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Good morning, and welcome to Kid News.
I'm Tori. Today is Monday, January 20th, 2025, a double bonus with a Martin Luther King Jr.
holiday and the presidential inauguration falling on the same day, and the perfect opportunity for one of our new longer format Kid News Convos episodes.
We're going to start by talking about the very, very chilly weather in D .C.
with Mark Curtis, who's covered political news for over 40 years and attended three inaugurations.
He's also a current Kid News board member.
So, Mark, it's expected to be really cold in the nation's capital, I think about 20 degrees.
So the decision was made Friday to move the inauguration inside.
Who made that call, and has this happened before?
President -elect Donald Trump asked the committee to move it indoors.
So the committee ultimately decides, but obviously the president -elect is going to get his wish.
Yes, this has happened, but only twice before, back to 1909, when neither of us were here.
William Howard Taft was going to be sworn in, and they're having a blizzard at Ice Starm in Washington, D .C., so they moved it inside of the Capitol Rotunda.
And then fast forward to 1985, when you and I were both here.
President Reagan, his second term had to be moved inside because they were having sub -zero temperatures and they were afraid that people could get frostbite, could get hurt, could die.
It was very dangerous.
And obviously, the same thing, that's what President Trump said.
He was very concerned about people's safety.
Where would it have taken place?
Where would it have normally happened?
It would have taken place on the west front of the Capitol.
And that dates back, by the way, it's interesting because Ronald Reagan was our only movie actor who became president.
He had a knack for scenery.
It had always, for the most part, it had always taken front on the east front of the Capitol where there's a giant parking lot.
It's not very scenic.
On the west front, you can see all the way down the Capitol Mall to the Reflecting Pool to the Washington Monument.
It's majestic and it's beautiful and it can accommodate upwards of a million people.
So it was Ronald Reagan's decision to move it to the west front of the Capitol back in 1981.
And so what changes need to happen as a result of this?
I assume it's going to be a much smaller crowd.
I'll say the National Park Service issued 220 ,000 tickets to the inaugural, and the tickets are color -coded.
There's five different colors, and depending on where you stand in the pecking order, the closer to the inauguration you would be.
You would imagine members of Congress and the Supreme Court and their spouses and guests would be up in the front row and the president's guests and so on.
220 ,000 people. Torrey, when they moved the inauguration in for Reagan's second inaugural to the Capitol Rotunda.
You know how many people got to attend?
96. That was the crowd.
Now, listen, the Capitol Rotunda is bigger than that.
It can accommodate more people, maybe several hundred, maybe a couple of thousand.
I've been in there for state funerals and other things, and it's a big booming room, but you've got to consider security at the Capitol and other things.
So there might be a couple hundred, maybe a thousand people indoors at the Rotunda, but they've decided to have 20 ,000 seats available at the Capital One Arena, which is the big hockey and basketball arena in downtown Washington, D .C.
So now you're maybe accommodating 22 ,000 guests here.
That's a far cry from the 220 ,000 tickets that were issued.
So the question is, do those people just go back to their hotel and watch it on TV?
Because they're not going to be able to get everybody in there.
Yeah, and I would imagine some people have paid a lot of money for these tickets.
And I understand some social media CEOs will be front and center, you know, or at least we're initially going to be part of the, you know, right on the stage with the president.
Well, technically, the tickets are supposed to be free, but you know, on the black market and how things happen and people, you know, like scalping at football games and stuff like that.
So, you know, it's going to be interesting who ultimately gets there.
Yeah, a lot of people are interested in where people like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramoswamy, two tech titans in the high tech world who are big Trump allies and de facto cabinet members, are they going to be on stage?
And is the whole Trump family going to be there?
How many of the ex -presidents?
Right now we understand all ex -presidents will be there, but not all of their spouses.
Michelle Obama has decided not to attend for whatever reason.
How does this change of venue impact the parade that normally happens.
Yeah, the parade is really something.
And that's not always been a tradition.
That's a relatively modern phenomena, the parade.
And it usually goes from the Capitol past the White House and other scenic places in DC.
It's a big deal. And people who can't necessarily make it to the inaugural will get out on the parade route, especially kids.
They're much more interested in that.
They're going to have a smaller parade inside the Capital One arena.
But again, it's only going to see 20 ,000 people.
And the best seat for the parade this year might be watching it on your television set.
