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calls, tweets, and facebook comments on the one-year anniversary of the attack on the u.s. capitol. there will be remarks from president biden and vice president harris, coming up in a couple of hours. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: this is the "washington journal." " for january six. it was a year ago when rioters attacked the u.s. capitol. there were over 150 federal and police officers injured, over $1 million in damage, and the deaths and indirect deaths of several people. this is the site of the capitol today. today, several events will be held inside and out of the capitol to remember the event, including a speech later today by president biden. our program will consist largely of your phone calls about january 6. here is how you can participate.

democrats, call (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you want to text us your thoughts about this year anniversary of january 6, (202) 748-8003. you can post on our facebook page and also our twitter feed is available at @cspanwj. several events are planned because of the anniversary of january 6, including later today a speech by the president. joining us is john mcardle. guest: a lot of moving parts on capitol hill today. i will run through the schedule for c-span viewers. president biden expected to be on capitol hill in little less than two hours from now, when we expect his motorcade to arrive on capitol hill. it is 9:00 a.m. officially when

the president is scheduled to deliver remarks on the historical significance of january 6. we are also expecting to hear from the vice president. 9:00 a.m. eastern. 1030 a.m. eastern, the senate is set to convene, and at noon, there will be a brief moment of silence in observance of the events on january 6. also at noon, a pro forma session, and we are expecting remarks then from speaker nancy pelosi on january 6 and a moment of silence there in the house, as well. other events today, 1:00 p.m. today, speaker pelosi and senate majority leader chuck schumer will host a discussion on the historical nature of january 6. to establish and preserve the narrative of january 6, that legacy discussion with

historians. at 2:30 p.m. today, eastern times, house members expected to gather on capitol hill in the cannon house office building to give their testimonial, their memories of january 6, among them, congressman jason crow, democrat, one of the less members to leave the house chamber a year ago today. or than 20 other members of congress offering their testimonies throughout the afternoon. then 5:30 this afternoon, the day will end with a sundown prayer vigil on the steps of the u.s. capitol. speaker nancy pelosi again expected to be there, along with senate majority leader chuck schumer and other members of congress, a bicameral prayer vigil there on the east front of the capitol. all of that throughout the day. you can watch on the c-span

networks. a lot of moving parts. we hope you stay with us. host: the majority of our time together today will be to your phone calls on the events of january 6. those numbers, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents, (202) 748-8002. texting available at (202) 748-8003. some of you already posting on facebook. this one says this is the beginning of a democracy collapsing with both the far right and left upset with the government, which is being ruled by the oligarch. on facebook, a fixed election. maryjane thomas from facebook, turn the page, nobody cares. you can add your thoughts to the feed, alongside our twitter feed. seattle, washington, democrats line. we start off with trish this morning.

caller: i wish i could say it was a good morning. for me, it is a very sad warning. there are three watershed events in my life. that was john f. kennedy being assassinated -- i should say four, bobby and martin luther king, 911, and this. and i cannot stand to watch it. anytime i see a picture of this on tv, i have to divert my eyes because it is so crushing for our country. it is even more insidious, i read yesterday on a website, all about bio firms and big pharma, and those folks, merck, j&j, pfizer, bio gin -- giogen, they all said they would not support those who supported donald trump

and this insurrection, and i read yesterday that now they are supporting those same lawmakers that do not believe joe biden is our president. how insidious is that? disturbing. host: we will go to tacoma, washington, on our independent line. aaron, hello. caller: hi, pedro. i love you. i just find it strange that there would be an unarmed insurrection. just seems kind of dumb, and i do not really see how trump stood to gain from that kind of halfhearted violence, seems like it did not really hurt him. host: how do you describe it as unarmed? caller: because they were not bringing guns into the capitol. what did they have, the ties?

did anyone actually get into the capitol with a weapon? host: there was a person shot on the capitol grounds with a weapon. caller: the person who was trying to get in, they were shot. host: correct, yes. go ahead and finish your thought. caller: i was just saying, i was not aware of anyone who was trying to get in who actually brought in a gun with them. just seems interesting. host: to clarify, the "new york times" this morning in their fact-check section, looking at the idea of weapons, they say at least three january 6 rioters face gun charges, including a maryland resident who took a gun to the capitol. over 75 defendants have been charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon. adding that a bipartisan senate report ties fatalities to the

assault. a call on our republican line. caller: good morning, talking points with the left-wing media complex. the insurrection started summer of 2020 with over 500 riots were the laws were not enforced and the national guard was not called out. the name ashli babbitt will go the way of afghanistan now. we will not hear her name today. we were told by the left that the police were bad. but now we had a capitol police officer shoot an unarmed woman. and of course, the media backed that person up. we are told that the police are not bad -- that the police are bad. we are told we cannot defend our homes and structure. was this police officer threatened? she was unarmed. so it is the carving of the talking points, that donald trump told these people what to

do but all the congressmen, all that summer of love, the talking points from the left, those points do not matter. host: how do you tie those events to the events on january 6? caller: more than half of this country is angry at non-enforcing of law. we are a country of laws, not of men. host: so you tie those events of last year to what you saw at the capitol? caller: i think you have a grip that was angry. host: do you see a direct tie? caller: of course, that was anger that we do not enforce the laws for 508 riots because people were angry at donald trump. host: ok. there is a section in the "new york times" about people who died lester on january 6, and they do mention ashli babbitt -- who died last year on january 6,

and they do mention ashli babbitt. another person died of a heart attack, collapsing on the sidewalk of the capitol. one person was crushed in a stampede of fellow rioters. the founder of a pro-trump website died of a stroke. they mentioned brian sicknick at the capitol police who died on january 7, officer jeffrey smith of the metropolitan police department who killed himself after the attack. another member of the capitol police dying by suicide four days afterward. and they add two others who died by suicide in july. to edwin in north carolina, democrats line. caller: i just cannot believe the callers so far on your show not thinking that the whole situation that happened leading up to january 6 was not a part

of some plot weeks in advance by the republican party, headed by donald john trump, the jim jones kool-aid drinking members of the republican party cannot see this was a problem. the problem i see is capitol hill police need to practice a situation. if this ever happened, line up 10 to 15 buses with bars on them that use meet -- that you use for personal facilities, and gather these people up on a bus. then you have everybody that actually started this garbage arrested. host: you said it was a plot. what convinces you of that? caller: because this did not just happen overnight. this was a planned situation.

and when the congress irons this out in the investigation, they are going to find out that this whole thing was planned. host: what convinces you that it was planned specifically? caller: because these people did not just show up and nothing was even thought of way in advance, ok? secondly, the capitol police should be commended over what they could have performed. i wish they had shotguns -- host: we will leave it there. david in north carolina, republican line. caller: good morning. about this january 6 deal, you have these people going in this building, destroying everything, destroying our wilderness and everything else -- in the riots,

destroying our buildings and everything else, what makes this different? host: what makes you think it is the same? caller: how many democrats was in that building? how many democrats? host: why does it matter? caller: why you got the show on for? it is all about these democrats. and i am sorry, i cannot talk democrats, i get ill. host: let's go to john mcardle. guest: hearing from americans today, their feelings a year later since january 6. we have been doing it throughout the year on occasion as we talk about this topic. the pew research center pulling americans on generally six over the past 12 months. -- on january 6 over the past 12 months. looking at their polls throughout the year, one was

