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Donald Trump Sending Border Czar Tom Homan To Minnesota Tonight; CNN Analysis: Agents Took Man's Gun Before Minneapolis Shooting; Israel Says It Recovered Body Of Last Hostage In Gaza; Iran-U.S. Tensions Rise As Donald Trump Sends Military Assets To Middle East; Outrage Grows Over Killing Of Alex Pretti By I.C.E. Agent; I.C.E. Recruitment Social Media Posts Under Scrutiny For Allusions To White Nationalism; NATO Chief Faces Questions Over Greenland; Meta, TikTok, YouTube In Court Over Mental Health Harm Claims. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired January 26, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:29]

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, welcome to what is the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. I'm

Becky Anderson with the time is just after 7:00 in the evening.

Dozens are mourning the death of a second Minneapolis resident at the hands of federal immigration agents. Many lawmakers coming out and condemning the

Trump administration action.

Well, USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is now in the Indian Ocean. There is growing concern within this region, where I am, of future military

action against Iran.

And a severe winter storm in the U.S. triggered the highest U.S. flight cancelation since COVID-19, major airports across the country reported

widespread disruptions over the weekend.

Well, this hour with fear and outrage at fever pitch in Minnesota, a federal judge is set to consider whether or not to order a temporary halt

to the federal immigration crackdown there. That's as state officials sue, hoping to stop it for good.

Now, that operation also growing more deadly with the shooting of Alex Pretti, the second U.S. citizen now shot dead on the sidelines of this

crackdown.

Federal officials claim it was self defense. President Trump avoided a question from the Wall Street Journal earlier on whether the agent who shot

Pretti did the right thing, he says, "We are reviewing everything." Also signaling that the deployment is not open ended.

Minnesota's governor, meantime, is framing this as a moral issue. He is urging Americans of all political persuasions to reexamine what they stand

for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): What side do you want to be on?

The side of an all-powerful federal government that can kill, injure, menace and kidnap its citizens off the streets, or on the side of a nurse

at the V.A. hospital who died bearing witness to such government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Priscilla Alvarez is back with us from Washington, D.C. this hour.

And let's just have a look at this. President Trump has posted that he is sending his Boarder Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. Reading between

the lines after what is this second fatal shooting, what might that mean? We don't actually know what it definitely means, so we are making some

assumptions here. What are your thoughts?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, this suggests that some change is required here. Already on the ground, there has been, for

example, Gregory Bovino, a top border patrol official that, up until this point, has been leading the crackdown in cities. He's been criticized for

his heavy handed and often aggressive tactics.

And while it's unclear whether this would mean sidelining him, it certainly suggests that there may be some change on the horizon with Tom Homan going.

Tom Homan is, as you mentioned, the White House border czar. He is a veteran Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, and takes a bit of a

different view in terms of law enforcement, or rather the immigration enforcement operations. That is, he has been very focused on targeting

criminal national security and public safety threats but also sweeping up anyone else that's undocumented and in the vicinity. That is what is most

common for him, a little different than those broader sweeps that have been happening in cities.

Now, as you mentioned, the president had announced this earlier today, and he said, "I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. He has not been

involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair and will report directly to me."

Now, the Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem similarly saying it was welcome news, but the relationship between the Homeland Security Secretary

and the White House border czar has been tense over the last few months. I'm told that they have generally not spoken to each other, and Bovino

reports to the secretary.

So, this sort of paints a picture of how murky this can be in terms of, is there going to be a change in command or not. Publicly, of course, all

these officials have been on the same page. But what has been happening in Minneapolis has, of course, frustrated some of the officials within the

Homeland Security Department, who say that this just cannot continue, and there is concern that the secretary's handling and public response to this

shooting is actually doing them a disservice, Becky.

[10:05:05]

ANDERSON: Priscilla, much appreciated. Thank you very much indeed. So, that is the very latest as we understand it there from Washington.

Federal officials insist Alex Pretti was shot in self defense. CNN has been combing through videos from the scene. This has been meticulous work, and

the footage that we have seen does not support that claim.

CNN's Sarah Sidner reports on what we have found. First, a warning, I have to tell you that the video that you will see is very likely to be

disturbing for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX PRETTI, ICU NURSE: Today, we remember that freedom is not free --

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Alex Pretti doing his duty as a nurse at the Veterans' hospital, saying a final goodbye

to a soldier.

