They shared their experience defending the u. S. Capitol on that day against the mob of Trump Rioters who stormed the capitol to prevent the certification of Joe Biden as the democratically elected president. On January 6th for the first time i was more afraid to work at the capitol than in my entire deployment to iraq. The rioters called me traitor. A disgrace. And shouted that i, i, an Army Veteran and Police Officer should be executed. The rioters attempted to breach the capitol were Shouting Trump sent us. Pick the right side. We want trump. I heard officers screaming in agony, in pain, just an arm left from me. I didnt know at that time but that was officer hodges, and Heres Today to testify. I too was being crushed by the rioters. I could feel myself losing oxygen, and Recall Thinking to myself this is how im going to die, defending this entrance. I ended up on My Hands and knees, and blind. The medical mask i was wearing at the time to protect myself from coronavirus was pulled up over my eyes so i couldnt see. I braced myself against the impact of their blows and feared the worst. I was effectively defenseless and sustaining injury from the increasing pressure of the mob. Directly in front of me, a man seized the opportunity of my vulnerability, grabbed the front of my Gas Mask and used it to beat my head against the door. He switched to pulling it off my head, the straps stretching against my skull and straining my neck. He never uttered words i recognized but opted instead for guttural screams. I remember him foaming at the mouth. He put his Cell Phone at his mouth so he had both hands free to assault me. I told him to leave the capitol. In response he yelled, no man, this is our house. President trump invited us here. Were here to stop the steal. One woman in a pink Maga Shirt yelled, you hear that guys, this [ bleep ] voted for Joe Biden. And the crowd, perhaps around 20 people, joined in screaming, boo, [ bleep ] No One had ever called me while wearing a uniform of the capitol Police Officer. Another black officer told me he had been confronted by insurrectionists in the capitol who told him, put your gun down and well show you what kind of [ bleep ] you are. I was beaten, tased all while being called a traitor to my country. At some point i was dragged from the line of officers and into the crowd. I heard someone scream. I got one. As i was swarmed by a violent mob, they ripped off my badge. They grabbed and stripped me of my radio. They seized ammunition that was secured to my body. They began to beat me with their fists and with what felt like hard metal objects. At one point i came Face To face with an attacker who repeatedly lunged for me and attempted to remove my firearm. I heard chanting from some in the crowd, get his gun and kill him with his own gun. I was aware enough to recognize i was at risk of being stripped of and killed with my own firearm. I was electrocuted again and again and again with a taser. I feel like i went to hell and back to protect them and the people in this room but too many are now telling me that hell doesnt exist. Or that hell actually wasnt that bad. The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful. Telling the Truth Shouldnt be hard. Fighting on January 6th, that was hard. Showing up january 7th. That was hard. The 8th, the 9th, the 10th, all the way to today, that was hard. When the fence came down, that was hard. We lost a layer of protection that we had, and the fence came down, and still nothing has changed. Everything is different but nothing has changed. Liz cheney, and Adam Kinzinger are being lauded as courageous heroes, and while i agree with that notion, why . Because they told the truth . Why is telling the truth hard . I guess in this america it is. Us four officers, we would do January 6th all over again. We wouldnt stay home because we knew it was going to happen. We would show up. Thats courageous, thats heroic. What i ask from you all is to get to the bottom of what happened, and that includes like, i echo the sentiments of the other officers sitting here, i use an analogy to describe what i want as a hitman. If a hitman is hired and he kills somebody, the hitman goes to jail. But not only does the Hitman Go To Jail, but the person who hired them does. There was an attack carried out on January 6th and a hitman sent them. I want you to get to the bottom of that. The sea of people was punctuated throughout by flags, mostly variations of American Flags and trump flags. There was gadsen flags. It was clear the terrorists perceived themselves as christians. Another read jesus is my savior, trump is my president. Another, jesus is king. One Flag Read dont give up the ship. Another had crossed rifles beneath the skull, Em Blasonned with the pattern of the american flag. I saw The Thin Blue Line flag, a symbol of support for Law Enforcement more than once being carried by the terrorists as they ignored our commands and continued to assault us. After giving cpr to one of the rioters, in an effort to save her life that i finally had a chance to let my own family know that i was alive. After order has been restored at the capitol and in my hours, i arrived at home at nearly 4 00 a. M. On january 7th. I had to push my wife away from me because she wanted to hug me. And i told her no because of all the chemicals that my uniform had on it. Im sorry. I couldnt sleep because the chemical reactivated after i took a shower. And my skin was burning. I finally fell asleep two hours later, completely physically and mentally exhausted, yet by 8 00 a. M. , i was already on my way back to the capitol. And i continued to work for 15 consecutive days, until after the inauguration. I made sure to work despite my injuries because i wanted to continue doing my Job And Help secure the capitol complex. More than six months later, im still trying to recover from my injuries. I remember thinking there was a very good chance i would be torn apart or shot to death with my own weapon. I thought of my four daughters who might lose their dad. I remain grateful that no member of congress had to go through the violent assault that i experienced that day. During the assault, i thought about using my firearm on my attackers. But i knew that if i did, i would be quickly overwhelmed. And that in their minds would provide them with the justification for killing me. So i instead decided to appeal to any humanity they might have. I said as loud as i could manage, ive got kids. As we came closer to the terrorists, our line was divided and we came under attack. A man attempted to rip the baton from My Hands, and we wrestled for control. He yelled at me, youre on the wrong team, Cut Off from our leadership, we huddled up and assessed the threat surrounding us. One man tried and failed to build a rapport with me shouting, are you my brother. Another takes a different tact, shouting, you will die on your knees. It really, the video yesterday, the testimony was nothing short of extraordinary. These were great Police Officers, great cops, fathers, husbands, americans who were defending this country, they were defending our constitution, and they were getting brutalized for it by terrorists that were sent to the capitol, by insurrections by seditionists, again, look at the definitions in our books, our, it Means Nothing to the people standing there that day. It Means Nothing to Donald Trump. I was watching, and john heilemann, i was actually telling myself this is going to cut through. I understand we live in crazy age. I understand theres a personality cult. I understand all of these things, but so many of those people who have not wanted to face the truth about January 6th respect cops, respect Law Enforcement officers and will listen to this and at least they will be afforded a bear minimum of respect, and yet on other networks, you actually had people saying January 6th was much adieu about nothing and that these Police Officers were just actors. Yeah, man, i was joe, i was, you know, i have been watching congressional hearings for 30 plus years. I know you have been watching them that long, and i dont think i have seen anything like it in terms of just ones emotional visceral reaction to. Never seen anything like it, and ive never felt more ive always respected people who come forward and tell the truth. These people, youre in the presence of genuine heroes, and i felt, you know, grateful and humbled by their sacrifice, and kind of in awe in some ways of what they withstood and that theyre still here and able to talk about it without, you know, just literally dissolving into puddles given the trauma of what they went through. And then, you know, you said other networks. I think its really important that its not just that theres this cult of personality. What we do not grasp fully yet, we have only a vague sense of it, there is this parallel universe, this parallel Media Infrastructure, this parallel Media Universe in which Donald Trump is the king, the god head, but it just means that there are tens of millions of americans now, the reason that this is not going to change their minds is its not going to get through to them at all. They are absorbing a totally different version of reality of whats going on in america. The extent that this stuff got covered, as moved as i was by the testimony, i was just enraged to see people on, you know, all of these right wing networks getting on and saying theyre crisis actors, saying these people made this up. Theres Prime Time hosts on other networks, giving out actors for whos the Best Actor in this category, and that category. The most disgusting, appalling, morally depraved, just, i mean, stomach Churning Behavior on people who are not worthy, you know. Not even worthy to coexist on the same planet in some ways with these people, the people who made the sacrifice are sitting in there fully vaccinated, airconditioned studios. Mocking these men. Mocking them. Not diminishing their importance, im talking about openly mocking their sacrifice and their service. Calling them crisis actors, saying they fabricated all of this, apparently, made it all up and others, joe, as you know, some people who used to have some respect in this business, coming on and saying its much adieu about nothing, the same trope that has been trotted out by nutty right wing members of congress. Nothing to see here. This is a day at the park, even in the face of all the Video Evidence and the face of the powerful testimony. No, its not going to breakthrough, im afraid because they are fully in the grip of this delusion and the delusion is supported by this alternative parallel Media Infrastructure that is never going to allow anything close to the truth to pierce the consciousness of the people who are in its thrall. You do wonder about the people who run those other networks. You wonder why they allow antiamerican rhetoric like that to go over the air, why they allow the mocking and the ridiculing of Law Enforcement officers who risk their lives, risk their lives. Were beat within inches of their lives with American Flags, brutalized, all to protect and defend the constitution of thE United states. All to protect and defend a constitutional occurrence from happening. All to protect and defend the peaceful transition from one president to the next. And you watched the testimony yesterday, and i can tell you, any good american, let me say that. I dont say this usually. Im going to say, any good american that respects Law Enforcement, that respects men and women In Blue, any good american would have been moved by what they Saw Yesterday. And if they instead went on and mocked the service of those men who were nearly beaten to death for simply trying to protect their country because so much was on the line on that day, then accountability, i guess, at the end of the day goes to those people and those corporate boards that allow people like that on television. Its a disgrace to america. Its a disgrace to the networks that theyre members of. Its a disgrace to All Of Us that people like that mock the service of the men In Blue who protected us in the middle of a constitutional crisis. Anybody telling you that January 6th wasnt a constitutional crisis, youre listening to anybody mocking the service of these cops, you just know, theyre not good americans. Theyre not good americans. I said it. I said it again, and people that employ them should be ashamed of themselves. Theyre a disgrace. Should leave today. Yesterdays hearing also included some never before seen video from January 6th. And audio from officers on the ground. We are still taking metal, sharpened objects, missiles to include bottles and rocks and hand thrown chemical grade fireworks. Lock them together. Lock them together. Jimmy, get him to the back. Get him to the back. Get him to the back. Lets get some fresh faces up front. Push. Hey. If i give this up, theyre going to have direct access. At least the scaffold we can defend. We got to hold what we have. Wait, wait, you know, actually, it doesnt sound, Elise Jordan, doesnt sound like actors to me. And yet you have News Hosts on other networks saying that theyre just actors who have people who once were respected in washington saying January 6th was much adieu about nothing because at the end of the day, they ended up counting votes anyway. Did that look like acting to you . Its hard to watch the totality of all the coverage, even as closely as we followed the aftermath, and you know, having watched it the day of. And that was not much adieu about nothing. That was not loving from a mob. What the officers described, they described having their badged ripped, having their ammo ripped, being pulled into a mob, and thinking they were going to die, and so pleading to spare them for the sake of their children. They were called horrible racial slurs. The windows were, you know, struck through. This was not the act of a loving mob. And anyone who tries to deny and tries to claim that these were ordinary tourists, what would happen if americans acted this way when they went to visit the vatican . Would that be well received . If americans went to another country and behaved this way, its just bone chilling that the revisionism is happening, and im so grateful for those brave officers who held the line that day, and who came forward yesterday and testified, despite great risk and the Security Threats that they faced for simply telling the truth, but what happened yesterday was the first draft of history. You had those officers telling the truth, giving their factual accounts of what happened, and of how a mob came and put the capitol under siege. And Nancy Pelosi did not cause that to happen, unlike what republicans are trying to tell you. Well, its obviously this is obviously something that were going to be dealing with for some time. Its not going to where well on the republican party. Its not going to wear well on trump supporters. The fact is were dealing with a political cult that is defined largely by Voodoo Science and fascist violence. As we see in theres clips, as we learned more yesterday, it is violence against cops, violence against the constitution, and violence against the country. As Kevin Williamson said, the far right is having their hippie moment. The far right is going as extreme as they can, except theyre using fascist violence, much like the far left used violence in the late 60s, bombings in the late 60s. The things so called conservatives claimed they hated for 40 years, 50 years, thats what theyve become now. And thats what theyre defending. Theyre defending fascist violence. I wonder, people that run the networks, people on the board of the networks, the shareholders of those network, do they support the mocking and the ridiculing of Law Enforcement officers, do they support fascist violence, unamerican violence, violence against cops, violence against the constitution, violence against the country. Do they think thats much adieu about nothing . Because the overwhelming majority of americans think its something. They do think its something, and we actually did hear from some republicans yesterday. