♪♪ hi there, everyone, it is 4:00 in new york as we begin our special coverage, insurrection in america, on the one year anniversary of the insurrection astack on the united states capitol. one year from what we saw on air right here a year ago. insurrectionists swarm the halls of capitol, the senate chamber, even the offices of our congressional leaders. with the police officers who were trying to hold the line outside the capitol completely overwhelmed. many of them coming under violent assault in what's been described ads medieval hand-to-hand combat. at least five officers would lose their lives after confronting the trump mob that day. the first minutes of our broadcast on january 6th 2021 marked the end of that 187-minute period of inaction by the expresident, donald trump, who was described this morning by his former white house press secretary stephanie grisham as gleefully watching on tv ignoring calls to end the violence refusing all along to act. it wasn't until 4:17 p.m. eastern one year ago more then three hours of a insurrectionists moved on the u.s. capitol that the trump put out on videoing the his supporters to go home in peace but adding we love you, you are very special. we would later learn from a book "i alone can fix it "that it took three takes to get that weak message, called the most palatable option of the three takes he recorded. they would ultimately fail to stop the vote count. it laer on january 6th, they reconvened counting the electorate college votes and president biden was confirmed as the new president. today president biden marked the solemn anniversary of the insurrection with a blistering speech and laid it all squarely on the shoulders of the failed expresident. here is president biden slamming donald trump without so much as saying his name. >> we saw it with your own eyes. rioters menaced these halls threatening the life of the speaker of the house. literally threatening gallos to hang the then sitting vice president of the united states of america. what did we not see? we didn't see a former president who had just rallied the mob to attack sitting in a private dining room off the oval office in the white house watching it all on television and doing nothing for hours as police were assaulted, lives at risk, the nation's capitol under siege. and here's the truth. a former president of the united states of america has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. he's done so because he values power over principle, because he sees his own interests as more important than his country's interests, than america's interests. and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our constitution. for the first time in our history, a president had not just lost an election. he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the capitol. but they failed. they failed. >> just in the last hour, testimonials from lawmakers on the trauma. those lawmakers obviously can also be called is your vifrsz of that insurrection. folks like democratic congressman jayson crowe who was left behind in the chamber as his colleagues were evacuated and the mob descended or the scores of congressmen and women who scrambled into hallways with face obscured by gas masks. for one year, they and their colleagues have been forced to face the threat to their lives that day as well as the threat to the constitution they swore the uphold. this afternoon democrats testified on the house floor about the weight of those memories. >> i remember every moment vividly. i viscerally feel the pounding on the gallery doors. i hear the shot ringing out. i replay how i made plans to use my gas mask and my cane, newly at my side from a five-week-old knee replacement surgery to fight back if attacked. and i remember not knowing if i would make it out of our seat of democracy alive or if our democracy itself who survive. >> dan kilte, i heard you make that call to your family. i don't think you thought you were going to leave the floor safely that day. and yet, you used that trauma, you had the courage to share it with people across this country, as so many people have been suffering their own mental health problems. i think because of your courage in doing that, people across this country have sought out the mental health treatment they need. when i think about that day, i think of jayapal, who we just heard from. i can't imagine being on the floor, having the house attacked and not even being sure that as we needed to flee that room, if you could walk. and as we went down stairway after stairway after stairway when i could feel your knee buckling, your calm, dig knit, and courage in leading people to safety will stay with me. >> should note in the chamber today to witness that testimony were the parents of officer brian sicknick who lost his life after being attacked on january 6th. today, as the democrats did, we honor his memory and the ultimate sacrifice he made on that day. that's where we start our especially coverage today on the one year anniversary of the capitol insurrection. -- a member of the house judiciary committee is here. also joining us, msnbc political analyst, the former senator claire mccaskill is here. and john heilemann. we culled the coverage here from a year ago. and i have some of your very preciousient observations as this was happening which is always so remarkable to me, to look back. but i wanted to start with today, and with president biden's speech. congressman, your reaction? >> thank you for having me, nicolle. i thought that the president's speech was powerful. it was compelling. and it was necessary. i mean part of the reason why it is so important to recognize today in such a solemn way is because of the disinformation and misinformation that metastasized over the course of the last year since january 6th. i think having the opportunity today to share with the american public the truth of what happened on january 6th and the stakes that were facing our republic that day and that let me facing our republic today remain incredibly important. >> i want to show something that the president said today. we know it's on his mind and when he speaks about it powerful, but the abyssy agenda and the pandemic don't afford him to do so as much as he would like to do so. but your comments, i want to play them. >> one of my favorite quotes of dr. martin luther king jr., it's one that sustained me during times of adversity. i suspect it sustained some of you. i decided to stick with love. that hate is too great a burden to bear. this trial is not born from hatred. for from it. it's born from love of country, our country. our desire to maintain it. our desire to see america at its best. the cold, hard truth is that what happened on january 6th can happen again. i fear, like many of you do, that the violence we saw on that terrible day may be just the beginning. this cannot be the beginning. it can't be the new normal. it has to be the ends. >> congressman, was it the end? >> unfortunately not, nicolle. as we know, a few minutes after that speech, the senate ultimately voted to acquit the former president of the charges that he was ultimately charged with during the impeachment trial. and the fear that i articulated on the senate floor that day with colleagues representative raskin and others unfortunately is a fear i still have today. that is ultimately, are we prepared to do what's necessary, enact the appropriate safeguards to protect our republic over the course of the inside few years? because clearly former president trump has a strangle hold on the republican party as it exists today that he refused to release. as a result it is going to take people of good faith standing up and speaking truth to power about what happened on january 6th, which is why today's events are so important. >> claire mccaskill, you were one of those people in the moment who saw clearly what was happening. you said trump asked them to do this, he incited this. what are your thoughts about the president's speech and where we are today? >> well, i really think that joe biden, maybe for the very first time since he became president, realized he wasn't going to knit this country back together with just standing for hope and integrity and truth. he's gonna have to fight. and he came out fighting today. he was swinging at donald trump. he was reminding everyone what a bad guy this was, and what he has done to our country, the permanent damage. and i have got to tell you, the hardest thing for me in the year since this happened is the abject failure of smart, strong republicans on capitol hill -- their failure to stand up for what's right. when mccarthy ran down to mar-a-lago and tried to kiss and make up, and when mcconnell decided it was better the try to forget about it than to appoint a commission that would be bipartisan and maybe have more of a lasting impact than the 1/6 committee -- when those moments came, they passed. they passed. because they were more interested in power than principle, as the president said today. so this is -- you know, from rupert murdoch, who allowed the disinformation to go out and supported it over a national network to kevin mccarthy, to mitch mcconnell -- all of them are coconspirators in what donald trump has done to this country. >> you know, and i think john heilemann, the way that that manifests on a day like today is unlike every commemoration i have ever seen for september 11th or for any other horrific attack on an american seat of government or an american institution. even the participation today was not really particularly bipartisan. >> no. i mean, right, nicolle. it's like the standard -- the position of the republican party right now in congress of whom 147, 149 members, after the sacking of the capitol, after their lives were threatened, after the life of the vice president of their party was threatened, after their colleagues' lives were threatened -- after all of that, they still walked back in and voted in favor of decertifying the election, overturning the results of a free and fair election on the basis of a fraud len conspiracy theory. so they -- the night of 1/6, a lot of those republicans doubled down on that lie, and they have not only stuck with it, but they adhere to it even more now than before. the big lie is bigger in the republican party than it was a year ago. it was big enough a year ago to start an insurrection. now, today, more republicans believe the big lie than before. it is the litmus test for elected officials. the "washington post" reported today at the statewide level 163 people running for office over offices that will control elections in 2022 and beyond, governors, attorneys general, secretaries of state, 163 of them out there who believe and espouse the big lie, bigger than before. you know, all of those things. so, of course, what congressional republicans want and what their position has been is to say we don't like this -- we don't like the