christie right now as well. and chris, we had this reporting from jon karl that president trump was resisting calling in the national guard on the senate floor start to move away from their objections, united in condemning the violence right now. this does seem to have shaken the republican party in a fundamental way. >> well, of course, it's shaken the country, george. and, you know, republicans i know are country men and women, patriots. and nobody who saw this today other than the president of the united states and his most blind supporters could think that this was acceptable, could think that this was something that our country, you know, would ever, ever be willing to put up with. and, you know, i think that the president's conduct today was just simply incredible. and i -- i could just tell you, as someone who has known him for

20 years that today, you know, breached something that i think none of us should have to put up by anybody who is given the honor of an elected leader in this country. and i'm sure we're going to learn more as the days move on here. in terms of what was going on at the white house or not going on, but it all starts with the president's conduct since 2:30 a.m. on the morning after the election, when he announced, as votes were still being counted that the election was a fraud, that it was stolen from him. i said that at the time, that you can't do that, and that's unacceptable, and it's continued now for eight weeks unabated. and so, those people today, who had been lied to consistently by the president, about a fraudulent election, you know, acted out and acted out not just on their own, george, but through his encouragement, you know, if you -- and i did listen carefully to what he said this

morning at that rally, not to mention what don jr. said, what rudy giuliani said, but what the president said, which was, we're not going to protect our freedom by being weak, we have to be strong and it's through strength and encouraged them to march up to capitol hill. that is something that no president of the united states should ever do and i am -- i am just absolutely sickened by what i saw today. >> you know -- you know, chris, you're being very straightforward right there. this also comes on the heels of that phone call to the georgia secretary of state over the weekend where he was basically telling the georgia secretary of state, he said, find the votes, get me the votes. another abuse of power right there. as i was talking with our legal team, i want to pose this to you, as well, there appears to be some open talk now, at least, about the possibility of invoking the 25th amendment. have you heard anything about that? >> i haven't, george, but what i will say is this, that

everybody, you know, all of us who have been in office, me, you, rahm, some of the others that we know, whether it was an elected office or appointed office, took an oath. and that not just is, as you know, for the people who are elected. that is also for people who are appointed. members of the cabinet, members of the senior staff at the white house who are commissioned by the president. you all take an oath. and i think everyone tonight who is in that type of position in the executive branch of government has to examine their conscience and examine for themselves what's the appropriate step for me to take. you saw that the first lady's chief of staff has resigned in response to this. and i think that everyone has to think about what they're going to do to be consistent with the oath they've sworn when they took their office. and there's lots of different options for them to explore and i am sure that there are

responsible members of the cabinet who right now are thinking about, what are their obligations under the cooath th they took and if they're not, they should be, because to have the leader of the united states of america -- and it's not only incite them, george, in his earlier speech, but the video that he put out afterwards, where he said, you know, he loved them. and that, you know, they were good people. well, i'm sure there were good people in that crowd today, george, not the ones that were breaking into the capitol. i'm sure there were people that came to peacefully protest. but i remember this summer that we all tried to make distinctions between those people who came to peacefully protest and support of some of the racial policing issues that we had and those people who were committing violent acts and using it as an excuse to commit violence and loot. i was one of those people that said there's a difference there and we should condemn those

people who commit violence. we didn't hear that from the president today. he was very loud in condemning the people who committed violence this summer, yet today, he lumped all those people into the same category. and they're not in the same category. and he should have been repudiating those who were committing violent acts today and he should be calling on law enforcement to arrest those people and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. and that's another place where he's violated his oath and betrayed the american people. >> can't have stronger words than that. chris christie, thank you very much. the house has been gavelled into session by speaker of the house nancy pelosi, plus the republican leader kevin mccarthy. let's listen in. >> the house will be in order. the chair will address the chamber. today, a shameful assault was made on our democracy. it cannot, however, deter us from our responsibility to

validate the election of joe biden and kamala harris. for that reason, congress has returned to the capitol. we always knew that this responsibility would take us into the night and we'll stay as long as it takes. our purpose will be accomplished. we must and we will show to the country and indeed to the world, that we will not be diverted from our duty, that we will respect our responsibility to the constitution and to the american people. on sunday, it was my great honor to be sworn in as speaker and to preside over a sacred ritual of renewal. as we gathered under this dome of this temple of democracy to open the 117th congress. i said that as we were sworn in then, we accept a responsibility

