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Xi Jinping Looks to be Big Figure at World Economic Figure; Jon Huntsman Discusses Trump's China Policies; Media Uncertain Over Place Inside White House; Trump Agitates Germany. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired January 16, 2017 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:13] BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Astonishing his country's allies: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump weighs in with some choice words on European
leaders and Britain's shock Brexit vote. We'll take you live to Berlin, London, and to Moscow in just a moment for reaction from those capitals.
Well, it's not too quiet on the homefront either, with just days to go before he moves into the
White House. A row with an icon on the civil rights movement rumbles on. We break down what is likely to be a big week for Donald Trump.
Plus, an annual gathering of the global elite of populist politics pushes to the fore. We're live
in Davos to see what's different this year.
Right, it's just after 7:00 in the evening in the UAE. Hello and welcome. This is Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson.
Well, astonishment and agitation, that is how Germany's foreign minister describes Donald
Trump's comments on NATO published in a wide ranging interview on Sunday. The Times of London and German's Bild, interviewed Trump Friday in New
York. Among the comments worrying Europe are Mr. Trump's assertion that NATO is obsolete.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: I said a long time ago that NATO had problems. Number one, it was obsolete because it was designed many, many
years ago. Number two, the countries weren't paying what they're supposed to pay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the reporters also asked Trump about two leaders in particular, and who he will listen to. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Who do you trust more if you talk to them, Angela Merkel or Vladimir Putin?
TRUMP: Well, I start off trusting both, but let's see how long that lasts. It may not last long at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Trump also touched on one of his favorite themes: immigration and refugees, criticizing Angela Merkel for her approach.
Well, Atika Shubert joining us now from Berline and CNN contributor Jill Dougherty is standing by in Moscow.
Let's start with you, Atika, what was Merkel's reaction to those comments?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Merkel has said that she did read the whole interview. She saw the video. And she said in a
press conference earlier today with the New Zealand prime minister. We know his position, and he knows mine.
She said it wouldn't be polite to make any further comments. She'll wait until he's actually inaugurated as president. But you know I think that
it's very clear that they're going to have to work together somehow. And so they are looking forward to some sort of a meeting sometime this year.
They haven't put an exact date on it.
So, her reaction was very muted. There was perhaps more reaction from her ministers. Foreign Minister Steinmeier saying he was astonished and
clearly that what President-elect Trump said goes against what his own pick for secretary of defense wanted in terms of NATO.
And also we heard from Sigmar Gabriel who the vice chancellor here and he was asked about the
economy Trump's policy on cars saying that BMW cars may be slapped with a 35 percent tariff to be sold in the U.S. He -- Sigmar Gabriel was asked,
you know, what should Germany do to ensure that more American cars are sold in Germany, he said, simply, well they should build better cars.
So, there's been a pretty frosty response here in Germany.
ANDERSON: Atika, these comments may appear undiplomatic coming before he is even inaugurated, but they will hardly be surprising to Angela Merkel
and her German officials, correct?
SHUBERT: Well, exactly. And that's why her response was, you know, listen, we have heard this before. Let's get to a working relationship,
because that's what has to happen and we'll do that once you're actually president.
So, that's the signal that's coming out of Berlin. Merkel is nothing if not pragmatic. So she knows that this is the attitude coming in. Now she
has to forge some kind of relationship with the new president.
ANDERSON: Jill, Russia used to hearing a different rhetoric from Mr. Trump than from Mr.
Obama. This has been going on now for some time. How have his latest comments gone down there in Moscow?
[10:05:04] JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, you might expect, Becky, that that idea about lifting the U.S. -- the U.S.
lifts sanctions and Russia does some sort of nuclear arms deal would be something the Russians might like, but the reaction actually is not
particularly positive. And it could be because it's kind of an apples and oranges situation.
I mean if you take the statement by Dmitri Peskov who is the spokesperson for President Putin, he said, "sanctions are not on the Russian agenda and
let's wait until Mr. Trump becomes president."
And so that's kind of a diplomatic way, I would believe, of stepping away of that question. But, you know, when you look at that issue, sanctions
are not a life and death existential issue for Russia, they don't like them, but some actually argue that they're useful in a way for domestic
industries, but when it comes to nuclear weapons, that is existential, that is Russia's security.
So, perhaps President-elect Trump is exaggerating or overemphasizing something that he thinks would be a good bargaining chip: the sanctions.
