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CNN 10
Inauguration Day in America. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired January 21, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. Hope you had a nice long weekend and an awesome Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Today, we have a Special Inauguration Edition of CNN 10. I`m Coy Wire. It`s Tuesday, January 21st, and the U.S. has sworn in a new but very familiar
president.
On Monday, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, returning to the office after serving as the 45th President as well
before Joe Biden. He joins Grover Cleveland as the only two presidents to serve two non-consecutive terms.
Presidential inaugurations are written into the U.S. Constitution`s 20th Amendment that was ratified in 1933. It sets January 20th for the swearing
in of a new or reelected president and marks the end of a preceding president`s term.
The Constitution is where we find the president`s oath of office read and recited at the swearing in ceremony. President Trump`s second inauguration
ceremony looked much different than his first after bitterly cold weather in Washington D.C. compelled organizers to move it indoors. It`s the first
time an inauguration has been held inside the U.S. Capitol since Ronald Reagan`s second term in 1985.
Roughly 700 seats were placed in the rotunda where the swearing in ceremony took place. Another 1,800 seats were set up inside an overflow area in
Emancipation Hall, a large hall in the Capitol Visitor Center.
While the ceremony looked different in many ways, some traditions remained. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE: Preserve, protect, and defend --
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Preserve, protect, and defend --
ROBERTS: The Constitution of the United States.
TRUMP: -- the Constitution of the United States.
ROBERTS: So help me God.
TRUMP: So help me God.
ROBERTS: Congratulations.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: The crowds of onlookers were also moved indoors to D.C.`s Capitol One Arena, which served as not only a public viewing space but also hosted
the inaugural parade. You might remember the parade also had to be changed in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic when it was held virtually with
participants across the United States. Even before the inauguration, Trump`s team had been planning executive actions to be signed on day one.
While these orders for members of the executive branch are directed at specific topics and don`t usually affect as many people as congressional
laws, they do establish presidential policy and set the tone of an administration.
President Trump`s new executive actions span from immigration and border policy to energy production and diversity, equity, and inclusion
initiatives in the federal government. A new tone was not only set by the signed executive actions on inauguration day but was also laid out in
President Trump`s speech to the nation. Here are some key moments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The golden age of America begins right now.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation and we will
not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America
first.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent, and unfair
weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous, and free.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is
sweeping the country, sunlight is pouring over the entire world, and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before.
But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face. While they are plentiful, they will be annihilated by this great momentum that the world
is now witnessing in the United States of America. As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust.
For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and
seemingly in complete disrepair. We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into
a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad. It fails to protect our magnificent, law-abiding American citizens, but provide sanctuary and
protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the
world.
We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders, or, more
importantly, its own people. Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people
of North Carolina, been treated so badly.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And other states who are still suffering from a hurricane that took place many months ago. Or more recently Los Angeles, where we are watching
fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense. They`re raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of
the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now. They don`t have a home any longer. That`s
interesting, but we can`t let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. That`s going to change. We have a public health system
that does not deliver in times of disaster, yet more money is spent on it than any country anywhere in the world. And we have an education system
that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves, in many cases to hate our country despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to
them. All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Pop quiz, hot shot. The 20th Amendment specifies what time as the end of an outgoing president`s term?
8:30 a.m., 11:59 a.m., 12:00 p.m., or no time specified.
The 20th Amendment says at noon, the term for an outgoing president and vice president ends.
The peaceful transfer of power that begins President Trump`s term also marks the end of President Joe Biden`s four years in office. In his last
moments as president on Monday, Biden used his executive powers to grant preemptive pardons to public officials and family members as a way to
protect several outspoken critics of the incoming president.
Trump and Biden spent several moments together before the inauguration ceremonies, including a tea and coffee reception for the incoming and
outgoing presidents and their spouses at the White House. The two men rode together in the presidential limo to the Capitol for the inauguration,
something that did not happen four years ago when Trump skipped Biden`s swearing in.
After the day`s ceremonies ended, President Biden was flown by helicopter to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for a farewell event. The inauguration
marks the end of a lengthy five-decade political career for Joe Biden that he punctuated with a farewell speech, where he said serving as president
was the honor of his lifetime. Biden thanked supporters and urged them to stay engaged in politics despite his party`s defeat in the last election.
The Bidens then boarded Air Force One for one last presidential ride to California.
All right, superstars, that marks the beginning of a new four-year term for President Trump and the end of our special inaugural edition of CNN 10.
We`ll be back tomorrow in our regular format, which of course means get your words ready for Your Word Wednesday.
You know the drill. Follow me @coywire on social media. Put your unique vocabulary word in the comment section of my most recent post with your
school, your teacher`s name, so we can get you a shout out. We are going to pick one winner to work into tomorrow`s show.
See you tomorrow, superstar.
END