as daunting and demanding as any previous generation of leadership has ever faced. we know that we're in difficult times. but little could we have imagined the assault that was made on our democracy today. to those who strove to drive us from our responsibility, you have failed. to those who engaged in the gleeful desecration of this, our temple of democracy, american democracy, justice will be done. today, january 6th, is the feast of the epiphany. on this day of revelation, let us pray that this instigation to violence will provide an epiphany for our country to heal. in that spirit of healing, i evoke the song of st. francis, i

usually do, st. francis is the patron saint of my city of san francisco and the song of st. francis is our anthem. lord, make me a channel of thy peace. where there is darkness, may it bring light. where there is hatred, let it bring love. where there is despair, let us bring hope. we know that we would be part of history in a positive way today, every four years when we demonstrate, again, the peaceful transfer of power. from one president to the next. and despite the shameful actions of today, we still will do so. we will be part of a history that shows the world what america is made of. that this assault, this assault is just that.

it shows the weakness of those who had to show through violence what their message was. my colleagues, it's time to move on. i wear this pin quite frequently, actually, i gave it to our beloved john lewis just the weekend before he left us. and it's a flag of our country, a flag of the united states of america. on it, it says, "one country, one destiny." one country, one destiny. written on the flag. that was also what was embroidered in abraham lincoln's coat that he had on that fateful night. lincoln's party, lincoln's message, one country, one destiny.

so, on this holy day of epiphany, let us pray. i'm a big believer in prayer. let us pray that there will be peace on earth and that it will begin with us. let us pray that god will continue to bless america. and with that, let us proceed with our responsibilities to the constitution. >> house speaker nancy pelosi right there. we're also going to be hearing from kevin mccarthy coming up, but right now, i want to go to jon karl with more news breaking out of the white house. jon, this talk of the 25th amendment, apparently getting quite real? >> it is, george. i am told that there has been discussions among some members of the trump cabinet of invoking the 25th amendment. i have also -- i'm told and aware of conversations among some of the president's allies in congress, they wouldn't have a role in that, but talking about this as a very real

possibility. one ally of the president told me it may not be avoidable, this talk of invoking the 25th amendment. and it's coming as we are also seeing signs of a revolt among the white house staff, as governor christie mentioned, there were not just one, but actually two members of the first lady's staff who have resigned. i am also aware of at least three other senior officials in the west wing who are considering resigning tonight. and there you see the 25th amendment, which allows for a majority vote of the president's cabinet to remove him from office. there's one major question in all of this that's actually unclear, which is -- there are so many acting secretaries in the trump cabinet right now, it's unclear, at least to me, whether or not acting secretaries, for instance, we have an acting secretary of defense, whether or not acting secretaries would be part of that majority vote, but i am

told, this is a real -- this is a real discussion and it includes at least some members of the trump cabinet about the possibility of invoking the 25th amendment. >> 25th amendment supposed to be invokes of terms in inxasation by the president. let me bring back dan abrams and kate shaw for a little bit more on this, as the discussion now has been confirmed. dan, let me begin with you. yes, this is a vote of the cabinet, but if the president contests it, and there's ever reason to believe he would contest it, it does go to the congress and in some ways, it's a higher hurdle than impeachment. >> right, look, i don't think that this is a realistic scenario. i understand that people are talking about it, i understand that it's on the table. i don't think that it's realistic, a, because you have to get half the cabinet, b, because this really wasn't what the 25th amendment was enacted to do. you can make an argument that there are sections in there that could apply to it, but this really was enacted in the wake of the john kennedy

assassination, concern for the president in a situation where he had been in a coma or completely incapacitated, such that he couldn't do his job. so, i don't think, in the end, you're going to see this, but yes, if it were to happen, if they were to be able to get a majority of the cabinet, the president could then fight it and then, by the way, it's not supposed to be permanent. it can be a temporary thing. so, this is going to be discu discussed, but i don't expect there to be action on it. >> kate shaw? >> yeah, i'm less sure than dan. i mean, i do think -- it's a majority of the cabinet but also requires the vice president, so, it's not as though enough cabinet members will get you there. you need the vice president and a majority of the cabinet. jon karl is right, it is not settled if acting secretaries count. this is a provision of the 25th amendment that has never been invoked. typically used, as dan says, it is designed for incapacity, largely designed with health incapacity in mind, physical health, but i think its words

would extend to a situation in which a majority of the cabinet and the vice president thinks the president is simply unfit for whatever reason, to continue in office. and you are right, george, that the bar is -- if the president fights it, congress, then, makes the decision and it requires a two-thirds vote in each house of congress, as opposed to just two-thirds in the senate to convict, if we're talking about impeachme impeachment. so, the 25th amendment in some ways is a higher legal bar. but congress, because we're so close to the end of president trump's term, if pence and the cabinet invoke the 25th amendment and they write it down and send that declaration to congress, pence automatically becomes acting president and congress has three weeks to respond, so, they could just run the clock out and pence would be able to continue the term, to finish the term, rather, just under the 25th amendment. i'm not surprised to hear that the conversations are active and, you know, it would, in some ways, be a more direct route if there's genuine concern with

