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Preparations Underway For Trump's Indoors Inauguration; Phase 1 Of Israel-Hamas Ceasefire And Hostage Deal To Start Sunday; Inaugural Events Moved Inside Due To Dangerous Cold; One-On-One With Trump Senior Adviser, Jason Miller; Law Enforcement Changes Plan To Indoor Inauguration Ceremonies; Fans Fired Up For NFL Playoffs, College Title Games. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired January 18, 2025 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[17:01:18]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.
We are just 48 hours away from President-Elect Trump, officially returning to the White House.
Just moments ago, the president-elect, his wife incoming first lady Melania Trump, and their son Barron boarded a government plane in Florida. They are now headed to the D.C. area, kicking off a days' long celebration that starts tonight with fireworks at his national golf club in Sterling, Virginia.
Then, of course, Trump will take the oath of office on Monday at the inauguration ceremony which will now take place inside the Capitol Rotunda.
CNN's Alayna Treene is joining us live from Washington.
Alayna, we're learning more about Trump's plans for his first day in the White House, including this aggressive push on immigration. It's a promise he's made for months.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Jessica.
And when I talked to Donald Trump's advisers, they say, look, there's going to be dozens of executive orders issued in his first day alone, not even just his first week. They really want to hit the ground running.
One adviser said it's going to be like a shock to the system. This is really them trying to come in and show that Donald Trump wants to hit the ground running. That is how they're framing it, to me at least.
But you're exactly right. One of the key issues that we're really going to see with the start of these executive orders is going to be focused on immigration. That has been something that Donald Trump said, particularly in the last few months of his campaign, was the number one issue that he thought Americans cared about.
Now, I want to walk you through some of what we're expecting but we are potentially going to see some of those raids that Donald Trump talked about, these sweeps of major metropolitan areas of these major cities perhaps happen on day one, if not in the first few weeks.
We actually heard Donald Trump today in an interview with NBC sort of address this. I want to read for you what he said. He wrote -- he said, quote, "It will begin very early, very quickly. I can't say which cities because things are evolving. And I don't think we want to say what city. You'll see firsthand."
Now, Jessica, I also do want to address some of the other immigration executive orders, though, that we do know that are expected to drop moments after he is sworn in on Monday. And our -- my colleague, our colleague, I should say -- Priscilla Alvarez has done some great reporting on this.
But really, some of those immigration executive orders fall into three buckets. One of them is interior enforcement. Like I said, some of these massive sweeps through these cities. Again, targeting especially Democratic cities, but also some sanctuary cities, places that Donald Trump has already said he is looking at going after very early on.
The second bucket is the border, of course. We know that he's talked about issuing potentially a national emergency declaration -- should sound familiar. We had him use this a lot during his first term and we saw him use it a lot during his first term.
And that's really to try and shore up resources at the Pentagon and try to drive more of that to the southern border. That is going to be one of the first things that his team is looking at doing.
And then the third bucket is really legal immigration. We know Donald Trump has talked about wanting to bring back the travel ban that he had during his first term.
Still unclear exactly which cities and which immigrants would fall under that. But that's something they're talking about.
As well as ending birthright citizenship, something again, Donald Trump wanted to do during his first term, but hasn't and has said repeatedly over the last several months that he wants to do that.
So again, all of this is potentially going to be happening not only during his first week, but also on day one, very much one of the top priorities that Trump is looking at as soon as he gets into the White House, Jessica.
DEAN: All right. Alayna Treene with the latest reporting there. Thank you very much for that.
And joining us now, CNN senior political analyst, senior editor at The Atlantic, Ron Brownstein". Ron was at Ronald Reagan's 1985 inauguration, the last one, of course, to be held indoors.
[17:04:52]
DEAN: So, Ron, what does it look like? What does it feel like? What's different about it when you're inside that Capitol Rotunda?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I was -- I was actually there as a much younger reporter.
You know, that was kind of thrown together at the last minute. I went back to check my recollection in the coverage.
They didn't announce it until Sunday afternoon that they were moving -- moving inside. So it was all kind of, you know, let's put on a show which may have been very appropriate for Ronald Reagan.
You know, I went because literally, I was the only person in the office as a young, as a junior reporter at the "National Journal Magazine".
Got a call from the White House press office on Monday morning saying, hey, you guys are the White House magazine pool, do you want to go to the, you know, the inauguration? I was like, sure, I'll go to the inauguration. I don't really have anything else going on today.
