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Connect the World
UK PM Pushes Back as Trump Threatens NATO Allies with Tariffs; EU Holds Emergency Meeting to Discuss Trump's New Tariffs; Trump's Former VP Mike Pence Opposes Tariff Strategy; U.S. Pressure to Control Greenland Dominated WEF Agenda; Source Says Troops on Standby as Tensions Flare in Minnesota. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired January 19, 2026 - 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: You're looking at live pictures of the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington. Today is a national
holiday in the United States commemorating the civil rights leader and his work in pursuit of equal rights. It is 09:00 a.m. in the United States
capital.
It's 02:00 p.m. here in London. I'm Eleni Giokos, this is "Connect the World". Ahead this hour, the EU is considering a trade bazooka after
President Trump threaten tariffs on European allies over Greenland. At least 39 people have been killed and dozens injured after a train collision
in Spain that authorities are calling strange.
And the Kremlin says Putin has been invited to join President Trump's Gaza "Board of Peace". Right alliances are built on respect and partnership, not
pressure. Britain's Prime Minister responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose new tariffs on countries that oppose his efforts
to acquire Greenland.
Keir Starmer holding an emergency news conference here in London today. That's the day after EU ambassadors held their own meeting in Brussels.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I think that this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion, but with the application of the
principles and values that I have set out in terms of who decides the future of Greenland, and making clear that the use of tariffs in this way
is completely wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, the EU, along with Britain, are trying to figure out how to respond to President Trump's tariff threat. The EU is considering
retaliatory tariffs or an even more severe anti coercion instrument. Several European leaders, along with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte,
held phone calls with President Trump Sunday pushing for a negotiated way out of the standoff.
Nic Robertson is in Greenland for us. Nic, great to have you with us. It's an important time where we're seeing a standoff between the allies. Against
this backdrop, Norway's Prime Minister receiving a message from President Trump saying his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize means he no longer
has an obligation to think purely of peace.
And President Trump has said he's going to take Greenland either the nice way or by force. So, take me through it.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, and there were other points that President Trump put in that message to the Norwegian
Prime Minister, and they're pretty blunt, and they sound similar to messages he's had before, and that is, how does Denmark have a claim over
Greenland?
You know, saying that 300 years ago, they sent a boat here, so we've sent lots of boats there. So even questioning that fundamental right of
Greenland to have, you know, for Denmark, for Greenland to be part of Denmark. So, it's very much President Trump doubling down on the pressure,
finding different ways of doing it.
Of course, over the weekend, there were the threat of tariffs against those countries who sent troops here. Those are NATO countries. They put out a
joint statement that was Denmark and Finland and France and Germany and Norway and Sweden and the UK. All put out this joint message saying that
you're undermining the transatlantic alliance, that this leads to a downward spiral.
We're willing and happy to engage if there's -- if it's around sovereignty and territorial integrity. We've heard from the German Finance Minister
saying that they want to engage and not escalate. From the French Finance Minister saying this is all about trying to find a way to get deterrence.
This is -- these financial instruments, the threat of tariffs the EU is proposing or considering putting against the United States. But the biggest
statement today, and this has happened in the last couple of hours, that Europe is not backing down one iota, hearing last night from Mette
Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, saying she's got great support from the Europeans.
But today, the Danish have announced they are sending a significant number of military forces, 200 miles, 300 kilometers north of here in the Arctic
Circle, to a base called Kangerlussuaq. They're not just ramping up their troops, they're also sending in their top military commander.
This looks like incredibly strong signaling and positioning for the potential of that things don't go through diplomatic channels.
[09:05:00]
GIOKOS: Yeah. I mean, it's pretty shocking to hear all of this and just how much the rhetoric has escalated, Nic. I mean, the question becomes whether
President Trump can see a fortified Greenland with NATO troops, whether his security concerns are going to be allayed.
But more importantly, you know, people in Greenland are pretty shocked with the turn of these events. What are they telling you?
ROBERTSON: Yeah, it's almost they say, like they're watching their own destiny pass before them, where they don't have a control. It's, it's a
debate about their future, a very heated debate that worries them extremely. People are buying up additional camping supplies, dried food.
They're concerned about what could happen. That's not everyone that's doing that, but some people are. Some people go to bed worried at night about
what could happen. I think the sort of overall perspective is what they can do at the moment is not make the situation worse.
