inaugural balls tonight after he signed all those executive orders, as you see there. kaitlan? >> yeah, anderson, i'm at one of the balls we expect president trump to come to. he is still at the white house right now as his day has been a little bit delayed. obviously he was in the oval office for much longer than people anticipated, signing the orders, or rescinding actions that president biden took like withdrawing from the world health organization, the paris climate accords in addition to the january 6th pardons. one's related to immigration. he is attempting to get rid of the birthright citizenship which is guaranteed as we know by the 14th amendment. everyone said that's going to face a lot of legal challenges. but anderson, based on our reporting, that's exactly the point that the white house team wants to essentially pursue here, because they believe they face enough legal challenges and get this in front of the supreme court, that they can potentially be successful there. so they have been thinking through all of these

executive orders for months now. what you saw president trump signing there in the oval office. and if you noticed the person who is handing him all of those executive orders, that is the staff secretary who goes into the white house, of course, handles all the paper movement going in and out of the paper office, the flow of, that it's normally not a very household recognizable name for that position, but it was the last time trump was in office because there was always such a question among senior staff over how certain executive orders got on his desk. and some aides later acknowledged they would find executive orders on his desk and remove them from there because they did not want him to sign them. it was never a formalized process like in other white houses. and that was will sharp, who was formerly the attorney general of missouri, but also donald trump's attorney who represented him and argued before the supreme court on several cases. he is now one of several personal attorneys that trump is bringing into his administration that was standing there with him as he was taking all these

questions, signing all these executive orders, and really, you know, reprising a role that we saw often saw trump occupy the first time he was in the white house which was the extended q&a sessions. people who went to court, were convicted by evidence, or either plead guilty to this. >> without question, when you actually get down to fact of a mass pardon and shine the light on what is actually the consequences of that, it is much different than just a saying at a rally, as he has been doing for the last couple of years that i'm going to pardon the january 6th

hostages. we have said endless times they are not hostages. but kaitlan, i am struck by from being on capitol hill this morning to being at a rally this afternoon with trump supporters and hearing all of them talk about support for law enforcement, watching the new president watch a color guards from police forces and pledge their loyalty to them. the actions tonight stand in stark contrast to that. but it's the mass pardon i think and the commutation of the 14 sentences that is much more extreme than some people actually thought he would do. some supporters of his thought he would stop pretty well short of doing that. but the hours after he got the power to do this, he said what he would long do, and he in fact did it. so certainly the consequences and the fallout from this will be interesting on both sides of the aisle, not just from drachlts democrats. >> yeah, i think it was j.d.

vance a matter of days ago that the line would be drawn for assault on law enforcement. we'll see what he says about this now. thanks, jeff zeleny. i want to get more on the 14 commutations. cnn's chief legal affairs correspondent paula reid joins me now. when we look at the scope of these pardons, out of everything we've gotten today from president trump with the january 6th pardons and then president biden i think pardoning more members of his family than any other president has done before, i mean, this entire game here ofof and commutations from the oval office is changed. >> yeah, it's a pardonpalooza, kaitlan. let's start from the pardons by former president biden that was a shock to many. when i reached out to the trump legal team, they didn't think i was serious that biden had pardoned his entire family. we heard they were contemplating folks who investigated january 6th, dr. fauci, folks who

trump had signaled he might want to investigate. but pardoning his family, that really is a surprise. folks talk a lot about the precedent this sets. you don't really need a precedent to pardon anyone in your family or otherwise. presidential pardon power is absolute. it can't be challenged in court. that's what we saw president biden doing here, using an expansive use of his clemency powers. we've been asking for two months now, his legal advisers how broad will this clemencyclemenc y january 6th be. even though vice president vance, president biden said they wanted to make exceptions for people out of control or violent, today this was much more broad than even i anticipated. here he is issuing over 1200 pardons which includes some violent offenders who assaulted police officers. and even those 14 commutations, they're going to be reviewed. there could be more pardons to come. they just wanted to put a little bit of process in place to review those cases, even though they didn't want to go case

by case by case. the rest of the cases will be dismissed. so this will go down in the history books. this will be studied by pardon experts as both the former president and the current president using a very expansive definition of clemency. but again, they can do this. this power is absolute. there are no known limits on the presidential pardon power. >> that's a really good point, paula, there are there could be more to come. anderson, i think it's important to note that as trump is viewing these through the lens of these january 6th rioters, he is viewing it through the lens of his own legal troubles. and that's really what has inspired a lot of the way he views this. he thinks he was treated unfairly by the justice system with his indictments. he argues that so were the people who were convicted, even though there is video evidence and you can see them themselves. and a lot of the cases they pleaded guilty here in these cases. but a lot of it has to do with how trump himself has been treated by the justice system. >> we should also point out he is lying about outside