what might unfold in the next two weeks than pursuing impeachment. >> david muir, thank you, kate, we heard the strong words from the vice president on the senate floor, but boy, this would be a step that is almost impossible to imagine. >> yeah, it's hard to even accept the fact that we're talking about the 25th amendment here as we sit tonight. it's one more reflection of the heaviness of today in america and these last few weeks. regardless of the conversation of the 25th amendment, what will be fascinating in the days to come is looking at this relationship between the vice president and president trump. it was long before we heard from the president today that we heard from vice president mike pence, who tweeted quite quickly that the violence and destruction taking place at the u.s. capitol must stop and it must stop now. anyone involved must respect law enforcement officers and immediately leave the building. and that wasn't his only message. he went on to say, peaceful protest is the right of every american, but this attack on our capitol will not be tolerated and those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. we did not hear that from

president trump when that one-minute video was finally released. when you think about the reporting from our political team earlier about this potential that president trump might have rebuffed the national guard being called in, at first, at least, early in the day when we saw the protests, i took that information and then that reporting around 6:00 this evening, this tweet, it was remarkable, for who it did not include. we heard from the national security adviser robert o'brien who tweeted about vice president mike pence today, did not include president trump in that tweet. he wrote, i just spoke with vice president pence, he is a genuinely fine and decent man. he exhibited courage today as he did at the capitol on 9/11 as a congressman. i am proud to serve with him. and one more note, allison mccorn of our washington team sent out a note to our dl here describing the senate chamber when the vice president spoke this evening, that you could hear a pin drop in the chamber. and when he was done, in that rare ask to speak before the

chamber, that there was applause from both sides. and we all know in this highly polarized time that that was a very rare moment, appreciation for vice president mike pence, not only from both parties up there on the hill tonight, but from the national security adviser and other members of this administration. >> david muir, thank you. what a difference, linsey davis, from the beginning of the day today, when this first objections were raised, a standing ovation for republicans, silence from democrats. >> a day of extremes. and when you look at that we started out with the most significant breach of the capitol since the war of 1812 and i wanted to kind of pick up then on something that we saw inside, that david mentioned, in the capitol, on a much smaller level, but something that we haven't seen certainly in a long time, the appearance of unity, the appearance of agreement across the aisle, not just with that standing ovation, but also there was nodding when schumer talked about the people who breached the capitol should be prosecuted. joe manchin, we heard from him earlier today, when he said, it

might be this horrible act that unites us. and so many tonight across america are hoping he's right. >> democratic senator from west virginia. i want to go to sara fagen for more on this. so, we've seen more speeches from republicans condemning what happened. the question now is, even if something like the 25th amendment isn't invoked and voted on, even if impeachment isn't pursued, we know that democrats are going to pursue accountability. how should republicans respond? pick up on what rahm emanuel said, maybe the right compromise is a sense your of the president. >> i don't often agree with rahm, but i think he's onto something. look, republicans have to do something in a coordinated way. whether it's the 25th amendment, whether it's sencentral. the easiest thing would be the group of members to objected to this to stand up, saying, we are withdrawing our objections,

maybe because we're not okay with everything that happened in the election, but simply as a statement to rebuff this president and his actions. i do think it's critical republicans come together and do something, say something. i said earlier in our programming that i don't think what happened on the capitol reflects the party, the republican party. i stand by that, i agree with that, but republicans are going to own this if they don't do something more aggressive than just statements. i thought president bush's statement was very strong, mitch mcconnell has been very strong today. mike pence has been, i think, incredible today. but that alone is probably not enough. we -- there's got to be some organized act. >> and do you see any evidence of that happening? >> well, look. the fact that there are members of the president's staff, senior staff, resigning and others talking about it, the fact that there's a mere conversation among some in the cabinet being, you know, somewhat widely reported tonight, about the 25th amendment, look, the president certainly is physically capable of being the president.