guys who broke into the capitol, it was an isolated incident, it was a riot, let's move on. it wasn't an insurrection. it wasn't a threat to our democracy. it is certainly not an ongoing threat to our democracy which all of the people on this panel, and all the people on this show and all the people in their right mind believe that it is. that's still not true because most of them still believe or say they believe is joe biden is not the ritz president of the united states. so their participation in this memorial today has been almost none existent. give them points for consistency. they don't think joe biden should be president and donald trump should be. at least they are sticking to their guns but they are pretty rotten guns. >> congressman, the men and the women of the capitol police have become unwilling narrators to horrors of that day. and the 1/6 committee has not done much in terms of public hearings. but the one they did featured the testimony of officers doesn't and fannone and gunnell and others. i wonder what their thoughts are today and whether it is the ultimate failure to the people who laid down their bodies, their faces, their eyes, burned with chemicals and then have put down what john heilemann described, their tasked with day in and day out. >> i agree with way you articulated it. as you know, officer sicknick's family was here during the remembrances shared by members. it was important for us to be able to have the opportunity to thank his family for his sacrifice and the sacrifices by all the capitol police officers who risked their lives to save members of congress and the staff who were in the capitol that day. i want to underscore something that former senator mccaskill said. i was in the house chamber this morning with the speaker and my colleagues for a moment of silence to honor the capitol police officers who sacrificed so much. and the only republicans in the chamber were of course liz cheney, a brave ref representative and colleague of mine to the north, wyoming, and her father, vice president cheney. that tells you a lot about the current status of the republican party in the united states. i pray that people of good faith on both sides of the aisle will speak truth to power in the way that president biden did so eloquently today. thats that simply not been the case for the vast majority of colleagues on the other side of the aisle. >> congressman are you aware of any efforts to moneyor the men and women of the capitol police that did not take place today? are they sort of absent from this debt of gratitude i assume all of you feel toward those who literally paid with psychological and physical wounds and in five instances, their lives? >> yeah. no, members throughout the day have been working to recognize the capitol police officers who are today here doing their job as they do each and every day, risking it all to protect members of congress, the staff, and this citadel of liberty, the united states capitol. there was a lunch served for all capitol police earlier todays as well as an opportunity to thank not just the capitol police but the staff of the capitol, the janitorial staff, the many men and women who every day work to protect this building. i know you will real some of the most iconic and lasting images for me from january 6th from the janitorial staff cleaning after the insurrectionists after they had sacked this building. >> i guess, claire -- i didn't mean was anything happening? my question was whether or not republicans participated? republicans certainly benefit in the security provided by capitol police as well. i think, ircla, what feels so irrepairably fractured is the ability to take this force -- if they had political leanings before the insurrection, i can't imagine -- i mean, who -- if they had any, they were unknown, right? so you have got this body, this capitol police force, that is now chum in the water for trumpism, that is fair game for paying with their lives, paying with their bodies, paying with their psychological well-being for this toxic stew that is so unsavory. but you have only got one member and her father, a former vice president, there to mark the day. i don't know, claire, what that says about where we are heading. but it tells like somewhere worse than where we have been. >> it is astounding to me. let's just strip away everything and look at the pure politics of this. that the republican party, in their failty to donald trump is willing to totally just punch law enforcement in the gut. i mean, you know, set aside the big lie. set aside how long it took donald trump to recover from his dleeful loving of the violence on television to finally tell people to go home. set all that aside, can't you shut up long enough to say thank you to the police officers? is that too much to ask? that like somehow going to lose you votes in the republican party, to thank the police officers? and let's make one thing clear here. i believe that 90 to 95% of the republicans that are in congress full well know it's a lie. they don't believe that there is anything about this election that was -- that was suspect. they know it was a free and fair election. every trump judge. every trump law enforcement official. every trump election official. every trump governor and secretary of state has said so. they know it's a lie. they don't care. they just assume snub recognizing the police because they are so afraid of the base of their party in primaries. >> i what came up in this vigil over and over again was trauma. congressman jamie raskin was talking about the unthinkable twin traumas of the loss of his son and the capitol insurrection in the same day's span. i wonder if you can speak to the trauma of other members and of the law enforcement members we have been talking about and of the capitol staff. how are you all doing? >> well, jamie raskin is a close friend, of course. we served together during the course of the second impeachment trial. he's one of my closest friends in the united states congress. i started reading his book, the unthinkable. i texted him last night that i was riveted in particular after the loss he was feeling after the loss of his treasured son coupled with the role he was playing in protecting our democracy at that time. look, nicolle, there are a lot of members of congress and a lot of the staff here at the capitol for whom the trauma of january 6th will ultimately last a lifetime. i credit people like dan killede who has been very public about some of the trauma that he experienced and sharing that with the american public and encouraging folks to utilize the services available to address his own personal trauma. and then, of course, the capitol police officers. as senator mccaskill said, it astound me that republicans here in the congress are unwilling to be able to recognize all that these officers sacrificed to protect them and us during the course of the tragic events of that day. >> congressman, thank you for making time to start us off. claire and john are around for the hour. when we come back, these images don't tell you where the republicans are today. the only republicans on the house floor to commemorate today were congressman liz cheney and her father, former congressman and vice president of the united states dick cheney. plus an avalanche of warnings before january 6th of last year all went unheeded. we will ask why, and whether things improved over the course of the last 365 days. later on in the program, the fight for democracy is really just beginning. what the next year looks like in that battle. all those stories and more after our coverage, nurse, in america, continues. in america, continues. people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible... with rybelsus®. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood 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stupid as your papa." >> well, i'm -- it's not a leadership that resembles of the folks i knew when i was here for ten years. >> my daughter can take care of herself. >> that was former vice president dick cheney, blasting republican leadership for the way they handled the events of january 6th. cheney and his daughter, january 6th select committee vice chair liz cheney were the only two members of the republican party, elected officials, or former elected officials, present on the house floor for the moment of silence that took place earlier today. a third republican, adam kinzinger said he was unable to attend but was there in spirit. meanwhile some of the biggest figures in republican leadership, kevin mccarthy, lindsey graham and mitch mcconnell are accusing democrats of politicizing the anniversary of the insurrection and not the disgraced expresident who spent months trying to whitewash the insurrection and defend the insurrectionists themselves. what a difference a year makes. here's what some of those very same people said last year when it happened. >> trump and i, we've had a hell of a journey. i hate it to end this way. my god, i hate it. from my point of view, he has been a consequential president. but today, first thing you will see. all i can say is count me out. enough is enough. >> if this election were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral. >> the president bears responsibility for wednesday's attack on congress by mob rioters. >> we showed you the sound bytes, not to prove they are all liars. we showed it to set up this from adam kinzinger today. >> as republicans i think we are almost in a worse position than we were the day after january 6th. on january 7th there was kind of a sense among gop members of congress of silence, let's wait, see where this goes. obviously, a few people were outspoken, incredibly, liz cheney for one. i was trying to be outspoken as well. and then kevin mccarthy went to mar-a-lago, and he took -- he basically took the paddles out of the ambulance and resurrected donald trump's political life. by the way, history books will record that the reason donald trump is still a force today, i promise you is one man -- kevin mccarthy -- who went down and resurrected him. >> so, john heilemann, that dynamic is precisely right, and it forces us to throw away any usage of the term hostages. donald trump didn't take the party hostage. donald trump killed himself basically in his connect after the election leading up to 1/6, and one man resurrected him. kevin mccarthy. >> you know, nicolle, i don't -- there is no question in my mind that kevin mccarthy -- that is a pivotal, key moment in what happened. i would say, and i think claire who suggested something in the previous block, i think to say only kevin mskt is to blame here lets a lot of other people off the hook. i think the reality is that mitch mcconnell, who hates donald trump and hates what donald trump has done to the party and hates trumpism and hates having to deal with all of it. there was discussion i remember well of mitch mcconnell