The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/01/25 at 03:00 EST

Episode Date: January 25, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/01/25 at 03:00 EST

It is a wild time in the world right now. And sometimes it's actually hard to figure out what's what. The current is here to help. My name is Matt Galloway and we bring you conversations to expand your worldview, solutions to some of the wicked problems of our time. Like is Canada underreacting to Trump's takeover threats and our phones rewiring our brains? We'll also bring you great stories you might never heard of before, including

why are we suddenly obsessed with doppelgangers? You can find The Current wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube. I'll talk to you soon. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Mike Miles. Liberal leadership candidate Christia Freeland says she's running against the Ottawa establishment. In an interview with CBC radios of the House, the former deputy prime minister argues one of her competitors is the preferred candidate of the prime minister's office.

Freeland says that makes her the outsider. Catherine Cullen has more. I think we need a change. For years, she was finance minister and deputy prime minister. Now, Chrystia Freeland is pitching herself as anti-establishment. The Liberal leadership hopeful is watching her primary opponent, Mark Carney, rack up more

MP endorsements. In particular, Carney is being backed by a dozen cabinet ministers. Freeland has five, despite having sat at the cabinet table for almost a decade. Asked about that, she says she's more concerned with the grassroots. It is certainly looking like he is the PMO's candidate. Freeland offered no evidence of Carney's ties to the prime minister's office. He has tried to pitch himself as an outsider, including at his campaign launch in Edmonton. In my judgment, as an outsider, as someone who's not been a lifelong politician. Meanwhile, the conservatives have dismissed the entire crop of liberal leadership contenders,

saying they are all the same as the prime minister. Catherine Cullen, CBC News, Ottawa. And you can hear more of Catherine's interview with Christia Freeland on The House, right after the 9 o'clock edition of World Report, 9.30 in Newfoundland, or anytime, wherever you get your podcasts. He came, he saw, he promised help. After days of incendiary rhetoric, US President Donald Trump was in California Friday evening

to see the destruction from the LA wildfires. Steve Utterman has more on the visit. The president spent several hours seeing the damage both from the air and on the ground. He met with some of those who lost their homes. I don't think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating it is until you see it. Afterwards, before a gathering of state and local officials, he said the federal government is standing behind you 100 percent. I'm going to give you everything you want. I'm going

to give you more than any president would have ever given you. Earlier in the day in North Carolina, Trump had a much different tone. He seemed to set conditions on federal aid being given to California. He did not repeat that here, and Democratic Congresswoman Judy Chu was hopeful. One statement actually that I will not forget is when he said, California will get what it needs. Trump says he wants rebuilding to begin quickly, and he said he will make it easier to deal with federal red tape.

Steve Futterman for CBC News, Pacific Palisades, California. Trump's contentious pick for defense secretary, former Fox News host Pete Haggiseth, was narrowly confirmed Friday night by just one vote. I just heard that we won. Winning is what matters, right? Senators were deadlocked 50-50 with three Republicans breaking ranks. Vice President J.D. Vance cast the deciding vote. Hague Seth was controversial not only for his vow to fight the so-called woke,

but also because of accusations of being drunk on the job and sexual misconduct. Federal industry minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is accusing Amazon of not being honest with him during a conversation about the closure of the company's Quebec distribution centers. On Wednesday, Amazon said it would shut down its seven sites in the province, citing cost cutting as the reason, not because workers at its Laval warehouse recently unionized. Champagne says the company didn't give him the whole story when it came to job losses.

This is also about treating Canada with respect. Not only we had a discussion, but in a way that is hard for me to understand, they did not even mention to me that they would lay off more people after we had our conversation. I have seen better corporate citizens in my life. According to Quebec's Labour Ministry, nearly 1,500 people would be laid off at Amazon partner companies. That's in addition to the nearly 1,700 permanent employees losing their jobs at the online retailer. In a letter to Amazon's CEO, Champagne called on the multinational to immediately reconsider the Quebec closures. That is your World This Hour.

For CBC News, I'm Mike Miles.