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The Inauguration of Donald Trump. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 20, 2017 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: -- own, the applause, this is the president's own U.S. Marine Band. So, they have been playing since, I think they said this was their 55th inauguration. But just to show you quickly the lay of the land because we are right here in front of where Mr. Trump will be sworn in. And if you spin around, it's starting to fill in. We have seen some members of Congress, a number of people, a lot of press up here. And you can see all the way back to the Washington Monument, the mall is starting to fill in.

It's definitely a poncho situation kind of day. The weather isn't perfect. There hasn't been any full deluge just yet. But I was talking to a family who came in from Texas. They had a front row seat. They actually had the plastic cap for the cowboy hats. They came prepared. It's chili but everyone is excited to be here. I think it's the pomp and circumstances and celebration of the day. And quick trivia, when I was talking to the band a moment ago, you'll be hearing today "Hail to the Chief" not once, but twice, of course, one is for President Obama and then the second time for the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. But here we are and everyone is getting ready for the big event, back to you, Wolf.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Brooke Baldwin, thank you so much. Let's go to Kate Baldwin, who is on the mall as well. Kate, there was some bad weather earlier. It was raining. But now it seems to have cleared up. Tell us about the people you're meeting out there.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Can you guys hear me?

TAPPER: We hear you.

BOLDUAN: Hi, guys, sorry. There you are. So, if you don't have a ticket, if you don't have a ticket, this is the first section, the closest up that you can actually get. We've been here since gates opened. And we've been talking to a lot of folks. I've met folks from all over the country who are getting here. They've really started to gather. I'll tell you the atmosphere down here is much like a Trump rally. They're all very upbeat, no one really cares about the fact that it has been raining a little bit. And all just waiting, obviously, to hear and see from the president - from the president- elect. Every time, as you can probably see over my shoulder, we've got these Jumbotrons over here, Walter is going to show you, every time the shot comes up with the president-elect, that he's been moving around this morning, the crowd cheers, and then falls silent in order to listen in and hear what's happening on the video screen. So, we're really just hearing from a lot of folks here. Let's just - come over here, we'll interview somebody.

Hey, guys, where are you guys from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kansas City.

BOLDUAN: Kansas City. Why did you want to be here today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a great opportunity to take my son and witness something like this. It's just incredible.

BOLDUAN: Is this your first inauguration?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is.

BOLDUAN: Is this your first inauguration?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Why did you want to be here to see Donald Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we've been supporting Trump from the beginning and we're happy he won. And we wanted to come here and celebrate with all our other peers and colleagues.

BOLDUAN: And you're going to do that this morning, everyone is waiting here. As you can see though, all up beat, ready for it all to happen here on the National Mall, back to you, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks very much. You know, the moment will be intense, Jake, as we get ready for the swearing-in ceremony. The president, the new president will be sworn in, the new vice president will be sworn in and then we will hear the inaugural address. In the meantime, the VIPs, they are showing up.

TAPPER: We just saw some walking through Capitol Hill, some of President-elect Trump's key staff members, Kellyanne Conway, who will be going with him to the White House. We also saw Hope Hicks, the press secretary during the campaign, who will also be going to the White House. And of course, Boris Epshteyn, who was a frequent presence on CNN during the campaign.

We're going to see a lot of these folks. I mean, you have to give them credit. It was really a small band of believers who were with President-elect Trump. And a lot of people, a lot of Republican staffers here on Capitol Hill, a lot of Republican officials out there in the heartland were skeptical of President-elect Trump, opposed him, didn't join his team. And so, you have this core group of supporters who have been there from the very beginning who are really being given the kind of treatment that you would expect.

BLITZER: That's -- Sheldon Adelson from Las Vegas, Republican supporters, supporters of Donald Trump as well. There from the Venetian Hotel and not only Las Vegas, but in Macau, China as well. -

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. TAPPER: And Donald Trump just joked the other day, something about how Sheldon only spends $125 million to get him elected, only $125 million.

BASH: Which is like, not even a penny when it comes to Sheldon Adelson's pocketbook. But one thing I do want to mention, you mentioned the VIPs coming in. We talked earlier about the fact that Donald Trump's youngest son Barron was not at the church service. We did see him coming in with the rest of Donald Trump's children. So, we do expect him to be here at the ceremony to witness history for the first time. It just happens to be history that his father is making.

