this case who discovered it. >> reporter: yeah. it sat cold for five years and he had put himself in the middle of this case, as we said. he went to the police and he told them that he was on the trail. so they would look at anybody in any investigation anyone who comes forward they're going to look at. >> thank you so much. appreciate it. that's it for us. the news continues right here on cnn.

why he is full of hope. let's go outfront. >> outfront, breaking news breaking news rewarding loyalty. donald trump taking no time to pay back supporters tonight. walz is a long- time and vocal trump supporter. the retired colonel in the national guard and former green beret. also, stephen mill here is returning as deputy chief of staff of policy. even more power than he had in the first trump administration when he had quite a huge influence, and his devotion to trump ever since has been extremely loud and very clear. >> president donald j. trump is the most gifted politician. >> they say that the eyes are the window into the human soul. that blazing set of eyes that we saw. in photograph revealed a

soul that is literally burning with a righteous flame on behalf of 300 million americans. >> i mean, trump's blazing eyes, burning soul. it doesn't get better than that. that's just a small tidbit of what he has said about trump. what is most important is that he has stayed close to him without wavering since trump left office. and here he is at at the madison square garden rally. >> america is for americans and americans only. >> in fact, miller was a key architect behind the policy at the record that and shaped the administration's muslim ban. in fact, he's credited with writing some of trump's most incendiary speeches. do you remember this one? >> this american carnage stops right here and stops right now. >> american carnage.

that was inauguration day. now, miller will be joined by a number of other loyalists including tom homan, trump's knew border czar who will be tasked with carrying out trump's mass deportation promises. >> we've got a president, the greatest president in my lifetime. >> i'll say it a thousand times until the day i die. >> also joining the list, elise stefanic who trump wants to be his u.s. ambassador. >> i was tonight elected republican woman from the northeast who voted for president trump. i was smeared by democrats for doing so. and i've been proud to be one of his top allies. >> and then of course, the world's richest man who has been weighing in on all these staffing decisions. someone who has grown incredibly close to trump over the last several months. and most importantly, truly has trump's ear. >> i'm not just maga. i'm drunk maga. >> president trump must win to preserve the constitution.

to preserve democracy in america. >> since election day, musk has spent nearly every day at mar-a-lago. keep in mind, this is a guy who has got astronauts at the space station, tesla and all of that. but he's at mar-a- lago every day. he's now appearing in trump family photos. over the weekend trump's granddaughter posted a picture of herself with elon saying he achieved uncle status. these are the people who have earned a spot in the circle. and a rained fire naming in the new administration. while members of trump's former administration nikki haley and mike pompeo are completely on the outs because of things like this. >> chaos follows him and we can't have a country in disarray and a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. we won't survive it. >> i was talking about the time to elect serious leaders who are thoughtful, who speak about america as the most

exceptional nation in the history of civilization. they're not throwing out whoppers, spending all their time thinking about twitter. >> the they, them, their, was he, trump. trump took the time when it came to the haley and pompeo on twitter that he will not name them. he didn't just leave them out. no, he had to come out with an announcement that he would reject them. that's the whole point. he wants it out there. loyalty to trump drives him. loyalty to trump, let's be clear. as the cast of sart knight looking put it this way. >> now thanks to the supreme court, there are no guardrails. >> nothing to protect the people who are brave enough to speak out against him. >> we would like to say to donald trump, we have been with you all along. >> out front live where the trump

administration hopefuls and those hoping to influence his picks are flocking to mar-a-lago. the deja vu of it all, what is the latest you're hearing about who is there and what is happening? >> that's right. that island behind me where mar-a-lago is, also the hotels, the different potential rental properties. that's the epicenter of where everything is going on. many are booking the rental properties, trying maneuver their way in with members already of mar-a- lago to get their way in, to appear in front of donald trump. one to get their name in front of him for these potential roles but also to influence him. i think your point about loyalty is so crucial. from every single pick we've seen donald trump announce in the last 48 hours or so, they've all been people who have been loyal to donald trump. i think the timing their loyalty is also crucial. that's what i am in my conversations. it's the people who did not abandon him after he left the white house in january