it's pretty unclear to me, it's pretty clear to me, i should say, that based on the events of the last few days, that he may not mentally be able to serve as the president. the fact that those conversations are happening i think is important and it tells you a lot. i tend to agree that it probably won't come to that. but there's a building sentiment among republicans from, i think, not just the conservatives, or, the moderate republicans, from conservatives and moderates alike that we've got to take this a step farther. whether it happens or not, we'll see, but the fact these conversations are happening and the longer trump sort of doesn't address this in a more meaningful way, the more likely that is to happen. >> extraordinary it's happening with 14 days to go. if you were listening to that phone call with the georgia secretary of state over the weekend, it appeared the president was living in a different world. you have to wonder, does he believe what he's saying or does he simply not know or is it

simply making it up? >> i mean, i think he believes every word of it. i think he's convinced himself that this election was stolen. you know, look, i think for a long time, for many, many occurrences where trump has done something, said something inappropriate, you know, we've been quick to dismiss it as this is being trump, trump's just being trump, that's trump on twitter, he's off doing policy that's pretty good and i think sometimes that's true. this week, that has not been true. you know? we saw him encourage this protest, he's not condemned it, he has fueled it, you know, this conversation around the national guard, if that ends up being true, that is a -- a very terrible thing for a sitting president to do. and there just has to be a more aggressive response to it. >> thank you sara fagen. yvette simpson, i was thinking about you talking about the

national guard. if indeed the president did rebuff calls for the national guard to be called in, that would be quite a striking contrast to what we saw earlier in the summer. and we are starting to see among progressives in the house, especially, these insistent calls for impeachment, al saali dree ya 0 says owe cortez, others, writing articles of impeachment. >> exactly. someone said on social media, innocent black men want to be policed the way that guilty white men are policed. and that's what you saw today. you saw men who were coming in to do harmful things, men and women, and they were, you know, allowed to do that, there was no response. and you -- you analogize that to a george floyd who was murdered for who knows what. you think about all of the preparations and all of the aggressiveness that peaceful

protesters were met with at the black lives matter protests, they were protesting for black life. and then you see the indifference, the accommodation, even, that police provided with individuals who were trying to harm congress members and stop the democratic process from going forward. so, i just want people to think about that, because that's been going through my mind. we police differently in this country and the fact that innocent black people are policed more harshly than guilty white men. we just want to be policed the same. your second point is really important to know. not only are we seeing democratic leaders, progressive leaders, you're going to see a growing call for organizations like ours, democracy for america, you know, adding the fuel to the fire and here's why. we need real accountability. no one is above the law. not donald trump. back during the ukrainian scandal, folks said, including susan collins, oh, he's learned his lesson. then you have this incident happen in georgia. you hear the president saying, i don't want a peaceful transfer

of power, and this happens. so, we should take him at his word. i'm very concerned and we are very concerned, not only about the next 14 days, george, but about the precedent going forward. will he be allowed to run for president again? he should not be allowed to do that. and what do the next 14 days look like if these individuals have been able to do this thing today and we don't have any accountability by the man who not only allowed it, but facile talted it and encouraged it. so, i you this you're going to hear more and more folks, i think at one point, you're going to have the kind of unity that i've been talking about that you have not seen around making sure that this president is held accountable and he is not allowed to do something like this in the future. >> yvette, thank you so much. let me bring in heidi heitkamp, as well. come from a different wing of the democratic party than yvette. what is the right approach to accountability in the wake of this extraordinary incident? >> you know, it's interesting, because i agree with yvette. i mean, you start out, you know,

there's good people on both sides. we had people assume the same kind of behavior in the michigan state house and everybody was okay with that. i'm pretty sure if they had been black, they wouldn't have been okay with that. and we have these -- i need a favor, though, moments, and everybody is just like, let's just get through the next four years, let's just get rid of him in the ballot box. we get rid of him in the ballot box, this continues. and harboring and enabling this behavior, it's happening right now on the floor of the senate. at some point, there needs to be a level of accountability. i don't know what that looks like, because we only have 14 days left, but it should not go unchecked. >> how about censure, rahm's idea? >> when i listened him give his speech compared to biden, what kind of america to we live in that he could get 75 million votes. >> and the idea of sencencure?

>> i think it's too little, too late. i think this requires something much before bold, much bigger. you are probably not going to get there, but we need to make a statement in this country, on behalf of all the good people that want us to protect our democracy, and i think it's incumbent on people sitting in the congress to take bold and aggressive action. >> heidi, thank you very much. kevin mccarthy, house republican leader, is speaking now on the house floor. let's listen in. >> recognition. >> i rise for the point of personal privilege, address the house for five minutes. >> without objection, the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. i rise to address what happened in this chamber today and where do we go from here? the violence, destruction and chaos we saw earlier was unacceptable, undemocratic and un-american.

it was the saddest day i've ever had as serving as a member of this institution. the capitol was in chaos. police officers were attacked. guns were drawn on the very floor. a woman tragically lost her life. no one wins when this building and what it stands for are destroyed. america and this institution is better than this. we saw the worst of america this afternoon, yet in the midst of violence and fear, we also saw the best of america. it starts with our law enforcement, the capitol police, the national guard.

