. ♪ >> reporter: the way bennie thompson saw it from the house gallery on january 6th, his congressionalapel pin was a badge of honor. >> security had told us you need to take care your pin off because they break in and see you with that pin on, they could kill you. i said, now, as many people i know that fought and died in this country for me to have the right to represent and for them to have the right to vote, i'm not going to let any insurrectionist, rioter, crazy person take this pin. >> reporter: he's been wearing a ping for 13 terms. the only democrat and only black member of mississippi's congressional delegation. representing one of the poorest districts in the country. now cast into the national spotlight as chairman of the january 6th committee, taking on a challenge unlike any other in american history. what's at take with these hearings? >> our democracy is at stake. we have to defend our democracy. we have to defend our government. >> reporter: for thompson, now 74, this job is about a personal history come full circle. as a product of the jim crow south, the right to vote

>> this is more gas lighting from benny thompson on the left.rybody knows it was disastrous for the united states, but nobody's trying to equate that to januar. everybody republican who is in the capitol building, we didn't agree with what happened on january 6th, we renounce the violence of january sixth and it's clearly unacceptable. but the gas lighting from the democrats remain when they tried to find some way to salvage it back that they don't know how to run a country like the united states of america because their agenda is flawed to come out terrible, and it doesn't help americans try to live their lives today and going forward. >> laura: congressman, before we go i want to remind everybody of the carnage that was unleashed, the chaos that was unleashed by the left often to no comment by democrats on capitol hill back in 2020. more than 2,000 law enforcement officers were injured during the blm riots causing a record-setting $2 billion in damages nationwide. did we ever have democrats lead hearings on any of this? >> absolutely not and w

bennie thompson, the chair, just committed to jake tapper they will release the full transcript. when you see the claims they are being taken out of context, it is on camera, it is transcribed weekend we will get to see the full context of what they said. >> thank you very much. i appreciate that. i am wondering, i mean, before when i get the panel a little bit later taken out of context the new i'll plead the fifth or i don't recall. we will discuss that in a moment. first, i want to bring in a member of the committee, congresswoman elaine luria, a democratic from virginia. thank you for joining us. the vice-chair, liz cheney, said that trump summon the mob and lit the flame of this attack and the committee ended showing how rioters went because of trump, how they went down to the capitol and what they did. let's play it and then we'll talk about it. >> you mentioned that the president asked you. do you remember a specific message? >> basically, yes, for us to come to d.c. things are going to happen. >> he said i have something very important to say on january 6th, or something

amy: bennie thompson last night at the hearing.when we come back, you will hear from vice chair liz cheney, one of two republicans on the committee. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we continue our coverage of the first house select january 6 committee hearing, we turn now to the committee's vice chair liz cheney, one of two republicans who agreed to join the committee. >> mr. chairman, as 6:01 p.m. january 6, after he spent hours watching a violent mob procedure, attack, innovate our capitol, donald trump tweeted that he did not condemn the attack and instead he justified it. these are the things and events that happened come he said, when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously and viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly and unfairly treated for so long. as you will see and the hearings to come, president trump believes his supporters at the capital "were doing what they should be doing." this is what he told his

they're interesting and safe f from the overreach of lunatics like bennie thompson and liz cheney. so where is mitch mcconnell and lindsey graham? should more trump voters like don't normal people deserve representation? yeah, absolutely. and i think that's part of the questions and all of this , which is if you want to ask real questions about one sixth ,why don't we ask them?e why don'tfi we find out t the reason why the capital police force we just found out through or forou you this week because of tom fitton that judicial watch that the capitol police going into one sixth so that 50% strength, how come that was allowed to happen? how come that was okay? we all knew it was going to be tumultuous emotional day. these are the questions . r? didn't want to answer why, tucker ? because when the political violence benefits them, they just turned a blind eye toward it. when real americans have p outrage, they want to put them in jail. yeah, i've noticed t that's thank you . well, speaking of putting them in jail, this is an amazingt story that was sort of lost today. so a man running

