of it. >> willie, here we are at 8:59 a.m. we're watching air force one with the 45th president of the united states, donald trump, leave washington, d.c. as president of the united states for the last time. the wheels of air force one have left the ground, and washington, d.c. is three hours from right now will be president joe biden's town. donald trump leaving for mar-a-lago with his wife and children. willie? >> with those wheels up, a welcome sight for many americans. president trump is leaving washington. his presidency is over officially three hours from this moment. >> and joe biden is at st. matthew's cathedral. my brother and pastor mark ra zinke reminds me that's where my

father had his funeral, so bipartisan. h.r. mcmasser, madeleine albright there and saying that's the kind of bipartisan joe biden will cultivate. we will be watching as everything plays out today. we're going to hop over to peacock to lead the coverage of the swearing-in ceremony. joe, willie and i will be there starting at 10:00 a.m. for now stay with msnbc's special coverage of the inauguration of joe biden. good morning from new york, washington, points south, this country getting ready to inaugurate the 46th president. the 45th president is on board air force one. aircraft he's flying with that designation for the last time.

it's banking out to the south over washington having just taken off from andrews air force base. meantime in downtown washington inside st. matthew's, joe biden prepares for a catholic mass, blessing conferred upon him on the day of his inauguration. capitol city looking much different from over all those we have covered the past years. basically a military district of washington. basically, of course, a lockdown and first inauguration in our modern history where members of the public have been told not to attend because of the uncontrolled pandemic in our midst. brian williams here in new york, where i'm joined by nicolle wallace, joy reid is down in washington, part of our team, and rachel maddow will be along very briefly to join us. good morning to my colleagues, and nicolle, some thoughts so

far? >> on my way in this morning, i reached out to senior advisers, to the outgoing and incoming presidents. interestingly, the adviser to outgoing president trump, i said what are you feeling this morning, at this not-so-peaceful transfer of power, changed forever by the actions and conduct of donald trump, and he simply said bye-bye to the trump era. the biden adviser had a very different, more reflective take, and he said his thoughts are on biden himself and said there's never been a more deserving or capable man for the job that he's about to step into. so i think it's going to be a story today of contrast. contrast in terms of the human beings occupying the office and contrast in terms of how they view the office. our friend steve schmidt noted i think a couple years ago that donald trump never saw himself

as the leader of the state, as the head of the government, as the person responsible for the safety and protection of all americans. and i think all three of us have covered the catastrophic consequences of that reality. >> indeed, joy reid out at andrews air force base. trump's last words to the crowd before getting on the plane were, have a good life. we'll see you soon. >> yeah. >> till the end, no mention of joe biden period. he spoke about the pandemic in past tense. he, of course, won last time branded it the china virus. he was still litigating va choice and the tax cuts and the space force during these rambling remarks. maggie haberman of "the new york times" reported that teleprompter was set up and then taken down, and that was the indication we were going to have a president off the top of his head for his last public utterance. of course, he remains president

for the next three hours. >> yes, and brian, donald trump, as you said, spoke about the virus in the past tense and really only in the sense that he gave himself credit for the vaccine. he didn't talk about just going through what he was supposed to say, and he did veer off of his remarks, there was no word of comfort for the 400,000 families who have lost someone to this virus. there was no word of compassion for them, for those who are suffering, the 22 million, 23 million americans who are suffering right now. there was no -- you know, he said we did our best. no one could have worked harder. this is a man who played golf and spent more time playing golf and tweeting than he did being president. the one of the things that i found really remarkable in the remarks he was supposed to give, he talked about our movement, our movement. and that he thanked those who

are the heart and spirit and soul of our movement. donald trump was not the leader of a moment in theory. he was supposed to be the president of the united states. and these closing remarks did not sound like a president of the united states. it still sounded like he sees himself as the leader of the trump movement and that's who he cared the most about. and i think there could not, as nicolle said, be a starker contrast with joe biden, who really has sort of his whole life has built him to this moment. and indeed i don't think there's anyone more prepared institutionally with his knowledge of the senate, his eight years as vice president, so his deep knowledge of the white house and inner workings of government, but also his personal losses, his compassion that's born of his own tragedies, his sense of empathy which mike memoli has said his advisers call his superpower and just his ability to feel the pain that we've all been holding inside of us for a year as all of these people died. we need a catharsis.

i think joe biden is sort of a human catharsis. so i think he really could not be better honestly for this moment. >> a sparkling, beautiful, crisp winter day in the nation's capital. warmer than past inaugurations we've seen certainly. we saw there briefly the interior of the church. here it is again. nothing short of the top of our government leadership, current and starting three hours from now you saw perhaps mitch mcconnell, you saw the speaker and her husband, you saw perhaps the president-elect and vice president-elect. as the helicopter wing stationed in washington coming back empty now from dropping the trumps over at andrews air force base. let's go to mike memoli outside the church. mike has covered joe biden a

good, long time. mike, let's start by pointing out it's not terribly unusual for joe biden to start the day in a catholic church. hey, mike. mike memoli's standing by for us. only problem is he can't hear us. nicolle wallace. >> you know, just the images, the images that i think we're all starving for. joe biden doesn't talk about bipartisan as a political tactic. he believes it in his bones. he deeply desires unity inside the government to every last molecule of his being. donald trump was at war not just with the other party -- i don't think he has seen or spoken to speaker pelosi in more than a year, and think about that. as the pandemic has raged, as the country grappled with an

historic racial reckoning, he has not even spoken to the most senior official in the democratic government. joe biden isn't at church with members of the republican party for a photo-op. we have to rewire the way we think about the head of our government to cover joe biden. he believes he can do the best job as the country's leader if he can listen to and work with the other side. and we are in for a real change in how we talk about the leaders of this country, at least the executive branch. >> what a fascinating point. mike barnicle, who's known joe biden a good, long time is with us and part of our coverage. and, mike, to distill what nicolle just said looked at another way, the incoming president is someone who has a sincere belief set and approaches things like his personal faith, his attendance

at mass with a deep-held sincerity. >> yes, brian. as all three of you just spoke to, this is a day of vivid contrast that we see played out in the pictures that we're looking at. we see one damaged man leaving and we see one determined man arriving outside of st. matthew's. we see a man of no faith departing and we see a man of deep faith arriving to practice that faith. and joe biden is indeed a catholic, our second catholic president of the united states. but the church, st. matthew's, is beautiful as it is. filled with history as it is. it's a building. joe's faith is internal and it's deep and he knows that the presidency is part of that faith because he knows instinctively because of his experience that he brings to this moment, and thankfully he brings it all to this moment, the presidency is

part strategic, it's part political. but the part that's been ignored for too long, for at least the past four years, it's also a moral force in this country. and yesterday he stood in front of the lincoln memorial, alongside the reflecting pool, and he said, "to heal is to represent." and i think that's a vivid part of what's going to be part of his presidency. he said that in a city that, as you mentioned earlier, brian, is empty today. it's bereft of people, driven out because of the fear of insurgents and terrorists, same terrorists who tried to capture the capitol two weeks ago. but joe biden knows what this is all about. he knows he's in the city of memory, filled with marble monuments. and he wants us to remember those 400,000 americans who have died anonymously alone in hospital rooms, apart from their families. he wants us to remember what

america is, what america is today, and what america has been through the centuries. so it's a god-given gift i think to this country and a relief to this country that he arrives today on the eve, the very few hours away from becoming the 46th president of the united states. and he's had faith forever and is his becoming that. >> mike barnicle, i want to press on this a little more. i worked for a president we had to change lines in his speeches because he was so easily overcome with emotion. i have seen more bushes cry than i can remember or count. >> sure. >> and i want to ask you about joe biden's emotional interior landscape and i want to understand where the rage that we all felt watching the capitol overrun, where that lies next to the grief that he carries from his own personal losses and the determination you speak of.