And in the rotunda, it was really an intimate affair. My recollection is that it was basically folding chairs, you know, like the kind of folding chairs you would have at a church basement social. And we were all crammed together, so crammed together I was sitting on the riser, the press riser in the back. There were a lot fewer cameras, Jessica, than there -- than there would be today.
And my recollection is that there was a senator sitting next to me like, you know, perched on the edge of the riser. I think it was Bennett Johnston, don't hold me to that.
But, you know, the whole thing had just kind of a very improvisational feel. Reagan gave a great speech. I watched it again the other day. But it was a unique event and really, you know, kind of came together at the last minute.
This may be a little more planned out, I bet -- I bet the chairs are a little nicer, maybe a little more cushioned than they had back in 1985.
DEAN: Yes, were looking at pictures. I'm kind of looking for you back there, but I don't see the press riser.
BROWNSTEIN: I think I saw myself in the very back, actually, in one of the videos.
DEAN: Wow. That's amazing. It's amazing.
Ok, so Trump returns to the White House, Ron, with far more positive sentiment from the public than he did the first time. Our polling shows 55 percent of Americans approve of his handling of the transition, compared to 40 percent in 2017. 56 percent expect him to do a good job this second term, compared to 48 percent in 2016. How much power does that give him to then go and pursue many of his
campaign promises?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, a lot of opportunity. I mean, I think that is a little more positive than "The Wall Street Journal" poll that came out around the same time.
But directionally, it all points -- it continues the message of the election, which is that, you know, we saw Trump and he's improved in a wide array of geographies among a wide variety of voter groups.
And I think the clear message is that the widespread disenchantment with the results of the Biden presidency among a big spectrum of voters and places have has given Trump the opportunity, and I underline that word, to speak to a broader audience than he did in the first time.
As I wrote the other day in "The Atlantic, in many ways, it is similar to the opportunity that the rejection of Jimmy Carter's record provided to Ronald Reagan when he took office.
And I think what we'll see is whether Trump has either the skills or the inclination to reach beyond his hardcore base in Trump 2 any more effectively than he did in Trump 1.
DEAN: And so much of this, as Alayna was just reporting, in that first 100 days, really in the first he said day and then beyond this slate of immigration executive orders, just hours after him being sworn in. We've heard he and his -- and Tom Homan and others talking about what that might look like with ICE sweeps and raids in various cities.
How do you expect that to play out? And what will you be watching for as, as we see how that takes shape?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well look, I mean that -- I put that in the category of one of the three ways that Trump could squander this opportunity.
I mean, one way that he could squander this opportunity is overreach. You know, over a quarter of Latino voters who said they oppose mass deportation voted for Trump anyway. Because despite what he said, they thought it would be much more narrowly-targeted than, you know, his actual words in the campaign.
And we're going to find out how narrowly-targeted it is. We're going to find out how Americans react to pictures of, you know, kids coming home from elementary school and their parents are gone, which is, you know, something that immigrant advocacy groups are preparing for.
So I mean, overreach on that front, on the economic front, cutting popular programs is one way Trump could, you know, squander this opportunity.
Another would be what kind of behavior we've seen in his response to the California fires, which was -- you know, in his first term, I often said that Trump governed as a wartime president with Blue America rather than any foreign country as the adversary. [17:09:52]
BROWNSTEIN: He used Blue America more as a foil to try to energize his hardcore base than he did try to reach out to Blue America. We'll see again if he has a different orientation in term two. In the transition, it doesn't look that way.
And maybe the most important thing is, you know, voters hired Trump to do one job above all -- get their cost of living under control. And as you know, most economists who looked at his agenda between the tariffs, the sweeping tariffs and the mass deportation worry that it would do more to rekindle than control inflation.
And that ultimately will be the test. Starting at some point on Monday, he is responsible for results, and the American people will be judging him on the results that he delivers.
I really think the lesson of the Biden presidency, one that was really impressed on me, is that performance counts, which is that there -- you know, there's a slice of the electorate that simply is not engaged in the 12-step battle between the parties on all the issues that we focus on.
But those voters are really experts in their own lives. And they felt that Biden did not deliver for them and abandoned him. And I think they will stick with Trump so long as they feel that he is delivering for them.
DEAN: Yes, yes.
