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east. president trump facing backlash after suggesting a, quote, clean out of the gaza strip and. >> he wants new people in there. he has a right to to get in there who he wants. >> a late night purge. president trump firing more than a dozen independent watchdogs from the government. and then. >> attend a vote for almost everybody at both parties. but i want to see how the hearing goes. >> i do not believe she's qualified for this role. >> confirmation fights two of the president's most vulnerable cabinet picks try to win over skeptical senators on capitol hill this week. all right. it is 6 a.m. here on the east coast. this is a live look at arrowhead stadium in kansas city. just hours after the chiefs secured their spot in the super bowl. one win away.

now from that exclusive three peat, i am going to trust that my eagles and saquon barkley in particular are going to potentially put a dent in those dreams. good morning everyone. i'm kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us. donald trump claiming victory at home and abroad as his administration continues to implement his vision for mass deportations. late sunday, ice announcing the arrest of almost a thousand people in locations across the united states, including in puerto rico. in colorado, the dea arresting almost 50 people, seizing weapons, drugs and cash during a raid at a makeshift nightclub near denver. officials say that dozens of those arrested have connections to venezuela's tren de aragua gang. in georgia, a video doorbell capturing the moment when homeland security officials arrested a man at his home in an alabama suburb. a family member telling cnn the man is an undocumented immigrant from honduras, but claiming his only criminal record was a ticket for driving without a license. and in the southwest, officials from the navajo nation report that at

least 15 indigenous people have been stopped or detained since wednesday. those officials saying those navajo americans were asked to provide proof of their citizenship. trump's border czar tom homan on the ground in chicago on sunday to oversee arrests there. in an interview with cnn, homan described the chicago arrests as a, quote, good day and a game changer. end quote. >> if you're in the country illegally, you're on the table because it's not okay to violate laws of this country. you've got to remember every time you enter this country illegally, you violated a crime under title eight, united states code 1325. it's a crime. so if you're in the country illegally, you got a problem. >> new this morning, sources telling cnn that the trump administration has directed federal agents involved in the raids to wear clothing, clearly identifying their law enforcement agency with the explicit goal of generating media attention. in case you were wondering how donald trump used this as a campaign issue. joining us now to discuss

stephen collinson, cnn politics senior reporter alex thompson, cnn political analyst, national political reporter for axios megan hayes, democratic strategist and former director of message planning for the biden white house. and matt gorman, republican strategist and a former senior adviser to tim scott's presidential campaign. welcome to all of you. good morning. thank you for being here. stephen collinson, big picture here. this is clearly a concerted effort. and we didn't even talk about the standoff that the trump administration had with colombia over the weekend, where they didn't want to take military deportation flights. trump threatened tariffs. ultimately, colombia backs down. but this is a concerted push not just to actually execute on this campaign promise, but to show americans what is happening. >> right. you've got the policy here. they want to get a tough, quick start on this issue that many americans showed in the election that they wanted donald trump to fix. and you've got the politics. they're trying to build support, and there's only so much they can do without

getting extra momentum from funds in congress. the colombia situation was particularly interested after president petro, whose twitter feed makes donald trump's look tame by comparison, back down, because apparently, as you say, he objected to military flights. plenty of civilian flights carrying undocumented migrants come back. i think that victory for the trump administration is politically important, and it's going to embolden people inside the white house who see the use of tariffs as not just a trade tool, but a way to coerce other countries into doing what trump wants them to do, whether that's, you know, smart policy over four years. alienating allies is another question. but politically, i think that was a win for them. >> so one of the things that, of course, we're running into here and matt gorman, this has kind of been my central question all the way along, because it's clear from the polling, from the results of the election, americans wanted tougher immigration enforcement at the border. they wanted some changes in that regard. but we're starting to run up against the

