Does include an address to the incoming administration. The plan is to release it sometime today, along with a long list of pardons which includes a corruptor and a rapper with gun charges. President trump ignores the pandemic. You see those flags right there . The president elect today visits that National Mall memorial, a tribute to the nearly 400,000 americans killed by covid. The pandemic and the Security Threat will make for a most unusual and anxious inauguration. The Washington Post reporting a new fbi intelligence bulletin warns Conspiracy Theory followers have discussed posing as National Guard members and then blending in among the 25,000 deployed across the capitol city to infiltrate the inauguration. The inaugural is tomorrow, but today, a preview of the massive change coming and coming soon. Five confirmation hearings for joe bidens cabinet, promises for men, fact, the rule of law and respect for allies are about to make a comeback. Democrats will soon control the white house and the house of representatives, but a 5050 senate does mean the biden agenda is on a tightrope from the getgo. The president elect nodding to those new dynamics today, inviting Top Republican and Democratic Leadership to join him at st. Matthews cathedral in washington tomorrow for a preinauguration worship service. A key ally of biden in the senate hopes the gesture starts washington down a better path. That Church Service tomorrow is an important part of respecting tradition and signaling the importance of faith in joes life. Its how hes been able to get up when life has knocked him down. Its central to how millions and millions of americans have got t gotten through this pandemic so far, and its representative of who joe biden is, its hopeful, its optimistic, and it needs a lot of help getting it together. On this very important day, Kaitlan Collins and kyung lah. Kaitlan, were waiting to see what he says in that message he taped last night, waiting to see what the pardon list will look like and whether its just long and interesting or whether its long and shocking. Your colleague pam brown, our colleague pam brown, saying as of now nothing outside of the norm, nothing terribly shocking on there, but what do we know . Reporter and that would be outside of the norm given, of course, what weve heard the last several weeks of what the president is considering doing when it comes to this final act, these pardons and commutations. We dont know if it will be today or later this evening. This is something donald trump does before leaving office tomorrow. He has taped a farewell address, but thats a taped message. Its not a prime time address from the oval office that youve seen previous president s give on their way out the door. What is shocking is how quiet he has been, john. He taped that message last tuesday. We are expecting him to pardon people, but hes been unusually very quiet in his final full week in the white house. It is fascinating to see as he goes out, quiet on the way out. Very different what were seeing, but i assume hes been humbled, slightly humbled, by what happened in recent weeks. If you look at what joe biden when he arrives in washington, going down to that very somber memorial on the National Mall, paying attention to the pandemic, the current president simply ignores. On capitol hill, a reminder that at this time tomorrow, every point on the come pass is goingo change. Tax policy, pandemic policy, theyre all going to change tomorrow. Heres a sampling of the biden picks today. To be effective, the dni must never shy away to speaking truth to power, especially when doing so may be inconvenient or difficult. When it comes to intelligence, there are simply no place for politics ever. I will do everything i can to ensure that the tragic loss of life, the assault on law enforcement, the desecration of the building that stands as one of the three pillars of our democracy, the terror that you felt, your colleagues, staff and everyone present will not happen again. The smartest thing we can do is act big. In the long run, i believe the benefits will far outweigh the costs, especially if we care about helping people who have been struggling for a very long time. The scope of change is going to be dramatic, and it will happen immediately. You write this morning in the post about one of the big issues that is a total 180 for biden than trump in the immigration policy. They will send to congress what sends an eightyear path to citizenship. Immigrants can apply for residencey immediately. A new Border Security message, work permits for spouses and children, a 180 from where we are now. One of the knocks on obama, even though he supported these things, he never sent a supporting paper on it. Why is that . On capitol hill, it shows the president elect is ready to put skin on the game. His Political Capital so early on in his presidency. You know very well, john, just how critical the first 100 days are for the president in accomplishing his agenda. For biden the stakes are so much higher as we navigate this unprecedented pandemic, try to climb out of the economic turmoil that were facing right now. While the Incoming Biden Administration is very much focused on the pandemic, theyve made it clear theyre going to walk and chew many pieces of gum at the same time, including immigration reform. There are advocates and lawmakers still frustrated that president obama did not prioritize this in 2009 when there was a filibusterapproved majority in the senate and the democrats controlled the white house and the house at that time, but now with a similar configuration in a biden presidency, president elect biden is surely making this a top legislative priority after covid relief, and thats really important to people who, after decades, want to see this done. It will be fascinating to see if he can get through. Again, a very narrow majority in