Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

White House Distances Itself From DHS Claims About Alex Pretti; Donald Trump Suggests U.S. May Enter Talks With Iranian Government; British Prime Minister Makes First Visit To China Since 2018; Eyewitness Describes Scene Prior To Alex Pretti's Shooting; Eyewitness Says Alex Pretti Did Not Brandish a Weapon; Ecuador Says ICE Agent Tried to Enter Consulate in Minneapolis; Jury Selection Underway in Landmark Social Media Trial; TikTok Agreed to Settle Youth Mental Health Lawsuit One Day Before the Trial; Chilean Company Ages Wine Underwater; Landslide Leaves Italian Town on Edge of Cliff; Neil Young Gives Greenland Free Access to Music Catalog; Last Pair of Pandas in Japan Return to China. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 28, 2026 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:40]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, new details about the photo shooting of Alex Pretti as Donald Trump downplays a staffing change in Minnesota. You will also hear from a woman who captured crucial video of the incident.

CNN is in Tehran for the first time since the deadly crackdown on protesters.

And later, why bottles of wine are kept deep under water in Chile.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us, and we begin this hour in Minneapolis, where we are learning new details about the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti. A warning, though, the video you're about to see is disturbing. An initial DHS report claims two officers fired their weapons during the incident over the weekend. It remains unclear if bullets from both guns hit Pretti. These developments come as President Trump is saying he plans to deescalate the situation in Minnesota, as the White House tries to distance itself from DHS claims about the fatal encounter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have Tom Homan there now, we put him in there. He's great. And they met with the governor, the mayor, everybody else, and we're going to deescalate a little bit. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Border czar Tom Homan is now in Minnesota and has taken over ICE operations as the White House relocates top Border Patrol official Greg Bovino, following Pretti's shooting. Homan met with the governor of Minnesota as well as the mayor of Minneapolis and the city's police chief. He says while they didn't agree on everything, the talks were a productive starting point. Governor Walz told CNN he wants the ICE operations in the state to end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): I'm not interested in a more efficient metro surge. I'm ready for them to get out of here. And I think that's what Minnesotans are talking about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: In a statement to CNN, Trump aide Stephen Miller acknowledged there may have been a possible breach in protocol by federal agents before Alex Pretti's shooting. CNN Kristen Holmes has the latest from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: White House Deputy Chief of Staff and immigration hard liner Stephen Miller says that the White House and officials are evaluating whether Customs and Border Patrol may have breached protocol when it comes to the shooting of Alex Pretti. Miller, who is one of the most ardent supporters of Trump's immigration enforcement policy had originally said Pretti was a, "Would be assassin."

However, in a statement to CNN, he said this, he said the White House had provided clear guidance to DHS that the extra personnel that had been sent to Minnesota to force protection should be used for conducting fugitive operations to create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors. We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol.

This is a remarkable acknowledgement, particularly when it comes to Miller. But that's not all that we are reporting. We also had learned that the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, had been in touch with the White House all day leading up to that 5:00 p.m. press conference that she gave the day of the shooting, in which she called Pretti a domestic terrorist. Not only had she briefed the White House on what she was going to say, the demeanor, she had also been given talking points by various administration officials, one of them being Stephen Miller.

We reached out to the White House about that specifically, about the fact that she had been briefed by the White House. Because, of course, we have since learned that President Trump was agitated and frustrated by the response, including Noem's response. Miller said this in a statement, the initial statement from DHS was based on reports from CBP on the ground. Again, this is very significant. He is not disputing that he was

involved with Noem's response or the Department of Homeland Security response. He is instead saying that he came to that response, or came up with that response based on an initial report that the White House was getting from CBP agents on the ground.

So, clearly, you can see where he is pointing to as this investigation moves forward, and as we've seen President Trump, one try to turn down the temperature in Minnesota, and seen the president distance himself from those remarks, those would be assassin remarks, the remarks about a domestic terrorist.

[02:05:09]

So again, Stephen Miller saying he was basing that response, the initial DHS response, on a statement or initial read from the CBP agents on the ground.

Kamala Harris, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A growing number of Republicans are calling for a full and impartial investigation into Alex Pretti shooting, and some senators, including Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis, are voicing sharp criticism against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump aide Stephen Miller over their handling of the fallout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): I have said that I lost confidence in her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think that President Trump should remove her from the position? Do you think she should resign?