immediately after the january 6 right on capitol hill, americans' reactions to the riots, americans describing their reactions in various terms, those americans used terms anguish, horror, or shock, 35 percent of americans using those terms. those we said they were concerned for the country, 14% said that immediately after those events, saying that is how they would describe it. 13% saying former president trump and republicans are to blame. 9% having some sort of criticism for law enforcement in their response or preparation for that day. 8% saying that it was a two -- coup attempt. and 8% saying it was trump supporters. and others saying they were not surprised. those are some of the reactions immediately. to march and september of last year, a look at how americans

prioritized the prosecution of those who participated in the riot at the capitol. overall on the back in march of 2021, some 69% of americans said it was very, and another 18% said it was somewhat important that federal law enforcement agencies find and prosecute those who broke into and rioted at the u.s. capitol. by september, the overall numbers had dropped to 50% saying it was very important and 21% saying somewhat important. the biggest drop coming among republicans. march of 2021, 50% of republicans saying it was very important that federal law enforcement agencies find and prosecute those who rioted at the capital. by september of last year, 27 percent. among democrats, those who prioritized that prosecution remain relatively the same, a deep -- 86% in march that it was very important and 80% in

september. those numbers from the pew research center. host: mitchell in hollywood, florida, democrats line. caller: thank you, and good morning. give me time to make myself clear. i won't take long. as i celebrate this day, i think about the words of god that says your sins will find you out. even into the third and fourth generations and even beyond that, when you in capture people and you think you can say business as usual, it may take a couple hundred years, and i think we are reaping what we sow, mostly pertaining to those who were social conservatives who had no intentions of wanting to have inclusive, and inclusive means your skin and grin with those of different countries, you embrace them and think they are going to do your dirty work,

and it has come back to haunt them. so your children and your grandchildren do not go along with this. host: how does that relate to january 6? caller: the reason is because enemies, foreign and domestic, that is the key. you have enemies who are domestic and had no intentions of embracing what we call in the land of free. host: ok, mitchell in hollywood, florida. california, independent line, we hear from rhonda. caller: as jon was reading that article, i am one that was angry and shocked. on that day when i watched, i began to cry. the house we were brought up to respect, so what i saw was just

horrifying. i never thought that that would ever occur. but the caller from north carolina who said talking to democrats sickens him? i am taken aback, because with im hearing is echoes of -- what i am hearing is echoes of president trump. recently, one of the major newscasts stated that they were still looking for some of those that were there. they said that if they were caught, they would only get community service. that would be their punishment, community service? i am shocked. but pedro, thank you. i will be watching c-span all

day today. thank you. host: thank you for coming along and watching along the events of today. you can watch on several platforms, our television network, c-span.org, c-span now video app. all those events we talked about at the beginning, including that speech by the president. a call from cincinnati, ohio, democrats line. caller: good morning, pedro. good to talk to you. about the people convicted of the january 6 attack, the thing they had in common, their community had changed, and more minorities had moved into their communities. race was a huge issue on january 6.

it is just something that needs to be talked about. host: exactly why do you believe that? caller: some of the groups involved were the white supremacist groups, involved in the attack. i could go down the list. it was certainly a major part of it that was racial. host: ok. gary in virginia, republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am an old time republican. i believe in the common sense. this is the first time since 1960 that there has been a presidential election i have not been congratulated on as an american from a foreigner for peaceful transfer of power.

i worked for over 40 years with foreigners. these people down at the capitol left me feeling embarrassed, ashamed, and sad. feelings of powerlessness, easily against immigration, yet they are against birth control. the opposite of common sense is nonsense. it reminded me of the taliban and their target practice. host: how does this relate specifically to january 6? caller: all those people down there believe in the one thing, that immigration is totally bad. there's things i do not agree with about emigration. i do not like the litter or pollution i get from immigration. host: ok, let's go to carl on

our independent line, from massachusetts. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. for the life of me, i cannot understand why -- i am not a democrat, not a republican. i cannot understand why people would follow donald trump. he held insight the insurrection , riot, protest, whatever you call it. then he turns his back on his own people. i mean, even hitler's had more principles. he went to jail for what he believed in. this guy, how can people admire him or follow him? he betrayed his own people. host: how so? caller: he told them he would be with them, and then he takes off. i do not know where he went. he waved to them on his way out. i do not know if he went to play golf or watch tv or what.

but he did not stand with his people. i cannot understand why they would follow him. and i am pretty sure the democrats, as well as the republicans, had windows to what was going to happen. maybe they did not figure it was going to be as bad as it was. host: ok. let's hear from danny in denver, colorado. caller: yeah, they say nobody is above the law, but donald trump is going to be above the law. he will not be brought to trial. looks like merrick garland has not read the mueller report. the department of justice should be going after trump based on that, but everybody is forgetting about that. none of these people, the people that went into the capitol, they are going to be convicted, but the people that let this treasonous act will not be convicted.

trump get away with this. he is above the law. nobody is going to do anything to stop him. there is just no judicial system . we used to have a sergeant and arms, and i grew up believing in that. contempt of court was one thing. contempt of congress was something totally different and worse. they should be locking these people up, serving subpoenas, locking them up. host: ok. in the aftermath of january 6, c-span recorded several interviews with members of congress who were in the capitol building on that day to recount their experiences and some of the things they remember. you can still find them on c-span.org. one of the people we spoke with was a republican congressman of oklahoma, and he recounted the events of last year. [video clip] >> i went and checked on the capitol police, and i saw 50 guys at least, men and women, and the d.c. police, the

sergeant of arms, the capitol police, uniformed and nonuniformed officers coming knows -- nose to nose, one guy had his eye gouged out completely and they cannot get him medical help. luckily, his eye was safe. i suck as hyperventilating. as our guys hit with pepper spray -- and i thought, you just think about this. they showed so much restraint. they were not cowards. they stood the line, took a beating, and showed so much restraint. they could have killed that individual peer they were attacking a police officer. if you got in a fight on the street with an officer, that officer can use lethal force because his life is in danger. their lives were in danger, and

they could have easily used lethal force of they wanted to. but they had great restraint because they knew these were american citizens. they had to calculate this by themselves. if it were any other country, any other place in the world, and that would have happened to a government building, there would have been countless people that would have lost their lives. but these officers were willing to show enough restraint, they were putting their actual body in harm's way, and they had a firearm on their side and decided not to use it. i think they are absolutely heroes. i do not know if i could have done that. i honestly do not know. but they did, not just a few of them, but a lot of them did. and it is remarkable to me that, unfortunately, only one person lost their lives by gunshot, and it is unfortunate. host: we talked to several members of congress after that

day, republicans and democrats come about those experiences. and you can find those interviews at c-span.org. we are taking your phone calls, looking at january 6, remember today. a call from phoenix, arizona, republican line. caller: i am very glad that one of the previous callers brought up the mueller report, because that underlines what this is really all about, celebrating the anniversary of what they call an insurrection, which is not an insurrection. go to the justice.gov website, and you can search the cases of what they call capitol breach cases. if you search the word insurrection, you get zero results. if you search mutiny, you get zero results. but what the media keeps

repeating over and over about there being an insurrection, why would they do that? they are doing it because they know that they can manipulate people based on whatever they put on those television screens. i will say this, that the next time that democrats and specific key states, because we will see these key states in the 2024 and 2028 elections in pennsylvania, georgia, michigan, wisconsin, or arizona, if the democrats decide they are not going to follow their state statutes because they want specific outcomes, you will see the same exact push to object to the presidential election. that is what january 6 was about, about objecting to the presidential electors of joe biden. and that is what is not being

talked about. host: to that point, would you say they were trying to interrupt the electoral count process then? caller: yes. because again, the purpose of january 6 was to confirm presidential electors. i do not care what stopped the count. i do not care if the majority leader took steps to stop the confirmation of those electors once it arrived in the senate. the purpose was to stop the confirmation of those electors so that then the democrats could cry wolf and go running to courts and file their legal challenges, and then we can go through the process of finding out whether or not we have to be