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, and congresswoman Liz Cheney, and this is what they said. Look. Almost every member of the republican conference understood in days immediately after January 6th what had actually happened, and many of them said so publicly, and the fact that so many members of our leadership and others, the fact that theyve gone from recognizing what happened on the 6th to protesting in front of the Justice Department on behalf of those who were part of the insurrection is something that I Cant explain. I think its a disgrace. I never expected today to be quite as emotional for me as it has been. Ive talked to a number of you and gotten to know you. I think its important to tell you right now, though, you Guys May, like, individually feel a little broken. You guys all talk about the effects you have to deal with, and you know, you talk about the impact of that day. But you guys won. You guys held. You know, democracies are not defined by our bad days. Were defined by how we come back from bad days. How we take accountability for that. And for all of the overheated rhetoric surrounding this committee, our mission is very simple. Its to find the truth and its to ensure accountability. Good for adam. You know, i heard some people actually read some people for mocking adam tearing up as he spoke to men in uniform. Maybe thats because he actually served in thE United states military as well. Served proudly in thE United states military. And again, john heilemann, as you said, you have people sitting in airconditioned rooms, vaccinated, safe from any dangers that are mocking these men in uniform, these Law Enforcement officers, these cops that were trying to push back against a lawless mob. Again, as Kevin Williamson said, a reflection of what we saw, the violence that we saw from the far left in the 1960s with bombings and kidnappings and other attacks, that supposedly the Conservative Movement was supposed to counter with Order And Respect for institutions and respect for the law, but that certainly hasnt happened, and i just want to key in on something that Liz Cheney said. You dont even you dont have to get clips from what Nancy Pelosi said after January 6th to get to the essence of what this really was. They should play in these hearings what Kevin Mccarthy said on the floor about Donald Trumps responsibility for this insurrection, for these riots. They should play an emotional, want to talk about emotional, an emotional Lindsey Graham on the Senate Floor saying hes had enough. Hes off that train, hes off the trump train, hes had enough, and Donald Trump has greatly impacted his legacy, and other republicans who were scared for their lives on that day. And scared for the lives of people around them who, in the weeks that followed, began being more scared about their political careers than they were about the future of this country. Its really disgusting. Theres just no other word for it. Its disgusting and, you know, the majority of americans, i think, believe like i do that they should be ashamed of themselves, theyre disgusting and the people that attacked Cops Yesterday were disgusting. Yeah, its genuinely grotesque joe, and ill say, you know, if you think about the reaction to these guys yesterday, you know, you have these coddled, swaddled, pampered hypocritical gas bags in their airconditioned studios essentially spitting in the face of these officers. I mean, metaphorically, having them describe their sacrifice of basically metaphorically spitting on them now. Talk about your hippie moment, whatever the right analogy is to the late 60s. Thats what those guys are doing. I think its almost maybe more disgusting in some ways, youve got yesterday, Mitch Mcconnell, Kevin Mccarthy asked yesterday did you guys see any of the testimony, oh, no, we didnt watch the testimony. We didnt watch the testimony. You know, and these officers were doing all the things you described, joe, mika, they were protecting the constitution, the peaceful transfer of power, all of that, but much more specifically, they were protecting the lives of Kevin Mccarthy, and Mitch Mcconnell. They were these guys went through, suffered all of the things they suffered in order to try and protect the lives of those republican members, and the democratic members and everybody else and all the principles and the processes but specifically, they put their lives on the line for Kevin Mccarthy, and Mitch Mcconnell, and they go on Television Yesterday, and basically the same metaphor, theyre basically spitting on the men who laid their lives down to save the lives of Kevin Mccarthy and Mitch Mcconnell. They go on television saying we couldnt be bothered to listen to these guys give their testimony for history where what they are going to testify to is how much pain they endured to try to save those republican members lives. We couldnt be bothered to watch them. I think its essentially the same thing as the Cable Hosts are doing. Theyre looking at these guys and spitting in their faces. Its beyond disgusting, its moral depravity of the highest order. You know, between Mitch Mcconnell and Kevin Mccarthy, and these Cable Hosts, what are we saying to the world about who they are, and behaving that way. They cant agree on the truth. Lets bring in white House Correspondent for Politico And Coauthor of the playbook, eugene daniels. Politico has new polling out today that shows the majority of americans support a congressional investigation into the Capitol Riot. 58 say they are in favor of a probe. 29 say they are against one, but that number is split along Party Lines with 52 of republicans opposing an investigation that dig deeper into the context of why wouldnt they want that day to be looked at . Well, i mean, its because of everything that has already been said, right. We know that the republican party is still, still to this day, yesterday, as these officers were talking about, you know, we have all been watching this, we have been watching this for 30 minutes of this video, this testimony today, you know, drilled down into it more so than even a lot of people Saw Yesterday, and watching that officer being called the N Word by an angry white mob as hes protecting the capitol, and hearing how they were chanting to kill Officer Fanone with his own guy. It is because of the things that were repeated that day, and are still being repeated in the republican party, yesterday, as these men stepped before congress and talked, that is why what happened happened, right, because of the things that were said for months and months, the lies spread about that election, and what were seeing, and we have seen this in polling over and over and over again is that the republican party is in Lock Step with Donald Trump on this. Right . They are in Lock Step, so theres almost no ability to have an internal conversation with their family, the republican party, and the voters and the leadership, and the members of congress to say what happened was terrible, and they said that, right, weve heard them say, you know, this is bad, especially on January 6th and 7th And 8th and the days immediately after, but the switch, the whiplash that weve all gotten as they have revised the history and whitewashed the history, and as we continue to watch these officers be beaten with American Flags, what an image there, right, beaten with American Flags, eyes gouged out, threatened and hit and how close when these officers are talking, were hearing this audio, how close it came to being really bad, when theyre saying, like, if we done hold this line, thats it, and those, the republican party, im not sure how theyre going to have this conversation because they dont agree on the facts, the actual facts of what happened that day. You know, its interesting, eugene, Mitch Mcconnell is an interesting case because when he was asked about watching, he said very clearly he thought what happened was disgusting. He said it in january. He said it in february. He said it again yesterday, of course, so he upset Joe Manchin a great deal when Mitch Mcconnell stood in the way of a January 6th bipartisan effort. You also, though, look at those numbers down below that a little over one out of three republicans do support January The 6th investigation, and i just wonder if there are enough republicans out there who do want to know the truth. That they put wind in the sales of some republicans like Liz Cheney, and Adam Kinzinger who want to get to the bottom of this. I think thats true, right, 34 is not nothing, right, like that is a swath of the american people, and a swath of the republican party, and the issue is there arent a lot of those people in congress. There arent a lot of those people with actual power. You look at Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, and they have support out there, obviously from democrats, despite the fact that Liz Cheney is one of the most conservative members of congress and continues to be that to this day, but also from other republicans, and i think what has really been good for democrats and republicans and everybody that have been leading this investigation as we Saw Yesterday is that they started with these Police Officers, right, they wanted to make sure to put them front and center, and so what that does is tries to take some of the politics out of it. Tries to take some of the partisanship out of what we have been talking about. I think that was a good move for Nancy Pelosi and for the members that are on this committee, and one thing on, you know, these republicans, how are they going to stand up, are they going to push their party to have an actual conversation, and to be honest, because right now, its intellectually dishonest to go from January 6th and 7th and talk about how terrible these people were to now calling them prisoners and talking about how theyre victims. Were going to come back to this. Were going to turn now briefly to u. S. Gymnastics star Simone Biles who shocked most People Yesterday when she pulled out of the team gymnastics finals, saying the emotional toll of the tokyo games, not a physical injury, prompted her withdrawal. I just felt like it would be a little bit better to take a backseat, work on my mindfulness, and i knew that the girls would do an absolutely great job. I say put Mental Health first, because if you done, youre not going to enjoy your sport, and youre not going to succeed as much as you want to, so its okay sometimes to sit out the big competitions to Focus On yourself. And the four time olympic Gold Medalist no longer plans to defend her title in tomorrows final individual all around competition. Usa gymnastics announced early this morning, biles has withdrawn from the event in order to Focus On her Mental Health and that she will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether or not to participate in next weeks individual event finals. Joining us now from tokyo, Nbc News senior international Correspondent Tom llamas, what can you tell us about the potential of her competing in the individuals . Yeah, look, mika, thats the Big Question right now, not only for fans of Simone Biles, but people All Over The World, what happened in the ariake gymnastics center, what happened on the vault, the first vault of the day has rocked the Gymnastics World and rocked Team Usa. They said they noticed something strange about a week ago, but they were still in shock with what they heard and Saw Yesterday, they did not expect that. Simone was up front and told them, listen, i am not all there mentally. I dont want to be the reason you dont medal, and those three came together, along with Suni Lee and they won a Silver Medal against russia. She came out and cheered them on. Will she come back. Its unclear. She needs time. Shes pulling out of the all around, which she won gold in. I want to remind you guys, four years ago in rio, now is she going to compete tuesday through sunday of next week in the individual events she competed for. And look, if she doesnt compete, its her life, shes done so much. Shes still considered the greatest gymnast of all time. But if she does compete, it will be one of the biggest Comeback Stories we have ever seen in olympic history, and even saying this, i feel uncomfortable saying this because it shows the pressure that shes under and she mentioned this, shes the face of the olympics. And thats true, shes the face of the tokyo games. This is not like rio where we had michael phelps, and katie ledecky, we have Caeleb Dressel here in swimming but its really about Simone Biles, you know, the goat, the greatest of all time. Everything was riding on her, and when the qualifying rounds didnt go as planned, it just really weighed on her, and she has been very up front about her, to her credit, a lot of people dont do. For athletes All Over The World and in the u. S. Struggling, this is a conversation thats expanded now. Guys. If you can, give us a sense of some of the other notable events happening in tokyo. I mean, this is a big setback with Simone Biles, but there are other games going on. There are still great stories coming out of this. The Swim Team is also relying on each other. They have really just struck gold in so many different events and helped the Medal Count for Team Usa. Katie ledecky, swimming the first ever 1,500. She won gold. A great race, and a great olympian, a real champion who has actually spoken out about Simone Biles, she hopes simone knows the rest of Team Usa is completely behind her. In the relays, 4 by 100, Team Usa won. But today in the 4 by 200. Caeleb dressel was not on that team. Theres questions surrounding that. They did not win. They did not medal, but the best story so far in my opinion, at least one of the best stories has been Lydia Jacoby from alaska. This story is incredible. 