less from president trump. i think he will enable and enact them to make tough decisions. >> trace: yeah, these people, karoline leavitt has been on the show a long time, grew up on our show. we talk about some of the elizabeth pipco's and people working into the administration, young people who will run next campaign. >> brian: and pete hegseth and marco rubio, great communicators that can talk about policy. >> ainsley: we close out our show, when we are on air with you, we'll have a new president. >> steve: you are watching live on fox.

mac su >> at noon the curtain closes on four years of decline and we begin a time of prosperity, dignity and pride. bringing it all back once and for all. >> bill: welcome to history, america. 9:00 in washington, d.c. today is the day. president-elect trump inside a church service. in just three hours from now said to be sworn in as the 47th president of the united states of america, which goes on the same notch as #45 from 2017. good morning, everybody. great coverage ahead for you. i'm bill hemmer live on capitol hill. our location i'll explain in moments. dana, good morning. >> dana: i miss being with you but glad we're together. i'm dana perino and this is "america's newsroom."

steve doocy said it's america's historical newsroom. a few minutes from now the president-elect and his wife melania will attend a white house tea reception hosted by president biden and first lady jill biden. from there off to the capitol for the main event, bill. >> bill: we'll watch every movement of this day. last night trump hosting a big victory rally capitol one arena late in the afternoon until 6:00 in the evening giving supporters a preview of what will come in his first 100 days beginning today. vowing to hit the ground running with a flurry of executive orders. team fox coverage will begin our hour. alexandria hoff? outside st. john's church. north lawn, a lot of news already today with rich edson. good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. certainly has been. you have two presidents and both will be very busy signing things today. all the action now is happening within a couple of blocks here of the white house.

president-elect stayed across the street at blair house. just left there a short while ago. went around the corner to where alexandria hoff is to st. john's church. come back to the white house before heading to you and the capitol. the president of the united states for now, joe biden, he was busy this morning signing a number of pardons. he issued preemptive pardons to congresswoman liz cheney, general mark millie and dr. anthony fauci. in doing so biden says he believes in the rule of law and optimistic the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. these are exceptional circumstances. can't in good conscious do nothing. the politically motivated investigations are an issue. he said they didn't do anything wrong but worried about the weaponization of government. so therefore he has issued those pardons. republicans were the ones saying it was a weaponization of government against then former president trump over the last four years.

but then there will be more signing later on this afternoon. that by president trump after he takes office. comes back here to the white house. there will be more than we're learning 200 executive actions with a number of executive orders. many of them dealing specifically with rebuilding the border wall. we're learning that trump will order the department of homeland security, department of defense to resum construction of the border wall and u.s. troops to be deployed to the border under u.s. northern command. will instruct the military to prioritize our own borders and territorial integrity. fox learned trump will reinstitute remain in mexico, end catch and release and open up energy and expecting to learn a lot more about those orders as the morning goes on here and the inaugural festivities. staff are expecting to hear a much more from them that then president trump will be signing and returns back to the white house. now we're waiting on what are

the traditional inaugural festist. blair house. president-elect stayed there last night and since jimmy carter back in 1977. they often review their inaugural address, sign the guest book, go to st. john's church. come here, meet the-out going first family and head to the capitol that we'll all be seeing soon. >> bill: you have a great spot. rich edson from the white house. back to you in moments throughout our coverage today. thank you, rich. dana. >> dana: and alexandria hoff is live at st. john's church in washington where president-elect trump and jd vance are attending a private prayer service. a beautiful tradition. what do you have, alexandria? >> good morning. this tradition goes back 92 years first started by franklin roosevelt. most presidents to be have started their inauguration behind me at st. john's. we watched as the

president-elect and vice president elect both arrived here 15 minutes ago and then at 8:48 we heard the bells ring out 60 times signaling this inauguration and the start of the service here. we expect it more brief than it has been in years past intentional coming from the pastor here, reverend fisher, he is going to be leading the services today and he said in a memo to members of st. john's, this is intentionally pared down this year. no sermon. it will be prayer led. letting the hymns and scripture and the president-elect really have room to breathe in this space. inside st. john's where the president-elect is now with close friends and family, this is the one rare quiet moment that he will have in this inaugural process. there is pomp and circumstance in washington so adores. this is the time for reflection and that is something that the president-elect is particularly able to do in the unique

