the blame for the capitol attack squarely on trump. we saw with our own eyes rioters menace these halls, threatening the life of the speaker of the house, literally erecting gallows to hang the vice president of the united states of america. what did we not see? we didn t see a former president who had just rallied the mob to attack sitting in the private dining room off the oval office in the white house watching it all on television. and doing nothing. for hours. as police were assaulted, lives at risk, the nation s capitol under siege. he values power over principle because he sees his own interest as more important than his country s interest, than america s interests. and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our
now i m just angry. and i would ask anybody who doubts the reality of january 6th to question your own motivations behind that. cnn chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins is here with us. so, kaitlan, this was a very different speech for president biden, so what went into it? reporter: yeah, it s one he had worked on for several days, alisyn and victor, over the holidays. this is something that president biden and his top aides were talking about because of the speech that s largely symbolic and i think that the white house wanted president biden to be able to meet the moment with this, and yesterday, we asked jen psaki if the president was going to address the former president s role in the riot, of what that was going to look like, but clearly, today, that was the crux of this speech. that was really what he focused on, and as you said, he did not mention donald trump by name, but he did reference the former president 16 times in that speech. not only talking about what
and while i remember a great deal that day, what i remember most is walking back on to the house floor, into the chamber that morning to complete our work. the morning when democracy prevailed. remember, reflect, recommit. [ applause ] we will continue to monitor all of the speeches of lawmakers today as they reflect on what happened a year ago. we want to bring in now our next guest. he was also inside the capitol as it was attacked. he is a democratic majority whip, senator dick durbin. great to see you, senator. we just heard from congresswoman rochester there. she was very emotional talking about how close we came that day, she says, to losing our democracy, and i wonder, do you think, today, democracy is safer than it was a year ago? it s safer because donald trump is no longer president, but let me tell you the forces that created him, the ones that
america questioning whether january 6th really happened, whether president trump was any provocation in terms of it happening, and whether or not violence is acceptable in political life in america, i m very concerned. violence is never acceptable in a democracy. there are mechanisms where you can reconcile differences through votes and through legislation and through your own words and speeches, but turning on violent conduct that kills policemen, injures law enforcement officers, and imperils this capitol, never acceptable by any political party. senator dick durbin, thank you for your time. we really appreciate checking in with you. you re welcome. let s bring back john avlon, gloria gloria borger and olivia troye. the numbers that alisyn just read from that washington post report are remarkable. candidates running on the big lie. so whether former president
and that reflects the fact that the senate is 50/50, 50 democrats, 50 republicans. there is no majority. there is a nominal majority when the vice president joins the democrats, but it means that when it comes to passing legislation, it s an extraordinary challenge. we are going to face that challenge in just a fdays here n the senate and i hope we can convince all the democrats to join us in an effort to make sure voting rights are a sacred right that are reflected and respected in the future. but whatever you re working on, will it undo that? can it undo what s already happening in state legislatures and at state election boards around the country? if it is the law of the land, and it s already passed the house of representatives, if the senate passes the bill, we believe it will be signed by president biden and will be applied to the state laws to make sure that they do not limit the opportunities for eligible voters to vote. one of the things that has been remarkable to see