>> you know, nicolle, he has obviously, everyone knows, dealt with an enormous amount of suffering in his life. suffering that i think could have broken many, many people. would have broken me for sure. and he does cry. he was an emotional guy. but i think it's pretty nice that we have a president who will cry at the proper moment over the property things. he will shed a tear for the 400,000 victims of this virus that were not spoken to, not even alluded to really, by the outgoing president of the united states. and he does that because he has a faith and he has a memory as spoke to yesterday. memory is important to joe. and he's an emotional man, sure, but he brings that emotion to the job. he knows what it's like to be left behind, to be left out, to be made fun of, to be a stutterer and be pointed out in

a schoolyard. i think the young man who he helped with his stuttering problem during the new hampshire primary i think is going to play a part in the inaugural today. joe remembers, he remembers who he is and it's not just his catholic faith. it's who he is as a person, as a man. he's a fully grounded individual. he had a big plan for himself when he was 29 years of age and elected to the senate, not yet old enough to be sworn in. ment before he was sworn in, we all know he lost his wife and his infant daughter. and that changed him. it changed his career plan. instead of becoming joe biden, instant candidate for president or whatever in 1972, he decided to go home each and every night when he was in the united states senate. that wasn't a plan he set out months before. he did it because he knew he had to and he still to this day, to this day, to this very moment,

the joe biden who seeks solace when he needs solace by going home, and thank god for him. >> let's go to our chief white house correspondent kristen welker with where she can fill in the reporting of what we know from the departure and what we know of day one for the president-elect. >> well, brian and nicolle, what a split screen it was during that departure when you had president-elect joe biden leaving blair house just as president trump was departing, having made remarks. so you couldn't have scripted it better from the reality tv show president, that remarkable ending that we all witnessed. and now what we're going to see is an incoming president who is going to try to draw contrast at every turn and we're seeing that now. he's at church with a bipartisan group of leaders.

he extended an invitation to top republicans himself to try to set the tone not just of this day but of what he hopes will be his administration. he has said his biggest and most important challenge is going to be to try to unify this country, which is right now so deeply divided. his critics have wondered if he's being naive about that, but he's trying to start the work today with that bipartisan invitation. and then we're going to hear that in his inaugural address, where he's going to call for unity. he's going to call for healing. of course overnight he attended that memorial for all of the victims of covid-19, the more than 400,000 lives lost again. really trying to draw a sharp contrast with his predecessor. i can tell you just to set the scene here at the capitol, brian, people have already started to arrive here for what will be an unprecedented inauguration. it's going to be socially

distant. it is heavily fortified in the wake of that attack against the capitol, just several days ago now. so the feel of this entire event is different. it is historic and it underscores the incredibly high stakes with biden inheriting crises not seen in generations. not just covid but the economic crisis and, of course, these racial divides that he's going to be inheriting. so today on day one, we are told he's going to sign 15 executive actions. among them, addressing these crises, actions that will deal with covid, that will deal with the economy, that will reverse some of the president trump's actions on climate change, that will aim to take some steps on racial inequality. of course, you know from covering the white house, brian and nicolle knows all too well, that executive actions can only go so far and so the really difficult work is going to be through the legislation. he's also going to be proposing a sweeping immigration

legislation as well as a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus plan. to do it he's going to need to work with republicans, even though democrats will have control, of course, of both chambers. but that is going to be the real challenge. and it's all going to happen against the backdrop of an impeachment trial democrats. biden saying it's incumbent on the senate to do both, to work on his agenda as they work through that impeachment trial. democrats urging that to go very quickly so that it doesn't impede those goals that he has once he's in office, brian. >> kristen welker, our chief white house correspondent. as we go through these beautiful camera shots today, thin layer of clouds has just blotted out the sun on an otherwise bright day in washington. one adviser into our viewers, we're not always in control of the images that are on

television because of the television networks kind of ool their resources and cameras and we sometimes are, sometimes are not. but there's a stunning view of the american flags making up for americans that can't be there on the mall in light of the uncontrolled pandemic upon us, the towers of the smithsonian there to the left. in the other view of the capitol, you can see the kind of undulating surface of the old rfk stadium there in the distance and the big-screen tvs in the foreground for the people who will be there. hardly can be called a crowd. that, of course, is the supreme court upper left over the capitol. joined by two more special guests, former missouri democratic senator claire mccaskill, former maryland democratic member of congress

donna edwards, part of our coverage. senator mccaskill, your thoughts on what we witnessed thus far today and your thoughts on what we're less than three hours away from witnessing. >> yes, the shots look very familiar, brian, but they also look very different. >> yes. >> typically that podium area is crowded with every possible chair they can fit in. and the fact that it is now set up to be socially distant is jarring in many ways. obviously, the fact that there are no throngs of people anxiously waiting for this moment is very different. the church, that church is not a large church. having been to that traditional prayer ceremony before the inaugural, i have never seen so many empty pews in that church. it typically is crowded to the gills with people who have been invited to pray with the president-elect immediately before he takes the oath.

so things are different. now, i'll tell you one thing that struck me, i think there should be a new rule, if an outgoing president refuses to say the name of the new president, refuses to even call him or her, refuses to invite them to the white house, i don't think military flourishes are deserved for the going away moment. the fact that he is spurning this inaugural. then you look at what joe biden did. joe biden waited out of respect for the office until donald trump finished his campaign speech. and then he walked out of the church. so that the president who is leaving would not have the dilemma that maybe the cameras would cutaway to the new president. this kind of shows the character of these two men. one self-absorbed, childish and petty. one thinking about the future, trying to bind the wounds and

get out in front of this pandemic, and most importantly, trying to figure out a way to work across the aisle and get things done for america. >> donna edwards, i have a question for you, listening to claire and listening to everyone talk about joe biden and just the kind of attitude that he's bringing into the job, i don't know if it worries you the thing that worries me, and i'll just say that bluntly donald trump and joe biden in very different ways are nostalgia figures, right? donald trump is clearly nostalgic for like the 1920s, calvin coolidge era, early 20th century when white men just dominated the world and can do whatever they wanted to do and there was no one in their way. and they could sort of lead with sort of brute force. but joe biden is also nostalgic for an old era of politics in which the negotiation that he had to make in order to bring

about change were largely with fellow white guys. he could negotiate with a strom thurmond and deal with him as well as a teddy kennedy. and he could have those kinds of relationships with both of those figures and they all still came from the same sort of demographic background and place. that's not this america. and he's now going to be negotiating with mitch mcconnell, who as claire would know as well could go to church with you on sunday and stab you in the back politically on monday. he's that ruthless. are you that worried that we're about to see the kinds of compromises that in our history, if you go to 1877 compromise, et cetera, have come on the backs of people of color, of the poor, of those in the most need? that the compromises tend to be on the backs of people like you and me. are you worried that he will do too much of that?

>> well, i think, joy, i am worried that joe biden doesn't understand compromise in the same way that republicans led by mitch mcconnell do. i mean, they tend to operate my way or the highway, and so it could force democrats to think that they have to give up way too much. and i think though that one of the things that biden recognizes is that he's going to make an attempt to be that kind of president that he was as senator, cutting those -- you know, those deals with the old-school republicans and democrats. but i think that there's a limit. and i think there will be people around him who will tell him and identify what those limits are. and he continues to recognize -- and i'm glad kamala harris will be at his side, because she's

not an old-school democrat. she served with these republicans. she knows who they are and i think that that will help to ground the biden administration in terms of where to draw those lines. i am concerned that this quest for unity could mean that there's an expectation that we're going to turn the page without looking behind at some of the bad actors and holding them accountable. and i think that in order for that unity to work, there has to be the accountability for those who were not playing the game in the same way, and they were undermining our government and our governance. and i think biden is going to be held to a test by those on the left but also just people who

want government to work. he's going to be held to the test as to whether he can both demand accountability but also put things on the table that are going to make a real difference for people where they sit at home. >> kasie hunt is on the west front of the capitol, and she'll be part of our coverage all day. kasie, first of all, who gets to go given that seating is so limited? so obviously, congressional leadership, obviously former presidents and former first ladies, but to echo what claire was saying, it is so striking from this view, this kind of bowl-shaped area that would normally be jammed, crammed, are cheek by cheek jowl with every

space with a folding chair, and now it's sprawled as it probably needs to be. >> that's right, brian. i'm standing and you can see on the top left of the screen the white grass, that's the umbrella we used because it was raining a little bit earlier today. this is my fourth inauguration here. stunning that i'm standing in a field with no people around anywhere. and, of course, that was long the plan because of the pandemic. however, they have, of course, closed the national mall and we have a beautiful view of all of those flags they have put in place instead. right behind me here, you see some of the these socially distanced chairs, four vip guests who were lucky enough to get a ticket this time. of course, there are a lot of people who were pretty anxious about attending after the events of january 6th here at the capitol. so to get an invite, to give you a sense of just how tough it was, really the only people in the house of representatives who

even have spouses who are going to be able to come are the top leadership. most of the senators, i believe, do have invitations for their spouses. so really a very, very limited group of people here. normally the challenge just getting around the city on inauguration day is nav grating the crowds and throngs of people everywhere coming up off the metro, trying to grapple their way to a seat or just an area, a patch of grass to stand on. of course, much, much different now. walking around barbed wire, trying to find out which streets don't have national guard vehicles blocking them off, are obviously a troubling sight for those of us who were here at the capitol on january 6th. i think we all will be glad if we get through this day without anything bad happening. but i think that overall sense of unity does seem to be taking over. as i was watching donald trump, president trump leave, i couldn't help but think to