bennie thompson, chairman of the january 6th committee, decided he couldn't condemn rioting. he was worried about injustices against black officials in los angeles at the time. the injustice was happening on the streets of l.a. as the city was torched and race riots but he couldn't denounce it. a chairman of cpac joins us tonight, thank you so much for coming on. it's a little much for this very thing, precisely the same people that have no problem with real political violence, grandstanding and hyperventilating about what happened on january 6th. why does no one point this out? >> why does it have to be shown on your show? the public records of these elected officials is there for the entire media to see. the hypocrisy of all the time they have taken to the floor and take into media to say that people like donald trump or not legitimately elected presidents. all the times they have not condemned violence or in this case, you have the chairman of the committee and this other member from maryland basically saying, riots are fine if you have a social grievance. why is it okay f

it's just more gaslighting from bennie thompson and from the left. listen, everybody knows slavery was disastrous for the united states, but we're nobody's trying to equate that to january six . no one and no to every republican who was in the capitol building. we all did not agree with what happened on january six . we've all denounced the violence of january six . it is purely unacceptable. but the gaslighting from the democrats remain when they try to find some way to salvage the fact that they don't know actually how to run a country like the united states of america because their agenda is flawed. it's terrible. it doesn't help americans try to actually live their lives today and going forward. now, congressman, now before we go, i want to remind everyone of the carnage that was unleashed, the chaos that was unleashed by the left, often to no comment by democrats on capitol hill back in 2020 more than 2000 law enforcement officers were injured during the blm riots causing a record setting two billion dollars in damages nationwide. congressman, d

and committee chair bennie thompson previewing more damning testimony, linking extremist groups with people in the trump orbit. >> member of the january 6th committee, democratic congressman pete aguilar of california, congressman, thank you so much for being with us. that's where i want to start right there, with what chairman bennie thompson said to our jake tapper last night. listen. >> there is people in the hallways outside. >> that describe actual conversations between these extremist groups and anyone in trump's orbit. >> yes. >> there will be? >> yes. obviously -- >> just to be clear about what that said right there, because we're get something audio bleeds here, jake asked chairman thompson flat out will there be evidence that there was communication from people within trump's orbit and the people who attacked the capitol, including the proud boys and oath keepers. chairman thompson said yes. can you expand on that, congressman? >> well, i'll let the chairman speak for the committee and the mountain of evidence that we have received. but what i can say is that all of that is

now tonight began with chair bennie thompson

. >> the select committee's chairman, bennie thompson, told reporters tonight the committee will note making any criminal referral to the department of justice regarding the former president or anyone else in his orbit. do you agree with that decision even if the committee uncovers evidence of criminal wrongdoing? >> you know, i haven't seen the chairman's statements. we haven't had a discussion about that, so i don't know that the committee has reached a position on whether we make a referral and what the referrals might be. i thought we were deferring that decision until we concluded our investigation. at least that's my understanding. >> on top of raising a quarter billion dollars for an election en integrity fund that didn't exist, zoe lofgren said kimberly guilfoyle was paid $60,000 for her speech at the ellipse. does the president control how that money raised is spent? >> i don't know who has their hands on that money and how it's allocated. the principal point we want to get across during the hearing today was that the big lie was not only destructive to the country. it was a

some of the highlights from the chair bennie thompson and the vice chair liz cheney. the testimony that happened last night. reaction from elsewhere from republican members of the u.s. house. we will take a look at the schedule hearings to come. we will start there with our colleague. it was interesting last night to hear liz cheney building a timeline of what we will hear and how the committee will approach the next hearings. >> these hearings are just beginning this month. as you noted, opening statements, a timeline of the attack and a focus on the police who found themselves in a battle with the writers that they. liz cheney walking us through the road ahead. let's take a look at that. on monday, the next hearing starts at 10:00. it will focus on the post 2020 election claims and those. they will present evidence that president trump knew he lost the election and he engaged in an effort to spread false information to constituents. that is the second hearing on monday. also next week, the third hearing. that focus is on william barr and the justice department. that