[ applause ] the fbi, the secret service, who faced the most difficult challenges but did their duty with confidence and strength. many of them are injured right now. and it also extends to this chamber, where both democrats and republicans showed courage, calm and resolve. i'd like to recognize the members now who helped to hold the line. mark wayne mullen, tony gonzalez, jason crow, pat fallon and troy nails. working with the capitol police, they ensured the floor of this chamber was never breached. these are the heroes among us. thank you for --

[ applause ] looking back on the past few hours, it is clear this congress will not be the same after today. and i hope it will be the better. i hope not just this institution, but i hope every american pauses for that moment and thinks among themselves. that we can disagree with one another but not dislike each other. we can respect the voices of others. there's many times we debate on this body and we should. there's many times we can get heated. i still consider steny hoyer a

very good friend. there's times i get upset, i'll call him at home to express the things i may not see fair or just but that's the way we should handle things. the majority leader is right, we are all americans first. but we should all think for a moment, what do we put on social media? what do we convey to one another? just because you have a personal opinion different than mine, you have a right to say it, but nobody has a right to become a mob. and we all should stand united in condemning the mob together. we solve problems in our nation not through destruction but through debate. that is the heart of this democracy.

i know what we debate today is tough. but it's just, it's right. this isn't the first side of the aisle that's ever debated this issue. i thought what madam speaker said back in 2005, this is democracy at its best. when they talked about a presidential election in ohio. these are the moments that we should raise the issue about integrity and accountability and accuracy in our elections. but you know what we should do, the next difference? not just raise the issue, but work together to solve the problems. now is the moment. now is the moment to show america we can work best together.

i will tell you, the size of the majority is slim, so it gives us the opportunity to make that happen. the only thing that can hold us back is the will of one another to do it. this side of the aisle always believes in working with anybody that wants to move it forward. that does not mean that we're going to agree 100% of the time. that does not mean our voice cannot be heard. that does not mean we cannot be treated fairly. we should be. that may mean on the size of committees, that means on our ability to offer an amendment, that means on our ability to have our voice. but at the end of the day, it helps us come to a better conclusion. by returning here to complete the work we were sent to do, we are proving that our democracy cannot be disrupted by criminal behavior. we will not falter, we will not bend and we will not shrink from our duty.

let me be very clear. mobs don't rule america. laws rule america. it was true when our cities were burning this summer and it's true now. when americans go to bed tonight, their lasting memory should not be a congress overrun by rioters. it must be a resolute congress conducting healthy debate. we may not disagree on a lot in america, but tonight, we must show the world that we will respectfully but thoroughly carry out the most basic duties of democracy. we will continue with the task that we have been sent here to do. we will followi inthe constitut and the law and the process for hearing valid concerns about election integrity. we'll do it with respect.

we will respect your opinion. we will respect what you say and we're willing to listen to it. i think the nation will be better for it on both sides of the aisle. let's show the country the mob did not win. we have a job to do, let's do it with pride and let's be better when the sun rises tomorrow. with that, i yield back, madam speaker. >> republican leader kevin mccarthy making a plea for unity. we're also hearing strong words from senator mitt romney, the only republican senator who voted to convict president trump in the impeachment trial one year ago, has been harsh in his condemnation in the weeks since the election. he spoke on the senate floor. >> mr. president, today was heartbre heartbreaking and i was shaken to the core, as i thought about

the people i met in china and russia and after began stan and iraq and other places who yearn for freedom and who look to this building and these shores as a place of hope. and i saw the images being broadcast around the world and it breaks my heart. i have 25 grandchildren, many of them were watching tv, thinking about this building, whether their grandpa was okay. i knew i was okay. i must tell you, as well, i was proud to serve with these men and women. this is an extraordinary group of people. i'm proud to be a member of the united states senate and meet with people of integrity as we do here today. now, we gather due to a selfish man's injured pride and the outrage of supporters he has deliberately misinformed for the past two months and stirred to action this very morning. what happened here today was an insurrection incited by the

president of the united states. those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate, democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy. fairly or not, they'll be remembered for their role in this shameful episode in american history. that will be their legacy. i salute senator langford and loeffler and braun and danes and i'm sure others who in the light of today's outrage have withdrawn their objection. for any who remain insistent on an audit in order to satisfy the many people who believe that the election was stolen, i'd offer this perspective. no congressional audit is ever going to convince these voters, particularly when the president will continue to say that the election was stolen. the best way we can show respect

