Does include an address to the incoming administration. The plan is to release it sometime today, along with a long list of pardons which includes a corruptor and a rapper with gun charges. President trump ignores the pandemic. You see those flags right there . The president elect today visits that National Mall memorial, a tribute to the nearly 400,000 americans killed by covid. The pandemic and the Security Threat will make for a most unusual and anxious inauguration. The Washington Post reporting a new fbi intelligence bulletin warns Conspiracy Theory followers have discussed posing as National Guard members and then blending in among the 25,000 deployed across the capitol city to infiltrate the inauguration. The inaugural is tomorrow, but today, a preview of the massive change coming and coming soon. Five confirmation hearings for joe bidens cabinet, promises for men, fact, the rule of law and respect for allies are about to make a comeback. Democrats will soon control the white house and the house of representatives, but a 5050 senate does mean the biden agenda is on a tightrope from the getgo. The president elect nodding to those new dynamics today, inviting Top Republican and Democratic Leadership to join him at st. Matthews cathedral in washington tomorrow for a preinauguration worship service. A key ally of biden in the senate hopes the gesture starts washington down a better path. That Church Service tomorrow is an important part of respecting tradition and signaling the importance of faith in joes life. Its how hes been able to get up when life has knocked him down. Its central to how millions and millions of americans have got t gotten through this pandemic so far, and its representative of who joe biden is, its hopeful, its optimistic, and it needs a lot of help getting it together. On this very important day, Kaitlan Collins and kyung lah. Kaitlan, were waiting to see what he says in that message he taped last night, waiting to see what the pardon list will look like and whether its just long and interesting or whether its long and shocking. Your colleague pam brown, our colleague pam brown, saying as of now nothing outside of the norm, nothing terribly shocking on there, but what do we know . Reporter and that would be outside of the norm given, of course, what weve heard the last several weeks of what the president is considering doing when it comes to this final act, these pardons and commutations. We dont know if it will be today or later this evening. This is something donald trump does before leaving office tomorrow. He has taped a farewell address, but thats a taped message. Its not a prime time address from the oval office that youve seen previous president s give on their way out the door. What is shocking is how quiet he has been, john. He taped that message last tuesday. We are expecting him to pardon people, but hes been unusually very quiet in his final full week in the white house. It is fascinating to see as he goes out, quiet on the way out. Very different what were seeing, but i assume hes been humbled, slightly humbled, by what happened in recent weeks. If you look at what joe biden when he arrives in washington, going down to that very somber memorial on the National Mall, paying attention to the pandemic, the current president simply ignores. On capitol hill, a reminder that at this time tomorrow, every point on the come pass is goingo change. Tax policy, pandemic policy, theyre all going to change tomorrow. Heres a sampling of the biden picks today. To be effective, the dni must never shy away to speaking truth to power, especially when doing so may be inconvenient or difficult. When it comes to intelligence, there are simply no place for politics ever. I will do everything i can to ensure that the tragic loss of life, the assault on law enforcement, the desecration of the building that stands as one of the three pillars of our democracy, the terror that you felt, your colleagues, staff and everyone present will not happen again. The smartest thing we can do is act big. In the long run, i believe the benefits will far outweigh the costs, especially if we care about helping people who have been struggling for a very long time. The scope of change is going to be dramatic, and it will happen immediately. You write this morning in the post about one of the big issues that is a total 180 for biden than trump in the immigration policy. They will send to congress what sends an eightyear path to citizenship. Immigrants can apply for residencey immediately. A new Border Security message, work permits for spouses and children, a 180 from where we are now. One of the knocks on obama, even though he supported these things, he never sent a supporting paper on it. Why is that . On capitol hill, it shows the president elect is ready to put skin on the game. His Political Capital so early on in his presidency. You know very well, john, just how critical the first 100 days are for the president in accomplishing his agenda. For biden the stakes are so much higher as we navigate this unprecedented pandemic, try to climb out of the economic turmoil that were facing right now. While the Incoming Biden Administration is very much focused on the pandemic, theyve made it clear theyre going to walk and chew many pieces of gum at the same time, including immigration reform. There are advocates and lawmakers still frustrated that president obama did not prioritize this in 2009 when there was a filibusterapproved majority in the senate and the democrats controlled the white house and the house at that time, but now with a similar configuration in a biden presidency, president elect biden is surely making this a top legislative priority after covid relief, and thats really important to people who, after decades, want to see this done. It will be fascinating to