hearing, the first of 6 scheduled hearings, lofgren of the bay area representative there in the bennie thompson is on the right side of the screen and they have thompson started by laying out sort of the history of why protecting the constitution is important. and then liz cheney, one of 2 republicans on the committee spoke extensively. essentially and opening statement. if this was a court hearing, which is is not but she laid out the plan, the framework for how the committee was going to make its case to the american people that president trump was influential. in planning and basically orchestrating this attack on the capitol as pam moore and ken wayne join we've been watching any first impressions from you, too. >> and you know, just setting the historic tone for the hearings. what this means for our country. historically looking back on other instances where there have been concerns like we're dealing with now, she didn't really lay out the what is ahead, a seven-point plan that she says they will detail with witnesses and documents of teen and information over the course of these hearings

cnn's gloria borger traveled to bennie thompson's home state and has a closer look at the man leading the panel. >> reporter: fred, mississippi democrat bennie thompson, chairman of the january 6th committee, has a very personal view of the meaning of a free and fair election. in fact, making sure every vote counts has been his life's work. the way bennie thompson saw it from the house gallery on january 6th, his congressional lapel pin was a badge of honor. >> security told us you need to take your pin off because they'll break in and see you with that pin on, they could kill you. i said, as many people i know who fought and died in this country for me to have the right to represent and for them to have the right to vote, i'm not going to let any insurrectionist, rioters, crazy person come here and take this pin. >> reporter: he's been wearing the pin for 13 terms, the only democrat and only black member of mississippi's congressional delegation representing one of the poorest districts in the country. now, cast into the national spotlight as chairman of the january 6th committee, ta

congressman benny thompson. mr. chairman, thanks so much. what do you think was the biggest news?ome of your committee members promised breakthroughs this evening. what were they? >> i think, obviously, it was never before seen footage of what occurred. the fact that trump's daughter was in the video. the fact his son-in-law was in the video. the fact that a lot of the organizing aspect of the january 6th -- >> the proud boy, the oath keepers. >> right. offline. we saw them in the midst of the insurrection but we didn't see what they were doing organizationally before. we showed the meeting on the 5th in the parking lot with a group -- >> two rival far right wing groups meeting, breaking bread. i wonder about the proud boy and the oath keepers. you convincingly made the case that trump was good for their membership. you convincingly made the case they were there, they thought because trump told them to be there to undermine the election, to stop the electoral count vote. are there going to be witnesses that describe actual conversations between these extremist groups and anyone in

bennie thompson whiom i served under on the homeland security committee, i chaired there in congress,he star performer was liz cheney and what she had to say and how she said it will -- i think be something we won't forget. >> let me ask you this because one of the revelations last night is that several gop lawmakers according to cheney sought pardons for their role in a term. ing to overturn the 2020 election from trump in the days following january 6th. what's your reaction to hear that and what does it say to you about their apparent feeling they had criminal exposure? >> well, i don't know who they are. one name was mentioned last night, and i think we'll learn more next week, but it would seem they felt they had criminal exposure if they were asking for pardons which they didn't get. very interesting. i mean, let's understand that mike pence who thought -- who thought, and i agree, was doing the right thing was in enormous personal danger and it sounds like trump was egging people on, and thought he deserved it. i mean, this is stunning. what i would say, though, jim is the video

you see benny thompson coming in and liz cheney coming in to sit in the chair an vice chair and bennympson will take the gavel. nine members of the committee. two are republican. liz cheney is paying a high price. she's running for re-election but has been primaried by an opponent endorsed by donald trump. she as well as congressman and others who are in tough re-election fights are making the point this issue is more important than staying in congress. you see pete sitting to the right of benny thompson. he's going to be the lead questioner when it comes to the committee member themselves. there's the gavel. here comes the chairman, benny thompson of mississippi. >> the select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the united states capitol will be in order. without objection, the chair is authorized to declare the committee in recess at any point. pursuant to house deposition authority regulation 10, the chair announces the committee's approval to release the deposition material represented during today's hearing. good afternoon. this is almost no idea more un-american t

