Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
U.S. Seizes Oil Tanker Off Venezuela in Major Escalation; Nobel Laureate Confirms U.S. Helped Get Her Out of Venezuela; Ukraine, European Allies to Discuss Peace Proposals Today; Ukraine Says it Hit Russian Oil Platform in Caspian Sea; Israel Approves 764 Housing Units in West Bank Settlements. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired December 11, 2025 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: The Trump Administration is escalating tensions with Venezuela seizing a tanker. Is this about
democracy or oil? It is 09:00 a.m. in Washington. It's 06:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. I'm Eleni Giokos. This is "Connect the World".
Also coming up, Venezuela's Nobel Prize winner appears in Oslo after months in hiding and says U.S. support helped her to get out of the country. And a
divided Federal Reserve delivers a third straight cut in interest rates. But what lies ahead in the economy for 2026.
Let's check in on the markets, which had quite a nice little boost after the fed cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point yesterday. As you can
see, futures are pretty mixed today. DOW slightly up, S&P and NASDAQ pointing lower. We'll check in on those numbers later on.
All right, so after the fed cut those rates a bit of a mixed signal today. And we've got some interesting voices coming up later in the show to
discuss what comes ahead for 2026. Well, we start with new information about the oil tanker that was seized by the U.S. off the coast of
Venezuela.
Satellite imagery and shipping data obtained by CNN show it concealed its true location while docked at a Venezuela oil terminal last month. Its
transponder indicated it was hundreds of kilometers away in Guyana. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi released a video of U.S. military personnel
seizing the ship and what marks a major escalation President Donald Trump's move against Venezuela's President and its government.
Bondi says the tanker has been under U.S. sanctions for years for involvement in an illicit oil shipping network. Venezuela's government
calls the seizure an act of international piracy. Its president appeared unfazed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT: Don't worry, be happy. Be happy --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: OK, I can hear myself guys. All right, President Nicolas Maduro singing, don't worry, be happy at a rally Wednesday, telling CNN his
message to the U.S. is peace above all else. We've got Alayna Treene collecting us from the White House and Stefano Pozzebon is in Venezuela's
capital of Caracas.
Alayna, I want to start off with you. President Trump was asked what they'll do with the oil, and here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens to the oil on that ship?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, we keep it, I guess.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where does it go to? What port does it go to?
TRUMP: When you have to follow the tank or your good news, but just follow the take. Follow it. Get a helicopter. Follow the taker, but we're going to
-- keep --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: So, Alayna, Venezuelan oil is sanctioned, but around 27 million barrels per month reach international markets, particularly China. So how
does President Trump plan to crack down on oil exports? And I guess importantly, because this is his effort to try and squeeze Maduro and his
earnings.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. I mean, this is a significant escalation, Eleni, of the United States pressure campaign on
Maduro. But from talking to legal experts and people throughout the administration here, they argue that this is, of course, very different, a
different mission from what we've seen some of the other strikes.
Particularly on, you know, the dozens, the two dozen, I should say, strikes that they've had on those boats traveling throughout the Caribbean and off
the coast of Venezuela. Look, I think that video last night, Eleni, that the Attorney General, Pam Bondi shared of these U.S. personnel rappelling
down off of that helicopter, seizing that tanker with their guns drawn.
I mean, it was -- those are remarkable images we're getting. We were told that this was, namely, a U.S. Coast Guard mission that was in -- working in
conjunction with the FBI Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. Now, what I found interesting was actually word of this surprise mission
actually came from the president himself. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADURO: Our message to the people of the United States remains this.
TRUMP: As you probably know, we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually, and
other things --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: Now look, the president said that he essentially had very good reason, the U.S. had very good reason for seizing this tanker.
[09:05:00]
But he didn't really offer many details about why they did this and what to expect moving fort as you played Eleni and that clip earlier of him saying,
you know, he doesn't really know what they're going to do with the oil that was in transport on that tanker. He said, I guess we'll keep it.
