transmitted, not willing to really engage on questions of security around the capitol beyond that these are things that need to get investigated. i mean, the sense i got from pelosi here is she is trying to keep her caucus locked in, keep the focus on the work that needs to be done here, and keep the possibilities of the transmittal of that article of impeachment on the table, at least as long as donald trump is still the president of the united states. >> garrett haake, we'll have to leave it there because it's the top of the hour. that does it for me. "andrea mitchell reports" starts right now. >> thank you, craig. good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington where muriel bowser will be speaking moments from now on the elaborate coordinated efforts by officials to keep the capitol safe. only after news that a rehearsal for the inaugural was postponed due to unspecified security concerns. the focus on security is

immediately apparent throughout washington, which is in a lockdown never seen before. a massive national guard presence including thousands of troops guarding closed-off streets lined with barricades. and more reinforcements still to come. at the capitol itself, vice president pence made an unscheduled stop to thank the national guard, making it clear that a new president will be taking over next week. >> respect the chain of command, look after your people, and we'll deliver to the american people a safe inauguration. we're going to swear in a new president and vice president and move our nation forward. okay? you'll make it possible. thank you all very much. >> "the washington post" is now reporting just how close the mob got to pence, who was taken by the secret service from the senate chamber to a nearby hideaway in the senate office 14 minute it was a first capitol police warning that the mob was attempting to breach the building. and the rioters were then only diverted from turning to exactly

where pence and his family were being hidden by capitol police down that corridor by officer eugene goodman, seen here at the top of the second-floor steps, leading them as he got to the steps, you'll see in a moment, he grabs his baton. they follow him up those steps. then when he gets to the top of the steps, what we now know from "the washington post" reporting is he led them in the opposite direction only minutes from where pence was temporarily closeted. pence was eventually told by his security that he had to move to a safer location. as the preparations for wednesday's event continue, we're also getting terrifying new details from heroic d.c. metro police officers who rushed in as reinforcements to the capitol police during the riot. . >> just chaos, pure chaos. i just remember, you know, people still swinging metal poles at us and they were pushing anding, they were spraying us with, you know, bear

mace and pepper spray. >> i was being beaten with a thin flag and guys were trying to grab my gun and they were chanting, like, kill him with his own gun. >> they were calling us traitors, telling us to remember our oath, and eventually they attacked us. >> joining me now, nbc's tom costello and reporter ashley parker. tom, tell us about the lockdown and the threat level right now. >> reporter: well, listen, i think it's most people in the d.c. area are feeling pretty confident right now about security into inauguration. i mean, the level of security in this city is just unprecedented. we've got by inauguration day now the national guard saying 21,000 national guard troops will be here, thousands of them are already here as you know, creating a perimeter around the entire not just the capitol but the -- but blocks extending out from the capitol. then you have layers of police roadblocks and police officers. i mean, this city is on virtual

lockdown right now and very safe. but it does underscore the threat that the fbi is talking about, the capitol police are talking about, ongoing multiple threats by these right-wing extremists and white supremacists and anti-semites talking about launching more attacks not just in d.c. or against d.c. but nation wild. by the way, in charging documents, you may have seen earlier today that one of the protesters, one of the attackers who's gotten a lot of attention, the guy who was wearing horns and body paint and face paint, jake angeli, also known as jacob chansley, the charging document from the u.s. attorney says his intent and others were to capture and assassinate members of the united states government. that obviously sets up a whole series of charges now potentially including potentially sedition against these particular ring leaders, if you will, or those on the front end of the attack last

wednesday. "the washington post" reporting is really quite compelling as well. you will get into that in just a moment about how close it really was for members of congress and also for vice president pence. and wasn't that stark when we had a particular moment of when last night vice president pence thanked the members of the national guard for doing their duty, the real patriots, and protecting the congress and protecting the inauguration. of course the inauguration that will replace vice president pence and president trump. it is a city on lockdown. i think most people are feeling safe. the concern is of course other state capitols around the country. andrea? >> ashley, you're reporting in carolina, the colleagues, take us through the extraordinary proximity of the vice president and his family to the approaching mob.

