hello to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm john king in washington. thank you for sharing this very important day with us. one day, 24 hours from right now, until donald trump is a former president. the intervening hours are filled with tension and with uncertainty. a giant security challenge. a potential pardon spree. negotiations over sharing senate power and vital confirmation hearings for the biden team. sources describe the outgoing president as joyless and disint disinterested. he did tape a farewell address monday evening which we're told

does include an address to the incoming administration. the plan is to release it sometime today, along with a long list of pardons which includes a corruptor and a rapper with gun charges. president trump ignores the pandemic. you see those flags right there? the president-elect today visits that national mall memorial, a tribute to the nearly 400,000 americans killed by covid. the pandemic and the security threat will make for a most unusual and anxious inauguration. the "washington post" reporting a new fbi intelligence bulletin warns conspiracy theory followers have discussed posing as national guard members and then blending in among the 25,000 deployed across the capitol city to infiltrate the inauguration. the inaugural is tomorrow, but today, a preview of the massive change coming and coming soon. five confirmation hearings for joe biden's cabinet, promises for men, fact, the rule of law

and respect for allies are about to make a comeback. democrats will soon control the white house and the house of representatives, but a 50-50 senate does mean the biden agenda is on a tightrope from the get-go. the president-elect nodding to those new dynamics today, inviting top republican and democratic leadership to join him at st. matthews cathedral in washington tomorrow for a pre-inauguration worship service. a key ally of biden in the senate hopes the gesture starts washington down a better path. >> that church service tomorrow is an important part of respecting tradition and signaling the importance of faith in joe's life. it's how he's been able to get up when life has knocked him down. it's central to how millions and millions of americans have got t gotten through this pandemic so far, and it's representative of who joe biden is, it's hopeful, it's optimistic, and it needs a

lot of help getting it together. >> on this very important day, kaitlan collins and kyung lah. kaitlan, we're waiting to see what he says in that message he taped last night, waiting to see what the pardon list will look like and whether it's just long and interesting or whether it's long and shocking. your colleague pam brown, our colleague pam brown, saying as of now nothing outside of the norm, nothing terribly shocking on there, but what do we know? >> reporter: and that would be outside of the norm given, of course, what we've heard the last several weeks of what the president is considering doing when it comes to this final act, these pardons and commutations. we don't know if it will be today or later this evening. this is something donald trump does before leaving office tomorrow. he has taped a farewell address, but that's a taped message. it's not a prime time address

from the oval office that you've seen previous presidents give on their way out the door. what is shocking is how quiet he has been, john. he taped that message last tuesday. we are expecting him to pardon people, but he's been unusually very quiet in his final full week in the white house. >> it is fascinating to see as he goes out, quiet on the way out. very different what we're seeing, but i assume he's been humbled, slightly humbled, by what happened in recent weeks. if you look at what joe biden when he arrives in washington, going down to that very somber memorial on the national mall, paying attention to the pandemic, the current president simply ignores. on capitol hill, a reminder that at this time tomorrow, every point on the come pass is goingo change. tax policy, pandemic policy,

they're all going to change tomorrow. here's a sampling of the biden picks today. >> to be effective, the dni must never shy away to speaking truth to power, especially when doing so may be inconvenient or difficult. when it comes to intelligence, there are simply no place for politics ever. >> i will do everything i can to ensure that the tragic loss of life, the assault on law enforcement, the desecration of the building that stands as one of the three pillars of our democracy, the terror that you felt, your colleagues, staff and everyone present will not happen again. >> the smartest thing we can do is act big. in the long run, i believe the benefits will far outweigh the costs, especially if we care about helping people who have been struggling for a very long time. >> the scope of change is going

to be dramatic, and it will happen immediately. you write this morning in the "post" about one of the big issues that is a total 180 for biden than trump in the immigration policy. they will send to congress what sends an eight-year path to citizenship. immigrants can apply for residencey immediately. a new border security message, work permits for spouses and children, a 180 from where we are now. one of the knocks on obama, even though he supported these things, he never sent a supporting paper on it. why is that? >> on capitol hill, it shows the president-elect is ready to put skin on the game. his political capital so early

