threats to come, threats to overthrow the government and each potentially kill lawmakers around joe biden's inauguration. one democratic congressman told cnn this morning, law enforcement believes that the threats are credible and being taken very seriously. separately, the fbi issued a warning last night about armed protests being planned in all 50 state capitols and in washington, potentially beginning this weekend. again, as you could see, the threat is not over. and in response, donald trump is heading to the border wall. let's start on capitol hill. the next steps to potentially be removing donald trump from office, they are getting underway. phil mattingly has all of the details on this. so phil, walk us through the next 24 hours. what is going to happen. >> reporter: if january 6th was the attack, today is the start of the repercussions. the democratic led house is going to try to take to punish a president that was central to inciting many if not all of

their lives for a period of time last wednesday. what you'll see is setting up the debate for the 25th amendment legislation. it doesn't necessarily have teeth or force vice president pence to invoke that 25th amendment. but you framed it perfectly, kate, when you said it implores him to do something. it is still something that democratic leaders are urging the vice president and the cabinet to take advantage of it in these final days but also made very clear, that the rules committee will meet on later today, that is happening almost no matter what and they have the votes. that is impeachment. what the most interesting element of what we'll see later today will be is what is the floor debate will entail. this is lightning quick for an impeachment. no one has seen anything move this quickly. the house judiciary committee in short while release the impeachment report which coincides with impeachment. so we know they're going to vote on wednesday on impeachment. we know democratic leaders have the votes to impeach the president for a second time. but you hit on the key thing

that everybody is watching sh where the republican parties ends up on this. in a private call last night kevin mccarthy made clear he's opposed to impeachment. he believes it is divisive, more than what happened on january 6th is an open question that he is more than welcome to come out and answer at any time that he wants. i think all eyes right now are on liz cheney. she told her colleagues to vote their conscience. she has not committed to whether or not she's going to vote to impeach the president but she's been very out front and clear about her objections to what the president said and did and what the supporters egged on leading up to january 6th. so watch the republican votes right now. i've been told democrats have been reaching out the last 24 hours to republicans they have relationships with, trying to get them on board with this impeachment resolution, trying to almost implore them to try to punish the president in some way, shape or form and relying on something i've heard repeatedly in both chambers over the course of the last 24 hours

just how much it is sinking in as each day goes on, we talked about it yesterday, as you see more of the videos and recognize the real threat, how much danger the lawmakers were in hopes that helps persuade republicans to come on board. they have the votes, they will impeach the president on wednesday, seven days after they were attacked on the u.s. capitol. >> a lot is happening and we'll get back to phil and the hill in just a second. so president trump is emerging from hiding for the first time since inciting the deadly capitol hill riots and some of the first word out of his mouth is it is all a hoax. nothing has changed with him. he's going to alamo, texas, to visit the border wall. jeremy diamond is there and joining us now. what is this all about? he did face reporters, did not sound like he took any questions. what did he say? >> reporter: yeah, well we heard from the president was making very clear that he has no regrets about the comments that he made to the thousands of

supporters of his who went on to storm the capitol last wednesday. he insisted he bear those responsibility for their actions and insisted his words were perfect in the way he claimed that his call with the ukrainians. listen to what he said as he left washington. >> it is been analyzed and people thought that what i said was totally appropriate and if you look at what other people have said, politicians at a high level, about the riots during the summer, the horrible riots in portland and seattle and various other places, that was a real problem. what they said. but they've analyzed my speech and my words an my final paragraph and my final sentence and everybody to the teeth thought it was totally appropriate. >> reporter: now what the president is saying there is just completely untrue.

many have analyzed his words during the rally before that riot took place on capitol hill, legal experts who have said they believe that the president has legal exposure for what he said there. that he helped incite this riot on capitol hill, incite this insurrection on capitol hill wednesday. the president at the same time insisting today that he wants no violence from his supporters. but he did offer somewhat of a warning, some would interpret it as a thet that the effort to impeach him a second time is causing anger and danger for lawmakers in washington. those words quite remarkable coming from the president. and clearly he is not hastened, but expected to come here today. we're near alamo, texas, where he's expected to visit the border wall to mark the completion of 450 miles of wall trying to change the conversation from what is happening back in washington. and tout one of his signature accomplishments but even that

accomplishment we should note fell short of what the president campaigned on. he said they would be building a thousand miles of border wall and clearly he fell short of that goal and also mexico still has not paid for the wall. instead taxpayers bearing the brunt of billions of dollars of construction. kate. >> and i can't get past this. the fact that the president would pretend to say that people think that it is appropriate, he said to a tee what he said was appropriate. i could assure you if you have a brain in your head and i know you all do, and from the highest levels of the federal government, they don't agree. that is a lie. they put this at the feet of the president. and i'm sorry, but that is a lie and he is delusional to say so still in public. because as we know words matter. people who are were at the capitol said they went to the capitol because the president told him to. i'm sorry, jeremy, tvery much. >> and there is a reason why we're seeing so many republicans calling for his resignation.

