more information come on back we will put you on the air, okay? many thanks, ted, we are coming on the 5:00 hour. a reset folks, we've been on there 55 hours and this broke that 1:00. let's pause and get a reset as we move to the top. >> the fox news channel, here in atlanta, georgia, where a major senate race was called in the last hour alone. it is 5:00 in washington, d.c., where it is nearly nightfall after an afternoon of ugly images throughout the capitol building. hello, coverage continues, i am bill hemmer in georgia. one woman has been shot, her condition not known. numerous protesters making their way to the capital, some of them making their way inside the building and eventually the floor of the u.s. senate and the office of the house speaker, nancy pelosi. the president has spoken urging people to go home and go in

peace. president-elect joe biden will be inaugurated two weeks from today calling this a siege and storming of the u.s. capitol. the u.s. reporters on the hill, and our team on standby, dana perino, martha maccallum, bret baier, katie pavlich and donna brazile, good afternoon as the coverage continues from atlanta and washington, d.c., dana i want to start with you. i haven't spoken to you in hours but give us a sense what you heard from the mayor and perhaps what we can expect throughout the evening tonight. >> dana: i think the fact that they are having yet another curfew in washington, d.c., 6:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. is good. hopefully people can stay in their homes and the police, the national guard, the secret service, they all need to be focused on this and people stay home, they can do that. i noticed that reince priebus the first chief of staff to president trump tweeted this "many of these folks are nothing

but domestic terrorists. many are criminal list and troublemakers acting out of patriotism. these final people have no respect for democracy, pure insanity and disgusting." the president encourage people to go home but at the same time, he repeated the claims he made at his rally. really the reasons all of these people came to washington, d.c., and ends at 2:00 hour, jenkins interviewed a man from tampa and they came and told him promised by the president that there was going to be something that happened today that change the outcome of the election and would restore him to the white house for another four years. at that very same time, vice president mike pence was making a decision to uphold this constitutional oath. he was not going to do what the president wanted. i think right after that is when you see this chaos has reince priebus and scolds it domestic terrorism.

my heart breaks for washington, d.c. and i love my fellow citizens. and i want to welcome back together and remember what we are here for and what we stand for in this country. it is about an idea and not just one person. we need to remember that as we go forward the next few days. >> bill: well stated. we have heard that from lawmakers when we came on the air a few hours ago. they were really writing the theme about unity and trying to overcome this, this moment here. we are getting word capitol police evacuating the capitol building and our cruise on the scene talking about teargas and smoke bomb residue in the capitol basement. they describe it as a strong sense. in fact, the capitol building. to martha maccallum, we have been on the air several hours now. the stories advancing to nightfall, clearly interest curfew which should bring semblance of shall we say calm? let's hope, anyway, martha.

>> martha: let's hope so. to dana, i'm reminded of the time i have spent in this building working there as a young intern many years ago. it is a majestic place. it is a place all americans have reverence for. and i just am very struck by the images that we have seen today, images i never thought i would see in my lifetime. it is clear that emotions have run very high throughout the course of this entire year. it has been a very, very difficult year of 2020, but look at this image. it is just absolutely heartbreaking what we have witnessed today on the hill. i know some people are tweeting that they don't know who all of these people are. some of them have different motivations. that is obvious. the people who broke into this building are extremists. they have perpetrated violence against this building.

just as we talked about throughout the course of this year, that is a line that cannot be crossed. we are a nation of peaceful protest. we respect that. we respect the fact people have different, strong bearing feelings and the president told everyone to stay calm and to gon election like one we have never seen in our lifetime. these images today, i don't know where we go from here, to be very honest. i think this is a disturbing day for the country, and i hope it leads to, the shock of it leads us to something better. >> bill: you are right to point out the last 12 months have been in the middle of the pandemic and the amount of violence we have seen a major american cities. seattle, portland, and other places but you don't think about the u.s. capitol building ever. that unfolded before our eyes here and yet to be resolved. these images just keep on going. and it is really tough to take

your eyes off of them because it's in a place that has become so familiar to so many of us americans. this is where democracy takes place. this is where democracy works, we hope. and there you have an individual on the day of the u.s. senate for lack of a better phrase, just should not be there, peri period. let's continue our coverage with bret baier to get more news to figure out what will happen as nightfall in washington. bret, good evening to you as we move tonight in atlanta. >> bret: i'm struck by your comments and the word i heard from most people today is "sad." said this is happening for a country, sad it's happening on capitol hill, but sad that it shouldn't be images in our country. it happens other places around the world. and we comment on it. capitol hill reacts to that around the world, but not here.

