron, let me turn to tariffs. Three weeks in, they're flying left and right from this administration. What's the through line with these policies? Because, as we've seen, these tariffs have been directed at friends and foes.
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. We've gotten like two messages, and I think it's the second one that ultimately it's going to be more important. On the one hand, you have Trump allies and advocates arguing that he is truly using tariffs as a bargaining chip to get other nations to do what he wants on a whole variety of issues, economic and to some extent non- economic, like immigration and fentanyl.
The other through line, which I think is the real one, is that Donald Trump really does believe in tariffs. I mean, he has talked often about his belief that the late 19th century model in which the federal government was funded primarily by tariff, revenue and the income tax was in abeyance, was a better model for the U.S. He has argued that tariffs is a better model than Joe Biden's strategy of subsidies for promoting domestic manufacturing. So, on multiple times, he has come up to the brink already in this administration and back down from imposing sweeping tariffs, but I don't see him backing down always.
I mean, I think we are going to crash through this wall more than once, because in his heart, he wants to impose the tariffs. He believes that the tariffs are a positive good and that obvious -- and once those tariffs go into place, he will obviously be putting strain on the central reason he got elected, which is that most Americans thought he would bring down their cost of living. He would manage inflation better than Joe Biden did, and Trump seems determined to test that expectation by imposing tariffs sooner than later.
This reciprocal tariffs likely would mean higher prices for Americans, because most of our trading partners have higher tariffs on our goods than we have on theirs, and he has not ruled out returning to the Mexico, Canada and further increases in China. I think tariffs are going to come down the pike at some point during this presidency.
SOLOMON: Well, Ron, and it's a really interesting point, because this question about the relationship between tariffs and ultimately his campaign promise to bring down costs and inflation was asked yesterday when Trump sat down with Fox News for the customary pre-Super Bowl interview, and he was asked about this very thing, and here is what he said, Ron.
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BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: If all goes to plan, when do you think families will be able to feel prices going down, groceries, energy, or are you kind of saying to them, hang on, inflation may get worse until it gets better?
TRUMP: No. I think we're going to become a rich -- look, we're not that rich right now. We owe $36 trillion. That's because we let all these nations take advantage of us. Same thing, like $200 billion with Canada. We owe $300 billion -- we have a deficit with Mexico of $350 billion. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to let that happen.
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SOLOMON: Now, Ron, Trump's approval rating at this stage of his term is higher that it was his first term.
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But, how long is his runway? At what point does that start to take a hit if people at home think, yeah, but when is this going to start to impact me? When will I see the relief that you promised on the campaign trail?
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. The vast majority of Trump's voters, right, as we know, are with him through thick and thin, but they were not the ones who elected him. I mean, the ones who elected him were the last few points of voters who pulled the lever for him, primarily because they were discontented with the way things were going in the country. And they thought, remembered back to his presidency as a time when, as Democrats often heard in focus groups, I had more money in my pocket at the end of the week. So, I mean, certainly Trump has some time with his core voters. He --
that 46 percent or so, they're not going anywhere. The question of how long those next roughly three percent that pushed him over the top, is really an open question. I -- in the campaign, Rahel, even during the campaign, those voters -- many of those voters still express doubts about Trump on other fronts, about his character, about other aspects of his agenda, like pardoning the violent January 6 rioters. And I'm just -- I'm guessing that among those voters is still a lot of resistance to many of the things that he is pushing out in the first days of administration, particularly the Musk access to financial data and those pardons.
But, as in the campaign, if they feel their economic circumstance is getting better, they'll probably look past that and remain supported. If they don't, however, I think all of those other doubts resurface sooner than later. I mean, Trump is still hovering below 50 percent approval in most polls, which is unusual for a President in the honeymoon period. So, I'm guessing that voters are willing to give him some time. They don't expect the President to solve problems overnight, but they do expect him to solve problems, especially when they elected him above all but solved.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Absolutely. Ron Brownstein, always a privilege. Thank you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
SOLOMON: Yep. All right. And still ahead, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is speaking out about the prospect of negotiating with Vladimir Putin, as well as Donald Trump's pledge to end the conflict in Ukraine. Plus, while questions swirl over potential negotiations, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh looks back at the toll of Russia's conflict, as the fighting approaches its third year. We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Donald Trump needs to do more than just end Russia's war on Ukraine, as he has promised, but also needs to make sure that Vladimir Putin can't come back and threaten Ukraine again in the future. The U.S. President announced over the weekend that he has spoken with the Russian leader, but did not say when. The Kremlin, meantime, says that it can neither confirm nor deny the claim. Mr. Trump says that he hopes that the war is over, quote, "fast" after previously vowing to end it within 24 hours of taking office.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know you don't want to tell us about your conversation with President Putin.