>> absolutely. so the two key figures to remember here are 60 seconds and less than 100 feet. that is how close the violent mob of protester, some of who were chanting "hang mike pence," came to witnessing the vice president and really being in incredibly close proximity from him as he was spirited away from the senate chamber into his ceremonial office. at the beginning of your hour, you played that video of officer goodman being incredibly heroic and luring the mob away from the senate chamber and helping to keep those members safe. but that's that moment in that viral video at the top of the stairs where he pauses for a second and looks over his shoulder to his left. and right there, just seconds earlier, less than a minute earlier, is where the vice president and his detail and his family members, his wife karen, his daughter charlotte, his brother greg pence, who is a

house lawmaker, had just been raced away to safety. that's sort of the key of our reporting. it goes on to detail how the vice president was in the senate chair presiding for 14 minutes after the initial breach, which for security reasons as everyone sort of does a postmortem on what went wrong, is far too long, and how the vice president and his family was ultimately evacuated to a second safer location in the capitol complex that we are not revealing the specifics of, of course, for security reasons. >> ashley, we should be clear, he has a secret service detail. he also has an assault team around him at all times. so we're not saying what would have happened. it just would have been extraordinarily difficult to say the least. >> that's exactly right. and we don't know -- again, we sort of don't get into the whole

evacuation route or how long it took, but he did -- we spoke to people, they did not see any of the rioters as they went through that path through his second, more secure, location. of all of these members, the vice president was sort of the top vip in the capitol that day. as you point out, he has a security detail, an assault team with him, but at the very least, if the protesters had seen him, this is the key person, the president had encouraged them to be furious at. at the very least, we don't want to think about worst-case scenario, but the situation would have escalated. >> and just one other piece of your reporting is that the secret service had repeatedly wanted to move him more quickly to a third location and he resisted at first because he wanted to stay there and carry out his duties and not be, you know, threatened by the mob. but eventually they did go to a more secure location somewhere near the capitol. thank you very much, ashley, and your team as well, tom costello,

of course on the job. i want to bring in now also that the nbc news has confirmed that a dozen people on a national terrorist watch list were in washington, d.c., last week for the pro-trump rally that erupted in violence. the majority are suspected white supremacists whose past actions alarmed investigators enough they were added to the terrorist screening database. this has inspectors general from justice, defense, and homeland security and interior opening a sweeping overall security review of the intelligence and the response to the attack on the capitol. expecting momentarily a briefing from the mayor and related groups, national park surveillance as well. joining me now is former fbi director james comey. mr. comey, we want to bring you in to this new experience. your new book is "saving justice: truth, transparency, and trust." we're hoping we can have a longer interview maybe on the other side of the may yr's

briefing. but it is startling to here there are so many people on this watch list and there wasn't enough security to retain them. stand by. the mayor is briefing right now. >> -- to provide an update on preparations for the 59th presidential inauguration which by now everyone knows has an unprecedented level of preparation and execution. i am joined by members of my administration as well as our federal partners. let me start by introduing matt miller, the special agent in charge of the washington field office of the united states secret service. the united states secret service is of course the lead agency for national special security events, including the 59th inauguration. mary ann tierney, the regional administrator for the federal

emergency management agency. we'll har from miss tierney, but she will have to depart following her remarks. jeff reinboldt, superintendent of the national mall and memorial parks, for the national park service. steven booker, who is the acting assistant chief for the united states park police. paul weederfeld, the general manager and ceo for the washington metropolitan area transit authority, or metro. ronald pablit, the chief of metro transit police. also chief conte of the metropolitan police department, or d.c. police. kevin donahue, the city administrator for the district of columbia as well. chief donnelly, who is the chief of the d.c. fire and emergency medical service. we may be also joined by

representatives of the d.c. national guard, who we have invited to join us as well. let me start with a brief situational update, and we will then hear from our guests. i want to reiterate my request to americans to enjoy this 59th inauguration of the president of the united states and the vice president of the united states from home. enjoy it virtually on january 20th. our tradition, in fact, our constitutional mandate that the transition of power occurs by noon on january the 20th will happen right here in the district of columbia, and we want everybody to enjoy it and enjoy it right in their own states, in their own living rooms, and with their own families. we know that this is the right request for our public safety

and our public health. the national park service is of course the steward of our nation's parks, including parks right here in washington, d.c. and while the situation continues to change each day, we do know that as of this morning various road closures are in effect and garages in the district have been restricted as well. if you have tried to drive around the city, you already know this. there is a recent posting of streets that have been impacted by these closures, and here is the most recent list of road closures released this morning by the national park service in cooperation with the united states secret service.

