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Trump Wants Troops In Portland To Protect ICE Facilities; Senate Dems To Hold Sunday Caucus Call Amid Shutdown Fears; Interview with Representative Carlos Gimenez (R-FL); Americans Brace For Possible Drug Price Increases; De Moines School Board Places Detained Superintendent On Leave, Trump Clearing the Way For Completion Of TikTok Deal; Emergency Declared In Globe, Arizona As Flooding Kills Four. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired September 27, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:33]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

And we begin with President Trump in a new focus for what the White House is framing as a crackdown on crime. And this time, it's in Portland, Oregon. The president saying he will deploy troops there to protect Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facilities. Trump claiming those facilities are, quote, "under siege by Antifa." An ICE facility about two miles south of the city has been at the center of almost constant protests this summer, although most have been peaceful.

I want to bring in CNN's Kevin Liptak from the White House.

Kevin, let's start first with the kind of basic question, which is why Portland?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president seems to be identifying the protests that have been taking place outside of that ICE facility, which is outside of the downtown of Portland, as the rationale for sending in these troops. He says that they were going to send all necessary troops to protect what he calls war-ravaged Portland. And he says that it is under siege from attack by Antifa and other domestic terrorists. And he also says that he's authorizing full force if necessary, which raises all kinds of questions.

One, what does full force mean? The president doesn't say exactly. He doesn't also offer a timeline for when these troops will arrive. He doesn't say which troops he's talking about here, whether it's National Guard or active-duty military. And he's also not laying out the legal rationale. You know, the law strictly limits the use of troops. American military for domestic law enforcement purposes. But we have seen the president over the last several months really kind of push the boundaries here, sending U.S. troops to Democrat-led cities, whether it's Los Angeles or here in Washington, D.C. And so it does raise a lot of questions. There have been those protests in Portland. They've been mostly

peaceful, although some have led to violent clashes. There have been some injuries among federal officials. There have been arrests for assault when protesters erected a prop guillotine outside that building earlier this summer. The DHS said that it was unhinged behavior. We have heard the president talking about Portland over the last week or so. He said just Thursday in the Oval Office that we were going to, quote, "do a pretty big number on those people in Portland."

So really kind of foreshadowing what this move would be. But we are hearing from state and local officials today very much pushing back on this action. The mayor of Oregon, I'm sorry, the mayor -- the governor of Oregon, Tina Kotek, saying that she has been in conversations directly with Trump and the Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, saying that she's been abundantly clear that Portland and the state of Oregon believe in the rule of law and that they can manage their own local public safety needs. She says there is no insurrection. There is no threat to national security.

Similarly, from the mayor of Portland, Keith Wilson, saying that the number of necessary troops is zero and that the president will not find lawlessness or violence here unless he plans to perpetrate it. So some pretty serious pushback. But the president clearly very intent on escalating this push to put domestic troops on U.S. soil.

DEAN: All right. Kevin Liptak with the latest from the White House, thank you for that reporting.

As the clock is ticking down on a possible government shutdown, Senate Democrats are planning to hold a conference call tomorrow ahead for -- tomorrow for a strategy session ahead of Tuesday's deadline. Of course, just a few days left to figure this out, Trump has refused to meet with congressional Democrats creating a stalemate over the GOP's current government funding plan. Federal workers are bracing for the possible shutdown and the administration's warnings of mass layoffs that could accompany it.

CNN's Camila DeChalus is joining us now.

Where do things stand right now, at 7:00 on a Saturday night?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, Congress is once again barreling towards a government shutdown with both Democrats and Republicans blaming each other on why they have not ironed out a deal yet. Now Republicans on their end, they're really pushing to pass a spending bill that does not include any policy changes. While Democrats are making clear that they will not support any spending bill that does not include language to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.

Now, there's a lot at stake here, Jessica. Earlier this week, like you mentioned, the White House Budget Office sent out guidance to federal agencies, telling them to prepare for mass firings. And I spoke to several federal workers all over this week and a lot of what they say is that there's a lot of anxiety and they're anxious about what is to come. [19:05:09]

Now, a possible government shutdown doesn't just impact federal workers. It also impacts federal agencies like the IRS or the National Park Service. And it also disrupts businesses, health care access, and even programs that provide services to veterans nationwide and abroad. And the really big picture here is that both sides are saying that they are not really willing to make concessions. Democrats, on their part, argue that they are willing to, in a bipartisan effort, try to iron out a deal.