circumstance of being able to do. reflect upon a presidency as he starts his next. the church welcomed every president since james madison. the president's church, regardless of what denomination a president would be. president-elect trump is described himself as growing up being presbyterian and that has said he is more aligned with the non-denominational christian faith. one thing he has a moment to think about as he has done for many days since the attempted assassination when it comes to his faith, that he was a believer in god but he became more of a believer after that day. so when you think about the things that he has to sit in this quiet moment and reflect upon, of course that is one of them. this is a moment also he is able to consider the task ahead for the next four years privately to himself in this quiet chamber

behind us. close friends and family inside. fewer people than in years past. they wanted this to be a simple service, a return to tradition, a tradition started by franklin roosevelt. so this is going to be interesting to see as well where he sits inside because according to tradition, presidents would sit in the 54th row. that is the president's row inside. but there was some rumors, talk and reports that the president-elect will be sitting in the first row for this service. so we'll wait to see how quickly this wraps up, if it is brief. there will be hymns. it will be different from years past in some ways but the goal here today is to bring this back to simplicity that it began with. the service inside of st. john's church being the first inaugural event. >> dana: thank you so much. bill. >> you will see executive orders that will make you extremely happy. lots of them.

lots of them. >> bill: that was from yesterday downtown washington, d.c. president-elect trump telling supporters there at the time that he will waste no time signing hundreds of executive orders today. our correspondent brooke described it last night as an omnibus. executive orders. john thune is with us now. thank you for your time, senator, good morning to you. on day one he is going to hit border security, he is going to hit n reducing the cost of living, ending dei programs across the federal government. like you to react to that and like you to react to the news of the hour, the latest pardons for the january 6th committee, anthony fauci, mark millie. what do you think as it went down? >> first off, bill, i think the pardons -- this president biden has made massive use of that pardon authority unlike everything we've ever seen before. so i don't suppose it was any big surprise. i guess the timing of it perhaps is. but on the broader issue of the

president's executive actions -- >> dana: let me mention for anybody on the screen. the first pictures we're seeing from inside the st. john's service as alex hoff just described. you e and i'm a little blinded here by the son. j.d. vance and his wife as they get ready after this ceremony this morning over at the st. john's church. tradition as we get ready to talk about all the news to come and let you continue on. >> no better way to start the day and a new administration than to accentuate how important the role of faith plays in their lives and all of our lives. to your point, bill, the executive actions that we're familiar with fit perfectly with the president's agenda. about the border, economy, inflation. that's what the american people voted for and why we had the huge mandate. the president won a decisive mandate this fall. we want to do everything we can

to be supportive and good partners as we move on an agenda that i think gets this country back on track and we're desperately off track after the last four years. >> dana: one of the ways you need to do that is confirming the president's nominees. callor number four is a list of cabinet days. senator rubio at 4:30. john ratcliffe at five. and kristi noem. >> it is great for us to have the majority. what will make it challenging and difficult is how much the democrats want to fight on all these nominations. if you look historically president obama got his first nam nations through in 15 days. it took trump 43 days the first time around. so we want to get back to the obama standard and we're hoping the democrats will cooperate particularly on these national security nominations. we'll grind them out and

hopefully marco rubio is a colleague that should go quickly we hope. then we start getting into some of the others and we'll grind them. >> bill: dana, this is my seventh inauguration. i don't recall a time we were given pictures inside st. john's episcopal church. bravo to technology for bringing it to us. we're told boris johnson is inside that church and so is jeff bezos and mark zuckerberg. if you look between the crowd, you can see our former colleague pete hegseth sitting in the red tie. you wrote a piece for foxnews.com called congress is ready to work with president trump to deliver on the mandate from americans. you just touched on that. will there will be any rub at least on the republican side this time around? >> bill, i think that republicans united we met yesterday at the blair house with president trump, senate republicans did. of course, he went through some

of the things we want to get done together. you talked about it in his executive actions the things he will do later today. renewing american energy dominance. strengthen the economy. rebuild the military and secure the board. a huge tax increase at the end of the year on the american people if we don't act to extend the current tax policy, the 2017 trump tax cuts. it is a full agenda. we have a lot to get done. it is consistent with what he campaigned on and consistent with what the american people said they wanted to see. it's a decisive mandate and one we intend to work to implement. >> dana: one thing that doesn't seem consistent is the policy of the united states government when it comes to tiktok and you had a bipartisan bill passed and signed into law. supreme court has heard the case against it. they said no, this is the law as passed by congress and has to go forward. president trump says he wants to try to save it.