we continue to ask anyone who doesn't absolutely need to be out and about or in those restricted areas to avoid them. earlier this week, metro announced service adjustments that went into effect today and will be in place through thursday, january 21st. and includes 13 metro stations and 26 bus routes. you can learn more about those adjustments at wamata.com. additionally, streetcar service in the district is suspended, and you can continue to find updates on that at inauguration.dc.gov. we also know that residents are eager to do what they can do to keep our city safe, and we certainly appreciate it. so we want you to be vigilant, look around yourselves when you're out and about, and if you

see something, absolutely say something. and you may report anything that you think is out of the norm by calling 911. you may report suspicious activity at 7279099. you can go to mpd's i watch d.c. dot-org website or text tips to 5411. we are recommending that businesses download, print, and display these signs. these signs let anyone know that firearms are not welcome on the premises. we want businesses who encounter anyone with a weapon to call 911 and try not to confront that person or persons themselves. these signs can be downloaded at

inauguration.dc.gov. later today, d.c.'s homeland security agency and mpd will host a community call to discuss the district's planning. residents and stakeholders can join that call today at 4:30 p.m. by dialing 844-881-1314. the conversation will also be broadcast live on channel 16 as well as all d.c. government platforms. if you haven't already done so, sign up to receive specific alerts. you can register and text inaug2021 to 888-777.

finally, all of this information can be low capabilitied at one place at inauguration.dc.gov. once again, we will hear from our partners who have been engaged in this planning and are responsible for various aspects of execution. first and foremost, matt miller is the special agent in charge of the washington field office for the united states secret service. mr. miller. agent miller, i should say. >> mr. miller works. good afternoon, everyone. thank you, mayor bowser, for inviting me to join you. on behalf of the men and women of the united states secret service, i'm happy to speak about plans for next week's presidential inauguration and answer any questions that may arise at this time. january 20th will be this nation's 59th presidential inauguration. designated as a national special security event, the secret service is again serving as the lead agency with respect to operational planning and security. as most of you are away, the

department of homeland security recently extended the nsee designation dates for the period covering january 13th to january 21st in response to the e venltss of january 6th, when an election protest turned into a violent, deadly, and unlawful assault on the united states capitol. for well over a year, we have been working with our federal, state, and municipal partners to develop and implement a comprehensive operational security plan to ensure the safety of everyone participating in the event as well as those who may try to come to d.c. to watch the inauguration or spend time in the nation's capital. anyone who's seen any of the mayor's recent press conferences or listened to her earlier statements will realize we are discouraging this in lieu of virtual participation, but we are . we cannot allow a recurrence of the chaos and illegal activity

that the united states and the world witnessed last week. our democracy is built on the rule of law, and the secret service workforce is dedicated and committed to uphold its oath to the constitution and assure that it's vital, no-fail mission regarding the security of the presidential inauguration and the peaceful transfer of power is carried out. this year, of course, as everyone is aware, our country is battling the most significant health crisis to face the nation in more than a century. and the need to follow recommended public health guidance combined with the increased measures resulting from last week's events will undoubtedly impact the inauguration in almost every aspect. that said, our security plan was developed to respond to any contingency that might arise on and leading up to january 20th. our partners for securing the inauguration include, among many, many others, the federal

emergency management agency, which is responsible for incident response and recovery, the federal bureau of investigations, which is responsible for intelligence and incident investigation, and of course the men and women of the metropolitan police department. as for any nsee, the secret service's core strategy is to leverage our existing, outstanding partnerships with our local law enforcement, public safety, and military colleagues in the national capital region as well as those here directly in support of the week's events and to collaboratively develop a comprehensive security plan for the inauguration. as you would expect, there are many partners involved in this planning, a number of who are here behind me. the secret service employs a unified command model. we establish an executive steering committee, which is staffed with senior representatives from these agencies and others, who have primary jurisdiction over various aspects of the

inauguration and then create subcommittees, in this instance, 28, dedicated to everything from crowd management, credentialing, maritime security, access control, medical care, just to name a few. the expertise and coordination of everyone involved is critical to a successful event. we have conducted numerous training initiatives, table-top exercises, rehearsals, field and senior command-level exercises to ensure we have immediate, well-coordinated, and effective response to any of the challenges we might face during this inauguration. using this process, we've developed a comprehensive, integrated, and while it may not look like it from the outside, nimble security plan to ensure a safe environment for our protect tees, the event, and the general public. thank you very much. >> thank you, agent miller. administrator tierney.

