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Trump Plans About 100 Executive Orders & Actions On Day One; Freed Palestinians Greeted By Huge Crowds In West Bank; Trump Seeks Dialogue With China While Pushing Hardline Stance; Trump Plans about 100 Executive Orders and Actions on Day One; Trump Makes Big Promises But Can He Deliver. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired January 20, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:24]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome everyone to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Omar Jimenez. It is now officially in day in Washington, D.C. where we're just hours away from a historic moment when Donald J. Trump will take the oath office and complete his return to the White House. He will be sworn in as the 47th president inside the Capitol Rotunda with freezing temperatures forcing the ceremony indoors.

We're learning that President Joe Biden and Trump will ride in the same limo to the Capitol. Biden will also follow presidential tradition by leaving a letter for Trump in the Oval Office. Now, security in Washington, as you might imagine, is exceptionally high. Law enforcement has been patrolling the area around Capitol Hill ahead of the inauguration.

The President-elect celebrated his victory with a rally Sunday on what he called, quote, the eve of taking back our country, unquote. He spoke to supporters at the Capital One Arena in D.C. and laid out an aggressive plan to tackle his top priorities, including immigration reform. Sources tell CNN Trump intends to issue more than 100 executive orders and actions on his first day in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country. We have to do it. We're not going to have a country, you know. Before even taking office, you are already seeing results that nobody expected to see. Everyone is calling it the, I don't want to say this, it's too braggadocious, but we'll say it anyway, the Trump effect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN's Jeff Zeleny gives us a closer look at how Donald Trump will spend his inauguration day.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: From one president to another, the peaceful transfer of power will soon be underway here in Washington with President-elect Donald Trump, of course, the 45th and soon to be 47th President of the United States, meeting with President Biden, the 46th president, at the White House on Monday morning. The presidents and their families are scheduled to meet privately with the First Ladies as well as Vice President-elect J.D. Vance.

And then the two presidents will ride along Pennsylvania Avenue up to Capitol Hill for that inaugural ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda. This, of course, is a peaceful transfer of power, a normal piece of democracy that was not afforded to President Biden four years ago when Donald Trump skipped the inauguration and left Washington essentially in political ruins. That has changed tremendously.

His triumph was on full display on Sunday night at a rally at the Capitol One Arena not far from here at the White House. He'll be also going there on Monday afternoon for sort of an indoor parade. All the festivities were moved inside because -- because of the bitter cold in Washington. The President-elect talked about all the executive orders he plans to sign on day one, indeed, in the first hours of his first day back in power, on immigration, on pardoning some January 6th defendants, also on TikTok, a point he took credit for on Sunday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I said we need to save TikTok because we're talking about a tremendous, who -- who in this audience goes with TikTok? Many? Yes. Very popular. And frankly, we have no choice. We have to save it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Thousands of cheering Trump supporters were inside that arena. Many more were outside, they could not fit in, arriving to walk Washington, hoping to witness the inauguration. Of course, the crowd has changed significantly because only a couple hundred people can fit in the rotunda, one of whom is likely to be Elon Musk, a senior advisor to the President who had a brief cameo appearance at the rally on Sunday evening, coming to the stage to talk for just a moment.

It is a reminder that even though this is the essentially a redo of the first Trump administration, so many differences are underway and will be on display. This time, President Trump, his advisers say, knows his way around the White House, knows his way around the West Wing. So they say things will be so much different.

Elon Musk, of course, is one example of a new advisor in this president's orbit. But on Monday, January 20th, here in Washington, again, the peaceful transfer of power, a lot of pomp, a lot of circumstance, and then Donald Trump takes office as the 47th president.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

JIMENEZ: Thank you, Jeff. Let's bring in our panel, Republican strategist Katie Frost, CNN political commentator Maria Cardona, and CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston. They're all joining us from Washington. So, Katie, look, we're expecting a lot of executive orders on day one, over 100 is the expectation orders and actions. We'll -- we'll see what the reality ends up with. But he has promised a lot on the campaign trail. What do you see him living up to easily from the campaign trail to administration day one, what do you think might be more difficult?

