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Trump Arrival In U.S. Statuary Hall; Obamas Arrive At Joint Base Andrews; Trump Signs Official Papers; Trump to Arrive at Congressional Luncheon. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 20, 2017 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN ANCHOR, SMERCONISH: Where in here is the pitch that says, I know a lot of you didn't vote for me. I know that I lost the popular vote to Secretary Clinton and I want you to be part of this as well.

So, here's the overture that I'm making to you in the name of national unity. We're accustomed to that from presidents, even if it's perfunctory. Even if it's pro forma. Even if we didn't -- we think they don't mean it.

But maybe those days are over. You know, maybe he won't feel the need to even say those typical words moving forward. That was a surprise to me.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: And there was a time, I believe in was an August speech he gave where he talked about his own rhetoric, right? And having some regrets about some of his rhetoric and saying if he caused pain, he regretted that.

And, in some ways, I think he could have worked that into this speech. He obviously didn't. I think a way to also reach out would have been to walk over and shake Hillary Clinton's hand. I don't -- I don't think he did that. I didn't see that on camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or mention women. He never really reached out to women which I thought was a big mistake in it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, just to Van's point. This America first speech, really America only is what he was saying, really suggest that for the first time since World War II, America which is the only real superpower left, --

JONES: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- is not going to play the leadership role in organizing affairs. And that has really dramatic consequences.

JONES: There, obviously, just the former President Obama, Mrs. Obama, with that strut (ph) in talking with some of the service members that they have worked with obviously over the years.

I think they're going to speak to just some -- do you see how he is talking with her? He is like that with everybody. You see him in the White House talking to the custodians, talking to the interns. He is just that way.

And I think that is a part of why he's so beloved. Leaving at 60 percent. People get the idea that he is as real as can be.

And Michelle Obama, we talked about things were kind of unusual. Michelle was not pretending to be overjoyed. Donald Trump didn't pretend that he liked Hillary Clinton.

There's some -- an authenticity revolution happening in American politics. And it's welcome in some places. Unwelcome in others. But sometimes refreshing.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: You kind of wish you had thought bubbles over people's heads during this -- during this inauguration.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: But you really do get a sense -- I mean, as that -- I had the sense, as that helicopter was leaving, this is now Donald Trump's Washington.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

BORGER: Yes.

COOPER: This is Donald Trump's administration. This is his town now. And it all rests on his shoulders.

LORD: I want to -- I want to read the first sentence from John F. Kennedy's inaugural address. We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change.

In short, that's exactly what we saw here. There is change coming. Big change.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: And then, he went on to describe what America's obligations are in the world.

LORD: Well, in the middle of the -- in the middle of the cold war. I mean, but he certainly -- the cold war of today is Islamic radicalism and he took it on and on.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He said he would eradicate it. He didn't say how.

BRINKLEY: You know why I didn't think it was that radical coming from Donald Trump? Ronald Reagan shattered the mold when he said government is the problem in his inaugural address.

AXELROD: That's right.

BRINKLEY: I've heard that before. That was Reagan (INAUDIBLE), said in a different way, but it didn't shock me because Ronald Reagan had done something very similar.

AXELROD: I understand. We came here as -- we came here as change. I'm sorry, Van.

JONES: No, go ahead.

ALEXROD: We came here as change in 2008 and 2009. And what Donald Trump is going to learn very quickly is he can rail against the political establishment in this speech, but when that helicopter took off, he became the political establishment. He is the establishment.

And he is going to have to be -- he's going to have to take account of that as he moves forward. He can't run against his own government.

HENDERSON: And accountability, yes.

COOPER: Also, how he adapts. You know, he used to, you know, run his own company, able to effect change pretty instantly based on his decisions. This is a very different town. And it's going to be very interesting to see.

JONES: You don't get a chance to fire Congress. You don't get a chance to restructure the Constitution or rewrite it. But I do think this -- the thing that was shocking to me about the speech was the retreat from the role of America as an inspirational force in the world.

