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tv   BBC News America  PBS  January 20, 2025 5:30pm-6:01pm PST

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nicole: at bdo i feel like a true individual, people value me for me, they care about what i want, my needs, my career path, i matter here. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" . trump. . >> god spared my life for a reason. and that reason was to save our country. ♪ >> hello, you are very welcome to this special bbc coverage of
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donald trump's second inauguration. i'm caitriona perry at the p to donald trump has been sworn in as america's 47th president, beginning his second term in the white house. what he's promising will be a plan to reship america. he's only the second u.s. president ever to serve two nonconsecutive terms. in his address, he promised the golden age of america begins right now, saying he was saved by god to make america great again. referencing that assassination attempt in july. he outlined a raft of executive orders he said he would sign immediately, including the declaration of a national emergency at the border with mexico and the scrapping of government programs. the inauguration ceremony was held indoors because of exceptionally cold weather here in washington, d.c. today. we are looking at life pictures
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there of the capital one arena where celebrations have moved to. the capital one arena where donald trump, we saw him arrive in his motorcade earlier. he has gone underneath the building there, driving in through a loading dock through the security entrance and he will come up onto the floor of the capital one arena shortly. 20,000 people have gathered there for the you know your ration parade. -- the inauguration parade. it is usually a parade through the streets of washington, d.c., but that has also moved inside because of the exceptionally cold temperatures. but before he made his way to the capital one arena, there was a final ceremonial act at capitol hill. president trump conducted an inspection of u.s. troops as he returns to the role of commander-in-chief, in charge of the u.s. military. he said he would read the
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military of what he describes as woke policies. outgoing president joe biden was present at the inauguration and earlier today, he issued preemptive pardons for five members of his family, his siblings. former president joe biden said that his family members had been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats. those pardons followed on from another set of pardons that he issued early this morning, issued to the chief in charge of the covid response anthony fauci, and members of the house of representatives investigation committee into the attacks on january 6, amongst a few others. joe biden said he was doing that in order to prevent what he called politically motivated prosecutions. let's have a listen now to some of president trump's inaugural address. >> from this day forward, our country will flourish and be
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respected again all over the world. we will be the envy of every nation and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. during every single day of the trump administration, i will very simply put america first. our sovereignty will be reclaimed. our safety will be restored. the scales of justice will be rebalanced. the vicious violent and unfair weaponization of the justice department and our government will end. our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free.
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caitriona: president trump is promising a flurry of executive actions on day one, on this first day of his administration. the has promised to take action on immigration, on energy and environmental regulations, on reducing crime and a whole host of other issues. during the remarks he's made today, he's heaped criticism on the initiation of his predecessor, joe biden, which he said had spent unlimited funds on the defense of foreign borders while refusing to defend the borders of america. president trump was greeted with loud cheers throughout his address, not by all of the gathered crowd, particularly when he said that he would declare a national emergency in relation to the situation at the southern border. al>> all illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of middle aliens back to the
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places -- millions of illegal aliens back to the places they came. we will reinstate the remain in mexico policy. i will end the practice of catch and release. [applause] and i will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country. caitriona: while we are waiting president trump into the floor of the capital one arena, i want to bring in our senior contributor at axios and director of the syracuse university institute for democracy, journalism and set citizenship. thank you for joining us. we are looking at the scenes from capital ones arena where so