agitators indicating antifa or oryou know, others who his supporters have you know, id'd or claimed were involved. no evidence of that whatsoever, also indicating the fbi was behind it or deeply involved. kaitlan, we'll come back to you. back with the panel. joining us is cnn legal analyst and former fell prosecutor elliot williams. he is here with the deputy assistant attorney general. are you surprised by the scope? >> i was not. let's go back to what paula said. the pardon power is absolute as laid out in the constitution. it's probably i think the only power given to any of the branches of government, the courts, congress that has so few limits on it. given the fact that president trump now said quite clearly ortized that he was planning on pardoning any number of these individuals, it should not come as a surprise he took advantage of basically the

freebie that the constitution gives the president of the united states. so no, i'm not surprised. >> scott? >> well, watching donald trump's day today, i'm just struck by the fact that we have a president again. and look at this guy's day. free speeches, 196 executive actions, holds a 90- minute press conference, narrating each one as he goes along. i mean, joe biden could not and would not offer the kind of transparency or vigor to the american people we got here on day one from trump. tonight trump is going to throw on a tux and go to three balls. he is having an active day. i think it's going to be a massive amount of contrast here for a presidency, what we saw out of trump and biden. i was watching trump today and van and i were watching him walk down the hall of the capitol. and the words that came to mind were gritty, resilient, determined, and audacious. there is not like a more perfect

advertisement for the value of these qualities in modern america. you think about all the things that happened to him, winning, losing, the court cases, nearly being assassinated, it's rather audacious, winning this election and taking office today. and, you know, you said you were in shock. republicans are in awe. >> the pardons, what's your take on this? >> here's what i think. were these people punished? yes. were they ruined financially? ey yes. did they spend time in jail? yes. have their lives been ruined? absolutely. and one of you said earlier, van, or ax, you think the system is terrible that you can get away with things like this. as though we've never had a moment in american history where people were not punished for rampaging around for something they should be. and those people were never even charged. >> that's not true at all. >> those charges were not -- >> but i do see it

differently in that i don't like it when people tear up buildings at all. i'm not a part of some pro riot, pro crime lobby. but i really don't like when people attack police officers. i really don't like it at all. i'm the son of a police officer, my uncle is a police officer. i don't like it at all. if you attack a police officer, before you get any lenience or you get any support from this society, you should apologize, and they didn't. that's wrong. and you yourself and others said you would have a problem if the violent ones were let go. >> i conceded. i agree. >> and that's my problem tonight. >> i agree. i don't like the idea of specifically the people that attacked police. i'm agreement with you on that. but i do think it is important to note that these people, whatever they did, whether it was accidentally walking in or doing something much, much worse, you can correct me if i'm wrong, most if not all of them did get punished, serve some kind of time.

and my assumption is all have had their lives ruined. >> there are hundreds not tried yet. >> i think it's around 300 who have not gone though trial yet. >> i don't know, scott. we sat here together after january 6th, and you were eloquent about how you felt about what you saw. and i felt the same way. and, again, i go back to the point i made before. i think there were people there who were bent on violence. there are people there who belong to white nationalist organizations, leaders of them were among those whose had their sentences commuted or they were pardoned tonight. we'll see when all the smoke clears how they're classified. but that wasn't just -- i think assaulting police officers was a, you know, an egregious affront, but assaulting

the process of certifying a free and fair election was also an egregious affront, rampaging through a building that you and i both revere was an egregious affront. so for the president to call them hostage s s and to essentially blanket excuse their behavior is part and parcel of the original sin, which was his assertion without evidence that he day to say that that election was stolen from him. they were actually acting on his -- on his representations. so, you know, i think the whole thing -- i agree he was energetic today. he projected the message he wanted to on a whole range of issues. he showed his stamina. you're going to have to stop living off of joe biden after a while here. but all of that is true. but this, there is a

reason why they waited until the end of the day after thethe -- the evening news and so on, he didn't do it in front of the crowd at the arena. he went back to the white house later in the evening so it wouldn't dominate the coverage all day long. they knew. he didn't mention it in his inaugural speech. 57% of americans said they disapprove of this when they were asked by "the wall street journal". 50 of them strongly disapproved. i'll give them credit for political courage i guess because he did something that was deeply unpopular here by paroling these people. but there is really no way to justify it. and the fact that he showed a lot of stamina doesn't do the trick. >> i want to hear from erin. >> fing you're part of the trump team that's now in the white house today, that shock and awe, this big delivery today, of all the executive actions, but j- 6 especially, those pardons is exactly what donald trump said they were going to do. that is going to be the trump team's stance coming out