We don't have to -- look, I'm a -- I'm a dove. I'm not trying to put boots on the ground every place. But there is a special nest to this country and certainly over the past 50 years, you expect our leaders to acknowledge that.

In fact, he was saying the opposite. And I think -- listen, if there were other great alternative, if Russia were some great malevolent force, if China were some great malevolent force, if ISIS was some great malevolent force, then fine. Let's all just pack up and go home.

But there are no alternatives better than this one in the world. And you expect to hear that from the president and you didn't. In a speech calling itself patriotic. That's the thing that's new. Is that the new patriotism is for America to be petty. And I think that's shocking.

BORGER: No, what he was saying is America first which is what he said throughout the campaign. We're going to protect our own borders. We protect other people's borders.

[13:05:07] COOPER: Let's listen in here, I'm sorry.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (live): Hi, Christine (ph).

COOPER: Hillary Clinton and former President Clinton talking there to a congressman. I wanted to hear if there were any thoughts -- of her on the day. We have not heard, obviously, from her.

AXELROD: OK. So, this point, though, Gloria. You're right, he was just saying it's America first. The question is, are America's interests served by walling America off from the rest of the world? And can you keep the impact of what goes on in the rest of the world away from our shores?

We already have seen the Chinese strutting at the economic conference because of the perceived withdrawal of America. And that enhances them in that part of the world. Is that in America's interest in the long run?

And, you know, what -- so, America first is a great slogan and I think it will play very well with many Americans right now. But as a practical matter, --

BORGER: Right.

BLACK MALE: Right.

AXELROD: -- is it a strategy for success, security, prosperity?

COOPER: In the lower -- just in the lower right-hand corner of your screen there, we're waiting for former President Obama to speak at Joint Andrews Base. (INAUDIBLE.)

CROWD: Yes, we did. Yes, we did. Yes, we did. Yes, we did. Yes, we did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please be seated.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (live): Hello, everybody. You know, Michelle and I, we've really have been milking this good-bye thing. So, it behooves me to be very brief. Yes.

You know, I have said before and I will say again, that when we started on this journey, we did so with an abiding faith in the American people and their ability, our ability, to join together and change the country in ways that would make life better for our kids and our grandkids.

[13:10:08] The change didn't happen from the top down, but it happened from the bottom up. It was met sometimes with skepticism and doubt. Some folks didn't think we could pull it off. There were those who felt that the institutions of power and privilege in this country were too deeply entrenched.

And yet, all of you came together in small towns and big cities, a whole bunch of you really young, and you decided to believe. And you knocked on doors and you made phone calls. And you talked to your parents who didn't know how to pronounce Barack Obama.

And you got to know each other. And you went in communities that maybe you had never even thought about visiting and met people that, on the surface, seemed completely different than you. They didn't look like you or talk like you or watch the same T.V. programs as you. And yet, once you started talking to them, it turned out that you had something in common. And it grew. And it built. And people took notice. And throughout, it was infused with a sense of hope. And as I said in 2004, it wasn't blind optimism that drove you to do all of this work. It wasn't naivety. It wasn't willful ignorance to all the challenges that America faces.

It was hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. You proved the power of hope. And throughout this process, Michelle and I, we've just been your front men and women.

We have been the face, sometimes the voice, out front on the T.V. screen or in front of the microphone. But this has never been about us. It has always been about you.

And all the amazing things that happened over these last 10 years are really just a testament to you. In the same way that when we talk about our amazing military and our men and women in uniform, the military is not a thing. It's a group of committed patriots willing to sacrifice everything on our behalf. It works only because of the people in it.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're going to break away from the former president. The current president just had some signing orders. I want to listen in.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (live): We'll take that pen. And this one I'm signing quite a few times, it looks like. This is for Rex. I assume he was approved today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's coming though, right, Chuck?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like you added some letters in your name.

[13:15:05] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: (INAUDIBLE.)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got another stack coming, Mr. President.

TRUMP: Here, I'd like to give you some pens there (ph). The government is getting stingy (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, here's some more pens.