But there are some things that they are very adamant that they need to see included in a spending bill if it is supposed to pass not only the House side, but also the Senate.

DEAN: All right, Camila DeChalus, laying it out for us. Thank you so much.

And we're joined now by Republican Representative Carlos Gimenez of Florida.

Congressman, thanks for being with us on this Saturday night. We do really appreciate your time. As Camila just --

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): It's my pleasure.

DEAN: Thank you. As Camila just laid out, we are now three days out from this deadline. No news from either side. Where do you come down on this?

GIMENEZ: Well, look. We passed a clean CR to the Senate. No policy changes to keep the government running the way it's been running for the last, you know, since the beginning of the year. And so the problem is that the Democrats now want to undo a lot of the things from the tax cuts and jobs act, you know, that's known as the BBB, that we worked so hard for. You know, they want to extend health insurance to illegals.

They want to I guess eliminate the job requirements that we have. The double enrollment that issues that we had that saved billions of dollars. And I think the policies that the American people would want to do. You know, and I know they also are talking about extending the ACA subsidies, which is something that they actually may get some support from the Republican side if it means those that actually need it, and if somehow we create some kind of a soft landing so that at the end, these subsidies are eliminated because remember, they were actually subsidies that were put in place because of COVID.

Well, COVID is long gone and so these subsidies also have to go. But we understand that some people are going to get sticker shock. And so hopefully maybe there is a way there. But those other demands, those are just nonstarters.

DEAN: Let's start on those. Let's focus in on those subsidies because to your point, it sounds like that's where there could be some compromise that might be able to happen. Are you part of those conversations? Are you willing to be a part of those conversations? Would you support extending those subsidies if they fell in line? I hear you on your premise of what they need to do, but is that something you would support?

GIMENEZ: Yes. Look, I've already cited there is a bill by Jennifer Higgins from Virginia that does just that. And so I'm a co-signer of that. And so, yes, it's something that I would certainly support. I think there is a good level of support in my conference on the Republican side. I'm not saying all of it, but a good level of it. And again, if they could find a way to pay for it and there may be a way to pay for it, and it's somehow a soft landing, and those that actually need it, because these subsidies also the income requirements I think are way too high.

And some of those people don't need it, but those folks that do need it, I think, you know, we can get by and try to soften that landing for them when eventually they do have to go away. So, yes, there's room for compromise, but not with the Democrats. They're saying basically undo the reconciliation package that we took a long time to pass. So that's a nonstarter.

DEAN: Yes. And you noticed that -- you noted this as well. Look, if these subsidies expire, it could mean some pretty serious sticker shock for people who don't get insurance through their job. A lot of people do. But people like small business owners, small business employees, freelancers, who live in every state in this country and are constituents of yours and other Republicans as well. What's your message to them?

GIMENEZ: My message to them, look, I'm on their side. And so, you know, we'll see what we can do. There -- look, there are a lot of people on my side of the aisle that don't -- they felt that that was an overreach, that that was way too generous and given by the Biden administration during COVID and using COVID as an excuse to do that. But now, when people get used to it, then, hey, all of a sudden they are used to it. We somehow have to wean them off.

And that's my position, too. It eventually has to go to zero. But does it have to go to zero on day one? No, I don't support that. And so I've been also, you know, like I said, I've been vocal about it in my conference and there are a number of Republicans that are vocal about it, you know, in the House. Maybe we can find something there in order to avoid the shutdown. But we can't go where the Democrats, you know, want to go. I wouldn't even support that.

[19:10:02]

You know, basically undoing the tax cut and jobs act, commonly known as the BBB. That's a bridge too far. We can't go there. But there are places that we can compromise. And I think we can on the ACA subsidies.

DEAN: Yes. And you're talking about that legislation that you all passed this summer. Yes, it had many names, but, yes, just the one that has this summer. The president has threatened mass layoffs in the event of a shutdown. There was this memo that went around. There are a lot of government workers that have already been fired this year or let go or cut. There is a lot of fear, as Camila was just reporting amongst federal workers, that they could lose their jobs, too.

Do you have reservations about hurting these Americans? Again, these are just bureaucrats. They're not political people. They work for the government, but they're not political.

