captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> funding for this program has been provided by: >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. i >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. btr

>> woodruff: welcome to our special live pbs "newshour" coverage on this inauguration day. good morning. i am judy woodruff. we are less than an hour away from donald j. trump being sworn in as the 45th president of the united states. it is a cloudy day here in washington. there is rain expected. temperatures in the mid-40s. we are going to be covering the entire ceremony, and if you're moving around away from your television, don't worrytelevisi. we are partnering with twitter today to be their official live stream. we are at inauguration.twitter.com. so stay with us whatever device you're using. and there's much more on our web site. that's at pbs.org/newshour. so the crowd has been gathering outside the u.s. capitol building. all morning. there have been estimates that up to 900,000 people would attend. we are watching for that. the largest gathering of an

inaugural was 1.8 million people for president obama's first in 2009. there are roughly, we're told, 3,000 police officers fromfr across the country and at least 5,000 national guard troops all to help keep the peace. in addition to the obamas, former president george w. bush and his wife laura are here along with president bill clinton and hillary clinton. for her this has to be a poignant day. and president jimmy carter withh his wife rosalyn. president george h.w. bush andh his wife barbara are not here for health reasons. both were hospitalized in texas in recent days. mrs. bush is said to be doing much better. their son jeb who ran against mr. trump in the primary also we are told not attending.g. at least 60, maybe 65 democratic members of the u.s. house have said they were planning to boycott today's event. many following the lead of civil rights leader john lewis of georgia.

so moments ago donald trump, his wife melania made their way from the wife down pennsylvania avenue with president and mrs. obama. among the number of firsts today, they passed by the trump hotel. there was early speculation mr. trump would stay there last night, but he followed a precedent begun by presidents carter by sleeping at the government-run blair house. that is just across the street from the white house where earlier today he and mrs. trump met with the obamas. we saw mr. obama make his final walk as president from the oval office to the white housese residence. mr. trump, for his part, began the day with a worship service at st. john's episcopal church, joined by his family and by the family of his vice president nominee, a tradition that began with franklin roosevelt back in 1933. we turn now to the west front of the capitol building where every

president since ronald reaganal has been sworn into office. the platform is made entirely out of wood in order to protect the marble facade designed by the architect frederick law olmsted. construction began back in september of last year. the platform we're told holds roughly 1,600 people. the bleachers can hold another maybe 1,000 people. our john yang is there at the capitol. john, what is the scene there right now? >> as you can see, judy, the platform beginning to fill up, and most of the members of thef senate and the house that are going to attend have now joined in. they're introducing other dignitaries. the weather has cleared up. it's about 42 degrees, a little chilly, but looking west they can see clearing skies. we have not felt rain for about an hour or so, so maybe we're getting a little bit of a break, a little bit of a gap. judy, this really is the most traditional day for this most un

conventional president-elect. unconventional campaign, unconventional candidate. he will be sworn in using the same bible abraham lincoln used during his first inauguration. he'll also used his family bible embossed with his name given to him by his mother to commemorate his graduation from primary sunday school two days short of his ninth birthday. >> woodruff: john, give us a sense of who is there at the capitol. there's so much made about partnership in washington. we know there are a lot of republicans and democrats. who are you seeing? >> it is... a lot of attention is being given to the house democrats who say they are not coming, but no senate democrat has said they were not coming. a lot of democrats here, a lot of very partisan democrats, sharp elbowed partisan democrats.

ellen engel of new york is attending, a house member. as you said, former presidentes jimmy carter's wife rosalyn and former president bill clintone and his wife hillary clinton, who lost this election to donal trump. >> woodruff: john, you covered other inaugurations. how different does this one feel to you so far? >> well, so far it feels like any other. as i say, it really is the most traditional day for donald trump.l you can look down the mall. as i look down the mall toward the washington monument, i see a sea of people, not quite as packed as it was for president obama in 2009. but it feels like any other. >> woodruff: john yang is going to be there at the capitol for us all morning throughout the inaugural ceremony. john, thank you. stay warm.st as we said, temperatures are in the 40s, it's been raining off and on, and so we're watching to see whether the weather has any

impact. now lisa desjardins is also out there in the crowd on the national mall. lisa, i see you and i see a big white face behind you. what's going on? o >> a sea of white. this is where the national malcolms up to the media platform. i'm about 12 blocks away from where young yang is. i waved to him, but i don't think he saw me. this white area is where they were thinking the crowd wouldro go.go the white material is a coor gated material they put over the national mall because they want to protect the grass that's been seeded in the last year. if you can see just further down, about two blocks from me is where the crowd ends right now. as you know, in 2013, the crowd came up to this point, but i can tell you, if you look over my left shoulder and i look a little bit over at the security station, there's a listening line of people still trying to get in and go through security. security has been very tight, but seemingly very effective. judy, i personally have probably one of the closest scans of my

bag i've ever had here. it didn't take too long, but it was a very close inspection. ipe think it feels like all the traditions where john is, butoh here it does feel a littletl different. i was at inaugurations in 2009 and 2013. there is not that same feeling of you fora or ecstatic excitement. it's a different kindc of happiness and contentment from the trump supporters here.re one thing i hear again and again, they say they're relieved that a non-politician isic entering the white house. some of them also say they're relieved that hillary clinton did not win. but for most of these trump supporters, they say they have a kind of deeper hope than they've had in years. there's a contentment and a low-burning hope more than that crackling excitement we saw witw obama. but it's still a very strong sense of happiness for trump supporters here at the mall. i talked to some who drove overnight, one who drove nine hours to be here.

a lot of folks who really felt compelled to be here, trump supporters out today.ut >> woodruff: it's interesting you should use the word "crackling excitement" that we saw in 2009. we have some video of some of the inaugural back in 2009 just to give you a sense of the crowd when barack obama was inaugurate ed eight years ago. we're all reminded donald trumpe did get almost 63 million votes, so however many people show up in washington today, there were a lot of people supporting him. hillary clinton did get more votes by almost three million, but as everybody knows, lisa, he won the electoral vote, and that's what counts. that's all that matters. >> it's interesting. another big part of the crowd here today are student groups, middle school and high school groups who planned the trip to the inauguration before the election happened. i spoke to parents of these groups who admitted to me, hey, we may not have voted for president trump, but we're still here with our kids, because we do want to show them what

peaceful transful of powerer means. we want them to get a sense of their country on this day, whether we personally support this president or not. we see those sort of look-alike scarves or a giant group with the same sort of coat or hat, all throughout the crowd here, those are students who have planned this trip for a year or more. they were coming regardless of who was elected. luckily for them they have one of the obamaest inaugural days i can remember in recent history. >> woodruff: the first inauguration i covered it was in the 20s. lee centennial park we'll come back to you throughout the day. we're looking at pictures of the capitol, looking at pictures oft the crowd. i want to take this moment now as we watch the trump family and others gather there at the west front of the capitol. i want to take this moment to introduce the analysts who willl be with us throughout today. they're here with me in our public television studio. joining me, syndicated columnist regular mark shields, "new york

times" columnist david brooks, from our politics monday team amy walter of the "cook political report," barry bennett, he was campaign manager for ben carson in the primary. he then served as an adviser to the trump campaign. from george washington university, historian lora brown, karine jean-pierre. and across town, matt schlapp, the chair of the americann conservative union, he'll be joining us, and from new york, special correspondent jeff greenefield, who has coveredne many elections and many inaugurations. jeff, we'll be giving you a chance to share some of those memories and your thoughts today, as well. let's start with you, though, mark shields. we've looked at the crowds. we've heard a little bit about what donald trump may do, may say today. what do you expect?u >> well, first of all, good for those middle and junior school

parents and classes for being there. it is a national day. it's a peaceful transfer of power. i think that's utterly important to stop and remember that. we talk about civility and the president and mrs. obama have demonstrated, unlike john quincc adams who boycotted the inaugural of his successor andrew jackson in a fit of pique. but i'm struck that the traditions are holding, that donald trump, he is a unique figure, sui generis, unpredictable, but so far he seems to be doing exactly what every president has done in keeping the tradition alive. as far as his speech is concerned, will he finally depart from and abandon his campaign persona, accept the

fact he's president of all the people and avoid attacking or criticizing any individual or institution? that's what i'm kind of curious about. >> woodruff: what are youyo looking for, david brooks? >> i think first thing that strikes me about the day is just how much... when you see carter, when you see the clintons, it's a little piece of our lives. you see the whole parade of the things we've experienced over the last few decades all there on one stage. i do think it is a patriotic act. i think it is a unifying institution. i think the members of the housg who are not there have made a big mistake. i do think especially at these moments and especially with donald trump, i think it's important to fortify our commitments to the constitutional and social forums and the like. i was also struck walking around d.c. yesterday by just how different the crowd is than it was in '08 and '12 or '13. it's much whiter, much more southern. the people there, there are a lot of people downtown, a lot

more bikers, just a different slice of america, and there is some virtue, frankly, in having different slices of america experience their person in the white house at different times. the rotation of power is still the central theme of the day. >> woodruff: amy walter, what are you looking for? >> all those points are very important, and i appreciatee them, too. i love inauguration day.da in fact, my favorite day, though, is when congress is worn in, because that feels like these are the regular people in life who are coming to washington as opposed to all th pomp and circumstance over the president. but we're coming in at a time of incredible polarization, and ii don't think we can ignore that. i don't think it will be solved in one inaugural speech. i do think from everything that we've read that he is going to reach out, talk about unity, but the question is how that's going to work in a country that is as divided as we've seen. we have a president coming in who is deeply unpopular with a big swath of americans, very popular among republicans, very unpopular, of course, amonge, democrats and even independent,

not doing as well as some other presidents. you have a good chunk of folks in america right now who believe that he's never going to live up to their expectations, and so the challenge for donald trumpr going forward is he's going to be who he wants to be, and there are people who are going to stick with him, but is he going to be able to expand this coalition that brought him to the white house? he talks about a movement.em that brought him here, which was very important. can that movement last when it is no longer a campaign, and can he bring more people into that movement? >> woodruff: matt schlapp, who is across town, head of the american conservative union, what do you say to those who are still asking whether donalddo trump can bring the country together? >> well, you know, judy, like a lot of people who live in the washington area, i assiduously try to avoid these types of events because the city just becomes paralyzed. and i found myself walking around capitol hill the otherol day, and i just was taken back by talking to people from across

the country, just they're excited. obama did reach out to people who maybe weren't as engaged in politics with his brand of politics. and you just can't deny thatha donald trump has done the same. there's something wonderful about that in a democracy. but i also think amy is right. we're divided. i think to sugar coat that is a mistake. we've been divided since that florida recount in 2000. let's face it, there is a real partisan divide. for those conservatives who arer still worried about donald trump and the types of things he is going to do, it really doesn't this me any good to predict. let's see how he does, starting at 12:01 or thereabouts, he's our president. the white house staff will get swornf in, and it's go time. we're going to see what they do. the one thing i do know is conservatives are not hopeful because they think everything that donald trump does they will agree with. to a certain extent, they just want to the pain to stop.

they have felt the pain of the last eight years of bigb government. i think theyve just would like o see the brakes put on. i think donald trump will get grace with a lot of these voters. >> woodruff: lora brown, as somebody who has looked at changes in power over time, how do you compare the division ofof today with divisions in theiv past? >> well, i i mean, it's interesting. i think when you look at the parties, you look at the turnover and the restlessness that's in the american public, the time this most resembles is the guilded age, the time frame from after the civil war up until about 1900. you saw this kind of closely divided country that swapped power in the house, swapped power in the presidency, ousted several incumbents from the presidency after only theiry first term. so all of that is a lot of what we're now seeing. i think what's interesting to me, though, about this moment is

that political scientists and historians who have read those speeches argue that there are many more similarities acrosscr party and across time than there are differences. and all of that really speaks to the president, who see themselves as a part of an american political tradition and its culture. this is where donald trump wille be unique. he's theni first president we've had who has no military or political experience. >> woodruff: all right.ht before we hear from our other two analysts in the studio, i want to go to our jeff brown,o jeffrey brown who is out in washington and who has beenas looking at some of the protesters here. jeff? >> hi, judy. we're a little bit outside of the checkpoint area here a few blocks from the mall, downtown washington. we've been following protestersn for the last couple hours. it started a few blocks from here in mcpherson square. in the last couple minutes we've had the first reports of some

real violence. there were about 300 protesterst we saw them take off from mcpherson square. one of our teams saw them about ten minutes ago, clashes with police as they were... vandalism. they were smashing windows and stores. and then police came in with pepper spray. you can hear sirens all around us at this point. there's helicopters flyinger above. so there is a very large security presence prepared forpr something like this. there's violence that our team saw, the first we've seen. otherwise we've been watching hundreds of people marching in disparate groups. there are many different organizations represented here, mostly quiet, mostly peaceful, a lot of chanting. judy? >> woodruff: jeff, we've seen this city prepared for protestso before. how do you compare this to what we've seen in the past? >> well, i mean, i think we see a very, very large security presence. they're clearly readyre for a lot. we've seen a lot of local police, a lot of state and a big

military presence. there are dump trucks, there are bus, there are all kinds of things blocking off any accesss to the larger area behind me here where there are, of course, the big crowds for the inauguration. in the general downtown area, there are cars right around me now, but, you know, it's an interesting to see kind of downtown that is mostly a ghostary other than for security and hundreds and hundreds of protesters in different groups. sometimes it's very quiet for a brief period.ie then there will be flash mobs, if you will, or groups that come out. >> woodruff: right. >> and a big presence. >> woodruff: jeffrey brown. we watch melania, the first lady-to-be. we are joined by barry bennett, an adviser to the trump campaign. barry, as you listen to this conversation about protest, about how divided the country is, what are you thinking?