forced to confirm electors that were not legally obtained in those specific states. host: ok, to california, independent line. caller: yes, good morning. my issue is -- issues are with these groups and these people that show up at the u.s. capitol another capitols throughout the united states and calling themselves patriots. they walk around in their military gear and their assault rifles. if they are so big and tough, have them join the armed services and fight for our country. they walk amongst women and children, americans, and they want to call them selves patriots. maybe they need to find a dictionary. there patriots to who, russia, china? they are an embarrassment to the

united states. have them join the armed forces. host: that was andy. this is the first hour of our show, looking at your phone calls on this january 6 anniversary day. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents (202) 748-8002. we will go back to john mcardle. guest: the focus on capitol hill today on this anniversary of january 6. one thing to look at is how this is playing out in newspapers around the country this morning. this is what americans are waking up to in the missouri, joplin, missouri, front page of the "joplin globe," capitol chaos, with pictures from a year ago today. "chicago tribune," lingering trauma for the gallery group, that story focusing on embers of

congress stuck in the public gallery of the house chamber that day, the last to leave the house chamber. "the arizona republic," come usually in -- confusion and fear , using the same headline in montgomery, close to the same headline. this one from california, headline, january 6, 2021, a national day of infamy. more pictures from that day from a year ago. we're keeping track of member tweets and reaction and what is going on leading up to all of these events on capitol hill. here is just a flavor of some of those tweets this morning. this from a congressman of new york, it has been 365 days since

republicans tried to end our democracy and install trump as a dictator. do not ever forget, because without accountability, the next republican coup will succeed. this from a democrat of new york, our nation's democracy went through a trauma and a mob storm, and death threats were made with hope of destroying democracy. and these tweets from about 15 minutes ago from former congressman bob good, republican from virginia. saying, a year ago, i condemned all violence. it is not the answer to our political disagreements are our social grievances. he said, sadly, democrats continue to use january 6 is a partisan political witch hunt to distract from their failures on the issues the american people care about. one more tweet, this from the official account of the u.s.

capitol police, just a picture of the united states capitol at nighttime and a heart. host: a call from kentucky, republican line. caller: good morning. what i was wanting to ask was, why was there no security? even on tv, they said they were informed a week ahead of time of the possibility of a riot. there were a lot of people at this rally. there was no security, and the d.c. mayor knew about it, nancy pelosi did. they were in charge of security. the national guard was refused. and on tv, it showed merrick garland being asked about if the fbi had anyone on the grounds that day, and he refused to answer. and there was also a man who incited violence that wasn't arrested.

some things are revealed and some things are not revealed. but security, that was the number one issue, why was there no security, and who refused security? host: i will point you to our website video app. yesterday, the capitol police chief was on capitol hill talking about security measures, especially in the lead up to today. c-span.org, you can hear that testimony about where security was at the time and where it is now. and merrick garland addressing what the justice department is doing, you can see his speech from yesterday, as well. all that at c-span.org. henry in south carolina, independent line. caller: good morning. first of all, let me say that i am an independent, so i do not want to be viewed as biased or partisan. republican or democrat.

i am an air force veteran, and from the day i was sworn in in san antonio, texas, what i saw on january 6 would fall in the category of treason. if those were military men and had dinner with -- had did what the civilians had done, it would have been treason, and part of the punishment could have been death by court-martial. and for us to downplay this, i have never seen anything like this. a confederate flag, which supposedly our country defeated, a confederate flag flying in the halls of congress, can you imagine? and i want the audience to be for real. can you imagine if that had been a group of muslim americans that stormed the capitol or, those who want to say the 508 rights that occurred with black lives

matter, can you imagine if those were black lives matter protesters who stormed? they defecated and wiped it on the walls of congress, put their boots up on the very heart of our democracy. and all of these people are getting now is just two months probation, a $2000 fine. this was at the very heart of who we are as a nation. host: we will move on to charlie in west palm beach, florida, democrats line. caller: good morning. i am an old white guy here, and if those people that stormed the capital were -- that stormed the capitol were black, they would have been shot. host: why would you make that conclusion? caller: because a lot of those cops or capitol police, a lot of

them are republicans. host: why would you make that conclusion? caller: courtroom followers. well, nobody got shot, did they? or one person got shot. host: ok, let's go to mark in pennsylvania, republican line. caller: good morning. happy new year's. i want to point out some fun facts i found out when researching this. there was 1200 police officers on duty that day, and it was interesting, they found the bombs that were planted 15 hours after they were planted, within minutes of the first breach. the first breach took place when congress just started to object to the electoral votes. there were so -- there was only four breaches of the capitol, and there was barely any police presence at those entrances. no police officers in those locations. we know there was an fbi guy at

the fence encouraging people to break through, and he went through with them. and the doors were left open in the one section, and about six officers watched people pour in, saying it is ok as long as you peacefully protest. all the capitol class was updated in 2017, i believe, bombproof glass come and only 12 windows were not changed. four of those breaches took place on those 12 windows. that sounds like an inside job. somebody told somebody which windows to get into. those protesters passed hundreds of windows to get to those four windows that were accessible. host: how do you draw those conclusions? caller: how do i draw the conclusion that it was an inside job? how else would they know that there was 12 windows and four of the breaches to base where the glass was not reinforced? what other conclusion can you come to?

host: why is that a solid conclusion in your mind? caller: not 100% solid, but it is just too coincidental, just like they found the bombs within minutes of the bridge, too: celinda -- too quincy dental. host: ok. the "new york times" has an event clock from the events of last year when the capitol was breached. about 2:12 in the afternoon, a proud boy breaks a capitol window, a man falls through it at 2:13. the objection by senator james lankford interrupted as the senate goes into recess. 2:14 when officer eugene goodman leads a group of rioters away from unguarded doors of the senate. 2:15 is when speaker nancy pelosi was evacuated, followed by steny hoyer. the house recesses and locks down at 2:18.

then rioters breach a police line and enter the rotunda and open the eastern doors. mr. pence was evacuated. 226 time, the house briefly resumed the certification session and recessed four minutes later. it goes on from there, if you're interested in a breakdown. to new hampshire, independent line, this is eric. caller: good morning. this is really great that we're having this discussion, because the gentleman before me was talking about fbi people that were in the crowd egging people on, and there is evidence. and merrick garland says this is the number one priority, to prosecute these rioters. yet, there are rioters on video egging people on that have not been prosecuted, which is odd. we know their names.