humanity of it. these reporting of these members of the navajo nation being held for long periods of time, and one not being allowed to call a member of her family to be provided with proof of of american citizenship, raises all the questions about profiling. we're also reporting that ice agents, they were outside of a church during a sermon looking for someone by a certain name who actually left during the sermon. and then, of course, tom homan has been saying they're going to go to schools, maybe even middle schools, because there could be gang members. right. at what point does it become too much? >> i mean, i think when it comes to hunting down gang members, i think i have a pretty large tolerance. i don't know about other people, but look, i think a lot of what you read in the opening, whether it's tren de aragua, you have a lot of stuff happening in new york right now as well. obviously, the columbia staredown, it was a good weekend for president trump on this issue. like he is executed. exactly what he said. and i mean, look, you also have the fact that i think 475 flights of this similar fashion happened between columbia and the u.s. over the last four years, 124

and just this year alone, this was a test for the trump administration, whether or not they were going to back down and have some sort of negotiation. and it was clear, i think, i think the trump administration thought very clearly that if they do any sort of amending on what they were planning to do, other countries in the region, guatemala and others might follow suit and take a tougher line. and i think you had a very strong stance and it worked. even the fact that you mentioned the twitter feed, petrol accidentally, i don't think he meant to retweeted karoline leavitt post about this late last night where it didn't exactly put columbia in the in the best light, and he retweeted that later. but reading of what you talked about at the start, most of it. pretty good weekend for president trump. >> well, this you're saying basically echoing the trump administration's line, which is it's just gang members and criminals, but in actuality, in tom homan has already said this over the weekend is that there are what he calls collaterals, which basically is if they do a raid and they to find potential gang members, if there are any other undocumented immigrants

that are even in their proximity, they're deporting them too. so it's not just gang members. >> well, we're doing this in a in a way of fear, right? to your point, they're looking for anybody that they can deport. and i think that a lot of americans did want a pathway to citizenship for a lot of people who have been here and who've been active citizens or, you know, good citizens here. i understand nobody wants criminals here. nobody wants gang members here. everyone can agree on that. but there are people who are upstanding citizens that have been here for years and decades that do deserve a pathway to citizenship, and deporting them and splitting up families is not, is not what i think that people wanted. >> i would say that they did. >> you know, 4 or 5 years ago, maybe even three years ago, i think with the with the crisis at the border you've seen over the last couple of years, you don't hear those words anymore coming out, democrats mouth. i mean, i mean, that was the first time i've heard that among, you know, democrats in quite a long time. the overton window on this has shifted. and i think the pathway to citizenship is something that, you know, that is it's not the same way it was, say, in 2019 or 2018. >> it was it was part of the bipartisan bill that the democrats put forth last year in the senate. >> that didn't go anywhere. >> but it was a bipartisan bill.

and it was it did have a pathway to citizenship. so i hear what you're saying, but also to your point about the flights that went to colombia, we we did that. the biden administration did that and they didn't have any issues. so why now are they having issues with colombia? >> it's a new administration. i think they're testing it. >> also because they i mean, to your point, like the public showdown is part of the point. it is it is a messaging. and it's not just for domestic politics, it's also for the world. it's also for anyone that wants that, you know, they're trying to say basically that they're trying to say, if you're thinking about coming here, if you're undocumented, don't try. >> well, and stephen collinson, this is actually what you write today. you say that this reversal represents a concession to the u.s., to u.s. power, the colombian reversal to trump's aggressive personal style. it will embolden administration officials on the tariff threat. but still, you say the spat with colombia was also a reminder of how trump's hard line approach will cause massive global disruption. four years of such tactics could harm u.s. global relationships. hardened attitudes to americans among foreign populations. the colombia dispute quickly got the attention of china, which is

seeking to increase its influence in washington's backyard, underscoring the potential downside for the u.s. if trump chooses incessant confrontation that alienates key regional nations. >> yeah, this was really interesting. during this whole backwards and forwards of rhetoric between trump and pedro, the chinese ambassador to colombia inserted himself into this situation. he tweeted that the colombian foreign minister was in beijing last year and had said that the relations between the two countries were at their best ever level for 45 years. this is quite nimble for the chinese, and it's a little bit unusual, but i think it reflects the broader picture in latin america, which is that the chinese will pounce on any alienation of u.s. allies to try and build their own profile in latin america. that's the kind of the big picture, great game of diplomacy that's unfolding. and that is, i think, one of the reasons why trump has been so strong on panama, on the migrant issue, even on greenland. he's looking at the western