in his opening remarks, committee chairman bennie thompson is due to say "we can't sweep what happenedican people deserve answers." the seven democrats and two republicans on the committee say the evidence will show that mr trump was at the center of a coordinated effort to overturn the result of the 202o election. they've promised to show never—before—seen footage from the day itself, plus testimony from members or mr trump's family and inner circle. and there will be live witnesses tonight. the committee is aiming for must—see tv, top house republicans say tonight is a partisan witchunt. let's go straight to our correspondent on capitol hill, nomia iqbal, for the latest. so many americans think that they know what happened on january the 6th, we all saw it on tv. how is the committee going to add to our knowledge about that day? to going to add to our knowledge about that day?— about that day? to quote the chair man — about that day? to quote the chair man you _ about that day? to quote the chair man you mentioned - about that day? to quote the i chair man you mentioned there, they w

i travelled to mississippi with bennie thompson.g that time there, i learned that he comes to this job with a very personal view of what a free and fair election means. in fact, to him, it means making sure every vote counts. and that has been his life's work. talk a look. >> the way bennie thompson saw it from the house gallery on january 6th, his congressional lapel pen was a badge of honor. >> security told us, you need to take your pin off because they break in and see you with that pin on, they could kill you. i said, now, as many people i know who fought and died in this country, for me to have the right to represent and for them to have the right to vote, i'm not going to let any insurrectionist, rioter, crazy person come in here and take this pin. >> reporter: he's been wearing the pin for 13 terms. the only democrat and only black member of mississippi's congressional delegation, representing one of the poorest districts in the country. now, cast into the national spotlight as chairman of the january 6th committee, taking o

but benny thompson who's the chairman of the january 6th committee were talking about the proof they had about what she expected to happen on january 6th. >> we have proof about ivanka's participation with her daddy on a regular basis about what was going on. on january 6th she was there in the white house. and so what or who better could have access to what was going on then one's own daughter? and for him to somehow insinuate that his daughter had checked out is disingenuous on his part as a father. daughters normally know what their fathers are doing especially when there's a close relationship. >> reporter: and it certainly was a close relationship, still is a close relationship. the day of january 6th there were very few people who wanted to go into the oval office and speak with trump that day. it was something we heard in realtime as it was going on. but the people who were going in including ivanka were trying to get former president trump to call off his supporters, to thel them to go home, to leave the capitol. she was someone who'd gone into the oval office many times. kei

remember, chairman bennie thompson keeps saying, if you know something, say something. and people have. in addition, hours of raw footage from a documentary filmmaker who had access to trump and his family in the days before and after the riots. and tonight, we have new images from that filmmaker obtained by cbs, and you can see the access he had. interviewing both ivanka trump and then president trump. the evidence presented so far at the hearings has impacted at least one moderate republican, congressman don bacon of nebraska, who says he's had enough of trump. >> i will not be supporting him. ly be looking for a better candidate. >> that's the bottom line, not supporting, looking for better candidates. manu, look, this is -- i know it's been sort of in flux, the dates, the times. but it's been incredibly in flux as this deluge of new information has come in. what are you learning about the committee's plans now? >> reporter: we expected the hearings would wrap up next week, a couple more after tomorrow's hearing that will focus on pressure on justice department offic

here's what bennie thompson had to say about that. >> well, look, we have sent ms. thomas a letter, asking her to come and talk to the committee. what you say is, okay -- listen to me. what you said, if she responded while the hearing was going on, that she wants to come, we look forward to her coming. >> glen, maybe he's a little frustrated there. help people understand why she could be important to the narrative. >> if she actually testified truthfully, she could be a hugely consequential. the problem is she would be incriminating herself. we now have information she was reaching out to arizona electors. the text to meadows alone, she would be cross-examined in great detail by the j-6 investigative team. they would present her with the hard evidence of her own texts to meadows, which included these wild claims of biden crime family members and ballot fraud fraudsters. i think it will be extremely unlikely she will raise her right hand and testify under oath. >> i wonder if you're hearing anything, especially from democrats -- i know a few think and have said alrea

jessica, i want to go "outfront" now as promised to the january 6th chairman of the committee, benny thompson and i very much appreciate your time. obviously, so many things to ask. i do want to start with former president trump's response today to the video you showed a video last night a clip of his daughter ivanka and clearly she accepted the election results and the former president today said that ivanka, quote, was not involved and had long since checked out. does his response and what he is saying change anything for you? >> no, it doesn't. and by the way, thank you for having me. we have proof about ivanka's participation with her daddy on a regular basis about what was going on, on january 6th. she was there in the white house, and so what, or who better could have access to what was going on than one's own daughter and so for him to somehow insinuate that his daughter checked out is disingenuous on his part as a father. daughters normally know what their fathers are doing, especially when there's a close relationship. >> so, as you say, you've got the proof that she was involved in