Now, what's interesting is that the tanker named Skipper it was sanctioned by the Biden Administration back in 2022 for what they had said was
Venezuela trying to transport this oil to Iran. And experts tell us, from our conversations that this was illegally justified by the book mission.
They know that the fact that the -- were the ones that were involved in this makes it very different from those strikes I was mentioning earlier
that have killed 87 people or so on those boats that the Trump Administration has alleged were carrying drugs. But I think big picture
here, which is important to keep in mind, is this is a very different mission. It is definitely an escalation of the president trying to squeeze
the Venezuelan dictator.
But it's unclear, really, how this fits into that broader strategy of what the administration is saying, which is to try and really stop the flow of
drugs into the United States. We also know, of course, that there is another goal in mind that they're not trying to publicly promote, but is to
try and see Maduro be ousted from power.
And my colleagues and I have reported on some of the plans that they've been working on behind the scenes, should that happen, what leadership
structure and those types of drafts that they've been working on to fill that leadership vacuum, all to say they're going to be a lot of questions
about what this means moving forward. We're hoping to hear more from the president today on that, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yeah, Alayna, thank you so very much for that update. Good to have you on. We've also got Stefano Pozzebon with us. And Maduro is calling this
blatant theft. You know, Venezuelan oil is predominantly sold to China at a huge discount. And even U.S. oil companies buy some of that oil, but it's
basically in debt for oil deals, and that, of course, is allowed.
I want you to tell me about how this new assault on oil tankers will hurt Maduro's earnings machine, because this is pretty significant. I mean,
Venezuela earns around $4 billion in oil revenue every year.
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think if you -- like, just you pointed out, Eleni, if you come from an international perspective, it's hard to put
into context how dependent the local economy the country, but the government itself here is dependent on the business of oil, on the trade of
oil.
We're talking about more than 90 percent of foreign income that reaches Venezuela is because of these oil exports. And to be correct, the United
States are still the largest purchaser of this oil through the oil major Chevron. But yes, you pointed out correctly that because of the sanctions
that are in place on Venezuelan oil.
A lot of this oil is funneled through black markets to the likes of China, Iran, like Eleni was saying, it will look -- it looks like this tanker was
used in the past for bringing this oil, which is sanctioned, Iranian companies, to Iranian buyers. I think it's important to point out that
Maduro will be much more hurting from inaction like the one we saw yesterday, than from what we've seen for the last few weeks and months,
which is a tax on alleged narco-traffickers.
Or he has been saying that these some of them were simply fishermen in the Southern Caribbean, and it's clearly something that rattled him much more
than what we've seen in the past. I've seen this as a change of tactic. It's important to speak to Maduro. We were able to do it yesterday, and it
was just a few minutes before actually the news break out of the seizure.
But it's look at how he immediately pointed out that oil is crucial in his dealing with the United States. I was asking him, what was his message for
Trump, and this is what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADURO: Our message to the people of the United States remains the same, peace. Peace above all else. No to crazy war, no to bloodshed for oil, no
to war for oil, the recipe for eternal wars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POZZEBON: No bloodshed for oil, no war for oil, because the idea that the United States are here just to see Southern Venezuelan oil, Venezuela
sitting, of course, on top of the largest oil reserves in the world, is something that Maduro and his predecessor, the late President Hugo Chavez,
have said time and again.
It clearly looks that the United States are changing their tactic -- the strategy is still going after Maduro. Is still trying to provoke a regime
change, or perhaps a regime collapse here in Venezuela, which is clearly a very different thing. But the tactic has changed, rather than going after
the drug trafficking and going after regular Venezuelans who are employed by cartels to traffic drugs across the sea.
Now they're really going after Maduro's purse. And Maduro's first job as the leader of these countries, of course, to guarantee that every member of
its government coalition. I'm talking about the army and talking about illegal drug traffickers, of course. talking about the judiciary system.
