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Bush Inauguration Ceremony About to Begin

Aired January 20, 2005 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Every second literally has been scripted to make sure the pomp, the ceremony; everything goes according to plan. The weather is cooperating to a large degree today, not snowing today as it was yesterday. People are already in place.
Chilly outside, Jeff Greenfield, but certainly a lot better than it was 24 hours ago.

JEFF GREENFIELD, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It is, Wolf. And it is also an inaugural that could not be more different than the first term, in terms of what the president faces in the years ahead. We've gone on four years from a president who we thought would preside over a peaceful, invulnerable America with record surpluses, to a country that is grappling with a war not yet finished, with still the aftermath of a terrorist attack, with economic conditions a lot more dicey for the president than they were four years ago.

And with a president who seems much more, at the same time, much more confident and much more expansive, particularly in what he wants to do with respect to the use of the power of the United States abroad. We're going to hear a lot about that today.

We're also dealing with a president who having won a re-election unambiguously, as opposed to four years ago, faces a country, that seem, if our poll is right, almost evenly split as to whether he's a uniter, whether a divider. A country that admires the president personally and is very uncertain about what they think about his intended policies. So it's a different landscape -- Wolf.

BLITZER: A beautiful scene here in the nation's Capitol this hour. Representatives from the Joint Chiefs, the members of Congress will be arriving, getting in place. The official ceremonies scheduled to begin around 11:30 a.m. Eastern. That will set the stage for the Oath of Office at noon Eastern.

You're now looking at the Naval Academy, the Marine Band; the Alcorn State University Band will be performing. In this hour, we'll be watching all of this throughout the next several hours as we continue our coverage.

And joining Jeff and me and our entire CNN team, our analysts Barbara Kellerman, the political scientist from Harvard University. She's here with us.

Barbara, thanks very much.

BARBARA KELLERMAN, POLITICAL SCIENTIST, HARVARD UNIV.: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary is here with us to take us behind the scenes as well.

Barbara, one thing we will be looking at, at noon Eastern when the chief justice of the United States, William Rehnquist, is there, we expect him to be there. By all accounts he will be there, albeit in frail condition. This is an historic moment for him personally as well.

KELLERMAN: Yes, it certainly is. We know that he wanted very badly to be here for this occasion. He seems to want to hang in for at least a half a year until the end of the term, if he possibly can. As you say, he's likely to be in frail condition, in a wheelchair indeed. So it's for him, personally, an important moment. But also for the country at large since a Supreme Court debate, fight, is almost certain to take place over the next year and more.

GREENFIELD: And Wolf, we have gone -- it's been 180 years more or less since we've gone this long without a Supreme Court vacancy. Last one was 1993 when the Democrats still controlled the Senate and Bill Clinton was president. The various forces in this town, left and right, have been in effect gearing up for almost a decade for this fight, because they know how significant it can be.

And should Chief Justice Rehnquist have to leave the Court, I think all the expectations, all the analysis we been making about what the principle issues will be for the second term, you can put those aside. Because the first huge battle of the second term is going to be a Supreme Court nomination.

BLITZER: Ari Fleischer, four years ago at this time, you were only a couple of hours away from being a White House staffer. In your case, the press secretary to the president. A lot different then than it is now.

ARI FLEISCHER, FMR. WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: It was a different world, Wolf, both in the sense of how we felt personally as staffers up here in Washington. But also how the world was because it was prior to September 11. It was an easier world, a happier world. Things weren't as serious.

But one thing that's going to happen for the president and everybody in the White House, when they stand on that podium, when they look at events, they're going to look at them through the eyes of experience. Four years ago, all our eyes were so wide open. We were in awe. We early just saw the inaugural pass by like a blip. This time, I think, people are going to savor and mark it, and be part of the passing of our Democracy, as the president takes that second Oath of Office.

BLITZER: Anderson Cooper is down among the crowd already on the Washington Mall.

Anderson, tell our viewers where you are and what's going on where you are? ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, there's a lot of excitement right here. I am on the mall facing the west side of the Capitol where President Bush will be sworn in, in a few hours. And there are thousands of people who have already gathered. And a lot of people came very early this morning.

I'm here with a group from Lexington, Kentucky.

Lexington College Republicans?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct. We're with Lexington Community College Republicans, also representing the University of Kentucky College Republicans.

COOPER: And you've got a big group here. You're the Hengle (ph) family. We've got the Rogers family over here. And the Zamora family over here and with all their kids.

Now, you guys got out of school for this. Are you excited?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

COOPER: What are you looking forward to today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeing W.

COOPER: Have you ever seen the president before?

WILL: No.

COOPER: What do you think he look linings in person?

WILL: I don't know.

COOPER: Well, you're going to find out a little bit later on.

You have on a -- what is this? An inaugural bear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

COOPER: Yes? Is that a Republican or Democrat?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Republican.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Republican.

(LAUGHTER)

COOPER: I saw you whispering to her. Why did you want to bring your kids here today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We wanted them be a part of history. We know that they may never get a chance for them to see an inauguration. And so we really felt it was important for them to be here. And so they've had a really good time.

COOPER: Are you cold?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

COOPER: What do you do to stay warm?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pack in lots of layers.

COOPER: Will, do you have a lot of layers on?

WILL: I don't -- yes.

COOPER: And same thing, you wanted your kids to see history?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, uh-huh. And just be a part of it all. And we talk a lot about it at home and watch a lot of news. And it just puts it all in perspective for them; how wonderful this country is.

COOPER: Is it what you thought it was going be like here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. The entire atmosphere. You're just wrapped up in the patriotism. And the moment of being a part of America. And seeing democracy in action really is excellent.

COOPER: So where did you get the pretty pink hat?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out at the gift shop.

COOPER: At a gift shop. OK.

They all got the hats. And a lot of people here are very excited to see him. We'll be checking in with you later on, Wolf.

BLITZER: Does it look, Anderson, like the crowd is really getting full right now? Or still plenty of space for more people to show up.

COOPER: There is plenty of space, I think, for people to show up. There are long lines. People going through security. This is really an invited crowd. People have invitations to be here. But there's a lot of space along the parade route for people to just kind of find a space and hunker down. But there are already a lot of people here, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Anderson, we'll be getting back to you.

Bob Franken is along the parade route. After the swearing-in ceremony, the inauguration will move on. There will be a formal parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Bob, where are you and what's going on where you are?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm at Third and Pennsylvania. I want to show you a sign of the times. Of course, the inauguration brings with it pageantry. But since September 11, 2001, it has met intense, unbelievable security and an angry nation. The protesters are set up in various spots. One of the authorized ones is right in back of me.

They actually have provided for some of the official demonstrators, provided bleachers for them. The demonstrators, the various protest groups went to court and lost, saying they wanted more locations than they were being given by the administration, by inauguration officials. They lost in court. The judge ruling that because of security concerns, they would not be able to have more freedom than they might normally have.

They are seriously outnumbered by all the police that are here. You saw the small group of protesters. It's going to swell, of course. Look at the number of police. Now you're looking at a long line of policemen who are state troopers from Pennsylvania. They're one of many contingents who have come in from across the United States. Some from thousand of miles away, the West Coast, to supplement a huge police force being led by the Secret Service, of course, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.

The police forces are probably going to outnumber the demonstrators. They are part of a security effort, most of which we're seeing highly visible, some of which we're not. Which is designed to allow this to be a national security event that becomes a celebration, as opposed to something that would be unthinkable.

In any case, so the atmosphere in Washington is, yes, a celebration of another presidential term for those who are celebrating. But a lot of opposition to that same presidency, and an awful lot of security to make sure that things are orderly, Wolf.

BLITZER: Bob, the demonstrator, the protesters who are in that elected area, did they have to go through security magnetometers to get to where they are?

FRANKEN: They did. We did. Everybody did. It is extremely tedious. Of course, that's one of the ways, how the officials are able to maintain some control. They have a very, very tedious security process that all of us have to go through, including the demonstrators, before they can get in.

The demonstrators are complaining that there isn't really a lot of public space, that most of the tickets for the parade; most of the space has been taking up by celebrants who bought the tickets.

Nevertheless, they're going to be here. They're going to make one sort of statement or another. The most frequent one that we've heard is that as the president goes by, they're going to turn their backs on him. We'll see if that's all they do. But yes, they have to go through quite a tedious process to get in.

BLITZER: All right. We'll be checking back with you often. Bob, thanks very much.

Our Elaine Quijano is elsewhere along the parade route here in Washington.

Where are you, Elaine? ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf. We're on Freedom Plaza at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, just a few blocks away from the White House. Already, Wolf, quite a bit of activity on this end of Pennsylvania Avenue. I don't know if you can hear it, but already there is a band warming up behind me. It is the Douglas High School Marching Band. They're out of Minton, Nevada. And they actually have a history with inaugural parades. They performed in 2001 for that inaugural parade. As well as back in 1989, President George H.W. Bush's inauguration.

Now, if you take a look down Pennsylvania Avenue, what you see are various clusters already of police. Many of them lining already the parade route here, the 1.7 miles down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. People have begun to trickle in to this area just beyond our camera range. We can see they're clearing off some of the 40,000- bleacher seats, clearing them off of the snow, and starting to allow people into the area.

But at this point, Wolf, a lot of activity under way. And we should also mention an interesting story here. A rather appropriate site here, Freedom Plaza, from which to view the inaugural parade. This was originally called Western Plaza but it was renamed Freedom Plaza, because just a few blocks away at the Willard Hotel, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked on his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. And so, Freedom Plaza was renamed in honor of him. A lot of activity here, an appropriate place, as people are starting to trickle in -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Elaine Quijano is along the route at Freedom Plaza here in Washington.

Thanks, Elaine, very much.

Our Candy Crowley is inside the Capitol in the rotunda, where there will be several formal activities under way as well.

What's happening now, Candy?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: At the moment, we are standing inside the rotunda, mostly media and police. This is the place, Wolf, where we will see the president for what Capitol Hill actually called his first meal as president. Obviously, since this is his second four years, he's had others up here. But this is the place where he has the luncheon at the Capitol with family, with friends, with leading members of Congress and with some donors.

So we are told today they're going to dine today on Missouri quail, on root vegetables, on chestnuts, all evoking that wild prairie idea, as they look at the Lewis and Clark anniversary, which, of course, is this year.

So this is a time of pure celebration on Capitol Hill. They don't have many of those. As we have all noted, the honeymoon period in this second term of George Bush has been nonexistent. So this is one of the few times where there will be a big celebration. They have gifts for the president, for the vice president, gifts for everyone who attends this. So it's purely celebratory here. And it will happen right after the swearing-in ceremony -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll be there together with you, Candy, thanks very much.

Let's go outside from where Candy is up on the podium. Our senior White House correspondent John King is already in place there.

John, set the stage for us from your vantage point?

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I'm up here in the Bob Uecker (ph) seats, you might say. The back row here at the Capitol. Because of the conditions, they are just now bringing out the VIPs. They've been inside the Capitol Building at receptions. You begin to see them flowing into this section here. These are mostly Republican National Committee members, Bush campaign workers, major supporters who have seats, of course, as presidential guests. Quite a vantage point.

The president's staffers down there checking on the speech, making sure everything is ready. His chief speechwriter, Michael Gerson, came out just a few moments ago with his wife, out very early to enjoy this moment.

One footnote, you were discussing at the top of the show the sub plot, if you will, the drama over Chief Justice William Rehnquist who is obviously in poor health and his participation. His office has contacted the White House several times since the election about how he will participate in this ceremony.

