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CNN Live Event/Special

More Coverage of Inauguration Preparations amd Events; Obama Sworn in for Second Term; Inaugural Events in Full Swing

Aired January 20, 2013 - 16:00   ET

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

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear --

ROBERTS: -- that I will faithfully execute --

OBAMA: -- that I will faithfully execute --

ROBERTS: -- the office of President of the United States --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: -- the office of President of the United States -- so help me God.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Joseph R. Biden, Junior do solemnly swear that I well and faithfully discharge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... the duties of the office on which I'm about to enter.

BIDEN: ... the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So help me god.

BIDEN: So help me god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: You know, it didn't take long, but four hours ago, President Barack Obama took the oath of office for his second term at a private White House event.

Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon, live in Washington. And tomorrow, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will be sworn in during a public ceremony. Hundreds of thousands of people will be here and we are bringing you live coverage all day and into the evening and all day tomorrow, of course.

We have some very excited people behind us. They are on the mall. They are enjoying this experience. They came from all over the world and we are going to get down there and we are going to talk to them.

Hello, everyone. How are you doing? They are so excited. We are excited that they are here. As we said, we are going to get down there we are going to talk to them, we're going to find out their experience and why they are here and how far they came to be here and how long they plan to be here. Right now though, the main event is at the White House, where the 57th presidential inauguration has been an intimate affair. The swearing- in fulfilled a constitutional obligation which says presidents automatically begin their new terms at noon on January 20th.

And our Dan Lothian is at the White House right now. Hello, Dan. Give us a feel for what happened. Who was in the room for the swearing-in, how long it lasted. We saw it on television. It was pretty short. The mood and any other details you might have for us.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I think the headline here is that the oath was administered without a hitch. There were no problems at all. As you remember four years ago, there were some problems with some words moved out of place, stepping on each other, the president and Chief Justice Roberts. This time, it went off without a hitch. It was a very intimate setting in the White House blue room, the president surrounded by some close family members and friends. The first lady, his daughters, also his sister and his mother-in-law and brother. And it was a short event. It only lasted for about 30 seconds.

And then afterwards, sort of a colorful moment, where the president was hugging the first lady, hugging the first daughters and then his daughter, Sasha, his youngest daughter, saying to the president, "Well, you didn't mess up," again, making reference to the last four years ago when they did have those problems and the president saying, "I did it." So, that was kind of the end of this first phase of the president getting sworn in.

And of course, tomorrow is the more public event, when hundreds of thousands of people will get a chance to witness the president getting the - this oath administered at the capitol.

LEMON: Most people sort of looked at, of course, the first lady, her new haircut and the girls, they've seen to have gotten so big, standing there next to the president. They're as tall as the first lady and the president, Dan.

LOTHIAN: That's right. All you have to do is rewind some of those tapes from four years ago. They were just little girls coming in here to the White House and we have seen them grow up over the last four years, mostly out of sight though because the White House has been very protective of the first daughters. Yes, they've certainly grown up. They have matured and now they're here essentially celebrating with their father on this very momentous occasion, historic occasion.

The president, for his part now, has some down time here now at the White House later tonight with the vice president, he'll be heading over to the building museum for a candlelight reception there. In the meantime, we know that the president still tweaking his address. He has been working on it for many, many hours, doing it longhand initially but also a speechwriter working with the president. And you know, the other thing, Don, there is a big football game on this afternoon. We asked if the president was going to be watching -

LEMON: Don't tell people about that! Don't tell people. We want them to watch us.

LOTHIAN: They will. I'm sure you can watch both. We don't know if the president is watching. We know he is a big sports fan, probably he'll get an update on the scores if not watching it himself.

LEMON: All right, Dan Lothian, thank you. Just messing around with you. Thanks very much, Dan Lothian.

You know, earlier today, President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, you know, they honored the nation's fallen soldiers during a wreath- laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. This inauguration day tradition took place shortly after the vice president was sworn in for his second term.

