capitol.good evening. welcome to the 59th annual christmas tree lighting ceremony at the united states capitol. i am jim kaufman, director of capital grounds at the architect of the capitol. i'm honored to be here this evening along with the speaker of the house, mr. mike johnson to light the 2023 capitol christmas tree. we are also privileged to present this year's youth christmas tree lighter ethan reese from beverly elementary school in west virginia. [cheers and applause] >> lighting the capitol christmas tree has been festive tradition since 1964 and one to continue this year. we are delighted to have the capital christmas tree that west virginians and all americans can be proud of. a lot of preparation and effort goes into finding the perfect christmas tree for the u.s. capitol. and i'm delighted to say that we made a beautiful selection this year, a 63-foot norway spruce from the national forest the allegheny mountains of west virginia. [cheers and applause] >> the tree is from greenbri

this is quite common when people go to the capitol.ndard procedure is this: capitol police detains you, escorts you out of the building , and releases you waswayasi. but in '19, after i obstructed the impeachment hearings, which i believe is my constitutional right to express my dissatisfaction with the government. someone called a capitol police officer just as he was about to let me go said: “no, don’t let him go, we won’t treat owen shroyer like 99% of people were treated.” we will charge him and arrest him. so this was the first time i was persecuted for politics. a month later , there were 40 or 50 anti-trump protesters demonstrating inside the same capitol building. and in order to show the double standards in our country, i decided to go to the same place in the capitol where these 40-50 protesters spoke. when it all started that day, me and my team, which, by the way, is even stated in the indictment that we tried to warn people from going to the capitol, we tried to convince people to move away from the capitol, we even tried

capitol building. why?ause cnn has now learned that hunter biden is expected to head to capitol hill, unclear whether he has left yet, but expected to head to capitol hill. he had been subpoenaed to testify before a house committee at exactly 9:30 today. we are told he is headed there. we were looking at that podium which i hope we can show you again right now because it's very possible that hunter biden makes a statement at that microphone shortly. not clear whether that is a statement he will make before going in to testify to this house committee or a statement he will make to say he is not going in to testify to that house committee. the committee has called hunter biden, this is part of the impeachment probe, not into hunter biden, again, although you would be forgiven for thinking so, an impeachment inquiry into president biden that so far has struggled to find any benefit whatsoever that president biden received from hunter biden's questionable business dealings. the committee that is called hunter b

his recent statements on the campaign trail, supporting those serving prison time for storming the capitol, suggesting they did nothing wrong. >> i call them the j-6 hostages, not prisoners. i call them the hostages, what's happened, and it's a shame. >> reporter: smith is now saying, quote, the defendant's embrace of j-6 rioters is evidence of his intent, because it shows that these individuals acted as he directed them to act. smith says he will present evidence that trump could have called off the violence that day. the former president once told me in an interview that he wanted to go up to the capitol during the attack, and that the mob would have welcomed him. >> i was thinking about going back during the problem to stop the problem, doing it myself. secret service didn't like that idea too much. >> reporter: so what -- >> and i could have done that, and, you know what, i would have been very well received. >> reporter: of course, trump didn't go to the capitol on january 6th. he sat in the dining room next to the oval office and did nothing for more than three hours to stop the viol

the capitol had been evacuated.he plane that went down in pennsylvania, widely believed it was coming to the dome of the cap toll. you and i were there. we both -- by the way, i never had a greater experience working with a report ing partner than you. we really i think both of us had a reverence for the capitol, for american democracy, for the privilege of being a reporter that got the opportunity to go to work every day in that building. and when we saw it come under attack, we saw democrats and republicans come together, that was a spontaneous, that was late in the evening on september 11th when they came back to a closed building and made a couple speeches and sang that song. so as i watched the capitol come under attack again, this time by domestic terrorists. i took it personally. this was a place that means so much more than simply the place where congress meets. this is the symbol of everything in america democracy. >> all of america should have taken that personally. so good to see you. thank you for coming

capitol. we are covering every angle including waiting on the response from the republicans about whether they will take his testimony. cnn's evan perez was right there listening to hunter biden and let's start with him, evan. that is more than what we've heard to date from hunter on this subject. >> absolutely, john. look, it was an extraordinary thing to come to the steps here on the senate side of the capitol, and not on the house side where the house republicans have been waiting for him at 9:30 to do the closed-door testimony. here he spoke more forcefully and confrontationally really about these allegations that republicans have been making. a lot of this stuff has been done on paper and by republican members of congress who are essentially twisting some of the things that huntser says were in some of the evidence that they've obtained and some of the documents they've obtained and here he confronts a lot of that saying that they were mocking his addiction, his struggles with addiction.

