Return to Transcripts main page
Laura Coates Live
CNN Covers the Inauguration of Donald Trump. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired January 20, 2025 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: And while celebrations here in Washington will run long into the night, there's a palpable anxiety about what has already transpired and what will happen when the country wakes up tomorrow. Welcome to CNN's special live coverage. I'm Laura Coates outside the White House.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Abby Phillip here in our Washington, D.C. studio. With a sweep of his hand, President Trump rewrote much of American law and American life.
Trump claims that birthright citizenship now has a different definition. The courts will ultimately decide that. The World Health Organization now cannot count the United States among its members. Gone are the 78 Biden-era executive actions, things that prohibited things like sex discrimination or allowed transgender people to serve in the Armed Forces. And if you wanted a government job, maybe too bad for you. There is a federal hiring freeze now in effect, and those federal employees are now expected to be back in the office.
COATES: There's also officially, apparently, a Gulf of America, renaming the Gulf of Mexico. There were terror threats. There is no more Paris Accord. There is a national energy emergency that's likely to fuel an oil rush from new pipelines. There is still TikTok, too, for 75 more days, at least.
PHILLIP: And tonight, we are keeping our eyes trained, believe it or not, on a jail here in the Capitol, where we may soon see the beneficiaries of Trump's first pardons on his very first day in office, the January 6th rioters. The president called these people who made plea deals or were convicted by their peers, he called them hostages, and he did so in front of an Israeli who was held captive by Hamas, a real hostage. The families of others are still held by Hamas as we speak tonight.
COATES: I want to go to CNN correspondent Donie O'Sullivan who's outside the detention center, the one we were just talking about, where some of the January 6th rioters are being held and actually might be released this very night. Donie, what's happening?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Laura, yeah that's right. I mean, just really incredible scene. People who have been campaigning for the release of these January 6 convicts have been gathering for more than 900 nights outside this jail. And finally, their campaign is coming to an end because they are expecting, perhaps even any moment now, some of the convicts to walk out of these doors. It's still unclear to us precisely when folks will be released.
But look, I mean, it's incredible. What we have heard from the activists who've been here for many years now, they wanted everybody pardoned, they wanted violence -- nonviolence people from the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers on down.
But there was, and speaking to a lot of these activists, some nervousness in recent months, given that even some Republicans said that violent protesters shouldn't be pardoned. So, I think there was a surprise and delight here this evening when it was announced that Trump was basically pardoning everybody.
And some of those folks are still gathered here if you want to take a look. Some folks here still waiting on folks to be released. There is also some counter-demonstrators up here, a very large police presence.
And in the past few hours, we have been speaking to one of the inmates inside there, Rachel Powell. She was convicted on multiple counts for what she did on January 6, including breaking a window at the Capitol with a pickaxe. She called us from inside the jail. She's delighted. She expects -- she wants to get out. In fact, she wants to get out tonight. And she said if she gets out tonight, she hopes to make it to one of the inaugural balls.
Now, it's still not clear if folks are going to come through these doors tonight or not. Certainly, none of these people are leaving until folks come out. But look, hundreds of people across the country to be released, if not tonight but in the next few days. Really just stunning for even the activists so involved in this.
COATES: And, of course, all the resources invested in doing the prosecutions to this point to see what has happened tonight. Donie, thank you so much. Abby?
PHILLIP: Joining me now is Bill Stepien, and he was the former campaign manager for President Trump in 2020. He was also deposed by the January 6 committee, and he was part of that video testimony that played during the hearings. Bill, basically what happened today, if we're being honest, is that Donald Trump pardoned almost everyone: The violent ones, the ones who broke and entered, the ones who used weapons to break in to the Capitol, who broke past police lines. Virtually all of them, and a handful more. Their sentences were commuted with the possibility that they could be later pardoned.
Are you surprised that he went that far?
[23:04:57]
BILL STEPIEN, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think pardons are always optically messy and a little unseemly, but I'd also say that Democrats lost a ton of moral high ground when Biden pardoned Hunter, which is why putting aside legal arguments, it was such bad politics for Democrats that Biden foisted upon them on his way out the door.
Look, conversely, Trump was upfront with his intentions, right? Saying he planned to do this during the campaign. He played videos and songs celebrating and from the prisoners at all of his rallies, many of his rallies. And then what happened? America didn't penalize him at the ballot box. America didn't slap him down in November. They voted for him in November. So, I mean, would you expect him to not issue these pardons after receiving that reaction from the American people?
PHILLIP: I mean, actually --
STEPIEN: Unlike Biden, he was clear with his intentions.
PHILLIP: Yeah.
STEPIEN: He didn't hide -- he didn't hide what he was planning to do.
PHILLIP: I mean, Bill --
STEPIEN: And he did this on day one after facing the voters in November.
PHILLIP: Do you really -- do you really think that pardoning people who assaulted police officers with a fire extinguisher is the same thing even as pardoning Hunter Biden as distasteful, ethically wrong or whatever that might be? Putting that aside, are you really saying those are the same thing?