hemisphere in an almost 19th century perspective, thinking about the u.s. must control its own sphere of influence. >> yeah, well, and especially when the chinese are spending so much money on infrastructure and other things in latin and south america. all right. we have much more to discuss. straight ahead here on cnn this morning, president trump firing more than a dozen inspectors general, paving the way for his own independent watchdog. we're going to speak live with one of the men who was dismissed by trump. plus, the president urges egypt and jordan to open their borders to palestinians. why that proposal is drawing criticism. and vice president vance, defending the blanket pardons issued for january 6th. rioters. >> violence against a police officer is not justified, but that doesn't mean that you should have merrick garland's weaponized department of justice expose you to incredibly unfair process, to denial of constitutional rights. >> february 20th to the 23rd. join us at the food network south beach wine and food festival. >> this is a world class food and wine festival. i don't think

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to request that egypt do the same. that idea, swiftly rejected sunday by egypt and jordan, both countries insisting the only way forward is palestinian statehood. all of this as tens of thousands of displaced gaza residents began returning to what is left of their homes. and let's also just remind everyone what donald trump has said about this in the past. so now, in this moment as president, he's saying he wants to clean it out. here's what he said back on october 7th, 2024. during the campaign. >> it could be better than monica. it has the best location in the middle east, the best water, the best everything it's got. it is the best. i've said it for years. you know, when i've been there and it's rough. it's a rough place before the, you know, before all of the attacks and before back and forth. what's happened over the last couple of years. and i said, wow, look at this. they

never took advantage of it. you know, as a developer, it could be the most beautiful place. the weather, the water, the whole thing, the climate. it could be so beautiful. it could be the best thing in the middle east. >> it could be the best thing in the middle east, he says. stephen collins and we can show you a little bit of this with some cnn footage of what northern gaza looks like now. and of course, this is what we're also seeing, these live pictures. these are not live. these are this is tape from january 19th. people are now making their way back. you can see the live on the right. these people are coming back to what is left of their homes. as you can see, it is not the place that they that they departed, right? >> and i think the juxtaposition between that comment and those pictures gets to why this won't work, because you just have to think about the humanity of this. and if you go to gaza, even before the conflict, the latest conflict, you know, it was a massive refugee camp with

impoverished conditions. but the people that have a deep connection to this land, so there's that issue. you can't just solve it by moving them somewhere else in the middle east that historically, you know, hasn't american presence, haven't had success when they're trying to change the geopolitics of the middle east. practically, the jordanians don't want it because they've already got millions of palestinian refugees, which is destabilizing. the egyptians would be worried that there would be cross-border terrorist attacks that could bring into doubt the camp david accords that we talked about when president carter died, start a conflict with israel. and more broadly, this is contradictory to trump's wider goals in the middle east, which is to expand the abraham accords, create this anti-iran front between arab states and the israelis. so, you know, he might view it as a real estate dispute, but it has deep practical diplomatic implications. the suggestion. >> i would also add that this is a sign of just how much trump is aligning himself with bibi

netanyahu and his government. this idea is not the first time we've ever heard of this. bibi netanyahu brought this up with egypt long before egypt also told them, and then even some people on the far right of israel's, of israeli government were celebrating trump for suggesting this. so i think, you know, you've also seen trump authorize the 20 ton bombs in to use in gaza. this is part of a larger pattern that, when it comes to netanyahu, trump is basically giving him green light. >> and we're very, very far from republican president george w. bush and his insistence on a two state solution in the region. all right. coming up here on cnn this morning, a busy week of senate confirmation hearings. can president trump run the table on some of his more controversial picks? plus, vice president vance flip flopping on president trump's january 6th pardons. >> cnn news central today at

