cbs's ben tracy is at the white house and leads us off tonight. ben, good evening. >> jericka, president trump has less than 17 days left here at the white house. and he's not going quietly. he continues to pressure lawmakers and state officials to overturn the election results and now the vice president is signaling his support. >> please raise your right hand. >> the today vice president mike pence swor in senators at the capitol as he gave his backing by an effort of at least a dozen republican senators to object to certifying president-elect joe biden's victory on wednesday. in a statement mr. pence's chief of staff marc short said the vice president shares the concerns of millions of americans about voter fraud, and irregularities in the last election. >> we have an obligation to the voters. and we have an obligation to the constitution to ensure that this election was lawful. >> but every state has certified their election results and there is no credible evidence of fraud. a bipartisan group of u.s. senators said today in a statement the 202

ben tracy, cbs news, the white house. >>> taking a live look at the white house, tonight there is new audio surface. trump demanded georgia officials to find enough votes to overturn election results and hand him the victory in that state. >> look, all i want to do is this, i just want to find 11,700 80 votes, which is one more than we have. because we won the state, so, tell me, grant what are we going to do? we won the election and it's not fair to take it away from us like this. and it's going to be very costly, in many ways. >> audio snippets of the conversation were posted online by the washington post, according to the post the president also claimed during the call that votes in the skate were scanned three times so for the white house is not released to comments. >>> meanwhile with just two days to go before the judge of our georgia runoff, harris campaigned alongside democratic candidates. warnock and allsop are fighting to unseat david perdue and kelly loefler, and if both incumbents lose on tuesday, it would actually split the senate right down the middle. 50 members from e

here's cbs's ben tracy. >> mr. president! >> reporter: defiant till the end -- >> we're going to walk down to the capitol -- >> reporter: -- president trump now claims the nothi ong witht he sd last week that ted thassault on nalyzed and people t thathat i said was totallpr >> reporter: that is obviously not true, given democrats are set to impeach the president and many members of his own party say he is at least partially responsible for what his supporters did after he told them this: >> we fight like hell and if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore. >> reporter: president trump is taking no responsibility. >> be careful what you wish for. >> reporter: instead, trying to tout his achievements with a visit to the border wall in texas today. cbs news has learned that during a heated phone call with republican house leader kevin mccarthy monday night, the president blamed the violence at the capitol on antifa, butcarthg him it was his supporters not antifa. >> we believe the in the rule of law

cbs' ben tracy joins us now from the white house. ben, good evening.erstand we just heard from. good the president. >> reporter: yeah, norah, the white house just released a recorded video message from the president in which he mentions nothing about impeachment. a week after the attack on the capitol and a severe below to his legacy, he is now more forcefully condemning the violence. >> mob violence goes against everything i believe in and everything our movement stands for. every american deserves to have their voice heard in a respectful and peaceful way. that is your first amendment right. but i can not emphasize that there must be no violence, no law-breaking and no vandalism or his part in inciting the assault on the capitol and again claims impeachment is a hoax. a new cbs news poll shows a majority of americans, 55%, agree that he should be impeached.that he sho now, the president has no clear legal strategy or defense team for his senate trial. cbs news has learned his personal attorney jay sekulow and white house council pat cipollone who def

ben tracy is at the white house tonight. >> president trump has less than 70 hours left here in the whitese and he is keeping a low prof profile. trying to figure out who will represent him in the senate impeachment trial and who also may get a pardon. with the nation's capitol, an armed fortress ahead of the inauguration, he spent time out-of-sight and behind the walls of the white house. >> i believe it's constitu constitutionahly dangerous to not proceed. >> the trump campaign spokesman said, president trump has not yet made a determination, which lawyer or law firm will represent him. rudy giuliani was seen entering the white house saturday and said he is involved. but given his own role in potential inciting the mob that stormed the capitol. >> let's have trial by combat! >> some republicans don't want him anywhere near the senate trial. >> if it's rudy giuliani's defense, it raises the likelihood of more than 17 republicans voting for conviction. >> president trump is set to leave office with the lowest approval rating of his presidency. a new poll shows it hitting a rock bottom, 29