see if he can get through. Again, a very narrow majority in the house, the narrowest majorities in the house and senate. Kaitlan, take us again in the final hours of the presidency. The american people, trump lost the election, then you had the capitol insurrection. He is blamed for that. 70 of americans in our poll disapprove of how this president has handled the transition, how President Trump has handled the transition to joe biden. Perhaps he can change those numbers a bit in his favor if he actually says something gracious in his taped address were going to see. We shall wait and see. He has been anything but gracious in the 77 days since the election. Who is he talking to . It is stunning to hear he wants a sendoff at Anderson Air Force b base. His chief of staff jim kelly says no thanks. How is this sense of security at the end . Reporter i think they werent too selective who is invited to this farewell party, because he said jim kelly is one of the most flawed people hes ever met. This is not somebody you would think he would invite, but it does come as the president s inner circle has been shrinking. A lot of his senior staff has already left the building or are packing up their offices. A lot of people have tried to distance themselves from the president given the mood hes been in ever since, of course, that january 6th rally that of course then inspired that mob that went up to capitol hill. So youve seen that. But i think one of the notable things as the president is leaving office that has surprised even the closest people to him is one of t the overarching senses of office is that nothing sticks with him. Nothing sticks with the republicans or lawmakers on capitol hill until this. This has really changed everything. You are seeing this completely di different dynamic as his time in Office Coming down to a matter of hours, and its even surprised his own staff. One of the things were hearing from people around the president is theyre not going to be on the white house grounds tomorrow or thursday or friday, its the sense of relief that this is all kind of coming to an end. It is a beyond odd dynamic. If the president is surprised somehow that people would turn on him after he incited an attack on his own government, maybe he should spend some time in maralago thinking about that. It is a giant challenge for joe biden. Youre taking on a pandemic, an economy bleeding jobs. The country is divided because of the insurrection. Did joe biden win the election legitimately . Rightly so. It was a fair and free election that was carried out. But only 19 of republicans think joe biden is a legitimate president. How much does that factor in to what we hear from the new president tomorrow in his first big speech, the ninaugural address . Does he try to sway them with words, or does he just hope that with the vaccine rollout and the pandemic that the numbers will improve . I think its a lot of it, john. Its not only tackling the numerous challenges with the pandemic and Economic Relief, but when you look at the percentage of republicans who do not believe joe biden won the election legitimately, that the biden administration, the Biden White House personnel really do have to work to rebuild that trust in government and that trust in what the leader says. Thats certainly going to be a challenge going forward, but, you know, this is not anything new for joe biden. I mean, he began his president ial campaign trying to steer the country away from what trump had said to this nation and worked his way with republicans. Certainly on the first day and in the first coming days, youre going to hear that message of unity a lot. It is a remarkable moment. Seung min kim and Kaitlan Collins, grateful for this reporting. Cnn has learned that two National Guard members have been removed from security duty, that part of the vetting to make sure that none of the troops have ties to extremist groups. It is not clear if the two were connected to any groups or what triggered their removal. Also today the Justice Department filing the first Conspiracy Theory charge belated to the capitol insurrection back on january 6. Lets go to evan perez for the details there. Evan . Now were getting the picture emerging from some of these Court Documents that there are people who participated in the january insurrection who are starting to flip, who are starting to cooperate, and theyre telling on other people. We saw a couple arrests yesterday of People Associated with a group called the oathkeepers. This is an Antigovernment Group that generally has various conspiracies about the government, and theyre known to especially try to recruit members of the military and law enforcement. Today there was an arrest of a man by the name of thomas caldwell. Hes from virginia. Hes 65 years old. According to the Court Documents, he plays a key role in trying to help coordinate the arrival of some people coming into washington to be part of this insurrection. According to the Court Documents, he helped scope out hotels, he helped organize essentially the assault. You can see him in some videos that are out there on the internet already, the fbi refers to them in these Court Documents, saying that you can see that there is essentially the leaders who go into the capitol. Some of them also talking about even after the fact, they were talking on facebook and parler about some of what they did. Let me see if i can find a part of this document that they referred to here. Im trying to find a quote from the document. I cant see the quote. I think the studio is going to show up a part of what is being written about in facebook. The image youre getting from the Court Documents, john, is that these people who at least six to ten people who were participating in this conspiracy led by thomas caldwell, and we anticipate there