Pretti at 37, is now dead, killed by Border Patrol agents. He is the third person shot by federal agents here in less than a month.

CHRIS GRAY, ALEX PRETTI'S NEIGHBOR: He was an ICU nurse. He was a worker like myself. He was part of the fabric of my community.

SIDNER (voice-over): He says Pretti was also a volunteer observer documenting what ICE was doing in his city. His death, like Minneapolis

resident, Renee Good --

RENEE NICOLE GOOD, MINNEAPOLIS RESIDENT: That's fine dude. I am not mad at you.

SIDNER (voice-over): Was caught in chilling clarity on cell phone video from several angles, with several witnesses.

NILSON BARAHO, SHOOTING WITNESS: It wasn't just the physical sound of it. It was like trying to break our spirit, you know?

SIDNER (voice-over): A warning: What you are about to see is what Nilson Baraho saw outside the donut shop. This is the clearest angle of the

shooting as it happened. That is Alex Pretti recording on his cell phone as Border Patrol agents arrive outside the donut shop. He goes into the street

waving cars through.

Now, here is how the Department of Homeland Security described how Pretti approached federal agents.

NOEM: An individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a nine- millimeter semiautomatic handgun.

SIDNER (voice-over): That's not what video shows. It shows federal agents approach Pretti, all he has in his hand is a cell phone, not a gun.

Then you see him moving one protester away from agents while agents shove another to the ground. As he tries to help the protester they shoved,

agents deploy pepper spray. Three wrestle him to the ground. More join in.

From another angle, you see one agent punching him in the face with a canister of pepper spray in his hand. Pretti is on the ground under them.

Nothing appears in his hands.

You can see an officer in a gray jacket walk into frame. Seconds later, agent shout, "He's got a gun!" One agent removes a gun from his belt. He

steps away from the scene, carrying a firearm seen here in his right hand.

It turns out, state authorities say Pretti has a license to legally carry a gun. But you never see him draw it. Instead, an agent draws his gun while

standing above Pretti and fires the first shot.

Pretti survived somehow rising up to his knees, then agents fired at least ten more times. Pretti's body slumps face down in the street, lifeless.

But federal authorities weren't done with their accusations against him.

BOVINO: This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.

SIDNER (voice-over): Pretti's neighbor, Chris Gray, says that couldn't be farther from the truth.

GRAY: Everything they say about my neighbors is a lie.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: I want to bring in our senior national security analyst now, Juliette Kayyem. not easy to view that report, Juliette, we just saw

multiple views of this shooting. Some are calling this an outright assassination or an execution. What is your take on what happened and how

the administration has tried to explain it to date and what might happen next, of course?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, so I'll tell you what I see. I see agents doing the opposite of de-escalation. They confront him.

And so, everything that follows from that is a result of their aggressive posture towards someone who it was simply aiding a bystander in the scrum

of the horror that we saw. We're going to see different frames, but we certainly see that Pretti is on the ground, not armed and essentially shot

to death. We can have different names for it, but it was a killing, and it was -- it is not obviously justified, because law enforcement has a duty to

protect life, even if they are angry or someone's disruptive.

[10:10:10]

The second question that you asked, which is as important is, what was the Department and the White House's reaction? This is a process that you'll

see online is now called kill and slander. They did this as well to miss good a week and a half ago, the mother of three children who was killed in

the car, a U.S. citizen as well. It is they do -- the kill happens, and then it's hours and hours of just slandering the victim.

In this case, there's just simply too many videos for DHS to overcome, and they came out so fast that the narrative that Secretary Noem and others

were trying to push was inherently just a lie from the moment it like -- it doesn't pass the straight faced test. So that's why you see this unwinding

now, is they -- no one's buying it.

ANDERSON: And we've got some sound from FBI Director Kash Patel. Let me just set this up for our viewers. Alex Pretti was carrying -- legally

carrying a firearm at the moment. Video shows agents disarming him. Just have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It's that simple. You don't

have that right to break the law and incite violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: There are two questions here. I know our viewers might be wondering why it was that he had a gun, and I'm going to pop that just for

the moment. What legal standing do the federal agents have for what Kash Patel just said?

KAYYEM: None. I mean, first of all, he was not unlawfully in possession of the gun. It was -- it was registered. He was allowed to be carrying it.