on in his presidency. you know very well, john, just how critical the first 100 days are for the president in accomplishing his agenda. for biden the stakes are so much higher as we navigate this unprecedented pandemic, try to climb out of the economic turmoil that we're facing right now. while the incoming biden administration is very much focused on the pandemic, they've made it clear they're going to walk and chew many pieces of gum at the same time, including immigration reform. there are advocates and lawmakers still frustrated that president obama did not prioritize this in 2009 when there was a filibuster-approved majority in the senate and the democrats controlled the white house and the house at that time, but now with a similar configuration in a biden presidency, president-elect biden is surely making this a top legislative priority after covid relief, and that's really important to people who, after decades, want to see this done. >> it will be fascinating to see if he can get through. again, a very narrow majority in

the house, the narrowest majorities in the house and senate. kaitlan, take us again in the final hours of the presidency. the american people, trump lost the election, then you had the capitol insurrection. he is blamed for that. 70% of americans in our poll disapprove of how this president has handled the transition, how president trump has handled the transition to joe biden. perhaps he can change those numbers a bit in his favor if he actually says something gracious in his taped address we're going to see. we shall wait and see. he has been anything but gracious in the 77 days since the election. who is he talking to? it is stunning to hear he wants a sendoff at anderson air force b base. his chief of staff jim kelly says no thanks. how is this sense of security at the end? >> reporter: i think they weren't too selective who is invited to this farewell party,

because he said jim kelly is one of the most flawed people he's ever met. this is not somebody you would think he would invite, but it does come as the president's inner circle has been shrinking. a lot of his senior staff has already left the building or are packing up their offices. a lot of people have tried to distance themselves from the president given the mood he's been in ever since, of course, that january 6th rally that of course then inspired that mob that went up to capitol hill. so you've seen that. but i think one of the notable things as the president is leaving office that has surprised even the closest people to him is one of t the overarching senses of office is that nothing sticks with him. nothing sticks with the republicans or lawmakers on capitol hill until this. this has really changed everything. you are seeing this completely di different dynamic as his time in

office coming down to a matter of hours, and it's even surprised his own staff. one of the things we're hearing from people around the president is they're not going to be on the white house grounds tomorrow or thursday or friday, it's the sense of relief that this is all kind of coming to an end. >> it is a beyond odd dynamic. if the president is surprised somehow that people would turn on him after he incited an attack on his own government, maybe he should spend some time in mar-a-lago thinking about that. it is a giant challenge for joe biden. you're taking on a pandemic, an economy bleeding jobs. the country is divided because of the insurrection. did joe biden win the election legitimately? rightly so. it was a fair and free election that was carried out. but only 19% of republicans think joe biden is a legitimate president. how much does that factor in to what we hear from the new president tomorrow in his first big speech, the ninaugural

address? does he try to sway them with words, or does he just hope that with the vaccine rollout and the pandemic that the numbers will improve? >> i think it's a lot of it, john. it's not only tackling the numerous challenges with the pandemic and economic relief, but when you look at the percentage of republicans who do not believe joe biden won the election legitimately, that the biden administration, the biden white house personnel really do have to work to rebuild that trust in government and that trust in what the leader says. that's certainly going to be a challenge going forward, but, you know, this is not anything new for joe biden. i mean, he began his presidential campaign trying to steer the country away from what trump had said to this nation and worked his way with

republicans. certainly on the first day and in the first coming days, you're going to hear that message of unity a lot. >> it is a remarkable moment. seung min kim and kaitlan collins, grateful for this reporting. cnn has learned that two national guard members have been removed from security duty, that part of the vetting to make sure that none of the troops have ties to extremist groups. it is not clear if the two were connected to any groups or what triggered their removal. also today the justice department filing the first conspiracy theory charge belated to the capitol insurrection back on january 6. let's go to evan perez for the details there. evan? >> now we're getting the picture emerging from some of these court documents that there are people who participated in the january insurrection who are starting to flip, who are starting to cooperate, and they're telling on other people. we saw a couple arrests