[01:05:20]

KATIE FROST, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, there's obviously going to be a lot of things that he's talking about. I think towards the immigration, obviously that is a key focus. He is going to do several things on immigration. He's promised things regarding DEI, TikTok, you name it, we're going to see it. This is going to be, as I've said before, a flood the zone strategy. We're going to see a lot happening in not just the first days, I would say the first hours.

So we will have plenty to talk about on air for the next few weeks. What do I see President Trump delivering on the most? The simple executive order things that he really has a lot of control over. I believe we're going to see, though. Immigration, I think he will be delivering on. I'm looking forward to seeing that. Also, the economy I do see coming back strong. There's so much optimism in the air, and we're seeing that reflected in the markets.

People are optimistic about what the future will hold under a Trump presidency. And so this reminds me in many ways of President Reagan's second term. We moved the, you know, we had the parallels here because he's moving inside. And then in Reagan's first term, we had hostages being released on the eve of the inauguration. So there's so many similarities to Reagan at the moment, including the overwhelming sense of optimism in the American people in the markets. And the 80s ended up being an amazing decade for the United States. We ended the Cold War and we had a booming economy. So I think there are great times ahead for the American people and I'm looking forward to it.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, I should mention that, you know, the economy, markets wise, are in a good place. They have been over the course of -- of this past year as well as they've grown. And Maria, I want to bring you in on that front, too, because, you know, obviously the -- the economy was a very complicated legacy for -- for Joe Biden in the sense of there was soaring inflation, prices rose. That -- that affected a lot of Americans in a very serious way that I think translated at the polls in November.

Then market side of things, you did see a rise in -- in a record level of -- of the economy, sort of at a macro level. So I guess my question to you is as Biden leaves office, what do you see as his prevailing legacy immediately? What do you think will take some time to develop?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that Joe Biden will be treated well by history and historians. And I think that his legacy long term will be that he was a transformational President on the economy, on healthcare, on climate change, and really on having saved the country after four disastrous years of Donald Trump, especially after he was not able to manage the economy and the country out of a deadly pandemic, the COVID-19.

Now, clearly Democrats were not able to focus that message in a way that told Americans that, yes, the economy is coming back, the -- the -- the macroeconomic numbers are fantastic. But clearly Democrats were not able to do the Bill Clinton, I feel your pain, credibly enough and strong enough. And that is what cost us, I believe, the election.

Let's remember that voters who were not his core MAGA supporters that voted for him, voted for him because he promised that he would bring down the cost of their groceries, their gas and their rent. And so I think what he needs to be careful of, Donald Trump, is that in all of these executive orders, which ones are actually focused on bringing down the cost of groceries, gas and rent.

I understand that immigration was a big issue and -- and Mark talked about this in the last hour. Democrats absolutely believe that he will do everything he said on immigration, from mass deportations to separating families to deporting the 11 million undocumented immigrants that are here. What's going to be interesting is when his millionaire CEO BFFs start whispering in his ear, you are messing with my workforce and my bottom line is starting to suffer. So cut it out.

Because what Donald Trump doesn't seem to understand because Stephen Miller is whispering in his ear is that immigrants actually contribute trillions of dollars to this economy, even the ones that are here without documents. And so if he really wants to fix -- fix immigration, Omar, he should sit down with Democrats who know how to solve it with common sense Republicans, if there are any left, and focus on pragmatic, strong approaches to border security as well as expanded legal pathways for the immigrants, the long standing immigrants that are here already and those who want to come here to continue growing and expanding this economy.

[01:10:10]

JIMENEZ: At this point, I don't think we've seen an indication that -- that Trump is expected to sit down with any high level Democrats on that front, I will say --

CARDONA: Exactly.

JIMENEZ: -- Maria. But -- but Mark, I want to bring you in on, look, I know there's a lot of expected of action expected this week on the policy front from Trump. And -- and, you know, I'm cheating a little bit because you said this last hour. But I want to double down on this point because I think it's really interesting. I mean, do you see him as -- as having a full four years to get through his agenda or I mean, is there a time limit to the power he has now in the Republican Party and in politics to where he -- this is the time, so to speak, to -- to get some of his top priorities done?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Again, if you're a Republican, you're not going to like me saying this, but you are drunk with power right now. And, you know, God bless you for the next 12 hours. Enjoy being drunk with that power. However -- however, the President-elect and soon to be president is going to have a short runway in order to get things done. And that's because that is the way that Washington works.