But it's not going to work, or at least it doesn't appear that it would work, in a situation with nuclear weapons. Very, very different situation, Becky.
ANDERSON: Jill and Atika, thank you. Well, there are controversies at home as well for Donald Trump just four days before he takes office, more
Democrats are now pledging to boycott his inauguration after Trump lashed out at a civil rights icon who said he doesn't accept him as a legitimate
president.
Trump also keeping up his criticism of the U.S. intelligence community, now directing his attacks at the CIA director himself.
CNN's Sara Murray has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump taking to Twitter to suggest that outgoing CIA Director John Brennan leaked
unsubstantiated personal and financial information that could be damaging to Trump.
JOHN BRENNAN, CIA DIRECTOR: There is no basis for Mr. Trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking information that was
already available publicly.
MURRAY: Trump's charge coming hours after Brennan appeared on national television, arguing the president-elect doesn't understand the critical
threat Russia poses.
BRENNAN: I think he has to recognize that his words do have impact, and they can have very positive impact or they can be undercutting of our
national security.
MURRAY: Trump has spent months doubting U.S. intelligence findings that Russia was behind the election cyberattacks. And in a new interview, the
president-elect suggesting the U.S. could ease tensions with Russia. Trump telling the "Times" of London and German newspaper "Bild," "Let's see if we
can make some good deals."
This as China blasts Trump's comments over the weekend that the one- China policy which maintains Taiwan as part of China is under negotiation.
China's state-run tabloid slamming Trump in an editorial, quote, "We were simply angry initially, but now we can't help but laugh."
REINCE PRIEBUS, INCOMING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: There are no plans to change the one-China policy, but certainly that policy is on the table, if
China doesn't also come to the table and work with us on trade, work with us on the South China Sea and what's happening there.
MURRAY: Meanwhile at home, Trump promising we're going to have insurance for everybody in a new interview with the "Washington Post." The president-
elect not revealing specifics but says he's close to finishing his plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. And part of that plan will be to
specifically target the pharmaceutical industry.
Over the weekend, thousands joining rallies across the country led by Democrats to protest repeal of the law. While Trump's feud with civil
rights icon Congressman John Lewis intensifies.
LEWIS: I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president.
MURRAY: The controversial comment, of course, provoking Trump to tweet: "Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his
district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart, not to mention crime infested, rather than falsely complaining about the election results.
All talk, talk, talk, no action or results. Sad."
But Trump's assertion is wrong. Lewis represents an economically diverse area of Atlanta, thriving and wealthy in some areas, with poverty in
others. Now dozens of Democrats say they'll boycott Trump's inauguration.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Sara reporting for you.
Much more ahead on the U.S. president-elect and his policies. China taking a hard line on Trump's suggestion that the United States' One China policy
could change. I'm going to speak to a former U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman for you later this hour.
And Trump's contentious relationship with the media. We'll look at concerns about what could lie ahead after a major clash at his big news
conference last week.
Well, some of the other news for you on our radar. And at least 30 people have been killed in
the crash of a Turkish cargo plane in Kyrgyzstan. Now officials there say the Boeing 747 crashed into a village about 2 kilometers from the airport.
It was on the way to the capital from Hong Kong.
Oman has accepted 10 detainees from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Officials in the Gulf states say the U.S. government requested the
transfer. The unnamed prisoners will remain there on a temporary basis.
Now, this brings the total detainees accepted by Oman to 30.
Iranian media say anti-aircraft forces fired shots at an unmanned drone after it entered the no-fly zone over central Tehran. A deputy commander
of the aerial defense command says the drone did not pose a major threat and says the incident proves anti-aircraft defenses are alert.
Well, 2016 saw several major political upsets, didn't it. With Donald Trump's election victory, the most prominent in a wave of populist
movements around the world that revealed voter discontent with a myriad of issues not least those of inequality and globalization.
Well, against this backdrop, some of the world's richest and most powerful and gathering in Davos in Switzerland. The World Economic Forum is set to
kick off. And it comes as there is another stark warning of growing inequality.
In its latest report, the anti-poverty charity Oxfam says these eight men have as much wealth as the world's poorest 3.5 billion people.