TRUMP: Oh, good. Good.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: (INAUDIBLE) give each - give all the cabinet -

TRUMP: OK, I'll start doing that.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Each cabinet secretary gets something (ph).

TRUMP: How about we'll do Nancy first, is that OK, everybody? Where is that?

Hi.

That's Arabella (ph).

(INAUDIBLE) Chuck.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), MINORITY LEADER: It depends on the name.

TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE). (INAUDIBLE) very nice.

(CROSS TALK)

RYAN: He's getting Ben Carson.

TRUMP: Ben Carson.

SCHUMER: What?

RYAN: Ben Carson.

TRUMP: Ben Carson. Ben Carson.

PELOSI: And who's did I get?

(CROSS TALK)

PELOSI: (INAUDIBLE) Tom Price.

SCHUMER: Who did you get?

PELOSI: Tom Price.

TRUMP: Oh. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Glad she doesn't get a vote.

TRUMP: All right.

Look at this. Did you get Tom Price? You know, he's going to be terrific and he's going to get approved but I'll give you another one. Come here. I'll give you Elaine. Do you want Elaine's?

PELOSI: Yes.

TRUMP: Oh. Tom is - Tom is not insulted.

PELOSI: No, no, no, Mr. President, Mr. President, the leader wants it.

TRUMP: You know what, the leader should have Elaine. That's a good - good idea.

PELOSI: I'll take it back.

SCHUMER: You get Price back. That's a great - TRUMP: You got Price back.

RYAN: I'll take him.

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: This is - he did very well yesterday, Rick Perry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

TRUMP: Look, (INAUDIBLE).

SCHUMER: It's better than Carson.

TRUMP: OK. Who would like Rick?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want -

TRUMP: Good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President.

TRUMP: Are you getting them ready for me. This is a tough group of people we have. They're learning the hard way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

PELOSI: No, the easy way.

TRUMP: Betsy. Education, right? I think Chuck wanted it.

SCHUMER: Not that one, no thank you, Mr. President.

TRUMP: This is a rough group.

RYAN: It is. I'd be happy to take it.

Next, I think we're going to need some more pens, by the way. Labor. (INAUDIBLE).

SCHUMER: No, no.

TRUMP: He's going good guy.

SCHUMER: (INAUDIBLE) where's (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Come on, senator. I think the senator wants it. He's going to do a good job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It opened. (INAUDIBLE).

RYAN: It makes me feel at home. This is great.

TRUMP: This is a person who's gotten great reviews. Not well known. This is the Veterans Administration. I think Chuck might like that.

SCHUMER: I might - I might that on. I'll make a trade.

TRUMP: You want to trade now? All right, I'll let you make the trade.

PELOSI: Good, a trade.

TRUMP: Everyone's (INAUDIBLE).

PELOSI: Hey, who'd you - who'd you return in?

SCHUMER: I traded Carson for the Veterans Affairs.

PELOSI: Oh, there you go. That's a (INAUDIBLE).

SCHUMER: Thank you. That's a good pen. That's right, that's a good one.

TRUMP: This is one a lot of people will want, John Kelly.

SCHUMER: Oh, yes, he's a good one.

TRUMP: He's a good man. He's a good man.

Chuck, you're going to get - put the cap on it or you're going to get your shirt stained.

SCHUMER: This is the guy who helped me hammer in a nail.

RYAN: Yes, I know. I always help someone.

TRUMP: John Kelly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, just pull it off.

TRUMP: Oh, Reince, you should get something here. Reince. Come on, Reince.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kelly.

TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE).

RYAN: Close it, Reince, or else you'll get stained.

TRUMP: You getting some more pens back there? This is fun?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Dan Coats. So who's -

RYAN: It's an equal number for the cabinets.

TRUMP: I think - I think Dan - I think Dan is very good.

SCHUMER: The vice president should get Coats.

TRUMP: I think Dan (INAUDIBLE), right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give it to him.