yesterday of people associated with a group called the oathkeepers. this is an anti-government group that generally has various conspiracies about the government, and they're known to especially try to recruit members of the military and law enforcement. today there was an arrest of a man by the name of thomas caldwell. he's from virginia. he's 65 years old. according to the court documents, he plays a key role in trying to help coordinate the arrival of some people coming into washington to be part of this insurrection. according to the court documents, he helped scope out hotels, he helped organize essentially the assault. you can see him in some videos that are out there on the internet already, the fbi refers to them in these court documents, saying that you can see that there is essentially the leaders who go into the capitol. some of them also talking about -- even after the fact, they were talking on facebook and parler about some of what

they did. let me see if i can find a part of this document that they referred to here. i'm trying to find a quote from the document. i can't see the quote. i think the studio is going to show up a part of what is being written about in facebook. the image you're getting from the court documents, john, is that these people who -- at least six to ten people who were participating in this conspiracy led by thomas caldwell, and we anticipate there are going to be other arrests in the coming days. again, driving home this idea that there was a command and control aspect, there was a planning aspect to what happened on january 6th. >> you read in those documents, hunt at night, hunt at night as they planned the attack. it's remarkable. evan perez, i'm grateful for the reporting as the investigations continue. he puts a list of touches on that final list the pardons.

and after the break, melania trump says farewell. >> the past four years have been unforgettable. as donald and i conclude our time in the white house, i think of all the people i have taken home in my heart and their incredible stories of love, patriotism and determination. thank you. god bless you and god bless the united states of america.

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- i think that's about it buddy, good job. - my pleasure captain. please call now. if operators are busy with all the other caring people, please wait patiently, or you can go to loveshriners.org to give right away. - [alec] big or small, your gift helps us all. - [both] thank you. (giggling) last-minute pardons or grants of clemency are a presidential tradition. this on the last day of the president's terms, we are told to expect 100 pardons and

commutations of white collar criminals. the white house has been working with pardon petitioners directly instead of using the justice department's pardon system. with me is a former justice department lawyer who worked in that pardon process. kristen, grateful for you on this important day. why does it matter that the white house is doing this directly and not having the system that has been set up at the justice department for some years involved? >> well, john, thanks for having me. i think it's really -- the pardon power is a really important safety valve we have in our justice system. it's the only way after a sentence has been handed down that, you know, a sentence can be overturned outside of the court system, so i think it's really important you saw president obama do this where he saw injustices in the system to

use that power to grant them. i think here, the political pardon system, really detracts from the real good that can be done for the pardon power, i think. >> it is interesting, but, again, welcome to these final 24 hours of the presidency. she wrote, there are no crazy pardons. at the end of bill clinton's term he had a controversial pardon with bill rich. there was no question president obama didn't need to pardon himself, he didn't need to pardon sasha or malia. there was no question over the presidential years. but the question, does the president have the power to pardon himself? >> we didn't have these theoretical conversations in the obama justice department, but just as a legal scholar, you know, i've discussed this issue with some friends, and, you know, it's always been a

theoretical issue, nothing that i thought would actually come to pass. >> the president has been cautioned to resist pardoning himself by mr. cipollone and the former attorney general, william p. barr. white house officials also believe that any consideration he is giving to granting himself a pardon could also turn more republicans against him in his coming senate impeachment trial. do you want to poke the bear, if you will? >> and i think this situation that has arisen in the past couple weeks, we were talking about whether president trump has the ability to self-pardon, but it hasn't been in the context of an impeachment, and i'm sure you know and your viewers know that the pardon power has this exception in cases of impeachment.

so i think there is an open question about what that actually means. we don't have guidance from the supreme court on what that means, and whether any self-pardon would be effective for those reasons. >> kristin hucek, grateful for your insights on this important day. we'll wait until the list comes out. we'll have to watch those final hours tomorrow morning as well. kristin, thank you for your insights. the united states senate has a busy time ahead. voting on the impeachment trial. .