[10:05:01] BLITZER: You know, John, you and I covered the Bill Clinton administration. Momentarily, we'll see Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton arrive here for this ceremony. They are going to be observing it. He's the former president, but she really is the story right now. She will be here suffering what has been for her, a very bitter loss.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: And that sends a signal too, to Democrats in the country, to Republicans in this country as well, the people watching around the world trying to figure out what is this moment. Jake noted a few moments ago, we know a lot of Democrats, especially House members are boycotting, other Democrats don't want anyone to normalize or accept the Trump presidency. But it is a fact of life. Donald Trump is going to be the 45th President of the United States. And so, those who have had the highest -- the current President of the United States, former president Clinton, and his opponent in the election, but they have not been together since that Al Smith dinner, in the same room, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, in late October that was. Obviously, they debated during the campaign, they spoke on election night. There's no question, she's still hurt about this. We've only seen her a few times, a couple of public speeches. People have bumped into her hiking and taken pictures of that.

TAPPER: Sightings in the woods.

KING: Sightings in the woods. But her presence today, it does send a signal. The grumbling about it among Democrats shows you, again, the state of our divided and very polarized democracy. All the celebration, all the majesty of today won't erase that. And there are big questions about the future of the Democratic Party. President Obama steps aside, the Clinton chapter in Democratic politics is over.

Big questions about governing here in Washington and big questions about how the president-elect, soon to be president, again how does he extend his hand, how does he extend his words, how -- what is our conversation a month from now about the governing style? Does he reach out to Democrats? There are a lot of Democrats who say, how can he give a speech to unify the country today when in the ten weeks since the election he hasn't done a lot of that, he hasn't called a lot of us in, he hasn't said he would do this. Well, today is about ceremony, majesty, transition of power. But it is a giant challenge for the president-elect.

BASH: And to be fair, Mike Pence, he's almost vice president, has done a lot of outreach here at the Capitol with Democrats. More on the Senate than in the House, but he has spent considerable amount of time. Given the fact that they do have a Republican majority and they have a lot on their plate, trying to do one-on-one meetings with Democrats, including his former rival Tim Kaine. And you know, the thing about it is, this is going to be, I believe, the second biggest protest, when we're talking about Democrats or people in Congress of the opposite party not showing up. Biggest since Richard Nixon, but --

TAPPER: Something like 60-something House Democrats not attending.

BASH: I believe it's about that. Having said that, the fact that Hillary Clinton, the woman who was thinking that she was going to be back there raising her hand and putting her other one on the bible, is showing up, is sending a signal not just to all of America but I think, perhaps to those Democrats that, you know what, to make a difference you've got to show up. And I know that you can use your voice by protesting and send a signal, by protesting and not being there, but it's a very different approach to take, that I think that she is showing leadership on, to the people in her party who want to listen.

TAPPER: The perspective of the Trump team is that there have been Democrats not just protesting what he has said and done but they are calling him illegitimate. This is obviously a very sore subject for President-elect Trump. We see Newt Gingrich and Callista Gingrich walking through the Capital. -- John Boehner, former Speaker of the House.

BLITZER: All the VIPs are arriving right now. Sara Murray is getting some new information for us on what happened in that private church service a little while ago. Sara, what are you learning?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, Wolf, I'm told it was a very moving ceremony. And I just spoke with a friend of Donald Trump who said the moment is clearly hitting him. This person said that Donald Trump was clearly emotional, particularly as he was leaving the church. That he took time on his way out to hug the various members of his incoming cabinet. This person said that Donald Trump even appeared a little teary-eyed on his way out.

Now, we know that this kind of pomp and circumstance, all of this ceremonial stuff, is not usually what Donald Trump is into. We haven't seen a lot of that from him throughout the campaign or even during this transition process. But it's clear that this day, this moment, the magnitude of it is beginning to sink in, Wolf.

BLITZER: And will sink in even further as we get closer and closer to that magic moment.