[09:10:00]
Every person in that government coalition wants a piece of the cake, and the piece of the cake comes from the oil. If the United States will go
after the exports of oil from Venezuela, it's clearly something that will rattle Maduro much more than what we've seen in the past, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Absolutely. All right, Stefano, great to have you with us. Thank you so much. Well, this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner say she received
help from the U.S. to get out of Venezuela. Maria Corina Machado spoke at several news conferences in Oslo today. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER AND NOBEL LAUREATE: We did not know where I was in hiding in Venezuela, so it was hard for him to
stop me. And yes, we did get support from United States government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, the opposition leader whose long battle for democratic rights in Venezuela has been in hiding because of treason and other charges that
she denies. Machado missed the award ceremony, but like just hours last night arriving after her daughter accepted the prize.
And she embraced supporters on the street, then delivered this message alongside the Norwegian Prime Minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACHADO: I would say to all citizens of the world in this hour and assure you that I am very hopeful, Venezuela will be free and we will turn a
country into a beacon of hope, an opportunity of democracy. And while we will welcome not only the Venezuelans that have been forced to flee, but
citizens from all over the world that will find a refuge as Venezuela used to be decades ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, joining us live from Oslo, CNN's Pau Mosquera. Pau, great to have you with us. And you know, listening to Machado in her press
conference, you get the sense of how difficult it was, not only for her, but the people that assisted her to get out of Venezuela, getting U.S.
assistance, like she says.
And then importantly, the question is whether she's going to return. And tell me about what you understand on that, because clearly this is a
dangerous endeavor.
PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Eleni, she certainly will try to get back to Venezuela after this experience, but there's still a lot of
questions that remain unanswered, and one of those is, when would this happen? In that sense, when we asked her when she would return to
Venezuela, she didn't offer a clear answer.
Right now, she said once, or at least, she intends to spend some time with her family, with her friends that are here at the Grand Hotel located
downtown Oslo. But there are other many questions that we depress have tried to pose to her. As you can guess, there are still many doubts on how
she did to live from Venezuela.
How was the help that the U.S. government has offered her? Exactly who was involved in getting her outside from Venezuela? She also was asked about
what she thought about the military intervention at U.S. military intervention in Venezuela. And she said that, well, now it's time for
action, not for statements.
And made a call to all the international community, to all the democratic countries, to help to make the transition in the country to democracy. So
today, this Thursday, we've had two chances to see her in different news conferences. The last one has taken place a few minutes ago here at the
Grand Hotel.
But earlier, when she made with the Norwegian Prime Minister, we had the opportunity to pose one question to her. And I actually asked her if she
believes that Nicolas Maduro government knew where she was in hiding all this time, and that's why she answered me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACHADO: I don't think they have known where I have been, and certainly they would have done everything to stop me from coming here. And actually,
I want to take advantage of your question to thank all those men and women that risk their lives so they could be here today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOSQUERA: So right now, the question, Eleni is, what is going to happen next? She now has made it to Oslo, but what are the next plans? So far, she
said is going to go to visit some doctors, as on the over the last few months, she hasn't been able to get any check up with the doctors.
And maybe she's also considering meeting with some authorities, even though she didn't clarify which of them and if that would happen here in Europe,
Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right. Pau Mosquera, thank you so much. Good to have you with us. Well sources tell that you CNN, Ukraine has handed its latest revisions
to the U.S. peace proposal over to the Americans. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, expected to meet with European allies again today.
[09:15:00]
One European diplomat saying talks are progressing quickly due to pressure from the United States. And President Trump said Wednesday, he's actively
involved in the process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The leaders of France, we spoke to and Germany and UK, all very good leaders, very good friends of mine, and we discussed Ukraine in pretty
strong words, we don't want to be wasting time. Sometimes you have to let people fight it out and sometimes you don't.
But the problem with letting people fight it out is, yet you're losing thousands of people a week. It's ridiculous. The whole thing is ridiculous.
