A Great American day no matter how you feel about it politically. Its normally a big american thank you to people who have made a difference in our lives. And its the president s opportunity to Say Something nice about them and give them their moment in the sun after what is, you know, widely believed to be fantastic accomplishments. In the room now, you see members of the president s cabinet and many of those who will receive these awards. They are running just a couple minutes behind. And over the last hour, weve gotten a flood of new information from the president elect about many subjects, this is all new. And well get to what we can before the ceremony begins. First off, and this one is complicated, prosecuting Hillary Clinton. Remember now, first donald trump said she should be in jail. Then he said he would prosecute her. Then he said, he would launch an investigation. Then he became the president elect. Hours ago his Senior Adviser says president elect trump does not plan to pursue charges against Hillary Clinton. Then Breitbart News ran headlines about it. Conservative commentators went off about it to some degree. There was a great deal of uproar about what you might call the base, among many in the altright. And now something brand new, donald trump has just been sitting down for an interview with the New York Times, which he first said he would do, and then said he wouldnt do. And this morning went back and said he would do. And now he has told them, and we know this through tweets from maggie havreman from the New York Times, he says he still might try to lock up Hillary Clinton after all, which would be a complete reversal of his Campaign Promise to appoint a prosecutor and put secretary clinton in jail. No matter how you feel about secretary clinton, whether she should be investigated or prosecuted or just locked up or left to her own accords or talked about endlessly, all the positions are available to you depending on which version you would like. All available right now. So anything you want to happen to secretary clinton, any of those matters are now available to you almost officially from the now president elects mouth. And we have all of them. So whichever one you like, you may have it. According to a reporter at the times, trump told journalists, quote, my inclination would be for whatever power i have on the matter is to say lets so forward. This has been looked at for so long ad nauseum. And i quote, it i think it would be very very divisive for the president count country, end quote. If donald trump can help her heal, then perhaps thats a good thing. Well, just hours after that comment from Senior AdviserKellyanne Conway, president elect trump told the New York Times hes not taking a clinton investigation off the table. Its not off the table. The president elect told the times hell keep an open mind on Climate Change, which he used to call a hoax, but no more. So if you want the president elect to believe Climate Change is a hoax, he said that on the record. And today he admitted, quote, he does see some connectivity between human activity and global warming, end quote. Which could make it not a hoax, so if thats what you prefer, that is also now available to you. During this interview, donald trump also distanced himself from the socalled altright movement. It was a movement that he said did not exist, and over which steve bannon had no control, but his aids said his site breitbart. Com was a site for the altright. But now he said, i dont want to energize the group, and i disavow the group. Of course, the president elect chief strategist and former campaign ceo steve bannon was an executive at a website called Breitbart News, which he said was a website for the altright. Trump said he would have never bannon if he thought he was a racist or part of the altright movement. But bannon said he was the head of the News Organization as he put it that was for the altright. So all of those positions are now available. The president elect has also posted a Youtube Video laying out his agenda. The problem with the Youtube Video from the journalist standpoint is, journalists want to be there when he makes statements. We want to hear the statements and ask questions about them where appropriate. We were not allowed there. No journalists were. Therefore, we will not be showing it. Thats the fox news policy, and it has been. It does not include some of the other Campaign Promises. He did not mention building the wall along the border with mexico at all. He did not mention banning muslims from entering the country or banning anyone from entering the country. Instead, donald trump said he wants to focus on creating jobs and cutting regulation. And it looks like hes trying to reach out to people who did not vote for him. It really has some positions for those who did, some positions from the disaffected, those from the rust belt being left behind and he made a number of statements and those are van available. And trump ended the video, which we wont be showing, by saying he, quote, wants to make America Great for everyone. Peter doocy is live at trump tower. Thanks to maggie haferman from the New York Times who was able to get some information from president elect trump. They said Reince Priebus miscommunicated saying the meeting was off. Then they rescheduled the meeting and they just had it and we have learned a lot about it, right, peter . Reporter right. We know the meeting happened because we saw the motorcade leave and went to the times headquarters. And donald trump behind closed doors started tweeting. The impression we get based on the tweets is