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CNN Live Event/Special

CNN's coverage of the 137th Rose Parade. Aired 12-12.30p ET

Aired January 01, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, this team, they travel all across competitions in California and Nevada, and all the leaders and instructors are volunteers and rental horses are available each and every night. The American Quarter Horse is the most common, though they will use any and all breeds as they're training and enjoying the sport they love.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Very nice. So coming up next is going to be one of these featured musical performances, which is really great. It's going to be from the state of Louisiana is about to move in with that. And we're going to hear a performance from John Foster, who is a rising country music artist, and so they're accelerating Gulf to Gumbo. Let's listen into that.

(Video is shown of John Foster performing the song Gulf to Gumbo)

MICHAELSON: John Foster performing there on the Explore Louisiana. It is now the top of the hour, and we want to welcome you to CNN's coverage of the 137th Rose Parade presented by Honda. I'm Elex Michaelson.

WIRE: And I'm Coy Wire. We should have worn suits like that. We didn't -- those were some outstanding, colorful suits. Now we have up a float that won the Founder Award. This is Downey Rose Float Association. It's called The Glow of Achievement. It won for most outstanding float built by volunteers. The Downey Rose Float Association is a long standing volunteer driven organization with roots in this tournament of roses dating back to 1913.

They're entirely financed, constructed and decorated by community volunteers. Now The Glow of Achievement theme is inspired by the Indian lantern festival of Diwali, celebrating the triumph of light over darkness, symbolized by illuminated lanterns that we see on here and a central Diya with animated flames. Diya is that large animated flames that symbolize the victory of light over darkness.

This is a beautifully colored, vibrant float. There are oversized peacocks on there, which symbolize good luck. They've got the Rose Queen parade.

MICHAELSON: Well, they've got their own court. So Downey does their own thing. So Miss. Downey, Leilani Iana (ph) and her court -- Leilani Anaya I should say, and her royal court, are there So they got their own thing, and it really is a wave. Do you think you have it down? Have you got it down? It's amazing to pull that sort of --

[12:05:00]

WIRE: We'll see, you got it all wrong. I hear it's elbow first and then hand, yeah.

MICHAELSON: OK.

WIRE: And you see your one hand. It's not this.

MICHAELSON: OK.

WIRE: It's elbow first. Why do I know this? Because I played in the Rose Bowl in 2000 --

MICHAELSON: They taught -- did teach you (inaudible)

WIRE: They said we wanted to do the wave. It's elbow first, it's pretty simple. We'll work on it, buddy.

MICHAELSON: (inaudible) things you learn.

WIRE: It's coachable.

MICHAELSON: It is interesting to see the crowd has been trying to do the wave back to the people as well. So The Glow of Achievement is the name of this Downey Rose Float Association float, which is really a beautiful, beautiful contribution to this Rose Parade. If you're just joining us, it is wet. It's the first time it's been wet in 20 years. It's the only the second time it's been wet here in 70 years. The good news is this hour, it's not as wet.

But the problem for some of these floats is it down poured on them. So we send you all sorts of runny glue and all the rest of it, but we're still here.

WIRE: Some floral shrapnel here and there, but still overwhelming beautiful.

MICHAELSON: Apparently we needed Barbara Streisand here to say, Don't Rain on My Parade. But there was no funny girl at this -- this 137th Tournament of Roses Parade.

WIRE: Tony, Tony, Tony was full of it.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. But we --

WIRE: (inaudible) Southern California.

MICHAELSON: But we do have horses from the Scripps Miramar Ranch Steam Fire Pumper Unit. That's what we're looking at, right there. This -- this thing, Steam Fire Pumper was built back in 1870 so it's older than the parade, which started in 1890 and that steam appeared in films including old Chicago, San Francisco, Hello Dolly, speaking of Barbara Streisand and -- and it is being -- this group has participated more than 40 different rose parades over the years. WIRE: Now, I heard that steam fire pumper was your nickname when you

played the saxophone in high school.

MICHAELSON: That was that was it, yep, yep. That was -- that was what we went by. But this thing, they're from San Diego County. Our thanks to Scripps Miramar. Now to the Judges Award for the most outstanding float design, which is a pretty big one.