There was a big protest at the weekend. Greenland is not for sale, a message to President Trump, the Greenlanders don't want to be part of the
United States, but the reality is, it's very little they feel that they can do. So, it's sort of, you know, as they do in these cold and chilly Arctic
winds in their normal lives, is sort of buckle down, put their shoulder into it, and hope that this storm of President Trump blows over.
But at the moment and President Trump's rhetoric, witness the letter to the Norwegian Prime Minister shows no sign of abating.
GIOKOS: Yeah. Nic Robertson, really good to have you with us. Important story there, and you try stay warm. Thank you. Right. the Dutch Foreign
Minister is speaking out against the threat and tariffs over the weekend. I want you to take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID VAN WEEL, DUTCH FOREIGN MINISTER: This is not how allies should treat each other, and in that sense, I understand the word blackmail. Yes,
absolutely, we have until February 1st to really present a united front to make it clear that we do not find this acceptable.
And we have also stated that, as far as we are concerned, the territorial integrity and self-determination of Greenland and Denmark are not up for
discussion. But we also believe that the use of trade tariffs in this way is inappropriate and, moreover, unnecessary. So that will be our message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Right. Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says he supports President Trump's desire to acquire Greenland for the U.S., but not through
the use of tariffs. He spoke on CNN Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I have concerns about using what I think is a questionable constitutional authority imposing unilateral
tariffs on NATO allies to achieve this objective. What the president is trying to do here, I think, is absolutely in the interest of the United
States of America.
I would just rather see the president, use his persuasive powers and U.S. investment in Greenland to lay a foundation for ultimately achieving that
goal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: All right, Greenland is dominating the agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. And as always, our Richard Quest has his ear
to the ground and joins us now from Davos. Great to see you, Richard. I mean, no doubt that this is going to be very consequential the
conversation.
So, what are you hearing? Is President Trump going to get his way when it comes to Greenland?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Well, I don't know on that, and he's certainly not going to get his way on Greenland here. We're a long
way off that being resolved. I think the Europeans are going to be meeting with the president over several issues, including Gaza and the setting up
of the "Board of Peace" there.
But the fact that he sent this extraordinary note to the Prime Minister of Norway, linking his muscular approach on Greenland to the fact he didn't
get the peace prize and leaving. And now, of imposing tariffs, they don't know what to do. You see, here's the problem. There is a course of action,
a natural course of action, that will follow the implementation of those tariffs.
No question about it, you retaliate, you put other measures, you use the trade bazooka, but the Europeans don't want to do it, and they're going to
be forced to, because what the United States is doing is unheard of, despite what that Former Vice President Vance says, the reality is you
can't just go and take another country.
So, the Europeans are absolutely between a hard rock and a hard place, but they will not just roll over and take this.
GIOKOS: Yeah. OK, so very interesting, because we saw the British Prime Minister holding an emergency news conference just hours ago. That's after
EU Ambassadors hold their own meeting in Brussels. So, a lot of conversations that are happening because U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott
Bessent says, and I quote, Europeans project weakness, and the U.S. projects strength.
So, I wonder if this is going to be a uniting force for the Europeans to come together on the right and the left.
[09:10:00]
QUEST: OK, so firstly, I think the comment by Scott Bessent yesterday was significant, because this does show that it's not just the president on a
whim of his own, even though, if it was, he could force it. This shows that senior administration officials like Scott Bessent, at least openly or
officially, are behind it.
That makes it much more difficult for everybody to retaliate against. Then you've got the former vice president you were just hearing about. There is
a ground swell of U.S. views that says Greenland should be part of the United States. Where they differ is on the methods and the modalities to
make it happen.
The problem here is the train is leaving the station. The president has shoved everything on board and is sending it careening down. It is going to
be very difficult to stop an all-out trade war at this particular rate, because the Europeans cannot note the word I say will not cannot be seen to
be weak on this issue.
GIOKOS: Right. Richard Quest, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for those insights. We'll check in on you later. All right, moving on now,
the death toll in Spain has risen to 39 that's following a deadly high speed train crash. Officials have warned that number could increase.
And a short time ago, the prime minister declared three days of mourning. Officials say the rear carriages of a train derailed Sunday evening and
were struck by a second train traveling in the opposite direction. It's the country's deadliest rail disaster in more than a decade. We've got CNN's
Pau Mosquera live for us near the crash.
Pau, we heard from the Spanish Prime Minister a short while ago and clearly declaring, this is a time of sorrow. But importantly, the number is rising.
Emergency Services are still very much on the ground. Give me an update.
PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah -- Eleni, because right now, there are still a lot or dozens of Asians of the -- and different emergency
services that they are working on the ground zero, trying to move the carriages that derail it from the tracks and searching if they are any
victims, like under all of the debris.
They have installed it over the morning big cranes to try to move the pieces of the trains and keep investigating, searching for more bodies in
the area. And that's why the authorities have repeated after the morning that the death toll could rise over the next hours, but something that is
also important, or at least what the people are asking themselves from home is, what is the cause of the accident?
Well, the authorities so far have asked not to speculate about the possible origin of this terrible and horrible train crisis so far. They are leaving
the authorities to investigate, and that's why they want them to keep doing their work -- until they clarify what exactly has happened here in this
site of the crash.
But there's actually something curious, Eleni, because the authorities, all of them, or most of them, have agreed over the morning that this was quite
an unusual accident, or at least that this was something that it was very difficult to foresee. Have a listen to what the Spain's Transport Minister
said earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSCAR PUENTE, SPANISH TRANSPORT MINISTER: The accident is extremely strange. It happened on a straight stretch of track. All the railway
experts who have been here today at the center, and those we have been able to consult are extremely surprised by the accident, because, as I say, it
is strange, very strange. It's very difficult to explain at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOSQUERA: And while they are investigating, Eleni, there's also families from some victims out there, still searching in different places for any
kind of information that can lead them to their relatives. For example, here we are close to a social center located in Adamuz four kilometers away
from where this train crash took place.
Here we have seen over the morning how many families have come to ask the authorities if they know anything about the people that they are still
missing. And just to put an example earlier, we talked to Abdul Rahman (ph), who is looking for his sister-in-law. We are talking of Amir (ph), 45
years old, who was traveling back from Malaga to Madrid, where he where she normally gets to work, Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right, Pau Mosquera, thank you so much for that update. Now, Iran's President says any aggression directed towards its supreme leader by
the United States will be seen as a declaration of, quote, all-out war against Iran. The warning comes after U.S. President Donald Trump called
for new leadership in Iran, different from the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The supreme leader called Trump a criminal over his support for the anti- government protests. One Human Rights Group reports that more than 3900 demonstrators have been killed in the last three weeks.
[09:15:00]
CNN's Ben Wedeman has been following all of this for us from Erbil in Northern Iraq. Ben, good to have you with us. Look, here's the reality. It
seems that President Trump is pulling back rhetoric against Iran, at least for now, but we know that the carrier group is on its way.
Give me an understanding about whether we could still potentially see a strike on Iran, and what are you hearing on the probabilities of that?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly there's a lot of speculation. But given that President Trump, it's very
hard to predict what will happen, or whether know where -- whether he knows what will happen. But certainly, there is an expectation that with the
arrival within the next three to five days of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, that the probability, or possibility, I should stress, of an
American led strike on Iran becomes much, much higher.
And of course, as many have seen over the last year, Iran has been seriously cut down to size. Its allies in Hezbollah, Hamas have been
dramatically weakened. Its ally of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus is gone, and the regime was severely weakened by the 12-day Israeli-U.S. war with Iran.
And therefore, groups that have existed on the margins of Iran that are opposed to the regime, or, I should say, regimes in Iran over the last
decades see that, or believe that this regime is living on borrowed time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The instructor puts fresh recruits through the paces of how to handle their AK-47 assault rifles. The men and women in this unit
call themselves Peshmerga. Kurdish for those who face death. Fighters with the KDPI, the Kurdish Democratic Party Iran.
With the bloody nationwide protests that began late last month, 42-year- old, Homan (ph) says the end of the reign of the Ayatollah's is approaching. The government has economic resources and military power, he
says, but now we can see they're slowly losing power in popular support.
The KDPI is the largest and oldest Iranian Kurdish rebel group. For 80 years, they fought for Kurdish riots in a country where they make up about
10 percent of the population. These rugged mountains in Northern Iraq have long served as a safe haven for the Kurds and a launching pad for their
fight, first against the Shah and for the past 47 years, the theocratic rulers in Tehran.
WEDEMAN: This is just one of a variety of groups which has been preparing for decades for the day when the regime in Tehran falls.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Party leader Mustafa Hijri shows me where he was born in Iran, but he hasn't been back in decades. Ultimately, he believes it's
up to the Iranian alone to change their leaders. Help from the U.S. and Europe for the Iranian people is heartwarming, he tells me, but the people
won't put their hopes in the decisions and actions of Mr. Trump or any other international leader.
