building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. this is abc 7 news. >> hi there, i'm kristen zee welcome to the daily program called getting answers. to get answers for you in real time. today we'll talk to a former fbi agent about handling security concerns in sacramento and d.c. over the next week leading up to the inauguration. we will also talk to a uc berkeley professor who is an expert on right-wing militias to examine how we got here and what to do now. let's begin with bay area congressman representative mike desannier who was at the capitol when it all went down. congressman, good to see you, as always. >> thank you. thanks for having me. >> the last time we spoke you had just gone through something

that was unimaginable, the insurrection at the capitol. now it is after the impeachment vote. it is done. you and the democrats and ten republicans voted to impeach. do you have any question in your mind about this being the right path, the path that must be taken? >> absolutely not. we had to respond. it's unbelievable what happened, but it is also unbelievable what the president did. he organized and he incited them. it is very clear to me. so this is one of the tools we have to respond to it, and i think people have to be held accountable and most importantly. >> now it is in the senate's hands. hearing that, despite new rules to enforce, you know, members not carrying weapons into the chamber, yesterday we heard that many congressmen, gop namely,

bypassed malwa did you see that? and i wonder -- the public were wondering how can they do that? why was there no enforcement? why is that possible? >> i didn't see it, but i'm not surprised and it's possible because these folks don't think rules apply to them. they follow the lead of the current president of the united states. he doesn't think rules apply to him, as well. we have taken actions and if they do that again they will be fined and it will be taken out of their paycheck. so this is something that we had to do earlier this week above mass, so they seem to be adhering. they don't want to be fined. >> buthy havt it physically bar people from entering the chamber? can't capitol police just haul them away or is that not allowed? >> capitol police are very

deferential to the members which would be appropriate in normal circumstances when they're responsible and adhere to the law. the district of columbia law says that you can't carry these weapons even if you have a concealed weapon, and they're breaking that law and then our own rules say that you're only allowed to have a gun if it's in your office. personally, i think that's a mistake. i don't think you should be bringing guns into your place if you're a member of congress. >> i know you're home now. are you going back next week, to d.c., at all for the inauguration in. >> i would like to go back to d.c., however i am still under directions from my doctors because i had a health issue. i had a serious health issue earlier this year and they're still worried about me not getting covid. so i'mrying l. >> bth you know, i'm

happy every day that there was this miracle really in your case, and we are so happy for it. >> thank you. >> but i want to ask you, for your colleagues that are going back for sure. are you worried for their safety and how worried are you that violence will break out next week? >> i am worr and personal and are grateful that we and others weren't hurt. >> these folks and the president, they want to take the country over and they've stayed with that, unfortunately, there more security and i think americans have to be on alert whether they're there for the inaugural or not. >> yeah. art you're seeing and seeing?

we know they aren't allowed in the national mall? >> do you think they're in news, and just eight days ago, i'm cautiously optimistec, but i have to say that i'm also angry that this group of people put us in this circumstance that we have to pay and it's taxpayer money and it's democracy and we are supposed to do things openly with the minimum security. we're supposed to secure ourselves and it makes me angry that we have to go through this, and we have to gottte it tth t some of the people that ended up in the capitol? is that a fact?

what do you make of that? accident or not? >> i don't know if it's factual or not, but i wouldn't be surprised. unfortunately, knowing some of these folks, their world view is different and they also think that rules don't apply to them and they make up their own rules. that's why in a civilized society there are rules and unfortunately, some people in congress don't think rules apply to them and they're emboldened because of the president of the united states. >> what kind of actions can be taken against members who jeopardize another member's safety. for exam pelosins that can b taken to prevent that from happening in the future? well, hopefully the voters would recognize that and unfortunately, in some districts in this country, voters seem to

like the fact that they're not going to abide by the law and there are actions we can take, for instance with the masking policy. when we told people it was policy, unfortunately, that wasn't sufficient. so with you tell them it will be personal and it will cost them and they're going to be fined, that seems to have modified their behavior which i think we can look for in these other instances, as well. i don't want to do that. i would prefer that members of congress would be more responsible, but unfortunately, this is the time we're living in. >> look, you were once a republican and i think a lot of people don't remember that, and what do you think it means to be a republican now, and i ask you that because you're saying there were people that unfortunately, do not want to follow rules and i wonder if there is a the struggle for what this party will become in the future. >> there will be a redefinition for 30 years. >> when i first ran for city