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. right now the united states senate back in session. we are in the final hours of mitch mcconnell's stay as the majority leader, and just moments ago he talked about the capitol riot. >> the last time the senate convened, we had just reclaimed the capitol from violent criminals who tried to stop congress from doing our duty. the mob was fed lies. they were provoked by the president and r powerful people. and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government. >> let's go to capitol hill and cnn's manu raju. tough words from the soon-to-be

minority leader as he switches to the minority this week. it's a very tough time in the senate. >> reporter: yeah, and we expect some of those delegate negotiations to occur this a afternoon. that's when mitch mcconnell will sit down with democratic leader chuck schumer. schumer will become the majority leader tomorrow. that's when we expect the democratic leaders to be sworn in, two from georgia, one from california replacing kamala harris. that swearing in ceremony we're expecting in the afternoon tomorrow, and when harris becomes vice president, she would tilt the balance of power to the democrats. the democrats have a 50-50 majority of sorts, so they will control and set the agenda. the question, of course, is immediately the three things that are pressing, chuck schumer acknowledged to reporters this morning they are trying to move quickly on those three things. one, the impeachment trial of donald trump, three, a covid relief package, and three, all of the nominees that must be confirmed in the united states senate to give joe biden a functioning government.

that requires cooperation from republicans and democrats to schedule votes on those nominees. will that cooperation happen? we just don't know yet. also they need to sort out how that power-sharing agreement will work out between the two sides. they still need to sort out those final details today. can they come to an agreement? we don't know. also, how long will that impeachment trial last, when will it begin, and will those 17 senators break ranks to join the democrats to convict donald trump and prevent him from ever running for office again. the fact mcconnell just said the mob was invoked by the president, the strongest words he's said yet to condemn the president's actions. of course, he was charged with inciting an insurrection, but will mcconnell vote to convict still a question, john. >> still one of the many questions of the senate. think about it for a minute. mitch mcconnell begins the work week the senate majority leader. he will end it the minority

leader because of the two wins in georgia. our next guest knows more than a little about the challenges of trying to get big things through a closely divided senate, and he knows firsthand the job switch senator mcconnell faces this week. let's welcome senator harry reid in nevada. senator, it's good to see you. i hope you're doing well. you do know what it's like to go from a pmajority leader to a minority leader. listen to this, he's already trying to set the stakes saying, hey, wait a minute, don't try to do too much, joe biden. >> the elections did not hand any side a mandate for sweeping idealogical change. americans chose a closely divided senate, a closely divided house and a presidential candidate who said he's represent everyone. >> what's your advice to the president-elect?

this time tomorrow, president biden. do you go gingerly, do you try to compromise, or do you say here is my bill, we won. >> i'm interested in hearing mitch mcconnell talk about what's caused the riot in the capitol, the direct blame he attributed to the president. i think of all the time working with mcconnell that i have, he can be accused of a lot of things, but one of them, he's not dumb. i think he realizes trump is a drag on the republican party, and i think that was the opening salvo for mitch mcconnell to disengage from trump, to try to reestablish and rebrand the republican party. i think it's very clear to me that i think the glass is half full, not half empty. i think it's really a good deal that we pick up those two seats in georgia. sure, it's 50-50, but i've been

there, i've done that. remember, every one of the committee chairs is going to be a democrat. we have kamala harris who will break any tie, so i think that we should understand all the hearings will come from democratic chairs. there will be no hearings that will be initiated by the republicans. so i think that joe biden is in good shape knowing the senate as well as he does, knowing the executive branch of government. he served there eight years. i think he's well equipped to be a fine presence. >> you mentioned you believe mitch mcconnell sees the critical imperative of trying to push president trump to the sideline of the republican party. however, with the midterm elections two years away, you've been through this before, the next election starts immediately and with the 50-50 senate, mcconnell has two republican-held seats on the ballot two years from now.

can he cooperate with joe biden? you remember famously the remarks he made in the obama administration was he thought his priority was to make him a one-term president. can he cooperate with joe biden under these circumstances or is shoving trump to the sidelines part of trying to prove himself to the republican base? >> i've already said that mcconnell is not dumb, but he's made some big mistakes. when obama was elected, he came up with two conclusions. number one, he would not be re-elected. he failed at that miserably, but they would oppose everything obama tried to do. that they succeeded. in spite of that, we had a rule change here and there. we were fortunate in being able to elect some democrats that no one expected us to be able to do that, and we were able to get a lot done. in fact, some say obama's first term of president during his first congress was the most successful congress in the history of the country.

