His first and last item of Business Today in washington, a tribute to the 400,000 americans who have lost their lives to coronavirus. America passing the 400,000 death mark, a grim milestone today on the last full day of trumps presidency. And biden, a man who of course has dealt with incredible personal loss himself spoke to the nation seeking to heal. To heal, we must remember, its hard sometimes to remember but thats how we heal. Its important to do that as a nation. And that is the National Mall tonight. Powerful, lit up to remember each of those lives lost. Every single one of them alive one year ago today, a loss this current president has not fully acknowledged. Trump whose tumultuous presidency will come to an end in 17 hours at noon tomorrow, just a short time ago releasing his farewell address. In it he does not mention joe biden by name. He does however list this as one of his accomplishments. Im especially proud to be the first president in decades who has started no new wars. The irony lost upon him that this is what the capitol of the United States of america looks like tonight to the entire world, a fortified war zone, movements completely restricted, fences with barbed wire installed. Barriers blocking roads to all the national monuments. 25,000 National Guard troops are stationed there. Look at this marching by the capitol, a stunning video taken by our own manu raju today. This war like reality is all because of the battle cries to trumps supporters who then staged a violent insurrection. Stop the steal. Stop the steal, stop the steal. Well lose everything. Thats treason. Treason, treason. Protect our constitution. This is our house. This is our country. This is our country. And in this farewell address, hes telling his supporters this is not the end, only the beginning. Now, as i prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on wednesday, i want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning. Only just the beginning. That same line used as he lotted the rioters the day after the deadly insurrection. To all of my wonderful supporters, i know you are disappointed, but i also want you to know that our incredible journey is only just beginning. And now, trump is spending the final hours of his presidency isolated and about to pardon more than 100 people. In fact, were expecting that any moment. It is expected to be trumps final act before biden is inaugurated. An inauguration, of course, that trump will not attend, and that is the first time in 152 years that a president has boycotting the inauguration of his successor. A transfer of power that trump himself spoke so highly about just four years ago. 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. Something that of course he has not been. The trumps are also not inviting the bidens to the white house which is a tradition that has taken place for decades. As you can see, the president s putting their politics aside for the transfer of power, for the power of that image, a tradition that as trump said, obama graciously bestowed upon him. Well, its also unclear whether trump will write biden a letter. It is also a tradition for president s leaving office. Former president george h. W. Bush who like trump was a single term president , famously wrote to bill clinton, you will be our president when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our countrys success. I am rooting hard for you. Kaitlan collins is out front near the white house, and jeff zeleny is at the reflecting pool where president elect biden spoke earlier this evening. Kaitlan, let me start with you. Obviously this is his final night that he will spend in the white house, what is he doing . Reporter his last few hours in the white house, erin, are kind of being described in a way that the president is not comfortable feeling or hasnt really felt over the last four years, which is boxed in. Hes incredibly restrained, muted, more muted than we have ever seen where he hasnt made a public appearance in a week now, and were not expecting to see him again until tomorrow when he goes to joint base andrews for that departure ceremony, and a lot of what that has to do is the president is worried about angering senate republicans. He knows his political fate is in their hands when it comes to the senate trial. That is shaping a lot of what hes doing or not doing, really, in his final days in office because he is genuinely concerned that they could vote to convict him, and of course prevent him from running for office again, tarnish his legacy forever, and Mitch Mcconnells words today give the president a pretty good reason to be in that kind of a mindset, and so one of his last acts that is being shaped by this is going to be this pardon list that we are expecting to get. We still havent gotten yet, notably, and part of that, erin, is the reason we are told there is a frantic scramble happening behind the scenes in the west wing even as of this moment. My colleague pam brown and i are told they are still going back and forth on this idea of whether or not they should pardon steve bannon, the president s former chief strategist who of course is being charged in a money basically some questions about money that was being raised to build the border wall by some o. President s supporters, but whats actually being discussed are the possible connections he has to that january the 6th rally. Of course that was the rally that preceded the riot by the president s supporters on capitol hill, and so theyre not sure whether or not theyre going to give steve bannon a pardon or not. Were told that the president has been going back and forth on it all day. Aides thought this had be settled as of last friday, and of course they had another meeting on saturday, but it does really speak to the chaos we have kind of seen from inside the west with wing