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Trump to be First President in 152 Years to Skip Successor's Inauguration; President-Elect Travels to Washington for Inauguration; Key Confirmation Hearings Underway for Biden Cabinet Picks. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired January 19, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN NEWSROOM: Top of the hour. Good morning, everyone, I'm Poppy Harlow.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

Soon, a scene we've never witnessed in this country as the nation's next commander-in-chief arrives in Washington. He will be greeted by 25,000 National Guard troops, many of them armed, here to protect him, to protect you and me and others on his inauguration day. We are told that President-elect Joe Biden is finalizing a speech that he hopes will help unite this deeply divided nation tomorrow as he stands on the very same steps where the deadly insurrection took place just days ago. It actually damaged the podium where all of this will take place.

HARLOW: Wow. But tomorrow, he will deliver that speech in front of more flags than Americans, this because of the raging pandemic and threats of more violence, both a stark reminder of the chaos that is left behind for him.

As for President Trump and his final hours as president, he is set to issue a number of pardons, also to issue a farewell video. He will then snub the Bidens tomorrow by not welcoming them in person to the White House, something that he had praised Obamas for doing so graciously four years ago. He will also skip the inauguration.

There is a lot to get to this hour. Let's begin with our Jeremy Diamond. He joins us at the White House, and our Senior Political Analyst, Mark Preston. Good to have you both gentlemen.

Jeremy, to you first, tell us about the video the president will leave, and also if you could remind people, it is just so sad to see the state of affairs that even after the birtherism lie perpetrated by the president, the Obamas still gave him and the first lady a warm welcome on inauguration day and he will not extend the same to the Bidens.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That is right. President Trump not coming anywhere close to giving President-elect Joe Biden an ounce of the kind of peaceful, dignified transfer of power and, frankly, just the humanity that President Obama was able to show President Trump after the election as a sign to the country that it is time to move on, that a new president has been installed.

President Trump not only has not invited President-elect Joe Biden to the White House for that traditional Oval Office meeting, he won't be greeting him on the steps of the White House tomorrow after Joe Biden is inaugurated and he also, you know, is not expected to attend the inauguration tomorrow. Instead, flying out in his final hours as president after an elaborate sendoff ceremony with military guard standing by at Joints Base Andrews tomorrow.

But President Trump has taped a farewell message. He is not delivering a live primetime address, like most departing presidents. Instead, sources are telling that the president recorded a video message, a fair well address, also touting his four years as president yesterday in the blue room of the White House. That video, we understand, is expected to be released at some point today. But, so far, the White House has not provided any details on that.

But, again, I think it just stands to be noted that this is far from the kind of dignified peaceful transfer of power that has been the hallmark of American democracy, President Trump becoming the first president in 152 years not to ascend his successor's inauguration.

SCIUTTO: Yes, the absence of dignity, really. Mark Preston, you've covered your share of transitions here. Trump will be gone. Joe Biden is the new president. There is a lot of talk about him attempting to unite the country with his words tomorrow. It is a tall order given the divisions. What are you looking for from not just what he says tomorrow but what he does in his first several days in office?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Jim, as you and I both know and as our viewers well know now that Joe Biden is good at being empathetic, being understanding, being a shoulder for somebody to lay their head on.

Now, tomorrow, what he's going to have to do is to try to start reaching out to the 74-plus million Americans who voted for Donald Trump who might not necessarily think that he is the right person at the right time for this job.

But I do think you're going to see him really try to do bite size major things. And I do think that COVID obviously has to be front and center.

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And we've already heard from his administration, we've heard from health officials that they are going to tackle this and are tackling it right now.

In addition to that though, Jim, you have to look long-term and wonder what can really get done in a divided Congress, in a Senate that is a 50/50 split. And there is a big question about if anything could get done. But perhaps one thing that can get done is a bill, a legislation, such as an infrastructure bill that can really start putting people back to work, start putting money back in the economy and, quite frankly, rebuilding this infrastructure that we've left just in tatters for all of these years.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: Yes. Jeremy, on the pardon front, there are a lot of names being floated. I mean, do we have any reporting on who is to be pardoned? And, by the way, like a lot of presidents do a lot of pardons at the end. It is not unique to Trump. I guess the question is who.