today. you wanted us to come in and get out of the paris climate accord. he has been talking about the j- 6 detainees, hostages, whatever language he has been using about them the entire time. he used this on the campaign trail. and so today he walked in the white house and he did exactly what he said he was going to do. if you're the trump team, i do think they're going to have a hard time coming out of this especially with those who assaulted police officers or committed violent crimes. that's going to be very tough for them to try and say hey, listen, we just went for it. thing is the hard part for them. but right now messaging is going to be we did exactly what we said we were going to do day one. >> let's go back to kaitlan. >> i want to bring in former january 6th committee member and recipient of one of president biden's preemptive pardons today, democratic congressman jamie raskin. congressman, first, let me get your reaction tonight to what we saw happening in the oval office with president trump taking one of his first steps to pardon everyone who was convicted of

a crime related to january 6th with the exception of 14 people he made clear are still on the table. >> well, why were they being pardoned? that's my question. in other words, were they innocent? nobody is asserting that. were they denied due process? no one is denying that. are they reformed and no longer a threat to democracy, no longer a threat to society, or were they being pardoned simply because they were the willing political foot soldiers for donald trump when he incited an insurrection against the government. so i think the polls are showing 60 or 62% of the people reject the pardons of people who engaged in violence against police officers and stormed the capitol and tried to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power and succeeded in block indicating the peaceful transfer of power for many years. and i think there is a lot of explaining to do about this.

it is something they tried to sneak in at the end of the day. but it is certainly the huge news of the day as he basically pardoned the proud boys, the oath keepers, and other people who participated in violence against our constitutional order and against our cops. >> and we started this day with the outgoing president using his pardon authority to pardon people like you, members of the january 6th congressional committee. did you know that pardon was coming? and will you accept that pardon? do you have a choice to accept that pardon? how does that work? >> so that's a good question. i need to speak to a lawyer. i think all of us need to talk to a lawyer about whether you actually need to accept it or not. it's not clear to me. i tried to research some cases today. a few of the cases seemed to say that a pardon is like an executive order or a legislative enactment. it's just the law,

and it doesn't require or admit of acceptance or rejection. others seemed to say that the person does have to act on it. and so i will definitely get some legal counsel from any people who have experience with pardons out there. but look, the people who were pardoned in the morning were pardoned because we were innocent and donald trump was threatening liz cheney and bennie thompson and others with fraudulent political prosecutions. the people who were just pardoned a little while ago were pardoned because they were guilty of violently assaulting police officers, carrying dangerous weapons inside the capitol, destroying federal property, and so on. and it was a mass pardon for all of them without even looking to see whether those people were rehabilitated and whether they continue to pose a threat to public safety. >> you previously said on cnn the quote, the seeking of

pardons is powerful demonstration of the consciousness of guilt, or at least the consciousness that you may be in trouble. and that's what's so shock about this. do you feel conflicted about the fact that president biden did extend this pardon to you? i mean, he has faced criticism from other members of that committee who said i don't want a pardon. >> no. we didn't seek a pardon. obviously the president decided that there had been all of these threats of completely political prosecutions and persecution by the trump administration. and so there were officers who got it. dr. fauci got it. general milley got it. there are some other people i wish had gotten it. i wish michael cohen had gotten it. and there were other people who i think are being threatened by the new administration. but that's a completely different thing from taking a mob of people who were convicted or violently

assaulting police officers and then pardoning them en masse. >> who else do you think he should have pardoned? >> well, for example, lev parnas is another person who was in trump world who decided to come forward to tell the truth. just like michael cohen came forward to tell the truth. which is why donald trump was convicted on multiple felony counts in new york because of the testimony of michael cohen. and he is someone who could be threatened with retaliation by the trump justice department. they certainly did it to him before. so there is other people in that category. and we'll just have to see that people are protected against fraudulent political prosecutions by the newnew attorney and by the new fbi director, both of whom are election deniers and also january 6th deniers.

the real statement of this mass pardon that donald trump just gave is that january 6th lives. and until donald trump states his apology and his regret for having incited an insurrection against our constitution, then all of it continues to be a danger to us. remember that he was impeached and there was a vote in the senate by robust bicameralbicameral majorities that he engaged in insurrection against his own government. >> and then of course he was acquitted by the senate as we all saw play out. congressman jamie raskin, thanks for joining us on this breaking news tonight. >> circling back to what senator elizabeth warren said about the heavy nature of the people in the inauguration close to the president, i'm joined by the pivot poohed cast guy swisher who interviewed many of the tech leaders. was saw the inauguration in the rotunda today going back years. seeing them all

there permanently displayed by trump. >> displayed. >> i was questioning, i was pretty sure he was going to display them prominently. i didn't nope it was going to be that prominent. >> i think he does everything for television, and that was messaging, i control the richest people in the world. that was a trillion dollars in fall there. >> they control the flow of the information. >> they do. >> not just the united states, but globally. >> that's correct. >> i keep blanking on his name, the top tech guy in india was there as well. >> yeah. >> the amount of power in that grouping. and all of them clearly wanted to make deals. >> that's correct. that's what they were there. in 2016, if you remember, they went to trump tower. i broke that story. i remember it well. they all went there, despite the fact that several of them were immigrants, that trump had been so negative about the muslim ban and things like that. and they had gone there in order to get tax repatriation, all sorts of lack of deregulation at the time, because there is no regulation to speak of.