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But can you clarify whether you had that since you've been in office? Or whether it happened before you became President? TRUMP: I've had it. Let's just say I've had it, and I expect to have many more conversations. We have to get that war ended. It's going to end. We have to get it ended, and we have to get it ended. So, it should have never happened, would have never happened if I was President.
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SOLOMON: Now, Mr. Trump's envoy to Ukraine and Russia is expected to meet with allies this week at the Munich Security Conference, but has suggested that he will not publicly unveil any U.S. plan to end the war at that time, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says that he is willing to talk with Putin if the conditions are right.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (Interpreted): If I had an understanding that America and Europe would not abandon us and that they would support us and provide security guarantees, I would be ready for any format of negotiations.
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SOLOMON: All right. Let's get more now from our Clare Sebastian, who is following these developments from London. Clare, what more are you learning and hearing about Trump and Putin's conversation?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rahel. We really don't have a clear picture of what this was. As you heard there, President Trump won't even confirm when it was, whether or not it was before or after he took office. Now, the Kremlin says that they won't confirm or deny this happened either, but they did leave the door open to the idea that it might have happened, saying, this is the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, who said there could be something there. I don't know.
Now, we know that Moscow is open to dialog. They've said that multiple times. They clearly relish this hep in bend in terms of policy shifts from the Biden administration that was bent on isolating Russia to the Trump administration that wants to engage with Russia, but they are sort of publicly playing down their expectations.
The Deputy Foreign Minister this afternoon saying that they don't have high expectations for a significant change in the stance of the U.S., and that may be because, from what we can glean so far from the Trump administration's attitude to Russia and how they plan to handle this, is it seems to be showing up as a combination of sort of incentives and threats, the threats to ramp up sanctions, tariffs, taxes as well, and to drive down the price of oil, if you listened to previous comments from President Trump, combined with other policy ideas that we've seen, for example, Keith Kellogg, the Russia-Ukraine envoy, suggesting that Ukraine would be pushed to hold elections as part of an initial ceasefire.
Russia is very much sort of sticking to their line that they see President Zelenskyy as illegitimate, because, of course, Ukraine did not hold elections when his term officially came to an end last year, because they cannot do that under conditions of martial law. So, you can see there is a combination there. But, of course, the wild card here is that Russia has the initiative in this war. They are inching forward on the frontlines, especially in eastern Ukraine. So, it would take a lot, it seems, at this point, to bring them to the negotiation table, number one, and to get him to agree to any kind of concessions once they're there.
SOLOMON: And I mean, to that point, Clare, what about on the Ukrainian side? I mean, when Zelenskyy says that he is ready to negotiate, what are you hearing an ideal scenario could look like for the Ukrainians and what comes next?
SEBASTIAN: Yeah. President Zelenskyy, I think his -- a major concern for him at the moment is that he might not get a seat at the table, which, again, is a major shift from the policy of the Biden administration. President Biden constantly said that Ukraine should be the one to choose its future. And now we have a Trump administration willing to talk to Russia, a Russia that believes President Zelenskyy is illegitimate. So, he is concerned about that. I think the issue of deterrence is another major one. President Zelenskyy, and of course, Ukraine, they have seen Russia violate ceasefires in the past. So, they want security guarantees. President Zelenskyy has said that he doesn't think security guarantees would work without the United States.
But then, we hear this from President Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. Take a listen.
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MICHAEL WALTZ, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: I think an underlying principle here is that the Europeans have to own this conflict going forward. President Trump is going to end it. And then in terms of security guarantees, that is squarely going to be with the European.
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SEBASTIAN: So, that, of course, in contrast to what President Zelenskyy wants, which is for the U.S. to maintain a crucial role as Ukraine's biggest backer.