About 800,000 people are expected to be in Washington tomorrow to watch President Obama being sworn in for a second term. That's less than the nearly two million people who turned up in 2009. But that doesn't mean security will be any less tight this time. In fact, security officials have been working for this day for more than a year now.

And our Joe Johns, he joins me now live with this group of people who are behind us and they're very excited. Joe, you know, there will be eyes and ears on people who are behind us, in the buildings, they will be in the sky. You know, security is going to be tight. What's expected to happen this time?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, I got to tell you, hopefully nothing. That's what the authorities are saying. So far, there's been no credible threats, no advisories, no alerts, all safe and quiet.

Now, as to this issue of swearing in, there was actually another swearing in today.

LEMON: Oh, my goodness.

JOHNS: A swearing in that really nobody knew about. It was the 2,500 reps, 2,100 or so police officers who is coming from a variety of places all over the country, 41 different states, 18 or so jurisdiction and they all rose - threw their hands up in the air and swore to protect this city, Washington, D.C., to abide by the laws and to help out in the inauguration. So, there you have it. Just a sea of police officers.

And frankly, that's only the beginning of it. There are also national guards people, the 4,000 or so police officers from the District of Columbia proper and there are a lot of people we don't know about. They are at a secret location here in the Washington area. They are watching television screens. They are sitting by telephones, waiting to jump on anything that happens and hopefully nothing.

LEMON: We would tell where you they are, but it's a secret.

JOHNS: That's absolutely right. I did not go to the walk-through so I can safely tell you I don't know where it is. LEMON: All right. So but everyone the challenge is though making sure people have fun though but without compromising security.

JOHNS: Exactly right. That's very important. They don't want this to look like a police state, because it is the United States of America.

LEMON: People have a good time.

JOHNS: Right. You don't see tanks rolling down the streets of Washington, D.C. during the inauguration. It is a very different thing. Even those national guards people, they are not going to be armed, or so we're told. But they will be keeping us safe.

LEMON: All right. Good. Y'all going to have fun? Good. And they are going to be safe, too.

JOHNS: Absolutely.

LEMON: Joe Johns. Thank you, sir.

JOHNS: And loud.

LEMON: And loud. You're right, Joe. Thank you very much.

President Obama enters his second term with a tense relationship with Congress. But will the animosity affect who attends tomorrow's public ceremony? I want to go now to CNN's Athena Jones. She joins me live now from capitol hill. So Athena, the last few weeks between the president and the Republicans really has been pretty bad. What will the crowd look like in terms of the GOP? Will we se any GOP?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We absolutely will see some, Don, you know, the congressional leadership on both sides, the Republicans and Democrats, is planning to attend. We expect most senators from both parties to attend. The real question here is the rank and file members of the GOP on the House side. You know, it's very difficult to survey them all but we did get a chance to catch up with North Carolina Republican from Raleigh, a very Republican area. His name is George Holding.

He says he is planning to go. We know that the former vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, has said he sees that as his obligation to go. Of course, I mentioned the leadership, folks like Speaker Boehner and minority leader Mitch McConnell, they will all be there. Lets listen to what Republican senator from Wyoming, John Barrosso, told Candy this morning about how he is coming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN "STATE OF THE UNION," HOST: ... in Wyoming this is not your first rodeo this inaugural?

SEN. JOHN BARROSSO (R), WYOMING: No, candy. This is actually the ninth time I'm seeing a different president come into office. My dad took me to John Kennedy's inauguration when I was eight. We come every time, Republican and Democrat, because of this great country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: And so there is just one person speaking about the importance of coming. It will be something worth watching for. I can tell you, John, to see how many of those rank and file Republicans do show up.

LEMON: So, Athena, let's go back four years ago. Did John McCain attend anything last time in 2009?