the house, the narrowest majorities in the house and senate. Kaitlan, take us again in the final hours of the presidency. The american people, trump lost the election, then you had the capitol insurrection. He is blamed for that. 70 of americans in our poll disapprove of how this president has handled the transition, how President Trump has handled the transition to joe biden. Perhaps he can change those numbers a bit in his favor if he actually says something gracious in his taped address were going to see. We shall wait and see. He has been anything but gracious in the 77 days since the election. Who is he talking to . It is stunning to hear he wants a sendoff at Anderson Air Force b base. His chief of staff jim kelly says no thanks. How is this sense of security at the end . Reporter i think they werent too selective who is invited to this farewell party, because he said jim kelly is one of the most flawed people hes ever met. This is not somebody you would think he would invite, but it does come as the president s inner circle has been shrinking. A lot of his senior staff has already left the building or are packing up their offices. A lot of people have tried to distance themselves from the president given the mood hes been in ever since, of course, that january 6th rally that of course then inspired that mob that went up to capitol hill. So youve seen that. But i think one of the notable things as the president is leaving office that has surprised even the closest people to him is one of t the overarching senses of office is that nothing sticks with him. Nothing sticks with the republicans or lawmakers on capitol hill until this. This has really changed everything. You are seeing this completely di different dynamic as his time in Office Coming down to a matter of hours, and its even surprised his own staff. One of the things were hearing from people around the president is theyre not going to be on the white house grounds tomorrow or thursday or friday, its the sense of relief that this is all kind of coming to an end. It is a beyond odd dynamic. If the president is surprised somehow that people would turn on him after he incited an attack on his own government, maybe he should spend some time in maralago thinking about that. It is a giant challenge for joe biden. Youre taking on a pandemic, an economy bleeding jobs. The country is divided because of the insurrection. Did joe biden win the election legitimately . Rightly so. It was a fair and free election that was carried out. But only 19 of republicans think joe biden is a legitimate president. How much does that factor in to what we hear from the new president tomorrow in his first big speech, the ninaugural address . Does he try to sway them with words, or does he just hope that with the vaccine rollout and the pandemic that the numbers will improve . I think its a lot of it, john. Its not only tackling the numerous challenges with the pandemic and Economic Relief, but when you look at the percentage of republicans who do not believe joe biden won the election legitimately, that the biden administration, the Biden White House personnel really do have to work to rebuild that trust in government and that trust in what the leader says. Thats certainly going to be a challenge going forward, but, you know, this is not anything new for joe biden. I mean, he began his president ial campaign trying to steer the country away from what trump had said to this nation and worked his way with republicans. Certainly on the first day and in the first coming days, youre going to hear that message of unity a lot. It is a remarkable moment. Seung min kim and Kaitlan Collins, grateful for this reporting. Cnn has learned that two National Guard members have been removed from security duty, that part of the vetting to make sure that none of the troops have ties to extremist groups. It is not clear if the two were connected to any groups or what triggered their removal. Also today the Justice Department filing the first Conspiracy Theory charge belated to the capitol insurrection back on january 6. Lets go to evan perez for the details there. Evan . Now were getting the picture emerging from some of these Court Documents that there are people who participated in the january insurrection who are starting to flip, who are starting to cooperate, and theyre telling on other people. We saw a couple arrests yesterday of People Associated with a group called the oathkeepers. This is an Antigovernment Group that generally has various conspiracies about the government, and theyre known to especially try to recruit members of the military and law enforcement. Today there was an arrest of a man by the name of thomas caldwell. Hes from virginia. Hes 65 years old. According to the Court Documents, he plays a key role in trying to help coordinate the arrival of some people coming into washington to be part of this insurrection. According to the Court Documents, he helped scope out hotels, he helped organize essentially the assault. You can see him in some videos that are out there on the internet already, the fbi refers to them in these Court Documents, saying that you can see that there is essentially the leaders who go into the capitol. Some of them also talking about even after the fact, they were talking on facebook and parler about some of what they did. Let me see if i can find a part of this document that they referred to here. Im trying to find a quote from the document. I cant see the quote. I think the studio is going to show up a part of what is being written about in facebook. The image youre getting from the Court Documents, john, is that these people who at least six to ten people who were participating in this conspiracy led by thomas caldwell, and we anticipate there are going to be other arrests in the coming days. Again, driving home this idea that there was a command and control