obama's speech writers to explain the message behind president biden's striking words on january 6th. and comparing our former president who actively spread misinformation about a global pandemic and our current one as he takes on an omicron surge nearly two years later. i'm ayman mohyeldin. let's get started. so on this day one year ago, january 8th, donald trump was permanently banned from twitter. the social media site at the time said trump's personal account was suspended, quote, due to the risk of further incitement of violence because two days earlier on january 6th, 2021, the former president's supporters stormed the united states capitol. but for many of those supporters that wasn't the first stop of the day. just hours before rioters breached the capitol then-president trump held a save america rally near the white house, desperate to hang on to power, he publicly urged members of congress and vice president mike pence to reject the results of the 2020 election. this was only part of the message he delivered to the crowd. watch. >> we are going to walk down to the capitol and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women and we'll probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them. because you'll never are take back our country with weakness. you have to show strength and you have to be strong. >> take back our country? what exactly did trump mean by that? we now know that the rioters who stormed the capitol weren't targeting the america of our founding fathers, they were targeting something else entirely. the america we had become within the past five decades what transpired was not simply an assault on democracy, it was an attack on multiracial america, the atlantic points out which is younger than most members of the senate. while many like to trace american democracy back to 1776, that's not exactly true. the real day democracy in america was born was august 6th, 1965. that's when president lyndon johnson signed the voting rights act outlawing discrimination in our country's voting process. that's the democracy that trump and his supporters were after on january 6th. and that much is clear based to on this image. a trump supporter carrying the confederate battle flag through the halls of the capitol on january 6th. that's their version of america. now, january 6th bubbled many uncomfortable truths to the surface, but one might be the most frightening. that day forced us to re-examine what many in this country took as a given. the resilience of our democracy. trump's attempted coup didn't succeed, but that wasn't because of the inherent strength of our political system. it was because a select few number of people decided to do what was right. on thursday, president biden addressed those patriots during his speech while pointing the blame for the insurrection directly on trump. >> even before the first ballot was cast, the former president was preemptively sowing doubt about the election results. he built his lie over months. it wasn't based on any facts. he was just looking for an excuse, a pretext to cover for the truth. he is not just a former president. he is a defeated former president. >> yeah, president trump was in fact defeated. but the truth is that trumpism is still alive and well. in fact, trump's big lie has now become the litmus test for the modern republican party. let's look at how the gop close to mark the one-year anniversary of january 6th. on thursday only one serving republican, representative liz cheney, was present inside the house chamber during a moment of silence to commemorate that attack. folks, this isn't normal by any stretch of the imagination. january 6th was a domestic terrorist attack. more than 100 officers were injured. five people died that day. in the days and weeks that followed, four more officers who responded to the attack died by suicide. it was a tremendous day of loss for our country. normally, events like this force even a bitterly divided country and politicians to come together. one year after 9/11 republicans and democrats gathered on the steps of the capitol for a moment of silence to remember the lives that were lost. together. but what were republicans doing on thursday? >> we're ashamed of nothing. we are proud of the work we did on january 6th to make arguments about election integrity. we are going to make those arguments today in a press conference at 2:15 and we are going to walk the grounds that patriotic americans walked from the white house to the capitol who had no intent of breaking the law or doing violence. >> that was representative matt gaetz and marjorie taylor greene, two of the more outspoken members of the maga squad choosing to spend january 6th speaking with steve bannon. yes, that steve bannon. the man currently facing contempt charges for his refusal to comply with subpoenas from the house committee investigating the attack. but the tone deaf comments didn't stop in washington. here's what florida governor ron desantis, who many view as the future of the republican party, had to say on thursday. >> you are going to see the d.c. new york media, i mean this is their christmas, january 6th. okay? they are going to take this and milk this for anything they could to try to be able to smear anyone whoever supported donald trump. i think it will end up being just a politicized charlie foxtrot today. >> if anyone has politicized january 6th, it is your party. it is the gop. it is republicans. they have turned election denialism into a key