we have seen the videos. but merrick garland will not prosecute those people, oddly enough. and i will go to the shooting of the young lady. everyone talks about how this was a racist incident. are we kidding? ok, the people prior to me were saying if this were a black lives matter crowd, they would be shot. ok, we have had plenty of black lives matter crowds, but if a white officer shot into a crowd and killed a blm protester, i think there would be a much bigger investigation than what happened here, a young white air force veteran who was shot without a weapon. essentially, he shot into a crowd, and do you think that is appropriate? host: the justice department

days ago give a status update in a press release to where the investigation is when it comes to january 6. more than 725 defendants arrested in nearly all 50 states. more than 225 defendants charged with assaulting or resisting officers. others using deadly or dangerous weapons are causing serious bodily injury to an officer. it says approximately 10 individuals have been arrested on a series of charges related to assaulting a member of the media. 640 charged with entering or remaining in a restricted federal building. 275 charged with obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding. 40 charged with conspiracy, on a variety of churches. with sentencing, approximately seven federal defendants with cases adjudicated or received sentences for criminal activity. 31 sent for incarceration, 18

sentence to home detention. the fbi -- the justice department keeps a running tally when it comes to the investigation of january 6. justice.gov is the website. john, republican line, in pennsylvania. caller: i was wondering if we are going to remember this august when joe biden botched afghanistan and 13 service people died, and then they droned a bunch of kids and killed them and never went to jail for that. i am wondering why this is a big thing we will have every year. you have c-span or cnn over there camped out in front of the thing, making a big deal out of it. host: why do you think it is not a big deal? caller: because all it was was a riot. that is all it was. and you guys did not care about eight months with a bunch of white people or bunch of white people with a bunch of black

people burning businesses down. did not care about that because it was a protest. how is this an insurrection? host: why is it a riot and not an insurrection? caller: you tell me. you are calling it an insurrection. host: i said no such thing, sir. you did. caller: is c-span going to have a big anniversary this august of one joe biden, you know, let's go, brandon? host: what makes it a riot and not an insurrection? caller: because of the guns. nancy pelosi was worried about her constituency after that black guy shot ashli babbitt. host: he talks about the black lives matter, the "new york times," they make some comparisons, saying that about 15 million to 26 million people

participated in black lives matter protests across the u.s. in the summer of 2020, and the vast majority were peaceful. or than 17,000 people arrested in connection with the racial justice protest. out of 2600 arrests, 582, 22% charged with crimes related to violence or threats of violence. about 4400 committed a violent crime, assuming the same crime rate among the arresting population. officials have estimated up to 10 thousand people entering the capitol grounds out of more than 729 arrested so far, about a quarter have been charged with crimes related to the violence. at least one in 56 committed a violent crime. that is the analysis from the "new york times." this is angela in virginia, republican line. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. this is pure corruption to have

this anniversary of the insurrection that you will know was not an insurrection. like the guy tried to explain, it was nothing more than a riot. and for you to read off of what those corrupt newspapers have to say about mostly peaceful, give me a break. and what about in washington, d.c., i think it was july, when the president had to be escorted out, had to be taken out of the white house because of the riots then? and those charges were dropped. this is about something else. host: what makes it a riot and not an insurrection, in your mind? caller: it has nothing to do with it being in my mind. it is a fact, it was a riot. just because you all label it and insurrection does not make it an insurrection. if there were guns and burning

and destroying and people, some of the members dead, and all of that, that would have been an insurrection, and you all know it. this is corruption. and you know, c-span participating in this level of corruption is just extraordinary. host: we are participating in this because the u.s. capitol, which sits behind me, is one of the reasons we exist. coverage of congress and of the federal government, including the events of january 6. we have been doing that for over 40 years now, so it is kind of the focus of what we do, part of what of we focus on today. go to john mcardle. guest: you talked about the attorney general, the report he gave on investigations into the events of january 6. some numbers from that report. elizabeth landers, congressional reporter, with the rep.

those numbers include some 5000 plus subpoenas and search warrant's, the seizure of over 2000 devices, reviewing some 20,000 hours of video footage from that day emma receiving over 300,000 tips from the american public when it comes to those who have been investigated and that they have arrested or they have arrested and charged some 725 defendants. that is the justice department on the policing side. on the security side, particularly on capitol hill, the capitol police getting plenty of scrutiny and issuing a report this past week on security upgrades at the capitol in the past year. they released this to members of congress and the public, talking about the various upgrades. some interesting parts of that report, just to read through a few, one of them is the new gear and response material to riots

in the future. the capitol police saying they have obtained new hard riot gear, including ballistic helmets, high-impact and splash droplet eye protection, fire retardant suits, respiratory -- respirators with voice protection, impact protective gloves, portable decontamination kegs, and expanded oxygen supply kids. and they increased equipment orders to include new shields of various sizes to be at various locations throughout the capitol grounds. more long-range acoustical devices, launchers for crowd control devices. a dedicated response vehicle, electronic control devices, and a new pepper balls system, all to respond to crowds. that from the report on the quitman side in the past 12

months. on the person -- that from the report on the equipment side in the past 12 months. on the personnel side, the capitol police note a lot of changes in staffing. some 136 officers have either retired or voluntarily left the department in the past year, and the report notes this is in addition to the 175 officers on some form of approved leave, to include family and medical leave, in association with the events of january 6. they say this has contributed to the shortfall of 447 officers, the staffing shortfall that they say is the biggest challenge facing the u.s. capitol police department right now. that from the official security report. some criticism of the capitol police in the wake of that report. this from a fox news member on

twitter, his wrap up of what is happening on capitol hill, saying it -- fox is told that house republican leadership is not buying the assessments made by the capitol police chief, that the force has made significant improvements since the riot last year. he went on to say that when gop source says it is difficult to reconcile what manger is saying publicly on security upgrades and it flies in the face of the inspector general republicans note that the capitol police have not implemented some 64 out of 104 security recommendations made over the past year. it was suggested that the inspector general or the capitol police chief is not being truthful. rarely as fox ever seen senior members of staff question the veracity of information coming from any chief of the capitol

police department. that is chad pergram's assessment of that report. host: a call from st. paul, minnesota, independent line. caller: thank you, and thanks for your patience in handling calls. a slightly different slant leading up to january 6. first, i think anybody who invented the capitol on that day should be brought to justice, and i encourage your listeners to listen to the attorney general's comments that played before the program started. my perspective is part of what led to this issue goes back to the summer of 2020, when there were so many cities under fire with rioting and looting and damage and things like that.

and there was no congressional hearing looking into why so many federal institutions were attacked, statues, buildings, land, up in seattle where citizens took over public property. and at the dnc convention in 2020, there was no mention to a great degree of how we cannot have our cities under fire. there was not a mention by then candidate biden on that. they still had no right to go into the capitol. host: why do you think those events are of equal weight to what happened at the capitol? caller: i think were -- i think there were two events at the capitol, interrupting the traditional transfer of power is

unacceptable. however, the actual rioting and looting needs to be handled in the same way. if that makes any sense. yes, i agree with you that the january 6 was major because it was disrupting our democratic process. but we cannot allow damage to federal, state, local property throughout the nation and then still not have equal investigations into why those things happened. just a different thought. host: ok, not necessarily agreeing with me, just wanted to clarify, wanted to get a sense of how you came to that. caller: actually, three things. some are 2020, the rioting on the capitol grounds, then the description of -- disruption of the democratic process, which is what i'm most concerned about. thank you. host: rachel, dayton, ohio,

democrats line. caller: good morning. how are you? host: fine, thank you your how are you? caller: pretty ok. i am just confused about halle -- how this is being compared, one thing to another. an insurrection is wrong, no matter what. but what i cannot stand is the people that were rioting were doing it from an unjust cause, that donald trump influenced them and that is how this whole shindig, per se, went down. rioting over the past summer, like the previous callers mentioned were, once again, not right, not wrong. but they were talking about how insurrection or rioting, no matter what, you have to also

look at the psychological factor. like all the people that took their lives after this. how many people were affected by this in such a traumatic and negative way, it is mind blowing. host: west virginia, independent line. caller: our people being called -- people calling this insurrection, the media, the politicians, if it is really insurrection instead of a riot, then the biden administration are failing to prosecute for insurrection. nobody is being prosecuted. so why ain't they calling for impeachment of president biden for not enforcing the law? this is getting sick. january of next year, one of the houses will change, and they

will do another investigation. and there will be more informed information come out about this whole thing. right now, you're getting one side from the democrats. election year is this year, and they are going to run this thing into the ground. the media is going to call it insurrection, but nobody is being charged for insurrection, including biden. host: that is david in west virginia on our democrats light -- line. from bethesda, maryland, hello. caller: i just want to make something clear for the people trying to downplay this atrocity, it was a literal attack on our democracy to overthrow a fair election. that is the definition of an insurrection and a terrorist attack. these people tried to use violence to influence politics. that is an issue of terrorism. these people were terrorism's --

terrorists. many of these people were part of neo-nazi white supremacist groups and through the confederate flag and other white supremacist iconography. as they were asking white police officers to join them, they were throwing flares at black police officers. and conspiracy theories, many are so familiar, this was a white supremacist attack to overthrow democracy, and we have seen it so many times before. host: you would characterize that with all the people in the group? everybody who participated that day? caller: most, and many use these conspiracy theories as dog whistles. they use the illuminati new world order deep state.