Well, CNN Money's editor-at-large Richard Quest is in Davos. And Richard, if there is any one event that evokes liberal capitalist democracy and it's
stakeholders, it is the annual World Economic Forum. Just describe the atmosphere, if you will, up the hill this year.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDEN: Well, it's a bit like Hamlet, without the ghost. You know, everybody's here, everybody knows
what they want to talk about, but of course the specter of Donald Trump and the new administration in Washington, predicates all discussions. And even
though Klaus Schaub said to me when I pointed out Brexit and Trump, he sort of poo pooed it as being, well, they're TransAtlantic issues and the global
-- this is a global (inaudible.
Well, he's wrong and he's right. And I disagreed with him, because, Becky, Brexit and Trump will have ramifications around the globe. We have seen
the way the president-elect is dealing with Germany. We have seen the way he's dealt with Japanese car companies. We
have seen the way he's talked about Brexit. So I'm under no illusion that Donald Trump's absence is the big presence here.
ANDERSON: Well, he won't be there as you rightly point out. One of his top advisers at least will be. Anthony Scaramucci, I believe, is slated to
attend. And is likely, one assumes at least, to outline the new administration's priorities. What, just a couple of days ahead of
inauguration on Friday.
Is there any sense of what we are likely to hear at this point?
QUEST: Oh, there's going to be no detailed discussion of that. The future administration has made it clear, Kellyanne Conway has said and indeed
they said, nobody is officially coming to Davos.
And that's interesting because Klaus Schwab went to Trump Tower and met Donald Trump in December. My guess is, obviously, to rope him in to come
here next year.
Instead, we're seeing a substantial pivot, to use Barack Obama's phrase, a pivot to China. We have President Xi Jinping who will be here, and
(inaudible) couldn't be more delighted, because they see that -- I suspect also as a huge source of revenue in the future, but also as a strategic
advantage to the future to have serious participation by China.
ANDERSON: Richard Quest is in Davos for you all week.
Still ahead -- thank you, Richard, and I'll see you there by the way -- Wednesday's show is from Davos, viewers.
Brexit is set to be one of the major issues discussed at Davos, but what does the U.S. president-elect think about that? Well, Richard was just
discussing that we have heard something out of Donald Trump. We're going to take a look at how Donald Trump may approach relations with Europe.
That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:17:29] ANDERSON: Right, a show of support. This was the scene in Kiev on Monday. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden meeting the Ukrainian president,
Petro Poroshenko. Biden in the country for just a day to show solidarity with war-torn nation. It comes as there is concern Ukraine-U.S. relations
could chill under Donald Trump's presidency.
Well, Ukraine, of course, a key sticking point between the Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Obama administration.
Moscow opposes any enlargement of NATO into eastern Europe and at one point Ukraine considered joining the group.
Well, the alliance, meanwhile, says it's absolutely confident the U.S. will remain committed to NATO, that's after President-elect Trump called NATO,
quote, obsolete and said its members are not paying enough.
Well, those weren't the only comments by Trump that raised eyebrows. He also praised Britain's vote to leave the European Union.
CNN Money's Europe editor Nina Dos Santos joining me now to talk through Mr. Trump's outspoken praise of Brexit and whether confidence in a trade
deal with the UK is potentially a little misplaced.
Nina, Trump says Bexit is a good thing. In fact, he referred to his own campaign as Brexit plus plus plus. His support is well documented as is
his courting of those who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU, by the way.
How did his most recent comments go down in Number 10?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN MONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Well, there's been a bit of consternation here over the -- let's say the diplomatic overreach, if you
like, here among some quarters, especially people who wanted the UK to remain as part of the EU. But overall, officially, the government -- we
heard Boris Johnson stepping into a meeting in Brussels earlier today have been saying, well, they welcome this warming of relations, especially when
it comes to potential to get a trade deal done quickly.
Donald Trump saying that he'd like to strike a fair quick trade deal with the United Kingdom, Becky, but I must point out, there are a few hurdles,
potential hurdles to that actually coming to pass, because one that the UK is still a member of the European Union, and as such as part of the
treaties that it signed up to, it can't actually start formal processes of negotiating any trade deals with anybody else like the United States until
it withdraws from the EU. That's a process that's going take about two years at best, 10 years if you listen to the outgoing UK ambassador to the
EU.
So, there are a few hurdles here along the way.
And remember that there might be problems that could come up along the way if the UK were to negotiate a free trade deal with America. Remember, that
Canada took 10 years to negotiate a free trade deal with the EU. There's some things they have to iron out.