And President Trump, I should point out, after he takes the oath of office, he and his motorcade are going to go by, and they're going to stop and go inside the Capital One arena so they can greet all the people there.
You know, it's like anything in Washington, you've got to kind of be flexible.
And, you know, plans get changed, and Mother Nature is kind of dictating what happens here.
Everything else about the actual swearing -in ceremony stays the same, just inside the Capitol.
So does the Constitution say exactly who is supposed to administer the oath of office?
It does not prescribe that.
Again, it left it up to the Congress.
And Congress decided, well, any person with legal authority, like a judge, even if it's a local judge, could administer the oath.
Traditionally, it has been the chief justice of the United States.
I think the first one, John Marshall swore in nine president did nine inaugurations.
He's done the most.
And interestingly enough, this will be number six for Chief Justice John Roberts coming up.
So it doesn't specify and we've had some interesting things happen.
Obviously, when President Kennedy was assassinated and they had an emergency and they had a swear in Lyndon Baines Johnson, they did that on an airplane on a tarmac in Dallas and a local federal judge took the oath of office.
I think the most interesting, my favorite, is Calvin Coolidge, and he became president because of the death of President Harding.
He was at home in Vermont.
It just so happened Calvin Coolidge's dad was a justice of the peace.
So he is the only dad who ever swore in his own son to be president of the United States.
I love that. That's a great little nugget of history there.
That's fascinating.
And is the swearing -in always done on a Bible?
Not always. Sometimes, in fact, a Catholic missile was used.
There was no Bible readily available when Lyndon Maines Johnson was sworn in to succeed.
So that wasn't a Bible he put his hand out.
It was a Catholic missile that was found in maybe a local church or somebody on the plane had one.
You know, it doesn't have to be on a Bible, but that's become a tradition.
By the way, the phrase, so help me God, is not in the original oath.
I'm trying to remember.
It may have been President Andrew Jackson that kind of ad -libbed that and added it at the end.
But that has become a tradition now, too, but it's not required.
Yeah. Okay. And then as far as the vice president, when is he or last time it was a she take the oath?
They are sworn in right before the president.
So J .D. Vance will take the oath right before Donald John Trump takes it for the second time.
Okay. And I always find so fascinating.
We talk about the ceremony, but also the transition behind the scenes.
I mean, you were talking about the need to build up staff, but actually moving in and out of the White House is quite a huge workload to have it done so quickly.
When one family moves out, the other family moves in.
Yeah, they've got all morning to get everybody out.
And then the president has traditionally sworn in and knew, and a lot of people think that's in the Constitution.
It is not. That just becomes a tradition to swear them in by noon.
And then, you know, they have a luncheon at the Capitol.
But at the same time, the movers are at the White House moving everybody out.
Speaking of the White House, I have to tell my favorite inauguration story.
Because it was just, it used to be they just swore them in, and that was it.
There were no parades, there were no parties, there were no inaugural balls.
But then somebody started, James Madison was the one that started the parties.
And we may circle back to that.
But the best moment was Andrew Jackson, President Andrew Jackson, inviting 20 ,000 people to come to the White House for a party after the inauguration.
And they all showed up in the White House and people crammed in their shoulder to shoulder.
The only way Jackson could get out of the White House was to sneak out a window.
So he had to open up a window and jump out to get out of the White House.
That's crazy. That's hysterical.
I mean, you can't imagine that happening now with all the security and everything.
Oh, I know. I'm in secret service with good nuts on something like that.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
So yeah, so after the swearing in, I mean, and there's a lot more than just the oath.
I mean, there's poems and speeches and that type of thing, right?
Yeah, I'll never forget seeing Maya Angelou read one of her poems.
And not only was she a great poet, but she had that majestic voice.
And she read a poem at Bill Clinton's first inauguration.
And it was one of the most memorable parts.
I remember that inauguration because it was temperatures below freezing.
I was standing on solid ground that was frozen and my feet just froze, but it was the first inauguration I got to attend.
I'm like, you know, it's a moment in history.
It's a moment of not just to swear somebody in, but it's become a celebration of our democracy and our longevity coming up on 250 years.
And also the transition of power from one party to another, it's really quite remarkable to see.
And I've been fortunate to be at three of them.
They really have become quite a production.
There's a lot going on.
What should kids look at when they're watching the inauguration today?
I mean, should they be listening to the speech of the, well, I was saying incoming and former President Trump?
