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Trump to Quickly Take Action on Immigration, Energy, DEI Policies; Hamas Releases Three Hostages, Celebrations in Tel Aviv; Trump Says We Have to Save TikTok at Victory Rally. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired January 20, 2025 - 04:30   ET

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


[04:30:00]

SABRINA RODRIGUEZ, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: But I think where the slippery slope for him is if a week from now what we are talking about is the part is that he did on January 6 and we're not talking about the executive orders or the first moves he's made on the economy and that he's made on immigration, that is a problem for Donald Trump and I think that will be a problem that that he will have to face with the public in those first days.

MARGARET TALEV, DIRECTOR INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY, JOURNALISM AND CITIZENSHIP AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: I just generally think since such a big part of his brand and his messaging since he lost the previous election was that January 6 was peaceful -- it was not. Or that these were all good people. The reality is much more complicated that if that is if that is what you're saying and you got elected you feel that you have a mandate to do some version of this and that's why we're going to see it. Because it not only rewards the people who went and stood -- as he would say see it -- stood with him that day. But it also sort of underscores his messaging that most of these people aren't criminals.

So I don't -- maybe he's not going to pardon everybody he's going to pardon a lot of these people and he doesn't think it's going to hurt him.

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: So I don't necessarily think it's going to hurt him but I do think it's going to hurt the Republican Party it will hurt the Republican Party in the midterms and it will hurt the Republican Party in 2028 and I think that is something that the Republicans should be really well aware of that they are going to lose. People do care. People do care that people are held accountable for things that they did and I don't think to your point about violent acts against police officers people have a tolerance for that being OK.

MATT GORMAN, FORMER TIM SCOTT PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: I guess my question is -- and this is an honest question, right. If under your supposition that people are going to care suddenly that they're pardoning January 6th when there's been no real evidence that January 6th, the event, pre pardon was a real issue in people's votes to begin with. I guess what I struggle with is people do not care but suddenly they are I tend to think that it's not going to happen. HAYS: So I hear you're saying what I'm saying is that if they are pardoned and rather than doing things to lower costs people are going to care. If he is focused on January 6th and not on lowering costs, that will impact the Republican Party. He needs to put some wins on the board and January 6th is not a win on the board.

GORMAN: I agree with that. I just I'm not in favor of the idea or not supportive of the idea that suddenly now January 6th is going to matter in voters minds when it really hasn't for the last five years.

HAYS: I just think its a continued talking point here.

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I mean, I think the question is one of the things we learned in this election is that there were things that mattered more to people, right, and it seems to me that doesn't mean it doesn't matter at all. But here we are today inaugurating Donald Trump for a second time after that happened. So tells you what you need to know.

Coming up, hostages and prisoners released. Displaced Palestinians make their return home as 15 months of war have either come to a close, at least they're paused for now.

The congressional Republican road map that may shape the fate of Trump's agenda also coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: We won the Senate majority for Republican Party and we won the White House. And we told the American people that we would do well by them. We could be the most consequential Congress of the modern era because we have to fix everything. I mean everything's a mess.

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[04:35:00]

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HUNT: All right, it is 4:36 a.m. Here on the east coast a live look at the U.S. Capitol the dome of course under which Donald Trump will be inaugurated for the second time today Be inside the dome for the first time since Ronald Reagan was inaugurated inside due to cold in 1985.

Good morning everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

We are just hours away from that second presidential inauguration. Donald Trump already indicating he has major plans for the first day in office including signing, quote, dozens of executive orders on everything from immigration to energy policy.

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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL-ELECT: I Will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country. We have to do it.

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)

HUNT: According to two people familiar with the discussions, Trump's team is finalizing a flurry of aggressive immigration orders set to be released just hours after Trump is sworn in. And of course his influence will extend well beyond his day one executive actions.