>> the violence is obviously disappointing.di i hope that's rare and squelched pretty fast. it's a free country. everyone is entitled to protest and chant all you like, but there is no need to destroyy other people's property in the process. i think division is the new normal. donald trump is not going to fit the old molds we're comfortable, with but different isn't necessarily bad. i think we have to let him show us what he can do. >> woodruff: karinee jean-pierre, if people are looking for a pivot, we heardar barry say they may not get it. what do you think the reaction on the left will be? >> ladies and gentlemen, mrs. melania trump.el >> i think there are two things that donald trump could havetr done that he didn't do that most president-elects do, which is appoint a democrat to theo cabinet to show that you're bringing unification, and also sit down with your opponents

that you beat, hillary clinton. and i think that was too big misses unfortunately. i just want to add that this is actually a very emotional day for me. i worked for president obama in 2008 when he was then-senator obama and also in the white house at his reelect. so watching all of this is pretty emotional, but to everybody's point, the peaceful transfer of power is incredibly important, and i think president obama did a really important job. he really believed in being a constitutional officer andic really moved that forward and talked about how the bushes did that for him, as well, and they stayed in their lives for the past eight years. mrs. obama has talked about,ut that as well. i think that's a wonderfully important thing today. >> woodruff: we're watching president obama and vice president biden make their way to the capitol preceded by chuck schumer, nancy pelosi. mark shields, you're raising your hand. >> just a quick shout-out for george w. bush.

it has to be an enormously painful, as you called it,, poignant day for hillary clinton. and george w. bush got her smiling, which he does. he obviously wanted to make her comfortable, and he's been ablea to do it, and she's actually i'm not saying enjoying herself, that sense of pain sames to have been removed, and i give him credit for it. >> woodruff: as we get closer to the time when we begin with the swearing in of vice president-elect mike pence, let's hearid from jeff greenefield. jeff, you too, as we said, you covered inaugurations. how does this one, and you hear this conversation about how donald trump may not be... this may not be the moment when he's ready to bring the country together. what are you thinking? >> a couple things. the contrast between what george w. bush said after the contested 2000 election and what donald trump has done during the transition is striking in terms of trying to reach out and using reconciliation as opposed to a

continued battle. that's why george w. bush, despite that election, came toe office with a 60% approval rating and trump is below. the other thing that strikes me is once again the defeated candidate has to sit right up close behind the person who defeated him. it happened with richard nixon, hubert humphrey, jerry ford, jimmy carter, al gore and now hillary clinton, right there watching and thinking almost certainly, what if, particularly in her case where the election was so close. so, yes, it will be a time when people will say in words of reconciliation, i fully expect donald trump's inaugural speeche to have inclusive language, but it does make you wonder that if donald trump had behaved the way george w. bush had behaved whenn his election was so contested, i think he would have been comingh into office in a very different atmosphere.at >> woodruff: we are watching president obama, vice president biden preceded by the democratic leaders of the senate and the

house, nancy pelosi, chuck schumer come out where pretty much everybody is now gathered. the trump family, the pence family, and as we've been saying all morning, the obamas. david brooks, there is, you know, there is that tension, that electricity in the air when you see a transfer from one party to another. it's inevitable. >> it's especially striking seeing the obamas leave. they obviously got the memo, but i find among my democratic friends a lot of mourning, not only shock at what's about to happen, but an appreciation for the obamas. and in the last few days, especially on the democratic side, the country generally just a much deeper appreciation forfo them as people. i do think president obama has become a more attractive figure personally in the last twon years. for them i think there's a lot

of shock about what's going to happen, a country aroused stirs of patriotism as they feel a different sort of force will take over the country. i do think... i do look forwardo to the rest of the day just to see if trump is going to behave in some obedience to the norms that have come before. obviously he wants the shake things up and that's what he was elected to do, but we do have some standards and norms that govern the way we interact with each other in this country, and especially within government. i do think some deference to them is just part of the job of being president to, pay respect to the institutions. he's not necessarily an institutional kind of guy, but i do think respecting the institutions is part of how you wield power. >> woodruff: barry bennett,n should people be worried? >> no, no. listen, he remains very much -- he's not encumbered by dogma. he knows where he wants to go, but he's willing to let other people tell him how to get

there. so i think there will be a great deal of confidence once peoplenc get to know him a little better. >> woodruff: amy walter, as we watch now, the speaker of the house, paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, the republicanco leader in the senate, followed by donald trump, the president-elect. are we making too much of just howdy viive the country feels right now or not? >> probably not. i think this dynamic, as we're watching the house leadership, is one that i'm the most fascinated to watch as we go forward. this is a president who didn't come in with dogma, with a big ideological agenda. it was abagenda about change, about shaking things up, and that includes members of his own party, and there are going to be times, maybe within the first 15 days of his administration, where there's going to be a clash within the party. all of the divisions, he did not... donald trump did not create the divisions with the republican party. they've been there for quite f some time. can he bring that party back

together. he brought them back together for the election. he brought them together during the transition. will they stay that way once we really hit some very difficultcu issues?is obviously obamacare is a big piece of it. we have the debt ceiling vote. we have tax reform. and, of course, as happens to every president, something that is unexpected. he's going to be challenged. he's doing to bege tested veryry early on. does his party stick with it? >> woodruff: mark shields, what are you looking for in that regard? >> i'm just absolutely fascinated by the entire day and whether, in fact, donald trump is going to dance with the girl who brung him. if he is unencumbered by dogma, i agree with that, but he certainly broke all the rules to get there, and he upset his own party, overtook his own party party to do it, changed his own party, changed its philosophical

direction. i'm just fascinated by how he... this is his introduction to the country as president. he's been a political figure. now he is the president. and he is the president of all of us. he's not... i always resent it when people said obama's your president, he's not my president. he's our president, and i just want to see if he understands it, recognizes it and what he does with it. >> woodruff: we're watching mike pence, the vice president-elect, who will justus moments from now, minutes from now, be sworn in as vice president. he will take an oath before donald trump does. lara brown, we're told there's no particular oath the vice president reads. it's not in the constitution the way it is for the president. >> that's right. what we really have here is an understanding about how important it is to make sure that there is never a moment where there is not an acting

executive. you need to always be sure this country is safe and secure and is not vulnerable, even in the briefest of moments. so that desire to put the vice presidential oath before theat president essentially transfers power is for that purpose. >> woodruff: jeff greenfield, i think a lot of people arepl looking the mike pence to see what exactly his role will be, b how much influence he'll have over the president.si >> that's a key point. a lot of republicans were saying, don't worry about donald trump, he'll just sign papers, youpa know, heel do what the republican congressional wing tells him, kindon of like mel brooks in "blazing saddles," work, work, work. that's not donald trump.tr we can expect some real tension between donald trump and the republicans.n one other thing,re one of the reasons vice presidents may not make speeches anymore is that andrew johnson in 1865 gave a speech when he was quite drunk

and lincoln said afterward, don't ever let him go outside again and make a speech. so that possibly is where that tradition, the silent vice president, began. >> woodruff: as we get closer to seeing donald trump, the president-elect, come down,pr karine jean-pierre, i'm told, i can't see it myself from the distance from the monitor in the studio, but nancy pelosi is wearing an aca button, the affordable care act. >> in 2005, nancy pelosi was one of the leaders in making sure that social security did not get privatized. that was a win for democrats. they won back the house that following mid-term. so, yeah, you know, for democrats, that is the issue that they are really united behind, making sure that 30 million people do not get kicked off their health care.

so i think that's an important issue that donald trump is goinm to have to deal with. we talked about we can repeal, but we have to replace. now republicans are put in a bind right now with that issue. i think it's also important, judy to, recognize, especially for many of us who have been with you around this table from the beginning of this campaign, this is not something that was expected. and i think that most of official washington is still getting used to democrats and republicans, something thatbl nobody when he announced in june of 2015, thought was actually going to happen. and that is something that, youo know, as we talk about, what do americans expect, what does washington expect, it's still a sense that this is unbelievable that it actually came to pass. working through that is going to be another interesting part of his first few months in office. >> woodruff: we're watching this remarkable ritual. the next president of the uniteu states shaking hands with the current president, former

president jimmy carter, we knowm george w. bush, former presideno bush is there. he's now waving to the crowd. loralara brown, wow were gestur. you wanted to say something.g. this is one of the most ma gesticparts of our democracy, the peaceful change of power. >>n i couldn't agree more. and interestingly, this is also a fascinating moment from a a tension standpoint, becauseio there is a desire to reassure our allies and friends that it's about continuity, but also that there is some change, and that idea of change is what these people get elected on, but it is really uncertain as to how they manage this challenge.s >> woodruff: all right. w we're going to turn now to the program. this is senator roy blount of missouri, the chairman of this inaugural process. he's going to begin the process of swearing in the next president and then the next vice

president. roy blunt. >> millions of people all over the world will watch and will listen to this event. 36 years ago in his first inauguration, it was also the t first inauguration on this side of the capitol, president ronalr reagan said that what we do here is both commonplace and miraculous. commonplace every four years since 1789 when president george washington took this exact same oath. miraculous because we have done it every four years since 1789, and the example it sets for democracies everywhere. washington believed the inauguration of the second o president would be more important than the inaugurationn of the first. many people had taken control of the government up until then, but few people had ever turned

that control willingly over to anyone else. and as important as the transfer of -- the first transfer of power was, many historians believed that the next election was even more important when in 1801, one group of people, arguably for the first time ever in history, willingly, if not enthusiastically, gave control of the government to people they believed had a dramaticallyll different view of what the government would, should and could do. after that election that actually discovered a flaw in the constitution itself, which was remedied by the 12th amendment, thomas jefferson atrs that inauguration, beyond the chaos of the election that had just passed, said we are all republicans, we are all federalists. after four years of civil war,

lincoln's second inauguralse speech tried to find reason for the continued war when he pointed out that both sides prayed to the same god. he had earlier written about those fervent prayers that one side must be and both sides may be wrong. but in 1865, he looked to the future and the memorable moment in that speech was "with malice toward none and charity for all." in the middle of the depression, the country was told the only thing we had to fear was fear itself, and president kennedy talked about the obligation in democracy to country. the great question that day was: ask what you can do for your country. so we come to this place again, commonplace and miraculous, a national moment of celebration, but not a celebration of victory, a celebration of democracy.

and as we begin that celebration, i call on his imminence, timothy michael cardinal dolan, reverend samuel rodriguez and pastor paula white cane to provide readings and the invocation. [applause] >> the prayer of king solomono from the book of wisdom. let us pray. god of our ancestors and lord of mercy, you have made all things, and in your providence have charged us to rule the creatures produced by you, to govern the world in holiness and righteousness, and to render judgment with integrity of heart. give us wisdom, for we are your

servants, weak and short-lived, lacking in comprehension of judgment and of laws. indeed, though one might be perfect among mortals, if, wisdom, which comes from you be lacking, we count for nothing. now with you is wisdom, who knows your will and was there when you made the world, who understands what is pleasing in your eyes, what is conformable with your commands, send her forth from your holy heavens, from your glorious throne, dispatch her, that she may be with us and work with us, that we may grasp what is pleasing to you, for she knows and understands all things, and will guide us prudently in our affairs and safeguard us by her glory. amen.

>> in the going gospel of matthe fifth chapter, god blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. god blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. god blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the earth. god blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.t god blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. he blesses those who are pure at heart, for they will see god. god blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called children of god. god blelses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the king demeanor of the heaven is theirs. and god blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you, because you are my followers. you are the light of the world.

like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden, no one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. instead a lamp is placed on its stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. in the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, that everyone will praise your heavily father. respectfully in jesus' name. >> we come to you, heavenly father, in the name of jesus, with grateful heart, thanking you for this great country, which you have decreed to your people. we acknowledge we are aat blessd nation with a rich history of faith and fortitude, with a future that is filled with promise and purpose. we recognize that every good and every perfect gift comes from you and the united states of

america is your gift, for which we from claim or gratitude. as nation we now pray for our president, donald john trump, vice president michel michael rd pence, and their families. we ask that you bestow upon our president the wisdom necessarym to lead this great nation, the grace the unify us, and the strength the stand for what is honorable and right in your sights. in proverb 21.1, you instruct us that our leader's heart is in your hands. gracious god, reveal unto our president the ability to know the will, your will, the confidence to lead us in justice and righteousness, and the compassion to yield to our better angels. while we know there are many challenges before us, in every generation, you have provided

the strength and power to become that blessed nation. guide us in discernment, lord, and give us that strength to persevere and thrive. now bind and heal our wounds and divisions, and join our nation to your purpose, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. the psalm is declared. let your favor be upon this one nation under god. let these united states of america be that beacon of hope to all people and nations under your dominion, a true hope for humankind. glory to the father, the son, and the holy spirit. we pray this in the name of jesus christ. amen. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, thed missouri state university corral.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ keep faith keep watch ♪ take heart take courage ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause]

>> well, the missouri state university corral practicesa around two blocks from my home in springfield, missouri., it was easy the find them. we're pleased they're here. [applause] also a great opportunity for me to introduce my colleague, the senator from new york, chuck schumer. >> my fellow americans, we live in a challenging and tumultuous time, a quickly evolving, ever more interconnected world, a rapidly changing economy that benefits too few while leaving too many behind. a fractured media, a politics frequently consumed by rancor. we face threats foreign and

domestic. in such time faith in our government, our institutions and even our country can erode. despite these challenges, is, stand here today confident in this great country for one reason: you, the american people. [applause] we americans have always been a forward-looking, problem-solving, optimistic patriotic andpt decent people. whatever our race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, whether we are immigrants or native-born, whether we live with disabilities or do not, in wealth or in poverty, we are all exceptional in our commonly held yet fierce devotion to our

country and in our willingness to sacrifice our time, energy, and even our lives to making it a more perfect union. today we celebrate one of democracy's core attributes, the peaceful transfer of power, and every day we stand up for core democratic principles enshrined in the constitution -- the rule of law, equal protection for all under law, the freedom of speech, press, religion, the things that make america america. and we can gain strength from reading our history and listening to the voices of average americans. they always save us in times of strife. one such american was major sullivan balou. on july 14, 1861, when the north

and south were lining up for their first battle, a time when our country was bitterly divided and faith in the future of our country was at a nader, major balou of the second rhode island volunteers penned a letter to his wife sarah. it is one of the greatest letters in american history. it shows the strength and courage of the average american. allow me to read some of his words, which echo through the ages. "my very dear sarah," he wrote, "the indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days, perhaps tomorrow. if it is necessary that i should fall on the battlefield for my country, i am ready. i have no misgivings about or lack of confidence in the cause in which i am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter.

i know howte strongly american civilization now leans upon the triumph of the government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the revolution, and i am willing, perfectly willing, to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this government and to pay that debt. sarah, my love for you is deathless. it seems to bind me to you with the mighty cables that nothing but omnipotence can break, and yet my love of country comes over me like a strong wind and bears mer resistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield." sullivan balou gave his life on the battlefield a week later at the first battle of bull run. it is because sullivan balou and

countless others believed in something bigger than themselves and were willing to sacrificec for it that we stand today in the full blessings of liberty, in the greatest country on earth, and that spirit lives on in each of us, americans whose families have been here for generations and those who have just arrived, and i know our best days are yet to come. i urge all americans to read balou's full letter, his words give me solace, strength. i hope they will give you the same. now please stand while the associate justice of the supreme court clarence thomas administers the oath of office to the vice president of the united states.