JONES: He did. He attended the inaugural ceremony. He was also at the luncheon that follows the inaugural ceremony here in the capitol, in statuary hall, and it's not uncommon to see certainly a senator. If a senator happened to run for president, it's not uncommon to see them still come to the inauguration, even if they did lose, because they are senators. As I mentioned, most senators do show up. This is seen usually often as a non-partisan event and so yes, Senator McCain was there in 2009.

LEMON: Athena Jones, thank you very much. We appreciate it, Athena.

So as President Obama enters his second term, how are we doing as a country? How are we doing as a country? You will see what some people are thinking.

Plus, one Republican says President Barack Obama has a king complex. Our CNN contributors weigh in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We are back now live everyone, from the National Mall. Nearly two million people fill the National Mall four years ago to hear President Barack Obama's first inaugural speech. And back then, the president was talking to a crowd and a country full of hope that he could get America back on track but this year, Americans are divided on how things are going in the country.

In a new CNN opinion research poll lays it out. Forty nine percent of Americans believe things are going well in this country. Forty nine percent believe things are going well. Fifty one percent thinks conditions are poor. No president has faced the public this bitter at the start of a second term. President Bush - Presidents Bush, Clinton, Reagan, all had higher numbers when it came to Americans' confidence and how things are going in this country.

So joining me now is John Avlon, he's a senior political columnist at "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast" and his much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much better half, CNN political contributor, Margaret Hoover, who is my secret girlfriend, not a secret anymore.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: I thought Cyndi Lauper was your secret girlfriend.

LEMON: No, you are my secret girlfriend ever since I hosted "In the Arena" one night, you and I, we fell in love.

HOOVER: I know. I know.

LEMON: It's a beautiful thing.

JOHN AVLON, SENIOR POLITICAL COLUMNIST "NEWSWEEK": I'm not going to touch it.

HOOVER: You're comfortable with it.

LEMON: Don't tell anybody. But John, you wrote an article titled "Can Barack Obama break the second inaugural curse?" What do you mean by that?

AVLON: Well, you know, it's funny. You know, inauguration speeches are this great American moment, it's a time of renewal and reflection. Think about all the iconic lines from an inaugural speech - ask not what you can do for your country, what your country can do for you. We have nothing to fear but fear itself, government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem, all from first inaugural addresses.

LEMON: Right.

AVLON: Second inaugurals get kind of overlooked in the sweep of history, they're all well written but they tend not to be as definitive. So there is a hurdle, a second term curse, if you will, that President Obama's going to have to address to really hit it out of the park tomorrow.

LEMON: I know you said, in the article, I read your article, you said what -- can you name one phrase in President Obama's first speech that's memorable. I can't really -

HOOVER: There's no golden nugget. There was nothing. There was nothing. And I think there was such high hopes for it. You said there were two million people, the first African-American president to take the oath of office, on the steps of the capitol, which was built by slaves and here we have transcended that moment by electing a black president. He has another bite of the apple tomorrow.

LEMON: Yes but the moment in itself was historic.

AVLON: It was.

LEMON: So in relation to the polls that we showed, right? American are unsatisfied. How does he change the mood in this country? How can he change the mood in this country?

HOOVER: Well, you know, it's interesting, because I first saw the poll numbers that you just put up on the screen and I thought, well you know what the economy is still bad, there's 7.8 percent unemployment, underemployment is also skyrocketing. And then my husband had to go look at the cross caps.

AVLON: I hate it when I do that.

HOOVER: He had to go and look at the science. He had to read the numbers. And actually you had a great point. You did discover something that is noteworthy.

AVLON: Which is if you break it down, the real news here is the polarization. I mean, you know, 76 percent of democrats thinks things are going very well. Only 28 percent of Republicans. So it's just another reminder of how drunk we are on partisanship.

LEMON: Is that partisanship or is it that Democrats are glass half- full and Republicans are glass half-empty?

AVLON: Margaret is a great very glass half-full Republican.

HOOVER: Reagan was a sunny optimist, remember?

AVLON: He was. But it does speak to how our partisanship does fuel our perceptions, looking at the same data.