>> there is an argument that the biden administration drove them away from the democrats. true? >> i would say in part, true, yes. absolutely. i think they were too tough on crypto. certain parts of crypto needed to be regulated. i think driving elon away was that summit that happened. >> not invited. >> he was not invited to an ev summit. and biden was praising mary barra who serves credit. >> the ceo of chrysler. >> and gm. and he was angry about it. and i remember calling someone at the white house and saying you made a big mistake here because he got very angry about that. it was one of the many things. especially the top people. there is a myth that silicon valley was liberal. it's just not. they're libertarian light maybe, but conservative for the most part and mostly interested in shareholder value and making money for themselves. >> which already elon musk has already made for his investments. scott galloway was pointing out,

for his investment of some $200 million. >> he's doubled. he's made 250 billion already. what's interesting about elon. i was thinking this when trump was making going to mars. that's all elon wants. i did one of the first interviews and he said i want to die on mars, just not on landing. he wants to get to mars. this is his motivation. i don't think money is his motivation most of all. he really does want to get himself and humanity to mars. >> how much is there the battle between jeff bezos and elon musk over space? from bezos, space is incredibly important. >> they were very clubby today. but there is a lot of acrimony between them over the years. >> do you think a lot of them saw elon musk, he sent out that x or tweet or whatever it's called now the day of the assassination attempt right after that. do you think a lot of them realized they were late to the game? >> absolutely. on everything. one person makes a dating service. ten of them do. at the time they were following

trump, i called them sheeple. and they really are. they go to sheep where it is. look at what he he did for the money. and now i'm going get in on this. >> you've been very tough on mark zuckerberg. >> have i. >> why? >> why? where do yaw want to start? i think he just shifts. i find him to be somewhat ofof weather vane. i was joking if kamala harris had become the president, he'll do whatever it takes to improve the shareholders. >> did you see him talking about bow hunting? >> he likes to do that. the performative male thing. i have three sons. they don't sit around. >> i don't think joe rogan bought it. >> not at all. >> i don't understand the performative, i'm eating meat, let me grill, i'm glad he has a hobby. i don't know what else to say. >> what role, moving forward, what do you she this marriage, this union? >> well, they're getting what they want. as long as they're getting what they want, they'll be cooperate weave the president.

and the president has plenty of ways to hurt them and lots of ways, and plenty of ways to help them. they want contracts, lack of regulation. >> it's so naked. it is so stated. >> it's transparent. it's absolutely transparent, in some cases corruption, in some cases deal making. there is no more back room anymore. it's the front room and they're sitting right there and they're sitting right there on the stage. >> there was a meme coin release yesterday. >> and melania trump. >> that to me is really problematic. it's sort of the direct way to benefit someone, the president in that case. those coins, and allowed to say this on cnn, they're called shit coins because they're not linked to value of any kind and it's a really problematic situation. you don't have to buy a hotel room or do this. you can just make this coin go up and down. >> in particular because the government can have a role in regulating the whole entire industry. >> oh, yes, that part, yeah. those parts, sure. and i think it's going to be a problem with the s.e.c. and

all kinds of things. who is going to regulate them. >> kara swisher, thank you. i want to go to donie o'sullivan outside the detention center where some people may be released. donie? >> hey, anderson. in the last few minutes, all these demonstrators, activist supporters of the people, the j- sixers inside the jail all rushed towards the main door of the jail. we're not sure quite what is happening. there are some people -- it looks like there are some officials right inside the door. we may see some people released in the next few minutes. i just got off the phone two or three minutes ago with rachel powell who is one of the people in the jail at the moment. she said she hasn't been told anything about being released. but it's unclear what sp hag

-- is happening right now. watch there, andrew. thank you. okay. some of the people inside this prison are hoping to make to it the inaugural balls tonight. they have been told that if they are released -- okay. we're going to move down here, anderson. we're going to move out of the way. all right. unclear -- unclear why there was such a rush to the doors of the jail right there. but there does seem -- there is something happening. right inside the main door. >> donie, you've heard some of the people who may be released want to attend an