myself, the people that were standing there with him and the people he was talking to were members of his own family, for the most part blood relatives. because where is official washington? official washington is here. they are welcoming joe biden. they're republicans and democrats alike. they're currently all -- and i was almost struck by after four years of covering trump the radical normalcy of an accepted invitation from all four bipartisan leaders of congress to attend a church service to begin this ritual of our democracy. we're told the former speaker paul ryan, also a republican here today. this, of course, comes a day after mitch mcconnell went down to the senate floor and rebuked president trump, laid some of the blame at his feet for what happened here. the door on the other side of this, brian, that was beaten open by rioters, it's still broken. and i think that really is a

very stark symbol of how we have gotten to this moment over the course of the past couple of weeks. and it's part of why i think from mitch mcconnell and for others there has been such a push to make a public demonstration. vice president mike pence should be on that list as well. he was not with the president. he is going to be here at the inauguration. there clearly is an interest in sending a message that america, the america we know, it stands even after four years of this president absolutely throwing out every norm and tradition in the book, including, of course, being the first president in the nuclear age not to attend an inauguration, which has required us to rewrite all of those protocols as well. there's so much symbolism here. again, just impossible to overstate as -- i was listening to claire mccaskill talk about what it's normally like. this is a very, very strange, strange day here but i think one that has given everyone a sense

of, okay, perhaps this is a chance to turn the page on what has been certainly a very, very difficult year in the context of the pandemic and in so many other ways, brian. >> kasie hunt, who leaves us with the quote for the day, radical normalcy. i will match you radical normalcy with reflective decency, which is also what we're seeing from joe biden and the biden camp. things like the invitation to the church service for mitch mcconnell, for chuck schumer, and other leaders of congress pass and present. it's the decent thing to do. and, nicolle, perhaps lost in the flurry of today after saying have a good life, we'll see you soon, the president turns to leave the podium at andrews air force base, the walk-off music was not one last playing of

"hail to the chief" for the man who's going to be sitting president still for the next 2 1/2 hours. it was ymca by the village people because it's all been a slow, rolling rally for these four years. as the president and first lady boarded air force once. if you're just joining our coverage, it is airborne and on route south. it will land in florida, the usual notice to pilots, the air restrictions over the air space because he's the sitting president. and then it will all go away when the power of office transfers north to washington, 12:00 noon to joe biden, who will actually take the oath a few minutes before the noon hour. nicolle? >> well, i'm thinking about reflective decency. i don't know what the opposite is but that certainly is what was championed and branded inside the trump presidency and

trump white house. but i think the enduring story. trump legacy isn't just a lack of decorum and decency. it is the in fact in the end he became a clear and present danger to the country he leads. he sent insurrectionists to the capitol where they threatened of life of his own vice president, vice president's family and every member of congress and every staff member and everyone who works in that building. that building isn't unlike any of the workplaces any of us work in. there are support staff, janitors all of their lives were in danger by this president two wednesdays ago and president-elect biden will inherit an unprecedented domestic security crisis. his nominee to be the country's top intelligence chief has said that she -- one of his first tasks will be to draft an assessment of the threat posed by qanon, members of congress who govern under the banner of

qanon. and help us understand just what this security threat created by donald trump looks like. we're joined now by former secretary of homeland security under president obama, jeh johnson. mr. secretary, we spoke two wednesdays ago while that insurrection was under way, and i detected in you, along with the sadness and concern and fear that i think we all felt watching the horrors, some enduring concerns about the security picture. can you help us understand what joe biden's national security team are contending with? >> yes, good morning. thank you for having me. since 9/11 those of us who have been involved in national security have been principally concerned with foreign-inspired, foreign directed terrorist threats to our homeland. that threat picture is now very, very different. the principal terrorist threat is far right violent extremism,

far right white nationalism of a violent nature. that has been apparent now for some time. the anti-defamation league, for example, has tracked this for years. terrorist attacks now in the united states are predominantly domestic based far right violent extremism. so i'm pleased to hear that the incoming national security team will make threats like qanon part of their principal focus. >> mr. secretary, there's reporting in "the new york times" that the military after learning that sussex individuals involved in the insurrection two wednesdays ago had ties to the military will undertake vetting in their own ranks. that feels like a seismic and massive undertaking. can you flesh that out for us? what does that look like, and

how urgent is that mission? >> well, there is a considerable level of vetting already. >> right. >> for those who are recruited into our nation's military, our federal law enforcement agencies, who probably need to go back to basics and double down on what we do take a look at. you know, in the private sector, part of a basic job application and consideration very often is looking at somebody's social media to see what kinds of things they post, seeing some of the things they you say. that should be and has been a very basic requirement for going into national security and law enforcement. we know from "the new york times" reporting that there were a few who were excused from the security of today's event because of some of the more extremist things that they posted. so maybe we need to take a hard look at whether we're getting

this right, whether we're getting this done right. >> secretary johnson, if i can jump in and ask you a couple of questions and note just for our colleagues here that it does appear we will soon be having to get a new surgeon general nominee, as it appears jerome adams, current surgeon general, has been asked to step down. so he will be going. i have a couple of questions. one is on this idea of domestic security and what we knew and when we knew it. your predecessor, janet napolitano, under her auspices as homeland security secretary, there was a full-on report that was produced about the risks of right-wing domestic terrorism that created such a furor on the right among conservatives in this country that it actually was rescinded. i'm wondering if the work that was done during the obama administration on that, whether the work product still exists in some way in your view, do you

think? and what can we maybe learn from going back? i'm sitting here watching looking at the capitol and having just stepped foot inside of that building just yesterday. it gives me chills just to see the images of the capitol now and just, you know, still have flashbacks to that same building being overrun and swarmed by the president's supporters who formed what amounts to a lynch mob. if we overcame that, obviously, we missed a lot. do you think that effort from 2009's effort still exists and can still be used? >> first, joy, i can't help but think about four years ago at this event. i was responsible for the overall security of this event four years ago when i was the outgoing secretary of homeland security. donald trump went to the western front of the capitol and talked about american carnage. a lot of us then, including apparently george w. bush, said

what the heck is he talking about? and here we are four years later in a very, very different environment. we have refrigerator trucks adjacent to hospitals and funeral homes because of covid. and we saw literally carnage on the western front of the u.s. capitol two weeks ago. so that's what trumpism has brought us. now when it comes to domestic-based far right extremism, in the last years of the obama administration, certainly on my watch, i can tell you that this became an increasing focus of ours to the point where i spent a lot of time on countering violent extremism programs here in the united states. and we imposed on congress, we got congress to fund local-based efforts at countering violent extremism, including white nationalism, like a group called life after hate, for example, in

chicago. i was pleased to find out there were groups dedicated to countering white nationalism violent extremism and we wanted to fund those efforts. frankly, they went off track over the last four years and i'm sure the incoming administration will rededicate itself to those efforts. >> and how much more complicated does it make it to do that work when you had the highest ranking political leader of a major political party, namely the president of the united states, incorporate the very kinds of people that you all were investigating as part of his base and as crate cal part of his base so that the government was not allowed to message against them, that they were brought in, they were told to stand back and stand by, both white nationalists and whatever they call themselves, western nationalist extremists are pulled in. and if you can just answer that in the context of joe biden has got to try to do a mass band-aid and part of what these white extremist groups hate is any

kind of mandate that stops covid. so he will face, i feel, mix from these people who are mixed in with anti-vaxxers and anti-mask people are all mixed. >> the task is a daunting one, without a doubt. joe biden is inheriting a national mood, a threat picture, a climate perhaps unlike anything i have seen in my lifetime, and i'm 63 years old. there exists in this country a strand of america that is racist, intolerant, prone to violence and vulnerable to fake news, paranoia, appeals to bigotry and conspiracy theories. over the last four years, donald trump peeled the lid off that group and told them you're special people, we love you, emboldened them to come out into the open in places like

charlottesville and the u.s. capitol two weeks ago. on top of that, they don't wear masks. they don't observe good norms for public health and public safety. so there's a lot of work to be done. it's more than just bridging the divide. it's more than just inviting mitch mcconnell to church with him. there's a lot of serious work that's going to be done. the president is bringing in a very, very experienced team. they have a daunting task. >> thank you for being with us and taking our questions today, mr. secretary. and it's also great to have you here in the new york area. we are looking at the west front of the capitol. shortly joe biden and entourage will emerge from the catholic church service as what passes for the inaugural crowd will fill in to the sparse seating, spaced-out seating, this being an uncontrolled pandemic.

you do see some of the vip area filling in now. we're going to take a brief break in our coverage. they will be few and far between today as there's so much sights and sounds to bring you this inauguration day of joseph robinette biden jr. of delaware as the 46th president of the united states.