LEMON: Let's talk about this thing about this so-called monarch or king complex supposedly that many Republicans say the president has. I want to get this quote. Because here's what Republican Senator Rand Paul says. He said, GOP says, "they are going to stop this king and his executive orders." I want you to have a listen to this.

AVLON: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: And there are several of the executive orders that appear as if he's writing new law. That cannot happen. We struck down once - the court struck Clinton down for trying this and I'm afraid that President Obama may have this king complex sort of developing and we are going to make sure that it doesn't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: Look -

LEMON: All right. So you're going, oh, and she is going stop.

HOOVER: No, so he was going to toss to me, I saw it in the teleprompter. I mean, look, look, he is the president. Tomorrow's his inauguration. We're not going to spoil the spirit. We also know, I worked for George W. Bush in the White House. He has 294 executive orders.

LEMON: Right.

HOOVER: Executive orders are something that happens often in the White House. When you're in the other party and you're in the minority, you don't like it, but there's nothing unconstitutional about it.

LEMON: I'm glad you said that because - I'm glad you said that because most people would say it is just second term confidence. He won, so he is being confident but not being arrogant.

AVLON: First of all, we have heard this kind of junk before, the attempt to recast the American revolution, as somehow, you know, conservatives are true patriot, the president's a de facto King George III. It is ridiculous. When Republicans are in office, they stretched executive power. When Democrats are in office they do it. This is something, you know, that President Reagan and Bush had in the neighborhood of 300 executive orders and people weren't talking about tyranny then so that kind of language from Rand Paul is not really helpful. Of all days this is a day we should remember we are all Americans first.

HOOVER: Don't you think that Republicans are quite creative. I think we're creative because we go from casting President Obama as George III to a Kenyan who wasn't even born in America. Just kidding.

AVLON: Yes. This is a -

HOOVER: Creativity.

LEMON: I want to ask you something.

AVLON: America first.

LEMON: I want to ask you first, do you consider yourself a moderate?

HOOVER: Yes, I consider myself a conservative but I'm a conservative that represents the sensibilities of my generation.

LEMON: You saw Colin Powell on "Meet the Press" last week.

HOOVER: Yes, I thought he was eminently sensible.

LEMON: So where does the party go from here if it wants to have a voice, if it wants to be relevant over the next four years?

HOOVER: Well, look, I think Republicans are going to have to think about how they are going to be smart about their power, because we only have one half of one-third of the government's power right now. So we are going to have to be very, very thoughtful about how we exert it and not over reach or we're not going to have no influence in the national policy in the next four years.

AVLON: Both parties are put on notice by the American people right now, Don. I mean, the hyper partisanship is hurting our country right now and people are demanding something different.

HOOVER: But any legacy he's going to have in the second term is going to have take Republicans and Democrats together.

LEMON: Thank you, Margaret Hoover. You, whatever.

AVLON: Whatever.

LEMON: Appreciate it, guys.

I have been meeting and talking to so many people here in D.C. everybody's pretty psych about the inauguration, but wait until you meet these kids. They never thought that they would be here but they are. And how they got here around how they feel about seeing history, well, you're going to see it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We are back live from the mall. How are you guys doing? You guys - it look a long time to get here for a lot of people. Not everybody got on an airplane. Some of them traveled by bus. Some of them traveled by car. I don't think a lot of people walked here.

Guess what, some kids in Missouri, it was a journey to get here. They had to win an essay contest to get here and I asked them about that and I spent some time with them. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What time is it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You time.

LEMON (voice-over): Teen spirit.

(voice-over): Who is the most excited?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me.

LEMON: Hard work and some keen writing skills paid off big time for all 26 of these high school students.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) we had to write a paper about how the elections affected us.

LEMON: In an essay contest they out almost 200 juniors and seniors from St. Louis's University City High School, packed their bags, boarded a plane and hopped a bus to the nation's capitol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now you are in D.C. going to the capitol and the inauguration?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LEMON: They are great writers but they are kids and sometimes their mouths get ahead of them and so does the excitement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm at a loss for words.