But, look, this is a crucial week. Top Trump officials, including the Defense Secretary, are heading to Europe. There is going to be a NATO defense ministers meeting. Then we have the Ukraine defense contact group, this grouping of countries that have collectively provided aid to Ukraine. This will be the first time that that is not chaired by the U.S. So, you can see the shift taking place there. And then, of course, the Munich Security Conference. So, we may have a clearer picture at the end of this week, Rahel, as to exactly how Europe plans to, quote, "own this conflict."
SOLOMON: Yeah. Certainly a lot to watch. Clare Sebastian, thank you.
All right. This just into CNN. Hamas says it is postponing the next hostage release scheduled for Saturday. It accuses Israel of violating the terms of a ceasefire, including targeting Palestinians in Gaza with shelling and gunfire and failing to allow in enough aid.
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CNN has reached out to the Israeli government for a response. We also know that three more Israeli hostages were released over the weekend under that fragile ceasefire agreement. That was in exchange for 183 Palestinian prisoners.
After an emotional reunion, the family of one hostage said that they would not rest until all remaining hostages are home.
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YULIE BEN AMI, DAUGHTER OF RELEASED ISRAELI HOSTAGE: Yesterday, we got our father back. He lost much of his weight but not his spirit. My father is strong, and I admire him. He survived hell. The return of the hostages yesterday leaves no room for doubt. They all must return. We will not stop fighting until the last hostage come home.
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SOLOMON: All right. Let's bring in Jeremy Diamond, who joins us live from Tel Aviv. Jeremy, what more can you share with us about these new lines of a possible postponing of the next hostage release.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Very dramatic announcement from Abu Obaida, the spokesman of Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades. Obaida, in this tweet, says that the release of the next three Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity, which was scheduled for Saturday, will be, quote, "postponed until further notice". Obaida says that Israel has violated terms of the ceasefire agreement, pointing to two things in particular, first of all, the delay that happened a couple of weeks ago, as to the return of Palestinians going to northern Gaza, which Israel attributed to Hamas' violations of the terms of the agreement.
And then also this other issue which seems to be the kind of central sticking point here, which is that Hamas is accusing Israel of not allowing in relief supplies as part of the humanitarian aid that's supposed to get into Gaza, including shelters and heavy machinery equipment, which Hamas is accusing Israel of delaying or simply not allowing in the quantities that were required and expected based off of the ceasefire agreement. And so, Hamas is saying that based off of that, it is going to delay the release of the next three hostages, which was scheduled for Saturday until further notice, and quote, "until Israel commits to and compensates for the entitlements of the past weeks retro-actively".
Now, we have, of course, heard violations, accusations of violations, being flung from one side to the other, both Israel and Hamas accusing the others of ceasefire violations. But, there is no question that Hamas saying that they will delay the release of the next three hostages is perhaps the biggest inflection point yet in this current ceasefire agreement, and certainly threatens to upend it altogether. So, we will have to wait and see how Israel responds. But, certainly, this will be something that Israel takes very, very seriously, in particular, in light of the fact that we saw over the weekend, the condition in which those three male hostages returned to Israel in, looking quite emaciated, and something that has certainly stirred a sense of urgency within Israel about the release of the remaining hostages and concern for their lives as well.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Jeremy, also talk to us about President Trump and this new clip that was released this morning, now explicitly saying that Palestinians would not have a right to return to Gaza under his redevelopment plan. Walk us through it.
DIAMOND: Yeah. That's right. Until now, the President had kind of hinted and suggested that Palestinians would be permanently displaced from the Gaza Strip. Now, he is really fully saying it out loud, quote, "no, they wouldn't," when asked in this interview on Fox News whether Palestinians would have a right to return to the Gaza Strip. He is claiming that better housing will be built for them in a, quote, "permanent place", and we know, of course, that he is trying to make some kind of a deal with both Jordan and Egypt to accept large numbers of Palestinian refugees. It's important to keep in mind that there are more than two million Palestinians who live in Gaza.
And yes, while they do want safety, they want to live in peace. They also want to live on their land. And Trump's proposal, in the past of the United States taking over Gaza and displacing millions of Palestinians, has been forcefully rejected, not only by those Palestinians on the ground who live in Gaza, but also by both Jordan and Egypt as well.