for the voters who were upset is by telling them the truth! [ applause ] that's the burden, that's the duty of leadership. the truth is that president-elect biden won the election. president trump lost. i've had that experience myself, it's no fun. scores of courts the preside scn officials both republican and democrat have reached that unequivocal decision. and in light of today's sad circumstances, i ask my colleagues, do we weigh our own

political fortunes more heavily than we weigh the strength of our republic, the strength of our democracy and the cause of freedom? what's the weight of personal acclaim compared to the weight of conscience? leader mcconnell said that the vote today is the most important in his 36 years of public service. think of that. authorizing two wars, voting in two impeachments. he said that not because the vote reveals something about the election, it's because this vote reveals something about us. i urge my colleagues to move forward with completing the electoral count, to refrain from further objections and to unanimously affirm the legitimacy of the presidential election. thank you, mr. president. >> mitt romney, right there, of course, he was the republican candidate for president in 2012, referred to that in the speech. mary bruce, i want to bring you in. the strongest words yet we've heard from a republican senator

tonight, talking about president tru trump, selfish man's injured pride, and everyone now that supports the challenges is co complicit in the attack. and you are seeing more republican senators, members of congress, walk away from those objections. >> george, incredibly harsh words from mitt romney. i have to say, that's about as fired up as you're going to see mitt romney get. he appeared visibly shaken. and yes, accusing his republican colleagues who insist on backing the president in this futile effort to try and overturn and object to the election results, accusing them of being complicit. we are, though, seeing a growing number of republicans now coming out and reversing course, saying that they will no longer object to these results. most notably, actually, kelly loeffler of georgia, who just lost her re-election bid overnight in that state and who very publicly tied herself to president trump. it may have been one of the things that cost her the seat.

and even though she, you know, standing near the president in his rally earlier this week, came out and said she was going to back him, she was going to object though these results, she now says she can't in good conscience do that. it is a remarkable about-face for her. and it is notable that mitt romney came out and spoke just now right after senator josh hawley, who has been helping to lead this charge and he is yet standing behind these objections. he tried to defend this move, arguing that congress is the best place to hear these arguments, which isn't actually really true. the courts are the place that these kinds of allegations and concerns are supposed to be addressed. of course, we have seen the trump team fail repeatedly over and over again in state after state to have any kind of success in the courts because they haven't put forth any concrete evidence of fraud. but what strikes me most is that resounding applause that mitt romney got, that line where he said, instead of furthering essentially these conspiracy theories that the president is spreading, romney saying, the best way we can show respect to

voters who are upset is by telling the truth. he said joe biden won the election and president trump lost. >> mary bruce, thank you very much. tom llamas, so many americans believe that the election was stolen because president trump has told them. that's one of the things that mitt romney said right there and said the president will continue to do that, but one of the striking things we found today is that his main instrument to spread these lies, social media, is starting to be shut down on him. >> right. whether right or wrong, you know, we believe in freedom of speech in this country and we can debate this right now, but right now, social media platforms are silencing the president. instagram has locked his account for 24 hours. facebook, youtube and twitter have taken down the video statement that we showed earlier. >> explain the start and there. >> they're saying, and this is facebook's exact words, we've assessed two policy violations against president trump's page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the

platform during that time. twitter, facebook and youtube said there was danger behind the president's message. in that message, he said the election was stolen from him and yet he was telling them to retreat from the cap tom. by saying that the election was stolen from him, which is false, he was adding more fuel to the fire while this riot was ongoing in the u.s. capitol. george, you know, we can't forget that today a woman was shot and killed in the u.s. capitol. senator mitt romney, a republican, just said that the president incited the violence. he is accusing the president of starting this riot, essentially. and i got to think back to when i first started covering president trump and his campaign, he loved to say, i could go on fifth avenue and i could shoot someone and they would still vote for me. and the scary part about it, at that time, he had so much juice in the republican party, he might have been right. there were people that were going to vote for him no matter what. yet tonight, someone has died in the u.s. capitol and we are seeing staffers from the first lady resign, we're seeing staffers in the press secretary's office resign. we are seeing republican

senators who have stood with him for four years back away now, the same in the house. and i think this is a turning point. it's 14 days before he's done, but this is no doubt a turning point in his presidency. >> 14 days to go. tom llamas, thank you. martha raddatz, you and mitt romney share a state, the state of utah. you worked in massachusetts where he cut his political teeth. the speech we saw tonight is completely in character, sharing traits he got from his father. >> it certainly is, george. and that is really from the heart, from mitt romney. and, you know, i woke up this morning and was on twitter, as so many people are, and there was mitt romney being harassed on his flight from the beautiful salt lake city, utah, out here to washington. there were trump protesters on his airplane who started going after him in the airport as he was sitting there and continued to do it in-flight, calling him