LEMON: For senior Ethan Farber, this was more an just an essay, a field trip or a re-election.

ETHAN FARBER, STUDENT: This is America's realizing that to put an African-American in office wasn't a mistake, wasn't, you know, a fault in judgment or anything. This is us realizing he can do just a good as job as anybody else could do in that office.

LEMON: But the inauguration is days away, now it's time to see the sights.

(on camera): You guys aren't supposed to sing about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. Kool-aid.

LEMON (voice-over): First stop, the capitol and a group pic.

(on camera): Do you love it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LEMON: Was it everything you hoped it would be?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LEMON: And more?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LEMON: What did you see? Where to now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Washington Monument.

LEMON: To the monument.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.

LEMON: What do you think when you see that?

CAMARON BALLARD, SENIOR: I think about Martin Luther King's speech and how, like, packed it was when he gave his speech.

LEMON: Yes.

BALLARD: And like now, looking at it like a bunch of years later.

LEMON (voice-over): This is history. The second inauguration of the first black president. And the first lady.

AUNVIEA WATSON, STUDENT: Hopefully I don't cry or anything, 'cause that's - that is a really important moment for me. I like she didn't forget where she came from. She know how it is to not have anything and now that she is in the White House, she is still doing what she can to help us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: So, these guys are counting down, my director here. By the way, those kids from the university, St. Louis University High School, they are going to be the guests of Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, they will be sitting with her at the inauguration tomorrow. You know, speaking of young people, I'm going to speak to the student president of Clark Atlanta University tomorrow. He says he knows that there's going to be another black president. I'm going to talk to him about that and a historic event such as the inauguration makes you wonder are you born in the time you should be? Are some people predestined to be born and do the things that they are supposed to be doing? I'll talk to Deepak Chopra about that when we come back.

All right, guys? I will be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back everyone, to our special coverage of the 57th presidential inaugural. President Barack Obama made history today. He was sworn in for his second term as president at a private White House ceremony. The president will be sworn in again tomorrow in a public ceremony. Protocol dictates that when the inaugural day falls on Sunday, another public swearing is held the next day. And we're going to cover that for you, live here on CNN.

Vice President Joe Biden was also sworn in today for his second term in office today. The ceremony took place this morning at the Naval Observatory, which is the vice president's official residence. The oath was administered by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor using the Biden family Bible.

Also, in Washington today, slain civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was honored during a wreath-laying ceremony. It happened at the King Memorial here on the National Mall. Tomorrow's presidential inauguration coincides with the day the nation celebrates Dr. King's birthday. And when President Obama takes the earth of office, he will use a Bible that belonged to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

People from all walks of life, from all corners of the country, are going to be watching President Obama take the oath of office for the second time tomorrow. And student president of Clark Atlanta University, Tyler Joshua Green, remember that name, Tyler Joshua Green, he will be one of them and he joins me now from Atlanta, where he and 50 other students will get on a bus this evening to ride to Washington. Tyler, welcome. This is a huge moment in history, are you and your friends excited about being able to witness it.

TYLER GREEN, UNDERGRADUATE PRESIDENT, CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY: We are absolutely excited, ready to get on the bus and head down to see history in the making.

LEMON: Yes. Did you vote last year and is this your first inauguration?

GREEN: This is my first time voting, my first inauguration and it's a wonderful opportunity to vote for someone that otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to. So, we are, in essence, making history in our own right.

LEMON: President Obama became the first African-American president. What has that meant to you?

GREEN: I think that it's, first and foremost, a monument to us occasion, for the fact all the historical figures and all the historical ideas of the past come together at this point in time but it is also a momentous occasion because this is a end this is a means to an end, and this is going to open doors after doors to our future to open up opportunity that we otherwise would not have if President Obama did not do what he did these past four years and these four years to come.

