and it really draws its parallel to 1876, hayes and tilden. don't forget what that commission, that so-called political compromise, achieved. it was not just some ordinary governmental commission. it was a commission that killed reconstruction that established jim crow, that even a civil war which tore this nation apart, it re-enslaved african-americans, and it was a commission that invited the voter suppression we are still fighting today in america. let me close by saying this. the vote we're going to have here is a clear choice of whether we are going to feed the beast of ignorance or we are going to tell the truth to the american people. we saw that beast today roaming the halls. let's not invite it back. >> majority leader. >> i yield up to five minutes to

the senator from kansas, senator marshall. >> senator from kansas. >> thank you, mr. president. freedom of speech and the freedom to protest are provided in our constitution, and while i share the same frustrations many americans have over the presidential election, the violence and mob rule which occurred at the u.s. kpom today and across the country over the past year are unacceptable, and i condemn them at the highest level. and like all of us in the chamber, i'm thankful for the heroic law enforcement officers who worked feverishly to restore order so we can get back to the electoral certification process. during my 29-year career as an on ste trigs and gynecologist, too often i had to sit down with patients and give them a very bad diagnosis. it might have been a young mother of three who i delivered all three of her babies now with metastatic cancer.

but before i sat down with each one of those patients, i carefully reviewed all their labs, their x-rays, and their pathology to make sure i had the facted straight. but at the end of the day, my final recommendation was always going to be a recommendation from my heart. i want my fellow kansans and alt americans to know that -- >> forgive me for this brief interruption. you're hearing senator marshall, kansas, who is a new republican senator whose basically first act coming into the senate was to join with the republicans that were objecting to the tallying of the electoral votes from the presidential race. he is now giving remarks on that same subject. these senators are making speeches. these are technically about the objections to the arizona -- the counting of the arizona electoral votes. we think that they will wrap this up fairly soon. they will take a vote in terms of how the senate will handle the objection to the arizona votes. then they will go back over to the house chamber, and the house will have its discussion, its

debate on the objections to the arizona electors, and then they will have their vote. we no longer now how many objections there are going to be, in how many different states, how many republicans are going to stick to their plans to continue these objections when they were interrupted earlier today by of course a violent insurrection and a storming of the capitol that left one person dead and reportedly many injured. that's what's happening right now. that's what we're continuing to watch. we'll go back here to senator marshall. the house is coming back into session basically now. we'll go to house speaker nancy pelosi as she explains what they'll do on their side of the capitol. >> -- 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 deter 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 invoke the song of st. francis. i usually do. st. francis is the patron saint of my city of san francisco, and his song of st. francis is our anthem. lord, make me a channel of thy peace. where there is darkness, may i bring light. where there is hatred, let us 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. 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 these -- this assault, this assault is just that. it shows the weakness of those who have 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 -- weekend or so 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. with that, let us proceed with our responsibilities to the

constitution to which we have just within 72 hours taken the oath to uphold. what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i rise in opposition to the objection. >> the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. >> madam speaker, it is a sad day in america. it is a wrenching day in america. it is a day in which our words and our actions have had consequences of a very, very negative nature. we ought to watch our words and

think what it may mean to some. my remarks were written before the tragic, dangerous, and unacceptable actions -- and unacceptable is such a tame word. my remarks started with, madam speaker, the american people today are witnessing one of the greatest challenges to our democracy in its 244-year history. little did i know that this capitol would be attacked by the enemy within. i was here on 9/11 when we were attacked by the enemy without.

we need to all work together to tame and reduce the anger and, yes, the hate that some stoke. what some -- not all, madam speaker -- but some in this house and this senate are doing today will not change the outcome of the election, which is the clear and insurmountable victory of president-elect biden and vice president-elect harris. instead, all they will accomplish is to further the dangerous divisions. this was written before this capitol was assaulted.