bennie thompson makes that point. he said don't believe people that tell you that because the system held that it won't happen again. so the reason that we need to do these hearings and the reason we need to go down this road is because they want to do it again in 2024, jonathan. you pointed that out. does that stand up? it sounds like the mission here would be to find criminal activity on the part of the former president. it doesn't look like they've established that either. so i'm not sure quite what the goal is here in terms of changing what might happen in 2024. >> yeah, i was very surprised by that ending. because of the criticism of breaking with tradition, not having a bipartisan committee. i thought they would have avoided references to 2024 to sort of tamp down on arguments, including in "the new york times" the democrats hope to use the hearings to reframe for the upcoming elections. so that surprised me. we've talked about this before. they have said at the beginning, they're going to establish not just a c

you spoke with the chairman of the committee bennie thompson. >> that's right.ft gren about the evidence that came out in the hearing about all the money that was raised by the trump campaign as it spread the false election claims. roughly hundreds of millions of dollars. i asked both of them if they saw any evidence that there was crimes committed by the trump campaign or trump himself. both of them stopped short of saying that. they said they are a legislative committee. they let the justice department decide what to do about that going forward. it does not appear they plan to bring in bill barr who was featured in the first days of hearings about him pushing back on trump's campaigns. indicating it's unlikely they'll call them because they got what they needed in the taped deposition that lasted roughly two and a half hours. she doesn't think par wants to sit through live testimony. don't expect to hear in person from bill stepien, the former trump campaign adviser who could not appear because his wife went into labor. she said they are satisfied with what th

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the way bennie thompson saw it from the house gallery on january 6th, his congressional lapel pin wassee you with that pin on and they could kill you. i said there are many people i know who fought and died in this country for me heto have the rit to represent and for them to have the right to vote of the i'm not letting any insurrection or rioter or crazy person take this pin. >> reporter: he has been wearing the pin for 13 terms. the only black member of the mississippi congressional delegation. representing one of the poorest districts in the country. now cast him to the national spotlight as chairman of the january 6th committee taking on a challenge unlike any other in american history. >> what is at stake with the hearings? >> our democracy is at stake. we have to defend our democracy. we have to defend our government. >> reporter: for thompson, now 74, this job is about a personal history come full circle. as a product of the jim crow south, the right to vote and be counted in a free and fair election has been his life's work. >> it is an extraordinary arc in a political career

and if they want to be seen, i think this was bennie thompson's point, which is this is not our job.ll you how we're going to make sure that this can never happen again. we're a congressional committee. we're not a legal entity. >> that's also an argument to recommend getting rid of the electoral college. >> they're all defining these roles in this moment in a new and interesting way, because the department of justice absolutely could find a way to go directly after these conspirators and any of these individuals that have been subpoenaed by congress. so the negotiation of the lines between executive and congressional right now are especially important given this moment in our democracy, and that's what the committee's ultimately trying to get to, whether it's a delayed hearing or not. they know what they know. they're trying to tell a very compelling story to the american public over the course of several hearings to then get to a very particular political and cultural moment in which the american public will come along with the demands for accountability for the attack on our democ

does not need the hill to help them. >> so norm, in terms of what's to come, jake tapper asked benny thompson if there are going to be kwgs between extremist groups and anyone in trump's osrbit. the answer is yes, there would be, how damning would that evidence be? >> depending how you define, orbit, john, it could be very damning. if trump can be shown to have been a part of the planning of the violence, the more dangerous that evidence is to him. so we'll see. >> all right, norm and john dean, thank you both so much for being with us. on a related note, the former president's attorney and man once known as america's mayor is now facing the possibility of losing his license to practice law in the nation's capitol. a new filing from the dc bar accuses rudy giuliani of violating pennsylvania's rules of conduct, according to the filing, giuliani pushed, you know, substantiated election allegations on account of the former president, giuliani already suspended from practicing law by the new york bar. >>> next for us tonight, a look ahead to what we can expect to see in monday's televised january

