♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... brett: you know as someone coming out of college it can be very nerve-racking not knowing what to expect, whether you'll like your job or not, whether you'll make friends,

whether you'll fit in, and here i feel like it's so welcoming and such an inclusive place to work, you just feel like you're valued. 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" 'y in washington, and this is bbc'y world news america. the most high-profile defendants from the january 6 u.s. capitol riots are released from prison after being parted by president trump. the coalition from u.s. states and up with legal action blocking trump's plans to end u.s. citizenship.

and cuts to farm aid and ordering the u.s. to withdraw from the world health organization. ♪ hello and welcome to world news america. i am caitriona perry. on the in president donald trump's first full day, a day after being sworn in for a second term as president, following on inauguration ceremony. on monday, he delivered on his promise to immediately sign a blitz of executive orders, among them granting clemency more than 1500 people convicted or charged over the 20 u.s. capitol riot. the former proud boys leader who was jailed for 22 years for

conspiracy was released from prison soon after president trump signed the order. president trump commuted the sentence of more than 14 other people. convictions will remain on record. among those is the oath keepers founder who had been serving an 18-year sentence. join me now is our correspondent, emma. can you bring us up-to-date on what has happened there? emma: we've seen people being released from prison here and in other states across the u.s. now, this prison is where a number of january 6 defenders have spent time and were a number of them are still beyond -- behind bars. one woman we spoke to earlier, we spoke about how she felt to be out.

she had huge praise for donald trump, so happy to go out, she's going to get home for her children's birthday. a lot of supporters out here waiting to greet them, and they are greeted out here as heroes. but, of course, more widely, the decision to issue these pardons, including of those who carried out violent assaults, it is very divisive across america. caitriona: what can we expect to happen next, emma? emma: well, some have taken longer to be able to get out from behind bars than others. we understand some people were awaiting trial. there has to be another legal process to go through to go through together cases dismissed , different to a pardon. but the other bigger names, you have commutations, like the leaders of the proud boys and the oath keepers, well, they are free today, and they are coming out to a hero's welcome. but, of course, there has been a lot of criticism of this decision, particularly from

police officers injured in the capitol riots, who say this feels like a betrayal, that it sends the message that if you are carrying out political violence on behalf of donald trump, president trump, that he's now giving you a free pass to do that and even supporting that. of course, before he was able to sign these pardons, he often referred to the january 6 defenders as political prisoners, political hostages. that is very much how it is characterized here among the many supporters waiting to greet them. i think tonight and in the days to come, we will gradually see more and more of them who are still behind bars getting out and going back to their lives as normal. caitriona: emma vardy, thank you for that. president donald trump also sought to dramatically restrict immigration on his first day back in the white house, signing a series of executive orders aimed at tightening border control. shortly after taking office on monday, president trump declared illegal immigration a national

emergency and ordered officials to repel, repatriate, or remove unauthorized markets. -- migrants. he also order to refuse citizenship for those in the u.s. whose parents are here illegally or on visas. i will face legal challenges. the administration has also barred migrants from using the u.s. customs and border protection act. let's get more details on all of this now. we are joined from chicago by our correspondent carl. president trump has an act many measures in the field of immigration, but that is the impact of the main changes. what already is being felt? [indiscernible]

-- national guard being sent they and canceling of that -- people actually claim asylum trying to enter the united states. [indiscernible] -- and right here where we are in chicago, a very latino-heavy neighborhood, people here now say they are afraid -- [indiscernible]

stay and because of the sense that there could be high-level and wide ranging deportation actions here. caitriona: ok, carl nasman in chicago, thank you for that come a very cold and windy chicago, of course, the windy city. much of the world is bracing for significant u.s. policy changes, some with global implications. on his first day, president trump pulled the u.s. once again out of the paris climate agreement and ordered the u.s. to withdraw from the world health organization. that could hurt the who's efforts to fight future pandemics and much more. china has expressed concern about these executive orders and is urging dialogue with the u.s. there has been no movement to impose tariffs on china just yet. president trump has proposed a 25 percent tariff coming from

the u.s. and mexico. on foreign conflicts, president trump described himself as a peacemaker. he has taken credit for a cease-fire deal between israel and hamas in gaza, but on monday, he did say he was not confident that that cease-fire would hold. president trump also ordered a 90-day pause on development assistance, leaving millions of dollars of eight in limbo. a review of aid will be led by marco rubio, who was confirmed today as secretary of state by the senate. he was confirmed last night in fact, but he was sworn into office today by the vice president jd vance. he is the first cabinet member of the new trump administration and has reiterated president trump's vision of an american first party. sec. rubio: president trump was elected to keep promises, and he's going to keep those promises. the priority of the united

states department state will be the united states. it will be furthering their national interests of this country. he's given us a very clear mandate. president trump has made a very clear, everything we do, to a government but especially the department of state, everything we do must be justified to the answer to one of three questions -- doesn't make us stronger, does it make us safer, and as it make us more prosperous? if it does not do those -- one of those three things, we will not do it. caitriona: marco rubio is the first person of hispanic origin to serve as a nation's top diplomat. he was a long-term member of the senate formerly in sand intelligence committees, and he's known as a harsh critic of china as well as an ally of israel. he said anymore in ukraine, both sides will have to make concessions to end the conflict. for more on sectary rubio's first day coming here is our correspondent tom bateman.

