and then move forward. >> reporter: when you come pare the numbers between trump and biden, they deported the same amount of undocumented immigrants. coming in this time, given how big and how high of expectations he set on immigration specifically, promising mass deportations, do you believe that he can fulfill those promises? >> well, that's up to him and his administration. i support getting rid of all the people that are here who already been adjudicated as criminals. they shouldn't be here. we shouldn't have this open border that's been happening since president biden reversed the stay in mexico policy. so, there's a lot that biden could have done. now president trump has to catch up. can he do a mass deportation overnight? no, of course not. but can get rid of the worst of the worst, absolutely. let's do it yesterday. >> okay. we'll see what that looks like. former senator scott brown. thank you for joining us tonight. and our coverage of

the inauguration of donald trump continues, cnn news night with ably phillip and laura coates starts right now. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ welcome to cnn special's live coverage i'm abby phillip. it's 10:00 p.m. here on the east coast in washington. donald trump is now the president of the united states yet again. and his first day has gone by fast and furious and will end with some pomp and circumstance. but for millions of americans, it's been a dramatic and very sudden change. >> and i'm laura coates. you can see the white house behind me. it now has a new occupant. tonight is a maga celebration that follows a day of checking boxes on maga priorities. trump says the american decline is over. and he put his pen to

a seemingly endless stream of executive orders, all designed to remake the country according to his vision. trump framed his ascension has liberation day. and for the people who took his talk of the stolen election seriously when they attempted to undo american democracy, he meant it literally. the president ended legitimate prosecutions of january 6th defendants. he pardoned or commuted the sentences of 1500 january 6th rioters. and i'll be speaking with one of them in just a moment. right to cnn's kaitlan collins at the commander in chief ball. kaitlan, what are we expecting to see? >> reporter: this is really more of the pomp and circumstance part of the inauguration, laura. obviously trump has been out all day starting with that meeting at the white house this morning. a trip to st. john's church. this is where they will end the inaugural festivity this evening. there are three balls happening across washington right now. there is the traffic to prove it. and many of the attendees are gathered here to see

the president and the first lady. he is going to be speaking at every single ball. and they rank in different priorities in materials some are filled with vips and the highest donors to his campaign. a lot of them are filled with supporters and republican allies are here. and celebrities who support him. you can see one of the performances happening here across washington, we just saw kid rock here to our left on stage tonight. and so, this is really more of that part of this. but underlying all of this is trump just left the white house. he was just there for a few hours for the first time since being sworn in earlier today. already carrying out a lot of those executive actions that he was planning to do. a lot of them that if you've been watching on truth social, he has been teasing much of what he did today. and of course, he was arguing today, this is just the work only beginning. and there are several things to watch including potential legal challenges to send those executive actions he signed tonight, including one attempting to get rid of birthright citizenship. obviously that's protected by the 14th amendment,

the president can't just undue the constitution. so they know that they will face legal challenges and of course, laura, this is something you'll be watching something very closely i'm sure. seeing if it does end up in front of the supreme court and where that goes. of course, in addition to the pardons for the january 6th rioters who are some of them being released from jail tonight, we believe. and also ten executive actions related to the southern border, which is one of trump's biggest campaign pledges. >> kaitlan, we'll come back to you. abby? >> thank, laura. among those pardoned by the president tonight, many of them were convicted of some of the worst crimes that were committed on january 6th. there is one rioter who hit the police officer with a metal baton, another who attacked a police officer with a fire extinguisher, a wooden plank and a pole. joining me now, though, is pam hemphill, served two months in federal prison for participating in the january 6th attacks. pam, thank you very much for being here. you've been on the show a

number of times. talked about your experience, your regret over your involvement. but now will you accept a pardon from president trump if you receive one? >> oh, no. that would be an insult to our capitol police officers and to the rule of law. i broke the law. i pleaded guilty because i was guilty. and we know all of them are guilty. i'm still in shock. i'm not surprised because trump is sending a message to the doj that the lie he had been putting out there, that the doj was weaponized against him and the j6ers, which we know is not true, but this is a sad day. i'm still trying to process all this. the ramifications of this is going to be horrifying. >> yeah. what are the ramifications, do you think? what message is the president sending by pardoning 1500 people, commuting the sentences of some of the people

