to each other. one of the things tommy said when he taught sunday school. he had a lesson that was built on this thesis topic, which is make friends with someone you don't agree with. he was not a paragon of political correctness. one of his good friends at harvard law school was a guy who had been in the trump administration. a young man who writes us all the time. tommy never gave up on the potential goodness of everybody, and the potential goodness in humanity. and at the same time, he detested fascism and bullying and authoritarianism. and we have to keep both those ideas in mind west can't give up on anybody in america but we can't tolerate the lying and the big lies and the authoritarian attacks on our institutions that our forebearers and our parents and grandparents built in america. >> how do you remember tommy?

>> i don't think i can describe him much better than that. he had such a beautiful soul. and he had so much to say about the state of this world. and i think he, put simply, he was out of his time in how he viewed animal rights. >> he's turned a lot of us into vegetarians. he recruited dozens and dozens of people. he said in an age of beyond sausage and impossible burgers. nobody needs to be involved in it to survive. >> i lost my brother to suicide when i was 21 and he was 23. i found it hard to talk about him for decades. so i don't know if you feel comfortable talking about him but if you do, what do you want to leave people with about

tommy? >> he, when we would go, like we would meet, you know, you meet people. like strangers, you know. a cashier or, you know, just people that you just pass by you. like say a word to. have an interaction with. and he would always, you know, he was in a joking manner but also in a kind -- it was a rhetorical question. why don't we ask them to hang out? like just, people don't think that way. but in his mind, he just didn't view -- like he viewed this kind of, this humanity in every person that allowed him -- >> that allowed for the possibility of connection. >> sorry.

the capability of connection was always there and he would say, you know, it's hard to be human. that was something we remember and talk about often. and i think those kind of go hand in hand. he is seeing, he saw the humanity in everyone. and you know, kind of, he didn't tolerate, he didn't tolerate fascism. >> meanness, cruelty. >> because he -- he hoped and expected better. that's what it came from. an expectation that everyone can be better so you can't tolerate, you know, you can't tolerate that stuff. >> there is a saying that every friend was once a stranger. and i'm wondering if tommy ascribed to that idea of why don't we just hang out, is that

essential for the country moving forward, that we are also, people are so polarized in their political life -- >> yes! >> and we need to get beyond that. even if people were made polarized in their community life, people need to be part of a community and be friends with people who they may disagree with. >> tommy once wrote a payment about lincoln's second inaugural address where lincoln talked about those mystic memories and the bonds of affection that underlie our democracy. lincoln never accepted the idea that states could lead the union. he would be appalled by some of my colleagues were talking about a national divorce. because lincoln said, the country was not created by the states. it was created by we the people. those are the first three words of the constitution. the people of the country. and it is the people together who are going to get us through this thing. and we have good people in every state, in every county, in every town of the country.

and people who are not under the spell of ideology and dogma and lies. that's just not an american tradition. it can't last. we're a far more pragmatic people than that. >> i appreciate it. thank you so much. appreciate it. up next, capitol hill staffers who are living with the ongoing threat to democracy every day. how did panera come up with the idea to combine their famous mac and cheese with their iconic grilled cheese? by saying yes. yes to new inventions! yes to clean and fresh ingredients! and yes to living life to the flavor-fullest. panera. live your yes. now $1 delivery.

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and we're back live at the u.s. capitol in the very place where rioters stormed through these halls one year ago today. capitol staffers who lived through the horror know firsthand that the threat to democracy remains very real. three staffers who were working that day join me now. leah haan, staff assistant for nancy pelosi, kevin for the u.s. house of representatives, and bobby johnson, the capitol service center manager. thank you one and all for being here. i know it's probably not easy to be here on a day like this, talking about these things. bobby, if i can start with you. your office is 30 feet from an area that was breached on january 6th. one minute you're told to stay in your office. the next minute you're bringing water to capitol police officers who are getting tear gassed by the mob. take us back to that moment. what was it like? >> well, initially, the sergeant of arms personnel walked by our

door. we know these guys because they're just down the hall. and they had the guns out. they nonchalantly said, hey, hang here. we got this. i looked at james jenkins, my co-worker. was he serious? he said yeah. and so i went back and stood there a second. then about three other police officers in riot gear came by, and then more and more and more, and i guess about ten minutes later, we started seeing the injured. and these guys came in and asked if we had water and we had maybe a case of bottled water to rinse their eyes. we ran out of water. we had ice buckets. so we started a bucket brigade.