MURKOWSKI: Obviously, it's up to the president, I think we would be -- we would be better served with new leadership in the department.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): If I were in her position, I can't think of any point of pride over the last year. She's got to make their own decision, or the president does, but she has taken this administration into the ground on an issue that we should own. We should own the issue of border security and immigration, but they have destroyed that for Republicans, something that got the president elected. They have destroyed it through their incompetence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And later this hour, we will hear from a witness to the shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti. Stella Carson is the woman in the pink coat seen here on the left. She captured crucial video as federal agents shot Pretti. CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke with her, and that interview is coming up in about 20 minutes.

Well, a man is now charged with third degree assault after spraying an unknown substance at Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar during a town hall in Minneapolis.

Omar had just finished calling for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem when the suspect approached the podium and sprayed that substance at the congresswoman Tuesday night. Security quickly tackled the man and escorted him out. Omar says she's OK and that she won't be intimidated. In fact, she kept speaking to the crowd right after the assault.

Lawmakers from both parties have since released statements condemning the attack. Republican Congressman Mike Lawler posted on X, "What happened at Ilhan Omar's town hall is unacceptable, period. No matter what side of the aisle you're on, this behavior has no place in our democracy and must be condemned."

Well, President Trump says Iran may be trying to negotiate a deal with Washington amid a growing U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, the most visible part of Trump's Armada, an aircraft carrier and a group of guided missile destroyers has already arrived within striking distance.

Meanwhile, Iran's leadership is sending a strong warning about possible retaliation if it's attacked. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran talking to Iranians caught in the back and forth between their government's warnings and Trump's threats.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Iran's leadership is sending a very strong and defiant message to the United States, and specifically, of course, to the Trump administration. You could see it here on this gigantic poster on Revolution Square in central Tehran.

The message on this massive poster is, if you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind. Obviously meaning, if the United States attacks Iran, Iran will retaliate in a massive way, which could have forced lead to a major military confrontation between the United States and Iran.

And that's also something that's on the minds of many of the people that we've been speaking to here as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm not sure what you're saying. I think they're all collaborating with one another against the interest of the Iranian people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't think Trump dares to attack. He's more bluffing.

PLEITGEN: All this, of course, comes as President Trump weighs his options on what to do next. The U.S. has pulled together a substantial military force here in this region.

But the Iranians also say they've replenished their stockpiles of ballistic missiles and are ready to hit back hard any time.

Now, of course, all this comes in the wake of those large protests that happened here in Iran in the early part of January.

And when you're out on the streets here, you can see that there are people who are still traumatized by what happened then.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There were lots of people out there in the streets when I had to leave home. I don't know what to say, but the situation was very bad. Now that the internet connection is restored, we only now know that so many were killed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Our thanks to Fred Pleitgen reporting from Tehran. Ukraine's president is condemning a Russian strike on a passenger train that killed five people in the northeastern Kharkiv region. Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, "In any country, a strike on a civilian train would be considered exactly the same way, purely as terrorism."

[02:10:12]

The attack happened just hours after Russia launched more than 50 drones on the southern city of Odessa, killing three people and injuring at least 25 others. Zelenskyy says Russia's attacks are undermining recent peace talks, which are set to continue next week in Abu Dhabi.

And just into CNN, a South Korean court has sentenced former First Lady Kim Keon-hee to just under two years in jail. Kim was found guilty of accepting bribes from Unification Church officials in exchange for political favors. She was found not guilty of manipulating stock prices and violating political finance laws. Kim has denied all the charges, and her legal team may appeal. This is one of three criminal trials Kim is facing, her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, is facing his own legal troubles. He's on trial for insurrection over his brief declaration of martial law in 2024.

Britain's Prime Minister is heading to Beijing. Why he's pursuing deeper cooperation with China, and what each side hopes to get out of this visit. We'll have that and more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:15:52]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, after years of tensions, Britain's Prime Minister wants to hit the reset button on relations with China. Keir Starmer arrives in Beijing in the coming hours for several days of talks. He'll be meeting with China's President and Premier, with him executives from more than 50 major corporations. Mr. Starmer is looking to deepen ties with the world's second most powerful economy. Here's the latest in a string of Western leaders looking east as the U.S. creates turmoil in the global economy.

So, let's go live to London now and bring in Ben Bland, who is the director of the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House. Appreciate you joining us.

