it's been two weeks since the fire started. staying in the evacuation shelter. for many the road ahead is still unclear. the people at the shelter are given three meals a day and connecting with resources like fema. but finding housing has been tough. many are desperate to find a new place to live. >> so the fire was getting faster and faster as you could see it as it was going. it was running from fair oaks to poppy fields, poppy fields to the floors. it was coming from my property. >> my life was taken away, okay. it's still here, but it's a the most important thing. the fire, that could be, you know, replaced, but your life can't. >> if you would >> 1500 for a pardon. >> norah: tonight, the fallout after president trump pardons nearly 1600 january 6th defendants. >> i think we are in a pretty dark period.

>> norah: with nearly 140 law enforcement officers assaulted in the riot, our exclusive interview with the chief of the u.s. capitol police. >> are your officers concerned about their safety? >> norah: from texas to florida, the rare snowstorm hitting the south. >> stay at home. try to stay off the roadways. >> hand over the phones. >> norah: and in tonight's "eye on america," we put students' attachment to their smartphones to the test. >> do you know how to text on there? >> no. >> no. >> norah: the "cbs evening news" starts now. ♪ ♪ good evening. i'm norah o'donnell. hundreds of january 6th rioters are free tonight, and many more will be soon after president donald trump issued a full and unconditional pardon and shortened prison sentences for all of the nearly 1600 defendants. president trump is also dismissing charges for those not yet tried. among those who have already been released, the former leaders of the far-right extremist groups the proud boys

and the oath keepers. they are two of the highest profile defendants. enrique tarrio was serving 22 years, and stewart rhodes was serving 18 years. throughout the campaign, trump pledged to pardon the rioters, calling them patriots and hostages of the justice system. cbs's scott macfarlane leads off our coverage tonight from capitol hill. >> reporter: among those walking out of prison tonight, rachel powell of pennsylvania. >> thank you, president trump, and thank god for sparing his life. >> reporter: found guilty in 2023 of pushing a barricade into police and breaching a window, she is part of the largest criminal investigation in american history, which is now suddenly over. nearly 1600 people, including hundreds accused of beating, gassing, clubbing, and maiming police, are pardoned. president trump defended it tonight. >> these people have already served a long period of time. >> reporter: some of trump's republican senate allies acknowledge the news was unexpected. >> it's was surprising to me

that it was a blanket pardon. now i'm going through the details. >> reporter: but they didn't offer denunciations. the pardons underscore the wide range of defendants, those convicted of misdemeanors like unlawful parading, to the minnesota man convicted of assaulting four officers, including with a police riot shield. he was one of nearly 160 who cbs news found had criminal pasts ahead of january 6th. and the former new york city police officer who was serving about ten years for assaulting police outside the capitol. the pardons are a gut punch for police victims and some congressional staff like sharon nichols, who barricaded inside an office as the rioters pillaged. >> it seems like it would be troubling to know everybody just got pardoned. >> yeah. i mean, more than troubling. it's made me angry. i've been fighting some disillusionment. i think we're in a pretty dark period. >> reporter: far right group leaders enrique tarrio of the proud boys and stewart rhodes of the oath keepers were among those released, with more than

ten years remaining on their sentences. >> president trump did the right thing by letting these guys out and pardoning them, because they did not get a fair trial. >> reporter: in the past two weeks, vice president j.d. vance, house speaker mike johnson, and trump's attorney general nominee pam bondi have all said those who committed violence should not be included in pardons. trump didn't answer questions about that tonight. pam bondi still faces a key senate vote here next week. norah? >> norah: scott macfarlane, thank you so much. when we were talking about that violence enacted on those police officers, it's important to remember there are about 140 law enforcement officers that were injured on january 6th and more than half of them were capitol police officers. tonight we spoke with the chief of the u.s. capitol police for his reaction to the pardons in an exclusive interview. we know that more than 170 people, these january 6th defendants, are accused of using a deadly or dangerous weapon against law enforcement. a fire extinguisher, a four by four, bear spray.

what kind of message does that send? >> i think it sends the message that politics is more important than policing. my officers go out there every day and enforce the law impartially. >> norah: if violent criminals are pardoned, does that put law-enforcement officers in danger in the future? >> it could put any of our communities in danger. anybody that is convicted of a violent crime and then allowed to not serve their sentence or just be let off the hook, i think it has an impact on our communities nationwide. >> norah: how has this pardoning of all of those involved in january 6th, how has that affected the morale of capitol police officers? >> i have talked to a few officers, and i know some of my leadership team has told me that there's a lot of officers that are angry, they're upset, and i don't blame them.