19-year-old far enough led her home in Iran to become a Peshmerga. She's training to be a sniper. In Iran, she says, we have no rights, especially
as women. That's why I became a Peshmerga, to defend my rights as a Kurd and as a woman. Another generation is treading a well-worn path of struggle
against their oppressors.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (on camera): And what we're seeing inside Iran is very little at the moment, given that the internet and telecommunications blackout is now
into its 12th day. At points, sometimes it loosens up ever so slightly. But by and far, large very little information is getting out, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
WEDEMAN: But what we are seeing is that it does appear that, at least for the moment, those demonstrations, very big demonstrations we saw earlier
that this month, have been suppressed, Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right. Ben Wedeman, thank you so much for that update. And still to come some unlikely invitations for Donald Trump's "Board of Peace"
for Gaza. We have a live report on the offers that have been extended, including to Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu. We'll be right back.
[09:20:00]
Oh, and the mayor, of course, very important story, the Minneapolis is once again lashing out against the Trump Administration, saying his city will
not be intimidated by the federal government. A closer look at the rising tensions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: The U.S. has been extending invitations to leaders to join President Trump's "Board of Peace" for Gaza. The president says the U.S.
has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin, Israel's Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, also got an offer to join. According to an Israeli official, the
U.S. led committee is set to oversee the reconstruction of the enclave, which has been devastated after two years of relentless Israeli
bombardment.
Let's get over to CNN's Jeremy Diamond for more. Jeremy, good to have you with us. How could Israel's inclusion impact the dynamic of this committee
and its goals?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's quite notable, of course, to see President Trump extending an invitation to the Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join this "Board of Peace" which is going to be overseeing the reconstruction as well as the governance of the Gaza
Strip and the next phases of this ceasefire agreement.
We just saw the United States, of course, announce that this is now the ceasefire plan. Is now entering phase two, which will involve the
disarmament of Hamas, handing over governance of Gaza from Hamas' government to this new national committee that will administer the Gaza
Strip, a committee formed largely of Palestinian technocrats who will oversee various facets of governance of Gaza.
But above all of that will be, indeed this "Board of Peace" and to have the Israeli leader who has led this war in Gaza for the past two years now, a
war that has killed so many Palestinians, will, of course, draw some eyebrow raises to be mild from Palestinians and others who support the
Palestinian cause.
In addition to that, we're also learning that the Russian President Vladimir Putin, has also been invited to join this "Board of Peace",
according to Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, the Kremlin is reviewing this invitation and quote, hoping to get more details from the U.S. side.
Also notable on that front as well, Vladimir Putin, who has continued this war of aggression in Ukraine for several years now being invited to join a
"Board of Peace" which could ostensibly not only address solving this conflict between Israel and Gaza, but also more broadly, be aimed at
solving conflicts around the world, as some U.S. officials and other diplomats familiar with the matter have been indicating as of late, but it
does seem like these invitations are going out to a pretty broad array of world leaders.
We don't yet know exactly how many, but so far, at least a dozen countries have publicly confirmed having received invitations to join this "Board of
Peace".
[09:25:00]
And in many cases, there is some caution around it, because of the fear that it could be seeking to undermine the United Nations' role in
addressing managing and solving conflicts around the world. And also, just because of the lack of detail about exactly what the mandate of this "Board
of Peace" actually will be going forward again, beyond simply resolving the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
GIOKOS: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that update. So, we're also following soar intentions in Minnesota amid ongoing anti-I.C.E.
protests, their source says the Pentagon has ordered about 1500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for possible deployment to the state.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is slamming the decision, and says it would do more harm than good. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACOB FREY, MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR: We're not going to be intimidated. If the goal here is safety. We've got many mechanisms to achieve safety, and the
best way to get safety is not to have an influx of even more agents, and in this case, military in Minneapolis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: All of this comes just days after President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection act to suppress protests over the immigration
enforcement surge that he unleashed in Minneapolis. The Trump Administration is defending the high number of agents. Here's the Acting
Director of I.C.E. speaking to Fox News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD LYONS, ACTING DIRECTOR OF U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: You hear about the 3000 federal officers and special agents that deployed
to Minneapolis. Majority of those, if not most, are to protect the men and women that are out there trying to make those arrests. And that has
definitely changed our tactics, where we would go and have five to six officers on an arrest team.