so that is why i think these images are so striking. a couple of things to follow up on. the press conference with d.c. secretary the police chief said that the protesters and rioters if you want to call them deployed chemical irritants on the police to gain access to the u.s. capitol will appear that it's pretty interesting that they were going to go into the capitol itself. it started at the mall and the march down the mall. the current, urgent matter is to clear the capitol itself and to make sure they are not other things or people in there. and whether the job that was supposed to be done today of certifying the electors continues tonight, continues and some other building, we don't know. but it is important to continue because remember, in two weeks from today, president-elect joe biden becomes the 46th president of the united states. >> bill: thank you, bret

standby, tammy duckworth from illinois has been patient for us and senator, welcome to the coverage. i'm not sure where you are but give us a sense of where you wht you are seeing today. >> i'm in a secure location for the u.s. capitol with the other united states senators. i was not on the floor when this occurred, but i was actually on my way to the floor to speak. and we had to be moved to a secure location, which i did. and then when they evacuated the floor, the senator secured a location. and the police, right now, they are going out and finding senators around the complex and staff members and bringing them in, bringing them to a secure

location. >> bill: senator it it's a little hard to hear you because of the extra audio in the background and if you could clear that up, that would be great. i don't sense that you ever felt frightened or scared or the threatened? is that a fair read of your reaction? that is a fair read of my reaction. but you know what, i see others serving combat. i just knew we were in good hands of the capitol police. and they were very clear what needed to be done. i knew that i needed to get out of their way so they could do their job. and then they came and caught me after securing the location. it is hard for me to get around. but i'm focusing on the senators. i'm sorry about the noise. >> bill: it's okay, i get it. i appreciate your time, senator. i have one last question for you.

will you be able to leave now? are you on hold for any word as to whether or not the electoral college certification goes forward tonight, or is that completely on hold? >> well, am pushing for the process to keep on going tonigh. i am here for the democracy in the united states but also the entire world. and to secure the democracy on this earth and we need to show that democracy will prevail despite the attempt of the dictators at the white house and the angry mob that formed at the capitol today capitol today. >> bill: senator -- >> we need to continue with the work that needs to be done. speed to thank you tammy duckworth from illinois. rich edson is in the middle what is described as tear gas near the capitol. rich, what is going on there? >> good evening, bill, what you have got now capitol police officers and you come make it

out on the scaffolding there behind us. they are in the neon color and methodically clearing the capitol building. they move down the capitol. you once not too long ago had protesters, demonstrators, the mob leaking into all sorts of areas along that facade. so 100,000 people of there. that has changed significantly the last couple of hours as capitol police officers have been moving slowly to get those people out. you are hearing the flash bangs, the smoke from the teargas, and every once in a while you will see folks come back down here. they have been affected by that teargas. and this has been the scene. we were not able to get anywhere near here where we were a short while ago because there are so many people here. thousands upon thousands of trump supporter's who came all the way down, farther down by the lincoln memorial a mile and

a half here, walked up here and of course, you saw all that happened. a steady stream of folks weaving in this type of fashion. but there are still thousands un thousands of people here and many of the crowd certainly are awfully angry as the police are trying to finish the job of getting everyone away from the exterior of the capitol, bill. >> bill: rich, are they still on the steps, it works is that over now? >> you are seeing some people up on the stairs, and a lot of that is scaffolding. and that scaffolding has to go for what they billed for the inauguration. that scaffolding is what the protesters climbed earlier today. they are still approaching up to the building. but for the most part, the police officer on the west front have managed to get themselves off of that area now and managed to clear up towards the building.

and you are hearing a lot of yelling, shouting, and a lot of people protesting right now. they are angry and they are not happy to be leaving. >> bill: it looks like it's breaking up, keep an eye on that and we will be back in a moment. steve scalise on the telephone from louisiana, can you hear me okay? >> yes, bill, i can. >> bill: give us a read on your situation and your day today. >> well, you know, clearly this is something none of us expect. it is not the way for people to act pure law enforcement, you have to respect law enforcement. there is no place for that. but we are working to get the capitol back open again this evening. and get back to work this evening. that is where the focus is. that is where the military and police are all working to secure the capitol and get it back op open. >> bill: sir, we remember your

history when you were shot on a baseball field a few years back. your recovery has been remarkable, but i don't know what you saw or heard today. what were you thinking? >> well, you know, you surely flash back to some of those moments, but again, today, i saw the best of law enforcement, the capitol police who saved my life. you saw them out there securing and protecting other members of congress from people who were coming in here they were having things thrown at them, projectiles, no place for that and no place for attacking law enforcement. but you see the police what they do for us every day. they keep the capitol safe. and those here that we love. >> bill: are you still in your office, sir? >> i'm with some of the other house and senate leadership. we are working to get things