putting together a bloc of senate republicans who might vote to convict donald trump in the -- after the impeachment, the second impeachment. instead of ended up giving scathing speech but voting to exonerate him and then recovered to get involved in building a diplomat by camerale committee to investigate six. lip see graham said i am off the trump train, i have given up. he has been one of the most slavishly devoted towedies to donald trump. that was a symbolic moment, right in i am cutting him loose he said, and he was playing golf with him a couple weeks later. i think mccarthy's move was symbolic, important, and of course crucially what people forget about that, that he went to mar-a-lago, he leaked the pictures to make sure everybody knew he went to mar-a-lago. it was clear what he was doing, politically and symbolically. go back to those 147, 149 republicans who voted to overturn the election results and in those days from 1/6, to 1/14, the key week the whole party walked away from the moment when they could have retethered themselves to reality and tried to reclaim some semblance of what the republican party used to be. they made a collective decision that they weren't going to walk away from donald trump and they all applied the paddles to donald trump's political future and his political influence. and today he is i would argue more powerful in the republican party than he was even as president. >> claire, karl rove writes in the "wall street journal" this about where the republicans are vis-a-vis trump and insurrection. if democrats had done what trump supporters did on that violent january 6th, republicans would have criticized them mercilessly and been right to do so. republicans would have torched any high official who encouraged rye lens or stood mute while it was wanged. republicans would have demanded an investigation to find out who was responsible for the violence and been right to do so. there can be no soft pedaling what happened and no solution for those who planned encouraged and aided the attempt to overthrow our democracy. love of country demands nothing less. that is true patriotism. it is notable, i guess, for the fact that it is notable on the american right that someone who has played a role in winning republican campaigns has to even say those things. but he exists in an information ecosystem will that will not be well received, at least publicly. >> yeah. i -- if somebody would have said to me ten years ago, you know, you are going to be on television, and you are going to be praising dick cheney and karl rove -- >> fair enough. >> i would say no, no, i don't think that's gonna happen. [ laughter ] that will not happen to me ever in my lifetime, but here i am. >> let's re -- i guess -- how bad is it. the better way to put it -- this is why it is illustrative. how -- i know, i have a good sense of where our viewers are. i don't think there is anyone our viewers hold more responsible than the bushehra policy but dick cheney was there for his daughter to show respect. america was attacked a year ago today and in that building where the memorial went down one republican, with dick cheney. that's how bad the republicans are, claire. >> what i have to say about karl rove, and kick complainy and liz cheney and the other republicans that are standing up to donald trump is that the only way you get rid of a really bad leader a corrupt leader, a leader that doesn't respect the truth or the constitution or what is in essence america is by good leaders. and i don't have to agree with republicans on everything. i don't agree with them on much. but up until now, there had been an unwritten law that there were certain lines you didn't cross. peaceful transfer of power. no insurrections, not lying nonstop about the results of an election to your party. those were lines you didn't cross. and almost all of the republican leaders are just fine with it right now. and that's why i find myself praising karl rove and dick cheney, because they are not just fine with it. >> i say this about what dick cheney and karl rove understand. they worked for a president whose policies were justifiably polarizing not just on the other side of the isle but in the republican party. some harshest critics of bush-era policies were republicans. i think to people like dick cheney and karl rove, who is also unrecognizable is the stalinesque nature of falling in line for a leader. i mean, there is something unrecognizable for this version of servitude that mitch mcconnell, who was obviously around when george bush and dick cheney were in power -- that, too s totally unrecognizable. john. >> yeah -- well, yes, i think that's right, nicolle. there is no doubt about that. and the degree, you know, of -- of just the uniform -- the fact of -- that trump commands the kind of loyalty -- trump and trumpism -- that party has become so homogenous is an unthinkable. we used to think republicans were disciplined and democrats were more cats and dogs. looking back on it now youi look at the old republican they were moderate republicans and centrists and conservative and far right republicans. now there are just trump republicans. i thinks that unthinkable for dick cheney and karl rove. the difference between these two guy -- i am going to use liz cheney as a proxy for dick cheney because i don't know what dick cheney actually thinks. liz cheney is out to -- is out to change the republican party in a fundamental way, where she says anybody who is with donald trump, anybody who says that -- who adheres to the big lie, all of those people are not real republicans. her position seems to be a position -- i know a lot of the viewers of this network hate her other positions on other things. but she is not just anti-trump, she is anti-trumpism. >> right. >> i think one of the questions that you would have to ask karl rove, is he thinks donald trump is toxic politically for the republican party. he wants trump going to be abecause he thistle cost seats in the house and seats in the senate. i am not sure that he has the same few about the rot at the core of the republican party that liz cheney and maybe her father do. >> i mean, let's be totally blunt if we are having this conversation about these two men. i don't know that we could ever know because of where karl rove is employed. a lot of what liz is targeting make up his spiritship. we may never get to the bottom of it. liz cheney believes she has to bun down trumpism to get to what she believes is the old republican party again. the old republican party wasn't a risk to the rule of law, to our homeland security, to the constitution. we will put a pin in this one. up next, how confident are security officials today? do they have a better handle on another potential coup? we will ask two experts that question next. k two paexperts tt question next. ♪ i see them bloom ♪ ♪ for me and you ♪ ♪ and i think to myself ♪ ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ a rich life is about more than just money. that's why at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner so you can build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. people with moderate to severe psoriasis, or psoriatic arthritis, are rethinking the choices they make like the splash they create the way they exaggerate the surprises they initiate. otezla. it's a choice you can make. otezla is not an injection or a cream it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and 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sick days! cold coming on? zicam is the #1 cold shortening brand! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam. zinc that cold! the only way we'll truly move forward january 6th is by speaking truth to power. we cannot avoid it. the truth about what happened that day. about what led to the violence. what we must do instead is stare the truth, however ugly, in the face. the attack of january 6th didn't come out of the blue. >> that was majority leader chuck schumer on the senate floor today. part of that truth obviously is massive intelligence and security failure in the weeks and days before. today a january 6th select committee aide tells nbc news its designated blue team is quietly looking at documents and looking at what was missed or not assessed from the intelligence that was apparent before january 6th. mean while, current officials organize the volume of information regardless of how dependable or specific should have been enough. that includes janelle harvin who warned federal agencies days before about what was coming. what he said on this program, you didn't need to be an intelligence agent to predict. he tells nbc news, quote, what that was was a lot of not critical not specific information that should have prevented a response. not necessarily knocking on someone's door getting a subpoena but it should have prompted a response at the federal level. joining us now, johnel ar vin and frank fig luisy. claire and hilemon are still around. donnel, we have talked. i mean your words about wanting to make sure the hospitals had enough blood on supply for a mass casualty event to me are the whole story of what you, one security official knew was possible. when you look at where we are one year later, do you feel like there would be more than just you who would know what was possible in an even like january 6th were in the planning stages again? >> well, i don't think we would experience january 6th again like we did a year ago. i think. the threat has evolved and its changed. i can say a lot of the signs that were missed before i believe that the intelligence and homeland security enterprise looking at, they arablizing that information and look at ways to get better after january 6th. but there is certainly a possibility -- and this is my concern -- that we are so busy looking in the rearview mirror of what happened last year that we are not looking at the threat that's in front of us and we are going to bump right into it. >> and what does that threat look like right now that is in front of us? >> the threat is that the ideology, the blended and mixed ideologies that came together at the capitol this time last year are still together, they are still plotting. they are still just as effective and operationally sound as they were on january 6th. and they just basically blended back into the states. so instead of waiting for the very last moment to affect an election, the analysis suggests that the battle is going to be back at the states. consider the fact that if the federal government wasn't prepared for what happened on january 6th, what is a state and a local authority going to be prepared for. >> frank, we talk about a lot in the context of the fraudits, we talk about it in the context of the threats to school board members. we talk about it in the context of ongoing efforts to strip election officials of authority and replace them with folks who see the world the way the