so i think that biden is well equipped to move forward and get a lot done. >> as you know, there are a lot of progressives who in this campaign said let's get rid of the filibuster. done. we can't have it anymore. joe biden, you served with him for decades in the senate. his first instinct is to say, let me try. i believe in tradition. let's try first to see if we can get things done. would you put a clock on that? would you tell joe biden, okay, that's what you want to do. i know you respect the institution. i give it, what, two months, three months, two weeks, three weeks? what should he do? >> john, you realize that i have written an op-ed for the "new york times" and other publications saying that time for the filibuster has passed. it's not a question of if it's going to go away, it's a question of when it's going to go away. you cannot have a democracy, a legislative body that takes 60% of the votes on everything. what mcconnell has done is turned the senate into nothing

more than a manufacturing site for judges. they don't do amendments, they don't do bills, and i think that the filibuster's going to go away. now, i know that joe has said that he's going to get the republicans to work with him, and that's typical of joe biden. he's a man that tries to get along with people. i think he should have a couple, three months, but there's going to come a time when a decision is going to have to be made. remember, to get rid of the filibuster takes a simple majority vote. >> senator, you served under that dome for a long time as a member of the united states senate. you also served a long time ago as a member of the capitol police force. i know you live in nevada now, you're back home. what was going through your mind? what was your thought process when you saw the united states capitol under siege from americans? this was not 9/11 where you were told to go into hiding, get out of there, there could be a plane

of foreign terrorists coming at the united states capitol. these were americans. what were you thinking? >> john, my first job in washington was a capitol policeman. i carried a pistol, i directed traffic, i helped crowd control. i was a police officer. and when i came to the senate, i was kind of the protector of the capitol police. they knew i had been a capitol policeman, but little did i know, when i became a leader, i had significant number of parts on my person and capitol police lived with me for a number of years 24 hours a day. so i have great -- i have very positive feelings about the capitol police. and i think that what took place there was really very, very negative. i appreciate what senator schumer did, what nancy pelosi did. they fired the two sergeant in

arms because they were negligent. they were not prepared for what took place, and they should have been. so i look forward to the capitol police being reinstated to their prior position of protecting everybody, and i'm glad to see that there has been some changes made, and i'm confident the capitol police will be better than ever. >> senator reid, grateful for your time and insights on this very important day, the day before the transition. thank you so much. >> you're sure welcome. up next for us, team biden outlines its ambitious agenda up on capitol hill. listerine® cleans virtually 100%. helping to prevent gum disease and bad breath. never settle for 25%. always go for 100.

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joe biden will be in his first hour as president this time tomorrow, and he will be working shorthanded. none of his cabinet picks are slated to be confirmed on day one. these five, though, right there are getting their confirmation hearings today. testimony like this from the nominee reminds us there are big shi shifts in policy coming tomorrow. >> as a prosecutor, the law of the facts in a case were my foundation and my guide, and they have remained my north star ever since. sometimes fixing problems means making improvements, and sometimes making improvements means making change and some people aren't happy with change. but change, improvement, fixing

problems is my commitment. >> helping us track today's big hearings are cnn business anchor richard quest and business cons consultant salama. joe biden has made his pick to the treasury department. what have we learned today? >> jonathan salama is going to be confirmed, of that we have little doubt. today we got a letter recommending the former secretary's nomination. she is well respected in all aspects of finance and government, have been been chair of the reserve. but today she shifted the emphasis, talking about the unemployed, talking about those who needed help, and, of course, putting aside joe biden's nearly $3 trillion aid package for economic relief that he's already published and now has to get it through congress. she said we wish for a longer, more painful recession now and

long-term scarring if we don't act soon. this is how she put it. >> we really have to worry about scarring due to this pandemic of workers and the loss of small businesses that can really harm the productivity of our economy and leave us with long-run problems that would make it difficult to get back on the growth path that we were on. >> the problem, john, is janet yellen is a politician in the widest sense of the word, not a policy politician in the narrow sense. we're used to her being apolitical at the fed both in san francisco and in washington. now, of course, she really does have to get her hands dirty, and that means grub by in the field of negotiations and politics.

