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Zelenskyy Critical of Europe in Davos Speech; Slovenia Declines to Join Trump's "Board of Peace"; Western Leaders at Davos Warn of "Unraveling" World Order; Trump on Greenland, "We're Getting Everything We Want at No Cost"; Israeli Strike Kills Three Journalists in Gaza; Ex- Counsel Jack Smith Testifies on Capitol Hill; Thousands Killed in Iran Unrest; 2026 Academy Awards Nominations. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired January 22, 2026 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Well, a warm welcome to what is the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi with the
time is just after seven in the evening.
It is just after 4:00 in Davos, 4:00 pm where a day after touting his accomplishments and airing familiar grievances in a speech at the World
Economic Forum, U.S. president Donald Trump has shifted focus to other global issues, hosting a formal signing ceremony for his board of peace
attended by some 20 nations.
[10:00:04]
Notably, no major European allies. He then met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the White House's envoys prepare to meet with
Russia's president in Moscow.
The U.S. president also offering new details about what he says is the framework of a deal reached with NATO on Greenland's future. We'll dive
into all of this across this next hour. I do want to get you straight to our first guest, who's Robert Golob. He is the prime minister of Slovenia,
a member of both the European Union and of NATO.
So I have to start on President Zelenskyy's blistering speech to Europeans in the past hour. Let's just listen to some of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Instead of becoming a truly global power, Europe remains a beautiful but fragmented kaleidoscope of
small and middle powers.
Instead of taking the lead in defending freedom worldwide, especially when America's focus shifts elsewhere, Europe looks lost trying to convince the
U.S. president to change but he will not change.
Europe still feels more like geography, history, a tradition, not a real political force, not a great power.
Some Europeans are really strong, it's true but many say we must stand strong and they always want someone else to tell them how long they need to
stand strong, preferably until the next election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: This was a blistering speech, delivered in a tone of anger and exasperation and laser-focused on what he sees as an inadequacy by Europe
in its own defense and its defense of Ukraine.
Your response, sir?
ROBERT GOLOB, SLOVENIAN PRIME MINISTER: Well, first, let me tell you that I understand rather well the frustration uttered by President Zelenskyy.
We've been listening to his frustrations for a long time and I know the root cause for it. It's not a new thing.
The -- Europe is only strong when it's united. But recently, even in the last week, I think that Europe finally showed some backbone. And I believe
that that is the only way forward for us, no matter whether you come from a small nation or a large nation.
Only a united Europe, together with our allies, can be that leading power, not leading power in military just but leading power in values that we,
that all the world is really expecting from us to be.
ANDERSON: What does that backbone look like?
Can you be clearer, please?
GOLOB: Well, you've all been following the recent events regarding the board of peace, regarding the Greenland situation. And when I speak about
the position of Slovenia, I can only say that we remain firmly committed to international law and international order, based on U.N. Charter.
And no initiative can supplement it. No initiative can be above that. Any initiative, including board of peace, can only be a natural extension of
United Nations. That is a principle that not just I personally believe in but it's a principle that must be upheld at any cost. And we cannot be
bullied in any other position as that.
That applies also to the principle of sovereignty when it comes to Greenland. And let me echo sentiment, which is widespread across Europe
right now. We are all Greenlanders these days and it's only up to Greenlanders to decide upon the fate upon the future of the Greenland. No
one else can do that.
ANDERSON: Let me just deal with the board of peace, sir. In his defense on the board of peace, Donald Trump, at least today, did make a point of
saying that this is a board that would work alongside the United Nations. Slovenia has declined to join.
Why?
GOLOB: Well, the major reason is that, even though we are absolutely supporting any initiative to bring to end the suffering of the Gaza
population, we absolutely believe that that can be only done under the umbrella of United Nations, first.
[10:05:13]
And second, the no mechanism can be such that it can be deemed as something which is parallel to the United Nations. Second argument is that we would
absolutely want to see that the board of peace would address also the long- term solution of the Palestinian situation, long-term solution, meaning two-state solution.
No solution can really bring to a lasting peace but a solution where the two nations, both Israeli and Palestinians, live in peace alongside each
other. And at the moment, the charter of the board of peace does not give us such hope.