Now, the President is set to sit down tomorrow with Jordan's King Abdullah, and the President believes that he has significant leverage over him because of the billions of dollars in U.S. military aid that is provided to Jordan and Egypt annually. So, we will see how those discussions go. But, certainly, the President's ideas on this front have been forcefully rejected by all of the major Arab countries in the region, and also notably by Saudi Arabia, who Trump believes he can strike some kind of grand bargain with to normalize relations with Israel, perhaps as part of a kind of next step of this ceasefire agreement. Rahel.
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SOLOMON: Yeah. Jeremy Diamond reporting there in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, thank you.
And five Thai workers are finally back home and reunited with their families after being held hostage by Hamas for more than a year.
Our John Vause brings us the story of their reunions.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN HOST: The embrace says everything words cannot about returning home. One of the five Thai hostages recently released after more than 15 months in Hamas captivity, clasped by his grandfather in Thailand in a homecoming family members say is long overdue. WIWWAEO SRIAOUN, MOTHER OF RELEASED THAI HOSTAGE (Interpreted): This is something we've been waiting for, for a long, long time. It's a miracle. Something many thought would never happen. It feels like my son has died and been born again.
VAUSE (voice-over): Wiwwaeo Sriaoun left Thailand to earn money. He worked as a laborer in Israel, but was taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7th attacks in 2023. He is one of the last Thai hostages to be set free, and his mother says he is sharing some details now of his time in captivity.
SRIAOUN (Interpreted): He said the place where he was held was sometimes a house, but he was frequently moved from one place to another, including underground caves.
VAUSE (voice-over): Watchara and four other Thai workers held hostage arrived home in Thailand Sunday. The scenes of joy and tears at the airport. It's been more than a year since any Thai nationals have been set free by Hamas, but Thailand's foreign ministry says one Thai national is still being held captive in Gaza. But, after months of uncertainty, families say the reality of the five being back in Thailand is an answer to some long-standing prayers.
In the hometown of another hostage, his family celebrated his return with a Thai tradition of tying strings around his wrist.
JANDA PRACHANAN, STEPFATHER OF RELEASED THAI HOSTAGE (Interpreted): I could not find the words to describe how happy I am that my son is safe and finally home.
VAUSE (voice-over): A band of blessings and a sign of bonds that still hold even after the worst of circumstances.
John Vause, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And still ahead for us, scammers stole $1 trillion from unsuspecting people around the world last year. Now, one former scammer is using his skills to help fraud victims. That story when we come back. Plus, France is hosting global and tech leaders for an AI summit. We'll take your life to Paris, coming up next.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom, and I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Here are some of the international headlines we're watching for you
today.
There were protests in the Spanish capital of Madrid Sunday, with thousands demanding their right to, quote, "dignified housing and an end to rising home prices". They want the government to address the city's high rental rates and lack of affordable housing.
Ecuador is headed to a runoff vote in April, according to the preliminary results of Sunday's presidential election. President Daniel Noboa fell short of an outright majority in Sunday's general election. His 14-month term has been defined by an unprecedented security crisis. The central right incumbent will face off against leftist politician Luisa Gonzalez in the second round. She is running on a campaign to, quote, "Revive Ecuador". Both candidates have urged their supporters to watch vote counting to prevent any fraud, and more than 100 observers from the EU have been deployed at the polls.
It is officially Carnival season in La Paz, Bolivia. Celebrations kicked off Sunday, beginning with the traditional awakening of the spirit of carnival, who goes by Pepino, or cucumber in Spanish, Pepino is one of the three main characters of the Bolivian Carnival season, and represents joy. The annual unearthing parade of the Pepino begins at the General Cemetery and then continues through the streets of La Paz, showcasing the country's rich folklore and history.
And world leaders and tech entrepreneurs are gathered in the French capital for a two-day conference. The AI Action Summit is underway at the Grand Palais in Paris. In advance of the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a $100 billion private sector investment in French artificial intelligence development. He says that it's important for his country to stay competitive in the AI race. And U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is among those attending the summit.
