In this first episode of Chronicle Reports, the Chronicle’s Maya Liquigan and Addison Annis report from Washington D.C. as supporters of Donald Trump gather to celebrate his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States.

Transcript:

0:07: Welcome to Chronicle Reports, the podcast that takes you behind headlines and inside the story. 

 0:14: The Chronicle is in Washington DC to report on the 60th inauguration of the President of the United States. 

 0:22: Reporting from Washington, our staff reporter Maya Liquigan and deputy editor and photojournalist Addison Annis. 

 0:31: President Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony was held indoors in the Capitol Rotunda due to low temperatures. 

 0:37: Even so, supporters traveled from out of state to gather outside and view the live stream ceremony at Capital One Arena. 

 0:46: of life Go into the lake of fire. 

 0:49: Be religious. 

 0:55: This is Maya Liquigan, staff reporter. 

 0:58: We are now 30 minutes before the swearing-in ceremony of Donald Trump starts. 

 1:04: And we are at the entrance of the Capital One Arena. 

 1:08: Yeah, there’s literally thousands of people flooding into this place, dropping all of their belongings on the ground outside just to get in to watch the inauguration. 

 1:21: We’re surrounded by discarded camping chairs and blankets and trash from people who were here overnight waiting in line. 

 1:31: Yeah, I mean, there are literally people’s designer purses sitting on the dirty concrete floor just so that they could be permitted entrance into this arena. 

 1:40: It’s a pretty insane sight to see how bad people want to get in here just to witness history. 

 1:47: Although the actual swearing in ceremony was moved inside, people are still here. 

 1:53: , bearing the cold and winds as the temperature keeps dropping. 

 2:00: In my reporting, I saw a lot of celebrations. 

 2:04: People had music, vendors were playing drums, and people were dancing. 

 2:09: It’s a very interesting and lively scene, even though people are fighting to get into any watch party, but there are hundreds of people just outside waiting for this to start. 

 2:21: Are you from DC? 

 2:22: No. I live in New York. 

 2:24: How are you feeling about the inauguration? 

 2:26: Excited. Very, very excited. 

 2:29: A happy good point that I was shedding tears. 

 2:33: Are there any specific issues that you’re hoping his administration will address? 

 2:39: I would say that would impact you economics. I believe that as far as like just maybe just having more jobs available,, even I like the point of him wanting to do the free. 

 2:59: Schools, so I really really like that as well. 

 3:02: , safety for everyone,, just like you know like like I love immigrants. 

 3:12: I love immigrants. 

 3:13: I love culture foods and everything, but it’s just not the legal part because I think if a person is. 

 3:19: There’s a gang, you know, like in the gangs that can cause chaos, but you know if they’re just regular people doing refugee, I think that’s good. 

 3:31: I wish him and his family the best and I think that America will be great again and safe again and healthy again too. 

 3:41: Spike, it’s gonna be Spike. 

 3:42: You live here in DC? 

 3:43: No, no, where are you from? 

 3:48: And why did you want to come today? 

 3:50: To sell hats and also to support my president Donald Trump. 

 3:55: I’m glad that he’s come back into the office. 

 3:57: I hope, hopefully when he gets back in office, he can make some, make some changes. 

 4:01: The way our government works, things is instantaneous, so I’m not expecting immediate big immediate changes, but I know it starts off with, it starts it starts things get implemented and then start to move gradually. 

 4:11: No, no, I just, I, I, I can’t wait till till the the fleet of ICE agents get deployed to these major cities. 

 4:18: I am Black, since you’re talking to me, so you can contact, so you can contextualizet your conversation. 

 4:22: I am a Black American. 

 4:23: I descend from the people that were enslaved in this country. 

 4:29: So my, my views on a lot of things is gonna be significantly different from the average anybody because I like I said, my people have blood in the soil, significant amounts, significant amount of blood in the soil. 

 4:40: So some of the things I’m gonna say might not unless you, unless, unless you know enough about this country’s history and my people’s history because this country is gonna say you’re gonna be offended by it. 

 4:49: Like when I say things like freedom isn’t free. 

 4:52: I, I, you know why I say that? 

 4:54: I’m Black American. 

 4:54: I didn’t get freedom free. 

 4:56: I fought for my freedom. 

 4:57: So if somebody to come to some supposed to come over here and be free and equal, I don’t believe in that. 

 5:02: I’m talking about the people that live there throwing in my neighborhood that I’m forced to have to deal with all the time, and I want them out. 

 5:18: Yeah Thanks for listening to Chronicle Reports. 

 5:22: I’m Sydney Richardson. 

 5:24: This episode was edited by Matt Brady, artwork by Lily Sundsbak. 

 5:34: Maya and Addi’s trip to DC was funded by alumni and supporters through the Chronicle Gift Fund. 

 5:40: Thank you for your support. 

 5:41: Be sure to check out the Columbia Chronicle online for the latest stories and stay tuned for more behind the scenes looks at our journalism. 

Copy edited by Matt Brady