tom: there were hundreds of staff to welcome marco rubio at the entered the lobby. -- as he entered the lobby. he was really welcomed with raucous applause by the staff. with his family, he went up the stair case they made a short address, making tribute to them, calling them the most talented diplomatic corps in history. also an attempt to ease or allay some concerns, he said while there would be changes from the trump administration to the state department here, these would not become in his words, disruptive or punitive. now, in terms of the policy, mr. rubio takes over from antony blinken as secretary of state, with several global crises to deal with in the midst of key decisions that have to be made by the, u.s. administration not

least among those the war in ukraine and u.s. support as it has been for y ukraine. president trump has indicated he was a negotiated settlement between russia and ukraine. mr. rubio traditionally more interventionist, believing in u.s. global leadership to solve conflicts, but he has tended to track more closely to mr. trum'' positionss, who says he wants to negotiate a settlement between the two countries. when it comes to the american sponsorship of the cease-fire in hostage release deal in gaza, that will be crucial work that the state department will have to continue, if it is to see the continuation of that cease-fire as crucially the movement from the first six weeks to a second, longer end to the war, aspiration, the hope of the biden administration. president trump, of course, saying on monday that he was not

confident in the cease-fire itself, so a lot of work to be done. marco rubio now the 72nd second secretary of state, now first day of the job, try to push forward with that america first agenda. caitriona: tom bateman reporting, our u.s. state department correspondent. we can show you some pictures now coming to us from the white house. you can see a podium here, which we are awaiting remarks from president donald trump. those remarks are imminent. we expect him to make a major infrastructure announcement. obviously infrastructure and other that president trump pledged to take immediate action on. so we are awaiting those remarks could you can see the podium is set there, but no president trump just yet. we will keep a check on that come and we will have a look now on some other important news coming to us from around the world.

now, the turkish president, wristed order one, has declared a day of national -- recent erdogan, has declared a day of national mourning. he said those will be held to account. four people have been detained, including the hotel's owner. the fire ripped through the hotel in the early hours of the morning. i witnesses described guests screaming for help. it took firefighters more than one hour to arrive on the scene. u.k. government has announced a public inquiry into the southport murders, as sir keir starmer has said lea loners and m misfits have been radicalized online. he killed three young girls at a

dance class last july. the head of the israel major general halevi has announced his resignation over the october 7 hamas attack he's taking responsibility for the security failure that led to the killing of more than 1200 people in israel. the announced comes as the gaza cease-fire continues to hold for eight days. u.s. said aid coverage going into a territory has not been attacked as the supplies work no longer worth as much as before. let's get to mourn outline what is happening on capitol hill come on president trump's second day in office. we can speak now to republican congressmen of south carolina. thank you for being with us on bbc news. we see in very busy, very active

president trump, on the day and a half or so that he's been in office. we want to get your thoughts first of all on the blanket pardon that he has issued for those involved in the january 6 attack on capitol hill. he has drawn some criticism. are you in favor, or should the party not have been extended to all of those involved? >> i'm in favor of the move. i think the president made the right call. in my mind, the pardons that the former president did for his family. i wish the media would talk about those pit at least as far as these go, for january 6, this is a time in our country, obviously the president wants to move past it, the american people want to move past a, and they've seen the weaponization of our federal government target individuals, some of what you have not even have their trials yet. we have a constitution for a reason that requires a speedy trial, and it is important to

put it behind us. the federal government had its chance. caitriona: some were convicted and sentenced to quite serious crimes, some of them involving attacks on law enforcement. rep. fry: look, i think the president made the pardon. this was a moment, obviously, for the president. he campaigned on this. he delivered on it. this is what many constituents in my district and across the country wanted. and, again, i think the president wants to move past this. the american people want to move past this. the press wants to litigate january 6, but the only people talking about are the members of the media. . the american people want to secure border. they want the economy back on track, and they want to move past the weaponization of a federal government that targets american citizens and sensors their speech. caitriona: many law enforcement personnel are talking about this online.

we saw a lot of measures from president trump on that front. what is your view on what he has enacted so far? rep. fry: i think so far what you are seeing is obviously a reconstruction or continued construction of the border wall, closing a lot of bo loopholes fr all authority and asylum. this is important. if you look at the data itself, we've never seen number this high, people coming into the country illegally. this was a mandate from the american people to secure the border. they are tired of feeling like they live in a border community with escalating crime. the president delivered on that with these executive orders, and it is important that we also do the same in congress. caitriona: i want to ask you one issue that is coming to us this afternoon, and that is that senators have received an affidavit containing new allegations against pete hegseth