TAPPER: We were just talking about how President Obama was meeting with members of the White House staff. We just were told that they presented him with two flags, one flown on the first day of the Obama presidency, and the second one flown this morning, the last day of the Obama presidency, moving gifts from the White House staff to outgoing President Obama.

[10:10:00] BASH: And can I just say, as we watch John Boehner, who was the Speaker of the House until about a half a year ago, maybe even longer, walked through there. It is a reminder that this movement that put Donald Trump in this place where he's going to be, started on his watch and started probably six, maybe eight years ago. But probably more six years ago. That put John Boehner in charge of the House. It swept Republicans into the House. They took control of the majority. And it was that Tea Party movement, that anger at Washington that morphed into the movement that backed Donald Trump, the anti- establishment. --He was the very personification of the establishment.

TAPPER: Yes, he lost his job because of these people. --

BASH: And he got - I mean, he got ousted. And now he's back for the first time. There's a Steve Bannon.

BLITZER: One of the top aides to the incoming president. He'll have a very significant role in the White House. Together with Jared Kushner, Reince Priebus who will be White House Chief of Staff, Sean Spicer who will be the Press Secretary.

TAPPER: So, just to go back to the point I was trying to make. From the perspective of the Trump team, they are not being treated fairly. They are not being given the deference and respect that other normal president-elect would get. I'm not saying this is my point of view or anybody's point of view but this is their point of view.

And just a point of example, the National Cathedral Choir, which was singing just a few minutes ago, beautiful. Students from the National Cathedral School here, who are -- or part of this choir that's associated with the National Cathedral that was controversial, that they sang here. Parents did not want their students, their children to be singing at the inaugural of Donald Trump. And the director of the National Cathedral gave a statement saying, this is what we do for presidents, we offer this every time, we are setting an example of civility for President-elect Trump and for everyone.

But even that act of singing at an inaugural by the National Cathedral Choir became controversial. And that's one of the things that President-elect Trump and his team have been responding to. Again, take that as you will.

BLITZER: So much of this event has become so controversial for Democrats, and what, about 60 of them in the House of Representatives, not in the Senate but in the House are boycotting this inaugural.

KING: This is my night. I go back to George H.W. Bush when he first came from Washington after the 1988 presidential campaign. And I don't remember anything even close to this in terms of the rawness, the boycotts, each side accusing the other of being -- whether it's illegitimate or being too political or not try to bring the country together.

And to Jake's point, we say these things, we have Democrats, John Lewis, the civil rights icon, congressman of Georgia, says he views Trump as illegitimate. That's a debate within the Democratic Party. The Trump camp feels that people keep citing Russia, the Russian hacking investigation -- he didn't win fair and square. Each side has their view.

And one of the challenges this week, normally becomes the week when everybody says let's set that aside. Let's be Americans. Let's celebrate the transition of power. That has not happened to the fullness, in the fullness that it normally does. And again, who you blame or who you don't -

BLITZER: The clergy is arriving. You see Franklin Graham there, you saw Rabbi Marvin Hier right in the front, bottom part of your screen, from the Simon Wiesenthal Center at Los Angeles. He'll be participating in this inaugural, Timothy Dolan among others. Now you see members of the U.S. military arriving as well.

KING: To close the point quickly, -- who you blame for this or who you assign more responsibility for this likely depends on your partisan perspective out there in the country. But without a doubt, it is one of the challenges facing the president-elect who has to govern in this environment where the Republicans still run the House and the Senate but by smaller majorities and he doesn't have a relationship with Democrats. It's just a great challenge and something to watch as we go forward.

BLITZER: And we're watching it closely, there you see John Boehner, the former Speaker of the House. Anderson, the VIPs, they are showing up, pretty soon we'll be seeing the former president and the incoming president, all of them will be here.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, we expect about 15 minutes from now to see President-elect Donald Trump with President Obama as they leave the White House and head over to Capitol Hill. Also, Melania Trump and the first lady will also be riding together, that is also one of the traditions - a tradition that started back in 1837 with Martin Van Buren and Andrew Jackson. They were the first ones to ride together over to the swearing-in ceremony. And as we watch there, you see Newt Gingrich, his wife Callista, Sheldon Adelson and his wife.