His cabinet picks confirmation hearings have already been underway. One GOP adviser telling CNN that Trump's incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles has strategized with Republican Congressional leaders about, quote, how the whole team will work as one. That united front on display yesterday when House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about Trump's immigration proposals

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you is Congress prepared to support and pay for President-elect Trump's mass deportation plan no matter what the cost, no matter how expensive?

JOHNSON: Kristen, I cannot think of a better dollar-for-dollar investment than to restore the security and the safety of the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right, Sabrina Rodriguez the Trump agenda in Congress is an ambitious one. But Mike Johnson has what is possibly going to be the toughest job in all of Washington. And Matt, I want you as a house guy to weigh in.

But of course The border piece of this is going to be a significant one. Johnson wants to do it all together with all the tax bills. What are the hurdles for him as Trump takes office?

RODRIGUEZ: We don't have enough time to talk about all the hurdles that he faces that's the reality. I think for Speaker Johnson, of course He's going to respond what he did to the question and say that, you know, of course, they're going to pass this. But appropriating money in Congress is a very tough job to do. And it is going to have a big price tag. I think it's going to be very challenging.

Of course Republicans overwhelmingly feel that yes, the border needs to be tackled. But when we're talking about such a slim majority for Republicans, a couple people having some reservations about how much money is being spent. A couple people having reservations about what exactly it's for, how exactly it's going to be handled, can make these debates draw out. Of course with Trump and Johnson on the same page and potentially a nudge on X from Elon Musk people will maybe move a little more quickly than then we'd expect.

HUNT: Elon is on the same page as Donald Trump, which he wasn't necessarily the last time. TALEV: There's a lot of questions around that.

HUNT: I mean Matt Gorman, if we've learned anything in the last -- you know, I've covered Congress for a long time -- in the in modern times presidents seem to get one shot at a big piece of legislation in the beginning. Can Trump do it?

GORMAN: I would posit they get almost one and a half, right? I think I would count the half of the stimulus for Obama, the rescue plan for Biden, you get a little something in the first 60 days, but then you have that big package, right, whether it's the health care bill for Obama, the like.

[04:40:03]

So that's what it's going to come down to. And really, I think the disagreements that Sabrina talks about are far more on taxes, with the assault provisions from a lot of Northeastern Republicans and toss up districts.

So you need to sweeten that and get those people on the same page with some immigration, because You're far more likely to be on the same page about, and in many ways, the one versus two bill. How that's resolved and really is who Trump sides with, right. Does trump go with Thune? Who really wants two. And Johnson, who really only needs one because to get the tax bill through, he needs the leverage of a unifying thing like immigration.

HUNT: Yes. Meghan -- sorry, Margaret, go ahead.

TALEV: I was going to say the other thing is that we've been talking -- we've been watching some video of the idea that the president-elect is going to do something in the neighborhood of 100 executive orders. Watch those executive orders, because, ironically, what he's about to do is ask Congress to further weaken their own power and cede to him so that he can do the things that he wants to.

And some of the actions around immigration, I think were going to see some version of national emergencies, you know, being called a reversion to the COVID era days that would allow you to seal the border. In theory, will some of this then be litigated and go up to the courts? Sure.

But I think his first moves out of the gate may involve diminishing Congress's role and decision making, and the ability of those factions inside Congress to gum up the wheels. Just use as much executive force and power to declare as much power as you can to try to push all of this stuff through so that it doesn't really -- it makes it easier for Johnson to hold it together. If its not even Congress's call anymore.

HUNT: What's the role for Democrats in all this?

HAYS: Well, I think there's two roles here. I think the one with the executive orders. I think you'll see a lot of groups starting to challenge a lot of these executive orders in court, and I think they'll start filing court cases today as early as they're signed, probably around 2:00 today. So I would assume that those that happens and then I also think for Congress, they're going to have to really walk a fine line.