DIAMOND: Yes. It is more about who and it's also about the way in which President Trump has gone about pardons in his final weeks in office and really throughout his presidency. It's been on a case-by- case basis. He has been far more willing to engage in controversial pardons, doling out pardons as political favors to some of his allies.

Now, we are expecting more than 100 pardons in this last batch of pardons that is in commutations that is expected to come at some point today. We understand that there are going to be some high profile white collar criminals and rappers, including potentially Lil Wayne and Kodak Black who are on the list of pardons for later today.

But what is not expected at this point is a self-pardon, which is something that has been floated for weeks now. We're told that that consideration of a self-pardon actually -- the chances of that went down after the January 6th riots on Capitol Hill because of the idea that a self-pardon now would be perceived as even more of a self- dealing maneuver and perhaps something that would make it look like the president had done something wrong, which, of course, the White House and the president insists he did not incite that riot on Capitol Hill.

But you will see controversial names. And you will also see a little bit of criminal justice reform-minded (ph) pardons as well in the list of names coming later today.

SCIUTTO: Mark Preston, I'll have to look up in the dictionary for the opposite of graciousness, right, in terms of simple steps, not just recognizing the election, important, but welcoming the Bidens into the White House as the Obamas did to the Trumps four years ago, something that the president hasn't done nor the first lady. I wonder, how is that being received? On the right, do they look at this as somehow just desserts? I mean, is he getting criticism from the right nor not extending even the slightest of dignities to his successor?

PRESTON: Jim, I think the further that you get to the right, you continue down that line, he is finding more and more support. As you come more towards the middle, and when I say that, I mean, Republican establishment, folks like your parents might have been Republicans, old school Republicans. As you as you move back toward the center, I do think you're finding a lot criticism.

And, Jim, I was thinking, there is so much talk about the Republican Party in a focus on Ronald Reagan being really the father of the new Republican Party. When he left office, when he gave his final speech, he talked about this shining city on the hill, right, this beacon for people to come into to make something of themselves, right, just really inspiring.

When Donald Trump gets on that airplane tomorrow and he flies out, he is going to look down on a Washington that is militarized because of him, entirely because of him, and it is going to be more of like Sodom and Gomorrah than the shining city on a hill.

SCIUTTO: Wow. Listen, we teach our kids to shake hands with the other team whether you win or lose, right? We teach them that lesson. What is the lesson to them, goodness, when adults let you down?

Jeremy Diamond, Mark Preston, thanks very much.

All right, to Wilmington, Delaware, now, M.J. Lee is there ahead of President-elect Biden's departure for D.C.

So, M.J., he won't ride the train, Amtrak Joe, partly, I would think largely because of security. So tell us what his plans are today and in the next 24 hours.

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Today does mark Joe Biden's final day here in Wilmington, Delaware, as president-elect. He is expected to attend a farewell event where we expect him to speak briefly. But you're absolutely right, he had initially planned and hoped on taking the Amtrak train down to Washington, D.C. ahead of tomorrow's inauguration festivities. He is no longer doing that because of security concerns. This is a train ride that he has made hundreds and hundreds of times throughout his Washington career.

This evening in Washington, D.C., when he gets there, he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be attending a memorial at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to honor the thousands and thousands of lives that have been lost throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, really setting the tone for his upcoming presidency and a reminder of how much this pandemic looms over the Biden/Harris time in office.

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And Vice President-elect Harris actually spoke about the challenge ahead yesterday. Here she is.

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KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: We've got a lot of work to do. It is not going to be easy. As we have discussed, Joe outlined our plan for vaccination, our plan for recovery and in particular relief for working people and for families. And there is a lot to do. Some would say that ours is an ambitious goal but we do believe with hard work and with the cooperation and collaboration of the members of the United States Congress that we could get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEE: And we are also learning new details about how Biden plans on spending tomorrow morning. He is going to be attending church services in Washington, D.C. And he has invited congressional leaders to join him. And among those who will be in attendance include Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, just noteworthy and sort of remarkable, given that this is the kind of deference and respect and a sign of national unity that the outgoing president, Donald Trump, as Jeremy talked about, has not been showing the incoming president, Joe Biden. So that is a fascinating dynamic and remarkable dynamic.