part of the party's platform. the big lie is on a nationwide tour and it's coming to a city near you. across the country, at least 163 republicans who have embraced trump's election lie are running for statewide positions which would guarantee them authority over the administration of our elections. in that speech earlier this week president biden actually had a message for the former president and his supporters. >> you can't love your country only when you win. you can't obey the law only when it's convenient. you can't be patriotic when you embrace and enable lies. >> what biden hits there is the key. you can't pick and choose when to accept the results of an election, a successful democracy depends on the losers and it's only as strong as their willingness to accept defeat or, in this case, simply accept reality. right now only 21% of republicans believe that president joe biden's victory as legit. and four in ten republicans recall the attack on the capitol as very violent or extremely violent. that's less than half of the republican party. these numbers are a telling reality a year after the insurrection. one party is living in reality. the other is living in trump land. and with two years to go until the next presidential election, we don't have much longer to pull them back down to earth. it has been a year of pain and political divisiveness and a year of investigations searching for accountability from that day. we have been hearing from the house select committee about the state of their probe. yet the doj has been notably less forthcoming about the progress it is making. joining me to discuss this is someone who has prosecuted domestic terrorists before and was in fact on the short list to be nominated as attorney general under the biden presidency, former alabama senator, doug jones. thank you so much for joining us this evening. i want to start generally here. how would you rate, sir, the job merrick garland, the current attorney general, is doing? as you know, there is a growing sense of anxiousness, to say the least, about whether the doj as aggressive as it should be with its probe to hold not just the attackers involved in the january 6th insurrection accountable, but those who planned it, financed it, organized it? >> yeah, you know, look, first of all, thank you for having me tonight. great to be back with you. i think that the justice department is moving with all deliberate speed. this is a monstrous investigation. this is not something that can happen overnight. we're talking about one year away and there is over 700 indictments, guilty pleas, some felonies, misdemeanors. there are still more to come. i think the jury is still out. we have to play this out for a little bit. i will tell you that to see the number of indictments, the number of arrests, the number of things that have gone on, it's remarkable. this is a -- i don't think people fully appreciate the fact that the department of justice rarely has a type of situation in which literally hundreds, if not thousands, of potential targets are part of the same investigation going on in probably almost all 50 states and u.s. territories. this is a big deal. i think they are moving forward deliberately and i think the attorney general's speech the other day was really as strong as a prosecutor could make in terms of what they are doing. and how they're proceeding. >> i recall in the early days of the investigation i believe one of the u.s. attorneys at the time described this as being the largest single investigation ever undertaken by the doj. and to the comments that you were making about the current attorney general, he actually hit back at some of the critics and defended the doj's response to the insurrection. watch this. >> the justice department remains committed to holding all january 6th perpetrators at any level accountable under law whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy. we will follow the facts wherever they lead. >> so, senator, i want to talk to but the law for a moment. you know the law better than anyone, certainly better than i do. i have v had my profile prosecutions including on domestic terrorism charges. i believe this was a domestic terrorist attack. it had a clear political objective. it used the use of violence and the threat of violence to achieve that objective. is there a legal case for domestic terrorism to be applied here? >> of course there is a legal case to be applied. that doesn't mean it's a practical case. i think prosecutors often have to look -- and they have to assume that a case is going to go to a jury. and when you start doing certain things and bringing certain charges, it can really get a jury confused. and it also brings out more biases, more prejudices when you start doing that. the fact that is they are using very serious charges on assault, things that juries can understand. so, yes, do i think it was a domestic terrorism? absolutely. when i prosecuted the church bombing, the 1963 church bombing, that's exactly what i called it. we didn't have that available to us and i probably would not have used it at the time. they are using the tools that they have i think in a pretty efficient way and they are building cases going from the ground up. they are building the case starting with those individuals who were at that capitol committing those assaults, the most dangerous ones that were right there, and i believe that they are building that case and moving up. where that goes remains to be seen, but the