jericka. >> duncan: ben tracy for us at the white house. president-elect joe biden worked on his inaugural address this weekend. he is planning an ambitious agenda starting on day one. cbs' weijia jiang is with president-elect in wilmington, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, jericka. president-elect biden will start undoing many of president trump's most controversial moves as soon as he takes office. incoming chief of staff ron klain detailed the plan in a memo to staff. on inauguration day mr. bidenrem travel ban and issue a mask mandate on federal property and interstate travel. on the economic front he plans to extend nationwide restrictions on evictions and foreclosures as well as the pause on student loan payments and interest. today biden officials urged lawmakers to quickly pass mr. biden's $1.9 trillion relief package, but acknowledged senators have a lot going on confirming biden's cabinet nominees and conducting president trump's second impeachment trial. as for inauguration, president- elect biden's team will start

as president biden prepares for his first full week as president, ben tracy has a final look back at the previous president's time in office. >> i joseph -- >> when joe biden became president biden this past week. >> so help me god. >> what was extraordinary was how ordinary it all seemed. >> poll i itics doesn't have toa raging fire, destroying everything in its path. >> the pormer president, banned from twitter could not weigh in from afar. the disrupter if chief. >> what happened to me with this witch hunt should never be allowed to happen to another president of the united states. never ever ever again. >> who dominated every aspect of american life. >> i like real news, not fake news. you are fake news. >> was suddenly gone. >> is donald trump an intellec intellectual? trust me, i'm a smart person. >> it felt like an eclipse. leaving some to wonder if he could ever fit in at a gathering of the former presidents' club. the trump presidency was different. >> i'm an extremely stable genius. >> a lot of love in this room. >> he could be bizarre. >> person, woman, man, camera, tv. >>

cbs's ben tracy is at the white houses and leads us off tonight, good evening. >> reporter: president trump has less than 17 days left in the white house and he is not going quietly, he is continuing to pressure lawmakers and state foushls to overturn the election results and now the vice president is signaling his support. >> please raise your right hand. >> reporter: today mike pence swore in senators at the capitol, as he gave his backing to do an effort by at least a dozen republican senators to object to certifying president elect joe biden's victory on wednesday n a statement, mr. will pence's chief of staff of said the vice president shares concerns with millions americas about voter fraud. >> we have an obligation to the voters and the constitution to ensure that this election was lawful. >> reporter: but every state has certified their election results and there's no credible evidence of fraud. a bipartisan group of u.s. senators said is today, the 2020 election is over. the voters have spoken and congress must now fulfill its responsibility to certify the election results. >

. >> o'donnell: ben tracy, thank you.tional guard troops have been activated in minnesota, wisconsin and ohio, as state capitols across the country are beefing up their security following an f.b.i. warning of possible armed protests leading up to the inauguration. we get more now from cbs news' mark strassmann. >> reporter: intimidation by design. the texas state capitol building today resembled an armed camp. workers in madison, wisconsin, boarded up ground floor windows of the state legislature. >> it is not safe for members of sth wmers movedather at the outside, a man carrying an ar-15 screamed at media members. >> we're done with them, we're done with you! >> reporter: this image, widely trafficked online, urges an armed march on all state capitols january 17. the worry, violence could be more widespread than battleground states in the crosshairs of protesters for weeks. >> it goes beyond state capitols, it goes to governmentt facilities, federal facilities, facilities, federal facilities, city halls across the count

ben tracy has a look back. >> i joseph robinette biden, jr.hen joe biden game president biden this past week, what was extraordinary was just how ordinary it all seemed. >> politics doesn't have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its pathment. >> reppath.>> reporter: the now former. >> president trump: president tp baned himself. >> president trump: what happened to me with this witch hunt should never be allowed to happen to another president of the united states, never, ever again. >> reporter: he dominated every aspect of american life. >> president trump: i like real news, not fake news. you're fake news. >> reporter: it was suddenly gone. >> president trump: is donald trump an intellectual? trust me, i'm a smart person. >> reporter: it was a presidential eclipse. >> the fact that three of us are standing here -- >> reporter: leaving some to wonder if he could ever fit in at a gathering of the former presidents' club. the trump presidency was different. >> president trump: i'm an extremely stable genius. maybe i have a natural a

