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Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) Discusses Supreme Court Allowing TikTok Ban; Israeli Cabinet Meeting To Vote On Ceasefire-Hostage Deal; Firefighters Make Gains As Winds Die Down; 10 Capitol Riot Defendants Face Sentencing Today. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired January 17, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): This issue is too important. This is going to explode later on because we didn't give it the time, which it deserved.

So I just weighed in immediately on day one. I tried, in this past week, to have a bill passed that could give more time. I actually filed a brief, an amicus brief in the Supreme Court with Ro Khanna and Senator Wyden, Senator Booker in order to delay.

But at this point, we're up against this Sunday deadline. And we just have to get more time.

And there may be room, statutorily, in this -- in this existing law to give a little bit of wiggle room for President Trump to be able to extend the deadline and begin a real negotiation, a real discussion about the best way to move forward, but to keep TikTok alive.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST; Yes, I think we'll see what that looks like here very soon.

Senator Markey, thanks for being with us.

MARKEY: So great to be with you.

KEILAR: Next, Israel's full cabinet is about to vote on the ceasefire hostage deal with Hamas. We have some new details about that agreement.

And several January 6th rioters were sentenced in a D.C. court this morning. But could they be just days away from getting pardons?

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[13:35:32]

KEILAR: We are following the developing story in the Middle East. The full Israeli cabinet is meeting at this hour to vote on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal.

And if this is approved, as expected, 33 hostages could start being released as early as Sunday, here just in two days in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The agreement has already been approved by the Israeli Security Council. And it also calls for a ceasefire for 42 days. It would be the first reprieve for the people of Gaza after more than 15 months of relentless bombings by Israeli forces.

I'm joined now by Mark Esper. He, of course, served as defense secretary under President Trump. He is a CNN global affairs analyst. And he does serve on the board or is a strategic advisor for a few aerospace and defense companies.

Secretary, how do you see this moment?

MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, good afternoon, Brianna.

Look, it's a great moment for the hostages and their families. Hopefully, in the next couple of days, we'll see 33 living hostages go home. That leaves, we think, 60 or so remaining, half of -- half of -- half of them probably deceased, which is tragic.

But I think it's good news on that front. My concern is on the security side of this, it doesn't really resolve what the issue will be after the end of six weeks.

We don't know, or at least we haven't been told what will happen if this agreement follows through. Who will control Gaza? Who will govern it? Who will police it? Who will provide public services? And what will the role of the Israeli military be in that context?

And both Hamas and Israel have very stark differences on this issue, which is -- which is why I'm kind of skeptical that that will actually see peace at the end of six weeks.

KEILAR: So no doubt, I mean, those are the stickiest of issues. And we should note for people not familiar with the deal, that these hostages are being released a few at a time each week. And the negotiations on that second phase begin 16 days into this.

So you actually have this kind of overlapping. If things don't go well in those negotiations, is that going to endanger the release, the initial release of these hostages? I think a lot of people have questions about that.

But I do want to ask you, because the issues being sticky matter, but so too does the pressure on the -- the folks at the table here.

And one of our analysts, Beth Sanner, her analysis yesterday was that Hamas is on board because they believe that Netanyahu, that Israel will see these negotiations through because Trump will pressure them to do so.

I wonder what you think about that in terms of that relationship between Trump and Netanyahu.

ESPER: Yes, there are a number of pressures here. First of all, would be the domestic pressure from the hostage families and -- and Israelis writ-large, who, once that spigot starts with -- with hostages coming home and the homecomings and everything else and the stories that will be told, that will be tremendous pressure to continue the release of hostages.

And as you note, Brianna, doing so means that that Israel will have to put more on the table with regard to the extraction of Israeli troops and answer the bigger question of what happens at the end of those six weeks.

And then, of course, there is the Trump factor there as well, is he does not want this dragging on into his tenure. He wants to focus on some domestic issues that he's already spoken about.

So there is that pressure there from Trump that Biden certainly doesn't have at this point in time.

And then, of course, though, there are competing pressures, is from the far right within Israel, particularly in his cabinet, is will they hold firm? Will -- will Bibi Netanyahu lose control of his coalition?

That doesn't seem likely right now, but we have to see how this drags on and drags out over the coming, you know, few weeks.

KEILAR: It's such a good question because he has so much opposition from right-wing members of his cabinet who he depends on, even as Israelis are supporting this deal, you know, certainly at this moment.

I wonder how you see the next phase, because, as you mentioned, these are the civilian hostages who are going to be coming out in the first phase. I wonder what you think it looks like.

And I think of people like Edan Alexander, who is an Israeli American, a member of the IDF, how you think it will look to get those folks who were in the IDF out in a -- in another phase?

ESPER: Yes. Look, it'll be tremendous to get them all out. And because they've been held now for, what, 15, 16 months under horrible conditions and under the threat of being killed on a daily basis.

And as I said earlier, of those 99 or so hostages remaining, we think about a third of them are probably dead. So it would be good to get -- for those families to get the remains of their loved ones home.

[13:40:05]

But again, that's -- getting all those persons home means that Israelis are going to Israel is going to have to compromise on security. Are they going to back away from controlling the -- the Rafah-Egypt border in the Philadelphi Corridor? Will they be allowed to create a larger buffer zone in northern Gaza?

And again, the question I have is, who's going to govern? It's hard to see Israel allowing Hamas to return to power in Gaza. That just leaves them back to where they began.

Hamas has been rebuilding its ranks with new recruits, and they have not ever retracted the vow of trying to get rid of the Israeli state.

So the question is be -- will be, is there a third solution here where maybe Arab states or European partners, or maybe, if everybody can agree that the Palestinian Authority comes in and runs Gaza?

