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170 Million TikTok Users Face Uncertainty As Ban Looms; House Speaker Removes Rep. Turner As Chair Of Intel Committee; Hostage Families Wait Anxiously For Release Of Their Loved Ones. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired January 17, 2025 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): We're willing to work with President-elect Trump and try to extend that deadline as well. This should be bipartisan. This should not be an issue which we are debating. And even as we're debating TikTok users are flocking to Chinese app with no reported presence in the United States. That's what's happening in our country right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter joins us now. Brian, good morning.
So setting aside that --
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST (via Webex by Cisco): Good morning.
HUNT: -- this was passed, the bipartisanship now seems to be people wanting to save TikTok. Previously, this passed Congress in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion.
But talk to us a little bit about what we expect to see here. It seems like the Biden administration is not going to enforce it on Sunday and the Trump team is likely to keep it. What do we know?
STELTER: Right. The Supreme Court has signaled that today is the day we will get some sort of ruling from the court, and Tiktok is the ruling everyone is waiting for. So today should be the day. It should be this morning. It should be at 10:00 a.m. We'll find out for sure later today.
But then no matter what the Supreme Court says it seems as if both Biden and Trump don't want to let this happen this weekend. We know that Trump wants to art of the deal this and try to come up with a solution. Try to find American buyers. Biden has had time to do that and hasn't been able to apparently.
But the timing here is sort of part of the problem and part of the story, right? The idea that Congress wanted this law to go into effect on Sunday, the day before the inauguration, in part because Trump couldn't overturn it or stop it. But now that we're actually at this point where it's coming up on a holiday weekend, the day before the inauguration, it seems that a lot of people don't want it to go into effect.
And as you said, Kasie, people are forgetting that this was -- this was signed into law for some very good reasons last year and now folks seem to want to forget that.
HUNT: Brian, how real is the idea that Elon Musk could potentially be a buyer for this? I think it's wort noting this potential 90-day extension -- it is built into the law.
STELTER: Yeah.
HUNT: What it requires is that there be ongoing seemingly real conversations about the purchase of the algorithm in the U.S.-based business from the Chinese ByteDance.
STELTER: Yes. It makes me all -- it makes me kind of wonder did the lawmakers who passed this law with all these different provisions -- did they think no one was going to notice when the ban took effect? They seem surprised now with all the backlash and all the criticism. Like, there were good reasons for this.
But when it comes to Musk, it took him a long time to take control of Twitter. Remember, he tried to back out of the deal at one point. It took months for that to happen. Now, maybe something with TikTok could happen more quickly.
It is notable that he's been quiet about the possibility. Musk is usually very loud about everything. He's not talked about this. That makes people wonder if there is something happening behind the scenes.
But we know that ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has signaled that it might just want to turn off the lights entirely and basically punish the American government for trying to ban the app.
And most interestingly, one of ByteDance's other apps is now number two in the app store. In other words, it's not just TikTok, right? A lot of these other Chinese-owned apps that are gaining in popularity.
So what we're seeing is a high stakes game of whack-a-mole and it's not going to be over once this TikTok thing is over.
HUNT: Brian, you obviously look across the entire landscape. One of the things here is -- and you rightly point out OK, people might got to another Chinese app. Some members of Congress think that that's a problem. But it also does seem like younger Americans -- they're not necessarily loyal to one particular app or the other as long as it does what they want it to do. I mean, there does seem to be a willingness to say OK, fine, you're going to get rid of TikTok, we're going to go somewhere else.
STELTER: That is true and that is important to recognize. But it's also true that TikTok has not been able to be cloned by Meta or by Google or by these other big tech companies in the United States. There's something special about it that has a lot of people hooked. Has a lot of people addicted.
That's maybe why Musk might be interested in it. He wants X to get deeper into video and TikTok is the easiest way to do that.
But it is true that these younger users -- they will go wherever they find the best entertainment and the best community.
And for so many young people this is their political awakening. They are learning about American politics and, in some cases, Chinese politics for the first time because of TikTok and because of this controversy. And I can't wait to find out Kasie in, I don't know, five or 10 years what are those newly politically attuned Americans thinking and who are they voting for?
And obviously, Donald Trump is concerned about that and that's why he has completely reversed his position on TikTok. We're only here because he wanted TikTok banned five years ago.
HUNT: Right. Well -- and, of course, it may or may not have to do with personal issues he has with other tech leaders who run other platforms that may or may not have things --
[05:35:05]
STELTER: Right.
HUNT: -- that, as you point out, tried to clone TikTok but haven't successfully done it yet.