inaugural ball tonight? >> that is correct. i got off the phone just five minutes ago, again, from rachel powell who is calling us from inside the jail. she told us that she has been in touch with people who i believe the liberty ball. and you can correct me, but the liberty ball i think is happening at the convention center. i believe trump is speaking there tonight. she has been told that if she gets out and she expects to be left out in sweats and a gray track suit is what she said is what they give people as they're release here, that she intends on going directly to the liberty ball. >> and what is she -- >> a woman who -- >> is she the one who had the pickax? >> that's correct, yes. rachel was charged on multiple counts. one of course was -- we have video. and colleagues in the control room might be able to pull it up. she was caught on video with

a pickax breaking a window at the capitol. look, in interviews with her, she says that she regrets that day, she regrets that action because she has children and grandchildren. but she ultimately still believes what she did was right. she ultimately still believes the election lies that brought her there. and she has appealed directly to trump through the media and everything else. we're being moved back once more again, anderson. so let's move here a little bit. a very chaotic scene here. >> does it seem how many supporters of these prisoners are there right now outside? how large is that crowd? >> yeah. i would say there is probably about 100 supporters here. it's been growing over the course of the evening. i'm just going to make sure andrew crissman doesn't fall. >> good to protect your cam race, let's move back here. let's move back here to where the guys were guttered.

it's very unclear what happened to make that surge towards the -- towards the main doors of the jail. but i think people must have seen someone in there. you know, right now what's been happening out here tonight is what has happened every night for the past 900 nights outside here. activists have been holding a vigil. so families and friends of people who have loved ones who serving time for their actions on january 6th, they've been gathering outside this jail for the last 900 nights. of course, no night has looked quite like this. let me -- sure. prisoners call in live as they were this evening. and obviously folks are extremely excited. >> donie, we're going to check in with you shortly. we're going to take -- we're going to do another

interview. >> sure. >> i want to bring in former d.c. metro officer michael fanone. he joins us. he was badly attacked, beaten defending the capitol. lost consciousness, suffered a heart attack after a man named daniel rodriguez repeatedly shocked him with a trump gun yelling "trump won. " daniel rodriguez was granted a pardon tonight. mike, when did you hear the news, and what is your reaction? michael, can you hear us? michael, we can't hear you. i think you're muted on your computer maybe. let's go back to donie. we'll get contact with michael. so donie, it seems like police have established a larger perimeter around the entrance to the facility. >> yeah, that's right, anderson. so basically, here is the scene.

there is a lawn here where the activists have been gathering all evening. and a big police line. you can see something is going on. i'm not sure how close andrew can get in behind those doors. but whatever is happening behind those doors -- >> may i have your attention please. >> let's listen to the cops now. >> you guys can protest andand whatever you want from the comfort of the sidewalk and the park. please do not try and come across the street. thank you. >> okay. so unclear as to what is still happening. even within my line of sight here, ashli babbitt -- >> donie, we're going to come back to you. we're going to come back to you. michael fanone, i believe we have contact with. mike, i appreciate you being with us. i'm wondering when you heard the news and what's going through your mind tonight.

>> i just heard the news from your producers a few moments ago. the only thing that's going through my mind right now is that this is what the american people voted for. donald trump has been promising these pardons ever since he announced his candidacy in waco, texas, the scene of one of the most notorious battles between american law enforcement and the american extremist movement that resulted in the death of numerous law enforcement officers. thanks, america. >> this feels like a betrayal to you? >> i have been betrayed by my country. rest assured, i have been betrayed by my country, and i have been betrayed by those

that supported donald trump. whether you voted for him because he promised these pardons or for some other reason, you knew this was coming, and here we are. tonight six individuals who assaulted me as i did my job on january 6th, as did hundreds of other law enforcement officers will now walk free. six individuals who have threatened my life and who have made threats towards my family members as well as countless other january 6th defendants who have threatenedthreatened because they see me as a spokesperson for law enforcement for this event. my family, my children and myself are less safe today because of donald trump and his supporters.

>> when you hear the president of the united states, donald trump, talking about back the blue or his supporters saying that they back the blue, do -- you don't buy that? >> no political party supports law enforcement. that's just a fact. political parties support public safety, but they don't support police officer, and they don't understand the sacrifices that we make on behalf of the american people. that's been my experience as a 20- year career law enforcement officer in a major metropolitan city in this country. that being said, right now i think that the republican party owns a monopoly on hypocrisy when it comes to supporting or their supposed support of law enforcement, because tonight the leader of the republican

party pardoned hundreds of violent cop assaulters. >> you were pardoned today, and we should know president biden said it was not for committing a crime but for stepping forward to testifying january 6th. did you know about that in advance? what do you think about that? and are you concerned for the safety of your family? >> i had no communication with the white house or anyone else, for that matter, regarding a potential pardon or presidential pardon. i mean, all i can say is that i think it's a sad commentary on where we are as a nation that a sitting president thought it necessary to issue a preemptive pardon to a witness in congressional investigation because the subject of that investigation is now