We're told he is concerned about the cold weather because he is in ill health. They asked what time does he have to come out? How long did he have to stay outside? If the conditions are bad, could he possibly go inside even as the president was out giving his speech? But the White House says the chief justice, who they described in positive terms as quite a stubborn, cantankerous man, says he wants to be here. And he will be here.

And Wolf, as Anderson was talking from his vantage point, the crowd filling up here. You can hear the choir playing. It's quite a scene.

BLITZER: John, I take it they have an elevator that will help the chief justice with his wheelchair get to the podium. A built in elevator on that platform. What can you tell us about that?

KING: It is down to my left. Again, I'm in the top of the VIP section. You can see the elevator here. He can come straight out from the Capitol. He has access to the podium from there. And again, we expect him to stay as long as possible. But they did make arrangements just in case that he can come out at the last minute, and leave as early as possible if that was necessary.

But again, his staff has told the White House, he's looking forward to being a very full participant. And he, in fact, we are told had a run through, if you will, just to check out the surroundings over the weekend. BLITZER: Well, let's wish him the best of health, the best of luck as he continues with this historic moment.

John King, we'll be getting back to you often.

Right across from where John King is Paula Zahn is standing by. David Gergen of Harvard University is with Paula.

Paula, set the stage from your perspective. This is a majestic moment for the entire country.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: It is indeed. And it is a great celebration for the president. But a day that brings with it a tremendous number of challenges for this president. What he has to do in his speech today, I think, is give the American public some sense of what we can expect over the next four years. Although I'm told, it's not going to be like a budget address. It's not going to be like a laundry list of programs.

But he also, I think, has to put into context some of what we've seen happen during the first four years of his presidency.

You mentioned David Gergen is with me, a man who is very familiar about what is at stake with these speeches. He's worked in four different White Houses. He's a little nostalgic today because you remember your very first inaugural, where you didn't sit too far from here.

DAVID GERGEN, SPEECHWRITER: I did, Paula. Because this west front of the Capitol was first chosen by Ronald Reagan in 1981 for an inaugural address.

ZAHN: David, I'm going to interrupt you for one second...

GERGEN: All right.

ZAHN: ... because we're going to see some members of the Supreme Court start to arrive here. Which, of course, a lot of speculation now about...

GERGEN: Oh, absolutely.

ZAHN: ... the health of Justice Rehnquist.

GERGEN: Absolutely. We're all going to be watching for that.

But to go back to it, the inaugural address was originally given inside the Capitol. And then presidents moved it to the East side of the Capitol. But then the crowd that you can get out there is quite small. And Reagan moved it here to the west front. It has been here ever since.

And very much because he wanted to look out across the mall, across the Washington Monument, across the Lincoln Monument, across to Arlington Cemetery, and then of course, out across to his beloved California. He gave a wonderful speech as a result. But just as importantly, more Americans were able to share. You see the vast throngs of people out here today waiting to get in. I just think it is one of the most exciting days in our republic.

ZAHN: It is. I met a couple this morning that had been camped out from overnight.

GERGEN: Oh, yes! And the wind and the cold has whipped up out here, Wolf, in such a way that it's -- people are quite chilly, but there's a smile on everybody's face because this is a day, I think, more than any other day that brings us together as Americans. A singular moment.

ZAHN: And we're just beginning to get a sense of some of the broad themes in the president's speech today.

GERGEN: Yes, we are.

ZAHN: He will talk a lot about liberty, a lot about freedom. He will point to the elections in Afghanistan as a great success in the road towards democracy. Now, the debate is whether the upcoming elections in Iraq will, in fact, lead to a real democracy.

GERGEN: I would imagine, Paula, in this speech, he will not be as specific as some of us would like. He'll wait for his State of the Union. And he has postponed his State of the Union until after the elections in Iraq. Normally, he'd go before in late January. But he's waiting for after the elections in Iraq in order to give the State of the Union.

But here, I think this is a moment for healing, to try to unite the country, to give a vision, an uplifting vision. But he has to -- David Frum, the former White House speechwriter for President Bush was just here on the air on CNN saying look, he has to be somewhat specific. We don't know what he's talking about when he says extended liberty. If it's only a generality, it will not be meaningful.

And I think one of the tests today is whether we're going to hear enough to know what he is really talking. When he talks about the expansion of liberty is that everywhere? Is it the Middle East? It can't be so universal, clearly.

ZAHN: The other big challenge when you talk about healing, of course, is this is a nation that's still pretty divided. There's a lot of partisanship. And this president is not perceived as the great uniter. You look at any poll; he's just a divider.

GERGEN: He is not. That's right. And there's just a poll out now in the last couple of days, saying 49 percent say he's a uniter, and 49 percent say he's a divider. And I think that one of the big issues in the last few days we've seen, there's no honeymoon up here on Capitol Hill.

The questioning of Condee Rice, especially by Barbara Boxer, Senator Boxer from California, was so tough that I think it shows the mood here. They're not giving the president any slack this time. Last time, they were prepared to accept him as a uniter. This time they're really going to test him. And on both sides, there's going to be a tone of -- a positive tone today. But the real test is going to come in the next few days. Can they actually break bread and do more and make legislation together?

ZAHN: Well, I look forward to sharing the celebration with you.

GERGEN: OK! It will be terrific.

ZAHN: Wolf, it might also be interesting to note, when David talked about this fierce questioning by Barbara Boxer of Condoleezza Rice, the polls also indicate that the American public wants the Democrats to more or less accept their loss and move on.

GERGEN: Right, they do.

ZAHN: They're not all that appreciative of that kind of approach.

GERGEN: So far, as Candy Crowley just said, there has been no honeymoon. Maybe it can start today. It will be one of the big test of what we're watching for today.

ZAHN: And we see a very familiar man arriving here. Former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani and his wife Judith Nathan.

BLITZER: Among many of the VIPs, Paula and David, who will be arriving in the next minutes, as we prepare for the inauguration, the swearing in of President Bush, Ari Fleischer is here.

Ari, he did come in four years ago and you were with him at the time, promising to be a uniter, not a divider. Four years later, the country is still is pretty divided.

FLEISCHER: Well, I think, that's exactly right, Wolf. And unless, God forbid, there's another attack on our country, I'm afraid that President Bush will never become a uniter, because the times we live in are simply too divided. It is not in the cards for the future.

But I think that what I saw when I was in the White House and I think the American people have seen this of President Bush is he does what he thinks is right and he stands on principles. And then people can fight over it. And that's what we're going to have.

He didn't come to Washington to doodle in the margins. He came here to try to accomplish big things. And big things incite passion, both on the Republican side and on the Democrats side, for and against. And I think that's what we're going to be able to look forward to in the next four years on the major issues.

GREENFIELD: I want a quick serious note. And then just a lighter thing about why we're here. The serious note is if the president says, and we're already told that he's going to, that the key to safety home is the spread of democracy and freedom abroad. This is a sharply different message than we got pre-September 11. It's one in which he is going to have to convince the country that the enormous expenditure of money and perhaps even lives is necessary to protect Americans at home.

The lighter point I just briefly wanted to mention is why are we outside in Washington in January? This is not a logical place to be. The reason is in 1817, in the era of good feeling, James Monroe's second term, the House and Senate -- this is so typically Washingtonian, couldn't agree on who got inaugural tickets. And the only way to accommodate everybody was to move them outside.

And now, whatever it is. A hundred and sixty-one years later, the people out there are going to find a very chilly winter morning, because the Congress of the United States was on its high horse about who got what.

BLITZER: But perhaps the patriotic, rousing music from the U.S. Marine Band, the Naval Academy Glee Club, the Alcorn State University Choir we've been listening, we've been enjoying all of this.

We're going to take a quick break. But much more coverage of George W. Bush the road ahead on this inauguration day.

The dignitaries, we already saw Rudy Giuliani arrive. Others will be arriving including congressional leaders. This is a bipartisan day. Politics not supposed to be here. The Supreme Court justices have been arriving. We've seen several of them. Stephen Breyer, we saw him arrive a little while ago. And the president will be leaving the White House shortly for the quick drive up Pennsylvania Avenue to the United States Capitol.

Much more coverage on this special day when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: George Washington traveled from Mount Vernon to New York for the first presidential inauguration in 1789. Washington was hardly brimming with enthusiasm. In his inaugural address he confessed, "No event could have filled me with greater anxieties" than hearing he had been elected president.

At New York's Federal Hall, Washington added the words "so help me God" to the Oath of Office, establishing a tradition that has lasted until the present day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The Washington Monument, the White House, on this day in Washington. The weather has cooperated to a large degree. It is not snowing, as it was 24 hours ago. Fortunately, there still is some snow the ground, not much.

That's the reviewing stand where later this afternoon, after the swearing-in ceremony, the president, first lady, the vice president and Mrs. Cheney, others will be watching the parade unfold right behind the White House, the North Lawn of the White House. In about 15, 20 minutes or so, the president will be leaving. The motorcade will leave the White House for the quick drive up to Capitol Hill, where members of the U.S. military, the Armed Forces, the representatives of the Diplomatic Corps, members of Congress, the Supreme Court, are already getting in place for the festivities, for the ceremony of this very, very special day.

Barbara Kellerman, our political scientist from Harvard University, I think it's important that all of us remember it is not just Americans who are watching this inauguration. People around the world are watching as well.

KELLERMAN: Yes, I think that's absolutely right, Wolf. Particularly today. Yesterday was kind of the equivalent of a pre- game show. And I myself made the comment that it was a particularly American tapestry that we saw.

Now, today, of course, will also be an American tapestry, but it will be on the world stage. You can be sure that our European allies, so-called allies, will be watching closely particularly, of course, the speech. You can be sure that the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who used to be George Bush's best buddy, but who is no longer necessarily the best buddy. The Chinese, the people in the Middle East, particularly those, but especially concerned with Iraq.

So this is really a global performance today, not just a domestic one. And I think is it an important point that we need to bear in mind, pretty much all day long until the evening balls when you can say it is back on home ground.

BLITZER: and Given the nature of the time, noon Eastern, is 5:00 p.m. in London, 6:00 p.m. in Paris, 7:00 p.m. in the Middle East, 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad. So it's at a time when people are awake in almost all of the world.

GREENFIELD: We already know what the president is going to say, as I mentioned earlier, that it is critical to American security to spread freedom and democracy around the world.

Based on what Barbara was saying, how does that resonant with Vladimir Putin, who has not shown himself to be much of a Democrat? How does it resonate with Pakistan? Our new best friend in south Asia, but also a country being ruled in effect without democracy? How does it resonate in Saudi Arabia, in Egypt, in all the Middle East where the president says needs a transforming infusion of democracy?

So I think Barbara is quite right about this. This is going to be heard and very -- and analyzed very carefully in every capitol.

BLITZER: How much importance, Ari Fleischer, when you were inside the White House, did you give this worldwide impact of the president's words? Obviously, you were very concerned about how Americans would react. But were you pretty much concerned about how the world would react as well? Sometimes very different audiences.

FLEISCHER: Tremendously. And it started at the top. The president himself is aware not only that today's speech is going to be watched around the world, but his speeches everyday that he gives. His remarks every day gets watched all around the world. You'll hear that in his remarks today. Because he's profoundly aware of the power that America uniquely has as the only superpower left.

He knows what America can do with our might for good and for evil, for right and for wrong. And he's not afraid to use it. And this is one of the reasons we're so polarized, because you have somebody who won't hesitate to use that power if he thinks it will advance what he will describe as freedom and peace. He knows it's because America's word is the most important word around the world. And he's not afraid to engage in using it.