And, lastly, I will just note, as far as his inauguration speech is concerned, it is something he has been working on for a number of weeks. We know that the theme of national unity will be a big one and will be especially important given what we saw happen on Capitol Hill two weeks ago. Jim and Poppy?

SCIUTTO: Yes, no question.

HARLOW: M.J. Lee, thank you very much for being there for us.

SCIUTTO: A new reporting just into CNN in the last hour, we are learning that the Biden administration will make domestic terrorism a key focus of the National Security Council, according to a person familiar telling me, a reflection of the significant threat the country is facing as it deals with the aftermath of the Capitol Hill riot. We're told to expect early announcements of staff on the NSC, where they are focused very much on this threat. And it speaks, Poppy, of course, to the seriousness as we see all of those troops there in D.C.

HARLOW: Well, I think a good development, right, Jim, that they're taking this as seriously as it needs to be and putting the power there to try to get a handle on it, good reporting. Thank you for that.

Well, massive force, 25,000 National Guard troops are right now this morning deployed across Washington, D.C. But The Washington Post is reporting the FBI has warned law enforcement that followers of the conspiracy theory QAnon have discussed posing as National Guard members.

SCIUTTO: Alarming. CNN's Pete Muntean and Brian Todd join us now.

And, Brian, the security is real. They are taking everything seriously here. And you see the security out there. But we should note, to date, they haven't uncovered evidence yet, have they, of an insider threat. They're looking for it but they haven't uncovered evidence of that.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right, Jim and Poppy. Officials telling CNN they don't have intelligence indicating there is a specific insider threat in the

National Guard. But you mentioned that Washington Post report about the QAnon followers discussing possibly posing as National Guardsmen to try to breach security, again, just discussing it, according to The Post. No specific plots developing as of yet according to officials, and as we have just mentioned, officials telling CNN they do not have any intelligence about an insider threat inside of the National Guard. But they are vetting the Guardsmen further, more and more layers of vetting for the Guardsmen just to make sure.

Here is another layer I can right now visually. This is the 14th Street Bridge coming from Virginia to Washington, D.C. Extraordinary scene here, empty, right? This is one of the most heavily trafficked bridges in the mid-Atlantic region. Between this bridge, they span over there on other part of the 14th Street Bridge shut down only to people who are -- to everyone except for people who could prove that they live in this area or security vehicles.

But, really, hardly any traffic coming this way. They are letting traffic go from D.C. into Virginia. But this extraordinary measure, this bridge seeing no traffic on this is really incredible because between these two bridges and the two others, the memorial bridge and the Theodore Roosevelt bridge just to the north of us, those are also shut down.

About 800,000 cars a day pass over those two bridges. So to not see any cars on these bridges, just an extraordinary visual and an extraordinary example of the security measures here, guys.

HARLOW: Totally. And remember why it is happening. It didn't have to be this way.

Pete, you've been watching as these National Guard members take up their positions. What is it like?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it is a little startling, Poppy, especially when you consider the fact this is different from inaugurations past. Things get more and more clamped down here in D.C. all of the time. This is one of those National Guard checkpoints. You mentioned that FBI reported to The Washington Post concerned about possible armed protesters posing as members of the guard.

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We know 25,000 members of the guard here right now, it is a secure area, but when you consider the size of the area, it is relatively small when you consider the entirety of Washington, D.C. And there is a bit of a rub there, considering the fact that this could potentially spill over, if there were armed protests in the other neighborhoods.

Here is what D.C. officials have to say about that.

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CHRISTOPHER RODRIGUEZ, DIRECTOR, D.C. HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: The Metropolitan Police Department is redeploying its forces across the city. And we certainly recognize that as we harden the federal enclave in the center of the city, that other parts of the city could be viewed as soft targets.

And so MPD is making sure that we have security in our neighborhoods, for our residents, for the over 700,000 people who live in those neighborhoods, to make sure that they have access to police and fire resources.