i thought i would get the buckets back but we went through about five or six buckets and i'm standing there. the buckets are not coming back. and i'm like, what do we do? and there were still injured officers. they took them down a little farther to rinse their eyes. but at that point, you had people that were bleeding and we had officers' head wounds, cuts and scrapes on their arms. we had two gentlemen. i don't know their names. i wish i did. i don't know what they looked like because they were in riot gear. but they asked if we had any more first-aid kits.

and we had run out. all we had was paper towels and duct tape. they stood there and these guys are like 6'3", 6'4", they looked like linebackers and they were like kids. could you tell, there's a brothership. and they started wrapping each other's fists and we were helping to wipe the blood off. and it was something. >> i mean, a scene that i'm sure you never thought you would see in your office. >> no. it was a normal day. in fact, i was on a teams call with my deputy director and co-worker. they were telling us what was actually going on, because the capitol police along with metropolitan police, they held the door. you know, i'm nine steps to where they were and i couldn't see because it filled up with tear gas at one point. it started coming. they closed the door. >> tear gas from the mob. not from the police officers. >> i don't know. >> you don't who know the police are.

if they're watching right now, what do you want to say to them? >> i would say thank you. because of you, i'm here today. i know fanone. i've seen him. i've thanked him personally. harry, i used to see in the marketplace, you know, and the other two unfortunately, i don't know them that well. i've seen them. but the capitol is like a small family. you know, we go by first names. i see you in the hallway, hey, jake, kevin, leah, we see each other all the time. but i would say thank you. because it could have easily turned. i'm 30 feet away. and if these people had just come down and made a right, it would have been me and james then. that was it. >> leah, we have some chilling surveillance video from that day, if we can show it.

you're one of the staffers who ran out of the house chamber to hide, and then here just minutes later, the rioters, we're going to show you this in a second. the rioters are banging on the door and yelling. you're behind the door. there you see that guy pounding. what's going through your mind? >> there was so much going on at the time. as you can see, we sheltered in that room that i was coming out of there were seven others, so eight total. and i remember just us deciding that wasn't safe enough to be in that room anymore. which was why we decided to go across to the other room. i remember going across, not even knowing where the room was or which one they were talking about. we decided to go to the store across the hall because i had two doors and it was providing a little bit more protection. so we locked the doors. both doors, outer and inner. turned off the lights. i went to the back.

i hid under the table and i just waited for what felt like ages until we started to hear chanting. and that chanting was coming from the rotunda, from the building at that time. and it was so full of rage. but then as it got louder and louder, i realized they come into our office at that point. >> what were they saying? >> honestly, i can't remember at this point. it's more of a feeling that it invokes. not the actual phrase. there is so much going on. >> what was the feeling? >> i, i mean, my heart dropped knowing that they were here and the fact that there was an uncertainty, do they have these weapons on them.

what were they going to do if they found us? were they going to find us? and was i going to make it out that day. >> you thought you might die. >> absolutely. my mind did wander. i thought of all the worst things that could happen, torture, hostage, rape, everything. >> you didn't, i'm told you didn't tell your parents, call them until it was all over. i have to say, you're the youngest one on the stage, if you don't mind me observing. how do your parents feel about you working here? do they think it's safe? >> they were very angry, of course. that i had to go through all of that. like any parent would, right? their child just went through such a traumatic day.

they didn't know if i would come home either. but they realize, you know, that it still is an honor to be able to come to work and to be able to work for the speaker. someone who is actively seeking the truth of this day. and they see, they see that i have been brave. and you know, i'm still willing to go to work despite all of this and they're proud of me. i know that it's, yeah. >> they should be. >> thank you. >> kevin, when the insurrection happened, you were the chief of legislative operations. you were associated with the house clerk's office for 16 years. after what you went through that day, are you confident this is a safe place to work? >> absolutely. i do. i have full confidence in the capitol police with the security that is not only in place but the security that day. you asked bobby a question about what he would say to the capitol police. and i have to tell you, evacuating from the floor to the

secure room, everywhere would you want a police officer to be to direct you along the evacuation route, there was one. so standing there, showing you the way to safety. we had the luxury, if you can call it that, on the floor of not really knowing what was going on outside to the full extent. i was getting text message updates from some staff. they breached this line or that line. i knew we were getting ready to go. but to see the capitol police. when you came to a t-section, to see them there guiding you to safety. absolutely. >> thank you for sharing your stories. i'm glad you're all okay. coming up, we'll take an extraordinary live tour that will put you in the shoes of the senators who were here during the insurrection, trying to protect your votes.