back in order. >> bill: okay, do you know whether the matter that began earlier today can continue tonight with the electoral college? >> i think it will, and it needs to. we were talking about that come about getting things back on again tonight. and doing her job. but i was in the chamber when it ultimately started to shut down and the reports were pretty clear that there were people overtaking and storming the capitol, storming the doors and. >> bill: you said i think it will. is that spoken with the level of confidence that we will see sometime later the sea evening coming back to the house chamber? >> i'm confident that we will, yeah. >> bill: well met, steve scalise thank you for your time. best of luck to all of you and the men and women on the hill,

thank you, sir. >> god bless our men and women in law enforcement. >> bill: mike tobin outside of the capitol building. where have you moved to now? >> now i've moved to the west side because i'm telling you the east side of the capitol, the number of people out there have drawn down, frankly they have drawn down all day, drawn down before the president released his announcement telling people to go home come in part because it is cold and because some people got inside the capitol and did what they wanted to do. the numbers have drawn down. it is fairly empty. what i can tell you, we went up the stairs and you do have broken windows. it appears on the south east entrance of the capitol stairs, it looks like bullet scores on the of that window come around dance and bulletproof glass. we will have to see what's going on with that. as far as the west side come after 4:00 we started to smell the teargas on the southeast side of the capitol.

and that is after seeing a lot of law enforcement streaming into the building itself. most of the activity now in terms of flash bangs, smelling the teargas, seeing the teargas flash, that is all over here on the west side facing the washington monument. as you look up there, all of the upper rows of the balcony, you see the neon yellow jackets of the metro police. so that is really couldn't domain controlled by the metro police and everything on the lawn appears to be the demonstrators. some of them are leaving and some are very determined to continue this stand. some of them are calling it a revolution although they cannot articulate what they want as far as a revolution. the most articulate point to ever make is a third party. so we are watching this develop and frankly, wondering how long it will go before the capitol police decide where if they will decide to move people off of the lawn, bill. >> bill: thank you, mike, back

to you in a moment. katie pavlich joins the coverage here. katie, the comment from steve's steve scalise is revealing. he said i think it will. i am confident that it will, meaning the house and the senate will come back this evening and continue what they started, which is the pursuit of the electoral college that begins january 6th, 2021. that would be a statement on behalf of lawmakers to say that they are moving forward among other things, katie. >> katie: and that they intend to carry out their duty to preserve the republic, despite this mob of eyelet agitators coming into the capitol today. one of the things earlier today as we heard from congressman michael wall, as long as americans are not shooting at each other, we are in a good place. of course, he served overseas united states army in afghanistan.

then a couple of hours later, he called in to the show and was getting escorted away. the capitol was being overrun. we started the day at 1:00. lawmakers, republicans agreeing on whether they should object or certify the electoral votes. but they were doing it through their first amendment rights through debate on the floor of the senate and in the house. we are ending now, going into the darkness with lawmakers having to come back into the capitol after it was cleared out after a woman had been shot and is in critical condition. we have to get back to the idea of discussing issues and have been debate over it. it cannot devolve into this kind of behavior as we have seen, not just today, but over the course of the past couple of years inside of the cities and now in washington, d.c. that is the only way that we will be able to move forward is to get back to discussion and

debate about these issues through a constitutional process rather than deploying this kind of behavior for anybody on any side of the political aisle. >> bill: thank you, katie, katie pavlich with us here. adam joins the discussion republican from illinois, air national guard, can you hear me? >> i can hear you. >> bill: i don't know if you were on earlier about steve schooley said you will come back to work tonight. our u.s. confidence as he is? >> i don't know, i think that i will say this, i respect katie, but the comment about ultimately, we need to get back to debating the real issues. this is a real issue, bill. the president lost an election. all of the conspiracies about it were unproven. a lot of leaders that consents people, somehow congress can magically change the outcome of an election and didn't stand up.

as a result, you had people stormed the capitol that literally belief somehow they were on a righteous coup. we need leaders to finally stand up, tell people the truth, regardless of whether they will say it. >> bill: thank you, sir, adam kinsley, come back in a moment, okay? it is nightfall, the u.s. capitol building watching the aerial shots with the sirens in the background. you can see the capitol police there moving there way up and down on the capitol side with the reflective vests on. here is the aerial shot from fox washington, d.c. dana perino, the comment you made about 30 minutes ago struck me. you said, "this is a building you love, and paraphrasing now, it pains you to see what we have watched today." >> dana: in 1995, martha said she was a young intern there.

but 1995 i had my first job as a graduate student and assigned to answer the phones but not even answer the question. one of my jobs was to give tours of the capitalist constituents that came to visit from the home state of colorado. so i got to know the capitol very, very well. all the things chad pergram has been telling us today brings back wonderful memories. then when i returned to washington and worked at the white house come i lived on capitol hill in everyday when i went for a walk, we would go, of course, down pennsylvania avenue, east avenue and see the capitol. and i always promised myself after 9/11 that every single time that i saw the capitol building, i would say a prayer of gratitude that it was there for a spear that it was there as a symbol for all that we can accomplish together and we can debate the issues and debate loudly, but then of course donna brazile who is also

on the panel worked on the hill as well. it is where i made so many good friends. i really did, friends i still talk to every single day that helped me think things through and work things out. friends that have been with me my entire life. so i do have a tremendous fondness for the building and all that it stands for. i appreciate the capitol police. something you were talking about earlier, i do not understand how they prepare for this protest. >> bill: i agree. >> dana: they were completely prepared for with national guard set up ready to deal with this. remember the blm protest, they were ready. how they were not ready for this is really, really unfortunate because people that got in there and broke in and took advantage or vandalized as reince priebus said, there is not a legal definition yet, but domestic terrorism is a crime.

