Trump’s final days: hiding in the White House and focused on pardons

Anderson Cooper 360

CNN

News

3.7 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Pres. Trump has been hiding in the White House and spending his final days as Commander-in-Chief focusing on about 100 pardons and commutations he’s expected to issue in his last full day in office. Trump hasn’t been seen since his trip to Texas nearly a week ago but sources tell CNN he’s taped a farewell message touting his accomplishments. New York Times Foreign Affairs Columnist Thomas Friedman joins AC360 to discuss Trump’s final days in office and what his legacy will be. Plus, the acting Defense Secretary says “we have no intelligence indicating an insider threat” to the inauguration but National Guard members arriving in Washington are being vetted by law enforcement. Jeh Johnson served as Homeland Security Secretary under Pres. Obama and was in charge of security for the Trump’s inauguration four years ago. He tells Anderson Cooper this will be the “most secure domestic event we’ve seen in a very, very long time.” Airdate: January 18, 2021 Guests: Tom Friedman Jeh Johnson To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Good evening with less than two days until Joe Biden takes the oath of office, the city
0:04.7	that treats inauguration day as at worst or formality in a best, a celebration of democracy
0:09.7	is locked down tight.
0:11.2	Tonight, there was a brief light show on the mall representing the 50 states in U.S.
0:14.9	territories, a celebratory touch, which tonight feels more like a reminder of just how far
0:19.6	from normality we are.
0:21.4	Today, the acting defense secretary said there is, quote, no intelligence indicating an insider
0:26.0	threat to the president elect.
0:28.3	The region itself would be jarring, even if he hadn't said it with FBI agents now screening
0:32.5	thousands of national guard troops to prevent just such a threat from coming to pass.
0:37.5	And that in turn, well, that's just incredibly sad.
0:41.2	It's where we are though, in large part, because the outgoing president has brought us to
0:44.8	this point by his words, his actions, and these days by his complete inaction in the
0:49.6	wreckage.
0:50.6	As has become typical for weeks now, his official schedule for today contained nothing
0:54.6	more than the following boilerplate, and I quote, President Trump will work from early
0:59.3	in the morning until late in the evening.
1:01.5	He will make many calls and have many meetings.
1:05.3	That's what's on his official schedule, which is kind of how a five year old might describe
1:10.0	what a president does.
1:11.8	He works from early in the morning until late in the evening, and he makes many calls and
1:15.6	has many meetings.
	...

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