ANDERSON: With respect again, Qatar, a crucial mediator that is deeply versed in the Gaza file, as you know, has said that this is the best and
most viable path for peace, considering the lack of other options.
Again, your response?
GOLOB: Yes, I can understand the situation among the Middle Eastern countries. However, we would like to see this sentiment of the Syrians
being also put in return. And our position is clear regarding that.
If board of peace narrows its scope on the Gaza itself, then we are willing to reconsider our position but not to apply the same principles to any
other areas around the world.
ANDERSON: Mark Carney has described, in what was a very powerful speech, I think we would agree, has described the world in a state of rupture at this
point. And the German chancellor has been very clear about believing that the current world order is over.
Do you think that the Western alliance is still viable?
We have this sense of disorder at present.
Do you see a new world order taking the Western alliance and international law and the norms, that we've been used to for the past 70 years, as over
and that something different will have to take its place at this point?
GOLOB: Well, I wouldn't be so pessimistic. So I think the line has not been crossed yet but we're close to it, the crossing. So I think we, the
allies, we are still in time to sit down, talk among each other, honestly, perhaps, even loudly. But then find joint and common way forward.
It has been so in the past. There were situations within the alliance of NATO, even in the past, similar to this one. Not the same but similar. And
they were overcome. And I think we are quite capable of doing it again. And most probably that's what is going to happen in the next days.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you, sir. Thank you very much indeed for making the time.
GOLOB: Thank you.
ANDERSON: I want to bring in our reporters covering every angle of those issues that we've just been discussing there. Richard Quest is in Davos.
Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem. Nick Paton Walsh joining us from London. Josh Rogin is in Washington. Nic Robertson is in Greenland.
It's good to have you all.
Nick Paton Walsh, I do want to start with you. Interestingly, President Zelenskyy, who has just wrapped up his speech in Davos, in his remarks
echoing some of Donald Trump's rhetoric against Europe, he was visibly fed up, exasperated, angry with the pace of Europe's support for a ceasefire,
Europe's facility to defend itself and Ukraine.
Let's just have a let's just have a listen to some of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY: Everyone remembers the great American film, "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. Yes. But no one would want to live
like that, repeating the same thing for weeks, months and, of course, for years. And yet, that's exactly how we like -- how we live now.
[10:10:02]
We have told our European partners multiple times, act now. Act now. But Europe still remains in Greenland mode. Maybe someday someone will do
something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Nick, you and I spoke last hour just after this speech briefly about your key takeouts. I just want you to expand on what we heard there
and your sense of where that leaves us.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Look, I mean, I think there's one key news development we heard from Zelenskyy
there.
Which there will -- he says; we haven't heard that unilaterally, universally confirmed yet, that there will be a trilateral meeting in the
Emirates between the United States, Russia and Ukraine.
Now that would be the first, if indeed it does happen, of this peace process, frankly, since the invasion that we know of, that's happened in a
public forum like this. That's important because it's just at least procedural progress in a peace deal here. We don't know if the Russians
will indeed attend.
And Zelenskyy joked that maybe the Emiratis weren't aware of it necessarily yet but that was possibly the only bright spark in a speech where Zelenskyy
was clearly scolding of European leaders, who were themselves most likely still dealing with a bit of discombobulation from the Greenland week.
That was the shattering of alliance norms that we've seen over the past days, appealing to them that, if they want to, from the old world order,
create something new, that they have to act, that words are not enough, that they can't be in what he called "Greenland mode," hoping that someone,
somewhere, something will do something.
That essentially, as you've seen over the last week, Europe has really hoped that Donald Trump will just change his mind rather than confront what
he's suggesting.
He even suggested, look, if you're sending 40 soldiers to Greenland, what does that say to your allies about your seriousness, about defense?
So scolding toward Europe there in a way, which I think echoes some things we've heard from the White House in the past but also to remind Europe that
maybe the White House isn't always playing in their favor as well.
Also, talking about the need for Europe to have its own armed forces. And a reminder, I think, that he said, we're in this Groundhog Day, where he felt
he had to make the same statements again about the lack of European application toward some kind of action to help Ukraine here.