And secondly, the second part of what the FBI director says about inciting violence, that's clearly also not true.

On the gun issue, you know, I struggle with it because, obviously he was armed. But I want to just make clear, especially to international viewers,

America, unfortunately, is an armed society. The Milwaukee Police Department confiscated 900 guns last year. Not a single one of them

resulted in a fatality of the gun owner, nor even a shooting, even buying the White House's argument that somehow he was a menace because of the gun.

The whole point of law enforcement training, the whole point of de- escalation, the whole point of an obligation of the government not to kill is that they know how to deal with these things, these ICE agents did not.

ANDERSON: Yes, Juliette, there's a -- there's a hearing playing out this hour, a federal judge is set to consider whether or not to order a

temporary halt to this federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota. What are the legal angles at play here?

KAYYEM: Yes, so, and this will be the second it's a, you know, complicated system, and there was -- it's a second request, the plaintiffs had won the

first time, but the appellate court held it there, the plaintiffs are coming back to court and saying, look, we told you this was going to happen

again. It happened a week plus ago. The department does not review these things. These agents are out there with what they view as complete immunity

to kill Americans. This is what totalitarian societies look like.

Court, you need to step back in again and assert that the federal mission here is an overreach in terms of federal law and bridges and disrupts the

proper flow of state and local law enforcement efforts.

Look, I mean, the proof is in the pudding. There have been -- the two immigration related killings in Minnesota this year have been performed by

ICE. This is -- I mean, and I think that's their strongest argument.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Very useful for our international audience as we continue to monitor what is going on there on the ground and what

happens next.

Tom Homan, of course, the Trump border czar now, as we understand it, being told to get to that state.

As talks unfold over the second phase of the Gaza peace plan for Palestinians in the Enclave, peace still feels like a distant prospect. The

latest on that is coming up.

Plus, a U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, as tensions rise between Washington and Tehran, more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:17:14]

ANDERSON: Well, a short time ago, the Israeli military said it had recovered the remains of the last deceased hostage held in Gaza. Ran Gvili,

a police officer was killed in the October 7th attack in 2023 and his body taken to Gaza. There are now no Israeli hostages or their remains inside

Gaza for the first time in more than 11 years or previously, Israel had said it would partially reopen the Rafah crossing once its efforts to

retrieve all the living and deceased hostages from Gaza were complete.

Paula Hancocks back with me this hour. So very good news for the family, obviously, of this young man. What does happen next?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, as you mentioned this was a condition for, for example, the Rafa crossing being open between Gaza and

Egypt that we had heard from a security cabinet meeting just last night, Sunday evening, that as long as the search had been exhausted, then they

would partially open this crossing.

Now, of course, the remains of Ran Gvili have been found. They're being brought back to for burial. The family has been informed, and we've heard

from the prime minister that he promised he would bring all the hostages back. He has brought all the hostages back. And so, this does beg the

question, when will the Rafa crossing now be open?

It was just for pedestrians. It wasn't going to be for commercial use, for humanitarian aid, and it would go through the regular Israeli checks. But

it does mean that some of those injured in Gaza 10 -- at least 10,000 more than that we're hearing from the U.N. from NGOs, can start to come out in

greater numbers, to be treated outside of Gaza, where, of course, the health infrastructure, it has not been decimated. So, hopefully that means

that will speed up.

ANDERSON: I mean, there are, for example, medical ships right there on the coast is one from the UAE, ready to receive those injured as soon as they

can get through. And they haven't been able to use that crossing of course, for months and months and months.

There is a cease fire, albeit fragile at times, and unfortunately at times means this weekend, when we are reporting on the death of two young

Palestinian boys who were killed. What do we know?

HANCOCKS: So, these were two boys that were 13 and 14, they were cousins. Were told by the family that they were out on Saturday morning looking for

firewood. They needed firewood for cooking, for staying warm during the winter, and they say this is when they were shot and killed by the Israeli

military.

Now, what we've heard from the military is that they say they weren't children, that they were terrorists, in their words, and that they had

crossed the yellow line, this line that the Israeli military had (INAUDIBLE) exactly as part of the cease fire. And they say that they were

approaching troops and that they were an immediate threat.

