♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ narrator: funding for presentation of thisrogram is provided by.. the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum-kovler foundation. pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. viewers like yo, thank you. woman: and now, "bbc world news".

washington, and this is "bbc world news america." >> congratulations, mr. president. katty: sworn in as the president, isaying that de to pleing himself to heal the nation. kamala harris i a sworn in as vice president and becomes the firswoman and first person of color to hold the post. ♪ you see ttkay: lady gaga brings down the house in performing the " star-spangled banner." many world leaders have already set the congratulations to america's new president, but some of america's adversaries are silent. we had to rush it to see if there is a chance of beginning a new between the two countries.

-- we had to rush her to see if there's a chance of a new beginning between the two countries. ♪we world news america on pbs and around the globe. ed stes. e ceremony was a scaled down but it was no less significant. mr. biden call for unity and an end to the nations uncivil war. the speech comes two weeks to the very date that pro-trump rioters laid siege on the building. it marks an end to the four years of the trump presidency. ♪ >> so far so normal. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president-elect of the united stat >> the america does every four years, but everything was exceptional the lastwo weeks given the pandemic, the

security situation, the presidency that was ending. [applause] at first glance, the west front always does.ol looks the way it otherok the way toward the washington monument and the x, aal forest h been by rdfac fa disretanced inauguration for a nation turned itself apart. the oath of office taken by a man who is now tasked with healing the nation's wounds. n:biesde i will faithfully execute. the office of the presidency of the united states. >> the platform where he stood two weeks ago was the post for congress. today, democracy had come through. pres. biden: again ocfr dagth ie.raemec pr-- democracy is fragile. at this hour, marcus lee has

prevailed. [applause] reporter: he warned that america was in the midst of winter peril. an a real problem such as covid, economic turbulence, racial unrest. passions inflamed by donald ection was stolen. that the pres. biden: tod on thisthis, b, uniting our people, uniting our nation. i ask every american to join me in this cause. [applause] reporter: joe biden never mentioned donald trump by name, but it was a firm repudiation of supporters.wouldo'to f pres. biden: we must end this uncivil war, that pits red versus blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal, we can do this, if we open our

souls instead of hardening our arts. reporter: at 78 years all, joe biden becomes the oldest man to become president. their real history is being made by his deputy, kamala harris, the first woman vice president, the first of black and indian urges, an example of the american dream. vice pres. harris: so help me god. [applause] reporter: though covid has ball -- has brought drab's, gagahi, t microphone, singing the national anthem. -- with a golden microphone singing the national anthem. [" star-spangled banner"] reporter: and jennifer lopez, too.

three former presidents were in attendance, republican and democrat. former vice president mike pence was the as well, choosing the inauguration over aival attraction a few miles away. donald trump had decided to break with 150 years of tradition and snub joe biden. normally, the outgoing president meets the successor at the front store and ride with him to the capitol, but mr. trump was slipping out the back, still incapable of accepting that he had lost the election. the former rally -- the former reality tv host tried tohe awary sendoff, complete with a 21 gun shoot. his parting shot would have liked to see supporters and horrified his detractors. mr. trump: goodbye, we love you. we will be back in some form. rcone for the last time.

♪ it was my way ♪ ♪ reporter: by the time that ex-president trump had arrived in florida, melania trump might find the transformation a whole ealot tsierjoe biden is now ine house, and he wants to hit the ground running. they'll be a flurry of executive orders to reverse a lot of trump era policies. policies always change with a new president. will be so different is the manner of governing. is likely e replaced by dulls-ville. that is likely what america needs right now. katty: let's go to capitol hill we can find our north america correspondent nick bryant.

nick has been there since the middle of last night. i hope that you have managed to ayis.warm during the course of covered the last inauguration four years a.go cou dnireck: they could hardly e different. the tone flurry four years ago was bombastic and strident and aggressive. donald trump brought the destructive energy to washington and the inaugural address that so many of his supporters wanted, and you spoke before this mosfet of maga supporters. and -- he spoke before a modest pit of magus supporters. joe biden set and not entirely different tone, and almost felt like a sermon that would be delivered at a national memorial service, as much as inaugural address there will be delivered

two very different and operations, into wholly different presidents. tod had an appeal for unity, not just as an end but as a means to wish to tackle the country's problem. does unity exist as a tool in america's political toolbox? nick:ost-american world where the united states does not in leadership that it did after the second world war. it does not feel like a foley properly functioning country anymore. the united states of america sounds like an oxymoron, and misnomer. deep divisions, racial, urban and rural, it is going to be such a tough task for joe biden to try and unite this country. there is not an agreed-upon set of facts right now.