committed -- who were convicted of the most serious crimes? what message is he sending? >> oh, he's sending -- again, like i said to the doj, that they're weaponized against him and his followers. which is not true. i've studied all their cases and they tell you one thing and then you read the court records and it's totally different. every one of them gaslight you and try to have you feel sorry for them, that the capitol police attacked them, they were the victims that day. they were not the victims. they were the perpetrators. it was an insurrection. they know exactly what they were doing. it's just so difficult to wrap around my head right now that trump could let these criminals out. and they had criminal records before january 6th. they're very dangerous people. especially ryan samsill and the proud boys and the oath keepers. oh my god. the oath keeper's wife had to

go in hiding. these are dangerous people. and what i see, this is what my feeling is, that these peaceful protests will not be able to be peaceful. because you know the proud boys go out there and start trouble. they're white supremacists. and it will be really hard for people to go out there and protest now because i think he'll send them out there. >> are you worried at all that you'll be criticized by maga world for refusing a pardon or perhaps even targeted for having a pardon revoked or having you not be in this number of people who the president has decided to pardon tonight? >> oh, no. i had a smear campaign going on for a year and a half. i've had death threats. i went and saw my probation officer because they called her and been trying to get me in trouble. oh, no. i'm so used to this. it doesn't matter, though. you have to be -- this is part of my amends, to stand up to the facts of what really happened on january 6th. to stop the gaslighting.

and all the lies that's been perpetrated out there for their own benefits. as you know, most of them have made some of them over $100,000 just by all their lies that they're putting out there. but, i don't want to be a part of them trying to rewrite history. so i would not take a pardon. it would be an insult to the capitol police and the rule of law and to our nation. >> what do you say to the people who argue that there are some people who were treated unfairly in this process. i keep hearing republicans say well they were grandmothers who just walked in or maybe they just destroyed a little bit of property. maybe you are among the people described in that way. what do you say to those people who say these people have been overly punished for minor indiscretions on january 6th? >> that capitol was closed down ÷÷to everybody. it was illegal to be there. that's reality. that's a fact. i don't care if you just

walked around. it was against the law. period. it doesn't matter what you did or didn't do that day. you had a choice. i had a choice. i'm not a victim of january 6th. i'm a volunteer that stayed and i didn't leave. and i regret this to this day. i'm still trying to make amends for ever being there that day. but no, they do that. they try to have you feel sorry for them, that they're victims. no, they had a choice that day. they just don't want to grow up and face it. and they got all these enablers around them telling them, oh, the doj has been weaponized against us and they're saying they never got due process. well, i researched the court recordings. every single one of them had due process. so they've lied about everything that's out there. and it's been fact checked. it's just following trump. and of course, this is trump's message to the doj.

that the doj has been weaponized against him. and if he didn't pardon them, he would be agreeing that the doj wasn't weaponized against the j6ers who he had to pardon. this is his message. >> there are are real victims of january 6th. officers whose names people are not talking about. they've been maimed. they've been permanently injured, physically, psychologically, families who have officers who didn't make it past that week of january 6th as a result of their injuries. what do you say to those families now that donald trump has taken this step and we're all full circle now, it's four years later? >> they are the heroes. and i hope that somebody is listening and will put up that plaque that they refuse -- it's already been approved. for the officers that day. they are the heroes.

they have been through more than we could even imagine, more than i've been through. they were the innocent ones. they were doing all they could to save everyone, even me. they stepped on me, on my head and tried to kill me. i wasn't breathing. but the capitol police officers took time to help me. they were trying to help and save lives that day. just know that you are the heroes. we know who the criminals are. and i feel really bad for you and what you're going through. but just know there's thousands, millions of us that look up to you, honor you and appreciate everything you did that day on january 6th to save everybody and save our democracy. >> and pam, as you probably know, president biden before he left office, he issued a number of pardons for members of the january 6th committee, people who testified as well as the lawmakers and the staff who participated in that investigation. do you think that was the right