END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Right, Clare Sebastian is live with us in London. Clare, these talks progress. We've also seen Ukraine carrying out some pretty big
attacks on Russian oil assets. What do we understand to have happened?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Eleni, the -- obviously, we see the diplomatic negotiations carrying on at a pretty high
speed, and Ukraine coming under what seems to be increasing pressure from the U.S. to make concessions while, of course, Moscow is ruling out any
kind of compromise.
But at the same time, we do see Ukraine really pulling out all the stops to ramp up the costs of this war for Russia. We've seen over the past few
months an escalating campaign against Russian energy targets. Just this morning, we got news by our source and Ukraine security service that they
had used long range drones to hit an oil platform, an offshore oil platform in the Caspian Sea.
The first time that, that has happened in that -- meanwhile was from Wednesday, when sea drones attacked a third.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): It's been going on for an hour, says the voice in Turkish. They hit the refinery. They hit the boat. The video shot from a
nearby ship as air defense fire rains down on Russia's biggest Black Sea oil port, shows the first of three attacks on Novorossiysk in November
alone. Clear evidence Ukraine's gloves are off in its energy war with Russia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think the Ukrainians have any intentions right now pulling back from these attacks, because they are essentially becoming
the enforcer of sanctions.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Data shows Ukraine has dramatically escalated attacks in recent months, a new concerted effort that gathered speed in
August and continued to accelerate, fueled in part by a shift from the White House as direct talks with Russia fell flat.
TRUMP: He's let me down. He's really let me down.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): And Ukraine's strategy is not just about hitting targets at ever greater distances, but crucially now hitting the same
targets multiple times, reducing the time Russia has to repair increasing disruption. These one of five hits on the massive reason oil refinery since
August.
SERGEY VAKULENKO, CARNEGIE RUSSIA EURASIA CENTER: If somehow Ukraine would manage to heat these refineries faster than Russians managed to fix them,
this indeed could render the refineries inoperable.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): And now Ukraine is expanding the types of targets. This the fifth attack on the Druzhba pipeline since August, ferrying oil to
Hungary and Slovakia. For the first time this week, a source in Ukraine security services says they hit an offshore drilling platform in the
Caspian Sea.
And Ukraine is increasingly targeting the ships that carry the oil. This was the third attack on a sanctioned oil tanker in the last two weeks using
sea drones.
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT: We cannot condone these attacks.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): All of this raising the geopolitical stakes of this strategy.
VAKULENKO: I think with this, Ukraine doesn't earn any sympathies, and might incur some costs.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Russia is definitely incurring some costs. Clips spread online of cars lining up for gasoline. Ukraine's attacks triggering
shortages in some regions, and Russia forced to ban gasoline exports until the end of the year. And with new U.S. sanctions and lower oil prices also
upping the pressure, Russia's oil and gas revenues, the biggest source of state income, fell 34 percent in November.
How much would Ukraine have to step up its attacks to really bring Russia to the table?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The combination of infrastructure attacks focused on export targets and the staying power of blocking sanctions, I think that
could potentially drive Russia back to the table, but it has to be a longer duration event.
VAKULENKO: If push comes to shove, Russia could probably survive with a half of its oil and gas experts.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): And yet with the tax now almost a daily occurrence, Russia's limits are being tested.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SEBASTIAN (on camera): So, look, this is an important part, I think, Eleni, of the context to the talks that are going on right now. The U.S. is, in
some ways, pressuring both sides with supporting Ukraine, with these attacks, with intelligence. It's obviously got those sanctions on Russia's
biggest oil giant, Lukoil and Rosneft, which are really powerful sanctions.
And we've got new data today from the International Energy Agency showing that Russian revenues from its oil exports have fallen in November to the
lowest point since February 2022.
[09:20:00]
So not enough yet to move the needle in talks, but it is certainly something that Russia is feeling, Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right. Clare Sebastian in London for us. Thank you so much for that update and apologize for that audio glitch earlier. All right. Still
to come this hour, Israel approves hundreds of housing units across West Bank settlements, will bring you the latest developments with our reporter
in Jerusalem. Stick to CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Israel has approved nearly 800 housing units to be built in three West Bank settlements. The Israeli Finance Minister's Office says that now
more than 50,000 units have been approved since 2022. And the West Bank is already home to more than 3 million Palestinians living under Israeli
occupation, and Israeli settlements there are considered illegal under international law.
