of course, makes history, as the first woman to become vice president. this morning, it is hard to find the right words to capture exactly everything we've been through in the past four years and the range of emotions that americans are feeling this morning. but for 81 million americans, their long national nightmare is over. joe biden's morning will begin with a church service and he'll be joined by the top lawmakers, both democrats and republicans. can you imagine that image? it's just the start of trying to heal the awful divisions of the past four years. again, as joe biden becomes president six hours from now. last night, we watched a dramatic and emotional scene at the lincoln memorial honoring the 400,000 americans lost to coronavirus and joe biden offered this message. >> to heal, we must remember. it's hard sometimes to remember.

but that's how we heal. it's important to do that as a nation. >> so new information just released as to what joe biden will do among his first actions as president. now, we should note, he is waking up in blair house this morning, right across the street from donald trump. this is as close as the men will get today. maybe as close as they'll get ever again, for all we know. we do not know how trump feels this morning, because he can't tweet. live pictures of the white house this morning. still dark in the east wing, where he sleeps. we don't know if he's awake, because we don't have the normal science of tweeting. overnight, he did issue roughly 150 pardons and commutations, including one for his former chief strategist, steve bannon, who was criminally charged with defrauding trump supporters over the border wall. this one was hanging in the balance, our reporting is, because of the rocky relationship he has had with bannon. the question is, what is it that

steve bannon can do for trump now that pushed him to give this last-minute pardon? as of now, trump has not attempted to pardon himself or his family members. still, though, six hours left. let's begin, though, with the future. with what we are going to see today. cnn's jessica dean live in washington, with a preview of this historic day. jessica? >> good morning to you, john. we are getting brand-new details this morning about exactly what president-elect joe biden's day is going to look like and what exactly those executive actions are going to be. let's start first with what his day will look like. you mentioned the church service that he will attend with all members of congressional leadership. all bipartisan members of congressional leadership, a show of unity there. another show of unity following the actual inauguration itself will be a wreath-laying ceremony at arlington national cemetery with former presidents bush, obama, and clinton. again, trying to show this

coming together. and then he'll be signing those executive orders in the oval office, we're learning, later today. telegraphing to americans that he is in the white house and getting down to business. making good on some of the promises that he made on the campaign trail. so let's talk about what those executive actions will be. again, learning brand-new details this morning about those. a lot of them centered around covid relief, about pausing student loan payments, extending that pause on them. extending the moratorium on eviction. putting that federal mask mandate into place. we had talked about some of these. there are also others that get into the -- into climate change. of course, rejoining the paris climate accords. they're going to put forth an immigration bill. 17 kpexecutive actions in total that will be taken today. biden's team stressing that there will be more to come over the next ten days. but john and alisyn, again, the

biden team ready to hit the ground running. if you talk to anyone on the team, they're ready to go, they're ready to get to work, and there's no question that president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect kamala harris are ready to take their oaths of office at noon today. john, alisyn? >> the country is waiting. jessica, thank you very much. nation's capitol so on high alert at this hour. much of washington is locked down and has been since the deadly insurrection of trump supporters at the u.s. capitol exactly two weeks ago today. as of this morning, 12 national guard members have been removed from inauguration duty over possible ties to extremist groups. cnn's brian todd is live in washington, d.c. for us with more. what's the situation, brian? >> reporter: right, alisyn, you talked about those national guard troops being removed from duty here in the nation's capitol. officials telling us that two of those national guard members were removed for inappropriate comments and texts and for potential ties to extremist groups. as for the other ten, they were

removed for other types of behavior that at least raised attention. now, what kind of behavior that was is unclear, but they are being checked out, vetted even further before any other action is taken against them. but at least for now, you've got 12 national guard members being removed from duty. the national guard commander, general daniel hawkinson saying, he's not overly concerned about that. out of 2,500 national guard members, getting 12 out of the mix is not raising a huge level of concern and there's no specific intelligence of any kind of an insider threat from the national guard. but when we talk about the security posture here, and i'll talk about the feature behind me a second here, another thing that's come up in discussion, of course, since january 6th, is if militant groups wants to come back here, if anyone wants to stage any kind of an attack, it will be hard to penetrate a perimeter like this. but what about soft targets in washington, d.c.? the d.c. police chief, robert conte, was asked about this