but there is not unanimity on this issue and the concern about china having this tool in america. what do you think happenings? >> i think this now falls on president trump's watch and he has news on this issue and shape the discussion going forward. i but i believe and the reason congress took action and the reason the court upheld what the congress did is because we view this through the lens of national security. china is a threat to the information, the privacy of the american people. they manipulate the algorithms that control what americans see online and that's a dangerous place to be. they are a wholly owned sub sid dear of the chinese communist party. there isn't a lot of room here. if we can figure out a way to get it owned by americans. >> dana: he said what about 50/50 ownership american and chinese government. >> i'm without -- i won't

comment on specific proposal or solution just yet. we want the president to take a look at this and figure out perhaps a path forward. in the end it will have to include getting the majority control out of the hands of the chinese communist party. >> bill: senator, i asked about that rub in republicans. senator cotton was quick to jump on this yesterday afternoon and after the decision was made on tiktok. we'll see how that develops. meanwhile 35,000 feet, senator, what do you think of the accomplishment, 132 years, non-consecutive terms. all the court cases from washington, d.c. to palm beach to new york city, the assassination attempts. what has he accomplished politically in american history now? >> well, i think, bill, his first presidency was historic in terms of the things that he accomplished on behalf of the american people.

and the respect that he brought for the united states on the global stage. and then you saw this campaign. nobody has gone through more to get elected as president of the united states than president trump has. as you pointed out, this is a historic campaign, historic election, and again incredible mandate from the american people which he intends to deliver on and we intend to support him and be good partners in getting that agenda done. >> dana: we're looking at the pictures of the st. john's service. we anticipate it could be finishing in three or four minutes and we would see the family leave first and i should point out barron trump is there and melania trump in a hat for the ages. that is one beautiful outfit that she has on. i did want to ask one thing. it will sound technical. you can explain it in terms that people could understand. there is something that can be done in addition to president trump with the executive orders. there is the congressional review act, which means what for

what you can do to try to help donald trump as he tries to pull back some of the things that joe biden put forward as president? >> there is a mechanism created 30 years ago called the congressional review act that enables the congress to vote on what we call a resolution of disapproval. if it's a regulatory action taken by an administration. there are certain ones that qualify and a lookback period you have to fit within to be eligible for consideration on this. we're scrubbing everything. he will do a lot by executive action but we want to do our part and if we can use the congressional review act to get rid of some of these burdensome regulations. >> dana: there is jd vance leaving the service there and then you see this picture from the white house from the steps there. you have president biden and first lady jill -- dr. jill

biden and they will receive the president-elect and melania trump. what is interesting is this is about a 2-minute drive and so just so you know you get to orient everybody there and bill, i know you and i have covered a lot of these and been there for one of these for myself in january of 2009. it was a cold day. this is a very special moment in the handover of power. >> bill: yes indeed. speaking of the with. 26 degrees in washington. feels like 15. could get colder throughout the afternoon, winds from the north/northwest will pick up a little bit. it was maybe a good decision in good inside. in 2009 standing in the national mall when barack obama was sworn in. it was a chilly day in our nation's capital. we survived yet again. we'll survive again today. one thing that's not clear is who gets inside the rotunda and the special ticket? we could call them golden

tickets during what trump calls the beginning of another golden age in american history and political life. in addition to that the room behind me known as emancipation hall is the capitol visitor center opened in 2009. it is pretty big. not going to lie. i don't know if any president who probably wants to be sworn in at the visitors center, hence the reason why they go to the rotunda. in total i think 600 inside the rotunda, anywhere between 131600 seats behind me. i'm also told through the secret service here there will be standing room. so you add it up, maybe you are talking 2,000 to tops 4,000 people in total. i think that would be wall-to-wall for anyone's standards including washington, d.c. today. dana, you think about this picture here from the church and what we just saw with the