I want to bring in CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who's following these developments from Tel Aviv for us. Jeremy, great to have you with us. Tell me about
these plans that have just been approved to increase settlements in the West Bank.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, this is the latest approval of new housing units in settlements in the West Bank by the far-
right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich. He has approved nearly 800 new units to be built across three different settlements in the occupied West
Bank.
And he is making very clear, as he does so, that this is part of a ramped- up strategy to increase the number of settlements, to increase the numbers of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, a strategy that has been doubled down
on and intensified since Hamas October 7th attack, and the war that has ensued since then.
Smotrich is also making very clear that this is part of a strategy to try and block off any possibility of the establishment of a Palestinian state.
This was something that was previously kind of only said in hushed tones, but now it has been said repeatedly and quite openly by not only Smotrich
but other elements of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
We have seen not only housing units that have been approved, but also an increase in the number of settlements which are considered illegal under
international law, but settlements that were previously illegal under Israeli law, known as outposts that have been kind of ratified as legal
Israeli settlements.
Although again still considered illegal under international law, this is leading groups like peace now, which opposes these settlements and is
against the occupation, to make clear that this is yet another step towards what they are terming the de facto annexation of the West Bank, because
indeed, when you look on the ground, you are seeing more and more Israeli control of the West Bank.
[09:25:00]
A major impeachment to a potential two state solution, and also clearly aimed at not only restricting the movement of Palestinians in the West
Bank, but also trying to foreclose on the possibility of an independent and contiguous Palestinian state on that territory, Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that update. I want to get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar.
Israel has reopened the border crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan to cargo traffic for the first time since September.
The Allenby crossing is the main exit route to the West Bank without having to go through Israel, and is an economic lifeline to the Palestinian
territory. In the United States, officials in Washington State are encouraging approximately 100,000 people to evacuate due to the
catastrophic flooding expected as rivers hit record high levels.
There are at least 26 rivers at risk of flooding, according to state officials. Police in Bolivia detained Former President Luis Arce during an
investigation into an alleged embezzlement ring. It involves alleged misuse of public funds during Arce's tone as Economy Minister.
A former minister who served during Arce's presidency says he's innocent and calls his detention an abuse of power, whereas President Donald Trump
says he can put his peace plan between Cambodia and Thailand back on track. Skirmishes have been flaring and expanding along the Thai-Cambodian border
since Monday, when fighting erupted again, a peace deal brokered by Mr. Trump two months ago is now on the verge of collapse, but he said this, on
Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: With Thailand and Cambodia, I think, I can get them to stop fighting. I settle it once. I think I can do it pretty quickly. I think
we're scheduling a phone call tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, Thailand's military released this video on Wednesday, saying it shows a drone dropping a bomb on target in Cambodia, the conflict is
part of a territorial dispute along their border. Both countries blame each other for starting the latest round of fighting, which is the heaviest
since July.
And still to come, Chairman Jerome Powell, says the Fed has delivered enough rate cuts for now, but President Trump has a very different idea of
what's coming next. To more on the search for Powell's successor that's coming up just ahead. Stick with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
GIOKOS: All right, so we're a few seconds away. There we go. Markets have just started trading in New York and a lot of excitement. I have to mention
that it's the TIME team that is on the balcony. There they are celebrating the reveal of the 2025 TIME Person of the Year.
And it's not just one person. It's a collective dubbed the architects of AI kind of showing where the world is headed. Let's check in to see how the
DOW JONES is faring. Early market trade. A few seconds in, you've got the DOW up around a quarter of a percent, NASDAQ down six tenths of a percent,
S&P also slightly lower.