17 years old. Theres only one 50 Meter Pool to train in in all of alaska. She comes out of nowhere, all eyes were on king, the other american. She wins that race. I was feet from the pool. Her face said it all. She was in shock. She told me she had no idea. She saw there wasnt a whole lot of splashing. She knew she was in a good spot. The best video was people celebrating in her hometown, and her parents celebrating in florida. Coming out of the segment, you were talking about it, everything going on in the u. S. , and All Over The World, people look at the olympics for a break, and to look up and to be inspired and hopefully some of these stories are giving people, you know, some relief all across the world, guys. Nbcs Tom Llamas in tokyo, thank you, and then the other big headline this morning. The Cdc Yesterday issued new Mask Guidelines, now recommending fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors in low vaccination areas. Nbcs Gabe Gutierrez has the latest. Reporter another about face. The cdc once again recommending indoor mask wearing, even among vaccinated people in areas with high transmission rates, saying that while vaccinated people rarely get covid, data shows they do get infected with the Delta Variant, they could be carrying higher levels of the virus than previously thought, increasing the risk of infecting others. The guidance underscores how serious the situation is for unvaccinated people and for vaccinated people as well. Reporter President Biden weighing in on mandating vaccines for all federal employees. Its under consideration right now, but if youre not vaccinated youre not nearly as smart as i thought you were. Reporter the Cdc Guidance is a sharp turn from two month ago when Vaccinated Americans were told they no longer needed to mask up in doors. In washington, Vice President harris wearing a mask indoors because of rising cases there. 2 3 of u. S. Counties have high or substantial covid transmission, including most of georgia where some are skeptical of how effective this Mask Guidance will be. I dont like being restricted. I like to breathe air. Reporter multiple states have passed laws restricting local governments from imposing mask orders. Many of those states have high transmission rates. In effect, the new guidance will be more of a recommendation than a mandate. In another swift reversal, the cdc is now advising everyone in k through 12 schools to wear masks indoors, even teenagers who are vaccinated. To hear that not only validates but reassures us we have been executing decisions in the right direction. Reporter her district will adopt an indoor mask mandate. What do you tell parents the government is not going to tell me what to do with our kids. We heard those voices, we recognize and honor that. We have a responsibility to be responsible for all students. A household has a responsibility for those within it. Reporter the nations three biggest districts, new york, Los Angeles and chicago will require masks. In houston, and miamidade county, theyre optional. And andrea is frustrated she has decided to Home School her 11yearold daughter. Its confusing for parents, one School District is going this way, but a School District a few miles up the highway is different. Reporter the Cdc Director says she realizes the Mask Guidance is unwelcome news, that it weighs heavily on her but it is not a decision officials took lightly. Joining us now the director of vaccine, and the attending physician in the division of infectious diseases at Childrens Hospital of philadelphia, dr. Paul offett. I would like to start with, can you explain mask wearing guidance and the potential for Vaccine Mandates . I guess the Big Question is what is the danger of the Delta Variant continuing to go through the country. Why must we prevent it . Right. Well, Delta Variant is far more contagious tan the first two variants that came into the country. The d 614 g, swept through europe, asian, swept through thE United states. Killed 500,000 people here. The second variant, the alpha variant, shed ten times more virus than the first variant. With the Delta Variant, you shed A Thousand times more virus, its highly contagious, and seeps out in Unvaccinated Population. Whats changed, what surprised us all was a few months ago we were vaccinating 3 to 3 1 2 Million people a day. And the assumption was we would continue to do that. People would see the vaccine for what it was, a ticket out of the pandemic, and instead we fell off a cliff. We have fewer than 50 of the population vaccinated which is far less than we need to stop the spread. The Delta Variant, and a disappointing uptake of the vaccine has put us in this position. Doctor, let me tell you what a former Speech Writer for george w. Bush has written. Vaccinated americans are more likely to die from a Lightning Strike than covid, dont bring back restrictions. It says this in part, the data is clear, according to the cdc, as of july 19th, a Grand Today of 4,072 Vaccinated Americans have been hospitalized with symptomatic Breakthrough Infections out of more than 161 Million who have been fully vaccinated. That is a Breakthrough Hospitalization Rate of less than 0. 003 . Better still, those hospitalized, only 849 have died of covid19, that means the Death Rate from those Breakthrough Infections is 0. 0005 . Your chances of dying from a Lightning Strike about the same,. 0007 . And your chance of dying from seasonal flu is 0. 1 . If youre vaccinated you have a much greater chance of dying from a hornet, wasp, bee sting, drowning, sunstroke or choking on food than you do of dying from covid19. Mr. Theeson goes on to say that those who die even after being licensure, Emergency Use Authorization means you can distribute an investigational drug. This is far from an investigational product. We have a Safety And Efficacy profile of 300 Million doses. Thats more than most already licensed products that are out there. Its more psychological than anything else. Doctor, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it. In a few minutes, dr. Anthony fauci will be our guest. Elise, im just curious what your thoughts are, i want to go around the panel and obviously none of us are doctors or scientists, im just curious, though, your thoughts about the Mask Mandates. I personally, i like what bidens doing, talking about requiring Vaccine Mandates if you work for the federal government, i loved what i read this morning, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Page about the so called libertarians that dont Want Business Owners to have the freedom to require. The Washington Post is now, requiring vaccinations as a part of their employment. If they want to work for the Washington Post, get vaccinated, and why Everybody Company in America Cant say that is beyond me. But anyway, what are your thoughts about the new Mask Guidelines . What are your thought about where the governments going on vaccines and masking . You know, just in terms of a Vaccine Mandate, wouldnt you want everyone on your Health Insurance Plan to have a vaccine so that your Health Plan would not be raised disproportionately by people who chose not to get the vaccine and raise your Health Care costs . I dont like it when the government has to require things. I would prefer that people would make the choice, but much like we require vaccinations for children to be able to go to school, i think that this Coronavirus Vaccine has been raised to that level of urgency where we simply are going to have to take more active steps from the government. I would prefer the private sector, they take the lead, i think what the Washington Post did was great. Its a condition of employment, you have the option to work somewhere and they have the option to tell you that you need to protect yourself and protect other employees. So it would be great from the private sector could really take the lead, but the situation seems like its spiraling so quickly out of control that you see where the va is now employees there are going to be required to vaccinate, and you wonder how quickly a federal government Vaccine Mandate is going to come from the administration. And john heilemann, its just bizarre as elise said. You know, these conservatives and libertarians have always said why am i paying for people who live unhealthy lives. Why am i paying more for my insurance for people who smoke, eat badly, who dont exercise. Why am i paying Medicare And Medicaid premiums, why are they going higher for people who live unhealthy lives, its not fair, and yet, here we have, again, a situation where you can get a vaccine and you can actually see Health Care costs drop across this country. And yet, you have governors like Ron Desantis telling cruise lines they dont have a right to require vaccines. Before you get on a cruise ship. And you have other so called libertarians, so called conservatives saying businesses dont have a right to have a Vaccine Requirement to go in when of course as we have said repeatedly here, All Of Us had to have five or six vaccines before we could get a public education. So this sort of bizarre libertarianism is actually breaking in favor of big government mandates, telling small businesses what they can and cant do, it really is twisted and bizarre. Look, Nobody Objects to the notion that you have to some form of government i. D. To get on an airplane. Thats another mandate. In order to be able to make sure we know whos getting on airplanes, and keep hijackers and other terrorists on airplanes, if you dont have a government issued i. D. , you cant get on an airplane. Theres no Principle Difference between those two things. Vaccine passports, the market has to work here. And quickly, what were seeing right now is our future if we dont break the back of this virus, if we dont get Vaccine Rates up higher, were going to be pommelled over and over again by new variants. We must break the back of this thing somehow, or we have like a very long road of held ahead of us, for All Of Us, vaccinated and unvaccinated. And its so predictable, and seeing people on Twitter Or Cable news shows yesterday going, oh, the cdc, why cant they make up their minds. The cdc, theyre changing again. Well, theyre changing again because the Delta Variant is flying across the country, because these people were against vaccines, and applauding the fact that we were at 70 instead of 90 for the Vaccine Rates. If we were at 90 , we wouldnt be having this discussion right now. Eugene, im curious, any idea how many members of congress dont have the vaccine yet . Do the majority i think i heard the majority of senators had the vaccine, but a good number of House Members still arent vaccinated. Do you have any info on that . We know that there have been some members who have talked about getting vaccinated recently. Steve scalise popped up and said he had just gotten vaccinated, something that we expected more of them to do. I think that, you know, something thats really important to remember as were talking about all of these changing things and members of congress talking about they dont trust the Cdc Or Fda or whomever to make the decisions. Science changes, like john just said, the reason i have this mask sitting with me is because the Delta Variant is running rampant still in d. C. , and so those are things that are still happening around this country all over the place, and unless people actually start following these guidelines, recommendations, obviously it doesnt seem i might be hard pressed to see the biden Administration Mandate federally vaccinations. They never mandated a federal mask mandate. If we dont do it, were going to go back and forth. As science evolves over time due to the facts, and people didnt get vaccinated which is why the Delta Variant is running rampant in this country. So we have to go back to masks. As we said, dr. Anthony fauci will be our guest in just a few minutes. Well talk about this. Well ask him about the biden administrations reported plan to announce a federal Vaccine Mandate. Also still ahead, the chairman of the January 6th select committee, Congressman Bennie Thompson joins the conversation on the heels of yesterdays emotional hearing, and despite all the powerful testimony we heard yesterday, one republican lawmaker is defending comments he made comparing the January 6th riot to quote a normal Tourist Visit. The one who was pushing against, yeah, the doors while officers had to draw their guns to stop people from coming in. Scared for his life. To kill him and kill other members of congress. A trump backed candidate loses a special election in texas. What does that say about the former president s grip on the gop. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. School Bell Rings Day one. Ponytail game, tight. Color pencil game, sharp. Folders, alphabetically ordered by subject. The squad is back and were about to slay fifth grade. Spend less, smile more, when you shop backtoschool at amazon. Welcome back to morning joe, it is the top of the hour. It was an emotional day of testimony as four officers who responded to the January 6th Capitol Attack recall the violence they witnessed and endured that day. Were going to speak with the chairman of the select committee in just a moment. But first. Serious discussions about Vaccination Requirements for employees have been underway at the White House since the weekend. According to Washington Post, president Joe Biden is expected to announce tomorrow that all federal employees will be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The military is not expected to be included in the new policy for now. Heres how President Biden responded to reporters yesterday. Will you require all federal employees to get vaccinated . Its under consideration, but if youre not vaccinated, youre not nearly as smart as i thought you were. Joining us now chief medical adviser to the president , dr. Anthony fauci. And dr. Fauci can you explain why we are discusses Vaccine Mandates, and why were looking at a mandate all over again. There are some who say the cdc doesnt know what they are doing, what is it going to be today . Can you explain the reasoning for the change in policy. If the policy youre talking about is the masking in the sense of telling vaccinated people that even though two months ago, 60 days ago, the cdc came out with a recommendation that individuals who vaccinated do not need to wear masks indoors or outdoors, something has changed. And what has changed is the virus, the Cdc Hasnt changed or flipflopped at all. Whats happened is when the earlier recommendation was made, we were dealing predominantly with the alpha variant, and the alpha variant, when you look at individuals who are vaccinated, that the level of virus in the nasopharanx, the level was low, indicating that it was extremely unlikely that a vaccinated person that happened to get infected and that happens because the vaccine is certainly not 100 effective that that would be very unlikely that that would transmit. However, now, we are dealing with the Delta Variant, which is really quite a lot more transmissible than the alpha variant, Number One. Number two, the data are clear, the most recent data that when a person gets infected who has been vaccinated, namely a