Brian Stelter, always so grateful to have you with us. Thank you so much for being here.
STELTER: Thanks. Thanks.
HUNT: All right.
Might there be a little palace intrigue going on on Capitol Hill? There's always palace intrigue going on on Capitol Hill, but this is really significant.
This week, the House Speaker Mike Johnson -- he removed Mike Turner as the chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee. Turner led the committee for a number of years, but he earned the ire of President-elect Trump for comments like this. This was about Trump's phone call with Ukraine's president back in 2019 -- a call which, of course, eventually led to Trump's first impeachment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): I've read the complaint, and I've read the transcript of the conversation with the president and the president of Ukraine. Concerning that conversation I want to say to the president this is not OK. It is -- that conversation is not OK, and I think it's disappointing to the American public when they read the transcript. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Speaker Johnson announced the new chairman, Congressman Rick Crawford from Arkansas who has been opposed to recent Ukraine aid votes, something that Turner has endorsed.
Speaker Johnson says the move didn't have anything to do with input from the incoming president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It's a new Congress. We just need fresh horses in some of these places. This is not a President Trump decision; this is a House decision. And this is no slight whatsoever to our chair -- outgoing chairman. He did a great job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Congressman Turner doesn't seem to agree with that characterization. CBS News is reporting that Trump told them this. "House Speaker Mike Johnson fired him, citing concerns from Mar-a- Lago."
Turner also confirmed Wednesday night that he had been removed from the committee entirely. Turner said that, excuse me -- not Trump.
Joining us now to discuss this, Julia Manchester, national political reporter for The Hill. Julia, good morning.
JULIA MANCHESTER, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Good morning, Kasie.
HUNT: Nice to see you.
There has been some pretty significant reaction here in Washington --
MANCHESTER: Right.
HUNT: -- to this news that Mike Turner has been removed at the top of this committee. And honestly, the work of this committee has become a significant political focus for Donald Trump over the years. Devin Nunes, of course, ran it for a while and became close to Trump in that -- in that orbit.
How significant is it that Johnson is doing this, and is it at all plausible that it's happening because of what he said -- it's just about the House and it's not about Mar-a-Lago?
MANCHESTER: Look, it's certainly fishy I think when you look at this because when you look at someone like Mike Turner and his replacement Rick Crawford, they both have obviously approached President-elect Trump very differently.
For example, you have Mike Turner being one of the select Republicans that voted to certify the 2020 election results. Rick Crawford did not. We know that loyalty means a lot to Donald Trump.
Looking into the policy side of this though you know that -- we know that Mike Turner is a big Ukraine supporter. Rick Crawford has voted against that $60 billion Ukraine aid package last year.
So there is a question moving forward about whether this is about loyalty and people who are aligned with Donald Trump and Mar-a-Lago.
Now, there's also been questions about whether this has to do with the renewal of FISA -- obviously, that foreign surveillance program. We know that both of these congressmen have supported that renewal, which leads a lot of us to believe that this could be connected to Donald Trump. But we -- you know, obviously, Johnson and other House Republicans and Trump himself pushing back on that.
But yet going into this new Congress and this new administration there is a real question as to what kind of influence Donald Trump will have not only on the committee but also on the Republican-controlled Capitol Hill.
HUNT: Well, I mean, it's -- yeah, this seems to really underscore what we know, which is that --
MANCHESTER: Um-hum.
HUNT: -- the House Republican Conference, in particular, is very closely aligned with Donald Trump.
Julia, I want to talk a little bit about some of the reporting that you have been doing at The Hill. You're writing about Rubio's replacement in the Senate, Ashley Moody. She'll serve for two years. Unclear whether she'll run again for the seat in 2026.
Florida Congressman Cory Mills, who was also considered for the position by the Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, said last week, "You can probably guarantee my hat is going to be in the ring for 2026."
What do we know about this?
MANCHESTER: It's so interesting to see this appointment of Ashley Moody because covering it from a Florida politics perspective this sets off a number of dominos not only when it comes to that Senate seat but also to the gubernatorial seat. Remember, DeSantis is term- limited and can't run in 2026.
So you have people like Cory Mills considering a run for Senate. We could see some more names pop up.
But I'm actually more interested in this run for governor because talking to sources out of Tallahassee yesterday there was this big emphasis on Byron Donalds, a congressman from Florida. He's been talking to a lot of donors and a lot of political players in Florida essentially mounting a run for governor.
[05:40:00] At the same time though we know that he won't necessarily, or he may not run opposed. We know that the state's agriculture commissioner Wilton Simpson is considering a run. He's very wealthy. But also, Congressman Matt Gaetz.
