win an acquittal. this is an effort to hang the jury. they're trying to appeal to one or two jurors to convince them that they should not convict because of this reasonable notion of law enforcement training and arrest under georgia's then in place, now removed from the books, statute that permitted citizens' arrests. this is i think something that could backfire. i expect the cross-examination of mr. mcmichael will be brutal. if it were me, i would dig up every training officer he had ever had at the coast guard and have them talk about whether the picture he puts on the witness stand of someone who is fully trained is consistent with how he behaved when he was on active duty. i suspect that they may even open the door to bringing in some of the racist statements that mcmichael made on the day that he killed mr. arbery. this is a very perplexing strategy. >> i wonder, did the defense potentially see that they didn't have much of a choice here given the picture that had been painted of travis mcmichael, the racist statements as you mentioned, his mug shot, the video of he and his father and the friend chasing down ahmaud arbery. let's remember that ahmaud arbery was not armed, they were chasing him down with a car and a gun. is it possible the defense felt like they didn't really have much of a choice here, they had no real way to get any defense in given what was already out there, and this is what they had to do to paint a different picture? >> i don't think you would put this particular defendant on the witness stand unless you were in precisely that sort of a situation. the real problem here will be establishing that the mcmichaels had sufficient probable cause to detain and to make a citizens' ref in this situation. that's why you're hearing so extensively from him on the witness stand about his training. but the point here is, the defense doesn't have to prove it. they only have to convince one juror not to convict. >> so joyce, if you were cross examining mr. mcmichael, what sort of questions would you be asking? >> it would be a long cross-examination and it would be highly detailed. he's just portrayed himself as someone with complex knowledge. i would certainly want to test whether he had the knowledge that he has recited so readily on the witness stand when he was in the coast guard. i would want to test his prior experience. he's just testified to a prior use of force in self-defense. this is going to be a minefield for him on cross-examination. >> given that we are seeing him testify, does this mean we should expect that his father, greg mcmichael, will testify or that william bryan might testify? >> that's a really interesting question. the court has fulfilled its obligation to speak with defendants under oath to ensure that they understand that the decision about whether to testify has to be theirs and theirs alone. they can consult with their lawyer, but ultimately it's up to them. very often, when you have a situation like this, where family members are involved, and particularly a father and a son, the father might be willing to see himself get convicted in order to see his son acquitted, or perhaps to receive lesser charges that permit him to spend less time in prison. so whether or not we'll see the senior mcmichael on the witness stand i think is still an open question. i would be surprised if -- >> joyce -- >> -- roddy bryant took the witness stand. >> the questioning has resumed. >> i believe it was 2008 when it happened. passagoula was destroyed by hurricane katrina. they had an atm machine in the vacant lot. coming through to get cash for the launch of the station, i pulled in, i see two younger males next to the side. thought it was a little weird, they're paying attention to me and paying attention to people going in and out near there. so i stepped out of the truck and went to the atm. as soon as i went to the atm -- >> did you have a gun on you at the time? >> i did. >> what kind of gun was it? >> a 1911 u.s. army service pistol. >> did you have a permit or a license to carry? >> yes, i had a concealed carry permit and it was a concealed especially when. >> all right. so you were at the atm. what happened? >> as soon as i put my card in, the two males approached on either side. one of them told me to give me his money. all i did was pull up my shirt and showed that i had a weapon. and they turned and jumped the fence and was gone. i pulled the money out and went to work. >> did you call the police or report it? >> i didn't call the police on that. that was it. >> all right. what is the second time that you had to use your -- i say use your gun, that time you didn't really have to use it, you showed it. >> i just showed it. the second one was in passagoula as well, in 2011, i was going into work, i was coming in at 8:00, the road i was coming in on was destroyed, it was real dark, everything was -- the industrial side of town. i stopped at a red light, had the windows down in the truck, sitting listening to music on the radio, somebody came and popped the lock and opened the door on me. >> the window was down? >> yes, he popped it open and opened the door. and started yelling. >> you say he started yelling. >> yes. i don't know what he was saying but it was -- he was yelling. and so i had the pistol between -- the holster between my seat and i pulled the pistol out and pointed it at him, told me to get out of my truck. he got out and ran off. i got to the station and we had three reservists with the police department there, told about it, i believe we had a report made on it. >> all right. i want to focus your attention back to [ inaudible ]. >> okay. >> was there ever a time that you yourself tried to figure out if any particular person was involved in some of the crime that had been happening over that summer in 2019? >> yes. >> can you tell us