even the election, there was no agreement on actually who had one. it is such a tall oer to tkattyd a room that is warm, and get some of that frost off of your neck. thank you for being there for us. from our perspective, i am joined now by a former senior advisory -- advisor barack obama. g us i want to pick up on something that nick was saying. this is something that i hear 'ri a' acamericas adversaries. the country does not look like a properly functioning democracy at the moment. can america now become a properly functioning country again? valerie: of course we can. tone starts at the top. i cannot y qui, bbitle wasit ah tnightmare.

electif jobi kama w tithheha,rrre havise ntkisind , people showed up to the inauguration from both sides of the aisle priest they worshiped with the bidens before hand. i think his long relationship with members of the senate and with the crisis will be in this ago, likeountry just two weeksis king othver in the capitol, sent shockwaves around our country, in the halls of the capitol, and certainly are the world. i think it was a wake-up call that we were headedn a very dangerous and d direction. we are going to see if we can righ this ship, andt if anyone can do it, i have confidence that president biden can. katty: you came into office with barack obama in 2009 when there

was an enormous amount to tackle in the country, in the midst of a financial freefall. when you walk into the oval office on day one and that kind of situaon, as we know that joe biden has already started up work in the oval office. how you look at the and normal teeth of what you have to deal with and decide what the priorities are -- katty: valerie: you do not wait on till e.one tday onyo chairswe started month in adva. ritedheinetnd whe house staff. that was a blueprint for what our priorities would be, because he intended to be true to his word. you have to organize your administration in a way in which you can multitask rate the president of the united states cannot afford to just do one thing at a time, and congress cannot either.yo h council, andl

sendriiloutyd, ncanco ecnomi agd recommendations flying up, that go to the senior advisers, and then a recommendation is made to a president and vice president. it is a deliberative process and when they gets idmnputat, uttr b n,tno that the president makes an informed decision. one of the strengths of the obama administration is that he chose a vice president wisely. so much to be his partner, the last person to leave the room to give him wise counsel, and he was at to everyone. it did not matter how senior you were. if you had a good idea, he wanted to hear about it. the fact that president biden has chosen vice president harris shows the same level of respect for the person that he was right there we have to shoulderthey a. the five that he is in the oval

office, signing exetive orders that have been prepared and agen, th relief package, immigration rm, inthrlal organization, v joining the paris climate accord, all intended to signal in america and around the world that the united states is back to. katty: tnk y vermuchor joing . varie: you're welcome, good to see you. katty: president biden said that america would once again seek to play its part on the world stage. many global leaders have already expressed hope in this new administration, but mr. biden just faced a series of foreign policy challenges, particularly when it comes to russia. let'swheri understand itnus xi s gimi ee being out there in the night and in the culprit --

thank you for being out there in the tt niolheind. c trump was always speaking about -- he spoke ophig t wbe p aut,, different m joe biden, the new president of the unitedtay.tes? repo: donald trump very rarely criticized russia, rarely criticized vladimir putin, and joe biden is a vocal critic. he has already said that for america, russia is the biggest threats, and i think that moscow is basically racing itself for more sanctions under a biden administration. when you think that it took wagner putin six weeks after -- it took putin six weeks after the u.s. election to actually t biden, the u.s. administration will not have

missed that fact. it will be a bumpy relationship, for sure. i think the russians believe that han rightwis,ll hume anmucr of the biden administration then on the radar of the trump adminiration, and that will cause friction, even more friction in the relationshimosc. betty:tw biden comes into office, it just as a moscow has walked up the opposition leader for at least 30 days. there has already been eight rebukingtweet from the incoming national security advisor when that happens. what can joe biden and his administrationctually do to impact human rights there in moscow, in russia? reporter: it is a really good question. i cannot answer that. we have seen sanctions over the last few years from america, from the eu against russia,

having had an effect? ford moowo make a u-turn and give the annexed thi haskr had a major effect on the way that putin does business. thinkhat rs believe they will see more western sanctions moving forth. the other thing to note personal chemistry is important in international relations. looking back about rezai lots of personal chemistry between the - -anreag chemistry between reagan and will not see this between niden and putin.de once recounted his visit to moscow in 2011, and the story goes that he looked inadir putto oeyes and