Breakthrough Infection and they get infected with the Delta Variant, that the level of virus in their nasal, those individuals can and have transmitted the virus to uninfected individuals and, for that reason, the recommendations and the guidelines have been changed to say that if you are vaccinated, even though you are vaccinated when you are in an indoor public setting in an area of the country with a high degree of viral dynamics, namely the red and orange sections on the cdc chart, then you need to wear a mask, even though you are vaccinated. Dr. Fauci, people in areas with low Vaccination Rates, the guidelines are they should wear a mask when they are inside. Is that more to protect other people, more to protect other people from the virus being transmitted to somebody whos already vaccinated than taking it home and possibly giving it to a child that has not been vaccinated. Of course the numbers are very low for people who get the vaccinate who end up in the hospital or end up dying of covid. So is it mainly to stop the spread to other people . Yeah, its both, joe, but its mainly to really protect the people who are vulnerable that you might inadvertently, and innocently come into contact with. I mean, you dont want anyone to get infected. If youre not infected, youre not going to transmit it to someone else. Point Number One to protect you from getting infected, the fact that youre vaccinated, as we know, it is extremely unlikely that youre going to get a hospitalization or die. Because people who are fully vaccinated when they get a Breakthrough Infection, its extremely unusual that they will get a serious outcome. However, if you have the virus in nascar nasopharynx, and you go home and have in your home, people who are vulnerable, immuno suppression, elderly frail people whose immune response may not be robust and unvaccinated children, you dont want to inadvertently bring it back to your home or another place where you could transmit it to someone else. Thats the reason for the mask wearing mandate. And just for the skeptics, because you hear a lot of it from friends and family members, well, the Kids Cant get this. I have been hearing this for quite some time. We ran a package a few days ago, dr. Dave campbell went down and interviewed doctors and went down to the pentagon, and one of the doctors said that a higher number of children were coming in to their Emergency Rooms because with the Delta Variant, its more likely that children get the Delta Variant than the alpha variant. I just want to get your latest on that because i dont want people operating off of old assumptions that kids are almost always immune from this because of course it seems we hear a tragic story every day of a young, 4, 5, 6yearold whos died from covid. Yeah, first of all, it is true that in general the statistics that i have said that when a child, or, yes, a child gets infected that it is less likely that that person will have a serious outcome compared to an elderly person. That still holds true. However, as you just said correctly, joe, when you have a lot of dynamics of infection, children are going to get infected. Theres no doubt about that, and when children get infected, some of them, even though there arent a lot of them. Some of them are going to get a serious outcome, and some of them are going to die. We have about 400 deaths with children right now of covid19. We shouldnt make the false assumption that its okay for kids to get infected because statistically they dont generally do as poorly as individuals who are elderly, who have underlying conditions. That is not the case. We need to protect the children even though its less likely for them to get a serious outcome. Dr. Fauci, a few weeks ago, speaker At Cpac got applauded for the government keeping Vaccination Rates under 90 . People applauding that it was only the high 60s, which of course we thought was grotesque at the time, its grotesque now. Im just curious, if Joe Biden has the courage, im saying that, not you, if he has the courage to push forward with Vaccine Mandates like we do for every child that enters public schools, private schools across america, and we get that number up to 85, 90 , what type of difference does that make going into the fall . What difference does that make about whether future Mask Mandates will be required . Well, joe, if we can get 80, 85 of the population vaccinated, that is going to have a profound, beneficial effect in the sense of really nailing down this outbreak because if you get that amount of people vaccinated together with the people that have already been infected, youre going to really restrict the ability of that virus to spread around. If we go there, all of these things that were talking about people dont like masks, they dont like restrictions. The easiest way to put that behind you is to get vaccinated. It is a very easy, clearcut, documented solution to the problem, so thats the reason why were trying to do everything we can to get as many people vaccinated as we possibly can. There are 100 Million people in this country who are eligible to be vaccinated who have not been vaccinated yet. Weve got to get to those people and make sure that one way or another we get them vaccinated. The most preferable way, joe, would be to try and get to them through trusted messengers, people that they trust, and explain to them why its so important for their own health, that of their family, and for the entire community to get vaccinated. We could end the outbreak in the country, we have the tools to end it. We just need to utilize those tools. I just want to make sure i understand the science of this, and if we had gotten to 90, 95 vaccinated over the past few months, would we be dealing with the Delta Variant as we are right now, and what does a fourth wave mean for the impact on World Health when we have a fourth wave here in the u. S. . Well, the Delta Variant is here, so if we got 85, 90 of the people vaccinated, it isnt that we wouldnt be dealing with the Delta Variant, its that the Delta Variant would have very few places to go, and when the virus doesnt have a lot of leeway to find vulnerable targets, it tends to disappear. We would deal with the Delta Variant but we would make it ultimately disappear if you had those many people. And again, youre talking about a different wave. Right now, fortunately for us, we have enough people vaccinated that youre not going to see a wave or a surge of infections among the vaccinated. It will be a surge of infections among the unvaccinated. It will be an outbreak among the unvaccinated. The part about it that people dont fully appreciate is that as long as you get a lot of circulation of virus around among unvaccinated people, you give the virus a chance to mutate even more so that you may get a variant thats worse than the Delta Variant, that even the vaccinated people may not be able to handle. Thats the reason why people not getting vaccinated, not only is a bad thing for them. It could actually interfere in a negative way with the rest of the country by generating variants that would lieu the vaccine. Thats the thing were concerned about. Thats a big concern. Dr. Anthony fauci, thank you very much for being with us today. And now to yesterdays testimony on Capitol Hill from four Police Officers who appeared before lawmakers to describe what they witnessed and what they went through during January 6th insurrection. Nbc news Capitol Hill Correspondent Garrett Haake was at the hearing, and has more. Reporter the January 6th attack on the capitol, recounted in horrifying detail by the Police Officers who fought on the front lines. I could feel myself losing oxygen, and Recall Thinking to myself, this is how im going to die. I was electrocuted again and again and again with a taser. Reporter the officers testifying in the first hearing of a special committee investigating the insurrection, describing stunning attacks, both physical and verbal. One woman in a pink Maga Shirt yelled, you hear that, this. [ bleep ] voted for Joe Biden. No one ever called me [ bleep ] in the uniform of a capitol Police Officer. Reporter gop leaders blasting the panel as a partisan sham. Clearly this is politically designed by the democrats to stop republicans from winning back the majority in the midterm election. Reporter pelosi instead selecting two republican critics of President Trump, including Liz Cheney who fact checked the false claim that rioters greeting police with hugs and kisses. You hear former President Trump say quote it was a loving crowd. There was a lot of love in the crowd. How does that make you feel . Its upsetting. Im still recovering from those hugs and kisses that day. Reporter Mfd Officer Michael fanone furious at some republicans attempts to minimize what happened. The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful. Reporter joining us is democratic chairman of the select committee investigating the January 6th insurrection, Congressman Bennie Thompson of mississippi. And former u. S. Senator, an msnbc political analyst, claire mccaskill, and msnbc contributor, mike barnicle, Elise Jordan is with us as well. Congressman thompson, i was going to start where we ended yesterday. After what was one of the most riveting and emotional hearings i have ever seen in my life, but we still have republicans, still minimizing what happened, and i have to ask you, what you make of the Cable Hosts who are laughing, saying that this was a performance of those four officers. Well, you know, stupidity has no reach. It can go anywhere. Its unfortunate that people would interpret the brave people who defended the capitol as somehow disingenuous in their presentations. The committee to be honest with you, wanted to give the Focus On the men and women who actually helped save this democracy. They defended the peaceful transfer of power. Had it not been for them, i shutter to think what the outcome would have been. Not only did we have access to the ballot, they defended the men and women as well as members of congress who worked in that institution, they did a humans job, and as part of the initial hearing we wanted to Focus On those heroes, thank them for the great job they did. The video You Saw was not manufactured video. It was accurate, on the Scene Video from January 6th. Some of it, as you know, most people had not seen before. So it was our way of saying thank you for this. Also our way of establishing why this committee is so so important to this democracy. Mr. Chairman, what was the most important take away from yesterdays hearings . Well, we talked to the four Law Enforcement officers and we asked them, you know, what do you expect from this hearing . What do you want us to do . And almost to the individual, they said get to the bottom of what happened, make sure it doesnt happen again so that all of the things we did on that day in defending this capitol would not be in vain. The charge of our committee, joe, is to follow the facts, look at the circumstances behind what occurred, and go wherever it leads us. And as you know from our panel of select committee members, courage is among All Of Us, well go forward and well follow the facts. Well take our time. Well be deliberate. Well have a meeting before we break for the August Recess. But in reality, i think you know well be back during that recess doing our work because we have to get to the bottom of it. Our democracy depends on it. Mr. Chairman a few things were said yesterday that i think most americans would agree with that actually love this country and want to know what happened on January 6th. You had Police Officers saying asking you all to get to the bottom of what politicians, what elected leaders in congress and in the White House, what they had to do with this, what they were doing, when they were doing. I also know Liz Cheney talked about wanting to have that tiktok, wanting to know what Donald Trump was doing, what was happening inside the White House, why there was a delay in sending National Guard troops up to the hill. Do you have the power . Have you been given the authority that you need to subpoena the records, subpoena the witnesses, get the information so we actually have transparency, so we can have light shown on what happened on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the capitol . Absolutely, we have. Weve had conversations with the White House about limiting, if not eliminating Executive Privilege in terms of witnesses and information. We want to talk with the Attorney General to make sure that he comes forth with all the necessary information as well as the department of defense. Nothing is off limits in this investigation. We are absolutely committed to getting to the bottom of what happened. As you know, i have subpoena power. I have no reluctant whatsoever in issues subpoenas for information, Telephone Logs to the White House, especially during the times of January 6th. Members of congress have already admitted that they talked to the White House while it was going on. Now many of them are trying to walk back the conversation they had. But you know, theres record and in this institution, in a democracy, those records are important. We plan to pursue it. They plan to cover it up. It will be interesting to see how this breaks down. Chairman bennie thompson, thank you so much for being with us. We greatly appreciate it, and of course we greatly appreciate your service to america, and trying to get to the bottom of what happened on January 6th. Claire mccaskill, what was your take away from yesterday . What questions do you want answered primarily . Well, i think the Focus On who funded some of this, whered the money come from, were all of these people there on their own dime or was there any effort from any groups to coordinate with the White House to build this into the riotous Angry Mob that it took. I think Liz Cheney is going to be masterful, get that tictoc so american understands that Donald Trump was enjoying this. He liked it. He thought it was terrific. These people were breaking down doors in the capitol. He could have, at that moment, he saw every bit of it on television. He was sitting in his little dining room, thats right off the Oval Office, watching a bank of television, and people were coming in and out begging him to take actionio what this committee needs to figure out is how are they going to s enforce the subpoenas in a timely asmanner. One of the problems we have is we should have a rocket docket, an accelerated docket for any congressional a subpoena that i challenged, and you know that meadows and Jordan And Mccarthy are going to challenge these subpoenas and try to delay their testimony until after the midterms, frankly. So i hope that they are trying to strategize how they can get these subpoenas enforced without waiting two or three years. Thats how long it normally takes. Yeah, and mike barnicle, we need to know obviously well before then, get it what happened at the White House, what happened inside the capitol grounds. We have heard so many stories, so