a little bit about that circumstance? >> yes. so around -- i believe it was july, 1st of july, my neighbor at the time came downstairs. she had her purse stolen out of the vehicle. so we were -- neighbors talked about it, something else has happened. a few days later, a week or so later, i was coming back from a fishing trip. i had a boat doing charters on the side and i was actually coming back to my house with some clients on fancy bluff creek. >> i do have a map here, i have this up already. fancy bluff creek. >> yep, under the bridge. when we got under there -- >> i'm just going to pull this back too, the state has a similar exhibit they've used, this being the google earth image. >> okay. yes, i was coming from the north and coming back down towards fancy bluff. >> you were there. >> where your finger is, on my boat, in the water. i saw a bunch of trash, tarps and a half a box down there and just a bunch of trash under the bridge. i said, this looks like a homeless camp. and it's very close to the enabled. there's a trail that goes to it, actually. drove on by, started thinking a neighbor just had her purse stolen, let me check this out, this homeless person, if there's homeless people there, these might be the ones going into the neighborhood. i got home, finished with the -- >> let me stop you there. when you say you got home, we don't see it on this map here, but does this connect coming up around over onto this side? >> it does, yes. fancy bluff creek joins little sitila, south of the neighborhood. >> so you boated around back to your dock. >> yes. >> okay. go ahead. >> so i got back, finished with the clients. and told my father that, hey, it looks like there was a homeless camp under the bridge, their purse was just stolen, we'll see if there's anybody town there. he said, i'll join you. we get in my truck. i was -- i carry a weapon everywhere, so i was armed. i'm not sure if my dad was or not. there was a trail. first we tried on the neighborhood side of the road. >> that being this side over here? >> probably if you look at the -- >> was there an access point to drive over here? >> there is a power line that parallels the highway between the neighborhood and the highway. it's an overgrown road -- it's an overgrown field. we couldn't get to it from there. the rocks and stuff are too bad. i drove highway 17 to fancy bluff road. there's a four wheeler trail. >> so the drive comes across 17, is that for on fancy bluff up h? >> i believe it is. and there's a four wheeler trail that parallels the highway. >> what did you do? >> me and dad walked down the four wheeler trail. he's behind me. and it goes down, kind of meanders around, a couple of trees, gets to the creek, makes a right, he goes under the bridge. i turn, go down the bridge. i don't see anybody. then get under the northbound lane and see someone fishing right at the bank. and he had a machete, i guess, a real long knife, an filet knife. he doesn't see me. i get between him and the knife. >> let me stop you there. as you're doing this, you're going down there with your sidearm. how is it that you feel comfortable going down there to inspect the situation? >> i didn't see a threat. there was no threat. i didn't see -- first, i didn't see anybody down there, and if i did, then i would talk to them, just talk to them. >> so what happened? >> so i get to [ inaudible ] his knife, for safety. i talked to him and said, how are you doing, a friendly guy. and i asked him if he's living down the bridge. he told us he wasn't, he told us he was living on a road off of fancy bluff road. i don't remember what the road was. i told him, i said, straight up, there's a bunch of stuff stolen in this neighborhood, i wanted to see if there was anything down here. no, i didn't see anything. okay. we looked around. i think my dad looked at some of the tarps, he said it wasn't his stuff. i'm certain he was living under that bridge. we didn't see anything. >> when you say you didn't see anything, what were you looking for? >> if there was any purses, if there was any equipment, anything that obviously -- you know, if you see boat motors or tackle boxes or anything that's just odd. i wouldn't have picked it up and taken it. as soon as we left, my dad called the nonemergency number and informed police. they were aware, obviously, of what's going on in the neighborhood, hey, there's a homeless person, check it out for us. >> i'm going to stop you there. just to be sure we're on the same page,. >> hey, this is [ inaudible ] supervisor available i might be able to speak to? >> sure, just a moment. and are you talking the dispatch supervisor or police supervisor? >> police supervisor, yeah. anybody on duty would be fine. >> okay. >> i wanted to make -- >> okay. all right. and what was your name? >> greg mcmichael. >> okay. and a contact number for you? >> 912-217-1726. they can call me back. >> okay. and your address, sir? >> 230 [ inaudible ] drive. we've had a lot of break-ins in this area out here, automobile break-ins. and my son and i just discovered a guy, we think he may be living at fancy bluff creek bridge on 17. >> did you discuss this finding of sorts, this person that you thought was living on the bridge, did you discuss it with anybody else in the neighborhood? >> i did. >> who did you discuss it if you remember? >> a direct neighbor. i'm sure i spoked to [ inaudible ] when he stopped by. then there was another guy down the road, older fella. i can't -- >> all right. do you know whether or not the subject of someone living under the fancy bluff bridge being a suspect of things happening in the neighborhood, whether that subject came up anymore over the course of the next five or six months? >> yeah, there was people -- i was always there, it was always in the back of people's minds, something happened, you would hear, you would