So this is very, very early days at the moment. But now one of the things that you pointed out in your introduction, Becky, was the fact that he's
also courted a number of pro-leave campaigners. In fact, one of the biggest pro-leave campaigners was Michael Gove, the journalist from the
Times of London who conducted that interview with De Bild, the newspaper of Germany.
This now mean that what we're seen is Trump meeting with two senior pro- Brexit UK politicians before he's even started to meet with formal members of the government. So, that certainly gives you an indication as to have
significant he thinks Brexit is likely to be for this country and how perhaps he wants to use it to his own advantage.
[10:21:02] ANDERSON: I just wonder how you think the courting of Michael Gove, and indeed Negel Farage, who are not in the current prime minister's
camp when it came to the campaign to leave the EU, of course, although Teresa May now in charge effectively getting -- as British prime minister,
of getting Britain out. And we're hearing noises about a hard Brexit at this point. She's certainly not making any comments about a softly, softly
approach to this.
How do you think this relationship that Donald Trump is fostering with these two characters is likely to affect how he deals with the government
of Britain going forward?
DOS SANTOS: Well, who knows? It's going to be difficult to read his mind on that one. But
what you can certainly bet is that, well, Number 10 will be looking at it very closely, because remember that Nigel Farage, to great embarrassment
among senior diplomatic quarters here in the UK, was the person who Donald Trump said he wanted to see as his -- as the UK's ambassador to the United
States, again, another one of those diplomatic oversteps that again will probably influence the realtionship between Donald Trump when eventually he
gets a chance to sit down with Teresa May.
Of course, by then, he will be the president of the United States and they will be meeting in formal circumstances, rather than these characters
meeting in informal circumstances.
You mentioned there, Becky, Teresa May's thinking on Brexit. We're likelyto get a little bit more of an idea exactly where she is heading by this
tomorrow, because morning UK time she's set to hold a big speech in which she's set to probably, according to various leaks and UK newspapers,
reiterate her commitment to controlling immigration at the expense of access to the single market. That's pushed the British currency, the
pound, down to a 30 year low yet again today. So, we'll have to see how that fares tomorrow.
ANDERSON: OK, well, thank you for that, Nina. As we have been hearing from Nina, huge confusion over what shape Brexit will eventually take,
perhaps more idea during -- once we get this speech out of Teresa May tomorrow.
But that uncertainty has forced some companies to make tough decisions already about how to
keep their businesses afloat.
Nina, now with the story of one company that decided their only option was to leave the UK.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELLIOTT PICKETT, DIRECTOR, SMITHY'S: So, we cater for every main dress-up event there is throughout the year.
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): For more than a century, Smithy's has been lifting the mood with his costumes.
PICKETT: Top Gun, for example, here, the aviator custome. Bay Watch here's, over here, so a really great retro license for this one year in and
year out.
Selling 26 million items a year to 42 countries.
(on camera): Like this suit.
PICKETT: Very much. I wore that once or twice myself.
(LAUGHTER)
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): But one thing that is no laughing matter is Brexit, which worries Director Elliott Pickett so much he is moving his
family firms to the Netherlands and Germany.
PICKETT: Over one-third of our sells go to the European Union. If we did nothing, we could have a catastrophe on our hands. We employee 250 people.
170 people are in Gainsborough. Their jobs would be on the line if we didn't do something about this.
DOS SANTOS: Even before it happens, Brexit is already taking its toll. The government's unclear strategy over access to the single market has pummeled
the pound, forcing Smithy's to raise prices and it has strained its relationship with suppliers.
(on camera): How angry are you?
PICKETT: Completely livid. There seems to be a lack of understanding of the impact of what will happen. What this business and other businesses in this
country crying out for is certainty. This economy is going to be decimated by the impact of the currency dislodging against other currencies by a lack
of access to the single market. I don't think the M.P.s, the politicians have the first clue of what they're doing here. All the signals are the
European Union will give us an absolute kicking in these negotiations and we will come out with a really lousy deal. I'm afraid we're not hanging
around to wait with our fingers crossed. We're taking action now.
[10:25:26] DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Smithy's is one of the world's biggest players in its field and among one of the largest employers in this area of
northern England. Which means if businesses like these leave Britain, that could end up being a nightmare for the economy.