Now you have to go with 10 to 15 just to protect those individuals that are trying to arrest a bad guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Over the weekend, a U.S. Federal Judge issued an order limiting the crowd control tactics that can be used by I.C.E. agents towards protesters
in Minneapolis. Right, I want to get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now. At least 19 people are reported to have
died, including a firefighter and a giant blaze at a shopping mall in Southern Pakistan.
The fire broke out Saturday and burned for nearly 24 hours. Dozens of people are still missing, but the cause of fire has not yet been
determined. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has announced a ceasefire with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces ending nearly two weeks of
fighting.
It marks the significant victory for the Syrian government, which is now in control of two key North East provinces and oil and gas fields in the
region. Iraq's government says the U.S. has completely withdrawn all of its forces from military facilities in Iraqi federal territory.
According to Iraq's Defense Ministry, the final contingent of U.S. Advisers departed al-Assad Air Base in Western Iraq after more than two decades.
U.S. troops still remain in the Kurdish region in Northern Iraq. And ahead on "Connect the World". Donald Trump's tariff threat rattles European
allies and their stock markets coming up, a deep dive into the economic tensions between the United States and the EU.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos, live in London, and you're watching "Connect the World". These are your headlines. Britain's Prime Minister
criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose new tariffs over his desire to acquire Greenland for the U.S. Keir Starmer spoke a day after
an emergency EU meeting in Brussels.
Europe is united in opposing the 10 percent tariff threat, with leaders pushing for a negotiated end to the standoff. Spain's Prime Minister has
declared three days of mourning for the victims of a high-speed collision between two trains Sunday evening. At least 39 people were killed in the
accidents, and local official says the death toll could rise.
The cause remains unknown. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez promised a thorough investigation. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is slamming the Trump
Administration for reportedly putting some 1500 active-duty soldiers on standby for possible deployment Minnesota.
He says the move is designed to intimidate the people of Minneapolis and would do more harm than good. Price remarks come as tensions flare over
ongoing immigration crackdown. Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs on countries that oppose his plans for Greenland is rattling America's allies,
and the European stock markets are reflecting that.
I want you to take a look. You've got the FTSE down six tenths of the percent, the CAC dropping 1.5 percent. The DAX also deep in the red. And
this is the consequence of uncertainty that the standoff is causing. At the same time, you've got the price of gold, which, of course, is a safe haven
asset.
And you know, anytime you see any concern and risk aversion, people get into gold, and that is sitting at $4,675 of finance. Silver also up almost
6 percent and gold up almost 2 percent right now. These are all on the back of President Trump's threats against Europe right now. And of course, at
the center of it all is Greenland.
We've got Carsten Brzeski, the Chief Economist and Global Head of Macro Research ING Germany. He joins us now from Frankfurt. So great to have you
with us. What a time to be having these conversations. You've got President Trump threatening 10 percent tariffs, you've got the EU response, the big
bazooka tariffs, which is worth around 93 billion euros, that's ready to be implemented if needed. Are we looking at an all-out trade war completely
inevitable?
CARSTEN BRZESKI, CHIEF ECONOMIST OF ING GERMANY: Not completely inevitable, but we're really looking at an all in trade war. And to me, this is a
riskier scenario than the tensions we had last year, because, contrary to what we saw last year, when the European Union was at least trying to
compromise and did not choose to go into counter attack.
This time around, it seems as if this was one step too far done by the U.S. Administration, and that now Europe might opt to also go into counter
attack. And the result, indeed, would be it fort a fully-fledged trade war.
GIOKOS: Yeah. I mean the EU and the U.S. trade agreement, which you were referring to, which many say that is deeply skewed in the favor of the
United States, was viewed as a sign that the EU was always on the back foot, and importantly, trying to appease President Trump.
It seems that the EU wants to project strength. Does it have enough economic might to do so?
BRZESKI: Well, that is the big question. I think the EU currently doesn't even know itself, whether it really has the economic might. You know when
you when you look at trade between the U.S. and the European Union, when you look at trade and goods, it is clearly that the U.S. can do more harm
on Europe with terrorists than the other way around.
But when you look at the trade balance and services, it is completely the opposite. So here, Europe could do harm to the U.S. economy by imposing
tariffs on U.S. services. But clearly this would provoke, then again, a counter reaction by the U.S. And I think that for the EU, this is clearly a
tricky situation, I can understand why they now opted for a kind of counter attack.
I still hope that all of this ends with a compromise, because we know that there are no winners in trade wars, only losers.