see it on the facebook neighbor page, homeless person, there's been a homeless person around. that was -- from that moment forward, people knew that there is a homeless person under that bridge. >> okay. now i want to ask you about 220 sitila drive. >> all right. >> did you ever hear anything about thefts or things being stolen from 220? >> i did. >> when did you hear that? >> the first was from my mother. >> okay. >> and then she heard it from someone or saw it on facebook and may have told it to me. and then i started seeing it on the facebook page. >> okay. did you speak to anybody other than your mother? >> at first, no. >> did you ever talk to diego perez about it? >> no, not until february 11. >> so we have been watching the surprise appearance of travis mcmichael on the stand in the case where he stands accused of killing ahmaud arbery. let's take a break from that for a moment and go to the house floor where speaker nancy pelosi is opening the debate on the censure of republican representative paul gosar for tweeting out an anime video where he kills aoc and attacks president biden. this has only happened 23 times in american history. >> you don't expect them to get it from their colleagues. but nonetheless, the example set in this house is one that is viewed across the country. women across the country particularly feel vulnerable if insults of the nature that exist in this house are allowed to stand. i'll speak about that in a moment. again, when a member uses his or her national platform to encourage violence, tragically people listen to those words and they may act upon them. words spoken by elected officials weigh a ton. people hear them very differently. as the resolution that the committee is putting forth states, depictions of violence can foment actual violence and jeopardize the safety of elected officials as witnessed in this chamber on january 6th, 2021. it is inconceivable that a member of our community here would wish to repeat the violence of that dark day, that deadly day. as a woman speaker of the house, i want to be clear. these threats specifically target a woman, a woman of color, which is part, as the resolution states, of a global phenomenon meant to silence women and discourage them for seeking positions of authority and participating in public life. again, this is about workplace harassment and violence against women. yet the member has never apologized for his actions. it's a cartoon, relax, he said. really? a cartoon? relax? and he wrote to supporters this hyperventilating and shrill accusations that this cartoon is dangerous are laughable or intentionally hyperbolic. i'm entitled to speak to the people and in a manner that is engaging, he said. really? is it engaging to depict killing a colleague or anyone? it's not just about members of congress. anyone threatening anyone. disguising death threats against a member of congress and a president of the united states in an animated video doesn't make those death threats any less real or serious. indeed presenting them this way makes them potentially more dangerous by normalizing violence. it isn't funny. and yes, you have a right to speak. and so do we have a right to react to what you are saying when you are threatening the lives of members of congress and the president of the united states. it is sad that this entire house must take this step because of the refusal of the leadership of the other party. indeed, it took nine days for the minority leader to publicly speak out about this threat and when he did, he merely said it was not the member's intent to ever harm anyone. really? and many other members on the other side of the aisle have refused to strongly condemn these actions. one member of leadership said, unfortunately in this world right now we all get death threats no matter what the issue is. death threats from our colleagues? death threats from members of congress? we all get death threats? members think it's okay to directly encourage more death threats against their own colleagues? the resolution on the floor today is about accountability. it is about integrity in this house. and it will serve as a reminder to this congress and to this country that the house is committed to upholding the highest standards of decorum in all that we do, as it is said in rule 23. "shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the house." we have not only members but the committees, the committee staff, the institutional staff, and thank you for your service, the custodians of the capitol, the capitol police and others. as we proceed to make progress for the people, let us be guided by our love of this institution, respect for this institution in which we serve, and again, an example that we wish to show to the world. again, a threat against anyone is wrong, whether you're a member of congress or not. so this is just about the example, again, that is in total violation by the action of the members. yes, indeed, madam speaker, it is a sad day for the house of representatives. but a necessary day, so that we can again behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the house. i thank the chairman, i thank congresswoman jackie speier in bringing this resolution forward. i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentlelady from indiana. >> madam speaker, i am pleased to yield one minute to the distinguished minority leader. >> the gentleman is recognize ed for one minute. >> thank you, madam speaker. it's the old definition of abuse of power. rules for thee but not for me. that's exactly what's happening here today. house democrats are preparing once again to break another precedent of the united states house of representatives. it's an open secret that the american people are facing substantial challenges today. many of these challenges are washington-inflicted of one-party