>> absolutely. let's see if they step up and move to impeach. appreciate it. let's get back to the new threats against lawmakers and the u.s. capitol that we're facing as we speak. jessica schneider is joining me now with details on this. what do we know about the threats, how specific are they? >> they are specific and members of congress are being warned about them. they were briefed about this last night and we're getting the details from pennsylvania congressman conor lamb. one of the plots consists of plans for 4,000 armed extremists surrounding the u.s. capitol. and in an if effort to possibly prevent any democrat from going in in the coming days. and this group that is organizing has apparently published rules of engagement. namely, when they will shoot, or when they will hold back. so these are serious threats that are now being tackled by law enforcement. there is an organized group, conor lamb from pennsylvania said there seems to be a plan from this group. and this really dove tails to what we've seen in the internal

fbi memo that we've obtained documenting three separate types of threats. so first of all, the fbi saying that there are calls for armed protests at 50 state capitols beginning saturday. and at the u.s. capitol beginning sunday. secondly, there is a group calling for members to storm government buildings is if the president were to be removed from office by the 25th amendment say before january 20th. and finally law enforcement is seeing a number of threats against the president-elect joe biden as well as the vice president-elect kamala harris. so, kate, federal agents are monitoring all of these threats in realtime. there are hundreds tackling these threats online and otherwise. and now members of congress are being briefed about them. and they're getting a lot of specifics about what this could potentially entail and including danger to their own lives for just trying to enter the capitol to do their jobs here, kate. >> jessica, thank you very much. joining me now is congressman tim ryan of ohio. he chairs the subcommittee that

oversees the capitol police and is investigating the response to the wednesday's attack. were you briefed by the acting capitol police chief on the new threats. >> yes, i was on call last night. i think almost every democratic member was on the call. >> i know there is concern about how much detail is offered because of the nature of the threats and what the organizers are hoping for. but did the threats include specific threats to overthrow the government. i saw one report to even kill lawmakers. >> you know, these are the threats that have been around for a while. there is always been this kind of talk. but given what happened last week, given the gas that the president throws on some of these fires, i think it has law enforcement much more concerned than they ever have been which is why if you see what is

happening in d.c. right now, with the global fencing, there is going to be a very, very hard perimeter, not just around the capitol but much wider than just the capitol. so i'm confident that the numbers, the thousands and thousands of national guardsman and law enforcement who will be around will make the capitol safe. and i'm also very confident that the fbi and other law enforcement agencies that are out there tracking down people are doing their job as well. so there is a very aggressive response to this and that's about all we could say about it. we don't want to get too much into the specifics because a lot of the communication has dried up for a number of these people because they've been banned from some of the social media platforms like the president has. >> congressman, if you could stick with me, i do need to jump over to the capitol.

rules committee is getting underway. here is the chairman of the rules committee. congressman mcgovern. >> -- ignoring his repeated lies in court decision after court decision. the president openedly called for the vice president to ignore his constitutional obligations and block the certification of joe biden's victory in the congress on january 6th. when the vice president chose his oath to the nation, over personal and private allegiances, donald trump led the country to a place we have never seen any president take us before. he called together an angry mob. he filled them with falsehoods and false hope. and then he sent them to the united states capitol. once here, they defined support to the president led to a riot through the halls of the

capitol. when -- on capitol grounds they chanted hang mike pence. as some domestic terrorists in militia gear holding zip ties charged the capitol, others looked for members of congress. all of them were here to stop the democratic process. by days end, five were dead and including one police officer. windows could be fixed, doors would be mended, hall wys could be cleared, and statutes could be restored. the harm to our democracy, however, wilh longer to heal. we must demand truth and accountability. by his actions, and inactions on january 6th, the president has proven that he is unable to discharge the duties of powers of his office.