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many supporters have been waiting all day long for this moment. he has said he will sign some executive actions. there is a desk set up on the stage for him to do just that. what do you expect he will tackle first race on what we've heard from him so far? >> i certainly think he will give some of this crowd what they came for. and one of the things he's brought the most at to focus is the idea that he can use executive orders to move quickly to establish more controls along the southern border. i would be surprised if we didn't see something along those lines. president trump, the reason he was a household name, the first time he ran for president was because of his show, "the apprentice." he's a showman. he understands whether you like his style of communication or not, whether you like what he has to say or not, he understands communication at a
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level that most politicians would kill for those instincts and he knows how to make a/. he's going to want to use this event here. he cannot have the outdoor crowd size. he cannot have the sweep on the mall but is that everyone in the room. it is the ultimate rally. we will be able to see what he wants to prioritize. i think today is such a day of pomp and circumstance, it is easy to spend a lot of focus on watching what he's saying, but it's probably more important to watch what he does and what he's been talking about in terms of the southern border is deploying u.s. troops to the southern border. and also, trying to end birthright citizenship. i think we will really see where what he's trying to do pushes up against either existing laws, separation of powers, or the u.s. constitution. yes, you can deploy u.s. troops to the southern border. many presidents, including trump one and the biden
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administration, have done it during times of emergency but what are you asking those troops to do? it is widely believed that there are real limits unless congress specifically authorizes powers. you cannot use active duty u.s. military to arrest migrants on site, to do and seizures, to discharge weapons. what are you asking them to do different than what other administrations have done? on birthright citizenship, that is an idea protected in the u.s. constitution. even if the new trump administration is looking for indirect ways to do an end-around on the u.s. constitution, you can be sure that will end up quickly in court and probably go to the supreme court. even so, i think immigration is likely to be top of that pile you are seeing accumulate on that desk in this credit arena. -- crowded at images of some oft
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trump's grandchildren and other friends and supporters seated in vip viewing boxes. those white armchair-style seats on the floor of the capital one arena. we saw the motorcade arrived about 15 or 20 minutes ago, carrying president trump, first lady melania trump, and all of the children and grandchildren and various supporters, as we await his arrival. while we are waiting for him to come in, i want to bring in bbc's social media investigations correspondent. thank you for being with us here. earlier, several prominent backers of donald trump took to the stage at the capital one arena where we are watching now, including the billionaire tesla founder elon musk. he's now a very close friend, confidant, and advisor of president trump.
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one bit of his appearance has caused some controversy. let's take a look at that and we will talk about it in a moment. >> and i just want to say thank you for making it happen. thank you. my heart goes out to you. caitriona: that gesture has become a talking point on social media. with elon musk clearly being heard saying my heart goes out to you. some are seeing it as a sincere gesture, gesticulating his heart and putting it out, but others are likening it to a nazi salute. elon musk seems to be getting some of the spotlight on donald trump's inauguration day. who out of the social media bosses were there today and why is that important? >> thank you. exactly as you highlighted, elon
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musk of all the social media bosses is the one who's been getting the most attention, including following that clip of him making that gesture which has sparked more polarization online. people suggesting exact what you say that it could be a nazi salute, other people saying this was relevant to what he was saying. it is just another example of how involved elon musk seems to have become, not just in u.s. politics but in this donald trump presidency just as it is getting underway. he was not the only boss who was featured at the inauguration. he was there, prominently visible. bosses of all the big social media and tech companies, everyone from mark zuckerberg to google, apple, openai. all of the different companies involved in this space. i think that tells us something important, not only about how close some of these people seem to be to the new president, but also how social media is entering perhaps a new era under donald trump.