rule caused by a biden administration incompetence and radicalism. absolute chaos on the southern border. out of control crime. record breaking gas prices and inflation. a broken supply chain. an historic labor shortage. a failing education system. and of course the humiliating surrender in afghanistan. will this congress be remembered as a congress that addressed those serious challenges? not a chance. instead i believe this congress will go down in history as the broken congress. for nearly four years as the house republicans have been voicing the needs of millions of americans, house democrats have broken nearly every rule and standard. in order to silence dissidence and stack the deck for the radical unpopular agenda. it broke the motion to recommit, first time in the history of congress. they broke impeachment not once but twice. they broke in-person voting and replaced it with proxy voting, the first time in history. and they broke the minority's right to appoint members of its own choosing to committees. the speaker is burning down the house on her way out the door. what's worse, we got to this point on the basis of a double standard. democrats want to change the rules but refuse to apply them to their own caucus. i listened to the speaker talk about the highest standards. madam speaker, when a democratic chairwoman flew to minneapolis and told an angry crowd during a trial to stay on the streets, get more active, get more confrontational, we've got to make sure they know we mean business. that high standard, the democrats refused to take action. the trial judge actually singled her out on her comments on an ongoing basis which she said could become an issue on appeal. but this wasn't the first time. no. this is three times. at a rally in los angeles, that same chairwoman told a mob, if you see anyone from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them and you tell them that they're not welcome anymore anywhere. she later defended that comment in another speech in l.a. saying, the same chairwoman, the high standards, i did not threaten trump, constituents and supporters, i do that all the time but i didn't do it that time. this side of the aisle didn't ask that chairwoman to lose her committee. we simply asked for an apology. meanwhile, that high standard which speaker pelosi and leader hoyer defended her. when asked about her minneapolis comments, leader hoyer described her as passionate, she believes in her issues. she believes she should get in your faces. and speaker pelosi, oh, what did she do with that high standard? she compared her comments in minneapolis to dr. king's civil rights movement. you see, why would they do that? rules for thee but not for me. just this month, the dossier's principal source was arrested by special counsel durham for lying to the fbi. think about everything that dossier put this country through for two years based on fabricated evidence. the infringements of due process. the spying on the presidential campaign. and of course the $32 million spent by hard-earned working taxpayers for a mueller investigation. and yet the democratic chairman says i don't regret it. why? rules for thee but not for me. when the speaker of the house on this very floor engaged in personalities, the floor shut down for three hours because no one wanted to take it to the top. her entire caucus that believed in the higher standard voted to keep her words in the record rather than strike them down. why? rules for thee but not for me. the speaker said i stand by my statement, i'm proud of the attention that's being called to it. never happened before in the history of this body. why? because it's a broken congress that believes in rules for thee but not for me. this is part of a larger pattern. when a congressman on the intelligence committee was targeted by a suspected chinese communist party agent for years, the democrats kept him on the committee. why? rules for thee but not for me. when a democrat congresswoman said israel has hypnotized the world, that supporting israel is all about the benjamins, and that 9/11 was some people did something. the democrats actually defended her. why? rules for thee but not for me. and when a member of the democratic leadership tweeted a week ago lock up kyle rittenhouse and throw away the key, in an attempt to sway an ongoing trial, the democrats said nothing. why? rules for thee but not for me. let me be clear. i do not condone violence. and representative gosar has echoed that sentiment. the video was deleted. but democrats won't listen because they will do anything to distract from the failures of one-party rule in one year destroying a nation. for democrats, this vote isn't about a video. it's about control. that's the one and only thing democrats are interested in. not condemning violence, not protecting the institution, not decorum or decency. just control. the democrats want control and they don't care about the consequences. they're destroying this institution, silencing the minority, and therefore silencing millions of americans. when i talked to democrat leadership, and they told me what they wanted to do, i asked a simple question. have you seen the video? no, haven't seen it. but they knew exactly what they wanted to do. it's interesting. without even watching they decide the punishment. why? no need. rules for thee but not for me. what they have started cannot be easily undone. their actions today in the past have forever changed the way the house operates. it means that the minority rights that have served this body as well are the things of the past. and furthermore, it means that under the pelosi president, all the members that i have mentioned earlier will need the approval of a majority to keep those positions in the future. what was interesting is, it's not just the speaker that's making those