a traitor, saying he should resign. and mitt romney sat calmly there. he did, as mary said, sound shaken tonight. and i think he was shaken to the core, because i think this is something mitt romney has warned about. you listen to all these speeches about coming together and bridging this divide and how horrified people are, what happened on capitol hill today, but you have to think, is this what it took to bridge that divide? because the president was inciting people to do this all day and before, saying the election was a fraud. and i -- i also think about these two weeks, we talk about these two weeks, that's all we have left. we have the world looking at us right now. the whole world is looking at us. can you imagine what we'd be saying tonight if this happened in russia or china? we'd be appalled.

and laughing at our adversaries, how in the world did that happen and they think they had control of this country and here's the world's greatest democracy and this happened here. we have iran bubbling up right now, we have north korea looking at us. in the next two weeks, donald trump will still be president of the united states and his decision s matter in these two weeks. not just for our democracy, but for our national security. and one more thing, george, we're in the middle of a pandemic and we haven't talked about that tonight. we are in the middle of a wor worldwide pandemic, but the worst figures in the united states. and we were all out there today. i was out there today in protection, certainly, among a maskless crowd. and those maskless people are right now and tomorrow going to be heading back home and they were from everywhere across the united states. >> martha, let me press you on one point. there's no question the

president will be president for the next 14 days, that is the case, but will he be able to carry out the most dangerous orders, what's running through my mind right now is the story of the secretary of defense of richard nixon, he said, if you get a call from the president, you call me first. do we feel like that is happening in the top circles of the military? >> i certainly don't think the military and the notch echelon of the military they thought was morally wrong or illegal, certainly, and i think in these past few months you've seen the senior levels of the military try to talk some sense into donald trump. i do know that he -- the carrier that was in the persian gulf, the u.s. carrier in the region, rather, was turned around because president trump wanted

it turned around, back because of tensions with iran and that came just a few hours after that georgia phone call was leaked. i think we are safe with our senior military leadership. we all know that he has loyalists now in the pentagon after firing numerous people within the pentagon and put those loyalists, as jon karl mentioned, we have the acting secretary of defense, but we have many others who are very loyal to the president right now in the pentagon. >> martha raddatz, thank you very much. the debate is continuing in the senate and the house right now. we referenced earlier in the day the speech by president-elect joe biden. many of you were probably at work during the day, did not have the chance to see that. here we the words of the president-elect. >> i initially was going to talk about the economy, but all of you, all of you have been watching what i've been watch g watching.

at this hour, our democracy is under unprecedented assault. unlike anything we've seen in modern times. an assault on the citadel of liberty. the capitol itself. an assault on the people's representati representatives, on the capitol hill police, sworn to protect them and the public servants who work at the heart of our republic. an assault on the rule of law like few times we've ever seen it. an assault on the most sacred of american undertakings. the doing of the people's business. let me be very clear. the scenes of chaos at the capitol do not reflect a true america.

do not represent who we are. what we're seeing are a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. this is not dissent. it's disorder. it's chaos. it borders on sedition and it must end now. i call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward. you heard me say before in different contexts, the words of a president matter. no matter how good or bat that president is. at their best, the words of a president can inspire. at their worst, they can incite. therefore, i call on president

trump to go on national television now. to fulfill his oath and defend the constitution and demand an end to this siege. to storm the capitol, to smash windows, to occupy offices, the floor of the united states senate, rummaging through desks, on the house of representatives. threatening the safety of dually effected officials, it's not protest, it's insurrection. the world's watching. like so many other americans, i am genuinely shocked and saddened that our nation so long the beacon of light and hope for democracy has come to such a dark moment. through war and strife,

america's endured much and we will endure here and we will prevail again and we'll prevail now. the work of the moment and the work of the next four years must be the restoration of democracy, of decency, honor, respect, the rule of law. just plain, simple decency. the renewal of a politics that's about solving problems, looking out for one another, not stoking the flames of hate and chaos. as i said, america's about honor, decency, respect, tolerance. that's who we are. that's who we've always been. the certification of the electoral college vote is supposed to be a sacred ritual which we affirm -- purpose is to

affirm the majesty of american democracy. but today is a reminder, a pa painful one, that democracy is fragile and to preserve it requires people of good will, leaders, to have the courage to stand up, who are devoted not to the pursuit of pow er power or personal interest pursuits of their own selfish interests at any cost, but to the common g d good. think what our children watching television are thinking. think what the rest of the world is looking at. for nearly 2 1/2 centuries, we, the people, in search of a more perfect union, have kept our eyes on that common good. america's so much better than what we've seen today. watching the scenes from the

capitol, i was reminded as i prepared other speeches in the past, i was reminded of the words of abraham lincoln in his annual message to congress, whose work has today been interrupted by chaos. here's what lincoln said. he said, "we shall nobly save or merely lose the last best hope on earth." went on to say, "the way is plain, peaceful, generous, just. a way, which if followed, the world will forever applaud and god must forever bless." the way is plain here, too. that's who we are. it's the way of democracy, of respect, of decency, of honor.