BEN BLAND, DIRECTOR OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thanks, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, with President Donald Trump becoming increasingly unpredictable and transactional, U.S. allies and top trading partners are turning to China to forge closer trade ties and boost economic growth as an alternative trading partner to the U.S. and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is one of them arriving in China today in an effort to rebuild bridges with Beijing. What all is Starmer expected to get out of this trip?

BLAND: If we're honest, I don't think there's going to be a great harvest. Diplomacy takes time. It's a long, patient game, and I don't think you can expect a huge amount. There are going to be some business deals that are likely to be announced, but I think in terms of the size of the British economy, the size of the Chinese economy, it's not going to be transformative, but I wouldn't expect it to be.

I think the important thing is that dialog is being restarted at the highest levels. The other thing I'd say, Rosemary, is that I don't think the U.K. or other countries should necessarily view their relationships with the U.S. and China in binary terms. I think it's important to manage the relationship with the United States as the U.K.'s key security partner, and China is our third biggest trading partner at the same time. But I don't think it's about tilting one way or the other. It's about carefully managing these two superpowers who are, you know, both important and quite prickly in their own very different ways.

CHURCH: Interesting because, I mean, we are seeing it's not just Britain, of course. I mean, how necessary is some sort of shift away from the U.S. by the country's top trading partners and turning their gaze to China at a time when they don't really know what to expect from President Trump, do they?

BLAND: I think it's really important that the U.K. and other USz allies look to diversify our economic relationships, our security relationships. So, I think that is vital.

Of course, China's not going to be much of a security partner for the U.K. or other U.S. allies, but economically, it's obviously very important, but I just don't think there's an easy trade off.

So, it's about diversifying in general, China is one part of that on some economic questions. More importantly, for the U.K., we just haven't had leader to leader level meetings in China for eight years, so it's just important to talk to China to try and understand its perspective on the world. I think that's really the key, as well as this broader diversification, which I'd say is also about India, it's about Indonesia, it's about Nigeria, it's about other markets, other emerging powers, and not just China, although, of course, it is far and away the biggest emerging economy and the biggest emerging power in the world.

CHURCH: I totally understand your point. But we did see during the course of the high drama last week with Greenland and the unpredictability and the flashing backwards and forwards with President Trump, and, of course, his tariffs, and threatening tariffs and then taking them off the table, threatening military action, taking that off the table, what will the likely consequences be for the United States if more allies do turn to China rather than the U.S. or as well as the U.S., as you say, to make these trade deals and perhaps try to avoid Trump's unpredictable tariffs?

BLAND: I think U.S. allies certainly feel under a lot of pressure from the unpredictability of the Trump administration, and I think more importantly, non U.S. allies, which is the vast majority of countries in the world, especially those across the global South, developing nations, I think they in particular, see things in a maybe slightly more binary terms, right? They would look out in the world and see these two great superpowers, the U.S. and the new emerging challenge of China.

[02:20:17]

And to some extent, while China is not an easy partner by any stretch, it can be very aggressive and assertive in its own right. In some ways, it's more predictable. You know what you're going to get from Beijing, as opposed to Washington right now.

So, I think in the Global South, that's a particular challenge. The challenge for us allies like the U.K. is slightly different, because there's just no way in the short to medium term to unpick our security relationships with the U.S. and even economically, to be honest, for a country like the U.K.

We have far, far, far more investment by factors of hundreds from the U.S. than we do from China. So, historically and up to the present, the U.S. is still a much more important economic partner for the U.K. But that's going to change over time anyway, with China's rise.

So, I think it's going to be about a delicate balancing act, which requires political dialog at the highest levels. It requires a degree of subtlety from our leaders at a time when the world's in flux. I think it's going to be really, really difficult.

And certainly, the U.S. and China are going to be trying to extract higher prices from those countries that want to do business with them, and they're both going to be looking to punish those that they think are not aligning with their core interests.

CHURCH: Certainly a shift to watch, isn't it? Ben Bland, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your analysis.

BLAND: Thanks.

CHURCH: Still to come, one woman's cell phone video captured the key moment when federal agents shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti. She is now speaking out in an exclusive interview with CNN, and we'll have that for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:26:30] CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, she's known as the woman in the pink coat, and she captured the crucial video showing exactly what happened when federal officers shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Her name is Stella Carlson. She runs a children's entertainment company and is a face and body painter and an airbrush artist. She did not want to come forward at first after the shooting, but decided to now.

A warning, the video you're about to see is graphic. Stella Carlson spoke exclusively with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: How long have you been involved with monitoring law enforcement actions here?