yesterday. here's what he had to say. >> we've planned for that. we want to make sure our communities are not forgotten in our security posture. so for every police district throughout all eight wards in the city, we have a contingency plan for that. we're fully staffed. members are working 12-hour shifts, and we have sufficient resources to cover what we need to cover. >> reporter: so the d.c. planning to pivot to wherever they need to pivot to this morning and this afternoon if any trouble flares up. as for these security layers here, they are, again, just escalating by the hour. and it's going to be interesting to see today what new security features pop up. because they keep popping up again, every day, every hour. this is a checkpoint on 14th street, as you get into the national mall. they've got k-9 teams behind me, checking for explosives and weapons. we are hold that only vehicles with credentials are allowed through this checkpoint. but aside from the k-9 teams, they've got other layers of security there. the tents and other things, alisyn. there's another checkpoint not

far from here where it's pedestrian traffic being checked. again, we'll be roving around the national mall, checking for any potential flare-ups and looking for all the security features that will pop up today. >> we'll check back with you, brian. thank you very much for all of that reporting. joining us now, we have cnn analyst david gregory and susan glasser. david, i want to start with you, four years ago today, you and i were together for donald trump's inauguration. we were sitting on those risers, high atop pennsylvania avenue, watching all of the ceremony of that inauguration. this year, it's obviously much different. every level, visually, symbolically, stylistically, security wise, on every level and so back then, of course, we didn't know what to expect. we could never have predicted what to expect. what are your thoughts this morning on what you see ahead? >> well, just incredible sadness, for one, that we are in a washington, d.c. with 25,000 national guard troops.

if that's what our inauguration day is like, that we do not -- well, i should say, we have fear about a peaceful transfer of power. i just think for our country, that is such a low moment. such a sad moment. and it's compounded by the grief and the loss that we're still feeling all around the country, marked by the commemoration last night of 400,000 lost by the pandemic. and then there's a sense of restoration that what we're restoring is a sense of the normal. a sense of our -- not just our pageantry, but our institutional normality. that we -- that we were forced not to take for granted over these past four years, because of what donald trump represented. so, you know, i think it's a hopeful moment. i hope it's a peaceful day. and i hope the time ahead is peaceful. whatever the political battles are ahead, and i think those will be plenty. i think this is a hopeful moment for a country that's been

through a lot in the past four years. >> i think that's exactly right. and i just want to add to what you said there, for every element of sadness you brought up, there is a corresponding reason for hope. yes, it's tragic, there are 25,000 national guard troops in d.c. because there was an insurrection, but it failed. and it could not stop the transition of power which will take place in six hours. yes, there will be no people in the national mall. and if we can put up that picture again so people can see, normally hundreds of thousands of people would be lining the mall, but today that won't be the case. today, instead, you have that beautiful imagery with the flags on the mall there. again, sad that there won't be human beings there, but susan, really representative of the american spirit that what we can do as we heal, which makes joe biden's words last night to me so poignant. when he said, to heal, we must remember. he was talking specifically about the pandemic. but i also think it's a message

that transcends what he needs to do now, to heal the country, we must remember what we've been through together these last four years. >> well, i think there's also the element of, you know, the importance of rituals in any state, in any -- in democracy, in a way. our democracy was our civic and our civil religion. and one of the things that's so striking is because of this uncertain post-election period, which is something that americans have never experienced, right? we just had a situation with the president challenging the very results and legitimacy. so we haven't had the kind of transition period, even the there weren't all of these other interlocking ing crises, we ha almost not come to terms fully in a way that we might have otherwise with what has happened over the last four years of trump's presidency, and particularly this last, extremely chaotic and crisis-ridden last year. as a country, we've just been