And the markets, of course, still digesting this quarter of a percent rate cut that we saw by the Federal Reserve yesterday, but it was largely priced
in. And of course, the big question is, are we still going to see an injection of excitement going in? But the Fed and Jerome Powell
specifically said that it's perhaps time to pause when it comes to interest rates in 2026.
And following the Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday, very interesting to see what we'll see going forward. So, it was quite interesting. Also, I
want to mention what President Donald Trump said, the quarter point rate slash was rather small, and again, attacked Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Calling him a stiff, Mr. Trump also may announce Powell's successor in the next two weeks. So, we'll see what happens then. Trump also revealing
Wednesday he planned to meet with Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, though it's unclear if Warsh is a front runner for the job.
So, a lot happening, and I'm so elated to welcome Randall Kroszner. He's a Former U.S. Federal Reserve Governor and Professor at University of
Chicago's Booth School of Business. What did you think of the rate cut yesterday? Do you think it was warranted in a row?
RANDALL KROSZNER, FORMER U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE GOVERNOR: Well, we sort of, well telegraphed.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
KROSZNER: And I think so. The challenge is, we don't have the data. So, I think that's one of the reasons why you're seeing so many dissents and so
many different points of view. Because usually the Fed has data. It's always from the last month, but at least it's just last month, not from
three months ago.
GIOKOS: -- don't you think that it's also, I mean, the fact that you have the Federal Reserve that is basically cutting rates on, you know, with lack
of data, usually it's data that drives an interest rate decision, so --
KROSZNER: Sure, but they have to decide whether to stay on hold or move.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
KROSZNER: And the latest data that they had had showed that the labor market was weakening significantly, and Jay Powell, the Chair, talked about
that quite a bit. He's very concerned about the labor market weakening. And it's one of those things that if the Fed doesn't act soon, and the labor
market starts to weaken, it's very hard to prevent it from weakening further.
GIOKOS: Yeah. So you've got to be proactive. I totally get that. OK, I'm quite interested in terms of what we'll see on the success of France and
you know, we've actually seen the attempt to interfere in interest rate decisions, and President Trump has been very vocal about that.
In fact, the president was asked about whether he believes that the new Federal Reserve Governor will be cutting rates, and he categorically said
yes. So, what does that signal to you that the Fed's independence is going to ultimately be tested? Or do you believe that President Trump will want
to put someone in place that will listen to him?
KROSZNER: Well, I think obviously there are tests that are going on in a whole variety of areas, including the Fed. I think that whoever gets
nominated, has to get through the Senate confirmation process.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
KROSZNER: And so, I think that is a constraint on the process. And Kevin Hassett, who is one of the front runners, had said, you know, I may be very
close to President Trump, but I'm my own man once I come Fed Chair, and so I'll make those decisions based on the data.
GIOKOS: Yeah, exactly. So very interesting. I want to talk about the 25 basis point rate cuts, I mean, and I want to refer to what we're seeing on
the inflation front, because it is very close to 3 percent it is above the 2 percent target range.
KROSZNER: For sure.
GIOKOS: We've just had some jobs numbers coming in as well today. Interestingly, when you weigh everything up, I mean, Jerome Powell was
actually quite hawkish in terms of the future. Do you think that inflation could run away, have run away and stagflationary environments, and what are
the risks?
KROSZNER: Well, I never say I was at the Fed when we had the global financial crisis.
GIOKOS: Yeah --
KROSZNER: I never say, never about anything.
GIOKOS: So, you have got PTSD --
KROSZNER: But I don't think that's a very likely outcome. I think that we're seeing a little temporary push up in inflation due to tariffs, as Jay
had talked about, and that's likely to sort of gradually roll off.
[09:35:00]
I think the concern is the significant weakening of the labor market that's going to be hard to repair if the Fed isn't proactive, and I think that's
why he said that, but he said, until we get the data we're holding.