decision? >> absolutely. however, i know what they're going through because they are innocent. their not like me. i was guilty. okay. so i shouldn't take pardon from anybody. however, they are innocent. but trump is so dangerous. i'm glad the pardons were given. i hope they take them. i hope they took him. he cannot be counted on for anything he put out there. he has a plan b. where it's michael flynn and now bundy. they have plan b they believe under the constitution they can form their own grand jury and arrest officials and put them on trial for treason. and you know what happens with treason. and this is going out. there's a video that ivan put out today. he said if you're on that list with biden, you're now on the top of our list. and we're coming after you. so they need to be

careful because they're not done. they're out for revenge no matter what. >> well, pam hemphill, thank you very much. we appreciate you joining us. you've been on many times with me. and you always are very transparent about your role in all of this. and your regret for what you did on that day. it's interesting now to see all of these other people just walking away scotch free. thank you very much, pam. laura? >> thank you. >> really fascinating conversation, abby. i want to go to our cnn correspondent donie o'sullivan outside the detention center where some of the january 6th rioters are being held. and very well may be released tonight. donie, what's happening there? >> reporter: hey, laura. yeah, we're just about a mile or two away from the u.s. capitol itself. and here actually for more than 900 nights, more than the last 900 nights january 6th activists i guess supporters of the

people who have been sent to prison, who have been found guilty of crimes that they committed on january÷÷ 6th, 202 1, those activists have been gathering here holding a vigil every night. so tonight the vibe here, the feeling here is extraordinarily celebratory, it's jubilant. we have been speaking to a lot of these activists for quite some time now. everybody wanted trump to pardon everyone, right? from violent, nonviolent, from oath keeper, proud boy, on down. but i think there was always a nervousness here that, you know, he may succumb to pressure from even within the republican party. people were saying he shouldn't pardon folks who engaged in violence, people who beat up cops on january 6th. so i think there was even a the activists when they heard the news just a few hours ago. really of this broad set of pardons. now what is expected to happen

tonight, we have been given very little information. it was a pretty big crowd gathered here. and they're watching very closely the front doors of the d.c. jail where they expect -- we think there's maybe 10 to 20 j6ers in this facility and folks expect them to come out tonight. we were speaking to actually on the phone earlier tonight rachel powell, who is a woman. she's serving -- she was found guilty on multiple counts for what she did on january 6th including breaking a window at the capitol with a pick ax. she called us tonight from inside that jail. she said folks are obviously very excited. they want to get out tonight. and she said that if she gets out, she plans on trying to attend one of the inaugural balls in the city tonight. so just really quite surreal

scene here tonight. whether folks will actually come through the doors tonight remains to be seen. certainly none of these people are going anywhere unless some folks get out tonight. >> donie, this is fascinating. we'll see how this unfolds this evening and a lot of reaction in washington and across the country. we'll stay close to you. cnn's jeff zeleny is actually at the white house. as you all know, at the white house he signed these 1500 pardons for the january 6th defendants. what did he say? >> laura, one of the first official acts that president trump took while walking into the oval office, back into the seat of power, was indeed that mass pardon. as you said, and it was the ultimate step in whitewashing the history of january 6 th. it was the really end of an extraordinary day when you think back to where president trump began the day, walking into the east front of the capitol. i was standing just a few feet away, walking him and president biden walk in just right by the

windows that were broken in, that were breached that day on january 6th. to have him ending the day here, you know, going through his pledge to pardon and commute the sentences. but it's far more than many republicans were comfortable with. so we will see how this sort of shakes out in the days ahead. he signed a lot of executive orders, a lot of action. this is the return of a very different type of executive. he throws a lot of things out at once. we saw immigration executive orders, a variety of things. but this is something that, you know, certainly when we take a step back and look what brought us here over the last four years, it is an extraordinary move tonight. it's a sweep and it's a breath. there's no doubt that the attorney general nominee, pam bondi was asked about this at her confirmation hearings just last week. she demured a bit. she has not been confirmed yet. we'll see if there's

more questions on that front. donie said, people could be walking tonight. the issue is not dividing between the nonviolent offend, the violent offenders, giving that mass pardon issue, that is not what some people at least expected. perhaps they should have been. that's what president trump has been talking about at campaign rallies, every one we have gone to over the last two years. >> unbelievable to think about the breadth, the scope. i want to bring in to discuss all of this, former assistant u.s. attorney kim wayly, also senior political correspondent. good to have you both here. we know a lot of these actions took place at the white house. kim, many people talked about the pardons. i wonder which he'll pardon, the violent offenders. it was a very broad stroke. you surprised that he pardoned or commuted or dismissed all of those january 6th cases? >> yes and no. i mean, donald trump duds things that are somewhat