it's quite common when people go to the capitol, and the standard procedure is that the capitol police you out of the building, and lets you go home. but in '19, after i interfered holding impeachment hearings, which i believe is my constitutional right. to express my dissatisfaction with the government, someone called a capitol police officer , just as he was about to let me go, he said, “no, don't let him go, we will not treat owen schroer like 99% of the people who went were treated.” in the capitol and were detained escorted out of it, we will charge him arrest him so this was the first time i was prosecuted for politics, after a month inside in the same capitol building there were 40 or 50 anti-trump protesters demonstrating, and in order to show the double standards in our country, i decided to go to the same place in the capitol where these 40-50 protesters were demonstrating, i came in the same place, i put up a sticky tape people that said censorship because i was banned from all the major mainstream social networks and i was arrested for it and spent 36 hours in the washingto

david spunt on capitol hill today.critics have been quick to call out hunter biden this morning saying that his dad was not, quote, financially involved in the business. the language keeps evolving on what they say about this. watch this. >> the changing goalposts is significant. joe biden will get hit from the moving goalpost. now the hunter biden team is saying joe was not financially involved. that is a big difference with what the white house was saying not that long ago and where the political rubber hits the road. what's in hunter's legal interest is all of a sudden coming to a clash with the joe biden re-election campaign. >> martha: jason chaffetz, former republican congressman of utah and fox news contributor. good to have you with us. it is interesting he said my dad wasn't financially involved in this business. he wasn't as an attorney and on the board. what do you make of this new language around this, congressman? >> well, it is a major seismic shift in what they've been saying. first it wasn't having a co

capitol police sergeant aquilino gonell.was one of the many brave police officers who defended the capitol on january 6th. he's now the author of a new book. it's called "american shield: the immigrant sergeant who defended democracy." and we should note also, sergeant gonell, that because of what happened that day you had to retire because you were so wounded that day. >> yes, sir. thanks for having me, jake. i sustained multiple injuries on that day, some of them physical, some of them mental and some of them moral injuries just like mr. ramaswamy is saying, that there were federal agents among the crowd. yes, the police officers were trying to defend the people inside. those were the agents that perhaps he's referring to. >> when you hear this lunacy, that like the feds were -- that it was all entrapment, i mean, i don't even know what to say. when you hear this, as somebody who was there that day who was hurt that day physically and emotionally, psychologically, what goes through your brain when you see this character ru

and why is he having everybody go down to the capitol? see, when i got there, the crowd was so big, i couldn't get through. so i walked around and asked what else was going on that day, and they said, "i think i heard trump's going to be at the capitol." as i'm walking i'm thinking, why are we going to the capitol? he just had a talk. so i feel like he had it all planned. that he wanted the people to attack the capitol. that's just my feeling. but -- no, he's responsible. because he said, march down there. he tries to use "peacefully," no, he said, "go fight like hell." that's what he said. he was talking to the wrong people, because they took that literally. >> do you think that trump will ultimately face any consequences for his actions? whether they're legal or criminal? >> i believe so. i think we can have a lot of faith in jack smith. he knows what he's doing. he's got the receipts. sadly, we're going to have to wait till court for people to start realizing that trump has lied about everything, and trump is a criminal, and he needs t

capitol police was forced to waste resources investigating rather than doing their job to keep the capitol safe. uscp determined bowman broke the law and he was indicted by the attorney general of the district of columbia. realizing no number of excuses could get him out of this, mr. bowman pled guilty. as a former principal of the cornerstone academy for social action in new york city, mr. bowman should know the consequences of pulling a fire alarm to cause panic. in new york schools the policy is clear. when a student commits a crime on campus, police are called and that student is either suspended or expelled. one would think representative bowman would be able to hold himself to the same standards as he held his students to. i don't think that's a lot to ask. the republican majority held our own former member accountable after the house ethics committee found he engaged in criminal behavior. it would be hypocritical for the house democrats to not join us in holding one of their own members accountable who actually pled guilty to breaking the law. i do not submit this resolution lightly