the president and had promised to pursue politically motivated revenge. again, it's just more examples of the outrageous behavior of the current president of the united states. as far as concern and ply michigan family's safety, i've been concerned for myself and my family's safety ever since i testified before congress. if you remember, i didn't even make it through my congressional testimony before i received my first threat from a member of the american public, who called me and threatened my life literally as i was giving testimony. and those threats have continued to this day against both myself and members of my family. in recent months, my mother has been swatted. a 76-year- old woman who is guilty of nothing other

than having a son, a police officer who responded to the capitol on january 6th. and she's also had human feces thrown on her while she was raking leaves in her front yard. this is who we are as a nation. this is what we have become, and it has been further exacerbated by donald trump. as i've said many times before, we are self-centered. we are violent. and we are in indifferent to the suffering of our neighbors. >> michael, i appreciate you joining us tonight. thank you. >> thank you. >> you take care. kaitlan? >> yeah, anderson, obviously what has happened tonight with the pardons is a massive story. michael fanone is right that trump has been previewing this for months now, maybe a

better part of a year. but also he signed more executive orders, a lot of them inside the oval office tonight, and he is trying to put the country on a new path when it comes to immigration. a huge priority of his now that he is in office. and the border and migrant issue of course affects millions of people already in this country. some trying lawfully to get. in we saw a lot of tears today at the southern border as migrants discovered that appointments they had made on an app to meet with immigration officers had been abruptly canceled right after trump was sworn in. priscilla alvarez joins me now with more on that on what appears to be, priscilla, a very significant personnel shake-up when it comes to what we are looking at and the very people who deal with these issues. what can you tell us? >> yeah, kaitlan, president trump had released a series of executive actions on immigration today. it was actually the action happening very quietly and behind the scenes that may have had some of the biggest impact, at least now in the near term. one of them, what you just mentioned, it is the end of

cbp-1. that's a border app that essentially allows migrants to come to a legal port of entry and schedule appointments. there are about 1,450 appointments a day. so over a thousand migrants were disappointed today when after waiting in line to have this appointment had it abruptly canceled. pair that with the fact that there is already restrictions along the u.s. southern border, and we're in this extraordinary place where asylum is essentially shut off at the u.s. southern border, which is unprecedented. now in addition to that, as you mentioned, i'm being told by sources that trump officials also fired four key leaders that are part of the justice department's immigration office. this is called the executive office for immigration review. it oversees the nation's immigration courts. why is that important? because immigration judges decide who gets to stay in the u.s. and who is going to be deported. so this purge stunned officials because these officials were career public servants.

as the president was sitting at the oval office and signing sweeping executive actions like starting the process of trying to end birthright citizenship, like designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and essentially prefacing potentially military on mexican soil, and with his nationalnational emergency electlation to shore up pentagon resources, behind the scenes thousands of migrants are already affected at the u.s. southern border, kept from coming into the united states and at an agency of the justice department, there was sweeping change in who is in those key leadership roles. now i will also tell you, kaitlan, there could be unintended consequence of all of this. homeland security officials telling me it is possible those migrants who had scheduled appointments, they may try to cross illegally now. we don't know if that's going to happen. it's very hard to gauge patterns in the ebbs and flows of migration, but that is a top concern among homeland officials who say well, now they

may be crossing illegally. kaitlan? >> certainly something to watch for. priscilla alvarez, this ufor that report. as i noted, the scene behind me, you can tell the inauguration festivities here in washington are continuing. i'm actually at one of the three balls that are happening. and joining me here is cnn's john berman. john, as we've been talking about obviously the serious moves that trump just made inside the oval office on the january 6th pardons on immigration, that's not really the environment that's reflected in here tonight. it's obviously a room filled with trump supporters. pete hegseth, his cabinet picks are here. ken rock is to our left. what have you been observing in the room tonight? >> i've been in here for a few hours, as has everyone in this room. you really had to get here early to get through security. some 6,000 people here at the commander in chief ball, one of three balls, one of two balls in this giant convention center we're in right now. the liberty ball has about 15,000 people in it. president trump will go to

all three of these balls. presidential balls have been a tradition since 1809. james madison was the first president to have an inaugural ball. it was set up i think by the washington dancing assembly was the organization that sponsored it up on capitol hill. so that's something that has now been part of the inaugurations for such a long time. the people here, there are no monitors. it looks like a campaign rally, but it's not. >> it's packed in here. >> it's packed, but there are no monitors. there is no politicking going on here. so people here haven't been watching the pardons going on in the oval office. they may not know the minute- by minute. they're here presumably to have a party. to see rascal flatts perform, to watch the president and irst lady dance. we do expect remarks from president trump here, kaitlan. >> of course everybody will be watching to see what he says. we've heard from him several times today. and anderson, as we wait for the president to arrive here, you know, he signed a lot of executive orders today. it's easy to not notice all of