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>> i've been having utis for ten years. at uqora, we make uti relief products. we also make proactive urinary tract health products. uqora is a lifesaver. try it today at uqora. com. >> all right. welcome back. fire ravaged southern california finally seeing some rain. but that rain bringing its own set of issues. let's get to meteorologist our weatherman derek van dam. derek. good morning. >> yeah. good morning. casey. just kind of sifting through social media this morning from los angeles particularly. there was a collective sigh of relief that it was indeed raining and continues to do so this morning. but we all know that the ground is so volatile, so extremely dry, and especially in and around the recent burn scarred areas. this is going to cause some concerns and some problems with too much rain too quickly. so doesn't take much for this volatile ground to move. and here's an example of just that. topanga canyon in southern california. seeing this mudslide debris flow. and we will likely continue to see that. but a far more insidious risk that's not often talked about is that the

rain that's moving across these charred, burned landscapes is picking up contaminants from burned homes and vehicles. and that water will eventually go towards the coastline. so there is an advisory for all los angeles beaches right now. stay away from the water. we don't want that to impact the drinking water either. los angeles, the palisades eaton fire burn scars, as well as the hughes fire burn scar in the north. so we'll look out for the potential of mudslides. remember, we only had three hundredths of an inch through saturday. the entire water year, but we had on sunday we had over a half an inch. so the rain largely coming to an end here in the next 24 hours. but we're going to watch out for mudslides and debris flows going forward. casey. >> all right. for sure derek van dam for us. derek. thank you i appreciate it okay. all right. coming up after the break here. president donald trump firing a number of inspectors general late friday night. how he went about it is causing criticism. we're going to talk to one of the ousted ig's up next. plus more of president trump's pick for his cabinet. head to

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to fire a number of inspectors general from over a dozen federal agencies. it happened in a friday night purge. and it raises concern about future, the future of oversight in his administration. >> it's a very common thing to do. some people thought that some were unfair or some were not doing the job. and it's a very standard thing to do. >> do you plan to bring your own people in those positions, mr. president? >> well, then i might be. i don't know anybody that would do that, but we'll put people in there that won't be very good. >> the fired inspectors general were meant to serve as independent government watchdogs. a check against fraud, waste or abuse of power. though trump, who fired a handful of inspectors general during his first term, says it is, quote, common practice, the scale of trump's purge has not been seen since ronald reagan dismissed 15 igs on his first day in office in 1981. >> also getting the ax were the 15 inspector generals. they were the targets of candidate reagan,

who accused them of not doing enough to eliminate government waste. they'll be replaced, in the words of white house press >> let's see, corruption. it may be the president's goal here when he's got a meme coin that's making him billions, is to remove anyone that's going to call all the public attention to his malfeasance. >> and joining us now is one of the inspectors general dismissed by trump on friday, mark greenblatt. he was the inspector general of the department of interior. sir, thanks very much for being here. well, thank you for having me on. can you explain how you learned about this? what happened on friday? >> so friday night. i got an

email on my work phone and i checked it. and on there was a it said white house notification. and i knew that can't be good. in the prior trump administration, they had removed president trump, had removed two inspectors general, both of which were on friday nights. and so those were friday night, you know, friday night massacres. at that time. and so to get an email from the white house saying white house notification on a friday night at 730, i knew that couldn't be good. and so i opened it up and there was a two sentence email from the director of presidential personnel that said, in light of changing priorities, you are, you know, terminated from your position at the department of the interior, effective immediately. and thank you for your service. >> so have you had a chance to clean out your office? >> no, actually, my email has been cut off and i don't know what's going to happen with my with my things. i was there for