HUNT: I was going to say.
MANCHESTER: Former Congressman Matt Gaetz -- he is considering this as well.
So it's just fascinating to see how President Trump has, and his appointments have played a role in sort of the political makeup of Florida. Remember, it wasn't long ago that Mike Waltz, his incoming national security adviser, was also being considered for governor.
But big question about Donalds because we know that Ashley Moody was DeSantis' major pick or seemed to be his pick for governor going forward. So it's unclear sort of who DeSantis and also who Trump ends up backing going into 2026.
HUNT: I was going to say one name we haven't mentioned, Lara Trump, which --
MANCHESTER: Right.
HUNT: -- we may see going forward.
All right, Julia Manchester. Thank you.
MANCHESTER: Thank you.
HUNT: I really appreciate it.
All right. Coming up here an agreement on the ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, but airstrikes have still been hitting Gaza.
Plus, the NBA's top two heavies. Who came out on top? Andy Scholes up next in sports.
(COMMERCIAL)
[05:45:35]
HUNT: All right. Renewed hope this morning as the families of hostages in Gaza wait for news about their loved ones. The Israeli Security Cabinet expected to vote on the ceasefire and hostage release agreement with Hamas today. The full cabinet is scheduled to vote tomorrow.
The hostage families have had their hopes crushed repeatedly over the last 15 months. They say they will believe their loved ones are free when they see them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) IFAT KALDERON, COUSIN OF HOSTAGE OFER KALDERON: It's really complicated because from the one hand I'm happy but on the other hand I'm going to be just -- I'm going to be happy just -- and I'm going to believe it just whenever I'm going to see the hostages crossing the border to Israel. And we don't know the situation of all the hostages. I don't know if Ofer, my cousin, is still alive or not. I don't know what we're going to get back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right, joining us now is Moshe Lavi. His brother-in-law Omri Miran is among the hostages being held by Hamas. Moshe, thanks very much for joining us this morning.
MOSHE LAVI, BROTHER-IN-LAW OF HOSTAGE OMRI MIRAN (via Webex by Cisco): Of course. Thank you, Kasie.
HUNT: Moshe, can you tell us what you have heard from the Israeli government about what to expect over the next 72-plus hours?
LAVI: I will say we haven't heard much. The government, through officials assigned to every family, have been communicating over the past week with some messaging about developments in the negotiations room but we haven't received concrete information about how the deal is going to be carried out. But we expect it to arrive soon after the agreement has been ratified by our cabinet and government and hopefully, also go through the Supreme Court in case any citizens file an objection.
HUNT: What do you know at this point about Omri's condition, and what are your hopes and fears?
LAVI: To your first question, we don't know much about Omri's current condition. We assume that after so many days in captivity -- we are nearly at the 470th day -- every hostage is a humanitarian case. They've endured so much suffering, torture, abuse, violence (including sexual violence), deprived of food, water, sunlight. And so their release is imperative now and yesterday, to be honest rather than in a few days.
The last heard of Omri was in late April when Hamas released a psychological warfare video of him. He looked unwell but it gave us the strength to continue advocating because he's alive to bring him home.
What concerns me -- to your second question, what concerns me about the current agreement is that only the first phase has been agreed and negotiated. We need the second phase to be negotiated as soon as possible. And we're trying to push as families our elected officials in Israel and elected officials worldwide.
I'm in London these days and heading to Paris shortly after. The families in Washington, D.C. and every other relevant capital in order to make sure decision makers understand we need to start negotiations for the second phase now and not on the 16th day. We need to ensure that all the hostages are released, and we won't stop until the last hostage has been released by Hamas.
We will rejoice when the first batch of 33 hostages are released but, you know, things are going to very difficult over the coming days and there are still obstacles. Every day will be a new obstacle because it's a phase agreement and releases are going to be done throughout a long period of time.
HUNT: Moshe, you mentioned Washington, D.C. Of course, President- elect Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated on Monday. And he has, of course, taken credit for this. And, of course, Benjamin Netanyahu worried about his relationship with him.
What is your message to President-elect Trump about your brother-in- law and the others still held?
[05:50:00]
LAVI: I want to congratulate President-elect Trump because I think his action and his teams' actions over the past few weeks and ever since he was elected pushed the different stakeholders into an agreement. Allowed -- he made necessary pressure on countries like Qatar, Iran, Turkey to force Hamas to an agreement. And he made it clear to the Israeli government that they need to prioritize the hostages even if it means ending the war after achieving so much on the battlefield.