surprising. the traditional criteria for a pardon under the department of justice guidelines excludes pardons for people who can go on to commit violent offenses. so that is antithetical to the idea of the pardon. i did think he might sort people based on loyalty. we had a guest who has said publicly that january 6th was not a proud day, that we have people that have rejected the big lie, but this is a moment where he's pulling all that together and essentially saying i should have been here the last four years and now it's my rule of law. it really does undermine that idea of law under -- government by rule. >> it is his prerogative to think about it. but the idea of all of the scope of it, there was a split screen earlier today while he was talking about getting ready to sign the executive -- or the pardons for these people. he was ing about hostages. and the backdrop where the families of israeli

hostages. many people were looking at that with discomfort for obvious reasons the term that was consistent. but politically, it doesn't seem that trump is concerned at all about the optics of this. do you think that it has any connection to the fact that biden issued his own preemptive pardons today and some gave him pardon? >> yeah, i think president trump was planning to pardon the january 6th rioters. i think he always felt that if hay ended up in prison, even the ones involved in violent crimes, it would always be a reflection on him. i do think he wanted to absolve them of their sins in turn absolve himself. split screen is jarring. elon musk and the signal he sent out to supporters. but i think donald trump did what he said he was going to do. i think he always knew he was going to do this. and sure, it was not a great

day for justice. you could say that. the biden family, getting preemptive pardons for a date back in 2014. you know, what is that all about. why did it start on january 1 st, 2014. i understand that he's afraid that the trumps will go after him because trump has promised justice. right? they have said justice will happen on day one. but it's not a great start. or end. it's not a great day for justice. >> talk to me about this. you have written a book on pardons. biden went to great lengths to try to write in the statement about how it's not an admission of guilt. he is anticipating the things you're talking about. you have this concern about a preemptive pardon and what that means at least to members of congress who are part of that committee adam schiff and kinzinger said they didn't want the pardon. they have done nothing wrong. yet it's out there. how do you see those

preemptive pardons and how they compare to trump essentially undoing a lot of work of the prosecutors? >> yeah. it's like the clash of the pardons. you know, i think the preemptive pardons given donald trump's promise to use the justice department in an unprecedented way as a mechanism for his own personal political retribution just like the hunter biden pardon, it makes sense to do it to protect certain people. now, given that joe biden went on and pardoned five more of his family members and left a lot of people vulnerable, right? didn't include witnesses on january 6th, didn't include judge merchan, the other judges, jack smith. >> jack smith. >> latitia james, grand jurors, jurors and let's keep in mind, he's now -- donald trump in charge of the justice department, all those records, internal confidential grand jury records, witnesses, people who cooperated with the justice department in connection with the donald trump prosecutions, you know, it could be open season to some degree on

them and it's expensive to defend this stuff, laura. you know, the lawyers in washington are very expensive. even if there's really no there there. >> i was also thinking to myself, trump did have the option to prepardon his own family on his way out. he had the option to prepardon all the january 6th rioters. >> some thought he might have. >> he didn't have the political mandate. it just shows the force he's coming in with he thinks he d do this and he believes he can take these controversial measures starting out and be very little pushback not just from corporate america but from the hill. you're really not hearing that much of a resistance going on right now. he seems to have this power and he realize it may be limited. he left office on a very low note and he probably thought i can't pull this off. >> abby, doesn't do a lot of favors for people who now wanted to invoke the fifth, they cannot. there's no criminal prosecution threat which means congress could technically get information from them and subpoena them for testimony. we'll see what happens. really important looming

question even today on day one. >> yeah. they could. however, this congress i think is a question whether they would want to do this. thanks, laura. back in the studio here. paula, talk to us about the people who are on this short list of commutations. i find this very interesting. what should we take away from why they were not immediately pardoned and what is trump reserving the right to do at a later date? >> so what they're going to do is review the commutations. folks who didn't get a full blown pardon but their sentence is gone now. released from prison if they in prison or no longer have any of the pun irkment that was applied. they'll review these cases. this is process small p. two months i've been asking trump sources when vice president vaps or president trump said they may make exceptions for people engaged in violence. how are you going to that out. no one could really explain it to me.