outgoing administration. january of 2017 when donald trump and melania came and they were met with barack obama and michelle there on the steps, same scene, beautiful red carpet and melania delivered a gift to then first lady michelle obama. four years ago, it was very different. donald trump and the first lady left on a helicopter before joe and jill biden showed up. i remember standing on the capitol on the west steps on the other side and there is a tradition for the-out going president. marine one takes the outgoing president and first lady, gives them a whip around tour of washington, d.c. so you go over the capitol and then you zip to the north end of the white house and shoot straight across the south lawn out to andrews air force base and your final goodbye. now remember years ago seeing barack obama's images looking out that window as he looked down on the white house after

serving there for eight years. that did not happen four years ago. it will, however, dana, happen this year and it will be very soon in short order. >> dana: i do remember how cold it was on obama's inauguration on that january 20th and -- there is also a warm spirit amongst the people who came out to attend that inauguration and be on the mall and we've been here for the past couple of days and there certainly is an optimism and joy. i would say a lot of patience for people dealing with the fact there are a lot of changes. there will be a tea in the white house. so what you just saw before was the president and first lady and vice president kamala harris and the second gentlemen doug emhoff. they are all there at the north portico and they will go in and have tea inside and then after that they make their way up to

the capitol. >> bill: so it looks like at the moment we're right on schedule. my tick tock has them leaving the church at 9:30 eastern time. nine minutes from now before he head to the white house. i think it's awesome that we have the images not just from inside the church but apparently a livestream that viewers can watch at home. hello 2025. >> dana: so now you have a couple more people coming out of the church service there. you have to have everybody in place before the motorcade can go. there is the first -- former first lady and first lady to be. melania and president-elect trump coming out of the church at st. john's. one reporter shouting questions and so far he is not going to

answer them. another shot of the president-elect and melania trump headed to the motorcade. >> mr. president, how is this different from you from eight years ago? >> bill: there will be a lot of moments over the next several hours where we'll pause, listen, take our audience into every moment that we can and at some point he will answer those questions, maybe by the time the day is over here. you and i and a few of our colleagues were talking last night and i made the comment that trump seems to be a different person this time. i say that because in 2016, 2017, he did three interviews a day. maybe some of them were on the phone but you could talk to him at 8:00 in the morning, by noon that interview was done.

talked to him at 2:00 in the afternoon. by 8:00 that interview was done. he seems to be a different person now and how he goes about that will be something that's very interesting to watch. kayleigh mcenany has seen that up close and personal. she served under the 45th president's term and joins our coverage now. good morning to you. what are your thoughts as we watch together? >> i look at this image and can't help but think about four years ago. i was standing right there alongside president trump. there were a few others there, mark milley was just off to the side. we were in front of st. john's church and it was boarded up and there were the riots occurring. it was a very tumultuous summer in 2021. president trump said i want to go to st. john's church. i want to march there the day after. it was burning and he stood in front of that church and it was a sign of strength and here we are four years later and you

think of all that he has overcome. two assassination attempts. winning a primary in an unlikely fashion. winning a general election. from a bordered up st. john's church with graffiti everywhere to a victorious moment for the american people. >> dana: you think about the security for this moment. any administration in the country is more vulnerable at a time of transition than any other point so you have a very robust security in this city and appropriately so. again here we are waiting for the motorcade to get all set up so that the president-elect and first lady can get their family all together there to the north portico what do you think, a 2-minute drive if that? >> if that. they clear the roads for the president. executive orders on the way, changes for the country, signing some immediately after being sworn in. and then apparently according to jason miller capitol one arena in front of supporters. 200 executive orders.

a different america in just a few hours. >> bill: i think for our viewers at home the best way to get around washington, d.c. is to walk because if you want to drive anywhere, good luck. it will take you a very long time even if you are successful. sort of takes us into another new era of security and you used to be able to come to washington, d.c. and go to the gate at the white house. it was more and more difficult with each passing year and each passing term. i think given the attempts on his life this past summer that it is not going to get any better. they won't take more walls down. they will put more walls up. when you think about the news that hit about two hours ago on the pardons, january 6th committee, mark milley, anthony fauci. some of our guests earlier were arguing some republican senators will not let these issues go. do you think, however, that a part of this government has made

the decision to move on, especially when you consider that trump has the possibility that he could pardon some of those involved in january 6th? >> you know, i think yes, president trump has indicated that today he is going to speak about unity. i think he also believes in fairness. i don't know that investigations, senator rand paul to your point has said strengthened his resolve to look at dr. anthony fauci and some decisions made. accountability is important especially when you drop the pardons against the background of prior statements. adam kinzinger one of the j-six committee members who received a pardon said on cnn i only know of one reason to seek a pardon because you are worried about being guilty. biden said in his pardon it is not implicating anyone in guilt, but when you have background statements from schiff, from liz cheney who pointed to scott perry seeking a pardon as if it was something nefarious. he denied that, of course.

