By Meg Wagner, Melissa Mahtani, Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes, Veronica Rocha and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN
Jennifer Lopez performed "America the Beautiful" after Kamala Harris took the oath of office.
Lopez quoted a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish during her performance, saying,"Una nación bajo Dios, indivisible, con libertad y justicia para todos."
Which in English translates to, "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Watch her performance:
Kamala Harris has just taken the oath of office.
At noon ET, Harris will officially become the first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president.
She was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Lady Gaga performed the US National Anthem with the US marine band, using a golden mic. She had a golden dove-shaped broach pinned to her coat.
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
In remarks at President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony, Republican Sen. Roy Blunt referenced the Jan. 6 attack at the US Capitol, saying that it “reminds us that a government to balance and check itself, is both fragile and resilient.”
Blunt called the ceremony a moment to unify the United States after the attack.
“This is not a moment of division. It's a moment of unification. A new administration begins and brings with it a new beginning. And with that, our great national debate goes forward and a determined democracy will continue to be more essential in pursuit of a more perfect union and a better future for all Americans,” he added.
From CNN's Jason Kurtz
Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar welcomed attendees and global viewers to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
"This ceremony is the culmination of 244 years of a democracy," Klobuchar said, adding, "It is a moment when leaders brought to the stage by the will of the people promise to be faithful to our Constitution, to cherish it and defend it."
As snow flurries fell on Capitol Hill, Klobuchar referenced the stark contrast to the scene just 14 days prior.
"Two weeks ago, when an angry violent mob staged an insurrection and desecrated this temple of our democracy, it awakened us to our responsibilities as Americans," she stated, adding that today "is the day when our democracy picks itself up, brushes off the dust and does what America always does: goes forward as a nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
See Klobuchar's tweet:
Sen. Amy Klobuchar reflects on the significance of today's inauguration at the US Capitol in the wake of a riot in the same place two weeks ago.
"This is the day when our democracy picks itself up, brushes off the dust and does what America always does, goes forward as a nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all," she said at the start of the ceremony.
She said now, as the country turns the page, it is up to everyone to "take up the torch of our democracy" to be an instrument of good.
"We pledge today never to take our democracy for granted as we celebrate its remarkable strength. We celebrate its resilience, its grit," Klobuchar said.
Watch moment:
From CNN’s Ethan Cohen, Liz Stark, Adam Levy and Arlette Saenz
When Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president, it’s expected he’ll have his hand where it has been every time he’s taken an oath of office before – on the Biden family Bible.
The Bible is five inches thick, features a Celtic cross on the cover, and has been in the Biden family since 1893.
Biden used the Bible each time he took the oath as vice president and for each of his seven Senate swearings-in, starting in 1973. The Bible was used during his swearing-in as Vice President in 2009 and 2013.
In 2009, Biden’s final oath in the Senate was delayed when the Bible couldn’t be located, the Wilmington News Journal reported. Beau Biden, Biden’s son who died in 2015, also used the Bible when he was sworn in as attorney general of Delaware in 2007.
"Every important date is in there. For example, every time I’ve been sworn in for anything, the date has been on that, and it’s inscribed on the Bible," Biden told Stephen Colbert in December 2020. "Our son, when he was sworn in as attorney general, all the important dates in our family, going way back. And it’s just been a family heirloom."
From CNN's Betsy Klein and Jeremy Diamond
President Donald Trump granted one additional pardon in the final hours of his presidency.
"Today, President Donald J. Trump granted a full pardon to Albert J. Pirro, Jr.," deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement to pool.
Pirro is the ex-husband of Trump ally and Fox News personality Judge Jeanine Pirro. He was convicted on conspiracy and tax evasion charges after improperly deducting $1.2 million of his personal expenses in business write-offs.
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Kamala Harris is set to make history as the first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president, and she will take her oath in the color purple as a nod to Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to run for president.
"Kamala Harris is wearing purple, something pretty significant to her. When she ran for president, one of her colors of her campaign was purple and yellow. That is a nod to Shirley Chisholm who ran for president as a black woman decades ago and has inspired her political career," CNN's Abby Phillip reports.
Chisholm campaigned for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1972.
Phillip added:
"You see Kamala Harris nodding to this major moment in American history for so many women, people of color, for her sorority sisters in Alpha Kappa Alpha, incorporated."