LEMON: When -- before the break, when I told our audience that you were coming up, I said that you knew that there's going to be another black president, why do you know there is going to be another black president? Why do you say that?

GREEN: I think that tbe legacy that President Obama's going to leave is the fact that he has come in and opened up a door for others to be able do what he did and even greater and I think that that marks a great president and also a great leader.

LEMON: Mm-hmm. As you have watched the president over the last four years, you've watched, you know, you've watched him lead, you have watched him get some things through, health care, you've watched some of the opposition what are your thoughts over the last four years?

GREEN: I think that he talked about it in his book, "The Audacity of Hope" that there's a stake that draws people together and is far more impactful and it is greater than the stake that drives people apart. I think throughout his presidency these last four years, that he has absolutely been what I believe is that stake that has drawn so many cultures, races, genders together and that, again, is the mark of a phenomenal leader.

LEMON: All right. Well, Tyler Joshua Green, good luck and be safe, you guys, coming up on the bus. Hope to see you when you guys get here.

GREEN: All right. See you soon.

LEMON: All right.

Is President Obama a man of destiny? Well, that sounds pretty huge presented to be president or predestined to be president, I should say. Deepak Chopra joins me next to talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I think those guys like being here and they like being on television. I think they do. I think they are enjoying themselves and there will be a lot more people tomorrow. You know, the movie "Lincoln" is based in part on the book "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kerns Goodwin, it is a study of how Abraham Lincoln worked with some of the most powerful rivals to abolish slavery and the end of the Civil War. While the issues are different, 145 years later, the tensions between congress and the president are the same. President Obama's often cited the late president's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it. That's what Abraham Lincoln understood. He had his doubts. He had his defeats. He had his skeptics. He had his setbacks but through his will and his words, he moved a nation and helped free a people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Author and inspirational speaker Deepak Chopra joins me now live. Hello Deepak how are you doing?

DEEPAK CHOPRA, CO-AUTHOR, "SUPER BRAIN:" I'm good, Don, I'm in Washington for the celebration and really having a good time.

LEMON: It is good to hear from you. Thanks for coming on.

CHOPRA: Thank you.

LEMON: In your latest op ed, which I read, you say the movie of "Lincoln" raises a theme that we don't hear much about the man of destiny. You say that President Lincoln was a man of destiny who was fated to end slavery and bend the future to his will. Do you think that President Obama is on the same track in his second term?

CHOPRA: I do. I think President Obama is a man of this time; the time is calling for social justice, economic justice, looking at our environment, finding a solution to war and terrorism, finding creative ways of moving forward. There's a zeitgeist in the country right now, a collective longing for fairness. And in every respect, President Obama represents fairness.

Throughout his four years, he's wanted fairness, whether it's in economics or health reform or looking at the environment as our extension of ourselves. President Obama represents hope, trust, stability and compassion. He's the right person for this time. It's no accident that the inaugural ceremony is tomorrow on Martin Luther King Day. I just wonder if when Martin Luther King Jr. Said "I have a dream," did he have this vision?

LEMON: Interesting. I wonder do you think at the time people, you said Lincoln was the right man for the time. In your article, I don't have it in front of me, I'm paraphrasing, you said that Lincoln was reviled and he was loved at the same time. And I think many people would feel the same way about President Obama now.

CHOPRA: Yes.

LEMON: Do you think people knew that about Lincoln and do you think it's the same about President Obama now?

CHOPRA: You know, whenever there's a move toward something that's new, that's not part of the old paradigm, and there are reactionary forces. That those reactionary forces can revise the leader who wants to take us into the new longing that the people are expressing. So yes we have a very partisan country right now where there are these forces of progressive forces on the one side and extreme, ultra, ideological reactionary forces, but to President Obama's credit, he does not get drawn into the melodrama.

If there's one thing I can say about him is that he stays sober. His hallmark is sobriety, to the extent that people think he's too intellectual. But it's not that. He understands that not getting into the melodrama allows him to come up with creative solution and he does not actually worsen the situation. He is a very interesting, extraordinary person.