STEPIEN: I'd ask, what personal benefit does Donald Trump get from these pardons? None. Does Joe Biden get personal benefit from his pardons? Yes. What financial benefit does Donald Trump get from these pardons? None. I'd say Joe Biden gets quite a bit from his pardons. What political benefit does --
PHILLIP: So, you're actually saying that this is -- that this is actually a less significant thing, to pardon all of these violent criminals, who tried to have an insurrection on the Capitol?
(CROSSTALK)
STEPIEN: What I'm saying is that I know -- I know it's very strange for politicians to talk about something on the campaign trail and actually get into office, let alone on day one, and then actually do it. That's what's happening here. He talked about this on -- there should be -- I'm surprised anyone is surprised. I'm surprised that you're surprised, Abby. This is -- there should be no surprise here.
PHILLIP: Well, one of the reasons that I'm surprised, last week, you know, his nominee, one of his nominees said that she didn't think that Donald Trump liked people who assaulted police officers. She said she didn't think that they would be on the list of people who were pardoned. That turned out to be completely incorrect. I mean, it used to be an article of faith that the Republican Party backed the blue. What happened to that?
STEPIEN: I've worked for Donald Trump or used to. I worked for Donald Trump long enough to know you should never get in front of the president and his plans. Look, President Trump stood against defund the police when it was all the rage. He was strong against district attorneys like the one in Philadelphia.
Don't forget, Abby, in September, Vice President Harris didn't get the FOP endorsement, the Fraternal Order of Police endorsement, the largest organization of cops. Donald Trump did. So, I think Donald Trump is -- I read a lot into that, read a lot into that endorsement.
PHILLIP: You know what? What I'm reading a lot into are the images that you may not be able to see but we can see. Police officers fighting for their lives. Now, Vice President J.D. Vance last week said people who committed violence on January 6th, obviously, shouldn't be pardoned. They were pardoned today.
One more thing. I want to play for you something that -- some things, actually, that Donald Trump said yesterday and today about the election in 2020. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: So, I like to think back to the past. I said, if only the election weren't rigged, all the things that would have happened, that would have been so good. But it was. We're not going to let that happen again.
2020, by the way, that election was totally rigged. But these are the -- that's okay. It was a rigged election.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, the only thing good about it, it showed how bad they are.
I believe in the sanctity, and this was too big to rig. This last election was just too big to rig.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Mr. President --
TRUMP: Really the opposite.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: And I should note that the second of those clips was Donald Trump speaking in the very Capitol that was ransacked by his supporters. You pointed out that, you know, he doesn't gain anything financially, but he certainly gains a lot politically by rewriting the history of that day. What are the consequences, Bill, do you think, for the country that now the president has said there are no consequences for breaking into the Capitol, trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power, and doing it on my behalf?
STEPIEN: America benefits when we look forward and not back to 2020. I think President Trump benefits when we look forward to the now and the future as opposed to looking backwards. These pardons are not popular.
[23:10:00]
Seven in 10 Republicans support pardons. But Republicans are usually 90-10 if you consider this a base issue. Two in three independents oppose these pardons. So, to me, this is not a political benefit to Donald Trump. If anything, it's something that's going to ding him politically, not help him.
PHILLIP: We will soon find out. Bill Stepien, thank you very much for joining us. And our panel is here in the studio. Shermichael, your thoughts.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Look, you know, to the victor go the spoils. Donald Trump, as Bill articulated, campaigned for a year and a half that this is exactly what he was going to do. And I will say, you know, Democrats had an opportunity to draw a contrasting argument for why they thought it was wrong. They attempted to do so. And ultimately, the voters had the opportunity to assess all of this, and they made decision that ultimately led to Donald Trump going back to the White House.
Now, we can debate about the morality of this or the ethics of this, but I beg the question, if I'm being honest here, Abby, if you were to sit down with some average Americans and you were to draw contrast with the slew of issues that those individuals were facing in their day-to-day lives, I wonder where does this rank.
PHILLIP: Isn't that exactly the point, though? You're using the election to justify Trump's pardoning, even though it's also true that the top issues for American people were immigration and the economy. This does not rank. So, the idea that they endorse this also seems -- I mean, even Bill made this point. It's not popular.
CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER FOR BERNIE SANDERS'S 2016 AND 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS: That's exactly right. And when we were doing focus groups as we move into the election, folks had forgotten a little bit about January 6. This reminds them of this. And when you'd ask them what they cared about, it was gas and groceries.
And today, they're sitting here, and we had a peaceful transfer of power. Republicans are having their heyday, that's fine. Victors go to spoil. But the American people, when they went and voted, they want their gas and groceries to be cheaper. January 6th wasn't the reason. This reminds them of what's this got to do with my gas and groceries.
SINGLETON: But if I'm in the political shop at the White House, and I know the president is absolutely going to do this, as Bill again said, Donald Trump will do what Donald Trump ultimately wants to do, then I'm assessing this and I'm saying let's just get this over with now, politically, so that in week three, four, month two, we've moved on to another issue. The American people have moved on, get it over with now, so that we can focus on other things like gas and cost of groceries.
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Can I -- SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Oh, go ahead.
PHILLIP: Go ahead, Ash.
ALLISON: You know, I am disappointed by these pardons, but I am not surprised because he did pardon them. He did commit that during the campaign. And on this network, we debated. Scott and I debated a lot about whether democracy was going to be a ringing theme that penetrated in the electorate. And it didn't for Democrats.