(CROSSTALK)
DEAN: And they are sending him, we're looking live as you're talking as the president-elect and his wife, the incoming first lady -- former first lady Melania Trump, his family headed to the D.C. area from Palm Beach. Voters, sending him back to Washington to do exactly that, Ron, as you just underscored more than anything to get their cost of living under control.
And the question is, can he do that? How will he do that? We're all going to see.
Ron Brownstein, thank you so much. We appreciate it.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me. Thanks for the memory lane.
DEAN: Yes. Still ahead, we are just hours away from a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas taking effect. What happens next when we could see these first hostages released tomorrow?
Barak Ravid is standing by with new reporting on that.
[17:11:47]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DEAN: By this time tomorrow, if all goes according to plan, Israel and Hamas will be in a ceasefire and three Israeli hostages who have been held by Hamas for 469 days will be safe and back home. It is a breakthrough that has taken many months of negotiations.
But even now, with a resolution to this war more clearly on the table than ever before, there are questions about how this all plays out in practice, over time, as opposed to how its playing out on paper, how it's written down.
CNN political and foreign policy analyst Barak Ravid is joining us now.
Barak, always great to have you on.
You have new reporting that President-Elect Trump's national security advisor, Mike Waltz, met with hostage families in Washington today.
What more can you tell us about that meeting and what he's telling them on how the Trump administration is looking at all of this as they prepare to take over.
BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND FOREIGN POLICY ANALYST: Hi, Jessica.
So Mike Waltz, Trump's incoming national security advisor, and Adam Boehler, the incoming envoy for hostage affairs, met with the families of Israeli and American hostages today in Washington.
And the meeting is important because one of the main issues that comes up in that meeting is the concern of those families, especially the families, that their relatives will not be released in the first phase of the deal that would last 42 days of ceasefire, but only on the second phase of the deal.
And they tell Waltz and Boehler that there are members of Netanyahu's coalition, like ultra nationalist minister Bezalel Smotrich, that said publicly that they have commitments from Netanyahu, that he will not continue to phase two, that he will end the deal after phase one.
And they raised those concerns with Waltz. And one of the things that Waltz tells them is that Trump is committed to implement all phases of the deal and bring back all the 98 hostages until the last one of them, meaning that he wants to see phase two being implemented.
D5; That is -- that is really worth noting, and a good window into how they're thinking about this.
I also want to ask you about what Prime Minister Netanyahu said earlier today. He said they're still waiting on this final list of hostages from Hamas before they can move forward.
We spoke with the former ambassador, Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, in the last hour. He thinks this is -- this is going to move forward as planned, kind of downplayed that this is any sort of major issue.
What is your understanding of that? And do you agree?
RAVID: Yes, I agree. I think that a, it would have been great if Hamas delivered the list of the three hostages that are supposed to be released tomorrow, because that's what the deal stipulates.
And it's a first semi-violation of the deal even before it began. So it's not a good sign. On the other hand, all the Israeli officials that I speak to think that Hamas will give the list either tonight or tomorrow morning after the ceasefire comes into effect at 8:30 a.m. local time, 1:30 a.m. Eastern time.
DEAN: And do you have any sense -- does anyone have any sense about exactly how this will play out or exactly what we'll see when this -- when when 8:30 comes around in the morning there in Israel and Gaza time?
[17:19:56]
RAVID: So I think what we'll see on the ground is Israeli forces starting to redeploy in -- inside Gaza, moving gradually east towards the buffer zone and away from the main population centers inside Gaza.
We will see Hamas delivering hopefully on Sunday at around 4:00 p.m. local time, 9:00 a.m. Eastern time three hostages to the Red Cross. Those hostages will be delivered by the Red Cross to the -- through the Rafah Crossing, to Egypt to Egyptian officials, and from there to, IDF representatives that will take them from Egypt back to Israel and back to their families.
At the same time, when those hostages will be released, around 90 Palestinian prisoners, women and teenagers, will be released also to the Red Cross and, you know, to their families in the West Bank, in east Jerusalem, in Gaza and inside Israel.
DEAN: And what is the sense? Look, Benjamin Netanyahu has been through it in terms of his nation's support of his leadership, starting on October 7th, which a lot of people see as a failure to keep that country safe. And now he's still hanging on.
He has President Trump coming into office, who, you know, he clearly is talking to and feels like he has a good relationship with now. What is your sense of that relationship and just Netanyahu moving forward?
RAVID: So first, you know, Netanyahu is in -- is not in a good political situation. The vast majority of Israelis think that he is responsible, he's one of the main people responsible for the failure of October 7th.