>> place you hand on the bible. >> vice president-elect, would you raise your right hand and repeat after me: i michel richard pence do solemnly swear. >> i, michael richard pence, do solemnly swear. >> thatly support and defend the constitution of the united states. >> thatly support and defend the constitution of the united states. >> against allco enemies foreign and domestic. >> against all enemy, foreign and domestic. >> that i will bare true faith and allegiance to the same. >> that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. s >> that i take this obligation freely. >> that i take this obligation

freely. >> without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. >> without any mentall reservation or purpose of evasion. >> and that i will well and faithfully discharge. >> and that i will well and faithfully discharge. >> the duties of the office on which i'm about to enter. >> the duties office on which i'm about to enter. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. vice president.pr [applause] god bless you. ♪ ♪

>> woodruff: mike pence swornwo in now as the vice president of the united states. we'll hear from the mormon tabernacle choir and then we w will see the oath sworn by incoming president donald trump. >> ladies and gentlemen, the mormon tabernacle choir accompanied by the president's own united states marine band. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ for amber waves of grain for purple mountains above the fruited plain ♪, america god shed his grace on me ♪ and crown thy good with brotherhood ♪ from sea to shining sea ♪ oh beautiful for or whose stern impassioned stress ♪ a thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness ♪ america america ♪ god mend thine every flaw

confirm thy soul in self-control ♪ thy liberty in law ♪ oh beautiful for glorious tale of liberating strife ♪ when valiantly for man's avail men lavish precious life ♪ america america ♪ my god thy gold refine till all success be nobleness ♪ and every man divine

♪ oh beautiful for paint idea's dream that sees beyond the years ♪ thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears ♪ america america ♪ god shed his grace on thee and crown thai good with brotherhood ♪ from sea to shining sea and crown thy good with brother ♪ from sea to shining sea from sea to shining sea ♪

[applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, it's an honor to introduce the chief justice of the united states, john gold medal roberts, jr., who will administer the presidential oath of office. everyone please stand. >> please raise your right hand and repeat after me i, donald john trump, do solemnly swear. >> i donald john trump, do solemnly swear. >> that i will faithfully

execute. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> the office of president of the united states. >> the office of president of the united states.i and will to. >> and will to the best of my ability. >> preserve, protect and defend. >> preserve, protect and defend. >> the constitution of the united states. the constitution of theio united states. >> soed help me god. >> so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. president. [cheers and applause] >> donald john trump is the 45th president of the united states.e he just took the oath oath of office from chief justice roberts and is being con graduate lated by former

president obama, former president carter. turning now to wave to the crowd. >> what a great honor to be able to introduce for the first time ever anywhere the 45th president of the united states of america, donald j. trump. [cheers and applause]

>> chief justice roberts, president carter, president clinton, president bush president obama, fellow americans and people of the world, thank you. [crowd cheering] we, the citizens of america are now joined a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people. together we will determine the course of america and the world for many years to come. we will face challenges. we will confront hardships.

but we will get the job done. every four years we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power. and we are grateful to president obama and first lady michelle obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. they have been magnificent. thank you. [applause] thank you. today's ceremony, however, has very special meaning. because today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, butbu we are transferring power from washington d.c. and giving it back to you, the people. [crowd cheering]

for too long a small group at our inflammation's capital has reaped the rewards of governmenv while the people have borne the cost. washington flourished but the people did not share in its wealth. politicians proces prawtion pale verde -- prospered but the jobs left and the factories closed. the establishment protected itself but not the citizens of our country. their victories have not been your victories. theires triumphs have not been your triumph's and while they celebrated in our nation's capitol there was little too celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

that all changes starting right here and right now, because this moment is your moment. it belongs to you. [cheers and applause] it belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across america.me this is your day. this is your celebration and this, the united states of america is your country. [cheers and applause] what truly matters is not which party controls our government but whether our government is controlled by the people. january 20th, 2017 will be

remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. the forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. [cheers and applause] everyone is listening to you now. you came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never been seen before. at the center of this movement is a crucial conviction, that a nation exists to serve its citizens. americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families and good jobs for themselves.

these are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public. but for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists. mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rulessed ourusted out factoriesr summation. our education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge and 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.

we are one nation and their pain is our pain.is their dream are our dreams. and their success will be our success. we share one heart, one home and one glorious destiny. the oath of office i take today is the oath of allegiance to all americans.er for many decades, we've enriched foreign industry at the expense of american industry, subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military. we've defended other nations' beerdborders while refusing to d

our own. and spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseasv while america's infrastructurera has fallen into disrepair and decay. we've made other countries rich while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon. one by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought abouto the millions and millions of american workers that were left behind. the wealth of our middle classla has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.

with you that is the past and now we are looking only to the future. we assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capitacapitol and in every hallf power, from this day forward a new vision will govern our land. from this day forward, it's going to be only america first, america first. [cheers and applause] every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit american workers and american families.

we must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries, making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs. protection will lead to great procesprosperity and strength. i will fight for you with every breath in my body and i will never ever let you down. [cheers and applause] america will start winning again, winning like never before. [crowd cheering] we will bring back our jobs. we will bring back our borders. we will bring back our wealth and we will bring back our dreams.

we will build new roads and highways and bridges and air ports and tunnels and rail ways all across our wonderful nation. we will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with a american hands and american labor. we will follow two simple rules. buy american and hire american. we will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.s we do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone but rather to

let it shine as an example. we will shine for everyone to follow. we will reinforce all alliances and form new ones and unite the civilize world against radical islamic terrorism which we will eradicate completely from the face of theom worth. foist of thyoisyoi/ofof the eo each other. when you open your heart to patriotism there is no room for prejudice.

the bible tell us how good and pleasant it is when god's people live together in unity. we must speaki our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. when america is united, america is totally unstoppable. there should be no fear. we are protected and we will always be protected. we will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. and most importantly, we will be protected by god. [applause]

finally, we must think big and dream even bigger.en in america, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving. we will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action, constantly complaining but never doing anything about it. [crowd cheering] the time for empty talk is over. now arrives the hour of action. do not allow anyone to tell you that it cannot be done. no challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of america. we will not fail. our country will thrive and

prosper again. we stand at the births o birth w millennium ready to unlock the mystery of space to free the earth from the misery of disease and harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow. a new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights and heal our divisions. it's time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will neverr forget that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots. [cheers and applause]p we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms and we all salute the same great american flag.

and whether a child is born inn the urban strawl o sprawl of der the wind went plains of nebraska they look up at the same night sky they still their hearts with the same dream and they are infused with the breath of life with the same all mighty creator. [applause] so to all americans, in everye city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words. you will never be ignored again. [cheers and applause] your voice, your hopes and your dreams will define our american destiny. and your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us

along the way. together we will make america strong again. we will make america wealthy again. we will make america proud again. we will make america safe again. and yes, together we will make america great again. thank you. god bless you and god blessss america. [cheers and applause]d thank you. >> donald j. trump the newly sworn in president of the unitep states ending what we by our count of 16 minutes inaugural address going now to shake hands with president obama, and vice president biden.pr you have to say speaking now shaking hands with only of the people whose work he's just criticized mightily in his remarks. he was critical of politicians in recent years and just at the end of his remarks at the time

for empty talk is over, now arrives the hour of action. mark shields, i see some commentary on twitter that this is a campaign speech. how did you read it. >> i was surprised. to me, it was midnight in america. it was a very dreary and dismal litany of what was wrong with the country and very little celebration of what was right. he talked about obama's treatment of him welcoming and yet presiding over apparently george w. bush and bill clinton did, carnage in america. so i was just surprised by the tone. >> listen to the benediction. >> sorry. >> thank you. >> bless president donald j. trump and america our great nation. guide us to remember the words

who may dwell on your holy mountain. one who does what is right and speaks the truth. who knows that when you eat the labor your praiseworthy that he or sows shall reap in joyy because the freedoms are not in perpetuity but must be reclaimed byi each generation. as our ancestors have planted for us so we must plant for others. while it is not for us to complete the task, neither are we free to desist from them. this spends justice for the needy and the o orphans because

they have no one but their citizens and the nation's wealth by her values and not by her votes. plus all of ar of our allies ard the world that share our beliefs. by the rivers of babylon, we went as we remembered zion, if i forget old jerusalem may myy right hand forget its skill. the doer of all these shall never falter. may the days come soon when justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness will abide in the fertl fertiles and the work of righteousness will be peace, quietness and

confidence forever.ce amen. >> mr. president, in the bible is a sign of god's blessing. it 125ur9 started to rain, mr. president, when you came to the platform. it is my prayer that god will bless you, your family, your administration and may he bless america. the passage of scripture comes from first timothy chapter 2. i urged them first of all that petitions, prayers, inner session and transparency be made for all people. for kings, for all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. this is good and it pleases god

our savior who wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. for there is one god and one mediator between god and man kind, the man christ jesus who gave themself as a ransom for all people. now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only god, the honor and glory forever and ever, in jesus' name, amen. >> we thank you, father, for letting us share this great moment together. let us not take for granted the air we breathe or the life you've given us. we were all created by you with one blood, all nations to dwell upon this land together. we're not enemies but brothers

and sisters. we're not add variou adversariee allies. let us be heeled by the power of your love and united by the bond of your spirit. today we pray for our 45th president, the vice president and their families, and give them the to guide this great nation to strength to protect it and hands to heal it. we bless donald trump we ask that you give him the wisdom of solomon, joe and christ. solomon who kept peace among many nations, joseph who dreamt better for the people and christ who act sen accepted us all. oh lord in our hearts and stitch together the fabric of this great country in the spirit of the legendary gospel song right mahalia jackson oh deep in my heart i do believe the lord will see us through i do believe.ve we are on our way to victory, i do believe. we will walkv hand in hand i do

believe. we shall live in peace, i do believe. oh, deep in my heart i do believe, america we shall overcome. lord bless and keep america, make it shine upon us and be gracious unto us i give us peace in the mighty name of jesus, amen. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome jackie evancho accompanied by the united states marine band.a please stand for the national anthem.

♪ oh say can you see, by the dawn's earlier light.li what so proudly we hail, at the ttwilight's last gleaming. whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪ over the ramparts we watch were so gallantly streaming. and the rockets red glare. the bombs bursting in air, gave

provproof through the night, tht our flag was still there ♪ oh say does that star spank actual banner yet wave. for the land of the free, and the home of the brave. >> ladies and gentlemen please remain standing while the president and official party depart the platform. t you will be released by sections

shortly. >> and that is the official part of the ceremony, donald j. trump now the 45th president of thed united states. we see him making his way out. we see former presidents there, and hillary clinton who waswa defeated by mr. trump in the campaign. david brooks, you listened to the inaugural address, what did you think? >> there will be many books written about the american carnage of the trump administration. it was a remarkable speech. we're in for something new.w. it was not a traditional republican speech, it was not a free market speak. you go to charles lindberg, covering pat buchanan when he ran for president and the new hampshire primaries. it's notha the traditional

republican party but it's something that donald trump loosened and we're going to see the representative and the administration's very different than any previous republican certainly democratic administration. this is very steve bannon oriented speech and we'll see if that kind of popularrism very angry very aggressive. that's the biggest challengeig he's going to face. >> you advised donald trump oven the campaign. not a republican speech.t >> yes. i think it was a new republican speech, right. it's very difficult from the last 50 years at least but that's kind of where the people are these days. there were a lot of people lieuu have been left behind, forgotten across america in small towns and cities. i think -- i think the media in

the end were more traditional, in the middle got campaigny but i tell you his people will look at it. >> we did hear him say for too long, a small group in washington has reaped the reward and the people have suffered. >> while we talked at the very beginning about a divided america, polarized america. it's interesting to look at thig is the most recent washington journal asking voters what their absolute priorities are for a new trump station. keeping jobs from going overseas, universal, democrats, republicans, independent, he talked a lot. he talked about influence of lobbying and money in politics. i think the democrats have to understand that a lot of the notes, keeping jobs in america, stopping jobs from going overseas, getting rid of the traditional establishment politicians and the way that business has always been done in washington is something that appeals not just to the folks that voted for donald trump but