Joining us now with more from Paris is CNN's Melissa Bell, who was at the summit. Melissa, give us a sense of what some of the highlights have been so far.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're just waiting here, Rahel, for the French President to make the closing remarks of today. Tomorrow, we'll be hearing from Vice President J.D. Vance. Today has really been about the business leaders. So, you've got so many companies represented here, all of the big American tech companies, of course, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, are here to make their cases and to try and be involved in what Parisian authorities have hoped would be a giant meeting place to try and talk about AI, what happens next, what the way forward is for regulation, for innovation, for cooperation between countries. And as you mentioned, what Europe's place is in all of that.
Now, that EUR 109 billion investment announced by President Macron, those are private funds, many of them from other companies, companies outside of Europe will be investing here in France for things like the largest data park that will be built in the European Union. France intends to make itself a leader on his questions, and believes that there is still some room for Europe to be competitive against American and Chinese leaders in this area.
Really, there is this ongoing conversation, of course, Rahel, between the sort of hands-off approach to the American administration increasingly so since the latest administration came in, government- backed tech giants coming from China, and Europeans who are hoping at once to innovate and to regulate, but to convince people that this needs to be done internationally, even as power is given back to ordinary people. They want to promote things like the taking up of AI, things like how people can be trained and taught to use AI, rather than being afraid of some of those threats we've heard so much about to being made aware of its potential and how that responsible deployment of AI can be organized.
There are so many questions about how that global governance can work, and whether the United States would agree to any of them, Rahel.
SOLOMON: And Melissa, speaking of the United States, this is going to be the first international trip for J.D. Vance as Vice President. If I'm not mistaken, he himself has an investment background. What can we expect to hear from him at the summit?
BELL: That's right. This is a man who spent time in Silicon Valley. We're going to be hearing from the new Vice President tomorrow. It's his first foreign trip, of course, since he became Vice President. And whilst we expect to hear him speak to AI, specifically to American fears of what Europe is doing in terms of regulation, and their belief of how these things need to continue, less regulated than perhaps the Europeans would have it, we also expect strong signals about how the incoming administration, the new administration are going to be dealing with that much more aggressive diplomacy we've been promised, not too much on the question of tariffs, but we know that, for instance, Ukraine and Gaza are going to be central to some of the discussions that Vice President Vance is going to be having with Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.
[11:40:00]
So, we understand that beyond the question of AI, he'll be speaking here in the Grand Palais about, he'll also be looking to this visit here in Europe, not just here in Paris, this summit, but then on to the Munich Security Conference. And he said so to Bret Baier before he left the United States, he is going to be looking for much more from European partners on how the war in Ukraine can be brought to a close quickly, Rahel.
SOLOMON: OK. Melissa Bell live for us there in Paris. Melissa, thank you.
An AI, not the only concern for consumers. It's estimated that scammers tricked people out of more than a trillion dollars last year, one even posing as the deep fake Brad Pitt. Now, one former scammer is using his skills to try to catch perpetrators.
Here is Saskya Vandoorne with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE POSING AS DEEP FAKE BRAD PITT: I everything with you --
SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER (voice-over): This AI-generated fake Brad Pitt swindled a 53-year-old French woman named Anne out of $850,000 in a scam that would become a viral sensation. Meet the man who says he found the scammers behind the elaborate hoax.
MARWAN OUARAB, FOUNDER, FINDMYSCAMMER: I learned all my skills in the dark side.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Marwan Ouarab is a now reformed scammer who not only helps victims get their money back, but helps track down the bad guys. To catch Anne's scammers, he emailed them a booby-trapped link.
OUARAB (Interpreted): By clicking on it, he revealed to us his exact GPS coordinates.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Marwan says it was not one but three people behind the fake account.
OUARAB (Interpreted): This is the house.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Prosecutors have since opened an investigation and are using the information Marwan collected to bring Anne's scammers to justice, but tracking down online criminals comes at a cost.
VANDOORNE (on camera): Have you received threats?
OUARAB (Interpreted): Yes, we've already received threats. I've already moved house, so it's part of daily life.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Marwan started his company FindmyScammer four years after he was convicted of fraud and handed a suspended prison sentence. Since then, he says he has been inundated with cries for help. On a normal day, he receives up to 150 requests. According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, over $1 trillion was lost to scams globally in 2024, and yet, 70 percent of victims didn't report the crime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, I miss you too. I love you too.
"LUCA", SCAM VICTIM (Interpreted): It's the girl who was in contact with me, the so-called Zara.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Zara is a fake persona who stole both Luca's heart and $70,000. He is another scam victim who has been helped by Marwan and wishes to remain anonymous.