>> bill: dana come as you are speaking all the tour groups that come all over the country in washington, d.c., number one on the tourist side. they go to the capitol building and it becomes indelible and how we learned about our government, how we were founded, how we proceed. perhaps we proceed this evening. it would be quite a moment if steve scalise is right and they fill up the house and the senate chamber before they call it a day. >> dana: i think they should. i really think they should. >> bill: i guess the question then would be, can you secure the capitol? can you get in and out and on the senate side, the health side and all the nooks and crannies through the capitol building. okay, all good and bring you back inside. if they can do that and if steve scalise is right with the level of confidence, yeah, we

could see them throughout the program this evening. donna, your name was invoked and dana was pulling out of memory for a moment, go for it. >> like dana and martha i came to washington, d.c., and i will tell my age in 1991 the young intern in the state of louisiana. i have the greatest honor to be in the building. that building represents so much. i remember the nights i would walk from the house side through the tunnels all the way to the senate side because my apartment was two blocks away. what a great honor. and one of the things i constantly do is tell my friends to let their daughters and sons come to learn about our government from the united states capitol. yes, the capitol police can secure a perimeter. yes, they can secure the inside and the outside of the capitol. i would hope they could return to work. but i must say and katie alluded to it and others, we've got to figure out what happened. they stormed the united states

capitol building. we watched it. i was sitting here thinking about how many -- >> bill: donna, they weren't stopped. right, how many marches, how many protests could washington, d.c., -- no, donna hang on. on an annual basis, they are scheduled. you have to have a permit. you are not allowed to go there unless you have the qualifications. so the authorities know if you are on your way, so what in the world happened here? >> donna: and on a night before a big event, you have to leave the perimeter, you have to sweep it, and you cannot go on the capitol grounds. i am astonished by what happened today. and i'm astonished that the mayor of the district of columbia could not get the national guard out sooner. yes, maryland and virginia officials are providing assistance to us in the district of columbia to protect the

taxpaying residents. we are american taxpayers. when they finish in arizona, they will get to d.c. electoral votes. i am astonished. i watched as the blm protesters came to washington, d.c. i saw many streets called off and i saw the police in full uniform spirit what did i see today? nothing. there needs to be answers. i hope we get to those answers. >> bill: you are right, donna, it doesn't make sense. >> donna: at all. >> bill: i hope you get answers too. chad pergram, they simply did not secure it. we pointed that out 5:30 in the evening and you heard steve scalise confident they will come back to work tonight, what are using from there, chad? >> there's been a comment from hakeem jeffries, from the democratic office and liz cheney of the republican conference who said they need to get control of the building first. we will not allow knob rule to

the rule of law. the capitol needs to be secure. that is the first thing they have to do. now, there is this kind of internal debate that is going on right now because they want to show that democracy is still alive. if they can actually come back into session later tonight once they have secured the building and actually finish the process of certifying the electoral college, even if truncated process, but have done their diligence under the 12th amendment and the account of 1887, they can say we did not let the win mob win today. we fulfilled our constitutional duties. but this place to be cleared absolutely shaken. members are scared, aides are scared appear there is concern there could be people riding through the building. the building has been trashed. you know, also keep in mind if they were to meet, they don't have to meet in the house and senate chambers. at no point do they have to do that. there are other locations at the

p or they don't have to meet in this building, bill. they don't have to finish this process today. they have five days this place is shaken and this will echo for decades and years. as i keep saying it, this is the biggest and most significant, encouraging in the u.s. capitol since the british burned in august 1814. that is how significant today is pure the idea that they were trying to, you know, fulfilled a process under the constitution and certify the electoral votes. the freight came inside. filmore used to be the chief of the capitol police and he always told me the security approach would keep the fight outside. that did not happen today. >> bill: chad, sorry for the interruption, mike tobin has something going on in his location. i see a lot of people leaving, mike. what is happening there right now? >> let me see, let's go this direction of the northwest side of the capitol. there are all the cops in force