♪ ♪ when all this is over, and the world starts finding its way back, will you be the same person you were, before it all began? or will you be someone different? someone new? will you make more time for those you love? more effort to see the world? will you care more about your health— your body? your mind? or will you go back to who you were? when all this is over, who will you be?

we are back. our live coverage under way. again, because of the uncontrolled pandemic that is making this unique among modern inaugurations, there's been a bit of political news this morning where it intersects health and science, and that is the incoming president, the incoming administration requesting the surgeon general step aside and prepare for replacement. it is assumed, of course, if you're a presidential appointee on this day, your resignation becomes automatically effective. you can be still kept on if that

is the president's wish. let us not forget as we look back at the brief career with jerome adams in that job that he began his first public utterance on television when the pandemic started to arrive in this country was to remind the american people of the virility and vitality of donald trump. that was followed shortly thereafter by the surgeon general saying we did not need mask wearing as a society. he later apologized for that and explained that he was looking to protect the medical trade and did not want civilians going out and buying up the ppe and leaving doctors and nurses unprotected. geoff bennett is at the white house and covering. what is of this day, at least, geoff, the first notable departure -- i'm just making sure that hazy memories and sympathetic press coverage do

not fill in the blanks for what actually happened with jerome adams. >> everything you said is spot on, brian. we should mention that president-elect joe biden has tapped dr. vivek murthy to serve as his surgeon general and he's been briefing joe biden on his own time and own dime, frankly dieting back to the campaign, about the pandemic. he was pulling together media reports and publicly available information to give then-candidate and then president-elect joe biden a good sense of how the pandemic was progressing. of course, murthy has been a key part of the biden covid task force. i will tell you though as the president-elect is still at that catholic church and is preparing to leave, listening to mike barnicle earlier in the programming i'm remind i had with a friend of joe biden, and this was a bit after the big victory celebration on november

7th. this person imparted to me joe biden's vision and his perspective of divine grace and device timing. and here's why this is important, joe biden we know wanted to be president much earlier in his life. there was that calamity, of course, he ran in 2008 we know how that turned out, he ended up being barack obama's vice president, but joe biden i'm told has a sense that moments have a way of finding you when you're ready for them and when you are needed. and you could make the argument, politics aside, that joe biden is now perhaps better prepared now at 78 years old than he ever would have been to shoulder the cluster of crises this country faces, a spiraling pandemic, a cratered economy, a crisis in our democracy and racial and social inequity around every corner, frankly. as joy talked about, he has that life of loss that gives him this sort of deep abiding compassion. we've seen joe biden not just

last night but in the weeks leading up to this very moment when he was in wilmington planning to preside, he filled that leadership void. he filled that empathy void. he also obviously has a competency, right, and he has a deep well of good working relationships with democrats and republicans that he will have to draw upon to do the work. as kristen welker mentioned earlier in the program, he has about 15 executive actions he's going to sign today. as one biden adviser put it to me, there is no time for nonsense, they have to get right down to work. so what that means is that this life of lived experiences, lived experiences that joe biden will bring to bear, it means that when he talks about unity and healing and remembrance he does it from a place of authenticity. of course, one of the things that we will be watching as reporters is the degree to which accountability plays a role in this unity, too. that you can't have healing without justice first, brian.

>> geoff bennett, thank you for that. chris jansing is standing by over at the west front, chris, we've been watching sporadic pictures come and go on our screen, mostly because of the pool coverage. we saw pat leahy of vermont briefly taking a photo, what looked like the church service breaking up, but we're also seeing motorcades arrive in that protected portico on the west front, which is actually a very secure way for the vips to come and go. >> and we're standing, brian, actually where we just saw former president george w. bush and his wife laura arrive ahead of schedule, i should say. what we're going to see here where i'm standing is a show of presidential solidarity in spite of the fact that president trump is on air force one and headed to florida, all the living former presidents except for jimmy carter, who is 96, will be

arriving here. as i said, the bushes have already come, we are waiting for former president barack obama and michelle obama, and of course former president bill clinton and his wife hillary. i was in this location, brian, four years ago and there was a lot of drama surrounding the arrival of hillary clinton because she, of course, had won the popular vote by 3 million, but had lost, of course, the electoral college, but the car pulled up right behind me, she stepped out, if my memory serves me in a winter white pants suit, smiled and waved and participated in all the ceremonies as all the former presidents have and as she did as someone who had run for president against donald trump. so those arrivals will be coming along with dan quayle the former vice president, his wife marilyn quail. he was the vice president for george h.w. bush. but then the real arrival that

we're waiting for is going to happen just behind me, which is the steps, the east front steps of the capitol, and that is where joe biden and dr. jill biden will arrive, along with the vice president-elect kamala harris and doug emhoff. in a signal of exactly how dramatic these last weeks have been here on capitol hill, they will be met by the acting sergeants-at-arms and deputy sergeants-at-arms for both the house and the senate. of course, they stepped into those roles after the folks who were there on january 6th left. they will walk up those stairs and they will enter into that hallway leading to the rotunda through doors that were breached by the insurrectionists and which are still damaged. after that they go down that circular staircase which i know you know, brian, they go into the crypt and then they walk

down that long set of stairs, out on to the platform where just minutes after that they will take the oath of office as the president and vice president of the united states. but right now we are waiting for more arrivals of former presidents here outside the capitol, brian. >> chris jansing with one of the better seats and assignments of the day. >> for sure. >> while chris has been talking we indeed saw the bushes arrive, we saw the u.s. army band arrive. so it's officially a party. and now these are departures from st. matthews church, elements of the motorcade assembled outside, but the mass itself is over. we are joined by the author, presidential historian and long-time friend of ours, michael beschloss. michael, you and i last spoke, oh, just a couple hours ago last night it seems. there are going to be flashes, michael, as different as this

inauguration will be, there are going to be flashes as we watch former presidents arriving, for example, of the tradition that we rely upon on days like this. >> that's exactly right, brian. and it's almost as if history is back on the road again after having taken this horrible detour for the last four years, especially the last two weeks. you know, one thing that this reminds me of, brian, is that, look back on american history and it's amazing how well the system has oftentimes gotten it right in terms of choosing presidents, george washington as our first, abraham lincoln before the civil war, rather unknown illinois lawyer and ex-congressman franklin roosevelt in 1932 who many people that you will was a banal agreeable figure, not up to the crisis of the great depression. we don't know yet about joe biden, but it could be that a future historian will look back

on 2021 and say that january what did americans need? maybe they needed someone who wanted to and was really good at unifying them, someone with almost a half a century of government experience, someone who is adept at working across the aisle in congress and very motivated to do that. those are all qualities that we see in joe biden, whether he will be a lincoln or a franklin roosevelt i'm not predicting or speculating, but i think our system at least in this case has done pretty well. >> michael, it is hard and we want to try to emphasize the positive wherever we can today, but there is this set of facts before us, it is hard to remember a time when we have been laid so low at the time of an inauguration. the scars of the violence having just been washed off the capitol after the insurrection. the death toll that you mentioned. what a set of challenges for the

incoming president. >> you're right. and we've had presidents dealing with crises before like the civil war or franklin roosevelt on the edge of world war ii in 1941. when before have we ever seen a president having to deal with so many major overwhelming crises at the same time? our friend geoff bennett was talking about them just a few moments ago. pandemic, people are suffering economically terribly, starving in some cases, a crisis of democracy, we almost lost that two weeks ago in the same place that we're about to inaugurate joe biden, and racial injustice that has been rampant and violent in this country for over 400 years. joe biden doesn't have the choice that many presidents have of saying, well, maybe some of these things i will deal with in my second term or after the midterm election. all those things have to be dealt with now. >> we're watching the massive church doors at st. matthews,

michael, while we've been talking we saw the mcconnells, there is the husband of the speaker of the house, less than gingerly coming down the stairs of the church. and, michael, i think just to put a finer point on the earlier point, once we see the former presidents seated together, once we see the likes of bill clinton and barack obama and 43, it's been noted that jimmy carter at age 96 was simply unable to make the trip this time, that speaks volumes about continuity of government. >> of course it does. and the fact is donald trump had no serious relationship with any former president. never called them for advice. never welcomed them to the white house for a ceremony of ex-presidents. it's symbolically important but