council i was a republican and i was a liberal and a republican. i didn't vote any different than i vote now and people were shocked that there was such a thing and this was a deliberate effort by people who wanted to purify the party and not have different opinions and then succeeded, i suppose because now you have to adhere to a very far, far right, in my view, ideology. if you don't, they'll take it outside of the primary. ? we've had issues out of the democratic party, but it isn't remotely like what happened to the republican party. >> given these challenges and these vastly different world views and cultural values, how can americans come together right now. >> i think people of good will have to come together. we won them over, people of good

will, republicans and democrats who believe in civil discourse and believe in the constitution of the united states that served us so well and has respect for other human beings that don't always agree with them and then we'll be fine and we'll elect people who have that perspective. >> and let's see if technology and help us by creating platform where that civil discourse is possible. congressman, always good to see you. thank you for spending the time. take care. >> my pleasure. >> we'll take a short break. coming up next, protecting our state capitol. er f agent joins us nextu ces to discuss security and concerns how about poor fred wilson? what a shame. so soon after retiring. i hear his wife needed help with the funeral expenses. that's ridiculous! -he had social security. -when my brother died, his wife received a check from social security, all right-- for $255!

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the fbi has warned of intelligence suggesting armed protests at all 50 u.s. state capitals. joining us to talk about the canon street inc. a private of investigations firm in san tha joining us with your expertise. >> good to see you. >> fbi director, christopher wray joins us about concerning online chatter is how he put it regarding events surrounding the inauguration. given that, all right. do you see what they're doing now today, the past few days? is that adequate? >> i think it's adequate. there's certainly enough notice now and it was apparently last time and that was the total disaster and they've gotten a lot of intelligence and there

could be armed violence and armed conflict at each state legislature, so they have to do something and there has to be contact between federal law enforcement and local law enforcement and they have to do something and that, primarily is bringing up the national guard in each state. so if they're overprepared, fine. if they were underprepared last time. that's for sure. >> what do you think the fbi is doing between now and inauguration day. i imagine it was busy coordinating with local law enforcement, and the national guard and the chp. talk to me about what they're doing to coordinate. >> the fbi's main function is intelligence gathering and trying to find out i had credible some of this information is and talking to sources within some of these extremist organizations that they can tap into, contact, and find out from those sources how

real, how credible the information they're receiving is. in other words, they have to differentiate between stuff that's just crazy and not credible and then the sources and the organizations, recruitments that can provide them with what is going to happen, what's planned and they have to make that determination and that's the reason the agents get paid money because they're able to evaluate the credibility of some of the intelligence. >> how do you think they missed languath actual rection? certification vote by congress. is this an fbi failure? or they handed out the intel and the decisions to know what to do with it. >> i don't think it was an fbi failure, but i don't know for sure. i do know that it was a huge intelligence failure and an

action failure. for some reason, there wasn't a two plus two situation where there was intelligence that wasn't acted upon. whatever it was, it was totally unacceptable to have something like that take place in washington, d.c. where there wasn't enough security. the capitol police clearly did not have a plan, that's for sure and did not have an adequate plan, and whatever happened then, can't happen again. >> yeah. i mean, i think everybody agrees with that. americans are starting to question if our intelligence and security agencies are on top oid domestic terrorism. from what you've seen, do we seem to have a blind spot? >> i don't -- i don't know. it's hard to look at that. you didn't have to reflect on it to realize it was a problem. it was a problem right away, and i don't know. this was a huge failure and it was an individual, singular

failure and i don't know if the entire apparatus is lacking, and now because of what happened and because they're getting more intelligence they've got to work even harder to prevent something like that from happening again, but i don't think anything is going to happen close to what happened last week in washington. now it might happen in different capitals and that's a concern, but i don't think we're going to get a duplicate event in washington, d.c. >> i talked to some state lawmakers in sacramento. they are a little bit anxious, as you can imagine. in addition to the state capital what other locations and tes do yothk bet be targeted under threat and maybe even here in the bay area? >> it looks like the capitals. it looks like the legislature and it looks like any government building can be targeted and those targets and they're hard targets. this is not something

mysterious. it's not going to be something no one heard of, and it's something that's well known that should be protected and you're looking at 50 capitols so that's where the national guard comes into play, and i have a lot of confidence going back to washington, d.c. and i have a lot of confidence in the secret service and having them ensure that the inauguration will be secure. >> what they'll probably do is have a huge perimeter, much wider and much bigger than it has been in the past to ensure that there won't be any -- any problem with the perimeter, that it won't break down and they won't break through it. so i don't think, again, that's not going to be the issue. the issue, i think will be in individual capitals. >> mentioned the inauguration. it's been curtailed, obviously. no big parade. the outdoor parts with people certainly limited. we talked about the national mall being closed to people.