I don't know, but that, to me -- that's the outstanding question because it's hard to see Bibi Netanyahu and many Israelis being comfortable with Hamas taking control again of Gaza.

KEILAR: And just, real quick, before I let you go, Secretary, once hostilities stop and the people of Gaza are not facing that unrelenting bombardment, will that put pressure on Hamas internally?

ESPER: Yes, I think so. You know, there are a number of things that happened here over the last several months that caused this to come about. First of all, the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the -- the decimation of Hezbollah. I mean, all things pointed to things going in the wrong direction for Hamas.

But one of the other factors was growing public discontent in Gaza with Hamas. And -- and so the question will be is if this deal comes about, will they -- will they view -- will Hamas be treated better for coming at this deal after 15 months?

And if they -- if they don't play along, will the people of Gaza turn back around on them? That's a big unknown.

Because in any type of insurgency, which is what Israel is going to face in the coming months and maybe longer, it depends on the support of the people by supporting them in Gaza.

And I might add, importantly, Iran as well. That's a whole other discussion about Iran's role here. But that will be an important point to -- to see, Brianna, is will the people of Gaza support Hamas?

KEILAR: Yes. Amazing to think we may see hostages coming home here in just a couple of days.

Secretary Esper, thank you so much.

ESPER: Let's hope.

KEILAR: Let's hope, yes.

Every moment counting now for firefighters in Los Angeles racing to fully contain the deadly fires that have devastated neighborhoods before Santa Ana winds kick back up next week. We'll have that next.

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[13:46:52]

KEILAR: Firefighters in southern California are gaining ground against the Palisades and the Eaton Fires. They've been aided by calmer winds and cooler temperatures.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is in Pacific Palisades.

It still obviously looks terrible there behind you, but the conditions are better for making sure that this doesn't spread to other communities there, Steph?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is very much true, Brianna. We do know that some people we're let into some communities. Obviously not here, though, when you look back and you see this devastation that's here in the Pacific Palisades.

But while we do have these cooler temperatures and a little bit more humidity, this dry, January is just persisting and we haven't gotten any rain.

And while a lot of people would welcome that to just really knock down these fires, there is a downside to that. And that is the fact that we could see landslides after all of this fire.

You see those hillsides in the back there that have burned between this area of Pacific Palisades and Malibu. Well, the problem is, is that it's burned all the vegetation there. And those root systems actually help to keep the soil there.

Now, without that, if there is a rain, you could have a mudslide. And that could take out homes as we saw in January of 2018 at the Thomas Fire up in Montecito, California, which did lead to several deaths.

So that is a big concern. So they're working to mitigate those threats. And that's part of the reason why people can't come back in here.

Besides the fact that they're still trying to clean up all this toxic ash, all of these leftover chemicals and all these cars that are burned down. And they're everywhere throughout this neighborhood.

That's part of the reason why they're not allowing people in. And they're saying it could take a very long time, maybe more than a week.

Same thing with the Pacific Coast Highway, that beautiful stretch of highway along the coast here. They're saying it could be closed for a very long time.

Now, the road itself is fine. You can drive on it. But they're using it for a lot of law enforcement and also a lot of the first responders. And the firefighters are out there.

But they are dealing with some homes that burned along the water and also just trying to clear out some of the brush and the burned homes on the inside of the highway as well. So a very long road ahead.

The good news about the weather, but still for anxious homeowners who want to come back to just see what is left of their property, it's still more hurry up and wait.

Just very difficult here and also at the Eaton Fire in Altadena, where people may have been able to get back to their homes that may be still standing, but then they don't have any of the resources. You don't have water lines. You don't have your power. All of that still tenuous.

So no matter which situation you're in, house or no house, still not livable.

KEILAR: Still not livable.

Stephanie Elam, thank you for the report.

[13:49:26]

Still ahead, 10 January 6th defendants making their final court appearances before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. We'll talk about what could be next for them, especially as Trump pledges major pardons.

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KEILAR: In Washington, 10 January 6th defendants face sentencing today. These are some of the most serious cases from the riot, including seditious conspirators, defendants accused of violent attacks on police and even a case involving a loaded firearm.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is live outside the federal courthouse in Washington.

Katelyn, tell us what you're hearing.

KATELYN COLLINS, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: Brianna, it is not lost on anyone at this building today that these January 6th cases, the nonviolent offenders, potentially the violent offenders, potentially even the seditious conspirators from the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, that they could be pardoned in just a few days when Donald Trump takes office. And that is reverberating in these hearings.

So it's been a busy day, this last day that the judges are hearing these cases from January 6th, potentially, if Trump pardons many of them. There are about 10 people that are being sentenced today and they represent the wide swath of what the violence looked like on January 6th.

[13:55:07]

There are people that assaulted officers, people that had chemical sprays on them, wasp and hornet sprays, spraying officers in the crowd during the riot, people smashing windows.

One person who took Michael Fanone by the neck and pulled him out of the crowd. That's the Metropolitan Police officer who was so severely injured during that riot.

There also is somebody being sentenced today who had broken a door, a 150-year-old original door worth more than $20,000 in the Senate on the capitol grounds. All of those people facing their sentencing today. And I want to highlight one of the things, because the judges on the

bench -- there's about a half dozen that are hearing these today -- are taking this opportunity to make remarks about these violent crimes and even nonviolent crimes.

Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presided over the Donald Trump case until it was dismissed, related to January 6th, she had a nonviolent offender before her today, and she noted that it might be her last sentencing, but that the man was part of the effort to stop the peaceful transfer of power -- Brinna?

KEILAR: Katelyn Polantz, live for us outside the district courthouse, thank you.

And still ahead, we have much more on the breaking news. The Supreme Court clearing the way for a ban on TikTok to take effect this weekend. President Biden just reacted to the ruling. We'll have details on that next.

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