>> norah: why are some of your officers angry and upset? >> because they believe they were doing their job properly that day, and this sends a message to them that somehow it was okay for these folks to do the things that they did. >> norah: this is not just about president trump, right? i mean, there was a commutation issued by former president biden as well, before he left office. >> that's correct. leonard peltier, who in 1975 killed two fbi agents, he was a political activist who felt he was fighting for his cause, and yesterday he was set free. >> norah: what message does that send? >> well, i would tell you i'm sure it sends a pretty poor message to the fbi and frankly to every law enforcement officer in this country, to think that, if you are killed in the line of duty that at some point, it becomes okay. because it's not okay for the families of those fbi agents. and those fbi agents are still dead. and yet, the man that killed

them has been set free. >> norah: chief manger, thank you for being here and thanks to all of your officers. we know now that attorneys general from 22 states are now suing to block president trump's move to end what's known as birthright citizenship, that is guaranteeing that children born in the u.s. are citizens regardless of their we get more on the new immigration battles from cbs's weijia jiang at the white house. >> reporter: a church service at the national cathedral marks the final event of inauguration. but, unlike most sermons, this one was directed at president trump. >> i ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. >> reporter: reverend mariann edgar budde used her audience with the president to defend the undocumented immigrants trump has vowed to deport, with i.c.e. raids starting as early as this week. >> the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.

they pay taxes and are good neighbors. >> reporter: back at the white house, trump was unmoved. >> not too exciting, was it? i didn't think it was a good service. >> reporter: the president has already signed seven executive orders on immigration. >> that's a good one. birthright. that's a big one. >> reporter: including one that refuses to recognize children born in the u.s. as american citizens if their parents are unauthorized immigrants. >> we're the only country in the world that does this with birthright. >> reporter: at least 22 states and the district of columbia have sued to block the measure, arguing birthright citizenship is enshrined in the constitution under the 14th amendment. >> the executive order renders many children born on american soil without citizenship, creating for the first time a class of american-born children whose health and well-being are threatened by their own government. >> reporter: despite

president trump's claim u.s. is alone, than 30 countries have unrestricted birthright citizenship. ending it here was one of trump's campaign promises, and tonight the white house says it is ready to face those state lawsuits in court. norah? >> norah: weijia jiang, thank you. president trump's nominee to lead the pentagon is facing new charges of abusive and drunken behavior in a sworn affidavit read by senators. cbs's nikole killion has the details. >> reporter: pete hegseth's former sister-in-law danielle hegseth alleges the defense secretary nominee was abusive toward his second wife samantha. in a sworn affidavit provided to the senate armed services committee, danielle hegseth claims samantha told her she once hid in a closet for fear of her safety. >> would you like a copy of it? >> reporter: democrats who reviewed the statement were outraged. >> what i read in that affidavit reinforces the idea that not only is pete hegseth not

qualified to be secretary of defense, he is truly a danger. >> reporter: danielle hegseth, who was married to hegseth's brother also alleges samantha had a plan to get away from hegseth by texting a safe word to her if she needed help. during his confirmation hearing, hegseth denied any allegations of violence toward his former wives. >> did you ever engage in any acts of physical violence against any of your wives? >> senator, absolutely not. >> reporter: to be confirmed, hegseth can only afford to lose three republican votes. some, including maine's susan collins are still deliberating. >> i had told you earlier i was undecided. >> reporter: in a statement to cbs news, an attorney for pete hegseth said that his ex-wife samantha never alleged any abuse in court documents or to the fbi, and he called daniell hegseth's claims belated and false. norah? >> norah: nikole killion, thank you very much. turning now to the arctic freeze affecting parts of 30 states.