i wish he would resign. but he is apparently unwilling to do so. partly sunny past time for the vice president to do the right thing here. it is my hope that a strong bipartisan vote on this resolution will encourage the vice president to act to remove donald trump from office. our nation, our democracy and our freedom could not risk another day of the trump presidency. now let me turn to our ranking member for any comments he wishes to make. >> thank you, mr. chairman. before i turn to my formal comments, i want to -- i know speaking for everybody on the committee but everybody on our side of the committee to tell mr. raskins how much we aggrieve for him for his loss and how much we admire him for continuing to perform his duties under unmanagably difficult circumstances. we don't always agree on issues but there is nobody i admire more as a person and set an

example of how to carry on under the extraordinarily difficult circumstances than the senator from maryland. so god be with you and your family. please know we're all praying for you and year proou're herer extraordinarily difficult circumstances. god be mawith you, my friend. today is a very sad day for all of us. it is not at all how i thought the opening of 117th congress would begin. and i associate myself with how strongly everybody feels about what happened last wednesday. it was a horrific day. an unacceptable day in american history. and a sobering day. and one full of tragedy that now will cast a long shadow over the congress in the weeks and months and frankly years ahead.

sadly, we're here today again on a grave matter. we're meeting to discuss hrs 21, sponsored by the rules committee colleague and friend congressman raskin. this resolution calls on vice president pence to convene the officers of the cabinet and invoke section 4 of the 25th amendment declaring the president of the united states incapable of executing duties of his office. while i gravely respect my friend, i think this resolution is misguided and inappropriate for the legislative branch to pursue. under the 25th amendment to the constitution, responsibility for initiating the process for making a determination as to whether or not the president is unable to fulfill his or her duties lies solely with the vice president. there is no role for congress absent a dispute between the president and the vice president and cabinet over his or her ability to fulfill those duties. and though congress may designate another body to

exercise the power, to date it has not done so nor is it achieved by this resolution. with today's resolution, the majority is asking the house to assume a power it does not have. the house has no role in initiating section 4 of the 25th amendment. not even through an a nonbinding resolution. and we should not pretend otherwise. instead that power lies with the vice president. and the cabinet. i have to say that during last wednesday's events vice president pence showed sound judgment. his performance was above repreach. he fulfilled his oath of office and acted in a manner be fitting his constitutional role as vice president. we should call this resolution what it is. a transparent attempt to force the vice president into a duty he doesn't believe is necessary at this time. the vice president has not done what the majority are wanting him to do so they're pushing forward this resolution in an attempt to make him execute the

house's will. our strong faith in vice president pence and believe he will consider his constitutional duty in the same manner that he care yours out all other constitutional duties. in a forthright manner that fulfills his only of office. should he believe that the 25th amendment needs to be invoked, i have faith that the vice president pence both as a leader and as a former house colleague would exercise good judgment with respect to performing that duty. again vice president's record of sound judgment in times of crisis should speak to ault of us on this issue. last wednesday's events were deeply troubling for the nation mr. chairman. there is no one at the meeting today condones the mob that storms the capitol last week, sought to harm innocent lives and disrupt democracy at work. indeed, it never should have happened and i could not condemn the lawful perpetrators of the crime and i know we want justice

to the fullest extent of the law but the resolution before the committee today will not achieve the desired result. with that, mr. chairman, i yield back. >> gentleman yields back and i appreciate his remarks. i want to recognize our first panel but first i also want to join with mr. cole and i think i speak for everybody on this committee when i say to my good colleague mr. raskin how he and his wife sally have been in our prayers over the last several days. and you have been a great inspiration to all of us by continuing to show up to do this important work. but also your son tommy has been an inspiration and his legacy is continuing to be incredible with all of the acts of kindness that people are doing in his honor. and all of the great causes that people are supporting. so i appreciate that very much. but i want to now recognize the gentleman from maryland, mr.

raskin as well as the gentleman from ohio, mr. jordan will be our first panel and i yield to mr. raskin. >> mr. chairman, thank you for your extremely thoughtful and loving remarks. thank you to you and every member of this committee. everyone has reached out to me and to sarah and to our family in this moment of terrible heartbreak and grief for us and we really are -- our family here on the rules committee, i am moved beyond words for your tender thoughts and i treasure your friendship and i always have. and in recognition of that, i'm not even going to respond to your comments for a few minutes. i'm going to talk about some other stuff and then i'm going to come and try to refute your always dangerously logical and

