--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Good morning. It's Wednesday, January 20th. I'm Duarte Giraldino. And I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. It's Inauguration Day. Joe Biden will be officially sworn in as the 46th president of the United States and Kamala Harris as the nation's first woman vice president.
--:-- Shamita Basu: To mark this historic day, Apple News will have special coverage starting at 11.30 a.m. Eastern Time. So be sure to check that out on the app. And we'll be putting out a special episode of Apple News Today this afternoon. You'll hear highlights from Biden's speech and get a better understanding of the biggest challenges that he faces. So look out for a second episode of the show in your feed later on today.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: First, we need to talk about Trump's last moves as president. Overnight, the White House revealed the names of 143 people who Trump either pardoned or commuted their sentences. And it's best if we start with a big name that is not on this list, and that is Donald J. Trump. The president did not pardon himself. He didn't pardon his family. There was a lot of speculation in the past few weeks that he would put his own name on this list, which is something that no other president has ever done.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Trump did help out a few political friends like Steve Bannon. He got a full pardon. He was charged with defrauding donors to a We Build the Wall campaign. The White House announcement of the pardon called Bannon, quote, an important leader in the conservative movement, known for his political acumen. And then there's the lesser known names. Kenneth Kurson, a close friend of Jared Kushner. Kurson was charged with cyber stalking and harassment. Also, Elliot Broidy, who was a Trump campaign fundraiser, he pleaded guilty to illegally lobbying the Trump administration. The president pardoned them both.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: There are also some celebrities on that list. Lil Wayne was pardoned. Kodak Black got his sentence commuted. Both rappers pleaded guilty to weapons-related charges. Now, before the election, you'll remember Lil Wayne spoke out in support of Trump on social media. President Trump's moves end the legal troubles of a long list of people. Today, he'll leave the presidency and become vulnerable to his own.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now we move on to the next administration. Here's what Joe Biden faces on day one. A pandemic that's killed more than 400,000 people in America. millions of jobs lost, and a country whose deep-rooted divisions are exposed and raw. His inauguration speech is expected to emphasize unity.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: NPR looks at inaugural addresses during challenging times in history, moments that are very similar to right now. Like Biden, Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office during a deep economic crisis in 1933. In his inaugural address, he spoke bluntly about the Great Depression. A host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toils with little return.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment In that speech FDR also delivered that famous line The only thing we have to fear is fear itself In 2001, President George W. Bush took office after a drawn-out vote counting process and a Supreme Court decision that settled the results of the election. NPR explains it's not a perfect analogy to what's happening now, but there are some shared themes.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: In his speech, Bush acknowledged, Sometimes our differences run so deep, it seems we share a continent, but not a country. And he thanked his opponent, Al Gore, for a race, quote, conducted with spirit and ended with grace. NPR also points to Nixon's 1969 speech. Nixon took office after widespread civil rights and anti-war protests, police brutality, as well as the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: President Nixon called on the country to come together. We are caught in war wanting peace. We're torn by division wanting unity. We see around us empty lives wanting fulfillment. We see tasks that need doing, waiting for hands to do them. To a crisis of the spirit, we need an answer of the spirit. And to find that answer, we need only look within ourselves.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And finally, there's Abraham Lincoln. He delivered his second inaugural address just as the Civil War was ending. In that speech, he mostly focused on unity and how to stitch together a nation at war with itself. He ended that speech with these words. With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right. Let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Something we'll probably hear Joe Biden talk about today, after he's sworn into office, is what he's called his plans to heal the soul of the nation. The Bible tells us, to everything there is a season, a time to build, a time to reap and a time to sow, and a time to heal. This is the time to heal in America. According to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, 56 percent of Americans don't believe Biden can do it. They don't think he'll be able to overcome political divides to bring people in the U.S. together.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But Biden is a man of God. And The Washington Post explains his Catholic faith is one tool Biden will try to use to fulfill his promise. That's right. Biden will be the second Catholic president in U.S. history. He goes to mass every Sunday. Whenever he talks about his faith, Biden describes it as universal and inclusive. It's about helping the less fortunate and caring for all people.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Here he is speaking during his presidential campaign to a faith anti group the Poor People Campaign All of you remind me of how scripture describes a calling born out of the wilderness a calling to serve, not to be served, a calling toward justice, healing, hope, not hate.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Biden grew up in a working-class Irish Catholic family. His faith and the church were a central part of his formative years. You know, he actually considered becoming a priest as a kid, and then again after the death of his first wife and daughter. He told one biographer back in 2010, aside from politics, the priesthood was the only other path he considered.