2021 after many people had distanced themselves from the former president following the january 6th capitol attack. these people, stephen miller he, susie wiles, all of them stayed loyal to donald trump and we're seeing them be rewarded right now. i want to talk about mike waltz is a big deal. i think he'll have a lot to dig into. especially with the wars in the mideast and ukraine. he'll be the first green beret to this role. he served in the middle east, afghanistan, africa, he's going to have a lot of experience from the war side itself. but again, he has been one of donald trump's biggest defenders. you've seen him on television over the entire campaign coming out, particularly after all of the drama around donald trump visiting arlington national cemetery. people saying that he was in the wrong for appearing at certain gravesites.

he was out there defending donald trump. he's also been seen at mar-a-lago. another person we've seen at mar-a- lago is elon musk. you're absolutely right. his influence is incredibly great right now with donald trump. and also, i'm told from my discussions with people familiar with this, that many lawmakers are calling up elon musk and he's also calling up lawmakers right now as the jockeying continues. particularly as we're looking at the leadership fight and musk putting his finger on the scale for rick scott. >> thank you very much. not a single one of those people, for any reason, whether wlink ever linked to trump or not, will be like holy cow, i'm getting a call from elon musk. there's a celebrity to it, too, and that aspect that is part of what he likes to cultivate. you worked with a lot of these people. mike waltz, not, but some of the others, you know them. what is your reaction so far to this team and how quickly

it's coming together? >> i know all of them. none of them raised major alarm bells. they're not a major departure from the first trump administration. they have the potential to be there and you have a sense of what they will do. stephen miller has always had a very heavy hand in all of trump's policy making. to the idea that trump is an ideal is, a lot of what he wants to do originate from stephen miller. always expect him to have a senior role. mike waltz, this is someone with donald trump from the outside. his wife served on the national security council in the previous administration. tom homan was either going to get this or department of homeland security. he's a hardliner on security. and elise stefanik loves him. what he's done this time that's so different, how rapidly he's announced these people. he had a government in waiting ready to go.

which is so different than the scramble last time of people who didn't know how government worked. so different. >> there was some jockeying going on but there was a plan. you don't move this quickly which is rapid fire with elon musk playing phone tag. so what do democrats do? he's won, it appears, the popular vote and the electoral and senate. possiblyikely house. and he's moving fast. >> one thing democrats have to do is stop underestimating donald trump, right? this has gotten democrats in trouble two times and almost a third time against joe biden. he didn't beat him by that much when it came to the electoral college. so democrats have to stop underestimating him and pay attention to the fact that there are a lot of americans, clearly a majority of americans. one thing trump did well, it was kind of dastardly from

a democratic perspective. he put himself on the side of the people who were outside going against the institutions. democrats have to not defend institutions that people don't think are taking care of them. it is time for democrats to figure out how to get on the right side of those institutions. in the clinton administration, which is where i started when i was a kid. we believed in soft power. the economic power that went first. the obama administration similarly. the bush administration was hard power. the military was leading. this is like puzzle power. nobody knows what these guys are up to, what donald trump might do. and i think he tries to use that to his benefit. but it also could create error. so because we don't know, it is, the place is rife to have mistakes made and it could be deadly. >> something nikki haley warned of. when it comes down to it, it is loyalty. we know the loyalty to trump. that's when he matters. a team of loyalists. if you're not on that teamteam you're a public face, he

wants to have everybody publicly know. he won't have it quiet. he wants it public. all the way back in 1992, he talked about loyalty. i'll just play it. >> how do you define disloyalty? >> they didn't come to my aid. >> did they turn their back on you in. >> no. they didn't do small things that would have helped. i'm so loyal to people. maybe i'm loyal to a fault. when somebody slightly disloyal to me, i look upon it as a great act of horror. >> the loyalty is a one- way street here. that's not the point. the point is that are thesethese based on loyalty? we do look as being laid out, congressman waltz, an incredible resume there as well. >> listen, i love the fact that they are both praising donald trump in the picks. don't underestimate trump. don't sleep on him. >> i take my