STELLA CARLSON, WITNESS TO SHOOTING OF ALEX PRETTI: Only the past three weeks, the month of January, since they've been infiltrating our streets, kidnapping people off the street. So, since the beginning, was doing meal delivery three weeks ago and trying to make sure that I was a part of the mutual aid that moved to crisis response and just walking my neighborhood, most specifically the schools, and making sure when school got out, that there were enough bodies in the area for people to just feel safe.

COOPER: So, Saturday morning, what were you -- what were your plans Saturday morning?

CARLSON: Saturday morning, I was booked to be at a church to face paint for three hours for their community gathering.

COOPER: You're going to be face painting kids?

CARLSON: Yes, I had some downtime. I got ready a little too quick that day.

COOPER: So, you heard the whistles somewhere and decided to drive there?

CARLSON: Close by. Yes. When I turned on to Nicollet Avenue, my plan was to just drive by and kind of assess what is going on.

COOPER: When did you see Alex? Pretti what interaction did you have with him before the camera was rolling?

CARLSON: Yes. So, when I turned, the caravan of vehicles of ICE agents, I could tell were starting to kind of move in and block us in. I could have probably gotten through and I'll be clear to say that as I went, I was almost going to be driving past Alex, and I did think of Renee Good in that moment, because as I looked forward, I was seeing somebody on the ground being tackled by agents. I saw another vehicle coming the other direction trying to drive through, getting tackled by agents, and they were punching the windows. So, at that moment, I was like, I need to not go forward. And I looked

at Alex. He looked at me, and he pointed to the parking spot. And I was like, OK, just park.

COOPER: When you hit record, Alex Pretti is in the frame. Did you know him in advance?

CARLSON: I did not.

COOPER: You then kind of moved to focus on two women who are having a closer interaction with Border Patrol agents. And Alex Pretti crosses the frame and has his video camera in his right hand and is directing -- seems to be directing traffic with his left.

CARLSON: It took me a minute to get my phone going because I was shaking already. But I have thought about this a lot, and there were so many agents and so many bystanders and people being abused, I honestly blocked all of that out.

In the moment, I saw one of my community members in the street alone, directing traffic, and nobody else was around. I was like, OK, Alex is filming these ICE agents and the traffic, I'm going to film him.

So, it was -- I was his backup, it's how I felt about it in my risk assessment. And that was --

COOPER: Did you say anything to him?

CARLSON: To Alex?

COOPER: Yes.

CARLSON: No, we never did speak.

[02:30:00]

COOPER: Kristi Noem said this looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement. Is that at all what was happening?

CARLSON: Absolutely not. And the most offensive thing you could say about somebody who has done so much for our country, and which I didn't even know at the time. But what I did know is this person was calm and was handling it with grace and consistency and definitely without threat.

COOPER: You didn't see the gun that apparently was holstered?

CARLSON: No, and to be clear, if I had, I maybe wouldn't have stayed so close. I'm not comfortable with guns, period.

COOPER: Kristi Noem said that Alex Pretti "approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm handgun." She's implying he was brandishing a weapon. CARLSON: Absolutely not. And in fact, I am grateful that I was in a position to be there for my community and for our whole state to stop the lies and the madness, and allow there to be proof of that.

COOPER: Your video and the video of others, but your video in particular, is essential proof to what actually happened.

CARLSON: Yes. It seems to be.

COOPER: Did you know that right away?

CARLSON: Absolutely not. I was hoping it was recording, you know, that I hit the record button or I didn't turn it off. The moment they were telling Alex and I to back up is when my phone went down and I was going over the snow bank. There was a Border Patrol agent looking at me and barking at us.

And that is when you hear me go, I don't know. I'm not going to remember what I said, but it was like, OK, OK, or stop, like so aggressive, so inappropriately rude and violent. And the way they look at you is so violent. But I've been really frustrated that my camera went down for that moment.

COOPER: When it comes back up, they are right there -- the women, Mr. Pretti, and the law enforcement. Do you have a sense of exactly, roughly, how many feet away you were? Because when you see it from other angles across the street, you are clearly visible. It looks like you're up against a storefront. I mean, it looks like it could be, you know, in under 10 feet away.

CARLSON: Yeah, I would say it -- it went from five feet to 10 feet. I kind of moved between that.

COOPER: Were you scared?

CARLSON: I was terrified, but I was more worried about this not being documented.