>> thank you. thank you, mayor bowser. i am mary ann tierney, the regional administrator for the federal emergency management agency. while fema is not a law enforcement agency, public safety is our priority for the inauguration. fema has taken several actions to promote good public safety during this event. the president has declared an emergency that has enabled fema to do several things. the first thing is we have deployed a national incident management team to the d.c. emergency operations center to work in support of our district partners. we have also deployed regional incident management assistant teams to maryland and virginia to support their planning and actions. we have been working with the district to identify resource requirements. for example, we are currently working a mission to prestage ambulance resources and also we have moved commodities such as food, water, and shelter supplies closer in to support the district should that be needed.

we continue to support the secret service in their efforts to plan for this event. fema has also conducted several exercises in response to requests from the secret service as well as other agencies to help prepare since january 6th. that is all i have pending any questions. >> thank you. let me now introduce jeff reinboldt, whose the superintendent for the national mall memorial parks from thes national park service. >> thank you, mayor bowser. good afternoon. inaugurations are special times, right, for our nation, for our city, and especially for those of us at the national mall who host a lot of the events around an inauguration. this one is no doubt very challenging. and we've had a chance to work with the presidential inaugural committee since november, and to

come up with a reimagined inauguration. we did receive a letter from the u.s. secret service yesterday asking us to consider closing several areas within the national mall. this is essentially the monumental core, the area around the white house, and sections of pennsylvania avenue. i do want to thank the secret service, the u.s. park police for working with us to understand what their concerns are, how we could help address this national security issue, to make sure that the icons that we administer are protected and also to make sure that if possible we could allow for first amendment activities in the park. we are a premier first amendment area in the country, in the world probably, and we wanted to see if it was possible to do that and also meet their security needs. so as of this morning, the secretary of the interior has officially closed the areas of the national mall.

that includes, again, the core area and the locations that the mayor mentioned before in support of the request from the secret service and the u.s. park police. i do want to talk for just a second about the first amendment areas. we were able to identify two locations. we had two groups -- or several groups that had submitted first amendment applications, and we were able to identify two locations on pennsylvania avenue where up to 100 people will be able to gather. they will be met by u.s. park police, escorted through magnetometers, and then taken to these areas so that they can exercise their first amendment rights. i do again want to thank the park police and the secret service for trying to find a way that we could accommodate that but recognize that these are different times and require different measures. i also want to acknowledge mayor

bowser for working with the secretary of the interior to address some of the concerns that she has for the city. thank you. >> thank you. steven booker, the acting chief for the united states park police. >> thank you, mayor bowser. on behalf of acting chief monihan and the united states park police, the men and women, as agent matt miller said, this is unprecedented, this inauguration, something filled with excitement, hope, and hopefully a new path forward. the united states park police, as stewards of democracy, ensure that first amendment rights are allowed to occur on federal park lands, and our officers do it we

emotional and personal fortitude to make sure that the mission of the national park service and department of interior is intact. our roles are not only the law enforcement arm of the national park service within washington, d.c., but also san francisco and new york as well. we are here to stand by the nsee and all of our d.c. officials, public safety administrators, our local law enforcement to ensure safe and secure event next week. we work clara tifly and have been doing so for months with our incident management team with many men and women engulfed long hours into this planning. i continue -- congratulate them, a few more days left, to make

sure we have a safe event for next week. i'm hereafter wards for any additional questions that you may have. thank you. >> thank you. the general manager for metro wamata. >> we'll return to the briefing as soon as we hear more from security, but back with me now is former fbi director james comey. jim comey, it's starting to hear first of all there were as many of a dozen if not more on the watch list in one place during the riot, participating in the riot. this is not the no-fly list, but these are people who managed to get to d.c. is that an intelligence failure? >> it is potentially. when you put people on that particular list because you want to understand if they have an encounter with law enforcement

and they are people you worry about. i don't want to judge its from afar, but it's going to be important to understand in a comprehensive way what did the relevant agencies, especially the fbi, know and what did they do with the information that they knew. >> pete williams and our colleagues covering justice are saying that there is a new filing that says that there is strong evidence suggesting that their intent was to capture and assassinate members of congress. this is a court filing that has just been made. how alarming is that? >> it's very alarming. not surprising given some of the images that we saw and the evident organization. you don't show up with ladders and sledgehammers and ropes and zip ties to a peaceful protest about political issues. you show up with that stuff because of an assault, and you aim to harm and restrain people. so it's not surprising that's being looked at. it has to be a comprehensive