they said we don't want to be a case by case analysis. that takes time. we want to do this on day one. i was surprised how broad the pardons were. and then you have this shorter list of commutations that's i think even shorter than i would have expected it to be because some of the folks who got pardoned are those who assaulted and attacked police officers. there could be more people pardoned on that list of commutations. it will be interesting to see if additional people get relief on that short list. it's a very, very short list. >> everybody else, including people who were violent, who assaulted police officers, were pardoned. >> yes. >> just before we bring everybody else in, i just want to say one thing, we're going to have this discussion about the january 6th pardons. this is a no false equivalency zone. we will talk about joe biden later in the show. but i want to talk about this right now because i think these conversations have been getting kind of confused because everybody is like, what about this? what about that? we're talking about the january 6th pardons.

donald trump gave blanket pardons becausically with the exception of a couple handful of people, including people who were violate and including people who assaulted police officers. scott, why is that okay? >> well, if you were donald trump you would say i think these people were in many cases unfairly charged or overcharged. i made a promise and i kept it. that's going to be -- >> do you think that's true? >> look, i think that most of these people, vast majority of these people paid a deep price. i didn't like what they did. i didn't like the day it happened. i don't like it today. but they did pay a price. most went to jail. served a term. were financially ruined. had their lives effectively ruined by this process. there's no question they faced consequences. i think if he were arguing it out, he would say i don't agree with the way they were handled by the justice department and it's my prerogative -- >> i'm not asking you what donald trump's position is. i'm asking you as a person, as

a republican, as a uman being, these were people who committed a crime. the government has distinct interest in ever happening again. don't you think there's a responsibility for that to remain on their record for people to take responsibility, for them -- for the country to understand there's no get out of jail free card if you try something like that again? >> they all faced punishment. >> scott -- >> they all faced punishment. >> we're watching the president and the first lady walk out on to the stage at the ball. i just want to show you what we're listening to and watching here on our screen. we'll get back to our conversation in just a moment. but this is the commander in chief ball in washington, d.c. this is the main ball, the premier ball of the night and the president is there in a tuxedo. the first lady is there in a beautiful gown. kaitlan collins is in the room. tell us what you're seeing and hearing there. >> reporter: yeah, abby.

this is the first of three inaugural balls that the president and the first lady will go to tonight. obviously people watched this. this is the first time seeing them in their formal aentire in this evening after trump was sworn in earlier at the capitol. they had a very long day obviously of events and festivities to go to. john berman, you have been watching this crowd. they have been waiting for hours. just reminder, this is a lot of political people, military people here tonight watching this first dance. >> this is the first dance. absolutely the moment that everyone in this room has been waiting for. you can see the phones going up to film it. let's listen. ♪ ♪ ♪÷÷ glory, glory, hallelujah ♪ ♪ it's truth is marching on ♪

>> please welcome, vice president jd vance accompanied by second lady busha vance. ♪÷÷ hush little baby don't you cry ♪ >> marines and soldiers and sailers and all kinds of service people in a way the least political of the balls here. >> jd vance is missing a very important football game right now in the fourth quarter, jack berman. >> i have no knowledge of any football game that might be happening right now, kaitlan. >> he did tweet right after that it was clear that ohio state was going to the national championship. but looks like they might be on their way to securing that. we'll see what that looks like. but this is our first look at both of the first couples here. and obviously just even still as someone who covered trump eight years ago, it's remarkable to see that it is not vice president pence up there.