for a lot of the people who didn't. the question for him is whetherr he will be able to get action on those things or whether his administration will fall backll into some of the traditional republican items that a lot of independents and democrats don't agree with.re so there we go with what this new administration's going togo look like. this actually, this is the same speech that got him to the whitehouse and it's the speech that he thinks and a tone and message he thinks is going to get him a whole bunch of new people. if he gets those things done, jobs, breaking up washington, he could get support. >> i'm not asking you to speak for all democrats. >> so judy, when he took the oath, he vowed to be a servant to all americans. his speech was very targeted to a minority group of americans. and there was no attempt to reach out to. folks he insulted, to the folks

who truly fear his administration right now. it sounded to me very much a right wing nationalism type of speech. it had steve banner's finger sprints over it, steve miller's fingers over it. it's the dooms day type of america speech. i gave him the benefit of the thought. i thought he would bring a unifying speech and really trytr to use this moment peacefula transfer of power to bring focuses together, and i think he failed. >> jeff green field watching all this from new york, is this a speech that's going to set the tone to the administration or is this a speech donald trump had to make because that's how he was elected.wa >> no, i think the former. had donald trump want to say something that indicated a break, it would have been more conciliatory. the striking thing about thishi speech to me is how much of that two minute commercial he made at the end of the campaign.p

half of it sounds like something that could have been given by elizabeth warren or bernie sanders. the establishment has fewerrished you have not.d a small group of insiders have benefited and you have been left behind. and the other part of that is the extraordinary nationalism. a lot of time presidents want to reassure the world.or john kennedy's inaugural was all addressed to the world barely any at time. twice he says america first, america first. when trump's people had told us before that the speech would be jacksonian, in both cases, trump came through on that. very strong anti-establishment, and a very strong buy america, hire america, protect the borders. 250e9that's how he campaigned ae shocking thing i think to some people in washington now is geew maybe he meant it. maybe he really means to up the apple cart.ap you can treat that with excitement or fear but i thought this speech was very much donald

trump saying i meant what i said. >> john yang, very close to where donald trump was speaking. john, you were watching the reaction among the dignitaries during this wholesaler mean.r >> that's right, judy. at the beginning, you asked me how this felt compared to other inaugust rules and i said prettt much the same.me once we got going that certainly went away. you have the yearing of chuck schumer, senator chuck schumerer as he spoke. and then during the oath of office, scattered shouts of not my president and not from relatively far away.la they seemed to be from the ticketed areas fairly close in. producer spotted two people very far off holding up a sign saying not my president. and then during the speech itself, benjamin who runs an organization many people may

have heard of, code pink sort of a professional protester who ran to the front of the audience section and jumped up on a chair, held up a sign saying stop the war on women. but again even more interestinge was the reaction on the platform. as you said, judy, he was criticizing some of the very people who were here. not a lot of reaction that he talked about politicians reapine the benefits while the people of the country suffered. i was also watching in particular former president george w. bush, not a beg trump trump -- big trump fan. very reserved when trump talk about the strength of america,i praise the military, praise police. this was a signature line of hif campaign when he talked about fighting radical islamic terrorism. mr. bush, mr. bush who went out of his way after 9/11 to say

america was not fighting islam, that these terrorists did not represent the muslim, didn'tt move a muscle. >> fascinating.s and we are watching, on the t other side of the capitol now, this is the east side of the capitol.no respected ritual, part of the tradition of the peaceful transfer of power. the new president, donald trump walks the former president problebarack obama to a waiting helicopter and take them away. we know they will be headed later today to palm springs california where they will spend some i'm sure much needed time of rest. while basically the rest of the country gets acquainted with the new president. standing there on the east sides of the capital waiting to watch the send off. speaker paul ryan, his wife,

house minority leader nancy pelosi. as we watch this, our liz decembedecemberdesjardins. this is something we honor.in >> it is something we honor. i would like to return to the speech. one thing that was striking to me and i thought was rather unfortunate is every presidentis who has ever given an inaugural address essentially engages in some conversation about humility. it is about how humbled they are to not only be there before the people, thanks to the people, but also they give an acknowledgment to some supreme beings, to god, saying with your blessing may we go forward. they tend to but not as much as

in modern times, acknowledge that only with the help of congress can they move this country forward in whatever ways they hope to make change. and i think what is striking to me is how much this speech was about donald trump arguing thata it is donald trump and the people and no one else involved. he is now the ultimate insider and yet he has just essentially said insiders don't do anything and can't do anything. i think that's striking and quite frankly a very real break from tradition across parties and across history. >> as we watch the new vice president, mike pension mike pek former vice president joe biddec and his wife to the car. we're hearing that donald trump's broken tradition in the

tone of his rarks. >> that's nuljoy remarks. >> that's not surprising to me. that's the very definition of inside. but let me tell you the inside is under new management and it's changing and it's going to change rapidly. you probably have a better feel what the current rate is but i would say it's low and he sees it and all these people in the flyover states, they see it. they want change. i know that the president was much more interested in this coming monday morning than today because he wants to get to work. >> mark shields, we're watching joe wid biden. b >> joe biden is about to go to amtrak union station, take act tram back to delaware which he did every night in the first years as a widower with young children and every year at

christmas he held a party for the amtrak workers. that was it.at it was the hottest ticket in willmington but he threw a party out of his own pocket for the people who sold tickets, the conductors, the people who worked and so forth. missing from the speech at all with respect to how you feel about it was any grace note toward hereby. >> who was sitting -- >> who was just sitting there. to thank her for the service to the country.th just mentioned, it would have been a large mag familia magnan to do. >> sorry to interrupt you, mark. we're watching the former vice president drive away with his motorcade and now we see the new president walking former president obama to the helicopter. last time he will ride on one version or another of marine one. >> this is the first moment since 1973 that joe biden hasn't

been in public service so that's a long amazing career. this is a bitter sweet moment for all of us. t, whether you agree with him. certainly a lot of class in the whitehouse. i'm always stressed at what the psychology must be at this moment. donald trump is a little afraid of what he's about to encounter, about whether obama is bitter about the way his transfer isr happening this way.ha i'm sure he considers his presidency a success but he did pave the way for a different administration and the country's worse off than it was when he took over. >> a lot of democrats feeling sadness to see president obama leave. >> it's an incredible emotional moment. it's bierlt sweet fo bitter swet there. i want to talk about an

interview he did where he talked about how he's the best president that he's been right now and i think he really felt he was finally hitting his stride, these last two years and he's done little fo lots for tht whether you like him or not. the country is in a better place. 30 million people have healthcare. he saved the auto tremendous. there's a lot of things there and i think historians will remember him very kindly. >> jeff greenfield, the work begins. we see president trump and first lady melania trump going back into the capitol. we're told he's going to sign some executive orders a few maybe today or tomorrow but as barry bennett just told us even more to come on monday. >> normally the first day, it's kind of a tradition where republican prebz sign executive orders that make family

planning, the un family planning, planned parenthood kind of issues difficult. the democrat president comes inc and the first executive orders undo them. there's also most famously the first day in office jimmy carter pardonnened the evaluate number draft by -- the evaluate non-drafnon---vietnam draft by o canada. this speech is what donald trump thinks he can do. not only was there was no grace note to hillary clinton, if you're a republican insider he's saying in jacksonian terms you're part of the problem too.o this is not about a transfer of political power it's about a a transfer of power back to the people. whether he can accomplish that, whether that's something that's actually going to happen once his budget is made clear, whether the republicans inre congress are bein going to say h that's a good why that's break with 40 year republican conservative beliefs on things like trade or taxes or intra

structure. but he sure sounded opening notes as though he is going to do what he said he was going to do. >> he makes a good point. >> about that's what he wants to do. right. i mean, we've seen plenty of presidents who come in and say we're going to shake up washington and change washington and then washington changes them. this is somebody who is coming in and saying not only am i going to change washington, i'mg not going to abide by the traditional rules of washington. i getio asked a lot about when e we going to see the first independent candidate elected president and i think we arei seeing the first independent candidate elected president. he is not an establishment republican. 34ebmembers siflting on sittings opposed him.op he is saying things that are oppressive and liberal. something elizabeth warren, so s this is a pepper that does not

fit neatly into any box but we also know how washington works. a long time washington hand said you never beat the house.he the house always wins and that's the question. can he beat the house. and by the house meaning people in charge not just the house of representatives. you got to go upse against an infrastructure of lobbyists even though it's run by your own fetter that has certain rules and time lines that don't fit neatly into the kind of time lines he wants. for the first time in his life he's got 535 bosses essentially who are going to control how he's able to get a lot of this done. it is not quite as easy. even as we saw with the affordable care act and obamacare there are governors of his own party who are coming in and saying they've got to get work done. >> as we watch former president obama and michelle obama to lift up into the sky to say their final good-bye at least in this

fashion to the united statesst capitol and eventually in the next hour or so to washington as they make their way to california. david brooks, how much of a good-bye is it? howod much a corner is being turned here?er >> well a big corner is being turned. i think we'll see a lot of the obamas. they are elegant people with strong opinions. tiethey're not going to say a bh good-bye. but there are 3eu69a at this ti8 turns. like amy says i'm uncertain how much of this is going to happen. we know the intention but he has very few demonstratities he's -y few deputies he's appointed. they try to replace obamacare, feel free to ignore what donald trump says about this issue, certainly the members ofer congress ignore and certainlyy his members of administrationi say subjects like nato and other things he doesn't really mean

what he says he means.a so the president is a, the nerve center of a former institutionti of the government.go and he doesn't really control a lot. president w. bush told me the thing about being president how much passive aggression there is in government and there is ae lot. so turning the speech which is so striking into implementation to me is just an incredibly hard call when everyone around you with the exception of four people in the center circle is kind of suspicious in a lot of what you believe in.n. >> barry bennett does donald trump know what he's gotten himself into. >> i don't think he fully recognizes how much resistance there's going to be just in government apparatus. but he is a pretty good fighter. so i think it's going to be fun to watch. but i'm not betting against him.

a lot of people have lost a lot of money betting against him. >> they certainly have. out there with the crowd who came to washington to watch this inaugural, lisa, you talked to some of them.so what are they saying. s >> you can see the crowd is on the move now.. most of us here at the inauguration moving towards the parade but some of them going home. just seconds ago we saw president obama fly overhead anl i saw some folks on the periphery here wave good-bye to him. it's interesting, they've been talking so much about the art of the possible, the art of the practical here in washington. i know i'm going to be spending a lot of time reporting on that from congress in the coming months. i have to tell you all the crowd is still thinking about the art of the theoretical. they have very large hopes here and here in this crowd, that speech really hit home. i saw tears in people's eyes.

i think there could have been a welling up of emotion from many people who traveled long to be here. i think particularly the lines about transferring power from washington d.c. giving it back to the people and this is your moment. i saw a man from north carolina wave his hat in the air, hug tight when he heard that.a i said what does that mean to you, this is your moment. i feel like now my children have a better chance at a better future. i'm concerned about the economir potential for them. i feel like donald trump is a man who can get things done in a way all these politicians and a all these promises they've made have not made a difference in my life. there were some of course non-trump in the crowd. as much as john wang and pamela at the capitol i didn't hear that here. it is more of a quiet been moment and it was from trump supporters who yelled and criedy out as he was taking the oath of office for sure. a couple of other notes.

the military's a big theme with this crowd.is these are folks some have their own military experience or are military families and they feel the military has been depleted. donald trump b hit on that in hs speech. also not in mr. trump's speech, president trump's speech but throughout this ceremony we've heard things of religion. there have generally been prayers of inauguration. the lord's prayer. in this crowd i spoke to several evangelicals who feel that faith has not been prominent enough coming out of washington. i think mr. trump tried to send signals to them through his speech and through the ceremonyr or at least 2450e9s what they've got from this. they're going to hear more about when president trump mentioned god specifically in his speech, there was a loud cheer from the group i was standing with. i think a very different perspective. we have to talk about what president trump can did do and will do throughout all the

corners of america they're thinking about the possible. to them the sky is the limit as there trump said in his speech. of course we'll see in weeks to come what actually happens. >> thank you lisa. and as we talked to lisa we're watching former vice presidentsi joe biden, his wife dr. jill biden make their way through union station, the train station in washington d.c. they will board a train and go to his home town of willmington delaware, it's a trip he's made hundreds if not probably thousands of times.s by now it's a very familiar ride for him. lisa, before i let you go. any particular reaction in the crowd to donald trump to president trump's remarks about america first. he said too simple sloagz slogay american, hire american.re >> i'm glad you brought that up, absolutely. that is a theme i heard from several people from different corners of the country. he works in manufacturing heur says we do make only americane

products but we feel we're at that time a disadvantage. another man i talked to from virginia he felt america was paying way too much attention to overseas, spending too much money overseas. that struck home with the core trump supporters absolutely. another thing, this is a young crowd ought here.ow younger than i thought. most trump rallies younger in general than you might have expected. the trump supporters stilli talking between the teenage 20's, i saw many people about that age also older but it was by and large a younger crowd. these are folks who couldn't get the tickets, but that's on our end. >> we sent our young correspondent to cover the young crowd. lisa desjardins.