five and a half years, and so we'll see. >> you were appointed by donald trump or named to this position by donald trump back in 2019. do you have any sense of why he would put you on this list? >> no, i don't know. and all that was stated was the changing priorities in that in that email, which i understand. the other igs who were removed, the 17 or 18 of us were still sifting through the rubble, frankly, to find out how many igs were removed. but as far as i know, all of us got essentially the same email that said, changing priorities. >> well, because, i mean, one of the things that that happened on on your watch, that of course, donald trump himself has, has focused on was this report that you did on what happened in lafayette square back during the black lives matter protests? and the square was cleared. and there's those pictures of donald trump, of course, walking across the square with mark milley. and he was clearly pleased with you

because he wrote, after this report came out and you said, well, that the square was not was not cleared, you say the evidence we obtained did not support a finding that the u.s. park police cleared the park to allow the president to survey the damage and walk to saint john's church. the evidence showed that the u.s. park police did not know about the president's potential movement until mid to late afternoon on june 1st, hours after it had begun developing its operational plan, and the fencing contractor had arrived in the park. and then trump issued this statement thanking the inspector general you for completely and totally exonerating me in the clearing of lafayette park. it just seems as though the work that you're doing and you know, it's trust, you know, trustworthy. et cetera has put him in a positive light, not a negative one. >> well, we do fair, objective, independent oversight, and i've been doing that for five and a half years. and i'm very proud of the work that my team has done during my tenure as inspector general. and so i would agree with you. i don't know what the basis of the

removal was, but we've been doing good, high impact work trying to help the american taxpayer. we are the taxpayers representatives inside the department of the interior, and i think we've been doing that job really well. >> so let's talk about the big picture impact of not just your job, but all of these. you say you're still sifting through the rubble. i mean, what does that mean for taxpayers if there are not people like you in these roles? >> well, i would say it's it's troubling. these should be sending these removals, should be sending off alarm bells for a number of different reasons. but the primary one, in my view, is the independence of these positions. the whole construct of inspectors general, it's based on us being independent, that we're not beholden to a political party of of any stripe, that we are there as the taxpayers, representatives to call balls and strikes without any dog in the fight. and so that's the question is what will what will president trump do with these positions? is he going to nominate watchdogs or

is he going to nominate lapdogs? that's the key question. if he's going to nominate independent minded folks who are independent in body and spirit, then then that that's hopefully the right course of action. if he goes down a path of of nominating and appointing political lackeys, then i think the american taxpayers, congress, stakeholders throughout the country should be up in arms. this is not a good not a good development for the american taxpayer. >> what should we be looking for? i know you came up through basically the inspector general community. you are a professional investigator. what would be a red flag in someone's background that would indicate that in your words, they would be a lapdog and not a watchdog? >> well, certainly. i mean, we've seen this in administrations of both kinds, both both sides of the aisle over the years. the big issue is do they have a political experience that

would that would call their credibility into question? do they have, you know, are they working for the administration? do they have a dog in the fight? that's the key question. and it manifests itself in a number of different ways. but the key thing is can they be objective? it doesn't mean they necessarily have to come from the inspector general community. but are they do they have a background that suggests they can do the job? they can be in a leadership position they can handle. they can speak truth to power. those are some of the key indicia of of successful inspectors general. >> all right. mark greenblatt, i'm very grateful to have you on the show. i'm sure it's been a tough weekend for you. so thank you for spending some time with us. >> thank you. >> very much. all right. still ahead here on cnn this morning, a solemn day. the world marks 80 years since the liberation of a notorious nazi concentration camp. european leaders and holocaust survivors gathering in auschwitz today to hear their stories, so that the

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concentration camp. melissa, that was a little bit of your interview with the holocaust survivor jona laks. what else can you tell us about her story and the other survivors that are gathering there today? >> now, journalists that you just saw, there was one of two twins. they arrived here as young girls. they were immediately, first of all, sent off to the extermination camps, saved by the fact that they were twins, handed to the notorious nazi doctor josef mengele. and remarkably, the sisters survived. what she told us casey was of the experiments that were carried out on them, the pain that they felt, the solitude and the chaos in which they found themselves after this camp was liberated. what you can see behind me are those rows of beer canals, a barracks where the inmates were kept. it was 80 years ago today that essentially the advancing soviet troops stumbled upon this. what was the largest but also the deadliest of the nazi concentration camps. and