them, or not be able to look through all of them. but i've been looking at one. it's titled memorandum to clear the security clearances for executive personnel. it might not strike you. you may not pay attention given the ones about january 6th pardons. but i've been reading through it. and essentially, they're blaming the biden administration for a backlog in security clearances for their nominees. and so because of, that trump is saying that he is authorizing the white house counsel to provide top secret security clearance to essentially anyone for about six months so they can come into the white house, work, have access to computer systems and classified information. and obviously, that was an issue faced in his first term was security clearances that he overrode issues, or concerns that people had, including for jared kushner. and instead did grant them those security clearances. this saying that he would provide the white house counsel with a list of personnel immediately granted

these top secret security clearances for the next six months as they undergo the security clearances, but will have access compute having completed that, anderson. >> kaitlan, thanks. i want to going be a to the panel. joining us is new hampshire republican governor chris sununu. governor, thanks for joining us. >> you bet. >> first of all, the pardons. what do you make? >> i think he should have been a lot more strategic, surgical. i think the blanket pardon. >> enrique tarrios. >> it goes along with what the vice president said. he thought, again, just a couple days ago making a statement that it wasn't going to be a blanket of pardons. and i can tell you what's happening outside the jail tonight, i don't think the white house wants that. it's a complete distraction. i don't think they were planning on that per se. but, again, he's going to do -- look, you're talk tog a governor who has never pardoned anyone in eight years. i'm not really partial to pardons at all. but he said he was going to do it. what will the net result be to the american people to

the public? we don't love it. he said he was going do it. are we going to fix immigration? fix the wall? take care of immigration? what's in it for me. don't forget, i'm not equating the two, but this is on the backdrop of what happened this morning. and the american republic sees that. i don't think anyone likes the pardon system. it's in the constitution. we're stuck wit. but everybody agrees it has been overused and abused. but at the end of the day, america wants a change. they want to know what is going to change in their life. this isn't going to have a huge impact one way or the other unfortunately. so they're going to move on the next thing. that's where the president and congress are going -- why is he doing so many executive orders today? to be impactful, to make a statement. >> the thing about pardons, it's a second chance that you usually have to earn. i'm a big pardons guy. you and i don't see it the same way. when somebody has done wrong. they've atoned. they're an example inside the jail, you want to give those people a way out because it gives other people a reason to act right and get better. when you give people pardons who never apologized or atoned or even said i'm sorry,

officer. that's terrible. >> then what are your thoughts on preemptive pardons by biden? he put those pardons out there for folks in case they committed crimes? i just want to be clear. no one has moral superiority on either side when it comes to pardons and abuse of them. but i'm curious what your thoughts are? >> i don't like the way he did it david axelrod said if you're going to do it come out in the light of day and explain to people. i know what federal prison looks like. and if i had a relative that was going to be unjustly put in harm's way, i'd probably do the same thing, honestly. >> what do you think of last- minute pardons for the family? >> awful. awful. i take a blanket approach what has happened in the last 60 days. i think his staff has done a horrible service. i don't think he woke up and said i'm going to talk about the equal rights a movement. i think his staff is bitter. i think they're angry, and they think joe biden is a nice person. and i think that his staff is using him leaving

the white house in a bitter way to make a bitter political point on his legacy. >> i don't know -- >> you think his staff is the one that put him up to pardoning his own family? because i believe -- >> jill biden. >> i think his wife did, absolutely. >> well that's his family. i think he has been plotting to do this for months and months and months, just like he was plotting to pardon hunter biden for months while lying to the american people about it. if you want to be outraged about donald trump's january 6th pardons, it's hard to muster the same kind -- >> right. scott, you did call them domestic terrorist. >> yes. when i want to answer david because he addressed me about this earlier. i don't feel any different about january 6th today as i felton day when you and i sat here. but i don't feel any differently about it at all. it was a terrible day. it should not have happened. people should not have committed violent acts. it was a stain on the end of donald trump's first term.

the american people took it all in and rendered the ultimate adjudication. the difference between the preemptive pardons and these pardons, the january 6th people, whether you like it or not, most of them did face severe punishment. some have already been in jail. yes, they got a pardon, but that doesn't mean they didn't face consequences for their actions. my problem with biden is none of the preemptive pardons people are going to face any consequences. >> for what? for what, scott? did they rampage through the capitol? >> tax evasion? >> i'm not talking about hunter biden. >> you tell me. why did they need it then? >> i think they felt -- look, i was critical of this. and i think because it gave a talking point frankly to people among other reasons. gave a talking point to people who wanted to sort of minimize, you know, 1500 mass

paroles. but i preemptive because the president of the united states and the congress has for several years said the biden crime family, have never found anything. they had hearings after hearings after hearings. >> i disagree with that, by the way. thing is plenty there to look into. which is why he did them. let's be honest. he knows there are things there that could be actionable, and he doesn't want his family to face consequences. >> i see it the other way. >> we've got to take a break. thank you. appreciate. >> i love that you think biden plotted something for two months. >> for his first 100 days, former senator who served during the first trump administration joins us next.