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welcome back. i am standing here with senator amy klobuchar who is the top democrat on the senate rules committee. we're wearing masks out of an abundance of caution because we're in an open space. we want to give you a little picture into what senator klobuchar and others went through that night. just to give you an idea where we are, this is the ohio clock. the senate chamber is over there. and this you're telling me -- >> exactly. >> this is where officer goodman led the mob. >> exactly. with one single baton, bravely to take them away from an area they were going to, where there was no back-up security. and i think it is important for people to know this is the beautiful senate hallway. the chamber is right there where the angry mob entered that in

the middle of the insurrection. right now, it looks all cleaned up. but that day it was mayhem. in fact, officer goodman led them away and then later in the night, when everything had been cleaned up, when all the reinforcements came in, this was the hallway where senator blunt and vice president pence and i walked with the young women holding the mahogany boxes with the electoral ballots. >> in fact, this hallway people might recognize because they've seen the footage of officer goodman saving senator mitt romney. guiding him away from the angry mob. >> exactly. mitt came out of this chamber when we were told to leave. he came out this way and office goodman saw the rioters coming at him and of course, mitt was a target. and officer goodman again put himself between the rioters and the senator, and the senator escorted the senator out to safety. >> of course, earlier in the

program, house speaker pelosi said that she thought the mob, a lot of them were trying to get at these boxes in here. why don't you tell us what these are. >> sure. so these are the mahogany boxes. and since 1877, the electoral ballots have been ceremonially placed in these boxes. >> from all 50 states. >> all 50 states. the biggest is for some of the states have bigger ballots. then the senate brings the ballots to the house and we officially declare the winner basically, certify these electoral college ballots. and when we were in the senate chamber, and we were rushed out of there because of the breach of security, one really smart staff person yells out, works for the parliamentarian, said get the boxes, get the boxes. it is very clear now as they invaded the senate chamber. they would have taken them out. most likely burned them and gotten rid of the electoral ballots.

so that presence of mind at that moment meant they were saved, and that allowed us at 4:00 in the morning to finish our work. >> i know that there were top people at the biden team that were worried when the counting stopped and the senate and the house were worried, oh my god. donald trump did it. he stopped the election. he stopped democracy. were you worried? >> well, yes. they were worried for good reason. what i knew was that they had secured the boxes. when we got into that location, senator blunt and i took to the stage in communication with senator schumer and senator mcconnell and we said, we will finish our job. no matter what, we are going back to that chamber. no matter what they've done to it. no matter if they're rifling through our desks and we'll get this done and democracy will prevail. >> and you did that. at 3:30 in the morning. you walked through here. this window had been breached, right? >> this is actually a view out on the inaugural stage at the

time. you can see right across to the mall and the washington monument. and this is one of the first places they went. they wanted to destroy the inaugural stage. they knew what it was. the media tower and everything next to it because that's where the inauguration did take place two weeks later. >> amazing. and we should note, we saw a picture earlier today of the vice chair of the house, the january 6th commission, congresswoman liz cheney with her dad, former vice president, dick cheney, saying it was odd to see himself like this. >> right. and as you know, the president of the senate is the same person as the vice president. so kamala harris is now the president of the senate so that's why his bust is there and he watched over this through that statue. >> kind of interesting. because he's watching over that and then his daughter -- >> one of only two republicans in that chamber this morning. >> he was watching over that and

his daughter is now watching over the investigation. >> so you and senator blunt and vice president pence and some staffers, 3:30 in the morning, walking through this very hall. what did it look like? it is nice and shiny. >> it's beautiful now. but back then, it was a wreck. there was broke glass right below us. >> this is where the old senate used to be. where the supreme court used to be in the 1800s. >> the parliamentarian office totally trashed. they invaded that office. and it was eerily silent. and i remember thinking, we were exhausted and there was security on all sides. there was no one else but vice president pence, senator blunt and myself and the two young women with the boxes. and we just went through here to the waiting house members in the chamber and we were committed for the purpose of democracy to finish our work. >> just incredible. and this is a building with so much history. and you were, you know, playing this important role during this