He also talked, it seemed, about his conversation with president Trump briefly, though not revealing much, saying that he felt the documents were
almost ready. I think, from what I could hear, they're suggesting that missile defense may have come up in previous conversations with U.S.
officials too, something they urgently need.
But indeed, saying he'd been advised to not mention the topic of the Tomahawks that they want to get from the presidential -- from president
Trump's administration there.
So a speech, the tone of which was, I think, surprisingly strident in its criticism to most of Europe, pleased and complimentary toward the U.K. and
France, who said they would send troops in the event of a peace deal.
But I think trying to echo some talking points we've seen from this Trump administration, suggesting pieces potentially moving forward and not out of
reach.
But ultimately, look, the big hurdle coming in the hours ahead is Steve Wyckoff's visit to Moscow. He has said there's one issue remaining. We know
that is territory from a European official. That's not a shock. That's the reason Russia invaded. That's the reason Russia, many say, want to continue
this war.
Have they found a way to somehow bridge that gap of Russia saying, I want this and Ukraine saying, you can't have it?
We certainly won't give it up to you.
And do these trilateral meetings, if they occur in the Emirates in the coming days, mark some kind of progress toward a compromise there?
We don't know.
Is this ultimately Moscow trying to keep the Trump administration feeling as though it's involved in the process?
That's also unclear, too. But Zelenskyy very critical there. An audience that was reeling from what president Trump has been saying over the past
week about Greenland, well, he didn't try and sue them.
He simply said, this is your fault. You don't act, you speak. You're slow in your -- in your actions when you know where the progress potentially
could lead. And you have to change your entire approach if you want to forge a world order that has you in it.
ANDERSON: Richard, let me bring you in. You're on the ground there in Davos. I just spoke to the Slovenian leader, got that perspective from an
E.U., a NATO member, on what has been, you know, a scathing speech by Zelenskyy in the past hour or so.
The Slovenian leader said he wasn't actually surprised by Zelenskyy's position.
I also want just to get, for our viewers' sake, a little more of the reaction from Western officials on what has been this aggressive attitude
from the U.S. across this meeting toward Europe and on what Europeans see as this changing world order.
[10:15:02]
Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: The comment piece up here on the magic mountain in Davos is at stark contrast to a world whose old order is
unraveling at breathtaking pace.
CHARLES MICHEL, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: Let's be clear, the transatlantic relationship, as we used to know it for decades, is dead and
something new will be rebuilt.
MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through
integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That's Mark Carney, of course, the Canadian leader there, a Western ally; the others, European voices.
You know, this is a meeting in Europe's back yard. The Americans have come in. The Trump administration has come in and really owned this meeting and
really, you know, given a dressing down to Europe.
Just give us more of a sense on the ground today about what you are hearing, what the atmosphere is like from those that you've been speaking
to from Europe and around the world
RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST AND CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: It is a feeling of shock. It is the seven stages of grief; you know, anger, bargaining,
denial. Most of them are nowhere near the possibility of acceptance yet of the situation. Probably Mark Carney is the closest. But the real difficulty
here is no one knows what's happening.
I mean, yes, I can tell you that there's a European Council in Brussels tonight. I can tell you that there's going to be this meeting or that
meeting. But the truth is, nobody actually knows how this is going to play out, because the one central actor that would have been reliable in the way
it was prosecuted, the United States, is no longer.
Now behind me, just over there, is where Donald Trump's car and motorcade had been parked for the last two days. He's now on his way to Zurich and
left behind, flying back to the States, left behind is just this wreckage.
I mean, that is the word, Becky, wreckage of alliances, friendships, agreements, understandings. So here they are basically licking their wounds
but they know they have no choice.
I had the Spanish foreign minister standing here not 10 minutes ago. He has no choice. He has to get up. I mean, this is a man, who had just been told
by the U.S. president, you're not paying 5 percent. We'll have to have a word with you. They're going to have to all deal with it. But they are
still all in some shape or form in the seven stages of grief.
ANDERSON: Yes. It's fascinating. Stand by. I want to bring in Nic, who is in Nuuk in Greenland, of course.
And I want to talk about the deal that Donald Trump is claiming that he has made on Greenland, Nic. He's just told FOX News he has, quote, "total
access to the territory for the U.S.' defense. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We will have all -- everything we want. We're getting everything we want at no cost.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So the Golden Dome will be on Greenland?