specifically, it was after 1942. and that final solution was implemented by the nazis that people were brought here in their great majority jews, but also homosexuals. gypsy, roma, as we know as well, and political prisoners. more than a million people were killed at this death camp. but casey, perhaps one of the most chilling figures, that 900,000 of them died on the very day that they arrived. it was at this camp that the nazis had really refined that strategy of scaling up to industrial levels, their gas chambers. and so this commemoration likely to be one of the last big ones, say organizers, where any of the survivors are going to be able to speak in any numbers, 50 of them are expected here today. they'll be speaking in front of those world leaders, but significantly, none of those world leaders will be speaking. it will just be the voices of those survivors speaking to the world about what it is they remember again, with those fears that the world is once again

forgetting in the specter of that rising anti-semitism that we're seeing here in europe, that will very much be at the heart of the commemorations here today, that it is important to remember to those those who are still able to bear witness some of the horror of what happened here 80 years ago. casey. >> never forget. melissa bell, thanks very much for that. all right. let's turn back now to washington, where the senate is gearing up for another week of confirmation hearings. >> we're filling my cabinet with some of the best people. they're all very good, except for most of them. oh, man. what is snl going to do? who's going to play hegseth? i mean, look at these guys back here. none of them got the build. nobody has the jaw. got plenty of zuckerberg options, though. that's going to be a fight. >> after trump's pick for secretary of defense, pete hegseth, was confirmed in a tie breaking vote on friday. senators will now be questioning other controversial trump nominees, including tulsi

gabbard as director of national intelligence. robert f. kennedy jr.. for health and human services secretary. and kash patel as fbi director. some of those picks still facing a potentially rocky road to confirmation. >> tulsi gabbard, you met with her. she's going to have a hearing to be the director of national intelligence this coming week. are you going to support her? >> we'll see how she does. i've known her on the same reserve unit. richard burr, who is a good friend of mine, is going to introduce her. so that goes a long way, but. >> we'll see. it's not a ringing endorsement, huh? we'll see. >> yeah, well, we'll see. is an honest answer. >> we'll see. joining us now, former adviser to george w. bush and john mccain, mark mckinnon, also the creator of paramount's the circus. mark good morning. always wonderful to see you. >> hi, jason. >> do you? very well. the eagles won yesterday. they are going to the super bowl. you may have heard i think this may be the fifth time i've mentioned it in under an hour and a half and under two hours. but let's talk about these confirmation chances. i know this is a conversation you and i have kind of had going the last couple of

months. tulsi gabbard, in particular, seems to potentially be in trouble. do you think she is and do you think anybody else is going to face potential problems actually getting these votes? >> i don't think so. really. i think the fact that that pete hegseth made it through tells you all you need to know. i mean, he was clearly the most embattled potential nominee. now, clearly, uh, tulsi gabbard and kash patel have national intelligence issues that are serious and are a different sort of perspective. but but i think at the end of the game, there's there's just been signals throughout that i think that while they're taking it seriously, that they're ready to to go ahead and pass them through. and i think both will get through this week. >> yeah. i mean, nbc is reporting that the white house has warned of consequences for senators who vote against

him. um, do you what do you think that might look like? >> it looks like a primary opponent. that's what it looks like. they're dropping the hammer on everybody. and and again, i think listen, if you if you can, if you can vote for pete hegseth, you can vote for anybody. so i think that again that matt gaetz became the sort of sacrificial lamb. and after that everybody's flying through. that's my that's my outlook. yeah. >> fair enough. um, mark, one of the things obviously, that we've been talking about throughout the morning is the immigration crackdown, of course, promised by donald trump during the campaign. but now, of course, we're getting not just the actions, but also the show that donald trump puts on. we're reporting here at cnn that law enforcement agencies have been directed to wear uniforms that very clearly mark who they are. now, of course, safety protocol dictates law enforcement officers need to identify themselves. but they are reporting is that this is