"LUCA" (Interpreted): I don't want to do an interview with my face uncovered because I saw what Anne went through in the case of the fake Brad Pitt, the cyber bullying she suffered. And I don't want to go through that too.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Scammers rely on this shame so victims don't come forward. Anne tried to take her own life after being ridiculed online.
"LUCA" (Interpreted): The whole world makes you feel like you're stupid. I don't want that. Marwan conducted his investigation so we were able to find out that this girl. In the end, she was not in London as she said she was. She was in Dubai, and after that, he was able to get in touch with the authorities in Dubai.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): He says she was then arrested. After Marwan helps track down his client's scammers, he also helps them go over their bank's obligations to reclaim their stolen funds.
"LUCA" (Interpreted): I was able to recover some money.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Marwan says, if someone you haven't met in real life asks you for money, even if you've been talking to them for months or years, then that's a big red flag.
OUARAB (Interpreted): I've been a crook myself before. I very much regret it. I think that this is also the path of redemption that I have chosen.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And still to come, spies in the sky. We'll take a closer look at what's behind those search and surveillance flights over the U.S.- Mexico border, when we come back.
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[11:45:00]
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. The U.S. military has ramped up its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels. U.S. officials and open source data indicate that American spy planes have flown at least 18 missions in the past couple of weeks. That is far more than the usual one per month around the U.S.-Mexico border.
CNN's Katie Bo Lillis has more now from Washington on the flights and what they tell us about shifting White House priorities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: So, let's talk about the scale of this ramp-up. Sources tell us that until recently, the U.S. military might fly maybe one of these surveillance flights a month along the southwest border. There has been at least 18 that we know of in the last 10 days alone. Now, it's important to remember that flight hours in the three kinds of planes being used here are a finite resource, and up until now, Pentagon leaders have chosen to prioritize using them on things like collecting intelligence on the war in Ukraine, and hunting Russian and Chinese submarines. So, this ramp-up really emphasizes the degree to which the Trump administration is shifting resources away from overseas threats to focus on what he has declared a national emergency on the southern border, and specifically the cartel issue.
DoD is using three different kinds of planes here that are together capable of collecting imagery and hoovering up digital communications on the ground. One of them is -- one of these planes is actually a U2, a platform that was developed during the Cold War, and according to our sources, hasn't been used in the southern border context before. All of these planes are flying in U.S. or in international air space, not Mexican air space, but they're all capable of seeing sideways. They can effectively still collect intelligence deep inside Mexico. So, in theory, they'll be able to collect on cartel communications, perhaps take photos, and identify cartel logistics hubs.
The question now is, what does DoD want to do with the intelligence it collects here? Is this about building a body of information for building out a basis to designate cartel actors as terrorists? Is it about passing along information about cartel operations to the Mexican government? Or is it potentially about identifying cartel targets for the U.S. military to strike directly, something that Trump has suggested publicly, that he would consider? Right now, we just don't know.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: All right. Our thanks to Katie Bo Lillis there.
And it is the Monday after Super Bowl. We have everything you need to know from last night's incredible game. Coming up, our Coy Wire has it all from New Orleans. We'll also take a look at the halftime show that had a lot of people talking.
Stay with us. We'll be right back.
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[11:50:00]
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES QUARTERBACK: Still processing it. It's been a long journey. It's been a journey of ups and downs and highs and lows, and I've always stayed true to it in the end, and having this vision of just being the best that I can be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO PLAYING)
SOLOMON: That would be the great Philadelphia celebrating. And before that, Super Bowl champion and MVP, Jalen Hurts, who you just heard there, he might still be processing the game, but Eagles fans in Philly, definitely not. We have process. While much of the NFL was wondering if the Kansas City Chiefs would grab the three-peat by winning back to back to back Super Bowl championships, the Philadelphia Eagles instead chose to trounce them with a 40 to 22 impressive win. And while Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes couldn't quite figure out a comeback, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, he was poised. He was dominant. He was cool. At one point, Philadelphia leading the game an incredible mindblowing 34 to zero, and Hurts ended up taking home the trophy as the Most Valuable Player.