GIOKOS: Yes. OK, so here's my question. I mean, China's trade data is pretty phenomenal, and basically showing that everyone's trying to de-risk
away from Washington as opposed to China.
[09:35:00]
Is the EU now looking to diversify those relationships, even if it means building stronger alliances with China?
BRZESKI: No, I don't think so, because, in fact, China has become a system arrival for the European Union, especially for industry, especially for
manufacturing. So, while the EU is now trying to react to Donald Trump, at the same time, it has been trying to react to Chinese competition, becoming
more protectionist against China.
So, we see that, I think that the global world order is changing, and we're seeing a European Union that, in general, will opt to be more
protectionistic, will be trying to shield its own economy and to strength its own economy more than in the past, because in the past, the European
economy was one of the main beneficiaries of globalization.
GIOKOS: Yeah. All right, well, Carsten, thank you so much. Sure. We'll have this conversation time and time again over the next few weeks. Good to have
you with us. All right, so an African football final that had it all, fan clashes, VAR interruptions, as well as plenty of drama. We'll take close
look, that's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Welcome back. So, AI generated content is heavily inspired by day to day lives, but one Chinese influencer has decided to flip the script and
make human videos that imitate AI. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout, brings us that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Take a guess, was this generated by AI? Turns out it is human made. They're so
good that even Douyin. China's TikTok warned the imitations could be AI generated. This is the man who has tricked the platform. His name is Mu
Tianran, an actor and a pro at imitating AI generated videos.
MU TIANRAN, CHINESE INFLUENCER: It's quite hard. Quite hard. You need to film many times.
STOUT (voice-over): AI generated videos are everywhere as the technology becomes more mature and widespread. But in China, the new trend on social
media is to imitate them in sloppy ways. As a pioneer who started in late 2024, Mu shared his tips on imitating AI.
TIANRAN: -- focus on some very specific details. For example, AI characters eyes look kind of dazed and drifting. For example, when facing someone,
they won't look at that person, but will stare at somewhere else. They seem to be talking, but are looking somewhere else.
STOUT (voice-over): But in 2026 that imitation is getting harder for Mu.
TIANRAN: So, I think when AI goes viral on the internet again, in the future, I might not be able to find a single flaw. There will really be
nothing left for me to imitate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: There's a wonderful story. I've actually got Amanda Davies with me right now. We meant to talk about sports, but we were laughing on the
story.
[09:40:00]
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: I mean -- really no. Down with the kids or up --
GIOKOS: I don't know. We've got a gap in the market. We're going to be relevant. We just need to make a plan anyway. So good to see you. Good to
be with you in London. And importantly, let's talk about Senegal champions -- Yeah.
DAVIES: -- This is a huge flagship moment for African football, the Africa Cup of Nations final, Senegal against the hosts, Morocco. Morocco, looking
to win this tournament, get their hands back on the trophy for the first time since the 1970s. But you didn't believe what you were seeing as this
occasion played out.
GIOKOS: Yeah. It was like drama --
DAVIES: There was drama, there was Senegal and their players walking off the pitch a delay of 17 minutes, because the referee awarded a penalty to
Morocco. We've never seen anything like it. In terms of one of the biggest tournaments in world football, a team walking off the pitch at the behest
of their manager because of a refereeing decision. Sadio Mane was not impressed by the decision of his teammates.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
DAVIES: Urged them all to come back on. Morocco missed the penalty, and Senegal ultimately won. They are the ones celebrating in Morocco's
backyard, but understandably, African footballs governing body, CAF, have opened an investigation. They're going to review all the footage, because
it's not a good look.
This should have been a moment of celebration to really put African football on the map for all the right reasons. It's been an incredible
month of football, but sadly, too many of the headlines are written about the country --
GIOKOS: Yeah, I mean, exactly, and just so much drama around it, but the images, I mean, so exciting and a big win for Senegal two years in a row
now.
DAVIES: -- 2021 --
GIOKOS: So, they've won it twice. Yeah.
DAVIES: -- They've won it twice. Ivory Coast actually won it last time. So, because of COVID, it's all been quite closely together.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
DAVIES: But, yeah, very quick succession. And it's fascinating building up to the World Cup, of course, later this year to see where both Senegal and
Morocco go from here. But we've got lots more to come in just a couple of minutes in "World Sport".
GIOKOS: So much Amanda Davies, we'll see you right off the short break. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more news. Stick with CNN.
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