and commitment as patriots to this nation. not withstanding what i saw today, we're seeing today, i remain optimistic about the incredible opportunities. there has never been anything we can't do when we do it together. and this god awful display today is bringing home to every republican and democrat and independent in the nation that we must step up. this is the united states of america. there's never, ever, ever, ever been a thing we've tried to do that we've done it together we've not been able to do it. so president trump, step up. may god bless america and may

god protect our troops and all those folks at the capitol who are trying to preserve order. thank you and i'm sorry to have kept you waiting. >> joe biden, president-elect of the united states, 14 days, he will be president of the united states. all of the living former presidents spoke out today. jimmy carter, bill clinton, george w. bush, barack obama, all united in their condemnation of what they saw in the capitol today, something no american could ever imagine, the capitol under siege by protesters, rioters, as the certification of the electoral votes for joe biden was opening up. i want to bring in mark, presidential historian. to see those presidents come out one after another, all in stark relief to what we were seeing from the current president of the united states, was something that is almost impossible to

imagine, something we have never seen before, a nation that is built around the hallmark of a peaceful transfer of power. >> you're absolutely right, george. i think, frankly, roosevelt said that the presidency is a place preeminently of moral leadership, and we are obviously not seeing moral leadership from our incumbent president. so, our former presidents have stepped up to fill the void, but i'm reminded of the words of another president upon taking office, and that was gerald ford in the wake of watergate, and the resignation of richard nixon in august of 1974. he said, our long, national nightmare is over. our constitution works. we are a nation of laws and not men. here, the people rule. and while we saw in america a national nightmare today play out, we have to remember that democracy ultimately triumphed.

here, the people rule. joseph r. biden will, in fact, take the oath of office on january 20th of this year and become the 46th president of the united states. the people have spoken, our constitution works and we will move on as a nation. >> the system was tested but the system held. mark updegrove, thank you so much. want to go to the senate floor. lindsey graham, who has been perhaps the most stalwart supporter of the president, just won re-election in november, taking to the senate floor and writing himself away from the objections to the certification of the electoral college. >> tim and i have a good relationship, i love tim scott. 1876, south carolina, louisiana and florida sent two slate of electors. they had two governments, by the

way, and we didn't know what to do. why did south carolina, florida and louisiana do it? to hold the country hostage to end reconstruction. it worked. the commission was 8-7. it didn't work. nobody accepted it. the way it ended is when hayes did a deal with these three states, you give me the electors, i'll kick the union army out. the rest is history. it led to jim crow. if you're looking for historical guidance, this is not the one to pick. if you're looking for a way to convince people there was no fraud, having a commission chosen by nancy pelosi, mitch mcconnell and john roberts is not going to get you to where you want to go. it ain't going to work.

so, it's not going to do any good. it's going to delay and it gives credibility to a dark chapter of our history. that's why i'm not with you. but i will fight to my death for you if you are able to object. you're not doing anything wrong. other people have objected. i just think it's a uniquely bad idea to delay this election. trump and i, we've had a hell of a journey. i hate it being this way. oh, my god, i hate it. from my point of view, he's been a consequential president, but today, first thing you'll see. all i can say is, count me out, enough is enough, i've tried to be helpful, but when the wisconsin supreme court ruled 4-3 that they didn't violate the constitution of wisconsin, i agreed with the three, but i accept the four. if al gore can accept 5-4, he's not president, i can accept wisconsin 4-3. pennsylvania, it went to the second circuit.

so much for all the judges being in trump's pocket. they said no, you're wrong. . i accept the pennsylvania second circuit that trump's lawsuit wasn't right. georgia, they said the secretary of state took the law in his own hands, he changed the election a federal judge said no. i accept the federal judge even though i don't dragree with it. under 18 voted. how many people believe that? i asked give me ten and had one. they said 8,000 felons in prison in arizona voted, give me ten. i haven't gotten one. does that say there's problems in every election. i don't buy this. enough's enough. we have to end it. vice president pence, what they're asking you to do you won't do because you can't.