over the last four years that even in Donald Trumps final hours in office, there is still a scramble happening behind the scenes, and theyre not clear yet where this is going to end up. Pretty incredible, right, even in this final day. True to form. It is what it is. Kaitlan, thank you very much. And we are waiting, of course, that list literally could happen any moment. I want to go to jeff zeleny at the reflecting pool right now. Jeff, president elect biden, something that he has so deeply desired for so long, he is now hours away. He is going to be the resident of the white house, right, after years of being so close. What is his mindset tonight . Erin, his mindset tonight, im told, is one of optimism and realization of the challenge that is indeed in front of him, and i am still here at the reflecting pool, and you can still see the lights illuminated behind me here. 400 lights, representing the 400,000 americans who have died just in the last year of covid, and as we saw president elect joe biden said to heal we must remember. He said healing is so important for the nation, so that is what he is thinking tonight going into, you know, the eve, the final hours before he becomes president. He is at the blare house tonight, just across pennsylvania avenue from the white house. Just really about a block or two away from President Trump. So an extraordinary proximity, if you will, but the two men will not speak. They will not see one another, as is tradition. But hes going to start his morning tomorrow at mass. Hes going to go to mass with the four congressional leaders. Two republicans, two democrats and that is how he wants to start the day in both tone and substance. And that is going to sort of frame the challenge here as he delivers that inaugural address from the west front of the capitol. Im told its going to be optimistic. Its going to be steeped in his faith. But also urging americans to, you know, really appeal to them to unify. Now, these challenges are very stark. No question. The washington mr. Biden left four years ago as the Vice President that he returned to here tonight is remarkably different. He believes theres still an opportunity for unity and healing. Jeff zeleny, thank you very much. And i want to go to david chalian, our political director, laura coates, former federal prosecutor, and tim naftali, former director of the nixon president ial library. David, when you look at washington today, you know, that manu raju video of the marching troops was quite stunning and sobering, you know, as we see those pictures from around the world. We have all been to war zones and seen these images in capitols that we never thought would be ours. Trump, though, congratulating himself in his video and says he starts no wars in his farewell address. So what do you what do you make of this . Its a true contrast between trump and biden who of course spoke of the dead at his memorial today. Yeah, i mean, joe biden has sort of a unique skill in a moment of grief like this that the countrys experiencing. You know, ive covered a bunch of joe biden events on the campaign trail, precovid era, when he could work a rope line and talk to voters who would come and see him. There was never an event that i covered with joe biden where somebody wasnt telling a personal story of grief to the fo former Vice President , and he would embrace them, and take time to talk to them. Because of all hes been through in his personal life, he chose for his arrival in washington to be this moment where he sort of served as the nations grief counselor, and what was so stunning is not that joe biden chose to do that, actually, thats totally within character. What was so stunning in the moment was the realization that that hadnt happened in the last year for the country under President Trumps watch, and so it was just such a stark contrast of the man coming in to be the 46th president , and the man whos on his way out who has just served as the 45th president , that he never sort of convened the National Moment like that. No, and of course today in his last day, right, we formally pass that horrible 400,000 death mark. You know, tim, there have been so many breaks in protocol, right throughout this presidency, and now with the transition. Amazing to listen to trump four years ago to talk about the transfer of power, how peaceful it was. How gracious the obamas were, how magnificent they were in his words. Yet he has not said joe bidens name. No. Hes not going to greet him at the white house, which is tradition. Hes not attending the inauguration, the first president not to do so in 152 years. How does this rank in terms of unusual transitions . Lets think about why it matters. It matters not because one human being owes it to another, although that should be a part of the story. Its because the office is supposed to be more important than the occupant. And tomorrow is about passing the office, and all the awesome power that goes with it. From one individual chosen by the American People to another. And so its incumbent on the person who is passing the power to show respect for the office and the American People who have made the choice that it go to someone else. Thats why the visits matter. And President Trump throughout the period since the election has not wanted to give up power. Thats what the crisis we are facing now is all about. One man and a mob, wanting to hold on to power despite the desire of the American People that it be passed to joe biden and kamala harris. And thats why the nations capitol is more tense than it has been since 1861, and it is more militarized today than it has ever been in our history. And laura, you know, we are at this moment waiting that pardon list. Here we are, 7 13 eastern standard time. It is not out. Chaos in the white house, true to form to the last as the president makes