precise arguments but i think i have some reputations of things that you were saying and i do hope that our whole committee on both sides will think of this resolution as a way to bring not just the committee but the whole house of representatives together in making clear that what took place is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and it is critical for us now to make clear that this was an absolute dereliction of presidential duty. it is very clear that the president did not discharge the proper duties of office. and i suppose when wt, there mit be some differences in assignment of the degree o fault, blame and responsibility that will be laid at the foot of the president, but i think that this -- for the purposes of this

resolution, we could all agree that the conduct of the executive branch fell dramatically below the constitutional standards set forth for the president. now, there are three ways to protect the nation against a president whose conduct poses a clear and present danger to the people. the first of course is to defeat him in an election. and the american people just did that in november of 2020, catapulting joe biden to a greater than 7 million vote victory over president trump and delivering him a 306 to 232 electoral college victory margin that president trump had described as a landslide when he won by the exact same numbers in 2016. so the people have done. this people have already accomplished. indeed president trump's

persistence and refusal to accept these election results and this outcome and his determination to discredit and nullify and over turn the election results that has led us to the current national crisis. the second way to remove a president who has proven himself a danger to the republic and the house, is to impeach him in the house within the meaning of the constitution with high crimes an misdemeanors and then trying him if the senate. this is too a familiar mechanism that the committee knows well and you'll remember the marathon ten-hour session that our former colleague doug collins and i had back in december of 2019 when we voted to bring to the floor articles of impeachment relating to the president's efforts to pressure a foreign government to get involved in the 2020

presidential campaign here in the united states and to smear vice president joe biden. now, the final mechanism for removing a president who -- >> you need to unmute. >> the final mechanism for removing the president, who is failing to meet the most basic duties of his office and indeed actually harming the republic with his conduct is the 25th amendment. now the whole purpose of the 25th amendment adopted in 1967 is to defend the stability of the public and to guarantee that the safe continuity of governmental operations at very highest levels texas w, it was after the assassination after

robert f. kennedy and his brother pushed it but it was passed on an welcome bipartisan basis at the dawn of the nuclear age because questions of physical and mental fitness were prominent in the minds of americans at that point. and as they often said, we have 535 members of congress and if something goes wrong for one of them or two of them or a dozen of them, the congress will keem functioning. but we only have one president of the united states. and if that president is unable to successfully discharge the duties an the power of office, that is a crisis for the entire republic. contrary to popular believe, the 25th amendment have been activated and employed numerous times since is it was adopted back in '67. it was used when president nixon resigned and gerald ford became

president. before that point, it was unclear whether the vice president was actually becoming the president or just exercising the powers of president. and it was the 25th amendment that settled that question in section one. section two established the way to fill a vacant vice presidency and that took place when, for example, spero agnew resigns as vice president and president nixon followed the provisions of section 2 and nominated gerald ford and he was ratified by a majority vote in both houses of congress. now section three, i like to think of is the section that deals with the things presidential -- because it has been used when ronald reagan underwent colorectal surgery and transferred the powers of his office to george herbert walker bush and after that incapacity end he by letter resumed the

powers of office. president george w. bush himself invoked section 3 in transferring the powers of his office to then vice president dick cheney when president bush underwent a colonoscopy. and it is been using several times in the context of colonoscopy and other procedures. but today we're looking at section four which we are asking the vice president to invoke by activating and mobilizing the cabinet, to declare what is patently obvious to a horrified and anxious nation. the president is not even minimally discharging the basic duties of his office. now my friend mr. cole said that in drafting and adopting such a resolution would be operating outside of the proper legislative sphere under the 25th amendment. on the contrary, if you go back and look at the legislative

history of the 25th parliament, it was deeply intended by senator bine and senator mckennedy and all of the members involved in it to promote collaboration among the different branches to guarantee the stability of government in the continuity in office. now mr. cole is right that it is up to the vice president and we're not trying to usurp his authority, we are trying to tell him that the time of 25th amendment emergency has arrived. it is come to our doorstep. it is invaded our chamber. we just saw the unprecedented event of hundreds or even thousands of members of a mob entering the congress of the united states without going through metal detectors or any kind of security screening, occupying the floors of the senate and the house, occupying the offices of our leaders, chanting hang mike pence, yelling where is nancy.