BLITZER: You just heard the announcement that the Diplomatic Corps is arriving, the ambassadors, the representatives from all the embassies here in Washington. The embassies that have their ambassadors or at least their charge d'affairs, the No. 2s at those embassies. They are invited to participate in this event as well.

Underscoring, Ari, what the point you're just making, that this is an audience even up on the podium where the president is, where the entire world, at least those countries with whom the United States has diplomatic relations will be listening and watching.

FLEISCHER: And think about this, too. All nations have inaugurals and democracies. The wonderful thing about an inaugural, it replenishes the fountain from which democracy spring. But only the United States' events are followed around the world like this. As important as some of these other countries are -- Russia, Australia or Britain -- nobody around the world says that those countries can have peace and war in their hands and make a difference. Only America. That is our role today.

BLITZER: In addition to the diplomatic corps, governors and the Washington, D.C. mayor, Anthony Williams, he'll be arriving very soon. And then afterwards, the House leadership. This is a moment, Jeff, where there is a joint House/Senate committee that is in charge of putting all of this together.

GREENFIELD: This is one of the closer times we come to an attempt to reflect the kind of pageantry that if you, for instance, go to great Britain, and they've been doing this for 800 years, this is done in absolute formal fashion. There is a notion, after all, the president is coming to the Capitol. The House and Senate members are extremely conscious of the separation of powers and the fact that they're a co-equal branch of government. So part of the formal presentation is you have members of the House and members the Senate who welcome the president. In fact, there are delegations that have gone to the White House to bring him down.

BLITZER: They're there right now.

GREENFIELD: Yes, as though the president needs their permission to come on their ground. But that's part of what this old tradition is, that, in fact, the whole notion of the president coming from the White House to the Capitol, this is one of the lesser known facts about today -- this is the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson coming from the White House to the Capitol to start his second term, which is the first time a president did that.

BLITZER: That man in the middle of the screen, sort of the in the top of the screen, Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and there's Robert Mueller, the FBI director, and Mrs. Mueller. Right in the front of the screen, Porter Goss, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, right at the bottom of your screen. They're arriving as well.

Barbara, this is a moment where -- there's Porter Goss. This is a moment where all of the representatives of all three branches of the U.S. government -- the executive, legislative, the judicial -- sort of are in this one tiny area together under enormous security.

KELLERMAN: Well, as you know, Wolf, this is also a visual image. We've paid an awful lot of attention to the content of George Bush's speech. But what we're seeing at the same time is with our eyes the symbolic implication of all this togetherness. It hearkens back to the celebratory comment that David Gergen made to Ari Fleischer's "what a great day this is" comment. It is great not so much because of what we hear, because that's going to be interpreted by the ideology of it. But the symbolism and the visual image of people coming together in a way that is really singular in this four-year period. So I think that's part of the pageantry. That's part of the royal impulse that I think we have, and that we also, parts of us, continue to love.

GREENFIELD: This is also an area of great concern. We talk about the astonishing security that's out in Washington today. One of the best known scholars of politics in Washington, Norm Ornstein, has ever since 9/11, has been raising an alarm about the potential for a catastrophic strike that would, in effect, decapitate the government. One of the reason why the security is as great as it is, as you mentioned, on this one platform, you've got the executive, legislative and judicial leadership of the United States of America. And if you picture, as Norm Ornstein has suggested, some enemy able to successfully attack today, that's a disaster that would make 9/11 seem almost minor by comparison.

BLITZER: It's a doomsday scenario that we don't want to think about on this special day, but it's something that scholars like Norm Ornstein and others have taken a close look at.

They've just introduced the House leadership. You saw Steny Hoyer and Roy Blunt. Roy Blunt the majority whip, Steny Hoyer, the minority whip. The House members are arriving now, Democrats and Republicans. The tradition is they walk in together to underscore the nature of this historic day. You see several members of the House side walking in right now. They'll be followed by members of the Senate. It's exciting to see this.

Ari Fleischer, you're a student, if you will, but you're also a descendant of the House of Representatives. You worked there, you lived there, you fought there as a Republican, to see this kind of, albeit for an hour or two, bipartisan cooperation on this Inauguration Day. It's exciting.

FLEISCHER: Well, it is exciting. It's a reminder of the principles, of the hopes of our democracy, where we all work together, and are supposed to work together. As soon as we say we're going to work together, the parties divided and go into their caucuses to plan how they're going to work apart.

But this is how democracies are supposed to work; there's supposed to be battles for ideas. And there's nothing wrong in a democracy in battling for an idea, Democratic or Republican. That's, Wolf, what I think we're going to see for the next four years, is those big ideas get tested, and that will be the challenge for President Bush. Can he get support, a majority. And remember this, nobody remembers the margin that Social Security was created by, that Medicare was created by, that we went to war in Iraq, what those margins were. They remember they were enacted into law and came into law and became the law of the land. So whether he has a one-vote margin or a 100-vote margin, I predict that President Bush is going to seek to get things done by whatever margin he can. He'll welcome 100; he'll be happy to get 1.

BLITZER: All right, let's go back up to the podium. John King is our man on the scene for us. Beginning to fill up nicely, isn't it, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Beginning to fill up, Wolf. You have a lot of Republicans up here, Bush campaign supporters. Just over to my left here, waiting to be cued to come out on the stage the nation's governors. Mayor Giuliani also standing over there as well. But you see the governors of many states, beginning with Alaska and Georgia up front. The governor of New York, George Pataki there, the governor of Virginia, Mark Warner and others. Fans of D.C. statehood would note that Mayor Anthony Williams is standing with the governors at this event. All these prominent officials have been inside staying warm in recessions, but now they're coming out as they ceremony's about to begin.

BLITZER: You see Ken Mehlman -- he was in the middle of the screen -- the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Karen Hughes were right next to him. Those are among the political operatives that worked so hard to, a, four years ago, get George W. Bush elected, and worked exactly as hard this time around to get him re-elected.

Paula Zahn is up there as well on the west front of the U.S. Capitol with David Gergen.

Paula, what's going through your mind as you watch this up close and personal?

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I'll tell you, having covered a number of these before, you can't help but ignore the massive amount of security in place. I think it was Jeff that was touching a little bit earlier on some of the concerns about the vulnerability of Washington at this time, given all the dignitaries being in one place at one time. David, you've been to a lot of these events before, just for us to come into the media tents in and of itself was an event.

DAVID GERGEN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: The perimeter has moved farther and farther away. You have you to first start checking in several blocks from the Capitol. That was unheard of before. Usually you checked right in next to it. The only way a terrorist can get to me here is with a missile now.

ZAHN: The man on the street, Karl Rove, of course, who is considered the architect of not only President Bush's victory, at one time as a governor of Texas, but the man that "Time" magazine very seriously considered making the man of the year in terms of his incredible strategies.

GERGEN: With good reason. Paula, you know, I have to say, I was quite struck by Ari Fleischer's comment, that flash of candor a moment ago, and I wonder if he would have said it when he was press secretary, that in fact President Bush will be unable to unite the country here in the next four years. I think that there's a lot of wisdom in that remark. The country is very divided, as Ari said. It's going to be very tough to do. And indeed, one wonders if he'll be able to unite the world. Go to the point that Barbara Kellerman was making, about how this speech has to reach out to these other audiences.

Even here as the Republicans come in, it worth remembering, Paula, that there's a lot of restive among Republicans, not just Democrats. Bill Thomas, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, a Republican, someone that Ari Fleischer knows well, just a couple of days ago, said he did not think the president's Social Security bill as the president envisions would go through; it would be a dead horse by the time it got here to Capitol Hill. So he's got some problems, even without his own ranks, some big challenges within his own ranks, as he comes this morning.

ZAHN: We're going to break away to take a peek at a man that's kind of hard to miss in a crowd, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has just arrived in the Rotunda.

GERGEN: He and Rudy Giuliani are going to be much on our minds here in the next few years. As people contemplate not just here on Capitol Hill, an amendment about gay marriage, but possibly an amendment that would allow foreign born to become citizens and run for president.

ZAHN: David, one of the things that you mentioned and I find so fascinating, when you talk about this is a president who has so many challenges. He's governing in an almost evenly divided public. You're talking about the challenges he has abroad, restive Republicans, it also strikes me that this is a president that is taking on some really controversial issues that are not a top priority for the American public. You look at any poll, and they'll tell you people are concerned about Iraq, they're concerned about security, the war on terror.

GERGEN: That's right.

ZAHN: The president has made it very clear he wants to see some kind of Social Security reform and tax reform. Is he going to win on those issues?

GERGEN: Well, it's going to be an uphill fight, Paula. I think it's become clearer and clearer with each passing day, that there's been a lack of a honeymoon, that it's going to be tougher than it appeared even when he was re-elected. As you say, the Social Security tax reform, permanent tax reductions, are not at the top of the list. He's got these restive Republicans. I think it's going to be -- history would say these are going to be difficult years for him.

The only thing to remember, as you say, though, is that George Bush is a man who has defied history on many an occasion. He's also, to go to your point, I'm sorry -- did somebody else come in?

ZAHN: John Kerry just arrived. We couldn't make out what that buzz was. I couldn't tell if that was negative or positive from where we're sitting.

GERGEN: You wonder what's going through his mind on a day like this.

ZAHN: Senator Lieberman getting a slightly different response. It's still very difficult to make it out from the drone of the crowd here.

GERGEN: The other thing, Paula, about George W. Bush is he is an ambitious man. He is a fellow who likes to go for the home runs, not for the singles. His father was someone who liked to for singles and doubles and then pile it around. George W. Bush is a fellow who likes to swing for the fences.

And what you find with a guy who swings for the fences is sometimes you'll hit one over, and as he did early in first term, but there are a lot of strikeouts, too, with people who swing for the fences. Babe Ruth had a great record on home runs, but he also was a strikeout king.

ZAHN: But this doesn't seem to be a president who is intimidated at all by criticism.

GERGEN: Not at all.

ZAHN: And in fact, you talk to people who know him well, they say this is man who likes to be underestimated. In a way, he almost likes to spark the controversy.

GERGEN: As he himself says to be misunderestimated. That is often his stock in trade, Paula. And I think he is imperturbable. You know, the face we saw on Condi Rice in these hearings the last couple of days, unflappable. I think is also the face of George W. Bush underneath. My sense is that he is ready to change the tone, but not ready to change the substance of how he governs or what he believes in. ZAHN: So Wolf, we have just seen Mrs. Dole arrive. The senator. I do not see Bob Dole, but I'm he also will be in the crowd at some point today.

GERGEN: He'll be here.

BLITZER: If we know Bob Dole, and we all know Bob Dole, he certainly will be there up on the podium. Other senators, Jon Corzine, to the right of the screen, Senator Schumer to the left. And Barack Obama, the new senator, the freshman senator from Illinois, walking down as well, widely seen as a potential superstar in the Democratic party.

We're going to have -- take a quick break right now. The president of the United States, the presidential motorcade getting ready to depart the White House for the quick trip up Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol. We'll have that and much more as George W. Bush, the road ahead, on this inauguration day. Our special coverage will continue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: The Civil War was still raging when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time in 1865. Lincoln addressed the crowd from the capitol. "Let us bind up the nation's wound," he said, "and care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace." A month later, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater, just a few blocks away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: This is the south side of the White House. You see the presidential limousine standing by, getting ready to take the president, the first lady, the rest of the presidential delegation, from the White House en route to the U.S. Capitol for the inauguration, the second inauguration. The president will be walking out and entering that limousine, together with other members of his staff, not in that one limousine, but the other cars in the motorcade, for the quick drive.