attorney general clearly said that no one is above the law and they are going to follow the law and the evidence. >> one of the judges who oversaw one of the january 6th cases, senator, stated in part, quote, those who orchestrated january 6th have a no meaningful sense been held accountable. do you anticipate the doj will go after the organizers of the insurrection? because as we have seen it right now, they are going after the folks that participated in the attack and, you know, the numbers speak for themselves. you have 2,500 rioters who participated in the insurrection, 700 have within arrested, over 70 have been sentenced, and in some cases it's charges like trespassing. nothing has reached the level of insurrection or perhaps some of the more severe charges. what do you say to those who are nervous about the fact that, look, right now we are not seeing cases after the organizers and those that financed this and coordinated this? >> you are really not going to see -- this is not the january 6th commission. the justice department and federal prosecutors operate under a completely different set of standards and ethics. and it is not transparent. these investigations are not transparent. they cannot be transparent. the justice department can't issue subpoenas. it's the grand jury that issues the subpoenas. it's not the department of justice, unlike the january 6th commission that issues the subpoenas in a press release to go with it. the justice department can't do that. i guarantee you that there are thousands and thousands of subpoenas that have gone out for phone records, digital records across the board. and, again, you start an investigation like this with those that you have got, folks that are red handed. you have them on the videos and you move up the chain. when you get into a planning process though and getting into prosecuting for planning and conspiracy and agreements, that requires a whole new level of investigation. and it's going to go on behind the scenes. i feel confident that that is going on, that the investigation is continuing. we really do have to wait and see how this plays out a little bit. but i think they are moving steadily and i think the attorney general said as much as he could do under this code of ethics that he operates under that, yes, they are looking at all aspects of the case, planning, and going to the highest level. >> former alabama senator doug jones. sir, you got some reassuring words tonight. people feeling more confident about that doj investigation. good to see you again. >> my pleasure. thanks. and we are going to continuing this conversation next with our panel, including one journalist who was there at the capitol on january 6th. plus, we will ask a former presidential speech writer about the effectiveness of president biden's speech marking one year since that insurrection. trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high ♪ ♪ you know how i feel ♪ (coughing) ♪ breeze driftin' on by ♪ ♪ you know how i feel ♪ copd may have gotten you here, but you decide what's next. start a new day with trelegy. ♪ ...feelin' good ♪ no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. take a stand and start a new day with trelegy. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. nothing like a weekend in the woods. it's a good choice all around, like screening for colon cancer... when caught in early stages it's more treatable. i'm cologuard. i'm noninvasive... and i detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers... even in early stages. early stages. yep. it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. we're in. medusa lived with a hideous curse. uhh, i mean the whole turning people to stone thing was a bit of a buzz kill, right? 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"the boston globe's" renee graham says that the language we use to discuss that day does matter. she claims there is no ambiguity concerning what went down in d.c. quote, what exploded one year ago thursday was not a riot, it was an insurrection. joining me to discuss it, the author of that piece, renee graham, associated editor for "the boston globe." hunter walker, a reporter for the uprising and was inside the capitol on january 6th and joyce vance, a former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst. renee, starting with you. i want to actually read another part of the piece that you wrote. you write, quote, lessening the insurrection is flinging open the doors to authoritarianism and ushering in the death of all we claim to hold dear. america dodged nothing on january 6th. the brick bats are still flying. the next insurrection is already here. explain that to our viewers, renee, why you chose to make the distinct between a riot and an insurrection and why you are issuing such a stark warning about what may lie ahead. >> thanks for having me. to me it seems extraordinarily clear that this was not merely a riot. a riot gives the impression this was something that was spontaneous, no one meant to happen, that there were a few people who got out of hand and things went off the rails. we know that this was well planned. we know that people showed up with wood to make a gallows, with a noose, with plastic handcuffs. nothing about this was spontaneous. this was planned and insurrections are planned and there is an intentionality in the terms we use to discuss atrocities, and the idea is to lessen them. when representative clyde talked about a normal tourist visit, that tells