It's interesting, Douglas Brinkley. You know where so much has been made of the Democrats who are boycotting, who are not showing up. And now, just was looking back in the history. Back in -- I mean, we think it's incredibly contentious now. Back in 1797 -- excuse me, 1801, it was John Addams refused to attend Jefferson's inauguration. And that happened again Andrew Johnson refused to attend Ulysses S. Grant's inauguration in 1860.

[10:15:12] DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Absolutely. And these -- a lot of times these incoming and outgoing presidents just don't like each other at all. The famous photo of FDR's inaugural is -- he's trying to chat up Herbert Hoover and Hoover just turns, wants nothing to do with him. And there, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan's, was very, very tense. The funniest one of these journeys was when Theodore Roosevelt decided not to run and William Howard Taft came in. And it was snowing in here D.C. like crazy. And TR Kept saying, this is my blizzard, this is my snow. And Taft was like, no, this is my inaugural. Theodore Roosevelt was making it all about himself. COOPER: I actually read the Theodore Roosevelt, I think was in his second inaugural, actually wore a ring that had a lock of Abraham Lincoln's hair.

BRINKLEY: He did. It was given to him by John Hay. And Hay had an incredible story, he was Abraham Lincoln's assistant, he took some of the death beard hairs and it got passed on. And so all the way down. Hay became Secretary of State. And then a great friend of Theodore Roosevelt's and he wore it.

COOPER: That's Jackie Evancho. She's going to be singing the National Anthem at the inauguration today, a huge moment for her. And as we watch more and more people are arriving. Cameras are not obviously in where President Obama and Donald Trump -- and staff, David, you're saying are not involved either. -- This is something just between them.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, I think it's really important to stress that -- this is the 45th president in the long history of our Republic and there are only a handful of people on this planet who really understand the pressures of the presidency. The archives released in the last few days, the incredibly gracious note that George W. Bush left for Barack Obama.

And people say, well, how do you do that after a campaign in which, you know, frankly we were very hard on Bush's record as president. And it is because this is a very, very small -- so far, a fraternity of people who understand the awesome responsibilities and pressures of this job and it does bond. So, John King was asking before, will Donald Trump call Barack Obama. He may. Because there aren't too many people you can talk to when you're president.

JEFF LORD, CNN COMMENTATOR: This letter tradition was begun, I believe, by Ronald Reagan, who left it for his successor, his own vice president. And then, Bush picked it up. And it's become a thing.

COOPER: Bob Dole there, being brought in.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, HOST "SMERCONISH": Anderson, can I just say that to me, the photograph, the epitome of the peaceful transference of power, because many of us who used that expression today, was that moment when the Trumps arrived at the White House and were greeted by the Obamas. I personally wish that all Democratic members of the House were here today. Because I think as President Obama said the day after the election, our elections are an intramural scrimmage. You know, we're still one team. We're not Republicans first, we're not Democrats first. We're Americans first. And when they can embrace like they did on the steps of the White House, I think it sends a great message.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think we should talk about this President's Club. If you look at the relationship, George Bush left that incredible letter for Barack Obama and said now you will start to understand this office. And they have established a very strong relationship.

AXELROD: They have. BORGER: Michelle Obama has grown so close to George W. Bush. --

COOPER: I'm sorry. I just want to go over to Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, who is arriving right now? Is this the Clintons?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, we're going to see -- former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton getting out of the car right now with former President Bill Clinton. Madam Secretary, how does it feel to be here today?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How are you feeling, madam secretary?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, boy.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, how are you feeling?

ZELENY: So, of course, we see them walking into the Capitol there, not answering our question how it feels to be here today. But certainly, Anderson, you can imagine the emotion going through Hillary Clinton's mind. She in fact wanted to be here today but in a very different circumstance. But again, as we've been talking about all morning, this is a moment of history, of peaceful transfer of power. She is coming here for that reason. An aide of hers last night told me that it is difficult for her but she knows she has to be here and she wants President Trump to do well for this country. But we cannot overstate how challenging this is for her here today.

COOPER: We're seeing former Vice President Dick Cheney, his wife Lynne Cheney, as well, they come in. You were saying about the Clintons.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Yes, I think that we talked about, you know, the efforts of Barack Obama throughout this transition. We've talked about the former presidents who were here, even George W. Bush and all of those people who had bitter brawls with Donald Trump throughout this campaign season.