In almost every poll, the majority of Israelis say that Netanyahu needs to resign and that early elections need to take place.
Donald Trump knows that very well. And he knows -- Donald Trump knows how to -- how to deal with people that he sees politically fragile. And I think that that will be a big factor in this relationship, because Trump is very strong politically at the moment and Netanyahu is weak politically at the moment. And I think this will have a lot of influence on the relationship.
And in 42 days, Netanyahu will have to decide if he's moving to phase two of this deal. And this means that he will have to choose between Donald Trump and his ultra nationalist coalition partners Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir.
And at any juncture until now, since the beginning of the war, Netanyahu chose Ben-Gvir and Smotrich over the president of the United States.
I'm not sure he'll be able to do that with the incoming president.
DEAN: Yes, it's interesting. As you were saying, that it kind of in my mind, too, was circling back to your original reporting, which we started this interview with, which is Waltz telling these families that President Trump is fully committed to all three phases of this deal.
And as you lay it out there, it underscores how important that information is to know right now.
RAVID: Yes. And you know, on phase two of this deal, there is an American citizen who is alive. We just had a proof of life from him just two and a half weeks ago. Edan Alexander, who sits in the tunnels in Gaza right now and he's alive and he's only going to be released if phase two of the deal is implemented.
There are also three -- I'm sorry -- four American citizens who are unfortunately already dead, but their bodies are in captivity in Hamas' hands. Their bodies will be recovered only if the deal goes through to phase three.
That's why President Trump and his team, they know this, and they know that if they want to get all Americans out of Gaza, they have to implement all three phases of this deal.
DEAN: All right. Barak Ravid, as always, thank you for your time. We appreciate it.
RAVID: Thank you, Jessica.
DEAN: Still ahead, President-Elect Trump returning to the Washington area tonight where supporters are already there. They're getting ready to take part in inaugural celebrations.
We're going to be joined by a senior adviser to the president-elect. That's next.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
[17:24:14]
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DEAN: An arctic blast is forecast to bring the coldest inauguration in 40 years. That's why President-Elect Donald Trump will now be sworn in inside the Capitol Rotunda.
The last time that happened, back in 1985, when President Ronald Reagan also faced frigid temperatures in Washington, D.C. The inauguration parade also moving indoors now to Capital One Arena.
Joining us now, Jason Miller, senior adviser to President-Elect Trump. Jason, thanks so much for being here with us. We appreciate your time today.
JASON MILLER, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP: Thank you.
DEAN: I just want to ask you first. We know President-Elect Trump likes to speak to crowds. He loves his rallies.
How is he feeling about this this change? Is he happy with it, it's going to be -- knowing it's going to be a more intimate setting?
MILLER: Well, of course, we'd like to have it outside. But when you have this arctic blast that's coming in and temperatures as low as 11 degrees, and that might be actually on the high end of things, you have to take safety into consideration. And that's the most important thing.
You're going to have so many people who are going to be outside in that frigid of weather, it's just, quite frankly, not safe for people to be out there for hours on end.
So the president will go inside to the Capitol Rotunda where he'll be sworn in, and then he'll -- he's going to, I think, take some immediate action to make good on some of the campaign trail promises.
[17:29:53]
MILLER: And then eventually make his way over to the Capital One Arena, where we'll have -- essentially the parade will be indoors.
And I just received a briefing on it. It's going to be very, very cool. I do have to say that if you are coming to the Capital One Arena on Monday, get there early. Every single seat in the house will be taken. But they have some really special things planned for everyone who is able to come inside and join for that part of the program.
DEAN: And you mentioned those executive orders, the business he wants to get down to.
And I want you to help us put a little meat on the bones in terms of what Americans can expect on Monday. I know a lot of that will be centered around immigration. Help us understand what people should expect from the president-elect on Monday.
MILLER: So there are going to be a number of things, both immediately after he's sworn in and then later on during the day. I think you're also going to see some additional announcements when the president gets to Capital One Arena and then ultimately is back at the White House. But one of the big focuses right away is, of course, going to be on
immigration and putting President Trump's border security policies that he had during his first four years back into place.
And so everything that goes into securing the border, the Remain in Mexico, making sure that we stop the Catch and Release policies that were put in under Joe Biden. So that will be a big component of it.
But you're also going to see some very important things that go to the deregulation efforts to make sure we can get our energy production up.