licks, okay? >> i may yield my time to both of them and let them keep talking about how great trump is. i'm thoroughly enjoying it. i know, all these people have been selected so far, i think not just loyalty. these people are incredibly competent. i think competence is the watch word here tonight. mike waltz has been a friend for quite some time. graduated from the virginia military institute, not west point, unfortunately. but he's a hardened combat veteran. first green beret in congress. he's been on this network a ton. very fair. a smart guy. he will do incredible things. elise stefanik. i was with her before she was a congresswoman, right? she's incredibly capable. tom homan knows the immigration system inside and out. if you doubt that, go to youtube and watch his exchanges when he's testifying before the hill. >> i was watching them. today i was watching. >> so these people, i think the word is competent above

loyalty. these people are incredibly competent and they're going to make this administration run very smoothly from jump street. so i'm excited about that. i'm excited for my friend mike waltz. he deserves it. elise stefanik deserves it. these folks will take care of the american people. >> okay. >> i don't know what we're up to now. 79 million votes maybe? the american people clearly sent a signal to washington that right track, wrong track, 75% of american people think the country is going to the wrong track. these people will put it back on the right track. >> when david talks about moving smoothly. who knows? you got resumes, you've got experience. yes, all of that. it is chaos and back- biting and leaking that defined the last administration. so for this to be different, that would be different. you do have someone like elon musk playing a role in here,

too. having conversations with all these people. is that a positive thing over time? >> listen, i am hesitant to make predictions. something i was struck by in the west wing was how much infighting and personal vendettas ended up ing some of the work. i don't know susie wiles but hopefully she will get work done. there was also infighting. and then you introduce this outsized influence of one of the most powerful, wealthiest men on the planet, elon musk. that could get complicated. i've never known donald trump to share a stage and equal spotlight with someone. today elon musk might be more powerful. the day he takes the oath of office, he's more powerful. i'll see how long this friendship lasts and what it looks like. it could get complicated. >> that's a fair prediction. >> all right. harris and biden were together

for the first time since the election and i saw something you wrote on social media. let me share it and give you a chance to comment. joe biden is amazing but he should fulfill one last promise, to be transitional. he should make her the first woman president and turn tables on trump. keep kamala from presiding over january 6th. make it easier for the next woman to run. >> super popular in the biden camp right now. let me just -- let me say, i think this is right. democrats have to stop paying attention to the rules so much. no one cares about the rules as much as we seem to. when republicans want things, they make it happen. joe biden could do that. he could be the transitional figure to make it happen. i don't know if the vice president thinks i'm in the right. i'm sure if you asked her, she would say no. but democrats want this to hatch if nothing else, we have to stop being worried about what everyone thinks or what the norms say. we have to go for what we

want and let the chips fall. that's what americans respect about this guy. they respected it about bill clinton and george bush. they will almost democrats when democrats start going for what we want and not paying attention to the etiquette. >> you may be shobd cked but i believe he agrees with you. >> i think that japan sal exactly right. joe biden got elected to be a transigsal president. he said, i'm going to be a moderate. i'm a bridge to the future. and then once he got in there, you need the jaws of life to get him out of oval office. he should have honored his pledge that he ran on and should have said, i won't run for re- election and then had a process. had a process and kamala harris, she may have come out of that process oriole and been the nominee and been a stronger nominee. i don't disagree that president biden should have stepped down. i think he should have stepped out a year ago. >> for the record, donald trump still doesn't have as

many votes as joe biden got in the last election. >> i don't want to get into a jaws of life argument. >> i think a lot of people in america might dispute that. >> 81 million votes. remember that. >> i'm going to leave it saying that she should have been president a year ago. you say now. >> i said joe biden should have stepped down a year ago. >> right, right. you didn't quite agree on the framing. thank you all. next, trump and aoc. they could not be more different, right? you look at them. guess what! there are voters who voted trump on the top of the ticket and aoc for congress. they're out there and we found them. plus, trump said he would end the conflict in ukraine on day one. so what do russians think? plus, cracking down. 100,000 chinese student riding their bikes for 40 mile together at night. they said in search of dumplings. the chinese government is convinced it is something very

different.