twice-impeached expresidencies them. what has -- if anything, what has scaled to the state and local level to where the threats have moved out to? >> excellent question because we are looking at what i would call an trend trenched insurgency. it is no longer an emergent threat. you can't say we are going to stop the three percenters. and the oath keepers. there are over 700 indictments. that is having an impact. but the effect is people saying i don't want to be arrested a the capitol, i am going to go local. it is a strategy. and melding with people in suits and ties who go, yep, we are going local, taking over, through violent threats often by the way electoral processes. what changed at state and local levels with regard to intelligence, not a whole lot everybody is looking a the feds, the dhs, they have got to get it right. i have a topic on this, who has got to get it right next time? largely the state and locals with lots of support by dhs and fbi. next time at the capitol we are going to have a physical security. i am talking about intelligence, looking a the threat moving forward. >> can we be explicit about what that threat is moving forward, and how we communicate? you know, the forces that came to the capitol on that day were described by congressman raskin as the outer two rings were all the supporters of donald trump who came to the capitol, went into it, participated in the insurrection. but also the extremist groups who were more organized. and you see that in the different charges. some of those members have been charged with conspiracies. how do local law enforcement agencies sort of differentiate between the one-offs and the organized militia members in their localities? >> well -- and let me add to that challenge by what we've always talked about, which is the kind of threat within the ranks of radicalized law enforcement that still represents well in the -- among to defendants for the january 6th violence. so it's quite a challenge. intelligence has to get better. so when you are talking about county and state police organizations, yes, they have intelligence units. some of them quite sophisticated in major locations, but mostly not. mostly not. and the counties we are talking about, some states we are talking about, don't have them. we talked about the mantra of defund the police being a a horrible message. well, it is a horrible reality. honestly, what all of us need from local and state law enforcement is actually going cost more money. if i were looking at grants and dhs funding i would be beefing up intelligence units and getting them trained on what the extremist threat looks like right now and how to get out in front of it. we need that. and then we really need a change -- we talk about what change fbi going to get better this? well, what's changed? where's the law? where's the a.g. guidelines, the doj guidelines that govern how the fbi director conducts major domestic terror operations? there's no change there. it's a change of mindset. something terrible's happened, we're going get better, share with locals now, get in front of threats on social media. that's a mindset change. it's not a legal change or a technique change and until that happens, i remain not very confident that we've got the tools necessary. >> claire, you saw -- you chaired, i think, at one time the homeland security committee and what frank's talking about is something that every law enforcement expert that comes on this program points to. i mean, we have freedom of association and freedom of speech, and we have accurately identified the different threat as one that sits at that nexus of domestic violent extremism and those inspired to act on it and organized amongst themselves but not a single change to the law has taken place. how do we help our law enforcement and intelligence agencies protect us from this threat if we all agree it's the greatest one? >> i think it's really a challenge, and we have had this challenge ever since 9/11, because we have tried to give law enforcement the tools but having a great deal of respect for our constitution and the protections that citizens have against unlawful intrusion by the government. and freedom of speech. so, it is a tricky one. i will tell you that the other thing that we have not talked about in this context of security threats is that 1 in 10 of the people who participated in the mob or who were arrested were former military. and we have people like general mike flynn and former admirals and generals that were all part of a cabal of military that were all down for the big lie and for trying to -- an insurrection and a coup against our government. so, not only do we have to worry about whether law enforcement is prepared and can ferret out domestic terrorism, which this is. we also have to worry about our military and making sure that chain of command and command and control of the military remains firmly in the hands of those that want to keep politics out of america's military. i think both of those are challenges going forward. >> let me pull into our coverage, my colleague, nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent, garrett haake. tell me what the conversation has turned to at this hour up on capitol hill. >> reporter: well, it's a pretty one-sided conversation, and i think that's part of the frustration. i mean, we've been watching all day long, these remembernesses. it's just democrats here participating in this and that's my biggest disappointment from this last year is how quickly everything that this entire community, the thousands of people who make up the capitol hill community, that we all experienced together in largely the same way a year ago, became, within a matter of days, if not hours, just another thing that at least in this setting, was about which jersey you were wearing, the political spin, the political advantage. we talk about it in the same ways we talk about any other political issue and when i started reading statements today from republicans who weren't here, talking about the idea there might have been democratic overreach in how they connected the january 6th to voting rights issues, it just blew my mind that we have fallen so deeply into that kind of trench here on this anniversary of going back at this same old way. >> well, only one side is in the trench. where are all the republicans, garrett? they busy? they doing their nails? where are they? >> reporter: well, a lot of senate republicans are at the funeral for johnny isaacson, the republican senator from georgia, a beloved figure up here. many of them are in georgia for that. house republicans are just wherever they feel like being today. the house isn't voting today. they're not in session. and house republicans, with those -- the exception of the one named cheney didn't come today. they didn't feel compelled to be part of this. again, they said it was a political demonstration. there was essentially a statement from kevin mccarthy that made that argument, that this is just about politics. not even about remembering the people who died here, both rioters and police officers. i mean, five people lost their lives here and that has been almost entirely washed away by the politics of this. >> john heilemann, i remember, and it will be seared in my brain forever, the images of that building behind garrett haake, the evacuations and there were not democrats running with democrats and republicans running with republicans. there were democrats and republicans largely running for their lives, and maybe the republicans were faking it. maybe they wanted to walk, but they felt like they had to run. i don't know. i wouldn't put anything past them at this point, but how does something from which you run to safety become something that you don't come back a year later and thank the folks who rushed you to safety? how are we where garrett describes? >> well, i think there's only one for it, nicole, which is a kind of cowardice, right? i mean, just play out the scenario in your head here, right? we talked about this a little earlier in the hour. you know, the -- as you know, i was up there that day, and we watched, you know, all the stuff that played out and then we saw the congress get reconvened and we saw members of the house walk back in and we saw matt gaetz stand up and say that, already on the floor, that night, got up and started spreading misinformation about what the nature of the riot at the capitol was and about whether there might be antifa or black lives matter protesters in the group, and all that stuff started happening immediately and then 140-some of them voted to overturn the election results. in the immediate aftermath, the same night that this happened, right? so, play it out today. they come back to the capitol to pay homage to the fallen -- and to the fallen officers of the capitol police force and to those who still work for them and protect them every day. they're going get asked questions by garrett and others, you're here for this memorial for 1/6, you're here for this memorial to commemorate the insurrection, and yet you continue to say that joe biden is not the legitimate president of the united states. how do you square that, congressman x, republican? and i think they know those questions will be asked. i think they do not want to answer them, so i think they stay away. and i think that's, to me, it's the definite of cowardice and i think that's the only answer. they want to maintain the political position they have, and they know that if they showed up here today, they would be called hypocrites and rightly so. >> well, we'll call them hypocrites in absentia. i'm always grateful to call on you when news breaks but especially on a day like today when we try to cover the story and reflect a little bit. so, my gratitude. i treasure all of you, especially today. thank you so much for spending some time with us today. our special coverage of insurrection in america continues after a short break. insurrection in america continues after a short break. it's your home. and there's no place like wayfair to make your reach-in closet, feel like a walk-in closet now that's more your style. make the morning chaos, organized chaos. and make sure everything's in it's place. so nothing is out of place. however you make it, make your home a place like no other. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner with access to financial advice, tools and a personalized plan that helps you build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. wondering what actually goes into your multivitamin? at new chapter, its' innovation, organic ingredients, and fermentation. fermentation? yes. formulated to help you body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness, well done. ♪♪ january 6th marks not the end of democracy but the beginning of a renaissance of liberty and fair play. i did not seek this fight brought to this capitol one year ago today, but i will not shrink from it either. i will stand in this breach. i will defend this nation. and i'll allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy. >> hi again, everyone, it's 5:00 in new york. continuing our special coverage, "insurrection in america," marking the anniversary of the january 6th capitol attack. remembering the day when our democracy came under physical attack and reflecting on the ongoing fight before us to preserve american democracy. at the bottom of the hour, members of congress will hold a prayer vigil on the capitol steps to mark the solemn day. we'll bring that to you as soon as it gets under way. as president biden said, january 6th marks not the end of democracy but the beginning of a renaissance of liberty and fair play. however, that will only be true if we, as americans, play an active role in ensuring that that is our reality. because right now, the falsehoods and the grievances that led to that day are still very much at the forefront of many minds, in some ways more so than ever before. nearly a third of all americans believe it's justified at times to use violence against the government. we have elected officials spreading lies, trying to rewrite history and stoking division. we have political -- one political party so determined and desperate to hold on to power, it is assaulting our democracy in plain sight. rewriting and enacting laws across many states that seek to suppress the right to vote and destabilize free and fair elections. as bart gelman writes in his stunning piece in "the atlantic" that came out one month ago, january 6th was practice. donald trump's gop is much better positioned to subvert the next election. these threats to our democracy and national security only further underscore the need to investigate the events of january 6th and make certain it is not repeated and thanks to the work of many investigative journalists and the house select committee, we are getting a clear picture of exactly what happened that day. as well as all the things that led up to it. we know about the ex-president's many attempts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election, the pressuring of his doj as well as a pressure campaigns waged against local election officials to change results. we now know about the detailed coup plot outlined in black and white, in ink, in john eastman's memo. we now know that on the day of the capitol attack, many in trump's orbit begged his chief of staff to have him stop the riot, to have him make it stop. we know there are currently efforts under way to determine whether the ex-president committed a crime by seeking to obstruct an official proceeding as well as much, much more. questions still remain. the committee continues its work and supporters of democracy all across this country and around the world are warning of the severe consequences should we lose this fight for american democracy. in just the last hour, congressman jason crow, colorado, spoke to this critical moment and the chance we have to save our own republic. watch. >> this is an opportunity for a new type of american patriotism. and it will look different. it's a type of american patriotism that's rooted in humility and understanding that, yes, we have had problems and we still do, but there is strength in recognizing our challenges. let's make it a year of democracy and action. volunteer. advocate. and engage. we can come through this better and stronger than we went into it, but only if americans stand up, unite, and defend it. >> looking back on january 6th to move forward is where we begin this hour with some of our most favorite reporters and friends. congressman jason crow is here with us. he's a member of the intelligence and armed services committees. also joining us, luke broadwater, "new york times" congressional reporter, betsy woodruff swan, national correspondent for politico as well as an msnbc contributor and daniel goldman, former u.s. assistant attorney for the southern district of new york and former house impeachment inquiry majority counsel during donald trump's first impeachment trial. congressman, i start with you. we watched your remarks as they happened. your thoughts to everything that's transpired today. >> hi, nicole. good to be with you and good to be with my friend, dan goldman, as well. you know, this is a opportunity for us. this has been a day of somber reflection, of course, and we owe a great debt of gratitude to those officers who are not with us anymore, who gave their lives to save us that day and to save the capitol and made sure that the election process continues. that's a debt that we can't repay, but we can honor their memory by seeking truth and accountability. but the opportunity for america here is to renew their commitment to this country. new american patriotism, as i spoke about and the president spoke about as well, for us to address it with humility, with honesty and with a renewed vigor to say, this is our country, we will stand up, fight for it, defend it. we will not allow autocrats to win. >> what's so remarkable about your speech and about the president's speech is that no one thinks we're anywhere other than at a binary choice. we cannot keep going. the middle -- the path we thought we were on is no longer available. i'm going to show you something the president said about violence and the prospect of political violence. >> so, at this moment, we must decide what kind of nation are we going to be? are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm? or are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people? are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies? we cannot allow ourselves to be that kind of nation. the way forward is to recognize the truth and to live by it. >> congressman, both you and the president seem to really be calling on people to pay even closer attention. i know we all do. as journalists, cover it, and you're sort of in the body in which the attack happened. it's impossible to escape it even if you wanted to. but we hear anecdotally and we hear from some of our viewers, some people, i just wanted things to snap back to normal with a normal president in president biden. that's not on the menu, is it? >> well, we are in a very unprecedented time, and trust me, i would love things to get back to normal in some ways, but you know, we didn't get here overnight. i think we have to recognize that the conditions that led to january 6th have been with our country for decades or even since the beginning of our country. the confederate flag was paraded around. racism and white supremacy was a big part of what happened on january 6th and that's an original sin we have never dealt with as a nation. so, therein lies an opportunity for us to have more honest and humble conversations to actually come out of this better. but to your earlier point, nicole, about a binary choice here, in some ways, this is binary, because i don't negotiate, nor should any of us ever negotiate with terrorists. we are encountering a domestic extremist movement that is out and proud about the fact that they want to use violence to achieve political ends and to usurp our democratic process. that is the stated goal of many of these groups. i will not negotiate with that. that is nonnegotiable. we will push back. we won't allow them to do that. >> and the evidence of that is laid bare in these images. congressman, i'm going to put up some of the pictures with you in them in the chamber, helping to pass out gas masks, and you drew on your own experience in the military, lots of your members said that you took charge, i believe, is how you were described. what do you do with your memories of the horror of that day and what could have happened? >> well, i think about it often. i reflect on that. you know, what was interesting to me is how my prior life, my experience as an army ranger at war in iraq and afghanistan, a life that i thought i left behind many years ago, and i have moved past that, that life came back to me that day a year ago today, and i had to tap into those skills and that mindset again, and i'm dealing with that. i'm resentful in some ways about that. i still harbor some anger at the folks who assaulted and tried to kill me and my colleagues and those police officers and tried to undermine our democratic process, but you know, i'm a leader. i'm in a position of leadership, and we are in a moment of crisis for our country, and i will do what's necessary to lead and to find a path forward. >> now, luke, i regret that we don't start more of our conversations about the work of the 1/6 committee where we started today. with the intended victims of the violence. there were the members. they were the former vice president. and they were -- the folks who turned out to be the victims of a lot of the most brutal violence were the capitol police officers. you write in a searing magazine piece this week about their experience that day and their experience of the last year and their bitterness at their -- the fact of the attack being denied by one of the two parties they product on capitol hill. talk about the reporting that went into that piece. >> sure. thanks, nicole. over the past four or five months, susan and i, for the "new york times" magazine, interviewed dozens of capitol police officers, some who were willing to be named and go on the record, and some who wanted to talk confidentially. so, we compiled a report that's out this weekend in the sunday magazine, online now, and what you see almost across the board is how deep this impact was to these officers and their lives. i mean, there are people on the force who are still out, 135 officers resigned or retired from the force after january 6th. you have people who still feel the repercussions of traumatic brain injuries, who still have fainting spells. you have people who are still severely depressed from what happened. people who are still undergoing surgeries from that day. and so i think it's important to always remember, as we talk about the politics of january 6th and how the different parties are responding, how -- the true victims of this attack were the frontline officers of the capitol police and the d.c. police departments who really bore the brunt of this attack, being hit with hockey sticks and being sprayed with bear spray and the like. and so hopefully, people will have some time to sit down with that piece and read it and get firsthand accounts of what really happened to these officers. >> and just a little reader's guide, it is really -- it's an intense experience. i listened to it first before i had time to sit down to read from it. i'm going to read a little bit from it. you report this. officer harry dun knew that the capitol police department was depleted. many were out recovering from their injuries or out sick with covid or out because they had quit which put more pressure on the officers still on the force. still expected to provide security