decisions. when the chairwoman incited those ideas three times, everyone in the democratic party had ability to vote what they thought. because of those high standards, they all voted to table. they all voted to table. not to remove this chairwoman from committee. to ask for an apology. why? because you all believe in rules for thee but not for me. that legacy is a real culmination of speaker pelosi's career. make no mistake. the house is weaker, more partisan, and more self-focused today than when speaker pelosi became speaker less than four years ago. future congress will suffer for it. more importantly, the american people have needlessly suffered because of it. they won't soon forget it. it's about control. it's not about a standard that everybody lives by. it's a standard you enforce on one but not upon yourself. you encourage your own side to engage further, when you all took a vote to table. it would be interesting to see if your leadership hasn't watched the video. how many of you who vote today have watched it? when it was requested, i contacted the member. he took the video down. he put a statement that he does not believe in violence to anyone. but you see, when others on the other side of the aisle incite violence, it's okay, because it's words for -- rules for thee but not for me. unfortunately this body has suffered greatly. and a new standard will continue to be applied in the future. i yield back. >> members are admonished to address their comments to the chair. the chair will recognize the gentleman from florida. >> madam speaker, i yield five minutes to representative ocasio-cortez. >> the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, chairman. thank you, madam speaker. i've been serving in this body just under three years. in that three years, an enormous amount has happened. but in response to the republican leader's remarks when he says that this action is unprecedented, what i believe is unprecedented is for a member of house leadership of either party to be unable to condemn incitement of violence against a member of this body. it is sad. it is a sad day in which a member who leads a political party in the united states of america cannot bring themselves to say that issuing a depiction of murdering a member of congress is wrong, and instead decides to venture off into a tangent about gas prices and inflation. what is so hard? what is so hard about saying that this is wrong? this is not about me. this is not about representative gosar. but this is about what we are willing to accept. not just the republican leader. but i have seen other members of this party advance the argument, including representative gosar himself, the illusion that this was just a joke, that what we say and what we do does not matter as long as we claim a lack of meaning. now this nihilism runs deep. and it conveys and betrays a certain contempt for the meaning and importance of our work here. that what we do, as long as we claim that it is a joke, doesn't matter. that what we say here doesn't matter. that our actions every day as elected leaders in the united states of america doesn't matter. that this chamber and what happens in it doesn't matter. and i am here to rise to say that it does. our work here matters. our example matters. there is meaning in our service. and as leaders in this country, when we incite violence with depictions against our colleagues, that trickles down into violence in this country. and that is where we must draw the line independent of party, identity, or belief. it is about a core recognition of human dignity and value and worth. so when we talk about, as mentioned in the resolution, that these depictions are part of a larger trend of misogyny and racist misogyny, this has results in dampening the participation. and so this vote is not as complex as perhaps the republican leader would like to make folks believe. it's pretty cut and dry. do you find, does anyone in this chamber find this behavior acceptable? would you allow depictions of violence against women, against colleagues? would you allow that in your home? do you think this should happen on a school board? in a city council, in a church? and if it's not acceptable there, why should it be accepted here? lastly, when the republican leader rose to talk about how there are all of these double standards and lists a litany of all these different things, not once did he list an example of a member of congress threatening the life of another. this is not about a double standard. and what is unprecedented and what is tragic is the descent of transgression in this body. i grew up as a little girl with awe about our nation's capitol. the reverence and the importance and the gravity of our work here. >> the gentlelady is recognized. >> the gravity of our work here. so the question that i pose to this body in response is, will we live up to the promises that we make our children, that this is a place where we will defend one another regardless of belief, that our core human dignity matters? if you believe that this behavior is acceptable, go ahead. vote no. but if you believe that this behavior should not be accepted, then vote yes. it's really that simple. thank you, and i yield back to the chairman. >> the gentlelady from indiana. >> madam speaker, i yield as much time -- >> so this is an extraordinary moment in our history, it's an extraordinary moment on the house floor there. i don't say that lightly, knowing there have been a series of extraordinary moments over the past five years or so. joining me now is nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali and "washington post" carol leonnig. when does this go to a vote, ali? >> next. they're going to continue on this debate and then move to the next phase which is the censure and stripping him of his two committee assignments here. but