where of them were brandishing weapons, guns, knives, some of them have zip ties to handcuff people's hands. we were delayed in the counting of the electoral college vote by more than six hours. members and staff and members were terrified and horrified by what took place. and no amount of euphemism will displace on anyone's part across the country will ever let us forget what took place on that day. now, the president of the united states on january 6th, and indeed in the several months leading up to it, violated his oath of office by doing everything in his power to thwart and defeat the proper counting of the electoral college vote on january 6th. he did everything in his power to overturn the popular results

of the election in critical swing states suppose as take for example georgia. which joe biden won by 11,779 votes. a number i remember because the president called secretary of state brad raffensperger and said all i need you to do is find me 11,780 votes. one vote more and then i'll be able to win. so, what took place with us on january 6th and dear colleagues was the culmination of a process of an attack on the presidential election and the assembly and counting of the electoral college votes. and secretary trump called raffen purger an enemy of the state even after a state wide recount reconfirmed the initial counts. and as everyone knows, president trump called raffensperger

saying he was committing a criminal offense and this is risky for him and all i want to do is just find 11,007 780 vote which is one more than we have because we won the state. so i'm not going to go into excruciating detail about everything that took place but i don't think that there is a reasonable person in the country with his or her eyes open who don't understand that the president what hell bent on trying to challenge, undermine and overturn the results of the election in all of the events leading up to january 6th and on january 6th. that is a profound dereliction of the president's duties under the constitution. now what are those duties? what are the duties that referenced by the 25th amendment that the president must live up to? and if the president is not successfully discharging them,

the power could be transferred by the vice president in a majority of the cabinet or as mr. cole tells us, the vice president and majority of the body set up by congress which alas we have not done although i have introduced legislation to that effect over the last several years. well, the president swears an oath to uphold and defend the constitution. the constitution includes the peaceful transfer of power, the counting of electoral college votes and the president has a duty to defend the american people and the congress, and fend the country againsts armed insurrection and mob rule and invasion of public offices. and we'll see as you look through the very specific details of what happened the president miserably failed in living up to all of those duties and that is the very least that

we could say. when the president was begged at various points by both republican leaders and democratic leaders to send more help and to call upon the mob to stand down, he was extremely reluctant to do so. he continued to send supportive tweets for -- for periods in which we were under duress on capitol hill. he urged everybody during the day to fight like hell. and he sent out finally a tweet i think this is the one that people are using to try to absolve the president amazingly, this is probably his best or most exculpatory tweet saying these are the things and events that happen when a landslide election victory is so

unceremoniously and viciously slipped away from great patriots who have been badly and unfairly treated for so long. go home in peace and remember this day forever. and of course much of the damage had already taken place. as everyone knows, five people were lost in the mob violence that was unleashed against the congress of the united states, including a capitol hill police officer. and as the scale of the violence and the damage became clear, the president quickly deleted that tweet and then tweeted, i suppose this was his most forceful one, go home. we love you. you're very special. that was at the end of the day when basically most of the devastating damage had already been wrought on the people or the congress. my friends, when we talk about the 25th amendment, we don't

have to find that the president committed a high crime and misdemeanor in inciting this mob insurrection. and think there is overwhelming proof that he did. but we don't have to prove that for the 25th amendment. all we have to ask is whether the president lived up to the most basic and minimal expectations for his duties of office. can you imagine any other president of the united states doing what this president did? can you imagine president bush doing that? you could imagine president obama doing that? you could imagine president lincoln doing that. franklin roosevelt or teddy roosevelt, you could imagine any other president in our history encouraging and fomenting mob violence against the congress of the united states, against our people. that is a question. and if you're with me and you can't imagine any other

president doing that, and you think he failed the basic duties of office, then i think the vice president has a duty to act. and i'm with mr. cole in saluting the vice president for doing his duty on january 6th. he came under enormous, phenomenal, unprecedented pressure by the president of the united states to step out of his role as the person simply presiding over the counting of the electoral votes and trying to nullify and over turn the election. that just deepens the complicit of the president with this horrific assault on the counting of the electoral college. but the vice president stood up at that moment. we're asking the vice president to stand up again. for all of those people who voted, i think foolishly with the president's wishes to deny the electoral college votes cast

by our states, by our state officials, despite the fact that the president brought 62 different cases in federal and state court and lost 61 of them soundly, decisively and in many cases a humiliatingly as the judges castigated the president for bringing such nonsense before the courts. but for those who decided to go along with that, and help to drive that wound into the country, and who are now calling for bringing the country together, those people who are now calling for reconciliation, this is the road to reconciliation. it is the vice president himself who is the key actor and it is the president's own cabinet who make up the key actors, the principal officers each of the departments of government. they can help to lead us out of the nightmare that we've been plunged into by this sequence of events. they could transfer peacefully