specifically to generate more media attention. um, we have also seen, of course, the very public confrontation between donald trump and the president of colombia, one that the president seems to have come out on top on. certainly, that's how the white house feels. but of course, you're also seeing incidents where there's we're reporting this just this morning, members of the navajo nation were detained, some of them for long periods of time, demanded to see their citizenship credentials. there was a man at a church in an atlanta suburb. ice agents didn't go inside the church, but he was attending a sermon and they went looking for him by name. and then, of course, we've got these ice raids that are were unfolding in chicago on sunday. i want to play a little bit of one woman who had a family member detained. let's watch that. and i want to talk to you about it. >> they will open the door because they thought maybe one of us were in trouble or something, or something happened to us. he never did anything

that would have been nice. you're already heartbroken myself, and i can't imagine little kids whose families are breaking apart because of this. >> she, of course, speaking english, talking about her father. where is the line here between. and what is it that americans really want from the president here? they want. they do want some action. but is it what you just saw there? >> well, there's an old louisiana expression. casey hitt. dogs bark. and what donald trump and maga republicans want is they want all the barking that they can get. so this is exactly what they want. this is the priority issue that trump started running on in 2016, that he ran on this time around, and they're not shy about it. and so the more media they can get, the more whining, the more complaining, the more even. emotional sort of of of of stories like the one that you just showed there. they're fine with it. this is exactly what they want. this is what

they ran on. i don't think there is a line, frankly. >> really interesting. mark. um, big picture the first week of the trump administration. how would you evaluate it and what does it tell you about what we're in for the next four years? >> it's really interesting, casey. i think presidential historians, it will be so interesting for them to compare and contrast 2016 and 2024, because it's the difference between a train wreck and a bullet train. and of course, they learned from their mistakes. that's one thing they're coming in with, not with broken toys, but sort of the a team. they got the people that they want on board. they know what they want to do. they have a plan. they're executing it well. and the thing that strikes me is that they obviously know that they have a limited time frame of political capital to get things done. but the other thing that that strikes me as i'm thinking about the last week is that there's so much going on, there's so much controversy that you can't

keep up with it. the media can't. democrats can't. i mean, january 6th, the pardoning was only a week ago, but it seems like a month ago now. right? because what you're trying to keep up with the january 6th pardons, the 14th amendment birthright, the firing of the igs, the stripping of security clearance, the meme coins. it's like there's so much that you can't keep up with the controversy. and so it's just such a blizzard of of controversial things that nobody can keep up with it or keep a focus on any particular controversy, and therefore there are really none. >> it is remarkable when you when you lay it out that way for sure. mark mckinnon, thanks very much. always appreciate you. see you next week. i hope. >> you get. >> all right. all right. let's turn now to this. the sweeping nature of president trump's january 6th clemency seemed to come as a surprise to even his running mate. >> if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned. and there's a little bit of a gray area there. >> that was then vice president

elect jd vance saying the pardons for january 6th shouldn't include those who were violent on that day. violence, which included disturbing moments like this one for police officers on the front line against a mob of rioters. that scream of help was from dc metropolitan police officer daniel hodges as he was crushed in a door while defending the capitol that day. now, the men he testified against in court are free, along with hundreds of others accused or convicted of attacking law enforcement officers. in total, more than 140 officers were injured by rioters, disrupting the certification of the 2020 election. five officers later died, but vice president vance is now defending the broad pardons that were handed down by president trump. >> the pardon. >> power is not just for people who are angels or people who are perfect. and of course, we love our law enforcement and want people to be peaceful with everybody, but especially with our good cops. that's a separate