Of course, that was one of the first things that caused the spike with regard to inflation, both the decrease in energy production, along with the increase in spending under the Joe Biden. So you're going to see the president do that.
And also, too, he's going to make good on his campaign promise to get rid of some of the Wokeism that, unfortunately, has infected much of the federal government over the past four years and get everything back to a meritocracy, get it back to focused on people doing their jobs.
Not worrying about all the social nonsense, trying to depoliticize aspects of the federal government, and really start serving and being responsible to the American people.
DEAN: And so I want to go back to immigration, just going back through some of these buckets.
In terms of those executive orders on immigration, we have reporting that indicates there will be mass deportation raids in some cities that I know Tom Homan has said he wants to take the handcuffs off of ICE and give them broader ability to -- to institute what some of the president-elect would like to do.
What does that look like practically in some of these cities? What does the infrastructure around that look like?
MILLER: Yes. So some of that I can speak to, but obviously some of that I don't want to get ahead of Tom Homan and the rest of the administration for exactly how they're going to do that.
But when you go back to the campaign trail, what President Trump would talk about is that local law enforcement really knows where the criminal illegals are.
And so partnering up with local law enforcement to make sure that we go and target the folks who are the really bad actors.
We're talking the transnational gang members, we're talking to the people that we know that are criminal illegals that are here in this country, that, quite frankly, are a danger to society. We've had so many horrific stories over the past four years to focus really right there.
And another thing that reminds many of the viewers, there are already, 1.3 million people who are in this country illegally that are already approved for deportation.
But for various reasons, they haven't been sent back either to the country that they came from or if they're going to be sent to a third country. But these people are already processed and approved to be deported. But it hasn't been done yet.
So those will be, I think, a couple of the areas of the main focus. But like the president said, we've got to get the criminal illegals out of this country. They're just -- it's the country has become way too dangerous.
DEAN: And so that's who we should expect to see being -- being really targeted at this first round, criminals, people who have already been approved for deportation?
MILLER: Yes, I think that's right. And -- but it's also important to make sure that people who might be thinking about entering the United States illegally -- illegally know that this is not a place where you're going to be welcomed with open arms.
We have a legal process for entering our country. If you want to come into the United States, you have to follow the rules. And if you think that you're going to just show up and, well, they'll Catch and Release and let me go on my own recognizance and then never show back up again, those days are over.
We're going to have a secure border. We're actually going to enforce these border policies that were so successful under President Trump. And we have to get these dangerous criminals not only off our streets, but out of the country.
DEAN: And you all are going to need other countries to cooperate with you or to help you out to take these people back. Are you talking to them? What makes you confident that they will work with you?
MILLER: Well, I know the folks who are going to be running that, they're coming into the administration have had those conversations and those are moving.
And again, since the president is not actually sworn in until Monday, I don't want to get ahead of them. But obviously that will be an important part of this, is making sure that these countries do take these folks back who have entered the United States illegally.
And as we've seen from President Trump's first four years in office, he's the master negotiator. And he has a number of different tools that he can use.
Maybe there could be trade action that's a part of that. There are also areas of economic assistance that could easily be turned off if people aren't supportive the way they need to be.
[17:35:08]
And there are other people who just need to be good actors in the process and take back some of the criminals from their country who have now come into the United States.
So I think when President Trump starts moving on this on Monday and the entire administration makes this a top focus, I think people are going to notice an immediate difference.
And I think it's really going to send a signal for anyone thinking about coming into the United States and thinking they might be able to pull this off.
DEAN: I also want to ask you a couple of other things about China and TikTok.
First of all, the president-elect has invited or invited the Chinese president to come. The vice president of China is coming to the inauguration. That's the first time a senior Chinese official has come to an American inauguration.
What do you think the American people should take away from that? Considering many see China -- especially in the national security world, a lot of Republicans see China as an adversary. What should they take away from his presence there at the inauguration?
MILLER: So this is one of the things that President Trump did so effectively in his first four years is that he knows that if you want to change something with the country, whether it be an adversary or whether it be a rival, or, in the case of China, you have a whole number of different things with their growing power in the world, you have to have that dialog.
You have to be able to talk to them and say, this is what we want to do. This is where you need to work with us on.
And I think that's one of the key things that President Trump was able to do that, quite frankly, over the last four years, I think a lot of foreign leaders, a lot of foreign governments, quite frankly, just didn't respect Joe Biden or his administration the way that they did when President Trump was in office.