really, katy, what you're talking about is, this is a clear snapshot of the moment we're in in politics in 2021. all these disparate conversations about mainstreaming political violence, whether it's average folks being energized by lawmakers who have told them the big lie about the 2020 election, many of the democrats who spoke during this debate period connected this moment back to the january 6th insurrection that happened in the very halls that i am standing in right now, and where they go to work every day. that day is inextricably linked with this moment right now, this censure on the floor. that's what you heard from congresswoman ocasio-cortez, saying basically, this isn't about me, this didn't about paul gosar, this is about whether or not you think that colleagues in the house can threaten to kill other colleagues of theirs in the house because of partisan differences, whether or not they say it was a joke. all of these lawmakers have said that they've seen the impact of what words can do, whether they're supposed to be a joke or not. and that's really what makes what leader kevin mccarthy did so striking. it's the delicate dance we'll watch him do over the course of the next weeks and months and certainly the dance he has been doing over the course of the last year in the post-trump era, trying to be a bridge within all the factions of the republican party, the fringe right who wants to strip and punish the 13 members who voted for roads, tunnels, and bridges, just because they voted with democrats and gave the president a win. and the same parts of the party that are willing to cross party lines and do things on the policy front. mccarthy trying to press for unity in that fissure, while also then not going on the house floor and condemning one of his members for threatening violence against another member of congress. both aoc and gosar were in that chamber. gosar was in the chamber for much of the time that the debate was going on, listening to his colleagues talk about this moment, both in support of him and also hearing from democrats who were excoriating him and his fellow republicans for this moment. i also think, though, katy, that speaker pelosi did something really fascinating. she talked about this as a moment of political violence but also brought in a lens of gender on top of it. speaking from her perspective not just as speaker of the house but as a female speaker of the house. and i was struck, as we were watching that video, that she had only female lawmakers sitting behind her. so talking about this as a moment where we know that female lawmakers, including alexandria ocasio-cortez, have faced threats and continued threats, and have to have personal security. these women and people of color members have very keenly felt the sting of this. and i think this is just a moment that encapsulates all of that. >> she has her own private security. carol, in watching this, i know we link it back, speaker pelosi linked it back to january 6th, saying it's not just talk, this talk can turn into real the violence, but it goes back furthering than that. it reminds me of my days on the campaign trail in 2015 and 2016 following donald trump, where he would talk about encouraging his supporters to punch protesters. it was really when we started to see the encouragement of violence, the joking about violence. donald trump often would say he was joking. it would actually result in actual violence. when it started to become just part of the game of politics, part of what you had to sign up for in order to play a part in our political world, in the run for the white house, or now in the being of a member of congress. >> katy, i'm so glad you bring up the through line that goes all the way back to the campaign in 2015 and 2016. you know, this was the first marker for even, i hate to bring it back to secret service agents, but secret service agents were started to become very worried when they watched this campaign. the director of the secret service at that time was so anxious because of the encouragement of violence. it was very difficult in that job to say, you know, donald trump is encouraging people who are his rallygoers to punch protesters, to -- you know, as trump said often, get 'em out of here, get 'em out of here and i'll pay your legal bills if you do it. we all watched that on television and in real time, as you did as a campaign coverage reporter. you know, people being pushed around like tops by the rallygoers. and the through line goes back to january 6th. speaker pelosi, for example, knows very well and very personally this, because the first real harbingers for intel agencies that something bad was afoot for january 6th was the fact that she and mitch mcconnell were personally targeted by opponents or trump supporters who spray painted sort of angry messages at their personal homes. and you'll remember that when we were reporting about this in january, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, mark milley, became alarmed when he learned there was intelligence in the days before january 6th in which there was an encouragement to go after mitt romney by different republicans, and romney became a target because he wasn't loyally soldiering forward to -- forgive my voice -- soldiering forward to support the president in rejecting the totally fully fair election of that november election. and here we are, where a majority -- forgive me, a republican leader is basically saying, you know, this language isn't so bad, threatening another member, it's not that big a deal. well, it turned into violence in all of the stages that you described. >> you know, it felt like, as we were watching speaker mccarthy or majority leader -- minority leader mccarthy, excuse me, speak, he wants the speakership when 2022 comes around, when the election comes around, if