TRUMP: A piece of it, yes. And it's a very important part because it's everything comes over Greenland. If the bad guys start shooting, it comes
over Greenland. So we knock it down. It's pretty infallible. It's amazing.
You know, Ronald Reagan had the idea a long time ago but we didn't have any technology at that point. The concept was great but there was no
technology. Now we have unbelievable technology. I mean, Virtually 100 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what are we talking about, an acquisition of Greenland?
Are you going to pay for it?
TRUMP: We're talking about -- it's really being negotiated now, the details of it. But essentially, it's total access. There's no end. There's
no time limit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So he said he wanted to own Greenland. Anything less, Donald Trump said, going into Davos, would be unacceptable. He was asked the right
question there.
Is this an acquisition or is this just access?
He's not being clear at this point.
How does what we are hearing square with the reality where you are?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I think, politicians here -- and I'm just speaking to a member of the government in the prime
minister's party in the last 45 minutes or so. She told me that they still don't have details about what's in that agreement.
[10:20:00]
They have a lot of concerns here. They've heard what president Trump has had to say. There is a slight sense of relief that perhaps becoming a
target of a U.S. military takeover has receded.
But I don't think anyone here -- she didn't -- and everyone else that I've been talking to here really don't trust president Trump going forward. They
figure that he might change his mind. There's still a high level of uncertainty.
But you know, on that point that president Trump is making, until we get more details about the agreement at the moment, it sounds like what the
United States has had already, since 1951, since that agreement, they have access to bases. They have missile capabilities already here in Greenland,
defensive missile shield.
Of course, it's hugely important where it's positioned because it's between the United States and Russia. So any missiles coming in from Russia can be
intercepted much more quickly from here. But the president has that already.
And when I asked the member of the government here that question about all this talk from president Trump about Greenland over the past few weeks and
what it -- what it does and what he has gained and how things have moved forward, she said it's been a huge distraction.
We need to be doing things in the government here for our people, for the young people. And all he has done is distracted us. And as far as she knew,
he doesn't have anything more than he had already. I spoke to people on the street here as well. This is what one lady told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes but you never know what he says next week. That's the problem with him, I think. We -- I don't know if we can trust him. You
know, Greenland is open for American can use the space.
ROBERTSON: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So why not use it?
I don't know why he wants to own it. Maybe because of the minerals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: So that is a view that's widely reflected and reflected in what the government member told me as well, this sense of disbelief that they've
been through this incredible experience. It might -- the shadow might have been lifted but it may only be temporary.
And what really has the president got out of it?
The prime minister is going to speak here in the next 30 minutes or so. We hope to get more details then about the agreement and about how he thinks
about the precise details of what president Trump is talking about, this long-lasting deal.
Is it any different to the one that he has already?
No one here seems to know yet.
ANDERSON: And Josh, let me bring you in. I mean, Donald Trump will argue that this is just the art of the deal. It may come out in the wash that
there are some minerals, critical minerals and rare earths involved in this deal.
We don't have the details. Perhaps we'll learn more when the prime minister there speaks, as Nic said, in the next hour or so. Look, going into this
week, I was talking to my team about the fact that the themes seem to be one of disorder. I'm not sure that we really saw the enormity of what was
coming, I have to say.
Give us your big picture analysis, if you will, of all these unraveling threads.
JOSH ROGIN, LEAD GLOBAL SECURITY ANALYST, "THE WASHINGTON POST" INTELLIGENCE: Sure.
Becky, what we see, from here in Washington, is that the Trump administration's foreign policy here in the second year of its second term
is getting more and more risky, more and more aggressive, more relying on the tools of coercion, economic coercion, military coercion.
And more and more pointed against friends and allies as much as it is pointed at adversaries. And all of these trends have been building for
quite a while. And it's just shocking to a lot of people in Europe who had to experience it firsthand, some for the first time.
But for us here in Washington, we've been seeing this get steadily more drastic over the course of 2025 and, of course, into 2026. And its shows no
signs of getting of abating anytime soon.
So what does that mean?