many selfinterested people inside the trump White House telling one Reporter Right after another, that they were running in t trying to talk reason into Donald Trump. We have heard republican senators saying that Donald Trump was standing in front of the Tvas Set Cheering and was giddy at what was going on on that day, and he couldnt understand why other people werent giddy at the sight of Police Officers being brutalized by americang flags. So much of that, though, right now, has just been leaked from trump insiders to book authors. We need to know all of that and more, but one thing we do know is thate those Police Officers that were there yesterday, and the other Police Officers that fought to protect and defending constitution of thE United states are thede real heroes he. You know, joe, watching that yesterday, i was surprised at the blanket of sadness that enveloped me. I think im older than everybody else on the panel here right now this morning. And all i could think of is when i first got to washington with no job, no hopes of a job, it was the middle of the 1960s. My first job was as an Elevator Operator in the Cannon House Office building. Okay. And i think the majority of members of congress and the senate who i would encounter on that elevator were veterans of World War ii or korea, and all i could think of yesterday in watching that unfold again and again, what happened on January 6thn , is the sadness involved, the sadness that american citizens were attacking the citadel of our democracy. The sadness that they were led and urged by a former president of thE United states who is still urging them to violate the constitution of thE United states. The sadness that seemingly at root of what we Saw Yesterday so much of it was based on race, on racism, on racial hatred. The sadness of where it took place in the congress of thE United states where so much legislation has been passed, aimed at helping those who need help the most, and ultimately the sadness that those who stand for the laws those who stand for order under the law, almost lost their lives. I just, i was overwhelmed by how sad i felt, clearly. It was incredibly sad hearing and the emotion hung heavy over the room, and what You Saw were these people who endured bludgeoning and racial hatred, and yet they still love their country so much. The concept of them being mocked is so painful right now. Congressman Andrew Cline of georgia who back if may compared the Capitol Insurrection to a normalin Tourist Visit yesterda stood by those comments. Clyde, seen in this photo, barricading himself behind the Househi Chamber doors on Januar 6th was given a chance last night to clarify his comments after all that emotional testimony earlier in the day from those officers who responded to the attack to save his life and many others. Here was his exchange with congressman Jimmy Raskin of maryland. They were asked a question by several of our colleagues, including his Liz Cheney about statements that you made saying that the January 6th violent insurrection against congress was akin to a normal Tourist Visit, and those officers said they werent tourists, they were terrorists. Do you stand by your statement that they were tourists . I would like you to quote my exact statement. Not your interpretation of my statement. Okay. Watching the Tv Footage of those who entered the capitol and walked through the halls show people in an orderly fashion staying between the ropes, taking videosth and pictures, y know, if you didnt know the Tv Footage was a video from January 6th, you would actually think it was a normal Tourist Visit. Those are your words. And i stand by that exact statement as i said it. Okay. D do you agree or disagree with the officers who spent four or five hours battling that medieval mob that had Baseball Bats and lead pipes and so on, do you stand by the statement that the people that they were fighting were tourists or would you agree with them that they were terrorists . That statement did not say thatem those people were touris. Okay. Read the statement. Im asking you now, youve got the opportunity to tell america right now, mr. Clyde. M can we just lower or voice here. Im sorry. You got the opportunity to clarify for the whole O Country right now, for these officers. I urge you to watch it on tv. I urge you to watch it in your office, officer hodges, Officer Fanone who experienced traumatic brain injury, who had a Heart Attack after he was tased by some of the tourists or terrorists, officer dunn, officer hodges, do you think that what they experienced was an attack by tourists or terroristsor or violent insurrectionists. If you will read the first part of my statement. You are not interested in any statement. I have read your statement once. The whole country and lots of people online believed your statement that it was a normal Tourist Visit. That is not my statement. As you said as you quoted and then you just misquoted. Clarify it right now for america. The people who attacked Officer O are there no rules . Reclaim my time. Mr. Raskins time. I spent several Hours Today with millions of americans watchingme sworn Police Officer testify about their battle to defend our lives. The members of the house and the senators. And they took issue, not with lets put your statement aside because you think that you have been misinterpreted by people, but theyre taking issue with an Internet Meme that the people here were just tourists, that it was a normal day, and they were saying they werent tourists, they were terrorists. How do you react to that . Well, im not responsible for an Internet Meme, okay. We are here to discuss this amendment, mr. Raskin. Okay. So you dont want to answer the question. I appreciate that. I wouldnt want to answer it if i said what you said. We are here to discuss this amendment, and you are obviously not interested inu that. You want to makete this a Janua 6th Hearing and its not. Claire mccaskill, your thoughts . It is stark how when someone is cornered with reality in trumpland, how willing they are to embarrass themselves. It is i dont get it. I really i cannot explain it. You know, all that man had to do was try to give some credence to those four Police Officers. I mean, this is the party of protecting the police and the blue line. What happened to this . Not anymore. By the way, theres another an blican that offered amendment to defund the Capitol Policeun right now. Its really unbelievable. Yeah, no, theyre not the republicans certainly in the house are not about defending the cops. Not even the cops that defend them. Not even the cops that put their own lives at risk, and sad, pathetic display by a congressman who really answered the question, elise, without answering the question, and only the dumbest of people online could have taken anything from that exchange other than the fact that he was cornered, he tried to weasel his way out of the corner, and Hehi Couldnt D it. But also how sad and how disgusting that he is part of a movement that will not allow him to say, yes, that mob, those insurrectionists, those terrorists, they brutalized those Police Officers and we support and we defend those Police Officers. He couldnt say it. He couldnt Say Anything about the rioters, negative. He couldnt Say Anything positive about the place. So he kept just sort of running around in circles, chasing his own tail. Joe, you just see how the narrative of Revisionist History has completely engulfed these elected republicans and theyre just held captured to their political ambitions. I thought a lot about something ilo read about then general Dwit Eisenhower when he finally made it to tour the Concentration Camps in t germany, and to see E Horrors of what happened, and how his first initial response was we have to get journalists here, we have to get photographers here. H one day someones will deny thi horror, and we must preserve the history of what happened. And its just so important, all of the film from that day, the audio, and the testimony, to recant this Revisionist Garbage that trieson to tell us that, y know, what we can see with our own eyes isnt true. We have an insurrection, an attack on the capitol that day, and thats o all there is to it. And of course that member of congress knew that what he had said had set the internet on Fire And Conspiracy theorists all raced to his words, his lies. And yet yesterday he had the chance to cleanda things up ande didnt do n it. He wants those lies to race around t the internet. He wants those Police Officers, those Law Enforcement officers, he wants what happened to those cops to bepp papered over. He wants, just like so many of the other republicans, especially in the house, want there to be denialism surrounding January The 6th. Joe, you and i have talk about thisan multiple times on camera, and off camera. And we should continue talking about it because we Cant Sleep on this as a country. We have a former president of thE United states, a man who sat in the Oval Office t there denying democracy each and every day. Denying the legitimacy of a dually elected president of thE United states, Joseph R. Biden. He is out there every day infecting more and more people in this country. He has a strong base of supporters who deny reality, who live their denial daily, and they pose an extreme danger to the rest of us, and to the republic, the T Foundations Of R government, the foundations of history that we have taught our children that i learned in History Class when i was in Grammar School and high school, that exists today, teetering today because the Big Lie has been told so many times over and over and over again that it has taken hold. We cant ignore that. Its out there, its real, and its potentially lethal. And its everywhere, mika, its of course on facebook. That leads thes way. Its on other Cable News networks. Its in Sub Stack News letters. Its everywhere. Its on twitter. Where you have people that aret denigrating, that are attacking these Law Enforcement officers that are attacking these cops for doing theirse jobs, for Tryg To Restore Order when a mob attacks. So called conservatives, now, conservatives i have been telling everybody that for five years now, theyre not conservatives. But these so called conservatives are actually embracing the chaos, embracing the fascist violence, apologizing for it, trying to paper over it. Trying to cover up the fascist violence. The fascist violence that had one goal, one goal, to overturn the legitimate democratic Election Result of november 2020. Its right here in front of us and we can actually see as we saw in the last clip. We can see claire mccaskill, I Cant believe i really cant believe that america is here, butme we are here. You can see members of congress, republicans in the house especially, doing their best to cover upst a fascist attack on E United states congress to stop the constitutional counting of electoral votes. Its all right there. Its all on video tape. Everybody that has eyes can see it. Let those with ears hear. The evidence is all out there, and yetal you still have republicans in Donald Trumps party, trying to paper over it, trying to deny veit, trying to brush it to the side. Lets notus let the republics in the senate off the hook here joe, too. Remember, fewer than ten of them voted for a bipartisan commission to make sure that we did calcify the facts for american history. That we did make sure that No One had any questions based on party what actually happened, and Mitch Mcconnell killed the bipartisan commission. He got out there, he whipped his members, he told them not to vote for it. He toldhe them they couldnt wi the midterms if there was a credible body that uncovered the facts. He wanted to makey sure that ty could somehow try to Shoe Horn this into some kind of partisan effort. And that is how bad it is, and i will tell you this, there is a cold ripple of Fear Running down the spine of republicans on Capitol Hill this morning because donald totrumps candide lost last night. They have all been genuflecting for this ridiculous man that held the Oval Office, trying to say that they have to be for him because otherwise their Party Cantrt survive. Lindsay, trumps guy lost, so lets just make sure that we realizere that as this door begs to swing, were going to see how many of them scramble to get out of the way. Still ahead on morning joe, will we see trump officials testify about the former S President s role in th Capitol Attack. The Justice Department has cleared a path for that to happen. Plus, lawmakers say the Finish Line is in sight when it comes to infrastructure, but will they get the job done before the August Recess . Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. Ss youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. Customer Hi . burke happy anniversary. customer for what . burke every year youre with us, you get Fifty Dollars toward your home deductible. Its a Policy Perk for being a farmers customer. customer do i have to do anything . burke nothing. Customer Nothing . burke nothing. Customer Nothing . burke nothing. customer hmm, that is really something. burke you get a whole lot of something with Farmers Policy perks. See ya. kid may i have a balloon, too . burke sure. Your parents have maintained a Farmers Home Policy for twelve consecutive months, right . We are farmers. Bumpadum, Bumbumbumbum Burke Start with a quote at 1800farmers. realtor the previous owners left in a hurry, so the house comes with everything you see. Follow me. realtor so, any questions . wife well take it realtor great. vo it will haunt your senses. The Heartpounding Audi Suv family. Get exceptional offers at your local audi dealer. I booked our hotel on kayak. Its flexible if we need to cancel. Cancel. I havent left the house in a year. Nothing will stop me from vacation. No canceling. Flexible cancellation. Kayak. Search one and done. Im evies best camper badge. But even im not as memorable as eating flexible cancellation. Turkey Hill Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough creamy Premium Ice Cream and chasing fireflies. Dont worry about me. Im fine. You cant beat Turkey Hill memories. I had the nightmare again maxine. The world was out of wonka bars. Relax. You just need digital workflows. They help keep everyone supplied and happy, proactively. Lets workflow it. Then you can stop having those nightmares. No, i would miss them too much. Whatever You Business is facing. Lets workflow it. Servicenow. Okay. So this is the race that claire mentioned right before the break. In a Surprise Blow to the president , Jake Ellzey has defeated trump backed rival Susan Wright in the 6th u. S. Congressional district. The House Seat became available after the death of congressman ron wright, who had Lung Cancer and contracted covid19. Susan wright is his widow. Ellzey barely made the may election runoff, narrowly defeating a democrat to face off against wright. Trump endorsed Susan Wright early in the race. Recorded a robocall for her late in the runoff, and headlined a Telephone Rally with voters on