investigation to understand just how far did this go, who supported it, who funded it, who knew about it, who assisted that effort. it should be taken really seriously. >> "the washington post" is reporting that they got within minutes, if not seconds of the vice president's office off the senate floor where he was. >> yeah. i read that reporting. >> mr. comey, let me interrupt you one more time. metropolitan police chief conte is about to speak. we'll listen to that and talk on the other side. >> -- peaceful transition of presidential executive powers. for over 1 1/2 centuries, people have come from all over the world to witness and commemorate this historic event. however, this year will be significantly different. as we have done since president lincoln's second inaugural ceremony in 1865, the

metropolitan police department members with our many partners have had the greatest honor of the participating in the planning and execution of the presidential inauguration. we know that every mpd member who has had the opportunity to participate in an inaugural event has looked back on the unique experiences for the rest of their lives. since members of the 1990s, members of law enforcement from across the nation have provided vital support to mpd in the inaugural proceedings and will do so again this year. while things are different this year due to the ongoing public health emergency and the insurrection that took place at the capitol last week, it rests upon the dedicated law enforcement officers to provide the utmost in safety, security, and professional police service to all those who come to take part in this momentous occasion. the expertise of each participating law enforcement, public safety, and military

agency is critical to the success of a coordinated and executed security plan. the metropolitan police department has carefully planned for resources and personnel for this event and the add resources will enable mpdrvice . all our officers will be on hand to participate in ensuring a peaceful day, both for inaugural events and throughout our great city. mpd continually collaborates with our federal partners and monitors various intelligence sources for information regarding possible threats to d.c. at this time, i really would like to echo the comments of our mayor for people to enjoy this as a virtual event. we are working hard not only to secure the event itself but also working very hard to reassure the communities of the district of columbia that we are prepared

for this event. thank you. >> thank you. okay. with that, we'll take some questions. and i think susanna is going to help us get people acknowledged. if you could just state your name and your organization. >> this is michael sadler with "the washington post." my first question is for the people who live and work downtown in the district, what's the protocol for them if they need to access areas that are currently fenced off? >> thanks for that question. michael is asking how does a resident access the secured areas. i'm going to ask the secret service to address that question. >> and returning to jim comey, the author of "saving justice," his new book, mr. comey, let's pick up where i just left off where the vice president was in his own office right off the senate floor. he'd been take therein only minutes before as the mob was

breaching the capitol. and then within seconds of him being detected by the mob, a very brave and smart capitol police officer, eugene goodman, diverted the approaching gang to another part of -- to the other direction of the floor. just how dangerous -- well, i mean, how disease this happen? what kind of a breakdown of security in the fact they could let him stay in the chamber for as long as they did? >> well, it underscores both the heroic actions of an individual to make an enormous difference in life, how close we came to a bloodbath as the secret service detail would have been confronted by an angry mob, and how horrific the failure was to protect that hill, to keep that hill safe. it's ground that can be defended. it just went defended. that isn't a failure of imagination. that's just a failure. understanding how that happened, not because we want to head hunt or get people's jobs, but

because we want to make sure it doesn't happen again. doing that look-back in a comprehensive way will be essential to our security. >> we've got the inspectors general from several departments now getting into this as well as the speaker today announcing that general russel honore is going to be overseeing an investigation congress as well as of course the relevant committees. is that enough or do we need a 9/11-style commission? >> i'm not sure that's going to be enough. i don't want to prejudge it till i hear what they're all planning to do, but this spans branches of government, the executive branch and the legislative branch, the inspectors general for the intelligence community can't look at the piece involving the capitol police and these from congress can't look at the executive branch. this is a big enough threat and attack on the center of our democracy that is going to look that spans branches of

government, something closer to a 9/11 commission. >> what's your response to allegations that members of congress themselves may have helped rioter by giving them tours days before, tours that are not available under covid? wittingly or unwittingly, i should say. >> the investigation has to include an effort to understand everybody who was involved, whether that was support, reconnaissance, funding, direction, planning. all of it has to be looked at. i hope members of congress weren't involved, but investigators have to stare at that very hard and try to understand it if they were, pursue it aggressively. >> the attorney for jake anjem gelly, the qanon chaman who goes by the name jacob chansley has been charged. he's been charged with violent entry, disorderly conduct on capitol grounds and other charges that were added today. he says his client should be pardoned by the president of the united states. now, as bizarre as that may