I think a couple of things. One, it means that the people around president Trump these days are not in the business of giving him advice that he
doesn't want to hear. There's no more internationalists or traditional Republicans in a lot of these rooms.
When he says something like, we should just acquire Greenland and it's ours and if you don't like it, tough, even the Treasury Secretary will go out in
public and say that, yes, that makes perfect sense.
And when that kind of impunity coming from the U.S. administration runs into a red line for the Europeans, it's a crisis. And, of course, as your
previous guests and reporters mentioned, it won't be the last.
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And even though this temporary crisis over Greenland seems to have been temporarily resolved, there'll be something else next week. And then the
week after that. And this is just the new normal in Washington, constant chaos, constant escalation.
And, unfortunately for the world now, they can't -- no one else can avoid it, either. So I think this is the, you know, whatever happens with the
international liberal world order one way or the other, this is just the Trump experience second term. This is how it's going to go. And I don't
think it's going to get any less chaotic anytime soon.
ANDERSON: Let me bring in Oren.
Because I want to get back, Oren, if you will, with me, to this board of peace that we also saw, of course, today, the assembled group for that
signing of the charter of this sort of board of peace, as Donald Trump is calling it, largely mirroring the group that we saw gather to sign the
ceasefire, the Gaza ceasefire in Sharm el-Sheikh back in October.
When it comes to this Muslim world, we also saw the addition of leaders like Hungary's Orban, Argentina's Milei, a lot of key Trump allies there,
who represent something quite different to the Western alliance that we have been discussing.
How should our viewers be thinking about this group?
What are your thoughts?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF AND CORRESPONDENT: At the moment I would describe the board of peace as more aspirational. And that's
probably a kind term, at least from where we sit right now. And Gaza is the first test case.
Even president Donald Trump pointed this out. It started with Gaza and he expanded it from there to the point where the charter that was signed and
that CNN obtained makes no mention of Gaza.
And instead talks about, effectively, an entirely parallel system to the United Nations that's led indefinitely by Trump himself, for which you can
buy at $1 billion permanent membership. Trump had said it might replace the U.N. He was a bit softer in his wording this time around. He said it would
work in conjunction with the U.N.
And that's how his son-in-law and envoy, Jared Kushner, described it as well, something that works with the United Nations. It wasn't Trump that
laid out the plan. It was more Kushner who put out what he saw as the vision for Gaza.
And it is, frankly, disconnected from the reality we're seeing on the ground right now, where Israel occupies more than half of Gaza, where much
of the -- of the territory is destroyed, where people are living in tents.
And yet Kushner put forward a vision that had an airport, a port, coastal towers, tourism, tech and manufacturing. That's such a far distance away
from where we are right now. Kushner said, the first step is the demilitarization of Gaza, the disarming of Hamas. And that, of course, is
the great challenge here, how to make that happen.
And that's a key question. It is worth noting, in terms of the world leaders and officials that were there, signing the board of peace charter,
prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not there. But Israeli president Isaac Herzog was in Davos but decided not to attend that ceremony. Becky.
ANDERSON: Is it clear why?
LIEBERMANN: Not at this point. He spoke earlier in the day, just a few hours before the signing ceremony itself. So it seems he was certainly
available to participate.
But instead we saw, as you pointed out, Middle Eastern countries, the president of Belarus, the president of Argentina and a number of others
there, who, at least so far, are more than happy to join but notably lacking are the U.S.' traditional European allies.
ANDERSON: Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem.
My thanks to the entire panel. Good to have you all. Thank you.
Still to come on CNN, we will continue to unpack the big stories developing this week at what is the World Economic Forum in Davos. Stay with us.
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ANDERSON: Well, it's important to remember that, as world leaders shake hands for this photo-op, much of Gaza's population of 2 million people is
trying to survive in makeshift tents, unfit to withstand what is harsh winter weather at this point. This as the health ministry in Gaza reports
another death linked to the cold.
And strikes are continuing on the ground. Palestinian health officials say three journalists have been killed in an Israeli strike on a marked
humanitarian vehicle. The Egyptian Relief Committee says the journalists have been on assignment in central Gaza.
Israel says its troops were targeting suspects operating a drone, it said, was affiliated with Hamas.