the eve of yesterdays election. In his victory speech, ellzey emphasized that voters in his district wanted a quote positive outlook, a reagan republican outlook for the future. And of course claire, you brought this up before, you also had Club For Growth going, which Club For Growth used to be a conservative organization. Now its basically just a front for Donald Trump. The least conservative. I knew people who were a big part of Club For Growth when it started and they were libertarians as far as spending goes. Now Club For Growth does whatever Donald Trump tells them to do, and theyre the biggest spending, biggest deficit busting president in u. S. History. But Club For Growth went in, because Donald Trump wanted them to, attacking this ellzey guy, and despite the fact that the entire and trumps Super Pack, make America Great again Super Pack gave like 100,000 to ellzeys opponent, and ellzey still won, so you and i have both been on House Floors and Senate Floors when special elections come in, and theres a lot of talk. I would guess this morning a lot of people chatting about the fact that Donald Trump not only went in the first election but the second election, doubled down, tripled down, to beat this guy and he still won. Listen, if you really boil down why so many of these republicans in congress have parked their Character And Integrity on a Side Street and gone Main Street with Donald Trump the liar, it is all about winning primaries. Its about republicans in safe seats that are worried if they are not trump, they cannot win a primary. So this race yesterday, has a much larger impact than people realize at this moment. Because all of their behavior has been around this notion that if they challenge trump, theyre toast. Well, clearly, you know, his Super Pack and his robocalls, and his Town Hall did no good for this woman, and this was a big trump, Plus Nine, i mean, elise and i were just talking about off camera, it was a Plus Nine republican district, so if Donald Trump controls the republican votes. The Election Yesterday shows he doesnt control them very well. Nbc news has learned the Justice Department will permit several former Trump Administration officials to answer questions from congress about efforts by then president Donald Trump or doj officials to subvert results of the president ial election. According to doj and congressional officials a letter sent to former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen reads quote, the extraordinary events in this matter constitute Exception Fall circumstances, warranting an accommodation to congress in this case. President biden has decided that it would not be appropriate to assert Executive Privilege on this issue. Nbc reports letters have gone out to at least five other former doj officials, including former acting assistant Attorney General jeffrey clark, the Senate Judiciary Committee has told witnesses it is looking into a report that the former president planned to replace rosen with clark who would have moved to keep congress from certifying the Election Results. Elise, the biden administration has done quite a few things that have upset liberals, progressives, who wanted a much Cleaner Break from the Trump Administration, the trump doj. Some of the moves that they made. This is a bit of an exception where theyre actually deciding to tell the doj officials and former doj officials that they can testify. Obviously were talking about an effort to subvert the peaceful transition of power in thE United states of america after a president ial election. So i would hope that that might rise to the level of an administration waving Executive Privilege, but i think were going to learn a lot here, arent we . Joe, i think it must be rising to the level for, you know, all of the over merrick garlands Justice Department, were probably going to get a tic took of what went down with Donald Trump over the Election Results. Im certainly game for that as i want to know what happened and what went down on January 6th. We have to find out and go through methodically the history of what happened with Donald Trumps authoritarian effort to disrupt democracy if were going to prevent it from ever happening again. All right. Stunning video captured the moment a new York City man survived a sidewalk explosion. Well take a look at exactly what happened here. What in the world. Next on morning joe. Dr. Arnold T Petsworth had an influx of new patients. So he used his American Express business card, which offers Spending Power built for his business needs, to furnish a new exam room. The doctor will see you now. Get the card built for business. By American Express. Welcome to allstate. Phone Notification where weve just lowered our Auto Rates. And savings like that will have you jumping for joy. Now, get new lower Auto Rates with allstate. Because better protection costs a whole lot less. Youre in good hands with allstate. Click or call for a lower Auto Rate today. Theres interest you accrue, and interests you pursue. Plans for the long term, and plans for a long weekend. Assets you allocate, and ones you hold tight. At thrivent, we believe money is a tool, not a goal. And with the right guidance, you can get the financial clarity you need, and live a life rich in meaning, and gratitude. To learn more, text thrive to 444555, or visit thrivent. Com. Welcome back. 54 past the hour. Live look at times square. A little busier on this summer morning. Heres the story behind that incredible piece of video we showed you going to break. Footage showing smoke billowing from a Sidewalk Grate in queens. Moments before Perry West steps over it, it then erupts, briefly engulfing west in flames and knocking him to the ground. He suffered second degree burns and is recovering at a hospital. The utility company, conn edison, tells Nbc News it is investigating the cause of the explosion. Wow. Yeah. They have been dealing with some of these over the years. Crazy. Hope he feels better. That is oh, my gosh. How painful. Lets not show it again. Mike barnicle, tj, listen. Mike, there was a moment yesterday, before we let you go, there was a moment where one of the officers said he was more fearful for his life on January 6th from this mob, made in america by Donald Trump, than he was when he was in iraq. I also, though, i found the bravery of them extraordinary where a guy goes home, officer goes home, takes a shower because he has the spray on, hugs his wife, hes from the dominican republic, goes back to the capitol. His wife begs him not to. He said at that moment, he knew he had more responsibility to thE United states of america than he did to his own family. Thats an extraordinary statement to make, but an example of an immigrant who had been kicked around and beaten up all day and told he was a traitor and told he didnt belong there. Shows you the strength, the strength of patriotism, real patriotism, to answer the call when americas on the line. Thats the gift that this country gives everyone, joe. Not only immigrants, not only newly arrived people in the country, but to us, and the gift that too many people in this country have ignored. All right, coming up, congresswoman Liz Cheney and congressman Adam Kinzinger calout their fellow republicans during the first Capitol Riot hearing. What they have to say to members of their own party who continue to downplay the insurrection. Plus, some of the dramatic Neverbeforeseen Footage of rioters storming the u. S. Capitol. Morning joe is back in two minutes. Not everybody wants the same thing. Thats why i go with liberty mutual they customize my Car Insurance so i only pay for what i need. cause i do things a bit differently. Wet teddy bears wet teddy bears here only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. As i observe investors balance risk and reward, i see one element securing portfolios, time after time. Gold. Your strategic advantage. Joe. It is wednesday, july 28th. We begin this hour with the Capitol Riot investigation and the emotional testimony we heard yesterday from officers who responded to the January 6th insurrection. They shared their experience defending the u. S. Capitol on that day against a mob of Trump Rioters who stormed the capitol to prevent the certification of Joe Biden as the democratically elected president. On January 6th, for the first time, i was more afraid to work at the capitol than in my entire deployment to iraq. The rioters called me traitor. A disgrace, and shouted that i, i, an Army Veteran and Police Officer, should be executed. The rioters attempted to breach the capitol, were shouting, trump sent us. Pick the right side. We want trump. I vividly heard officers screaming in Agony And Pain just an Arms Length from me. I didnt know at the time but that was officer hodges, and hes here today to testify. I, too, was being crushed by the rioters. I could feel myself losing oxygen and Recall Thinking to myself, this is how im going to die, defending this entrance. Ended up on My Hands and knees and blind. The medical mask i was wearing at the time to protect myself from the coronavirus was pulled up over my eyes so i couldnt see. I braced myself against the impact of their blows and feared the worst. I was defenseless and sustaining injury from the increasing pressure of the mob. Directly in trunt of me, a man seized the opportunity of my vulnerability and grabbed the front of my Gas Mask and used it to beat against the door. The straps stretching against my skull and straining my neck. He opted for guttural screams. I remember him foaming at the mouth. He also put his Cell Phone in his mouth so he had both hands free to assault me. I told them to just leave the capitol, and in response, they yelled, no, man, this is our house. President trump invited us here. Were here to stop the steal. One woman in a pink Maga Shirt yelled, you hear that, guys . This [ bleep ] voted for Joe Biden. And then the crowd, perhaps around 20 people, joined in screaming, boo, [ bleep ]. No one had ever, ever called me [ bleep ] while wearing the uniform of a capitol Police Officer. Another black officer later told me he had been confronted by insurrectionists in the capitol who told him, put your gun down and well show you what kind of blooep you really are. I was grabbed, beaten, tased while being called a traitor to my country. At some point during the fighting, i was dragged from the line of officers and into the crowd. I heard someone scream. I got one. As i was swarmed by a violent mob, they ripped off my badge, they grabbed and stripped me of my radio. They seized ammunition that was secured to my body. They began to beat me with their fists and with what felt like hard metal objects. At one point, i came facetoface with an attacker who repeatedly lunged for me in an attempt to remove my firearm. I heard chanting from some in the crowd, get his gun. And kill him with his own gun. I was aware enough to recognize i was at risk of being stripped of and killed with my own firearm. I was electrocuted again and again and again. With a taser. I feel like i went to hell and back to protect them and the people in this room. But too many are now telling me that hell doesnt exist. Or that hell actually wasnt that bad. The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful. Telling the Truth Shouldnt be hard. Fighting on January 6th, that was hard. Showing up january 7th, that was hard. The 8th, the 9th, the 10th, all the way until today, that was hard. When the fence came down, that was hard. When we lost our layer of protection that we had and the fence came down and still nothing has changed. Everything is different, but nothing has changed. Liz cheney and Adam Kinzinger are being lauded as courageous heroes, and while i agree with that notion, why . Because they told the truth . Why is telling the truth hard . I guess in this america, it is. Us four officers, we would do January 6th all over again, we wouldnt stay home because we knew it was going to happen. We would show up. Thats courageous. Thats heroic. So what i ask from you all is to get to the bottom of what happened, and that includes, like i echo the sentiments of all the other officers sitting here, i use an analogy to describe what i want as a hitman. If a hitman is hired and he kills somebody, a hitman goes to jail. But not only does the Hitman Go To Jail but the person who hired them does. There was an attack carried out on January 6th. And a hitman sent them. I want you to get to the bottom of that. The sea of people was punctuated throughout with flags. Mostly variations of American Flags and trump flags. There were gadson flags. It was clear the terrorists perceived themselves to be christians. I saw the christian flag directly to my front. Another said jesus is my savior, trump is my president. Another, jesus is king. One Flag Read, dont give up the ship. Another had crossed rifles beneath a skull emblazoned with the pattern of the flag. I saw The Thin Blue Line flag, a symbol of support for Law Enforcement more than once being carried by the terrorists as they ignored our commands and continued to assault us. After giving cpr to one of the rioters who breached the capitol in an effort to save her life, i finally had a chance to let my own family know that i was alive. After order had been restored at the capitol and many hours, i arrive at home at nearly 4 00 a. M. January 7th. I had to push my wife away from me because she wanted to hug me. I told her no because of all the chemicals that my uniform had on. Sorry. I couldnt sleep because the chemical reactivated after i took a shower. And my skin was burning. I finally fell asleep two hours later, completely physically and mentally exhausted. Yet, by 8 00 a. M. , i was already back, on my way back to the capitol. And i continued to work for 15 consecutive days after the inauguration. I made sure to work despite my injuries because i wanted to continue doing my job to help secure the capitol complex. More than six months later, im still trying to recover from my injuries. I remember thinking there was a very good chance i would be torn apart or shot to death with my own weapon. I thought of my four daughters who might lose their dad. I remain grateful that no member of congress had to go through the violent assault that i experienced that day. During the assault, i thought about using my firearm on my attackers. But i knew that if i did, i would be quickly overwhelmed. And that in their minds would provide them with the justification for killing me. So i instead decided to appeal to any humanity they might have. I said as loud as i could manage, ive got kids. As we came close to the terrorists, our line was divided and we came under attack. A man attempted to rip the baton from My Hands and we wrestled for control. I retained my weapon after i pushed him back. He yelled at me, youre on the wrong team. Put off from our leadership which is at the front of our formation, we huddled up and assessed the threat surrounding us. One man tried and failed to build a rapport with me, shouting, are