final decisions on people like steve bannon. We understand he has been talked out of pardoning himself and his family for now at least, and were told the conversation spooked trump in a way few others have. Why . What do you think he was told . That it will backfire, that he, the same person who just last week said to president elect joe biden be careful what you wish for, talking about the 25th amendment, be careful what you wish for the about selfpardoning because it invites prosecutors to challenge the ability of the president of the United States to do so. It could invite both republicans and democrats to challenge this idea of absolute president ial Authority Without recourse. It would go into a longer discussion that would invite the Supreme Court of the United States to weigh in. And remember, these are selfprofessed, at least the ones that he has nominated and were confirmed, selfprofessed originalists who would be looking at the intent of the founding fathers, not so much with the preference of the current president and what he decides to do. I think the framers intended for there never to be a president who could be fully immunized on all capacity about pardons. And so if he would like to have some sort of comfort in knowing that the pardon power is absolute, he was probably told to confine it to how it was envisioned, which means to grant, meaning to other people, so he probably noted it would backfire. It would invite more scrutiny, and it would be problematic for himself personally. Right. And of course as we know, under investigation at the state level, pardon would do nothing about it. Hes facing that obviously in new york. Could be facing that in georgia as well. Well see in fulton county, so david at the moment, Vice President pence is not expected to attend trumps departure ceremony tomorrow. Hes actually going to get up, take marine one to joint base andrews and sort of have a Farewell Party is what it was going to be. Very unclear whos going to be there. Sources are telling us that oh, logistically, it would be difficult for pence to be there and attend joe bidens inaugural, but of course the vp is a vip, i imagine if he wanted to be there, he could. Theres a couple of hours between the two. So what do you make of this . And our understanding that the president s having trouble getting yes rsvps. Well, i dont think its any mystery to anyone watching that there has been a deterioration in the trump pence relationship since the election. You saw donald trump say basically that he would think ill of mike pence if he didnt upend democracy, and overturn the will of the American People with the Electoral College vote count. Mike pence of course did not do that. No, he was actually there under attack by people, the president he serves incited and of course we know that pence has been dismayed that during that attack or in the immediate after math, the president never checked on mike pence or his family or how he was doing. I dont think theres a real sort of buddy movie thats coming to some romantic end here. It is a frayed relationship, and mike pence, we should note, did accept the invitation to attend the biden inaugural, is going to be the representation of the handover from one administration to the other. And it is a good thing that he is. I think we all know that. Its good. Thank you all very much. I appreciate it, and next, senator josh hawley, you remember, the guy, you know, sorry, remember that . The one who challenged the Election Results on the day of the insurrection, now vowing to block quick consideration of bidens pick to lead the Homeland Security department. Plus, breaking news, alarming new Court Filings allege three of the capitol rioters from an Extremist Militant Group planned the attack, and one was allegedly told the attack was quote everything we expletive trained for. And months into his presidency, trump defended neonazis. You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. So what will trumps legacy be . Carryover data. 20 bucks. No contract. 20 bucks . Wow, thats great. Yeah, hit decline. I dont want to talk to her. Hit me. Get me. This is your wakeup call, people. Tracfone wireless. Now youre in control. Want to sell the best burger in every zip code . Add an employee. Or ten. Then easily and automatically pay your team and file payroll taxes. That means. World domination or just the west side. Run payroll in less than five minutes with intuit quickbooks. Were all finding ways to keep moving. And at fidelity, youll get planning and advice to help you prepare for the future, without sacrificing whats most important to you today. Because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction youre moving is forward. Jeffs been to the bottom of the ocean. The tops of mountains. And wherever this guy runs off to. A life well lived should continue at home. With home instead care, older adults can stay home, safe, and happy. Home instead. To us, its personal. Breaking news, top allies of President Trump skipping the president s farewell ceremony tomorrow morning. One senior white house adviser saying quote sending mob was a red line. Guess we found one red line. Well, well see if it really was because it all comes down to whether theyll vote on the impeachment trial. It comes as Outgoing SenateMajority Leader Mitch Mcconnell met with soon to be majority leader Chuck Schumer behind closed doors. This is after mcconnell said trump was to blame for the violent mob storming the capitol. The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like. But we pressed on. We certified the peoples choice for their 46th president. Now, of course hes right. The mob was fed lies. It was provoked by powerful people including the president , led by the president. All of that is true. Its important mcconnell says it. Its also important to note in that co