[10:20:06]

Now, of course, two very different stories we are hearing. A devastated family we've heard from the uncle of these boys, let's just listen to what

he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARAFAT ZAWARAA, UNCLE OF TWO BOYS KILLED (through translator): I see that the Board of peace is useless and will not benefit us. The Jews are still

treating us with arrogance, two children who are gathering wood, noting that we are in the green area, 500 meters away from the yellow area, and

they were targeted, and we lost them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, it's not the first time this has happened. In November last year, there was an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old who were killed. Their

family said they were collecting firewood as well a very similar statement from the Israeli military saying that they were approaching troops, and

troops were in immediate danger, which is why they opened fire.

One point to make is that this yellow line is not clearly marked in many parts of Gaza. It is not very obvious to Palestinians, for example, exactly

where it is.

So, clearly, we are seeing the ceasefire is holding, but we are seeing this loss of life almost every day that is continuing.

ANDERSON: Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks in the studio with me here in Abu Dhabi.

Well, we are following rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran. A source tells CNN that the USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group are now

positioned in the Indian Ocean, putting it closer to assist in any potential military operations targeting Iran.

Now, President Trump -- Donald Trump, it seems, continues to weigh his options for striking Iran but there is no indication any decision has been

made as of yet. This comes as Iranian authorities continue to unleash their deadly crackdown on protesters across the country. A news report finds more

than 5500 producers have been killed since anti-government demonstrations began there in December.

Well, for more on this, let's bring in Iranian foreign policy expert Hamidreza Azizi. Thank you for joining us.

Let's start off with these U.S. military assets in region, the possibility of a U.S. intervention in Iran does remain high. What do you believe is

feasible for the U.S. to achieve that?

HAMIDREZA AZIZI, IRANIAN FOREIGN POLICY EXPERT: Well, of course, at least seems the source of the protests in Iran and the brutal crackdown on the

protesters by the Iranian regime, we started to see indications of, you know, a potential military strike by the United States.

But what I can see, and I think that's also something that has been shaping the calculation of the Islamic Republic regarding this whole thing has been

that the prospects for military strike, either by Israel alone, or, you know, together with the United States, was already rising before the

protest. We shouldn't forget that, for example, in the end of December, when Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the United States for the first time,

President Trump spoke about Iranian missiles also being a threat.

So, it seems that this whole thing was in the making for some time, and that leaves us speculating whether this is going to be kind of coercive

diplomacy to push the Islamic Republic that is now even more weakened given domestic vulnerabilities to kind of capitulation, or kind of, you know,

giving more concessions. Or is there going to be an actual military strike, a limited one, or rather more expansive.

ANDERSON: I guess the third option here could be some sort of blockading of Iranian shipping -- oil shipping, very specifically, which may also be

factoring into the calculation of what is -- and I haven't got the figure myself, but this is going to be a multimillion dollar operation for the

U.S. to move these assets into regions.

So, one has to assume that Donald Trump is administration. Those around him have got some sort of plan at this point, be it a military plan or a

diplomatic off ramp opportunity. They clearly feel that there is a squeeze on Tehran by moving these assets into place.

What we have just learned here at CNN is that the UAE, for example, says it will not allow its territory to be used for attacks on Iran. I think it's

worth discussing the regional concerns over a potential U.S. slash perhaps Israel attack on Iran. The region isn't necessarily cohesive. We are seeing

a slight divide here. What is your perspective on that?

[10:25:18]

AZIZI: First of all, what you mentioned about the kind of potential squeeze on the Iranian ownership, and that is very important, and that also has to

do with our predictions, or better, to say how we think about potential scenarios.

Because if Venezuela is an example here, and we know that, of course, President Trump tends to be very unpredictable, but if that is an example,

we can, for example, expect kind of rather prolonged, for weeks, at least, blockade on Iranian oil shipments. And then, you know, depending on how the

Islamic Republic is going to react, then you know, they would either go ahead with limited strike or more substantial one.

And here lies the risk, I think, for the region, because maritime arena has been one of the areas that the Iranian security experts were speaking about

as a potential new flashpoint for a few months after the 12 day war, especially after the triggering of the snapback mechanism in the U.N.

Security Council, which means that, based on the U.N. resolutions, now, you know, different countries can impose this naval blockade.

