Return to Transcripts main page
The Lead with Jake Tapper
The Inaugural Concert; The Trump Inaugural Concert; Standing By For Trump To Arrive At Concert; Performance By The Frontmen Of Country. Aired 4:30-5p ET
Aired January 19, 2017 - 16:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
[16:30:13] ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome esteemed Academy Award-winning actor, Jon Voight.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
JON VOIGHT, ACTOR: This is some day.
Dear friends, fellow Americans, I'm so honored to be here to welcome you all to the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
We have all been witness to a very grueling year and a half for the president-elect. We have been witness to a barrage of propaganda that left us all breathless with anticipation, not knowing if God could reverse all the negative lies against Mr. Trump whose only desire -- whose only desire was to make America great again.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
He certainly didn't need to job. And, yes, yes, God answered all our prayers, because here it is, we will be part of history, all of us.
And President Lincoln , who sits here with us, I'm sure, is smiling knowing America will be saved by an honest and good man who will work for all the people no matter their creed or color.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
So, my friends, let us rejoice in knowing that from this time on, we will see a renewed America. The spirit of America is perhaps best captured by one of our country's most beloved patriotic songs written over a century ago, "America the Beautiful," and here to perform his own version of this truly American classic is a Grammy Award-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, and a soul music legend, and it gives me great honor to introduce the legendary, Sam Moore.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(SAM MOORE SINGS "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL")
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
[16:37:31] ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, representing the heritage of American military music that traces back to the revolutionary era, performing a medley of songs from the 18th and 19th centuries, please welcome the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps.
(APPLAUSE)
(UNITED STATES ARMY OLD GUARD FIFE AND DRUM CORPS' PERFORMANCE)
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
[16:43:47] ANNOUNCER: Once again, ladies and gentlemen, the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps.
TAPPER: We're going to take a quick break. Whether we do come back, we he expect to see President-elect Donald Trump descending the Lincoln Memorial stairs and joining the festivities.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:45:00] JAKE TAPPER, CNN THE LEAD ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN's live coverage of the Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration, the beginning of the inaugural of the 45th President of the United States. We're here at the Lincoln Memorial. We are expecting President-elect Donald Trump to join the festivities any moment now, coming down, descending from the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial and joining his family. We are beginning, Dana Bash, to hear what sounds like the beginning of the Donald Trump campaign play list. We're hearing Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want". It was an untraditional song, not the kind of campaign song one is used to for a non-traditional candidate and campaign.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. He chose -- he personally chose his music, this is one of the songs. And just the fact that it's playing now, we were just talking about it. The fact that now we feel like we're in very familiar Trump territory because we hear it so much. But it is kind of ironic, You Can't Always Get What You Want, as the man who got exactly what he wants, is about to descend the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial to really start the festivities for his inauguration.
TAPPER: We don't really know what we're going to expect -- what to expect here. We're told by Tom Barrack, President-elect Trump's friend of several decades and the Chairman of the Presidential Inaugural Committee that this will be a unifying event, weekend, a celebration of the peaceful transfer of power, a celebration of America. That's what the inaugural address will be tomorrow. But the very first speech here this evening, actor Jon Voight, gave an address that I think it's fair to say was not particularly unifying.
BASH: No.
[16:49:51] TAPPER: Talking about a barrage of propaganda lies that the public had never seen, attacking Donald Trump, a man who only wanted to make America great again, who didn't have to enter the presidency, but through the grace of God, God intervened and delivered the presidency to President-elect Donald Trump. It was - it was a comment, a speech that found favor in this crowd of Trump supporters, not surprisingly, but not exactly what I was expecting --
BASH: No, not unifying.
TAPPER: -- given what Tom Barrack said that we were going to hear.
BASH: Not unifying, but maybe not surprising given the fact that that stands to be Jon Voight's M.O., pretty much wherever he goes, especially when it's politics. I do have to say you mentioned the crowds. As Donald Trump finished laying the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery, I texted an aide with him saying, "Can you ask Mr. Trump how he feels right now?" And he's been talking about that.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: An incredibly -- an incredibly momentous event.