lurching from uncertainty to uncertainty in the couple of months since the election. so i think this rituals of democracy today become even more important as a way of coming to terms with like it's finally here, it's finally happening, our institutions held, as you said, john, i think that is a very important message. and i imagine it's one we're going to hear today from new president biden. >> susan, for four years, you've been writing about the trump administration and about, you know, whatever shocking declarations or norm-busting has been happening. and it does feel like today, somehow, reality won. and we didn't know that reality was going to win. i mean, it was in a mortal combat death struggle for a long time, as we saw two weeks ago with the insurrection. but today, reality won. and those 81 million voters who voted for joe biden did what no lawmakers, what no robert mueller could do, they made a

decision and they got rid of president trump. >> well, you know, it is not an accident, right, that one of the phrases that's so famous that will stick with us is this notion of an alternate facts. that was the infamous label given by kellyanne conway to some of the early lies of the administration. i do think that the lying was endemic to trump, not just as a character trait, but as a foundation not only of what he brought into this most sacred high office, but also what he was peddling to his followers. and so you can say that reality won, but you can also say that we enter this inauguration day still a very deeply divided country and the numbers are unsettling on this front, alisyn. when you look, there were some recent polls that suggested as many as 77% of americans did not believe that biden was legitimately -- sorry, 77% of republicans did not believe that biden was legitimately elected.

i think that the question is, can there be a coming together of these two truths, a truth and an untruth, in order for the country to reunite, if you don't have a divider in office. that's sort of the premise of the biden presidency. that he can unite by not being a divider. >> if we can put up the picture again of the capitol, so we can see this amazing aerial again, david. because, frankly, it's growing on me as the morning progresses. >> i can tell. >> no, it really is symbolic. that void where the people would be has been filled literally and figuratively with patriotism and with spirit. >> okay, you're making me cry. >> and david, that is what joe biden needs to do today when he addresses the american people. there's something churchillian about it, in many ways, david, which is to level with the american people about just what that void is. that just how damaged we are as

he takes office, but then to give the american people the hope and tell them how he will lead them through it. >> yeah, that's the challenge. and he can do it. he's someone who has great empathy. he's someone who's experienced personal pain. he's someone who can give voice to the idea that we're all in this together. again, to emphasize, are there many political battles still ahead? yes. and the divisions remain. but this idea of isolation that we've experienced through covid, that our families do, that we're disconnected, exacerbated by the fact that we're so disconnected socially and politically, making all of these divisions so much worse. and so when president biden talked about putting a candle in the window, when he talked about how we have to all remember, we have to remember what binds us together. you think about lincoln's second inaugural, binding the wounds of

the country. and that's the job of a president. and that's the job of the presidency. and that is what has -- you know, susan brought up, you know, the lies, the alternative fact idea. and the idea that it didn't matter. that's what trump represented. that truth didn't matter, because you could somehow succeed politically without truth. you could just run ramshod over our democracy. that's not the case. it's significant as we look at the capitol, that somehow the siege on the capitol broke trump's back. and it's tragic that people lost their lives in that, but that awakened many who were defending trump to say, this is all wrong. and now he has to slink out of washington. so the rejection of all of this is a hopeful moment. it is not to say that the forces that brought up trumpism aren't

still there and shouldn't be acknowledged, but that's the hopeful sign today that's represented by everything you're seeing. >> david, susan, stand by for just a moment. we're going to turn now to the white house. because less than two hours from now, donald trump will leave the white house for the final time. he is not attending the inauguration. no handoff whatsoever. the trumps didn't invite the bidens over. but what the birth date did do last night, you're looking at live pictures right now, lights on the wwest side, but not the east side where the family resides, what the president did do was grant clemencies to hundreds, including steve bannon. >> this clemency list is very notable for who got it and who didn't. we're talking about 73 commutations and 70 pardons. and very interesting, obviously,