GIMENEZ: I don't want to hurt anybody. And when I was mayor of Miami- Dade County, we had a reduction in our workforce. We had a $400 million budget deficit we had to cover. We are running a deficit in the federal government. The way I did it, though, was through attrition. And with the hundreds of thousands of workers that we have in the federal workforce, you can start to cut, you know, the number of federal workers that you need simply through attrition and, you know, reorganizing.

And that's something I certainly would support. But I certainly don't want, you know, people to be hurt unnecessarily. There's a way to do it where it doesn't really hurt those folks. It just says, OK, those people are retiring. We're not going to fill those positions. We're going to reorganize and we're going to lower the cost of the federal government. We need to lower the cost of the federal government. There are various ways to do it. That's the way I did it when I was mayor of Miami-Dade. I'm not sure that that's the way the president wants to do it.

DEAN: So you wouldn't support mass layoffs?

GIMENEZ: No. I mean, look, mass layoffs for the sake of mass layoffs, no. But if you had to lay off people because a program is being eliminated or that is not a priority program, then yes. What I'd love to do is, hey, get those people that are going to be laid off there and fill in some of those other places where there are retirements, OK, that are happening. So there is a way to do it without actually laying off, even though you say, hey, we're laying you off. Yes. But look, we're going to shift you over to another department, where we have openings because people retired.

You have such a massive workforce that you can probably get that done. And it wouldn't be that difficult. But again, I'm not in the inner workings of the administration. I'm just telling you what I would do if I were there, because that's what I did when I was mayor of Miami- Dade.

DEAN: Before I let you go, I do want to ask you about the indictment of former FBI director James Comey this week. It came after pressure from President Trump where he pushed out the prosecutor, the U.S. attorney, and replaced that U.S. attorney with his former personal attorney that had never presented in front of a grand jury before.

I'm just curious if you thought that that was handled appropriately, if you think this is an appropriate case.

GIMENEZ: Well, I think -- I think it all comes down to the verdict at the end. I mean, so there was a grand jury, obviously, this guy apparently has never been in front of a grand jury, but I convinced a grand jury to issue an indictment. And so you got an indictment.

DEAN: Woman. This woman, yes.

GIMENEZ: Well, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was a male or female. OK. I'm sorry. OK.

DEAN: Yes.

GIMENEZ: All right. So this lady that, you know, this prosecutor that went before him, got an indictment, and then the process will work itself out. Nobody is above the law. You know what? Same thing happened to President Trump. He got indicted, and then the process worked itself out. And so, again, since nobody is above the law, nobody is above the law. And so we'll find out at the end whether Mr. Comey is guilty or not. And just like any other American who's indicted here, he'll have his day in court.

DEAN: And just as the process question, though, do you think it was appropriate for him to push out that U.S. attorney that would not do what he said and install a woman that had never -- an attorney that had never done this sort of work before? Is that the right person to be putting in that position?

GIMENEZ: The president has the right to his, you know, his Justice Department. And so, you know, again, I'm not going to -- I'm not going to second guess the president. Look, obviously there's something there because if not, they wouldn't have gotten an indictment and they got an indictment from a, you know, a grand jury over in East Virginia, which is, you know, it's not the most conservative place in the world.

And so there may be something there. I think there probably is something there. And Mr. Comey then needs to, you know, lawyer up, and he's going to go have his day in court. And like everybody else, the jury will decide his guilt or innocence.

DEAN: All right, Congressman Gimenez, thanks for your time. We appreciate it.

GIMENEZ: My pleasure.

DEAN: Coming up, a dangerous combination of two tropical systems threatening significant flooding in the Carolinas. We've got a live report on the latest track. And Americans are bracing for possible higher drug prices ahead of incoming tariffs in a couple of days. A former economist with the Treasury Department will talk to us about that.

[19:15:03]

Plus, the fallout over the detainment of an Iowa school superintendent by ICE.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DEAN: Humberto is now the second hurricane to intensify to a category five this season. Its winds are now up to 160 miles per hour. Meanwhile, states like South Carolina are in a state of emergency as a tropical system quickly approaches the southeast that could bring floodwaters and damaging winds by Monday.

[19:20:05]

Let's bring in Chris Warren. A lot has changed. We now have a category five hurricane. What else are you tracking?

CHRIS WARREN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's this right here that doesn't have a name yet. When it gets one, it will be Imelda. And it is expected to be a tropical storm overnight tonight or first thing in the morning. It has winds at 35, mid-39. So close to seeing better organization today. But this. Wow, this still remains a beast out here. That's Humberto, category five. As you mentioned 160 mile per hour sustained winds gusting to 195. There will be some interaction which may be why we're seeing at least the latest computer model starting to tug what will be Imelda out to sea.