host: host: how do you conclude that for certain? caller: they have been doing that for generations? host: but in this case, how do you conclude that for certain? caller: conclude that for certain, well -- host: since you made the assertion, how do you conclude that? caller: there's so much there. there are people who are ignorant about these attacks, about these conspiracy theories, what they really mean. they have been used for generations. i mean, since the medieval era you have seen such conspiracies -- host: ok. caller: conspiracies used to prosecute the jews. host: we will leave it there because of the characterization. that is the first hour.

we have two hours to go. president biden expected to, at the 9:00 hour and the vice president as well. up until then, we will take your calls. (202) 748-8000 free democrats -- four democrats -- for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8002 for independents. here is john mcardle. host: i want to run through again what we will show you and what you will see across c-span today on a very busy day on capitol hill. you mentioned president biden speaking today at the capitol from statuary hall. he's expected to arrive on capitol hill in 45 minutes or so. his remarks, along with the vice president's remarks, will take place from statuary hall.

it is being described as an effort to talk about the "historical significance" of january 6. some excerpts released by the white house. this is some of what the president will say. "what would be a nation that lives in the shadow of lives? we cannot allow ourselves to be the kind of nation. the way forward is to recognize the truth and live by it, saying, this moment, we must decide what nation we will be." that is some of what the president will say at 9:00 a.m. eastern. the president is said to convene. senator klobuchar and majority leader schumer expected to lead their colleagues in floor speeches on the anniversary of january 6 followed by a moment of silence at noon. noon is when the house is set to gaveling today. we are expecting to hear remarks from nancy pelosi.

the house will also observe a moment of silence in remembrance of january 6. other events. at 1:00 p.m. eastern, a panel discussion hosted by nancy pelosi, majority leader schumer, on the legacy of january 6 including historians doris kearns goodwin, john meacham, and the librarian of congress. the goal to "establish and preserve the narrative of january 6." at 2:30 p.m. eastern, events featuring speaker pelosi and 20 other or more speakers -- members of the house talking about their remembrances of january 6. that live at 2:30 here on c-span. the day ends at 5:30 this evening, a candlelit vigil and prayers on the steps on the east front of the capitol. members of congress, speaker nancy pelosi will be there, along with senate majority leader chuck schumer.

that happening at 5:30 eastern today. all these events across the c-span network. you can watch throughout the day. host: we will continue taking your calls. we want to show you some perspective from legislators. this is part of a series of interviews we did last year with members of congress as they recount the events of january 6, one of them democratic congresswoman susan wild. she was in the gallery of congress that day, talking about a moment when she and colleagues were hiding from writers -- rioters. [video clip] >> i was on the phone with my kids, trying to reassure them, as mothers and fathers are want to do -- are wont to do. i said, everything is ok. they said, how can you say everything is ok? we hear broken glass and gunshots and screaming. i did not realize until then how

much they could hear. so we said our i-love-yous. i did not tell them what just happened right before i took out my phone to call them. they had barricaded that last door that was open and the gallery. and that point, my estimate is 25 people might have been left in the gallery,, including some press, and they barricaded that door, said, we cannot let you evacuate right now. there's a new disturbance. that made us panicking, because we had -- that made us panicy, because we had seen our colleagues in the gallery go ahead and exit. all of a sudden, they barricaded that door. we were of thing. i don't remember how long we were in that situation between the time they barricaded the door and the time we got out.

i was told it was something like 20 minutes. it could have been two hours, five minutes. i had no sense of time whatsoever. but i remember, when i got off the phone with my kids, i felt as though my heart was pounding out of my chest and i felt -- i actually was very worried that i was having a heart attack. i've never had a heart attack, but my father had heart attacks. we've got family history so i was kind of worried about -- i was very worried about that. i must've put my hand up to my chest because that photograph of me that was taken shows me lying on my stomach with my hand up to my chest. i don't remember lying on my back but i do remember jason taking my hand and just stroking it and comforting me and telling me i was going to be ok, being a little perplexed that he was reassuring me because i didn't realize i was showing how upset i was. i mean, i remember thinking, how

does he know how stressed out i am? but obviously it was visible to him. and then, i composed myself and it became clear that we were going to be able to exit pretty soon, and jason yelled out to all of us "take your pins off," meeting our congressional pins, which, like most of the women, i was wearing on my necklace, took it off, put it in my pocket. we proceeded to crouch and leave the gallery through that open door and go through the hallways to back stairwells i never knew existed and down multiple flights of stairs until we finally got to the safe room, and that was kind of the journey, and in the process, as we were walking/running to the safe room, i forgot to call my kids to tell them i was out of the gallery.

it was not until i got into the safe room and i sat down and my phone started vibrating at it was my son saying, where are you, where -- are you ok? i heard later that they had been watching the thing on television and knew more than i did about what had been going on. host: more of those interviews available on c-span.org. let's hear from rudy in douglas, georgia. independent line. caller: hello, pedro. i am 70 years old and i'm a pastor. i was always come over the years, i heard president nixon talk about law & order, president ronald reagan talking about law and order, and i marched in the 1960's. and we were always told that we had to obey the law or suffer the consequences. and i never thought in my lifetime i would see anything like this in america, and see

our politicians quiet, pretending that it did not exist. that is the part, i guess, that is so perplexing to me. the -- in this country are quiet. we teach the biblical principle of turning the other cheek to our parishioners. when they cut the year out the soldier and jesus put the ear back on his body. yet so many are pretending that what we are seeing with our own eyes did not happen. host: as a pastor, then, since you said you are clergy and clergy was silent, what message were you delivering to your parishioners? caller: the biblical principle of turning the other cheek, loving thy enemy, forgiveness and patience as biblical

principles that we preach from the bible and yet the even jell-o goals and pastors are somewhat -- the even jell-o gold -- the evangelicals and pastors are somewhat silent on this. host: how did you draw that conclusion? caller: because you don't hear those national evangelicals who are always at the white house with donald trump saying this is wrong. some of those same white pastors condemned collin cabernet for kneeling in the national anthem but said nothing about this situation publicly. host: from tony from bedford, texas, republican line, you are next. caller: hey, pedro. as you know, i love c-span. i wish i could get it in hd. i will keep my ears and eyes open for some republicans, not

freedom caucus republicans today, that say something to make a little bit of sense, because we used to have some pretty good republicans down here in texas. i'm specifically looking for cornyn to say something. i like cornyn. host: what do you think legislators should say today, particularly john cornyn, you mentioned? caller: well, there is no fall selection and that was an insurrection -- no false election and that was an insurrection and this because you do not like the results of an election does not mean you try to overturn the government. you do not put congressmen's lives at risk and try to hang the vice president, you know? for me as a republican down here, you know, if i don't hear that, then i will do what i did last election, i am voting blue.