that mr. Trump, the president elect, is tired of talking about Hillary Clintons legal problems. One of the reporter there is wrote that trump said this, quo, i dont want to hurt the clintons, i really dont. She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways, end quote. Trump is also quoted as saying that he thinks the clinton foundation, some could argue, has done some good work. And hes listed that as one of the reasons that when he gets sworn in as president , he does not plan as of right now to aggressively pursue prosecution of Hillary Clinton, although it is something that is still on the table. Not ruled out completely yet. But Kellyanne Conway said there will be no prosecution, that he really wants to move on. Thats what we were hearing from inside his circle. And then when he was pressed on it by the New York Times, we got another answer, not a different answer, but another answer. Did he say anything about cabinet appointees today to the New York Times . Reporter it was interesting, in terms of who is going to be doing what in the trump administration, trump suggested that his soninlaw Jared Kushner could play a big role in solving a problem that has vexed american president s for the last several decades. One of the times reporters wrote, i asked the president of the United States what role he could see kushner playing and he said, he indicated a formal role unlikely. And then he said, quote, i would love to be the one who made peace with israel and the palestinians, end quote. He thinks Climate Change is possibly connected to human activity, but as for staying in International Global warming accord, theres this from a reporter who was there. Quote, on Climate Change, trump says hes also thinking about how much it will cost our companies and the effect on american competitiveness, end quote. Mr. Trump is now set to head on to palm beach for thanksgiving. Peter doocy, live from trump tower. There will be much more on this throughout the day. And there will be more on special report tonight. Well sort out what has been said, what is being said. The different sort of statements available in all the different matters, whether to prosecute, whether or not to prosecute, whether to put her in jail, whether to investigate, whether to just move on. All of those things are out there and available for you. For today and for the next hour or so, the awarding of the president ial medal of freedom. As i mentioned, this is a day we look forward to in this hour no matter who the president , no matter who the recipients, right before thanksgiving, we all have so much to be thankful for. And the president is making the point today that these are some of the people and their works who our nation has to be thankful for. So enjoy this with us. We will not interrupt this in any way. And well listen together with you as we head off toward a thanksgiving holiday. Here we go. Tom hanks. Debra marie subbing on behalf of grace hopper. Michael jordan. Maya lee. Lawrence michaels. Eduardo padron. Robert redford. Diana ross. Vin scully. Bruce springsteen. Cicely tyson. [ cheers and applause ] ladies and gentlemen, the Vice President of the United States. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States and mrs. Michelle obama. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. Thank you. Everyone please have a seat. We have some work to do here. This is not all fun and games. Welcome to the white house, everybody. Today we celebrate extraordinary americans who have lifted our spirits, strengthened our union, pushed us towards progress. I always love doing this event. But this is a particularly impressive class. Weve got innovators and artists, public servants, rebel rousers, athletes, renown character actors, like the guy from space jam. We pay tribute to those distinguished individuals with our nations highest civilian honor, the president ial medal of freedom. Now, let me tell you a little bit about each of them. First we came close to missing out on a bill and Melinda Gates incredible partnership because apparently bills opening line was, do you want to go out two weeks from this coming saturday . The man is good with computers but fortunately, melinda believes in Second Chances and the world is better for it. For two decades the Gates Foundation has worked to provide lifesaving medical care to millions, boosting clean water supplies, improving education for our children, rallying Aggressive International action on Climate Change, cutting childhood mortality in half, the list could go on. These two have donated more money to charitable causes than anyone ever. Many years ago melindas mom told her an old saying, to know that even one life has breathed easier because you lived, that is success. And by this, in just about any other measure, few in Human History have been more successful than these two impatient optimists. Frank gehry has never reversed his impulse defying convention. I was an outsider from the beginning, he says, so for better, for worse, i thrived on it. The child of poor jewish immigrants, frank grew up in los angeles and throughout his life he embraced the spirit of the city defined by an open horizon. He spent his life rethinking shapes and mediums, seemingly the force of gravity itself, the idea of what architecture could be, he decided to upend, constantly repurposing every material available from titanium to paper towel tubes. He is inspiring our next generation through his advocacy through art generations in our schools. From the gugenheim to chicago parks to his home in santa monica, which causes consternation among his neighbors, franks