you have the background of hypocritical statements. this president believes in accountability but also believes in moving the country forward and it is up to him to strike that balance. that's what the american people would like is moving forward on issues and policies. >> dana: two questions. one, do these stand up in a court of law? >> yeah, one of the examples they point to is nixon. a sweeping pardon for acts that had not even been committed. it was very sweeping in its breadth. when preemptive pardons were looked to trump didn't give them. it was looked into and preemptive pardons were permissible. >> dana: it is starting to roll. a minute and a half and they will see the president and first lady joe biden and dr. jill biden in their final hour at the white house. and then they will depart and go to the capitol and immediately the moving trucks start and

movers start switching out the white house. what's interesting is that they are returning to the white house and so it will be interesting to see what changes they make, if any. i was joking with hemmer saying they might say i knew that sock was hiding in that drawer right there. >> it is funny, melania picked out the furniture months ago. she knows how to do this this time. in his inaugural address last time around president trump in 2017 said the obamas were very gracious to us in this transition and helping us along the way. they really came in knowing nothing. coming into a white house, not ever having been there, of course, ever having slept there until 2017. >> dana: where president trump slept. you see the white tent outside of blair house. that's a beautiful town home used for a lot of diplomatic receptions but always the place where the president-elect stays the night before inauguration and that's where the first

family stayed last night. that's called jackson place. town homes that were saved by jacquelin kennedy in 1962 if that's correct. the motorcade will come around from st. john's church and come through there before pulling into the north portico. >> bill: you can see it on the campaign trail especially this past summer and last spring, i would say, you could hear the former president at the time, president trump talking about returning to that big, beautiful house. he was talking about the white house. we'll pause in a moment here when the trump's meet the bidens on those steps on the north portico of the white house. one thing we haven't really touched on because we frankly don't have a lot of details. what does he say in his speech? in 2017 the phrase american car nudge is what a lot of people picked up on. i looked at joe biden's speech from four years ago.

he used democracy 20 times. unity 11 times and started to cast the framing for the beginning of his term. now, you could argue whether or not the unity and uniting and all that stuff happened or not. but that was a big part of his message. trump's message remains to be told. back at the blair house. >> dana: they are going back to the blair house first. can we bring in karl rove sitting to my right? this tradition is a long held one and a beautiful transition of power for our country and what an example it sets for the world. >> wonderful. blair house, which is the blair family was part of the lincoln administration and it was gifted to the country and then st. john's, the church of presidents which has held the service for over 100 years. a great way for transition from

one administration to another, from one party to another, from one president to another. it is great to have some items that are traditional. >> bill: karl, i was just mentioning the speech. what do you think? you are a man of words. what does he say today? >> well, this is a moment where president dawns a new garment if you will and sets a tone that will exist at least for the opening months of the administration. it is a time where presidents understand generally that they can unite the country and that they need to unity. there are a great many people who supported the president-elect who will continue in that support, but there are others who did not who at this moment are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt if he strikes the right notes. this is important for a president. we're a narrowly divided country. donald trump won an overwhelming

mandate in the electoral college. 320 some odd to 216 and won the popular vote by 1.5%. he can unite people behind him who might have been on the other side but looking for reasons to support him and the unity is there. the issues on which he ran. doing something on inflation, the border, restoring america's strength. standing for traditional values are things where there is a majority of opinion in the country today behind him and he can in his remarks tomorrow by forebear answer and unity and optimism and strength. he can rally people behind him and that will be important to his success. he has a limited window. the next year will be vital to the success of his mission and the achievements that he wants to embody in law, statute and

fact. public opinion is all and he has the chance to rally public opinion behind him. >> dana: we continue to see some family members who are all guests of the president and first lady from the st. john's service. in the meantime this morning joe biden made some news, karl. he did some preemptive pardons today as we look at the vice president kamala harris and her husband, the second gentleman, doug emhoff. maybe we'll see -- okay. what about these preemptive pardons on his way out? >> well, first it is distressing that he felt he needed to do that. and i thought adam kinzinger, who is the recipient of one of those pardons, objected to it saying i didn't do anything wrong. i don't need to be pardoned. it is a -- it says something about the state of where we are as a country, the division and

polarization. >> dana: there is vice president elect jd vance and his lovely wife usha. they have three children. the moment they'll meet kamala harris and doug emhoff and go inside for tea. there she is in a beautiful pink coat. >> very british that they go for tea, not coffee.