COOPER: He and they are sprayed with chemical agent. Did you do you remember seeing that?

CARLSON: You know, it's so wild, I don't. There was a certain point in filming where I was looking at the camera because, you know, when you're -- when you're filming, you're like, OK, I'm filming. Once she was pushed down, I knew I was filming something. Before, I was just kind of filming in case something happens.

Once something starts happening, my brain just went into like, there's something happening. And I just locked into my phone and I just started staring. That is when I started looking through my phone. I had no idea that tear gas even occurred. I had no idea tear gas was in the air. My eyes were burning, but I was confused by that. I was like, why do my eyes burn? No, I didn't know.

COOPER: It appears the focus of the Border Patrol officers goes from these two women -- CARLSON: Right.

COOPER: -- and then turns to Alex Pretti. He still has his camera out, but they seem to then focus on him, pulling him down onto the ground.

CARLSON: Alex made that choice to be kind. And how they made the focus about him, I think, is because they saw him as interfering at that point.

COOPER: Did it seem to you in that moment and having looked at the tape that those agents were angry, were emotional?

COOPER: I think they're rested in a calm anger, which is terrifying. I don't -- I think because of the protections that have been given to them, I don't think they have a reason to feel anything but confident about what they're doing and that they -- that this is some type of video game.

That's how it feels. It feels like we are a joke, that our civil rights are a joke, that our Constitution is something to be laughed at.

COOPER: That's what you have seen in the streets?

CARLSON: That is how they behave. Right. That is what many of us have seen, and that is what we're currently seeing.

COOPER: On your video, we hear them saying he's got a gun, he's got a gun. They say a few other things along the lines of he's got a gun or a gun, gun. Do you remember hearing that in real time?

CARLSON: I didn't hear anything.

COOPER: Your video captures the moment in which the officer removes his gun --

CARLSON: Right.

COOPER: -- after they have said he's got a gun. It's very hard to see even in the video. You have to kind of slow it down.

CARLSON: And then before you knew it, pow, pow, pow, pow. And I saw Alex on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:35:00]

CARLSON: And then there's nobody around. After he was shot, the agents fled. And all I saw was Alex on the ground.

COOPER: One of the things that's shocking about the number of shots is that the last five shots or so are actually from a distance where he appears already lying on the ground, not moving. Do you remember that? Again, this is happening in five to ten seconds.

CARLSON: I mean, honestly, Alex being shot is the most memorable part of it. The agents are not a part of that, I think, because I watched him die. I mean, I watched him die. I remember him arching his back and his head rolling back, and he looked -- it was so fast moving and -- but not for me.

Like, when they left, when they fled, which now I see, after the shooting, they decided to just scatter and save themselves, watching him die.

COOPER: When the shots are fired, you begin to scream, what the [expletive] did you just do? Do you remember that moment? Do you remember screaming that?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": And you'll hear her answer to that question and more in the next hour. We'll have part two of Stella Carlson's interview with Anderson Cooper in about 40 minutes from now.

Ecuador's government says a U.S. ICE agent tried to enter its consulate in Minneapolis on Tuesday. Video on social media appears to show two men blocking an entrance and arguing with someone at the door. In a statement, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry said consulate officials stopped the agent from entering the premises, protecting Ecuadorians who were there.

The ministry says it filed a formal protest note with the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador, quote, "so that acts of this nature are not repeated at any of Ecuador's consular offices in the United States." CNN has asked the U.S. State Department and ICE for comment.

An historic trial against Meta and YouTube is underway in Los Angeles. What this case could mean for the future of social media platforms, as well as young people's mental health. Stay with us for that in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:42:01]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. An historic case is now underway in Los Angeles that could change social media as we know it. Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial against Meta and YouTube. It marks the first time they will have to defend against claims that their products harm young people's mental health before a jury in a court of law.

The trial had also included TikTok and Snap. The TikTok has now reached a last-minute settlement with the plaintiffs. Snap settled the lawsuit last week under undisclosed terms.

Julianna Arnold is a founding member of Parents RISE!, an advocacy organization focused on holding social media companies accountable and encouraging parents to take action. Thank you so much for talking with us about this wave of landmark trials that will decide whether the social media platforms of big tech companies are responsible for harming young people.