work teaches us that while building could be sturdy to the ground, great art can lift our spirits, soar and broaden our horizons. When an undergraduate from rural appalachia first set foot on the National Mall many years ago, she was trying to figure out a whey to show that war is not just a victory or a loss, but about individual lives. She considered how the landscape might shape that message rather than the other way around. The project that maya lin designed for her class earned her a bplus. And a permanent place in american history. So all of you bplus students out there the Vietnam Veterans memorial has changed the way we think about monuments but also how we think about sacrifice and patriotism in ourselves. Maya has given us more places than for memory, she created places for us to make new memories, her sculptures, chapels, homes are physical acts of poetry to remind us of the most important element in art or architecture is human emotion. Three minutes before armstrong and aldrin touched down on the moon, apollo 11s lunar lander alarms trigger red and yellow lights across the board. The astronauts didnt have much time, but thankfully they had Margaret Hamilton. A young mit scientist and a working mom in the 60s, margaret led the team that created the software to allow the eagle to land safely. And keep in mind at this Time Software engineering wasnt even a field yet. There were no textbooks to follow, so as margaret says, there was no choice but to be pioneers. Luckily for us, margaret never stopped pioneering and she symbolizes that generation of unsung women who helped send humankind into space. Her Software Architecture echoes in countless technologies today. And her example speaks of the american spirit of discovery that exists in every little girl and little boy to know that somehow to look beyond the heavens is to look deep within ourselves and figure out just what is possible. If right is flight and edison is light, then hopper is code. Born in 1906, rear admiral grace Murray Hopper followed her mother into mathematics and earned her ph. D. From yale and set out on a long and storied career. At age 37 in a full 15 pounds below military guidelines, the gutsy and colorful grace joined the navy and was sent to work on one of the first computers. She saw beyond the bound ris of the possible and invented the first compiler, which allowed programs to be written in regular language and then translated for computer to understand. While the women who pioneered software were often overlooked, the most prestigious award for young computer scientists now bear her name. From cell phones to cyber command, we can thank grace hopper for opening programming to millions more people, helping to usher in the Information Age and profoundly shaping our digital world. Speaking of really smart people n the summer of 1950 a young chicago physicist found himself at alamos national laboratory. Duke garwin was there base chicago paid its faculty for nine months but his family ate for 12. So by the next summer, dick helped create the hydrogen bomb. And for the rest of his life he dedicated himself to reducing the threat of nuclear war. Dicks not only an architect of the atomic age, ever since he was a cleveland kid tinkering with his fathers movie projectors, hes never met a problem he didnt want to solve. Recognizant satellites, gps technology, the touchscreen all bear his fingerprints. He even patented a muscle washer for shellfish, which that i havent used. The other stuff i have. Where is he . Dick has advised every president since eisenhower, often rather bluntly, and rico is said to have called dick the only true genius i have ever met. I do want to see the mussel washer. Along with these scientists, artists and thinkers we honor those who shaped our culture from the stage and the screen. In her long and extraordinary career, cicely tyson has shaped the course of history. She was never the likelyiest of hollywood stars. The daughter of immigrants from the west indes, she was raised by a mother who cleaned houses and forbade her children to attend the movies, but once she got her education and broke into the business, cicely made a conscious decision, not just to salines but to speak out. I would not accept roles, she said, unless they projected us, particularly women n a realistic light and dealt with us as human beings. And from sounder to the trip to bountiful to the autobiography of miss jane pittman, cicelys convictions helped for us to see the dignity of every Single Beautiful member of the american family. And shes just gorgeous. [ applause ] yes, she is. In 1973, a critic wrote of Robert De Niro, this kid doesnt just act, he takes off into the vapors. And it was true, his characters are iconic. This sicilian father turned new york mobster, a mobster who runs a casino, a mobster who needs therapy, a fatherinlaw who is scarier than a mobster, al capone, al mobster, robert combines dramatic precision and it turns out comedic timing with his signature eye for detail. And while the name de niro iscy than mou non synonomous with tough guy, he has tireless preparation from learning the saxophone to remaking his body, he once said, i feel i have to earn the right to play a part. And the result is honest and authentic art that reveals who we really are. In 1976 Lorne Michaels asked the beatles to reunite on his show. In exchange he offered them 3,000. And then he told them, they can share it equally or they could give ringo a smaller cut, which was early proof that Lorne Michaels has a sense of humor. On saturday night live hes created world where abandoned no names be