Let me bring back Josh Rogin. He's a lead global security analyst with "The Washington Post" Intelligence.
And, Josh, I want to play the message of action from the high representative for Gaza, who will be liaising between the border piece
we've just been talking about and the Palestinian technocrats, running operations on the ground. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICKOLAY MLADENOV, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, "BOARD OF PEACE": Please put away your talking points for a minute. Please put away your fears. Please put
away your concerns. Please stop listening to the rumors and to the gossip. Focus on what we have to do today, because the future of 2 million
Palestinians is at stake.
And if we give them a chance, we will do more than that. We will create opportunities for 1 billion people who live in the Middle East and beyond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That's Nickolay Mladenov, who was introduced during the signing of the charter for this board of peace. Donald Trump making the point,
although the charter doesn't actually refer to Gaza, that Gaza is the first effort here as far as he is concerned.
Mladenov there saying, put away your talking points. Don't listen to the gossip. We need to get on with this and turn what we have now into action.
Qatar has said this is the only option on the table at this point, so let's get on with it, sign up for it and get on with it.
Israel has suggested it could resume fighting if there isn't any progress and we are talking, if our sources are right, within weeks, not months.
What's your perspective of the potential for progress and the challenges as we look at this Gaza file?
ROGIN: Right. I think, from Washington, there's a lot of skepticism that the board of peace can achieve its main goal, which is to move the Gaza
ceasefire to the next stage of the process, for a lot of frankly obvious reasons.
The fact that the board of peace terms and conditions and setup keeps changing; the fact that key issues like resolving the process for
demilitarization and especially the humanitarian crisis that you just highlighted have been resolved or are not making significant progress.
And, of course, there can not really be any political stability in Gaza unless there is, first, humanitarian relief and security.
And the board of peace seems to be, to many here in Washington, doing that, approaching that the opposite way, trying to impose the political solution
before there's a real answer to the humanitarian and security questions.
So for all of those reasons, yes, I think the situation is very fragile. And the ceasefire is, such as it is, is not very secure. And the prospects
for the board of peace succeeding, as it was intended, are, frankly, very low, quite unfortunately.
[10:35:05]
But as you as you pointed out, as your speaker pointed out, there is no clear alternative now. So all sides are muddling along but without
resolving some of these core questions, especially the sequencing question.
I think there's just a ton of skepticism here in Washington that this peace thing is really going to work at all, to be honest, even if it is able to
establish itself.
ANDERSON: Well, we -- the weeks will reveal what happens next and the weeks to come. Josh, I do, as we wrap up this conversation, I do want to
leave it with a look ahead.
You have suggested, after we have discussed, you know, this week and the crippling effect from so much of the rhetoric that we've heard on the
Western alliance, Richard Quest describing, you know, being in Davos as feeling like the Europeans are, frankly, not being able to deal with the
seven stages of grief.
And as Donald Trump leaves the Swiss resort, he leaves chaos as far as European confidence is concerned. And you've talked about this may be just
the beginning of what are Trump's global ambitions and his foreign policy, sort of ambitions.
Can you just leave us with some final thoughts on where those ambitions are headed at this point?
ROGIN: Right. Well, to give the Trump administration the benefit of the doubt, they're seeking more burden sharing and then more U.S. control over
its own sphere of influence, which the Trump administration describes as the Western Hemisphere.
And that's, you know, fine, as far as it goes. The problem, of course, is that the manner in which they're going about reorienting U.S. foreign
policy.
And the -- America's approach to the entire world, especially its allies, is so chaotic and so aggressive and in so many ways coercive that it has
real effects on the populations of these countries and the economies of these countries.
And essentially, those are the things that especially Western democracies can never ignore. And so no tariff deal is final, no trade deal can be
depended on and no alliance treaty promise of the United States has the credibility that it did even one week ago.
And that's a reality that is not going away as long as Donald Trump is president. Now after Davos, I'm sure there will be plenty of people who
say, OK, well, it could have been worse.
But over the mid- to long term, what we can see is that the Trump administration is moving toward more isolationism, more unilateralism, more
belief in the power that might makes right and less reliance on international norms and the rule of law.