Nina dos Santos, CNN, Gainsborough, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: All right, all the latest world news headlines are just ahead for you viewers, plus, some advice for Mr. Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON HUNTSMAN, FRM. GOVERNOR OF UTAH: Trump at some point is going to have to say "I've got to sit down and do business with the Chinese. I'm going
to have to cut deals. I'm going to have to work on security matters, environmental matters, even securing greater stability in the Middle East."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: We're going to hear from America's former ambassador to China and a former presidential candidate himself. Coming up, my interview with
Jon Huntsman.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[10:30:21] ANDERSON: China rejecting Donald Trump's suggestion that the One China policy should be changed once the president-elect takes office.
Beijing calls it nonnegotiable. Both China and Taiwan agree there is only one China, which includes the island of Taiwan, they disagree which
government, Beijing or Teipei, is the legitimate ruler of China. As a result, Beijing views the self-governing Taiwan as a break away province.
Well, the U.S. only has formal diplomatic relations with Beijing and not with Taipei.
China's foreign ministry says the policy is the political foundation of relations with the
United States. The U.S. has acknowledged the policy since 1979.
Well, China's Global Times, part of the country's state media, has published an editorial, translated as Trump's shocking amateurism and
arrogance.
CNN's Matt Rivers has more on the impact Trump's comments could have on U.S.-China relations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in China the communist party holds few things more dear than the one China policy. So, perhaps then no
surprise when a bit of an uproar in the sue after this.
TRUMP: I fully understand the one China policy but I don't know why we have to be bound by a one China policy unless we make a deal with China having
to do with other things including trade. I mean, look, we are being hurt very badly by China with devaluation, with taxing us heavy at the borders
when we don't tax them.
RIVERS: Chinese officials quickly counter saying any deviation from the policy from would make U.S.-Chinese cooperation on major issues out of the
question.
State run newspapers said Trump, quote, "is ignorant as a child in terms of foreign policy." It was a strong response. And here's r why. For China's
government the one China policy means that if you're walking on a street in Taiwan you're on Chinese territory, the same way you would be here on a
stroll in a Beijing ally way.
Taiwan is simply seen as a Chinese province. For decades the U.S. has acknowledged that policy. But if Trump were to ignore that and cozy up to
Taiwan, Beijing could take that as a signal support for an independent Taiwan, and that lies the problem. For Beijing, it's a question national of
sovereignty. The ruling communist party doesn't seem controlled lightly. And as always said it would never accept an independent Taiwan,
So, if and it's a big if, the Trump administration ignores the one China policy, how would Beijing respond? In short, it's anyone's guess but there
is a range of possibilities. China could make life hard for big U.S. companies here like Apple, Starbucks. It could devalue its currency making
exports more competitive.
And at the U.N., permanent Security Council member China could stand in the way of the U.S. agenda on everything from Iran to North Korea. But perhaps
the most dangerous reaction could be of the military variety.
A Chinese state run newspaper called for making, quote, "the use of force to retake the Island of Taiwan a real option," something Beijing has never
officially taken off the table.
On the U.S. side, the Taiwan relations act mandate the U.S. to ensure Taiwan has what it needs for self-defense. What that actually means is
unclear. But in the meantime, the U.S. has sold Taiwan billions of dollars in arms.
We should emphasize that we are talking about extreme possibilities in a hypothetical post- one-China policy situation. And most experts that we've
spoken to agree that the likelihood of the U.S. ignoring that policy and China responding in force is small.
Many also say that Trump is just talking tough in advance of future negotiations in a reset relationship. But the fact remains that when he
president-elect speaks favorably about Taiwan and negatively about the one China policy, the Chinese government is going to take it seriously and
react strongly every time.
Matt Rivers, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDRESON: Let's do more now, shall we, on the U.S.-China relationship. I sat down with the former American ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman a
couple of days ago. In addition to serving President Obama in Beijing, Huntsman, the Republican former Governor of Utah, ran for president himself
in 2012. Now he backed Trump in the 2016 race until Trump's lewd comments about women surfaced on a videotape that had been shot back in 2005, but
still Huntsman was on Trump's short list for secretary of state.
I began by asking Jon Huntsman where he and the president-elect stand these days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[10:35:06] HUNTSMAN: We have talked by phone. We have exchanged thoughts and ideas. I congratulated him on the race and I wished him the best of
success. And I really do hope that he is successful, because I've got two boys serving in the military of the United States, we all want
the best for our country, particularly during tumultuous times.
And whether it's the state and health of our democracy, whether it's race relations, whether it's our affairs a abroad or whether it's just
performance of our economy, we're fragile, and we need to move to a period of greater trust in our institutions of governance, in our leaders and in
our capacity to get things done as a country, even across political boundaries.