are going to be other arrests in the coming days. Again, driving home this idea that there was a command and control aspect, there was a planning aspect to what happened on january 6th. You read in those documents, hunt at night, hunt at night as they planned the attack. Its remarkable. Evan perez, im grateful for the reporting as the investigations continue. He puts a list of touches on that final list the pardons. And after the break, Melania Trump says farewell. The past four years have been unforgettable. As donald and i conclude our time in the white house, i think of all the people i have taken home in my heart and their incredible stories of love, patriotism and determination. Thank you. God bless you and god bless the United States of america. ringing hey kaleb, whats up . How you doing . Hey, im good, guess what, i just had my 13th surgery. Really . I just had my 17th surgery. Well, you beat me. Well, i am a little bit older than you. Yeah its true. How are you doing . Im doing good. Im encouraged by seeing how people are coming together to help each other during times like these. Kind of like how shriners hospitals for children is there for us. Imagine if i couldnt get my surgery. Who knows what would have happened. Same for me. I know my shriners hospitals family will continue to take care kids like us who need them most all because of caring people like you. Like me . No, the people watching us right now at home. Oh, those people. Hi people. Kaleb and i know not everyone can help right now, but for those of you who can, we hope youll this special number on your screen right now. Youll be making sure our amazing doctors and nurses can keep helping kids like us, who need them now and in the days to come. Your gift will make a huge difference for kids like us. Ooh, ooh, show them them the thank you gift. Okay, okay, hold on a second. With your gift of 19 a month well send you this adorable, love to the rescue blanket as a thank you and a reminder of the kids youre helping with your monthly support. So what are you waiting for . You can use your phone and call, or go to loveshriners. Org to give and join with thousands of other generous people who change lives with their gifts every day. I think thats about it buddy, good job. My pleasure captain. Please call now. If operators are busy with all the other caring people, please wait patiently, or you can go to loveshriners. Org to give right away. [alec] big or small, your gift helps us all. [both] thank you. giggling lastminute pardons or grants of clemency are a president ial tradition. This on the last day of the president s terms, we are told to expect 100 pardons and commutations of white collar criminals. The white house has been working with pardon petitioners directly instead of using the Justice Departments pardon system. With me is a former Justice Department lawyer who worked in that pardon process. Kristen, grateful for you on this important day. Why does it matter that the white house is doing this directly and not having the system that has been set up at the Justice Department for some years involved . Well, john, thanks for having me. I think its really the pardon power is a really important safety valve we have in our justice system. Its the only way after a sentence has been handed down that, you know, a sentence can be overturned outside of the court system, so i think its really important you saw president obama do this where he saw injustices in the system to use that power to grant them. I think here, the political pardon system, really detracts from the real good that can be done for the pardon power, i think. It is interesting, but, again, welcome to these final 24 hours of the presidency. She wrote, there are no crazy pardons. At the end of bill clintons term he had a controversial pardon with bill rich. There was no question president obama didnt need to pardon himself, he didnt need to pardon sasha or malia. There was no question over the president ial years. But the question, does the president have the power to pardon himself . We didnt have these theoretical conversations in the obama Justice Department, but just as a legal scholar, you know, ive discussed this issue with some friends, and, you know, its always been a theoretical issue, nothing that i thought would actually come to pass. The president has been cautioned to resist pardoning himself by mr. Cipollone and the former attorney general, william p. Barr. White house officials also believe that any consideration he is giving to granting himself a pardon could also turn more republicans against him in his coming Senate Impeachment trial. Do you want to poke the bear, if you will . And i think this situation that has arisen in the past couple weeks, we were talking about whether President Trump has the ability to selfpardon, but it hasnt been in the context of an impeachment, and im sure you know and your viewers know that the pardon power has this exception in cases of impeachment. So i think there is an open question about what that actually means. We dont have guidance from the Supreme Court on what that means, and whether any selfpardon would be effective for those reasons. Kristin hucek, grateful for your insights on this important day. Well wait until the list comes out. Well have to watch those final hours tomorrow morning as well. Kristin, thank you for your insights. The United States senate has a busy time ahead. Voting on the impeachment trial. I shopped for shirts online last night and body wash, just for men now, i think were gonna buy new shoes, again rakuten cash back on the things all in our home rakuten i shop on rakuten rakuten. Right now the United States senate back in session. We are in the final hours of Mitch Mcconnells stay as the majority leader, and just moments ago he talked about the capitol riot