[10:20:01] I think Hillary Clinton is an example of what's right about this country on this day. I think she's being very strong. She does know that she represents 65.8 million voters who voted for her. And takes this, you know, she does have the accomplishment of winning the popular vote and all these things.

But today, she's a former first lady of the United States, a former Secretary of State, and yes, she's here to embrace her formal rival who is going to be the next President of the United States. But it's also a graceful exit from the main stage. I mean, the Clinton dynasty in Democratic politics is over. The Democratic Party is no longer the party of those individuals who may be the generation of Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, instead the Democratic Party is the party of Eric Garcetti, is the party of Mitch Landrieu, the party of Kamala Harris and these young up and coming leaders.

And so, I think that today is an amazing show of strength and leadership from Hillary Clinton. But it's also the graceful end of a dynasty and a legacy. Even more importantly, I think that where she began with her activism, at the children's defense fund, you'll kind of see that go full circle and as she walks out of the arena of politics, she walks back into the war of activism.

COOPER: And we're watching the members of Congress file in and as we've noted, I think about a third of the Democratic members of Congress are not attending. David Axelrod, when you hear Democrats on Twitter or elsewhere talk about not wanting to normalize this day, what do you think of that?

AXELROD: You know, just to encourage Twitter outrage, I will say, I find it bewildering because the fact of the matter is that Donald Trump will stand on that platform today. He will take the Oath of Office. And he will be the President of the United States. It used to irritate me when people would say, your president. And I would say, no not my president, our president we only have one at a time. And that is the case here.

And so yes, I find it -- I find it irritating. And I don't think it's healthy. The fact is we have business we need to do as a country. And we need to try and do it together. I'm looking for Donald Trump to outstretch his hand today and ask people to join him in that work. But if he does, people need to reach back.

BORGER: I'm looking for Donald Trump to see if today he reaches his hand back to Hillary Clinton. I remember after the hotly-contested 2000 race, George W. Bush in his inaugural thanked Vice President Gore for what he called a contest conducted with spirit and ended in grace. And I'm wondering if Donald Trump will do that today to Hillary Clinton.

COOPER: There's Kellyanne Conway. Obviously, it's also I believe her birthday today. But she is a crucial adviser.

LORD: There is a lot of precedent for this. I think even Thomas Dewey, who was the sitting governor of New York, was supposed to be president, so they thought, was up handed by Harry Truman and he was here. Al Gore, Richard Nixon, I mean, there's a long line of people who were bitterly defeated. President Carter opened his inaugural address by paying tribute to Gerald Ford.

BRINKLEY: I think Hillary Clinton had to endure chants of "lock her up, lock her up, that I'm going to put her in jail." I don't believe she's here today and has completely healed from the campaign. She's here for the country. She has to be here. But her animosity towards Donald Trump I think still survives and will be there for a while.

SMERCONISH: To underscore something that David said, taking absolutely nothing away from the president-elect in these final 90 minutes or so, I just don't view this as a celebration of him. And that was the disagreement that I had with the 60 House Democrats. To me, what's outside the windows behind us is a celebration of democracy, of the institutions that hold this country and bind us all together. At 1:00 p.m., they can go back to opposing one another. But for just that moment I think it's important to stand united as Americans.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: It will be interesting to see how Donald Trump sees this.

(CROSSTALK)

AXELROD: He is putting his hand on a bible that Abraham Lincoln swore his oath on. And Lincoln was the one who said with malice toward none, with charity for all. I hope that some of that spirit is reflected.

LORD: Let us remember in terms of not going along with things, seven states of the union had seceded by the time Lincoln put his hand on that bible.

SELLERS: We have to be sure that one thing that we don't do is castigate those who are afraid and who are angry. And when people say that they don't want to normalize this, we have to embrace and understand what they mean by that. And I think that there are a lot of people in this country who woke up this morning, who are not feeling exuberant, who are not excited about the possibilities of tomorrow, and who are afraid and who are depressed and who are worried.