ANDERSON: You have said, in fact, that the biggest test that Donald Trump will face in 2017 is an acute lack of trust in the country's leaders. Has
his own performance to date helped or hindered him in that challenge?
HUNTSMAN: It's too soon to tell, because I do believe that trust will be restored ultimately when people feel their democracy is actually working on
their behalf. And that means you got to get a few things done. And the fact of the matter is, nobody's going to be able to get anything done
unless you cross that impenetrable political divide, because no one party has all
the recipes for success or all of the truth.
ANDERSON: You are a Republican, but as an Obama appointee as U.S. ambassador to China, you sit in a sort of interesting position I think when
it comes to politics.
HUNTSMAN: I put my country first, Becky.
ANDRESON: You put your country first, correct, sir. What a diplomat you are.
Let me talk to you about China, because we have had some pretty heated rhetoric from Donald Trump. How is Beijing dealing with that?
HUNTSMAN: I used to work for President Reagan. He said in the election of 1980 that we would cut our diplomatic links with Beijing, which had just
been restored the year before under Jimmy Carter and recognized Taipei as a legitimate China. Those were fighting words if ever there were fighting
words spoken. He, then, went to China a couple of weeks later. I went with him when I was a young staffer on the White House staff.
So, we go from rhetoric that oftentimes divides and puts the Chinese in a very difficult place.
To winning the election and then having to govern and dealing with the world as it is. So, at some point, just like president since Ronald
Reagan, and every election we've had the same kind of heated rhetoric -- the butchers of Beijing said Bill Clinton, Bush got into problems over
Tianamen Square, and so this is kind of a replay of what we have seen before.
Trump at some point is going to have to say I've got to sit down and do business with the Chinese. I'm going to have to cut deals. I'm going to
have to work on security matters, environmental matters, even securing greater stability in the Middl East. I can't get it done without including
China at some point.
ANDERSON: So you're not troubled by his comments?
HUNTSMAN: I'm not terribly troubled. I've been around long enough, Becky. I have heard this stuff before. Although, as it relates to the One China
policy, this is a policy that both Taiwan and China with buy into. So when you say you're going to maker the One China policy a bargaining chip, that
probably won't fly in the end.
ANDERSON: I want to talk North Korea with your just for one moment. In his new year's message, the North Korean leader says he's close to testing
an intercontinental ballistic missile. What is your advice to Donald Trump on how to handle the north?
HUNTSMAN: Recognize North Korea for what it is: it's a dangerous, unpredictable, almost suicidal state. What we do know is they have paraded
an intercontinental ballistic missile in their military parades, but they have never used one.
The chances are pretty good that they either have one or are very close to having the technology to launch one.
So today, they could launch a nuke into South Korea. They could probably hit Japan with a shorter medium range missile. Pretty soon, they're going
to be in a position to hit Guam, then Hawaii, and then other parts of U.S. territories, then we're in real trouble.
So I would guess that 2017 or 2018 will be the year of North Korea. The United States will
have to do something about the increasing threat posed by North Korea.
ANDERSON: And this is where many people will say perhaps the bilateral relations with China will come in once again. Is China's control, though,
over the north waning, do you think?
HUNTSMAN: It is, in fact, waning. The north has blown off nuclear weapons, without the Chinese even being notified about it. So every time
there's a missile test or a weapons test, it rattles and shakes the region, the regional economy, which is bad news for China.
So they have come from being partners in arms, marching in the same parades, party to party
events, to now saying North Korea could go south on us. They could become a failed state. They could engage in unilateral action, where we're not
going to come out so well.
So my guess is that sooner rather than later, they're going to be willing to sit down with the United States, with South Korea, with Japan and maybe
one or two other stakeholders, to figure out a contingency plan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Jon Huntsman with some fascinating analysis.
Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with me Becky Anderson.
Some new concern over the upcoming Trump administration. Are there are changes in store for
reporters covering the White House? And how would that affect your access to the news? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: And you're with CNN and Connect the World with me Becky Anderson. It is just about quarter to 8:00 here in the UAE. Welcome back.
The late night comedy show Saturday Night Live went after Donald Trump again at the weekend. This time it mocked the president-elect's first news
conference in months. You may remember, if you are watching at least, he attacked online news site BuzzFeed for publishing unsubstantiated reports
funded by his political opponents. It alleges the Russians have compromising information about him.