amy, you're our demographics person. what about the youths of that crowd out there. >> it's not that surprising to me. again, etcetera har it's hard co go through traffic get on the metro and stand, 20 degrees, it's raining. in you are older, it's hard to get around and i would stay at home. quite frankly i can't remember who said this earlier. those of us who live in washington know what a pain itwh is to get around downtown during this time of year it's just easier to stay in the comfort of your own home. it is a very important group of folks we're going to continue to watch throughout the course ofe the trump presidency. they didn't support donald trump any more than they supported mitt romney. but they did not give hillary clinton the kinds of numbers that they gave to barack obama. >> that she needed.ne >> that's right. >> we're t watching as we talk here in our studio, we're watching the action at the

capitol where permanent memberse of congress, not all of them but many of them are gathering for this again another tradition on inauguration day, it's a luncheon in honor of the new president. lara brown historian george washington university here with us. we've been talking a lot this everyone and this morning as we've been watching everything about how democrats and republicans have been at each other's throats, back and forthd but this is a moment when they do come together for at least 14 minutes. >> absolutely. and this day is really about being together and celebrating all that our history has brought us. i mean, i do think that it's striking when you look back at president reagan's speech, his is the first in the west front of the capitol. he talks about sort of the humility of looking at the washington monument and down at the lincoln memorial and across to jefferson there are moments and notes in our history that

are worst even if there are crises at the moment that must be addressed. i think what we need to see about donald trump is he's not in some ways such a departure. he is the come nation how fa cun argument since water gate and since really vietnam which is that washington is broken. outsiders are the only way to exit. and if you look every president that's been elected since jimmy carter with the exception of bush, sr. has within on the platform of change and reform washington, reform both my party and the politics of what d.c. is all about. >> that's right. mark shields as i turn to you, i covered jimmy carters' inaugustu rule aninaugust -- inaugural ans i'm going to change things. >> citing ronald reagan as anas example to contrast here.er

ronald reagan had an even ree -- even e gram which is the personr who is with us 80% of the time is our amie eye and our friend not the trader. not to say you were mistaken or ill informed on what you did, donald trump basically, that's what people of goodwill -- >> let me step in to say this is former president barack obama and his wife landing, michelle landing at andrews air force base, they will board a plane and fly out to palm springs. >> this is in fact that you are morally deficient. that you prospered at the expense of people suffering. that you've been selfish. and it's just a bridge building. it's a coalition building and you're either looking for -- and donald trump was looking for heretics today.

recalled reagan proved always looking for converts. always welcoming people in rather than guiding them out. when you start talking about the carnage and what's going on in washington, make no mistakeke about it. washington is loath and out of touch and there's too much monec and all the rest of it but it is not populated by people who are mmal evolent. >> there is donald trump the carnage. >> going back to what amy said about young people. the reason they were attracted a in such massive numbers toer bernie sanders, populist outsider message. they're not necessarily progressors by bloods or genetics, they were just enough with this whole apparatus. and i think the barometer is watching these people and if he

can start developing and delivering some results, these young kids will become huge choice. >huge -- champions. >> this is a lot different than ronald reagan, lincoln, certainly pay trottic union universitial nation running through his speech a view of the world they're taking our jobs, china is suffering we must prospering and if china is prospering we must be suffering. that's what less populism has embodied. trump not only on economic grounds which is fair and washington has become incredibly rich but very much on cultural grownltdgrounds you don't belien america anymore and you're godless, you don't have faith

anymore. it's a lot stronger in trump.ru >> we're watching inside the capitol as the luncheon honoring the new president takes place as the military review, you hear that under way in the background of some of the senator's way to come into the room at the capitol where the luncheon's being held. and i think we're going to see the new president in just a moment. karine jean-pierre. is there anything the democratsm might ct populace message made right that bernie sanders ran on that was very some for him that elizabeth warren clearly encapsulate. but i have to say, after listen be to this speech there's nothing fun about what donald trump is going to do with this administration. if you are a person living in the shadows after hearing that speech you rs even more fearful

than before. because he is actually presidend of the united states and another point i would like to make is we talked about how unpopular congress is but donald trump is also unpopular. we saw polls that say his numbers are 30%. he was supposed to be in the honeymoon period, the transition that was supposed to take the person at your high mark and he is at 40%. i think that is, if i'm donald trump i would have given a speech that helped unify, that reach out to the people who fear him who are insulted in the first 18 months of his campaign. >> but you are telling me, did he not want to do that. >> he isn't going to do that to tell you the truth. i guarantee you they are not going to, focus on that speech they are not going to. this president spent less money on polling than, quite frankly, the beginning of polling, he

understands why people are angry and mad and what the potential is. he loves to fight, there's not a conflict averse bone in his body. i think that's what the president is about over the years. >> woodruff: just to talkdr about the immense amount of change that's going on in the last 20 or 30 years in so many different levels, it's cultural, it's economic, it's technological, it's demographic. these aren't going to go away in the next four years. these will churn along. he is going to have to embrace this change and work with it, while its royaling up, demographic and cultural changes and challenges and of coursees this is a president as i said earlier who is going to have a crisis and how he react to thata is going to tell us more about how people will see him in the future rather than the first 100 days whether he gets his agenda done. looking at the poablg, if you --

polling, if you go back to where bill clinton was, asking voterss what you expect of his presidency, donald trump is where all the various presidents have been. i don't know what it's going to look like! so while i absolutely agree that he does not have the honeymoon numbers that a traditional new president has, he does have at least the sense that from voters like -- well we don't quite know what to expect, give him a chance maybe we'll not but they're not locked into this is, you know, they expect good or bad things immediately. >> woodruff: mark shields, it is safe that donald trump will not do a lot of polling. americans wantl opresident who follows his principles, be is it smart not to care what people think? >> well i think there's a

difference between what people think and polling. donald trump was outspent on media by better than 2 to 1 by hillary clinton. he trusted his own instincts. there was nobody who laid out a blueprint, who said you have go a to run against the republican party on free trade and taxicab on the republican party on market systems that we don't are improve in any way, we believe in the geniuses of market. and i mean that we believe in an activist interventionist republican party.pu donald trump on ail of this said no and he rewrote the rules. so i don't think, polling was not central. kellyanne conway was a pollster but she was his campaign manager. i would not quarrel with barry's point he -- he will care what people think. donald trump lives his life

publicly. that's what tweets are about. that's what tabloid culture is about. donald trump is not somebody unlike barack obama who is cerebral and reflective and is anything antisocial. donald trump is somebody who delegates himself by tweets. who validates himself by what people think. he won 41 primaries and conferences and he reminds you that on an hourly basis. >> woodruff: what people think about donald trump, our man jeffrey brown, on people who protested. jeffrey. >> hi judy, we're right uh outse the checkpoint. protesters, the word is disrupt, trying to get people from getting in. now that the inauguration is over, a lot of the protesters you can see right behind me are now ready to start moving to continue the marches throughouth the streets of washington.wa

>> woodruff: and jeffrey we know the women's march has taken on several meanings. how organized is the protest you saw today? how muchsa of it scenes to be ad hoc? >> that's an interesting question. it is reasonably well organized judy. there was a central clearinghouse place, mcperezsomcphersonsquare, they e organizing tables and go out to different places, in particular different checkpoints. each one of these places and i'm at one of them is organized by a different particular group with their particular cause. and then, groups would join in larger amounts, to -- for the protest through streets.ro i did talk to one of the leaders of the whole disrupt movement and he was talking about the organization, it's a kind of

loose organization, i happen to be talking with him at the moment when donald trump was w just taking office.g and i said you're obviously trying to-he was telling me about trying to disrupt things. i said disrupt but look what's happening. donald trump is becoming president. he says we are obviously nott here trying to stop that but that we have a voice of resistance that will take place into the future. that was the point of today. >> woodruff: protesters do they seem to be from everywhere or how would you describe them? >> i would say thoroughly diverse. we are asking people where they come from, people from all over the country that we were able to talk to. continuing this idea of the different themes and issues represented, we talked to people who are electronic activists from -- strong activists, we see a lot of diversity. back to you judy. >> woodruff: all right, r jeffrey brown, on the streets of

washington. now we are watching former president barack obama who hasen been out of office for just a little over an hour, former first lady, michelle obama, being greeted being cheered by i'm sure many people who work with them support them, donateto them, like them love them preparing to give them a sendoff as they board an air force plane and head out of town. we are waiting to see whether he's going to speak.'s we want to listen if he does. ♪ ♪ >> woodruff: and we watch as we listen to the honor being paid to the departing president, jeff greenfield, we are keepingg an eye on the other activities at the capital. this feels like a very bifurcated day doesn't it jeff? >> yes, often does. i wanted to make one point when

we talk about trump's speech was unique. there is another incoming presidential who had very harsh words to say, that was fdr in 1933, he talked about the money changers who have been driven from the temple, a group of people who got rich off the backs of the poor. they want to hear that he's going to washington and drawing sharp lines with people who are not just wrong but malevolent. it is not a message that many think the new president ought to bring but it's part of what brought donald trump to victory. a him mark he, yes, i want to tell these people what they want to hear because that's what i've told them i'm going to do. >> woodruff: it is good to be reminded of franklin roosevelt and his first inaugural.

lara brown. >>la it's also true that woodrow wilson spoke harshly of the previous era he was inheriting. they took the form of what we consider to be a jeremiah in that they talk about what was wrong and how they will make it right. and there is i don't think there's enough.unity in tom's feature. >> woodruff: we will hear from former president obama. >> wefo are milking this good-be thing. it behooves me to be very brief. yes, yes. i said y before, and i will say again: that when we started on this journey, we did so with an abiding faith in the american

people and their ability, our ability, to join together and change the country. in ways that would make life better for our kids and our grand kids. the change didn't happen from the top of down but it happened from the bottom up. it was met sometimes with skepticism and doubts. some folks didn't think we could pull it off. there were those who felt the institutions of is power and privilege in this country were too deeply endrenched. and yet: all of you way, together, in small towns and big cities. a whole bunch of you really

young. and you decided to believe. and you knocked on doors and you made phone calls and you talked to your parents who didn't know how to fro announce barac -- prs barack obama. is -- pronounce barack obama.ob and you got to know each other and you went into communities that maybe you'd never even thought about visiting. and met people that on the surface seemed completely different than you. didn't look like you or talk like you or liked the same tv programs like you. but yet when youik started talkg you found out you had something in common, in a group, and it built and people took notice. and throughout, it was infused in hope. and in 2004 it wasn't blind

optimism that drove you to do all this work. it wasn't naivete. it was hope in the face of difficulty you proved the power of hope. and throughout this process, michelle and i, we've just been your front men and women. we have been the face, sometimes the voice -- >> woodruff: we've been listening to president obama giving farewell remarks at andrews air force base. we're watching the new president in the capital in a room called the president's room where we are told he's going to be signing orders.de

we don't know the nature of them. surrounded by the bipartisan leadership of congress, senate and house. we will find out what these orders are, some of them may be routine, or have more consequence. we are waiting to see what they are. you can see his grandchildren standing next to him and i think mrs. trump is nearby. maybe that is the grandchildren of vice president pence. he and his parents are standing there. you see the democratic leader nancy pelosi. let's listen. i any our john yang might be able to shed some light on what's taking place. >> this is a tradition that started actually in 1981 by president ronald reagan going into the president's room off the senate chamber to sign executive orders. we've been told by sean spicer the now white house press

secretary that these would be four or 75 logistical orders -- four or five logistical orders,e some may have something to do with national security.at but we were told not to expect any of the substantive orders, until monday and then on through next week. >> woodruff: that clears up the little cloud of mystery over what was taking place here. barry bennett is with us who was an advisor to the trump campaign. you were telling us that hitting the ground running there's a day or two delay.or >> starting secret service protection to people, your family, top aides, who gets portal service who doesn't get portal service all that kind of stuff. >> woodruff: what is portal service? who gets picked up at their home? >> who gets picked up by military, who gets to drive their own car, that kind of

stuff. >> woodruff: david brooks this is the first time wedr have seen did new president at work.k >> yeah, i'm happier to see the grand kids now.d among all the carnage, the children. you know, he has been a little -- i think he's surprisep some of us with the quality of some of his cabinet picks, that getting beyond that have been much slower process, that there are a lot of people in the department who sed they have had trouble finding people to brief. and then on capitol hill, they have been a little slow to get some of the paperwork into some of the committees. hitting the ground running is going to be a challenge. i remember in the obama administration, trying to go see people in the early days there and it was like walking through empty hallways. the procedures we have to get people into office are just ridiculous. making the coffee, sweeping the floor, there was nobody around there. that problem is going to be

exacerbated here.ex >> woodruff: surrounding the president is the first lady, melania trump, and baron trump will stay in new york with his mother to finish out the school year. other members of the trump family standing around, speaker ryan othe far right of the screen and kevin mccarthy who is the housing majority leader, amy walter, it is logistic butbu it is interesting to watch. >> it is interesting to watch and to me the most interesting person standing had besides the person sitting the new president is paul ryan and the ride that he has been on with this election, tha has been with the election that is been fascinating. he was with him, he was against him, he was warning his members that they should distance themselves from him and now there he is standing next to a republican president.ic he has a republican house, a republican senate.