all part of what's known as the capitol annex project to tear down and rebuild the capitol annex buildingle a technically is not considered the actual historic capitol building home to the 210 foot dome in both chambers of the legislature. >> the annex is significant because for more than 70 years, it was directly adjacent to the capitol building in house. the offices of the governor and most state lawmakers not to mention some hearing rooms, but it had major issues. the annex before it came down. it was not ada compliant. >> there was fear about a large earthquake mcgeorge school of law at professor chris mckay lee is not directly involved with the project, but is an expert. all things capital. he said after more than 7 decades, the annex was not in compliance with basic building codes. one of the major reasons why the legislature and former governor jerry brown approved the 1.2 billion dollar project to tear it down. >> and build a new one come 2025. the offices of the governor and most lawmakers have since temporarily moved to this 9 story building known as the swing space, one block s

all part of what's known as the capitol annex project to tear down and rebuild the capitol annex building while a technically is not considered the actual historic capitol building home to the 210 foot dome in both chambers of the legislature. >> the annex is significant because for more than 70 years, it was directly adjacent to the capitol building in house. the offices of the governor and most state lawmakers not to mention some hearing rooms, but it had major issues. the annex before it came down. it was not ada compliant. >> there was fear about a large earthquake mcgeorge school of law at professor chris mckay lee is not directly involved with the project, but is an expert. all things capital. he said after more than 7 decades, the annex was not income plan to base and building codes. one of the major reasons why the legislature and former governor jerry brown approved the 1.2 billion dollar project to tear it down. >> and build a new one come 2025. the offices of the governor and most lawmakers have since temporarily moved to this 9 story building known as the swing space, one bloc

all part of what's known as the capitol annex project to tear down and rebuild the capitol annex building while a technically is not considered the actual historic capitol building home to the 210 foot dome in both chambers of the legislature. >> the annex is significant because for more than 70 years, it was directly adjacent to the capitol building in house. the offices of the governor and most state lawmakers not to mention some hearing rooms, but it had major issues. the annex before it came down. it was not ada compliant. >> there was fear about a large earthquake mcgeorge school of law at professor chris mckay lee is not directly involved with the project, but is an expert. all things capital. he said after more than 7 decades, the annex was not in compliance with basic building codes. one of the major reasons why the legislature and former governor jerry brown approved the 1.2 billion dollar project to tear it down. >> and build a new one come 2025. the offices of the governor and most lawmakers have since temporarily moved to this 9 story building known as the swing space, one blo

all part of what's known as the capitol annex project to tear down and rebuild the capitol annex building while a technically is not considered the actual historic capitol building home to the 210 foot dome in both chambers of the legislature. >> the annex is significant because for more than 70 years, it was directly adjacent to the capitol building in house. the offices of the governor and most state lawmakers not to mention some hearing but it had major issues. the annex before it came down was not ada compliant. >> there was fear about a large earthquake that george school of law at. professor chris mckay lee is not directly involved with the project, but is an expert. all things capital. he said after more than 7 decades, the annex was not income plan to base and building codes. one of the major reasons why the legislature and former governor jerry brown approved the 1.2 billion dollar project to tear it down. >> and build a new one come 2025. the offices of the governor and most lawmakers have since temporarily moved to this 9 story building known as the swing space, one block south

all part of what's known as the capitol annex project to tear down and rebuild the capitol annex building while a technically is not considered the actual historic capitol building home to the 210 foot dome in both chambers of the legislature. >> the annex is significant because for more than 70 years, it was directly adjacent to the capitol building in house. the offices of the governor and most state lawmakers not to mention some hearing rules, but it had major issues. the annex before it came down. it was not ada compliant. >> there was fear about a large earthquake mcgeorge school of law at professor chris mckay lee is not directly involved with the project, but is an expert. all things capital. he said after more than 7 decades, the annex was not in compliance with basic building codes. one of the major reasons why the legislature and former governor jerry brown approved the 1.2 billion dollar project to tear it down. >> and build a new one come 2025. the offices of the governor and most lawmakers have since temporarily moved to this 9 story building known as the swing space, one blo

well, some lawmakers today on capitol hill, they were not convinced. correspondent david spunt is at the justice department tonight with the latest. good evening, david. >> bret, good evening to you. lawmakers are demanding more answers from fbi director christopher wray about this controversial memo. they say was used to infiltrate the catholic church and see if catholics were, perhaps, behind any potential domestic violence extremism. the fbi is denying that but, today, fbi director wray got a grilling on capitol hill from senator josh hawley from missouri who chastised him pointing to a new whistleblower revelation that the fbi interviewed a virginia choir director and priest. but the fbi director said the memo and the interviews that happened are separate subjects. watch. >> >> the fbi agents did approach a priest and a choir director to ask them to inform on parishioners. so, were you lied to when you gave this testimony or were you lying to congress? >> neither. your question conflates two different things. there was an investigation of a specifi