It won't take very long to get up to Capitol Hill to participate in this second inauguration of the president of the United States. The split screen. On the left, you see the White House. On the right, you see members arriving for -- to participate, to observe the swearing-in ceremony on both sides of Capitol Hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, this -- not today because the president's going for a second term, but this route, this drive to the Capitol, has been the scene of some of the tensest moments in inaugural history. When Hoover went with Roosevelt in 1933 and particularly when Truman had to go with Eisenhower, the chill in that limousine would have been colder than the outside temperature in Washington today. When presidents transfer power to people in the other party -- it doesn't always happen that way, but in those two cases, there were some very, very, tense moments, awkwardness, even. I think when you're the president going down for a second term, you probably don't have that problem because it's yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll tell you something else about that ride. The president's limo, unlike the way most people think about it, the windows are not tinted. And so crowds on the outside can actually see him. And so the president used to be able of course, on the inside, see everybody.

But when people see him, there is a word we have for it, they call them jumpers. People get so excited standing on the side of the street, they would literally jump. But it also means the protesters, of course, can see him and that gets them jumping in a different direction. It's more transparent than you think.

BLITZER: Judy Woodruff is outside the White House herself, watching and observing all of these activities. The president started the day at church this morning. Judy, you were there.

WOODRUFF: I was, Wolf. This is traditional for the president to attend a prayer service, a church service, on the day of the inauguration. And the president chose to attend St. John's Episcopal Church. It is right across Lafayette Park, literally one block from the White House. But he went by motorcade, as is tradition. The president was with the first lady, with members of his family of course, and some very close friends and supporters were there.

The minister of the church, Wolf, is a Cuban immigrant. The Reverend Luis Leon. He's someone we're told the president has become good friends with over the last four years. And the president has turned to him for advice, he's had him to the White House for talk over issues that the Reverend had an interest in. So there is some relationship with this church.

It is tradition. It's steeped in tradition. One other thing we want to tell you is that one of the people who read from the scriptures at the church this morning was the wife of White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. She is the Reverend Kathleen Card. She is herself a Methodist minister. So there were all sorts of close connections when the president was at church this morning -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Every president starts the day on this special day going to church. That's just a long-standing tradition here in Washington on January 20th.

WOODRUFF: It is. And, you know, the White House saw fit, Wolf, to share with us that when the president woke up or rose, he read from the bible, which they made a point to say is something he does every day. And then they took pains to share, you know, more details of the service. We know that when Reverend Leon gave the homily -- these are live pictures of the president, the first lady and their daughters, Barbara and Jenna, leaving the White House for the very short drive down Pennsylvania Avenue to the United States Capitol. You know, I've heard you speaking in the last few minutes about how sometimes these trips are fraught with tension when there's a change of administrations, when it's been a particularly contentious campaign. That isn't the case this time. It's George W. Bush to George W. Bush. All smiles, no tension. At least if there is any, we're not aware of it. So this is a morning that, as Andy Card, his chief of staff, said this morning, when he looked at the president, he had a glow about him. So maybe that really is the case.

BLITZER: And we're jumping now, Judy, because we're seeing the president through that window that Ari Fleischer was talking about. We can actually see him in the limousine. You see the motorcade leaving. This is the north portico, the north side of the White House, driving over to Capitol Hill.

Ari Fleischer, how many times have you been in one of those motorcades?

FLEISCHER: I've been in the motorcade countless times. It's a wonderful little exciting experience. There are no red lights. But I'll tell you one thing that's remarkable about this picture -- you're only see it once every four years - the president always, because of security, leaves from the south side of the White House. He's leaving from the north side of the White House. That only happens on Inauguration Day, because Lafayette Park, open to the public, Pennsylvania Avenue, where he's on right now, open to the public. He can't use the north side, security being security. Today it's all closed down. Once every four years, the president will go from this side of the White House.

BLITZER: In that left screen, on the left side of the screen, you see the outgoing and incoming members of the cabinet being introduced right now. John Ashcroft, you just saw him walk down, the outgoing attorney general, Ann Veneman just walked down, the agriculture secretary as well, and Don Evans, who's the commerce secretary, Elaine Chao, the labor secretary.

GREENFIELD: I think our audience, if they want to participate in an interactive experiment over the next hour, that being the buzz word of our business, they should look at the inaugural platform and count how many people on that platform either have sought or want to seek the presidency of the United States. You're not just talking about former Presidents Clinton and George Herbert Walker Bush and Carter, who will be there, former Vice President Quayle, Bob Dole, Elizabeth Dole, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Bill Frist, the hope panoply of people -- Hillary Clinton, how could I have left her out.

KELLERMAN: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rudolph Giuliani, keep going.

GREENFIELD: That's right. So I don't know what the over/under on that is, but my guess is if you count honestly, you'll see today possibly two dozen people who fit that category of people who hope to be, and still hope to be, president of the United States.

FLEISCHER: And for Republicans, it is wide open for 2008, because there's no heir apparent, which is a real change in the way that Republicans historically operate. For a generation, we've always known who the next is likely to be. Now, it's anybody guess.

KELLERMAN: Well, Ari, are you suggesting that there is an heir apparent for the Democrats?

FLEISCHER: Oh, no, the Democrats have never had heir apparent; they have a much more contentious contest.

BLITZER: We're watching this motorcade continue to make its way from the White House, other elements of the motorcade -- members of Congress, the vice president and his family are heading up to Capitol Hill right now. That's the presidential limousine itself, Ari. I think that's the presidential limousine, is it?

FLEISCHER: Well, I would suspect it is, because of the flag. But I'll tell you also, Wolf, they're identical limousines. They look exactly alike. And I'm not betraying any secrets. They all have identical license plate numbers, too, in case anybody is trying to guess which is his form farther away. But along with the flag, right there, I would guess is his. Although they both have the same flag. So it's anybody's guess.

BLITZER: All right, Secretary of State Colin Powell, his last day today as the secretary of state of the United States. He's walking in together with all the other guests. It's what, only a little bit more than an hour or so away from the formal swearing-in ceremony. It's supposed to happen as close to noon Eastern as possible. Sometimes they slip a minute or two or three, but it's supposed to be almost exactly at noon eastern. I suspect this time around, the way thing are unfolding right now, and I'm looking at the schedule, as it's happening, it is pretty much right on schedule, and assume it will happen at noon.

GREENFIELD: One of the real distinctions between this last president of the United States and this one is the issue of punctuality. You may remember, Wolf, at Clinton's inaugural there was this wonderful moment where President Clinton was yelling at his wife to let's get going. They were -- there was a little delay. I think Ari can tell us, this president appears to like to stay on schedule.

FLEISCHER: Well, in fact, he not only stayed on schedule, he was so early for so many events -- in fact, last night at the black tie and boots Texas party, he got there a half hour early. He used to joke since he arrived so early, so often that his first term would be done in three years and six months.

BLITZER: All right, we're told, by the way, this is a new presidential limo, this Cadillac limo that you're seeing right now. It's armored, as all presidential limos are. This is the first time that we're seeing this new presidential limo.

I don't know if John King, our senior White House correspondent can hear me, or if he's available. John, what do we know about this new presidential limo?

KING: Well, Wolf, I hope you can hear me. The new presidential limo is a new Cadillac. It is being brought out today. And if the camera is looking for me in the back row, if you can look down a little bit, and I'll wave. I'm sitting here with a special guest, maybe someone who some day might want to ride in that presidential limo, the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani.

My. Mayor, your thoughts today on the scene here?

RUDY GIULIANI, FMR. NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Emotional, and very moving experience every time you see it. I mean, the inauguration of a president when it goes on, if you don't feel something very emotional and very strong, you are kind of missing what it's all about to be an American. This is a very, very important thing for us. I mean, this is the longest-standing democracy in the history of the world. This inauguration and each one of these inaugurations demonstrates that. So you have to feel a great deal of pride.

KING: It is the first presidential inaugural since 9/11. Anything special the president needs to say to the country and the world?

GIULIANI: Well, no, I think, you know, there's no question we withstood the worst attack in our history and we're stronger as a result of it. We mourn the people that we lost and we'll always remember them. Some of their families are here watching today, but the country has come through it, I think spiritually stronger and much more understanding of the importance of freedom and democracy. So we came through a terrible experience and we grew from it, which is what you should do.

KING: You were the Republican mayor of a Democratic city. This country is still pretty divided. What does the Republican president have to say today?

GIULIANI: I think he has to say that we're all Americans today. I would feel that way. Obviously I'm very overjoyed that President Bush got elected. I worked hard for him. I admire him. But either way, even had it worked out the other way, I would understand how important an inauguration is, and we're all Americans today. There's not Republicans and Democrats. We can wait four years before we're Republicans and Democrats again. Maybe it will be a little less than that, but for a while, we should all think as Americans.

KING: It is a pretty good seat for Rudy Giuliani today. Are you looking down there and thinking maybe that's me in four years?

GIULIANI: No, I'm quite aware of who it is. It's George W. Bush. I believe he's been a great president, and see a lot of great things that lie ahead for him. And this is the beginning of his administration. I don't think we start thinking about the next one until some time from now.

KING: Mr. Mayor, we thank you so much for your time. Enjoy the day. Thank you, sir.

Back to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: John King up on the podium with the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, and his wife, Judith Nathan. Thanks very much, Mr. Mayor, for spending a few moments with our viewers.

Once again, this is the brand new presidential limo that's driving down Pennsylvania Avenue, heading up to Capitol Hill. And first day on the job for this limo.

Ari Fleischer, it looks like a pretty impressive car.

FLEISCHER: Well, they're all pretty impressive. Although I'll tell you, if you're fortunate enough to ever get to ride in the back of it, you really won't know that it's much different. It's got a bench in the back, another that faces that bench. It fits six people very comfortably, but other than that, other than that you can't play with the windows yourself, it looks like a regular car.

BLITZER: You say you can't play with the windows. You can't open and close the windows?

FLEISCHER: He has to ask someone in the front seat to do that for him, the Secret Service.

BLITZER: Because it's armored? Normally in the armored kinds of cars you can't really open and close windows.

FLEISCHER: Well, the president really can't control much from where he sits. He'll never get out of that vehicle unless a Secret Service agent actually goes to the outside and opens the door for him, but...

BLITZER: What about the radio? Can he flip radio stations?

FLEISCHER: He can ask somebody to change it for him.

BLITZER: He can't do it himself.

FLEISCHER: He can put on ESPN Radio anytime he wants.

BLITZER: He's got satellite radio, I'm sure.

GREENFIELD: We can an in-depth report on whether there's a DVD player, satellite radio, and On Star navigation on this thing.

BLITZER: Yes, I'm sure they have all that kind of cool stuff in that car.

We're about to hear the former presidents of the United States being introduced themselves, including Former President Bill Clinton, who is attending this event, former President Jimmy Carter, former president the first President Bush.

And, Barbara, this is a moment, father and son, this president has done what his father failed to do, namely get re-elected.

KELLERMAN: Well, it's a moment for father and son, Wolf. But it's also a moment for the entire Bush family. This is a singular family in American politics. We're really coming to appreciate this now. CNN this morning had a feature on the Bush dynasty. There are questions not only about the mother, and the father, and the current president and the first lady, but questions about the brother, Jeb Bush. Is he going to be the next in line? Questions about Jeb Bush's son, George P. Bush, who is this handsome, attractive young man who shows every single sign of getting into politics. So I think we're talking here about a larger question, which is not only the past and the present, that is the father and the son, 41 and 43, but the longer-term impact, potential impact, of this family on American political life, and I think we have not yet seen the end of that story.