guest: the happiest ones are chair bennie thompson and vice chair liz cheney, and cheney probably more so because as the lead of one of two republicans on the committee, and perhaps one of the most prominent leadership roles on this committee, how she messages the results here and tries to connect with republicans at home who may or may not be tuning into these hearings at all, she has pulled no punches about her own colleagues and their complicity in what happened leading up to january 6. the way she talks about republican involvement is a very important message, because it connects differently than that neo-democrats in calling out donald trump when you hear her doing it. host: what about other members on the committee? who do you expect the toughest questioning to come from? guest: i think cheney wrath is an interesting one to watch. he led the investigation into trump, and adam schiff similarly led this. those two have a long history of pursuing intense investigations of the former president. i think lofgren is another one. she is another health staffer. -- house staffer. host: jam

. >> reporter: and committee chair bennie thompson telling cnn the committee has a lot more to share.ho have come forward, that people have not talked to before, that will document a lot of what was going on in the trump orbit while all of this was occurring. [ chants ] >> reporter: and the impact of the violence on january 6th still being felt today. >> that day it was just hours of hand-to-hand combat, hours of dealing with things that were way beyond any -- any law enforcement officer has ever trained for. >> reporter: and as the committee continues to make its case, president biden is endorsing their work and encouraging americans to pay attention. >> it's important the american people understand what truly happened. i tell you what, there's a lot going on. >> reporter: and among the revelation was thursday was one from vice chair liz cheney that there were republican members of congress that asked the former president donald trump for pardons before they left office. and she identified one of them -- representative scott perry of pennsylvania. perry pushing back on that claim in

after the hearing committee chairman bennie thompson revealing to cnn what's to come in the hearings ahead. >> are there going to be witnesses that describe actual conversations between these extremist groups and anyone in trump's orbit? >> yes. >> pamela brown with us now to recap this hearing. it was remarkable in many ways. >> it really was. it was remarkable. it was historic. and this first hearing, brianna, really aimed to tell a story to the american people of the former president's role in the deadly insurrection through never before seen video and testimony using words from donald trump's own attorney general and family to make the case that he was told repeatedly his claims of election fraud were a lie, that election fraud claims leading up to the insurrection, yet he repeated those lies spurring the mob to descend on the u.s. capitol building on january 6. >> breached the line. we need brachup. >> reporter: chilling new aerial footage showing the moment protesters breached the capitol grounds on january 6. >> this is now ostensibly a riot. >> reporter: the new video part of

jackie, committee chair bennie thompson backtracked on what he had said about no criminal referrals out of the hearings. does that hint that referrals are more of a possibility? >> it's a confusing debate that we've seen play out in real time, which is quite unusual for a committee that over the course of 11 months has largely avoided any drama or public discord or divergence. bennie thompson did slightly backtrack his statement, which was fairly declarative to reporters on monday night that there was going to be no criminal referrals that the committee had ruled it out, and that it wasn't the job of the committee. shortly thereafter, liz cheney, adam schiff, the dividing lines became clear quickly, issue conflicting statements, saying it was the responsibility of the committee to actually issue these explicit criminal referrals if they do find that trump committed crimes. there are a lot of other factors at play here, though, other than the superficial debate. what we see the picture that we've gotten of the committee members disagreeing on this really paints a more complicated decisio

>> i think the narrative that bennie thompson and liz cheney and the committee were building was to saye going to bring other people into the picture, we're going to tell you about one other people senate did. but the reason we tell you about it is that so we you understand what donald trump's role was. , so i think it is implied that there is not just a looking back aspect to it but they looking for an aspect to it. >> there is the revelation about several members of congress potentially seeking pardons for their role in this. some of this has been reported in the past. one of the individuals mentioned, last week, congressman scott perry, says i didn't do it. but the committee is saying, we've got the proof. >> i think that something that, look, they made a decision to pull all of the republicans of this committee. it has been something that they are realizing, they have no insight into what the committee has compiled. scott perry might be saying, no, i'm fine. but he doesn't know who they have interviewed, he doesn't know what's the interviewees have said, he doesn't know what they ha