historical event. people can see, this is the rotunda. there's the famous painting of the signing of the declaration of independence, there's george washington, thomas jefferson. right over there, some suffragettes. >> i think what is amazing, you see history right here in the past. but it was history in the making. and every one of these leaders did their part to upheld to republic and it was passed on to all of us that night. while it was a horrific day, and we lost incredible people. officers who did their best that day. in the end, democracy prevailed. >> can i ask you though, having been there that day. how, is this difficult on this one-year anniversary? >> it's always hard. i think the hardest thing about today was the staff members. many of them were sheltered in closets.

two of my staff members in there, each had a fork. that was all they could get ahold of to defend themselves. you had police officers with scratches on their face, with bruises who had lost friends. it was this emotional moment today as they were all back knowing this was the one-year anniversary. >> well, thank you for this trip, and thank you -- >> i think it is important we never forget. that's why i thought it was important to take you down this hallway. >> thank you for what you did and thank senator blunt for what did he and vice president pence and those smart staffers that saved the boxes. or who knows where we would be if they hadn't had the presence of mind to do that? thank you. >> thanks so much. we want to thank all of our guests tonight. for everyone watching at cnn, thank you for watching. we want to leave you a special tribute by the congressional chorus performing the national anthem.

♪ o say can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched ♪ ♪ were so gallantly streaming? ♪ ♪ and the rockets' red glare ♪ ♪ the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night ♪ ♪ that our flag was still

there ♪ ♪ oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ and the home of the brave? ♪ it truly is the land of the free. home of the brave. democracy held a year ago tonight. but do not take it for granted. this is don lemon tonight. thank you for joining us. we have an exclusive for out this program. d.c. metropolitan police commander raymond kyle. the guy who was in charge of holding back potentially murderous mob and holding the line for democracy, speaking out for the first time. we've heard from everybody else but him. today we've got unprecedented access to the tunnel where the battle for our democracy took place one year ago. i went there with commander kyle and with my good friend, michael fanone.

you will see that in just a moment right here on this broadcast. after everything you just saw and heard, could there be any question that democracy is more in peril tonight than it was a year ago? this is not about looking back. this is about what is happening right now. tonight, this is about whether we actually want a democracy and whether we care enough to protect it. if we turn away, if we say what happened on january 6th, it is all in the past, that leaves the door wide open for them to do it again. people who put power ahead of our democratic ideals, who put lies ahead of the truthful the big lie of bogus voter fraud is alive and well. states across the country are making it harder to vote. at least 19 states passed 34 laws last year restricting access to the ballot box. and they're not done yet. the disgraced, twice impeached

one-term former president still has the republican party in a death grip. apart from a small handful, none of them will stand up to him. and all of this may be a turning point for president joe biden. his speech today was the most direct and powerful since he took the oath of office. laying the blame squarely where it belongs. at the feet of the former president. >> we must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie. and here is the truth. the former president of the united states of america has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. he's done so because he values power over principle. because he sees his own interests as more important than his country's interests, and america's interests. and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our constitution.

he's not just the former president. he's a defeated former president. defeated by a margin of over 7 million of your votes. in a full and free and fair election. >> this is a president rising to the moment. taking on the forces that would tear our democracy apart. >> i did not seek this fight one year ago today. but i will not shrink from it either. i will stand in this breach. i will defend this nation. i will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy. we will make sure the will of the people is heard. that the battle prevails, not violence. but authority in this nation will always be peacefully transferred. i believe the power of the presidency and the purpose is to unite this nation. not divide it.