seem, we know the president's record of pardons. let me play a built of the attorney albert watkins. >> he was there at the invitation of our president. trump needs to stand up and own these people. he owes them an obligation. he has an obligation to them and to our nation. >> and do whoo, al? >> oh, give a pardon. >> jim comey, what about that? that was an interview on cnn last night. what about the possibility that this president has the power to pardon this man? >> well, it's a dangerous thing to say that something is beneath even donald trump's ability to destroy the rule of law, but that would be a disgusting act. i'm hoping even this president is above that. he's not above much, but pardoning those who attack the center of our democracy would be a despicable act. >> there of course is a lot of speculation that he might pardon

members of his family, close advisers like rudy giuliani, and himself either today or in the coming days, before next wednesday. >> yeah. i think that's within the realm of possibility. i would expect he would at least consider that. i don't know how his kids would feel about a pardon which carries with it, as our supreme court has said, an implication of guilt and acceptance of guilt. i don't know how they'd feel about accepting guilt in getting a pardon. but i wouldn't be surprised if you see that. i gather he's not paying rudy anymore. maybe what rudy wants is a pardon. i hope it doesn't happen, but given this president and his disdain for the rule of law, we should be prepared. >> you told the bbc president-elect biden should consider pardoning donald trump. we know the ramifications for gerald ford when he did that. why is something that joe biden should consider? >> he has to think about it.

not saying he should do it. he has to figure out the best way to heal this nation spiritually and physically as we battle the raging pandemic. and one possibility would be for him to list all of the many crimes of donald trump and then offer that to him as a pardon. an acceptance of that pardon would be an admission of guilt, so i don't know how the disgraced former president would feel about it, but he at least should consider it as a possible way of moving the country forward and not letting donald trump occupy center stage as the new president tries to steer us in a positive direction. >> at the end of your book, you say you don't think that the president should be prosecuted. why not? >> i wrote that, finished the book in the fall and said it was a very hard call. it's still a very hard call, though it's even closer today. if i were still a prosecutor, i'd want to prosecute him personally and put him in jail, but i'm not sure that's in the best interest of the nation. i'm not sure it's in our

interest to give donald trump center stage in washington, d.c., for another three or four years as united states versus donald trump moves along in federal court in d.c. and the president down the street is trying to renew and heal nation. i think it might be better, although it's a close call, better to impeach him, convict him, bar him from future office, and let the local prosecutor in the new york pursue him for crimes before we electricitied president but not give him the spotlight he craves so much in the national interest. >> the attorney general in michigan said last night that they viewed the lansing attack last april where they got into the capitol there and some leaders there were charged with an attempt to actually kidnap the governor of michigan, gretchen witmer, that that was a dry run, a dress rehearsal, if you will, and some of the same instigators who had not been charged were actually at the u.s. capitol. yet in a hearing last june, i

believe, the attorney general william barr, when asked about it by members of congress, said he was not even aware of the attack on the michigan capitol. how is that possible? >> it doesn't make any sense to me. that michigan assault, as i recall, was praised by donald trump in a tweet or comments or both. it was a bit of a dry run. it was part of the radicalization of those people that ended up attacking our capitol fueled by the lie, the dog whistles, the winks of donald trump and the people around him. >> and how unprecedented is warnings that are now of attacks, potential attacks on all 50 state capitols? >> i'm not aware of any analog in american history. it's deeply concerning. we have a situation. we look at our country with more guns than people where we have

many, many people who have been radicalized by constant lies about everything, the virus and our institutions, but especially about the lies about the election. and among that group of people who have been deluded are people who have been moved to violence, almost in the way that al qaeda gets their people going telling them they're on the lord's side. there are people who think they're on the right side of history because of the president and that's a dangerous situation because they're all over the country. they're not islamists trying to sneak into our country. they're here, live all over the country, and they're armed. that's a threat we have to take seriously. we can protect our facilities all across the country as long as we have the right information and the will to do so. and i hope very much that we do. >> james comey, and thanks for all these interruptions, as you can understand. your new book is "saving justice."