stirewalt answered no to bennie thompson's question. he answered no.resident did not have any basis to declare victory on election night. in that video presentation though, we heard that president trump followed advice, from the reportedly drunken rudy giuliani, who told the president that he had one, and that he should declare victory. in so doing, we also learned that the president defied all his senior campaign officials, who told him that the counting wasn't done, and that he needed to mayor to wait for more votes to be counted, and that they were not sure at all that he had one. quite the contrary. >> the political director at fox news and the trump campaign manager both explained one as a witness today, and one under this deposition on tape, that trump was aware in advance of a phenomenon called, the red mirage. a phenomenon that would make the earliest vote totals look better for trump and the leader vote totals look better for biden. so, it's a normal political science phenomenon, observed in election after election after election. phenomenon c

i am bennie thompson, chairman of the january 6, 20 committee. i was born, raised and still live in bolton, mississippi. a town with a population of 521, which is midway between jackson and vicksburg, mississippi, and the mississippi river. i'm from a part of the country where people justified the actions of slavery, the coop -- the ku klux klan and lynching. i'm reminded of that dark history as i hear voices today try to justify the actions of the insurrectionists on january 6, 2020 one. over the next few weeks, hopefully you will get to know the other members, my colleagues up here, and me. we represent a diversity of communities from all over the united states, rural areas and cities, east coast, west coast, and the heartland. all of us have one thing in common, we swore the same oath. that same oath that all members of congress take upon taking office, and afterwards, every two years to be elected. we swore an oath to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. the words of the current oath taken by all of us, that near

listen to what benny thompson told jake tapper about what the committee has learned about the ties ofmp world and the members of the right wing extremist groups. >> are there going to be witnesses that describe actual conversations between these extremist groups and anyone in trump's orbit? >> yes. >> there will be? >> yes. >> pretty specific about that. so the question now, victor and alison, how do they lay that information out in the hearings to come. >> ryan, how about the information where it came out that several republicans had sought pardons from president trump, what do we know about that? >> reporter: that was something that caught a lot of people by surprise. we should put out that cnn reported in january of 2021 that there were a group of republican members of congress that sought pardons from the former president, but they did offer up a new name last night, and that's congressman scott perry. listen to what vice chair liz cheney had to say about that. >> representative scott perry, who was also involved in trying to get clark appointed as attorney general, has refused to

of trying to derail democracy. opening the highly anticipated 1st hearing committee chairman benny thompson called the events of january 6th quote, the culmination of an attempted coup. the televised session featured the in person, testimonies of a capital police officer and a journalist who were at the scene as well as free recorded accounts from senior trump white house officials. the committee also presented never before seen footage of the deadly violence. from that day. the chairman of the panel explained that the attack on the capital was not just a protest that got out of hand, but an orchestrated attempt to endanger the u. s. constitutional democracy pulling the strings, he says, was a president reluctant to accept a clear election defeat? don trump was at the center of this come to the spirit, say, and ultimately, donald trump, the president of the united states, spurred a mob of domestic enemies of the constitution, the marched down the capital and subvert american democracy. january 6 was the culmination of an attempted cou. a brazen attempt as one right to put it shortly after j

and his opening remarks committee chairman benny thompson called the events on january 6, quote, the combination of an attempted crew, the hearing will feature to in person witnesses and accounts from senior white house officials during the trump era who were interviewed behind stores. the committee will also present never before seen video and other evidence of the deadly violence. from that day we would have on the road committee. chair thompson also warned that even though the attack did not succeed us, democracy remains at risk. and this scheme was an attempt to undermine the will of the people. so to night and over the next few weeks were gone to remind you of the reality of what happened that day. but our work must do much more than just look backwards. the cause of our democracy remains in danger. the conspiracy to prompt the will of the people does not over. there are those in this audience who thirst for power, but have no love or respect for what makes america great. this is only the 1st of 6 public hearings on the matter and throughout the coming weeks, the committee made