the powers of president to the vice president mike pence for the remainder of this term so we could have a peaceful transition of power. my friends, on extreme right wing websites that help to build the president's rally, the save america rally, they are calling for the mobs to come back to washington and to continue the assault on the republic of the united states. they are calling for continued war and they are calling it war against our government. they want to see this mob insurrection spread. one of the ones that i read said that they're going to come back with so many people that no army will be able to stop them. this is not just a crisis and an emergency, it is a continuing crisis and emergency. it is not over yet. can we say that we feel safe being in the hands of this president? with the horror and the threats ice rning to the nation's

president pence with this resolution and the cab innocent to act with the powers put into place by the congress back in 1967, they should meet, and they should consider all of the circumstances and they should move to restore order to the united states of america. with that, i yield back to you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much and before i yield to mr. jordan, without objection, any written details submitted to rules and mail.host.gov will be entered into the record. at this point i'd like to yield to the gentleman from ohio, mr. jordan. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i too want to associate myself with the remarks of the chairman and the ranking member regarding our colleague from maryland and what his family is dealing with. mr. chairman what happened at the capitol on january 6th was as wrong as wrong could be. it is not what america is about. political violence of any kind

is wrong. we condemn this violence. we commend the men and women of the capitol police for their bravery and mourn those who lost their lives. all political violence should be condemned all of the time. this should not be a partisan issue. republicans have been consistent. we condemn the violence last summer, we condemn the violence last week. congress needs to stop this. this effort to remove the president from office just one week before he is set to leave. continued calls to impeach the president or remove him from office using the 25th amendment, i don't think, are healthy for our nation. rushing this resolution to the floor will do nothing to unify or heal the country. under the plan speaker pelosi laid out on sunday, the democrats plan to impeach the president a second time just days before, as i said, he's set to leave. these actions will only again continue to divide the nation. turning to the 25th amendment into a political weapon, by the

demanding of the vice president invoking it to move the president from office i think is just wrong. let's be clear. democrats have been wanting to remove president trump from office since he won the election in 2016. they failed with the russia investigation, they failed with the mueller investigation, and they failed with the first impeachment investigation. so here we are again. considering another dooivisive effort to go after president trump. we should use this time to bring our nation together and heal our partisan divisions and help the small business owns across the country who are struggling because of the government actions that closed their business and closed their stores. we should use this time to hon your the men and women of law enforcement here at the capitol and across the country. who sacrificed themselves to keep our families safe. but it looks like we're not going to go down that path. we're here again to consider a democrat resolution to attack the president. just eight days before he is set to leave office.

just eight days before we'll have a peaceful transition of power as we've had in this country every four or eight years since our nation's founding. i urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution and would yield back. >> thank you very much. let me just begin if i could. you know, mr. jordan, this isn't a both sides issue. our capitol was attacked. five people are dead. countless people are wounded. we have a group of domestic terrorists, home grown fascists that came to the capitol building to desecrate this symbol of democracy of freedom and to do harm to people. and i, you know, and with all due respect, i'm glad that all it took for you to call for unity and healing was for our freedom and our democracy to be

attacked. but, for the last several months the gentleman from ohio and others have given oxygen to the president's conspiracy theories. and i just -- and we all want healing. but in order to get to healing, we need truth and we need accountability. i mean, people came to the capitol building to try to launch a coup to stop us from upholding our constitutional responsibilities. i mean, i was on the house floor, i know you were and others, i was one of the last people to walk out to the floor and when i left the speaker's lobby i saw this mob trying to break glass doors to get access to the floor and god knows what else. they defied the capitol police

who were bravely trying to protect us. and i saw in their eyes, you know, hate and evil. and i'm just grateful that -- that more people weren't harmed in this terrible attack. they came here to destroy things, to desecrate things. and they did so because the president of the united states told them to go do it. and he's urging, they came to the capitol. some of them, i'm listening to some of the commentary, thought he was here. that he incited that mob and unfortunately some of our colleagues joined in that effort, to gin things up. an our job as elected officials is to tell the truth. so my question for you is will you admit that joe biden won fair and square and the election was not rigged o r stolen?