But I think this action, and I sat on here and I will continue to say, is that I think this action is a threat to democracy because democracy doesn't die with one fatal blow, it dies by a thousand cuts. And so, by pardoning over 1,500 today, that's 1,500 cuts to democracy.
Now, we're talking a lot about pardons today and we'll talk about the 14th Amendment, but let me tell you a couple other things Donald Trump did in executive orders when you talk about helping the American people.
He took away protections for workers under health and safety. He took away the ability to strengthen Medicaid. Poor people, working class people who voted for Donald Trump need Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. And people said when they realized their healthcare was the Affordable Care Act, which equals Obamacare, they didn't want Donald Trump to take it away. He took away continuing to strengthen Americans' access to affordable, quality health care. He took away lowering prescription drug costs and prices for Americans.
Those are things that the American people wanted Donald Trump to do today. And instead, he did something. He did an attack on our democracy by pardoning them. He's doing things that are going to make their cost of living higher.
And he did one other thing. He took away the office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, an office that your boss created, that many people in the middle of America, we'd had a lot of talk about God and scripture quoting and all of that, and he took away the office in the federal government that actually works with faith-based institutions.
So, there's a lot of show that Donald Trump does, a lot of dancing to YMCA while he's still hurting American people, and that was the message Democrats were not able to land and make clear. But the clock has started to tick on Donald Trump, and he has to make good on his promises, and the show is not going to end well for him.
PHILLIP: But, you know, I would argue he has every right to do all of those things.
JENNINGS: Yeah.
PHILLIP: And that's well within the bounds of the things that any Republican probably might want to do. But that's the difference, right, between what you're talking about and the other thing that he did today, you know. ALLISON: Is that what the voters wanted him to do?
JENNINGS: Well, I appreciate your spin on everything, and I would just respectfully point out that Republicans don't think we need a government bureaucracy to intervene with us, with the Almighty.
(LAUGHTER)
But -- but -- but --
[23:15:00]
PHILLIP: I mean --
ALLISON: Your boss created it!
PHILLIP: -- didn't your boss created that office? That was her point.
JENNINGS: I mean, when you're acting like this is some messy scandal --
PHILLIP: George W. Bush -- George W. Bush created that office.
JENNINGS: We won Evangelicals, we won Catholics, we did okay with the Christians. It's okay. Look, Donald Trump today -- I mean, we've spent 99% of our time today and Democrats spent 99% of their time during the election talking about January 6th.
And I would just humbly and respectfully submit to you all that if this is the conversation you intend to have and the script you intend to read for the next four years, you are going to continue to get politically punished by the American people who are desperate to look into the future and not continue to wring hands --
PHILLIP: Listen. The only person --
JENNINGS: I'm sorry --
PHILLIP: -- the only person who brought this up today, Scott, was Donald Trump.
ALLISON: Donald Trump.
PHILLIP: Okay? He was the one who put it on the agenda. He was the one who pardoned all these people. He did not have to do that.
ALLISON: No.
PHILLIP: He didn't have to do it. He did it.
JENNINGS: He promised he was going to do it.
PHILLIP: So, when you talk about looking forward, why isn't he looking forward?
JENNINGS: He is looking forward. I think what he is -- what he would say is, I'm trying to put this behind us, and Democrats and the media are continuing to try to make this the center of our national political conversation.
ALLISON: Tomorrow, Donald Trump will still talk about him winning the 2020 election and still talk about January 6. And it was a terrible day, and I know you agree it was a terrible day --
JENNINGS: Yes.
ALLISON: -- but I am charging Democrats to do is don't lose focus. He is still doing things though, that people who voted for him, it's not going to make their quality of life any better.
JENNINGS: I disagree with this.
SINGLETON: Increase in energy production, that makes quality of life better. I think folks on immigration makes quality of life better. I mean, there are some executive actions that the president took that are beneficial to the American people.
PHILLIP: I promise -- I promise that we would do this, so I'm going to make sure we do it. Chuck, you're going to be my victim now.
(LAUGHTER)
Joe Biden --
ROCHA: I'm not talking about Joe Biden now.
PHILLIP: Joe Biden --
(LAUGHTER)
-- okay, he did some extraordinary things this morning, really historic and not in a good way, and he did muddy the waters on pardons. Why did he do that?
ROCHA: I think there are people around him in the White House, we talked about on this network earlier, who wanted things like this to happen. But as a Democrat who's got to run midterm elections in 30 congressional races, 14 of which are represented by Democrats that Donald Trump won, now I've got to go defend this in political ads to talk about they're going to try to make all these congressmen and these congressional that piece, this piece that kind of muddies what I think was a very successful presidency.
Unemployment, job creation, I'm not going to get into all of that, but he did a lot of good things, but people will talk about the exit, and that's what's going to stick with me in the midterm elections.
PHILLIP: Can somebody tell me what crimes Mark Milley committed? No one?
JENNINGS: What crimes?
PHILLIP: What crimes did Mark Milley commit that Donald Trump thinks that he should be prosecuted for? No one?
JENNINGS: I mean --
PHILLIP: So, why does Donald Trump keep talking about prosecuting someone who has, as far as I know and you know --
JENNINGS: Did he get -- did he get a pardon?
