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CNN Live Event/Special

The Inauguration of Donald Trump. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 20, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:30:00]

VANESSA FRIEDMAN, FASHION DIRECTOR AND CHIEF FASHION CRITIC, THE NEW YORK TIMES: -- family governess than necessarily American first lady.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: That's how it reads, royal family governess. That's interesting. We've had -- who's the most fashionable or sort of iconic first ladies?

FRIEDMAN: I mean, certainly the most --

COOPER: Jacqueline Kennedy?

FRIEDMAN: -- recent one, Michelle Obama. Before her, Jacqueline Kennedy. But every first lady has used her clothing to make a statement because that's part of the job, honestly, right? It's to represent the look of the administration, the values of the administration through imagery, right? These are people who --

COOPER: Yes, we're seeing -- by the way, we're seeing both first ladies, the current and the future first lady and also the past first lady, they will ride together. Jill Biden's -- is she in Ralph Lauren?

FRIEDMAN: She's in Ralph Lauren. She's in purple, gray, bipartisan, very sort of full circle, right? She wore -- her husband wore a Ralph Lauren for the first -- his inauguration. He's also wearing Ralph Lauren.

COOPER: John King, just in terms of this departure that we're seeing, I mean, again, this is tradition. This is how it's always done, except the last time when this wasn't.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And so, we should celebrate this. This is the magic of America's democracy. The former president leaving, even though there's no love lost between Jill Biden and Melania Trump, there's no love lost between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The current president, Joe Biden for another hour and a half, is doing the right thing. He's respecting American norms. And you're right, that did not happen four years ago.

So, is that a reset? We're going to have a lot of political conversations today, I think for the next 90 minutes, maybe we should have an American conversation, that you have an outgoing president who was not afforded this courtesy four years ago, saying, I'm not going to forget that, but there's something more important than that, and they're doing that today. And to their credit, the Trumps were very gracious when they came into the House. They said good morning and everything. So, we're having an American moment. By the time the day is over, I suspect we'll be having some political debates and conversations as well.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is the discussion earlier about members of Congress and should they go. If you are the party that believes in norms, then you should observe the norms. You shouldn't protest the other party's lack of observance of norms by doing it yourself.

COOPER: Jamie Gangel, as you watch this, we have watched this kind of moment every four years except for last year for a long time, what stands out to you?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, I think just the underlying political reality that you -- your panel was discussing earlier, this is painful. Nobody likes to lose. And even though the candidate was Vice President Harris at the time, she shared that with President Biden. I used to speak to Former President Bush '41 about this a lot when he did not win a second term. It's hard. And I think it is particularly hard, obviously, because of the underlying feelings that they have for Donald Trump.

COOPER: Well, speaking of Vice President Harris and Vice President- Elect J. D. Vance getting into their limousine to make the ride for the capitol this one. Tim Naftali, a historian, in this moment, again, this is something every -- which is normal except for the last time around. What are your thoughts right now?

TIMOTHY NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, as you know, I did spend some time as the federal director of the Nixon Library and I'm thinking that before today the American politician who experienced the greatest comeback was Richard Nixon. After all, he was thought to be politically dead in 1962 when he ran for governor and he had lost in 1960 against John Kennedy and, of course, in 1968 he ascends to the presidency.

Well, Donald Trump has topped that. Because Donald Trump is, without a doubt, in our modern era, the person who has achieved the greatest political come -- greatest comeback in political history. And so, I'm thinking a lot about that. And I'm thinking about whether in January of 2021 how many people other than Donald Trump thought that these images could have been possible.

So, it's a poignant moment for the Bidens. It's a heroic moment, glorious moment for the Trumps. And it's a moment for reflection for, I think, all Americans.

COOPER: John King, I mean, to Tim's point, it is -- it would have been inconceivable, I think, to most people four years ago, given what happened at the Capitol, that this moment would be occurring.

KING: Absolutely. Inconceivable to, Tim says, anybody but Donald Trump, maybe two or three other people. Most of the -- most of Donald Trump's party turned on him. Most of Donald Trump's party was trying to create distance from him. Most of Donald Trump's party was embarrassed by the events of January 6th and the bigger denial of the election that actually started on election night in 2020.

[10:35:00]

However, he single handedly won the -- you know, won the nomination, without much of a fight actually, and then won the presidency. Now, again, the question is Joe Biden thought that his win included the fact that he had forever isolated Donald Trump to the ash heap of history. He was wrong about that.