>> can you hear me mr. chairman? >> i can. >> what i did over the past several months is follow the -- the process that the constitution prescribed. it wasn't me, it was justice -- >> that is not the question i asked. >> i'll get to the question. but i'll have a comment too. >> i don't need a filibuster. >> i'm no going to filibuster. late justice ginsburg said january of 6th is date from the statute in dealing with the 12th amendment. and we followed that process and at 4:00 a.m. on thursday, january 7th, when we concluded our business on the floor, joe

biden became vice president -- vice president biden became president-elect biden. that is how the process came out. those of us who spoke to the unconstitutional way that several states did -- and we did nothing different than democrats have done every time a republican has been elected this century. in fact or colleague sponsoring this resolution objected to on january 6th -- >> is that a yes. >> of course, it is a yes. >> i'm not asking about the process, i'm asking you to make a statement that the election was not stolen. that joe biden and kamala harris won fair and square. that is the question. >> i'm -- no, question you asked me was is joe biden -- is vice president -- >> i said -- i will repeat the question.

so joe biden won fair and square. >> because the way the process works is the last chance to object is january 6th and that is -- and it didn't prevail. >> if we want to talk about healing, we have to talk about truth. and if we want to talk about healing, we also need to deal with the issue of accountability. and what this president incited last wednesday is unforgivable and unconscionable. i'm used to the excesses of this president. the over the top statements, the pandering to some of the most intolerant groups in this country. but i never thought, i never thought i would see what he said at that rally and so i mean so the deal is, my question was very simple. i'm not asking you to make a statement. that the election was not stolen. that joe biden won fair and

square. and you know, one of the ways to promote healing is for you to say yes and to put that on your twitter account, show that all of the people who bought into a lie will start hearing from some of the people that were pushing this. the answer is, you know, the american people -- >> mr. chairman -- mr. chairman. >> yes. >> joe biden is going to be sworn in as president. he is president-elect joe biden. >> that is not the question i asked. that is not the question i asked. >> our concern -- our concern an why we raised objections was in several states the rules were changed and unconstitutional fashion when the -- the election law. you had secretary of state, you had governors and supreme courts and in some cases you have county clerks. that is what we're pointing out. that is all we're pointing out. just like our colleague mr. rask pinpointed out concerns he had on january 6th, with the election of president trump then. >> i think -- i think i get --

you refuse to answer that question and i think that is one of the -- >> he's going to be the president. i've said that on television. he's going to be the president. i know that. our country knows that. >> that is not the question i asked. i asked you to -- to lay bear the fact that this lie out there, that somehow that joe biden did not win the election fair and square, he did. the president to this day continues to perpetrate that. and so does -- >> are you saying there was to problems with -- no concerns with -- >> reclaim time. >> and i understand joe biden won but are you saying there is no concerns with this election. >> will yield to the gentleman from maryland if he has any -- >> thank you. mr. chairman, i want to make one point about this somewhat on strus article 2 section 1 argument that was made on the day we almost lost our lives.

i was moved by what lindsey graham said. these people came into the buildings without the metal detectors, they could have been armed and could have had a bomb and all of us could have died. so i think we do have to try to step up our discussion from the normal level of just partisan rhetoric rhetorical combat and points scoring. the point our colleague from ohio makes about article 2 section 1 was raised by trump's campaign team in numerous courts across the country where it faced the same massive decisive repudiation by trump's own appointees, by republican and democratic judges, it is ridiculous and empty, it is an emt yip void, there and the state legislatures that they are nominally advocating for, those legislatures are not

going to court to say our own supreme court violated our pr prerogatives, our own governor violated our prerogatives. nobody buys that. mr. jordan is correct. they had an argument. it was a ridiculous and silly argument, and this is a point of common sense. and i want america here to follow the great tom payne. use your common sense. that argument was made, and it helped to delay the proceedings, and then this mob comes in and there's at least one call from the president during the mayhem and the chaos to a senator telling him to keep the objections going and to prolong the process. so i just disagree profoundly with the substance of that argument. every court in the land that looked at it has rejected it. the state legislatures don't buy it. it's fine that mr. jordan wants to go back to it, but i think all of us should do some soul searching about five dead

americans, a capitol police officer who is dead. dozens of people wounded. lots of our capitol hill cops in the hospitals, and a country on edge, and an inflamed right wing which thinks that we are on the verge of a civil war. now, come on, guys, can we get it together to act as a rules committee together, as a congress, to tell the vice president simply to acknowledge what's obvious, which is this president is not up to the job for the next eight days and a lot of danger still faces us. that's my perspective on it. >> well, i don't want to belabor this point, but i will be honest with you, i am stunned that after all that has happened that we can't get a definitive answer -- >> mr. chairman, mr. chairman. i said that joe biden won the election, but there were problems with how it was done, i think, in an unconstitutional fashion in the things we objected to. do you disagree with what judge

ginsburg said? >> people came here, mr. jordan, because they believed the lie that the president and many people in this chamber perpetrated, that this election was not run in a fair and square fashion. and the president to this day continues to perpetrate the lie, saying he won this election by a landslide. we want to talk about healing? people have -- the people who came here thought the president was telling the truth. thought many of you who were backing him up were telling the truth, and tended up in this terrible ordeal which five people lost their lives. >> mr. chairman, did you object in 2017 on january 6? >> i didn't say the election was stolen. in fact, i acknowledged that he was the president the day after the election. hillary clinton conceded the day after the election.