before this democracy was put aside by thousands. encouraged by the commander in chief. instead, all they will accomplish is to further the dangerous divisions, as i said, among our people and energize conspiracy theories stoked by our foreign adversaries, which seek to erode america's confidence in our democracy and our system of free and fair elections. i was here in 2000. i was strongly in favor of al gore for president, and my candidate got more votes than the other candidate. his name was george bush, of course. and one of the saddest days was

january 20th of 2001 when our candidate, who won the election in my view, was not elected. but it was also one of the proudest moments of my career because the greatest power on earth passed peacefully from bill clinton to george w. bush. not a shot was fired. nobody assaulted this caucus or this congress or this chamber because we were not disappointed? no. because we were not angry? no. because we believe in democracy. we believe in we, the people. and the way the people -- one of the speakers, i think it was the

senator from texas expressed, we're here for the people. if those were the people, we're in a lot of trouble. our electoral system, our democratic system, however, did not break under the strains of the misinformation, the claims of fraud, which court after court after court have dismissed out of hand. not because there was a little evidence. because there was no evidence. that's why we're the longest-lasting constitutional democracy in the world. i hope all of us in this body are proud of that and understand why that's the case because as dick gephardt said on this floor many years ago, democracy is a

substitute for war to resolve differences. it proved once more the ever beating strong heart that gives life to our republic and our freedoms. that strength, madam speaker, is derived in part from our institution and our laws. but most importantly, it is powered by citizens and leaders' commitment to our constitution. not just us. we swear an oath. but it's all of america. barack obama spoke from that chamber, and he said, i'm going to be taking another title next year -- citizen. and he was proud to take that, and every citizen needs to protect, preserve, and uplift our democracy. some today did not do that. many today. 68 years ago in springfield, illinois, governor adlai

stevenson gracefully conceded his loss to general dwight eisenhower. he said this. it is traditionally american. he told his deeply disappointed supporters to fight hard before an election. but then he added, it is equally traditional to close ranks as soon as the people have spoken, not the congress, not the elect electors. the people have spoken. that which unite us as american citizens is far greater than that which divides us as political parties. it was another man from springfield, four score and eight years earlier, who won re-election to the presidency and in the national crisis that tested our country and its democratic institutions, who pleaded even in his hour of victory for the same spirit of

reconciliation. that was the party of lincoln. that hasn't happened to this hour. lincoln said now that the election is over, he asked, may not all having a common interest reunite in a common effort to save our common country. such is the duty of an american who stands for elections or participates in our politics, to be either humble in triumph or gracious in defeat. i've lost some elections. not too many. and i've won a lot of elections. and i hope that i've been gracious in defeat and humble in victory. >> the democratic leader steny hoyer speaking in the house. we're going to switch back over to the senate where republican senator josh hawley is speaking.

he was the first senator to say he would object to the counting of electoral votes for joe biden's victory. >> violence is not how you achieve something better. our constitution was built and put into place so that there would be, in the words of abraham lincoln, no appeal from ballots to bullets, which is what we saw unfortunately attempted tonight. there is no place for that in the united states of america. and that's why i submit to my colleagues that what we're doing here tonight is actually very important because for those who have concerns about the integrity of our elections, those who have concerns about what happened in november, this is the appropriate means. this is the lawful place where those objections and concerns should be heard. this is the forum that the law provides for our laws, provide for those concerns to be registered. not through violence, not by appealing from ballots to bullets, but here in this lawful

process. and so to those who say that this is just a formality today, an antique ceremony that we've engaged in for a couple hundred years, i can't say that i agree. i can't say our precedents suggest that. i think it's very vital what we do. the opportunity to be heard, to render objections, is very vital because this is the place where those objections are to be heard and dealt with, debated and finally resolved. in this lawful means, peacefully, without violence, without attacks, without bullets. so, mr. president, let me just say now briefly in lieu of speaking about it later, a word about pennsylvania, which is a state that i have been focused on, objected to, as an example of why people are concerned, millions of americans concerned about our election integrity. to say to pennsylvania, quite apart from allegations of any fraud, you have a state constitution that has been interpreted for over a century to say that there is no mail-in

balloting permitted except for in very narrow circumstances that's also provided for in the law. and yet last year, pennsylvania elected officials passed a whole new law that allows universal mail-in balloting and did it irregardless of what the pennsylvania constitution said. and then when pennsylvania's citizens tried to go and be heard on this subject before the pennsylvania supreme court, they were dismissed on grounds of procedure, timeliness, in violation of that supreme court's own precedent. so the merits of the case have never been heard. the constitutionity of the statute actually has never been defended. i'm not aware of any court that has passed on its constitutionality. i'm not aware of anybody who's defended the constitutionality, and this was the statute that governed this election. this is my point, that this is the forum. the pennsylvania supreme court hasn't heard the case.