So, Donald Trump takes his hand off the bible today. Now, how does he interpret his victory? It was a big victory You know, David and I have been going back and forth about this all morning. He won all the swing states. He did something -- as Tim said, now puts Richard Nixon number two in the greatest comebacks in American political history. However, does he overread that mandate?

The popular vote win, it's a big deal, it's a big deal. Trump supporters are much more open, much more proud, much more public because he won the popular vote. It's not a huge win in the popular vote, but it's a win. So, Joe Biden overread his mandate, I think. Donald Trump being there right now, who's about to walk out those doors, is proof of that. Does Donald Trump overread his?

COOPER: MJ Lee at the White House. I understand that you have some new reporting.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We are learning that President Biden confirmed to reporters some moments ago that he did, in fact, leave a letter for the incoming President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. He was asked whether he had done so at the North Portico, he said yes, but when reporters pressed him on the details and the contents of that letter, President Biden simply said, that's between Trump and me.

Of course, you'll remember that the former president, Donald Trump, left the White President Biden a letter in the same manner back in 2021. It was actually one of the rare traditions of the passing of the baton that President Trump at the time had adhered to, and President Biden would go on to describe that letter as very generous.

Now, we are watching those doors to see the Bidens and the Trumps emerge after their meeting inside the Blue Room at the White House for some coffee and tea. We should keep in mind, you know, once President Biden gets inside that motorcade, this will be the last time that President Biden rides the presidential motorcade as a sitting president. There they are.

COOPER: And let's just -- let's watch this.

It is, John, just an extraordinary moment. I mean, given the history of these two men, given the history of what we have seen, given the career President Biden has had, the way his career has ended, touching the door of the limousine on his way in for this last ride in a presidential limousine. He will be taking a helicopter from the Capitol Hill.

KING: They don't have much in common, but they do share this remarkable political resilience, this ability to defy the people who say you cannot do this. Joe Biden ran for the presidency three times before he won the presidency. David can tell you when he was the vice president to Barack Obama, one of the reasons was they didn't think he would run for president. Donald Trump was given up for politically -- you know, political isolation and he's back in the White House.

MJ just made an important point. We're going to watch the beginning of the new Trump administration. I do think it's worth spending a little time just on the -- this is the end of Joe Biden's career in elective office. And again, whatever you think of him, United States Senate at a very young age. I met him in 1987 when he was first running for president out in Iowa, ran again and lost and then came back and won the presidency. That is remarkable. Whether you agree or disagree with his politics, it is not an easy thing to do to become president of the United States, to win the primaries, to get it done.

You have to have some luck you have to have things break in your favor but you also have to have political resilience. And the stubborn Irish, I often say about Joe Biden, which is sometimes his greatest gift, I think in this last cycle was also, in some ways, his greatest enemy. He didn't realize that it was time to pass the torch.

But again, those things were debated, but they'll be debated today, they'll be debated in the history books, 10, 15, 25 years from now. But he's passed -- he's leaving the complex right there for the last time as [resident of the United States and he has to know that, yes, he has to know that as he --

[10:40:00]

COOPER: To just point out, you saw Senator Amy Klobuchar escorting the -- both presidents out. She's the chairman of the Inaugural Committee. So, she was there as part of her serving (INAUDIBLE).

AXELROD: You know, there are only five -- yes, there are only five guys on the planet and they're all guys who understand what the presidency is and the awesome responsibilities of the presidency. They have that in common. But Joe Biden's legacy was largely built on the fact that he routed Donald Trump from the White House. And so, it has to be painful to be riding to the re-inauguration of Donald Trump today.

VAN JONES, FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: A lot of talk about on America first. I hear from the -- my friends in the conservative movement, today, Joe Biden's put in America first. This is a tough, tough day. You saw him put his hand on the car. It's heartbreaking. He's actually giving Donald Trump not just the dignity of a good transition, he's giving him a pretty decent economy. Things are healing. They're moving in the right direction. He's put in place some things. There's going to be a lot of red ribbons cut under the Trump administration because of tough votes that Biden got Democrats to take. So, you know, I think it's an important moment. It's a powerful moment. You know, Joe Biden, he probably stayed too long, but he stayed too long because he thought he had more good to do. He won't get a chance to do that good, but he's handing off a better economy than he got, and he's doing it in a more decent way, showing more decency than he received. You want to talk about America first, that's Joe Biden today.