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Aired January 20, 2005 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Every second literally has been scripted to make sure the pomp, the ceremony; everything goes according to plan. The weather is cooperating to a large degree today, not snowing today as it was yesterday. People are already in place.
Chilly outside, Jeff Greenfield, but certainly a lot better than it was 24 hours ago.

JEFF GREENFIELD, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It is, Wolf. And it is also an inaugural that could not be more different than the first term, in terms of what the president faces in the years ahead. We've gone on four years from a president who we thought would preside over a peaceful, invulnerable America with record surpluses, to a country that is grappling with a war not yet finished, with still the aftermath of a terrorist attack, with economic conditions a lot more dicey for the president than they were four years ago.

And with a president who seems much more, at the same time, much more confident and much more expansive, particularly in what he wants to do with respect to the use of the power of the United States abroad. We're going to hear a lot about that today.

We're also dealing with a president who having won a re-election unambiguously, as opposed to four years ago, faces a country, that seem, if our poll is right, almost evenly split as to whether he's a uniter, whether a divider. A country that admires the president personally and is very uncertain about what they think about his intended policies. So it's a different landscape -- Wolf.

BLITZER: A beautiful scene here in the nation's Capitol this hour. Representatives from the Joint Chiefs, the members of Congress will be arriving, getting in place. The official ceremonies scheduled to begin around 11:30 a.m. Eastern. That will set the stage for the Oath of Office at noon Eastern.

You're now looking at the Naval Academy, the Marine Band; the Alcorn State University Band will be performing. In this hour, we'll be watching all of this throughout the next several hours as we continue our coverage.

And joining Jeff and me and our entire CNN team, our analysts Barbara Kellerman, the political scientist from Harvard University. She's here with us.

Barbara, thanks very much.

BARBARA KELLERMAN, POLITICAL SCIENTIST, HARVARD UNIV.: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary is here with us to take us behind the scenes as well.

Barbara, one thing we will be looking at, at noon Eastern when the chief justice of the United States, William Rehnquist, is there, we expect him to be there. By all accounts he will be there, albeit in frail condition. This is an historic moment for him personally as well.

KELLERMAN: Yes, it certainly is. We know that he wanted very badly to be here for this occasion. He seems to want to hang in for at least a half a year until the end of the term, if he possibly can. As you say, he's likely to be in frail condition, in a wheelchair indeed. So it's for him, personally, an important moment. But also for the country at large since a Supreme Court debate, fight, is almost certain to take place over the next year and more.

GREENFIELD: And Wolf, we have gone -- it's been 180 years more or less since we've gone this long without a Supreme Court vacancy. Last one was 1993 when the Democrats still controlled the Senate and Bill Clinton was president. The various forces in this town, left and right, have been in effect gearing up for almost a decade for this fight, because they know how significant it can be.

And should Chief Justice Rehnquist have to leave the Court, I think all the expectations, all the analysis we been making about what the principle issues will be for the second term, you can put those aside. Because the first huge battle of the second term is going to be a Supreme Court nomination.

BLITZER: Ari Fleischer, four years ago at this time, you were only a couple of hours away from being a White House staffer. In your case, the press secretary to the president. A lot different then than it is now.

ARI FLEISCHER, FMR. WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: It was a different world, Wolf, both in the sense of how we felt personally as staffers up here in Washington. But also how the world was because it was prior to September 11. It was an easier world, a happier world. Things weren't as serious.

But one thing that's going to happen for the president and everybody in the White House, when they stand on that podium, when they look at events, they're going to look at them through the eyes of experience. Four years ago, all our eyes were so wide open. We were in awe. We early just saw the inaugural pass by like a blip. This time, I think, people are going to savor and mark it, and be part of the passing of our Democracy, as the president takes that second Oath of Office.

BLITZER: Anderson Cooper is down among the crowd already on the Washington Mall.

Anderson, tell our viewers where you are and what's going on where you are? ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, there's a lot of excitement right here. I am on the mall facing the west side of the Capitol where President Bush will be sworn in, in a few hours. And there are thousands of people who have already gathered. And a lot of people came very early this morning.

I'm here with a group from Lexington, Kentucky.

Lexington College Republicans?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct. We're with Lexington Community College Republicans, also representing the University of Kentucky College Republicans.

COOPER: And you've got a big group here. You're the Hengle (ph) family. We've got the Rogers family over here. And the Zamora family over here and with all their kids.

Now, you guys got out of school for this. Are you excited?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

COOPER: What are you looking forward to today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeing W.

COOPER: Have you ever seen the president before?

WILL: No.

COOPER: What do you think he look linings in person?

WILL: I don't know.

COOPER: Well, you're going to find out a little bit later on.

You have on a -- what is this? An inaugural bear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

COOPER: Yes? Is that a Republican or Democrat?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Republican.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Republican.

(LAUGHTER)

COOPER: I saw you whispering to her. Why did you want to bring your kids here today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We wanted them be a part of history. We know that they may never get a chance for them to see an inauguration. And so we really felt it was important for them to be here. And so they've had a really good time.

COOPER: Are you cold?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

COOPER: What do you do to stay warm?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pack in lots of layers.

COOPER: Will, do you have a lot of layers on?

WILL: I don't -- yes.

COOPER: And same thing, you wanted your kids to see history?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, uh-huh. And just be a part of it all. And we talk a lot about it at home and watch a lot of news. And it just puts it all in perspective for them; how wonderful this country is.

COOPER: Is it what you thought it was going be like here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. The entire atmosphere. You're just wrapped up in the patriotism. And the moment of being a part of America. And seeing democracy in action really is excellent.

COOPER: So where did you get the pretty pink hat?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out at the gift shop.

COOPER: At a gift shop. OK.

They all got the hats. And a lot of people here are very excited to see him. We'll be checking in with you later on, Wolf.

BLITZER: Does it look, Anderson, like the crowd is really getting full right now? Or still plenty of space for more people to show up.

COOPER: There is plenty of space, I think, for people to show up. There are long lines. People going through security. This is really an invited crowd. People have invitations to be here. But there's a lot of space along the parade route for people to just kind of find a space and hunker down. But there are already a lot of people here, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Anderson, we'll be getting back to you.

Bob Franken is along the parade route. After the swearing-in ceremony, the inauguration will move on. There will be a formal parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Bob, where are you and what's going on where you are?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm at Third and Pennsylvania. I want to show you a sign of the times. Of course, the inauguration brings with it pageantry. But since September 11, 2001, it has met intense, unbelievable security and an angry nation. The protesters are set up in various spots. One of the authorized ones is right in back of me.

They actually have provided for some of the official demonstrators, provided bleachers for them. The demonstrators, the various protest groups went to court and lost, saying they wanted more locations than they were being given by the administration, by inauguration officials. They lost in court. The judge ruling that because of security concerns, they would not be able to have more freedom than they might normally have.

They are seriously outnumbered by all the police that are here. You saw the small group of protesters. It's going to swell, of course. Look at the number of police. Now you're looking at a long line of policemen who are state troopers from Pennsylvania. They're one of many contingents who have come in from across the United States. Some from thousand of miles away, the West Coast, to supplement a huge police force being led by the Secret Service, of course, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.

The police forces are probably going to outnumber the demonstrators. They are part of a security effort, most of which we're seeing highly visible, some of which we're not. Which is designed to allow this to be a national security event that becomes a celebration, as opposed to something that would be unthinkable.

In any case, so the atmosphere in Washington is, yes, a celebration of another presidential term for those who are celebrating. But a lot of opposition to that same presidency, and an awful lot of security to make sure that things are orderly, Wolf.

BLITZER: Bob, the demonstrator, the protesters who are in that elected area, did they have to go through security magnetometers to get to where they are?

FRANKEN: They did. We did. Everybody did. It is extremely tedious. Of course, that's one of the ways, how the officials are able to maintain some control. They have a very, very tedious security process that all of us have to go through, including the demonstrators, before they can get in.

The demonstrators are complaining that there isn't really a lot of public space, that most of the tickets for the parade; most of the space has been taking up by celebrants who bought the tickets.

Nevertheless, they're going to be here. They're going to make one sort of statement or another. The most frequent one that we've heard is that as the president goes by, they're going to turn their backs on him. We'll see if that's all they do. But yes, they have to go through quite a tedious process to get in.

BLITZER: All right. We'll be checking back with you often. Bob, thanks very much.

Our Elaine Quijano is elsewhere along the parade route here in Washington.

Where are you, Elaine? ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf. We're on Freedom Plaza at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, just a few blocks away from the White House. Already, Wolf, quite a bit of activity on this end of Pennsylvania Avenue. I don't know if you can hear it, but already there is a band warming up behind me. It is the Douglas High School Marching Band. They're out of Minton, Nevada. And they actually have a history with inaugural parades. They performed in 2001 for that inaugural parade. As well as back in 1989, President George H.W. Bush's inauguration.

Now, if you take a look down Pennsylvania Avenue, what you see are various clusters already of police. Many of them lining already the parade route here, the 1.7 miles down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. People have begun to trickle in to this area just beyond our camera range. We can see they're clearing off some of the 40,000- bleacher seats, clearing them off of the snow, and starting to allow people into the area.

But at this point, Wolf, a lot of activity under way. And we should also mention an interesting story here. A rather appropriate site here, Freedom Plaza, from which to view the inaugural parade. This was originally called Western Plaza but it was renamed Freedom Plaza, because just a few blocks away at the Willard Hotel, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked on his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. And so, Freedom Plaza was renamed in honor of him. A lot of activity here, an appropriate place, as people are starting to trickle in -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Elaine Quijano is along the route at Freedom Plaza here in Washington.

Thanks, Elaine, very much.

Our Candy Crowley is inside the Capitol in the rotunda, where there will be several formal activities under way as well.

What's happening now, Candy?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: At the moment, we are standing inside the rotunda, mostly media and police. This is the place, Wolf, where we will see the president for what Capitol Hill actually called his first meal as president. Obviously, since this is his second four years, he's had others up here. But this is the place where he has the luncheon at the Capitol with family, with friends, with leading members of Congress and with some donors.

So we are told today they're going to dine today on Missouri quail, on root vegetables, on chestnuts, all evoking that wild prairie idea, as they look at the Lewis and Clark anniversary, which, of course, is this year.

So this is a time of pure celebration on Capitol Hill. They don't have many of those. As we have all noted, the honeymoon period in this second term of George Bush has been nonexistent. So this is one of the few times where there will be a big celebration. They have gifts for the president, for the vice president, gifts for everyone who attends this. So it's purely celebratory here. And it will happen right after the swearing-in ceremony -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll be there together with you, Candy, thanks very much.

Let's go outside from where Candy is up on the podium. Our senior White House correspondent John King is already in place there.

John, set the stage for us from your vantage point?

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I'm up here in the Bob Uecker (ph) seats, you might say. The back row here at the Capitol. Because of the conditions, they are just now bringing out the VIPs. They've been inside the Capitol Building at receptions. You begin to see them flowing into this section here. These are mostly Republican National Committee members, Bush campaign workers, major supporters who have seats, of course, as presidential guests. Quite a vantage point.

The president's staffers down there checking on the speech, making sure everything is ready. His chief speechwriter, Michael Gerson, came out just a few moments ago with his wife, out very early to enjoy this moment.

One footnote, you were discussing at the top of the show the sub plot, if you will, the drama over Chief Justice William Rehnquist who is obviously in poor health and his participation. His office has contacted the White House several times since the election about how he will participate in this ceremony.