there's no other court to go to to hear the case in the state, and so this is the appropriate place for these concerns to be raised, which is why i have raised them here today. and i hope that this body will not miss the opportunity to take affirmative action to address the concerns of so many millions of americans, to say to millions of americans tonight that violence is never warranted. that violence will not be tolerated. that those who engaged in it will be prosecuted. but that this body will act to address the concerns of all americans across the country. we do need an investigation into irregularities, fraud. we do need a way forward together. we need election security reforms. i bet my friends on the other side of the aisle don't disagree with that. we need to find a way to move forward on that together so that the american people from both parties, all walks of life, can have confidence in their elections and that we can arrange ourselves under the rule of law that we share together. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. >> democratic leader.

>> senator from pennsylvania. >> senator from pennsylvania. >> we just say -- my apologies to senator casey here. but that was senator josh hawley of missouri, who was the first republican senator to say that he would object to the counting of the electoral votes to certify the victory of former vice president and now president-elect joe biden. there had been -- there's been a lot of discussion today as to whether the republican party who demand the resignation of senator hawley given his role in effectively inciting what happened today in the u.s. capitol when a violent mob stormed the u.s. capitol building. i think there was widespread expectation that senator hawley would at least withdraw his objection and say that the electoral votes should now be counted. but we heard him continue to foment the conspiracy theories and to nurse the grievances that led to the events that we saw today, and he's apparently

sticking with that course. now, i just want to tell you what we're watching here is we're seeing proceedings in the senate and proceedings in the house simultaneously as they handle what appear to be still standing republican objections to allowing joe biden's victory to be processed by the congress so that we can move forward toward the inauguration, even after what happened today. i will also tell you that while we have been in this period of our coverage tonight, there have been some resignations. i announced earlier in the evening that the first resignation that we knew of in response to the violence today at the u.s. capitol by trump supporters was, of all people, the chief of staff to the first lady of the united states. stephanie grisham, a former white house press secretary, now serving as the top staffer to first lady melania trump. she resigned effectively in protest today. we've now had a few more resignations. the social secretary for the white house, ricky -- i don't know how to say the last name, nice-i-c-e-t-a n-i-c-e-t-a, resigned after

today's events. also a deputy press secretary named sarah matthews has resigned from her white house position today because of today's violence, giving a statement to nbc news that says in part, quote, i was deeply disturbed by what i saw today. i will be stepping down from my role effective immediately. our nation needs a peaceful transfer of power. again, that's white house deputy press secretary sarah matthews, who has resigned. i will also tell you based on our reporting from nbc's white house team tonight, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell nbc news that there could be more and higher-level resignations this evening coming within the trump administration in response to the violence from the president's supporters that was, i think to many people's eyes, quite clearly directly incited by the president today and egged on by him in statements following the start of the violence. statements that were ultimately removed by social media companies from their platforms. among the names that are being floated as potential resignations, those who are reportedly considering their resignations tonight, are the

national security adviser, robert o'brien, who has been reported to have presidential ambitions of his own, believe it or not. robert o'brien put out a somewhat strange statement earlier this evening praising vice president mike pence in over the top but non-specific terms. nobody quite knew what that meant. another person who is reported tonight to be considering resigning is the deputy national security adviser, matthew potten jer. and here's a really provocative one. among those said to be considered resigning tonight because of today's violence is our nation's transportation secretary, cabinet official, big deal in any circumstance. but when it comes to the transportation secretary, that means we are talking about elaine chao. that means we are talking about the wife of the top republican in the senate, mitch mcconnell. again, nbc news reporting that she is considering resignation tonight. i should also tell you that since we have been on the air tonight, facebook and instagram and twitter have all temporarily