, who absolutely denies the claims. this coming from president trump's defense secretary pick mr. hegseth made his second wife fear for her safety. mr. hegseth denies those claims. is that a distraction for mr. trump, when he is anxious to get members of his cabinet, to have their hearings, first of all, and to have them confirmed. rep. fry: well, i have not seen that particular affidavit, those allegations. what i will say is mr. hegseth serve this country admirably, and i think he would make a fantastic addition to trump's cabinet. i think the senate needs to confirm him as quickly as possible, and at least in that world, defense is one of the things we do, providing national defense and things we are engaging around the world, and having somebody who has served in that capacity i think is

really important. the president and senate should do their job and confirm the president's pick. caitriona: he has a very narrow margin in the house of representatives, and one of the big jobs ahead of you is, of course, to agree on a budget and find the government. -- fund the government. do you think he will be able to meet that deadline? what is the spirit the day after inauguration, across the aisle, and trying to work together on these measures? rep. fry: well i think right now, the spirit is really good. there's a lot of optimism in washington, d.c. the american people feel that optimism. for us, we have to deal with the reality of putting this budget together, making sure it meets the america first agenda and the president pose he desires. it is going to be a complicated process. by its very nature it is supposed to be complicated. the founding fathers intended to be that way. what we have to do is come together, make sure that perfect

is not the enemy of the good and deliver these wins for the american people. they expect us to become energy dominate again. they expect us to secure the border. and they expect us to keep taxes low, for the american people that are already suffering greatly from this inflation caused by the prior administration. this would be catastrophic to small businesses and working families, so that is the mission, and we have to deliver on that. caitriona: republican congressman russell fry of south carolina, thank you so much for joining us here on bbc news. let's get the view from the other side of the aisle now could we can speak to senator tim kaine, a democratic senator from virginia. thanks very much for being with us, senator. i just wanted to begin by asking you, that news that is coming to us this afternoon, which i posed to you republican congressional colleagues there. you, of course, are on the senate armed services committee,

had that hearing into pete hegseth, the president's pick up defense secretary. we are seeing an affidavit just coming through, sorry, senator kaine, just a moment, because president trump is making some remarks, and we are just going to bring those briefly, and we will come back to you in just a moment. pres. trump: happy with the fact that i won the race, and that they feel confident in their investments. that there is big money. so my first day back from having a nice life. it's my honor to welcome three of the world's leading technology ceo's. in the case of larry, larry ellison, it is well beyond technology, ceo of everything. he is an amazing man and an amazing business person. to announce the largest ai infrastructure project by far in history, and it is all taking place right here in america.

as you know, there's great competition for ai and other things, and they are coming at the highest level. we are joined by oracle executive chairman larry ellison, softbank ceo, my friend masayoshi son, and ceo of openai, and i would say by far the leading expert based on everything i've read, sam altman. so that is great that they are coming in together. that is a massive group of talent and might. together, these world leading technology giants are announcing the formation of stargate, so put that name down in your books. you are going to hear a lot about it in the future. a new american company that will invest $500 billion, at least, in ai infrastructure in the united states, and very quickly,

moving very rapidly, creating over 100,000 american jobs almost immediately. this monumental undertaking is a resounding declaration of confidence in america's potential, under a new president -- i did not say it, they did. so i appreciate that. it will ensure the future of technology. what we want to do is we want to keep it in this country. china is a competitor. others are competitors. we want it to be in this country, and we are making it available. i'm going to help a lot through emergency declarations, because we have an emergency. we have to get this stuff belt. -- built. they have to bring us a lot of electricity, and we will make it possible for them to get that done very easily, at their own plants, if they want, where they will build at the plant, the ai plant, they will build energy

generation, and that will be incredible. but it is technology and artificial intelligence, all made in the usa. beginning immediately, stargate will be building the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of advancements in ai, and this will include the construction of colossal data centers, very massive structures. i was in the real estate business. these are big, beautiful buildings that will employ a lot of people, and physical campus is unlikely since currently being -- on locations nationwide. they are currently being scattered. i want to ask larry, sam, and masa to say a few words, talk a little bit about what they are doing, and if you have any questions, we will go into other subjects also. this is, to become a very big fan, $500 billion stargate

project i think is something that is going to be very special. it's going to lead to something that could be the biggest of all. larry, maybe we will start with you, and we will go down the line. thank you. larry: thank you, mr. president. we certainly could not do this without you. it would simply be impossible. ai holds incredible promise for all of us, for every american. we've actually been working with openai for a while, with masa for a while. the data centers are under construction, the first of them are under construction in texas. each building, half a million square feet. 10 currently being built but that will extend to 20, beyond the abilene location, which is our first location. the kind of application that we are building, to give you an idea, maybe the most charismatic and the one that i think touches us all is our electronic health

records, not just maintaining electronic health records but by looking at electronic health records, understanding the condition of the doctors come a better understanding the condition of their patients, being able to provide health care plans that are much better than they otherwise would be. a doctor at indian river reservation would be able to see how 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.

geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the news hour tonight, with his return to the white house, president donald trump moves full steam ahead on his promised overhaul of u.s. policies. geoff: that includes an immigration crackdown. we delve into the policies that led to this moment and how the