all part of what's known as the capitol annex project to tear down and rebuild the capitol annex building common technically is not considered the actual historic capitol building home to the 210 foot dome in both chambers of the legislature. >> the annex is significant because for more than 70 years, it was directly adjacent to the capitol ilding in house. the of of the governor and most state lawmakers not to mention some hearing rooms, but it had major issues. the annex before it came down. it was not ada compliant. >> there was fear about a large earthquake that george school of law at. professor chris mckay lee is not directly involved with the project, but is an expert. all things capital. he said after more than 7 decades, the annex was not income plan to base and building codes. one of the major reasons why the legislature and former governor jerry brown approved the 1.2 billion dollar project to tear it down. >> and build a new one come 2025. the offices of the governor and most lawmakers have since temporarily moved to this 9 story building known as the swing space, one block so

all part of what's known as the capitol annex project to tear down and rebuild the capitol annex building half while a technically is not considered the actual historic capitol building home to the 210 foot dome in both chambers of the legislature. >> the annex is significant because for more than 70 years, it was directly adjacent to the capitol building in house. the offices of the governor and most state lawmakers not to mention some hearing rooms, but it had major issues, the annex before it came down. it was not ada compliant. >> there was fear about a large earthquake, mcgeorge school of law at professor chris mckay lee is not directly involved with the project, but is an expert. all things capital. he said after more than 7 decades, the annex was not income plan to base and building codes. one of the major reasons why the legislature and former governor jerry brown approved the 1.2 billion dollar project to tear it down and build a new one come 2025. the offices of the governor and most lawmakers have since temporarily moved to this 9 story building known as the swing space, one bl

among the brave officers at the capitol that day was harry dunn. who first shared his story while testifying before the committee investigating january 6th two years ago. now, he's out with a new book, standing my ground. a capitol police officer's fight for accountability and good trouble after january 6th. i recently sat down with officer dunn to discuss his book, his job, and his life in the aftermath of the insurrection. >> harry dunn, thank you for taking the time to sit down with me today. congratulations on being an author. >> thank you. >> i wanted to ask you, you are so candid about your level of fear, your level of trauma, that you experienced on january 6th, and in the weeks and months afterward. why did you decide to write the book, and what do you want people to take away from it? >> i've been telling my story from day one, and one of the things i've always said is every one has a story from that day. this is my story, i don't pretend to speak for the capitol police, i don't speak for individual officers, this is me. it's important, es

all part of what's known as the capitol annex project to tear down and rebuild the capitol annex building while a technically is not considered the actual historic capitol building home to the 210 foot dome in both chambers of the legislature. >> the annex is significant because for more than 70 years, it was directly adjacent to the capitol building in house. the offices of the governor and most state lawmakers not to mention some hearing rooms, but it had major issues, the annex before it came down. it was not ada compliant. >> there was fear about a large earthquake mcgeorge school of law at professor chris mckay lee is not directly involved with the project, but is an expert. all things capital. he said after more than 7 decades, the annex was not in compliance with basic building codes. one of the major reasons why the legislature and former governor jerry brown approved the 1.2 billion dollar project to tear it down and build a new one come 2025. the offices of the governor and most lawmakers have since temporarily moved to this 9 story building known as the swing space, one block s

the capitol. and i actually have a picture of this. it's quite embarrassing, but i sort of crying. and i looked at my mom and i said i wanted to stay with we moved around a lot when i was a child and i was like, we moved to washington, d.c. i really wanted to move to washington, d.c., but i remember we were at the capitol. i was looking at the capitol and i, i feel like it was that moment, that kind of clicked for me where i, you know, i had this idea of public service. i had been to a city. i have no idea. again, very young, but no idea what it would look like. but i felt that i belonged here. and every time i would visit d.c. and then leave, it would be a very emotional experience for me. so and i sort of lived at the school of like, how can i get back? you're the first person in your family to go to college. i was. and and you went to the christopher newport in virginia, not far from d.c. tell us about how you actually got involved in republican politics and government service, because one of t

he wanted the people to attack the capitol. that is just my feeling, but, no, he is responsible because he said march down there, he tries to use peacefully, he said no go fight like hell is what he said and he was talking to the wrong people, they took it literally >> do you think trump will ultimately face any consequences for his actions if they are legal or criminal? >> i believe so. i think we can have a lot of faith in jack smith. he knows what he is doing. he has the receipts, you know, and i think it is, sadly, we will have to wait until court for people to start realizing that trump has lied about everything and trump is a criminal and he needs to have his day in court to be proven what we already know. that, he is a criminal. he knows it. >> this election can come down to president biden or donald trump, again, who will you be voting for? >> well, biden, of course. we have no choice. >> and if trump were listening what would you say? >> retire. get honest. it is time to stop. you are too old now. not too old but i don

