60 minutes rewind
will the next president be inaugurated at noon on wednesday
that's an unthinkable question the constitution demands it but on the other hand the law also
required congress to count the electoral votes january 6 which the attack on the capitol delayed
this week washington is an armed camp with a president impeached for inciting insurrection
tens of thousands of troops are on route to the capitol to join thousands of police officers and
federal agents all preparing to uphold their oath to defend the constitution against all enemies
will joe biden be inaugurated at noon on january 20th absolutely uh this nation will have its
46th president joe biden and kamala harris will take the oath of office right here in washington
d.c on january the 20th in our city muriel bowser is the democratic mayor of washington
she took us to the ground trampled by the mob to show us a capital and tradition restored
you see the balconies there and that is where the next president will take the oath of office
you see the the red drapes just behind the podium that's where the president and special guest
will will enter ritual is returning after the greatest attack on the capitol in 206 years
in the aftermath of january 6 mayor bowser asked the federal government to reassess security
they're adding reinforcements and imposing a larger earlier lockdown around the white house
capitol and national mall this exclusion zone of seven-foot fences and military roadblocks
was rushed in six days sooner than planned what we know is that not only is the inauguration itself
a target for these extremists who storm these capital steps and put 535 members of congress
and the transition of power for our country in danger we know that there are planning events
leading up to it so it's very important that we have a posture that discourage people from coming
all people but also discourage these extremist groups from thinking they could come back
earlier plans called for 10 000 national guard troops now 25 000 are being deployed
more troops in washington than in wars overseas their gear includes shields for covid and combat
many of the troops are being mustered in the corridors of the capitol itself as they were
in 1861 during the civil war i was also very heartened to see the joint chiefs of staff
issue a statement that the united states army would be there to support the mission of a smooth
transition of power it's a hell of a thing for the pentagon to feel like it has to issue a statement
that it is supporting the constitution it is but it is necessary and i'm glad that it happened
but we as americans have to stop thinking um that we can take for granted that every american
has pledged his allegiance to the constitution what we saw uh in plain view were too many
americans who had pledged allegiance to donald trump the military has taken the decision to give
combat weapons to the national guardsmen who will be providing security for the inauguration are you
glad about that or are you worried about it it's a place in our our history that i'm sad that we've
come to american troops should not have to be armed against their fellow americans but what we
saw was an unprecedented attack on our democracy and the cradle of that democracy the secret
service is in charge of what the government calls a national special security event a designation
for high-risk gatherings for example the super bowl after 9 11 and political conventions the
secret service leads it but there are available to them 10 to 20 thousand security personnel
ken cuccinelli is acting deputy secretary of the department of homeland security which oversees the
secret service he told us inauguration security planning has been going on eight months on social
media the terrorists seem to see the attack on the capital as a win and i wonder if you're
picking up intelligence that they're emboldened by that there is a lot more uh online chatter
if you will that has come up since january 6th but i would point out that a lot of that chatter
isn't capital nations capital focused it's more general across the country has the suspect who
planted two pipe bombs during the attack on the capitol been caught as you and i sit here
speaking the answer to that is no so you have him to worry about of course yes is tsa intercepting
known suspects before they get on planes for washington if they identify an individual like you
described they will first of all keep that person from flying and if there's a legal basis to do so
they will seize and hold that person for delivery to the fbi or local authorities the local
authority in washington is the metropolitan police on january 6 the mpd helped rescue the capitol
police and break the siege everyone is working very hard to ensure that that never happens again
we met acting chief robert conte in his command center which on inauguration day will be filled
with representatives of the fbi secret service and defense department while the world is focused on
the podium at the capitol conti will still have to cover his city of more than 700 000
people chief what will the mpd have deployed on inauguration day every available resource
that that's our entire department our total department will be activated we'll have support
of law enforcement officers from all across our country uh to the tune of about 2 500 that will
be here to support us in this effort you've been with the mpd for 31 years is this the tightest