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that a lot of these bosses are people who are increasingly powerful and important. the platforms shape the national and international conversation. they are also very rich and influential in other ways. they seem to be people that donald trump is very keen to have around him and visible. doing a thumbs up when there of going to mars and other stuff like that. caitriona: just while we were talking, we are looking at pictures inside the capital one arena. we can see jared kushner in the special seating area talking to donald trump's pick for r commerce secretary and a close ally and advisor of donald trump. that point you were making about the seating arrangements inside the rotunda earlier for the inauguration ceremony, given how
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those ceos of the technology companies were stitched and woven in between the individuals we are looking at now who have been picked in donald trump's cabinet. it kind of go slightly to what joe biden was talking about in his farewell address last week when he was giving these warnings about how a small number of extremely wealthy people have a lot of power and they have a lot of influence because of the control over the social media platforms. >> it is important to remember that someone like elon musk decided to buy what was twitter and now called x, he made a big point of emphasizing the importance of freedom of especially. something he continues to talk about. his concerns that the old twitter was too reliant with the u.s. government at the time it was sensory certain parts of speech. now elon musk continues to talk about freedom of its but closely associated with donald trump, not least because he says pick for this body, this department that does not exist at the moment, department of government
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efficiency that donald trump is creating. we are in this new situation where these tech bros, particularly elon musk, who has positioned himself as being antigovernment and now sitting on the side of the u.s. president. you have seen changes in some of the policies and ideas of social media companies like meta, which owns instagram and facebook. mark zuckerberg came out to make changes to the site, in line with his ideas of freedom of expression which donald trump has been a strong advocate for and seeming to align themselves much more with him politically in terms of the decisions they are making at the sites. one of the big questions over the next few weeks is what happens to tiktok? donald trump made a big point yesterday at the rally, saying he plans to save tiktok. that tiktok will be ok, that they will work out a plan. that tiktok is in a little bit of hot water in the u.s. because there's been the decision by the supreme court to uphold his
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ruling that the need to sell the company and because of allegations around their ownership, and that somehow they are connected to the chinese government. tiktok denies those allegations. again, all of this seems to be about how the social media companies and donald trump get along with each other, and what that tells is about what their future holds and what they will feel like as platforms over the next four years. caitriona: we will have to wait and see. while we have been talking, we have seen donald trump's children arrive into the arena. we can see byron donalds there. we have tiffany trump, ivanka trump, lara trump merit to eric trump. lara trump the cochair of rnc. donald jr. and barron trump as well. they were invited to sit for round of applause. you can see them standing for recognition from those who were gathered in the capital one arena.
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we can safely conclude as all of those people are in their seats, we cannot be too far away from the man himself, donald trump arriving into the arena shortly. i want to bring in a former republican congressman from kansas. thank you for being with us. only form or by a matter of weeks. just wondering what you make of what we've been talking about in terms of this relationship between social media companies and president trump and how we might see that evolving over time. >> we have to take a serious look at this because when i was in congress, i voted to make sure that we put commonsense regulations in place, especially for children. i am a father of four kids and we have to look at the impact that this is having on our children and our society. certainly, free speech is incredibly important in this
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country. we cannot infringe upon it, but we have to put commonsense tools in place for parents to help raise their children and make it straightforward and simple. i think that can happen. i think the trump administration and the 77 million people who voted for him are very much in line with the idea that we need to take a commonsense approach to issues like this. caitriona: i just want to bring in joy cheney, a democratic strategist, who is with us now. you wanted to respond to that. >> yeah, no, i don't have a specific response to that, but i think we are in this moment where we are going to have to make a decision about how we will move forward. democrats will have to figure out how much they want to work with donald trump. and whether or not we are going to have an oligarchy or whether we will have a democracy.