I understand that people think that he has come here and just by virtue of his second election that Washington will change. Well, unfortunately for all you folks out there, it's not going to change in the way that you want it to change and certainly not at the speed that you want it to change. So I think you'll see, you know, Trump will come in here, he'll have six to eight months to get some things done. These executive orders are -- are the easy things. It's things that he can do without Congress.

But look, he's going to have to go and battle his own House Republicans on Capitol Hill. They have an incredibly small majority right now, incredibly razor thin at this point. The speaker of the House is tenuous at best. He can be thrown out at any moment. And then over in the Senate, you know, he still has to deal with the Democratic filibuster. So look, Donald Trump can get things done. No question about it. Does he have a honeymoon? No question about it. Is that going to end? No question about it.

JIMENEZ: Look, all factors to keep an eye on. Katie Frost, Maria Cardona, Mark Preston, appreciate it. Stick around. We'll talk more, including some of the tech influence that we're expecting to see in some of these inaugural activities that we've already seen, I guess, is fair to say. Stick around. We'll talk soon.

All right. Meanwhile, Trump is claiming full credit for the Gaza ceasefire hostage deal. At his rally in D.C. on Sunday, the President- elect said the agreement between Israel and Hamas happened as a result of his, quote, historic electoral victory. There was a lot of work, I should mention, being done on this prior to this moment. But the first stage of the deal played out Sunday in Tel Aviv. You see some of the emotional scenes here, the emotional reunions between the three freed hostages and their mothers.

Hamas and its allies are expected to release 30 more hostages over the next six weeks. Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails will be freed over this time period as well. Large crowds in the west bank greeted the first group of 90 Palestinian prisoners released as part of the deal. Our Paula Hancocks joins us live from Abu Dhabi. So -- so, Paula, what are we seeing right now and what are we expecting to see at this point, does seem the -- the ceasefire is holding?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does, Omar. It -- it certainly seems to be holding. And we have had over the past 24 hours the -- the first view of these family reunions, the first view of a very rare joy in this -- this region that we simply haven't seen for well over a year. We saw three Israeli hostages being released back into the arms of their mothers, of their families. You saw emotional reunions as they were brought back into Israel.

They will now be treated at a medical center, although we hear from Israeli officials that their health is good at this point. Obviously, there will be some significant rehabilitation for those three. And many more families are waiting for their turn when there will be a reunion or when they will receive the remains of their loved ones back over the next six weeks.

It is expected to be 33 hostages released over that first phase of this deal. And then you saw also 90 Palestinian prisoners being released from Israeli prisons. There were scenes of jubilation, of celebration, fireworks in the air, and also buses which were holding these Palestinian prisoners crowded by the friends and relatives of -- of those prisoners that were released.

[01:15:01]

Now, these were scenes of celebration that Israel did not want to see, but it was simply impossible to prevent it. So over the past 24 hours, we have seen this rare unadulterated joy from some of the families. But what we're seeing on the ground, of course, in -- in Gaza is still this devastation. And we're getting more of a -- of a view from the air now that we can have drones in the air as the Israeli military is pulling back in certain areas of the sheer devastation. And just what a monumental task faces those that will try and help residents on the ground and -- and eventually rebuild Gaza.

So we heard from the -- the U.N. Deputy Relief Chief, Tom Fletcher, that 630 trucks managed to get inside. These are humanitarian aid trucks carrying food, water, shelter, medical supplies, the absence absolute basics to try and allev the acute need for -- for those basics within the -- the Gaza Strip, 300 of those are expected to get to northern Gaza. Now, this is the area that is completely decimated and has been the focus of the Israeli military really since October of last year, as they said they believed Hamas was rebuilding in that area.

That 300 trucks, that's more than they have seen in that area for -- for months now. So the -- the task is starting to try and -- and -- and restore some kind of normality in Gaza, something that is years away. Now we have seen as well, hundreds and thousands of -- of Palestinians trying to return to their home, or at least what is left of their home. Omar?

JIMENEZ: An important distinction. Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, thank you so much.