people, well, this wasn't that bad. in repetition, people sometimes find facts. they think that because it's been repeated, that's the truth. the simple fact is that this was an insurrection meant to overturn the election. it was not a riot. it was not a protest that got out of hand. it wasn't the actions of like, you know, a drunken frat party. this was an insurrection. >> you was going to say i went so far as saying it's an act of terrorism given the fact this it had a political objective. illegal use of violence. i should emphasize. we will talk about that later in the program in light of ted cruz's comments. hunter, your thoughts for a moment. you were inside the capitol on january 6th. what was your experience like marking this first anniversary? how do you recall the events of that day? >> so i wasn't inside the capitol that day. i started the morning with president trump on the ellipse about a mile and a half away. and that's where he delivered his speech sort of reiterating all of his conspiracy theories and lies about the election. and in the close of that speech, in the final 120 words, to be exact, he called on his supporters to thousands of people there on the ellipse to march to the capitol. many did. little did i know that further along down pennsylvania avenue as president trump spoke the first violent breaching of the barricades already occurred. for me, i was swept along in this large crowd who heeded his call, marched past his hotel and went to the capitol where, by the time i got there, there were people already hanging out of the windows, waving america first banners. they overwhelmed the inauguration stand that was set up for joe biden for the coming two weeks. the big memory that stands out to me, you can see it clear as day, is when i realized people were in the building, that they had overwhelmed the capitol police. i phoned this into my editor and it just [ inaudible ]. this is bad. for those of us who work in washington, to go to these government buildings we know how secure they are supposed to be. it was apparent at that moment there was an extreme level of force among the crowd and there could be a violent law enforcement response at any moment. >> joyce, words matter. as we heard there, what we call this does have an impact. and i would argue that the charges that we apply to these insurrectionists also matter. you probably heard me talk to your old friend and colleague senator doug jones. i want to get you to respond to what he said and the point i was trying to make, which was the charges that we need to see or that people want to see or are anxious to see about that day are important and some have criticized the charges we have seen so far have not reflected the severity of that day, whether it be charges with, you know, domestic terrorism or insurrection. nothing has reached that level quite yet. what do you make of that? >> there are different ways of assessing the seriousness of charges, ayman. one could be what they're called. for instance, we'd love to see at some level a charge called insurrection brought against some of the key organizers of the big lie on january 6th. another way of assessing severity is the amount of jail time, of prison time that goes along with conviction. that certainly is a marker of seriousness. but for prosecutors at doj what matters is this. they face the stark reality of knowing that they will have to prove every element of a crime that is set forth in the united states criminal code with evidence that's admissible, with proof that is beyond a reasonable doubt, so a jury can be compelled to convict. so prosecutors will look for the charges that are the best fit for the evidence they have. that may well be interfering with official government proceedings, it could be a conspiracy to interrupt government function. the most important thing here will be getting a conviction. it will be not taking a swing and a miss, but making sure that you can convict and get affirmed on appeal. >> renee, your piece connects the tulsa massacre and the insurrection. as both linked to white supremacy. i talked about america's multiracial democracy and actually how young we are as a multiracial democracy, a democracy with full citizenship rights for women and black and brown people and minorities in this country. that has not been around for the 250 years that some would like to talk about when they talk about the strength of american institutions. do you think a year later the american people truly understand the threat of what happened at the u.s. capitol and what it means for our nascent democracy? >> i don't. i think that the way people talk about january 6th is that this thing that happened. and what they don't understand, at least to me, is that this isn't something that happened. it's something that continues to happen. it's happening. so january 6th wasn't a failed insurrection. it was an unfinished coup. that is going on to this day. that's why democracy is under threat. and the people who are most likely to gaslight you and say that democracy isn't under siege are the same ones most likely to benefit from its demise. >> yeah, it's a really good point. hunter, yesterday congressman betty thompson, chairman of the house select committee investigating january 6th indicated they wanted to speak to the former vice president mike pence. to appear in front of the committee later this month. a, what is the probability that pence will comply, and, b, what could we learn from his testimony given the