And what should we be paying attention to?
Yeah, I think one of the things that's most enjoyable for the young people watching is not just the speeches, it's the pop and circumstances, the ceremony, but most of all for the kids.
It's the parade. And there have been some great moments in that parade.
You know, it used to be, especially after the, you know, John F.
Kennedy died, there was a thing to try to, you know, keep the president in a bubble and away from the public.
And they still had the parade, but the president rode in the limousine and maybe waved out a window.
But I think the most memorable for me was in 1977 when Jimmy Carter got out of the limousine and walked a mile of the parade route and walked around and shook hands with people.
I'm sure that really frightened the Secret Service and made a lot of people out in the security detail uneasy, but it was a great moment.
And as we just celebrated the life of Jimmy Carter, it's one of the great remembrances I have of him.
Yeah, it's a personal touch.
And then there's usually quite a bit of music.
Today, the performers at the inauguration include Carrie Underwood, who will sing America the Beautiful, Lee Greenwood performing his hit God Bless the USA, and Christopher Macchio will sing the national anthem.
Well, you want to have a celebration that multi -generations can appeal to.
So maybe the speeches appeal to the older generation, but you put rock and roll or country music on the stage, that appeals to a lot of, oh, all voters, but a lot of people in the middle of the age groups.
And then for the younger, you know, it's the parade and some of the fireworks and just some of the fun of the event as we all join together and celebrate our democracy.
And speaking of celebrations, there are many balls in the evening, official and unofficial ones, but they've gotten to be pretty fancy affairs, right?
James Madison, he had the first inaugural ball.
The tickets were $4 a person.
When Kathy and I went into Clinton's inaugural, it was one of the unofficial balls.
We paid $100 a piece, and I had to rent a tuxedo.
So times have changed.
So anything else, any other fun little facts or tips that you have for kids to watch or learn about the inauguration?
Well, I think it's not a national holiday, by the way.
A lot of people do get the day off, especially if you work in the metro D .C.
area. A lot of government workers have the day off.
But it's not a federal holiday.
What is a federal holiday is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.
And for the third time in history, that holiday falls on Inauguration Day.
So I'm sure there'll be a lot of discussion of not just presidential history and the importance of it, but also the importance of Martin Luther King's legacy to this country.
So there'll be a lot of that to hear about and watch on Inauguration Day as well.
As you said, this is the third time that Martin Luther King Day has fallen on Inauguration Day, and we're going to talk more about Martin Luther King in just a moment.
We'll have a quick break, and we'll have more of Kid News Convos right after this.
Today's Kid News Convos episode is brought to you in part by a generous grant from the Nicholas B.
Ottaway Foundation, committed to improving communities and impacting lives through three unique philanthropic efforts focused on education, journalism, and community impact.
We are grateful for their support and the support of all our generous donors.
And we're back with more Kid News Convos.
I'm Tori, and I'm talking to Mark Curtis, who is a long -time political reporter, recently retired, attended three different inaugurations, and now talking a little bit about Martin Luther King Day, because this is Martin Luther King holiday, but it is a fairly recent federal holiday, right, Mark?
Yes, it was approved and signed into law in the late 1980s by then President Ronald Reagan.
So yes, it's 30 -plus years old.
It's relatively young compared to a lot of our other holidays.
Right. Probably most kids know the basic facts about Martin Luther King Jr.
He was a preacher. He was a very prominent civil rights leader in the 1960s who mandated and led nonviolent protests for racial equality.
But what else should we know about him?
Well, you know, he had an interesting life and legacy.
And of course, he was the son of a preacher.
Martin Luther King Sr.
was his dad and he was a preacher.
And he had three children and was married to Coretta Scott King at the time of his death and really had a remarkable career.
And I think there are so many things in our society today that we just take for granted.
For example, Tori, you and I worked in radio and television for many, many years.
I remember a time in my life when there were no African -Americans on the air.
There really weren't any women on the air.
It was all a white male industry.
Well, now you look at the newscast and it's what Bill Clinton always would say, looks more like America.
You have a lot of diversity.
And so I think Martin Luther King had a lot to do with not just getting civil rights, but for bringing a more diverse society.
you realize we have four women on the U .S.
Supreme Court, and there's some thought that if one of the men steps down, Donald Trump will appoint another woman at the first time in American history.