And I think they are kind of preparing their options accordingly, and that can be the real danger for the region, because imagining, for example, that

you know, given the increasingly existential threat that the Islamic Republic is feeling. If they want to go ahead with their long-standing

threats of closing the Strait of Hormuz, then things are going to be difficult for regional countries, U.S., Saudi Arabia, and others as well.

And here we need to rethink, actually, the way that we have spoken about the potential closure, because here the experience of the Houthis, for

example, in selective and sustained, you know, disruption of shipping in the Red Sea can be something that the Iranian side can resort to, that can

be one of the regional flashpoints.

And depending on the U.S. of course, response Iran can go ahead with for example, it's tried to target US bases in the region. That's why everybody

in the region is on high alert.

Of course, there are differences in the positions. Like Saudi Arabia and Turkey are also worried about the potential tilting of the regional balance

of power in, you know, in favor of emerging Israeli UAE axis. But of course, UAE itself has its own territorial concerns, given how close it is,

you know, to Iran and within the region of Iran. So, that makes everything quite challenging.

ANDERSON: Can I -- can I -- yes, can I just introduce another thread here? Because I think it's important. There are reports suggesting that Nouri al-

Maliki is to make a return as Iraq's Prime Minister. This is a Shia politician who has been Prime Minister before, of course, and is very close

to Tehran.

How would his return play into us calculations around an Iranian intervention, or perhaps just play into calculations on a wider sort of

remit, as it were?

AZIZI: Well, I think the al-Maliki's return and the U.S. reaction to it, so far, we've seen at least Secretary Marco Rubio reacting, without mentioning

al-Maliki's name, if I'm not mistaken, but somehow warning about expanding -- expansive Iranian influence in Iraq.

So, this is a culmination point of months of pressure by the United States and on the other side by Iran and concerns within the Iraqi elite of a

potential, you know, escalation that would involve Iraq as well.

So, the United States has made it clear that it wants the upcoming Iraqi government to be free from the Iranian influence. But on the other hand, we

have other elements at play, like the developments on Syria and the increasing concern among the Iraqi Shias, and that's, I think, one of the

reasons that they went for someone like Maliki, for example, and Iran, of course, I can imagine that they are rather happy with this -- with this

selection or nomination.

[10:29:57]

ANDERSON: Thank you very much indeed for joining us. We'll have you back and we continue to monitor this story, we continue to monitor the progress

of the U.S. assets in region, as we sit in region.

Of course, there is real concern here about what may -- what may happen next, and we have to the point that our guest was just making. We have

heard from the U.S. State Department, alluding to the potential return of al-Maliki in Iraqi politics.

A press release on Secretary of State Rubio's call with the Iraqi prime minister, references, and I quote here ongoing deliberations to form a

government. The office says, "The Secretary emphasized that a government controlled by Iran cannot successfully put Iraq's own interests first, keep

Iraq out of regional conflicts, or advance a mutually beneficial partnership between the United States and Iraq."

And we've been discussing what we may read into that statement.

All right. OK. Our guest joining us this evening.

Just ahead, we will revisit the growing outrage in Minneapolis. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi.

These your headlines: U.S. President Donald Trump says he is sending his border czar to Minnesota. The announcement comes in the wake of the second

fatal shooting this month by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.

Videos taken from the scene contradict claims from administration officials that the man shot, Alex Pretti was brandishing a gun.

Well, at least 11 people have died in the massive winter storm that hit the U.S. over the weekend. More than 800,000 people are now without power

across the south, and 17 states, or more than a foot of snowfall.

Israel has announced the recovery of the last deceased hostage left in Gaza. Ran Gvili, a police officer was killed in the October 7th attack in

2023, and his body taken to Gaza. There are now no Israeli hostages or remains inside Gaza for the first time in more than 11 years.

I want to bring us back to our top story this hour, and that is the growing outrage over the killing of Alex Pretti, an ICE -- by an ICE agent in

Minneapolis.

CNN chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, joins me now to unpack just how this has been unfolding, Brian, online.

And you've said this incident is really breaking through across the Internet, across political aisles, and even with normally sort of unengaged

or disengaged audiences.

[10:35:01]

It's interesting because when Renee Good was killed about three weeks ago, this disturbing video became a political fault line. The left and right,

each saw something completely different.

So, why are things different this time?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: All right. There are a few reasons why this episode might be breaking through more. Number one, because it is

not the first shooting in Minnesota this month, because you can now increasingly look at what's happening there as a pattern of behavior, as a

pattern of episodes.