We're told he is concerned about the cold weather because he is in ill health. They asked what time does he have to come out? How long did he have to stay outside? If the conditions are bad, could he possibly go inside even as the president was out giving his speech? But the White House says the chief justice, who they described in positive terms as quite a stubborn, cantankerous man, says he wants to be here. And he will be here.

And Wolf, as Anderson was talking from his vantage point, the crowd filling up here. You can hear the choir playing. It's quite a scene.

BLITZER: John, I take it they have an elevator that will help the chief justice with his wheelchair get to the podium. A built in elevator on that platform. What can you tell us about that?

KING: It is down to my left. Again, I'm in the top of the VIP section. You can see the elevator here. He can come straight out from the Capitol. He has access to the podium from there. And again, we expect him to stay as long as possible. But they did make arrangements just in case that he can come out at the last minute, and leave as early as possible if that was necessary.

But again, his staff has told the White House, he's looking forward to being a very full participant. And he, in fact, we are told had a run through, if you will, just to check out the surroundings over the weekend. BLITZER: Well, let's wish him the best of health, the best of luck as he continues with this historic moment.

John King, we'll be getting back to you often.

Right across from where John King is Paula Zahn is standing by. David Gergen of Harvard University is with Paula.

Paula, set the stage from your perspective. This is a majestic moment for the entire country.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: It is indeed. And it is a great celebration for the president. But a day that brings with it a tremendous number of challenges for this president. What he has to do in his speech today, I think, is give the American public some sense of what we can expect over the next four years. Although I'm told, it's not going to be like a budget address. It's not going to be like a laundry list of programs.

But he also, I think, has to put into context some of what we've seen happen during the first four years of his presidency.

You mentioned David Gergen is with me, a man who is very familiar about what is at stake with these speeches. He's worked in four different White Houses. He's a little nostalgic today because you remember your very first inaugural, where you didn't sit too far from here.

DAVID GERGEN, SPEECHWRITER: I did, Paula. Because this west front of the Capitol was first chosen by Ronald Reagan in 1981 for an inaugural address.

ZAHN: David, I'm going to interrupt you for one second...

GERGEN: All right.

ZAHN: ... because we're going to see some members of the Supreme Court start to arrive here. Which, of course, a lot of speculation now about...

GERGEN: Oh, absolutely.

ZAHN: ... the health of Justice Rehnquist.

GERGEN: Absolutely. We're all going to be watching for that.

But to go back to it, the inaugural address was originally given inside the Capitol. And then presidents moved it to the East side of the Capitol. But then the crowd that you can get out there is quite small. And Reagan moved it here to the west front. It has been here ever since.

And very much because he wanted to look out across the mall, across the Washington Monument, across the Lincoln Monument, across to Arlington Cemetery, and then of course, out across to his beloved California. He gave a wonderful speech as a result. But just as importantly, more Americans were able to share. You see the vast throngs of people out here today waiting to get in. I just think it is one of the most exciting days in our republic.

ZAHN: It is. I met a couple this morning that had been camped out from overnight.

GERGEN: Oh, yes! And the wind and the cold has whipped up out here, Wolf, in such a way that it's -- people are quite chilly, but there's a smile on everybody's face because this is a day, I think, more than any other day that brings us together as Americans. A singular moment.

ZAHN: And we're just beginning to get a sense of some of the broad themes in the president's speech today.

GERGEN: Yes, we are.

ZAHN: He will talk a lot about liberty, a lot about freedom. He will point to the elections in Afghanistan as a great success in the road towards democracy. Now, the debate is whether the upcoming elections in Iraq will, in fact, lead to a real democracy.

GERGEN: I would imagine, Paula, in this speech, he will not be as specific as some of us would like. He'll wait for his State of the Union. And he has postponed his State of the Union until after the elections in Iraq. Normally, he'd go before in late January. But he's waiting for after the elections in Iraq in order to give the State of the Union.

But here, I think this is a moment for healing, to try to unite the country, to give a vision, an uplifting vision. But he has to -- David Frum, the former White House speechwriter for President Bush was just here on the air on CNN saying look, he has to be somewhat specific. We don't know what he's talking about when he says extended liberty. If it's only a generality, it will not be meaningful.

And I think one of the tests today is whether we're going to hear enough to know what he is really talking. When he talks about the expansion of liberty is that everywhere? Is it the Middle East? It can't be so universal, clearly.

ZAHN: The other big challenge when you talk about healing, of course, is this is a nation that's still pretty divided. There's a lot of partisanship. And this president is not perceived as the great uniter. You look at any poll; he's just a divider.

GERGEN: He is not. That's right. And there's just a poll out now in the last couple of days, saying 49 percent say he's a uniter, and 49 percent say he's a divider. And I think that one of the big issues in the last few days we've seen, there's no honeymoon up here on Capitol Hill.

The questioning of Condee Rice, especially by Barbara Boxer, Senator Boxer from California, was so tough that I think it shows the mood here. They're not giving the president any slack this time. Last time, they were prepared to accept him as a uniter. This time they're really going to test him. And on both sides, there's going to be a tone of -- a positive tone today. But the real test is going to come in the next few days. Can they actually break bread and do more and make legislation together?

ZAHN: Well, I look forward to sharing the celebration with you.

GERGEN: OK! It will be terrific.

ZAHN: Wolf, it might also be interesting to note, when David talked about this fierce questioning by Barbara Boxer of Condoleezza Rice, the polls also indicate that the American public wants the Democrats to more or less accept their loss and move on.

GERGEN: Right, they do.

ZAHN: They're not all that appreciative of that kind of approach.

GERGEN: So far, as Candy Crowley just said, there has been no honeymoon. Maybe it can start today. It will be one of the big test of what we're watching for today.

ZAHN: And we see a very familiar man arriving here. Former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani and his wife Judith Nathan.

BLITZER: Among many of the VIPs, Paula and David, who will be arriving in the next minutes, as we prepare for the inauguration, the swearing in of President Bush, Ari Fleischer is here.

Ari, he did come in four years ago and you were with him at the time, promising to be a uniter, not a divider. Four years later, the country is still is pretty divided.

FLEISCHER: Well, I think, that's exactly right, Wolf. And unless, God forbid, there's another attack on our country, I'm afraid that President Bush will never become a uniter, because the times we live in are simply too divided. It is not in the cards for the future.

But I think that what I saw when I was in the White House and I think the American people have seen this of President Bush is he does what he thinks is right and he stands on principles. And then people can fight over it. And that's what we're going to have.

He didn't come to Washington to doodle in the margins. He came here to try to accomplish big things. And big things incite passion, both on the Republican side and on the Democrats side, for and against. And I think that's what we're going to be able to look forward to in the next four years on the major issues.

GREENFIELD: I want a quick serious note. And then just a lighter thing about why we're here. The serious note is if the president says, and we're already told that he's going to, that the key to safety home is the spread of democracy and freedom abroad. This is a sharply different message than we got pre-September 11. It's one in which he is going to have to convince the country that the enormous expenditure of money and perhaps even lives is necessary to protect Americans at home.

The lighter point I just briefly wanted to mention is why are we outside in Washington in January? This is not a logical place to be. The reason is in 1817, in the era of good feeling, James Monroe's second term, the House and Senate -- this is so typically Washingtonian, couldn't agree on who got inaugural tickets. And the only way to accommodate everybody was to move them outside.

And now, whatever it is. A hundred and sixty-one years later, the people out there are going to find a very chilly winter morning, because the Congress of the United States was on its high horse about who got what.

BLITZER: But perhaps the patriotic, rousing music from the U.S. Marine Band, the Naval Academy Glee Club, the Alcorn State University Choir we've been listening, we've been enjoying all of this.

We're going to take a quick break. But much more coverage of George W. Bush the road ahead on this inauguration day.

The dignitaries, we already saw Rudy Giuliani arrive. Others will be arriving including congressional leaders. This is a bipartisan day. Politics not supposed to be here. The Supreme Court justices have been arriving. We've seen several of them. Stephen Breyer, we saw him arrive a little while ago. And the president will be leaving the White House shortly for the quick drive up Pennsylvania Avenue to the United States Capitol.

Much more coverage on this special day when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: George Washington traveled from Mount Vernon to New York for the first presidential inauguration in 1789. Washington was hardly brimming with enthusiasm. In his inaugural address he confessed, "No event could have filled me with greater anxieties" than hearing he had been elected president.

At New York's Federal Hall, Washington added the words "so help me God" to the Oath of Office, establishing a tradition that has lasted until the present day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The Washington Monument, the White House, on this day in Washington. The weather has cooperated to a large degree. It is not snowing, as it was 24 hours ago. Fortunately, there still is some snow the ground, not much.

That's the reviewing stand where later this afternoon, after the swearing-in ceremony, the president, first lady, the vice president and Mrs. Cheney, others will be watching the parade unfold right behind the White House, the North Lawn of the White House. In about 15, 20 minutes or so, the president will be leaving. The motorcade will leave the White House for the quick drive up to Capitol Hill, where members of the U.S. military, the Armed Forces, the representatives of the Diplomatic Corps, members of Congress, the Supreme Court, are already getting in place for the festivities, for the ceremony of this very, very special day.

Barbara Kellerman, our political scientist from Harvard University, I think it's important that all of us remember it is not just Americans who are watching this inauguration. People around the world are watching as well.

KELLERMAN: Yes, I think that's absolutely right, Wolf. Particularly today. Yesterday was kind of the equivalent of a pre- game show. And I myself made the comment that it was a particularly American tapestry that we saw.

Now, today, of course, will also be an American tapestry, but it will be on the world stage. You can be sure that our European allies, so-called allies, will be watching closely particularly, of course, the speech. You can be sure that the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who used to be George Bush's best buddy, but who is no longer necessarily the best buddy. The Chinese, the people in the Middle East, particularly those, but especially concerned with Iraq.

So this is really a global performance today, not just a domestic one. And I think is it an important point that we need to bear in mind, pretty much all day long until the evening balls when you can say it is back on home ground.

BLITZER: and Given the nature of the time, noon Eastern, is 5:00 p.m. in London, 6:00 p.m. in Paris, 7:00 p.m. in the Middle East, 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad. So it's at a time when people are awake in almost all of the world.

GREENFIELD: We already know what the president is going to say, as I mentioned earlier, that it is critical to American security to spread freedom and democracy around the world.

Based on what Barbara was saying, how does that resonant with Vladimir Putin, who has not shown himself to be much of a Democrat? How does it resonate with Pakistan? Our new best friend in south Asia, but also a country being ruled in effect without democracy? How does it resonate in Saudi Arabia, in Egypt, in all the Middle East where the president says needs a transforming infusion of democracy?

So I think Barbara is quite right about this. This is going to be heard and very -- and analyzed very carefully in every capitol.

BLITZER: How much importance, Ari Fleischer, when you were inside the White House, did you give this worldwide impact of the president's words? Obviously, you were very concerned about how Americans would react. But were you pretty much concerned about how the world would react as well? Sometimes very different audiences.

FLEISCHER: Tremendously. And it started at the top. The president himself is aware not only that today's speech is going to be watched around the world, but his speeches everyday that he gives. His remarks every day gets watched all around the world. You'll hear that in his remarks today. Because he's profoundly aware of the power that America uniquely has as the only superpower left.

He knows what America can do with our might for good and for evil, for right and for wrong. And he's not afraid to use it. And this is one of the reasons we're so polarized, because you have somebody who won't hesitate to use that power if he thinks it will advance what he will describe as freedom and peace. He knows it's because America's word is the most important word around the world. And he's not afraid to engage in using it.