for the deep south, it's unprecedented. snow, ice, and even blizzard warnings stretching along the coast from texas through louisiana and into the florida panhandle. cbs's kati weis is in new orleans, which is experiencing its biggest snowfall on record. kati? >> reporter: well, good evening norah. you know, "nola" is now "snowla." 9 inches of snowfall here today and it's still coming down. it's the most the big easy has ever seen in recorded weather history, and just at this hour, we are learning that the city has brought in 14 snowplows to come and clear these roads. those plows coming from indiana driving down yesterday to take care of that. all this amid the state having its very first blizzard warning ever today. palm trees covered in snow, streets slippery with ice, like this one leading to the superdome, where the super bowl will be played in less than three weeks. this suv lost control and hit a

curb, and this historic weather event isn't over yet. >> this winter wonderland we're seeing right now is going to end in a hard freeze is going to begin. >> reporter: on iconic bourbon street, people were still letting the good times roll, but most louisianans are heeding warnings to shelter in place. are you going to be doing anything to commence or celebrate this historic day? >> eating some good food, maybe make a pot of gumbo, something like that. >> reporter: i'm skyler henry in tallahassee, florida, where crew trucks like this are using sand mixtures to treat the roads ahead of the storm. as snow creeps into the florida panhandle, 5 inches of snow in pensacola has set a record. in tallahassee, emergency management crews are concerned about elevated roadways that can quickly freeze over. >> the snow is not a common occurrence, so we don't have the magnitude of equipment that you have in the northern states. we don't have the salt, but we do have sand, and we will use sand to maintain the road

surfaces to the best of our ability. >> reporter: there's no relief at the beach. a dusting of snow has turned a beach day into a snow day. we have reached the freezing rain portion of this wintry weather. now snow has caused issues for travelers, as well. several airports, including the one here in tallahassee, suspending operations until the weather passes. add onto that concerns about sheets of ice building along the i-10 corridor. norah? >> norah: sounds dangerous. for more on where this weather is headed next, let's bring in cbs' lonnie quinn. good evening, lonnie. >> good evening, norah. this picture, i know this is a little distracting. let's broaden it and you'll get a better perspective on things. that is blowing snow. it looks like what could be a coastal new england town. it's a coastal town, all right. that's pensacola, florida. there's 6 inches of snow on the ground right now in pensacola. you just heard new orleans, 9 inches, but new orleans is not the biggest number in louisiana. lafayette with almost a foot.

10.5 inches of snow. new york city, on the other side of the coin, only 1.6. where does the system go? it's going to be pushing off to the east, places like charleston, south carolina; savannah, into maybe raleigh, north carolina. 3 to 6 inches for you, and whatever you pick up, look at this. it's not going anywhere. it stays bitterly cold. all that light blue or purple either cold weather warnings or extreme cold weather warnings. you're waking up to some tough numbers out there. tomorrow morning, it's 3 below in washington, but look at new orleans. 11 degrees to kick off your day. towns that don't see snow, they've seen snow tonight. norah, it's all yours. >> norah: lonnie, thank you so much. dozens are dead in a fire in a ski resort in turkey. the details when we return. det. a ski resort in turkey. the details when we return. nkru, a medical device manufacturer, could affect your rights. exactech distributes shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle implants, including optetrak,

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problems thinking, or sweating. common side effects include inflammation of the nose and throat, insomnia and sleepiness. ♪ as you go with austedo ♪ ask your doctor for austedo xr. ♪ austedo xr ♪ >> norah: a fire has left at least 76 people dead and more than 50 hurt at a ski resort in turkey. flames broke out in the middle of the night in a 12-story wood-frame hotel. it's the start of a two-week school holiday in turkey and the hotel was packed with families. at least two of the victims jumped to their deaths. the cause is under investigation. "eye on america" is next with a flip phone experiment. how will these eighth-graders manage without their smartphones? heir smartph smartphones? ♪ ♪ ck some acid, heal erosive esophagitis, also known as erosive gerd, and relieve related heartburn. voquezna is the first and only