>> one of the shifts that are coming. vivian salama was chosen to be the treasury secretary. what is the difference going to be there? >> so many things. havril haines a very highly skilled intelligence career official that has ensured the bi obama administration in several key roles. if nom nainated, she will be th first woman in this key role, so history there. if confirmed, she will be overseeing the intelligence agencies including the national security agency and the cia, so a massive job there, one of critical, critical importance. a lot of senators today quizzing her during the hearing about

general policy issues, the biden administration's views on china, on iran, on other key policy matters. but also averill haynes trying to ensure that more morale in the committee is going to be established and hitting on some real controversial issues during the trump administration such as targeting whistleblowers, transparency issues and just the need for attaching an apolitical nature to the committee. hear what she had to say about that. >> i think this is fundamental to the work of the intelligence committee, that we provide objective analysis, that we don't let politics play a role in our work is critical, and it's fundamental to good policy decisionmaking. >> so, john, still some ways to go before averill haynes completes her hearing today, but it's expected to be largely smooth sailing from both republicans and democrats today.

>> i'll make a bet. joe biden does not tweet questioning the intelligence or competence of his dni. i'll just make a bet on that one. richard quest and vivian salama, thank you for being here. what biden's covid team hasn't told them about what trump said about the pandemic. o. (upbeat music) get the food you love with perks from- - [crowd] grubhub.

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some new cnn reporting now about jitters on team biden, worried that the trump administration has not been transparent about the covid

crisis and worry there could be some surprises coming. sara murray is with us. sara, what are you learning? >> reporter: we learned this sentiment is the biden team just doesn't know what they don't know, and it's going to be hard for them to get their hands around everything, whether that means to figure out what's going on in all 50 states when it comes to vaccine distribution and why that's moving slowly, figuring out how much vaccine supply the u.s. has and what can actually be done to try to increase that supply, or keeping track of all these different variant strains of the virus that are popping up, and making sure the vaccines we have in development and already in circulation are actually going to work. of course, they're also grappling with the last gasps of the trump administration in trying to scale back some of these travel conditions. here's what the biden team had to say about that. >> you know, if you look at the fatalities of 400,000 that we're likely to hit today f yo, if yok

at the cases across this country, i don't think now is the time to urge people to get on these flights. i think now is the time to buckle down, double down our efforts. i don't suspect we'll be lifting travel restrictions, and if anything, we suspect they might tighten, especially in the context of variance we're hearing about. >> the biden team is making clear they're not going to be rolling back these travel restrictions, and, john, i think the reality that's setting in for the team of advisers is it's going to be their problem in just a matter of a few hours. coming up for us, this time tomorrow, we'll be discussing joe biden's first speech as president. what history tells us about delivering an inaugural address.

the state department today

formally accusing china of crimes of humanity. they said the chinese government announce genocide. the state department assessment say the crimes include torture, forced sterilization, forced labor and what is labeled draconian restrictions on freedom of belief. before we go today, it's a tone-setting week for president-elect biden. tomorrow he takes over a nation dealing with a raging pandemic and just two weeks removed from a violent insurrection led by a pro-trump mob. unity was not a word used to describe the very dark trump inaugural address four years ago. >> the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. this american carnage stops right here and stops right now.

>> but that was the exception. page through previous presidents and unity is a through line. >> the orderly transfer of authority as called for in the constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries, and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. >> we meet on democracy's front porch. a good place to talk as neighbors and as friends. for this is a day when our nation is made whole, when our differences for a moment are suspended. >> let us put aside personal advantage so that we can feel the pain and see the promise of america. >> sometimes our differences run so deep, it seems we share a continent but not a country. we do not accept this, and we will not allow it. >> on this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over

fear. unity of purpose over conflict and discord. thanks for joining us today. i'll see you tomorrow during our special coverage of the biden inaugural. don't go anywhere. brianna keilar picks up our coverage right now. i'm anderson cooper alongside brianna keilar. to our viewers in the united states and around the world, this is special live coverage of a historic 48 hours in american history. >> the end of one presidency, the start of a new one, but this transfer of power is unprecedented in a country divided like never before in modern times. washington, d.c. is under lockdown with streets and bridges closed. >> two weeks earlier, th