TRUMP: We've run out of pens, we just use the same one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We may have to recycle a couple pens.

PELOSI: Yes, we'll -

TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE). A good negotiator.

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: OK, Chuck, he's a great trade negotiator. We need that.

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: Smart.

[13:20:05] SCHUMER: But I have a pen already.

TRUMP: Mike Pompeo (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: They tell me he's going to be approved momentarily but you never know with (INAUDIBLE).

RYAN: That's right, he's (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Pompeo.

PELOSI: Pompeo.

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: Once never knows.

SCHUMER: (INAUDIBLE) terrible. Soon.

TRUMP: Well, here's one I think that Nancy would like, again, she'd like a double, Scott (INAUDIBLE). Scott is going to do a great job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

PELOSI: The speaker would like that. Oh, well, I think -

RYAN: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Just one world series with his team and the family.

He's going to be helping Wilbur (ph).

(CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Secretary of commerce.

TRUMP: We like Wilbur (INAUDIBLE). PELOSI: (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUMP: Vincent Viola (ph). Everybody likes Vincent.

(CROSS TALK)

PELOSI: You like him.

SCHUMER: I like Vinny. I support him already. But I can't get too many pens.

TRUMP: No, no, you're only getting the one.

SCHUMER: Yes.

TRUMP: He got a case of pens.

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: Jay Clayton. The guy's going to be fantastic as (INAUDIBLE), head of the SEC.

SCHUMER: Oh, yes, he's a lawyer.

TRUMP: A great lawyer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to be great.

TRUMP: Linda McMahon. A great women.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) time for this.

TRUMP: Small business.

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: Sema (ph). You know, Sema. Mike, that's your person. Very talented, from Indiana.

PENCE: She's going to be (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Nikki Haley. I think Nikki's going to do a good job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) pictures.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can give a few more out. Just save one.

TRUMP: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have one more (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: We're running out of people to give them to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here are two more pens, Mr. President.

TRUMP: We have two Nikki Haleys. Is she applying for two positions? You want a second one? I'll sign it just in case.

RYAN: Go ahead and sign it.

TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE) two positions.

OK. Terry Brandsted, the governor, longest serving governor. And China loves him and he loves China. He's a good man.

PELOSI: I would say he would be natural resources (INAUDIBLE) the renewable fuel standard.

TRUMP: Well, I'll tell you, he's a terrific guy. Longest serving governor in history.

SCHUMER: Brandsted.

TRUMP: Longest serving governor. Twenty-four years. Longest (INAUDIBLE).

And here's one that's not at all controversial, David Friedman (ph) from New York, who you must know, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never met him.

TRUMP: You said that about me too.

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: David's going to do a great job. Back there. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more. One more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Proclamation.

TRUMP: Proclamation. Proclamation of what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The day of the proclamation (ph).

TRUMP: OK, the day of (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Day of patriotism (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks for coming.

TRUMP: Going this way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, this way.

TRUMP: You want a pen? The proclamation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the proclamation.

Well, that's it. You got it.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump just signed three sets of documents there in a ceremony - first official ceremony signing documents as president of the United States. He signed a waiver that will allow General James Mattis to become the secretary of defense. He's only out of military service for three years. You're supposed to be out for seven. Signed that waiver bill into law passed by the House and the Senate.

He also signed the nominations for cabinet positions and other senior positions. He had to do that as president. He is now the president. Went through and signed all the nominations for cabinet and other positions that require Senate confirmation, like, for example, the U.S. ambassador to China.

[13:25:11] Finally, he signed a proclamation declaring a national day of patriotism. Patriotism. First official business now done, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: What a lot of voters probably saw just there was a side of Donald Trump that they had not seen. That is the behind the closed doors personable schmoozer that enabled him to be a successful businessman in many ways. It's the person that his staff members love and adore, whether at the Trump Organization or now in his administration and before that the transition. And you saw him joking around.