They do not also want to be caught up in not wanting immigration and not wanting to secure our borders, and that will impact them for the midterms and will impact them for '28. So if there is one bill, they're going to have to really walk a fine line here of what's -- what is beneficial for them to get reelected and then what is beneficial for some of these other policies. So I think that they're going to -- they're going to be able to negotiate here. But on immigration, I don't think that they have a lot of leeway to negotiate.

HUNT: Yes. All right. Lets turn now to this other major story we've been covering through the weekend. After holding their collective breath for 470 days, there are three hostage families who are exhaling this morning. Their loved ones have been freed by Hamas.

The three freed Israeli hostages, the first of 33 to be released by Hamas and their allies over the next six weeks are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. All are in good health. Their family members are mindful of the dozens of hostages still being held.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once this door opens, it must not close. We must let all 97 hostages, now 94, come back home to their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The release of the three hostages sparked celebrations on the streets of Tel Aviv, and in exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released from Israeli jails, setting off celebrations in Gaza as well.

Lets go to Tel Aviv, where we find professor Hagai Levine, head of the medical team for the hostages and missing families forum. Professor Levine, thanks very much for being with us this morning. Can you please tell us a little bit about the condition of these three women and just how they're doing after so much time in captivity?

DR. HAGAI LEVINE, HEAD OF MEDICAL TEAM, HOSTAGES AND MISSING FAMILIES FORUM: Well Kasie, as you see behind me, the picture of Herzl, who envisioned Israel. He said, if you desire it, it is not a legend. So to see Emily and Romy and Doron here hugging their families, getting medical treatment and in Israeli medical center is like a dream come true.

We know from speaking with released hostages and already now they said the recovery could not be complete without bringing home all their friends from captivity. All the remaining 94 hostages in Israel and all around the world. We need everyone to come back home. The hostages to their homes, the Palestinians in Gaza, to their homes. And its now time today for President Trump. And we want to thank President Trump and President Biden for their support to do whatever it takes to make sure that the deal is continuing in accelerated pace until everyone is coming back home.

[04:45:00]

HUNT: Can you talk to us a little bit about the road to recovery that they face in there? I absolutely understand exactly what you mean about not being able to fully heal without everyone home, but hopefully they can start that process for in an individual way for each of them. What does that look like?

LEVINE: Well, first we saw the picture when they were released and let us not forget and let the reason that was very frightening moments. The first thing they saw is a mob, mainly of armed men, very close to them. Physically this is very frightening and dangerous, I must say. We have to make sure that the next release will not be like that. Then they got to their mothers and to the health teams, and they started first assessment.

And as the Sheba Medical Center announced, now, today and the next day, they will have full assessment. You know, nutritional assessment and vitamin deficiencies and their bodily systems, together with their mental health. You know, we don't know what is their conditions in terms of their ability to function like the delicate issues of using their fingers. As we saw Emily Damari lost two fingers and their speech because maybe they were not allowed to speak.

So we know from the previous hostages that the journey is long. It needs to be very professional, very supportive, and it will may take life long recovery to find the use themselves after they have been dehumanized by the Hamas. Now we need to help them become humans again.

Its also for the family. The recovery is also for the families that were fighting for so long. Now can finally start the process of recovery. But again, I'm telling you, it cannot be complete without returning all the hostages back home because they will be now occupied not only with recovering themselves, but also in contributing to the fight to bring back their friends.

HUNT: All right, professor Levine, I'm so grateful for your time today. Were so happy that those three women are back home. But of course, the world waiting for the rest of those hostages to be released. Thanks very much for your time this morning. I really appreciate it.

LEVINE: Thank you Kasie.

HUNT: All right, coming up next here, releasing the files. The president elects pledge to declassify the files surrounding the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK on this MLK day.

Plus, Donald Trump taking credit for TikTok return. But will Republicans wary of the social media app hop on board with his vow to save TikTok?

[04:50:00]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, CEO TESLA: We're looking forward to making a lot of changes. And, you know, this victory is the start, really.