to lift us up. not tear us apart. about us, not about me. >> there was a time when republicans knew the truth of what happened on january 6th. they knew who was responsible. they weren't so afraid to say so then. >> the mob was fed lies. they were provoked by the president and other powerful people. they tried to disrupt our democracy. they failed. former president trump's actions preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty. there is no question. none. their president trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. >> violence, destruction, and

chaos we saw earlier was unacceptable, undemocratic and unamerican. the president bears responsibility for wednesday's attack on congress by mob rioters. >> he should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. >> trump and i, we've had a hell of a journey. i hate it being this way. i hate it. from my point of view, he's been a consequential brother. but today the first thing you'll see. all i can say is count me out. enough is enough. >> the president's language and rhetoric crossed a line and it was reckless. >> chaos, anarchy, the violence today was wrong and unamerican. >> once you start taking violent actions against law enforcement, you're not a protester anymore. you're an anarchist. whether it is anarchy or

terrorism. they were trying to storm the capitol and stop our democracy from working. >> this has been a truly tragic day for america. and we all join together in fully condemning the dangerous violence and destruction. >> how can you believe anything that comes out of their mouths now? i mean, where is the standard? where are the morals? where is the back bone? where is the ability to stand up to an autocrat? the republican party had their chance. they had a moment. they actually were doing the right thing. speaking the truthful and then somehow they made a conscious decision to put their own political lives ahead of the life of our democracy. to side with the big lie and a very big liar.

and that's how the party of lincoln, apart from a handful who refuse to capitulate, that's how that party becomes fully and completely the party of trump. a party that stands for nothing. nothing but defending the former president and denying the truth. >> the president didn't incite anything. >> we have a january 6th committee that nancy pelosi is leading that is nothing but a political witch hunt on republicans and trump supporters. >> as they have proven yet again today, over and over, they only care about attacking their political enemies. >> it has turned out to be nothing more than a partisan committee just to investigate the former president. >> we've seen plenty of video of people in the capitol. they weren't rioting. it doesn't look like an armed insurrection when you have people who breached the capitol. i don't condone it but they're staying within the rope lines of the rotunda. that's not what an armed insurrection would look like. >> firearms, charged with breaching the capitol. >> in fact it was trump support here's lost their lives that day. not trump support here's were

taking the lives of others. >> i can tell you, the house floor was never breached and it was not an insurrection. if you didn't know the tv footage was a video from january 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit. >> i mean, again, how can you believe anything that comes out of their mouths? everybody knows -- they have to know. because we know those are complete lies. we know what happened. we saw it with our own eyes. the republicans were mostly making. they scarce today as the capitol remembered january 6th. only two, liz cheney and her father, the former vice president of the united states. they were on the house floor. dick cheney had strong words for republican leaders. >> it's not a leadership that resembles any of the folks i knew when i was here for ten years.

>> we saw on january 6th. what we saw was seared in our memory. it is. no matter how many we might wish we could forget it. it is seared in our memory. this is what it was. this is what it was like as rioters ran wild in the united states capitol and our democracy was in the balance. watch. normal tourist visit, right? i told you we've got an exclusive interview tonight with the man in charge of holding the line against a mob of rioters, trying to break into the capitol one year ago. he is speaking out for the very

first time tonight on this program. and we were granted exclusive, unprecedented access to the capitol's west terrace tunnel entrance to speak with d.c. metropolitan police commander randy kyle and former d.c. police officer michael fanone. these are two heroes. two heroes who defended the capitol. they returned to the scene of a brutal violent battle that lasted hours, one year later. if this was a war for democracy, this tunnel is the battlefield where officers held back thousands of rioters. and make no mistake. the battle was crucial. if officers hadn't been able to hold it, the outcome of that day would have been very different. letting rioters straight into the heart of the capitol. history would have been different. few men can say that their fight changed the course of history, but they and their fellow officers can say that. let me just show you.

this is what it was like inside that tunnel. we have sped up the video as police retreated to show you how they found themselves holding the line against a sea of angry rioters. the battle there would rage for hours with some of the fiercest fighting the entire day. but that same entrance is known for a very different reason. you may not know that. that entrance, right? that is a doorway where presidents come out from the capitol to take the oath of office in front of the nation. literally, a gateway to the peaceful transition of power that for more than 200 years stood as a beacon of the strength of our democracy. can you believe that? i realized that today when walking down those steps and through that tunnel and out of that, the entrance.