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♪ ♪ >> norah: new york governor kathy hochul is calling for restrictions on cell phone use in schools across the state. at least eight states have enacted statewide bans or restrictions on phones in

schools. anyone with a child knows how challenging it is to separate a kid from their phone, but in tonight's "eye on america," cbs's meg oliver found out kids will survive. >> reporter: like most eighth-graders, 14-year-old ben cohen vigder has a cell phone. unlike most, his is a flip phone. why did you want to try a flip phone? >> i knew that something had to change, because i was not getting my work done, i was very anxious, i was biting my nails a lot. >> reporter: it all started last february when ben lost his cell phone on the school bus. >> i was without a phone for two days, and i realized how my days were just so much longer and more full. >> reporter: so much better, the lacrosse goalie made the radical choice to buy a flip phone. >> i feel very proud of myself. >> reporter: he used to average up to five hours of screen time a day. now it's about 30 minutes. a cdc report says half of american teenagers spend four or

more hours on screens. teenagers with higher daily screen time are more likely to experience anxiety and depression. >> it can be distracting. >> reporter: so we asked four of ben's friends -- carson ranita, jameson, and maya, all eighth graders in new jersey -- to try flip phones for a week. >> what is your average daily screen time on your phone? >> 10.5 hours. >> 10.5 hours. what are you doing on your phone for ten hours a day? >> watching "gossip girl" and tiktok. >> reporter: they were curious but skeptical about the experiment. jameson says he isn't doing as well as he wants to in school. >> i think my phone is a big factor in that. >> reporter: although ranita plays three sports, she admits wasting time on her phone. >> i don't realize 30 minutes or an hour has gone by. >> reporter: carson agreed to participate but the avid basketball player was nervous. >> as it got closer, i started having bad thoughts about it. >> reporter: but maya, who loves studying english and just started rowing, is hoping this

trial helps her at night. >> hand over the phones. let's see. it's going to be okay. thanks, jameson. are you ready? here's your new flip phone. do you know how to text on there? >> no. >> no. >> it's day two. it was hard because i didn't have my phone. >> reporter: carson didn't make it. he asked for his phone back within 24 hours. >> what have you been doing without your smartphone? >> i just sat there and stared at my wall until i had practice. >> how do i add a new contact? >> reporter: the others stuck it out, sending in mostly positive reviews. >> i've been sleeping a lot better. i'm a lot less tired in the day. >> i don't have my apple pay which really doesn't help. >> i finish homework so easily and faster. >> hi. >> hello there. >> reporter: seven days later, we reconvened. >> it wasn't as bad as i though. it was gonna be. >> reporter: jameson, what was the positive for you? >> well, i talked to my parents a lot more. and, like, i went out a lot more with my friends. >> what did you learn from this? >> i think that not your whole

life should be on your screen. there should be things off of that. >> i think it helped them even in ways they don't realize. >> reporter: in february, it'll be a full year for ben and his flip phone. his friends may not want to join him full-time, but he believes it's never too late to make a change. >> it doesn't have to be something as drastic as completely getting rid of all your social media. i still have an instagram account that i will use on my computer. but it's more about doing small things that you can bring together to just fix that constant need. >> reporter: a smart lesson learned without a smartphone. for "eye on america," meg oliver, montclair, new jersey. >> norah: great, great story. everyone should try that. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: this portion of the "cbs evening news" is sponsored by ancestry. discover, preserve, represent.

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are wooding buildings really the best way to go? >> you have to take the precautions at this point in time. you can't think it is not going to touch anything. >> how some bay area builders

are shifting tactics to help prepare homes for wild fires. >> this is cbs news bay area with juliette goodrich. >> here we go. california is taking president trump to court over one of his first acts in office targeting immigration. hours after taking the oath of office yesterday, president trump signed an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. a right laid out in the 14th amendment. today, california along with 17 states plus san francisco and washington dc sued the federal government to block the order, declaring it unconstitutional. our john ramos takes a look at the battle over birthright citizenship and its historic ties to san francisco. >> most of us take for granted our citizenship simply because we were born here but it hasn't always been that way for everyone. >> reporter: it only became settled law because of one gutsy young man here in san francisco's chinatown.