Now, just hours from now, the U.S. will have a new president officially, but it will be a familiar face. After the break, we'll look at the foreign conflicts waiting for Donald Trump after his inauguration. Stay with us.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:20:56]

TRUMP: As of today, TikTok is back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Donald Trump is hailing the quick return of TikTok hours ahead of his second inauguration ceremony, and among those expected to attend that ceremony is the app's CEO, even as uncertainty surrounds his platform. TikTok is already coming back online, if you haven't noticed after it went down in the U.S. late Saturday, just before a ban took effect.

The app credits Trump explicitly for its whiplash rebound. Hours after Trump said on Sunday that he would delay enforcing the ban, American TikTok users regained access. Sources tell CNN Trump has directed his aides to arrange a phone call, meanwhile, with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the days after his inauguration. Trump hopes it'll lead to an in person meeting in the coming months to try to end the war in Ukraine. Now, officials on Trump's national security team have been working to set up the call for weeks, but it's still unclear if or when it may happen.

David Sanger is a CNN political and national security analyst and the author of "New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West." He joins me now from Washington. Thanks for being here. So let's actually stick with the topics of -- of your book to start, because specifically Russia, because according to multiple people familiar with these actions, Trump has directed aides to arrange a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the days after he sworn in, with the goal of discussing an in person meeting in the coming months to try to end the war in Ukraine. What do you make of -- of potentially that strategy and how do you see the Trump administration handling Russia any differently than Biden may have?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITCAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think there are several things that could be different, Omar. So the first is just that communication with Putin. President Biden has tried to isolate Putin and so he has not spoken to Putin in nearly three years. His -- their last call was just before the war broke out and that of course was February of 2022.

In fact, Biden and Putin only met once. It was in Geneva in 2021. And that was largely about the colonial pipeline cyberattacks. It was before Ukraine was a big issue. There's a huge opportunity here. But I think only if he holds on to America's leverage, which is its support right now for the Ukrainian military. And this would be difficult for them to convince Putin of because so many members, including J.D. Vance, members of the -- of the Trump administration, have talked about ending that -- that aid.

So if Putin goes into this thinking, well, the United States is going to pull back anyway and he can just rev up and roll through Kyiv at some point in the future, then there isn't much to talk about. If he thinks the U.S. actually would be part of a significant aid force that will be continuing for Ukraine, then he may need to negotiate.

JIMENEZ: I want to shift topics here to Israel and Hamas because, I mean, as we speak, at least three freed Israeli hostages released, 90 Palestinian prisoners, as well as part of what is supposed to be a six week ceasefire on that front. We know this is part of phase one of the ceasefire, where Trump's team worked with Biden to get it done. But obviously a phase two is where we would potentially see -- see an end to the war, even though those details aren't in place yet. What do you see in the future of -- of this war under a Trump administration? And are you looking for any key differences to America's relationship with Israel and this war when he does take office?

SANGER: Well, first phenomenal day today, the last releases we had seen of any hostages was November of 2023. So it's been, you know, a long 14, 15 months since anybody got released. The hard part, as you suggest, Omar, is getting to the next phase. And this is going to be the first real test of the Trump team, because the way the agreement's written right now, it's not incredibly clear that a permanent phase, you know, with the withdrawal of -- of some Israeli troops, how that's going to take place. It's not clear who's going to be running Gaza.

[01:25:19]

It's been very evident from everything that Trump's aides have said that it can't be Hamas. But Hamas was trying to show today that they're still out and around. So he's got six weeks to sort of put all of this together. The work together with the Biden administration was pretty impressive.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, obviously so much work still to be done, even if -- even this moment is a celebration on many respects that at the very least, people who have not seen their family members are able to at least have that opportunity. One last thing before -- before we go here, because on China, Trump has privately told his advisors -- advisors he wants to visit China after being sworn in. That's according to three sources familiar with the talk.

And this one's interesting because he campaigned on aggressively targeting China through tariffs. But in a call a few days ago, Trump and Xi Jinping discussed trade, Fentanyl, TikTok and more. I mean, what do you -- what do you see as the most important part of the United States relationship with China? And is there a particular aspect that you believe the Trump administration should be focusing on or might in these initial days?