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HUNT: Elon Musk, just one of the number of tech billionaires in Trump's orbit as he gets ready to take office once again. And several of those CEOs will attend the inauguration today. Sam Altman, the leader of OpenAI. Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Meta, which of course controls Facebook and Instagram, among others. The former Amazon CEO and owner of The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos. And notably, of course, the CEO of TikTok, Shou Chew.

TikTok and several other apps owned by ByteDance went offline for several hours over the weekend because of that ban. It was bipartisan. It passed Congress overwhelmingly. And it was signed by President Biden. And don't forget, it was Donald Trump's idea in the beginning to ban it. But the app triumphantly returned on Sunday and they displayed this message.

They praised the quote, result of President Trump's efforts, end quote. That was echoed by the platform's CEO.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHOU ZI CHEW, TIKTOK CEO: I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States.

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HUNT: Trump, of course, is taking credit for saving the app that he once tried to ban by executive order when he was president the first time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: As of today, TikTok is back.

We went on TikTok and Republicans have never won the young vote, the youth vote. They win a lot of votes, but they never won the youth vote. We won the youth vote by 36 points. So I like TikTok.

They said we need to save TikTok because we're talking about a tremendous -- 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)

HUNT: All right, so we should note that CNN has examined Trump's claims of winning the youth vote. Exit polls do show that Harris won voters age 18 to 39 by somewhere between 6 and 11 points. So just to be clear there.

All right. Who is the youngest person on this panel? I think that's Sabrina.

This is I mean, this is classic Trump to basically -- I mean, there's so many people who are on TikTok who I'm sure do not vote at all, who very rarely interact with politics. But for the app to put up this message, so now everyone's like, oh great. It's back and President Trump did that.

I mean, it's like when Joe Biden said I should have signed the checks like Donald Trump signed the stimulus checks with his name and Joe Biden was out touting bridges, but nobody really knew or understood or gave Joe Biden or Democrats credit for it.

RODRIGUEZ: This is classic Donald Trump though. This is Donald Trump the apprentice. This is Donald Trump owning, you know, a fashion brand knowing how to make money and you know ways we wouldn't expect Bibles shoes all of the above.

I mean, this is him understanding the market understanding wait people love TikTok. It doesn't matter that four years ago. He put -- it was August of 2020 -- I looked it up this morning -- an executive order addressing the threat that TikTok posed, you know to U.S. national security. That threat still exists. I'm just going to say it is worth noting. I mean Tom Cotton among others are out there saying no.

GORMAN: We have to kill this damn app because it is Chinese spyware and that is worth noting.

HUNT: I mean Tom Cotton among others are out there saying, but no.

GORMAN: We have to kill this damn app because it is Chinese spyware and that is right. It's a fascinating interplay because Tom Cotton along with Pete Ricketts came out with a blistering statement about this. And look, I will say this, I talked to a lot of folks my party who are really very much against this app and if you look this right here. A law signed by President Biden passed overwhelmingly in the Congress is the last chance to kill this thing.

If it doesn't then not only obviously does it survive but Republicans are going to have to play on it because it's not going anywhere.

TALEV: And it's interesting. We were talking about how J6 would be this interesting early test of Trump, but it actually might be TikTok. And if you were watching the rally yesterday, the president-elect was talking about how he's going to team up with -- the U.S. is going to team up with China and America is going to make a lot of money off of TikTok. As if that were the issue. As if the issue were that China is going to make too much money and if the U.S. can just sort of get a cut it will resolve all the issues.

It is a national security concern and is national security concern that is very real among many of the Republicans not just in Congress, but advising Donald Trump.

HUNT: Yes, for sure.

All right coming up here today. Donald Trump completes that stunning return to the White House CNN's own Audie Cornish and John Berman are going to join us live to discuss the historic day.

Plus, the president-elect's plans for swift executive action to check off his campaign promises, the 100 things he is promising to do on his first day back in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You're going to see executive orders that are going to make you extremely happy and all the illegal border trespassers. Will in some form or another be on their way back home.

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[05:00:00]