And so you have to be able to talk directly to these other countries. Does that mean that we're going to be buddy-buddy? No, not at all.
If anything, it means that President Trump can be tougher directly with them. And he knows exactly what he wants to step in and do, and again, whether that be with trade dynamics, whether it be with border dynamics. But you have to be able to talk directly to them.
DEAN: Yes. And I hear you when you say, look, it doesn't mean we're going to be buddy-buddy, because I do think some people look at that and go, oh, are they trying to cozy up to them? What is this? But you're saying, no, this is about opening a dialog.
MILLER: Well, exactly. And that's the thing, too. Keep in mind, back before Covid hit, President Trump had put together one of the greatest trade deals that we've ever had, starting to reset the balance or start moving toward a better balance.
Obviously, we have we're massively upside down with regard to the trade deficit with China.
Also, China is trying to flex their muscles all around the world and influence, particularly in the Western hemisphere. We've seen what they've done, obviously with countries, including Brazil and Colombia and even the Panama Canal.
And so having someone from the Chinese government here that President Trump's administration can talk to and make sure they're being very direct with what our thoughts are, I think that's important.
Because we can't have another four years go like this, where other countries just, quite frankly, aren't taking the United States seriously like they should.
DEAN: That leads me to TikTok. I don't have to tell you that the ban starts in just a few hours.
That the Trump administration is going to inherit this. They've got to figure out exactly what you want to do.
Just to remind everyone, there was a huge bipartisan vote for this law and a unanimous opinion backing it from the Supreme Court. I know that the president-elect said, back in 2020, we're banning TikTok now. He seems to be more open to keeping it.
There is a kind of a line of thinking that he knows he has a lot of supporters on there. He's hesitant to shut it down. Is that a fair way to assess his thinking around this? And what do you expect to see him do?
MILLER: Well, we know from the president's comments earlier today that he'll most likely -- it's not assured yet -- but most likely he will give TikTok and additional window to try to change their ownership or make that more of a domestically controlled entity, something that's not controlled by a foreign entity.
But keep in mind, going back to 2020, the president already put the plan in motion to where TikTok has had to take their data and keep that here in the United States. And so they actually house that. They store that with Oracle on U.S. servers. So data stays here in the U.S.
But we're talking about the operational control of the platform. And so obviously there needs to be a change there. But these things are complicated. It takes a little time to go and get them moving.
I think the platform is so popular, especially for younger users. And President Trump, of course, did record setting well with younger voters in this election that he wants to make good and find a way, how do we keep the platform?
But obviously it has to be divested and it can't be controlled by China. And so if they need a little bit more time to pull that off, then I think that's something that tens of millions, if not more, around the United States would be very happy to be able to keep that platform. And ultimately, this is something I wish the -- well, I guess the
current administration, for about another couple more days here, but I think they should have been a little more aggressive on to try to find a way to -- to try to save the platform, to get some different ownership in there.
But if we can give them a little bit more time and they can still get to the same goal, then I think that's a win-win for everybody.
[17:40:05]
DEAN: Yes. And are you -- look, there have been American people that have come together, business people, and said we'll buy TikTok.
Do you anticipate the president having personal discussions, being personally involved in trying to find an American buyer? And that's even if ByteDance will agree to sell.
MILLER: Great question. I have not asked the president that specific point. But obviously, there -- I've seen the same reports that you have. There are a lot of people doing it.
And I think the president really wants to see the company come to a solution on this. And obviously, that's their responsibility to go and do. But we're talking about the -- the tens of millions of users of the platform all around the country. That's really who we're looking out for.
And if they need a little bit of extra time to do that and still come to the same goal of making sure that control is moved away from the Chinese, then again, as I said before, I think that could be really a win-win.
But I'm sure there are a lot of people who are going to be looking to try to be a part of any deal that is put together, and then ultimately, they move -- if they move toward going public or something of that nature, that could be quite a juggernaut.
DEAN: All right. Jason Miller, thank you so much for your time. Please come back. And as -- as President Trump, President-elect Trump takes office, I'm sure we'll have much more to talk about. We appreciate it.
MILLER: Hey, thank you so much.
DEAN: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:45:58]
DEAN: With the bitter cold in Washington, D.C., forcing inauguration ceremonies indoors, organizers are now scrambling to make those last minute adjustments.