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i think there are a lot of americans were concerned today with the comments that have been made, not just about the border. many of us agree we have to close our borders in a way that protects america, but we also believe we have to have a way of protecting ourselves from foreign adversaries who might be able to come through social media. if we pass a law like we did with tiktok, we have to be able to enforce it. to have a president who then says i will not enforce the law does seem like they are grooming us for some sort of authoritarianism that will become your problem not just with tiktok but things going forward. we will see how it plays out. caitriona: we do have to point out that president biden first of all said he was not going to enforce the law because of the time left in his administration. he was going to leave it to president trump who said he put a deadline on looking at this again. he issued a temporary extension
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to the situation, because there is that shared view about the national security risk involved. isn't there? >> there completely is. i was one that voted to ban tiktok or force them to divest. you saw the supreme court uphold that. i think it makes a lot of sense. we should not partake in china's ability to control a big part of the narrative in the united states. we see their collection of information. we see their purchasing of land near high value targets within the american intelligence community. it is an enormous concern. you saw, as you pointed out, the biden administration say they would not enforce that. i hope the trump administration will. we don't have to ban tiktok in this country but china should divest and i think it makes a lot of sense for our national
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security. caitriona: ok, now, we're are just looking at these pictures in the capital one arena. we have donald trump's children. we have most of his grandchildren, except the smallest ones. as he announced the other day, his daughter tiffany trump is expecting his 11th grandchild at the moment. we are waiting on donald trump to come take to that stage at the capital one arena. as we've been reporting all day, and it has marked the coverage and you naga ration from start to finish, the decision -- the inauguration from start to finish, the decision to move indoors because of the well below freezing temperatures in d.c. 220,000 or so tickets had been issued for the national mall and streets around for the people to watch the ceremonies. instead, just 20,000 have been able to get into the capital one arena. a lot of the supporters were
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already in washington anyway and they headed to nearby areas to get out of the cold and watch the proceedings on big screens. it is something of a festival atmosphere or a big game day atmosphere around washington, notwithstanding the cold. i want to go over to not far from us in washington where our correspondent helen humphrey is standing by. what is it like where you are now? >> a little bit warmer, i think, than where you are currently. welcome to the union pub in washington, d.c. on capitol hill. a self-proclaimed bipartisan bar. if you take a look behind me, you will see quite a lot of make america great again hats. the doors have been open since 9:00 a.m. here. whether people are celebrity or a few people who appear to be commiserating here, there's a
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lot of alcohol flowing. they are drinking something called the presidential pitcher of pilsner. among the crowds here, i met jason lyons, a trump supporter and doonor. on his way to one of the inaugural balls. >> it is freezing. it is very cold. it is very difficult to get anywhere but i am very glad i came even though i came from florida. >> that is a frank assessment. you are just showing us a picture of you and donald trump at mar-a-lago. in recent months, a lot of coming and goings from tech titans, industry titans. what do you make of that? >> a lot of them came late to the party. first time i was with him was at the 1988 republican convention. we were there together. it was in new orleans, the french quarter. i have been 100% behind him the whole time. he knows it. i did two major events at
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mar-a-lago, the wall street conference. i am really happy for today. i think today, america got its stepped back. >> what do you think the next four years will look like? >> respect. the united states lost respect. all these people that are, like you alluded to, kissing up to him right now, it is because they respect him, they fear him. the truth is he happens to be a pretty nice guy, but he's a counterpunch or. if you go after him, he will come after you twice as hard. i don't think he will be vengeful. i think he will do everything he can to get this country back on track. i don't think he likes when people take advantage of us. he does not like when we get ripped off. tariffs, so on and so forth. i think respect is really what it comes down to. the united states as of right now has a lot of respect. caitriona: you mentioned tariffs. >> i am bringing up something financial as we stand here in a pub. there has been a warning from the imf about his economic
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policy and it could have a blowback impact on the united states. are you worried about that? >> i think the issue is being taken advantage of. the united states pays more than -- caitriona: we do have to leave it there. >> thank you for being with us. we will throw it back to you. caitriona: ok, thanks for that. yes, we see that donald trump and first lady melania trump arriving. there they are arriving at the corporate level onto the floor of the capital one arena. just a moment ago, we saw the vice president jd vance and second lady arrived with their three children. this is the moment that these supporters have been waiting for since early this morning. the chance to glimpse president donald trump, first lady melania trump, and all his family and cabinet and friends. they have come from all over america for this moment. the chance for a few words, the
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chance for a handshake, the chance for a selfie. the chance to see the men that they voted for, the man they wanted to see as 47th president of the united states. donald trump. "ahihail to the chief" playing n the background. ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.
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amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "news hour" tonight -- >> so help me god. geoff: donald trump takes the oath of office and begins his second term as president of the united states. amna: swiftly announced in a host of measures aimed at implementing his energy, economic and immigration agendas. >> i will send troops to the

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