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MUNTEAN: Jim and Poppy, I just want to put into context for you where we are. We are blocks away from the Capitol and this is about as close as a member of the general public can get to the Capitol on foot right now, the eight-foot fence surrounding it and the National Mall. You can see more businesses are being boarded up here in Washington as well, more and more of this happening all of the time.

Metro public transit stations are closing, the air space is about to be more restricted, truly an inauguration day like no other.

HARLOW: Yes, for sure. All right, Pete, Brian, thank you both very much for that reporting.

Join us here on CNN for all-day live coverage tomorrow, the inauguration of Joe Biden, a history-making event in unprecedented times. Special all-day live coverage starts tomorrow on CNN.

SCIUTTO: Important words to hear tomorrow.

Still to come this hour, a showdown on Capitol Hill. Confirmation hearings have begun this hour for president-elect's cabinet and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is already making waves over coronavirus relief push by this administration.

HARLOW: Also sharing power in the Senate. Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell are meeting today to discuss how the chamber will operate when it is a 50/50 even split. They have got to get along, next.

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HARLOW: Right now on Capitol Hill, really important hearings underway for three of President-elect Joe Biden's cabinet nominees, Janet Yellen, Alejandro Mayorkas and Avril Haines. This afternoon, Senate panel, you will hear two other key nominees, Tony Blinken for Secretary of State, Lloyd Austin for defense secretary.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Typically, these folks are in place as by inauguration. It doesn't appear there will be this time. So it is unlikely, at least, and that is a problem with all that is on the plate of this new administration.

So who are these people who have been tapped to fill the key positions in the Biden?

Let's begin with CNN Christine Romans. She is covering the Janet Yellen hearing. And the testimony, fired -- you want to call it fire shot, at least about the administration's intentions when it comes to COVID. She said, the smartest thing we could do is act big in terms of a new stimulus plan. So that's clearly going to be a priority this incoming administration. Will they get it.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And she's battle tested, crisis-battle tested. An economist who once ran the most important central bank in the world, taking over this top job of treasury in the middle of this crisis makes her one of the most powerful women in the world. All former living treasure secretaries, guys, have endorsed her swift confirmation.

Her job today is to be the salesperson for the rescue of the battered American economy. Another $1.9 trillion to expand family medical leave, she's get to sell a national vaccine program, more money to state and local governments, money for schools, and small businesses, another $1,400 stimulus checks and $400 extra in jobless benefits through September. That's what she has to there sell on the hill.

It is a big haul after $4 trillion already spent But Yellen will argue the crisis demand sit. And, certainly, with that quote, Jim, neither the president-elect nor I propose this relief package without a depreciation for the country's debt burden. But right now, with interest rates at historic lows, the smartest thing we could do is act big. Years of job market gains have been wiped away by the crisis. We're down 9.8 million jobs in the pandemic.

Yellen's prepared remarks to Senator show this new tact from the administration to address income inequality within the crisis, inequality within those crises. She notes, before the first person was even infected with coronavirus, guys, wealth built on wealth and working families fell further behind. she called it a K shaped economy and now a health crisis that must be fixed before the economy can recover later this year.

HARLOW: Can I just note, Christina? I mean, tell me -- it is so remarkable to hear someone who is a nominee for treasury secretary talk so much about being from a working class family in Brooklyn or about income inequality. Remember, when Mick Mulvaney lambasted her as Fed chair in 2015 for even sticking her neck out on that issue and now it is central to her pitch to get a secure nomination.

ROMANS: Look, it is central to actually the entire economic Biden team. These are labor economists. These are people who studied inequality. They studied stressors on families and working families..So it is a completely different tact here that you're seeing.

The last administration focused on tax cuts for companies. They're focusing on inequality for families.

HARLOW: Christine, thank you very, very much.

Let's go to Kylie Atwood now for more on DHS Secretary Nominee Alejandro Mayorkas, who would also be a first, right, first Latino, first immigrant to helm the department.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. Alejandro Mayorkas is prepared to give a hearing today before the Senate Homeland Security Committee. And I want to point out that he is well-known. So he is well-known in the Department of Homeland Security already.