CNN's Holmes Lybrand is joining us now.
And, Holmes, obviously, this is kind of happening in real time as they make these adjustments. What are you learning about the changes?
HOLMES LYBRAND, CNN REPORTER: That's right. We're talking about months into planning this outdoor event, both a parade and an inauguration outside, now being condensed into three days really to plan both of these indoor events.
One happening at the rotunda where the inauguration will take place. That will contain about 700 people, which will include members of Congress, their spouses, VIPs.
And then there's the Capital One Arena, where all of the ticketed attendees are telling -- they're being told to go to that arena to live stream, watch the inauguration. And then Trump's going to travel to the arena for some sort of event.
The details on all of this are still unclear. The Secret Service, MPD and others are still kind of scrambling to adjust security around this.
And we are told that, while the parade is not happening, people will be allowed to line up on Pennsylvania Avenue to watch Trump's motorcade travel that one last time from Capital One Arena to the White House.
And again, all of these plans are still in flux. It's still very unclear how they're going to get the over 200,000 ticketed people for the inauguration into an arena that can only hold over a little over 20,000.
DEAN: Yes, that math is tough. So we're going to have to see how this all plays out.
Holmes Lybrand, thank you so much for that reporting. We appreciate it.
LYBRAND: Thank you.
DEAN: Still ahead, a massive weekend in football with the college football championships and the NFL division title games. Where things stand right now.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:52:17]
DEAN: A massive football weekend just getting underway. The NFL's divisional playoffs officially kicking off as the Kansas City Chiefs open their quest for a third Super Bowl title.
And Ohio State and Notre Dame will play Monday night for college football's national title.
Patrick Snell joins us now.
Patrick, how are the Chiefs looking?
PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, Jessica. Yes, exciting times there. Kansas City trying to do something no other team in NFL history has ever done. And that is when three straight Super Bowl crowns.
It would be an unprecedented accomplishment, no question, if they could do it, especially in a league where parity is very much the norm.
Well, the Chiefs hosting the Texans on this Saturday. And of course, Kelce's favorite fan, Taylor Swift, was among those at Arrowhead Stadium hoping they could get their playoff run off to a winning start.
Well, the Chiefs are leading the Texans as we speak. 13 to 6, has just gone to half time in that one. Kareem Hunt with a touchdown run Kansas City haven't played, you know, in 23 days after receiving a first round bye last week.
It would get the Chiefs second win over the Texans this season having beaten them just at Arrowhead just before Christmas, in fact.
Well, later on tonight, plenty to look forward to. The Detroit Lions will be looking to keep their historic season going as they host the Washington Commanders.
Detroit winning a franchise record 15 games during the regular season and are looking for their first Super Bowl appearance. The Commanders are the surprise package, though I will say of these playoffs with Jayden Daniels leading them to the win over the Bucks. That was last week.
And two more NFL games on Sunday. And then Monday, seeing the conclusion of college football's first ever 12-team playoff. We've got Ohio State and Notre Dame facing just down the road, facing off just down the road from where I am right now. In fact, here in Atlanta.
The Buckeyes making an incredible run to the final after a late-season loss to Michigan. While Notre Dame seeking its first title since all the way back in 1988. What a story line that would be.
Both teams met the media on Saturday and clearly know what's at stake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL HOWARD, OHIO STATE QUARTERBACK: This team is a hard fighting, hard-working team. So it's going to take everything and we can't leave any stone unturned. We got to -- we got to put our everything into this fight.
RILEY LEONARD, NOTRE DAME QUARTERBACK: I think these guys kind of understand or will understand through my actions in the way that I've prepared for this game, how much it means to me.
You know, I don't -- like I said, if you need an extra motivation from me to get you fired up for this game, something's wrong with you. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: So Monday will have Inauguration Day, Martin Luther King Day as well, and the national championship game. It will definitely be, Jessica, one big day to remember.
Back to you.
DEAN: There's a lot going on, on Monday.
SNELL: Yes.
DEAN: Patrick Snell, thanks so much.
[17:55:02]
Still ahead tonight, President-elect Trump is preparing to take office once again. What we're learning about his day-one plans.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.
[17:59:54]
And right now, President-elect Donald Trump and his family are in route to Washington as they prepare to celebrate his return to the White House, which is now less than 48 hours away.
Tonight, Trump is meeting donors and supporters at his national golf club in Sterling, Virginia. A fireworks show is also planned.