you know, dana and karl learning the protocol takes a minute. that was pretty >> dana: gracious and lovely and we all do it for each other. >> bill: kind of a cute moment, actually. they'll go in and sit down and start the conversation and, you know, karl, i asked senator thune this. he led our coverage half an hour ago. how much consideration have you given to the political acome blurbment that trump has done here. we haven't seen his kind to win a none consecutive term since the 1990s. you are an historian, frame it. >> we've never seen like this. nothing like cleveland's return in 1892. 1888 election was very close. the 1892 election was similarly close. in the intervening four years,

cleveland had sort of retired to new york and had kept his political life alive but, you know, he suffered nothing like donald trump has suffered in the last four years and persevered. there is nothing -- 100 years from now people will write about the extraordinary political comeback, the most extraordinary in america's history of donald trump with the number of lawsuits and declared dead and january 6th and so forth and so on and he comes back to beat not the man that he started out running against in 2023, but the vice president after the president is withdrawn from the ticket and declines to run in july of 2024. it is -- this is an extraordinary political story. >> dana: we have the nebraska choir singing for us here. let's listen in for a moment. [choir singing] ♪

♪ ♪

>> bill: so beautiful. so, so great. they nailed it. that's the rotunda where the ceremony will take place. if you hit google images you can see ronald reagan standing there in 1985 and there from the shot above where 600 select few will be given a ticket for entrance inside the rotunda and an additional anywhere between 2,000 and 2500 will be in the

hall behind me here. address the following possibility. years ago abc sports had a line where jim mckay would say the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. i want to ask each of you, dana, your time at the white house, about the irony of defeat. it has been brought up several times this weekend that trump has a greater sense of success because he lost, he left, he thought about it and now he has come back. and i don't know what you think about that, but how great is that possibility where you come here, you make mistakes, you learn, you leave, and you get a second shot? >> dana: it's very interesting. undeniably true. if you've had a setback in your own life and figure a way to come back and do it over and over again in your life. sometimes small, sometimes really large. having a chance for a do over

you often don't get them. this is an undoing of what president biden put forward in the last four years which helped lead to the complete falling apart of the democratic party. the vibes since the election have been greater for president trump even than 2016. you have a close-night team. i think suzie wiles, the chief of staff, i'm impressed with her from afar the way she is running things. karl, you and i worked in a white house with a tight ship. she seems to run one, too. >> i don't know her. i have known of her and know people who worked closely with her in florida for many years. they are almost all of the same opinion which is terrific individual, people loved working

with her and for her. she created a good sense of teamwork and focus on the mission. as you know, and as we all know from our experience in that place, the chief of staff plays a vital role in setting the tone for the rest of the building. for the execution of the president's orders. but let's be clear, we don't have a lot of cases. we have plenty of cases where somebody sought the presidency and failed and then later won it. ronald reagan does not win the nomination in 1976. we only have one other case where a president ran, won, lost re-election and came back. that's grover cleveland. but he didn't have a successful second term. his term was interrupted by the worst economic disaster that we had between the 1830s and 1930s and he ends office reviled by his own party. i don't think that will happen in this instance but a reminder that you cannot project from victory to the end of the next

four years. it will all depend upon the leadership of the president, his focus, his discipline and as prime minister of great britain what said, events my dear boy, events. they will intrude and it will be the quality of the president's leadership and his administration in meeting the challenges that will determine his second term's role in history. >> dana: they will make a lot of news today with executive orders to tackle issues that thaw the fox news poll said the number one issues are immigration, economy and inflation. >> there was a pew poll that 56% of the country -- >> dana: ivanka trump and jared kushner walking into the capitol building to witness the second inaugural with his grandchildren. they got a strong hat game going on today. >> they do. what a moment this is. when bill was talking about defeat it came to my mind a lot