republicans are able to win back the majority. it felt like, carol, we were watching him speak to, and we say this all the time, but an audience of one. because what he's going to need to be speaker again is the support of former president donald trump. >> absolutely. kevin mccarthy is staying, you know, lock, stock, and barrel with the -- you know, the view of the big lie, the view of the former president donald trump. and certainly that's one of the audiences he's trying to win over. another one that you can see forming is the idea that this is really good strategy and good theater for rallying the faithful. >> this is an enemy that speaks to young voters who are too often overlooked. even twitter, the last mouthpiece, did not route cartoon noting it was in the public's interest for it to remain. the cartoon directly contributes to the understanding and the discussion of the real life battle resulting from this administration's open border policies. this body is considering passage of mr. biden's reckless socialist marxist $4.9 trillion spending bill that provides $100 billion for amnesty to tens of millions of illegal aliens already in this country. this is what the left doesn't want the american people to know. our country is suffering from the plague of illegal immigration. i don't stop pointing this out, nor will i. millions of illegal aliens, drugs, and traffickers are coming into this country in the dead of night, all condoned by this administration. for this cartoon some in congress have said i should be published. i have said decisively there is no threat that was intended by my staff or me. the american people deserve to have their voices heard in congress. no matter how much the left tries to quiet me i will continue to speak out against amnesty for illegal aliens. defend the rule of law and advance the america first agenda. >> the gentleman is recognized, 30 seconds. >> if i must join alexander hamilton, the first person attempted to be censored by this house, so be it, it is done. madam speaker, i yield back. >> the gentleman from florida. >> madam speaker, i am pleased to yield -- >> so that was representative gosar comparing himself to alexander hamilton. i just want to remind of who paul gosar is, he is a representative from arizona. he is a fire brand conservative with a history of statements and actions so controversial that six of his nine siblings have denounced him and appeared in ads for his democratic opponent back in 2018, one of those siblings appeared with andrea mitchell earlier today. in february gosar attended a far right conference with an organizer who has defended racial segregation and down played the holocaust. he has also spread conspiracy theories about the white national rally in charlottesville and called the january 6 rioters peaceful patriots and just there you heard him comparing himself to alexander hamilton. it is important to note what aoc said in her remarks, she said that kevin mccarthy not once in his litany of remarks that he made mentioned that democratic member of congress had threatened violence against a republican member of congress. paul gosar stands alone in that right now within this congress. censure has only happened 23 times in our history. it is a very big deal. and it habit happened in i believe 11 years. and it is unclear, or i don't believe it has ever happened, for a member actually threatening violence, although it is stipulated in house explanation that it can be used for violence against other members. let's bring back any ali vitali and also carol. i'm struck by where we are again with this congress and where we currently stand in the ability for people to get along, for the ability of washington to work to make sure that the lives of americans are improved. it feels like we are still falling into this pattern of having to draw lines in the sand for what is acceptable behavior and what is not in our highest offices. >> those lines are really blurry. you and carol are right to draw the through-lines as the lawmakers have between january 6 and frankly the campaign of donald trump that you and i covered every day. you and i were texting about moments that we remember that feel like parallels to right now. we've talked about some of them here. that is really where we're at right now because it is not just a conversation in the halls of congress right now over what paul gosar has said about alexandria ocasio-cortez and the role that kevin mccarthy is playing in not denouncing it. there is a larger conversation about whether or not republican members can agree on what january 6 was, which was a deadly violence insurrection spurred in part by the lies that republican leaders told them about an election that they think was stolen from them but actually wasn't. that is an active debate here. every time the january 6 select committee moves forward to try to get information or compel people like steve bannon to comply with subpoenas, these are active debates. certainly this is another one. and you heard mccarthy say that it sets a new standard for the future. and i think that he is alluding to the fact that the man looks fairable to republicans in 2022, they could retake the house. and this could be something that we see them turn around and reapply on democrats. i think what is important though is that as democrats and other people like adam kinzinger and liz cheney who say that they will vote for this censure, they are trying to pull it out of the bipartisan muck and city that this is a vote about returning to the morality of not threatening to kill your co-workers. because they are co-workers. they are for different party, but everyone here in the capitol community is part of that. and so that is what democrats are trying to do, elevate it out of the politics and try to make it a precedent-setting morality. >> the american