And that's a very tough reality for American allies to accept. So I think that they're just at the beginning stages of figuring out how to deal with
that. And all the options are bad.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, sir. Your analysis and insight extremely important after what has been, you know, I have to say -- I'm going to
underscore this. This has been a very, very important week. Thank you.
We will take a very short break. Back after this.
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[10:40:00]
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. The headlines for you this hour.
U.S. President Donald Trump hosted a signing ceremony in Davos in Switzerland to launch his board of peace. Representatives from about 20
nations attended. No major European allies of the U.S. president, though, were there.
Donald Trump says the board will oversee the reconstruction of Gaza and that he hopes to expand its influence and work with the United Nations.
Well, after that launch ceremony, president Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met for talks, telling reporters afterwards that they
had a good meeting. But Trump noted there was still a ways to go to end Ukraine's war with Russia.
Their meeting came ahead of planned talks today between Trump's envoys and Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Well, the traditional transatlantic relationship is dead. That is what former European Council president Charles Michel is telling CNN. His
declaration coming after Donald Trump ultimately backed away from his threat of taking Greenland by force and hitting Europe with tariffs.
Instead announcing a framework deal on Greenland, saying, quote, "We're getting everything we want at no cost."
ANDERSON: Well, happening right now on Capitol Hill, a high-stakes, contentious hearing is underway. Jack Smith, the former special counsel who
led two failed prosecutions against president Donald Trump, is publicly testifying before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.
Now Smith has long drawn the fury and ire and insults of president Donald Trump after securing two criminal indictments against him while working
with the Justice Department under the Biden administration.
They involved Mr. Trump's alleged role in trying to overturn the 2020 election and charges that he mishandled classified material. Both cases
have since been dismissed. Well, Smith just wrapped up his opening statement some moments ago. Have a listen to part of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK SMITH, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL: Rather than accept his defeat in the 2020 election, president Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the
results and prevent the lawful transfer of power.
After leaving office in January of '21, president Trump illegally kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago social club and repeatedly tried to
obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents.
Highly sensitive national security information was held in a ballroom and a bathroom. As I testify before the committee today, I want to be clear. I
stand by my decisions as special counsel, including the decision to bring charges against president Trump.
Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that president Trump engaged in criminal activity. If asked whether to prosecute a former
president based on the same facts today, I would do so, regardless of whether that president was a Democrat or a Republican.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, earlier, the Republican chairman of the committee kicked off the hearing by accusing Smith and others of being, quote, "out to get
president Trump" through criminal cases, through impeachments and other actions.
We're joined now by CNN's Stephen Collinson, good friend of this show.
And it's good to have you, Stephen. Let's just talk about the significance of this moment as Donald Trump has made, as president, retribution a
central part of his first year back in office, a key way he's been wielding seemingly unconstrained power.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And Trump is doing exactly what the Republicans in this hearing are accusing Jack Smith of
having done, which is weaponizing the Justice Department for a political goal.
[10:45:04]
I think the difference here is that everybody saw what happened on January the 6th, 2021, when Trump was trying to overturn the results of the 2020
election. The fact that Trump had classified material at his Mar-a-Lago resort that he wasn't entitled to, that is also pretty much in the public
record.
So I think what you've seen is that the Trump administration and its allies in Congress have been very successful in blurring public perception of what
happened after the 2020 election, especially to try to fudge the historic record.
And I think what Jack Smith is doing today is to, to some extent, try to make the case that he was not allowed to make in court. The election
meddling case basically was thrown out after Trump won reelection in 2024. A judge in Florida, that many people view as deeply sympathetic toward
Trump, dismissed the classified documents case.
So you know, just listening to him there, it was almost like -- it sounded like the summing up at the end of a prosecution. And this in some ways is
Jack Smith's day in court
ANDERSON: It's just taken a recess. They will be back in court in -- for the hearing in 15 minutes. It isn't a courtroom, of course; it's a
congressional hearing. But you're right to point out that it comes across that way.
Listen, before I let you go, I'm keen to get your perspective on what has been this marathon week at Davos.
As Donald Trump heads back to Washington, how do you sum up and describe what he's left in his wake?