fact that he was on the capitol or in the capitol that day? >> so, pence would almost certainly be covered by executive privilege. and we've seen a lot of top trump allies and white house staff try to invoke that as they stonewall the committee. you know, a really interesting thing about mike pence he was set apart from the rest of the trump administration that day. people in the crowd were calling to hang him and he was at capitol hill and he sort of went forward with his duty and helped certify the election. and that is also what makes him such a potentially interesting witness, because, you know, he was involved in calls back to the white house, you know, to see about getting help down to the hill, which was extremely delayed, and he also was involved in this certification and underwent personal pressure, we know this just from twitter from president trump to sort of overturn the vote. so i think, you know, how he responds to this and what he might say is extremely interesting, but it's worth noting that, you know, even though a very small portion of the country overall, you know, supports what happened on january 6th, within the republican party there are large numbers of the base that do sympathize with the people who stormed the capitol. and if pence is, as all indications, you know, have said so far interested in running in 2024, he has to worry about that gop base. >> joyce, final question to you. big picture, where are we a year after on the legal front, because, as i mentioned, the january 6th committee is moving ahead with its progress. there is, obviously, concern if the democrats lose control of the house come the midterms, that investigation is going to end. you will still have the doj investigation and where that is going. which, as doug jones was saying, doesn't have be transparent at this point. they have to do the work to make sure they get the a conviction. but very little information about it. >> it's a frustrating position to be in as part of the public because we really don't know the answer to the question, what is doj doing and what do they intend to do? merrick garland in his speech on wednesday gave us some clarity. he said that he would pursue anyone, no matter what level they were at, and whether they were present or not, as long as they were involved in the effort to subvert democracy. that statement felt very clear, but nonetheless, you know, that's a promise to investigate. and investigations don't always turn into prosecutions. so it's interesting to note that merrick garland will be able to take advantage of whatever evidence the january 6th committee turns up, by and large, and that may well push him along. >> it will be interesting to see how this year plays out on both of those fronts. very important questions remain unanswered. renee, hunter, joyce, thanks to the three of you for joining us this evening. next, president biden's fierce call for solidarity and action, some of his powerful, powerful message after this. one of the worst things about a cold sore is how it can make you feel. but, when used at the first sign, abreva can get you back to being you in just 2 and a half days. be kinder to yourself and tougher on your cold sores. 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>> well, thank you for having me on tonight to talk about this speech because i think, as you were saying, it was one of the best speeches president biden has given as president. i also think it was one of the most necessary and it came at a moment when he was, i think, pushed to this. i think you mentioned the inauguration. there was this hope that the fever that we saw on january 6th would break, and i think this was both an acknowledgment that the fever has not broken and that this is going to continue to exist, this anti-democratic tendency will continue to exist throughout his presidency. it was also an acknowledgment that he going to step up and fight this fight, even if he didn't want to. and i think all of those things combined to make this an incredibly important speech and maybe a pivot for president biden rhetorically. >> yeah, and you bring up an interesting point because i think a lot of people -- i have to admit i was one of the skeptics who felt that fever from january 6th was going to die down. i simply don't believe the other side in this equation is going to try to tamp down the rhetoric against our democracy. so i felt the president should have made that speech earlier in the year, but the president really honed in on how american democracy is under assault right now. both from misinformation campaigns and from state legislators who are working to make it harder to vote and politicizing the certification process which undermines our democracy. do you think the president went far enough in laying out the severity of the threats facing the country? i know he spoke powerfully of having a dagger to the throat of america or american democracy, but do you think people who watched that speech would understand how the threat of democracy is playing out? >> well, let me start by saying i agree with you. i am not a patient person and i also -- i worked in the obama administration. we saw all this bad faith for years. >> absolutely. >> under mitch mcconnell the last time around. we saw this coming. but i think that when president biden was saying right now was not just a rebuke of the former president. what i thought was the most important part of his speech, and it's something you just alluded to, he was talking