it's also substantively important because, you know, one of the things about history, you and i have talked about this a lot, is what is a therefore if it isn't there to guide a leader dealing with really tough problems, with fragmentary information under times of great pressure? one of the things you can do is john kennedy called dwight eisenhower during the cuban missile crisis and said what would you do? eisenhower had had some pretty big decisions to make on d-day, was very well-equipped to give that kind of information. this is why i'm saying that these last four years have almost been ahistorical. donald trump said in his acceptance speech in 2016 in cleveland i alone can fix it, was a fore shadowing of this very dictatorial strong-man administration that tried very hard as far as i can see to wipe out our democracy and as we discussed almost did. >> michael beschloss, our thanks for being part of our coverage

as we watch these motorcades arrive at the u.s. capitol. it's been said over and over that perhaps we should have reflected more on an inauguration address that was themed american carnage four years ago. turns out donald trump meant it then and it turns out that describes much more of our country as he leaves office than we ever could have dreamed. this latest motorcade, remember the vice president has a motorcade, former presidents will be arriving at this entrance of the capitol to go on up into the stairway and then make the entrance on down. nicolle wallace, we saw your former boss and former first lady laura bush. >> and i was thinking when chris jansing talked about hillary clinton's arrival four years ago about why they go. former presidents attend because

it is so important that the world witness one of the hallmarks of our democracy, this peaceful transfer of power. and i think the trauma and the shock of the insurrection just two weeks ago, i think has taken away some of the attention on what trump is taking away from the country. by not showing up today he is depriving the country of showcasing to the world over one of the sort of shining features of our democracy, which is a peaceful transfer of power. we did not have one this year because of donald trump. and donald trump still has not congratulated publicly in full view or earshot of his millions of supporters the incoming president, and i think that we will spend years unpacking all the damage he did to the country with his behavior over the last two months. >> we have just been told that

some of the arrivals we've been seeing have been justices of the supreme court. indeed we saw as justice sotomayor and justice gorsuch made their way in and up the stairs and we will remain with these pictures and watch these arrivals as we talk among ourselves, and ourselves now includes rachel maddow who has snuck in and has become part of our coverage this morning. rachel, i would love to hear some of your thoughts as we see former first lady michelle obama arriving. >> you know, i was struck by both what nicolle observed and what michael beschloss was talking about in terms of -- there we see former president obama there as well with the former first lady. the responsibilities of other administrations, other presidents and first ladies to pick up the stitch that donald trump dropped. that we will see vice president

mike pence to some extent, but former republican president george w. bush and former democratic presidents, the clinton and obama administrations both represented today. we will see them act out the peaceful transfer of power that donald trump was not able to deliver. this is not a peaceful transfer of power this year. it was violence as the president directed his supporters to try to use force to have him seize power and hold on to it despite the election results. so i think as a country we're sort of on this knife point where we have to decide whether we are going to treat this as an aberration which joe biden has argued for, describing trump's election and his presidency as an aberration from the arc of american history, or whether this is something that we're going to have to substantively contend with as some sort of new normal in right wing american politics, that this will be the new expectation that republicans no longer believe that if a republican loses an election that election result should count.

so it's seeing trump not there today in a way is calming, but it does sort of spotlight the fact that we are going to have to figure out how much to contend with him. >> hillary clinton who of course won the popular vote last time around, the first of two losses of the popular vote that donald trump has now been involved with, former president bill clinton coming up. this is a choreographed dance of motorcades throughout washington, d.c., just like air traffic control, they are stacked up and then metered in one after the other, all of it part of the big thick white binder that has contained the planning for this event and spare a thought for the strobe light dealers in the washington metropolitan area. this is always such a big day for them where they make up for all their annual business in one day. you see the u.s. marine band

playing and we will then see the former presidents, we will see the current justices of the supreme court come down as kasie hunt and christiansing have described, come down the stairs with their military escort. this will be the first of many times we see the kind of bunting covered archway. sadly, the last time we saw that archway was the plywood framing of it being scaled by the rioters, by the insurrectionists. so much of the backdrop for joe biden's speech will include doors, windows that have just been replaced after being shattered. but that archway was that kind of bare blond wood that we saw people climbing on. it was set up days ago. nicolle wallace, as i was saying

with michael beschloss, this will feel vastly different today, but from time to time there will be hints of normalcy, i think, leading us right to 12:00 noon. >> yeah, and i'm thinking about ron klain the incoming white house chief of staff and a friend to all four of our programs tweeted this morning nothing about today was inevitable. not the election results, not the successful transfer of power, albeit it wasn't peaceful but it was successful, joe biden is being sworn in today, and i think that is something for all of us to hold on to. that this wasn't inevitable. this was way too close for comfort for those of us who value our democracy, which trump did not. but there will be an inching back toward what kasie hunt so beautifully described as radical normalcy. i think that's why president obama, president clinton,

president bush are all there, to help joe biden usher in something that looks a lot more familiar to americans. >> rachel maddow has a special guest. rachel? >> i do. joining us now on the phone from the stands at the inauguration is illinois senator tammy duckworth. she of course serves on the senate armed services committee. senator duckworth, we are so honored to have you with us today at this historic moment. thanks for joining us. >> oh, it's good to be here, rachel. >> can you describe to us where you are and what you're seeing and how you're feeling today? >> oh, well, i feel great. it's a gorgeous day outside, not too sunny, not too windy. i am on a little platform where they put [ inaudible ] -- but i am on the north side of the platform area about one story above where the president will be speaking.

[ inaudible ] -- i'm on the right-hand side in a light blue shirt, jacket and i have on my kamala harris pearls and my joe biden aviator sunglasses. other senators are just filing in behind me right now. >> senator duckworth, i have to tell you your audio is competing with the sound of the band near you, but i think we can still hear. i think we've still got you. i do just want to ask given your experience during the attack on the capitol, being out there today with there still being some visible scars from the attack on the capitol, it has to be a sort of dissident feeling to know what you and your colleagues just went through and that that exact same place will be the site of this -- of this ceremony today. >> exactly. you're right, that's the marine corps band playing right now, but, you know, just getting on

the platform was hard, i had to go through the office building and there were officers there [ inaudible ] -- my personal hide away is right next to where many of the rioters were able to get into the capitol so the glass is all shattered. i couldn't go into my hide away like i normally would. so there are certainly remnants left of the insurrection attempt, but i will tell you we are all more determined than ever to take our place here on the stands, here at the capitol to show that our democracy will not be hindered by some insurrectionists and some folks who are trying to get in the way of democracy being carried out. so it's really glorious to be here today looking out over the flags and the fluttering in the breeze on the way to the washington monument there across the mall and all of my colleagues proudly taking their seats. >> senator duckworth, it feels good to hear you describe that

scene as glorious. thank you for being with us, senator. enjoy this day. thanks for taking time. >> thank you. >> nicolle, over to you. >> we're joined by congressman eric swalwell, he's also on the phone, i think similarly located, we will see if the band is also audible in our interview with him. congressman swalwell, talk about this making the most of what is not an ideal transfer of power. what was not a peaceful transfer. but what is the turning of a page, probably a starker contrast cannot be voted in recent history between the outgoing and incoming administrations. >> that's right, nicolle. two wednesdays ago we were attacked, last wednesday for the second time we impeached donald trump and this wednesday, today, we renew our democracy. so it's an opportunity. but it's unsettling to see so many national guardsmen who have

to protect this transition of power and hopefully it's an opportunity to have redemption for our country. >> congressman, brian has been noting as the images have poured into our feed all morning from the nation's capitol just how different it looks. familiar monuments, familiar venues, but a very unfamiliar site, both because of the pandemic and the unprecedented security in the wake of the insurrection. i wonder if you could just talk about how it feels there on the platform and in the building and how much of that is because of the attack two weeks ago and how much of that is due to the pandemic. >> well, it's unsettling, you know? nicolle, i just like you, i grew up listening to tom brokaw and brian williams note every inauguration that you don't see tanks in the street and you won't hear a shot fired. >> yeah. >> that's what makes this so special. and we lost that this time. so it doesn't mean we can't

reclaim it, it just means that we can't take it for granted. >> do you feel safe? >> i feel safe, but i wish my wife weren't here with me. we have a three-year-old and a two-year-old and we decided that she shouldn't be here. i hate that, but that's just the reality of the times. >> what do you make of joe biden's down to every last cell in his being commitment to bipartisanship and unity? it is surprisingly controversial among a lot of democrats. >> it's needed. it's so, so needed. it's why he won, you know, he survived a brutal primary even before the pandemic, before the attack, the country wanted to come back together after donald trump and more than ever we need t it may not work, he may be undermined by, you know, people in the senate, but he has to try

and i hope we see sincere efforts on the other side to embrace it. >> and as you see mitch mcconnell seem to put distance between himself and donald trump by the day, by the news cycle, what is your sense on support and openness in the senate for convicting donald trump this time? >> you know, we're seeking every vote, not just democratic votes, we're seeking every vote, one, for accountability, you can't sweep this under the rug, two, to deter a future president from doing this. so we have to show until your final hour you will be held accountable. and, three, to disqualify from ever running from office someone who has such a disdain for public safety and for our democracy. i think republicans who ran for their lives, saw their desks ransacked in that historic hallowed chamber are going to give us a fair trial. >> congressman eric swalwell, thank you for spending some time with us this morning. stay safe. >> my pleasure.