host: ok. caller: until i find someone who makes sense. kim will heard come back -- can will hurd come back? host: next caller on our democrats line. caller: i want to bring it back to basics, just basic goodness and non-goodness. when i turned on the tv on january 6, i heard this mom chanting "hang mike pence," and i said to my husband, why do they want to hang mike pence? i did not vote for him but i don't want to hang mike pence. then i heard men in the hallways and they were hunting. they were going nancy, nancy, nancy. they were going to harm a 70-year-old woman for god's sake. i will take it back to right and wrong. look at it and you can see what is right and what is wrong.

that is my comment. host: john is next from fort dodge, iowa, republican line. caller: good morning, pedro. i watched trump give his morning speech on january 6. i followed everything that transpired that day. and i was sickened that there were members of the conservative republicans in this country that would do something like they did, and i thought that what they did was going to be bad for all of the republicans in this country, and i think they should get what they deserve, but going forward from that, i think we are missing a big point in all of this, and that starts in 2012 with lois lerner denying all the money from the 2012 presidential election from the tea party. and her taking the fifth amendment. we never got to the bottom of

what took place in the 2012 election. fast-forward to 2016, we got hillary clinton going russia, russia, russia. john durham comes out now and says that was all fake. fast forward to 2012 -- sorry, 2020, we have attorney generals and governors in a bunch of our states not following the constitution and having the legislatures in those states approve the changes to our election procedures and now we are here where we are today. host: let me ask you this, john. you say you follow the events closely. do you think president trump played a role last year? caller: i think that donald trump made a speech and asked people to go to the white house -- sorry, the congressional

building, to stand in front of it and say, we are here, we don't approve of this. there were people in that group, like i said, that sickened me. i don't believe they are true conservatives or republicans at all, because if they were, they would have stood outside and never did what they did. host: you don't think the president's speech incited the crowd? caller: i do not. he incited them to go stand outside that building and stand there and be noticed. i don't think he ever said anything to those people about going in and breaking up a building and throwing things like that, but going back to my point, there's no -- there's one word behind all three incidents we have had in federal elections since 2012 and it is all tied to the democrats that are sitting in washington. they did it with kavanaugh --

host: you have made those points, so we will go to eve in st. george, utah, independent. hi. good morning. caller: [indiscernible] host: go ahead. you are on. caller: thank you. i want to make a couple of points. we just need to get back to the basics. i agree with the earlier caller who said something similar, just basic honesty and our democracy and just having festus across the board no matter what letters -- having justice across the board no matter what letters behind your name, and we are not seeing that. and everybody should be concerned when you have a president who is not validated, so with regard to this

so-called insurrection, i don't agree with any violence. however, i think people want to be heard and they did not feel like their vote was counted. now, i am not an attorney, and i don't know a lot of particulars, the evidence that people wanted to present, but they were not heard so, you know, the media, the social outlets, people are just not feeling heard, so i think we just need to get back to the basics of having justice blind and fair elections, people's votes counted. they want to know that their vote is counted. and when they stand up and want to be heard and have peaceful

protests, you know, if there's violence, then people that are breaking the laws should go to jail or be prosecuted equally. host: ok. let's hear from marshall in florida, republican line. caller: good morning. on january 6, i don't agree exactly with what happened, but when they stormed the capitol and went in and created havoc, ok, yes, they should be punished if they did, you know, what they were accused of doing, but i don't think they should spend it in solitary confinement. the families should be able to see them. also, they are being punished. why isn't -- when all the buildings were being burned, and the looting and the killing and

stuff, why wasn't them, the people that did all that back when they had all them riots and stuff, why weren't they convicted? how come nothing is being done about that, but yet, on the capitol, they are putting them in solitary confinement and stuff? get all the burning, killing and looting that they did -- yet all the burning, killing and looting that they did, i don't understand why the law was not upheld then? is it black limes man or? --lives matter? host: ok. back to john mcardle. >> on the last caller's point, some still awaiting trials surrounding january 6, it was a congressman who earlier this week spoke up for what you call the political prisoners being held in d.c. jails, sending a

letter to the chairman of the house judiciary committee demanding hearings on the treatment of the january 6 defendants being held at the d.c. department of corrections. andy biggs, the republican from arizona, judiciary committee member, former member of the freedom caucus, saying there is no excuse for these conditions. breitbart got a copy of the letter. here's a bit of what he wrote to the chairman of the judiciary committee, saying "the defendants are being held in solitary confinement for extended periods of time and there are numerous credible reports that they are being denied access to legal counsel. they are being denied medical care, including one defendant denied treatment for non-hodgkin's lymphoma. this is an abuse of power and a clear violation of their civil-rights." he noted in that letter that groups like the aclu have been concerned about the treatment of these individuals.

that one perspective from andy biggs on those who came to capitol hill that i. another perspective from the democratic group that launched a six-figure ad >> -- figure ad-buy tying president trump to the insurrection, the group, priorities usa action, announcing they had produced a pair of ads to run in battleground states, with the intention of targeting voters who are consuming less political news since donald trump left office. here is one of those. [video clip] >> we have to use republicans to take care of the fraud. >> last time was a test run. donald trump is putting people in place now to dictate the outcome of the next election in congress and in states around the country. we stopped him once. >> donald trump will be denied a second term. >> we need to show up, speak

out, because every vote we take this november is a vote against trump. host: this anniversary day of january 6 takes place, you can join us on the phone. (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, independents, (202) 748-8002, and text us and (202) 748-8003. paul texting us, saying "there's inconsistency in the reporting of how many people died in the attack. i have not seen a similar tally for the george floyd related summer events, including deaths by suicide and later related medical events. could someone point me to a source?" and rich on twitter, "if president trump did not delight in the violence that day, why did he congratulate them for fighting for him before finally asking them to stop?" another person texted us this

morning, did not include a name or state, saying in response to the caller that said the attack was planned, "i agree. they came armed with gear. they knew what was expected. they were supposed to get the balance. merrick garland most find those at the top -- garland must find those at the top." put your name and city or state if you can. you can text us, post on social media, call us as well. on the line from brooklyn, new york, this is omar. hello. caller: good morning. i'm a person that likes to compare and contrast. i like to compare it with a previous insurrection that happened. race riots. why did that happen?

people were upset about black people earning their living. the insurrection before that was in wilmington, north carolina in 1893. that killed multiple black people. the previous insurrection before that, the draft riots of new york city in 1863. that was another insurrection that happened. why? the irish were mad about having to go and be drafted into -- host: how do all those things relate specifically to january 6? caller: i will point out the common denominator in all those insurrections. all those have the common denominator of white people being upset about something, whatever it is. it doesn't even matter. the whole point of it as white people get upset and start killing people, damaging things.

host: is that not a generalization to make to the specific event of january 6 compared to everything else you have cited? caller: what is the insurrection for? the common denominator is white people being upset and -- every single one of those insurrections, in them, they either killed by people, wanted to defame black people and keep them down. the common denominator is that -- the way people like to destroy things, because of what? they want to promote what they want to promote. host: that is omar in brooklyn. this is howard in carmel, indiana, democrats line. caller: none of us wants to

celebrate. this was an awful day -- in our history when the president led and insurrection -- let an insurrection. america is a republic. donald trump tarnished that. he is a domestic enemy. those him who -- those who supported him or her. -- who supported him are domestic enemies. there was no credible evidence -- [indiscernible] i'm not sure why there's not more aggressive action from the ag. i don't know why frump is not in jail. i don't understand. anyone else who has this much evidence showing culpability have been -- culpability would

have been jailed. host: evidence such as what? caller: denigration of the election process. his commentary throughout 2020 was all about this election will not be legitimate unless i win. those are immediately identifiable as a fascist leader trying to gain power. that is obvious to those who studied history and fascism. host: do you think those things are strong enough to garner a conviction? caller: i don't think it stops there. you can continue gathering evidence. that is what happens in other places. i think what trump has done is worse than what people are discussing. he attacked our country.