issue from what merrick garland's department of justice did. we rectified a wrong. and i stand by it. >> i stand by it, he says. our panel has returned. matt gorman i mean. he's standing by saying it's okay for people to attack police officers. >> yeah. i mean, look, he was put in a tough spot, especially when you contrast with what he said on fox news sunday just a couple of weeks ago. and look, i will say this stepping back, there's there's a real reason why vance goes on these platforms. they went on face the nation knowing it would not be an easy interview. it would be more antagonistic than anything else. and how he is able to navigate these sorts of questions, i think, is going to pretend how he ends up, you know, his fortunes in 2020 and beyond. and so this strategy of going on the mainstream media, answering these questions, he had a couple viral moments earlier in the interview as well. it's a coordinated strategy and how he's able to kind of go through some of these tougher questions is going to

tell a lot of how he goes in 28. >> there are political risks, though, with backing up these pardons for 28. now, obviously, he's trying to stand in solidarity with the president. but if any of these people that were pardoned, if they were involved in political vigilantism, if they're involved in any sort of political violence, he's going to own those pardons. and that violence. >> you know, it's a synergy here between the ig issue you were talking about earlier and this issue, and it's that the president is going to do exactly what he wants. he feels emboldened. that potentially is a good strategy right now for republicans, how that wears over the next two years is going to play into the midterms. and ultimately, you're talking about vance's future ambitions into the the next presidential election in 28. >> and this is going to be an issue that i think is going to plague in the midterms and in the presidential in 28, just like you were saying, it's going to be really interesting to see how the rest of the country reacts to this, because they do not have the republicans do not have the same base or loyalty that donald trump has with the maga base. i don't think jd vance has that, and i don't think people in the house have that. and i think republicans

really are going to have to own this issue because and i understand that they had nothing to do with these pardons, but they get on tv and back it up and they are going to have to own it. >> i think i think a couple of things. let me let me separate out. again, i would be shocked in any way, shape or form on january 6th. one way or another has anything to do with the midterms or 28 absent. absent. alex's point number two though, um, look vance with trump not being able to run again, obviously. right? vance is a vessel that either people can vote in terms of reinforcing trump in a good way, or if there's a little bit of backlash against trump, vance is the person they can take it out on. and that's that's a little bit of how vance's future hangs in the balance in these next four years. good or bad. >> yeah. trump. we're watching. >> i was gonna say trump is in yolo mode, but then the rest of the party is it like also has a future and there's going to be tension there the entire time. >> that's a really very, very sharp way to put it. all right. i will leave you with this. the super bowl matchup. now set. tell me if you've seen this before. first up on sunday, my philadelphia eagles set the tone

early. saquon barkley taking his first carry for a 60 yard touchdown. hey look my producers had me actually reading a sports script. that's amazing. he had a total of three rushing scores as the eagles crushed and i mean crushed the commanders. the empire state building lighting up in green. they actually did this in new york for philly. the building social media account adding in the caption, i'm sorry i have to do this. their return to the super bowl. yep, it's going to be a rematch. >> got the prine. prine makes the move around bernard and that will clinch it. >> for the first time in fifth time in six years. the kansas city chiefs heading to the super bowl. they narrowly beat the buffalo bills at home. final score 3229. and of course, taylor swift was there in attendance to support travis kelce as he and his teammates are trying for that elusive three peat. a third straight super bowl title. she also got a front row seat to this performance. >> they came up short. hey, before you guys get out of here,

just do a little dance, make a little love. yeah. get down tonight. >> she is cracking up over it. all right, so, guys, are we ready for the chiefs in the super bowl again i certainly am very excited about my eagles. >> i'm so cheaped out. this is this is. >> like can't they both lose. >> this is this is. yeah yeah yeah. no it's awful. >> but is america cheaped out you guys. >> i'm actually looking forward to rooting against the chiefs. >> so hey you know we got some eagles fans on this side of the table. >> we're eagles fans in our household. my sister in law is actually from south philly. so we are eagles fans all the way okay. >> fly eagles fly. >> yeah matt. >> i'll go with you on this. >> one really reluctantly okay. yeah. reluctantly. >> look at that. look. >> see we can come together. >> we figured it out. >> thank you guys for joining us. thanks to all of you at home for joining us as well. i'm kasie hunt don't go anywhere. cnn news central starts right now.