LEMON: And that's one thing that you talk about over and over in your writing and in your speeches and in your recordings, you talk about sobriety, one must be sober all the time. Can we get back to the theme that you were talking about, fairness, and that he is a man of fairness and he talks about it over and over? Do you think it has fallen on deaf ears and what do you think congress can do to listen and to help in that?

CHOPRA: I think in my second op ed, I also mentioned that's facebook president. What he has done very successfully, very successfully in his public appearances, through the internet technology, social networks, which are actually an extension of our collective mind, he goes directly to people, instead of, you know, in a sense, he bypasses special interest groups like the NRA and goes directly to the people.

You know, otherwise, we are always in a sense; outgunned by these special interest groups, where he has managed to talk directly to the people, get the pulse of the country. That's what got him re-elected. Every prediction was, you know there's too much money and there is too many special interest groups. The Republicans are going to win. He went directly to the people through his technology, through the media, when he talked about fairness, he says either we increased access for everyone or we increased access for 2 percent. I mean it was reasonable. It was sober; it was common sense it appealed to everyone. So I think that President Obama will stay true to his doctrine of fairness and that's what 98 percent of our country wants.

LEMON: Deepak Chopra, thank you for coming on, enjoy the inauguration.

CHOPRA: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: President Obama's rescue of the American auto industry put our next guest back to work. And this weekend, she is an invited guest at the inauguration.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We are back with a very excited crowd behind us. Some every day Americans are playing a special role in official inaugural festivities. They are called citizen co-chairs, something new the Obama administration decided to launch. Eight people were chosen by the president's inaugural committee because they are said to reflect the core values of the administration. Kenyetta Jones is one of the citizen co-chairs and she joins us now live. Kenyeta you must be very excited about being one of only eight people selected. Each of you is said to reflect a different aspect of the president's first term. What is your story? What do you represent? KENYETTA JONES, CHOSEN AS ONE OF EIGHT INAUGURATION CITIZEN CO-CHAIRS: Well actually I represent labor, UAW, and the auto industry. Just labor in America, which is what America, was made on the backs of labor people and we represent America in that's aspect.

LEMON: So how were you chosen and how did you find out?

JONES: Well, actually, I was chosen based on my past participation from introduction for President Barack Obama in Toledo, Ohio, Scott High School, and then that carried on to being a spokesperson at the Democratic National Convention, as an American hero and then a week ago, I got the call to participate here as a co-chair.

LEMON: So the eight of you met with President Obama on Friday, tell us about that meeting.

JONES: Yes, we did. We had a chance to go to the oval office, it was wonderful. Again, I had a chance to meet him, speak briefly with him and he just actually explained to us our roles and why we were selected and where we were actually selected based on each of our experiences and each policy that he ran on and each one of us has a story to tell that appeals to the American citizens and like I represent so many auto workers and especially UAW.

And had something happened with General Motors, had that gone under, then UAW would have failed and then that would have definitely impacted communities and America as a whole. So he just wanted to express his senior appreciation for us in supporting him and just getting the word out and how we just was resilient and kind of came back and just helping him out throughout his election.

LEMON: So Kenyetta all of you will take part in the inaugural parade you are going to ride on the "Our people our future" float and attend the inaugural ball. What are you most excited about?

JONES: I'm most excited about that we are the face of America and so many people have my story and have walked in my shoes. So, we represent an America as a whole. I'm excited about that and just how people have supported him. Like he said, he has our back and we definitely have his back.

LEMON: Kenyetta Jones, thank you very much. We appreciate you joining us here on CNN. Stay warm tomorrow.

JONES: Oh, absolutely and I'm looking forward to the inaugural ball, for sure.

LEMON: All right. All right.

Two men in powerful positions, they went to the same university, got the same degrees, but they are on polar opposite sides of politics, brought together to make history, President Barack Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: As President Obama takes the oath today and tomorrow, he will have a familiar face standing before him, Chief Justice John Roberts. Over the last four years, the relationship between the two has been rocky, at best, as CNN's Suzanne Malveaux shows us, the next four doesn't look like it will get any better.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear.

CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS: That I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully.

OBAMA: That I will execute --

ROBERTS: Faithfully the office of president of the United States faithfully.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It was a slip of the tongue, a stumble over words both President Obama, a constitutional law professor and chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, should have known like the back of their hands. But the mistake made for an awkward moment in the middle of a solemn occasion. The swearing in of the first African-American president in front of a crowd more than a billion strong on the National Mall. Robert's flub was significant enough that the oath had to be taken again, out of an abundance of caution, the very next day at the White House.

OBAMA: I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States.

MALVEAUX: CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin wrote a book about this awkward moment in presidential history titled "The Oath." Did they need Jeff; did they have to do it, again?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: No one knows.

MALVEAUX: Really?

TOOBIN: No one knows to this day because the legal significance of the oath remains kind of a mystery. So, they just said, look, someone could file a lawsuit, someone could make trouble. We don't want to spend the first week, the first month of the Obama presidency litigating whether he's president. So, let's just do it. It's slightly embarrassing, it's slightly weird. We'll do it again, and we'll put the issue behind us and they did.

MALVEAUX: An awkward moment between men with similar backgrounds in the law, but widely differing opinions about how it should be interpreted. Both Obama and Roberts are graduates of Harvard Law. Both are known for their intellect and charm. But Roberts was tapped to sit on the Supreme Court by George W. Bush and is known as a staunch conservative who helped push through the controversial Citizens United ruling, that corporations are people, too, dramatically shifting the way campaigns are funded. Tell me about the tension between these two men.

TOOBIN: No one would ever mistake them for friends. They are political adversaries on the most important issues and they both know it.

MALVEAUX: Put differences aside, the Roberts' court also preserved the president's signature legislative achievement in a historic ruling last June, a 5-4 vote to uphold Obama Care.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The biggest U.S. Supreme Court decision in decades.

MALVEAUX: It was a ruling Roberts took a lot of flack for. How significant was that though that you had John Roberts who got a lot of flack for it to come out in support of Obama Care?

TOOBIN: It was immensely significant.

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LEMON: Once again, Suzanne Malveaux reporting. And stay tuned for the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.

And so will Andy Harris will be joining us. Tomorrow, President Obama will be using a bible used by Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. We are going to take a look at a special significance bibles hold during the oath of office.

Plus, the first family. We have seen the girls grow into young women and now, Michelle has a new 'do.

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LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. We are live, CNN, on the National Mall in Washington it is a beautiful weekend. Look at the capitol over my shoulder. It is a wonderful sunset. Couldn't be a more perfect picture. Look at the folks out here. They have been gathering really since early in the week and they are so excited to be here. We are excited that they are here with us. We have a crowd gathered here. They are here for CNN but of course we know they are here to see President Barack Obama be sworn in for a second time. His fourth oath of office, but again look at that shot of the capital and you see it is draped with flags and that is where he is going to take the oath of office.

And he is going to be joined by the beautiful first lady, Michelle Obama, and her new hairdo and Sasha and Malia, the first daughters of the United States as well. They will be there tomorrow. And of course, he is going to be joined by the vice president and his wife as well.

I am going to give you a little bit of tid bits about the inauguration, I am going to show you a picture in a moment that I have here today. Last time, just so you know, there were about 5 to 7,000 port-a-potties here last time, in 2009. This time, there are only going to be about 1500, but last time there were almost 2 million people. This time, there is expected to be anywhere between 600,000 -- 600,000 to 800,000 people. So, about 1500. And so, there you go.

Last time, 2009, generated over 130 tons of waste. We don't know what's going to happen this time because it hasn't happened. This is my moment earlier. My high school idol, Cyndi Lauper, was here and I got a picture with her. Do we have the picture? There it is. I am a happy man now and we can start the top of the show.