And you know, thankfully, people are not becoming numb to these videos. People are watching these videos with their own perspective. Zooming in,

slowing the video down, sometimes looking these pictures frame by frame, to make sense of what happened.

And because there are so many angles -- yes, it is open to some interpretation. Yes, people can watch the same video and reach different

conclusions. But this episode is also breaking through because of the gun rights aspect, because you have second amendment activists who are saying,

why is this man being villainized or smeared, because he had a weapon on his property? He was carrying a weapon lawfully. He had a permit to carry

the weapon.

So, this touches, you know, different political fault lines in different ways. It react -- people react differently, I think, for all sorts of

reasons.

Also, the idea of masculinity. I've been thinking about the idea that Alex Pretti was putting his body in the way because a woman was pushed down, and

his family has pointed out that he was trying to protect a woman.

We've talked a lot in the Trump-era about ideas about masculinity, and the Trump administration has tried to portray a certain image of tough guy

behavior. They have tried to recruit people to join ICE through this mission of a tough guy. Well, Alex Pretti would have said he was doing the

same thing. He was standing up for a woman before he was shot.

So, there is all sorts of reasons, I think, why this story is penetrating, and we see that through commenters, through online influencers, through

YouTube streamers, people who are usually apolitical, who try not to talk about politics. They are talking about this case. So, it is breaking

through.

ANDERSON: Yes. This is all happening, of course, as ICE has created its own media ecosystem, a surge of social media posts.

STELTER: Yes.

ANDERSON: It's calling for Americans to join them. That analysts say often lean on white nationalist and far right tropes.

Can you just explain and walk us through that world?

STELTER: Yes, that's right. Experts continue to notice a pattern of far right and white nationalist phrases, songs and memes in these ICE and

Homeland Security recruitment campaigns. You might look at one, you might look at two and say, maybe that's a coincidence. But they have piled up in

recent months: three, four, five, et cetera.

In some cases, dog whistles coming through. In some cases, more like bull horns.

Here is an example from back in October. This is a poster that was shared by the Homeland Security Department on X. The message says, "Which way

American man?"

That phrase originates from a 700-page anti-Semitic book that was published in the 1970s.

The CBC noted back in October that it echoed a meme that's popular with far-right influencers who say that's the choice that Americans have to make

between liberal, you know, craziness or their own preferred options.

So, you have these messages that might sometimes seem generic, but are actually echoing anti-Semitic or far right messaging from decades ago.

Here is -- here is another example. This one, it says, "We'll have our home again." This beautiful image of the American West, but also a military

aircraft in the -- in the background in the sky. This was posted in the aftermath of Nicole Renee Good's killing in Minneapolis earlier this month.

And that phrase, "We'll have our home again." Again, it can seem like an anodyne phrase, but it's a song only known in white nationalist circles,

according to the co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

So, you have these experts tracking a series of these posts or memes. Another one comes from the video game Halo, which I've played for decades.

I love the game, Halo. So, when I hear the word flood in the connotation with Halo, I know it's referring to all those enemies that are coming at

you when you're playing the video game.

But when the government, when the U.S. government, posts that message saying, destroy the flood, it has a very different connotation.

Now, there is been enough of these examples. They have been called out by enough news outlets, by enough experts who study this world that the White

House responded recently, and basically said that this is a boring entire line of criticism.

Here is the quote from the White House. "It seems that the mainstream media has become a meme of their own: The deranged leftist who claims everything

they dislike must be Nazi propaganda. This line of attack is boring and tired. Get a grip."

What I interpret in that phrase or that quote is plausible deniability. These messages, these memes, these billboards, they have enough plausible

denied -- deniability baked in that people can choose to look the other way. But like I said, there is been enough of these that have piled up that

it is clear what's going on.

Even if the heads of the departments don't know what's happening, the people making these messages know what they are doing, by making these

statements that harken back to neo-Nazi, to white nationalist rhetoric, sometimes, dating back decades.

[10:40:09]

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

Brian Stelter, in the house this evening.

Well, happening this hour, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, appearing before the European Parliament with European leaders still on edge over the

Trump administration's moves on Greenland. The NATO chief just started responding to dozens of questions from parliament members about the future

of the Arctic island.