SANGER: Omar, I think it's pretty clear, and I discuss this at -- at some length in "New Cold Wars." The biggest thing that has changed since President Trump left office in 2021 is that Russia and China, with the help of Iran and North Korea, have come together in a partnership that Trump never saw before. It's what's threatening to create this sort of new iron curtain, one in which you've got a set of world rules that China and Russia are trying to draw and a set of world rules that the U.S. and Europe and others were trying to draw.

The Chinese are not unhappy about the fact that Trump won because they think that they can usually dangle big trade deals in front of him and get him to go along with all kinds of different agreements if they just promise the profits of a big trade deal. That worked well for them in the first term. It's not clear how well it'll work in the second one. Obviously, the big issues are going to be Taiwan, TikTok. TikTok will come first. And of course, over a longer period of time, China's continued support of the war in Ukraine.

JIMENEZ: Yes, David Sanger, really appreciate it. We'll get you back next time. You can -- you can take us through your TikTok, any dances you might be working on.

SANGER: OK. Great.

JIMENEZ: But for now --

SANGER: I don't think you want to see that, Omar. I don't know.

JIMENEZ: Yes, we'll see. We'll see. Thanks for being here. We'll talk soon.

SANGER: Take care. Bye-bye.

JIMENEZ: Much more to come on inauguration day in the United States, including a closer look at some of the many executive actions Donald Trump is planning on day one. Our political panel will be back with me just ahead. Stay with us.

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[01:31:45]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Omar Jimenez.

We're going to return to our special coverage of Inauguration Day in the United States. Donald Trump will take the oath of office just hours from now in the nation's capital to begin his term as the 47th president.

The swearing-in ceremony will take place inside the Capitol Rotunda because of extremely cold weather. That hasn't happened since 1985, by the way, for Ronald Reagan's second inauguration.

Now, Trump held a campaign-style rally Sunday on the eve of his return to the White House, where he told supporters he's going to waste no time fulfilling his campaign promises and plans to sign a lot of executive orders and actions on his first day in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to stop the destructive and divisive Diversity Equity and Inclusion mandates.

The invasion of our borders will have come to a halt.

Tomorrow, everybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision on the J-6 hostages.

I will direct our military to begin construction of the great iron dome missile defense shield.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So let's bring back our panel: Republican strategist Katie Frost, CNN political commentator Maria Cardona, and CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston. They're all joining us from Washington.

So Katie, I guess, you know, listening to some of what of what Trump was saying there, 2016 versus 2024, I guess, 2017 versus 2025 -- you're talking inauguration dates. But Trump seems more organized, or more I guess that might be the word, coming into office this time around than he did coming into his first administration.

I wonder, are there specific differences you've noticed in sort of how, again, the beginning of this administration is shaping up versus what we saw in 2017?

KATIE FROST, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, it's great to be with you again.

I would say you said organized -- prepared is also another word we could use because, you know, we talked about this before. He had a four-year intermission between the first and second acts of his presidency to prepare for this second term.

So there's also a lot of confidence. That's a word I've been using a lot to describe the incoming Trump administration, because he saw such a positive result on election night and grew his base.

It's unusual for a president to lose like he did and come back and win with such a groundswell of support from parts of the electorate that did not support him previously.

So there's a lot of confidence within President Trump and his administration now, because they know the American people are behind them. That's why they feel that they have this mandate to govern and to go in and do exactly what he was campaigning on.

So that's why you're going to see a lot of action early on. They're well organized. They are prepared. But also there is a confidence and an optimism.

They know the American people are behind them. They're ready to go and deliver.

JIMENEZ: And Maria, I'll frame it the same way to you -- 2016 versus 2024. I mean, how are Democrats approaching the different administrations?

[01:34:47]

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: They are approaching it differently, Omar, for a couple of reasons. Because there's a lot of concern, as you can imagine. And while my friend Katie, I know keeps talking about confidence, and certainly Donald Trump is coming in here confident, but I believe he's confident because he now knows how to go around the supposed guardrails, if there are any this time around.

He now knows how to go around the people who might stop him from doing things because they're illegal. There are no guardrails now. There are no one -- there is no one now around him other than true believers who will genuflect at the altar of Donald Trump no matter what he wants to do.