on a critical constitutional milestone. so that is the issue. i appreciate you taking the comment. i also appreciate you, pedro, coming forward with facts about the difference between the protests in 2020 and the related crimes associated with it and the insurrection. they are different. one final comment is that the protests in 2020 goes back to a proud tradition of protests that should be honored and understood. riding, burning buildings, businesses, is illegal and should never be tolerated. host: that's howard in indiana. let's hear from a republican caller in virginia. caller: thank you for taking my call. c-span is a national treasure. you know, there's a report out on amazon that i wrote and it is

titled inside the fbi's domestic terrorism strategy and this reveals what the problem is that our country is facing. our country is in a cultural revolution. that is why you had the last caller talking about how the protests from 2020 were lawful. if that is the case, then the protests on january 6 were also lawful except for the criminal behavior that took place. i was on the ground on january 6. i did not go into the capitol building. i am a trained human intelligence officer. i saw agitators on the ground. i don't know who these agitators were, but they had an agenda of agitating the ground. this stuff is all over the internet. if you go look, you will find

the agitators in the videos. i condemn absolutely, and everyone i know, condemns absolutely the violent provocation and attacks with the police and the breaking into the capitol building. we all condemn that, but the cause of this is the divisive social media, the divisive politics, and the divisive cultural narratives that are being spewed, like the last caller talking about how it is all donald trump's fault. even ag garland has come out and has said and has admitted that the fbi and the government rate large has lost a lot of confidence with the american people -- government writ large has lost a lot of confidence with the american people, and that is what is stoking the unrest both on the left and on the right. host: ok. let's go to miriam in dover,

ohio, democrats line. hi. caller: thank you. i just wanted to tell everyone that i am from ohio but i have been to washington, d.c. multiple times in my life. looking at these pictures of these fences all around the capitol, you have no idea how awful that day was, worse than 9/11, and i want to say thank you to the capitol police. they are kind, helpful, do their job. they are not, like, people carrying these guns -- they are not that way. they are not violent. it is awful with these people have done to our capitol. they all need to go back to school and learn what they have before it is gone. and thank you and have a happy new year. host: miriam in ohio. as we recount your thoughts and calls on january 6, as we

continue to do so, the president is expected to speak in the next half hour on january 6. we have shown you interviews with members of congress as they recount that day. one of them, republican congressman rodney davis. [video clip] >> i had already seen the outer perimeter being breached on the screens in an office, so i was on the floor when they were leaving, and just minutes later, that is when all the doors were shut. we received footage of the senate being breached, so everyone was on pretty high alert. i was talking to new members, helping them to open up the hood that i had never -- the hoods that i had never touched before in my eight years in congress, figuring out how to possibly put them on, which i had never had to do. at the same time, there were a lot of freshmen there that i had gotten to known during

orientation. this was their first real experience as a member of congress. we were talking to them and some colleagues about what we could do to stop this. >> what were those conversations like? tell us about them. >> i remember a conversation i had with marjorie taylor greene. she was a freshman, very active during orientation, and she was upset. she said, what can i do? i said, how about you go back in the cloakroom and get on social media and tell them to stop? she did that. that is one example of the conversations we had before we were evacuated off the floor. host: members of congress we talked to in those interviews. if you want those, c-span.org is how you do that. alan texting us, "people who

won't accept the results of an election are like the fans of a sports team who will not acknowledge that they have been beat." tim from ohio saying "the past hour shows how divided we are as a country." let's hear from jan in yorktown, virginia, independent line. caller: good morning, pedro, and thank you for this opportunity to speak. as a retired navy nurse in vietnam and desert storm, i was shocked by what we saw at the capitol as the peaceful transfer of power was occurring inside. as soon as people breached the first line, they were traitors. anyone who encouraged them, trump, anybody in the gop or on the left to encourage this, are traitors.

if you continue to support from, you are a traitor to this country. so get over yourselves. stand together. we are a democracy. host: here is john mcardle. >> you had conversations this morning with viewers about what to call the events of last year -- insurrection, ryan -- there's a column in the wall street journal today to that effect by jeffrey scott schapiro, former assistant for the district of columbia in the bush administration. the headline, "stop calling january 6 an insurrection." this is a bit of what he writes in that column. "the events of january 6 are misunderstood and the failure to correct the record could be damaging to america's future and justice system. many crimes undoubtedly took place at the capitol. demonstrators rioted, destroyed properly and engaged in violence. many are guilty of violating a

crime that involves an offense against the united states or defrauding the united states, and with underlying charges of civil disorder, disorderly conduct, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, destruction of government property, and obstruction of an official proceeding. these are important charges, but no one is charged with insurrection under the u.s. code, because it is a legal term. no one would dare label negligent homicide as murder because they are distinct crimes. the media has no moral or legal basis to do otherwise." he goes into the dictionary definition of insurrection. that is in today's wall street journal. events today on capitol hill.

nancy pelosi the speaker of the house, and chuck schumer, senate majority leader, will speak at events. mitch mcconnell, his statement just being released to today, saying january 6 was a dark day for congress and our country. the u.s. capitol was stormed by criminals who brutalized police and used force to try to stop congress from doing its job. this disgraceful seam was antithetical to the rule of law. when your later -- one year later, the senator says, i am as grateful as ever for the u.s. capitol police. i continue to support justice for those who broke the law. as i said yesterday, it has been stunning to see some washington democrats trying to exploit this anniversary to advance partisan goals that predated this event. it is jaw-dropping to hear some senate democrats invoke the

mob's attempt to discard our norms, rules and institutions to justify discarding our norms, rules and institutions. we stood strong, gaveled back in and did our job. senators should not try to exploit this anniversary to damage this country in a different way from within. that was mitch mcconnell's statement. he is expected to be in atlanta for the funeral of johnny isakson, a close friend of his. several members of the senate expected to attend that funeral today. host: just a short amount of time from now, around 9:00, in what is known as statuary hall, president biden expected to make remarks about the events of january 6. we will bring them to you live when the president speaks. until then, we will take your

calls on this anniversary. connie in illinois, republican line, you are next. caller: good morning, pedro. i want to see how smart americans are. two or three weeks before the march to the capitol, donald trump asked for 300-some national guard to be dispensed for the fifth and the sixth at the capitol. nancy pelosi said that's not necessary. then in comes donald trump and says, we are marching to the capitol, peacefully, and let our voices be heard. did i ever hear that from martin luther king jr.?

and there were fbi scattered into the crowd that went into the white house that was out on the steps. who does this belong to? nancy pelosi. host: how do you make that assertion? caller: it was a set up. they all knew -- host: but how do you make that assertion? caller: they had all the information that they needed to know insurrectionists were coming in, the disruptors, and she said no, let them come. host: ok. that's connie in illinois. several fact-check pieces that came out over the course of the year. this one came out december 16 of

2021. i will show you some headlines today. comments from president trump's family that he repeated the false claim that speaker pelosi rejected requests for national guard ahead of january 6. that's in usa today. next caller. caller: i'm really a republican but more of an independent now. host: i will ask you to call in on the line that best represents you only because we are trying to get people -- people make repeated attempts to get in on the right line. get off the line now and try to call in on the right line and we will put you through. keith in alabama, republican line, good morning. caller: the calls of the -- because of the insurrection