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and good evening. we are waiting for the president and the first lady to arrive. they are expected to leave the white house soon, about a mile and a half away from where we are now. they have three inaugural balls to go to this evening, running a little bit behind schedule. but we're tracking those movements closely. joining me now is republican scott brown, a former senator from massachusetts who later served as the u.s. ambassador to new zealand and samoa during president trump's first term. and thank you so much for being here. you know, you heard from trump in his speech today talking about the greatest four years in american history. and i want to ask you what your expectations are for this second term given what you've seen him do in the oval office tonight and kind of what tone that sets for the next four years are going

to look like. >> well, he said he was going to do exactly what he did tonight. he was going to sign a bunch of executive orders that he felt were appropriate. they've been thoroughly reviewed by his legal team, and he did just what he said he was going to do, and that's what the american people wanted. that's why they voted for him. i thought the tone of the speech was optimistic. yeah, there is going to be some veiled shots to the previous administration. as you know, and i've spoke many times, i didn't agree with president biden. i liked him personally, but i didn't agree with him on the border and a whole host of other thing he did. he is going to make this country i think better again in a whole host of things. >> yeah, and i should note, we just saw president trump and first lady melania trump get into the motorcade as they will be on their way to the balls. we are expecting to hear him speak. and you said you thought it was an optimistic tone. there were some -- i would say not so veiled shots at president biden. but on the pardons that we saw in the oval office tonight,

i'm very curious from your perspective as a republican who works for trump in the first term because you later said you did believe an investigation into january 6th was a no-brainer. do you approve of the pardons that president trump just signed for those who were convicted of crimes for that day? >> well, certainly it was a very busy day of pardons. i didn't agree with the preemptive pardons that president biden has done. i think it sets a terrible, terrible tone. and i agree with a lo of your guests in the ones that really the police officers, i think those need to kind of be put aside and looked at on a case-by-case basisbasis because a lot of those people have served time. their lives have been destroyed. they've done a lot of damage to them and their families. and i think those are in a different category. i'll let obviously the public decide. but they knew when january 6th happened, when they voted for president trump, they took all that into consideration and overwhelmingly supported him. so i think we need to move

on and actually focus on he hasn't been there, what, ten hours yet? and he has done a lot more than president biden has done in almost the last year. >> yeah, and of course we questioned democrats on president biden's pardons for the january 6th committee, for his family members. but given you worked for trump, and he did just pardon people who attacked law enforcement on that day, does that sit well with you? what does it say about a party that touts itself as the party of rule and law, that always has police officers at events. there were officers there protecting that inauguration. those are the same kinds of officers that were attacked by rioters that day. >> yeah, no, listen, i said that previously. it's no surprise. attacking a police officer and keeping law enforcement brothers and sisters and law enforcement safe is very, very important. that's an area where i would actually hope that they look at a little bit more seriously and take time to figure out if that was the right move. but once again, it's his decision. they have blanket power.

if you don't like it, they have to change that thing. bottom line, i'm look fogger ward to the next four years. he has a lot of things the that he has done. i'm glad marco got approved. and a lot of things we need to work on. we've got to close the border. a lot of things tonight, i watched the show all night. you're talking about it never would have happened. biden probably could have been re-elected had he not abused the border and done things quite frankly we've never seen in the history of our country. so he has to fix a lot. i'm hopeful that he does it, and i'm hopeful that some of the democrats work on it. i heard liz warren tonight talking well, he hasn't done this for the middle class. he has been there not even ten hours. come on, give him a break. let him enjoy the first day and then let's move forward. >> when you compare the numbers between trump and biden on the border, they've actually deported roughly 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 >> well, that's up to him and his administration. i support getting rid of all the people that are here who have already been adjudicated a criminals, and they shouldn't be here. we shouldn't have this open and porous border that has been happening for four years since president biden reversed the stay in mexico policy. so there is 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 he can get rid of the worst of the worst? absolutely. and let's do it yesterday. >> okay. we'll see what that looks like. former senator scott brown, thank you for join us tonight, and our coverage of the inauguration of donald trump continues. cnn news night with abby phillip and laura coates starts right now.

. welcome to cnn special coverage. donald trump is president of the united states, yet again, and his first day has gone by fast and furious and will end with pomp and circumstance. for millions of americans it has been a dramatic and sudden change. i'm laura coates. tonight there is a maga celebration of checking boxes on maga priorities. he tuesday is over and put his pen to an endless stream of executive orders to redesign the country. >> for the people that took his talk, he meant it literally.