i went to the inauguration. it was a nice inauguration. mr. jordan, excuse me. what i raised objections to was the fact that all of our intelligence committees had raised concerns about the election, which apparently didn't concern some of you. but i did not try to overturn the election, and it went -- >> is that how it is? >> i think you've answered my question. >> we have a double standard. you and mr. ras kin are allowed to object in 2016. >> can i respond to that? >> yes, i yield to the gentleman. >> there is a terrible false equivalency going on here. throughout american history, a lot of members have tried to point out technical or procedural problems in the

electoral college. the one i pointed out was there wereie le elected officials thae in violation of the constitution. i think it was in florida and i raised that question for -- i think it was 15 or 20 seconds. nowhere did i suggest mob insurrection in the united states. there were people who were convinced that vladimir putin, with his sabotage against the dnc and hillary clinton and so on had induced the outcome of the 2016 election. but what did democrats do? they put on hats, marched peacefully with the american people, worked with churches to try to form america. nobody was out there agitating for an armed insurrection against the president of the united states. i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman. i'll just conclude by saying i

acknowledge that donald trump was the president-elect the day after the election. i didn't like it, but i acknowledged it. the trouble here is my friends have been spending the last few months saying the election was stolen. in fact, the gentleman from ohio even went to a rally called "stop the steal." and we have a president now that continues to put out this big lie that he won the election by a landslide. so there is a big difference here. with that i yield to the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. cole, for any questioning and comments he may have. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i just want to go back to what i see is the central issue which is to exercise the 25th amendment. when i asked you, mr. jordan, just a simple question. as i recall you served with vice president pence when he was in the house. certainly knowing him as vice

president, do you think he's capable of exercising the 25th amendment? do you feel he would do so if he felt that was the appropriate action to take? >> he's actually answered the question. i appreciate the ranking member's question. the vice president answered the question. as a defender of the constitution, he said he is not going to invoke the 25th amendment, he said that. my understanding is the president and the vice president were together yesterday talking about this issue and others as well. vice president pence has been clear. as you know, we both had the opportunity to serve with him. he was a mentor to me. i think you and he came about the same time, but i came after the vice president was here, and he has been very clear where he stands on this issue that the other side is bringing forward. >> so you trust him to make the judgment? >> mike pence? yeah, mike pence is a good guy. i trust him. i think the country trusts him. i think the president trusts him. >> that's the only question i have, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> thank you very much. i yield to the gentlewoman from

california, ms. torres. >> thank you, mr. chairman. throughout our history, the rules committee has met to discuss many, many historic measures, and today is no exception. we are making history once again. and to discuss events that will forever stain this great institution in our democracy. i speak today in support of the raskin resolution, a call for vice president pence to live up to the oath he swore upon taking office. an oath that says he will protect the constitution of the united states against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. and as we meet with wounded

hearts in our wounded capital building, there is no debate that these hollow halls were violated last week. there is no debate that the mob that breached these walls and was energized by misinformation, bald-faced lies and claims that are in direct odds with our constitution. and there is no debate as to who misled those people who sent them here to ravage our capitol, who that was undermined our american democracy. president trump, that's who it

was. he called for insurrection on social media, on a stage with television cameras capturing his every word. i'm saddened that my colleagues will dare to stand on that stage and do the same. six americans are now dead, two of them are capitol police officers. more than 50 officers were injured, 15 hospitalized. trump incited this attack, and there should be no question as to what vice president pence needs to do right now. like many of you, some of you, i was caught up in that attack last week. i was one of 12 trapped in the house gallery. i heard the shot being fired.

i saw the smoke from the tear gas ahaving been deployed, and watched one officer with no protective equipment face a raging mob just outside the chamber. he crawled across the entire length of that balcony. i was in the last group to be evacuated. we ran down the halls, stairs, near a mob that was being held on the ground at gunpoint. i sheltered for four to five hours in a room that was packed shoulder to shoulder with people. adding more trauma to the riot we had just survived wer