but when i did stumble on the story and want to know more about it 70 up put me in touch with ben's widow, tracy and we talked and she put me in touch with teethree and went from there is a small one - - so wanted to play a small part to help tell the story. >> one of my favorite things is that when you work with someone who is been through a traumatic experience there are times your heart is racing as a tell the story but at the same time it's hoping to tell the story. so there were things that you did intentionally to help guide teethree one - - beau through that, of the story? >> i have the honor of interviewing more than 100 girls are family members some with books and with veterans as well. the most important thing i try to do is go into each story with no preconceived notions and everybody grieves differently everybody handle the differently story with no preconceived notions and everybody grieves differently everybody handle the differently when we first met in oklahoma and talked and right away things clicked and there were times when teethree said this is just too much i need to step ba

ben tracy is at the white house this morning. ben, good morning to you.apitol on wednesday? >> reporter: well, tony, good morning. so faced with the possibility that his cabinet may invoke the 25th amend to remove him from office or he may be impeached again, the president abruptly changed his tone last night. in this video produced by the white house, the president also falsely claims he immediately called in the national guard wednesday, which actually did not happen until vice president pence got involved. now on wednesday the president called the violent mob special and told them we love you. now he's suddenly condemning them. >> the demonstrators who infiltrated the capitol have defiled the seat of american democracy. to those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country. >> reporter: last night education secretary betsy devos became the second cabinet member to resign. in her resignation letter, she blamed the president for the attack on the capitol, writing, there is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had

ben tracy is at joint base andrews where president trump will head when he leaves the white house. on the screen there, he's going to fly here to joint base andrews, he'll land just over here on the tarmac, walk over here and give about 20 minutes of remarks at what looks like a very small trump rally. they have a stage set up here. they're going to put about 500 people here. supporters of the president. you can hear the music playing now -- ♪ some of the songs they play at trump rallies. now it's strange, it's the ave maria." you were talking about the president mentioning president-elect joe biden by name. we have seen his prepared remarks. in those prepared remarks, he does acknowledge the president-elect by name for the first time since the election. it will be very notable if the president carries on with that or if he ad libs and takes that out of the speech. we are expecting the president to talk about some of his accomplishments during his time in office. he's also going to get a bit of a military sendoff. there's going to be a 21-gun salute here, ed carpet that will lead to

you may have noticed if anybody remembers came from the old days, messages between ben and tracy while he was deployed and it shows not just talking about missing each other but tracy says i've got to get something fixed at the house, how do i do it, just the everyday things couples go through and of course while she's raising their son. i hope that this book gives a window into that sacrifice and that it won't just appeal to the military community where of course we do want the military community to embrace the story and hope they will but i think everyday americans as well, just to get that sense of what these men and women are willing to sacrifice on a daily basis. >> there was a point all three of you were deployed at the same time to afghanistan and you went into how that affected the family, but the day today how it affects the family not having one of three uncles around or being worried that at all moments for a family member. was that something you understood before you went or something that it took be deploying to get a handle on how it would affect your family? >> i think y

and then when i did stumble on the wise family story and then she put me in touch with ben's widow tracy and then we talked and she put me in touch with beau and it went from there and i'm honored to play a small part helping beau to tell his story. >> one of my favorite and least favorite things about telling the story is that when you are working with someone who's been through a traumatic experience, there are times your heart is breaking at the same time you wonder if it is helping to tell the story if you are leading them through something. so there are things intentionally you did to help guide beau through the trauma of telling the story. >> sure. had the honor of interviewing those family members working on books and veterans as well. the most important thing i decided to do was to go into each story with no preconceived notions. everybody grieves differently and handled it differently. but with beau we met in oklahoma and sat down and talked and right away i think things clicked. is just too much i need to step back and then i said i got it and i took over. i was happy to do it.