people has been clear that they like congress to work, part of the reason why people don't feel like that it is worth voting a lot of the time, they feel like nothing changes. nothing that they can do, nothing that they can do to make things work this congress, they throw up their hands and they say they are not listening to us. and this feels like a prime example especially when kevin mccarthy says watch what you do because we're going to have the power at some point and we'll do it right back to you. it feels like getting things done, passing legislation, is very much secondary to partisan bickering, to partisan fighting over who is doing terrible things and who is not working hard enough when they are not coming together and working to get things done. and when they do come together to get things done, you have one party saying to members who cross party lines, we'll come after you. >> you're right. i mean, even republicans and democrats have told me privately that this has been a painful and pretty steady slide downward for the body, that we view as the people's house, the people's representatives who are making our laws, the word lawmaker is really not appropriately applied to the members of congress anymore. and they admit that privately. they are not making laws. they are in almost permanent campaign mode. kevin mccarthy as we discussed is speaking to donald trump because he wants trump supporters so he can become speaker of the house in 2022. he is also speaking about the evils of -- i put that in quotation marks, his quotation marks, the evils of nancy pelosi, the dysfunction again quotation marks of his of the biden administration. the so-called socialists. it is like a campaign ad right now constantly berating and be derisive about those entities because that is who he is fundraising on. pelosi is a socialist, biden is a socialist, and in this way he is able to continue to stoke the sort of angry side of american's conservative wing and encourage them to come to the polls and turn out democrats and support republicans in their stead. it is not a speech for how can we resolve this pretty painful conflict. and i'd add one more thing. in your through-line that you mentioned earlier, i can't help but remember donald trump's own threat to kill cnn reporters. you may remember that video that was made in which he was punching out a reporter covering the trump administration and punching them sort of in the face. that kind of video is a lot like the gosar imagery. and it is part and parcel of the same thing which is let's demonize this group of people and then that will help us get elected. >> i remember very well the threats of violence against journalists. thank you both very much. a couple minutes left, so let's turn back to the testimony in the trial of the three men accused of killing ahmaud arbery. this afternoon one of the defendants travis mcmichael is on the stand. they just took a brief recess. when at the come back, mcmichael is expected to continue testifying this time about the day of the shooting. and ron allen is in georgia. ron, bring us up to speed. >> reporter: travis mcmichael is the man who pulled the trigger. three blasts from a shotgun that killed ahmaud arbery. his attorneys say that he fired in self-defense. and it was stunning when he took the witness stand, he is the first defense witness and it was unclear who they were going to call. but he is taking this head-on defending himself. so far the testimony has been about his background, they have been trying to establish that he was in the coast guard, that he had some law enforcement experience, some training in how to use weapons. they are also talking about the neighborhood where this happened and trying to establish that there was a crime spree, a lot of burglaries going on in the neighborhood. and that in fact travis mcmichael had even spotted ahmaud arbery in the neighborhood some 12 days before the fatal encounter. there is video that shows arbery on home security cameras in a home under construction on four different occasions at night and it is unclear why arbery was which. there. but the defense said that he was there up to no good and that is the basis of their case, that arbery was a suspicion figure and that the defendants were trying to effect a citizens arrest on that day in question. so again, the defense just beginning to lay its case out. the prosecution have rested. and we're listening to travis mcmichael, he has not gotten to the part yet of the fatal encounter. why did he fire the gun. he says in self-defense. why did they chase arbery, what was going on beyond just what we see on videotape, that troubling videotape where you actually see ahmaud arbery shot several times by the shot gun. that is where we are now as the drama here is unfolding. and again, the defense expected to call more witnesses and we expect to hear more from travis mcmichael as the day goes on. >> prosecution sure to emphasize that ahmaud arbery was not armed. ron allen, thank you very much. that does it for me on this busy day. hallie jackson picks up our coverage. i'm in washington with two big breaking stories we're following as we come on the air. 3:00 east coast time. in brunswick, georgia, what you just heard about, we're waiting for one of the defendants in the murder trial other the killing of ahmaud arbery to come back on the stand, that should happen any minute really. travis mcmichael set to talk about the moments when arbery was shot and killed. and we're also watching something here in washington in building right behind me, lawmakers about to vote any minute on something that they haven't done in more than a decade. rebuking one of their own. democrats looking to not only censure republican congressman paul gosar, but to boot him from his committees too. why? because of that video he tweeted