blocked the president's accounts. as i mentioned, the president has made online statements today after a speech full of incitement to a riled up crowd of thousands of people that very quickly led them to march down the street in downtown washington, d.c. to what they ultimately brought to bear on the u.s. capitol with a violent assault on that building. after those remarks to that crowd, the president continued to make remarks defending his claims about the election having been stolen from him, defending effectively the assault on the capitol, saying it's what should be expected when a terrible wrong is brought -- is brought to bear in terms of the election results. now facebook and instagram and twitter have all temporarily blocked the president's accounts. a number of news organizations tonight have had somewhat disturbing reports about the president's state of mind. we've also seen scattered reports that the cabinet, including potentially vice president mike pence, might be

considering their options when it comes to the 25th amendment, which would be a radical choice to remove the president on the basis of him being unfit for office. again, scattered reports. none of those have been matched right now by nbc news, but we continue to watch both the house and the senate as they discuss these ongoing objections to the seating of electors from multiple states. my colleague joy reid has been incredible all day today watching this with us and bringing some very incisive analysis to bear. joy, i want to check in with you about what's happening in the house and senate, what you're seeing and how you feel this fits in to the overall course of today. >> yeah, you know, it's kind of sad, rachel, watching this. i know you and i are both sort of -- sort of nerds to the sort of process of government and the way it works and sort of ceremonial bits that go with the changeover of government. you know, i typically really do love to watch it. it feels rather empty at this point because, you know, part of the reason that ceremonies like

what we're seeing belatedly taking place after the insurrectionist riot earlier today -- the reason they're so powerful and so beneficial to the united states is that this is the way we show the rest of the world, you know, that we believe in the peaceful transfer of power. it's rather empty when, you know, some of the people taking part in the ceremony are saying, yeah, but, we'd also like to disenfranchise 80 million people because they didn't vote for who we like. i think we've lost the -- joe biden is going to have a tremendous burden to try to recapture some of the credibility that has been drained out. and i will just say the last thing is that josh hawley, this is the photo. i don't know if you can see it on camera. this is who josh hawley is. he shouldn't lecture anyone about anything about the process of democracy. josh hawley should resign. that's what he should do. that's what he should do that would help the country most. and hopefully there will be some investigations as to why the capitol police were so completely unprepared when donald trump -- he marketed and

said in december that this day was going to be wild. it was wild. there should be investigations. >> joy, let's dip into the end of the remarks from senator romney here. >> -- 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 lankford and loeffler and braun and daines 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 president's own attorney general, state election officials, both republican and democrat, have reached that unequivocal decision. and in light of today's sad circumstances, i ask my colleague, 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 re-evaluaveals something ae 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. [ applause ] >> democratic leader. >> senator from new hampshire, senator shaheen. >> senator from new hampshire. >> mr. president, on january 3rd, i along with 31 of my colleagues stood in this chamber and swore an oath to support and

defend the constitution of the united states. it's both ironic and deeply disappointing that only three days after swearing these oaths, some of my colleagues are willfully coming close to breaking this promise. since 1797, each u.s. president has peacefully handed over power to the next, and that will happen again on january 20th, when donald trump, despite the protesters today, the violence today -- when donald trump leaves the white house at noon and joe biden becomes president. and we've heard tonight from both democrats and republicans about the importance of the voters speaking in the election and about the fact that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

but this is not just an issue for us here in the united states. this is an issue for nascent democracies around the world, who has senator romney said look to the united states as an example. we are the shining city on the hill. we give those struggling under oppression hope for a better future. now, like so many of us in this chamber, i've traveled to developing democracies around the world, to afghanistan and iraq, to the western balkans, to africa, to the country of georgia. i went there with my colleagues, senator risch. in 2012, we went to georgia to observe officially, on behalf of the senate, the election between o the outgoing president and his