And he lashed out at our network, CNN, too, though we did not report any details of those memos.
Well, here is SNL's take on all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[10:45:04] ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: God, I'm loving this press conference. I love the press. I respect the press. Let's take another question from the
press.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, yeah, Is'm from Buzzfeed.
BALDWIN: No, no, no, not you Buzzfeed. You're a failing pile of garbage. And you want to know why? Because I took your quiz yesterday and I'll tell
right now, I am a Joey, I am a Rachel.
Who else has a question. I love the press.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Jim Acosta, CNN.
BALDWIN: No, not CNN either. You're overrated. You're fake news. I tried to watch your network last night and there was just some crazy blond
woman spouting lies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was Kellyanne Conway.
BALDWIN: Oh, right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Trump tweeted about NBC News is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny. Cast is terrible. Always a complete
hit job. Really bad television.
We have heard so much about the spread of fake news in the run up to the U.S. election, haven't we? Well, now with an election in Germany coming
up, Facebook taking steps to warn people about it there.
The social media site attacking -- attaching warning labels to made up stories. The new features was launched in the U.S. last month.
Basically when someone posts a link to a story flagged by fact checkers, a warning pops up below it marking as disputed information. Well, you can
also report a post that seems questionable.
Well, Trump has never hesitated in criticizing the media. And there is concern among White House reporters about how Trump will treat them going
forward. Now, a Reuters report has raised questions about the media's longstanding access to the president from the
West Wing.
Let's bring in senior media correspondent Brian Stelter for more. Brian, lest our viewers believe
this is a bit of sort of naval gazing and anxiety by the mainstream media, as Donald Trump likes to call it, just explain what we understand to be
going on here and why it is significant?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONENT: Well, for decades, media outlets, including CNN, have had little work spaces right inside the White House,
right inside the West Wing, and right next to those work spaces, a big briefing room, a sort of famous on television for decades for press
conferences and press briefings.
The third part of this are the camera locations you see outside the White House, those iconic
shots of reporters standing outside the White House. All of these access issues are symbolic about being able to see the president in action, have
access to White House aides, and be present in good times and bad. And now we see the incoming Trump administration trying to chip away at that a
little bit.
What happened over the weekend, as Esquire magazine published a story saying the Trump administration may evict the press corps from the White
House. Now that headline may have been overstated, but it shows how much uncertainty and vulnerability there is in this moment.
The incoming press secretary Sean Spicer has confirmed that, yes, he is looking at moving the briefings out of that iconic room in the West Wing,
moving them off to a bigger space where he can have more journalists in the room.
Now, that might sound great, but there's some concern that maybe what Spicer is trying to do
is pack the room with pro-Trump voices, trying to pack the room with opinion columnists, conservative
commentators, who would change the tenor of the room and ask softball questions.
There's also a broader concern here, Becky, and that's the idea of a slippery slope, that today it's about moving the briefings, but next year
it might be about moving the workspaces, and the year after that, it might be about getting out of the White House complex entirely. Now that's
theoretical it may not happen, but that's the concern White House correspondents have.
ANDERSON: Brian is on the story for you out of New York. Brian, thank you.
You're watching Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson out of Abu Dhabi for you.
Coming up, the gap between the rich and the rest is getting wider. We head back to Davos to see how leaders are trying to turn the tide on wealth
inequality.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:50:45] ANDERSON: This is CNN and Connect the World with me Becky Anderson. 10 to 8:00 here in the UAE. Let's get back to the story that we
discussed earlier in the show.
Most of them are household names: Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett. What do they have in common?
Well, they are all super rich. In fact, they are so rich the charity Oxfarm says they are part a group of eight men who now control as much
wealth as the world's poorest 3.5 billion people. And I'm pretty confident they have all been attendees at the annual shindig for the global great, or
so the cliche goes, in Davos, Switzerland, otherwise known as the World Economic Forum, which is this week.
And we are going to get back there. Rana Faroohar is our global economic analyst who is there braving the cold at the top of the hill in
Switzerland.
What's the point of a gathering like Davos when the momentum politically at the moment seems overwhelmingly to be a rejection of such politics and the
idea of the elite tackling the world's issues?
RANA FAROOHAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, well, you know, Davos has been going on for a number of decades, and during those decades, there was
this idea that all boats were rising, globalization was good. I mean, that's the sort of basis of this entire event was founded on.