BLITZER: You just heard the announcement that the Diplomatic Corps is arriving, the ambassadors, the representatives from all the embassies here in Washington. The embassies that have their ambassadors or at least their charge d'affairs, the No. 2s at those embassies. They are invited to participate in this event as well.

Underscoring, Ari, what the point you're just making, that this is an audience even up on the podium where the president is, where the entire world, at least those countries with whom the United States has diplomatic relations will be listening and watching.

FLEISCHER: And think about this, too. All nations have inaugurals and democracies. The wonderful thing about an inaugural, it replenishes the fountain from which democracy spring. But only the United States' events are followed around the world like this. As important as some of these other countries are -- Russia, Australia or Britain -- nobody around the world says that those countries can have peace and war in their hands and make a difference. Only America. That is our role today.

BLITZER: In addition to the diplomatic corps, governors and the Washington, D.C. mayor, Anthony Williams, he'll be arriving very soon. And then afterwards, the House leadership. This is a moment, Jeff, where there is a joint House/Senate committee that is in charge of putting all of this together.

GREENFIELD: This is one of the closer times we come to an attempt to reflect the kind of pageantry that if you, for instance, go to great Britain, and they've been doing this for 800 years, this is done in absolute formal fashion. There is a notion, after all, the president is coming to the Capitol. The House and Senate members are extremely conscious of the separation of powers and the fact that they're a co-equal branch of government. So part of the formal presentation is you have members of the House and members the Senate who welcome the president. In fact, there are delegations that have gone to the White House to bring him down.

BLITZER: They're there right now.

GREENFIELD: Yes, as though the president needs their permission to come on their ground. But that's part of what this old tradition is, that, in fact, the whole notion of the president coming from the White House to the Capitol, this is one of the lesser known facts about today -- this is the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson coming from the White House to the Capitol to start his second term, which is the first time a president did that.

BLITZER: That man in the middle of the screen, sort of the in the top of the screen, Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and there's Robert Mueller, the FBI director, and Mrs. Mueller. Right in the front of the screen, Porter Goss, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, right at the bottom of your screen. They're arriving as well.

Barbara, this is a moment where -- there's Porter Goss. This is a moment where all of the representatives of all three branches of the U.S. government -- the executive, legislative, the judicial -- sort of are in this one tiny area together under enormous security.

KELLERMAN: Well, as you know, Wolf, this is also a visual image. We've paid an awful lot of attention to the content of George Bush's speech. But what we're seeing at the same time is with our eyes the symbolic implication of all this togetherness. It hearkens back to the celebratory comment that David Gergen made to Ari Fleischer's "what a great day this is" comment. It is great not so much because of what we hear, because that's going to be interpreted by the ideology of it. But the symbolism and the visual image of people coming together in a way that is really singular in this four-year period. So I think that's part of the pageantry. That's part of the royal impulse that I think we have, and that we also, parts of us, continue to love.

GREENFIELD: This is also an area of great concern. We talk about the astonishing security that's out in Washington today. One of the best known scholars of politics in Washington, Norm Ornstein, has ever since 9/11, has been raising an alarm about the potential for a catastrophic strike that would, in effect, decapitate the government. One of the reason why the security is as great as it is, as you mentioned, on this one platform, you've got the executive, legislative and judicial leadership of the United States of America. And if you picture, as Norm Ornstein has suggested, some enemy able to successfully attack today, that's a disaster that would make 9/11 seem almost minor by comparison.

BLITZER: It's a doomsday scenario that we don't want to think about on this special day, but it's something that scholars like Norm Ornstein and others have taken a close look at.

They've just introduced the House leadership. You saw Steny Hoyer and Roy Blunt. Roy Blunt the majority whip, Steny Hoyer, the minority whip. The House members are arriving now, Democrats and Republicans. The tradition is they walk in together to underscore the nature of this historic day. You see several members of the House side walking in right now. They'll be followed by members of the Senate. It's exciting to see this.

Ari Fleischer, you're a student, if you will, but you're also a descendant of the House of Representatives. You worked there, you lived there, you fought there as a Republican, to see this kind of, albeit for an hour or two, bipartisan cooperation on this Inauguration Day. It's exciting.

FLEISCHER: Well, it is exciting. It's a reminder of the principles, of the hopes of our democracy, where we all work together, and are supposed to work together. As soon as we say we're going to work together, the parties divided and go into their caucuses to plan how they're going to work apart.

But this is how democracies are supposed to work; there's supposed to be battles for ideas. And there's nothing wrong in a democracy in battling for an idea, Democratic or Republican. That's, Wolf, what I think we're going to see for the next four years, is those big ideas get tested, and that will be the challenge for President Bush. Can he get support, a majority. And remember this, nobody remembers the margin that Social Security was created by, that Medicare was created by, that we went to war in Iraq, what those margins were. They remember they were enacted into law and came into law and became the law of the land. So whether he has a one-vote margin or a 100-vote margin, I predict that President Bush is going to seek to get things done by whatever margin he can. He'll welcome 100; he'll be happy to get 1.

BLITZER: All right, let's go back up to the podium. John King is our man on the scene for us. Beginning to fill up nicely, isn't it, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Beginning to fill up, Wolf. You have a lot of Republicans up here, Bush campaign supporters. Just over to my left here, waiting to be cued to come out on the stage the nation's governors. Mayor Giuliani also standing over there as well. But you see the governors of many states, beginning with Alaska and Georgia up front. The governor of New York, George Pataki there, the governor of Virginia, Mark Warner and others. Fans of D.C. statehood would note that Mayor Anthony Williams is standing with the governors at this event. All these prominent officials have been inside staying warm in recessions, but now they're coming out as they ceremony's about to begin.

BLITZER: You see Ken Mehlman -- he was in the middle of the screen -- the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Karen Hughes were right next to him. Those are among the political operatives that worked so hard to, a, four years ago, get George W. Bush elected, and worked exactly as hard this time around to get him re-elected.

Paula Zahn is up there as well on the west front of the U.S. Capitol with David Gergen.

Paula, what's going through your mind as you watch this up close and personal?

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I'll tell you, having covered a number of these before, you can't help but ignore the massive amount of security in place. I think it was Jeff that was touching a little bit earlier on some of the concerns about the vulnerability of Washington at this time, given all the dignitaries being in one place at one time. David, you've been to a lot of these events before, just for us to come into the media tents in and of itself was an event.

DAVID GERGEN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: The perimeter has moved farther and farther away. You have you to first start checking in several blocks from the Capitol. That was unheard of before. Usually you checked right in next to it. The only way a terrorist can get to me here is with a missile now.

ZAHN: The man on the street, Karl Rove, of course, who is considered the architect of not only President Bush's victory, at one time as a governor of Texas, but the man that "Time" magazine very seriously considered making the man of the year in terms of his incredible strategies.

GERGEN: With good reason. Paula, you know, I have to say, I was quite struck by Ari Fleischer's comment, that flash of candor a moment ago, and I wonder if he would have said it when he was press secretary, that in fact President Bush will be unable to unite the country here in the next four years. I think that there's a lot of wisdom in that remark. The country is very divided, as Ari said. It's going to be very tough to do. And indeed, one wonders if he'll be able to unite the world. Go to the point that Barbara Kellerman was making, about how this speech has to reach out to these other audiences.

Even here as the Republicans come in, it worth remembering, Paula, that there's a lot of restive among Republicans, not just Democrats. Bill Thomas, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, a Republican, someone that Ari Fleischer knows well, just a couple of days ago, said he did not think the president's Social Security bill as the president envisions would go through; it would be a dead horse by the time it got here to Capitol Hill. So he's got some problems, even without his own ranks, some big challenges within his own ranks, as he comes this morning.

ZAHN: We're going to break away to take a peek at a man that's kind of hard to miss in a crowd, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has just arrived in the Rotunda.

GERGEN: He and Rudy Giuliani are going to be much on our minds here in the next few years. As people contemplate not just here on Capitol Hill, an amendment about gay marriage, but possibly an amendment that would allow foreign born to become citizens and run for president.

ZAHN: David, one of the things that you mentioned and I find so fascinating, when you talk about this is a president who has so many challenges. He's governing in an almost evenly divided public. You're talking about the challenges he has abroad, restive Republicans, it also strikes me that this is a president that is taking on some really controversial issues that are not a top priority for the American public. You look at any poll, and they'll tell you people are concerned about Iraq, they're concerned about security, the war on terror.

GERGEN: That's right.

ZAHN: The president has made it very clear he wants to see some kind of Social Security reform and tax reform. Is he going to win on those issues?

GERGEN: Well, it's going to be an uphill fight, Paula. I think it's become clearer and clearer with each passing day, that there's been a lack of a honeymoon, that it's going to be tougher than it appeared even when he was re-elected. As you say, the Social Security tax reform, permanent tax reductions, are not at the top of the list. He's got these restive Republicans. I think it's going to be -- history would say these are going to be difficult years for him.

The only thing to remember, as you say, though, is that George Bush is a man who has defied history on many an occasion. He's also, to go to your point, I'm sorry -- did somebody else come in?

ZAHN: John Kerry just arrived. We couldn't make out what that buzz was. I couldn't tell if that was negative or positive from where we're sitting.

GERGEN: You wonder what's going through his mind on a day like this.

ZAHN: Senator Lieberman getting a slightly different response. It's still very difficult to make it out from the drone of the crowd here.

GERGEN: The other thing, Paula, about George W. Bush is he is an ambitious man. He is a fellow who likes to go for the home runs, not for the singles. His father was someone who liked to for singles and doubles and then pile it around. George W. Bush is a fellow who likes to swing for the fences.

And what you find with a guy who swings for the fences is sometimes you'll hit one over, and as he did early in first term, but there are a lot of strikeouts, too, with people who swing for the fences. Babe Ruth had a great record on home runs, but he also was a strikeout king.

ZAHN: But this doesn't seem to be a president who is intimidated at all by criticism.

GERGEN: Not at all.

ZAHN: And in fact, you talk to people who know him well, they say this is man who likes to be underestimated. In a way, he almost likes to spark the controversy.

GERGEN: As he himself says to be misunderestimated. That is often his stock in trade, Paula. And I think he is imperturbable. You know, the face we saw on Condi Rice in these hearings the last couple of days, unflappable. I think is also the face of George W. Bush underneath. My sense is that he is ready to change the tone, but not ready to change the substance of how he governs or what he believes in. ZAHN: So Wolf, we have just seen Mrs. Dole arrive. The senator. I do not see Bob Dole, but I'm he also will be in the crowd at some point today.

GERGEN: He'll be here.

BLITZER: If we know Bob Dole, and we all know Bob Dole, he certainly will be there up on the podium. Other senators, Jon Corzine, to the right of the screen, Senator Schumer to the left. And Barack Obama, the new senator, the freshman senator from Illinois, walking down as well, widely seen as a potential superstar in the Democratic party.

We're going to have -- take a quick break right now. The president of the United States, the presidential motorcade getting ready to depart the White House for the quick trip up Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol. We'll have that and much more as George W. Bush, the road ahead, on this inauguration day. Our special coverage will continue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: The Civil War was still raging when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time in 1865. Lincoln addressed the crowd from the capitol. "Let us bind up the nation's wound," he said, "and care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace." A month later, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater, just a few blocks away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: This is the south side of the White House. You see the presidential limousine standing by, getting ready to take the president, the first lady, the rest of the presidential delegation, from the White House en route to the U.S. Capitol for the inauguration, the second inauguration. The president will be walking out and entering that limousine, together with other members of his staff, not in that one limousine, but the other cars in the motorcade, for the quick drive.