obviously so much history has happened since then. the january 6th pardons play a big role in that. we're seeing how fundamentally different this trump term will look like in part because of that. >> very, very different. and of course, when you're looking at the vice president and his wife, you're looking at a generational difference from the president of the united states. i know a lot of republicans were looking at today as a look into the future of the republican party. the beyond donald j. trump and many of the people saw that future in jd vance. ♪ ♪ ♪÷÷ glory, glory, hallelujah ♪ >> i should note they are each dancing with different members of different parts of the u.s. military. >> it's a pretty bold service member who taps the president on the shoulder and says

do you mind if i cut? >> of course, this is the commander in chief ball. and also a lot of military here in the crowd. i'll note we also saw pete hegseth earlier, trump's pick to run the defense department. not yet confirmed. but potentially on his way there. >> it's very hard to hear in here. it is so loud, kaitlan. yes, we did see pete hegseth who did secure a committee approval inside the senate today. to be the next secretary of defense. and he was shaking hands. he was very popular here, being cheered by everyone in this crowd. there is a lectern set up. and we do expect remarks

shortly from the president of the united states. ♪ ♪ >> and obviously jd vance himself, vice president, was in the military, served as a u.s. marine. in the view and the lens of this being the commander in chief ball, a lot of military here in the room watching this. trump now being sworn in as commander in chief. let's listen to what he has to say. we heard from him several times publicly today. we'll see what he has to say to the supporters in the room and also the members of the u.s. military. >> well, thank you very much. this is a great honor. we have a lot of space force here by the way. a lot of space force. we're very proud of space force. but there's nowhere else i would rather be tonight than with some of the greatest american patriots of all. the men and women of

the united states military. thank you very much this is quite a gathering. huh? it's a celebration because we're going to turn our country around. we're going to make america great again. i had no higher privilege in life than to serve as your commander in chief. not once but twice. [ cheers and applause ]. and you're incredible. and the people of our -- the people of our country respect you and they love you so much. you don't see it. you don't hear about it too much. but they love you just so much you wouldn't even belief it. so thank you very much. they're honored to have you. we are joined this evening by the service members from every branch of the u.s. armed forces. army, navy, air force, coast guard, marines and space force. and i salute you all. let me also thank our

incredible military spouses, what you have to put up with. they put up with a lot. and family members here tonight, we have so many and so many brilliant families. and you do more than anyone else to support our nation's heroes and on behalf of every american i want to thank you very much. we have some people with us tonight, you know. we have the head of the republican party and we won and then she said, all right. dad, i think that's enough for me now. let's win and let's go to something else. she wants to get back to her beautiful babies. but she's married to a guy known as my son, eric trump. laura was essentially chairman along with michael wattly of the republican party. and they were tough. they weren't going to stand for any nonsense. and they did a fantastic job. and we won every single swing state.

we won the -- you know we won the popularity. we were the most popular candidate in a long time. and i have to tell you, with the military, we really won. [ cheers and applause ]. we really won. i want to thank obviously a tremendous supporter of yours. if i ever got out of line, she would get me right back in line when it comes to you. melania, first lady. she has been fantastic first lady. and our vice president, you know him well, he's all about you. he's a big believer in our military. jd vance and usha. i have other family members. don is there.

ivanka. where is ivanka. we have a lot of family members. tiffany is here. barron was with us today. he's that tall one i will tell you. and he's doing a good job. but today we celebrate the enduring strength and resilience of our glorious republic. and so it's highly appropriate that we also honor the men and women who keep us safe. and that's what you are. your bravery -- your bravery inspires us. your service unites us. your sacrifice and spirit protect us all. we made a little speech today. i think you probably saw it. who did see it or hear it? did anybody? well, i think we said a lot. and we said more than anything else that we love you. we respect you so much. and we have a big commitment to each and every one of you starting today, america will be stronger and greater than it's ever been before.

that's happening today. that was a big win. that was a tremendous win. we all worked hard for it. and a big part of the reason that i won was because of my relationship with you. so, we appreciate it. under the leadership of our next secretary of defense, who i just saw pete hegseth, who is fantastic. where is pete? i saw him back stage. i don't know. so many people. how do you find anybody in this crowd? this is a big crowd. but if pete is around, if pete can hear this, come on up here, pete. but we will again build the most powerful military in the world has ever seen. we're going to have it -- you know, we did that four years ago. and then it was a little dissipated. but we're going to do it again but much bigger, much stronger than ever before. we're also doing the iron dome, all made in america. we're going to have a nice iron