And that is a huge concern, not just for Democrats, but for the American people.

The other thing Katie likes to continue to say is that this is very Reagan-like in Reagan's real -- in terms of Reagan's reelection. Reagan's reelection was a 49--state landslide. This was not that. This was not a landslide.

Donald Trump doesn't even have a mandate. Donald Trump didn't even break 50 percent of the popular vote.

It was a very close election. Yes. Democrats lost. Yes, we will make sure to do a peaceful transfer of power because we actually do like our democracy. We actually do respect our Constitution, which is something that Donald Trump didn't know how to do in 2020 and did not afford President Biden that that proper respect, and that's another big concern of Americans.

So coming into this, like I said earlier, I don't think he can help himself. And Republicans can't help themselves other than overreaching.

And they should be careful. If Donald Trump really wants to bring the country together, like he has said, if he really wants to work in the interests of the majority of the American people, not just those who voted for him, he will reach across the aisle.

He will find consensus. He will look for places where he can work together with Democrats. I hope he does that. I think I will be disappointed in that hope.

And I think the majority of the American people who also hope that Donald Trump will govern in the best interests of the majority of the American people, sadly, I think they will be disappointed in that as well.

JIMENEZ: And, Mark, I'll bring you in in a second. But Katie, I saw you just reacting a little bit during Maria's answer. Is there anything you want to respond with?

FROST: Well, I will say, you know, respectfully, I do find it a little ironic that were hearing, you know, my friend Maria talking about how a Republican president would maybe be trying to do something that's unconstitutional when we just had President Biden trying to say that an amendment to the Constitution is passed via Twitter.

I mean, if you want to say that we can amend the constitution based on the president posting on X, I don't know if that's a precedent you want to set.

But you know, there's been a lot of things done in this past administration that have raised eyebrows, not just among Republicans, but also among constitutional scholars.

So, you know, history will be the judge of President Biden's legacy. I know we've been talking about that this evening or this morning. And I fully believe that history will be kinder to President Trump than it will be to President Biden.

CARDONA: Katie, who was the one who tried to overturn a fair and free election four years ago? Who was the one who refused to be part of a peaceful transfer of power? Who is the one who is now trying to pardon people who broke into our Capitol and killed law enforcement officers?

That's not Joe Biden. I'm sorry. I know you're trying to whitewash history because history is really ugly for Donald Trump in terms of what he tried to do four years ago.

But trying to accuse Joe Biden of doing something illegal is just not going to cut it.

JIMENEZ: Well, I think one thing that is fair to say, the vibes around this inauguration leading up to it, very different in the wake of the insurrection from last time around. I think we can both agree on that front.

And Mark, I had a question for you about -- about the tech leaders. It feels -- it feels off topic at this point, but I still will ask it because I do think it's important.

It's because, you know, one major difference from the last administration and this one, at least from where I sit, is just the sheer presence of tech leaders that at one point might have been, I think, a little more hesitant to get so explicitly involved in politics, maybe outside of lobbying efforts. Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Shou Chew of TikTok -- all involved in inaugural activities one way or another.

What do you make of the tech evolutions, so to speak, that we've seen and the large amount of influence they appear to have.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Omar, just to bridge the conversation that we just had to the conversation we're all into. A United States of America, we are not. That is for sure.

But as far as the tech leaders coming in, look at -- these guys are businessmen, right? They don't like each other. They talk badly about each other in the press. They talk, you know, badly about each other amongst their colleagues.

[01:39:49]

PRESTON: They see each other at these inaugural balls. They go up, they say hello to one another. Look, these guys are business people. They also understand that they're going into a situation where deregulation is going to be at the forefront of a lot of these executive orders, and a lot of what Donald Trump wants to do throughout the government.

We talk a lot about energy, but certainly the tech folks are looking at, if not deregulation in their own Industry, there would not be any increase or any kind of regulation of their industry, which we all know is kind of the Wild, Wild West right now.

So look, it all comes down to money. We fully understand that. Elon Musk poured a ton of money into Pennsylvania. But guess what, it's paid off for him.