thanks for talking to us today. >> thank you. >> in the press conference in the last hour on the capitol, the press conference is continuing. let's hear what the mayor has to say. >> agent miller and chief contee. >> thank you, mayor. to amplify the mayor's response on the closures, as you saw on the graphic there, there are written street closures published across all of the various law enforcement and public safety partners, so whether it's the secret service's social media sites, district of columbia, metropolitan police department. we are working on publishing a graphic as we typically do. i would just caution everyone that we are currently on i think version 11 given all the changes dictated by the events of the 6th. and there are still negotiations as the mayor indicated with richmond as to when the bridges across the rivers will be closed, when they will be reopened, which specific bridges

those will be. as far as your question about cars and other traffic, so trucks making deliveries to hoe -- hotels or businesses, any vehicle, once the secure perimeter is in place, that enters one of the designated check points, will be searched for explosives, weapon, and other prohibited items. so there will be a joint team from the metropolitan police department, the secret service's technical security division, and depending on resource constraints, department of defense or national guard explosive ordnanceordnanist specialists. we are looking for weapons, explosives. outside of that, the vehicle is safe to enter once cleared. >> what about outside the zone? can people expect those searches outside the city? and use of force. i know the national guard is not here, but can you tell us when use of force would be acceptable

by any of these national guard troop wes see who are now armed? >> okay. that's a two-part question. >> thank you. >> part one, outside of the secure zone, vehicles, residents, guests will be able to enter and transit the district as normal. it's only when you are attempting to enter what we call the green line or the red line, the green line essentially the soft perimeter leading up to the red line, where there are absolute searches coming in. so outside of that, vehicles and deliveries will continue as normal. your second question as far as the rules of engagement, the national guard bureau was publishing rules of engagement and printing rules of engagement cards for each of its soldiers deployed on this exercise. my understanding is that those rules of engagement or the use of force policy would comply with the agency to which they

were assigned. so i know, for instance, that there's a detail of national guard bureau personnel up at the united states capitol. they are complying with and will comport with the united states capitol police's use of force model. most of the use of force models throughout the federal and local law enforcement community are very, very similar. there's not much daylight between them. there are some specific exceptions, but you can probably find those through the u.s. capitol police or the national guard bureau unless chief contee, do you know the specifics for your personnel? >> yes. with respect to the national guard specifically as matt mentioned, those policies pretty much follow the same framework as the host agency. obviously in defense of one's life or another.

i think specifically with the d.c. national guard for mpd's traffic post, those persons that are deployed, their primary mission is to focus on traffic, traffic management. and that's a different mission from what's going on at the u.s. capitol police. so i think that's a distinction to make there. the other thing, too, with respect to your question about the vehicles being searched outside of the perimeter, if we have information, and as you know from the previous demonstrations that we've had here in our city, we have had armed individuals that come to our city, and there were firearms recovered in some instances. there were explosives recovered in another instance, molotov cocktails from a vehicle. so if there's a need, obviously within the framework of the constitution, to stop a vehicle for some type of check for weapons or something like that, we certainly will be deploying that measure as well.

>> good afternoon. i'm with the washington newspaper. itch a question for acting chief contee and mr. weederfeld. >> yes, chief. go ahead, james. >> chief, we want to make sure that we have this right. mpd, for lack of a better term, all hands on deck, mpd will be all hands on deck for the inauguration zone. but what about the rest of the city? will the rest of the city be covered, and will they be covered competently even though you have many officers in the inauguration zone? >> thank you for the question. it's a great question. i'll answer that very specifically. it's not just all hands on deck for the zone. it's all hands on deck for our entire agency because our entire agency has responsibility for the entire city. with that being said, the influx of federal resources that you see into our city certainly

allows for mpd to be agile, to be very nimble in terms of our response posture to any threatss that may occur in any of our communities. we will have assets prestationed throughout different communities ready to respond and a contingency of federal support if need be to respond to any threats that may present themselves. >> i'm sorry. >> no, no, no, this one. >> many people in the community on social media, when they saw this plan closing so many stations, they were very alarmed, not so much they're closing its within the inauguration zone, but the fact is that many people travel through that area to get to their jobs and obligations, and many of these people are low-income and working-class

people, and they can't afford to telework in terms of getting to their jobs. when this plan came through, did that come to you as a consideration? >> of course it did. that was one of our largest concerns was how do we argued f through the zone so that people get to the other side without having to get off the train and another means to get there. it was a huge concern of ours. it's something we don't welcome but something we all need to do to keep every one safe. >> hi, thank you. my first question is, is there any indication that extremist groups like the proud boys are planning on attending the inauguration next week or showing up? >> special agent. >> thanks. i would defer a specific answer

to the fbi. i know that they are actively investigating and talking with a number of extremist groups, searching the internet, social media for any indication they can get. they are very, very careful to delineate from credible, specific information. i'm not entirely certain and not entirely competent to answer that question. it's better addressed to the fbi. as director wray mentioned there's a great deal of concerning chatter and it's what you don't know that we're preparing for. i don't know if anyone has raised their hand to say we are coming. we will be there. we are preparing as if they are. >> let me just add that our team led by director rodriguez and

mpd are having a daily download with the fbi to follow up on specific agents comment. >> thank you. >> just my second question. people say the city kind of looks like a military take over. there's armed troops, roadblocks even just around the corner from where we are right now. what message are you sending? >> i want to be very clear about this. i have spent many days, i have spent a lot of time in and around our national monumental core at these iconic structures. at the capitol building where there was an attempted coup. all of these things are so important not just to america but to the 712,000 people who called d.c. homes.