united national movement party, and the challenge by georgian dream, which was a newly formed party supported and funded by a billionaire oligarch. it was a battle for parliament but also for control of the government. senator risch and i visited multiple polling places on election day, and we agreed with the international assessment that that election was free and fair and that georgian dream were the winners. but there was real concern in the country that the outgoing president was going to refuse to give up power, that that would lead to violence. it would end the nascent democratic reforms that were happening in that former soviet republic. and so senator risch and i, the day after the election, went to visit the outgoing president to

try and talk him out of staying in power. and i remember very clearly going to his home, and we sat down with him, and we pointed out that the hallmark of a democracy, what he had worked so hard for in his eight years as president of georgia, the hallmark of that was to turn over power in a peaceful election to the person that the voters chose. well, the outgoing president listened to us, and he did leave office peacefully. but it's important that future generations recognize that america, like democracies everywhere, depends on a peaceful transition of power, on believing in what the voters say, and ensuring that happens.

unfortunately, we've heard from some senators today who have been enabling president trump's willful disregard of the votes of our citizenry even as they speak out against foreign leaders who ignore their own people. they will fail, and history will remember them. and i hope that future generations will view the actions of some of those folks today as little more than an unfortunate anomaly. future opportunists may use this ill-fated effort to seek short-term political gain over the long-term stability of our republic. but for the sake of our great country and america's standing in the world, i ask my colleagues today to fully endorse the results of the free and fair election and set aside this partisan attempt to subvert the will of the people. we should be venerating the

peaceful transition of power even if our own preferred candidate didn't win. that is, after all, who we are in the united states of america. thank you, mr. president. >> majority leader. >> mr. president, i yield up to five minutes to the senator from ohio, senator portman. >> senator from ohio. >> one thing we've just learned is that cell service appears to be restored in the u.s. capitol. either that, or somebody has that caribbean jazz thing set as their timer. it sounded like that was a ring tone going off as senator shaheen was wrapping up her remarks. senator portman is speaking on the senate side. we see that debate continuing on the house side as well. the house republican leader, kevin mccarthy, gave remarks moments ago in which he essentially defended the fact that republicans are going to not change course whatsoever despite the violent insurrection at the u.s. capitol today,

incited by the president in pressing this case that the election was somehow improper, somehow stolen from him. they are going to continue to object to the electoral count. and he demands respect for republicans in doing that. and so the house continues along that course, and republicans in the senate, while some of them are withdrawing their objections, certainly not all of them are. in case you thought was seeing what we saw tonight, the first time the u.s. capitol has been breached since 1812, whether that might change course for republicans seeking to delegitimize the peaceful transition of power, that course is unchanged. but this continues tonight, and we'll see how long they drag it on. while they are watching these proceedings unfold, one of the people we're watching it is former senator from the great state of missouri, claire mccaskill. i just have to ask your response to what you're seeing. >> yeah.

first let me say i do think we might see a little change in course because on each objection, there has to be a house member and a senator. and what you're seeing right now, rachel, is i was made privy to a list today of all the senators that will be speaking on all the different objections. and they're all talking now. they're not waiting because what this was going to be is they were going to do arizona. then they were going to go back to the house. they were going to object on georgia. then they were going to do it again and go back to the house, object on pennsylvania, do it again. and we started the evening thinking there may be even more than three. my sources are telling me in the senate that they believe now that the most there might be is just arizona and pennsylvania because of josh hawley. so the house can't go any further unless a senator goes along. and if you notice, kelly loeffler stood up and said she was withdrawing her objection. and of course that's very

relevant because she was supposed to be the senator on the objection for georgia. so it will be interesting to see, once they wrap up this vote on arizona. but i see no reason why all these senators would be speaking now unless the senate has decided to really, you know, stop the process much sooner than they had originally planned on doing. >> so, claire, let me just -- i don't speak senate very well. so let me just make sure that i understand what you're saying. what we had previously expected to happen was up to potentially, you know, four, five, six states might all go through this process. >> correct. >> debate in the senate, debate in the house, and there would be a different senator lending his or her name to the house objections for each one of those. that's why we were talking about potentially 24 hours of debate, 24 hours of delay in this process. but now what you're saying, based on the fact that all of the objecting senators are speaking all at once on this first objection, that maybe it's just going to be one or two