I congratulate him and his team for doing everything they can to ensure the deal is going through. They deserve the credit. The Biden administration has provided us a lot of comfort and support over the past 15 months but sadly, they failed in bringing about an agreement in an appropriate time framework. Luckily, the work of both Biden team and Trump's team allowed this agreement to take place before the inauguration. But as I said, we'll have to keep pushing the administration -- the new administration to ensure that all the hostages are released.
And my message to Trump is please, make sure to bring all the hostages home and do not stop pressuring all those who need to be pressured until the last hostage is released by the terrorist organization Hamas.
HUNT: All right, Moshe Lavi. Thank you very much for spending some time with us. We are, of course, thinking of you, your family, and your brother-in-law especially at this time. Thank you.
LAVI: Thank you.
HUNT: All right, let's turn now to sports. The Thunder and the Cavs meet in a potential NBA Finals preview. This one ends up being a blowout.
Andy Scholes has this morning's CNN sports update. Andy, good morning.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, good morning, Kasie.
You know, the Cavs beat the Thunder last week in Cleveland, so this one was billed as the rematch between the top two teams in the league. And OKC -- well, they certainly got their revenge. The Thunder just pouncing on the Cavs from the start.
They led by 18 after the first. They were up by 42 in the third quarter. That was the largest deficit the Cavs have faced all season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way for OKC with 40 points. The Thunder win 134-114.
And here was SGA on avenging last week's loss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAI GILEGOUS-ALEXANDER, GUARD, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: Yeah, it's the cream of the crop, obviously. You test yourself against the best to really find out where you are. And obviously, they had the best record in the league before tonight. And we tested ourselves and I think we passed it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right. Meanwhile in college hoops we had a pair of fantastic finishes. Michigan, unbeaten in the Big Ten, tied with Minnesota who is winless in Big Ten play but not anymore. Dawson Garcia from nearly half-court at the buzzer. That wins it for the Golden Gophers -- 84-81 was the final there.
Elsewhere, Northwestern and Maryland were tied at 74 in overtime. Just .7 seconds on the clock and the Wildcats running the inbound play to perfection. And Nick Martinelli -- the buzzer-beater to win it. He got that shot off just in time and gets mobbed by his teammates. Northwestern wins a fun one 76-74.
In the NHL, Alex Ovechkin scoring in overtime for the Capitals to beat the Senators. And with that goal Ovechkin now owns the record for most goaltenders scored on. He's scored on 179 different goalies.
Ovechkin, of course, still chasing Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal record. The 39-year-old is 21 goals away from Gretzky's record. He should get there this spring if he stays healthy.
All right, and finally, Carlos Alcaraz is on to the fourth round at the Australian Open after another win. The 21-year-old -- well, he has a tradition. He gets a tattoo every time he wins a major. And yesterday he revealed what he would get if he wins his first Aussie Open.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLOS ALCARAZ, 4-TIME MAJOR WINNER: It's a kangaroo. That's for sure.
(Crowd cheering)
ANNOUNCER: I think the crowd liked that. So, it's going to be a kangaroo?
ALCARAZ: It's going to be a kangaroo. So that's my -- yeah, that's my idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: He didn't say where he would put it, Kasie. But I actually have the same tradition. Every time I win a Grand Slam I get a tattoo. That's why I have no tattoos.
HUNT: Oh, OK.
Andy Scholes, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Have a wonderful weekend, my friend.
SCHOLES: You, too.
HUNT: All right. Coming up ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING President Biden prepares to close the door on his time in the West Wing. We're going to speak live with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden about how he can put a final stamp on his legacy.
Plus, a special guest. TikTok's CEO expected to attend Donald Trump's inauguration as the fate of his app hangs in the balance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, NBC "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON": Trump invited the CEO of TikTok his inauguration, and he accepted -- yeah. TikTok's CEO is like ooh, spying in person. This hits different.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL)
[05:59:10]
HUNT: It's Friday, January 17. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The clock is ticking. How one of the Donald Trump's now favorite social media apps looking for a Hail Mary to save it from being banned in the U.S.
A deal reached. Israel confirms a ceasefire and hostage release agreement with Hamas, but deadly bombardments still pound Gaza.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We've achieved the most incredible political thing and look what happened. Is this crazy? (END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: A second chance. Trump readies to take the Oath of Office again. We'll talk to Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden about how his party is trying to flip the script on this administration.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said you want it?
SYLVESTER STALLONE, ACTOR: Why not?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Aligning the stars. Sylvester Stallone among those the president-elect is calling on to be special ambassadors to Tinseltown.