>> over to you, brian. >> now we watch the heavy armor of the president-elect's motorcade leaving the church. this should be vice president mike pence arriving at the capitol. the seal, i believe, of the vice president on the door of these suvs. he will be the other ranking officer until he loses his title and goes back to being mike pence of indiana at 12:00 noon straight up. for joe biden this is a move into the, as i call it, the heavy armor of the presidential motorcade from the way he's been moving around under secret service protection, but no mistake several rungs below in importance. so the pences will arrive at the capitol, if you've been watching our conversations with lawmakers you've seen the pictures play out. we saw chuck schumer arrive, we

saw senator klobuchar arrive, we saw congressman hoyer, we saw new jersey governor phil murphy and his wife tammy, part of the democratic special guests for the day. these two dropoff points beneath the capitol, motorcades snake their way in, again, we believe the biden motorcade having left the church now is en route over to the capitol. there is a suite of holding rooms for the president-elect and his party before they exit outdoors. the u.s. marine band as rachel said, competing with some of our guests trying to talk with us during the ramp up to this, but you'll see members of congress, you'll see prominent democrats arriving and taking their seat and more than a few republicans. the era of mask wearing and

minister hats makes it a little bit more difficult. congressman cicilline of rhode island there. and it makes it a little bit more difficult to call out the prominent names. >> it is handy that tim kaine -- i believe that was tim kaine -- is wearing a hat that says t.k. on one side and v.a. on the other. clearly a homemade hat designed to aid news people. >> visible from space, yeah. >> if only they would all wear them. >> that's right. >> we could add them in cgi probably if we really put our minds to it. >> bored anchors won't think of it. brian, i'm struck by what congressman swalwell said about watching you and tom brokaw note that the hallmark of a peaceful transfer of power was the absence of militarized presence. obviously that's not the case today. >> yeah, i was struck by, a, how old that made me feel, and b,

how right it was. we did usually in past years brag on our own society, our own democracy, our own freedom and the fact that this was not the way we rolled. i will note on behalf of our viewers a determination has been made by the secret service, the -- they are the organizing authority for this event. this is a national security event in washington, as you see members of the guard and ready reserve and some active duty dod there. this event has been deemed and declared safe. it has been decided that it is safe to put our -- the top of our government, the leadership of our government on the west front of the capitol in the open. there are -- there are safeguards that are seen and unseen. just assume that there are

multiple layers in the skies above from satellites in space to the next layer of helicopters, there is a canopy of fighter aircraft in and out of andrews air force base around the district of columbia, there are drones, there are a million different eyes on the sky and on the ground making sure this will be a safe event today, believe me, we would not expose all these vips were that not the case. nicolle, i think the idea for the flags on the mall has given us a nice colorful foreground and while it will never make up for people in the crowd -- ted cruz entering the inauguration -- while it will never make up for the presence of people it's a colorful and kind of joyous backdrop. >> it is. and it's just a remarkable book end to the trump presidency which i think rachel enjoys

programs book ended as well as anything i've seen on our air or anywhere, and, joy, i think you have a special guest. >> i do indeed. before i bring her in i just wanted to comment. i don't know if anyone else is struck by just seeing everyone masked. >> yeah. >> just the kind of public, you know, sort of performance of responsible behavior, even the republicans are in masks. there's no longer that social pressure from donald trump to be maskless, to be sort of proudly maskless. it's pretty striking for me to see. i do want to bring in congresswoman barbara lee from california who is in the stands as well. i can't see you, congresswoman -- >> can you hear me? >> i understand you're wearing some very special jewelry. if you can explain what you're wearing. do we have you, congresswoman? uh-oh. congresswoman lee, are you

there? >> hello. >> yes. congresswoman, hello, good morning. >> hi. yes. can you hear me? >> yes, we can absolutely hear you. i understand that you are there in the stands and that you're wearing some very special jewelry. if you could tell us what that is. i can't see you, but tell us what you wore today. >> oh, let me tell you -- first i'm excited and so happy that today is finally here. i am wearing congresswoman shirley tibbins pearls. her goddaughter told me shirley would want me to wear these pearls today. i am because of shirley chisolm i am and kamala harris is. this is long overdue 50 years after she was elected and ran for the presidency, this time has finally come. she paved the way for all of us. >> yeah. and, you know, just yesterday

having been in the capitol rotunda and seeing the rosa parks statue where she asked before when she spoke the speaker mentioned she wanted to be seated in her statue, that she wanted that dignity of being able to do what she couldn't do on the buses, right, when she was protesting. so there is so much that's resonant today. i wonder for you how it feels to be, you know, doing this changeover of power, while it wasn't peaceful, this transition of power, in this same space that was so violated on january 6. how does that feel for you? >> well, i tell you, it makes me feel -- first of all, democracy as fragile as it is, it won. secondly, i was an intern with our beloved [ inaudible ] when -- helicopter flew around the capitol. today i watched donald trump's helicopter fly around the capitol and i could tell you one thing, i felt a lot more

relieved today than i did when richard nixon left. so that just tells you how fragile and how vulnerable and how this country has become under donald trump. but as our great beloved dr. maya angelou said, and still we rise. >> indeed. congresswoman barbara lee, enjoy the inauguration. thank you very much. i think shirley chisolm's spirit is definitely in attendance. former senator kamala harris, vice president-elect kamala harris ran in the name of shirley chisolm when she ran for president. sending it back to you, brian. >> this will likely be the biden motorcade stretching its way through the streets of washington en route up to capitol hill. we've been watching the other arrivals. we you a cory booker, we saw bernie sanders, we saw an interesting shot we're going to try to go back to, the kind of

holding area that is the assemblage of strange bedfellows. the leadership of the house and senate all distanced and of course you never know if that's for politics or pandemic, but let's assume it's a little bit of both these days, as this backlog of massive hulking suvs now makes its way up to the capitol. those are members of the new jersey state police on the far left there, because so many different jurisdictions have been drafted into this, their backs to the motorcade, they are concentrating on the crowd. there is the national guard on the other side of the jersey barriers, active duty dod in the foreground. the most heavily defended inauguration of modern times. and i've got to say, claire

mccaskill, we saw mike lee, we saw ted cruz arriving on the west front. how strange it must feel for ted cruz having had his name invoked, that videotape that's now been seen all over the world of the rioters rifling through desks saying, in effect, some form of ted cruz would want us to be doing this, and the limousine now comes up on capitol hill. >> yeah, it's interesting because we have not only seen a lot of republicans showing up, but i noticed that roger wicker wanted to pose for a picture with jack reed. jack reed now the new chairman of the armed services committee and they both were posing for pictures together on the dais. it appears, too, brian, there is a little bit of a different seating chart this time. members of the senate are up above and their spouses are

accompanying them. typically your spouses are down in front in the first section facing the podium and not seated with the senators during the inaugural festivities. i also have it on good authority that the women of the senate are wearing pearls today in solidarity with kamala, and also i hear that the democratic senators have aviator sunglasses in their pockets and in a moment that is appropriate for some levity i'm told that there will be some placing on noses of joe biden's signature aviators when there is a moment that people feel that it is appropriate to smile. >> claire mccaskill with exclusive word of the formation of the bausch and lomb caucus as part of the inauguration today. and just to explain what we're seeing as the biden motorcade pulls up, this is for the purposes of today let's call this the back door of the capitol.

this is the other side that faces the supreme court. this is the broad plaza between the senate and house chambers where we have seen -- were this a traditional inauguration -- the departing obama helicopter, for example, took off from this plaza, the trumps were there to see them off. normally the trumps would take off from this plaza, but they're more than halfway on their way to florida by now. there you see the vice president-elect and her husband, we're waiting for the bidens to -- there they are -- emerge from the limousine. we will just take some of this in as they arrive at the capitol. it's been said so many times, it will be said so many times more, this is the prize for joe biden after so many years of trying, after so many years a member of the u.s. senate, so many years

of public service, this is the crowning moment, the crowning achievement for him. waiting for dr. jill biden to emerge from her side of the car. >> and this sort of mustard colored coat there is senator amy klobuchar and i believe that's senator roy blunt. these would be the senate chairs of the inaugural committee who have done so much work to organize this phenomenal and unprecedented inaugural in terms of the outside circumstances.