aspect, there was a planning aspect to what happened on january 6th. You read in those documents, hunt at night, hunt at night as they planned the attack. Its remarkable. Evan perez, im grateful for the reporting as the investigations continue. He puts a list of touches on that final list the pardons. And after the break, Melania Trump says farewell. The past four years have been unforgettable. As donald and i conclude our time in the white house, i think of all the people i have taken home in my heart and their incredible stories of love, patriotism and determination. Thank you. God bless you and god bless the United States of america. ringing hey kaleb, whats up . How you doing . Hey, im good, guess what, i just had my 13th surgery. Really . I just had my 17th surgery. Well, you beat me. Well, i am a little bit older than you. Yeah its true. How are you doing . Im doing good. Im encouraged by seeing how people are coming together to help each other during times like these. Kind of like how shriners hospitals for children is there for us. Imagine if i couldnt get my surgery. Who knows what would have happened. Same for me. I know my shriners hospitals family will continue to take care kids like us who need them most all because of caring people like you. Like me . No, the people watching us right now at home. Oh, those people. Hi people. Kaleb and i know not everyone can help right now, but for those of you who can, we hope youll this special number on your screen right now. Youll be making sure our amazing doctors and nurses can keep helping kids like us, who need them now and in the days to come. Your gift will make a huge difference for kids like us. Ooh, ooh, show them them the thank you gift. Okay, okay, hold on a second. With your gift of 19 a month well send you this adorable, love to the rescue blanket as a thank you and a reminder of the kids youre helping with your monthly support. So what are you waiting for . You can use your phone and call, or go to loveshriners. Org to give and join with thousands of other generous people who change lives with their gifts every day. I think thats about it buddy, good job. My pleasure captain. Please call now. If operators are busy with all the other caring people, please wait patiently, or you can go to loveshriners. Org to give right away. [alec] big or small, your gift helps us all. [both] thank you. giggling lastminute pardons or grants of clemency are a president ial tradition. This on the last day of the president s terms, we are told to expect 100 pardons and commutations of white collar criminals. The white house has been working with pardon petitioners directly instead of using the Justice Departments pardon system. With me is a former Justice Department lawyer who worked in that pardon process. Kristen, grateful for you on this important day. Why does it matter that the white house is doing this directly and not having the system that has been set up at the Justice Department for some years involved . Well, john, thanks for having me. I think its really the pardon power is a really important safety valve we have in our justice system. Its the only way after a sentence has been handed down that, you know, a sentence can be overturned outside of the court system, so i think its really important you saw president obama do this where he saw injustices in the system to use that power to grant them. I think here, the political pardon system, really detracts from the real good that can be done for the pardon power, i think. It is interesting, but, again, welcome to these final 24 hours of the presidency. She wrote, there are no crazy pardons. At the end of bill clintons term he had a controversial pardon with bill rich. There was no question president obama didnt need to pardon himself, he didnt need to pardon sasha or malia. There was no question over the president ial years. But the question, does the president have the power to pardon himself . We didnt have these theoretical conversations in the obama Justice Department, but just as a legal scholar, you know, ive discussed this issue with some friends, and, you know, its always been a theoretical issue, nothing that i thought would actually come to pass. The president has been cautioned to resist pardoning himself by mr. Cipollone and the former attorney general, william p. Barr. White house officials also believe that any consideration he is giving to granting himself a pardon could also turn more republicans against him in his coming Senate Impeachment trial. Do you want to poke the bear, if you will . And i think this situation that has arisen in the past couple weeks, we were talking about whether President Trump has the ability to selfpardon, but it hasnt been in the context of an impeachment, and im sure you know and your viewers know that the pardon power has this exception in cases of impeachment. So i think there is an open question about what that actually means. We dont have guidance from the Supreme Court on what that means, and whether any selfpardon would be effective for those reasons. Kristin hucek, grateful for your insights on this important day. Well wait until the list comes out. Well have to watch those final hours tomorrow morning as well. Kristin, thank you for your insights. The United States senate has a busy time ahead. Voting on the impeachment trial. I shopped for shirts online last night and body wash, just for men now, i think were gonna buy new shoes, again rakuten cash back on the things all in our home rakuten i shop on rakuten rakuten. Right now the United States senate back in session. We are in the final hours of Mitch Mcconnells stay as the majority leader, and just moments ago he talked about the capitol riot. The last time the senate convened, we had just reclaimed the capitol from violent criminals who tried to stop congress from doing our duty. The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and r powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government. Lets go to capitol hill and cnns manu raju. Tough words from the soontobe minority leader as he switches to the minority this week. Its a very tough time in the senate. Reporter yeah, and we expect some of those delegate negotiations to occur this a afternoon. Thats when Mitch Mcconnell will sit down with democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Schumer will become the majority leader tomorrow. Thats when we expect the Democratic Leaders to be sworn in, two from georgia, one from california replacing Kamala Harris. That swearing in ceremony were expecting in the afternoon tomorrow, and when harris becomes Vice President , she would tilt the balance of power to the democrats. The democrats have a 5050 majority of sorts, so they will control and set the agenda. The question, of course, is immediately the three things that are pressing, Chuck Schumer acknowledged to reporters this morning they are trying to move quickly on those three things. One, the impeachment trial of donald trump, three, a covid relief package, and three, all of the nominees that must be confirmed in the United States senate to give joe biden a functioning government. That requires cooperation from republicans and democrats to schedule votes on those nominees. Will that cooperation happen . We just dont know yet. Also they need to sort out how that powersharing agreement will work out between the two sides. They still need to sort out those final details today. Can they come to an agreement . We dont know. Also, how long will that impeachment trial last, when will it begin, and will those 17 senators break ranks to join the democrats to convict donald trump and prevent him from ever running for office again. The fact mcconnell just said the mob was invoked by the president , the strongest words hes said yet to condemn the president s actions. Of course, he was charged with inciting an insurrection, but will mcconnell vote to convict still a question, john. Still one of the many questions of the senate. Think about it for a minute. Mitch mcconnell begins the work week the Senate Majority leader. He will end it the minority leader because of the two wins in georgia. Our next guest knows more than a little about the challenges of trying to get big things through a closely divided senate, and he knows firsthand the job switch senator mcconnell faces this week. Lets welcome senator harry reid in nevada. Senator, its good to see you. I hope youre doing well. You do know what its like to go from a pmajority leader to a minority leader. Listen to this, hes already trying to set the stakes saying, hey, wait a minute, dont try to do too much, joe biden. The elections did not hand any side a mandate for sweeping idealogical change. Americans chose a closely divided senate, a closely divided house and a president ial candidate who said hes represent everyone. Whats your advice to the president elect . This time tomorrow, president biden. Do you go gingerly, do you try to compromise, or do you say here is my bill, we won. Im interested in hearing Mitch Mcconnell talk about whats caused the riot in the capitol, the direct blame he attributed to the president. I think of all the time working with mcconnell that i have, he can be accused of a lot of things, but one of them, hes not dumb. I think he realizes trump is a drag on the republican party, and i think that was the opening salvo for Mitch Mcconnell to disengage from trump, to try to reestablish and rebrand the republican party. I think its very clear to me that i think the glass is half full, not half empty. I think its really a good deal that we pick up those two seats in georgia. Sure, its 5050, but ive been there, ive done that. Remember, every one of the Committee Chairs is going to be a democrat. We have Kamala Harris who will break any tie, so i think that we should understand all the hearings will come from democratic chairs. There will be no hearings that will be initiated by the republicans. So i think that joe biden is in good shape knowing the senate as well as he does, knowing the executive branch of government. He served there eight years. I think hes well equipped to be a fine presence. You mentioned you believe Mitch Mcconnell sees the critical imperative of trying to push President Trump to the sideline of the republican party. However, with the midterm elections two years away, youve been through this before, the next election starts immediately and with the 5050 senate, mcconnell has two republicanheld seats on the ballot two years from now. Can he cooperate with joe biden . You remember famously the remarks he made in the Obama Administration was he thought his priority was to make him a oneterm president. Can he cooperate with joe biden under these circumstances or is shoving trump to the sidelines part of trying to prove himself to the Republican Base . Ive already said that mcconnell is not dumb, but hes made some big mistakes. When obama was elected, he came up with two conclusions. Number one, he would not be reelected. He failed at that miserably, but they would oppose everything obama tried to do. That they succeeded. In spite of that, we had a rule change here and there. We were fortunate in being able to elect some democrats that no one expected us to be able to do that, and we were able to get a lot done. In fact, some say obamas first term of president during his First Congress was the most Successful Congress in the history of the country. So i think that biden is well equipped to move forward and get a lot done. As you know, there are a lot of progressives who in this Campaign Said lets get rid of the filibuster. Done. We cant have it anymore. Joe biden, you served with him for decades in the senate. His first instinct is to say, let me try. I believe in tradition. Lets try