this is not something that he thought was possible. look, even open the day of the election, there was not one republican you could find in this town who thought that this was going to come true. their assumptions going in to 2017 was, they were going to have a democrat in the white house. they would have a republican house. maybe they could keep the senate, and that the world was going to look pretty much like gridlock. and now, he has a chance to actually push through an agenda that he's been putting together for years. >> woodruff: we just saw with the help of mitch mcconnell the senate majority leader on the left before they zoomed in donald trump the new president signs these documents. i'm told one of the items he's taken care of is signing the waiver that will allow general james mattos to become the secretary of defense. therese is a law many years old

that says you have to wait seven years to be out of office as a general in the military, or i should say in the military, before you can serve as secretary of defense. they're waiving them for general mattis, he's only been out of the military for four years. that is something they want to get done right away. we are told general plattis's confirmation will be done this afternoon. only one of two, ever former president-elect donald trump's nominees. >> i stand second to no one in my comiergs of jeff greenfield. but compare donald trump's speech in 2017 to fdr in 1933, fdr jeff, i was there. 46 of the 48 states, he won by 18%. it wasn't -- it wasn't at a bridge building. b

he had a compelling mandate from america. and i think it's pretty tough to make the case, when you lose by 3 million votes, the national popular vote, and you know, nevertheless, win the electoral college victory not a landslide but a victory, you know, stwand those numbers, that have been discussed here today, that this isn't the time ojust speak to the base. >> woodruff: jeff. >> well, as long as i've surprised you on that one, let me try another one on you mark. i think it's possible thatt donald trump will be an agent of change even more than rooseveltt will be one. the forces are aligned differently. reagan had a democratic house, he was facing liberal republicans, they are now on exhibit in museums. the whole republican party has

exhibited differently and the interesting thing is that trump can outsource some of that stuff to the republican party on taxes and regulation and then drivedr that party because of somethingn we haven't i don't think yet mentioned, 20 million followers on twitter inclined to believe that his version of reality is real. and that's the point i'm making. there is a powerful force this this country that wanted to send someone to washington, to up end the substantially. and -- the table. in that sense i was trying to compare, i grant that trump and roosevelt are two different people but the argue that people in power have to trade you, and a similarity, one thing that drives people to like donald trump. >> woodruff: mark did you wantdi to rebut? >> just very, very quickly. donald trump saw what nobody else saw in america or at least would not acknowledge with the exception of bernie sanders, and that was that washington and new

york and the establishment of the country had been arguing, these trade treaties are just wonderful. you don't understand the big picture, all the millions of people around the globe were being elevated out of poverty. i'm sorry that the unemployment rate in your home town is down and the people that don't have jobs and don't have futures. donald trump tapped into that in a way that the democrats missed, that the republicans missed make no mistake about it. that's why he won the nomination and the presidency. >> woodruff: you want to jump in? >> i thought jeff's question was excellent. fdr and donald trump are associated with the phrase,r forgotten man. sense of a invisibility that the trump voters were trying to express. make it up with mark, the big difference, you know, the big difference is that fdr had a party. he was governor of new york. he grew up through a party.y he had a party flanking him.i

donald trump's semi-has a party but he really doesn't have a party and that's why filling in the administration is hard because he is a much more genuine outsider that f drmplet was. that's why being an agent of change is going to be harder. >> woodruff: barry bennett, is that right, he doesn't have a matter? >> different, it's not 310 first street, it's scattered around the country.th >> woodruff: that's the home of the rnc. >> upper new hampshire, i feel your pain that moment, and i remember all my republican friends kind of snickering that it was kind of funny. you know donald trump is angry about your pain. and that is losing a mandate,n it's kind of a muscle, if you exercise it, it could be very possible. >> woodruff: lara brown. >> i want to build on what david

said and not completely walk away from what barry is saying. i think it's important when you look at donald trump who actually looked at jimmy carter, i've said this before but it is very true that jimmy carter swept through a nomination race in 1976, that surprised a heck of a lot of democrats who were in congress who were from all around the country really believing that they were going to win that nomination and take their party to influence heights after sort of wawrt gait and ford's administration not really solving any problems. -- watergate, and ford's administration. be cearts got into problems with his own party. i think this is very real that the this honeymoon appears to be much more of an arranged marriage than it comes off of willing partners being marriedri and happily enjoying.en >> but the partisanship is much

stronger than it was in the 70' and the 40s.th this is the fewest number since 1916 of voters who split their ticket between a senate candidate and presidential candidate. went 92%, you voted for republican for president youyo vote for republican for the senate, democrats for the senate. in the last election, i'm sure they're similar, only 6% of the voters split their ticket. both parties are diverse ideologically and regionally they are drawn. >> and karine jean-pierre aboutu >> and you can hold up on these repealing of obamacare and other things like that. i just wanted to say really quickly. january 21st of 2009 i went

into the department of labor as a white house liaison and i was the first and only political appointee there. >> woodruff: personal point. as we watch them begin this luncheon on the hill we want to tell you that wraps up our coverage of the morning and early afternoon events. you can continue to watch our continuing coverage online, pbs.org/newshour and we are live streaming with our exclusive social media partner, inauguration.twitter.com. for those ofer you who want to stay with the television this afternoon, we're going to back at 2:00 p.m. eastern, our william branham will be leading our coverage of the inauguration of donald trump about i will be back later when the parade festivities begin.fe thank you for joining us on behalf of all of us.

♪ ♪ (cheering and applause) is >> funding for this program >> funding for this program has been provided by: d >> bnsf railway. >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. >> xq institute >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting.or and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

male announcer: a full list of contributors is available by contacting the producer. [gentle instrumental music] ♪ [sheep bleating]

♪ - in the springtime, when it is deemed that the valley is ready, we drive the horses to the mountains, and we leave them there for the summer.

- [speaking icelandic] - not less significant is that you are taking the horses, and you are allowing them to be totally free. [horses whinnying] in the fall, the owners are basically collecting them. they're making sure that they're going

to the highlands, to the moors-- wherever there are wild horses-- and taking them back home. [men shouting] - the owners are gathering them together in pens.

- i have one horse that i have to pick up, and she has one horse. - i have one horse. - yeah. two. so... [giggles] and we have to get them home. - rounding up and herding horses in the fall is

usually one of the best weekends of the year. - this is what we live for. - yes. - yes. - basically. - i live a very typical urban life, and it was great to be riding a horse somewhere in the wilderness, and you felt that you were actually doing something purposeful.

[radio beeps] [radio beeps] [radio beeps] - [shouting] hey! [men shouting in icelandic]

[dog barking] - yeah, it's very interesting to stay here, out in nowhere, and feel how the horse are relaxed... and have enough to eat. some 20 years ago, i didn't have enough money to pay my bills, but one day, i came home and said to my wife, "i bought a horse. "i promise i will sell it in august before i have to pay it." [chuckles] and i could do that,

but then she say, "no." we keep the mare. and we move from reykjavik to hella, sell our house in reykjavik, and buy cheaper house in hella to keep this mare. she is the head of my breeding today, and she is 27 years old, has given me 19 foals, of that is 12 mares. so i have enough to work out. - when i was younger, i, of course, heard about the story of the mare, but i never knew that we move to hella because of it. i'd be living in the city now if it wouldn't be for her. in some ways, it would be much more fun. though, when i think about it, if i grew up in the city, i wouldn't be

as much of a country child as i am. i'm jona, and i'm gudmund's daughter. i'm 15, and i've been riding since i was just few months old. i do pretty much everything you can do with horses. i travel. i compete. also training young horses and bareback riding. - my daughter is helping me a lot and training with me. now it's good to have a young one to help me and start with the young horses. she usually go the first steps. - i really can't imagine life without horses. i ride every day. after school, i go to the stables, and i'm there until evening, and so i don't know what i would be doing

with my spare time if i wouldn't have horses. i don't know what people do in the day. i guess they just hang out or something. maybe go to the pool or something; i don't know. [dogs barking] ♪

- my name is gudlaug jonsdottir. i am... not the wife, but-- i don't know what i am. [laughs] we are not married, but we have been together almost ten years.

we are a couple, although our age difference is quite a lot, but we love each other, and we help each other, and our horses go together. i have my horses, and he has a lot more. it's a very good cooperation between us and a very good friendship also. today we gathered our horses to take out three mares that are supposed to be pregnant. we have to have them ultrasound checked. - [speaking icelandic]

you can see that she's pregnant. - you can see that? oh... sometimes the foals which are sold stay with us for two or three years for upbringing, because people like their horses to be brought up in iceland. because they can't have this freedom where they're all in small fences and cannot move a lot like here. the freedom and mountains, how much they can move, that's why they become this special character.

- when the viking came to iceland, they were not on so big ships, so they were not able to bring many horses with them. so they have to take what was the best, and, of course, it must have been very good horses they brought to iceland.

- i think, personally, for me, a horse needs to have a real strong character, a good gait, and-- and be moody.

like, he leaves you alone when you want to but always comes to you and is your friend. everything that scandal has. [chuckles] i have a horse today that's my favorite horse. and his name is scandat. that means "scandal." we have not always been quite friends. [speaking icelandic] he was always throwing me off and running with me and... hey... and then just, things started to work. and today i can do everything i want with him. i--he's like one of my greatest friends. [speaking icelandic] - yeah. her interest is with horses,

but maybe it's the danger when you have a kid who is interest to horses. don't press too much on them, because i think, in a way, i lost my boys from the horses because i was putting too much pressure on them-- working and doing that way or the other way. it has to be more fun. [all speaking icelandic] - the other day, out in the field, me and my father were talking about horses, and he was asking me about

if this horse would be this, or, "no, is it alda?" - are you asking me, "do icelanders slaughter their horses?" if that is your question, then the answer would be yes. as mean as it sounds, it is necessary for anyone that is in a breeding business, whether they're sheeps or whatever it is, and if we would not do this and we would follow this very romantic idea of just, you know, letting it graze here somewhere, very quickly, we would not have enough land. we would not be able to feed them all, and they would starve to death.

we try to maintain a few horses, not too many, that we can actually take care of in a good manner and in a good way. [sheep bleating]

- i did shoe a lot earlier, when i was stronger in my body. then i could shoe up to 20 horses per day. today, i try to get the quality better and better work, and i don't have a body to shoe more than four or five horses per day because of my back. i'm getting tired. - my father has always been riding with me, and he has got me into this.

- i'm getting too old. i cannot do it without-- i hope she's not getting old, 'cause she is flying away. [laughs] - i just don't feel like i want to only breed horses in the future. i want to have some other job and... more just ride horses in my spare time. it's not that i don't love horses enough. it's just that there are other things i'd like to do. people just work with horses, and it's not their passion anymore. - i would be a liar if i say i always am pleased with all my horses

and all my-- all everything, but... i'm not sad because of my way of life. i love it. it's difficult to explain. it's some kind of satisfaction in my life, because riding on good horse in good weather, especially in the summer night when it's bright all night, you can hear the birds, and when it's getting darker, for one or two hour, they stop, and they fell asleep, and when they start again because the sun is coming up, that is the moment. i've never had an ice cream or anything what is so good. [laughs] [cheerful melody playing] ♪

[crowd singing]

[all singing in icelandic] ♪ announcer: to purchase herd in iceland, please visit herdiniceland.com.

a full list of contributors is available by contacting the producer.

tonight... man: big burn destroys an area the size of connecticut in 36 hours. man: the only way to fight fires in 1910 was with hand tools. man: the forest service is only five years old. they have never fought a big fire. they see this wall of flames creeping toward them. they think, "this is the end." "the big burn" on american experience. nasa announcer: lift-off, the clock is running. pilot: we have mass casualties up here. ringside announcer: schmeling is down!

ican experience is provided by: the american roadtrip, still one of the best ways to see the country: giving you the freedom to go where you want, stop where you please, and make as many memories as you possibly can. for over 100 years, we've built auto coverage to help americans enjoy their journeys. liberty mutual insurance is a proud sponsor of american experience. major funding for american experience is provided by... the alfred p. sloan foundation, supporting original research and public understanding of science, technology, and economics. additional funding for "the big burn" is provided by the kendeda fund,

investing in transformative leaders and ideas. american experience is also made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪

narrator: on august 19, 1910, an assistant forest ranger named ed pulaski rode out of the smoke-filled bitterroot mountains that loomed over the town of wallace, idaho. for months he and his crew had been fighting wildfires in the bitterroots, but despite all of their efforts, he was afraid the town was going to burn. timothy egan: ed pulaski comes down and sees his wife and sees his adopted daughter, elsie, and says, "leave. "you've got to get out. you've got to leave to save your life." she says, "no, i'm going to stay here." and so he tells her to go up and hide in this reservoir. if it really gets bad, they can go in the water. so, the next day they go out to the edge of the trail there, kiss and say goodbye and thinking it'll be the last time they'll see each other. narrator: that afternoon, without warning, the wind began to blow,

and flaming embers shot down from the sky, igniting buildings. within minutes, wallace was ablaze. desperate residents tried to salvage their belongings. women and children were loaded onto the last train out of town. the roar of the wind and flames was overwhelming, the air so hot it was hard to breathe. the biggest wildfire to ever hit the northern rockies had begun. egan: the big burn destroys an area the size of connecticut in 36 hours. we've never had anything close to it. narrator: it was an inferno that not only transformed the landscape of the west, but forever changed the nation's attitudes about its public lands. steve pyne: the great fires in the northern rockies

hit the u.s. forest service in ways that rippled through society. the army call-out, the political fits over strategy... it's all slammed together in one giant package. that made them great. narrator: it was a story of arrogance and pride, a belief that nature could be managed and fire brought under control. michael kodas: there was an attitude that if there's something wrong in the forest, we can go in there and fix it. it was almost as if wildfire was this beast that we can actually hunt down and eradicate. narrator: the selfless courage of a small group of men would inspire the nation, but questions would linger about whether their sacrifice had all been in vain. pyne: we can celebrate them as people of their time and era who played out fully the roles that the culture ascribed to them and yet admit that it would have been better

if we'd done something else. it's a time of catastrophe, a time of change, a time of coming up with a new vision. if you look at the landscape, the scars of 1910 are still there. ♪ narrator: in the flea-bitten collection of ramshackle buildings known as taft, montana, college graduates were about as rare as an honest poker game. so the locals took notice when, in the early spring of 1907, a group of fresh-faced rangers from the united states forest service stepped off the train. the recent arrivals had come to manage some of the newly created national reserves in the west, but nothing had prepared them for a place like taft--

a boisterous, brawling row of gambling parlors, whorehouses and saloons. one reporter called it "the wickedest city in america." pyne: you've got these temporary communities, particularly along the railroad. lots of loose women, lots of loose men, lots of bums, people under assumed names. there's just this whole throng out there. how do you impose some kind of order on this process, which had been characterized by almost complete chaos? egan: taft had a higher murder rate than chicago and five prostitutes for every man, they said, and when the rangers showed up, they were horrified. they cabled back to forest service headquarters, saying, "two undesirable prostitutes setting up business on forest service land. what should we do?" and someone cabled back, "get two desirable ones."