of people think about january 6th and there after. there was a year before that there were a lot of -- the year when i was in the administration and covid-19 hit. you want to talk about a darkness that you felt in the west wing as you looked up at the news screens and there was a death count of americans perishing. when donald trump, i got the call from the chief of staff mark meadows, he has covid-19. for hours we did not hear and watched him go off and get treated by the excellent military staff that we have in this country. but we were worried about him and he overcame covid-19, he overcame the challenges of that year and now he is walking to be president of the united states. two assassination attempts. so unlikely to karl rove's point. the summer of riots. the george floyd riots. so many challenges in 2020 and he rose out of the ashes and is

about to become 47. >> dana: we watched more family members go into the capitol rotunda where they will gather for the inauguration and swearing in. i think we saw don junior and his daughter kai. a special person, this young one is capturing a lot of hearts. that's a beautiful shot of the u.s. capital just behind us here. that's a beautiful blue sky. >> bill: if you are at home it looks great, right? if you are here, it is -- >> dana: you can see marine one in the foreground. >> it is chilly in washington. maybe they made the right call to move it indoors. a lot of ironies we can draw. the east steps of the capitol is where it usually takes place. ronald reagan wanted to look out on the mall and they move it to the other side of the capitol which you cannot see from this particular shot. just coming in this morning you can see some of the scaffolding is set up outside the white house and viewing areas are

still established there. late last night they were taking them down one-by-one. it takes a month to clear this stuff out of some of the streets of d.c. you think about reagan in 1981 when he moved it to the other side. think about reagan moving inside of january of 1985 into the rotunda that everyone will see and become very familiar with in the moments of our coverage as they continue here. gosh, dana, we were on the air yesterday when we saw three of the israeli hostages being returned to their family. you watched that video, it is -- it's a tear jerker. it breaks your heart and fills you with joy. it is something i was talking to some of my colleagues yesterday, they have watched it several times and it is hard to watch without crying because what you think about what those three women went through. in january of 1981 when america

was caught up in this -- in the american embassy in tehran wondering the fate of our own men and women and when reagan came to the podium and the americans were on their way out of tehran, just felt like a new days. i think for a lot of people who supported this president in his comeback for millions and millions of americans, today, too, feels like a new day. >> dana: this is certainly my earliest political memory was ronald reagan's inauguration and the release of those hostages. karl wanted to weigh in here. >> play off something kaley said. 2020 and the terrible year and imagine how the country would have reacted in joe biden had stood on the side of the capitol and said i want to thank my predecessor for operation warp speed, which has delivered a lifesaving vaccine, will save

the lives of untold millions of people and did it in an historic one year. i would hope the former president and i could join together and recommending that the nobel prize for medicine be awarded to the researchers and scientists who have delivered this and i want to thank him for his leadership in this. it would have set at the inaugural or shortly there after. the only reason that joe biden could have a million people a day or more vaccinated against covid was because of the courageous decision of donald trump to set up operation warp speed and the efforts of his two predecessors in investing billions of dollars in the basic scientific research needed to develop the methodology that allowed us to know within 24 hours after getting the genetic material of covid to identify what would be the possible vaccine and to deliver that within less than a year so there could be tested and affirmed and then widely distributed.

a great way for the country to be brought together. that's what biden missed in his opportunity. i hope donald trump -- >> dana: the other day joe biden said in his final speech said that he had the best economic record and best job growth and never mentioned covid. it was so annoying. i don't want to be annoyed now. i want to be in the moment. here we have -- i've got some sunshine on the back of me that i can't see. if you can see that on your monitor, thank you. >> bill: these are others arriving here at the capitol and we'll see a stream of >> dana: is that laura bush? >> bill: i could not confirm. >> it's laura bush. and 43. >> bill: a couple more things on these executive orders. it is being reported one of them will say change the name of gulf of mexico to gulf of america. there is a reporting at foxnews.com that one of the executive orders will be to deny

birthright citizenship in the u.s. if you were following it last night he vows to make the files on jfk, mlk assassinations public. aishah hosni is somewhere on capitol hill. i haven't seen you. not sure where you are. go ahead and identify yourself and your location. >> i think we're separated by one street, bill. hopefully we can see each other soon. you are sitting where a lot of the spouses of the members of congress will get to sit and watch the inauguration somehow in emancipation hall. they opened up that for the spouses and other fox that had tickets that can't fit into the rotunda where the capacity is 600 people. we have a nice look at it overnight from speaker johnson's office. he gave a little video tour and you can see how the black chairs are lined up around this platform they built where the president-elect will be sworn

