i'm going to say hi to the coast guard. take you all, very much. family anda great having made a tremendous difference in this country. i have made a tremendous difference in the country. this country is so much stronger than when i took over. it, but it is so much stronger -- when i see for leaders, they say i cannot believe the difference in strength of the united states now and united states two years ago. thank you very much. thank you, everybody. >> president trump and first lady melania trump took part in the annual thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony. in the white house rose garden.

>> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and mrs. trump. \[applause] president trump: thank you. thank you very much. please, be seated. good afternoon, everyone. a very special day at the white house. we are thrilled to be joined today by our great first lady, melania. on behalf of the entire trump family, i want to wish all americans a happy thanksgiving.

at this time of the year, we reflect on all of the many blessings in our lives. we are very glad to be joined by the chairman of the national turkey federation, along with his wife, his father, his sons and their very beautiful families. thank you very much for being here. thank you. thank you. jeff. thank you. thanksgiving is a time of great american traditions and today we continue a very special one when a lucky turkey gets a presidential pardon. that turkey is so lucky, i've never seen such a beautiful turkey. it has been stated that president abraham lincoln, honest abe, was the first president to grant such a pardon after his son befriended the christmas turkey and implored his father, please dad, please

save it. and this grand tradition, i am pleased to announce, that today's lucky bird and guest of honor is named peas, along with his alternate, named carrots. the children will understand that. the winner of this vote was decided by a fair and open election conducted on the white house website. this was a fair election. unfortunately, carrots refused to concede and demanded a recount and we are still fighting with carrots. i will tell you, we have come to a conclusion, carrots, the result did not change. too bad for carrots. peas and carrots are the first national thanksgiving turkeys from the very great state of south dakota. love south dakota. for this occasion, we are excited to be

joined by governor elect kristi noem, a real friend of ours. stand up kristi. congratulations. she just ran a very, very great race against a very capable opponent and that was really something special. congratulations, kristi. we are also happy to have wyoming congresswoman liz chaney a good friend of mine here, that was a great victory. they know what they're doing in congress, liz. peas and carrots were raised by a farmer from riverside, pottersville colony. this is something he is very proud of. ruben waldner. i want to just think ruben for doing a great job. stand up, ruben. great job. that is a good-looking turkey. great job.

thank you very much. peas and carrots are two out of a group of 50 exceptional turkeys raised for this event and you can see that. together they are known as the presidential flock. after their good fortune today, peas and carrots will live out the rest of their days at gobbler's rest, on the cam poufs -- campus of virginia tech, good place, where they will enjoy a beautiful enclosure under the care of poultry science students and veterinarians. they will be well taken care of at virginia tech. however, it won't be entirely a rest. even though peas and carrots have received a presidential pardon, i have warned them that house democrats are likely to issue them both subpoenas. nonetheless, in the spirit of thanksgiving, i will be issuing

both peas and carrots a presidential pardon. unfortunately, i can't guarantee that your pardons won't be enjoined by the ninth circuit. always happens. they guarantee it. all joking aside, this is a time for americans to unite together in a spirit of love, understanding, unity and join as one very proud american family. our nation is doing well. we are now at the beginning of a national period of thanksgiving. as we pause to give thanks for all the blessings we have been bestowed, it really has been blessing after blessing after blessing, we are all very thankful. and we also pray for those in need, especially our fellow citizens impacted by the devastating wildfires in california, where i just came back, i've never seen anything

like it. probably nobody has. all american hearts are joined with theirs. we give thanks for the family, friends, neighbors and loved ones who enrich our lives, lift our spirits and fill our days with joy. we give thanks to god, who continues to shed his almighty grace upon this magnificent land that we all love so very much. we are truly blessed to be americans. this is an incredible time for our country. prosperity is soaring all across our land. we are especially thankful for the men and women who protect our families and to protect our flag. as we gather together this week with those we love, we share our gratitude to all of those who spend this holiday very, very far from home, serving in our military overseas.

we send our eternal gratitude to the heroes who keep america safe, strong, proud, prosperous and free. we ask god to always watch over these incredible, brave americans as they faithfully defend our nation and as they defend our home. now it is time to grant peas and carrots the pardon have been waiting for. they are extremely lucky birds. thank you, everyone, have a very happy thanksgiving and god bless america. thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. \[applause]

peas, i hereby grant you a full pardon. \[laughter] thank you very much, everybody. really great. \[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] \[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

>> president trump is in florida thanksgiving. chief this morning about justice roberts comments. the president wrote, justice roberts can say what he wants, but the ninth circuit is a complete and total disaster. a is out of control, has terrible reputation. it is used to get in almost guaranteed result. judges must not legislate security. is turn, will0 show a speech about chief justice roberts about the importance of an independent judiciary.

here are some of his remarks. >> i have great respect for our public officials, after all, they speak for the people. that commands a certain degree of humility from those of us in the judicial branch who do not. we do not speak for the people. we speak for the constitution. our role is rick clear. -- our role is very clear. we ensure the political branches act within them. requiresobviously independence from the political branches. the story of the supreme court would be very different without that sort of independence. without independence, there is no brown v. board of education. without independence, there is barnett,irginia versus

where schoolchildren were not forced to salute the flag. without independence, there is no steel seizure case, where the court held that the truman subject to the constitution, even in a time of war. >> you can watch the chief justices remarks in their entirety at 8:00 eastern. georgetown law school and the chief justice at the university of minnesota as they discuss public perceptions of the court and the importance of an independent judiciary. spending thanksgiving at mar-a-lago today, president trump tweeted justice roberts can say what he wants, the ninth circuit is a disaster. ♪ jordan: you got your camera crew. what is that all about?

in the days of uber 1.0, the