and first up, committee chairman and man saying, "who's got two thumbs and one is my head" bennie thompsonmpson kicked off the hearing with a little of his bio. > i am from a part of the country where people justify the actions of slavery, the ku klux klan, and lynching. >> stephen: so, you were born on twitter? (laughter) thompson spoke about what united the bipartisan members of the committee, as well as americans everywhere. >> east coast, west coast, and the heartland. all of us have one thing in common. >> stephen: "if you fry it, we will eat it." (laughter and applause) >> jon: yeah, yeah. close to my heart. yeah. (piano riff) >> stephen: thompson played damning footage of one of the former president's toadiest of toadies, former attorney general bill barr. >> i made it clear, i did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen, and told the president was bull >> stephen: watch your language, toad-man! you kiss your princess with that mouth? then thompson reminded us just how serious the capitol riot was. >> as we provide answers to the american people about january 6th,

the chair, bennie thompson, says that the job of the january 6th committee is to make sure that they put together the evidence and make recommendations to congress. it's not their job to prosecute. he said i hope the attorney general is listening and i hope the attorney general if he wants evidence, we'll be happy to give it to him. he said that donald trump probably committed a crime and the judge is an obama appointed judge and he was only there to look at discovery. sounds one-sided. tell me what you think. >> i think basically the opposite of what everyone has said so far on this table. i was on air last night with bret and martha to discuss this this. i thought there was a lot of new information. everybody seems to agree with that right and left people are commenting. here's some things that are new. donald trump knew that he lost the election. he knew it lost it because bill barr told him he lost it. if you saw his testimony, it was animated. he used the b.s. word. he said enough with this. ivanka truck, his daughter, she knew he lost the election because she said i trusted a.g

bennie thompson, the 30 year swamper who is chairing this charade. bled on in monotones for 10 minutes about where he was from and the history of the entire united states. if you listened closely you could hear remotes clicking in unison all across the country. the democrats should have started with a bang. if they wanted to know how to open a show, they should have just asked us at "primetime." remember? ♪ ♪ [tires squealing] [cow mooing] >> jesse: are you ready, america? >> jesse: now that's how you do it. the committee would have been better off hiring our ep brian kelly instead of the nbc news exec who killed the epstein story. civil or not the show must go on because they had to show videos like this an angry mob storming a building and pelting projectiles with projectiles. a harrowing scene. wait a second, this video isn't from january 6th. it's from the may 2020 george floyd protest in washington, d.c. where far left activists assaulted law enforcement right outside the white house. but that's just more of the democrats' double standard of just

bennie thompson said viewers will see significant video testimony from individuals charged, convictedy to crimes on january 6th. let's bring in former d.c. police officer and cnn law enforcement analysis michael fanone. he was helping to defend the capitol on january 6th and was attacked by members of the mob. thanks for being here. what is the number one question you would like to hear answered this evening? >> well, as a police officer, one of many that fought at the capitol on january 6th, i want to know what the hell donald trump was doing for 187 minutes while myself and hundreds of others, other police officers were fighting for their lives. >> do you think if he had issued a video statement then, as opposed to much later, and if he had issued a strong video statement that could have made a change? >> yeah. i mean, i saw the video statement that he put out, i've seen it numerous times. at best, i think it was disingenuous. i think he should have been doing everything he could have possibly done to end that violent riot at the capitol. >> the video is going to call police officer

i want to start with the committee chair, bennie thompson telling reporters that the committee will not make any criminal referrals to the doj, or trump, or anyone else. vice chair liz trent cheney contradicted that. the january 6th select committee has not issued a conclusion regarding criminal referrals. we will announce a decision on that at an appropriate time. susan, what is up with this? what is going on? >> it's remarkable in the rollout of their long-awaited hearings. here we are, talking about their disagreement with each other. it is not just liz cheney versus the chairman. you see several other members, i think adam schiff, and another congresswoman, also saying wait a minute, we had not decided. to a certain extent, i am not sure how consequential this disagreement really is. it will be up to merrick garland, the attorney general and his justice department, whether or not they proceed with charges. whether or not they have an advisory role, it is not this which matters in the legal determination, none of which is in the hands of the select committee anyways pics but i want t