in. we're watching and waiting to see who shows up. the trump family will be there as well as those tech ceos like tiktok ceo and mark zuckerberg and others. we also know that people who had tickets to the presidential platform will get to be inside that room and members of congress. and we're also learning that there is a small v.i.p. group that will be there. folks the president-elect has invited. former house speaker kevin mccarthy will be seated in the capitol rotunda and john boehner in there as well. waiting to get confirmation about that. someone kind of unlikely but we've seen the president reach out to in recent days is new york city mayor eric adams. he received a last-minute invitation this morning. his office did. i guess he got on a flight or train. he is headed down here now and will be in attendance inside the capitol rotunda.

on that note they're reaching out to a democratic mayor, i was reading the excerpts of the remarks that the president-elect will give once he is sworn in and bill, you and i were reading this and he talks a lot about common sense. those words. those are the words used a lot recently by house and senate republicans as they push these bills like the laken riley act trying to reach out across the aisle. >> bill: okay. thanks, aishah. see you real soon from capitol hill. dana, we're about to see a moment here together. >> dana: what a beautiful shot of the white house. 1600 pennsylvania avenue, 18 acres there and the president-elect's motorcade is now underway holding for a moment to make sure that joe biden and dr. jill biden are positioned at the north port company are there to receive them. we know jd vance and his wife

are already inside. >> you know, dana, the clock says 11:47 for the swearing in. so by my watch we're two hours away from that. and based on the current schedule, it looks like we're right on time. we need that, dana, because it is written in the constitution. stand by. we'll watch it together now from the north portico of the white house. >> dana: here we go.

dana. >> dana: go ahead. >> bill: tea time at the white house. just thinking about that here. maybe a couple hundred people here at emancipation hall and erupted in cheers as they saw the incoming president and first lady on the monitor behind us. joining our coverage jessica tarlov and charlie hurt. charlie, the first time we've had to chance to hear from you today. go ahead and kick us off. what are they talking about behind closed doors? >> i bet it's a whole lot more civilized behind closed doors than what we've seen on the campaign trail for certain. but it really is an extraordinary moment to stop and think about especially considering where we have been over the past four and eight years. and one of the things that watching yesterday's victory

rally, the only rally we've ever seen inside washington, d.c. but watching that and watching the enthusiasm that trump supporters have for president-elect trump, eight years in that is so amazing to me. i cannot think of a single politician that i've ever covered who, after eight years, blazing in the public eye at the center of politics could maintain that level of enthusiasm. it really is kind of extraordinary. >> dana: jessica tarlov, your thoughts here. >> good morning. exciting to be with everyone on this historic day. great to see the vice president greeting the vice president elect with their spouses and to see obviously president-elect trump and joe biden getting together. it is what we all hope for in this and i was listening to you earlier, dana, talking about the

vibes. the vibes are definitely very positive not only in the public surveys we're seeing about close to 60% enthusiasm about this new term but noticed last night usha vance looking beautiful and they did a custom dress for her and this new administration is being greeted in all corners, welcomed in and being made official kind of in all facets of the public eye. i think that's a really good thing for the future of the country. democrats will oppose on the policies that they need to oppose on and that they feel strongly about but i've been heartened to see how the transition has gone. i think it is very healthy for us. >> dana: i remember just a couple days before the handover between george w. bush and president-elect obama at the time i said i will miss everybody so much and i will miss it so much and i remember president bush saying well, you

don't have a choice. we have to leave at noon on january 20th. so your next chapter is going to be great. he was right. he was usually right -- always right i should say. in this case you have such an interesting situation, kayleigh, because joe biden said you will see him and he will be around a lot. you have dr. jill biden. kamala harris is a young woman and we don't know what she will do. apparently might split their time between new york and d.c. all sorts of things happening on that side of the aisle in addition to the anticipated policy changes we are about to see today. >> i'm staring at the white house right now. oh to be a fly on the wall there right now. i think about being in there and political opponent at the time was joe biden and the converse happened the next time around. when you think about these two men they had a pretty friendly meeting when joe biden welco