pushing the demonstrators back. and out of the way. so they are pushing the demonstrators out. what you also have in the meantime, you can see some of the smoke appear there have been flash bangs going off. there you have the scuffles with the demonstrators and the police. and this is interesting because people are opposed to everything the blm demonstrators did. you have somebody on the ground, there is a fireworks that went off. yet, conflicting with law enforcement year as the police tried to get some order restored at the capitol. i saw some objects getting thrown at the officers on their line. a lot of pushing and shoving. a lot of fighting. everybody has got their phones out. in this line of police in riot gear is pushing them back. pushing them back rather

rapidly. this is happening a lot faster than we usually see at these big demonstrations. instead of someone moving forward slowly and intend to make a lot of -- there is a big conflict going on right in front of you, chris. a lot of pushing and shoving. but they have on heavy riot gear. no shield. they are moving rather rapidly west from the capitol and the direction of washington monume washington monument. move back, move back is the chant you are getting from the police, the metro police with a heavy riot gear on. moving up and over this riser. we have probably moved, i would say 100 yards since the police and the riot gear. we started this movement to clear out the strip of land and

the lawn on the back side or the west side of the capitol. >> bill: okay. can you show us -- where is the capitol from where you were? where is the dome? >> hey, chris, and hang on a second, we are getting knocked around a little bit, bill. hey will you do me a favor and show the capitol and give perspective where we are? >> bill: got it. >> you're looking at the website of the capitol as we took the action, the action on the northwest side of the capitol. the lawn right here is largely left alone. in this section is all happening on one strip to the northwest side of the capitol, bill. >> bill: okay, thank you to you and your crew. you guys take care and back in a moment. rich edson is near you, rich, what's going on where you are?

rich, if you can hear me, we are live on the era. what is your location? >> this is where they are clearing us out of the capitol building. what you had to come on mike described is happening here appear the capitol hill police department and metropolitan police department right here have just swept the capitol. they are still sweeping the capitol, marching down about 75-100 yards and now here where we are, this is where they have pushed hundreds and hundreds of these folks all the way down into here. and take a look if you want to go pam the crowd this way. this is everything that we have got right here. the crowd, i mean, i tell you they move quick, real quick. they moved around and all of a sudden, moved people down the ramp, up the steps, down the

steps and here we are in front of the capitol. they are moving these bicycle racks in front. thousands and thousands of mpd, metro police department, d.c. city police department here in riot gear appeared just to have some people trying to sweep through on the other side of this. they are not out yet. but you have more police officers in several different lines behind trying to push everyone off of the capitol grounds. it was just a couple of hours ago that people were all the way up into the capitol building come up onto the scaffolding here. but they have been swept, most of the people have been pushed off of the ground, but there is a lot of anger, a lot of vitriol here, bill, as the police department has swept these folks out of here and is moving people off the grounds of the capitol, bill. >> bill: is there any way to know with those people you are with our local, or if they came

in for this event? do you know that, rich? >> i'm sorry, bill? >> bill: do you know where they are from, where did they come from? >> hello? >> bill: apologize about that, sorry, the audio. rich, if you are still with us, i'm trying to understand if they flew in last night. there were reports when we were in georgia following the election returns about airplanes that were packed coming from different parts of the country, flying into washington, d.c., for this big rally. and i am just trying to understand where these people -- are they local, did they drive or fly in for this event? did you get that, rich? >> sorry that i cut out earlier about all points of entry in washington. to be paid people from oregon, taxes, people made the drive up from texas, make the drive up from florida, taken the train in, washington union station.

we were out here earlier, the airports were busy, the train stations were busy, the metro lines were busy, and the roads were busy. so you got people across the country and the region to come here for this, bill. >> bill: okay, rich, standby. i want to bring in juan williams for the discussion. i keep coming back to steve scalise's comment thinking they will go back to work tonight. i followed up and he said i'm confident. something tells me, that they knew the police action was coming that has been developing in front of mike tobin and rich edson's camera. >> right. i think we had focused on the police action. we can see now the difference that the reinforcement have began to make. the push back. the question is whether or not, and i think you were suggesting this earlier, bill, you can, in fact, protect the entryways and keep the entryways from being penetrated by this mob.

and i'm not sure that they have it at that point of control yet. we have seen a lot of attention to the lack of preparedness on the part of the capitol police, but you know, i just want to be very clear with everyone watching and listening that the people who have the responsibility here, the people who are the ones who set the fire are the people and this mob. there is no getting away from it. on social media, there are pictures of these people going into senator mitch mcconnell's office, taking down the american flag and holding up the trump flag. there is no getting away from the fact that the president spoke to this very crowd and then they went marching down, constitutional avenue to the capitol. we have to be honest about this and try to understand what is taking place. even as we are watching these very troubling pictures, i think to myself, the president needs