you my brother . Another takes a different tact, shouting, you will die on your knees. It really the video yesterday, the testimony was nothing short of extraordinary. These were great Police Officers, great cops. Fathers, husbands, americans who were defending this country. They were defending our constitution. And they were getting brutalized for it by terrorists that were sent to the capitol by insurrections, by seditionists. Look at the definitions in our books. Our statutes. Of course, i know laws mean absolutely nothing to the people that were there that day that stormed the capitol that day. Means nothing to Donald Trump, i understand that. But i was watching, and john heilemann, i actually was telling myself, okay, this is actually going to cut through. I understand we live in a crazy age. I understand there is a personality cult. I understand all of these things, but so many of those people who have not wanted to face the truth about January 6th respect cops, respect Law Enforcement officers, and will listen to this and at least they will be afforded a bare minimum of respect, yet on other networks, you actually had people saying January 6th was much ado about nothing and, well, that these Police Officers were just actors. Yeah, man. I was joe, i was, you know, i was i have been watching congressional hearings for 30plus years. You have been watching them for about that long. I dont think i have ever seen anything like it in terms of just the emotional, visceral reaction to it. Never seen anything like it, and i never felt more, like, i have always respected people who come forward and tell the truth. These people, youre in the presence of genuine heroes and i felt grateful and humbled by their sacrifice. And kind of in awe in some ways of what they withstood and that theyre still here and able to talk about it without, you know, literally dissolving into puddles given the trauma of what they went through. Then, you know, other networks, right . I think its really important that its not just that theres this cult of personality. What i think we all do not grasp fully yet, we have only a vague sense of it, is there is this parallel universe, this parallel Media Infrastructure, this parallel Media Universe in which Donald Trump is the king, is the god head, but it just means that there are tens of millions of americans now, the reason theyre never this is not going to change their minds is its not going to get through to them at all. They are just living, absorbing a totally different version of reality of whats going on in america. To the Extent Stuff got covered, as moved as i was by the testimony, i was just enraged to see people on, you know, all of these rightwing networks getting on and saying theyre crisis actors, saying these people made this up. There were primetime hosts on other networks giving out acting awards for who was the Best Actor in this category and that category. The most disgusting, appalling, morally depraved, just, i mean, stomachChurning Behavior, of people who are not worthy, you know, not even worthy to coexist on the same planet in some ways with these people. These people who made the sacrifice are sitting in there, fully vaccinated, air conditioned studios, mocking these men, mocking them. Not diminishing their importance or talking about im talking about openly mocking their sacrifice and their service, calling them crisis actors. Saying they fabricated all this, apparently, made it all up, and other, joe as you know, some people who used who have respect coming on television and saying its much ado about nothing. This was a largely peaceful protest, going back to the same trope being trotted out by some of the nuttier rightwing members of congress and the former president , nothing to see here. This is a day at the park, even in the face of all of the Video Evidence and in the face of this powerful testimony. So no, its not going to break through, im afraid, because theyre fully in the grip of this delusion and the delusion that is supported by this alternative parallel Media Infrastructure that is never going to allow anything close to the truth to pierce the consciousness of the people who are in its thrall. Up next, newly revealed video only underscores what those officers are describing. Well show you that terrifying footage next on morning joe. [sfx radio being tuned] welcome to allstate. [band plays] a place where everyone lives life wellprotected. And even when things go a bit wrong, weve got your back. Here, things work the way you wish they would. And better protection costs a whole lot less. Youre in good hands with allstate. Click or call for a lower Auto Rate today. realtor the previous owners left in a hurry, youre in good hands with allstate. So the house comes with everything you see. 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Find your nunormal with nucala. Yesterdays hearing also included some neverbeforeseen video from January 6th. An audio from officers on the ground. Were still taking metal, sharpened objects, missiles. Includes bottles and rocks and handthrown Chemtle Grade fireworks. Walk them together. Walk them together. Jimmy, get him to the back. Get him to the back. Lets get fresh faces up front. [ yelling ] if i give this up, theyre going to have to direct access. At least the scaffold we can defend. We gotta hold what we have. Wait, actually, it doesnt sound, Elise Jordan, doesnt sound like actors to me. Yet you have News Hosts on other networks that saying theyre just actors who have people who once were respected in washington saying January 6th was much ado about nothing because at the end of the day, they ended up counting votes anyway. Did that look like acting to you . Its hard to watch the totality of all the coverage, even as closely as we followed the aftermath and having watched it the day of. And that was not much ado about nothing. That was not loving from a mob. What the officers described, they described having their badges ripped, having their ammo ripped, being pulled into a mob and thinking they were going to die, so pleading to spare them for the sake of their children. They were called horrible racial slurs. The windows were, you know, struck through. This was not the act of a loving mob. And anyone who tries to deny and tries to claim that these were ordinary tourists, what would happen if americans acted this way when they went to visit the vatican . Would that be well received . If americans went to another country and behaved this way . Its just bonechilling that the revisionism is happening. Im just so grateful for those brave officers who held the line that day and who came forward yesterday and testified despite great risk and the Security Threats that they face for simply telling the truth. But what happened yesterday was the first draft of history. You had those officers telling the truth, giving their factual accounts of what happened and of how a mob came and put the Cap Capitol under siege, and Nancy Policy did not make that happen, unlike what republicans are trying to tell you. Its obviously, this is obviously something that were going to be dealing with for some time. Its not going to wear well on the republican party. Its not going to wear well on trump supporters. The fact is, were dealing with a political cult that is defined largely by Voodoo Science and fascist violence. As we see in these clips, as we learned more yesterday, its violence against cops, violence against the constitution, and violence against the country. As Kevin Williamson said, the far right is having their hippie moment. The far right is going as extreme as they can, except theyre using fascist violence, much like the far left used violence in the late 60s, bombings in the late 60s. The very things socalled conservatives claimed their hated for 40 years, 50 years, thats what they have become now, and thats what theyre defending. Theyre defending fascist violence. Again, i just wonder, people who run the networks, people on the board of the networks, the shareholders of those networks, do they support the mocking and the ridicuing of Law Enforcement officers. Do they support fascist violence, unamerican violence, violence against cops, violence against the constitution, violence against the country . Do they think thats much ado about nothing . Because the overwhelming majority of americans think it is something. Coming up, well hear from the two republicans serving on the committee. Liz cheney and Adam Kinzinger. What they had to say to their own party, next on morning joe. The Dove Beauty Bar makes my skin feel fresh. Ive encouraged serena my best friend to switch. Feels moisturized and clean. My friend stefanie, her skin was dry. Im like girl you better get you some dove. She hooked me up. With a quarter moisturising cream, dove cleans effectively and cares beautifully. We have been talking about Yesterdays Committee Hearing on the January 6th insurrection. Here is some of what we heard from the lone republicans on that committee, congressman Adam Kinzinger and congresswoman Liz Cheney. Look, almost every member of the republican conference understood in the days immediately after January 6th what had actually happened, and many of them said so publicly. And the fact that so many members of our leadership and others, the fact they have gone from recognizing what happened on the 6th to protesting in front of the Justice Department on behalf of those who were part of the insurrection is something I Cant explain. I think its a disgrace. I never expected today to be quite as emotional for me as it has been. I have talked to a number of you and gotten to know you. I think its important to tell you right now, though, you Guys May like individually feel a little broken. Ia guys all talk about the effects you have to deal with, and you talk about the impact of that day. But you guys won. You guys held. You know, democracies are not defined by our bad days. Were defined by how we come back from bad days. How we take accountability for that. And for all the overheated rhetoric surrounding this committee, our mission is very simple. Lets define the truth and its to insure accountability. Good for adam. You know, i heard some people, i read some people mocking adam for tearing up yesterday as he spoke to men in uniform. Maybe thats because he actually served in thE United states military as well. Served proudly in thE United states military. And again, john heilemann, as you said, you have people sitting in air conditioned rooms, vaccinated, safe from any dangers, that are mocking these men in uniform. These Law Enforcement officers, these cops that were trying to push back against a lawless mob. Again, as Kevin Williamson, a reflection of what we saw, the violence we saw from the far left in the 1960s with bombings and kidnappings and other attacks that supposedly the Conservative Movement was supposed to counter with Order And Respect for institutions and a respect for the law. But that certainly hasnt happened. And i just want to key in on something that Liz Cheney said. You dont even you dont have to get clips of what Nancy Pelosi said after January 6th to get to the essence of what this really was. They should play in these hearings what Kevin Mccarthy said on the floor about Donald Trumps responsibility for this insurrection, for these riots. They should play an emotional, want to talk about emotion, emotional Lindsey Graham on the Senate Floor saying hes had enough. Hes off that train. Hes off the trump train. Hes had enough. And Donald Trump has greatly impacted his legacy. And other republicans who were scared for their lives on that day. And scared for the lives of people around them who in the weeks that followed began being more scared about their political careers than they were about the future of this country. Its really disgusting. Theres just no other word for it. Its disgusting, and you know, the majority of americans, i be themselves. Theyre disgusting and the people who attacked Cops Yesterday were disgusting. Yeah, its genuinely grotesque, joe. Ill say, you know, if you think about the reaction to these guys yesterday, you know, you have these these coddled, swaddled, pampered, hypocritical gasbags in their air conditioned studios, essentially spitting in the face of these officers. Metaphorically. Having them describe their sacrifice and basically metaphorically spitting on them now. You know, talk about your hippie moment, whatever the right analogy is to the late 60s. I think its almost maybe more disgusting in some ways, you have got yesterday, Mitch Mcconnell, Kevin Mccarthy asked yesterday, did you guys see any of the testimony . No, we didnt watch the testimony. We didnt watch the testimony. And these officers were doing all the things you described, joe, mika, you guys, they were protecting the constitution, peaceful transfer of power, all of that. But much more specifically, they were protecting the lives of Kevin Mccarthy and Mitch Mcconnell. These guys went through suffered all of the things they suffered in order to try to protect the lives of those republican members and the democratic members and everybody else, and all the principals and the processes, but specifically, they put their lives on the line for Kevin Mccarthy and Mitch Mcconnell and they go on Television Yesterday and ill say just basically the same metaphor, theyre just basically spitting on the men who laid their lives down to save the lives of Kevin Mccarthy and Mitch Mcconnell. They go on television and say we couldnt be bothered to listen to these guys give their testimony for history, where what theyre going to testify to is how much pain their endured to try to save those republican members lives. No, we couldnt be bothered to watch them. Its essentially the same thing as what the Cable Hosts are doing. Theyre bastically looking at these guys and spitting in their faces. I find it beyond disgusting. Its again, i said before, its moral depravity of the highest order. Coming up, as congress debates voting rights, there is a new push for americans to reclaim their voice at the ballot box. Were joined by the president of the naacp, next on morning joe. Theres interest you accrue, and interests you pursue. Plans for the long term, and plans for a long weekend. Assets you allocate, and ones you hold tight. At thrivent, we believe money is a tool, not a goal. And with the right guidance, you can get the financial clarity you need, and live a life rich in meaning, and gratitude. To learn more, text thrive to 444555, or visit thrivent. Com. Before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn. Claire could only imagine enjoying chocolate cake. Now, she can have her cake and eat it too. Nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for allday, allnight protection. Can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn . When i was young nonononono please please no. I never needed anyone. Front desk. Yes, hello. Im so. Please hold. Those days are done. I got you. All by yourself. Go with us and find millions of flexible options. All in our app. Expedia. It matters who you travel with. Vo the climate crisis is here. Berardelli these temperatures are almost unbelievable expedia. Even for a meteorologist. Vo and the solution is here too clean energy. Like wind turbines and solar panels. Now, congress has to invest in it and the millions of workers ready to install it across the country. Because in america, we dont hide from problems like climate change. We take them on. We innovate. We lead. Because if we invest in these workers, and their future at this moment, thats how we build back better. Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill are still optimistic they are close to a final deal. Both sides spent the weekend working out Lastminute Sticking points. Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota defended the slow pace of negotiations. Its been five weeks of negotiating. Now, before we think that five weeks is a long time, remember that the senate is a very deliberative body, a transacle body, a 50 50 shared Power Structure here. So it takes a long time to do big things and our founders wanted it that way. Were talking about spending a trillion dollars. This should take a while. Claire, is that fair . Yeah, well, what hes not saying there is, very rarely is something done without a deadline anymore in the senate. And even then, its sometimes elusive, but the deadline of people going to their home states for the month of august is looming. And i predict they will get a deal as that deadline inches closer. Its my understanding that schumer has already threatened the caucus that if this deal is not done, and if they cant get a vote on this deal, they will stay there through weekends and into the August Home period to get it done. And now, that will motivate folks to quit quibbling around the edges and ink it. All right. And as the socalled audit of arizonas Election Results continues into its fourth month, a new report says it could cost the state at least 9 million. The analysis comes from the Washington Post, which reports arizona is already on the hook to pay roughly 3 Million to replace the voting machines in maricopa county. Thats because the partisan firm conducting the audit, cyber ninjas, reportedly cannot insure that the machines havent been infected with the malicious software during the process. On monday, the states republicanled senate reportedly issues a new subpoena pushing for the county to hand over the routers during the election. That came after a rambling speech from former president Donald Trump over the weekend demanding the routers be turned over. Replacing those could cost arizona an additional 6 million. Elise jordan, whats going on . Yeah, its just all those fiscal conservatives at work. Its easy to forget this is still ongoing because realitybased media, factbased media has, you know, hasnt been extensively covering the Money Wasting and the just zany antics that just waste everyones time thats happening in arizona, but of course, trump is following it and is hugely invested, and much like he ranted about servers back in 2016 and actually still probably rants about servers, hes now ranting about routers. And i feel pitiful for the people of arizona that their tax dollars are going towards this absolute nonsense. Yeah. And now we want to move to the latest developments around voting laws across the country. Norman lear, the groundbreaking and celebrated Television Writer and producer, turned 99 years old on tuesday and used the day to speak out on voting rights. In an Opinion Piece in the Washington Post, lear, who has always been very active in politics wrote in part, i woke up today at the start of my 100th year as a citizen of this beautiful, bewildering country. I am proud of the progress we have made in my first 99 years, and it breaks my heart to see it undermined by politicians more committed to their own power than the principles that should bind us together. Frankly, im baffled and disturbed that 21st century americans must still struggle to protect their right to vote. I am a patriot and i will not surrender that word to those who play to our worst impulses rather than our highest ideals. Joining us now, the President And Ceo of the naacp, derrick johnson. This morning, you are announcing a new push from your organization exactly on this issue. Tell us about it. Norman lear has it correct. We must aspire to our highest ideals. When you look at whats taking place in texas, were working with the Texas Delegation to try to further the story of whats taking place. This is not about the Latinx Community or the black community. This is about america. The changes that are being proposed in texas, the changes that have already been adopted in georgia, impacts us all. And we have to have a new sense of urgency for the senate to act. If were going to get an infrastructure deal, we need to have a deal to protect the rights of voters. Our Election Infrastructure needs a deal. We need a new deal in america to insure our constitution is upheld, the right to vote is protected, and we push back against all these individuals who are seeking to placate an egomaniac who is no longer in office. Yeah, and so as you announce a new push to safeguard americans voting rights, what specific concrete issues and actions do you think need to be taken, and how can you help pave the way for that with this push . The senate must, they must, adopt legislation before they go on recess, and no later than the middle of september to protect our right to vote, to restore section 2 from encroachment that the supreme court just had to make sure theyre drawing the political boundaries, redistricting. This will be the first time since 1970 we will have a Redistricting Process without the protection of the voting rights act. We must make sure that the validation of the elections are certified by individuals with the Capacity And Authority to do so and not brought to a legislative body so a political decision can be made. When we have these nonsensical attacks on our rights like in arizona, if people want to continue to find a problem, they should be charged so the cost of what theyre doing to our systems, we should be sending trump a bill. We have to as a country, as a country, understand that voting right protection is not race based. It is patriotic, and we have to protect the rights to vote. The senate must act. No procedural rules should stop that. The senate must act, and our vote is to lift up stories across the country to show that this is not a partisan issue. This is about our democracy. Let me get in here and ask you a question about, what about the states that have never had the ability to have drop boxes or no excuse absentees or early voting . My state is one of those. We have never had any of those things. We have always had very tight procedures. Is there any effort ongoing to raise this issue that we should have no Excuse Absentee Voting in state where we dont have it now . Theyre trying to limit it some places that have had it, but there are many states that have never had it. Im wondering if there is any effort through your organization to raise that issue in states like mine . Absolutely. You know, i think Senator Manchin had it right. We have to raise the floor of access. It should be standard across the board for federal elections where there is early voting. Thats one thing he did in west virginia. Thats one thing we think should happen now. We should make it easier for people to participate. Legitimate citizens should not have to jump through hurdles and go through hoops just to exercise their right to vote. So i absolutely agree in states that have long restricted access to voting, we need to increase the bar. We could standardize it across the board, making sure our machines have integrity and the ability for us to have trust in the outcome is elevated through transparent systems. Not a hodgepodge of Systems State by state. Naacp President And Ceo derrick johnson, thank you very much for being on this morning. So there was an extremely disturbing discovery at the State Department where secretary of state Antony Blinken confirmed a swastika was removed from the elevator at the departments main headquarters. The Hate Symbol was found carved into a wall. And an investigation is now under way. In an email to employees, blinken said, quote, as this painfully reminds us, Antisemitism Isnt a relic of the past. Its still a force in the world, including close to home. And its abhorrent. It has no place in thE United states. At the State Department, or anywhere else. And we must be relentless in standing up and rejecting it. Up next, with coronavirus infections on the rise, the cdcs once again recommending indoor mask wearing in some parts of the country. Even for Vaccinated Americans. Keep it right here on morning joe. Americans. Keep it right here on morning joe. Welcome to allstate. Phone Notification where weve just lowered our Auto Rates. And savings like that will have you jumping for joy. Now, get new lower Auto Rates with allstate. Because better protection costs a whole lot less. Youre in good hands with allstate. Click or call for a lower Auto Rate today. From prom dresses to workouts and new adventures you hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. Now as youre thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. Live look at new York City on this beautiful morning at 53 past the hour. New York City Mayor Bill de blasio and veteran Music Producer clive davis are revealing the lineup for the citys mega concert, headlining the celebratory Comeback Concert are, paul simon, jennifer hudson, and bruce springsteen. Also performing, ll cool j, kane brown, earth, wind and fire, journey, barry manilow. This is amazing. Officially titled we love nyc, the homecoming concert. It will take place on August 21st at 5 00 p. M. In central park. All concertgoers will need to provide proof of vaccination. 80 of tickets will be free and the event will be broadcasted globally, but you need a proof of vaccination to be there. Other states are not celebrating. The Louisiana Department of Health And Governor are urging residents to get vaccinated as the state reaches a Record Number of covid19 cases and hospitalizations. Just over 6,800 new cases were reported yesterday, the second highest Singleday Case Count since january, and nearly 1,400 people are currently hospitalized from covid with yesterday seeing the largest Singleday Increase since march. Governor edwards writes in a statement, quote, the surge is on us and that means it is up to each of us to do our part to bring it to an end. I am pleading with everyone who is not vaccinated and is of age to make the Decision Today to get vaccinated. He went on to recommend wearing masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status, and that is the new guideline that came down from the Cdc Yesterday. Nbc News Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez has the latest. Reporter this morning federal health officials are defending the Cdcs Reversal on masks. Once again advising americans, even vaccinated ones, to wear them in public indoor spaces, including schools, and areas with high risk transmission. What was not really as well understood is the capability of this Delta Variant to transmit so readily among people. Reporter the cdc says new research finds delta is linked to rare but rising numbers of Breakthrough Infections in fully vaccinated people, who would be carrying higher levels of the virus than previously thought, increasing their risk of infecting others. The unvaccinated are still the most vulnerable, making up almost all of covid hospitalizations and deaths. People need to get vaccinated. Thats the only way were going to cut this thing off. Nobody likes wearing a mask. Reporter but some officials are pushing back. Iowas governor says telling fully inoculated americans to wear masks is counterproductive to our vaccination efforts and doesnt make sense. The call for masking at schools has ignited protests from virginia. Take the masks off our children. Reporter to illinois. I need to breathe. Reporter this parent is fed up and has decided to homeschool her 11yearold daughter. How confusing of a time is it for parents right now . I think its very confusing. Its hard to keep them in it like all day, because they get tired of it. As for Vaccine Mandates, President Biden says hes considering requiring all federal employees get the shot, and claire and elise, first of all, we heard dr. Anthony fauci on the Show Today talking about the danger of the Delta Variant. The danger of people not getting vaccinated allows that variant to flow through the unvaccinated community, creating that fourth wave, creating that surge among the unvaccinated, and also opening the door for it to mutate and make more strains of coronavirus that could actually impact the vaccinated. It is the Unvaccinated Population right now that is driving this pandemic, among the unvaccinated. It is not the people telling us to wear masks to protect ourselves. So the politics of this is sick and its twisted, and, claire, i see a strain between the sickness of the people making fun of the four officers who were 40 feet away from democracy, defending it with their lives, being made fun of by Fox News hosts and republicans. Its sick and its twisted and its unpatriotic. Right along the same lines as those same people feeding conspiracy theories about mask wearing and vaccines. They all draw a line back to Donald Trump. Your thoughts . Yeah, you know, the republican party has lost all standing to say theyre the party that supports the rule of law and Law Enforcement, and the bottom line on mask wearing is right now All Of Us vaccinated folks are going to start wearing masks to protect the unvaccinated folks. Its called a christian value. Its called caring about others. And its ironic to me that all the people who want to wave their Christianity Havent read that part of the new testament. Elise . Im just glad that at least were talking about how horrible the Delta Variant is and how contagious and how much of a risk it is to even children, just so we educate ourselves and hopefully more americans are going to make the right choice and get vaccinated. If not just for themselves and their families, but for the Health Care workers who have done too much throughout this entire pandemic. All right, my thanks to claire and elise. Thank you for waking up way too early for All Of Us this morning. That does it for us. Stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. Hi, there. Im stephanie ruhle. Its wednesday, july 28th, and weve got a lot to cover this morning. Overnight, u. S. Gymnastics allstar Simone Biles pulling out of the individual allaround final. The team saying she will Focus On her Mental Health and continue to assess whether she will compete in any other events. While in washington, d. C. , fallout from the tense first January 6th hearing took place yesterday. Four officers describing in horrifying detail how they were attacked physically and verbally