for long and unpredictable sessions of congress, officers say they were typically receiving only one or two days off per month. those who served on january 6th were granted only two 8-hour shifts of administrative leave, but many officers felt they were unable to take that leave, much less ask for more. officers feerld if they went on leave for their mental health, they would only burden their colleagues or jeopardize their job prospects. i would not be surprised if down the road the department gets sued big-time for their lack of action after january 6th, one officer said, referring to mental health effects of such long hours after the attack. what's amazing, luke, and what was opaque to me covering this from a distance and not up close the way you covered this story, is that the crisis has not abated at all for the capitol police department. >> yes, and so, what we've seen since january 6th is not only were more and more officers out, so that created a greater workload for those who were still on duty, but threats against congress increased, and so they had more threats to investigate, more lawmakers to look out for, and so they were stretched even thinner, and so that caused increased overtime, caused tremendous overtime cost, that caused mandatory overtime shifts for people who hadn't had days off in a long time, and were -- had to come back to the scene of the crime where they were attacked or they fought off the pro-trump mob, so you can see how this compounded the trauma for many officers. and then, you mentioned harry dunn. he's a special case, i think, because he took it upon himself to go and then lobby for the january 6th commission, the independent commission, and so in that piece, we take you inside the rooms where harry dunn, the sicknick family, and others, officer fanone, are lobbying republican senators to try to get them to vote for this bipartisan, independent commission, and some of those conversations, how frustrated and angry the officers and their families left these meetings after hearing the reasons why republican senators did not want to create an independent commission. >> i'm going to put some video up from the house members what were there today, recognizing officer sicknick's parents, charles and gladys, but i want to ask you, congressman crow, what explanation was given to the police force that protects every member, regardless of party, for the absence of every single republican member of the house and senate except for liz cheney and her father? >> well, nicole, if there's been an explanation, i certainly haven't seen it. i mean, if there's ever an instance where politics should be set aside and the good of the country should prevail, it would be in a situation like this where you literally have an attack on the capitol with over 140 police officers brutally beaten, some of whom died as a result of the attack, a derailing of the process, and by the way, republicans and democrats were attacked that day. it was indiscriminant. if there were ever a time where you could put politics aside, you would think this would be it. unfortunately, that did not happen. i've never heard an explanation given by my republican colleagues, and i think that's probably because they don't have one. they, frankly, didn't show up today. there was a rememberance ceremony. i know fallen officers' families would have liked to see people come together. that's not what happened. >> the 1/6 committee investigating the attack is inching closer and closer to a full and complete picture of everyone that was involved and in on the coup, if you will, dan goldman. i want to show you congressman jamie raskin's comments on this program yesterday about the three rings that the investigation focuses on. >> there was a mass demonstration, a wild demonstration called by donald trump that turned into a riot, okay? that was the outer ring of activity. the middle ring of activity was the insurrection itself, and that was the proud boys, the oath keepers, the three percenters, the militia groups, the first amendment praer toian, a bunch of organized extremist violent groups that were training for battle that broke our windows and that began the assault on the police officers that the rioters filled in on. but the scariest part of the day was really the inner ring of the coup, and there, the whole point was to try to force vice president mike pence to declare completely lawless powers to unilaterally reject and repudiate electoral college votes from arizona, from georgia, from pennsylvania and a handful of other states. >> so, dan, i have two questions about that. it would appear that witnesses like former white house press secretary stephanie grisham, who reported that donald trump was watching the insurrection gleefully, in her words, is an eye-witness to that third ring, the coup. is that your sense of where the 1/6 committee's investigation has taken them? >> i think it's increasingly going there, and i think that what -- when chairman thompson talks about getting a minute-by-minute schedule of what donald trump was doing that day, what others around him were doing that day, it's largely to get into the psyche of the white house and what their role was in the coup, and a lot of this extra evidence from before and after january 6th goes to what the mental state would be in terms of criminal law and in terms of what donald trump was thinking, intending, what others around him wanted to happen. and one of the difficulties that i think the department of justice is going to have by focusing narrowly on january 6th is there's enough daylight between donald trump's speech on the ellipse and the actual invasion of the capitol that it becomes hard, from a criminal standpoint, to charge someone like donald trump or others who spoke at the ellipse or who clearly did incite the insurrection, but it's hard to charge them based on what happened on january 6th alone with obstructing the counting of the vote, which is a federal crime. but if you broaden it out to the larger coup, and i think this is where congressman raskin stopped, if you broaden it out to what transpired in the months leading up to january 6th, it provides a much better perspective on what the intent was of donald trump, what the intent was of others around him, and then when you see that two, two-and-a-half hour period where as stephanie grisham said he was sitting there gleefully watching television, that goes very much to what his intent is. so one of the benefits, although it is not the purpose of the january 6th committee, but one of the benefits is going to be that very detailed analysis of what occurred on january 6th. then, the department of justice can use some of that information to make a decision as to whether there may be criminal charges that are related to january 6th but maybe not centered on january 6th. and so, what we can hope as we sit here on the anniversary, looking for the truth and accountability that jason referenced so eloquently a few minutes ago, we hope there can be some coordination and collaboration, not directly, but indirectly between the department of justice and between the january 6th committee so we get both a full accounting of what happened and the people who perpetrated the offenses of trying to overturn the election, of trying to obstruct a lawful -- an official proceeding of the counting of the votes, they can be prosecuted if the evidence warrants that. and so, congressman raskin's three rings are accurate as it relates just to january 6th, but when you start looking beyond that, nicole, that's, i think, where the real criminal liability may lie for those in the white house and at the top levels of government. >> well, and just to be fair, i mean, liz cheney has made clear in the records request for mark meadows, which led him after turning over tens of thousands of documents, including all the text messages from the ex-president's son and sean hannity and whatnot to then be held in criminal contempt of congress. liz cheney sounds like she is pursuing what normally would look like a criminal investigation into all those contacts and communications and whether mark meadows was communicating with extremists and whatnot. and doj sounds like the beat cop just looking at the people that were carrying clubs and attacking the capitol. why does it look like that from the outside to me, dan goldman? >> well, there is -- does seem to be some inversion of roles here where the january 6th committee, you would expect to be focusing solely on january 6th but really they clearly are getting into the days and weeks before and leading up to january 6th and the department of justice, which should be looking at the whole picture, seems to be focused more on january 6th, and they are doing a fabulous job in getting to the bottom of what occurred and arresting numerous people who violated the law. but you are right that there does seem to be some disconnect as to what their specific roles are, and it is, i think, incumbent upon the department to look at this holistically and make sure that anyone who violated the laws, and particularly anyone who tried to overturn an election, is held liable for that conduct, which is a crime, separate from obstructing an official proceeding, it is a crime under section 371, which is the conspiracy statute of defrauding the united states, of interfering with a lawful election. it is a crime to try to knowingly and fradulently overturn an election and a lot of the evidence that you cited, nicole, at the top of this hour, goes to that crime and would be relevant in any investigation into donald trump and others. >> if it were happening. betsy woodruff, i understand you have breaking news. tell us about it. >> that's right. we've learned from four sources, including one former law enforcement official as well as a current white house official, that on january 6th at about 1:15 p.m., then vice president-elect kamala harris was in the dnc and was evacuated because of the bomb threat. this is really stunning. this means that the vice president-elect was inside a building with a bomb directly outside. it raises major questions about the level of security, the level of protection that she received on that day. her location at the moment when these attackers were first beginning to attack law enforcement, police officers, outside the capitol building, first beginning to surge over the gates, that location has not yet been previously reported, but we've confirmed it and now we can know that the level of security failure didn't just jeopardize members of congress. it actually jeopardized the then incoming vice president. the fact that she did not have the protection that she needed, the fact that she was in a building with a bomb right outside of it is absolutely stunning. and it just gives us a clearer picture of how much worse that day could have been. frankly, it was just luck that the day wasn't much more catastrophic. it's