And ahead of the trial, TikTok and Snapchat have reached a settlement with the plaintiff in the first California state case. But both companies remain defendants in a series of similar lawsuits expected to go to trial this year. And Julianna, you lost your daughter in 2022 after she obtained drugs from a dealer on Instagram. So you know more than most people the tragic consequences of this.

What outcome are you hoping for? And what social media regulations are necessary right now, do you think?

JULIANNA ARNOLD, FOUNDING MEMBER, PARENTS RISE!: Well, I think there's a few variants, a few things involved in this. I mean, really, what parents are looking for is we're looking for the truth. Finally, to have the truth come to light, the truth of what these companies knew, the tech executives knew, the decisions that they made and why they made these choices to put profits over our children's lives when these things were preventable.

They designed tools and design choices that put our children at risk, manipulated them. And we're really using them and designing these platforms for addiction. And we know this because a lot of the documents that have come out, out of this case, and we're looking to see these CEOs, these executives testify to this. And we want to hear the truth and why this happened.

CHURCH: And as a child safety advocate, what is your warning to those who don't think additional regulation of social media is necessary, which is the view of these big tech companies with Meta claiming it has already made meaningful changes for kids while YouTube says the allegations are not true.

ARNOLD: Yeah, I mean, I think we have to call them on that. I mean, I think there are no real regulations in place. For 30 years in the United States, there has really been no real regulation of this industry. And it's actually unheard of that there have been no child protections or safety measures put in place for these companies.

I mean, everything else in this is -- has protections in place to protect children.

[02:45:00]

You can't even have a sandwich shop open and sell a sandwich without having the Health Department come in. And these companies have been allowed to put out their products without any types of regulations. And that's continuing as we see what's going on with A.I. as well.

CHURCH: And Julianna, this trial in Los Angeles will be a test case for thousands of other lawsuits seeking damages for harm caused by social media. And that means big tech companies will have top lawyers fighting for their cause. Plus, a federal law largely exempts platforms from legal liability for material their users post. Fighting them will be a big lift for sure. So what happens if they win this. What's the likely next move?

ARNOLD: Well, I don't think, if you say they win this, it means they may not be held accountable at this moment in time. But the fact that all of this information is being released to the public and the public is now understanding that they knowingly did and make these products dangerous and addictive for our children, and profiting off of that, I think, can never be put back in the box.

And so, I think with these chain of trials that are going on, it's not just one. There's many trials that are going to go on these bellwether cases in the next few years. So, I think they're going to have some problems because with every case that comes out, they're going to have more information in documents that are being exposed of what was really going on under the hood.

And we finally get a look because there has been no transparency. Parents have been fighting against billion dollar companies who were made to addict their children and get the most, maximum engagement from our children.

And I think now finally, people are seeing and parents are getting smart and realizing that this is not a safe environment for our children. So we need to have regulations and we need to have safety controls and we need to hold these companies accountable for the actions and decisions that they've made.

CHURCH: And how significant will this be if big tech loses in this test case?

ARNOLD: Well, I think it'll be very interesting to see what happens. So it's never going to be the end. We don't think that this is going to be a finality and that all of a sudden everything's going to change. But hopefully, the message will become clear.

This is a learning experience for families, for parents, for legislators. And I think the legislators will now realize that they have to take action. Then we no longer can hear these testimonies of these CEOs in hearings in Congress and not take action.

We've heard too many times about they're doing everything they can. And obviously, that's not the truth because kids are still being harmed. Kids are dying. And we are here to make sure that that doesn't happen to any other families. And that's what really drives us.

CHURCH: Right. And what was your reaction when TikTok and Snapchat settled out of court?

ARNOLD: Well, I have to say, I really felt that it was like an admission of guilt and that they really didn't want any more of this documentation and any more damning information released because they knew how detrimental it would be and that they would not be able to say any longer that they are doing everything they can to make these platforms safe, because the evidence will be there. And I think they don't want to be caught on the stand and having to really tell the truth of what actually they knew and actually they did not act upon.

CHURCH: Julianna Arnold, I want to thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

ARNOLD: Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it too.

CHURCH: Africa's push toward a circular economy could be worth more than $500 billion a year and create more than 11 million jobs by the end of the decade. That's according to the African Development Bank, with tech stars identified as one of the industries where change could have the biggest impact.

In Nigeria, designers and entrepreneurs are already turning waste into opportunity; rethinking how clothes are made, sold and reused; turning cities like Lagos and Abuja into some of Africa's fastest-growing style capitals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLUSOLA IDOWU, COUNTRY COORDINATOR - NIGERIA, FASHION REVOLUTION: There are three prongs when we're talking about sustainable fashion -- people, planet and profit. The approach is for profit not to be at the expense of the other two. Sustainable fashion is the only way fashion can move forward.