COOPER: Chris Emery, I mean, you've been a White House usher for a long time under three different administrations, Republicans and Democrats. As you watch this, what do you think?

CHRIS EMERY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE USHER: Well, it's emotional. I mean, it brings back a lot of memories for me. It's a very emotional time. You see the president get into the limousine. We're standing just inside the door, doing the thumbs up, waving for the final time. And then, we're also very emotional or trying to be anticipating what's going to be like with the new family coming in.

For me, it was pretty lucky because President -- Vice President Bush under Reagan had been at the White House many times. We knew a little bit about his family. The Clintons, they were brand-new. So, it's quite an adjustment.

COOPER: And already now, they have left the White House, movers are moving in.

EMERY: Right now, we're -- somebody's going across the Blair House to bring the racks of clothes of the Trumps across Pennsylvania Avenue and up the North Drive. Other people are unloading vans on their own south grounds, it's just -- there's a lot going on right now.

COOPER: MJ Lee?

LEE: Yes, as President Biden is making that final ride in the presidential motorcade as a sitting president, you know, once he gets off on Capitol Hill, he will watch moments later President Trump being sworn back into office. Of course, the two men, as we saw, got into that same car together, talk about, you know, being in close quarters with someone you'd probably rather not spend that much time with. But nevertheless, as we've been talking about all morning, this was yet another part of the ceremonial aspect of Inauguration Day morning that the president felt it was important that he uphold.

Now, back here at the White House, we are sort of seeing a race against the clock, essentially, to turn this White House from the Biden White House back into the Trump White House. I know you were talking to Chris Emery before about just the machinations of how exactly that works, but there are essentially incoming and outgoing moving trucks close to the White House ready on standby, and some hundred members of resident staff, as our Betsy Klein reported, to move the Biden stuff out and then begin the process of moving the Trump stuff in after a period of, of course, a deep cleaning that goes on across the White House.

There will probably be some five hours between now and when the staff here need to get everything done. And later, when the Trumps return here to the White House as the first couple once more, it will kind of be like maybe they never left. Their furniture, art, clothing, all of that should be, if everything goes smoothly, in the places that they are supposed to be, so that they can now proceed to live at the White House once again for another four years.

COOPER: Tim Naftali, the -- what we're about to witness, talk a little bit about the history of that, the history of inauguration.

NAFTALI: The very first time that an outgoing president and an incoming president sat together on the way to the White -- on the way to the Capitol was in 1837, Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, and that was a very positive, very happy transition. Martin Van Buren had been Jackson's vice president. That was the first time that this kind of event occurred. The very first time it ever occurred in an automobile was Warren G. Harding's inauguration.

[10:45:00]

Sometimes we hear about what they say to each other in the cars. In the case of 1961, when Kennedy, young John F. Kennedy, who had been a junior officer, was sitting in a car with Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had been the Supreme Allied Commander of Allied Forces in Europe, when they were in a car together, they talked about D-Day, they talked about World War II. Other presidents don't say anything to each other. Truman and Eisenhower had a very chilly relationship and a very chilly car ride.

It'll be interesting to find out what Biden and Trump are saying to each other, since this is the only time that they will ever take this kind of ride together. They should have taken it twice, as we've mentioned it before, but that of course didn't occur in 2021. So, this particular ride, whether it's in a carriage or in a car, has been an important ritual in the passing of the baton from one presidency to another.

COOPER: David Axelrod, I mean, it's interesting to me how, you know, people think about politics, you see it on television, but there are personalities involved and politics is personal, and the personality, you know, people have feelings and emotions, and all of that plays into a moment like --

AXELROD: Well, in this case in particular, but you know, it takes a certain amount of -- not a certain amount, it takes extraordinary sort of ego and drive to get to this point in life, and in this case, their egos and their drive collided twice in historic ways. So, you know, it's kind of mind-boggling to think how they're all -- they're each processing this short journey to the Capitol.

But look, for Joe Biden, this is a sad ending. This is kind of a Shakespearean tragedy. He came to the Capitol as the youngest senator and he was heralded in 1973 as a future presidential candidate. And here we are half a century later, and, you know, had he chosen a different path, had he not run for re-election, you know, he might be -- this ride might have been easier for him. But -- so, you know, I think that his -- there's so many emotions that must be rushed -- rushing through him at this point.