WIRE: Yes, Sierra Madre Rose Float Association. The theme Pancake Breakfast. The Sierra Madre Float Association is a non-profit organization in Sierra Madre, California. They have this whimsical pancake breakfast theme highlighting the fire department and their teamwork.

Of course, Magic in Teamwork is the theme of this year's Rose Parade.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. So we see the guy up there, and he's sort of using the fire engine to deliver syrup to the pancakes. Now we know that the firefighters in Sierra Madre were involved in the fire response to the Eaton fire. This is a way to honor them. We see them celebrated as we approach the one year anniversary on January 7 of that fire in Sierra Madre being honored with a big award.

The Judges Award for this design as well.

WIRE: Red carnations used to make the fire truck. Look at the colors pop. They have the Dalmatian there sitting alongside the fire truck. And, of course, some of the firefighters getting in and getting to experience this yearly tradition. Now next up, we have quite the show.

MICHAELSON: Yeah, this is my favorite band. I shouldn't take favorites, but I am. From Morgan State University, the Magnificent Marching Band, M3. They hail from Baltimore. 180 dedicated students. They participated in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and they're about to put on quite a show for us.

(Video is shown of Magnificent Marching Machine (M3) performing)

MICHAELSON: Morgan State is a public historically black university located northeast Baltimore, and we see them representing, in a big way, the bears out in force here for the Rose Parade.

WIRE: They are one of the nation's most celebrated HBCU marching bands, putting on a show wherever they go, the bears from Baltimore.

[12:10:00]

And I can't imagine how tired they must be after a five (inaudible), but they're doing it.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. Well, this is the beginning. We'll see them in a -- the Crown City Innovator Award for use of imaginations from one of my favorite shows on TV right now, which is Shrinking, which is on Apple TV. It's Jason Segel's show with Harrison Ford sort of focused on the idea of psychiatrists and what they're really like. The show is filmed here in Pasadena, so you see a real local connection to it. And you see a couple of the stars of shrinking that are on board there

today. You see Sean from the show, Luke Tennie. We also know Ted McGinley, who plays Derek, supposed to be a part of this as well. And the show is coming back, by the way. Season Three is premiering on January 28 on Apple TV. There's Ted McGinley and his beautiful wife, Gigi. They're great southern California fixtures as well, been in so many different shows over the year, Married with Children and others and Shrinking is a lot of fun.

WIRE: Created by the team behind Ted Lasso.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. Brett Goldstein.

WIRE: You need to tell me more. This is one of the shows you favor.

MICHAELSON: Brett Goldstein show. All right, coming up the longest serving band in parade history, performance you will not want to miss. We're going to sneak in a commercial break. But as we go to break, you can still watch the parade as we continue in commercial.

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[12:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Our coverage continues at the 137th Rose Parade Presented by Honda. Elex Michaelson, Coy Wire, here. We are now looking at the band the Clover High School. They're from South Carolina. It's the first time they have ever played in the Rose Parade, and they're giving some love to the Jackson Five. Let's listen in.

(Video is shown of Clover High School marching band performing)

WIRE: Well, the rain has stopped here in Pasadena. It was -- this is only the second time in 70 years it has rained during the Rose Parade, but now people are starting to take the hoods down off their ponchos, getting a little more comfortable trying to dry out a bit as we watch Clover High School's Marching Band. Shout out to the kids from South Carolina, representing their school on a worldwide stage.

Coming up next we have the Arabian Horse Association Versatile Arabians. Now several of these horses are second generation Rose Parade participants. Arabian horses, world's oldest and only pure bred equine breed, with every modern horse breed tracing lineage back to them.

Also several of the 2025 riders, they got support from the fund after the Palisades and Canyon fires, including a rider who lost her home only days after riding in the parade.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. And part of the reason we see so many horses in this parade is a tradition that goes back to the start of the parade before there were many cars. So in 1890, the whole parade was basically what we're looking at there. Horse drawn carriages with roses. And so that a lot of these groups

have continued year after year, and they continue to highlight equestrians because of that. That really is the foundation of the Tournament of Roses Parade, which has been happening for 137 years. And in all 137 years, horses have been at the center of this parade.