and now that same doorway will forever be tied when rioters tried to take down our democracy. so here is our exclusive with d.c. metropolitan police officer kyle and former officer michael fanone. they took me through how the chaos unfolded and how close we came to disaster. >> i heard a radio transmission come out for a distress call from the west terrace tunnel. that's where we encountered commander kyle. who was orchestrating the defense of the capitol from the lower west terrace tunnel. and he was commanding about 40 or 50 mpd officers, and about a half dozen u.s. capitol police officers who were standing shoulder to shoulder, body against body, fighting back thousands of violent rioters. >> pretty much my whole career.

i had no idea that he was standing next to me. i couldn't see. i could barely breathe. we had a job to do and we're not in the business of failing. we're going to hold this door at all costs no matter what. this is the capitol. we're not losing the capitol. not this day, not ever. i felt my job was to keep the officers motivated. the odds were definitely not in our favor. there were thousands and thousands of people trying to get in. we had maybe 40 officers at one point, holding back. all these violent rioters. >> these were your doors. >> there was a lot on the table that day. and we weren't going to lose. no matter what. not these doors. >> so right here is where we saw most of the action. they broke the glass out, right? >> oh, yeah. the glass was gone in a matter of seconds. >> i can't believe these are

still standing. >> well, the doors are still here. i guess they repaired the glass. >> this is the part where we saw people going, heave, ho, trying to push people in. this is where hodges was squished in here? >> yep. in these doors. >> tell me what was happening here, commander. >> so in these doors, it's amazing to be back. they look so small. in my mind, from this door to that t-shaped hallway, it was like a half a mile. i guess that's because we were fighting over inches the whole time. we started lining up, five or six, shoulder to shoulder. five or six deep. they were in hand to hand combat holding this door. keeping everybody there. this goes right there.

that's the rotunda. >> it seemed small? >> absolutely. i think it is just, we were fighting over inches. in my mind, you know, if they had pushed us back three or four more inches, we might have lost it. once you get, there is a hallway here. a hallway here. you're inside the complex. >> you said that day, we are not losing the u.s. capitol. >> we are not losing the u.s. capitol today! do you hear me! >> you think this was the thing that was holding everything together. >> i did. i thought this was the only place in jeopardy of being breached. later we heard over the radio that they were inside. we heard there were shots fired. there was a discussion if we should just abandon this.

we were afraid that people would come from behind. that we would be fighting on two fronts. i told everybody, i don't know how many people are upstairs. i knew there were thousands out there and they wanted to get in. we're not letting them in. it seemed they were some of the most violent people in that crowd, were right here. it all got concentrated right at these doors. >> did you think if they came around, they would surround you guys? were you worried about -- >> absolutely. >> being trapped? >> absolutely. i sent a couple officers to the top to give us a little warning so we could readjust our plan. so that was definitely a big fear. >> so it was moment to moment. >> second to second. >> did you ever think at any moment, oh, we've lost this. we're never going to -- >> there were a couple times where i definitely doubted it. i'm telling you, what got me through was i saw officers i had worked may whole career. i trusted, i would see them, lock eyes. i knew if they were there, it would be okay. >> what do you think of this

place when you see and you come into the capitol? >> i mean, i definitely think about that day, the importance of this building, what happens here. i started my law enforcement career as a u.s. capitol police officer before becoming d.c. police. i have a strong connection to this building. i just believe in america and what this stands for. >> this seems smaller than he remembers. to you? >> absolutely the same. i remember the first time that i came down to the tunnel after january 6th. it was actually the day that i was up here with brian sicknick's mother, sandra garza, his fiance, and i remember i came down to the crypt and then walked down to the lower west terrace tunnel. man, so much bigger than i remember.

just very different. when i was in there, on january 6th, it was like a war zone. like, it was just littered with weapons, debris, cs gas, like residual gas just floating in the air. it created this mist or like a haze. surreal. >> it really was surreal. all you had to do was look at your tv screen to see the images right in front of you. insurrectionists attacking our capitol. next, officers show me what happened on the stairs and outside the tunnel in a deadly struggle.