GIOKOS: Yeah, OK, so I want to talk about Jerome Powell's term that is ending in May. And he spoke about his legacy. Let's listen in together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: My legacy. I -- my thought is that I really want to turn this job over to whoever replaces me in, with
the economy in really good shape. That's what I want to do. I want inflation to be under control, coming back down to 2 percent and I want the
labor market to be strong. That's what I want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: You want the labor markets to be strong. I mean, every paycheck wants that, that's the mandate.
KROSZNER: Yeah.
GIOKOS: Yeah? So, tell me about that.
KROSZNER: So, I think he really wants to make sure that, as he said, he leaves a strong economy with low inflation for the next chair.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
KROSZNER: That's what he wants to be remembered for. He doesn't want to be remembered for having inflation moved up to 40-year highs.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
KROSZNER: He wants to be remembered for bringing it down without a recession and leaving a strong economy for success.
GIOKOS: Just very quickly, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, from what we understand, is preparing to loosen up some regulations. Do you agree with
that? And these regulations were put in place during the 2008 financial crisis. You know, to put protections in place against systemic risks. What
is your view on that?
KROSZNER: So, it's extremely important to have the appropriate regulations in place. But I think now is it time to kind of go back and revisit. Are
they really effective? I think there are a lot of regulations that are just kind of compliance checks, the box sets of things that are not really
getting at the fundamentals of risk. We need to focus regulation on the fundamentals, not on compliance, check the box.
GIOKOS: All right. Fantastic. Randall Kroszner, great to have you with us. Thanks for joining us in studio, right here in Abu Dhabi.
KROSZNER: Great to be with you.
GIOKOS: Fantastic. All right, we're going to very short break. We'll be back right after this. Stick with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: All right, for the first time ever, Auction House Sotheby's brought a huge selection of luxury goods and fine art to the Middle East, cars,
bikes, watches, jewels for Abu Dhabi Collectors Week. And they were met with over $133 million worth of demand. CNN's Yara Enany got a look at some
of the big-ticket items that found new owners right here in this region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[09:40:00]
YARA ENANY, CNN INTERNATIONAL PRODUCER (voice-over): A 1994 McLaren F1 just sold for more than $25 million.
ENANY: Feels amazing.
ENANY (voice-over): And a rare pink diamond went for nearly $9 million.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fancy, vivid orangey pink diamond. This is the largest vivid orangey pink diamond in the world.
ENANY: I'm so lucky to hold in my hands.
ENANY (voice-over): And a Birkin close to 3 million.
ENANY: This is the most personal Birkin that was owned by Jane Birkin herself.
ENANY (voice-over): And no, this wasn't New York or London. It was in the UAE capitol, Abu Dhabi.
CHARLES STEWART, CEO OF SOTHEBY'S: Well, Sotheby's is a 281-year-old company. I think this chapter coming into the Middle East in this
significant way, is a new chapter in the history of our company that will be remembered as a very important step. You know, in the future,
ENANY (voice-over): For Sotheby's entering a new market isn't just about demand, it's about whether the ecosystem can actually support an auction of
this scale.
STEWART: There's an excitement, whether you're in New York or Paris or London or Asia, the growth agenda, the art and culture agenda in this
region, which are certainly the most ambitious in the world. You know, we feel the ripple effect of that all around the world.
ENANY (voice-over): The Gulf's luxury market is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world set to jump from more than $15 billion today to over
$24 billion by the end of the decade.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, it was sold as a set of four --
ENANY (voice-over): And Sotheby's has already seen the early signs of that momentum.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole region is important and priority focus for us.
ENANY (voice-over): But rising demand has exposed a different challenge.
STEWART: Demand side has been very, very strong, certainly for the last 12 months. The challenge has been to source the really high-quality material
to keep up with that demand.
ENANY (voice-over): And this auction captured the scale of that demand even clearer.
STEWART: I'm always struck when I come to Abu Dhabi. How international the audience is. Both residents and regional visitors are here as well and
engaged. So, it's, yeah, it's an amazing time to be here.
ENANY (voice-over): Yara Enany, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Right, "World Sport" with Amanda Davies is up next. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more, "Connect the World". Stick with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
[10:00:00]
END