[10:25:10] And I understand David and Michael's point. But I think that on a moment like today, one of the awesome things about this is that we have to show some empathy and some respect for those individuals. And one thing that Donald Trump has to understand about this office is that I respect this office of the presidency like nobody's business, I think we all do sitting on this stage. But respect has to be earned from the man. It's not just given.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was going to say, the limo ride to me is fascinating because here you have Melania Trump sitting with Michelle Obama, President-elect Trump sitting with President Obama. And oftentimes you see in history, this transition has been difficult, it was a difficult limo ride for Rosalynn Carter and Nancy Reagan. They didn't speak the entire, you know, few minutes in that two mile ride to the Capitol. It was difficult for Lady Bird Johnson and Pat Nixon and also for their husbands.

So, we have seen from one administration to the next, if you're going from a Democrat to a Republican or someone who is a one-term president and who lost to the person who defeated them, it can be very awkward. We haven't seen anything quite like this. But I'm sure we would love to know what's going on inside that limo.

AXELROD: I will bet that there will be conversations on these journeys. We've seen it already.

COOPER: That first meeting between President Obama and President-elect Trump lasted far longer than it was supposed to last. And both spoke -

AXELROD: And there was a meeting that same day between Melania Trump -- and as I mentioned earlier, I think Michelle Obama has a real empathy for the position of the first lady coming in, especially one with -- a first lady with -

COOPER: Let's go back to Wolf Blitzer. Wolf?

BLITZER: They're getting ready, Anderson, to leave the White House pretty soon. We'll see them walk out that door of the North Portico of the White House, get into the limousine. Drive together up to Capitol Hill for this historic inauguration. What's going on inside, that would be great to hear about it, unfortunately it's a private session, Jake, so we're not going to be able to listen in.

TAPPER: That's right, we just saw Nikki Haley, South Carolina governor, -- now U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, walking in. We're seeing a lot of dignitaries, we saw the Cheneys. A lot of the Republicans who got on board the Trump train, Newt Gingrich, Speaker Boehner, Bob Dole, seem to be more enthusiastically walking through the Capitol, perhaps. We saw Dick Cheney and Lynne Cheney sitting behind us.

BLITZER: Yes, that the - they left the North Portico at the White House. They will be walking out momentarily. John, when they walk out, the body language will be significant, but it does appear to me they have a pretty good relationship.

KING: It appears, Jake called it water under the bridge, there's a lot of water under that bridge. -- How genuine it is, but they have decided at least in public, but in the private conversations, everyone says there have been productive between the president-elect and the president. Donald Trump is new to Washington. Worth noting, I don't think they go past at this way but Donald Trump's hotel is just a few blocks from the White House. Donald Trump, when he was here, came out on the speaker's balcony and looked out at the scene he will see today.

It's a time - I don't think this is big talk. I don't think they're talking stuff. But for the President of the United States, maybe he's sharing the story of his ride up with George W. Bush. Maybe just to go through this, but again, it's part of the message that you have the Democratic president who is leaving, our first African-American president, we're closing one chapter in American history and opening a new page that's unpredictable, because Donald Trump was not a traditional Republican.

So the ride itself is part of the majesty of the day. We heard our colleagues talking earlier about how some people don't like it, some people aren't willing to just take an hour and celebrate the American democracy. But clearly, the soon to be former President of the United States and soon to be 45th President of the United States have decided from day one to work this relationship, to do it right.

TAPPER: An interesting story from the ride that took place 16 years ago, some of the young people out there might not remember, but it was pretty contentious, the election of 2000. It actually didn't end on Election Day. There was a big recap in Florida. During that ride, with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, from the White House to here, to the Capitol, there were lots of protests. It was very ugly. And they bonded over being attacked. They had a conversation about what it was like for George W. Bush to be going through this and seeing all these people yelling how much they hated him and how much they thought he was illegitimate. Bill Clinton, after eight years of the Clinton presidency, knew a little something about being attacked and they had a moment there. So there are moments there that if you're a member of the President's Club, and as of today there are six living U.S. Presidents including Donald Trump, I think that ties the record for the most number, the biggest number of living presidents.

BLITZER: You see Rudy Giuliani and his wife walking in. The former New York City Mayor - he's going to have a role. He's going to be a cybersecurity advisor --