--:-- Shamita Basu: At a CNN town hall during his campaign, Biden spoke about his experience visiting the church in Charleston after the mass shooting in 2015. That incident and his visit to the church occurred just a couple of weeks after the death of his son. After Barack and Michelle and I were there, my family, I came back on that Sunday to regular service because I just lost my son. And I wanted some hope.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The Washington Post also explains, as a legislator, Biden has often said his religious views shouldn't be imposed on other Americans or be a part of how we make policy in this country. Here he is speaking to Jesuit magazine in 2015. I'm prepared to accept as a matter of faith, my wife and I, my family, the issue of abortion. But what I'm not prepared to do is impose a rigid view, precise view, rigid sounds pejorative, a precise view that is born out of my faith on other people who are equally God-fearing, equally as committed to life.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But what you just heard there, that's a problem for some American Christians. Because Biden supports abortion rights and the LGBTQ community, he may have a hard time connecting with religious conservatives. And after the deadly insurrection on January 6th, faith alone may not be enough to unite America.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Ladies and gentlemen, just a few moments we will be arriving. Joseph R. Biden Jr. Station, which is in Wilmington, Delaware. Hey folks, how are you? It is no secret that Joe Biden loves a good Amtrak commute. So much so that there's actually a station in his home state of Delaware that's named after him.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He was hoping to travel to the inauguration today by train, just like he did when he was sworn in as vice president. But he had to change his plans because of security concerns. During his 36 years as a senator, Biden famously commuted from his home in Delaware to Washington, D.C. every day on Amtrak. CNN did the math. That's more than 8,000 trips.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Riding that train helped Biden see his sons every day, which was so important to him after his first wife and young daughter died. They were killed in a car accident just before he took his first oath of office as senator in 1972. For three decades he jumped on that train every day Those 90 commutes helped define who he would become as a politician
--:-- Shamita Basu: It was on the platform at that Wilmington Amtrak station where he launched his first bid for the presidency back in 1987. Then again, during his race against Donald Trump, Biden was back on the train campaigning. He made six stops along a route that stretched from Pennsylvania to Ohio.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Biden said it was a way to connect with voters after the pandemic kept him mostly inside. That train is so much a part of who Biden is. Back in 2008, the Washington Post ran an article shortly after Biden was chosen as Barack Obama's running mate. And he knew that his commute was forever going to change. But he told them, looking back, that train ride was about so much more than just getting to and from work.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It was all about the different people he got to know. And so before he took office as vice president, Biden stopped by that Wilmington train station to say goodbye to everyone. He said goodbye to the guys at the coffee stand, to the man who shines shoes. He talked to the ticket agents. It was one last run through of that otherwise unremarkable place.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The one that connected Biden to his family, his career, his past and his future. Today, the first woman and person of color in U.S. history will be sworn in as vice president. Kamala Harris is a U.S. citizen with Black and Indian ancestry. And while her historic firsts are the headline here, it's also the first time our country will have a second gentleman, Harris's husband, Doug Emhoff.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In an article for The New Yorker last month, Amy Davidson Sorkin wrote about how Emhoff embodies multiple firsts. Emhoff won't just be the first man in a role that's normally occupied by women. He'll also be the first Jewish vice presidential spouse. And together, the VP and her husband will be the first interracial vice presidential couple.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And he plans to keep working. He was an entertainment lawyer. He left that job and will soon start teaching law at Georgetown University. He'll join a line of first and second spouses who had long resumes and careers before moving to D.C. Dr. Jill Biden has an educational doctorate, and she plans to continue teaching at Northern Virginia Community College while her husband is president.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And, you know, a lot of people, they're praising Emhoff for how much of a cheerleader he is for his wife on social media. He openly praises Harris and her accomplishments. As a nation, this is really the first time we're seeing a man play this role this high in an administration.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Yeah, Emhoff wrote a personal essay about this in GQ magazine, and he says he knows he can set an example as the second gentleman. And he's looking at it through the eyes of his kids. He wants them to grow up in a world where it's not newsworthy that a person of any gender supports their partner in everything they do.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And as we mentioned earlier, later on today, we'll put out a special second episode of Apple News today after the inauguration. We'll talk to you again in just a few hours.