>> we're still here. we just kind of are laying out and letting this all unfold and hearing what we can hear. >> brian, it's so striking these are two families totally at home in that building, which takes on such added significance at this moment. >> absolutely right. speaker getting escorted. duty bound to mention here last time we saw that camera platform, occupied by rioters. last time we saw those sheets of white vinyl covering the risers they were being ripped up and torn down. they didn't have long to spruce things up.

first time in our history we've ever had to refer to damage from insurrection as being an issue in the preparation for the inauguration, but that doorway is going to loom large in the background of the camera shot when joe biden does give his inaugural address. it is designed to feature the royal blue carpeting that comes down behind the lecturn. those are marine guards at the door as they guard the door of the west wing. you see the various a -- including the heater system designed to keep everybody warn up at the peach. the lectern famously caught fire during the kennedy inauguration.

robert frost straining in the bright sunlight. those black and white memories, those pictures are burned in everyone's memory who is of age and now this will be a different memory of a different sort, different year. we're missing 400,000 of our fellow citizens. >> brian, i will also just say that we are used to seeing, you know, everything from the marine band to those marine guards at the door to the color guard that we have seen already as part of the pomp and circumstance, the start of the ceremonial show what have it means to honor dignitaries and honor a moment of import in our government, and to have it -- have that show of force by the u.s. military feel something more than ceremonial this year. to see as you were describing the national guard and active duty troops -- senator mitt romney there on our screen.

senator ben sasse. i think that's senator ben scotts on the right. >> to see the show of force that's necessary and the corresponding lack of a crowd both in terms of the necessities of the pandemic, but also for safety. it's just such a different thing than we are used to. to have the -- to have the military presence there resonates so differently than it usually does. to have it working on two levels, it's sort of flipping my stomach a little bit i have to say. >> and, rachel, how about the temptation to lean in, give somebody a kiss, shake hands. for joe biden the most tactile of all politicians this must be absolute torture. but just the urge to greet people the way you would normally greet people. there's general milley, chairman of the joint chiefs. the u.s. army.

lindsey graham. oh, the many chapters of lindsey graham. rachel, i will leave that one to you. >> no thanks. >> you know, brian, if i could jump in and do one very -- on a very much less important and weighty note than the one that rachel just made, but somebody has got to do it. can we talk fashion for just one moment? somebody has got to do it. >> you were anointed. >> people are going to want to know what everyone was wearing. i have to say seeing michelle obama, you know, put a lump in my throat because one of the things that she did in addition to all the other things she did as first lady was that she used fashion to send a message of inclusivity, she would wear designers of color or designers from different countries honored at a state dinner and she would be pointed about that. i'm seeing both the first lady jill biden as well as kamala harris, vice president-elect,

are using fashion in interesting ways. the gentleman are all wearing ralph lauren, both doug as well as joe biden, apparently they will be wearing ralph lauren. jill biden is wearing alexandra o'neal of the marcarian house, she's young, up and coming so she's giving her a huge monitor dress the first lady. and kamala harris is wearing two designers, a black designer from south carolina whose name is sergio hudson, and then there is another african-american designer named christopher john rodgers. so she's wearing their pieces today. everyone obviously looks gorgeous, but, you know, the fact that kamala harris is notably wearing two african-american designers, christopher john rodgers is from baton rouge, louisiana, lives in new york city and mr. hudson is from south carolina. i just think that's an interesting note because they are using -- you can use fashion

to make a statement and i feel like both of the two ladies are doing that today. >> it is really important. and i think it is what people are, you know -- among the things people are watching and waiting for. it's interesting to put michelle obama at the beginning of that conversation because she made a statement every time she stepped outside of -- in front of a camera. i think every woman in the world went out and bought hand weights because she looked so stunning in everything she wore. >> indeed. >> it's a nice thought. >> let me just remark here that this is steve scalise who is in the house leadership on the republican side an of course james clyburn who is in the house leadership on the democratic side and they have just walked out one after the other from that doorway that brian has been describing, but to see them walking together through the chamber is an interesting moment. obviously steve scalise and kevin mccarthy both joined in

doing what the rioters were demanding in objecting to the formalization of the election results. scalise and mccarthy both supported that, which is a radical thing to have done, especially radical to have done it as leadership in the house and to have done it as leadership in the house after the insurrection is phenomenal. but there's scalise alongside his democratic not quite counterpart james clyburn today. >> kristen welker standing by with more reporting from the west front of the capitol. >> well, brian, and rachel and nicolle, everything that you're saying i think underscores what we are seeing as we watch these arrivals come in. the fact that you have democrats and some of the very republicans who questioned the legitimacy of the election results speaks to the challenges that the incoming

president is facing. challenges as he seeks to unify this country. and i would just note as we talk about everything that is unprecedented about this day, and there is so much, the fact that it is taking place against the backdrop of a district that has been in total lockdown for days now, the fact that it is going to be socially distant, that people are wearing masks, what is not going to be different is the fact that joe biden will be sworn in on the west front capitol. and that cannot be overstated. the significance of it, the importance of it, the fact that joe biden himself said it was important for him to not just be here and to be sworn into office, but to be sworn in outside, on the very steps that just two weeks ago that mob stormed, when that insurrection was under way here at the u.s. capitol. and so i think what you are seeing from this incoming president is an attempt from the start through his inaugural

address to strike a note not just of unity but of strength and trying to send a message to this country that it will move forward from those horrific events of two weeks ago. and of course just one week ago on wednesday president trump was impeached. so joe biden's agenda will have to move forward against the backdrop of that. so the challenges he is facing cannot be overstated, but he is seeking to send a message today that he will push forward, the country will push forward and that unity is key to all of that. brian. >> thank you, kristen welker, she see the leadership of the senate coming in, durbin, thune and chuck schumer of new york who will by a razor thin majority the vice president as tiebreaker, chuck schumer will take over as majority leader. he has been in the midst of talks with mitch mcconnell basically surrounding how

they're going to work committee assignments, democrats of course get to decide the chairs, but will there be a 50/50 down the middle partisan balance on committees? the senate majority leader will have better than average seats for the event. as they make their way on down right behind the lectern. >> brian, as we say president-elect biden and vice president-elect harris go up the stairs with their spouses as they were entering the capitol for the first time i thought it was interesting that we saw the outgoing majority leader, mitch mcconnell, and his wife recently resigned trump cabinet official elaine chao standing on the right. biden and mcconnell exchanged a little wave which was -- there they are. hi, guys.

see you later. are we going to get this thing done? the fact that biden is coming into this office knowing everybody and everything significant source -- every significant position of power in washington and having long and in some cases complex relationships with all of them, just i don't know if it will help him ultimately in getting done what he needs to get done, but the dramatic contrast between that and real estate developer and reality tv show donald trump coming in knowing everyone, hating them all at the outset and deriding them in his inaugural is just night and day. just night and day. >> it is. and just his knowledge, rachel, of the real estate up there. this is a guy who had a senate office for so long, had a hide away office in the capitol, just knows the social patterns and morays and knows a good deal of the members of the senate, has kept up with it, was up there

all the time as vice president. with this razor's edge party balance in the u.s. senate i think it can't help but help if getting legislation through that body is their aim. a few clouds popping up over the dome, but still there are so many blessings to count today. it is not the bitter cold winter days we've seen in past inaugurations. yes, people are bundled, but we are so fortunate that it's above freezing temperatures, predicted to be in the -- just the low 40s when we get under way here. >> brian, we do have a little bit of news. we've been remarking on, and you've been pointing out that we've seen these camera angles most recently from the trump mob attack on the capitol two weeks ago, but one of the stark

moments of heroism that day was capitol police officer eugene goodman who we have all seen appears to have deliberately led part of the trump mob away from the senate floor which at the moment appeared to be unguarded, perhaps saving an invasion of the senate floor while senators were still on it. eugene goodman, that officer, will now be the acting deputy house sergeant-at-arms. he will be part of the ceremony today as well. but eugene goodman being honored by a deputy sergeant-at-arms position with the capitol police after that remarkable heroic act. >> former vice president dan quayle. in fact, rachel, we will see -- we already saw officer goodman as official escort to the vice president-elect. he was waiting for kamala harris at the top of the stairs when she arrived.