People might not know that when you sign a bill, there is a tradition of giving those pens away. Often when a president signs actual legislation, and it's just one signature. They take 15 or 20 pens just to sign something. So sign one signature just so everybody can have a pen.

He was handing them out. They were schmoozing, joking around. They were trading. Elaine Chao, who is on set to be his secretary of transportation, is married to Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader. You saw some bartering going on as to how he could get the pen that was used to sign his wife's formal nomination.

You also saw, I might observe, the fact that he has a very close relationship with Chuck Schumer. It was very apparent. There are people in that room that are friends of his, McConnell and Pence, and then the one he kept turning to because he recognizes him, he's given him thousands of dollars for his campaigns in the past. He's now the Senate Democratic leader, will be an opponent of his, is Chuck Schumer. And there was a lot of give and take, a lot of joking. So that was - it was a fairly remarkable moment. I don't remember it ever being shown before.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. Absolutely. And I think that - to your point, Jake, the fact that it was - one of the reasons it was so remarkable is because they were joking about their differences. They were using the pens and the signatures and the nominees going down the line to, you know, kind of let loose and let the air out of the balloon a little bit.

The funniest I thought on that was when Donald Trump was signing the official signature to nominate Scott Pruitt for the EPA, who the Democrats can't stand. They think he is the absolute worst person for the job because he has sued the EPA and they think - so he said, oh, I'm going to sign this for Scott Pruitt. Nancy, this one's for you, and she laughed.

TAPPER: Right.

BASH: So, look, that is so important. This is what used to happen in Washington. People understand, they know where each person stands, they know their differences, but the fact that they can find some comedy, some laughs, some humor. Let's just hope that that continues.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: : And this - this is a man, remember, who first big splash was "The Art of the Deal." He thinks he can do this job. He thinks he can perfect this job.

We just saw, in the course of an hour, the outside game and the inside game. On these steps behind us, he railed against these very people he was just joking with and he's about to have lunch with, saying the establishment - all establishment, on a bipartisan (INAUDIBLE) - had let the American people down. That this town had enriched itself at the expense of the little guy out there. That's the outside game. The populist Donald Trump, anti-establishment, I'm your voice against this town. And there he is, there's the negotiator inside game sitting around yucking up. He let Chuck Schumer, as you mentioned, a friend from New York, originally gave him the Ben Carson pen, the Housing and Urban Development secretary, who Democrats aren't terribly fond of and Chuck Schumer, at the first opportunity, traded that in for the secretary of Veteran Affairs. So there's going to have to be - for Donald Trump to get his agenda through, there's going to have to be a lot of trading. There's going to have to be a lot of deals. Republicans don't like some of it. Democrats don't like a lot of it. He's going to have to do a lot of trading. We'll see if this was a first step or if this was just theater.

BLITZER: They're now about to have this formal luncheon. That's Statuary Hall up on Capitol Hill.

Manu Raju's our reporter on the scene.

Bill and Hillary Clinton are attending this luncheon, aren't they, Manu?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are. In fact, they just walked right by us, Wolf, and I had - we tried to ask them a question about what they thought about this speech. I yelled out a question to them. They ignored that. And we're expecting, actually, the president of the United States, new president, to walk right behind us just momentarily.

This is a very collegial bipartisan lunch. It happens every four years. We're actually seeing members on both sides attend this, not just Donald Trump's close allies like Rudy Giuliani, even the billionaire casino magnet Sheldon Adelson, but also a number of Democrats as well. The former president, Jimmy Carter, also in attendance here. So we'll see if Donald Trump interacts with the Clintons. Something that we have not, of course, seen much of since the elections. And this would be an opportunity to do that because this is a, as I said, a very collegial, warm event and very social event and something that we're waiting for the president to attend just momentarily. His family walking in behind us just moments ago, Wolf.

[13:29:57] BLITZER: Do you anticipate that president, President Trump, will walking, Manu, right behind you on his way to this luncheon?

RAJU: That's what we're expecting. Right now we just - we saw Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner walk right behind us, as well as Reince Priebus. Of course they were just at that event just --