narrator: the newly minted rangers had been sent west by the founder of the forest service, an aloof, hard-driving bureaucrat with an almost missionary zeal for the management of america's public domain. in less than a decade, gifford pinchot had parlayed his family's wealth and social connections, a passionate love of trees and a deft hand at politics to become america's preeminent forester. egan: pinchot is one of the most fascinating characters, not just in american conservation, but in american history. he was a patrician. he was a very odd duck. he preferred to sleep on rocks than a soft bed. he was an ascetic. but he had a vision. even though he was the product of a family that made their money in clear-cutting forests, he became, you know, one of the founding figures of saving forests.

char miller: for pinchot, nature was really a place of respite. it's where you went to just forget other things and become whole and become safe and in that process come to know yourself. narrator: pinchot had forged friendships with some influential men in the growing conservation movement, in particular the famous naturalist john muir. "you are choosing the right way into the woods," muir told the young man. "you will never regret a single day spent thus." pinchot also developed a rapport with the young governor of new york, theodore roosevelt, a bond strengthened by their love of the wildness of nature and a boyish thrill at testing themselves against it. when roosevelt ascended to the white house in 1901,

he brought pinchot into the inner circle of his administration. the two men were determined to seize the mantle of conservation and radically rethink how the nation managed its estate. up until the late 19th century, the country had done its best to develop its open spaces-- encouraging the wholesale harvesting of timber, industrial mining on a vast scale, the blasting of railroads through the mountains and across the continent. alfred runte: for over a century, their country has given its land away and theodore roosevelt and gifford pinchot are calling a halt to that. they're basically saying, "we're going to change the way we look at the future." narrator: roosevelt and pinchot were worried that unless they acted quickly to protect america's last great stands of white pine, spruce and fir,

the forces of unbridled capitalism would devour them once and for all. pyne: timber was really a critical industrial product and we were going to run out, much like an oil crisis in present times. so the solution was to regulate this unsettled land as a public domain that would then be governed by scientific informed bureaus, and this would allow us to conserve it, not lock it up, but to use it in some kind of rational regulated way. narrator: their progressive vision imagined a new kind of commonwealth-- national forests, controlled by an enlightened corps of rangers, overseeing not just the timber, but also the minerals, the water and the wildlife for the benefit of all americans. a national forest is not a pristine sanctuary,

it is a utilized landscape. so, it's a different model than a national park. you can hunt on it, you can graze on it, you can mine on it. its purpose is to be managed. narrator: previous presidents had already set aside large swaths of public land, but roosevelt went much further, radically expanding america's national forests. then, in 1905, he placed them under the control of the bureau of forestry, now called the u.s. forest service, with pinchot in charge. an: at one point, roosevelt and pinchot are on the floor of the white house, maps spread out all over, and they are mapping out future united states forests, and roosevelt says, "oh, god, have you ever been up in the flathead valley? i had a bully time there once." he goes, "we've got to include that." in roosevelt and pinchot's time, they tripled the acreage

of the national forests. so you have 200 million acres under the range of the forest service, bigger than most european countries. narrator: now, the idealistic group of young men that constituted pinchot's forest service were given the task of briing their new conservationist vision to some of the wildest parts of the american west. one of pinchot's first hires was william greeley, the hard-working son of a congregational minister from upstate new york, who had spent a summer in the saddle alongside pinchot, marking some of the first surveys of the new national forests. "we were privileged to become pinchot's rangers," greeley remembered. "we had the thrill of building utopia and were a bit starry-eyed over it." pinchot returned the sentiment.

he asked the 29-year-old greeley to oversee nearly 30 million acres, covering most of montana, idaho and parts of south dakota. each of the 160 rangers under greeley would be responsible for almost 300 square miles of national forest. miller: pinchot gave them a mission. he gave them a sense of calling, a sense that the world could be changed through their own work and then let them go out to the west and work on these extraordinary landscapes. egan: they called what they were doing "the great crusade." in some ways, it was a religious crusade to them. they were doing god's work to preserve the earth. narrator: pinchot was known as "the chief," or "gp," and the rangers so admired his leadership that they welcomed the nickname "little gps." "he made us feel like soldiers in a patriotic cause,"

one of his first students remembered. charles williams: pinchot expected the gps to go out and practice forestry the way they'd been taught, full of innovation, energy, and they were up for the job. but what made their job difficult were the people that they encountered in these towns-- the roustabouts, workers in the timber industry, in the mines and railroads. egan: it was a great, great culture clash. forest rangers were not popular at all. they were considered outsiders. even though this was public land, people still felt they could do as they wanted to with it. runte: the rangers are in charge of people who do not want the forest service to be there. because the ranger is indeed standing between the frontier mentality and the resource, standing between what the frontier wants for the moment

and what gifford pinchot believes the country needs for the future. narrator: as they squared off to do battle over national forests, both sides would be humbled by one implacable foe-- nature itself. egan: fire is the last wild element of the west that hasn't been controlled. every wolf is gone. they've exterminated the grizzly bear. they're all gone. so what's left is fire. and it's important to understand how fire is perceived at the time.

the public, they fear it because these are wooden towns going up at every railroad stop all over the west. they really fear it. runte: there were a lot of steam comotives in the west and they were passing through these timbered areas causing forest fires. egan: when they come through, sparks go off. and the railroads aren't putting out these fires. they go to the forest service and say, "well it's your land, we're only coming through. you've got to put these things out." pyne: you don't have roads, you don't have trails. it may take you a couple days to even find a fire. i mean the thought that these rangers could even begin to cope with this, it just staggers the imagination. what were they thinking of?

egan: fire fighting was a very, very primitive science. they were learning as they went along. michael kodas: the only way to fight fires in 1910 was with hand tools. you basically were in there with an axe or a hoe or a rake or, you know, whatever you could get your hands on. pyne: you were building what we would call a fire line now. you're cutting a path, clearing it of all debris. some parts, say three or four feet would be completely down to mineral soil so no fire could cross. this is just brutal grunt labor. you're just digging, chopping, scraping and moving on.

narration: as primitive as fire fighting was at the turn of the century, gifford pinchot believed it was an essential part of his new department's mission. fire threatened the nation's timber, the very resource he and his rangers existed to protect, and they had to extinguish it at all costs. but pinchot had another reason tombrace a war against fire. he saw in it the key to his organization's survival. ever since the creation of the forest service, timber and mining barons-- many of whom also had seats in congress-- had attempted to slash the agency's staff and budget at every turn, determined to starve it out of existence.

pinchot needed a weapon to fight back. runte: gifford pinchot understands how dramatic fire is. if you have something dramatic, then you can find a reason for the u.s. forest service to exist. pinchot argues, well, "who's going to protect these lands if we don't? "the railroads aren't protecting them. we have to protect them." pyne: pinchot is very smart, perceptive, well educated, but he was also deeply political and he knew that fire was the most graphic and simplest way to convey the message about forest destruction and the need for some kind of organized protection. narrator: in speeches, articles and testimony in front of congress, pinchot made his case in starkly moral terms. "the question of forest fires, like the question of slavery, "may be shelved for a time, at enormous cost in the end,

but sooner or later, it must be faced." egan: he stakes everything on the idea that we can control fire. though they'd never fought a fire before. that's what's so interesting. the forest service is only five years old in 1910. they have never fought a big fire. and it's almost like he's asking for it. it's almost like hubris-- "nature, bring it on." narrator: by the early summer of 1910, bill greeley was sleepless with worry. from his headquarters in missoula, he was monitoring the millions of acres under his control,

and everywhere the news was bad. 1908 had been a very dry year, and 1909, worse still, but nothing could have prepared the forest service for the drought that befell the northern rockies in 1910. egan: it's a dry summer. it had been a wet, snowy spring, but then, a switch went off in may and it did not rain. all of may, no rain. all of june, no rain. all of july, no rain. the forest is tinder dry. you walk over the thing, it's like potato chips crinkling walking on the ground. narrator: in a cable to his men, greeley implored them to "strengthen the patrol and retain a strong guard." the humidity, he warned, "had dropped to the level of the mojave desert."

for many of the new rangers, fresh from their elite universities, the drought-stricken terrain of montana and idaho felt like an alien world. not so for ed pulaski. he was two decades older than most of the others, having roamed the west since he was 16, working as a master carpenter and blacksmith, a plumber, millworker and steamfitter, mining for copper in montana and silver in idaho. he'd kicked around all over, he's middle aged, he's sort of washed up, but he's a man of all trades. he's a man of the people, too. he, you know, really relates to folks. he's done everything a western man will do at that time. narrator: although he lacked a formal education from back east, pulaski had mastered the curriculum of the forest. he knew the mountains in his bones, and he knew how to survive in the wilderness. he was a man of few words, but when he spoke,

the locals learned to listen. pyne: in 1908, pulaski joined the forest service and became the ranger at wallace. he was on his second marriage with emma. they adopted a daughter named elsie, who was seven or eight at the time. so, he's a settled guy, he's got a house in town and he's responsible for what happens in the field. (thunder) narrator: late in the evening of july 26, 1910, ed pulaski awoke to hear the heavens unleash a deafening, almost continuous volley of thunder. it was what he had feared most, a violent electrical storm, bolt after bolt of lightning and no rain. by the next morning, nearly 1,000 fires were burning

across 22 national forests in the northern rockies. the blazes threatened the string of railroad towns that extended westward from missoula, ending with the miserable collection of tents and tarpaper shacks that constituted taft. on the idaho side of the bitterroots, along the southern spur of the railroad, the hardscrabble hamlet of avery looked vulnerable, as did wallace, the biggest town in the region, to the north. with only 160 rangers in the field, the biggest test of the new forest service was at hand, but as the little gps rushed to marshal their forces, they did so without the help of their founder and leader. gifford pinchot had been fired. the forest service chief had clashed repeatedly with theodore roosevelt's successor, william howard taft,

convinced that the new president lacked the appropriate commitment to the conservationist crusade. finally, their quarrels became so contentious and so public that taft had no choice but to force pinchot to step aside. the day after his dismissal, pinchot had arrived at the agency's office in washington to find his organization in shock. trying to rally the faithful, he proclaimed, "you are engaged in a piece of work that lies "at the foundation of the new patriotism of conservation. "don't let the srit of the service decline one-half inch. stay in the service, stick to the work." he was greeted with a thunderous ovation. back in the northern rockies, however, the rangers

urgently needed men on the ground. but men willing to fight fires were in short supply. maclean: in the summer of 1910, you had a forest service that only had fewer than 500 rangers nationwide, but they knew that they were going to get in a lot of trouble that summer, and so they opened the coffers and they said, "go out and hire everybody you can find." egan: the forest rangers assembled an army of men, most of them immigrants. they paid them 25 cents an hour, and the immigrants came from all over. they are putting out the call. "we're going to fight this thing. we are going to attack these hundreds of fires." it's 100 degrees, it's dry, it's dusty. it's on really tough vertical terrain. a lot of people suffed injuries, they quit, they mutinied. at one point they literally said, "men, men, men." they opened the jails of missoula, montana.

they let felons out, convicted murderers, some guys who had their handcuffs on when they were sent out to the front lines. so, any male with a pulse was thrown against this fire. narrator: by early august, bill greeley had managed to assemble as many as 4,000 men on the fire lines, but with new blazes breaking out all the time, the local labor pool was quickly exhausted, and a call went out to washington for help. president taft at first resisted the idea of committing federal resources to the west, but the situation in the rockies became so dire and the press criticism of his dithering so unrelenting, that on august 7 he finally decided to act. williams: taft realized that if he didn't do something, he was going to get blamed for a huge loss of life, not to mention property.

so he authorized the secretary ofar to put the army in. narrator: taft sent a total of 4,000 troops to the rockies, including seven companies from the 25th infantry, known as the buffalo soldiers. the town of wallace, idaho, had never seen anything like them. williams: the buffalo soldiers were the first african-american men to serve as peacetime soldiers in the professional army. they served all over the american southwest. they protected railroad workers and fought indians. you name it, they did it. this is the first time they were ever sent to fight a fire. and they're sent to a very white area, almost doubling the black population of the state of idaho. and so when this all-black platoon comes and sets up camp, people scoff at them, people say racist things about them. the newspapers say they play cards and drink all night. they say, "what can a black man possibly know

about fighting a fire?" but it turns out, what happened with the buffalo soldiers is a tale that should go down in american military history. (thunder) narrator: by the second week of august, another electrical storm had more than doubled the number of fires, to 2,500. but with thousands of fire fighters and soldiers now assembled to fight them, the little gps had reason to hope they might prevail, if only the fall rains would arrive in time. egan: the forest rangers, they're feeling pretty good. they're feeling like, "we've tackled most of these fires. "we've contained most of them. "no towns have been destroyed. no lives have been lost." they still feel like, as pinchot said, "man himself can control fire." they still feel like they're going to win this thing.

narrator: for weeks, ed pulaski had been riding up and down a ridgeline in the coeur d'alene forest of northern idaho, trying to keep his men under control as they hacked fire lines through the brush. egan: pulaski is with some men up on this ridge. one side of it is this bustling mining town of wallace. the other side of it is this railroad town of avery. their job is to keep the thing from destroying the towns. narrator: pulaski had 150 men under his command, and they were a ragtag group, with only a handful of experienced woodsmen among them. after days of backbreaking labor in the intense heat, his crew was exhausted. egan: smoke comes and settles in the valleys where the towns are.

it's all around you. the air is still, but you can't see more than 20 feet ahead of yourself. narrator: as night began to fall and in pressing need of supplies, pulaski headed back to wallace. despite everything he had done, he was still worried the town was going to burn. on the morning of august 20, after spending a few precious hours with emma and elsie, pulaski reminded them of their escape plan to the reservoir, then led a mule team with supplies back up the west fork of placer creek, past hillsides pockmarked with old mineshafts and abandoned tunnels, now barely visible in the thick smoke. by late afternoon, a soft breeze began to sway the tops of the white pine and spruce. by 5:00 p.m., it had freshened to 20 miles per hour,

then 30, and suddenly hurricane force winds of 70 miles per hour were hurtling out of the west, fanning the flames of thousands of fires like an enormous bellows, merging everything into one gigantic blaze. the big burn had begun. egan: the number one goal when the thing blows up is to save the towns. biggest of those is wallace. wallace is a town set at the bottom of a narrow valley.