steve bannon is the number one person on the list. this was a top adviser in the white house during the first year after trump got into office. bannon got locked up on fraud and conspiracy charges and now thanks to the president, he's off the hook. there are other people on this list. there is the rapper lil' wayne. there are several members of congress who got into trouble. and of course, a bunch of people who got into trouble with drugs now also off the hook. let's talk now about what's going to happen today. very notable for what will happen. what the president is going to do, what he's not going to do. what he's not going to do with meet with joe biden. what he's not going to do is go to the inauguration. but he is on his way to florida, going to stop over at joint base andrews in the maryland suburbs for his big sendoff. they sent out invitations to people who used to be in the administration and people who are already in. not clear at all how many people

are going to come. we've been told a lot of people are not showing up. the most notable no-show will be the vice president, mike pence. he said he can't do that, because he is going to the inauguration. his staff said it's an issue of logistics, but we do know it's not a long drive from joint base andrews to the capitol if he decided he wanted to do that. there is also that question of the hard feelings, if you will, between the president and pence, especially given the fact that pence didn't get a call from the president during the big riot up on capitol hill on january 6th. >> joe johns at the white house, please keep us posted, as you see movement behind you. for millions of americans waking up this morning, it's time to exhale. joe biden waking up in blair house, donald trump waking up in the white house, as close as two men will get today. cnn's special live coverage of the historic inauguration of joe biden continues right after this.

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i am proud. proud, proud, proud to be a son of delaware. and i am even more proud to be standing here doing this from the major beau biden facility. ladies and gentlemen, i only have one regret.

he's not here. because we should be introducing him as president. >> that was joe biden leaving delaware for the last time as a citizen. he is now waking up in blair house. you can't see it. it's in the dark there across the street from the white house. and there is the u.s. capitol, waiting in anticipation of the inauguration. the festivities begin. we'll start seeing people arrive after 10:00 a.m. there. obviously, a lot will take place even before that, including a church service this morning. the bidens will go to church along with congressional leaders, both democrats and republicans. back with us, david gregory and susan glasser. susan, i don't think that that symbolism and that imagery unimportant, at all. i think that is a very important picture that the american people need to see this morning and it is a crucial gesture from joe biden, even before he begins his presidency.

>> look, i think if swewe've se the last four year, that division and divisive rhetoric creates more division, the question is whether the opposite is true as well. and biden is trying to communicate in the words he will use today in his inaugural address and in the actions of inviting republican leaders to be with him, i think it is significant that vice president pence is going to be attending the inauguration and not attending donald trump's farewell ceremony. i think in a way, it simply underscores the pique and fit of childishness that has led the president not to attend the inauguration of his successor. he will become the first president in i believe it's 159 years not to do so. but the fact that all the other republican leaders will be there simply serves to underscore his isolation at this moment. i think it's an extremely important part, is sending the message that it's possible to

come together to disagree about policy in a civil manner at a moment of national crisis. >> it turns out as a feat of scheduling that i don't think was planned, biden will be at church with the bipartisan congressional leaders as donald trump is doing his big public good-bye. i think that that is also symbolic in his own way. >> i do, too. that split screen. we've seen so many shocking split screens over the years. and here will be another one. this is joint andrews air base that we're looking at live pictures, that we're looking at right now. and this is the plane that will ferry president trump off to his next chapter in mar-a-lago, in florida and we think that he'll be skipping the inauguration, of course, as you know. and that will be happening at 8:00 a.m. i was struck, david. president trump didn't mention joe biden by name in his

farewell videotaped speech. what do we think joe biden will do today at noon in his speech? >> well, i think biden will be consistent, where he's approached the idea that he's got to try to unify the country and sound those notes and acknowledge that not just those who didn't vote for him, but those who do feel outside the political process. as you say, there were all kinds of forces that made trump happen. there were some really dark forces that have to be isolated and combatted. but the kind of anti-establishment feeling. the anti-institutional frustration. you know, it was remarkable to me that throughout his presidency, trump positioned himself as an outsider, attacking the system, attacking washington. even as president, it was remarkable as a political figure to do that.