concluded that putin had no soul, and told him that. the chances of a beautiful friendship breaking out is verym helsinki for mi sn umstay warm the are in mo, thank you for joining us. back here in america, cities across the country are on high alert for aacks on the institutions. our correspondent is in texas to meet some of those who the new presidentessage of unity means very littl reporter: the inauguration here is mark's bite upturned -- is a he election was stolenned flag. from donald trump. hernatriot counsel. reporter:reeci he has been so a,

as bn reing his gh we are coming here to the capitol in austin for many reasons. none of them are good. >> they are going to say that. home, he tells me that he will never accept joe biden as president and never him, the inauguration is a signal that his country is dying before his very eyes. the stars and stripes are upside down? >> in distress. america is deeply in distress, and we are on the moment and in the brink of complete division.e hat? o have the legal right to lead the unit. reporter: that is fanciful but it is an indication of the strength of feeling that there is.

ulth illustrated to many americs ate piht psts.which the rig iss across the country have experienced this. the left innce ferilt. last summer, they were aroused misinformation from the president but by the killing of george floyd. protests leader feels -- fears that he will be arrested many more times theg ht fed whaminic, especially as the white has been emboldened. >> they will be chaos. in some way. there wille uprisings fromrisi rom anting to see change and justice prevail. wfrn i think that you're going to see that intensified. i do not think that biden winning, i do not seek peace

from this point. reporter: others on the left say that the issues of inequality and poverty will ton bhaest wiee eric and his militia mate tim wanted to show off the preparedness for the battles that they are expecting. [gunshot] yeehaw! yeah we have >>a problem. reporter: it was a quick game this started a fire. as m cle aihsmont n may to maintai. katty: a lot of division in this country, and in his run for right celebritiesb joacone of the biggest supportes actress i was not malalwh

joins us now, live from los yorkedery rd tss goe bin n th sangely as thles,a pree united states. what did you yofealys:lilorta leadersh in overcomg the pampndemic, and how imrtant that i think that we all know that rs a n going. to bise easy. this date feltood. for the first time in a five years, america, and i feel like the entire world, it can maybe breathe a little easier, this morning i watched the presidee l lee e th hope for the first time in so long. when vice president harris and president biden took their oath of office, i felt like there was

a restoring of competence and dignity and our government, and it gave me great hope. katty: i do not know if you had a chance to hear that reports from taxes that wwere playing from my colleague just now, but there are clearly still millions sleructofrtn upwamps w ferrapot and it had to fight for democracy. do you w? talyssa: i think that we have o figure out how to unify the country for sure. i think that a l strife is happening because of inequities and inequalities. people are really, really struggling. we are in a health crisis. we are in the middle of an economic crisis. we are in the middle of a social crisis. t ki li oot ng a it ose wor

than the way that we went into it. we have to come out better. what that means is that we really have to examine our weaknesses and inequities. also, really look to try figurh uteanur unity looks like, how we are going to achieve it. to not only get the pandemic under control, but we have got to do big things and this country. we have got to do things like get big money out of politics n andt. green jobs to help our ronment page we have to so that women have protections and the constitution. there is so much that we have to get done. the way that i am feeling about celebrate, we get to breathe a sigh of relief.

then it is back to work tomorrow. and i have to tell you that i know joe bid hifor ny yrs. i aavni how knowe kn his hearta good man, filled with hope and kindness, and into the, and intellect. people respect them, and he really embodies every trait that we need in a leader right now, in this moment. and i think that we also not lose sight of the fact that we made history today. i still have goosebumps from eing kamalharris basically plead we break the glass ceiling in politics when she was sworn in and what they did for my doctor is something that she will carry with her -- that she did for my doctor is something that she will carry the for the rest of her life. katty: narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by.. the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum-kovler fodation.

pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you, thank you. ♪ ♪ man: you're watching pbs. the pbs video app. ce all your favorite drama, history, science, news, and documentaries all in one place. watch your pbs station live or catch up on the shows you missed. discover new favorites from pbs and locally produced shows from your station. get the pbs video app now and stream the best of pbs anytime. anywhere.

captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> wooufd drooin gen'mev i g, >> this is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward. and we must meet this moment as the united states of america. >> woodruff: ...a new administration: joe biden calls for unity as he and kamala harris are sworn in and start a new chapter in american history, affo tdeurr umentudauls ts.heyr president confronts the many challenges facing the country with a list of initiatives and executive orders on day one. plus, securing democracy-- the transitif