We will have five women, a majority on the Supreme Court.
There are two African Americans on the Supreme Court.
There's a Latina on the Supreme Court.
Those are the kinds of things, yeah, we look at them today in 2025, but those are the kind of things that Martin Luther King had his fingerprints on and really was responsible for leading that to happen, for that change to happen.
And you mentioned that an inauguration day, another change that has happened is that for a long time, or for at least 100 plus years, there were no blacks allowed in any of that part of that ceremony.
You're right. You know, President Abraham Lincoln is remembered for freeing the slaves.
But President Lincoln was also the one who integrated the inauguration parades.
Prior to him coming to office, there were no African Americans.
There were no Native Americans allowed to participate in the inauguration events in Washington, D .C., and President Abraham Lincoln changed all of that when he was sworn in.
Yeah, no, that's certainly very impressive.
But the one thing that I think Martin Luther King was most praised for was advocating nonviolence, which was rather different, not something that have been done on a large scale before.
And it was, you know, and that was from the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi in India and of peaceful non -resistance.
And it was brutal to watch.
And I think this changed the whole thing in the 1960s is because you would turn on the nightly news and there would be police officers and firefighters and other people beating African Americans who were kneeling in the street, praying quietly and not doing anything.
And they didn't fight back.
They took it. And it was so appalling to the majority of people in America, black, white, yellow, brown, didn't matter.
It was so appalling to see those images on the nightly news.
People stood up and said, we have to change this.
And they told Congress, we have to change this.
And we told the courts, we have to change this.
And so Martin Luther King was the one who really launched it.
It was people collectively in this country that got it across the finish line.
And so what events are taking place today in his honor?
There are so many things.
And again, I raise up the word diversity.
There's so many things.
There will be ceremonies, solemn ceremonies at courthouses around the country, at state capitals, at city halls.
One of the things that I find most touching is the events that the interfaith events that happen in churches.
Last year, I had the honor to be the master of ceremonies at a three -hour event at a predominantly African American Baptist Church in West Virginia.
And we were joined by people from Catholic churches and Lutheran churches and the whole gamut.
There were people who were Islamic that were there, people who were Jewish.
And it was a celebration.
You know, one of the things that is protected and sacred in this country is the freedom of religion to practice whatever religious belief you have.
And Martin Luther King was a great believer in that.
It's enshrined in the First Amendment.
And so for me to be in a multi -generational, multicultural, multi -religious event with people of all different faiths celebrating this man's life was really something I'll always remember.
It was very remarkable.
Yeah. And, you know, we talked a little earlier about the inauguration speeches, and there are some that have a certain line in there and live on like FDRs, we have nothing to fear, but fear itself.
And John F. Kennedy saying, ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.
And then for Martin Luther King, I have a dream speech.
You know, people will remember that forever.
I remember it quite well.
And I'll tell you another line because it was at the very first inauguration.
I attended Bill Clinton's first, standing on that frozen tundra of a Capitol lawn and Bill Clinton saying, there is nothing wrong with America that cannot be fixed by all that is right with America.
And, you know, that was 30 some years ago, maybe 40, that's a long time ago, but I'll never forget that line.
It was my takeaway from that day.
Interesting, interesting.
Any other final thoughts that you'd like to share with us today?
Well, again, I think it's a day to celebrate.
This is not just the formality, the mechanics of swearing in a president.
We're coming up on our 250th anniversary.
Next year will be the 250th anniversary in the United States of America.
It is, and I was here for the 200th back in 1976, and we have so much to celebrate.
So many good things happen in this country.
We're free to do so many things, say what we want, pray how we want.
It's just a remarkable.
They always call it an experiment in democracy.
And this is the longest experiment in democracy and world history.
And we are the we're the envy of the earth for what we celebrate here.
So remember all of that on Inauguration Day.
It's not just sticking up your right hand and putting your left hand on a Bible and taking an oath.
It's a celebration of the greatness of the United States of America.
Well, that's an excellent note to end on, Mark.
It's been great talking with you and I really appreciate all your wonderful insight and expertise and look forward to talking to you again soon.
All right, Tori. Thanks.
Anytime. Thank you for listening to this latest edition of Kid News Convos.
If you have any feedback or ideas for a future topic, please reach out to us at wehearyouatkidnews .org.
A regular Kid News podcast with fun, fresh daily news content that's just for kids will return tomorrow morning.
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