but i remember we were at the capitol looking at the capitol and i -- like it was that moment that it kind of clicked for me where i -- you know i had this idea of public service i had been to a city very young. but no idea what it would look like but i felt that i belonged here and every time i would visit d.c. and then leave it would be a very emotional experience for me so i sort of lived with a goal of how can i get back? >> first person in your family to go to college. >> i was. >> and you went to christopher newport in virginia not far from d.c.. tell us about how you actually got involved in republican politics and government service because one of the remarkable things about the book is how many of the people who are key actors in the drama of january 6th and insurrection and attempted cue were people that you would met before or you knew before? yeah we are including years in washington, d.c.. >> yeah. so -- io mean jim jordan was somebody kevin mccarthy you met nancy pelosi and a story about her and so -- so how did you get involved and make like that rapid sense in the poli

manu raju is on capitol hill. and nick paton walsh is in ukraine, and standby for one moment, because i want to go to manu first on how exactly this pitch is going so far. >> well, he did make the case that the money is needed urgently, and especially the air-to-land missile systems, and to push back on the russian aggression, and he says that without aid, the migration is going to be worse in europe and potentially the united states. this is coming as the united states is holding up aid to ukraine. we are looking at the pictures right now of volodymyr zelenskyy walking on capitol hill. this is what he had to say. all right. it looks like he did not address the remarks but he is walking into the meeting that is currently on going with, he is going to meet with speaker johnson, and at a critical moment here. and what zelenskyy's pitch is that aid is needed immediately, and even as the u.s. lawmakers are grappling with the issue of tightening laws with the border of mexico to prevent an influx of migrants, and that

an appeals court ruling donald trump can be sue for the january 6th attack on the capitol, rejecting his claim of immunity. pierre thomas in washington. >>> tributes tonight for former supreme court justice sandra day o'conner. a trailblazer on the bench, reshaping supreme court law, casting votes on landmark cases. tonight, sandra day o'conner in her own words. terry moran at the supreme court. >>> and for the first time, actress felicity huffman breaking her silence about the college admissions cheating scandal. why she says she did it. >> whit: good evening. it's good to have you with us tonight. i'm whit johnson in for david. we begin with george santos following a scathing house ethics report that accused him of blatantly stealing from his campaign to pay for personal items, including trips to vegas, luxury goods, and even botox treatments. santos is only the sixth representative to ever be expelled from the house and the first without being convict offend a crime or supporting the confederacy. the vote, 311-114 w 105 republicans voting yes, reaching the two-thirds number needed

president trump's expressed efforts over several months exhorting his supporters to march to the capitol to prevent what he alleged was a fraud where indisputably overt and voluntary. from the supreme court justices yesterday who said the former president cannot appear on the primary ballot. it does not address the general election ballot. we went your reaction to this news this morning. on the front pages of the national newspapers, the former president was in iowa yesterday campaigning for 2024. he did not directly address this ruling. here's a little bit of what he had to say. [video] >> it is no wonder crooked joe biden and the lunatics are desperate to stop us by any means necessary. they are willing to violate the constitution at levels never seen before to win this election. joe biden is a threat to democracy. he's a threat. they are weaponizing law enforcement for high-level election interference because we are beating them so badly in the polls. the new cbs poll -- i always used to talk about polls but only if they were good. i did not mention of them if they were bad. i did not

zelensky meeting with senators on capitol hill right now. he'll be at the white house this afternoon. what zelenskyy says he needs for the war. >>> plus, it is a busy day for disgraced politicians. rudy giuliani back in court for day two of his defamation trial. how much will he have to pay to election workers? >>> in new york, george santos just walked into court as we hear talk of a plea deal. what could that look like? >>> and the texas supreme court rules against a woman seeking an emergency abortion. what this ruling means for women's healthcare in texas and beyond. >>> thanks so much for joining us on this tuesday. it is 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. we begin this morning with a desperate plea from a war time president. right now ukraine's president zelenskyy is in a closed door meeting with senators on capitol hill, making his case for more aid. you see him there arriving earlier. he'll meet with president biden later today in the oval office and then the two leaders will hold a joint news conference. the bat