states instead of four, five, or six. >> that's exactly right. >> okay. but they're not stopping the objections. they're not withdrawing -- they're not ending the process now. they may just be shortening it. >> they may just be shortening it, and there may be, instead of, you know, three to six states, there may just be two states that they actually end up voting on. the other thing i would tell you is don't forget how unusual what we're seeing is. it's very rare for all the senators to be in the chamber at the same time. i don't care who's talking about what. it doesn't happen that often. so they, by my glancing around as people are speaking and knowing where everyone sits, it appears to me almost everyone is there. and the other thing that very rarely happens, unless you're retiring, senators typically don't applaud. so the fact that mitt romney got that sustained, long applause -- and i am sure it was bipartisan -- that's very

unusual in the united states senate. that doesn't happen very often. in a lot of ways, when they were applauding him, they were giving a -- perhaps a very rude signal to none other than josh hawley and ted cruz. >> well, we will continue to watch this as it unfolds. also watching along with us is our friend and colleague chris hayes, who has been watching all day. chris, i am struck by the fact that as we are watching particularly that lower right hand quadrant of the house floor, that is a scene where just a few hours ago, more than a dozen members of congress were sheltering on the floor, under the desks and under the chairs in there while gunfire erupted through the door of the house chamber. a woman was shot and ultimately died from her wounds not far from there. members of congress wearing gas masks, asas.

members comforting each other while they're hiding for their lives. now we're proceeding with these objections to the vote. >> you put your finger on what i'm finding difficulty with at the moment. at one level i understand, and i think it's add mirable and correct and appropriate to proceed with business as usual to show that they are uncowed by the armed insurrectionists. in order to not allow those people to cow them from doing their constitutional duty, reasserting normalcy is all well and appropriate. but there is something frankly kind of appalling about the tone of normalcy that has resumed in the nation's capital on this evening, on a day in which we've seen the most severe threat to democratic sovereignty in the nation since the civil war and the firing of the cannons at ft. sumter. what happened today, which is being treated as i think some

kind of unpleasant episode which we should get passed to get back on the right track of the nation's peaceful transition of power, strikes me as flirting with ignoring what happened and the pressing emergency that faces the nation right now, which is that the president of the united states is clearly a danger and threat to the republic and needs to be lawfully removed from office as fast as is legally practicable. to watch ben sasse speechify about shoveling your neighbor's snow, which is a good, nice thing to do, while the president's retains control of the nuclear codes, having urged his battalions of fascist thugs to storm the capitol is just very, very difficult to digest, i have to say. >> and to your point, chris, this is not something that, like, happened a while ago, even happened a few days ago. i still haven't totally digested the fact that we have the president on tape calling the

secretary of state in georgia and saying i need you to invent election results for me. that was not that many hours ago. this just happened and we've got this split screen that also includes the president's supporters having been pushed back from the building they stormed, leaving one woman dead in their wake, right? almost no arrests after their actions today. where are they right now? they are home, or they are elsewhere out in the streets. they're trading war stories bragging about the violence and the vandalism they got away with, the terror they brought to the u.s. government today. their success in temporarily halting the work of transferring power from their candidate to the one that just beat him in the last election because they did stop that process for five hours. they walked away from the u.s. capitol that they violently assaulted without consequences. now the congress is, you know, going to put plywood on the windows and get back to doing its work belatedly to count the electoral votes and install a new president. but what's the current president doing? presumably he's plotting his next attack. >> precisely. we all know -- we have watched this from 2015. every single thing that lindsey

graham and marco rubio and ted cruz and rick perry and mitt romney said about the man then was true and they knew it. anyo mitch mcconnell said in may of 2016 he areassured republicans that the man's temperament would be fine. and now the entire enterprise sits atop a mountain of corpses in the deadliest year of american history as we have watched people storm the capitol and attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power. and the president sits in the white house at this moment as still the constitutional commander in chief of the nation's armed forces. i understand a desire not to run around with your hair on fire. but this is very clearly a national emergency that we find ourselves in, and it is slightly bizarre to watch the kind of decrepit proceduralism of the congress at this moment when we are in said emergency. >> and we are hearing, chris, reports that there may be resignations, that some people are thinking about their future. to have had the only resignations in the wake of this act today be the white house