dome. you're going protect us with the use of the iron dome. instead of worrying about political agendas, you don't have to worry about that at all. there's only one focus defeating america's enemies. we're not going to be defeated. we're not going to be humiliated. we're only going to win, win, win. we're going to win, win, win. and we really do have some just incredible people working with us. so, i've been looking around for generals like george patton, douglas mcarthur, ulysses grant. his stock has gone up. they used to say bad things about him. now all of a sudden he is very well respect plchd ed. but we're going to win like many other ways. many ways. the economy. the economy is going to be strong. we're not going to let all of our nations, our friendly and unfriendly nations push us around from any standpoint, including the economy, because we have something that

they don't have. we have a power that they don't have. liquid gold under our feet. the likes of which no other nation has. yet as i said in my inaugural address, we will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars we end and perhaps most importantly the wars we never get into. it's called peace through strength. we won't have to fight the war. right? we don't have to fight the wars if we can do it without fighting, as long as we have total victory, we do it without fighting through our power and might we will lead the world to peace. our friends will respect us. our enemies will fear us. and the whole world will admire the unrivalled greatness of the united states' military. and i will tell you, we made big strides. we totally rebuilt the united states military, 2017, 2019,

2018. we rebuilt the entire u.s. military. and now we're going to do it again. a lot of it has been dissipated by people that don't know what the hell they're doing. but we're going to do it again. and this is going to be the dawn of the golden age of america. this is the golden age of america. and tonight i'm filled with optimism for what lies ahead over the next four years. we will replenish the pride of our armed forces, end the recruitment crisis. by the way, the recruitment numbers are through the roof in the last two months. i wonder why? why? i don't know. why the hell are they -- you know you have a little problem with recruitment. that's not good. and now the numbers are higher than they've just about -- you know why? they love what they see for the future of our country. and they didn't love what they

were sighing for the last four years. it was ridiculous. it's a big thing. big story of recruiting has gone really through the roof. that's good. i want to thank every service member here tonight and across the globe to know that you're at the heart of america's greatness. it's an exceptional honor to join you again in serving this magnificent nation that we all love and that we're going to make greater, better, bigger, stronger. we're going to make it something that even you will be surprised. you'll see that. and it's going to be led by our great military, the strength of our military. we're going to make our military so strong that we don't have to use it. wouldn't that be good? we don't have to use it. they'll look at us and they'll say no way. there's no way we're going after that one. so i want to just say to you, god bless you. god bless our armed forces. god bless our men and women serving overseas and got

bless the united states of america. thank you. [ cheers and applause ]. thank you very much. ♪ ♪ >> we have been listening to president trump addressing the commander in chief ball here. it's a room filled with a lot of his supporters but also a lot of the u.s. military there, john. he was talking about what he wants to do with the pentagon. we talked a lot understandably about what he wants to do when it comes to immigration, the january 6th pardons but the pentagon is certainly another area to focus on. and one thing that trump has been -- the pardon that came for general mark milley. >> i have no idea how we're getting him on the screen. i have been waiting for it for about two -- oh, here it comes. no, that's a cake. hello, everybody.

how are we doing over there? how is kim jong- un doing? how are you? that's a good- looking group of people, isn't it? thank you for being with us. >> can you hear us? >> yes, i hear you fine. >> sir, i'm lieutenant chris of the eighth army. this is command star robin. we're based in camp humphry south korea. united states bedrock. protection of both homeland sir. we're proud and honored to stand before you today representing our incredible team here in korea. we're deeply grateful for this opportunity for this occasion. sir, on behalf of the brave men and women who serve under my command and thousands of dedicated service members that are part of the joint team in korea, congratulations on your victory as the 47th

president of the united states. welcome back, mr. president. sir, we would be privileged to host you here in korea soon. you can see the firsthand of our soldiers here. our formations are, our fight tonight focus and our ironclad commitment to the defense of korea and our homelands. to meet the families who serve alongside our war fighters, sir. >> how about that. so could i ask you how is it going in south korea? you have somebody with pretty bad intentions. you would say that. although i developed a pretty good relationship with him. but he's a tough cookie. how is it going over there? how is it doing? >> sir, everyday we train, stay hard and we plan for anything that you possibly could need us to do. >> and you are watching president trump and vice president vance there talking to u.s. troops stationed in

south korea. getting a check in with them here as we're at the commander in chief ball john berman. and obviously the president spoke briefly to everybody in the room. what stood out to you? >> two things. one he is literally talking to troops in south korea asking them how are things going with kim jong-un? which is an interesting thing to think about the people who are in there, in that country to defend largely against the possibility of north korean aggression to ask them that right now in this public setting is interesting. the other thing that's interesting in this room, kaitlan, as you said, look, president trump said he is going to radically change the u.s. military and he's going to make the military strong so the u.s. doesn't have to fight wars, but the same time today, for the first time in my life time, for the first time in generations, he also talked about territorial expansion. and you do wonder what the military, what the men and women who may have to be involved with that think about that. >> yeah. the panama canal, obviously was one big part of that.