voter. not only do these voters

exist. several are speaking out tonight directly to the progressive congresswoman to explain why. she said why did you do this? they're telling her. one of them saying you're focused on the real issues people care about, similar to trump populism in some ways. another saying, it's real simple. trump and you care for the working class. and a third saying, quote, i feel like you and trump are real. out front now, the congressman from minnesota. saying that president biden should have stepped aside, had a primary there and here we are. so congressman, can i start with the trump aoc voter? when i heard that and maybe some others saying, what? who are these individuals, what do they care about? aoc reached out to find out. i shared a few of their responses. you've been hearing a similar theme about maybe the overlap. the overlap between people who seem so opposite like trump and aoc. what do you see there?

>> well, i have to say as someone who has traveled the country and kept my eyes and ears and heart open, there is a palpable, massive disaffection in the country and here you have donald trump and aoc that may have very different political perspectives and backgrounds. but they're both disruptors. and there's a massive appetite in our country to disrupt a political system that increasing numbers of americans are really disgusted by. and i think it's not that surprising. people arer month focused on disruption than even policy and i think it is time for my side of the aisle particularly to wake up to that reality and the status quo is not appealing to most americans. not surprised at all. and you're right. they are working for the working class. that's the perception. and that's very powerful right now as bernie sanders noted in his note to the country a couple days ago. >> i'm going to play something bernie sanders said. i want to ask you first

about the democrats who did outperform kamala harris in states or districts that trump won. some actually won those. who are they and why? most had something in common. and i was speaking to one of them on long island and she was saying, look, the border really mattered. acknowledging that to people mattered and she put in it campaign ads. and at love those ads spoke to voters about the border crisis. >> in the marines, we always said, if you failed to plan, you're planning to fail. arizonaants know on the border, there is no plan. >> it ignored millions crossing the border. i'm fighting for what matters to us like stopping illegal immigration. >> families working with law enforcement to stop the flow. they voted 32 times to strengthen the border. don't believe the attacks. >> it's tammy baldwin i trust. >> i'm tammy baldwin and

i approve this message. >> just so different from what was on the national stage. >> some people watching may be like, what? those were democrats in they were. and those were the successful ones. >> it's so true, erin. so many of us were trying to call attention to this so long ago. and yes. by the way, just about every senate candidate, many of our congressional candidates, they all outperformed kamala harris. they represent their districts by keeping their ear to the ground, listening to people and understanding what is important to them. and right now, the democratic party does not have a very efficient mechanism by which that information can be delivered and acted upon. by the way, in the economy, i'll make this really quick. no surprise when donald trump sent checks directly to americans at a time when very few could spend them because the economy was shut down. tens of millions of

americans had more money in their bank accounts than any time in their adult lives. let's say it was $5,000. now they look at their bank account. they have $1,000. prices are higher. democrats had a year or two years to simply acknowledge that, explain it and create a proposition to overcome it. and same with the border. it has been a disaster for decades. it's not new. it's keeping ears to the ground and finally waking up to the reality and using invitation, not condemnation to win elections. it does not work. >> poignantly said. you mentioned bernie sanders. i want to ask you something about him. he was talking, kristin welker did a great job interviewing him. she asked about the calls on the far left for sonja sotomayor to step down basically so president biden could nominate her replacement and not president- elect trump. she's only 70 years old. you've heard this. so senator bernie sanders

was asked about it. here's what he said. >> should justice sotomayor step down to allow president biden to appoint someone who is younger? she's only 70 years old. is that something that you would support? do you think she should step down? >> no. i don't. >> have you heard any talk of this? >> a little bit, yes. i don't think that's a sensible approach. >> i thought it was interesting how he answered it. it was sort of a resignation and an upset at the thought that it is even out there. he acknowledged it was. do you agree with him or not? >> well, look, i think sotomayor is a wonderful jurist. age 70 is not that old in this day and age. she's also a type 1 diabetic. we all saw with ruth bader ginsburg did to build her extraordinary career,