take me up to the capitol now." mr.: [chanting] america first! america first! - but if you compare the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election, storm the capitol, drive the vice president out of the proceeding, and turn the presidency over to donald trump to the watergate hotel break-in, there really is no comparison. it is like a cub scout raid. i don't think richard nixon ever would have dreamed of something at that level of brazenness in terms of overthrowing the whole constitutional order. we just experienced the worst presidential political offense against constitutional democracy that's ever happened in our history. [tense music] - national guards have just been deployed. ♪ - one of my proudest moments looking back that day, we're protectors of democracy, right? what's a more symbolic sign of democracy than going in a building that was still trashed, windows broken, the smell of oc gas and pepper spray lingering in the capitol. and you had members of congress that returned back and fulfilled their congressional dut

>>> defiant and angry, hunter biden on capitol hill and the president's son is not holding back ignoring a subpoena from congress calling for the impeachment inquiry into his father shameless and sing republicans are going after him only to embarrass and damage his father. >>> plus, the supreme court will weigh in on a keith abortion pill. a decision that could guarantee access to the drug -- or ended even in states where the procedure is still alive. >>> a deal to save the climate, an unprecedented call to move away from fossil fuels but, there is a catch. we are following these developing stories and more coming into cnn news central. >>> thank you for joining us this afternoon. today, house republicans are set to formalize an impeachment inquiry into president joe biden. this morning, the man at the center of it all, hunter biden, called them out just steps outside the capitol, facing a deadline to comply with the congressional subpoena, he offered to testify but buckley. republican makers are demanding a closed-door interview first. in his remarks, he singled out some of the republic

nbc ryan noble was there reporting for us on capitol hill. george solis reporting in santos' district of queens new york. joining us is mike murphy, republican strategist, former adviser to bush, romney, mccain, and msnbc political analyst as well. if you will, start things off for us. walk us through how this vote played out and what folks on the capitol are saying this hour. >> yeah, yasmin, it's important to point that we did not know how this was going to go today there had been quite a bit of momentum behind expelling george santos from congress. in the last 24 hours, there was a growing sense of concern, particularly from republican members about the precedent that it might set. no member of congress has ever been kicked out without a formal conviction in a court of law, and while there is a mountain of evidence against george santos, he has get to be convicted. he faces a criminal trial in september, but that hasn't took place. the sum total of scandals surrounding him, the fact that it was a constant distraction, that every single day

capitol on january 6th. the remarkable new account of a woman using honey traps on the dating app bumble to track down rioters. stay with us. >>> welcome back. we've been talking about two possible big cases in front of the u.s. supreme court, the colorado ruling barring trump from the state's 2024 ballots because he is an insurrectionist according to the court, and donald trump's immunity case about whether or not he's immune from the insurrection because he was president. there is another. the supreme court says it will review the obstruction law which could derail convictions of january 6th rioters, or insurrectionists, whatever you want to call them, could deal a blow of course to jack smith's prosecution of the former president because that's one of the charges. nbc news justice reporter ryan riley joins me now. he's the author of a fantastic new book, "sedition hunters: how january 6th broke the justice system." i cannot recommend it more highly. i don't have a lot of nbc correspondents on cnn very oft

yet he told them to march on the capitol. and then sat for over three hours and refused tell them to leave. there's no question about his intent. there's also no question about the level of depravity, just from a human standpoint, of someone who would watch that violence on tv and not tell people to leave. >> you also developed evidence and a tape was released in the last hour that watching on tv was his second choice. his first choice was to be among it. why is that important? >> i think the extent to which we saw testimony from an official at the white house, whose identity we protected, who made very clear that what would have happened that if he had marched up to the capitol, you would have been talking about a very different sort of situation. now it was certainly would have been an extension of what he did do, but there's no question that he wanted to be there. he was very angry he wouldn't be there. and people within the white house were very concerned about the extent to which we could be talking about an actual coup

that was going on capitol hill as we speak here.ana. >> dana: just about one month until the iowa caucus. new polling shows trump running away with the lead surpassed 50% amongst republican caucus goers and ron desantis getting ahead of nikki haley. marc thiessen and marie harf. the iowa poll came out. get you to react. 73% of iowa voters believe trump can win against biden. that's up from 65%. strange in a way, it seems to be what at least until recently democrats were focused on saying he will never be able to win and get support from republicans because of the lawsuits. apparently 73% of iowa voters said that's not true. >> that's exactly right. look, we're now on day 1053 of the biden presidency. if you look at the average. joe biden is the least popular president in the history of this country going back to the world war ii not named jimmy carter. it's also true before the 2022 mid-terms joe biden was the least popular president since world war ii and turned in the best mid-term performance of any president except for bush goin