However, there are still some question marks. It's going to take a few days here, but expected to be a hurricane by late Monday or Tuesday, and a day later it hasn't moved very far. And when we talk about tropical systems, that's usually bad news because it drops a lot of rain. So exactly where this is going to go still remains to be seen. But what we have liked today is seeing more of this, more of the turn out to sea as what is currently a category five hurricane remains a strong hurricane may help kind of nudge it in that direction.

Can't rule out it coming onshore still or lingering around. It's that tropical moisture that will lead to some flooding concerns along parts of the Florida coast, Jessica. And of course, throughout portions of South and North Carolina in the coming days. So this absolutely is something we need to watch over the next few days.

DEAN: All right, Chris Warren, thanks so much for that.

Americans now find themselves dealing with the possibility of higher drug prices ahead of incoming tariffs on some imported pharmaceuticals. The new 100 percent tariff goes into effect October 1st, just a few days from now, and it applies to most drugs entering the country unless the drug maker is working to bring its manufacturing to the U.S. But despite concerns over the impact of these and other tariffs and rising inflation, Americans, it turns out, are still opening their wallets.

New data showing consumer spending went up 0.6 percent in August, a sign that a crucial part of the economy is still chugging along.

Natasha Sarin is joining us now. She is a former economist with the Treasury Department under President Biden.

Natasha, thank you so much for being here with us. I want to start there because I think this is confusing at first blush for people. Tariffs and inflation remain really top of mind for Americans. They keep citing it as real concerns. And yet spending, including discretionary spending, is still up.

NATASHA SARIN, FORMER ECONOMIST, U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT: Yes, I think we're in a situation where you're getting a lot of different types of indicators from this economy. So you're right, Jessica. Tariffs are at levels following the most recent set that we haven't seen since 1934. That translates into price increases of about $2300 based on estimates from my colleagues at the Budget Lab on average per family each year as a result of these tariffs.

You're also seeing a labor market that is slowing down really substantially, where over the course of the last few months and essentially all sectors outside of gains in health care, you've seen real stalling with respect to hiring of new employees and particularly for young people, you're seeing that it's becoming more difficult to find employment. And you're also seeing these sort of estimates with respect to consumer spending. But note that consumer sentiment, so like how people feel about the economy, has been somewhat muted over the course of the last many months, likely because of the fact that people are observing these tariffs and also observing what they're watching with respect to the labor market.

So it is, in fact, an economy where there is a lot going on. And that's even before we get to all that is happening in the world of artificial intelligence and tremendous investment there. So there's a lot going on, and it's difficult to parse, but I think we can definitely say that these tariffs are directionally going to be increasing inflation and increasing prices for households.

DEAN: Right. And look, we're now at the end of September, October starting next in just a few days. We're headed toward the holiday season where a lot of retailers bank on that season to make sure that they are in the black for the year or make a lot of their, you know, a lot of their money during the holiday season. Where do you see spending going as we go toward the end of the year?

SARIN: Well, something that I think is like really important to understand is as you get to the holiday season, the sort of overall impacts of these tariffs. So overall, we're expecting to see a price increase on the order of 2 percent as a result of the tariffs that have been effectuated thus far by the Trump administration. That headline number, it almost masks a lot of differences that are sectoral because there are more types of goods that are imported by toy manufacturers than there are in other segments of the economy.

[19:25:09]

So in particular, parts of the economy, which I think are also going to be very important as we get to holiday season, so things like toys, things like furniture type, things like apparel where we're going to see a 35 percent price increase as a result of these tariffs. I actually think you're going to start to feel and you've heard retailers say that they're anticipating needing to raise prices exactly because of these effects that are on the horizon.

DEAN: Yes. Also, before I let you go, October 1st, again just a few days, some of these drugs that are going to be impacted by these new tariffs, 100 percent tariff on some of these prescription drugs. What kind of precedent is there for putting a 100 percent levy on these kinds of products?

SARIN: Well, there is no precedent for tariffs at these levels in the most -- in the last century, we haven't done anything like this. And I will say that the Trump administration is right that drug prices are too high. This is a set of issues that I worked on in the Biden administration. And so I think that they've identified a problem.