first to see if we can get things done. Would you put a clock on that . Would you tell joe biden, okay, thats what you want to do. I know you respect the institution. I give it, what, two months, three months, two weeks, three weeks . What should he do . John, you realize that i have written an oped for the New York Times and other publications saying that time for the filibuster has passed. Its not a question of if its going to go away, its a question of when its going to go away. You cannot have a democracy, a legislative body that takes 60 of the votes on everything. What mcconnell has done is turned the senate into nothing more than a manufacturing site for judges. They dont do amendments, they dont do bills, and i think that the filibusters going to go away. Now, i know that joe has said that hes going to get the republicans to work with him, and thats typical of joe biden. Hes a man that tries to get along with people. I think he should have a couple, three months, but theres going to come a time when a decision is going to have to be made. Remember, to get rid of the filibuster takes a simple majority vote. Senator, you served under that dome for a long time as a member of the United States senate. You also served a long time ago as a member of the Capitol Police force. I know you live in nevada now, youre back home. What was going through your mind . What was your thought process when you saw the United States capitol under siege from americans . This was not 9 11 where you were told to go into hiding, get out of there, there could be a plane of Foreign Terrorists coming at the United States capitol. These were americans. What were you thinking . John, my first job in washington was a Capitol Policeman. I carried a pistol, i directed traffic, i helped crowd control. I was a police officer. And when i came to the senate, i was kind of the protector of the Capitol Police. They knew i had been a Capitol Policeman, but little did i know, when i became a leader, i had significant number of parts on my person and Capitol Police lived with me for a number of years 24 hours a day. So i have great i have very positive feelings about the Capitol Police. And i think that what took place there was really very, very negative. I appreciate what senator schumer did, what nancy pelosi did. They fired the two sergeant in arms because they were negligent. They were not prepared for what took place, and they should have been. So i look forward to the Capitol Police being reinstated to their prior position of protecting everybody, and im glad to see that there has been some changes made, and im confident the Capitol Police will be better than ever. Senator reid, grateful for your time and insights on this very important day, the day before the transition. Thank you so much. Youre sure welcome. Up next for us, team biden outlines its ambitious agenda up on capitol hill. Listerine® cleans virtually 100 . Helping to prevent gum disease and bad breath. Never settle for 25 . Always go for 100. Bring out the bold™ joe biden will be in his first hour as president this time tomorrow, and he will be working shorthanded. None of his cabinet picks are slated to be confirmed on day one. These five, though, right there are getting their confirmation hearings today. Testimony like this from the nominee reminds us there are big shi shifts in policy coming tomorrow. As a prosecutor, the law of the facts in a case were my foundation and my guide, and they have remained my north star ever since. Sometimes fixing problems means making improvements, and sometimes making improvements means making change and some people arent happy with change. But change, improvement, fixing problems is my commitment. Helping us track todays big hearings are cnn business anchor Richard Quest and business cons consultant salama. Joe biden has made his pick to the treasury department. What have we learned today . Jonathan salama is going to be confirmed, of that we have little doubt. Today we got a letter recommending the former secretarys nomination. She is well respected in all aspects of finance and government, have been been chair of the reserve. But today she shifted the emphasis, talking about the unemployed, talking about those who needed help, and, of course, putting aside joe bidens nearly 3 trillion aid package for Economic Relief that hes already published and now has to get it through congress. She said we wish for a longer, more painful recession now and longterm scarring if we dont act soon. This is how she put it. We really have to worry about scarring due to this pandemic of workers and the loss of Small Businesses that can really harm the productivity of our economy and leave us with longrun problems that would make it difficult to get back on the growth path that we were on. The problem, john, is janet yellen is a politician in the widest sense of the word, not a policy politician in the narrow sense. Were used to her being apolitical at the fed both in San Francisco and in washington. Now, of course, she really does have to get her hands dirty, and that means grub by in the field of negotiations and politics. One of the shifts that are coming. Vivian salama was chosen to be the treasury secretary. What is the difference going to be there . So many things. Havril haines a very highly skilled intelligence career official that has ensured the bi Obama Administration in several key roles. If nom nainated, she will be th first woman in this key role, so history there. If confirmed, she will be overseeing the intelligence agencies including the National Security agency and the cia, so a massive job there, one of critical, critical importance. A lot of senators today quizzing her during the hearing about general policy issues, the biden administrations views on china, on iran, on other key policy matters. But also Averill Haynes trying to ensure that more morale in