creating an amazing legacy. ever to it all washed away by sticking around too long and as someone who believes so deeply in term limits, creating space for other americans to participate, and recognizing the consequences of sticking around too long, if the supreme court justice sotomayor, her health situation is different than some may recognize, i would hope that she would proactively step aside so yes, joe biden can appoint, at least try to, appoint somebody else. we have fallen short way too many times. we democrats, by frankly, sticking around too long as evidenced by joe biden himself. so yes, we do have an issue. if her next four years makes the circumstances complicated. it should be her decision. i wish more people in positions of power would ultimately put the country ahead of their

self-interests. if we did, we would be at loe better off on both sides of the aisle. >> i appreciate your taking the time as always, telling it like you see it. great to see you, sir. >> thank you. be well. next for the first time since trump's win, we'll take you inside russia so you will see how putin's allies are reacting to trump's victory. what they think this means. plus, john avalon is back out front. he was out on the campaign trail for nine months straight face to face with voters. what did he learn and is he still hopeful?

kim jong- un and vladimir putin signing into law a major defense agreement. coming now 11,000 north korean troops are on the ground in russia's kursk region fighting ukraine. as trump prepared to return to the white house, he's promising to pend war. what does that mean for russia? tonight fred pleitgen is in russia. >> reporter: russian state tv feasting on trump's victory. showcasing a social media post by donald trump's son, donald trump jr. , mocking ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy saying his so- called allowance from the u.s. will soon run out. the message for russian media, ukraine is concerned u.s. aid could dry up and russia will win the war. on moscow's streets, optimism about the incoming administration in washington. since the war in ukraine, relations between moscow and washington have continued to plummet to new lows.

now many people here home and believe that a new trump presidency could bring those relations back on track. [ speaking in a global language ]

>> reporter: but what could a so- called mutual understanding look like? this video showing kyiv's forces hitting russian troops in the part of russia where they say they are facing off against nearly 50,000 russian and also north korean troops. the ukrainians acknowledge they probably wouldn't be able to sustain their operations without u.s. military aid. aid donald trump has in the past insinuated he might cut altogether in an effort he claims to end the war. >> they're dying. russians and ukrainians. i want them to stop dying. and i'll have that done in 24 hours. >> reporter: a ukrainian source saying trump was joined by billionaire elon musk on a recent phone call with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. musk, who while helping ukraine by providing starling satellite internet has in the

past also criticized military aid for ukraine, ridiculing zelenskyy and posts on his platform x. the platform is vehemently denying the trump- putin phone call has already happened. still, vladimir putin openly praising the president- elect's stance on ukraine andand russia. what was said concerning the desire to restore relations to russia to help end the crisis in my opinion seems to me to be at least worthy of attention, putin said. the incoming trump administration certainly has the attention of many in russia hoping for improved relations with the u.s. and even possible sanctions relief. you know, the vibe that we're getting as we're on the ground in moscow is that for many russians, there is still a lot of uncertainty about what a trump presidency could bring. there is also a lot of hope among russians that the war in ukraine could end in the not too distant future, that it could end on terms very favorable for russia. >> all right.

thank you very much. of course, context here, you have more russians dying per day perhaps at any time during the ukrainian war. out front now, global affairs analyst and founder of the eurasia group. i'm so glad to have a chance to talk to you. i hope everyone will read your x-feed on your thoughts on all of this. you just heard putin praising trump's views on the war. and i guess there is a very basic question here. does putin think he will get everything he wants in ukraine with trump as president? >> everything sounds like an overstatement. he certainly thinks he is in a far better position than he was with biden or than he would have been with harris. for a couple of reasons. first, trump and j.d. vance have consistently campaigned on wanting to end the war. and putin is in a position to deliver that which means he can drive a harder bargain. especially because the ukrainians are on their back foot.