social secretary, the first lady's chief of staff, and a deputy press secretary -- to have that be it, i mean we are advised -- next is reporting that others at a higher level are considering it. but there's -- i mean when republicans went to richard nixon and said, listen, we caught you cheating and trying to cover up that crime and everybody's heard that tape. you got to go. think about the magnitude of that act by the president versus what we just had today from president trump. and to have republicans not asking for his resignation other than the republican governor of vermont, to have senators -- senator hawley at least not having his resignation demanded for having started this entire thing in the congress, but him sticking with it, staying with this. evidence mean the idea that the republican party is going to somehow defy the label of being a violent, insurrectionist party with fascist markers is hard to see when their internal discipline is stern speeches and

no rebukes. >> and i have to say this. that relates to something i have seen present today, which is that america has a story it tells itself about what kind of democracy it is. and that story, i think, is noble and in many parts true and important in urging us towards, as lincoln said, the better angels. but there's another part of the story. there have been coups in american history. in 1898, a white supremacist coup took over because a fusionist white black government won an election that they refused to allow to happen. that coup was successful because they faced no recriminations and it was part of a wave of coups that happened in the south. we have had assaults and attacks on democracy, and we don't think of them or learn them as such because they worked. so the democracy we have is precious, and it doesn't assert itself simply by gestural rhetoric about our traditions and our specialness and our exceptionalness. it preserves itself through the

riefrpous acts of those in power to preserve it. and i fear right now we are at a precipice and a testing point that i hope those folks will meet over and above speeches. >> chris van hollen is speaking right now in the senate. we believe that is going to be the last senate speech before there is a vote on these objections. the house is proceeding apace and doesn't appear to be diverted whatsoever from their course. we don't know how long this is going to go on tonight. i want to go back to our colleague joy reid while we keep eyes on chris van hollen as he wraps up. when he wraps up, we think there's going to be a vote. joy, now that we know in the house they're staying the course, it looks like in the senate they might be shortening the course but otherwise sticking with it. how do you think this is ultimately going to resolve? >> you know, unfortunately there are still people who feel that there's some sort of political sort of future maybe in trump world far-right media, farther right than fox media in keeping going. but i'm with you and chris.

i think that, you know, this whole spectacle that's supposed to talk about the strength of our democracy is a sham as long as this is still going forward. i don't know how this turns out, but i just hope that they complete the certification of biden and harris winning the election. let's just get that done. i think at this point that's the priority. get it done. i don't think we need the ceremony and the speeches. i think romney's speech was fine. but this doesn't matter. the rest of the world has seen this. they can't unsee it. they see what we are now. >> let's go to the end of the remarks from senator chris van hollen here and see how they head into what we expect to be this vote. go ahead to that senate footage. >> mr. president, i read something this week i never thought i'd read in a newspaper in the united states of america. it was an op-ed by all the living former secretaries of defense, including secretaries rumsfeld, cheney, and mattis, warning, warning the country about our tradition of peaceful transfer of power and that it

would shabe inappropriate for t military to take sides, in the united states of america. we talk to the world about how we want to promote democracy and our values and right here at home, too many and, mr. president, donald trump could not do this alone. he could only do it if he's aided and abetted by individuals who are willing to perpetrate those lies and those conspiracies. and that is why it is so important that we as democrats and republicans and centers stand up together. stand up together and tell the truth. you know when you go into a court of law like those 60 cases, your testifying under penalty of perjury. that's very different than here in the house and the senate. and in all of those 60 cases

under penalty of perjury, there was no evidence of widespread fraud. so, it should be easy for us all together to tell the truth. on january 20th, joe biden will be sworn in as the next president of the united states. he has said he wants to bring the country together. he has said he wants to bring democrats and republicans together to do some of the pressing business of this country, to defeat this pandemic, to get the economy going again, to face challenging issues of racial and social justice. i hope we will learn from what happened today, a mob attack on this capitol, the price we pay when we don't stand up for the truth and for democracy. james mchenry, maryland's delegate to the constitutional convention, wrote about a famous exchange in his diaries between