PHILLIP: He did get a pardon.
JENNINGS: So, what -- so you tell me what crimes did he commit or that Joe Biden thinks he committed.
PHILLIP: Donald Trump today, Laura just played the clip, he was attacking Milley. He took his picture off the wall.
JENNINGS: I will tell you one thing. Donald Trump --
PHILLIP: He has -- he has -- he has said that he thinks Milley should be tried for treason.
JENNINGS: He thinks -- he thinks -- he thinks Milley was undermining him when he was the commander-in-chief.
PHILLIP: Okay.
JENNINGS: I mean, it's pretty clear.
PHILLIP: Is that a crime?
JENNINGS: Undermining the commander-in-chief, I'm sure -- I'm sure it ain't good.
(LAUGHTER)
But whether it's --
PHILLIP: I I think that this is --
JENNINGS: I don't know. But Joe Biden, obviously, was worried about it.
PHILLIP: This is the fundamental issue that we face as a country. Shermichael, this is the fundamental issue that we face as a country. Crimes are crimes. When you commit them and you're prosecuted, they're crimes, right?
SINGLETON: Uh-hmm.
PHILLIP: And they should stand. But when someone like Donald Trump is willy-nilly accusing everybody and their mother that he does not like of crimes, that is deeply problematic and also undermines the system. What are we going to do about that?
SINGLETON: I mean, one could also make the same argument that Democrats did the same thing against the president, now president. They could point to his children or others around him who were not found guilty of crimes. And I saw a lot of that on the campaign.
PHILLIP: His children were not investigated or prosecuted for any crimes. They were not.
SINGLETON: But the premise of your question was Donald Trump is saying this person did something, this person may have done something illegally. My pushback is Democrats also made similar arguments during the campaign trail that the president did things illegally.
JENNINGS: Not only did they make arguments, they pursued it. They pursued it.
(LAUGHTER)
ALLISON: Here's the thing --
PHILLIP: Donald Trump's children were never prosecuted --
JENNINGS: Donald Trump was.
PHILLIP: -- or charged with crimes. Donald Trump --
JENNINGS: Donald Trump was.
PHILLIP: Okay, Donald Trump, you said, incited an insurrection. You said that. You wrote that down.
JENNINGS: Yeah.
PHILLIP: So, he was investigated and charged for that.
JENNINGS: I'm saying --
PHILLIP: Donald Trump took classified documents that belonged to the United States government. He was investigated and prosecuted for that. Donald Trump --
SINGLETON: But not found guilty. We all have the presumption of innocence.
PHILLIP: Of course. I'm just saying, you're arguing that this is just people throwing charges at Donald Trump. He did something. He was investigated. He was charged. The process actually went through. And it was -- and it was -- and it was thrown out. So, it's not the same thing as him saying, Liz Cheney, she should go to jail.
[23:20:02]
SINGLETON: You know what?
PHILLIP: I mean, you can at least submit that, right?
SINGLETON: This is what I will submit -- this is what I will submit: When people wake up tomorrow and they have to put gas in the car, they have to go to the grocery store, they don't care what Donald Trump said about Liz Cheney or Milley or anybody else out there. They want Donald Trump to figure out a way to bring those costs down, to your point.
And it is going to be important for Republicans to tackle some of those things, particularly with some of these sorts of new softer Republican voters, particularly of color, men, Black, Hispanic, Latino women. If we accomplished that, then I think the president is moving in the right direction. But these other ancillary things, I'm just not convinced that people are really focused on them.
PHILLIP: All right, we're going to take a quick break. You're seeing right there President Trump at the Liberty Ball, one of the other balls that's happening tonight, walking out on the stage with First Lady Melania Trump. Who's -- who of tech CEOs at Trump's inauguration today, including Elon Musk -- the question is, just how much does he have Trump's ear and will he have in the next four years? That's next.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: You're watching President Trump and the first lady, Melania, and the entire family at their second party of the night, the Liberty Ball, in a day of images worth a thousand words. Take a look at this one. If you add up the net worth of everyone in this picture, it's closing in on a trillion dollars.
[23:25:00]
Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Google CEO, Elon Musk is there as well, just a few feet away from Donald Trump during his own swearing-in ceremony. Other tech titans, they weren't that far away. Apple's Tim Cook, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and, of course, TikTok CEO Shou Zi, they were all there, All there by the president of the United States. Now Musk, though, really isn't a category of his own, isn't he? He even got a speaking role at the Capital One Arena today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA MOTORS: My heart goes out to you.
(APPLAUSE)
It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured. And we're going to take Doge to Mars!
(APPLAUSE)
I mean, can you imagine how awesome it will be to have American astronauts plant the flag on another planet for the first time?
(APPLAUSE)
Oh, man! Yeah!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Well, Marc Caputo is back. CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali is here as well. All right, Marc, can we go to you first on this as we hear "Unchained Melody" in the background, right?
MARC CAPUTO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE BULWARK: The Everly Brothers.
COATES: Yes. And, of course, well, for me, it is Patrick Swayze in "Ghost." Whatever. We're not going to talk about. It was "Ghost."