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. we're back now with our exclusive, unprecedented access to the west terrace tunnel that was the scene of the climactic battle for the capitol. michael fanone and ramey kyle took me to the spot where he was dragged into the crowd and nearly lost his life. so this is where the action happened on that day. both of you were here. this is where you got dragged down into the crowd and where you were fighting for your life. when you got here and you got pulled out here, what were you thinking, mike. walk us through this. >> so i think when i first realized that i was losing control, getting pulled out into the crowd, i was just up here at the set of double doors. it's a little bit misleading. at that time the inaugural stage

was still up, and these steps were covered by a platform. but as the officers who were defending the tunnel, all of us were, you know, repelling this onslaught of attackers. the momentum of those officers pushed me all the way out kind of to the threshold of this tunnelway here. >> right here? >> yeah. at that point an individual, i believe who's been identified as albuquerque head, grabbed a hold of me and continued to pull me out. >> how far did he pull you out? >> i would say probably about 250, maybe 300 feet from the tunnel entranceway. all the while i was being pulled out, i was being beaten from every direction with fists, objects, pepper sprayed. and then once i was able to kind of get my bearings, that's when

i began to experience the electroshock from a taser device. [ screaming ] so i was tasered several times at the back of my neck. there were individuals in the crowd that were trying to strip me of my weapon. my badge was removed. my police radio was removed. an ammunition magazine from my belt was also removed. and all the while, i was being beat. so i remember yelling out that "i have kids." >> i have kids. >> and at that point there were some members of the crowd that intervened on my behalf and allowed officers who were in the tunnel enough time to get to me. and retrieve me and bring me

back into the tunnel. >> how long do you think you were out here? >> oh, man, i was not out here that long. maybe ten minutes or so, 15 minutes at the most. >> that's a long time, mike. >> yeah. i mean i guess in the grand scheme of things. i relate my experience to, you know, the hundreds of other officers that fought here. and like i said, i've told you a bunch of times. i came late to this party, and i left early. you know, hundreds of officers, you know, ray included, spent hours defending the west front of the capitol. >> so when you came down these stairs, did you say holy shit? is that when you realized? >> even before i got here, because you could hear -- as i came from over here, you could hear all the screaming. you could hear all the yelling, and you could smell the pepper spray. i mean it was just like i was walking down into a war zone. >> what were you thinking? >> i was like, man, we got a lot

of work to do. i knew it was going to be a long day. >> were you scared? >> no. there wasn't time to be scared. >> could you believe that this was happening at the capitol in the united states? >> no, absolutely not. no, absolutely not. >> what was your first confrontation? >> it was probably -- it was right out here. i kind of helped start shoring up some of our defenses here towards the south of this terrace. the bicycle racks, they were really a force multiplier for us. we fought all the way up these stairs, all the way up. >> you went down into this and you had to fight all the way to get back. were you trying to get back to safety or help people hold the line or both? >> we were trying to pull all our officers up here because we couldn't hold that down there. this was going to be our new fighting stance, a new place we were going to hold. that was this door. >> people were trying to use bike racks against you. >> oh, yeah.

>> did you get hit, commander? by what? >> i don't know. you name it. they were taking pieces of construction debris off the stage. it seemed like rebar, pieces of wood. there was a big lamp post at one point that was thrown at us. anything that they could tear, anything they had brought with them. i mean i know at one point in the tunnel, i looked down and there was nothing but baseball bats and hammers and wrenches and any kind of hard object you could think of that had either been thrown at us or used against us. >> you're being hit by hammers and all kinds of things because people are saying they weren't armed that day. >> they were armed. i had one of their pistols in my pocket. >> so they had guns? >> uh-huh. >> you were being threatened with possible gunfire and you were being pepper sprayed? >> right. >> so by the time you get there, what's going on? >> well, we piled in the door. we locked the doors, and i always thought these doors were bombproof, bulletproof. i thought we had a little chance

to catch a breather, and it seems like in 45 seconds, they broke through those doors and the fight was on. >> did you see the officers being squeezed? >> i was towards the back, so i could hear a lot of that. at one point i stood up on the x-ray machine to try to get a better look. that kind of made me a target for the bear spray, so i was getting it up there. i'm definitely proud of what we did. i guess the other emotion i have is just disgust that that day even happened. i'm just disgusted that people lost their lives, people were injured, you know, property was damaged, the capitol was breached, you know, just all for nothing. i was disgusted that that happened. >> what do you mean alt all for nothing? they thought they were on a righteous mission in. >> i was disgusted by it. >> would you do it all over again? >> absolutely. absolutely. hopefully it never happens, though. but, you know -- >> do you worry that i