The thing that's challenging about these tariffs is we don't yet know exactly what is going to happen. And details have been rather limited with respect to them. And we're only a few days out from when they're being effectuated. So time is going to tell here. Something I'm worried about is that you are starting to see reporting that particularly for large drug manufacturers that are doing a lot of their manufacturing in Europe or have already started production here in the U.S. with new factories, they're going to be exempt from these tariffs, and actually they're going to be a penalty that's disproportionately going to fall on some of their smaller competitors.

And that has sort of market shaping impacts that I think are pretty important. And we should keep an eye out as we look and understand more about what exactly is happening here.

DEAN: Yes. And when people go to pick up those prescriptions and see which ones might be affected by this.

Natasha Sarin, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

SARIN: Thanks so much for having me.

DEAN: Coming up, protesters in Iowa expressing outrage over the detainment of a school superintendent by ICE agents. We've got a live report next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:35]

DEAN: Tonight, the Des Moines School Board voted to place their currently detained superintendent on administrative leave. Superintendent Ian Roberts was detained by ICE yesterday and authorities say he was in the country illegally and had existing weapons possession charges. But members of the school community have come to his defense, insisting he was a good leader for their school system. The biggest in Iowa. Let's bring in CNN's Julia Vargas Jones. Julia, what more have you learned?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a paid administrative leave. The school board saying this afternoon that it was doing this because of his inability to perform his duties while detained. Of course, they said that, you know, he was a beloved educator, but also an Olympian who inspired many of the children, the 30,000 children in his school district. But DHS is still describing him as a criminal alien, saying that he was a public safety threat. Jessica, they said that he came into this country in 1999 on a student visa, but then was given a final removal order in May of 2024 that he was in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000.00 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife when he was detained by ICE, and that he attempted to flee.

Now, just moments ago, when we heard from the school board, they said that they had no knowledge of an order of removal. They said of course, there was a background check done when the superintendent was hired. They said that not only that, they hired a private firm to carry out the background check. Then the state had to go ahead and certify him as well. Earlier they had spoken about that firearms charge that we had talked about, that this was informed to the school board as a firearms offense related to a hunting rifle incident.

Now, the chair of the board, Jessica, said also that Roberts filled out all the necessary paperwork when he was applying for the position, and that he asserted that he was a U.S. citizen in an FBI background check, raised no red flags at the time. She then nodded to his long career as an educator in multiple other cities like New York, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis. But she also urged her community to push back on hateful rhetoric. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKIE NORRIS, CHAIR, DES MOINES SCHOOL BOARD: DEPS is cooperating with requests for information from the state of Iowa authorities and will continue to do so. Finally, we all need to cool down the rhetoric.

We should promote true discourse and facts not spread misinformation meant to divide us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Now, Jessica, CNN was able to speak to an attorney representing Roberts, who said that his client is well, and they were able to speak. He is being held at the Woodbury County Jail, that is where we saw protesters this afternoon.

DEAN: All right. Julia Vargas Jones with the latest, thank you very much for that reporting. And still ahead, President Trump clears the way for a TikTok deal. Harry Enten joins us to run the numbers on the apps' popularity among Americans. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Also, take a trip around the world with Tony Shalhoub to discover how bread connects us in the brand new original series. "Tony Shalhoub: Breaking Bread" it premieres October 5th at 9:00 P.M. on CNN, and here's a preview of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SHALHOUB, ACTOR: I'm Tony Shalhoub, this is a show about bread and how countless combinations of flour and water bring us together.

Oh, that's fine. LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, ACTOR: If Tony Shalhoub calls and says, I want to eat bread. What is the answer besides yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my first time in Sao Paulo. My first time in Brazil.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We make Hipster Sandwich using Acai in the bread. It's not just flavor, it's memory. And migration on a plate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be a good pizza maker, we have to understand bread making. It's about the amount of pressure of a pat on the back, assertive but not assaulted. Yes, Exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My family is Jamaican, so we're bringing two cultures together with a beef patty for Sam today.

SHALHOUB: There are more Lebanese living in Brazil than in Lebanon itself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Its part of Brazilian.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to Mario's.

SHALHOUB: Oh, my.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very cute, isn't it? He's gorgeous.

SHALHOUB: Let's not go overboard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're handsome.

SHALHOUB: Wow, it's been really, really special connecting with all of you. We're breaking bread. This is the best job I've ever had.