CAPUTO: "Ghost." Wrong Patrick Swayze.
COATES: Marc, you in danger, girl. Elon Musk has been on the White House grounds tonight. It's cold. We have you this.
CAPUTO: It is.
COATES: Talk to me about the amount of power he might very well wield in the West Wing?
CAPUTO: Well, he already has a tremendous amount of power in the West Wing just because Donald Trump prizes Elon Musk above anyone else currently --
COATES: Hmm.
CAPUTO: -- in that what Donald Trump really loves is guys who make money. And this is a guy who has made more money than anyone else has. And then just in case he is not wealthy enough, he's got these other insanely wealthy guys around him. Donald Trump is feeling it, and Elon Musk got his ear. So, what Elon Musk wants, assuming Donald Trump wants it, they're going to use the best job they can to make it happen.
COATES: It was supposed to be a one-two punch (INAUDIBLE) leadership with Vivek Ramaswamy. It seems like he is out at this point in time. Does that mean that Doge will be fully in the hands of Elon Musk?
CAPUTO: Basically, yeah. I mean, it was all along an Elon Musk idea, and then Vivek kind of needed a job and wanted to do something. And then things didn't quite work out. So, Vivek is no longer with us, so to speak, at Doge.
COATES: You know, I have to ask you. There's this discussion and, of course, Biden, his final Oval Office address to the nation, talked about the threat of oligarchs, and in the context of a democracy that he was concerned about. I showed you all that picture of all of these people who really are Silicon Valley. They're also huge millionaires, multimillionaires, billionaires in one instance. Does that really fuel even further that threat for the oligarchs?
TIMOTHY NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Oh, no, it doesn't just fuel it, it establishes it. You know, I've been thinking about a similar tableau. If we wanted to have something like this before the presidential inauguration, I was thinking, what would you have to have?
In the 1950s, it would be all of the CEOs of these steel companies because in that era, U.S. steel was king. And there was a concern about collusion. And, in fact, there was a cartel. You'd never have them turn up at a presidential inauguration. You certainly wouldn't have them intermixed with members of the cabinet.
In the 70s, you'd have the Seven Sisters, all the oil companies. Could you imagine if the CEOs of all the oil companies came to the presidential inauguration? It's not in the front row. It's not in the front row. You know, you think about the Marxist disinformation about the United States. The Soviet Union always put out the idea that these CEOs can hold government --
COATES: Let us listen in to what Trump is saying. Hold on one second.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It began very early and then we decided. You know, we made a good decision, by the way, doing it in the rotunda as opposed to in about four degrees with the wind chill factor. That would not have been pretty. And you know, if I made this -- did you ever speak in really cold weather? You can't. They would say, the fake news over there, they'd say, he's cognitively impaired. There's something wrong with that.
(LAUGHTER)
So, we didn't want to give him the chance to do that, did we? We had a great time. We had 72-degree temperature in the rotunda. We had the people that we needed. We had the people that we need tonight because you guys are unbelievable. We love you all.
(APPLAUSE)
And we said a lot of things today. I think we got tremendous reviews on the speech. And, you know, I wanted to put in some really rough stuff. And all of my people, including J.D., they said, you know, let's not put that paragraph in.
[23:30:02]
Oh, I love that paragraph. There was a paragraph on Biden shouldn't be pardoning his family.
(APPLAUSE)
And we had a couple of others that were far worse than that. But they said, you know, the speech is so nice and it's so unifying. I said, all right, we won't do it. I'll do it about two hours later. So, we've done --
(LAUGHTER)
-- we've been doing it all night long. But, you know, we're going to turn this country around and fast. We have -- we have assets like nobody else. Number one, we have our people. That's our greatest asset. The people of our country.
(APPLAUSE) And I just -- and I have a great family. I really do. I just look around. My son, Eric, has been so incredible, married to a woman who became the head of the Republican Party. I wonder how the hell did that happen?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: We've been hearing different iterations at this very speech throughout the day, at different balls and, of course, during the day today at his swearing-in. I do see behind him some famous characters, seem to be comprised. The Village People, of course, the YMCA song being one of his signature tunes on the campaign trail performing tonight.
I want to go back to our colleague and historian, Tim Naftali, on this point. The idea of the oligarchy, of course, and who is present with him --
NAFTALI: Oh, I thought you are going to ask me the Village People.
COATES: If you want to talk about that, well, I mean, you can do the whole thing.
NAFTALI: That is the funniest use of a song that has so many different meanings. But no, let's go back to the oligarchy, a different oligarchy.
COATES: (INAUDIBLE).
NAFTALI: No, no, no. So, here's the point. It is incredible that the most important industry in the United States, okay, I mean, arguably, is Silicon Valley. It's certainly the source of so much of the important disruption, but good disruptions going on, that those people should be there at this inauguration. And they have two important sources of power. One is their technological capability. The other is their ability to control speech.
And what is worrying to me is not so much how many more government contracts they're going to get because they already have a lot and they're billionaires to begin with. It's the extent to which they could do, if they wanted to, what Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin -- and we're not the same country. I'm not an alarmist, but I'm just saying, other countries we have seen, the far- right, have developed a system to limit speech. And if there are any people who can limit speech, it is those men, and they're all men, who are standing up for the president today.