de biden. do security demand that or do you think, no, it's fine in he should take his o this is america. this is a demonstration of our democracy. this is where we inaugurate a new president. we should absolutely have it and ensure there's adequate security to protect everyone there and to protect property and protect the buildings that could be -- that could be attacked, but no. i don't agree at all or believe in the philosophy of canceling it and -- that allows those people to win, to prevail. can't let that happen. we have to make this thing work. we'll make it work and we'llbe g next wednesday. >> democracy shall prevail.

rick smith, always great to get your expertise onoming up next, into the right-wing extremism behind the riot thea the capitol and what

>> we're back. it's been eight days since the insurrection on the u.s. capitol. investigationses and a nal snals continues. helping right-wing extremism which some say fuelled this is professor rosenthal at the university of california berkeley, professor rosenthal, thanks for joining us. last wednesday was just stunning and painful, i think, for all americans to watch, but did it really come out of the blue in some inconceivable way or were there sign, markersalg? >> well, the markers were not subtle at all.

for months it was telegraphed, that is to say that the president, after the election began this movement which took the slogan, stop the steal and he kept saying come to washington, come to washington and online people talked about creating caravans to come to washington and so forth. so there's no way in which it was a surprise. it was four ordained in a pretty public way. the other thing to understand is that the people who showed up and the people who lay siege to the capitol, they have a long history of playing at the edge of violent andor and this was e

during the campaign, there was the debate with joe biden in which the president was asked to renounce the relationship to the proud boys and instead he told them, stand back, th r almost immediately as though he were giving them commands, and in a way president trump established himself rather like the -- you know, he is the commander in chief of the american armed forces. it's rather as though he established himself as the commandante in chief. >> so you're not surprised and don't think we should be either. those who stormed the capitol? what did they want? what were they driven by? was it economic lack of

opportunity? is it racial disparity? not liking what's happening in the country? >> there are two currents historically in the -- in the militia -- the extreme militia right wing in this country and one of those currents is white nationalism as was expressed in charlottesville and the other is anti-government extremism and people who don't regard the government as legitimate and government isat i hey are oblige their poin o people were people who objected very strenuously to the lockdown

orders in places like michigan, for example. they took over the state legislature in april with arms and the white nationalist side has been motivated and mobilized by the response of plaqblack li matter movement and the death of george floyd. each of those currents of the american right-wing militia has been mobilized this year in anticipation of before the election on these two matters and then after the election they became sort of a single unified force in the name of stop the steal. >> so now that they've been

mobilized, even if president trump leaves office which he will do in less than a week. they're not going away. talk about what happens from here on out, right? and what the biden administration has to do to curtail them and tamp down whatever is happening here. >> what historically happens to such movements and i'll give you the example of the confederacy. the confederacy developed what i would call an animating myth. a myth that mobilizes and organizes the thinking of groups which have suffered a defeat and what i think we may be facing post-january 20th is that the -- that there will be a new animated myth on the right in the usa and particularly troublesome on the militia right

and that animating myth is going to be the stolen election, and so in the way that for just the same analogy, in the way that the confederacy held on to its solidarity after the civil war using the animating myth of the lost cause, i'm afraid we may be confronting an angry right-wing which has an animating myth of the stolen election. >> a

and thank you so much for joining us on this interactive show, getting answers. we'll be here every week day at congor the fbi.very week day at security on high alert with just days until joe biden is sworn into office. what they're now saying about potential loss of life, disruption of government and emergency response. the sweeping law enforcement crackdown. up to 21,000 national guard members deployed to protect the nation's capital on inauguration, after the deadly siege on the capitol. concerns extremists feel emboldened by what they did at the capitol. and just in tonight, what we're now hearing from the fbi director, christopher wray. the entire capitol complex shut down. they may now close the national mall. concern tonight in all 50 states. and arrests. the man seen in the capitol with the confederate flag. the retired firefighter seen on video throwing a