IJEAMAKA NWIZU, FOUNDER & CEO, DIAKWU CLOTH: Diakwu Cloth really came about because I wanted to work towards eliminating textile waste or at least reducing textile waste. We go to tailoring shops, designers. We go into their studios. We pick up the offcuts from their tailoring floors and we bring them into our studio.

[02:50:00]

I will be honest and say that initially, the interest wasn't because it's a sustainable fabric. The interest is simply because they found it pretty and found it different. But with education, with advocacy, a lot of them, I think, or some of them, particularly those clients that we work with, if they saw two fabrics, exact same design, one with textile waste incorporated, the other not, they most likely now would go with the one that has textile waste incorporated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then there is also Black Adudu 007 who repurposes ancient (inaudible). These are fabrics that date back, I mean, '50s, '60s. And it's targeting affluent royals because that's an intentional way of repurposing those textiles.

LASISI OLUBUNMI, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, BLACK ADUDU 007: Imagine someone of 80 years, 100 years old telling you this was the fabric I used for my wedding. Then we now, in this era and time, we are out there looking for those fabrics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say Nigerian fashion industry is booming because Nigerians themselves are embracing Nigerian fashion, our fabrics, our textiles, our aesthetics, and they're turning them into contemporary designs.

I'm excited to see that sustainability in Nigeria is catching on. We're seeing a lot of that in Nigeria now, not as a trend, but brands that are very interested in doing their bit to save the environment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Still to come, divers are underwater for the catch of the day, but it's not fish. Find out what's drawing tourists down under in Chile. That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. In Chile, a first of its kind adventure is making waves quite literally. A company is aging wine in underwater cellars, then inviting tourist divers to retrieve the bottles. CNN's Rafael Romo has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The catch of the day on this small island off the coast of Chile isn't Tuna, Marlin or even Chilean sea bass. It's wine. Divers stored the bottles in cages installed in the seabed around northern Chile's Locos Island.

[02:55:00]

It is part of an underwater aging program that's been developed by entrepreneurs linked to a local diving shop.

ALEJANDRO SOZA, GENERAL DIRECTOR, ODC BUCEO (through translator): This project was born out of two passions. One is love for scuba diving. And above all, at the same time, the willingness to try new things and what we knew about how wine underwater evolves.

ROMO (voice-over): The bottles are submerged around the bottles to allow wind to move the 10 to 20 meters or 33 to 66 feet deep, then left to age for eight to 12 months. The process works in part because the water mimics a traditional wine cellar with reduced light and a stable year-round temperature.

LUANA BALBINE, SOMMELIER (through translator): You can feel the tannins are silkier, softer. The body, you feel a more elegant body, a wine. You can feel that evolution from being aged underwater.

ROMO (voice-over): Underwater aging has been around for decades, but it's still a relatively uncommon method in Chile, a country well-known for its wine industry. And the project's partners are hoping that novelty could help turn their underwater wine experience into a tourist attraction for the area.

Rafael Romo, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Terrifying videos show houses teetering on the edge of a cliff in Sicily. More than 1,500 people have been evacuated after major storms triggered a massive landslide. The town sits on a plateau that authorities say is sliding downhill due to water trapped in the soil. The Italian government has declared a state of emergency for the region and residents are being permanently relocated.

Singer Neil Young is giving a gift to his fans in Greenland and even those who aren't his fans. Everyone who has a cell phone, based in Greenland, will have access to Young's entire catalog for a year. The veteran rocker said he hopes his songs "ease some of the unwarranted stress and threats coming from the Trump administration." Young has notably refused to allow his music to be on some streaming platforms in the past and even pulled it off Spotify for a time. He calls the gift an offer of peace and love.

Well, the last pair of giant pandas in Japan are now back in China. Photographs from China's Conservation and Research Centre show the animals being transferred in iron cages from an aircraft to a truck. The twin pandas were born in Tokyo but under Beijing's long-running panda diplomacy program, they still belong to China.

Their departure leaves Japan without any pandas for the first time in more than five decades. This comes at a time when relations between China and Japan are at their lowest point in years.

I want to thank you so much for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more "CNN Newsroom" after a short break. Do stay with us.

[02:58:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00]