NARRATOR: "Tony Shalhoub: Breaking Bread" premieres October 5th on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:41:01]

DEAN: New tonight, Rudy Giuliani has reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over his false 2020 election rigging claims. Dominion, one of the nation's top voting machine makers, sued Giuliani back in 2021 for $1.3 billion after he tried to cast doubt on the 2020 election results. On Friday, the two parties agreed to dismiss the lawsuit, but the settlement terms will not be released

This week the Trump administration, clearing the way for the completion of a deal to sell TikTok. That deal will transfer the control of the company's U.S. operations to a new joint venture in the U.S., and Harry Enten joins us now to run the numbers on the popularity of TikTok among Americans -- Harry. HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey there, Jessica, happy Saturday to you. Look what Donald Trump signing an executive order. Paving the way for TikTok in America to be owned by Americans. I think it's so important to point out why policy makers in America want to ensure that TikTok is owned by Americans, and it's because TikTok has taken America by storm.

What are we talking about? Look at these trend lines, my goodness gracious Americans who have ever used TikTok. It's been a massive rise. Back in 2019, it was just three percent. Look at that number now in 2025, it has gone up 12 fold -- 12 fold to 36 percent . Holy cow, we're talking about three and eight Americans being on TikTok approximately.

Now, it's not just that Americans are on TikTok, right? It's that they're getting their news from TikTok, right. It's that they're getting their news from TikTok. Of course, TikTok played such a big role in the 2024 election and there's a reason why. Look at this, take a look here. regularly get news from TikTok, it has climbed every year since 2020. Back in 2020, it was three percent, now, 20 percent of Americans regularly get their news from TikTok, we're talking about an increase, this is an increase of six fold, I never would have thought it.

Of course, TikTok, when you think of TikTok, at least when I think of TikTok, I don't just think about my phone, right? I'm not just thinking about my phone. I'm thinking about the youth of America, who of course, always seem to be just their heads are always in their phone. And that, of course, is where TikTok has had the greatest impact. And it's not just that those under the age of 30 are using TikTok. They are using TikTok to regularly get their news.

What are we talking about? Take a look here. Age 18 to 29, who regularly get news from TikTok. Back in 2020, it was nine percent. Look at where that number is now in 2025. We're talking about nearly half, nearly half of Americans under the age of 30. Adults under the age of 30, forty-three percent who regularly get their news from TikTok.

And more than that, you know, there are all those apps out there. There's Facebook, right? There's YouTube, there's Instagram, there's X or Twitter, depending on your political persuasion, perhaps. And yet of all of those apps, yet of all those apps, the one in which 18 to 29-year-olds prefer the most for news or use it the most for news regularly, it's TikTok, it is TikTok.

So, that's the big reason why the news of the week that Donald Trump signed an executive order to for TikTok in America to be owned by Americans is so important is because TikTok has really got a real hold on Americans, especially those under the age of 30.

Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: It sure does, and just after this break, Harry just ran the numbers on TikTok is so popular with Americans. But the other question is, what's it going to be like? What might it be like when it's sold? Who exactly is buying it? We're going to talk about that piece of the puzzle when we come back here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:13]

DEAN: President Trump signed an executive order this week approving a deal for a group of largely American investors to buy TikTok's U.S. assets. That sale is going to allow TikTok to keep running here in the U.S., Trump saying the tech giant oracle will oversee its algorithm. That's the code, of course, that decides on what users see on their feed. Let's bring in CNN media analyst Sara Fischer to talk about this. Sara, okay. Let's start first with this deal that came together, was this surprising? What did you make of this?

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: There were a lot of elements of it that were very surprising. Most notably the price tag, Jessica. They have said that this deal values the U.S. arm of TikTok at $14 billion. That is pennies, and the reason most likely that they are valuing it so low is they just want to get a deal done. I think there were concerns within the administration that someone could sue the administration for not banning TikTok outright.

Of course, Congress passed a law, so they had been violating the law by kicking the can down the road. There's a couple other elements that are interesting here. One is that there have been reports that ByteDance is actually going to get a royalty fee for the U.S. revenues, so that might be why they agreed to a price that's so low.

[19:50:24]

And then two, the way that the actual deal is going to work. So, for one, I don't think users are going to have to redownload the app or download a new version of the app. That's a big deal, Jessica, because it retains that 170 million person user base. But then two, Oracle continuing to oversee the algorithm and the security piece of it is very, very notable. Why? Oracle has already been doing the data security. They've already been doing some of the content moderation overview of it. So, this means that it's going to be a pretty seamless transition for American users. That is a big deal.