Well, CNN senior international correspondent Melissa Bell is covering the latest from the Paris bureau. Melissa, what have we odd so far from these

members of parliament? What are the biggest concerns that they have for the NATO secretary general at this point?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was an opening statement that he made, Becky, that was entirely about Ukraine. So

many of the questions were, of course, about Greenland, trying to figure out exactly what agreement he had made with the United States in Davos last

week that seemed to bring to an end this growing controversy and these growing territorial demands from Washington over the course of the last few

weeks.

Now, for the time being, he has explained, credited Washington with considering the question of Arctic security. This is essentially explained

for NATO, and explaining that whilst there was not terribly much, he would say about the meeting itself and what had or not have been promised, the

questions of what negotiations went on, he said would be held within the context of trilateral talks between the United States, Greenland, and

Denmark, it was not for him to involve himself in those negotiations.

But crediting President Trump with having brought the question of Arctic security to the fore. He is also been talking this hour a great deal about

Ukraine and the peace guarantees. We've understood, of course, from President Zelenskyy, Becky, that the security guarantees provided by the

United States and Europe are now 100 percent there. They just need to be formally signed, and then, will be ratified by the American Congress and

the Ukrainian parliament. So, that is an important step forward.

The other thing to mention on Ukraine is the fact that the -- for the first time, these trilateral trips took place between the United States, Ukraine,

and Russia over the course of weekend and Abu Dhabi. Very little in terms of progress, simply a lot of noting by American officials that the fact

that they should have taken place is a big step forward, and that they expect these conversations to continue from February 1st. Becky.

ANDERSON: It was a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed. Melissa Bell on the story for you out of Paris today.

When we come back, Meta, TikTok, and YouTube are heading to trial. Why? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Social media giants: Meta, TikTok, and YouTube are heading to trial in Los Angeles to defend themselves against the claim that their

platforms harm young people's mental health.

[10:45:03]

Well, a lawsuit brought by an unidentified 19-year-old, alleges that they knowingly created addictive features, which ultimately led her to self-harm

and to have suicidal thoughts.

Now, the outcome could -- just could influence other cases being brought against the social media companies on similar grounds that could put them

on the hook for billions of dollars in damages, and possibly force them to change their platforms.

For more on this, CNN's Anna Cooban joins me now live from London.

Tell us more about this lawsuit and the issues that it is raising, Anna.

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Well, really, Becky, this is the first time that many of these social media companies will have to

defend the claim in Court that their platforms are directly harming young people's mental health.

And the specifics of this case, you've got this 19-year-old unnamed plaintiff. Her mother says that she tried to install software to block her

access to these platforms. But to no avail, she used them compulsively. She dealt with bullying, body image issues, but also sextortion, which is a

type of extortion for explicit images in exchange for more explicit images or for money that she dealt with all of this litany of issues.

But the outcome of this case is, you know, you are right, it's very important, because it might set the tone, it might set a precedent for over

another thousand cases that are similar of people lodging complaints against social media companies.

And these, these fears around their harm for young people, have been around for a long time. And we saw very recently that Australia actually banned

under 16 from accessing these platforms because of the risk to their mental health.

ANDERSON: Yes, and we are seeing potential moves in France and in the U.K. around the same sort of issue.

I just wonder, what type of changes would these tech or social media companies have to implement, do we think, if indeed this plaintiff is

successful?

COOBAN: Well, on the -- on the one hand, you've got these companies, many of them have said for a long time that there is no conclusive evidence

linking their platforms to mental health harms in young people, but they also argue that they are responding to people's concerns. They have

introduced stricter parental controls.

I mean, we have seen YouTube, just last week, introduce a feature that will allow parents to block or limit their child's access to these short form

video content that -- to prevent this endless scrolling, you saw a couple of years ago, Meta introduced teen accounts for Instagram, which had

inbuilt privacy protections.

But Becky, I think one of the really key things to look out for here is how the plaintiff's lawyer sort of argues that -- the case.

So, for a long time, you've had these social media companies rely on a federal law, which basically allows them to talk about the content, focus

on the content of the things that are posted, the harmful things that users are putting on their -- on their platforms, rather than the design of these

platforms.

And the lawyer overseeing this case in Los Angeles, she has directly spoken out and is imploring jurors to think about these addictive designs, as

being at the root of the harms here.