the committee is going to be established and hitting on some real controversial issues during the Trump Administration such as targeting whistleblowers, transparency issues and just the need for attaching an apolitical nature to the committee. Hear what she had to say about that. I think this is fundamental to the work of the intelligence committee, that we provide objective analysis, that we dont let politics play a role in our work is critical, and its fundamental to good policy decisionmaking. So, john, still some ways to go before Averill Haynes completes her hearing today, but its expected to be largely smooth sailing from both republicans and democrats today. Ill make a bet. Joe biden does not tweet questioning the intelligence or competence of his dni. Ill just make a bet on that one. Richard quest and vivian salama, thank you for being here. What bidens covid team hasnt told them about what trump said about the pandemic. O. upbeat music get the food you love with perks from [crowd] grubhub. announcer carvanas had a lot of firsts. 100 online car buying. Car vending machines. And now, putting you in control of your financing. At carvana, get personalized terms, browse for cars that fit your budget, then customize your down payment and monthly payment. And these arent madeup numbers. Its what youll really pay, right down to the penny. Whether youre shopping or just looking. It only takes a few seconds, and it wont affect your credit score. Finally a totally different way to finance your ride. Only from carvana. The new way to buy a car. Start the year smiling at aspen dental where new starts happen, every day. Get Exceptional Care at every step, unparalleled safety at every visit, and flexible Payment Options for every budget. Now, during the everyday smiles event new patients get a full exam set of xrays with no obligation. No insurance . No worries, its free. Plus, now all patients can get 20 off their treatment plan. Find every reason to smile. Every day at aspen dental. Call 1800aspendental or book today at aspendental. Com some new cnn reporting now about jitters on team biden, worried that the Trump Administration has not been transparent about the covid crisis and worry there could be some surprises coming. Sara murray is with us. Sara, what are you learning . Reporter we learned this sentiment is the biden team just doesnt know what they dont know, and its going to be hard for them to get their hands around everything, whether that means to figure out whats going on in all 50 states when it comes to Vaccine Distribution and why thats moving slowly, figuring out how much vaccine supply the u. S. Has and what can actually be done to try to increase that supply, or keeping track of all these different variant strains of the virus that are popping up, and making sure the vaccines we have in development and already in circulation are actually going to work. Of course, theyre also grappling with the last gasps of the Trump Administration in trying to scale back some of these travel conditions. Heres what the biden team had to say about that. You know, if you look at the fatalities of 400,000 that were likely to hit today f yo, if yok at the cases across this country, i dont think now is the time to urge people to get on these flights. I think now is the time to buckle down, double down our efforts. I dont suspect well be lifting travel restrictions, and if anything, we suspect they might tighten, especially in the context of variance were hearing about. The biden team is making clear theyre not going to be rolling back these travel restrictions, and, john, i think the reality thats setting in for the team of advisers is its going to be their problem in just a matter of a few hours. Coming up for us, this time tomorrow, well be discussing joe bidens first speech as president. What history tells us about delivering an inaugural address. The state Department Today formally accusing china of crimes of humanity. They said the Chinese Government announce genocide. The state Department Assessment say the crimes include torture, forced sterilization, forced labor and what is labeled draconian restrictions on freedom of belief. Before we go today, its a tonesetting week for president elect biden. Tomorrow he takes over a nation dealing with a raging pandemic and just two weeks removed from a violent insurrection led by a protrump mob. Unity was not a word used to describe the very dark trump inaugural address four years ago. The crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This american carnage stops right here and stops right now. But that was the exception. Page through previous president s and unity is a through line. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries, and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. We meet on democracys front porch. A good place to talk as neighbors and as friends. For this is a day when our nation is made whole, when our differences for a moment are suspended. Let us put aside personal advantage so that we can feel the pain and see the promise of america. Sometimes our differences run so deep, it seems we share a continent but not a country. We do not accept this, and we will not allow it. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear. Unity of purpose over conflict and discord. Thanks for joining us today. Ill see you tomorrow during our special coverage of the biden inaugural. Dont go anywhere. Brianna keilar picks up our coverage right now. Im Anderson Cooper alongside brianna keilar. To our viewers in the United States and around the world, this is special live coverage of a historic 48 hours in american history. The end of one presidency, the start of a new one, but this transfer of power is unprecedented in a country divided like never before in modern times. Washington, d. C. Is under lockdown with streets and bridges closed. Two weeks earlier, th