and of course the nadir of that is that he's the one who incited and led this insurrection against the capitol. this attack on our election system, an attack on another branch of government, which is the crystallization of that. so i think biden has to speak to that desperation in a way that he's strong in combatting it and defending our institutions, but also kind of reaching out to that level of despair. there's another piece of this. you mentioned the service this morning. biden is a washington figure. it's a return of a functional washington, we hope. the idea -- someone who knows the ins and outs of washington, who can work within the system, who will work with people of the other party. i think that's more than just symbol. he really does represent that and we'll hope for some positive results that flow from that. >> it's why another image that we'll see during the afternoon is just as important.

and that is then president joe biden will be going to arlington to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns with obama, clinton, and bush. it's an image saying to the american people and i think to the world that there is continuity in the united states of america. that we are still the united states of america. what will the rest of the world see in that? >> i'm glad you brought that up. this has been a global event in ways that because our crisis here isn't so intense that we haven't all foways focused on. and what i've heard from allied governments is, is america really coming back or not? what is happening to the united states? i was recently at an event, a zoom event, of course, with colleagues in europe and they were practically in tears over the storming of the capitol. it's been a global trauma as well as a national one.

and i think that the message that the united states is not just going to veer around from one failed solution to another is extreme leimly important one. he'll rejoin the paris climate accord and the world health organization, but how do you go to the rest of the world and say, i want my good work back? why make a deal with the united states like the iran nuclear deal if someone's just going to come along and rip it up in four years? so the credibility of the united states as a global actor is extremely important challenge, i think, for the new biden foreign policy team. >> susan glasser and david gregory, we thank you both for being with us. we know you will be standing by with us for cnn's historic coverage of this inauguration. we are just five and a half hours now away from when joe biden becomes the 46th president of the united states. i have to tell you, the planning

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in five and a half hours, president-elect joe biden will become the 46th president of the united states. unprecedented security and a raging pandemic have forced the organizers of today's inauguration ceremony to reimagine how the entire thing will be done. joining us now is tony allen, the ceo of the biden/harris presidential inaugural committee, the guy in charge. tony, great to see you this morning. >> good to see you, alisyn. >> okay, how many guests are you expecting today? >> well, you know the event is closed to the public, but with respect to the swearing in, i think of it as a joint session of congress, a bit of a state of union kind of number. we have been consulting with dr. kessler and dr. fauci all throughout, so we've taken all the proper precautions and protocols to make sure it's safe and secure. >> let's talk about that. how much did the pandemic affect the way you planned this? >> you know, the great news was

vice president-elect harris and biden have been extreme ly good at listening to the medical professionals. so we went in with that spirit in mind and once you accepted that's the necessary reality, it allows you to think more creatively. i think that this inaugural will be an opportunity for us to celebrate more every day americans than ever before and we're very excited about that. >> and tony, how did your plans change after the insurrection on the u.s. capitol? >> well, i can tell you, personally, we were more resolute to make sure that we could show the strength and resilience of the country. we know that this is now a national security special event, led by the u.s. secret service, and we do have every confidence in our law enforcement officials at the federal, state, and local

level. but i've said many times, the opportunity to really proclaim to the world, the strength and resilience of the country is important, but i want to be able to show my four kids that democracy still matters and is worth fighting for so being able to see the president and the vice president-elect sworn in on the west side of the capitol is extremely important. >> oh, democracy wins today. that is one of the resounding messages. but was it just in the past two weeks since the insurrection that you decided to plant flags in the on the mall, standing in for people? >> actually, that's been the plan since the holidays. we really were thinking through how to honor the moment given the circumstances and separate in a celebrate in a thoughtful way, and we thought there would be no better way to do that than

planting many flags, state flags and of course the american flag and i can tell you when the president-elect takes the podium, the first thing he will see will be the great american flag in all its color and splendor for the world to see. >> we're looking at it now. it's dark, but still a very stirring image. when someone came up with that, was that you ree ka moment? did everyone just agree immediately, yeah, that's a great idea? >> there were a lot of excitement around it. and the president around the team, they've been terrific. and as i said, as you're able to open up more ideas because of the state that we're in, i think you're going to see an unprecedented display of our