[19:50:58]

DEAN: Yes, okay. So, let's stick with the algorithm for a second because so many of the users love it because they feel like the algorithm gets them. And it just like sucks them down into this, you know, black hole of time. The time just doesn't exist anymore. Is that going to change? Are people going to see or notice changes?

FISCHER: I don't think so. Especially the way that this deal is structured. You have so many pure play financial firms that want to see a return on investment. So, for them, they don't want to do anything to tweak the algorithm that's going to make users want to use it less. I've seen a lot of people speculating, oh, Oracle, Larry Ellison, this is going to be a right leaning app. I don't think so. I think that they are incentivized to keep users hooked based on their interests. And increasingly, Jessica, if you take a look at what people are interested in TikTok, it isn't really politics.

I mean, this app is about shopping. It's about commerce. It's about hobbies and trends. And so I think that the app is going to look and feel very similar to what it already does.

DEAN: And what about security? That was obviously a huge concern, a reason that they got bipartisan support to sell it to force a sale.

FISCHER: It's going to feel the same. I mean, Oracle has already been doing the data serving for this app for a number of months. They're going to continue to oversee it. All of the data must be imported onto U.S. servers here. And so, I don't think that users are going to feel anything different. Could I see a world where we have to update the app in accordance with the new privacy policy that details all of this new ownership structure? Sure, but that's not anything new. For most Americans, this TikTok experience is going to feel very similar.

DEAN: Listen, that is what, that's what people wanted they did not want it to go away. Sara Fischer is good to see you. Thank you so much.

FISCHER: Thank you.

DEAN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:57:17]

DEAN: Here's a look at some of our other top stories tonight. In the last hour, we learned of a fourth death in Arizona after devastating flooding slammed an area about 90 miles outside of Phoenix. According to CNN affiliates, their rescue crews are scrambling to find more possible victims in the City of Globe. In a Facebook post, city leaders warned the downtown area is unsafe, with compromised buildings and hazardous chemicals.

President Trump says he wants to declassify and release all government records related to pilot, Amelia Earhart. She was, of course, trying to become the first woman to fly solo around the globe when her plane went missing over the Pacific in 1937. There have been many conspiracies about her disappearance, but the government says it believes Earhart crashed into the ocean when her plane ran out of fuel.

Assata Shakur, a prominent figure of the Black Liberation Army author and the FBI's first female most wanted fugitive, has died at the age of 78 in Cuba. She was also the godmother of the late rapper Tupac. She was convicted in a 1973 shootout that killed a State Trooper in New Jersey. She then escaped from prison in 1979 and was later granted political asylum in Cuba under Fidel Castro.

Comedian Lewis Black and award winning journalist Joy Reid, joining the crew to unpack this week's headlines on "Have I Got News for You" tonight at nine on CNN. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD JR., AMERICAN COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: Time for three facts about pop icon and woman lobbying to start playing Christmas music right after the fourth of July. Mariah Carey. Now, facts are, she eats at least one packet of Welch's fruit snacks each day. She employs a former Secret Service agent to taste her food. She once went on a blind date with Cory Booker. Which one is the truth?

AMBER RUFFIN, AMERICAN COMEDIAN AND WRITER: Oh, I know which one I want to be.

JOY REID, HOST, "THE JOY REID SHOW": Okay.

WOOD: Is it the Cory Booker?

REID: I think its Cory Booker win.

LEWIS BLACK, COMEDIAN: I think, she eats at least one packet of Welch's fruit snacks each day. And the reason is because there was a packet of Welch's fruit snacks that you were just given away in my dressing room, and I said, that's a clue.

WOOD: Mariah Carey once went on a blind date with Cory Booker. Cory is talking about it just a little bit.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): We laughed and had a good time. It was clearly not a love match. Her brother or cousin was there too. We have-- there were witnesses.

WOOD: Cory, if a girl bring her brother and her cousin on the date, it's not a date, man, I don't know what it is, but it's not a date.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: "Have I Got News for You" airs tonight at 9:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific only here on CNN. Thank you so much for joining me tonight. We're going to be right back here tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern. I'm Jessica Dean, "Real Time With Bill Maher" is headed your way next. Have a great night.