COATES: Interesting, because there's the idea of the -- quote, unquote -- "common everyday person" that Trump has been trying to appeal to. And then you've got this contrast of the people surrounding him. Now, it might be that they become less of a symbol of alienating wealth and more of aspirational wealth for some people.
But you've been watching the comings and goings of people to Mar-a- Lago for a very long time now, including in that space. But there are some people who are not in line with what Trump believes about Musk. And I'm talking about Steve Bannon, for example. I want to play for everyone for a second what he said about him in an interview just recently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST (voice-over): He dissed the MAGA movement as being racist, which is the old trope that the left used to do. He used all the left tropes to come after us. These oligarchs in the Silicon Valley, they have a very different view of how people should govern themselves. I call it techno feudalism. They don't believe in the underlying tenants of self-governance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: What's your action?
CAPUTO: Steve Bannon is a revolutionary. And when there are no other people to fight, he usually finds enemies in his own camp. And when Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk came out in favor of the H-1B visas, that put a clear target of their back because the reality is in the MAGA movement and even beyond that, in labor, the way in which these visa programs have been administered or described as they have been administered is deeply unpopular.
Bannon is actually on the side of the base. Bannon knows that. He believes, eventually, Donald Trump is going to come his way and not Elon Musk's way.
COATES: I'd like you next time to go ahead and talk to the rhythm of whatever the -- those people are going to dance to. Thank you very much.
CAPUTO: You're welcome.
COATES: It was a little snappy for everyone. Thank you. Marc and Tim, thank you both so much. Next, much more live CNN coverage from the second Trump inauguration and the second ball he has been to today. Stick with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIP: We are keeping our eye on these inaugural balls that are taking place tonight all over Washington at the president and the first family -- just at their second ball of the night, the Liberty Ball.
Meantime, one of President Trump's executive orders begins to fight -- begins this fight over his attempt to scratch out a piece of the Constitution that outlines birthright citizenship. Here with us in the studio is legal analyst, CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams. Elliot, this will not come as a surprise to you if you have been listening to conservatives for some time now. I've had one particular conservative who actually I'm not sure would be covered by birthright citizenship under the way this EO has written. Vivek Ramaswamy argue that the 14th Amendment doesn't apply to immigrants. What do you make of the way that they wrote this and where it's going to go from here?
ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think he's wrong. And let's be clear. What's the point? What power does the president have? Now, look, the president can issue executive orders unless he's number one, doing somebody else's job, doing the job of Congress, or doing the job of the courts, or reaching too far.
Now, the language of the Constitution is quite clear about what -- the citizenship of the United States. And it says pretty clear, I have it right here, all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States. That's right out of the 14th Amendment.
PHILLIP: Can I insert the -- this is the part that is in the middle there, which is subject to the jurisdiction thereof. This is the part, I just want to be clear, that they are disputing.
[23:40:00]
WILLIAMS: Right.
PHILLIP: They're saying, if you're a diplomat, you're not subject to the jurisdiction thereof. So, therefore, your kids are not citizens of the United States. Does that apply here?
WILLIAMS: It does not. I would say it does not, but it's got to go to the courts.
PHILLIP: And I think the courts have held it.
WILLIAMS: Right.
PHILLIP: Largely, it does not.
WILLIAMS: Because when you are the child of a diplomat, you are subject to your country's jurisdiction. That's part of longstanding agreements between the United States and other countries. It's the reason why on the grounds of an embassy, United States law enforcement doesn't really have the capacity. D.C. police can't step on it.
JENNINGS: But if your parents are the citizens of another country and they're here illegally, and you're -- I mean, wouldn't that also make them subject to the laws of their -- I'm just --
WILLIAMS: No, not -- not -- not under sort of the diplomatic arrangements that happen on the grounds of an embassy or whatever else. Like if somebody is a diplomat --
JENNINGS: Yeah. WILLIAMS: -- an ambassador, you know, they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
PHILLIP: It also strikes me that -- I mean, they wouldn't -- I don't think they would want that to be the interpretation of that clause because that would basically mean that if you are a citizen of a foreign country and you are in the United States, you're not subject to the jurisdiction of American laws. That's not what I think we want --
WILLIAMS: Right.
PHILLIP: -- in this country.
WILLIAMS: It's not what we want in this country. Now, this is -- virtually every scholar who has looked at this thus far has said that this runs afoul of the law. Now, it runs afoul of the law if courts say that it does --
PHILLIP: Yeah.
WILLIAMS: -- and they've got to file the lawsuits and see what happens. But this is as aggressive and as much testing the boundaries of the 14th Amendment. And again, I want to be clear, the language is abundantly clear. There are all sorts of places in the Constitution or American law where there's some ambiguity. There ain't really any ambiguity on the 14th Amendment.
PHILLIP: And they're just trying to create a court fight. But Scott, you brought up the EO that he signed about designating the cartels --
JENNINGS: Yeah.
PHILLIP: -- as terrorist organizations. You know, Trump wants to do this. I'm not sure he's going to get a whole lot of opposition to it, to be honest.