great american democracy in all its splendor. >> i want to show a list of performers, jennifer lopez, bruce springsteen, justin timberlake, john legend, and the new radicals. this is an all-star cast. how were these chosen? are these joe biden's favorite performers? >> you know, it's really about our ability to show the diversity and inclusive nature of america. so we really wanted to show a set of performers and everyday americans who can represent all americans. you can see yourself, both in the performers and in the everyday americans that will be highlighted throughout the day. so that's really how we chose them. and i think it's going to be terrific. i can't say enough about the wide variety of celebrities who have said "yes," but i'm even more excited about the everyday americans that we'll be lifting up throughout the day. >> i wish i could see myself in j.lo. i'm not sure that everybody there is identifiable, but fair

enough. i take your point. tony allen, thank you very much for letting us know what to expect. great to talk to you. >> stay safe, stay connected. it's a new day in america. >> it absolutely is. >> it absolutely is. and it's a new day here on "new day." we really appreciate you joining us for all of the pomp and ceremony. we have much more to bring you, including the governor of new jersey, who is standing by to talk to john moments from now. we'll be right back. find your rhythm. your happy place. find your breaking point. then break it. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. pain hits fast. so get relief fast. only tylenol rapid release gels have laser-drilled holes. they release medicine fast for fast pain relief. tylenol rapid release gels.

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welcome back to cnn's special live coverage of the inauguration of joe biden. now just five hours and change from now, you're looking at live pictures of the u.s. capitol, where there will be a restricted audience today because of the pandemic, because of the insurrection there. not the crowds that we normally see, but one person who will be in attendance is the governor of new jersey. phil murphy, who joins us now. thank you so much for being with us this morning. why was it important to you to go to washington, to be in attendance for this transfer of power? >> it is good to be with you. this is a big day. this is a day that demonstrates the democratic institutions of

our country have held, there is a peaceful transfer of power and i'm incredibly honored to be here representing my 9 million brothers and sisters from the great state of new jersey? >> alisyn camerota just raised her fist in solidarity with you beside me. governor, yesterday, you spent some time with snome of the national guard troops from the state of new jersey who were there to keep you safe, to keep the president-elect safe, to keep the city safe throughout the ceremonies today. and we do understand that one of the messages in joe biden's address today will be unity. it is something he has preached over the course of this campaign. he will continue to do so today. when we talk about unity, that idea -- who is that on? who needs to work at unity? >> i think we all do. first of all, i'm incredibly proud of our men and women of the national guard and our new jersey state police who are all at the nation's capitol.

i think we all have to work on unity. i'm a former new york ambassador and you get used to the phrase, hard power and soft power. hard power is your muscle, the soft power is largely your words and your behavior and i think joe biden will bring exactly that to our nation. hard power on a national strategy against this pandemic and our economic recovery. and soft power, you saw that last night in that incredibly moving ceremony at the lincoln memorial. tha words matter, that the tone matters. that empathy right now and sympathy matter. and i think jr. going to see that exuding from this president and vice president. >> i'm reading some breaking news from ben tinker, that joe biden's first executive order will be a nationwide mask mandate. obviously, that will serve the purpose of having people wear

masks in all federal buildings, where he can do it, but also in fighting this pandemic head-on. and last night he was talking about the pandemic. he was there, remembering the 400,000 americans now who have died to coronavirus and he said to heal, we must remember. and i'm wondering what those words mean to you? >> those are the words that struck me deeply, particularly given joe biden's personal biography, having lost his wife, a daughter, and now a son. this is not abstract for him. he's lived it. one of the things, we've done 150 press conferences on coronavirus since it hit and in each one of them, we remember three or four lost lives of our new jersey family. you try to balance on the one hand, making all of your decisions based on science and fact and data, but on the other hand, these are precious lives lived and lost and we must remember each and every one of

them in all of their glory and that struck me deeply last night when i heard it from the president-elect. >> governor, you're a young man, but a generation from now, when you explain to your grandkids what happened from 2017 to 2021, the presidency of donald j. trump, how will you explain it? >> i appreciate the tip of the cap to my youth, by the way. listen, we got off the trail here. where our things like nato and other multiand bilateral institutions didn't matter as much as they did before he got into this office. we can never see that again. this is a country that is built on the principles of democracy, of peaceful transfer of power. it's built on the back of