COLLINSON: I'm wondering what comes next, because, this year so far has been a sequence of Trump-triggered crises. First of all, we were talking
about Venezuela. Then last week it was all about whether he had hit Iran. This week, it's whether he would smash up the NATO alliance.
I think the common thread through all of those is that Trump is now running foreign policy as an outreach of his narcissistic character and his endless
search for a legacy.
So if you look at this so-called framework deal that he apparently has miraculously snatched in Davos, it's probably not going to be very much
different from the deal that the United States had already.
But if there is some kind of agreement to increase the military facilities on Greenland, it will have Donald Trump's name on it. And I think that is
the thing that's most important. He, it appears, was willing to let the NATO alliance fizzle out after 80 years of keeping the peace just because
he wanted to get what he wanted.
And I think that is going to be the way forward in foreign policy, at least for the next three years under Donald Trump. This board of peace that he's
putting together, I mean, that is even more extraordinary. He is supposedly carving out a role for himself, financed by billion-dollar payments from
other countries, even after he's left office.
So I think that gets you to some understanding of the ego and the self- obsession now with which Trump is running American foreign policy.
ANDERSON: Stephen Collinson's view here on CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson.
Thank you, Stephen.
We will be right back.
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ANDERSON: All right, let's turn to Iran, still enduring a government- imposed internet blackout. By Wednesday, the 25th day of nationwide protests, more than 4,600 people have been killed. That is according to
what is a U.S.-based human rights group, which says it is still reviewing another 9,000 deaths.
CNN is unable to independently confirm those figures. After Donald Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on any country doing business with Iran, Dubai
Creek has become an economic front line in this latest trade war. For many years, the narrow stretch of water between has been a trade link between
Dubai and Iran, as Paula Hancocks now reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a centuries-old trade route. Traditional wooden dhows carry goods between Dubai and Iranian
ports, an economic passage that has survived revolutions, sanctions and wars.
But how will it weather U.S. president Trump's announcement of a 25 percent tariff on any country doing business with Iran?
The announcement follows a violent crackdown by Iranian security forces against anti-regime protesters. Iran's supreme leader admits thousands were
killed.
HANCOCKS: The traders here at Dubai Creek, their entire livelihood depends on the economic relationship between the UAE and Iran. Traded on these
boats is anything and everything, from microwave ovens, refrigerators, tires, heading to Iran.
And then when they come back, they bring things like saffron and pistachios, which makes it no wonder that the UAE is watching the
relationship between Washington and Tehran very closely.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): One trader invites us on board prior to setting sail.
HANCOCKS: As-salamu alaykum.
How are you?
HANCOCKS (voice-over): The crew asks us to hide their identities due to the sensitivities of the situation. A two-day journey to Iran, carrying
rice, mobile phones and crockery, after a month, they will return with whatever goods are available. I ask him if he's worried about what the
future holds.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," he tells me. "People are poor and so long as we are working and making a living, we're not going to get
involved in what countries are doing politically."
Even the politicians are waiting to hear more details on the 25 percent tariffs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We're the second largest trading partner with Iran and they're one of the main provider and supplier for
many of our commodities, especially when it comes to food, food products.
And we have to as well evaluate what are the consequences of disturbing the supply of many of the products and commodities that comes from Iran.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Trade disruption is likely not the only thing the region is preparing for.
JIM KRANE, MIDDLE EAST ENERGY STUDIES, BAKER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY, RICE UNIVERSITY: Something big like that happens, and Iran collapses, you
know, there's what is it, 80-90 million people in Iran. So you know, a lot of them are probably going to start fleeing and there's going to be refugee
issues and lots of things that could happen.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): For traders at Dubai Creek, all they can plan for is the next trade run -- Paula Hancocks, CNN, Dubai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And we will be right back.
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[10:55:00]
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ANDERSON: Well, from bloodsuckers to Demon Hunters, nominations for the 98th Academy Awards announced in the past couple of hours. Vampire drama
"Sinners" makes history with a record-breaking 16 nominations, including Best Picture, Writer and Director. Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan
among the nominees.
"One Battle after Another," brilliant movie, is another big contender. It was nominated in 13 categories, including Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio
and Best Supporting Actress for Teyana Taylor.
That's a terrific movie, I have to say.
That is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.
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