also, we now have members of the european union that are coming out more strongly and saying, we've got to stop providing aid. you had from orban. you've just seen it from slovakia in the last couple of hours that you wouldn't have seen that before trump won the presidency. so right now, putin understands that he has the ability man to drive a wedge in europe and start to get some normalization of relations from countries that consider him a pariah. keep in mind. this is only a g-7 policy. only a couple weeks ago, you'll remember in russia, putin was hosting pretty much every major head of state from the nonadvance industrial democracies. the leaders of the brick. now with trump he's not even isolated from the united states. that's a very big change for the kremlin. >> that's the thing. you've got him having this meeting, right?

for the brits. russia and china and many other countries. and he's talking about a multipolar world. his entire premise speak wants the decline of the west. he says it. the decline of the west. the decline of the united states. that is putin's goal. is that something that you think trump is actually going to continue to go along with? >> i don't think trump sees it that way. >> he says it though. putin says i want the decline of the west. >> let's keep in mind. the united states is certainly the most powerful country in the world today. but its relationship with its allies in many cases much moremore strained. also, more asymmetrical in favor of the u.s. the u.s. economy is a much larger share of the g- 7 than it has been over the past decade. so if you're trump, you're thinking to yourself, i don't need my allies the way i used to.

what i want is to get things that i want individually with all countries around the world and bilateral relations. i'll do it with the russians. i'll get to the north koreans. i'll do it the hard way with my fist. and i'll do it with my allies, too. so in other words, the idea that trump is going to maintain a u.s.- led order that is based on common values and multilateral alliances, that's not trump's interest. and it happens to align nicely with putin saying this is a more multipolar world. >> thank you very much. a lot to think about. >> thank you. next, john avalon is back. he's back out front after his tough race for congress. and he'll tell you why he was wrong about trump and something he saw on the campaign trail that we feel is really important for everyone to hear. plus, china targeting bicycle.

i, bicyclists who say they were on not a evening ride. china thinks it is a lot more sinister.

tonight the joe rogan election, bernie sanders who was endorsed in 2020. you heard me correctly. rogan endorsed bernie sanders in 2020 and endorsed trump this time. >> look, you can have an argument with rogan, agree with him, disagree with him. what's the problem going on the shows? it is hard for me to understand that. >> he revealed exactly what led on behind the scenes that led to vice president harris turning down an interview that would have reached 50 million people. >> i bet there is a person in there. i bet i can get to that person.

i wanted to find that person. i didn't want to hear all the speeches. i was raised middle class. i don't want to hear it. >> she's a roller skater. do you know that? >> no. i would love to find that out. i literally said, there were a few restrictions of things he didn't want to talk about. i said i don't give a [ bleep ]. they wanted to know if there's editing. no. no editing. >> back out front, cnn political analyst john avalon. he lost his race on tuesday on eastern long island. he didn't think donald trump would win again and he's not alone. i do want to talk about rogan, rogan and rogan influencers. i want to start first with your campaign. you left it all on the table. all of it. day in and day out. i hope everyone will go read it.

you talked about some of the things you saw. and one of the things that i know you write about that i hope people will read but really stood out to me is the enthusiasm the democratic voters had in a conservative district for the american flag. >> absolutely. and this is the kind of thing that gives you hope. that reminds you, maybe we're as deeply divided. democrats in particular are thirsty for this idea of, we need to reclaim the american flag because it belongs to all of us. we need to reclaim patriotism. some folks think it is something you should hold at arm's length. that america is fundamentally flawed. i think democrats want to reclaim the flag. the fact that it has back republican er. we need to be patriotic. to build a broad patriotic coalition. that's what i tried to do. >> the flag has become something that was sort of seen as something more maga. that was the sign of a problem.