COOPER: Jake, let's go back to you.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Anderson. We are all watching with great interest this limousine ride with the two presidents. Let's go to Jeff Zeleny who is right outside the Capitol. Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: -- driving through the Senate --

TAPPER: Do we have Jeff Zeleny?

ZELENY: -- a carriage entrance.

TAPPER: OK.

ZELENY: It's driving through the Senate carriage entrance. As you can see, the two presidents will be getting out of the motorcade momentarily. And what an extraordinary return to power this is for Donald Trump. Of course, we are also on the east front of the Capitol, standing on the very ground, just steps away from where the windows were bashed four years ago in his name.

Now, of course, that is left to history as we are going to see the 45th president, Donald Trump, the 46th president, Joe Biden, step out and step into the Capitol and walk the short steps into the rotunda to continue this peaceful transfer of power. But I can see Dr. Jill Biden there stepping out. President Biden soon will be as well, we believe.

But what an extraordinary moment, a full half century of public life for Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr, who arrived here in 1972 as the youngest senator, would be taking his leave as the oldest American president, turning over the reins of power to a man he tried to stop.

TAPPER: That's right. Fascinating stuff. Just a real moment in American history. Let's go now to Kaitlan Collins who's in Emancipation Hall right outside the rotunda where the inaugural will take place. Kaitlan.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Jake. So, many moments of history have been glimpsed from these views of the carriage entrance where we get a camera angle. And you can see Biden waiting there for Trump to go in as they walked inside to the -- on their way to the rotunda. And here they are coming into the main door, speaking to one another, as you can see there. We'll listen.

There's Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Mike Johnson. Mike Johnson is in that meeting they just had at the White House.

[10:50:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning, sir. How are you this morning?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Good morning.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump, how do you feel? President Biden?

COLLINS: You saw there a brief greeting from the president alike. Still a fascinating side by side to see the two of them. And also, just to see in this moment, as you know, typically this would be a president ushering in a new president who's not used to that kind of platform and the levers of power. Trump obviously well knows what comes with the office. There's the Google CEO and Elon Musk there inside the rotunda, getting those coveted seats, I might note, in addition to Rudy Giuliani, who we also saw entering. There goes Melania Trump, Deb Fisher, and then First Lady Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff, all making their way into the space as they go in there.

I'll note Wolf -- or Jake, you're looking right now at Walt Nauta. That is Donald Trump's former co-defendant in the classified documents case, who is still his body man and accompanies him on essentially every trip that he takes, walking in with him in addition to J. D. Vance and Usha Vance, the future second lady of the United States, all making their way in.

There's Trump's Secret Service detail, a few of them making their way in, and the press pool as well, following suit as they make their way into the rotunda and just this moment between Trump and Biden where they've had private moments beyond what we saw today where House Speaker Mike Johnson was in the Blue Room present for that meeting and will obviously wield a lot of power over Trump's forthcoming legislative agenda that he wants to accompany on Capitol Hill.

I believe that's Dana White there that we're looking at as we talk about the guest and maybe Miriam Adelson as well. As you look at all of who is assembled inside this room, none of these people are surprising. There's Senator John Barrasso in the bottom right corner of your screen as well, in addition to Senator Dick Durbin.

The people on the left side, none of them are surprising to see in the room. These are top allies of Trump, including Susie Wiles who was in the white coat in the bottom left corner, who orchestrated Trump's campaign and successful return to the White House and will be his incoming chief of staff inside the White House coming in. It all just speaks to this return to power in terms of the influence inside the West Wing.

Susie Wiles will be a new face, of course, in the West Wing, not a new face in Trump's orbit. And there's Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi, Doug Burgum, Brooke Rollins, Howard Lutnick, all making their way into the room and being greeted by rounds of applause, I should note, not just in the Rotunda, but also here in Emancipation Hall, where we are watching a live feed for those who did not make it into the Rotunda. For this, RFK Jr., Sean Duffy, Linda McMahon.

TAPPER: A man to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Those are members of the Trump Cabinet. Kristi Noem, the Governor of South Dakota, nominated to be Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Other members as well. Lee Zeldin, the former New York Congressman, nominated to be administrator of the EPA. John Ratcliffe, nominated to be director of the CIA.