Next up, we're going to continue with the floats. And this is from Princess Cruises which was actually founded in 1965 here in Southern California. And look, they got some water. Their waterfall is working. And now we got the -- the -- we don't have the rain, so that's the only water we see. It's coming off of the cruise ship right there, which is pretty impressive.

We've got whales appearing at the front of this. And you see the -- you know, the soaring bird and the incredible bear.

[12:20:00]

We saw this up close yesterday. The bear is unbelievable, as is this soaring bird up top.

WIRE: Yeah, that bear is one of the things that makes this perhaps my favorite float of the parade. The eagles hanging in strong despite the rain, maybe whisking away

some of his feathers. See some of the white glue underneath. Hang in there. You're already bald, bald eagle. But that bear that you can see down there, pine bark or palm bark. They take it off the tree, and they spray the edges to make it look like realistic fur. And even when you're standing up next to it, like is this fur, but now it's a little (inaudible) Of course, because of the rain.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. And it's got -- and it's got a fish in it as well. 300,000 flowers used on this float alone. 18 million flowers used on all of the floats combined. I mean, it is remarkable that you know when you see it, you see it up close -- by the way, for people here in Southern California, if you want to see these floats up close for the next three days, they do what's called Float Fest.

You can come out for about, I think, 10 bucks or something, bring your family out and see them up close. And it really is impressive to see, including our next float.

WIRE: Yes, Food for Health. The Magic of Teamwork meets the Magic of Bean Work. They have a Jack in the Bean Stock themed float. It's presented by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and Food for Health, which addresses hunger and rising food insecurity among people and families across much of America. Look at these beautiful flowers.

MICHAELSON: And that's Dolores Huerta, who's right there, who's in her 90s, she invented the phrase Si se puede. She was, along with -- with Cesar Chavez, one of the leaders of the farm workers movement here in California. Barack Obama, yes, we can. That comes from si se puede, Dolores Huerta. She is unbelievably sharp in her 90s. We see her at so many political events, and cool to see her out here today.

WIRE: Yeah, beautiful float and the tribute to the folks who did so much work right after the Eaton fire in Altadena in response to the devastating Southern California wildfires last January. Over 75,000 free hot meals were served over several week -- weeks following the fires. Float riders were key in success of Food for health and its wildfire response.

MICHAELSON: Next up the longest serving band in parade history. We're talking about The Salvation Army Tournament of Roses band. It's the 106th year that they have marched in this parade, and let's listen to their performance.

(Video is shown of The Salvation Army Tournament of Roses band performing)

MICHAELSON: The Salvation Army, of course, evangelical Christian movement, international charitable organization, operates in more than 133 countries, and we think of them especially when we think of the holiday season and all the folks who are out there, of course, collecting donations this holiday season to help so many different people around the world.

WIRE: They ring that bell. I think I'm going to offer the suggestion that maybe they should bring some trumpets, trombones out there.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. If they have a tuba, you might get some more attention.

WIRE: That's right. Next up the Norco Cowgirls Rodeo Drill Team. They're the -- Cowgirls Rodeo Drill Team is under the direction of Mychon Bowen. They represent Norco, California. Horsetown, USA, celebrating the Western way of life. This is a community featuring over 447 miles of horse trails. Now they're typically a rodeo specialty act, high speed maneuvers and all that.

They're just taking their time chilling today, looking great doing it, but the support of veterans and other philanthropic endeavors. Multiple mother daughter prayers today. Drill Captain Mychon Bowen, her daughter, Morgan, riding the youngest rider, 11 years old (inaudible) riding with her mom and sister.

MICHAELSON: I love the pink that they have as well. Up next, some more incredible sights and sounds. Don't go anywhere. And a reminder as we go to break you can continue to watch the parade as it continues.

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[12:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Thank you so much for watching CNN's first ever coverage of the Rose Parade presented by Honda. I'm Elex Michaelson with Coy Wire. We are back, and so is the rain. Unfortunately, we had a brief respite where it was not raining on this parade, but now it is coming down pretty hard. That could impact the floats going forward.

WIRE: Yes, and the horses and everyone wearing these beautiful outfits today. We're going to welcome you back with La Canada Flintridge. Their theme "Going Nuts." Now this float is self-built.