not just for first amendment demonstration but for people to walk around the park, to get exercise, to play games, you name it. i have to remind d.c. residents that i asked the federal government to devise a deployment plan that would protect federal assets in the district of columbia. that's what's been done under the leadership of the united states secret service and the variety argument sis that's been mentioned. that's important as you heard the chief say because our officers can also focus on keeping d.c. safe from any

aspects of crime, including from these extremist groups that have attacked our capitol. >> hi, mayor, thank you. question for you is specifically to this weekend saturday and sunday, is there anymore information regarding what is expected and when it comes to the permanent event, what happened if more than 100 people show and what happens if people start to gather in places outside of the perimeter that's been established. >> thank you for asking that question. part of reasoning in request this nsce be advanced, the timeline be advanced is because the inauguration is not the only target or activity that's out there being discussed.

there are other events that lead up to that. we thought it was very important that the proven and effective frame work that the u.s. secret service sets up for this national security events would also be helpful in the lead up to the inauguration. when i asked the chief to talk about those threats and perhaps park service or park police talk about the first amendment events. there's a lot of chatter out there. we brief the mayor daily on the information that's out there. i can assure the residents of the district of columbia that the metropolitan police department and our federal partners are in a posture to respond to the information

that's out there thus far that we heard. i think it's been -- it's been on all the news channels. we're hearing it so we're in a posture to respond. >> park service. >> thank you, mayor. yes, in terms of this weekend, you'll start to see now that the fencing has gone up as the secret service starts to activate some of those perimeter, we'll fully support that. access will become more and more restricted within the national mall and within the areas that we have inside those boundaries. we have worked with every one all of the those requested special events or demonstrations from now through the inauguration to find another time, another location for their acti activity. for those two events we have, they are groups that are very, my understanding is groups that are in d.c. quite a bit have

expressed first amendment activities quite frequently throughout the district and we've had chance to talk to them and be able to make sure they're able to scale their first amendment demonstrations to the size that we have available. we also thank them for working with us on this. >> do you anticipate the area going back to normal after the period has ended or expected to end? >> i think that we're going to go back to a new normal, stephanie. i think that our entire country has to deal with how our intelligence apparatus, security apparatus at every level deal with a very real and present threat to our nation. we saw white extremists storm the capitol building who were trained and organized and

seemingly with the intent to capture the vice president of the united states and perhaps harm other lawmakers. we all have to think about a new posture. we certainly have to think about a new posture in the city. while we are focused on january 20th, we're also focused on january 21st and every day thereafter in the nation's capitol. >> thank you. >> we've been hearing from the mayor and from related agency leaders. the lead is the lead of the secret service for these national special security events which this is. it's starting on the 13th and running through the 21st. this will include subway closures, bus suspensions, two designated national park first amendment protest areas up to 100 people and this would be

under covid protocols. extraordinary protections. cars that have to get into this designate areaed, cars and trucks will be searched for any bombs, any explosions and any weapons. all of this will be on the district's website. the security plan is extraordinary. right now what we're going to see is a continuation of the mobilization out of town. police coming from the nypd. as many as 21,000 national guard troops who are ready at every corner downtown d.c. and of course along the perimeter of the capitol and key buildings. this is an extraordinary response but at the same time james comey says he does not think an investigation by local officials is sufficient. there needs to be a 9/11 commission. all that concludes an extraordinary day and week, two weeks for us.

that does it for this edition of andrea mitchell reports. stay safe. chuck todd is up next with mtp daily only on msnbc. if it's friday, america braces for the potential for more political violence. a massive effort is under way to identify and disrupt these threats to nation's capitol and the 50 state capitols and more as new evidence suggests many of these capitol rioters attempted to capture and assassinate some members of congress. in trump they trust. the republican electorate is largely standing by their man even after his incitement of a mob to attack the capitol has led his standing to nose dive with other americans. president-elect biden lays out his plan to pump nearly $2

trillion into our pandemic