-After a tense year on the campaign trail --
-Radical Left.
-Will you shut up, man?
-During a global pandemic --
-When you do testing to that extent,
you're gonna find more people, you're gonna find more cases.
-Capped off by a violent descent
on the Capitol -- -Stop the steal!
Stop the steal!
-Stop the steal! -President-elect Biden
and his transition team are gearing up for an extremely
out-of-the-ordinary inauguration.
-It was always going to be a smaller swearing-in ceremony
this year than in years past
because of the coronavirus pandemic
and concerns that crowd size and people
gathering facilitating the spread of COVID-19,
but the insurrection only made that desire
from local and federal officials even more urgent and pressing.
-Normally, the inauguration is a peaceful passing of the torch
between administrations, but both the coronavirus crisis
and the need for heightened security
will change how the historic day unfolds.
-We never thought
that our portfolio would include a pandemic,
and insurrection, and impeachment.
But all of that is converging at once
around the time of this inauguration.
-The massive security presence is a direct response
to the violent pro-Trump mob
that stormed the Capitol on January 6th.
-Not only that same night did the House and Senate
go back to finish their jobs,
we now have this moment, this sacred ritual,
where the President and Vice President are sworn in.
And I think that is the peace of this
that sometimes is getting lost right now,
how important this moment's going to be in light
of what happened with the insurrection.
They were trying to stop it.
-Large swaths of the city are closed off
to unauthorized parties, fences have gone up,
and security forces are spread out throughout the District.
Upwards of 20,000 National Guard troops are expected to be
in the nation's capital before Inauguration Day.
-So, the biggest, most sweeping gesture made in recent days
was by the National Parks Service
and the US Secret Service
that closed down effectively the entire National Mall
to the general public.
It's going to be very hard for people to enter Downtown DC
for the next few days.
As you can see downtown, by the pure number of military
and law-enforcement officials,
they're posturing in a very clear and intentional way
to make sure people know to stay away.
-Extreme health and security circumstances have presented
a unique set of challenges for the Biden inauguration team.
At the same time,
the Biden campaign is well-versed in adapting
to out-of-the-ordinary circumstances.
Despite all of this,
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris
will be sworn in during a small ceremony
on the west front of the Capitol.
-This is the moment where our democracy is renewed again,
the inauguration, where you have a new president
and a new vice president,
the first African-American vice president,
the first Asian-American vice president,
the first woman vice president taking the oath of office,
with all of the leadership from Democratic and Republican
sides in the Senate and the House.
I think that's going to be really important,
given what just happened.
-And while inauguration crowd size may be
a measure of enthusiasm -- -We had -- It looked --
Honestly, it looked like a million and a half people.
Whatever it was, it was.
-It would be impossible for this year's
extraordinary inauguration to follow the same metric.
-We're in the middle of a pandemic.
People will be dying as we speak.
Families will be losing loved one
that they can't even be with in the hospital.
So in some ways this empty mall and this more somber setting,
it reflects how the nation feels right now, but at the same time,
I don't want people to lose the celebration
and the joy that we're going to feel
when Joe and Kamala get sworn in.
-The final missing piece is President Trump.
He said he won't attend Biden's inauguration and plans
to leave DC the morning of the swearing-in.
All in all, the pandemic, security threats,
and political tension
will change the look and feel of inauguration.
-It's a good thing, him not showing up.
-But in the end, the historic day
still marks the new beginning of the next four years.
-It's time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature,
see each other again, listen to each other again.
And to make progress,
we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies.
They are not our enemies.
They are Americans.
They're Americans.