so as this fusillade of giant embers comes down, one of them hits one of the newspapers there, the press solvents that are used to put out the newspaper. and the thing goes up in a boom. it then hits a brewery. the brewery goes up in a ball. the mayor declares martial law. it's utter panic. there's one train left that's going to get out. it's going to go west to spokane, 109 miles away. williams: the idea was to take the elderly, women and children and put them on the train and have the men remain and fight the fire. but a lot of these upstanding men tried to nudge their way onto the train. but in most cases they were met with a soldier with a bayonet who said,

"no, sir, you're going to have to stay and help fight this fire." narrator: "words cannot depict the horror of that night," recalled one witness. "the train whistles were screaming, "the heavy boom of falling trees, the buildings swaying and steaming from the heat." as glowing cinders had begun to cascade around their house, emma pulaski had taken her daughter elsie and fled to the rock pile by the edge of the reservoir, just as ed had instructed. the flames were leaping from one mountain to the other, encircling wallace in a ring of fire. somewhere in that terrifying whirlwind was her husband. "ask god to save daddy and his men," she told her daughter.

narrator: the big burn swept eastward across the rocky mountains, picking up speed, consuming everything in its path. egan: when this thing blew up and moved its way up into the bitterroots and bounced around in these peaks, it became a weather system of its own. it is a beast in search of oxygen, it is a beast in search of fuel. pyne: the fire is drafting in on its own winds, sucking it in like a kind of hurricane. trees are just tossed down, jack-strawed in circles. narrator: moving as fast as a horse could run, the fire was a cauldron of gases and explosive heat, a convection engine, pulling air into its vortex and shooting it skyward, a relentless wall of incendiary mayhem. maclean: with only a handful of experienced leaders

and a handful of experienced woodsmen, you're in a catastrophe. narrator: up in the forests above wallace, pulaski and his men were suddenly face-to-face with a firestorm. pyne: ed pulaski comes out of wallace with his pack string of supplies, finds people scattered all over the hillside up in the ridge top where he left them, and realizes that they're in deep trouble. narrator: confronting a wall of flame racing towards them in the gathering darkness, all thought of opposition evaporated, and the men began to panic. firebrands whistled through the forest.

the wind staggered them. huge trees came crashing down on all sides. then, one fire fighter remembered, "out of the smoke came pulaski, waving his arms, "hollering, 'come on! come on! follow me.'" egan: this thing is coming toward them really quickly. people fall behind, people get injured, people get burned, people get stepped on. embers, giant embers are coming down. it's like artillery coming down. narrator: pulaski led his 44 men through the inferno, until at last, he came to one of the old mining shafts along the creek. "in here," he ordered, his hand on his sidearm, "everyone inside the tunnel."

egan: they're in this tunnel and they see this wall of flames creeping toward them while they're cowering. this fire is consuming oxygen, but to leave the cave is certain death. they think this is the end. narrator: in desperation, pulaski soaked some blankets in water from the floor of the cave and hung them across the entrance, but the flames seared his hands and the superheated air scorched his lungs. behind him, the men crammed together in the intense heat and darkness, struggling to find enough air. pyne: one guy says, "to hell with this, i'm getting out of here," and starts to leave.

and pulaski pulls his pistol and threatens to shoot anybody who leaves. egan: pulaski has done everything he can to save this crew. burned all over his face. his hands, skin's peeled off on his hands. and he passes out at the head of this cave. maclean: once the fire had passed the mine, some of the men started to get up and they looked at the figure of pulaski lying at the mouth and they said, "my god, the boss is dead." egan: turns out pulaski's not dead, he's alive. pyne: he was temporarily blinded. his lungs were trashed, but he was able to get himself

to his feet. they inspected the cave. five had died and they had lost one man on the run to the cave. narrator: barely able to see, ed pulaski managed to gather his men together, and they staggered through the still smoldering landscape, down the mountain trail to wallace. as the fiery tempest moved past pulaski's cave and bore down on the railroad towns to the east, bill greeley was desperate for information about the men under his command. as reports trickled in across telegraph wires,

the magnitude of the catastrophe began to become clear. 18 men were incinerated when they took refuge in a settler's cabin. a crew of 28 were battling the blaze near the st. joe river when firebrands jumped ahead of them and cut them off. they were never seen again. the gamblers and prostitutes of taft refused to fight the fire, preferring instead to open up their best kegs of whiskey for one last round of debauchery. when the eternal flames finally arrived, rangers evacuated the drunken revelers and taft was consumed in minutes. (train whistle blows) by the afternoon of august 20, almost 24 hours into the big burn, the railroad town of avery had been successfully evacuated by the buffalo soldiers. now, the troops and the few men left in town

found themselves facing a wall of steadily advancing flames. boarding one last train to the east, they raced across trestles already ablaze, through a furnace so hot the paint melted off the outside of the railcars. then the fire jumped ahead and blocked their way. with nowhere else to go, they were forced back to avery. williams: they realized, "if we can't turn this fire, "it's going to burn up not only the city, it's going to burn us up, too." narrator: at 11:00 that night, with the conflagration only half a mile away, the buffalo soldiers lit a backfire and held their breath. pyne: if you time a fire correctly and you light it in front of the main fire, then those flames from the smaller fire will be sucked in. maclean: if there's no fuel left to burn, then there's no place for this fire to go. the forward motion of it will be stopped. narrator: "plunging at each other like two living animals,

"the flames met with a roar that must have been heard miles away," remembered one ranger. "the tongues of fire seemed to leap up to heaven itself and after an instant's seething sank to nothingness." miraculously, avery was still standing. williams: after the town was saved, newspapers were busy interviewing everybody and one account in avery made the comment that, "my whole attitude about the black race has changed "as a result of what i've seen and witnessed from these fellows." narrator: emma and elsie pulaski spent the terrifying night on the rock pile, watching wallace burn.

as the flames receded and a feeble morning sun tried to burn through the smoke and haze, they trudged back towards town. the entire eastern side of wallace was a smoking ruin, but their house, to their amazement, was still standing. then emma heard that a man had staggered out of the mountains with the news that ed pulaski and all his men had perished. a few hours later came another report that ed was alive, but horribly disfigured and near death. finally, around 10:00 in the morning, emma looked down the road and saw a man leading someone with bandages on his head and hands. as he walked unsteadily towards her, she recognized the burned and battered face of her husband.

ed pulaski had come home. egan: what finally muffles what's left of the big burn is an early season snowstorm. snow can happen anytime in the rocky mountains, but you don't expect it in the end of august, early september. pyne: the crews, the townsfolk, everybody just went out and just sat in the rain and the snow and let it wash them over and wash away all the grime and the fear, the horror of the days. narrator: as the atmosphere finally cleared in the northern rockies, the true nature of the devastation became apparent. more than three million acres of forest had burned,

and greeley estimated that a billion dollars worth of timber had been lost. the winds were so strong, entire sections of the forest had been flattened, huge trees spread out like kindling. soot from the fires darkened sunss f ay as boston, and a layer of ash blackened the ice in greenland. the human toll was equally appalling. one of the startling things that happened in 1910 were all the dead fire fighters. there were 78 during the big blowup and this had never happened before. they had no idea what to do. there's no worker's comp. there's nothing to pay for their expenses. there's no burial money. they simply don't know what to do. egan: the survivors go to these hospitals and they patch them up. but what happens afterwards is horrible. one of them commits suicide. others die months or a few years later and they weren't even credited

as part of the official casualty toll because their lungs were so badly compromised by how much smoke they breathed in. they die at 28, 29 years old from the smoke of the big burn, which kills them six months after the fact. narrator: before the smoke had even cleared from the mountains, the debate over the lessons of the big burn began. egan: gifford pinchot has two reactions to it. the first thing is horror, because remember, he said this hubristic thing saying man himself can control fire. nature has proved him utterly wrong. so he's horrified by this thing. he's horrified by the loss of life. but he also has a second reaction. and this is indicative of all great political figures. pinchot uses the fire as part of a narrative about american heroes, that these forest rangers gave their lives, risked everything for public land, for national forests.

and all the newspapers write these stories. it's one of the first times in our history that fire fighters join the pantheon of american heroes. pyne: the critics of the forest service say, "look, you guys had everything you wanted. "it didn't work. we knew it wouldn't work, so you lost." but pinchot argued that, "no, we just didn't have enough "to really give it a full test. "and we need to honor those who died by seeing their vision completed." egan: but what should have been their lowest ebb turns out to be their creation myth. so much public support arises for the forest service and the national forests that it has the effect of pushing public policy. what had been a reluctant congress now gives the forest service the resources it needs,

doubling the budget, and eventually creates national forests in the east-- in pennsylvania, mississippi, virginia. narrator: as the agency grew under the stewardship of men like william greeley, putting out fires became almost an institutional obsession. egan: nothing affects the culture of the forest service more than this fire. they become sort of a municipal fire service of national forests. only you can prevent forest fires. narrator: in the decades after the big burn, the agency's uncompromising stand on fire would serve the forest service well, but its impact on the national forests would be fraught with unintended consequences. miller: i think the fundamental dilemma

with the fire suppression policy that pinchot advocated was in the end, it was the wrong policy for the land. it may have been the right policy for the agency, but it's the wrong policy for the environment. kodas: fighting fires in the wilderness was not only futile, but it was really not healthy for the forest. if you have a landscape that normally would burn every 20 years and you put out every fire in that forest for 100 years, you now have five times more fuel in that forest than you normally would. the medicine that we were giving was worse than the disease. egan: by putting out every fire for 100 years, they created, indirectly, what are now some of the greatest wildfires. but imagine now if this fire had not happened. they might have killed the forest service.

and with it would have gone the idea that's so embraced by a majority of americans today, that we have more than 500 million acres that is all of ours, that belongs to each of us. by saving the fledgling idea of conservation, then only a few years old, this fire did save a larger part of america. narrator: in the end, ed pulaski could never escape the big burn. he lived on with emma in wallace, remaining what he had always been, a quiet man who loved the mountains of the west. crippled by the flames that had seared his eyes and lungs, he kept on working for the forest service until 1929, stubbornly petitioning the government for compensation for his wounds

and for money to care for the simple graves of those who had fallen. he also never stopped using his hands and crafted a tool with a hoe on one end and an ax on the other. it was so perfectly designed that fire fighters around the world never again did battle without what came to be known as a pulaski by their side. ican experience is provided by: the american roadtrip, still one of the best ways to see the country: giving you the freedom to go where you want, stop where you please, and make as many memories as you possibly can. for over 100 years, we've built auto coverage to help americans enjoy their journeys.

liberty mutual insurance is a proud sponsor of american experience. major funding for american experience is provided by... the alfred p. sloan foundation, supporting original research and public understanding of science, technology, and economics. additional funding for "the big burn" is provided by the kendeda fund, investing in transformative leaders and ideas. american experience is also made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

there's more american experience online at pbs.org, where you can find out how to join the discussion on facebook and twitter. american experience: "the big burn" is available on dvd. to order, vit shoppbs.org or call 1-800-play-pbs. american experience is also available for download on itunes. captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

steves: many of london's top sights front the river thames, which has become a transportation thoroughfare for tourists. we're sailing from westminster under big ben to the tower of london, enjoying an informative narration with the views. man: somerset house, built over 200 years ago as a private residence for the earls and dukes of somerset. steves: tower bridge looks medieval, but it was actually built with a steel skeleton in 1894 in full medieval style to match its famous neighbor just a few steps away. the tower of london goes back to the norman conquest. william, duke of normandy, became william the conqueror when he crossed the english channel in 1066 and took the throne of england. to help establish his rule, he had this awesome -- and really awesome in its day -- fortress built. its purpose -- put 15 feet of stone between him and his new subjects.

this original tower, the white tower, gave the castle complex its name. the style of the age was romanesque, which the english call norman, for the invaders who imported it. this charming chapel of st. john, dating to 1080 and one of the oldest in england, provides a rare look at pure norman architecture -- round roman-style arches and thick walls. you'll see an intimidating collection of medieval weaponry and armor. your entry includes a peek at the most dazzling crown jewels in europe -- no cameras allowed -- and an entertaining tour with one of the yeoman warders, or "beefeaters." man: please do note, this is still a royal palace, although no longer a royal residence. we should not lose sight of the fact that all of our kings and queens,

they lived here for more than 500 years. steves: the tower marks the oldest part of london, a district called "the city." today this is the financial center of britain. but these days, bank headquarters fill shiny skyscrapers, and many of the elegant original bank buildings survive as fancy pubs, their vaults now filled with kegs of real english ale. in pubs, you order at the bar. lager is the cold, carbonated, american-style beer. ales and bitters are the more traditional english choice. only confused tourists leave a tip. while the tube takes me on long jaunts underground, buses are great for quick hops, and, when armed with my cheap all-day transit pass, buses work perfectly for hopping on and off between sights. take advantage of public transit and london gets much easier.

. >> rose: welcome to the program. we take a look ahead this evening to the inauguration of president-elect donald trump and talk to kathleen parker, jeffrey goldberg, jeff green feemed and john meacham. >> i expect to hear notes of bind up the wounds. i want to be president of all the people. but i also expect him to draw, an i think you should, a sharp line, no more begs as usual,-- no more business as usual, you elected me to drain the swamp. you elected me to change the culture of washington. kind of like what obama said but in a much more militant way. and i do think, i expect to hear him say things like that. what i-- what i devoutly hope among other things is that he does not ad lib, this isn't an inaugural address, this isn't a