he was very frustrated about the treaty that was signed by president jimmy carter, returning control of the panama canal to panama. something that ronald reagan was upset with but never really sought to overturn it, to change. trump was blatantly arguing today that that was not how he was going to handle this. and also talking about greenland making the case again in the on the floor office tonight saying he believes it's a national security for the united states to have control of it. all of that is something that we heard from people like john bolton who say maybe the greenland part is not such a bad idea but it's that trump said he is not going to rule out usingusing u.s. military force in order to do so. >> no, actually the word territorial expansion and using the words was he referring to space, territorial terrestrial gains. little unclear. but words that i don't think the military is used to hearing. right now he's talking about the giant cake. there is a huge cake on that stage behind us. >> yeah. shaped after air force one

here as the commander in chief is now going to do that. and i should note, this is one of three balls that president trump will be attending tonight along with first lady melania trump, vice president jd vance and second lady usha vance. we'll continue to monitor all of them in donald trump's first day in office. he noted for the second time as the commander in chief. much more in a moment. we'll take a quick break.

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terms of removing from the wall and maybe frechb the history books. but the fact is that the rank and file are going to do their job. but they're also going to be paying attention to this. and it's going to impact moral especially if these kinds of things continue. so that's going to be i think something that the new administration is going to have to thread that needle and they're going to have to do it very carefully if they're going to maintain the moral of the troops. >> it appears the white house is the one to order this removal. it had to be cleaned. it was quite intentional. right? >> they're happy to send that message. >> even though at the risk of perhaps alienating or rubbing people the wrong way? >> i don't think that's how trump this is about those sorts of things.

his posture currently is he's rather elited and he's feeling at the height of his power. and he's going to exercise it. and this is one method of him doing that. >> you know, mark, on this point, milley thanked biden for the pardon he gave him today. i do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might secretory bougs for perceived slights. is that the reason you think biden did this? >> oh, clearly. i was surprised that out of all the pardons that biden did, including his own family members when he sort of four years ago suggested that's a bad idea that he didn't proactively pardon jack smith, the prosecutor in the case. but it was pretty clear, at least as of last month or the month before last that biden was thinking about people who could be prosecuted or investigated who had helped him or his administration that he was going to pardon. so milley rose to the top of the

list so did anthony fauci. >> the two couldn't have done more different jobs in the country in their tenure. same pardon sheet pete hegseth is on his way likely to being confirmed as defense secretary. obviously a pardon is the end of the road for a criminal prosecution on the federal level. would hegseth have any control over any investigations into milley even now? >> potentially. depends on how broad the pardon is from president biden. this is an unusual case from a military justice standpoint. there's always a chance that you know something could be found where a person is especially general officer is recalled to active duty. i think it's unlikely in this particular case. and i think the pardon is probably broad enough so that that won't happen. but, it's definitely something that should concern general

milley and anybody who is part of the joints chief of staff at that time. >> you can imagine again the pardon does not say you cannot testify for civil matters now. it removes that fifth amendment protection you would otherwise have. you can bet if the fact finding mission persists, congress might wants in. gentlemen, thank you so much for joining me in this wonderful cold of washington, d.c. abby, in that beautifully warm studio. what's up? >> i am thinking warm thoughts for you, laura coates. thank you very much. coming up next for us, change is coming to washington. we have much more special live coverage from the second trump inaugural. we're live outside the d.c. center where some of the january 6th rioters are being held and may very well be released tonight. much more ahead.

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♪ well, day one of the second trump administration is nearly done. we just watched maybe the moment of the we just watched the newly minted couple watching and for the first dance of this administration. and while celebrations here in washington will run long into the night, there's a palpable anxiety about what is already transpired and what will happen when the country wakes up tomorrow.