I mean, my gosh, he got -- he got called out onto stage today. But -- you know, by Donald Trump. You know, he clearly has become one of Donald Trump's closest advisors, certainly at this moment in time.

JIMENEZ: And we literally see as TikTok goes and it comes back again. President Trump explicitly pressured and thanked as that app came back online. So we will see on that relationship.

Katie Frost, Maria Cardona, Mark Preston, thank you all for staying with us. Always, great to see you.

CARDONA: Thanks, Omar.

PRESTON: Thanks, Omar.

FROST: Great to see you, Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. Big tax cuts, smaller government, new tariffs and an end to inflation. Donald Trump is promising huge changes for the U.S. economy. But can he deliver?

We're going to talk about it next on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: Welcome back.

Now, in the days and hours leading up to Monday's inauguration, both President-Elect Donald Trump and the incoming first lady have launched their own digital meme coins, a volatile class of cryptocurrency. And it's quickly led to ethical questions and concerns over conflicts of interest, as Trump could now profit massively off an industry his administration will be regulating.

[01:44:48]

JIMENEZ: Now Trump's pro-crypto stance has many blockchain investors feeling bullish. Prices for Trump's coin peaked on Sunday at around $75 a share, before falling sharply in the evening. The share price has now gone up -- back up to around $60, with an estimated valuation of nearly $60 billion.

Melania Trump's coin is currently estimated to be worth about $11 billion in total.

Now, Donald Trump's return to the White House will have a profound effect on the U.S. economy. He's promised to order mass deportations of immigrants and begin imposing tariffs on America's biggest trade partners.

And economists fear some of those moves could trigger more inflation. But it's not yet clear which campaign promises he's actually going to follow through on, and what might just be negotiating tactics.

And that's making things challenging for the U.S. Central Bank. Officials at the Federal Reserve will be tasked with setting monetary policy without knowing what moves Trump really plans to make as president.

Joining me now to talk about it is Ryan Patel, senior fellow at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.

Ryan, good to see you. Thank you for being here.

Look, there are many economic promises made on the campaign trail -- campaign trail by the soon-to-be President Trump, including to reduce the price of eggs or milk, which he's already admitted may be tough.

But I wonder, what are you looking to either be in the crosshairs or in the driver's seat in a Trump economy policy-wise?

RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: I think one, identifying that inflation is a complex beast, and we're starting to see President-Elect Trump start to not say, back away from it, but understand that this thing's shaped by global forces, it's also not just public perception that needs to give that, you know, improvement. But you think about supply chain disruption, energy prices and you mentioned labor shortages.

So I think the main thing here is, you know, while presidents have limited control over inflation, I think the thing that, you know, Trump's administration needs to do, and even slightly it has to really coordinate with the Federal Reserve.

And I know the word "coordinate" is not something that maybe he has done with the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, and really to ensure that market stability and kind of ensure that tariffs as well as signals clearly in the first 90 days, he has to do that to give the 2025 year for people to see where inflation is going to be, not just with the data, but what his plan is with the Fed.

JIMENEZ: So let's talk about tariffs because Trump has indicated to his close advisers that he wants to deliver on wide ranging tariffs as soon as he takes office. That could be on China, Canada and Mexico.

And advisers have been working to craft the approach, potentially instituting smaller tariffs that gradually increase if negotiations don't meet the president's demands. That's an option that's gotten some support. But it's still unclear how quickly the team is prepared to put any policy in place.

I wonder what you see as far as tariffs and potentially them being used as negotiating tactics, but also what their effects could be on the economy at large, depending on the magnitude of tariffs that are instituted.

PATEL: Yes, Omar. I think tariffs as a whole, right. It's a double- edged sword, right. It gives U.S. industries a competitive edge by making foreign goods more expensive. But it does come at a cost. And so what I think Trump will do in the second -- well, I think with

his policy makers you have to get short term wins here. And like you just said, when you think about when you're taxing or tariff in certain countries, can you get some wins where that you're able to, you know, create a bilateral agreement where the U.S. has more of a leverage?

And I think that's what the Trump administration is known for and it's a negotiation tactic. If they can go bilateral with many of these countries, they can get a better deal.