dan quayle, of course, his running mate no longer with us, president bush 41. there's congressman scalise. we should also mention the fact that scalise was able to walk on a day like today under his own power as a result of years of physical therapy. he was one of the victims of that shooting during the baseball practice game prior to the congressional baseball game, and he has had many, many subsequent surgeries and has devoted a good deal of his life to being ambulatory after getting grievously wounded that day. susan collins of maine. >> i'm still thinking of a point rachel made a couple minutes ago, takes my brain a minute to catch up sometimes, but we are going to be shaped for years by

what happened two years ago and the elevation to deputy sergeant-at-arms is just one of the public-facing, i think, pieces of evidence of that fact, but every republican who voted to overturn the results of what chris krebs, the life-long republican, most senior election security official described as the most secure election in history did so after the insurrection. they did so after the mob came to kill the vice president and members of congress. and so these pictures will always look different. this will not feel normal in any sense. when we see them assembled there together today. >> senator menendez of new jersey, senator leahy and senator schumer. nicolle, we can't repeat it often enough that you can hear the chant on videotape, hang

mike pence. you can hear the search for the speaker's office and the speaker. there of course the clintons arrival. across the highly polished floors of the crypt. >> it will be interesting, brian, to see what sort of public and political profile each of the clintons have during the biden administration. they obviously have good relationships with everybody in the current administration, the incoming administration, but hillary clinton was such an interesting figure in terms of her public profile after her loss in 2016 to donald trump. there was some discussion that she might actually take a position in the biden administration. it doesn't look like that's in the cards at least at the outset, but they will have a role to play as will michelle

and president obama as public figures. as biden and harris take their places. >> that's an interesting point. former president clinton was tapped by my old boss after international tragedies and after natural disasters to get involved in philanthropic ways and you have to imagine that those will be the kinds of things that are batted around by this current white house. >> we will be back to a time where former presidents of both parties are called upon to help when needed and in ways that show, you know, bipartisan comity and american unity and all of those efforts will just have to skip the last president as if he wasn't there because he's not part of that and he doesn't want to be part of that as evidenced by the fact that he is not there today. there will be some continuity of american leadership in government that just ignores

donald trump's existence. it's going to be -- it's going to be a weird thing. >> but some of it will be to make up for a deficit in our affinity for democracy. a deficit in our trust in science. a deficit perhaps in our willingness to get vaccinated. some of it, some of the tasks put before former presidents maybe to make up for some of the damage done by the outgoing president. >> some of the guests at the inauguration are more equal than others and the pa system announces some of them, including our former presidents as the clintons come down, they will make way for the bushes to come down the steps and then be announced themselves. michael beschloss continues being of counsel to us and watching with us. michael, this is the continuity of government we were talking about -- excuse me -- we were talking about earlier. this seeing our former

presidents, reminds us who we are. >> it really does. and that's something we really have missed for four years. you know, some, brian, might just dismiss this as symbolism and certainly it is symbolic, but the fact that we have not seen scenes like this this for think, has given a lot of people the sense that you have had a flashing red light and an sos going on and off for our democracy during so much of donald trump's presidency. >> president and mrs. obama. >> can i just remark how flawless michelle obama is? i'm sorry. i don't mean to be obsessive. >> go, joy, go. >> you sure can. >> absolutely flawless. her fashion sense is uncanny, brilliant. she dresses her man up very well as well. i believe she consults to make

sure he looks appropriate. >> can i tell you that michelle obama is so well dressed, she's the only person whose mask doesn't stand out as a strange thing that had to be added to her outfit. she's integrated -- exactly, like i'm a fashion authority. i've been wearing the same thing for six years. but she actually -- >> first of all, black is -- all black is chic. so you are a fashion icon. let's start with that. all black is chic. she understands how to dress for the moment and how to look stylish but also powerful. she really is just masterful at it. >> we were talking a moment ago about the former presidents being called upon by current presidents, former presidents being called upon to show up for events like this, for the inaugural. every living president and first lady would be there were it not for the advanced age and pan

pandemic concerns around the carters. to the extent where trump is excluded, the question is whether trump supporters feel excluded from events like this and moments of national unity. >> i keep thinking about that. that's part of the security challenge. we were talking to former secretary jeh johnson about that earlier. when you deal with extremism, you are dealing with that very sentiment. people on the outside have become radicalized. i worry about that, too. >> it's possible the presence of mike pence is a key toward trying to address that in the future to the extent mike pence can speak to or for any of the trump phenomenon. i'm not sure that's possible after what the president did to him. but pence is at least trying. >> we saw members of the court file past, three of the trump appointees were them.

we will see if they are in attendance as we listen to the reception for the obamas. >> speaking of former presidents, i don't know that a former president has ever been as involved in such a way that the former president obama was this year. his speech at the convention haunts me still. the palpable pain and the warnings he seemed determined to issue to the country in a very public way. made their own post-presidential history. >> isn't it kind of remarkable that bookending donald trump and this hurtful four years are two radically historic presidencies, both of which included joe

biden? that's pretty amazing. >> it is. i think to the degree that george w. bush sought to honor this tradition of a peaceful transfer of power, he put out a stinging rebuke of the insurrection, very early, as that came out. he sought to be a connective tissue. i think it talks about how -- it points to how far the republican party has traveled down toward the bottom and whether they follow mike pence or george w. bush to a more peaceful, less radicalized place is the open question of the hour. >> let me -- >> i will interject, with the supreme court members we saw here, brian is correct that justice thomas and alito and breyer have not been seen. it's possible they may not be coming. they didn't arrive with the others. it is, i think -- we see justice roberts there, instantly

recognizable. he will swear in president biden. then to see all of the three justices who were appointed by president trump there today, not there just because all the justices are there. all the justices are not there. to see trump's three appointees there matters and is also something that -- it's not mandatory. to have them show up today is a message. >> i was going to say to nicole -- because you did serve george w. bush's administration. if you think about the fact that president obama ran as a rebuke to many of the things about the bush era. and yet -- particularly the war -- the iraq war. and yet, what i still remember about that transition the most is george w. bush's daughters giving that really sweet tour of

the white house to the obama little girls and understanding what it was going to mean to be kids in this administration. the personal outreach between those families. the interaction, the connection that you later saw between george w. bush and michelle obama. they are buddies and pals. the fact that you can be so different ideologically on policy and the ways in which you want to govern, but as a hugh pan level, they know that there have only been -- at this point, 46 of these. there haven't been a lot of people who have been president. they have a bond. they have a bond that stretches across party. think of george herbert walker bush and clinton who he came to think of as almost another son. they couldn't have been different. it's weird that as rachel said, trump has chosen to not be part of that. >> right. not to whitewash any former president's record, certainly not to do that to george w.

bush's, but he sought to aid the obamas. he reached out to michelle obama's mom, encouraged her to move to washington. tried to develop away from the cameras, away from public view, meaningful and supportive bonds with the family that would occupy the white house after him. >> members of the biden family. as we have been watching members of the supreme court milling about, as hunter biden comes in, we saw the stepchildren of the vice president-elect earlier. michael, by all accounts, the chief justice loathed his job as presiding over the first impeachment trial for donald trump. the framers have left us nothing in the instruction book with who should preside over the trial of a no longer president. it could be roberts. it could be leahy. it could be harris. we just don't know. is that correct?

>> that's absolutely right. we are all going to be improvising. we have never seen, as you know, an impeachment trial of a former president. it's going to be absolutely fascinating. if the vote goes against donald trump, which actually looks more likely hour by hour as we find more things about his ties to this insurrection, if it does and maybe even if it doesn't, donald trump, i think, is going to be an outcast forever among these former presidents. i don't think we will see him at these gatherings of former presidents at various ceremonies. richard nixon, for instance, was never invited to a public convention ever after he was out. >> mike pence left a note in the desk drawer for the incoming vice president, kamala harris. the vice president's ceremonial office is the old indian treaty room. the vice president in modern times has had an office in the

west wing. ending the speculation, we learned early this morning that donald trump, indeed, did go through with one bit of tradition and left a note for his successor in the desk drawer of the oval office. you saw the greeting there for members of the biden family from mrs. obama, of course. don't forget how much time these two families spent together. here come the pences. mike pence goes forward with an uncertain role in american politics. there have been few more loyal, more obedient vice presidents. never had a relationship or a president quite like the one who is president form one hour and

one minute more. >> never has a vice president been sort of forced by circumstances to be more supplicant in public to the president. here in these last crisis days and last crisis hours of the trump presidency, pence has been playing the role that he took the job for, which is to become stand-in president in the absence of donald trump. he paid for it in 3.99 years of dignity. he gets to play the role that wanted that caused him to take the job in the first place. >> for all those wondering, donald trump has landed in post-presidency land in florida. he will take up residence at mar-a-lago despite a 1993 local agreement it would not become a permanent residence. it's a great legal question about how