to be more emphatic and direct. what he said earlier struck me as tepid. it was a little bit like fining people and both sides of charlottesville. he has to be very clear this is unacceptable behavior. you cannot have a coup. you cannot have an act of this in the nation's capitol in 2021 and sit by. he is the leader. and i think this is doing damage to him in damage to the republican party. but as an america, it is doing damage to the american people. i think when you understand this and we talk about going back and this evening, people like josh hawley, ted cruz, and others who will object to the rule of law, the electors comi coming, determine and chosen by the state to elect joe biden as president, i think maybe they have to reconsider how they act if they do go back into session. maybe this is a warning. this is not just a matter of

political here, but this has real consequences and damages been done to us as american people. joe biden said earlier of the words of the present matter. they can inspire or incite and clearly have incited. >> bill: i lost you for a moment, but i heard the point you were making. thank you for that. i'm just looking at the alerts from reuters. u.s. officials say the u.s. capitol building is now secure. if that is the case, then steve scalise nailed it. if that is the case 6:00 in the evening in washington, we could very likely see the lawmakers come back and continue to process what they started 1:00 this afternoon. an extraordinary five and a half hours. katie pavlich, what you make of what you are seeing? >> katie: i'm glad to hear the capitol is secure appear the lawmakers can safely make it

back to engage in their constitutional duty to debate and approve the electoral college. i still haven't heard where vice president mike pence may be. of course he would have to go back tonight as well with the lawmakers to oversee this process. but when it comes how to move forward, it will be interesting to see if the lawmakers who are going to object on the floor to the seemingly electors and county votes come if they will continue to do that or if the process will be pushed along in a speedier fashion then we were planning on before. but just looking at these images, bill, the capitalism plays all americans want to come and visit. washington, d.c., as they always say, belongs to all americans. when they watch this and look at the events over the past year in the city, washington uc has been really cut off to the vast majority of the american people. one, because of the pandemic but two, free to come with their families. that is really a shame. i hope we can get to a place

where americans feel safe to visit the capitol again to visit the white house and have accessibility to all of the places that people all over the world look to us to hold so de dear. it is amazing to watch the statements the third world countries telling us that we should probably get it together. they are making statements that our own state department would be making if happening in a foreign country. yet, it is happening here. there is valid debate over election integrity and republicans have made that clear. but what happened with this mob going into the capitol, vandalizing something that belongs to all americans is completely unacceptable. it would be interesting to see if the president comes out either tonight or tomorrow with a stronger statement, which i think is required come up with what happened here. speed to katie, you said earlier go home and go in peace. your point about washington, d.c., and the

condition it is and at least around the white house is very well taken. having been there in the summer time, i was frankly stunned to see the amount of plywood, graffiti and security fencing around the area. i lived in new york and have been there 20 years. i go to washington, d.c., and i look at the place. this is a pristine american town but it was anything but during that summer experience, katie. >> katie: bill, when i came here as a young intern to get my feet on the ground in washington, d.c., going to the capitol, covering joint sessions of congress, foreign leaders to join us in sessions of congress to give speeches to the representatives of the american people, and of course, the american people themselves. then watching what has happened this summer with the way the city has been completely taken over and gripped by this violence and clashing over political position. when it is a place that should be celebrated by all americans.

i heard from a number of people who wanted to bring their kids here to show them what america is all about, to show them where our representatives debate and represent them on capitol hill. to show them where the president lives and the people's house. they have been unable to do that. you can't walk in front of the white house anymore. there is a huge barrier around the front of the white house and an accessible to the public from the outside. i hope that after we get through this day and through the next couple of days that the capitol is not cut off from the american people. because the anthem pedicle to the way we live as americans and the way the system of government is to operate. >> bill: well stated, dana i will bring you back in the conversation. what katie is talking about about rings true. a lot of americans, they have been locked down from traveling because of covid, right? if they have the opportunity to go to d.c. and see the current

situation notwithstanding, the situation around the white house, it is appalling. and you ask yourself, when are you going to clean it up? how long are you going to tolerate it? >> dana: part of it reminds me after 9/11. but it was so interesting to me today, bill, you saw the protesters up the steps of the capitol come i was kind of shocked because i remember after 9/11 that was closed off. for those of us that used to run along the mall to run the monuments for exercise, at the end if you were super ambitious, you would run up the steps of the capitol and take a moment, take it all in and run back down. that was closed off. that was after a major terrorist event. now, domestic terrorism and these riots that d.c. has had to deal with plus the coronavirus situation has made this city seem unrecognizable.

however, it came back after 9/11, slowly people started figuring out how to deal with security in a way that would allow the wonderful visitors not just from america but all over the world who loves washington, d.c. but also most importantly, what america stands for. we will figure out a way to get it back. i'm not suggesting in any way that i'm pollyannaish. i understand the difficulties that we are in it. but america always comes through. and we will get through this and hopefully, there will be punishment for the people who broke laws today. and we will have better protection for the capital and any other building in washington, d.c., when there is a protest of this size with the this kind of emotion behind it so this never, ever happens again. >> bill: we will take the optimism note. thank you, dana. do we still have chad, chad pergram there? the reporting in the capitol is that it is clear and safe.