something that you saw. so joe rogan, donald trump goes on his podcast. nearly 50 million views for that interview. 80% of those listening were men. harris turned it down. you just heard joe rogan talking about why. do you think that, i know joe rogan. this is the penultimate day of the whole election. joe rogan wasn't going to win it for her. but the role of influencers, her decision not to do that mattered. didn't it? >> i think it did. it is about two things. first, democrats need to get off the defense. there is a sense sometimes, tiptoeing around. the danger of going in a difficult environment which rogan may have been. it's about the authenticity of having an open debate. i think the other thing this election showed was that frankly, the role of influencers, the decentralized right wing ecosystem has a lot more power even than the ground game in terms of getting

in people's heads. and that's something i saw on the campaign trail. the entire media environment is different and i think sometimes, journalistic outfits that care about fairness find themselves getting played by the ref. they fall goo aa fairness. >> and it's fascinating you say that. in those final days, right? there was such confidence on the harris campaign. and to the extend there was a lack of confidence on the trump side which there were, they were worried that outsourcing it was a mistake. and then you see the power of the influencers and how much that actually meant. when you're out there every single day, and you have written so eloquently and you've been in politics as a republican. you've been in as an independent, a democrat now. what did you say day in and day out? the flag was one of them. there were other things. >> i think fundamentally, the fact of the middle class

squeeze that has been going on for decades is what is driving the division and anger in our politics. folks feel like they can work hard, and still not get ahead. it's thor could theme of our campaign was we need to rebuild the middle. those two things are connected. it's not a coincidence that we hollowed out the middle of our politics. until we do, i don't know that we'll have the ballast. delivering for people, if people don't feel economically secure or personally safe, everything else is secondary. >> yet you leave this with all the exhaustion that you went through with hope. >> yes. look. first of all, it's like abraham lincoln said, i'm an optimist because i don't see the point in being anything else. this process of meeting people where they are does give you the sense, even when you talk to trump voters, we may disagree

about it but they want to see the country reunite. we may be headed for a dark time when people get what they didn't necessarily expect. but my belief in it is intact. we need to lean into it. >> we'll leave on that message of home. we're thrilled to have you back. it's great to have you. next, why china is trying to stop tens of thousands of young people from riding their bike.

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with so much great entertainment out there... wouldn't it be easier if you could find what you want, all in one place? my favorites. get xfinity streamsaver with netflix, apple tv+, and peacock included, for only $15 a month. tonight, china cracking down on bike riders, calling in police, shutting down bike lanes, even locking down college campuses. it is all because of this odd thing. a viral trend among college students there, up to 100,000 at a time. just imagine something like this. the scale. biking dozens of miles to get soup dumplings. they say they're doing it for fun but the government thinks something else is going

on and will ripley is out front. >> reporter: pedalling under the glow of street lights. students have been biking here for months. most joining for the thrill. some for the popular and juicy jumbo assume dumplings. others just letting off steam under the intense pressure of finding a be enjoy . china's economy is spiraling. >> we wanted to take the challenge of riding a shared bike ride. we're only young once. >> reporter: some riders carry chinese flags. others sing the national anthem. state media even released this viral video. students chanting about their passion. then came the crackdown.

authorities closed key bike lanes this weekend citing safety and traffic concerns. bike-sharing company issued warnings. some colleges restricted students from leaving campus. all temporary measures, police say. authorities insist the situation became unmanageable. traffic disruptions from abandoned shared bikes. massive youth gatherings, all of it happening in china. an authoritarian state led by a party that itself came to power with the help of mass movements, often led by students. from tiananmen square in 1989 to the covid lockdown protests of 2022. large organized students gatherings rattled their nerves, even if participant insist they're not political. it also happened in shanghai, the site of huge halloween celebrations last year. this year, heavy crowd control.

police escorting away plenty of people in halloween costumes, one of the most conspicuous, president donald trump. >> so they're censoring us again, erin, as you can see from a live picture in beijing. it's not surprising. the imagery in this piece, particularly the students on bicycles, it's reminiscent of perhaps the spring of 1989 when students rode their bikes to tiananmen square. and we know how that ended with a massive government crackdown. it's shocking because the government initially rushed to promote this trend. they were excited to see students out there having fun, going to get the delicious soup dumplings. when it got too big, too popular, we have this. >> thank you very much. thanks to all of you for joining us.