trump said march peacefully to the capitol and they indicted him.e's sitting there putting his-feet up next to his leather bound book collection. >> i got to cut the fbi a break. they didn't add one, they added three. the q, the i, and the a to the plus. this is very porch detail. but, look at this guy. this guy is not yemen or afghanistan. he was born in michigan, and he's preaching jihad, martyrdom and your kids should be muja -- whether it's dearborn or minneapolis, minnesota, where i'm from, you have a lot of madrases and a lot of clerics who speak very radical things. how much are we surveilling that. how much do we understand about that? how many people were motivated to go fight for isis and al qaeda. >> jesse: the catholics are the only ones who deserve -- do you remember when obama through a missile at that jihadi preacher somewhere in the middle east because he was inspiring jihad. i'm not saying we send a missile into dearborn but at least knock on the guy's door. >> we know this guy is actively inspiring people to go fight and now asking

capitol on january 6.s her harrowing experience on january 6 writing, quote, there was a commotion at the front of the chamber. speaker pelosi's security detail evacuated her. i have never seen or heard of a speaker being evacuated from the chamber. it was clear we were facing some kind of security threat and there was no question what had caused it. i looked over at representative jason smith, sitting in the front row. jason had been one of the members arguing in favor of the objections. the c-span cameras captured me as i pointed at him and said "you did this." i was angry. "you did this." congressman jamie raskin looking down at his phone said, liz, there's a confederate monuments flag flying inside the u.s. capitol. i couldn't believe t that hadn't happened even during the civil war. my god, jamie, what have they done? the unmistakable sound of rioters pounding on doors outside the chamber was getting louder and louder. inside capitol police were slamming doors shut and locking them, we were being lock

host: talking about the week ahead on capitol hill. a good time to get your calls in, if you have questions about all these different topics as we wind down. publicans can call in. independent, (202) 748-8002. this is vivian from tennessee. good morning. caller: i have had surgery and my speech is impaired. i have been calling ever since i got out of the hospital to talk to you all about the way this congress is doing. they are up there talking about israel and gaza. i want to know, what about here in america? america is dying every day here. and not anything about this. i live in tennessee where the murder rate is terrible. i'm sick and tired. they are talking about joe biden, his family and everything. let me tell you something, trump did all this stuff and we got it on tape what this man has said, but congress is standing by him. just look at what trump said to america. mcgrath, you do not have to say a word. doing debates when he was up there, it is stupid. now how can you let somebody get away with that? host: we got your point. v

president trump's expressed efforts over several months exhorting his supporters to march to the capitol to prevent what he alleged was a fraud where indisputably overt and voluntary. from the supreme court justices yesterday who said the former president cannot appear on the primary ballot. it does not address the general

it was for an attack on the capitol, and the capitol police force standing outside this building rightwhat it means to be beaten and battered as trump tried to overturn the election. and what this is about is vengeance for that, because after 11 months of investigation, they have zero evidence that president biden engaged in anything that is near an impeachable offense. there is nothing there other than he's a good father and brother, he fought corruption and he respected the rule of law and the independence of the department of justice. that's what we have. but every single republican who votes for this impeachment inquiry is really a puppet of that twice impeached trump. >> congresswoman teresa legar fernandez, a pleasure to see you, thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you and have a great day. >> you too. >>> up next, the next major fight over abortion rights heads to florida. why some republican voters now say their party has gone too far on that issue. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. so now, d

>> evan perez for us on capitol hill. evan, thanks so much. >> let's now go to manu raju on capitol hill as usual chasing after reaction, in this case from republicans. what are you hearing? i know we heard from james comer who was trying to explain why this was happening in the first place. what are you hearing there? >> yeah. james comer, the house oversight committee chairman making clear that he wants a private deposition with hunter biden that eventually they'd be willing to have in public, but the way the investigation is going, people need to be deposed first and then there could be a public hearing and they are threatening to hold him in contempt of the house for not appearing behind closed doors. we expect that process to play out in a matter of several weeks and this could be expected for years, and i also caught up with a number of republicans on the senate side of the capitol including some of them who were involve in the hunter biden battle. some of them over his father and the business dealings and the like.