if it is, maybe we can look at and which add here. that will give us the first indication what will happen. we have him? great. we are hearing reports that the capitol has been considered secure. can you confirm that? >> that is right. that's what they've done the past couple of hours, going through the building to make sure no one in the basement or down in the crib somewhere. this is a big linked underground by multiple tunnels between the house and senate office buildings. there is a lot of real estate to cover appear that kind of coincided with the idea that they are determining that the capitol is safe and that it's been cleared of pushing back these demonstrators away from the building. that is why we are starting to hear from individual members that the house and senate intend to come back into session later tonight. democrats and republicans regardless of where they are on this issue about whether or not they should certify or not certified these electoral votes, they want to make the point that the mob did not win today.

democracy will prevail. that is why they want to come back into session. will they do that in the house and senate chambers because the building has a lot of damage inside. you know, somebody was shot. we just don't know the level of the damage here. they don't have to meet in this building. they don't have to finish the process necessarily tonight. but the house and senate, you talk to a lot of members and they want to come back and finish the process if for no other reason to say, hey, we will not let the mob win tonight, bill. >> bill: chad, thank you for that. i want to bring back ted williams. you see on the screen, the curfew will go in effect 12 or 13 minutes from now. ted, how will they execute this? in th>> it is a good question be it will be rather difficult to put this in place. normally they plan over a period

of time for a curfew. this is one they are just putting in place this afternoon. so what they will try to do is to do what definitively block curfew. which simply meaning, the downtown area of washington, d.c., primarily is the area they are looking to make sure they secure first and foremost. and so then they will spread out. but i think they are trying to give people warning enough to get out of town or to get to the hotels or get off at the streets of washington, d.c. and i think a good indicator that may be, may be successful curfew is the fact they were able to clear so many people away from the capitol within a reasonable period of time. speak to ted ted, did you hear a reporter rich edson describe -- folks came in from all over the

country. he was describing as arriving by car, bus, train, airplane. this was well thought out on behalf of those who wanted to come and show their support for the president. it doesn't seem like it was well-thought-out at all by those who are responsible for keeping the nation's capital safe and secure for visitors from anywhere. >> bill, you are absolutely correct in that representation. it appears to me that the capitol police, people at the capitol personnel, the personal debt keep congressman safe at the capitol, that all of those people unfortunately were caught off guard. you would have thought that they would have planned better for this kind of a scenario. because if you read earlier, there are always demonstrations in this town. this is not the first demonstration we have ever had. so you would have thought that they would have planned better. i would have to believe that

there is going to be a great deal of postmortem of once this is over tonight. >> bill: okay. can you get a sense how long the curfew might go? just looking at this. is this a one night deal? you put it on and think about how things play out. you revisit tomorrow if necessary and may be a one-shot deal, ted. >> i don't think it is a one-shot deal, bill. i think it may very well go all the way up until the weekend. and it's going to be determinative about how many people, how many businesses they can show are still in town. if people are still in town and still doing some sort of demonstration, then the curfew will remain in place. but i suspect that this curfew will remain in place at least through the weekend. >> bill: interesting. just looking at another report.

ted, stand by just one moment. chad is telling us an announcement went out the capitol building on the loudspeaker that everyone must leave the capitol grounds or be subject to arrest. so they are making their moves, ted. we can see that from the reporters and the police line that we are looking at now. >> i suspect that they would come a law-enforcement would take that kind of action. they've got to get control. and so with so many people having left the capitol and people still on the capitol grounds, they want them out of there. they are telling them come either leave and if you don't leave, we will lock you up. they sincerely mean that. they would lock them up. >> bill: ted, thank you. thanks for your input. you know so much about the d.c. operation. ted, come back in a moment when we get more news. statement jim jordan in ohio a

moment ago "americans support peaceful protest, first amendment activity in men and women of law enforcement. what happened today is wrong and is not what america's back don't like about." a shelter in place, mike gallagher, not sure where you are the give us an idea of what you are seeing in what's going on around you right now. welcome. >> thanks for having me. we are kind of hunker down here. i never thought i would see the day barricading doors and the clashes in the united states capitol and not only the vice president being rushed away by secret service and people barricading the house chamber and windows being broken. but somebody getting shot, i mean, this is crazy. the banana republic territory and not the united states of america. we all have to step back from the abyss here. it's got to stop here the president's got to call off his supporters here. the election is over. it sucks.