It won't take very long to get up to Capitol Hill to participate in this second inauguration of the president of the United States. The split screen. On the left, you see the White House. On the right, you see members arriving for -- to participate, to observe the swearing-in ceremony on both sides of Capitol Hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, this -- not today because the president's going for a second term, but this route, this drive to the Capitol, has been the scene of some of the tensest moments in inaugural history. When Hoover went with Roosevelt in 1933 and particularly when Truman had to go with Eisenhower, the chill in that limousine would have been colder than the outside temperature in Washington today. When presidents transfer power to people in the other party -- it doesn't always happen that way, but in those two cases, there were some very, very, tense moments, awkwardness, even. I think when you're the president going down for a second term, you probably don't have that problem because it's yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll tell you something else about that ride. The president's limo, unlike the way most people think about it, the windows are not tinted. And so crowds on the outside can actually see him. And so the president used to be able of course, on the inside, see everybody.

But when people see him, there is a word we have for it, they call them jumpers. People get so excited standing on the side of the street, they would literally jump. But it also means the protesters, of course, can see him and that gets them jumping in a different direction. It's more transparent than you think.

BLITZER: Judy Woodruff is outside the White House herself, watching and observing all of these activities. The president started the day at church this morning. Judy, you were there.

WOODRUFF: I was, Wolf. This is traditional for the president to attend a prayer service, a church service, on the day of the inauguration. And the president chose to attend St. John's Episcopal Church. It is right across Lafayette Park, literally one block from the White House. But he went by motorcade, as is tradition. The president was with the first lady, with members of his family of course, and some very close friends and supporters were there.

The minister of the church, Wolf, is a Cuban immigrant. The Reverend Luis Leon. He's someone we're told the president has become good friends with over the last four years. And the president has turned to him for advice, he's had him to the White House for talk over issues that the Reverend had an interest in. So there is some relationship with this church.

It is tradition. It's steeped in tradition. One other thing we want to tell you is that one of the people who read from the scriptures at the church this morning was the wife of White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. She is the Reverend Kathleen Card. She is herself a Methodist minister. So there were all sorts of close connections when the president was at church this morning -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Every president starts the day on this special day going to church. That's just a long-standing tradition here in Washington on January 20th.

WOODRUFF: It is. And, you know, the White House saw fit, Wolf, to share with us that when the president woke up or rose, he read from the bible, which they made a point to say is something he does every day. And then they took pains to share, you know, more details of the service. We know that when Reverend Leon gave the homily -- these are live pictures of the president, the first lady and their daughters, Barbara and Jenna, leaving the White House for the very short drive down Pennsylvania Avenue to the United States Capitol. You know, I've heard you speaking in the last few minutes about how sometimes these trips are fraught with tension when there's a change of administrations, when it's been a particularly contentious campaign. That isn't the case this time. It's George W. Bush to George W. Bush. All smiles, no tension. At least if there is any, we're not aware of it. So this is a morning that, as Andy Card, his chief of staff, said this morning, when he looked at the president, he had a glow about him. So maybe that really is the case.

BLITZER: And we're jumping now, Judy, because we're seeing the president through that window that Ari Fleischer was talking about. We can actually see him in the limousine. You see the motorcade leaving. This is the north portico, the north side of the White House, driving over to Capitol Hill.

Ari Fleischer, how many times have you been in one of those motorcades?

FLEISCHER: I've been in the motorcade countless times. It's a wonderful little exciting experience. There are no red lights. But I'll tell you one thing that's remarkable about this picture -- you're only see it once every four years - the president always, because of security, leaves from the south side of the White House. He's leaving from the north side of the White House. That only happens on Inauguration Day, because Lafayette Park, open to the public, Pennsylvania Avenue, where he's on right now, open to the public. He can't use the north side, security being security. Today it's all closed down. Once every four years, the president will go from this side of the White House.

BLITZER: In that left screen, on the left side of the screen, you see the outgoing and incoming members of the cabinet being introduced right now. John Ashcroft, you just saw him walk down, the outgoing attorney general, Ann Veneman just walked down, the agriculture secretary as well, and Don Evans, who's the commerce secretary, Elaine Chao, the labor secretary.

GREENFIELD: I think our audience, if they want to participate in an interactive experiment over the next hour, that being the buzz word of our business, they should look at the inaugural platform and count how many people on that platform either have sought or want to seek the presidency of the United States. You're not just talking about former Presidents Clinton and George Herbert Walker Bush and Carter, who will be there, former Vice President Quayle, Bob Dole, Elizabeth Dole, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Bill Frist, the hope panoply of people -- Hillary Clinton, how could I have left her out.

KELLERMAN: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rudolph Giuliani, keep going.

GREENFIELD: That's right. So I don't know what the over/under on that is, but my guess is if you count honestly, you'll see today possibly two dozen people who fit that category of people who hope to be, and still hope to be, president of the United States.

FLEISCHER: And for Republicans, it is wide open for 2008, because there's no heir apparent, which is a real change in the way that Republicans historically operate. For a generation, we've always known who the next is likely to be. Now, it's anybody guess.

KELLERMAN: Well, Ari, are you suggesting that there is an heir apparent for the Democrats?

FLEISCHER: Oh, no, the Democrats have never had heir apparent; they have a much more contentious contest.

BLITZER: We're watching this motorcade continue to make its way from the White House, other elements of the motorcade -- members of Congress, the vice president and his family are heading up to Capitol Hill right now. That's the presidential limousine itself, Ari. I think that's the presidential limousine, is it?

FLEISCHER: Well, I would suspect it is, because of the flag. But I'll tell you also, Wolf, they're identical limousines. They look exactly alike. And I'm not betraying any secrets. They all have identical license plate numbers, too, in case anybody is trying to guess which is his form farther away. But along with the flag, right there, I would guess is his. Although they both have the same flag. So it's anybody's guess.

BLITZER: All right, Secretary of State Colin Powell, his last day today as the secretary of state of the United States. He's walking in together with all the other guests. It's what, only a little bit more than an hour or so away from the formal swearing-in ceremony. It's supposed to happen as close to noon Eastern as possible. Sometimes they slip a minute or two or three, but it's supposed to be almost exactly at noon eastern. I suspect this time around, the way thing are unfolding right now, and I'm looking at the schedule, as it's happening, it is pretty much right on schedule, and assume it will happen at noon.

GREENFIELD: One of the real distinctions between this last president of the United States and this one is the issue of punctuality. You may remember, Wolf, at Clinton's inaugural there was this wonderful moment where President Clinton was yelling at his wife to let's get going. They were -- there was a little delay. I think Ari can tell us, this president appears to like to stay on schedule.

FLEISCHER: Well, in fact, he not only stayed on schedule, he was so early for so many events -- in fact, last night at the black tie and boots Texas party, he got there a half hour early. He used to joke since he arrived so early, so often that his first term would be done in three years and six months.

BLITZER: All right, we're told, by the way, this is a new presidential limo, this Cadillac limo that you're seeing right now. It's armored, as all presidential limos are. This is the first time that we're seeing this new presidential limo.

I don't know if John King, our senior White House correspondent can hear me, or if he's available. John, what do we know about this new presidential limo?

KING: Well, Wolf, I hope you can hear me. The new presidential limo is a new Cadillac. It is being brought out today. And if the camera is looking for me in the back row, if you can look down a little bit, and I'll wave. I'm sitting here with a special guest, maybe someone who some day might want to ride in that presidential limo, the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani.

My. Mayor, your thoughts today on the scene here?

RUDY GIULIANI, FMR. NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Emotional, and very moving experience every time you see it. I mean, the inauguration of a president when it goes on, if you don't feel something very emotional and very strong, you are kind of missing what it's all about to be an American. This is a very, very important thing for us. I mean, this is the longest-standing democracy in the history of the world. This inauguration and each one of these inaugurations demonstrates that. So you have to feel a great deal of pride.

KING: It is the first presidential inaugural since 9/11. Anything special the president needs to say to the country and the world?

GIULIANI: Well, no, I think, you know, there's no question we withstood the worst attack in our history and we're stronger as a result of it. We mourn the people that we lost and we'll always remember them. Some of their families are here watching today, but the country has come through it, I think spiritually stronger and much more understanding of the importance of freedom and democracy. So we came through a terrible experience and we grew from it, which is what you should do.

KING: You were the Republican mayor of a Democratic city. This country is still pretty divided. What does the Republican president have to say today?

GIULIANI: I think he has to say that we're all Americans today. I would feel that way. Obviously I'm very overjoyed that President Bush got elected. I worked hard for him. I admire him. But either way, even had it worked out the other way, I would understand how important an inauguration is, and we're all Americans today. There's not Republicans and Democrats. We can wait four years before we're Republicans and Democrats again. Maybe it will be a little less than that, but for a while, we should all think as Americans.

KING: It is a pretty good seat for Rudy Giuliani today. Are you looking down there and thinking maybe that's me in four years?

GIULIANI: No, I'm quite aware of who it is. It's George W. Bush. I believe he's been a great president, and see a lot of great things that lie ahead for him. And this is the beginning of his administration. I don't think we start thinking about the next one until some time from now.

KING: Mr. Mayor, we thank you so much for your time. Enjoy the day. Thank you, sir.

Back to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: John King up on the podium with the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, and his wife, Judith Nathan. Thanks very much, Mr. Mayor, for spending a few moments with our viewers.

Once again, this is the brand new presidential limo that's driving down Pennsylvania Avenue, heading up to Capitol Hill. And first day on the job for this limo.

Ari Fleischer, it looks like a pretty impressive car.

FLEISCHER: Well, they're all pretty impressive. Although I'll tell you, if you're fortunate enough to ever get to ride in the back of it, you really won't know that it's much different. It's got a bench in the back, another that faces that bench. It fits six people very comfortably, but other than that, other than that you can't play with the windows yourself, it looks like a regular car.

BLITZER: You say you can't play with the windows. You can't open and close the windows?

FLEISCHER: He has to ask someone in the front seat to do that for him, the Secret Service.

BLITZER: Because it's armored? Normally in the armored kinds of cars you can't really open and close windows.

FLEISCHER: Well, the president really can't control much from where he sits. He'll never get out of that vehicle unless a Secret Service agent actually goes to the outside and opens the door for him, but...

BLITZER: What about the radio? Can he flip radio stations?

FLEISCHER: He can ask somebody to change it for him.

BLITZER: He can't do it himself.

FLEISCHER: He can put on ESPN Radio anytime he wants.

BLITZER: He's got satellite radio, I'm sure.

GREENFIELD: We can an in-depth report on whether there's a DVD player, satellite radio, and On Star navigation on this thing.

BLITZER: Yes, I'm sure they have all that kind of cool stuff in that car.

We're about to hear the former presidents of the United States being introduced themselves, including Former President Bill Clinton, who is attending this event, former President Jimmy Carter, former president the first President Bush.

And, Barbara, this is a moment, father and son, this president has done what his father failed to do, namely get re-elected.

KELLERMAN: Well, it's a moment for father and son, Wolf. But it's also a moment for the entire Bush family. This is a singular family in American politics. We're really coming to appreciate this now. CNN this morning had a feature on the Bush dynasty. There are questions not only about the mother, and the father, and the current president and the first lady, but questions about the brother, Jeb Bush. Is he going to be the next in line? Questions about Jeb Bush's son, George P. Bush, who is this handsome, attractive young man who shows every single sign of getting into politics. So I think we're talking here about a larger question, which is not only the past and the present, that is the father and the son, 41 and 43, but the longer-term impact, potential impact, of this family on American political life, and I think we have not yet seen the end of that story.

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