JENNINGS: Yeah, and he was asked in the Oval Office, you know, could you envision sending special forces to go after the cartels in Mexico? And he said something like, well, you never know what might happen. And so, you know, for people who live all over this country with this drug crisis that we have and have been waiting for some kind of aggressive action and aggressive pushback about where it comes from, he's going to give it to them.
And so, I'm just -- as a political matter and I think as a policy matter, that's going to ring very well for people in the interior of the United States who've seen this drug crisis.
PHILLIP: Let me just talk about that.
ROCHA: The problem with both of these and connecting these two is that in Donald Trump's mind, the birthright citizenship are my grandparents in that because they came here undocumented, that I shouldn't have birthright citizenship. And he also thinks because he has said this, that maybe I got something to do with the cartels because I'm a brown man.
Now, I agree and wholeheartedly think that we should do something with the cartels. You want something, Scott Jennings, that I can agree with Donald Trump on? It's that issue. My problem with that is that he thinks that I'm that person because I'm a Mexican. That's what my problem is with it.
JENNINGS: I don't think he -- I don't think he believes people who are U.S. citizens living here with ancestry or heritage are part of cartels. I think he thinks cartels coming in from Mexico, operating in Mexico, sending drugs here, are terrorist organizations. And I think you're conflating immigration policy issues with clear terrorist activity that I think, as you pointed out, most Americans could agree.
ROCHA: As a Democrat, I agree with you.
SINGLETON: It would also be beneficial to those countries to get rid of the cartels. I mean, they have a significant amount of influence.
PHILLIP: Although they don't want the United States -- they don't want the United States coming into their country and carrying out military operations. I mean, I'm just saying that they don't want that.
SINGLETON: There could be joint partnerships. I mean, you're talking about human trafficking, sex trafficking, a multi-billion-dollar drug industry. It is absolutely beneficial to the residents in those countries to live in safe communities. And I would hope that the president of Mexico and the other countries would agree with the United States. Yeah, we would love your assistance and your support in ridding our nations of these drug cartels.
ALLISON: I think that one of the things I find this fascinating about this conversation is that the president can't override the Constitution, right? And Trump is testing that with this executive order on birthright citizenship.
He is actually hoping that it goes up to the courts and that the Supreme Court that many Americans feel is overly politicized will side with him and potentially -- and he's kind of doing it also with the TikTok EO and that like there is a law on the -- I like TikTok but there's a law on the books.
PHILLIP: And the EO is in violation --
ALLISON: And the EO is in violation of it. And so, again, it's -- I'm not saying this should be the democratic talking points, but like those are chips at democracy because -- and it's an overreach of the office of the president.
[23:44:57]
JENNINGS: Did you think it was a chipping away at democracy when Joe Biden tried to alter the Constitution by social media posts last week?
ALLISON: No, I don't. PHILLIP: You're talking about the ERA --
JENNINGS: I'm talking about him declaring the Constitution altered by virtue of his statement.
ALLISON: I know there are a lot of people who -- I thought it was peculiar. I was like, what is happening here? I don't think any -- and I think he did it when he did it because he knew that like it would go through the courts if we actually tried to -- but this is what I'm saying. I think that we now have four years of this, this is what we're doing, and it's actually the bounds that I feel uncomfortable.
PHILLIP: Ashley, tell us what's going on with --
ALLISON: Oh, well, mine, I love it.
JENNINGS: I'm so excited.
PHILLIP: I'm so distracted. It's so red.
ALLISON: I actually forgot that quick. You got me heated on talking about EOs. I forgot that was even there. Okay, so my Buckeyes, I'm a Buckeye class of 2005. My dad was a Buckeye. He played football, basketball, baseball at Ohio State. And tonight, it is the only thing J.D. Vance and I will ever agree on. Our Buckeyes won the national championship.
PHILLIP: Congratulations.
ALLISON: Somebody's calling. Thank you! I'm like, these haters in the studio, you all!
PHILLIP: Congratulations to the Ohio State. Everyone, thank you very much. Coming up next, we're going to speak with one of the performers at tonight's Liberty Ball, what he says he wants to see from the Trump presidency.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: Well, Inauguration Day is turning into a glitzy night here in Washington, D.C., where celebrations with live performances are well underway. President Trump putting on his dancing shoes to cap off his return to the White House.
[23:50:00]
And hey, joining me now, country music star Parker McCollum. He is performing at the Commander in Chief Ball tonight. Parker, so good to meet you. You made your big debut, by the way, at the Grand Ole Opry only a few years ago. Did you ever imagine performing on a stage like this now?
PARKER MCCOLLUM, COUNTRY MUSIC SINGER: You know, I guess I kind of always had it in the back of my mind a little bit. But, you know, me and my guys have been so blessed and done it the hard way and felt like we've earned, you know, every stripe that we have and trying to continue to do so. So, I try never to let the moment get too big, act like you've been there like my dad always tells me. And tonight is no different.
(LAUGHTER)
There are definitely some nerves. So, you know, just -- you know, with all the hype about everything, but we're honored to be here.
COATES: My dad used to say, I've been to plenty of places like this, right? You always have that attitude when people have you someplace. But let me ask you. You know, this is -- this is an inaugural ball. Carrie Underwood, of course, the legend of her own rights, said that she was humbled to answer this call to perform. How are you feeling tonight about this opportunity? How did it all come about, anyway?