ANDERSON: That's fascinating. We will keep an eye on this one. Good to have you. Anna, thank you as ever.

And you can check out more of Anna's investigations right now. She is been looking at the prospects for U.S. oil producers in Venezuela -- a country,

of course, mired in the greatest uncertainty, and a looks at the difficulties overseas operators would face there by drawing on some lessons

learned after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

That full report is on CNN's web site.

All right, coming up, a bad time to be on the move, not since the COVID pandemic, of so many U.S. flights being canceled, this time, it's a massive

winter storm that is to blame.

More on that Just ahead.

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[10:52:09]

ANDERSON: Millions of Americans are dealing with the aftermath of what has been a massive winter storm. At least 11 people have been killed in

weather-related incidents. 18 states have seen snow pile up a foot or higher, and more than 800,000 people from Texas to Virginia are currently

without power.

Well, the storm caused widespread disruption to travel, as you would expect Sunday. Sunday was actually the worst day for flight cancelations since the

COVID pandemic.

CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

We've seen this enormous amount of flight cancelations across the U.S. yesterday. You and I spoke last hour, and you said things are beginning to

get back on track. Today, numbers are not high, but things are beginning to move. Just get us an update, if you will.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The airlines are really beginning to eke it out now, Becky. But it is tough, and here at Reagan National

Airport, the situation is quite slow going. Obviously, you can see a lot of folks behind me standing by at the ticket counter here at American Airlines

to check their bags.

A lot of hope that they are going to get out, although, the issue is not many airplanes are. There have been about a dozen flights that have gotten

out of here at national airport, about half a dozen flights have gotten in here at national airport.

Just to put it into context, on a normal day, this airport will handle about 440 flights. So, everything is really sort of paling in comparison to

right now to a normal day, the cancelations continue to rise.

We just checked FlightAware, about 4200 flights canceled nationwide in total. Here is the departures board at national airport, and we're seeing

some pretty big airline hubs still on the list today. We are talking Charlotte, New York, JFK, LaGuardia, New York. The list really goes on and

on.

Chicago, also high on the list, and then, Boston, which is the top airport for cancelations today. About 60 percent of all flights canceled into

Boston today. It is not going to be easy going. This really does pale in comparison to the numbers we saw yesterday though.

About 11,600 flights canceled nationwide, according to FlightAware. That is the worst day for us air travel since March 30, 2020, when the pandemic

really decimated air travel here in the U.S.

ANDERSON: Wow.

MUNTEAN: Just want to show you what is going on, on the tarmac here at national airport. This is the ramp that is between the C and D concourses.

And way off in the distance there, you might be able to make it out as one of these really huge snow blowers that they are using to move the snow that

fell, and then, the layer of sleet and ice that fell on top of it.

[10:55:04]

We have seen these dump trucks come by to move these large amounts of snow, so, they could go dump it off site and try and clear things out here.

So, the issues have not only been at the airline level, planes and crews out of position, but also at the airport level, and the issues with the

slickness, even of taxiways and runways at places like this.

In fact, the first flight that was scheduled to get in here to Reagan National Airport this morning, the crew had to divert, I'm told, because of

not only the slickness of the runway, they felt like there wasn't going to be a good enough effectiveness of their brakes, but also because of the

cross winds here. And so, they diverted to nearby Dulles International Airport.

Now, that flight is scheduled to be what is called the tour of the beltway flight. They are going to go from Dulles to DCA here only about 30 miles.

AvGeeks on Twitter freak out about this.

That is scheduled to come in later, although that flight continues to get delayed and delayed and delayed. Becky.

ANDERSON: I'm sure the AvGeeks out there will agree with me when we say good on those who are out there, sort of trying to get this airport moving.

Again, shout out to those guys who are in that snow blower out there in the freezing cold to get that airport moving.

MUNTEAN: Yes.

ANDERSON: I'm sure there are folks watching this, who might even be headed that way at some point. Thank you, Pete.

All right. For tonight's "PARTING SHOTS", India celebrates its 77th Republic Day with its annual ritual, a grand national parade. It all

started in 1950 when India's constitution came into force following its independence from British rule.

This year, New Delhi had two notable guests attending the celebration. See European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the European Council

President Antonio Costa, who are in the country hoping to sign a free trade deal.

You've been watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.

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