Giving you a little bit of background, he was the deputy secretary for the Homeland Security folks when he was in the Obama administration.

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And then he was also the person who is the director of Citizenship and Immigration Services at DHS. And if confirmed as you pointed out, Poppy, he was born in Cuba, he would be the first Latino and immigrant to be a DHS secretary. That's huge news here.

And so one thing that he is going to be addressing, we saw the prepared remarks that he is going to be delivering this morning before senators. He is going to be directly talking about the insurrection on January 6th. And he is going to be committing to these senators that he is prepared to investigate what happen there.

And I want to read you an excerpt from his prepared remarks on this topic, saying, quote, we still have much to learn about what happened that day and what led up to the insurrection. If I should have the honor of being confirmed, I'll do everything I can to ensure that the tragic loss of life, the assault on law enforcement, the desecration of the building that stands as one of the three pillars of our democracy, and the terror felt by you, your colleagues, staff and everyone present will not happen again.

He is committing not only if he get this is job, if he is confirmed, to defend American Homeland Security, but also to defend Capitol Hill. These senators faced the insurrection on January 6th, the terror was real to them. And so he is committing to defending them specifically as well.

SCIUTTO: All right. Other big appointment up there on the Hill and that is Biden's pick for the director nor national intelligence, the senior-most intelligence official in this country, Vivian Salama covering that.

Listen, as a lot have been concerned, as you know, about politicizing intelligence in the United States. They can go back to the Iraq invasion, But we saw in this administration the deliberate transparent politicizing, I mean, simplest example, right, is the president flat out denying Russia interfered in the election, contradicting the intelligence community. How does Avril Haines intend to counteract that?

VIVIAN SALAMA, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Jim, you said it. There is no overstating how important the job of the director of national intelligence is. They oversee 18 agencies, including the National Security Agency and the CIA. But Avril Haines also comes in with this enormous, mammoth task of having to repair morale in the intelligence community and really rebuild its image.

She's no stranger to the Biden or to the intelligence community under President Obama. She served as deputy national security adviser, she also held the role of deputy director of the CIA. And if she is confirmed, she will be the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence.

Now, the hearing with the Senate Intelligence Committee, that just got started a few minutes ago and we have some excerpts from her remarks where she says that she wants to really build up and enforce transparency within the intelligence community. And she also says that she wants to protect whistleblowers, which is an issue that we saw coming up numerous times under the Trump administration, where he lashed out and went after whistleblowers. She also said she's going to speak truth to power, another issue that came up during the Trump administration during the impeachment inquiry when whistleblowers were coming out in great number just to cal out the president's actions.

And so this is going to be something that Avril Haines has to take on and really just trying to reinforce the role of the intelligence community, the importance of the information they provide and that relationship with the president. Jim and Poppy?

SCIUTTO: I mean, like the contrast to Rick Grenell, who very deliberately and transparently made it a political position, right down to having purges of folks who weren't seen to be sufficiently loyal to Trump. Anyway, it is -- well, things are changing, Vivian.

HARLOW: Yes, totally. She has been so outspoken on countering that. Vician, thank you for that reporting.

Georgia's two Senate runoffs may have delivered control of the Senate to Democrats, but an evenly split 50/50 senate means concession will have to be made by both parties. Imagine that, Jim?

SCIUTTO: Imagine that. But we will see. Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell expected to meet later today to hash out that power sharing agreement. Manu Raju, our Senior Congressional Correspondent, this is not unique. We saw this. In fact, we had Trent Lott and Tom Daschle speaking about their own effort a number of years ago. I just wonder, where is the actual sharing, right? Because at the end of the day, the vice president can break the ties on legislation. So where do they have to make nice in effect?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it will be interesting to see the committees, how they're broken up. Of course, the committees are determined to take the first whack at legislation. They determine the nominations go through the committee process. The committee also investigate a wide range of hearings and have issues, have hearings and they like.

I am told by multiple sources they expect to have an even number of senators on both sides serving on the committees. But if there is a tie vote, in those committees, it would advance to the Senate floor.

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And then on the senate floor, of course, would be 50/50, the Senate would be broke down between each party, and Kamala Harris would break the tie on any tie-breaking vote.