extraordinary institutions, which have served us so well in peace time and war, with republicans and democrats in power. i believe we will view it, please, god, as an aberration, and that we will get back on the trail. and again, that's not a comment on one political party or the other. it's a comment on what it is to be an american. >> but you know that no one will snap his fingers. joe biden can't stand on the west side of the capitol and snap his fingers and make the last four years go away. and symbolic of that, representative of that is the fact that joe biden is waking up in blair house, donald trump waking up in the white house and this is as close as the two men will get together. the trumps aren't having the bidens over. donald trump is leaving washington instead of attending the inauguration. so what will it take to heal this divide? >> well, as i say, the boss matters.

so having joe biden as president does instantly change the dyn dynamic. but your point is a good one. we can't be expecting dramatic change overnight. these institutions have been damaged and norms have been damaged. the truth has been damaged. it takes time to recover from that. and by the way, there are tens of millions of people who voted for drmp who are not bigots, who are not racists, who didn't attack the capitol. who are screaming out for someone to care about them. kiln table stuff, jobs, education, the opioid crisis in our country. whatever it might be and we couldn't have a better -- if you went to central casting and asked for a president who's lived a life that exudes finding middle ground and common ground, we couldn't have a better president than joe biden and god knows we need him. >> governor phil murphy from new

jersey, thank you for being with us. we're glad you're there to witness this moment in history, the inauguration of joe biden now less than six hours away. thank you, sir. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you. in a brilliant bit of sink r synchronicity, it is a new day here and a new day in america. president trump will depart the white house approximately one hour from now to head home to florida. and that means that for the first time in 152 years, the outgoing president will not attend his successor's swearing in. joining us now is cnn presidential historian, tim and a halfal naftali, and maggie haberman, a white house reporter for "the new york times." she is at joint base andrews waiting for president trump's departure. maggie, you win. i start with you. you're outside in the elements. tell us about the -- >> i'm wearing a hood, i hope a win. >> oh, you do. >> tell us about this new day

that is dawning and what's going to happen behind you? >> reporter: right behind us is a stage where president trump is expected to give remarks, somewhere between 15 to 20 minutes long some time after 8:00 a.m. when he leaves the white house for the final time. there is a set-up behind me in front of the stage where they have arranged barricades where crowds of spoupporters can come. you can hear behind me, there is a marching band drummer who is practicing. and then the president will leave and he will be alone without other republican figures, mitch mcconnell, kevin mccarthy, they will not be on hand and mike pence, the vice president, they're going to the inauguration of joe biden. so you're going to have once again in this tumultuous presidency, a split screen between donald trump and either the rest of his party or the rest of the country. >> you know, it's actually a

coincidence of timing that while trump is speaking there behind you, or not long from that, joe biden is going to be in church with a bipartisan group of members of congress, including mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy. so donald trump will be alone, speaking to his group, while joe biden will be reaching across the aisle to speak to others. we've been talking a lot, not since andrew johnson has one president left the capitol instead of being there for a successor and i want you to explain to people why it's important. it's an important thing. it's not just some random tradition. it is part of america for a rea reason. >> there's a very, very deep reason. today is about the peaceful open transfer of power, from one person selected by the american people to another. and it's about something bigger than the individuals involved.

it's about the office of the president of the united states, who is our head of state, commander in chief, and head of government and it's been a tradition for the incumbent president to be there, to symbolize the passage of power and of course, the new president is there. when one of the players, the old president doesn't show up, it's an act of disrespect to the constitutional process that we are all going to watch, the majesty of that process, we'll watch today. it's about much more than the personalities involved. it's about respect for the system, for the constitution and for the tradition that these two gentlemen are carrying on. donald trump's lack, his unwillingness to appear is a petulance we haven't seen since andrew johnson. but the fact that washington is

an armed camp today is something that was not evident when andrew johnson didn't appear in a transition to ulysses s. grant. this is something completely new and completely on donald trump himself. >> maggie, we in this country have all become, i guess, used to expecting surprises from donald trump, expecting reveals. any idea what might happen in the next five hours? >> well, alisyn, i think his life address will be something that candidly, he considers to be truer to who he is than the taped version he revealed yesterday afternoon, which is something a number of advisers had pushed him to do, because it actually focused on the work of the administration that folks who work there are proud of, all of which has been obscured by the last ten weeks of the president's behavior. we will hear a speech. he is then going to go down to palm beach, take his final air force one ride with a handful of aides. some of which are going with him permanently to florida, some of whom are not.