i supported the president. i campaigned for him, you know them up at this is how the system works in america. i don't minimize the concerns about voter voter fraud and voter irregularity but a version of what florida did in 2,000 to give confidence and integrity in the system but we can't be in the business of people perpetuating that somehow congress will change the results of the election. it's not going to happen. it is not constitutional. a practical matter, the objectors know that will not happen. >> bill: do you think the efforts on behalf of the people like ted cruz who is fighting for this election audit over a period of ten days would help lead to what you're describing? florida figured it out. ohio, texas, they do it pretty well too, sir. >> i think that has to happen at the state level, absolutely. but i think even the objectors recognize that we will not have a bow on this election. we are just floating on the

votes of the states themselves. if anything, i would make it the case that nancy pelosi would be president come january 21st because you prolong the certification of the electoral college. it is not mutually exclusive. i think we should on a state-by-state investigation, that is what i encourage my state colleagues in wisconsin to do. i don't minimize the concerns people have. i disagree that congress has a role in the constitutional system for overwriting the will of the states and by extension the american people. i think the idea that we can somehow have the debate. we have two hours, shed some light on important issues and no cost. indeed the objectors are objecting because they knew they wouldn't overturn the election. now we realize there was a cost, a cost of giving people false hope. so we have to find a way to move forward as a country. fix some of these election concerns, but not consent to going outside of the bounds of the law and the constitution. >> bill: do you expect the

certification to continue tonight, to resume? >> i do and i think it is important for congress to get this done. the house and the senate to come back together for the objectors to stand down, and to go back to the stander don't make prior to this. january 6 and the managerial meeting of congress was a meaningful forum to negate or relitigate an election. we shamed the democrats to make it so in 2017 and 122005. so we should get back together tonight and we should finish the process. and a peaceful transition. >> bill: if your resume tonight that could take several hours and easily bleed into tomorrow, could it not? >> that assumes we go right back to objections and two hours of debate. but i have to imagine that what happened in the last few hours has been sobering for the objectors.

that they will not resume their objection. speak to clear enough time. mike gallagher him a thank you for your time to the republican in wisconsin on the line at the u.s. capitol, dana, he is optimistic another member of congress that wants the process continue tonight. and i would bet at the moment based on all those we have spoken to, that that will be the case especially after getting word and being notified that the capitol building is now considered secure, dana. >> dana: yes, we can be very thankful for that. i was concerned because there were people that had free range of the capitol building. they were going into offices. what if someone was hiding somewhere either because they wanted to do something nefarious or because they were scared. but if the capitol police say it is safe my would believe that. i also think it is important for congress in a bipartisan way to move forward tonight, to

proceed, to not ever let a mob bully you into this action. as long as it is safe, they should move forward, and i think they will. and i also think some of these pictures, bill when the members were shelter in place, holding hands and parading together. maybe we should do that all across america. not just about this incident, but just going forward. 202020 was a very tough year for the country. this election has been fraught with emotion and strife. it was a lot of elation for the 80 million who voted for biden. terrible distress for those who voted for president trump. but again, the country was founded on ideas. it was not founded on one person or one man. and if we get back to our principles, get back to those ideals, remember to pray together and hold each other up.

we will be all right. >> bill: i like that message. thank you, dana. do we have done of one final comment? >> donna: yes. you know, dana. i'm here, i'm here. dana is so right. we are resilient. i was thinking back to the night of 9/11. i lived next door to two guys who worked for tom delay. having worked for get a part in other house democrats, that evening we all came together. we went down to the capitol. here we are just simple americans. we had our candles and started singing every song that we could come up patriotic songs. we are patriotic people. we can come together and i hope that the lawmakers would go back to the chambers tonight and resume their constitutional responsibility to certify the election results that have come from all 50 states and the district of columbia.

tomorrow, we re-examine how we move forward. we are resilient. we are americans. >> bill: thank you, donna. katie i have 15 or 20 seconds or so. >> katie: i look forward to the congressmen and women and the senators taking their rightful place in the capitol tonight and resuming their work on behalf of the american people. and we will see what the outcome of that is. i look forward to seeing vice president mike pence safely back in his rightful position overseeing the counting of the electoral votes. >> bill: it's thanks, y'all. dana perino, thank you katie pavlik, donna brazile, one williams, chris wallace, martha maccallum, bret baier are all the way down the lane. quite a day, quite extraordinary and we thought there would be a lot of heat in washington today but we never expected this. at the same time, john ossoff declared the winner in his race against republican david perdue. that means democrats here in atlanta, georgia, in the state of georgia have gotten 2-0 in

request to take back the senate. as of today, they have accomplished that. this with the backdrop of the president's address, across the white house and we will see whether congress comes back tonight. i am bill hemmer live in atlanta, and bret baier with "special report." we will see you tomorrow. >> we will go back into recess. >> to get down under your chairs if necessary so we have folks entering the rotunda and coming down this way. >> security at the united states capitol has failed. [chanting: usa] >> bret: good evening im