elizabeth powell and benjamin franklin. wrote a lady asked dr. franklin, well, doctor, what have we got? a republic or a monarchy? a republic, replied dr. franklin. if you can keep it. my colleagues, this is a test of whether we unite to keep our republic. i hope we will pass the test together. thank you. >> majority leader. >> mr. president, i yield up to five minutes to senator the south carolina, senator graham. >> senator from south carolina. >> many times my state has been the problem. i love it. that's where i want to die, but no time soon. 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. 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 are 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 gonna 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. you are able to object. you are not doing anything wrong. it's a uniquely bad idea to delay this election. trump and i, we have had a hell of a journey. i hate it to end this way. oh, my god, i hate it. from my point of view, he has 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 agree with the three, but i accept the four. if al gore can accept 5-4, he is

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, changed the election laws unlawful. a federal judge said, no, i accept the federal judge, even though i don't agree with it. fraud. they say there is 66,000 people in georgia under 18 voted. how many people believe that? i asked, give me ten. i only had one. they said 8,000 felons in prison in arizona voted. give me ten. i haven't gotten one. does that say there is problems in every election? i don't buy this. enough's enough. we've got to end it. vice president pence, what they

are asking you to do, you won't do because you can't. you talk about interesting times. i associate myself with rand paul. how many times will you hear that? [ laughter ] >> the mob has done something nobody else could do. get me and rand to agree. rand is right. if you're a conservative, this is the most offensive concept in the world that a single person could disenfranchise 155 million people. the president of the senate shall in the presence of the senate and the house of representatives open all certificates and the vote shall then be counted. the person having the greatest number of votes for president shall be president. wherein does it say mike can say i don't like the results, i want to send them back to the states, i believe there is fraud. to the conservatives who believe in the constitution, now is your chance to stand up and be counted. originalism, count me in. it means what it says.

so, mike, mr. vice president, just hang in there. they said we can count on mike. all of us can count on the vice president. you are going to do the right thing. you are going to do the constitutional thing. you got a son who flies f-35s. son-in-law who flies f-18s. they are flying so we can get it right here. there are people dying to my good friend from illinois, to make sure we have a chance to argue among ourselves. when it's over, it is over. it is over. the final thing. joe biden, i have traveled the world with joe. i hope he lost. i prayed he would lose. he won. he is the legitimate president of the united states. i cannot convince people, certain groups, by my words, but i will tell you by my actions that maybe i above all others in this body need to say this.

joe biden and kamala harris are lawfully elected and will become the president and the vice president of the united states on january the 20th. [ applause ] >> majority leader. >> mr. president, i yield back the balance of our time. >> all time is expired. the question is, shall the objections submitted by the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the senator from texas, mr. cruz and others be sustained. is there a second? there is.

clerk will call the roll. >> miss baldwin. >> no. >> mr. betterasso. >> no. >> mr. bennett. >> no. >> mrs. blackburn. >> no. >> mr. blumenthal. >> no. >> mr. blount. >> no. >> mr. booker. >> no. >> mr. boseman. >> no. >> mr. braun. >> no. >> mr. brown. >> no. >> mr. burr. >> no. >> miss cantwell. >> no. >> mrs. capito. >> no. >> mr. cardin. >> no. >> mr. carper. >> no. >> mr. casey.

>> no. >> mr. cassidy. >> no. >> ms. collins. >> no. >> mr. coops. >> no. >> mr. cornyn. >> no. >> ms. cortez masto. >> no. >> mr. cotton. >> no. >> mr. cramer. >> no. >> mr. crapo. >> no. >> mr. cruz. >> aye. >> mr. danes. >> no. >> miss duckworth. >> no. >> mr. durbin. >> no. >> ms. ernst. >> no. >> mrs. feinstein. >> no. >> mrs. fischer. >> no.