MCCOLLUM: My brother-in-law actually -- my brother-in-law and my sister are on a company called Tech Strategies. They're based in Austin, Texas now, but they were here in Washington, D.C. for about 15 or 16 years. They did a lot of good work, built it from the ground up, made a ton of good connections. So, they actually contacted him, and he called me and said that, you know, they want to play at the inauguration.
You know, I believe red, white, and blue. I love this country with every fiber of my body, you know. So, it's such an honor for someone to even consider us for something like this. And, you know, much less, it actually happened and get to come out here and do it. It's just -- you know, it's a long, winded way of saying, no, I never thought that I would be on a stage like this, but I'm humbled and honored and looking forward to putting on a great show.
COATES: I love that your family said, you know what, I know a guy, he happens to have like number one hit, like consecutive ones, but that's fine. Well, I know someone about it. Listen, you're going to be at the Commander in Chief Ball that, of course, honors military service members. Does that hold even greater meaning? I mean, you got the Inaugural Ball, then you have one honoring the military.
MCCOLLUM: Yes, ma'am. No, it's a -- it holds a special place in my heart. Like I said, you know, I believe in red, white and blue. I love this country. I'm a very, very proud American, you know. So, to get the opportunity to come here and play some of my songs and maybe a couple of others, maybe a couple of surprises in there, one or two, and, you know, get to honor and just be a part of it --
COATES: Tell me now. What kind of surprise? Let me know.
MCCOLLUM: I don't want to spoil it, but we're going to close with a good one, the one that I really think the military personnel that's here tonight will really kind of feel and identify with. So, hopefully, we made a good choice on the set list and remember all the words. The nerves are high, for sure, which is rare for me, but I'm really, really looking forward to it.
COATES: Hey, Carrie performed acapella. So, as you know, sometimes, you just got to roll with the punches and pivot. If that happens, just go ahead and do what you know how to do. You know, some people like to stay away from politics in general. They don't want to have anything to do with it. They don't want anyone to think something about them.
Um, what would you like people to know about why you want to be a part of an inauguration and what do you have anything that you'd like President Trump to try to accomplish this term?
MCCOLLUM: Well, on the political side of things, you know, I really -- you know, I've got guys that work for me and friends of mine and family that, you know, kind of stepped to both sides of the aisle. I'm -- I'm really big on -- you know, everybody comes from a different background. Everybody has had different life experiences, was raised a different way, thinks a different way. So, you know, whatever side you vote for or whatever you want to call it, this doesn't matter to me if your heart is good and your mind is good and you're working hard and you believe in this country.
So, you know, I certainly was raised a certain way and I believe that very firmly. I always will. But it doesn't make a difference to me, you know, what side of the aisle you're on as long as you're a good person, have a good heart. So, I'll stand on that till the end.
And as far as what I hope Trump to accomplish, I think unity in the country would probably be number one on the list for me. Just -- you know, if you love America, it doesn't matter who's running it. You know, you got to be pulling for whoever's running it and hoping that they're doing a good job, whether you voted for them or not.
You know, if you want to see the working man and the working woman, you know, elevate in this country and, you know, achieve the American dream, it doesn't matter who's running the country. You know, you got to be pulling for everybody. We're all Americans at the end of the day. And I think that's really the thing I would like him to focus on the most, is just, you know, showing that we're not as different as maybe we're all made out to be these days.
COATES: Well, it sounds like, Parker McCollum, you do have what you call a pretty heart. See what I did there? See, I had to. I had -- I let you an opening for it.
MCCOLLUM: I see.
COATES: You didn't take it.
MCCOLLUM: Yes, ma'am.
COATES: I'm so glad. Thank you so much for joining us. Have a great performance. We'll be watching. Thank you.
[23:55:00]
MCCOLLUM: Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Laura.
PHILLIP: Laura --
COATES: That was fun to have him on. PHILLIP: That was fun.
COATES: Yeah.
PHILLIP: What a day. What a day.
COATES: What a night. What a day, what a night. This is day one. I hope --
PHILLIP: Yeah.
COATES: -- you've got some caffeine.
PHILLIP: Look, my advice to the American people today, yes, get some sleep, take it in strides. It's going to be four years. I covered the Trump administration the first time. You got to pace yourself for this one. It's going to be a very consequential historic week in Washington.
COATES: If I were a runner, I'd say, it's a marathon, not a sprint. But I don't do that. So, I'll just say good night to everyone. And thank you, of course, Abby. It's so good to be on with you, my friend. Thank you, everyone --
PHILLIP: Great to see you, Laura.
COATES: -- for watching our live special coverage of the Trump inaugural balls.
PHILLIP: We have much more coverage of this historic day right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett live from Washington. I'll front tonight the breaking news. The Trump presidency is in full force. President Trump just wrapping up that rally in Washington, where he signed nine executive orders, promising to pardon those who attacked the Capitol on January 6.
The president is now on his way to the White House where he promised to sign even more executive actions. They said there will be many more tonight.
Just moments ago, he signed orders, including revoking nearly 80 of Biden's executive orders and actions.
[00:00:04]
They may count that as 80. As well as withdrawing from the Paris Climate Treaty, freezing all federal hiring --