messages between ben and tracy will then was deployed . not talking about just missing each other brett hey, tracy said i've got to get something fixed at the house. how do we get it done. just the everyday things the couples go through. then of course while tracy is raising their son luke. so i hope this book gives a window into that sacrifice and on just appealed to the military community. of course we want the military community to everyday americans as well just to get that sense of what these men and women are willing to sacrifice on a daily basis. kelly: there is a place where all three of you were deployed at the same time in afghanistan and how that affected the family sprayed from the day-to-day not having one or three uncles around afraid of being waited on moments with family members. this is something that understood before he went. parts of the deploying to really get a handle on how it would affect your family. beau: me to write . into the deployments really truly fully appreciate it was like. not even the first deployment .

ben tracy is at the white house with more on that part of the story. ben, what do we expect from the president today? >> reporter: gayle, good morning. two words for today, pardons and commutations. sources here at the white house tul tell us that president trump could issue up to 100 of them. it's not exactly clear who will be getting them, but mr. trump's former aide steve bannon and rudy giuliani could be on the list. so far, president trump has actually used his clemency powers far less than president george w. bush or president obama who the day before he left office pardoned or commuted the sentences of 300 people. mostly with drug offenses. or with mandatory sentences. but unlike them the president says he has the power to pardon himself. that would be a controversial move and an admission of guilt that could anger senate republicans who are jurors in his impeachment trial. now we haven't seen president trump in public in more than six days, and since he's banned from twitter we've barely heard from him. now president trump is skipping all of the

ben tracy is at the white house for us now. ben, good morning to you. this talk of removing the president from power, how likely is that? >> tony, good morning. cbs news has learned that members of the cabinet are discussing the 25th amendment but they have not formally presented anything to vice president mike pence about removing president trump from office. the president spent the day here at the white house yesterday watching all this chaos on the television unfold at the capitol. and it's taking no responsibility for any of it. >> you have to go home now. we have to have peace. >> reporter: nearly three hours after his supporters stormed the capitol, president trump finally released a one-minute long video telling them to go home. but also making it clear how he really feels about the violent mob. >> we love you. you're very special. >> reporter: he then justified their actions saying these things happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously and viciously stripped away. twitter locked the president's account for 12 hours an

ben tracy is at the white house.ome democrats and legal experts say this could be criminal behavior. what exactly did the president say on that call? >> reporter: in this remarkable phone call, the president does vaguely threaten the state election officials, implying they could be prosecuted for not doing what he wants. and president trump says he wants georgia to address his claims ahead of the runoff elections there tomorrow. >> there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated. >> well, mr. president, the challenge that you have is the data that you have is wrong. >> reporter: in a stunning phone call this weekend, first obtained by "the washington post," president trump pressures georgia's republican secretary of state brad raffensberger to find enough votes to overturn president-elect joe biden's win. >> biden has received 16. >> reporter: ending the state's 16 electoral votes to him instead. >> so, look, all i want to do is this. i just want to find 11,780 votes. so tell me, brad, what

ben tracy is in west palm beach near the trumps' new home. good morning to you. what's the story?resident trump has been quiet since arriving here in palm beach. he's taken up residence at his mar-a-lago club and been playing golf. you know, as president he claimed that a sitting u.s. president could not be charged with a crime. now that he's an ex-president, all bets are off. now that president trump has said good-bye to the white house >> have a good life, we will see you soon. >> reporter: there's a chance he could be saying hello to a lot of legal woes. >> now that donald trump is no longer president, he is in the shoes of any other normal citizen. >> reporter: cbs news legal analyst rikki klieman says the former president's legal jeopardy stems mainly from two cases in new york. manhattan district attorney cy vance is conducting a criminal investigation of the trump organization and has reportedly obtained some of mr. trump's long-sought tax records. court filings show vance may be investigating tax and insurance fraud as well as falsification of business records. new york at