And I think that's what we're going to see probably out of the first, you know, maybe the first six months. Can he go and get a couple of wins for his, you know, for the U.S. or for specifically the Republican Party and use that as a template to negotiate further.

And I think that's where the balancing act needs -- require strategic thinking in the whole to be able to make sure that it doesn't go a full trade war, which is not what you want to do.

JIMENEZ: And you know, on the energy front, I want you to take a listen to some of what Trump is saying on that issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to end the Biden war on American energy and unleash our energy resources to quickly defeat inflation and achieve the lowest cost of energy and electricity on earth.

And we're going to be using our emergency powers to allow countries and entrepreneurs and people with a lot of money build big plants, A.I. plants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now look, on oil production, the U.S. Is already producing more oil than any nation really in world history. But on clean energy, he is expected to direct various departments to review all of the Biden era energy policies.

And I guess my question is, do you expect an undoing of all Biden-era policies on that front? Or is there anything that you see out there that might hold?

PATEL: I think he won't do -- undo everything? You know why? Because it conflicts with global trends or talking about toward renewable energy and sustainability goals.

[01:49:52]

PATEL: And even when you think about, you know, the A.I. and the energy that he kind of mentioned, right, in the long term of things, you have to have some kind of competitiveness with the rest of it.

Yes, obviously, in the short term, there's going to be some gains with possibly what he was talking about undoing. But I can't imagine that at the expense of how much money is being spent for the long-term environmental side competitiveness, we do have to keep up with what the rest of the world is doing.

And that's why I think he will, again, not as a balance, but he will not undo everything.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

All right. I got to talk about it. Trump meme coin prices for Trump's coin. It peaked on Sunday. We talked about it a little bit, roughly $74 a share. It went down, went back up again to $60. But again, the estimated valuation nearly $60 billion.

And critics have said, look, this could be a dangerous way for special interests and foreign governments to try and buy influence with the president.

So two-part question for you. I wonder how you see this Trump coin specifically. And then overall, how much of an impact do you believe meme coins will have in a Trump administration?

PATEL: I think three parts. First part, Omar, you should have told me to buy it. You and I would have made a lot of money, I guess, at the end.

But you know, it is very -- you know, it's not an investment. Its stated that as a coin, right. I think it is what a, you know, meme is. But really what Trump has, you know, crowned himself as being the crypto, you know, crypto president.

And what I think this conversation to answer first and second part, Omar, is that we are walking into crypto-friendly leadership, right.

You see, Paul Atkins expected new SEC chair. He's going to be doing, you know, pushing those kind of regulations. Now talking about the meme and crypto I think it comes hand in hand.

But the meme coin again is different from what he's trying to do. But it's just to create buzz. We're talking about it. You and I are talking about it. There's obviously, you know, other variables to be about this, but it is a story.

But the bigger story here to me is that when he comes into, you know, inauguration in the next week, cryptocurrency is going to be a hot topic with a lot of businesses. And this is only the beginning.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

Ryan Patel, thank you so much for being here. Really appreciate the time and insight.

PATEL: Appreciate you.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

All right, everyone. We'll be right back. [01:52:08]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: A winter storm dusted Washington, D.C. with snow on Sunday ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration. Earlier in the week, Trump announced the ceremony would be moved indoors.

Forecasts warn of the coldest Inauguration Day since Ronald Reagan's swearing in for a second term in 1985.

Now, temperatures will continue to drop heading into Monday, with freezing winds reaching up to 30 miles per hour, about 48 kilometers an hour.

And the mayor of D.C. has issued a cold weather emergency across the district. The wind chill is expected to make the air outside feel like ten degrees Fahrenheit -- that is -12 degrees Celsius.

Now, though the cold has moved Donald Trump's inauguration indoors, some traditions will remain. Sources tell CNN that President Joe Biden, with hours left in office, will write the president-elect a letter. Four years ago, Trump left a letter for Biden on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, but decided to skip the swearing in.

Biden will also travel to the Capitol in the same limo with Trump this morning as former President Barack Obama did in 2017.

All right, everyone. Thanks for watching. I'm Omar Jimenez.

CNN's special coverage, looking ahead to Donald Trump's second inauguration will continue with Erica Hill in New York after a short break.

See you later.

[01:57:09]

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