and then he'll be greeted by what i'm told is expected to be a fairly large crowd, which is always what he focuses on, once he gets to palm beach. kind of a homecoming. i think we'll be watching to see exactly how he leaves, how he gets on that plane the final time. how much anger he, you know, expresses. does he even mention joe biden's name? that's what we're looking at today. >> and maggie, just very quickly, you mentioned the possibility that he would pick up the phone and call donald trump. and call joe biden. anymore reporting on that? >> i've heard that it is less likely than it was yesterday, but let's see what happens. >> and tim, as a presidential historian, i'm always struck by these hours, right? joe biden is waking up in blair house and he's got a few hours to kill until he has to address the universe at this critical moment when he takes over the presidency what does history tell us about what these president-elects go through in the hours before they take

office? >> well, they used to stay at a hotel, the willard hotel on pennsylvania avenue, and this would be the time when they would check over the notes of their inaugural address. in some -- the original tradition was actually for the incoming president to give the inaugural address before they were sworn in. so they would be looking at their inaugural address, making little changes. they generally make little changes to their inaugural address before they deliver it. then they are greeted -- there was a time where they would be greeted by the outgoing president, actually at the willard hotel, and they would go together to the capitol. in the modern era, they would go to the white house. they would be greeted by the outgoing president. unfortunately, that's not going to happen today. but these last few hours are

remarkable. because the president, of course, is full of adrenaline, is thinking through what he's about to say and knows that everything they do today will be remembered forever. there will be books written about it. people who share in today will always remember it. we'll, in a sense, set our national clock by this moment s. so a president understands the portent of what happens today. and then there's that speech to give? >> and historically, the point has been made, other presidents have had to deal with great depressions, big recessions, had to deal with pandemics, had to deal with civil unrest or a civil war. somehow, joe biden is getting all of that in some combination. so historically, just mark this moment for us. >> this is the first time since the 1930s that a an incoming

president is being hit by two crisis simultaneously. one, a domestic crisis, a domestic political crisis, symbolized by the insurrection on january 6th. and the other, of course, is the pandemic. which is global in scale, but we are focused largely on how it is affecting as americans, with 400,000 dead already and sickened by it. so joe biden, therefore, is meeting a challenge that no president has had to meet since franklin roosevelt. it's a very huge task, but a task that this man understands, having spent more time in congress than any of his previous presidents. >> tim naftali, maggie haberman. our thanks to both of you. you can see moments ago, the sun rising over a new washington and an historic day. cnn's special coverage of the inauguration of joe biden continues right now.

>> announcer: it's a new day in washington with new leadership for a country in need of hope and healing. >> let us be the nation that we know we can be. a nation united. >> announcer: the u.s. capitol, set for a constitutional transfer of power. >> so help me god. >> announcer: just two weeks after an unthinkable assault. today, democracy endures as a historic partnership begins. >> the road ahead will not be easy, but america is ready. >> announcer: the challenges are great, divisions run deep, but this day is about the path toward a more perfect union and

a celebration reimagined for unprecedented times. >> this is the united states of america. there's not a single thing that's beyond our capacity to do, together! >> we're live at the u.s. capitol, where joe biden and kamala harris will be sworn in in less than five hours from now. as the 46th president of the united states and the first woman and woman of color to be vice president. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. we're standing by to see president-elect biden for the first time on this momentous day. he's at the presidential guest quarters at blair house where he spent the night. he'll attend a private church service this morning before heading to the capitol, where the new president and vice president will