A lot of people there who are -- Kash Patel, nominated to be director of the FBI. There is -- and Mr. DOGE himself, Vivek Ramaswamy who is going to be on the Department of Government Efficiency, but he is stepping down from that role to run for Governor of Ohio. We also saw Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman. There she is on the left there, turned Republican, nominated to be director of the Office of National Intelligence. These are members of the president's would-be cabinet. None of them have been confirmed yet. We do expect Marco Rubio, the senator from Florida, to be confirmed overwhelmingly today. There he is on the left as Secretary of State.

That is -- that if Trump gets his druthers, and I have no reason to think he won't, that will be the Trump cabinet. We're not aware of any nomination that is in trouble as of yet. Michael Waltz, who will be -- the Florida congressman who will be the national security adviser.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're looking at the incoming Trump administration, including and especially the woman in the white coat with the blue scarf, Susie Wiles. The woman who led the campaign to get Donald Trump back into the White House and will be the gatekeeper, the chief of staff in Donald Trump's White House.

TAPPER: And will be the first ever woman to be the White House chief of staff. There were attempts or discussions in previous Democratic administrations, but nobody ever pulled the trigger. She will be the first --

BASH: Dan Quayle.

TAPPER: Oh, former Vice President Dan Quayle --

BASH: And Marilyn Quayle.

TAPPER: -- and Marilyn Quayle from Indiana. Very interesting.

[10:55:00]

BASH: And as we watch this, I'm thinking of Dan Quayle, who was a senator as well. Just to take a moment to go back to that image of Joe Biden and Donald Trump walking in the Senate carriage entrance, walking in together, Joe Biden, who I first met as a Senator, and as you did as well, how many thousands of times he has walked through that entrance to the U.S. Senate as a senator for decades and decades. And the fact that he is accompanying Donald Trump, the man who he tried so hard and again was successful the first time, but was not successful this time to keep him out of the White House, accompanying him back in as Donald Trump prepares to take the oath of office once again is really extraordinary.

TAPPER: That oath will be delivered by the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts. And then, for the vice president, J. D. Vance, it will be administered by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was one of Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominees. Here is Vice President Pence. BASH: Wow.

TAPPER: Who has only been -- this will be the second time in the last four years that he'll have been in the same room with Donald Trump since that horrible month in January 2021. Earlier today Pence issued a tweet talking about why he was there, why he was attending this event. He said, today, I will attend the inauguration of President Donald Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance of the U.S. Capitol. This is a day when every American does well to celebrate our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power under the constitution of the United States. We encourage all our fellow Americans to join us praying for President Trump and Vice President Vance as they assume the awesome responsibility of leading this great nation. And may God continue to bless the United States of America. America flag emoji.

BASH: And not with Mike Pence, Karen Pence.

TAPPER: Karen Pence --

BASH: The former second lady is not there who has been very clear about her disdain for -- and how upset, understandably, she was about January 6th, that she was there with him when the mob was outside calling for --

TAPPER: Hanging Mike Pence.

BASH: -- her husband to be hanged.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: And the entire country, Donald Trump included, owes Mike Pence actually quite a lot of gratitude for what he did on that day. Not only for fulfilling his constitutional responsibility, but also in the midst of the chaos when the Secret Service was telling him, we've got to go, we've got to get out of here, we don't know if we can protect you in this building. He insisted on staying and certifying the election when the Congress came back into session.

TAPPER: I don't know if we control the feed or not, but it's really remarkable to see these tech CEOs or founders in the case of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, standing alongside members of the Trump cabinet.

BASH: They got better seats than some members of the cabinet.

TAPPER: Well, it's just remarkable. It -- I can't help but think that if this had happened four years ago or 12 years ago, it would have been something of a scandal for these people who control information in the United States and the world.

The CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, who's there as well as Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, and Elon Musk from X. And not to mention the -- all the federal contracts he has with -- because of SpaceX, all of them standing amidst members of the president's would-be cabinet, not yet confirmed.

BASH: And these are a group of people, Joe Biden and his very last address to the American people warned make up effectively an oligarchy.

PHILLIP: And for people who don't understand -- know what an oligarchy is, it is the idea of wealthy individuals, often business owners, in the private sector, who essentially have control over the government as a result of their wealth. And that's what the president was warning of.

I just want to throw out another way of looking at this and the way that I think people on the right are looking at this as a way of Trump celebrating American ingenuity, entrepreneurship, technological dominance, because the truth is when it comes to tech companies in the world, American companies are the ones that are dominating the industry. But it is at such a crucial time when the government has to play a role in deciding what this looks like going forward.

[11:00:00]