security you've ever seen in washington the tightest security that i've ever seen absolutely
but the tight security faces unprecedented chaos at the top both the attorney general and
director of homeland security recently resigned the defense secretary was recently fired even
homeland security deputy secretary ken cuccinelli as a stand-in he was never confirmed by the senate
dhs has had six secretaries in four years why should the american people have confidence
in federal law enforcement when the leadership is not in place because the professionals we have
in law enforcement in the federal government and the secret service and
across the department of homeland security and beyond doj and all the rest that we work with
are lifelong career professionals that's 99.9 of the people creating and executing the plans
to ensure the safety of incoming president-elect biden and none of them are going anywhere we will
never give up we will never concede but there's also the dilemma that the security is commanded by
president trump who encourage the attack on the capital and has relentlessly worked to stop the
inauguration of joe biden who does the national guard answer to they answered through dod they can
have to the president that's the chain of command if he orders them down will they stand down
well you're going to have to ask them but that's unimaginable if the president orders dhs to stand
down will you stand down we're going to complete our jobs there's not a there's not a stand down
we have a statutory mission we're going to perform under all circumstances and i think
that hypothetical is uh not going to happen it's unimaginable a lot of things are unimaginable in
washington these days and we don't have a very good track record taking the president's word
are you going to follow the president or are you going to follow the constitution
we all swore an oath to the constitution that is first and foremost and we take homeland security
very very seriously we deal with a lot of curveballs of all kinds and yet we march
forward to keep the american people as safe as we possibly can we must go forward we must make
it as safe as possible but we must go forward much of what happens in washington after inauguration
day is in the hands of democrat chuck schumer of new york who will be the new majority leader
in the senate he's making plans for the trial of president trump after last week's impeachment why
put donald trump on trial when he'll be out of office anyway what donald trump did is the most
despicable action any president has ever taken and he should be convicted at this trial in addition
if we convict him we can then by only 51 votes remove him from ever running for office again
i know we want to heal but when something this awful happens to just push it off will not heal
to convict him you need a super majority which means 17 republicans would have to vote to convict
doesn't seem likely i just believe that our republican colleagues when they look at this
will see how awful this was what it means in history and join us in convicting him
how soon would you like the trial to begin do you feel that it's important to get part of
president-elect biden's agenda completed in the senate first we have the trial of the president
that's mandated by law second there's a very very real need for president biden to have in place
key people in his cabinet the people in charge of national security the people in charge of domestic
insecurity the people in charge of making sure everyone gets vaccinated as quickly as possible
and third this country is in the greatest economic crisis since the depression the greatest health
care crisis since the spanish pandemic flew a hundred years ago and we must pass more relief
for the american people we must do all three and we have to do them all
quickly one cannot stand in the way of the other the story will continue after this
on wednesday president trump will not be on the podium the first president to snub
his successor's inauguration in 152 years also not attending will be the usual inauguration multitude
on the national mall the two-mile long park is closed invited guests members of congress family
and dignitaries will be socially distanced on the stage and in the few chairs on the capitol grounds
mayor muriel bowser is telling the general public not to come to her city she's even asked the
interior department to revoke permits it already issued to demonstrators for a couple of reasons
for the security of the event and let's let's keep in mind what we just saw here one week ago people
storm these steps and put our democracy in danger but we're also concerned about people traveling
and gathering and celebrating in big groups because of covet what is the best guarantee that
you can make to the american people i know for sure that the united states secret service that
is responsible for the security of the president of the united states if they thought this couldn't
be a secure event they wouldn't let it happen but security comes at a cost to a ritual celebration
constitution avenue the spine of federal washington is vacant for miles from the
lincoln memorial to the white house past the washington monument and to the capitol the
military cordon has the feel of some other country one with a tenuous grasp on the rule of law
halfway up the avenue the constitution itself has been locked out of sight in the national archives
to protect the parchment for future reference