-- the cause of the insurrection, if that is what you want to call it, is chinese billionaires harvesting votes and rigging the election. host: how do you figure? caller: i have seen them harvesting votes in five democratic strongholds. host: who is "they?" caller: jeff zucker bird. --jeff zuckerberg. host: how do you know? caller: i sought on the news. it was all spent in five democratic strongholds. host: and how exactly does that relate to january 6? caller: our president was bought and paid for by the china boys billionaires. host: ok. we will go to andrea in florida,

democrats line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have three quick points. you had a color from brooklyn and another caller -- had a caller from brooklyn and another caller, and i agree with their position that, if there were a lot of people of color that you saw storm the capitol, from the conservative, right wing part of me, this would have been a completely different story that would have gone on and on and on in a loop. host: that is a hypothetical situation. how does that relate to the actual events of january 6? caller: yeah, it is hypothetical. it is hypothetical, but these are the juxtapositions they are doing with the blm riots or the movements or the demonstrations

during the summer, which was a reaction to actual events. actual events. nobody is saying that the burning of buildings or looting was lawful or should have been done, but it is not the same as trying to stop the democratic process. it is completely different. and the reason, the underlying reason, that very few people, or or two people are talking about, the underlying reason is the same as always. trump is a mouthpiece for the white conservative movement regarding the change of color in the country. host: how do you draw all that out of the events around january 6? how do you make that about race? caller: it is what he represents. host: how exactly is that? caller: based on his speeches.

based on his policies, based on the general -- it is all anecdotal, yes, true. i cannot tell you line in verse -- line and verse specifically how it relates. it is general. it is a feeling of the public that supports him. host: ok. we will go to nicholas in allentown, pennsylvania, democrats line. caller: hello. host: you are on. caller: my comment was on referent -- was in reference to donald trump when he was the president and they did the mueller report. at the end of the report, they found him guilty of obstruction of justice on four counts and some other things they found him guilty of, but muller said you cannot prosecute a sitting president.

there is nothing in our constitution saying that. that is a memo that was written up by the department of justice. host: how does that relate to january 6? caller: well, this goes back to what january 6 -- the voting. when donald trump was running for reelection and he did not like the outcome of the election -- he said if he did not win there, be fraud or cheating, and he is the one who used his powers to call the secretary of state of georgia to come up with votes. host: how does that relate to january 6? caller: it relates on him being charged for a crime. this is something that he has done from day one, when he first won the presidency. they constantly cast doubt on our voting system, the

republicans. their own investigations they have done, out in arizona, they cannot find any type of fraud. it is all conspiracy theory with these people. host: ok, nicholas in pennsylvania. let's hear from james in clearwater, florida, republican line. caller: january 6 was not insurrection. there was no plan to storm the capitol. there were no armed trump supporters in d.c. that day. there were only provocatuers supported by the fbi in collaboration with antifa. host: let's start with that. what brings you to that conclusion? caller: there was no plan to storm the capitol. host: exactly, but how would you come to those conclusions? what leads you to those conclusions? caller: because being on the ground on january 6 in a group of trump supporters, it was a peaceful walk to the capitol. host: you don't admit that the

people went into the capitol were trying to stop the electoral count, the process? caller: there were people there to support a rally with the permit -- with a permit, to support mike pence to do a ten-day investigation of the 2020 election. there was no plan to storm the capitol. host: what do you call the people who actually went into the capitol? caller: provocatuers in collaboration with the fbi. host: how do you draw that conclusion? caller: they were the ones with the baseball gear along with the bats. these were the ones stirring up the crowd. otherwise, they were there peacefully in support of the fraudulent 2020 election. host: that's james in clearwater, florida. let's hear from congresswoman madeleine dean.

she was on the balcony of the house chamber ungenerous six. -- chamber on january 6. [video clip] >> there was a strange announcement from the floor, which was, sit down. would everybody please sit down? we complied of course. then, would everybody kneel or prepare to lie on the ground? that was stunning. with that, i started to plan. well, there is this wall in the gallery. maybe i will shove myself behind that wall if there is a concern. i started to move down a few rows, and in fact encouraged another colleague to come with me. and then, with that, they said, would you take out your gas masks? they are under your seat. i had no idea there were gas masks under the seats. that stunned me.

and so we all scrambled and got the gas masks. i don't know if you saw some of the footage of that, but they were triple wrapped, so we were helping one another, kneeling on the ground, trying to protect ourselves, unwrapping these wrappers, and finally readied our gas masks. i remember looking over and veronica escobar was wearing a beautiful white jacket trying to get on her mask. i thought, she looks like to beautifully target, just yelling at her, get down. they say, please put on your gas mask. the rioters have reached the rotunda and tear has been dispensed. all the while, i have to say there is this may be protective mechanism, where you think, maybe, these are all very important protections. they are signaling to us that they will not be necessary here

in chamber. and the moment that i thought that, i heard the banging on the chamber doors, the ramming, sort of baton-like, into the chamber doors. that comment to me, signaled the extraordinary seriousness of it. hearing the banging was the most frightening sound. it made it extremely real. with that, we were told get our masks on, await instruction to go across the top of the gallery and into a safe place. i was terrified. i called my husband. i called my son. i feel bad now that i scared them. >> what were those conversations like with your husband and your son? >> i, my son -- i remember, my son, i could hear his wife on

speakerphone together. host: those interviews on c-span.org. to john mcardle. >> we are expecting the president on capitol hill to arrive in the several minutes. his remarks expected sometime, perhaps a little after 9:00 a.m. eastern. as we await the president's arrival, a couple more tweets, including a couple from the select committee to investigate january 6, noting that, on january 6, 2021, our democracy was at the brink of catastrophe, they write. the american people witnessed a violent attempt to overturn an election that came perilously close to succeeding. they are highlighting some of the events today that threatened the peaceful transfer of power. it is this tweet, at 8:17, president trump spreading misinformation, telling the vice president to intervene.

that's we they highlight from former president trump saying states want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud and never received approval. all mike pence has to do is send them back to the states. do it, mike. president donald trump that morning via twitter. another interesting tweet to highlight from congressman ro khanna this morning. he thanks former top george w. bush political advisor and wall street journal columnist karl rove for putting country first, as he writes, and calling on all of us to have justice and accountability for those who use violence to subvert democracy. that was karl rove on republicans january 6 response ability for her now president biden arriving on capitol hill for those events this morning.

-- responsibility for january 6. now president biden arriving on capitol hill for those events this morning.

>> mr. president, how are you feeling about the day, sir? >> we have never had another day like we had a year ago today. >> do you hold the former president personally responsible? >> [indiscernible]

>> just moments from now, the president of the u.s. expected to take the statuary hall, the view you are seeing on your screen now, to make comments about the anniversary of january 6. you saw him come in from the motorcade with the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi and the

senate majority leader. the vice president also expected to speak. we will show you those comments as they play out without interruption. after that, we will continue on with your calls about this anniversary of january 6. if you are currently on the line, you are welcome to stay on and we will take you when the president's speeches over. you can reach us on twitter, facebook and text and (202) 748-8003. again, just moments for now, expect to hear from the president of the united states. -- moments from now, expect to hear from the president of the united states.

host: again, viewers, you are looking at statutory hall where president biden is expected to make remarks in just a few minutes regarding the event january 6. a number of news outlets saying part of the speech, the president will talk about is placing the blame on january 6 on former president trump. look for those remarks to play out in just a few minutes. the vice president also expected to speak. after the president concludes his remarks, we will continue on with your calls on this anniversary of january.

v.p. harris: fellow americans, good morning. certain dates