hill and his new book, which recounts his work as a capitol police officer and details the traumaticveling all across america talking to people about their hearts. - how's the heart? - good. - you sure? - i think so. how do you know? let me show you something. put two fingers right on those pads. look at that. that's your heart. that is pretty awesome. with kardiamobile, you can take a medical grade ekg in just 30 seconds from anywhere. kardiamobile is proven to detect atrial fibrillation, one of the leading causes of stroke. for a limited time, kardiamobile is available for just $74. hurry, these prices won't last. get kardiamobile today at kardia.com or amazon. hi, i'm chris and i lost 57 pounds on golo. golo isn't complicated. won't last. i don't have to follow a restrictive diet, and i don't have to spend a lot of time making meals. using golo was truly transformative. it was easy, and inexpensive. >>> with all that is going on in the world, the january 6th insurrection feels like a lifetime ago, but to those who were there, to those who witnessed it, the trauma is always present

claims that presidential immunity against civil lawsuits brought by capitol police officers against trump for inciting the attack on the capitol on january 6th, in which they were injured, then, late friday night, judge chutkan, presiding over the criminal case of united states of america versus donald j trump, wrote that she, quote, cannot conclude that our constitution cloaks former presidents with absolute immunity for any federal crimes they committed while in office. nothing in the constitution's text or allocation of government powers requires exempting former presidents from that solemn process, and neither the people, who adopted the constitution, nor those who have safeguarded across generations, have ever understood it to do so. defendants for your service as commander in chief did not put still on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens. no man in this country, not even the former president, is so high that he is above the law. judge chutkan noted donald trump's unique status as the only former president of the united

hundreds of people who stormed the capitol and donald trump himself have all been charged under the same federal law that makes it a crime to, quote, corruptly obstruct an official proceeding. but now the supreme court has announced that it will hear an appeal from one of the january 6th defendants who is arguing that that law, which was originally passed by congress to deal with witness tampering and corporate crime cases cannot be applied to the attack on the capitol. republicans have been saying this for months. they say the justice department has been overcharging some of the january 6th defendants. if the supreme court agrees with this argument, two of the four charges against donald trump would go away. trump got another boost in this case when the judge put all the proceedings on hold pending another appeal by donald trump on another issue that his claim of presidential immunity for everything he did to overturn the 2020 election. and that appeal could delay this trial, which is now scheduled to start in march, for months.

back to you. >> john: chad pergram on capitol hill. thank you. sandra. >> sandra: john, and to add to the list, we are right now waiting the white house any moment now the briefing is set to begin, all of this after hunter biden skips his closed door deposition with the house oversight committee. following his fiery statement to the press outside of capitol hill slamming maga republicans and defending his father claiming president biden was not financially involved in his overseas business dealings. david spunt reporting live from capitol hill, more on that as we await the white house press briefing. david. >> david: hi, sandra. had hunter biden shown up today on capitol hill, he would have been in this room behind me right now for a closed door transcribed deposition, it would have been under oath. hunter biden did not show up today, the subpoena called for him to be here at 9:30 answering questions from republicans and democrats, instead he showed up outside of the capitol. we do have some video of an empty hearing room showing his name tag, sh

capitol nearly three years ago. he was the second proud boy to plead guilty to conspiring with other group members to obstruct the january 6 joint session of congress for certifying president joe biden's electoral victory. the sentence will be a bellwether for other proud boys, conspirators who cooperated with federal prosecutors. let's go to marion in massachusetts. mary, your turn in this conversation. caller: yeah. i was calling to just say i am nonvoting the way i was going to. i think what they are doing to donald trump is really bad. they are making people like me that are independent -- they say he was the man they wanted to run against. they can beat him hands down. my question would be is why are they doing everything in their power to not run against him? to take him off the ballot. i am going from an independent for this election to voting republican. only for that reason. because that is what i think. i have been watching this for a few months. i see every which way but loose that they are trying to take

for trump and testified in the january 6th hearings and resigned in the wake of the attack on the capitol. what do you make of what ambassador bolton was saying, do you think some of liz cheney's claims about what a threat trump is our overblown? >> i don't, i understand what he's trying to convey what he says he doesn't want to sound like an alarmist i think we have to look out what trump is saying and pay attention closely. his call for doing away with part of the constitution, he said he wants to rid the country of people he deems as vermin, he says he wants to weaponized the doj to enact revenge on his political enemies. so what would encourage people, we sound like alarmist when we say that democracy is at stake if trump were to be elected again, but you have to pay attention to his own words because he is saying these things and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be penetrating through to the public and i think it's in large part because his campaign has adopted a basement campaign strategy circa joe biden's 2020 campaign and they actually have shielded him from public view and have b