something that i'm still, frankly, trying to get my head around, that the secret service wasn't able to make sure that there wasn't this type of an incendiary device outside of a building that harris was in. it's sobering, and it has major repercussions going forward in terms of just how awful the security failures on january 6th were. >> i mean, betsy, you're at the forefront of the body of reporting that includes local d.c. officials who had the opposite reaction. they were prepared for mass casualty event. donnell wanted blood at the area hospitals for a potential mass casualty event. do you think this reporting that the incoming vice president's life was potentially at risk changes the degree of scrutiny that those security failures and -- i don't like calling them intelligence failures. they're sort of communication failures, failure to communicate the intelligence at the local d.c. homeland security official seemed to have well within his grasp. >> i don't like to call it an intelligence failure either because so many people knew before january 6th that violent far-right extremists were talking and planning, in public, about storming into the capitol building. he was at the forefront of that. he wasn't alone. he led that call with 300 nationwide law enforcement officials just in the days before january 6th talking about the possibility of a mass casualty event, and now what we know with this new reporting is just how dangerous that day was. the vice president's life, the vice president-elect's life, was in immediate danger. did the secret service do a bomb sweep around the dnc building before the vice president elect went in? if not, why not? if they did do a sweep, why didn't they discover this device? did they discover it and then let her go into the building and evacuate seven minutes later? it raises so many more questions about the timeline of that day. these issues of failure within the secret service are frankly not brand-new. it's a component of federal law enforcement that in the past, particularly during the obama administration, faced significant internal challenges because of failures to do what it needed to do to protect these incredibly consequential figures in our government. the fact that there was such a lax posture towards the day of january 6th, the fact that there was such a galling underestimation among some federal law enforcement officials about how violent and how awful that day could become, those facts resulted in the vice president-elect's life being in danger. they resulted in the awful attack on the capitol building, and it's something that law enforcement officials really have to grapple with. >> congressman, i know you have to get to the vigil, but i want to give you a chance to respond to betsy woodruff swan's breaking news. >> yeah, there's no doubt about the fact that there were multiple failures across multiple agencies. that's one of the reasons why i requested a gao investigation into what happened and actually we are now going through that investigation process with gao to look at how do we break down the silos between agencies? how do we better determine what intelligence is available to law enforcement and to disseminate that? how do we get the right leadership in the right place in these agencies? because you can have the best intelligence in the world. you can have the best regulations and guidelines in the world and collaboration between agencies but if you don't have the right leadership in the right places, none of that matters, and we really owe it to those officers and those agents who are on the front lines doing this work, those who gave their lives, gave their bodies in instances, are still dealing with the fallout from that. we owe it to them to actually do this the right way, ask the tough questions and get answers and fix it. >> it's just a stunning development and a stunning day. congressman, you've been so generous with your time. thank you so much. we'll let you get to that event. i want to come back to you, though, luke broadwater, i mean, your body of reporting about the police force and the congressman's comments about what they are owed, betsy's breaking news about the risk that the vice president faced, you want to say, well, if the republican vice president's life had been in danger, then everything would be different, but of course, that was the hallmark of january 6th, vice president mike pence was rushed from his senate enclave and that video seared in everyone's mind of him and his entire family running out of the capitol. is there any window in here for the sort of fever to break for anyone on the other side of the aisle that isn't named cheney or kinzinger to give a damn? >> you know, nicole, i've become very cynical about the fallout from january 6th in the early days afterwards, there did seem to be a shared purpose between the two parties about holding people accountable for january 6th, about condemning the mob violence, about identifying the perpetrators and bringing them to justice. first, that's a tremendous story from betsy. and you know, i'd like to point out, we still don't know who planted those bombs. that person is still at large, has not been arrested, and -- but yes, i mean, look, mike pence's life was obviously threatened. he had to be rushed out. people were chanting "hang mike pence." this was designed to put pressure on him and what has mike pence's reaction been? it has been now to call that one day in january and say democrats are making too much of it and that he just has a minor disagreement with president trump over what happened with the counting of electoral ballots so, you know, you can see anybody who wants to have a future in the republican party now there seems to be a litmus test about january 6th, and will you deny or down play or rewrite history about what happened, or will you, like liz cheney and adam kinzinger, agree to the truth, agree to believe your own eyes and then try to hold people accountable as both the leadership of the senate and the house republican caucuses demanded in the days after january 6th. >> it's just -- it is stunning. and sadly, i share your cynicism. it is incredible reporting from you, betsy woodruff swan, nbc news is following. we have confirmed what betsy's reporting, about the vice president's own life potentially being in danger. those pipe bombs planted outside the dnc and rnc, the perpetrator still at large as luke broadwater points out. with our eyes, we're going to look at this vigil outside of the steps of the u.s. capitol honoring january 6th. >> that you are loved. you are the source of all that is good. and just and true. and compassionate. we come before you, the fountain of all wisdom and the light of all truth. we come before you not in pride or arrogance, but we come before you in true humility. we come before you because we need your help. we need your help in these troubled times. we need your help for this beloved nation. we need your help for those who have been traumatized and troubled by the painful events of one year ago. and all that has continued since. we need your help, lord, now to be the democracy you would have us to be, to be the nation you would have us to be. one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. so, we ask you now to help us. help all those who are traumatized. help all of those who have lost loved ones. help those who are struggling. help us to be instruments of your peace. instruments of your love. and instruments of your healing. for this land, for this congress, for this government, for we, the people, for this country and this world. precious lord, we come not in arrogance or pride but humbly. precious lord, please take our hand, lead us on, let us stand. some of us are tired. some of us are weak. and some are worn. but through the storm, through the night, lead us on to the light. take our hands, precious lord, and lead us home. amen. >> ladies and gentlemen, master sergeant sara sheffield of the president's own united states marine band. ♪ my country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty ♪ ♪ of thee, i sing ♪ ♪ land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride ♪ ♪ from every mountainside, let freedom ring ♪ ♪ our fathers, god, to thee, author of liberty ♪ ♪ to thee, we sing ♪ ♪ long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light ♪ ♪ protect us by thy might ♪ ♪ great god, our king ♪♪ >> amen. >> we thank ms. shepherd for leading us in song, bishop curry for leading us in prayer. on behalf of the distinguished democratic leader of the senate, all of our colleagues from the house and senate, we prayerfully mark one year since the insurrection and patriotically honor the heroes who defended the capitol and our democracy that day. let us all here join in a moment of silence. in memory of those who lost their lives and sacrificed so much for our democracy. ♪ god bless america, land that i love ♪ ♪ stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above ♪ ♪ from the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam ♪ ♪ god bless america, my home sweet home ♪ ♪ god bless america, my home sweet home ♪♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining the prayer vigil. have a good rest of your evening. >> joining our ongoing coverage, mark elise, voting rights attorney and founder of the democracy docket. also with us, msnbc contributors, the former congresswoman donna edwards and eddie glued, chair of princeton university's department of african american studies. donna edwards, the body in which you served. your reaction. >> i have to tell you, nicole, i really am almost in tears, both looking at and listening to our former -- our former colleagues and thinking about the men and women of law enforcement who defended, protected that building that i worked in and served in and thinking about what president biden said earlier about the fragility of our democracy. i think that we are really challenged in this moment, and i could almost hear the song, the voice of mahalia jackson as bishop curry recited the words of "precious lord," and i think that not only do we have to be in prayer, but we do have to be in vigilance, standing on guard, all of us, not just our elected leaders, but all of us standing on guard to protect our democracy and this great republic, and looking now at the, you know, the picture of that capitol and that dome lit up, that belongs to each of us, and it was desecrated on january 6th and it's up to us to protect it. >> and eddie glaude, those sentiments forcefully argued by our president, president joe biden, as well as by congressman jason crow, the patriotism at this moment is an affirmative choice, an affirmation and it comes with a set of to-dos. you and i share a whole lot of despair, eddie glaude, at the failures of our government to protect us from a pandemic, to stare systemic racism in the eye, to care about our democracy, but it feels like the tone