BASH: Exactly.
TAPPER: An incredibly powerful event. You realize really what it's all about, the weight of the nation is on your shoulders.
BASH: So, here was the President-elect's response to me, via his aide. "The crowds are double what we anticipated. It is a very special day." This is my addition, #classictrump. And the crowds are very loud. We're looking out at the mall here, at least the reflective pool and it is packed with people.
TAPPER: Oh, yes, thousands of people definitely here to celebrate the inaugural of President-elect Donald Trump. And that's no surprise, but certainly not what you were looking for in -- when you -- about the weightiness. Although, we should note that Tom Barrack told us that he is seeing his dear friend Donald Trump transform, changed as he goes from private citizen to the commander in chief. And as he stands right near the memorial for the 16th president and looking at the memorial for the first president, surrounded by memorials for the brave men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the wars abroad, in Korea, in Vietnam, in World War II, World War I, and, of course, that moment at the Tomb of the Unknowns, honoring long before DNA testing was available, honoring the people that we don't know what happened to them, but they were lost in battle.
BASH: No question and you're right. I was fishing for something introspective. He doesn't always do introspective, but the fact that he said it's a very special day is noteworthy. And another thing is as we sit here with the Lincoln Memorial behind us, I -- we have -- I don't know about you, Jake, whenever I come here and I try to come here pretty often, as often as I can as a, you know, local, I think about the history of this memorial, not just Abraham Lincoln, but everything that has happened here. You know, this is where people come to march, to -- TAPPER: The march on Washington. We just celebrated Martin Luther
King Day.
BASH: The march on Washington, I mean -- precisely, precisely. And we saw so many of those images on Monday when people were remembering Martin Luther King, but that -- this is such a platform for people to come here and speak their mind and use the tools of democracy, which is the ability to speak their mind. You know, the fact that Jon Voight can stand there and, you know, say what he's saying and all these people could cheer. I know this is going to sound maybe really cheesy, but this is what democracy is all about, and this is what this two-day span is about, is celebrating that democracy.
TAPPER: Sure, and eight years ago, when there were stars like Beyonce and others performing behind us, celebrating President-elect Obama at the time --
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, it is our honor --
TAPPER: Here comes President-elect Trump. Let's watch.
ANNOUNCER: -- to present to you the President-elect of the United States, Donald J. Trump, and his wife Mrs. Melania Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
[16:55:00] ANNOUNCER: They're the lead singers of three of the biggest super groups in country music history, from Lonestar, Richie McDonald; from Little Texas, Tim Rushlow; and from Restless Heart, Larry Stewart. Here to perform a medley of their greatest hits, please welcome The Frontmen of Country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello America.
LARRY STEWART, RESTLESS HEART LEAD SINGER: The lonesome Texas sun was setting low. And in the rear view mirror I watched it go. I can still see the wind in her golden hair. I close my eyes for a moment, I'm still there. The bluest eyes in Texas are haunting me tonight. Like the stars that fill the midnight sky, her memory fills my mind. Did I wait too long, how can I make it right? The bluest eyes in Texas are haunting me tonight. The bluest eyes in Texas are haunting me tonight.
Richie McDonald of Lonestar, everybody.
RICHIE MCDONALD, LONESTAR LEAD SINGER: Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane. Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues in the middle of the pouring rain. W.C. Handy, won't you look down over me because I've got a first class ticket and I'm blue as a boy can be. Then I'm walking in Memphis. Walking with my feet 10 feet off of Beale, walking in Memphis, do I really feel the way I feel? Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane. Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues in the middle of a pouring rain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody (INAUDIBLE) out there. Are we doing good today? How are you?
TIM RUSHLOW, LITTLE TEXAS LEAD VOCALIST: We left Texas on a windy night in a beat-up Chevy van. We loaded it up with our innocent dreams and all the love we had --