But I think that you're going to hear a lot this week, and you're going to see a lot of hand-wringing over what's just happened in the last year. I
mean, if you think about it, these are the very people that missed Brexit, that missed the election of Trump, that did not see the handwriting on the
wall, that the 99 percent was pretty dissatisfied with globalization and the status quo.
So, I suspect that you're going to hear a lot of that hand-wringing this week.
ANDERSON: Davos, of course, taking place against the backdrop of rising populism and just ahead of the inauguration of a man who rode to victory on
the back of a populist wave, President-elect Donald Trump of course.
Do you think anything will be done differently this year in Davos given that as we have just
been discussing, there are millions of people, it seems around the world, who kind of think of the elite who gather in Davos as the problem rather
than the solution.
Yeah, absolutely. I think that you're going to see a few different things happening. I mean, for starters, if you just look at the sessions that
people are going to, there's a lot on the future of work, the future of unemployment. How do you stop technology from eating everyone's jobs. You
know, there's a tremendous of anxiety about the levels of unemployment in many parts of the world, particularly amongst the young, the fact that a
lot of the major vectors in the economy are actually pushing towards more unemployment rather than less.
I think that you are going to see slightly less U.S. presence here. I mean the vice president is here, but because the U.S. inauguration is going to
be happening later this week, I think that you're probably going to see less U.S. presence. The Chinese are really stepping up. Xi Jinping, the
leader of China, is supposed to be in Davos. I think that that's going to be a big deal. I think that in some ways you may see the Chinese stepping
into that void that the U.S. has clearly left on the global stage, and explicitly so. You know, Trump saying we don't want to play that role
anymore.
ANDERSON: I think it was a Vanity Fair article that spoke of some soul searching going on. Is that even likely, do you mean? And even if it
happens, what are the results? Why would we care?
FAROOHAR: Well, yeah. Yeah, yeah, I think that what you're going to see is a lot of
business people, a lot of CEOs just as much as politicians really stepping up and discussing, all right, how does the math work in a global economy
that is about 60 percent or 70 percent consumer spending when nobody's gotten a raise? And that's why you have these populist candidates rising
not just in the U.S. but all over Europe. And you have nationalism rising in many
parts of the developed world.
I think that really it is an underlying economic questions, how do you make globalization work for everyone? And that's something that you're going to
hear a lot about this week. Now, whether the 1 percent is going to be able to come up with those answers, we shall see. But at least it's now on the
agenda. And I can tell you in many years previously it has not been.
[10:55:03] ANDERSON: Do we, then, need a different forum, do you think? Is Davos done?
FAROOHAR: Say again, Becky?
ANDERSON: I wondered just whether out loud we need a different forum and whether Davos is a sort of, is done?
FAROOHAR: Well, you know, people have been predicting that for many years, and everybody still comes back here, including myself, every year.
It is a great place to get a finger to the wind of what the political and economic metatopics are going to be in the year ahead. There's no question
about that. I mean, the world's biggest CEOs, many of the leading politicians are here. Teresa May is going to be here on Tuesday to talk
about her plans for Brexit and how to move the UK economy forward.
I mean, this is a great place, still, to get a feel for what the real potent issues are going to be for the year ahead, absolutely.
ANDERSON: Got it. Thank you. Stay warm.
As always, you can find the stories that we are covering and some that we weren't able to fit
into the show -- thank you -- all on the Facebook page.
So, if you missed our interview with the founder of Blackwater, for example, or want to get a hold of any other stories, head over to
Facebook.com/CNNconnect. And do not be shy to reach out on Twitter either. You can tweet me @beckycnn. That is @beckycnn.
All right, tonight's Parting Shots just before we go for you, which is why we call them Parting Shots -- the end of an era as the self-styled Greatest
Show on Earth prepares to shut its doors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the one, the only, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. The greatest show on Earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the Ringling Brothers circus is closing. According to its owners, a sharp decline in ticket sales and high operating costs made the
act, quote, an unsustainable business, according to (inaudible) entertainment.
The circus has been delighting crowds for well over 100 years. Set up in Wisconsin in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling Brothers and was run by
the family until 1967.
Not everybody, though, delighted with the performance. The circus faced criticism from animal rights groups over the elephant routines. They were
eventually phased out.
The final show will take place in May.
That's your lot from us. I'm Becky Anderson. Thank you for joining us. That was Connect the
World. CNN continues after this short break.
END