and tenor of those demanding that we stare into the dangers at the moment is turning up the volume. do you think that will shake people out of their apathy, if that's what it is, or exhaustion? >> i pray that is the case. one of the striking images that came to my mind during the vigil is not only the kind of recognition of those who sacrificed their lives, nicole, but i was thinking about all of those people who didn't show up. i was thinking about two americas, the america that is on display here, and those who took themselves to be in some ways defending america when they desecrated the capitol. that the nation, in some ways, that we're at each other's throats and a side has to be chosen. you have to choose a side. and today, president biden took the battle to them, to those folks who threatened the very foundation of our democracy, right? we have to defend this experiment. against the corrupt forces that threaten to take it out. and i think today marked, hopefully, an intensification of that battle over the soul of america. >> mac elias, you are on this battlefield day in and day out and we often turn to you about specific states and specific efforts in places like georgia and texas to make it harder to vote and to change and recast who the referees are who counts our votes. today's message from president biden was broader and it was hopefully to enlist more folks on that battlefield with you. is it -- do we still have time? i mean, did you hear it the way i heard it, and is there still -- can it still be saved? >> we still have time, but the clock is ticking closer and closer to midnight. and as i listen to the prayer vigil, i reflected back on the vigil, if you recall, that jc watts spoke at on september 12th, i think it was, 2001. and at that point, both democrats and republicans rallied around the republican president. we rallied against a common understanding that we needed to protect democracy. and so, as dark as things might have been, at those moments, and as scary as things were at those moments, it felt like, as someone born in new york and at the time living in washington, d.c., it felt like all america was rooting for us to save democracy. what i worry about right now is not just that we are running out of time. but it is whether or not we have a common purpose to save democracy. because when you look at that image of that prayer vigil right now, you didn't see kevin mccarthy. you didn't see the republican leadership. and you are not seeing, on fox news and in right-wing media, you're not seeing today being treated as the anniversary of an attack on democracy and the need to rally behind a president who spoke forcefully today to protect democracy, but rather, what you see is vitriol and ridicule of our democracy, of our institutions, and so do we have time? we have a little. we don't have a lot, but we have a little. the question is, do we have the determination? and that, i hope and pray every day that we do. but i'm not sure. >> you know, i was thinking some of these thoughts, but i thought that starting my last hour with dick cheney would urge me to sort of leave my past in the past, but i'm going to put it out there. the last time i saw an american president say what president joe biden said today, i am standing in the breach, was president george w. bush's comments after 9/11. i'm standing here and they'll have to come over me to get to you. i've got you. and what's so remarkable, donna edwards, is this president is saying the same things that a president of another party said after we were attacked on 9/11, and i'm not comparing the numbers of lives lost, but i see it as liz cheney does. it was an attack ton our country. it was an attack on our democracy, it was an attack an all of us and there were lives lost and many lives destroyed and altered forever. but what i'm saying is about two presidents who stood there not on their own behalf, not on their party's behalf, but on the country's behalf and said, i'm standing in the breach. as marc is saying, when george w. bush made those comments, every united states senator, every member of the house stood behind him and with him, and today, there were no republicans to be seen other than one liz cheney, one adam kinzinger in absentia who said he would be there if he could, and liz cheney's father, the ex-vice president. >> yeah, it really was pretty shocking because as president bush was standing in the breach, he was standing with republican and democratic leaders, and he was standing with really all of the american people, and that is what is markedly different today, and it's frightening, actually, that, you know, we know that there's still, you know, there's a significant percentage of americans who believe that it's okay to engage in violence when something goes wrong in our politics, and that is a really scary moment, and i think what the president was saying today and i think what we heard in the emotion of the vigil tonight is that our vigilance over this republic is going to require every single one of us -- i mean, you look around the world. president biden said it. you look around the world. democracy is under threat, and so, you know, if it fails in the united states, in my view, it will fail around the world. and so, the protection of our institutions, of our constitutional government, is a protection for the rest of the world. so, i'm worried, but i don't think that it's beyond recovery. but it's going to require an awful lot of work from all of us. >> and again, not to pull this thread too tautly, eddie glaude, but i am guessing in hindsight, what brought every democrat to the side of an ex-president was that the victim was the country, and the only way to protect her, the country, was if we all stood together because the threat was worse than one another. and what is so shocking now is that the republicans view the threat on the other side of the aisle as more grave than the threat of the domestic violent ekes and the insurrectionists. that's the big structural difference between that moment and this one. >> right, and you know, the long shadow of the civil war looms. because you have those who decided to betray the country in the name of their vision of the country. and you think about the divisions in the mid-20th century, and you think about those who were bombing churches, those who were engaged in extra legal violence, who were doing all these things they did. they had a vision of america. it's very clear to me, nicole, that america has only been a multiracial democracy since 1965. since the passage of the voting rights act. and that was barely then. and just 15 years later, ronald reagan was elected, in part to undo it all. and so when we think about what happened in 2008 and barack obama and voter suppression, when we think about the shelby decision in 2013, when we think about what's going on right now with the attack on the franchise, we know that there have been illiberal forces that have threatened to choke the life out of american democracy, and so in this moment, in this time, we have to figure out, are we finally going to imagine ourselves as a multiracial democracy? will we grow the hell up? and so, part of what i hear you saying is that those who are committed to an idea of the country, right, and there are those who are committed to another idea of the country, and the battle has been engaged. and you have to choose a side. there's no in between. >> there's also no following eddie glaude, so i'm not going to put it on any of us to try. let me play a little bit more of president joe biden. >> make no mistake about it. we're living at an inflection point in history, both at home and abroad. we're engaged anew in a struggle between democracy and autocracy. we are in a battle for the soul of america. a battle that by the grace of god and the goodness and gracious -- greatness of this nation, we will win.s in this nation, we will win. >> what's been clear the whole time to me, but having been a republican, pretty damned clear is a republican battle plan. >> so if they make it harder, maybe they could still win kinda sorta. >> so, look, you're exactly right. it's deeply anti-majorityium. there's only been one republican president since 1938 who won more than 50% every the upon ullr donald trump lost the popular vote no 2016 by 3 million votes, in 2020 by 7 million votes. there's 45 million more americans that voted for the you can travel them into congress and it is a shrinking pool. what the republicans have to do. so you're seeing them work the refs in georgia, when he called raffensperger. in michigan when they tried to get the canvassing board not to certify the election. they're trying to work the refs, get them to ultimately damage the election counting and certification process. what it has to do is simple. we need to -- the tools we have -- i'm in court right now in 36 cases in 19 states, the tools we have are not here, not tools for 2021 voter suppression and subversion that are in the wake of donald trump. we need new laws and new tools, number one. number two, we have to be willing, as democrats to stand up and say out loud what you just heard. you are either on the side of voting and on the side of putting the importance of full participation and free election s it's not your first issue. so you need every democrat every day to say the most important thing we need to do is protect voting rights. >> is it your sense that the senate senate majority leader understand it, and are you trying to get everything to focus? >> i think senator schumer has clearly taken the bull by the horns. >> and i know, you know, i've been talking to the phone with u.s. senators for the last two, three days, vittiumly nonstop. and you saw that same urgency. now we have to pull this across the finance line. >> do you think that democrats will still get stuck around this debate around the filibuster? >> i do feel there's an increasing sense among democrats that this push for voting rights is both a moral imperative and a political imperative. at least a move to get some action by the martin luther king holiday is an important one, but we recognize they still have to bring two senators at least across that finish line. if they don't move on voting rights, they're going to be cooked political. because of all the changes in laws will be disenfranchise, whose votes will be suppressed in the upcoming elections, and on to 2024. it's an absolute imperative to get this done and not wait on it. i guess my answer for you, nicolle, is i hope so. >> what about you? you get the last wore, are you optimistic that this is it? >> i'm never optimistic. i'm hopeful. it's a blue-soaked hope. the thing is that democracies, we've been worried about them falling to the strong man, american democracy is threatening to fall to a corrupted version of itself. i'm hopeful. >> it's a privilege to get to mark a day 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