For more on the game and all that happened on and off the field, let's bring in CNN World Sports Correspondent and former NFL star himself, Coy Wire. Coy, I don't know if you have a monitor and you can see what I'm wearing, but you know what it is. We are in our Eagles green. We are riding high on this Monday.
COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: All is great in our home state --
SOLOMON: Yes.
WIRE: -- the Keystone State of Pennsylvania. I knew you would be rocking your green today, Rahel. The Chiefs' dynasty has been disrupted. The Eagles getting their revenge after that heartbreaking loss to these Chiefs in the big game two seasons ago. The stars, the celebrities were out in New Orleans, and so was President Donald Trump, the first sitting President ever to attend a Super Bowl. And you knew we were going to see Taylor Swift cheering on her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, but their Super Bowl Eras tour did not end very well. This time around, they ran into the buzz saw.
There was the Eagles defense, Mahomes getting sacked six times, running for his life all night. He threw two interceptions. A favorite interception was the rookie. Cooper DeJean, on his birthday, Rahel, picking off the Patrick Mahomes and taking it 38 yards to the house. Look at him, go, do your birthday dance, young man. The other one was Zach Bond getting an interception. Now, he played four seasons here in New Orleans. In this stadium, there were times last season when he was a backup for the Saints. He'd go home and cry. He thought he didn't have what it took anymore. His first season in Philly, he became a first team all Pro.
And here comes that man, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, the takeover, touchdown to AJ Brown. Hurts threw up two touchdowns in this game. He led the team in rushing. He ran for a touchdown as well. His 72-yard rush in is a Super Bowl record for a quarterback. Fly, Eagles Fly. Yeah. I know you're smiling, Rahel, even though I can't see you. It was running back Saquon Barkley's birthday too. What a way to celebrate. Here is your Super Bowl MVP, Jalen Hurts, after the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HURTS: As a team, we want to look back and say we made everything worth it, and that's just a commitment, the time, the effort, everything that we did. But, I wouldn't be here without that journey, and that's something that I embraced along the way, and I think it's just something we continue to build on.
NICK SIRIANNI, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES HEAD COACH: We can prepare as coaches all we want and try to put them in position to succeed. But then it comes down to him recognizing the look from his film study all week and all two weeks, in this case, and getting to the right place. So, he did an unbelievable job of that yesterday.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WIRE: Now, we all know, with the joy of victory comes the agony of
defeat. And on the other side of that, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. They got embarrassed, right? But, what's that line by Dr. Martin Luther King? The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy. And Mahomes is the ultimate teammate, the best kind of teammate, taking all the blame, not making any excuses, Rahel. Here he was after that disappointing loss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: Credit to the Eagles, man. They played better than us from start to finish. We didn't start how we wanted to. Obviously, the turnovers hurt. And I mean, I just got to -- I take all the blame for that. I mean, just those early turnovers swing the momentum of the game, and then they capitalized on them and they scored. I mean, they scored on the one, and then they got the touchdown immediately after. So, that's 14 points that I kind of gave them, and it's hard to come back from that in the Super Bowl. And so, just didn't play to my standard, and I have to be better next time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: It's a good sport. Now, lots of criticism, Rahel, coming from the peanut gallery over his performance. But, he is not even 30-years- old yet.
[11:55:00]
Three Super Bowl titles in seven seasons as a starter. Something tells me he'll be back on this stage again and probably again. So, we will see. But, for now --
SOLOMON: Yeah.
WIRE: -- Fly, Eagles Fly.
SOLOMON: Fly, Eagles Fly, and the celebrations continue. It was quite a game. Coy Wire, hope you had a little bit of fun in between all of the reporting live for us there in New Orleans. Coy, always great to see you, my friend.
All right. And for the --
WIRE: Thank you.
SOLOMON: -- non-football fans out there, there was plenty of buzz during the halftime show. Actor Samuel L. Jackson, also known as Uncle Sam, last night introduced headliner Kendrick Lamar after winning five Grammys last week. The rapper performed his well-known Drake diss track "Not Like Us". Take a listen.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
SOLOMON: Yeah. That was a quick shot on camera. That was, in fact, tennis star Serene Williams dancing on stage. She and Lamar both grew up in Compton. The halftime show was closed by Lamar's clever performance of "TV Off".
All right. We know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me today on this Super Bowl Monday. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next. I'll see you tomorrow.
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