about these voter suppression laws, these anti-voting laws, laws that make it easier for state legislatures to overturn an election that we are seeing around the country. making that link between the violent attempted overthrow of an election on january 6th and the non-violent attempt to undermine elections that we're seeing across the country these days. now, the next step is going to be are we able to get 50 democrats to agree to carve out in the filibuster, which biden has finally said that he supports, and get a voting rights bill across the finish line that's going to protect our elections? that's not going to be easy but it is possible and it's important to know that the president is onboard and pushing that effort forward. >> yeah, no, absolutely very important point on that front. i got to ask you this as a speech writer. the references to the former president, they are littered throughout his speech. in the past, biden has appeared to be pretty hesitant to focus heavily on trump. he has been a forward looking kind of guy, both politically and rhetorically when he makes public comments. but what do you think is behind the change in strategy? he doesn't mention him by name, but you definitely know that he was talking about the former president and even referred to him as the former defeated president. >> i think that there is this question of whether or not this guy was going to go away, because the history of past presidents, even ones who didn't try to overturn on election and get impeached twice, was that they would generally recede from public view for a little bit. they would not be out there essentially campaigning 24/7. and that's what we've seen former president trump do. and i think this was an important acknowledgement by the president and his speech writing team rhetorically that former president trump, he is not going to be quiet. he is not going to, you know, one day wake up and say that big lie isn't so important to me any more. he will keep pushing thing. i thought one of the best things biden said was not in the speech, was that if you are going to heal, you have to recognize the extent of the wound. i am paraphrasing there. i think that acknowledgment drove the speech and, hopefully, will drive his actions going forward. >> it's been interesting to watch this administration's communication strategy evolve over time. as we were kind of discussing here, perhaps the hopes of the administration both about the former president kind of receding into the sunset or perhaps the republican party not being as divisive and attacking this administration in every sense of the word and threatening our democracy. i am curious, if you were working in the white house right now, what are some of the recommendations you would make to have a more effective strategy or effective message from the white house come out? >> well, you know, i think the most important thing, and i am really cognizant of this, having had a white house job, these jobs are really hard. it is so easy to be a presidential speech writer when you are not actually writing presidential speeches. everyone can monday morning quarterback. what i think the most important thing from a communications side for the president and for the democrats is going to be, is to go into '22 with some really concrete wins. and, unfortunately, that's going to be difficult to do with this paper thin majority in the senate. but if democrats can go into '22 saying we passed a big investment on climate change, we made progress, some form of build back better, we got voting rights against all odds through the senate. then there is a lot of great stuff to talk about. i will tell you what you want is to write a speech about something exciting that your administration has done. and when you have those moments, they have a lot to talk about already. don't get me wrong. but the more they have, the easier the speech writing is going to get. >> david litt, thank you so much. greatly appreciate your insights. >> thanks for having me on. next hour, actor and martial artist martin kove will join us live. he is back with the wildly popular netflix spinoff "cobra kai" season 4. stick around for a little dose of nostalgia. . doesn't your family deserve the best? 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now, there are certain things we have to do. but we have just made so many assumptions, and it's all pointed toward everybody getting a vaccine. >> so the human body's immune system is truly amazing. but we push for vaccines because it's the best way to keep people alive and out of the hospital, senator. especially for people at higher levels of risk due to preexisting medical issues. now, attitudes like these demonstrate the lasting impact of having a president in charge for the first year of the pandemic mo constantly worked to undermine the science. someone focused more on the politics of getting re-elected than keeping americans safe and healthy. has the biden administration and his covid team gotten everything right since he has taken office, particularly when it comes to messaging? absolutely not. far from it. but who would you rather have running the country at this moment? coming up, i'll be joined live by washington post columnist dana mill bank warning about comparing apples and oranges when it comes to president biden versus the former president. we'll explain after this. r pres. we'll explain after this you can be well-mannered. 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