Transmitted, not willing to really engage on questions of security around the capitol beyond that these are things that need to get investigated. I mean, the sense i got from pelosi here is she is trying to keep her caucus locked in, keep the focus on the work that needs to be done here, and keep the possibilities of the transmittal of that article of impeachment on the table, at least as long as donald trump is still the president of the United States. Garrett haake, well have to leave it there because its the top of the hour. That does it for me. Andrea mitchell reports starts right now. Thank you, craig. Good day. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington where Muriel Bowser will be speaking moments from now on the elaborate coordinated efforts by officials to keep the capitol safe. Only after news that a rehearsal for the inaugural was postponed due to unspecified security concerns. The focus on security is
immediately apparent throughout washington, which is in a lockdown never seen before. A Massive National guard presence including thousands of troops guarding closedoff streets lined with barricades. And more reinforcements still to come. At the capitol itself, Vice President pence made an unscheduled stop to thank the National Guard, making it clear that a new president will be taking over next week. Respect the chain of command, look after your people, and well deliver to the American People a safe inauguration. Were going to swear in a new president and Vice President and move our nation forward. Okay . Youll make it possible. Thank you all very much. The Washington Post is now reporting just how close the mob got to pence, who was taken by the secret service from the Senate Chamber to a nearby hideaway in the Senate Office 14 minute it was a first Capitol Police warning that the mob was attempting to breach the building. And the rioters were then only diverted from turning to exactly
where pence and his family were being hidden by Capitol Police down that corridor by officer eugene goodman, seen here at the top of the secondfloor steps, leading them as he got to the steps, youll see in a moment, he grabs his baton. They follow him up those steps. Then when he gets to the top of the steps, what we now know from the Washington Post reporting is he led them in the opposite direction only minutes from where pence was temporarily closeted. Pence was eventually told by his security that he had to move to a safer location. As the preparations for wednesdays event continue, were also getting terrifying new details from heroic d. C. Metro Police Officers who rushed in as reinforcements to the Capitol Police during the riot. Just chaos, pure chaos. I just remember, you know, people still swinging metal poles at us and they were pushing anding, they were spraying us with, you know, bear
mace and pepper spray. I was being beaten with a thin flag and guys were trying to grab my gun and they were chanting, like, kill him with his own gun. They were calling us traitors, telling us to remember our oath, and eventually they attacked us. Joining me now, nbcs tom costello and reporter ashley parker. Tom, tell us about the lockdown and the threat level right now. Reporter well, listen, i think its most people in the d. C. Area are feeling pretty confident right now about security into inauguration. I mean, the level of security in this city is just unprecedented. Weve got by Inauguration Day now the National Guard saying 21,000 National Guard troops will be here, thousands of them are already here as you know, creating a perimeter around the entire not just the capitol but the but blocks extending out from the capitol. Then you have layers of police roadblocks and Police Officers. I mean, this city is on virtual
lockdown right now and very safe. But it does underscore the threat that the fbi is talking about, the Capitol Police are talking about, ongoing multiple threats by these rightwing extremists and White Supremacists and antisemites talking about launching more attacks not just in d. C. Or against d. C. But nation wild. By the way, in charging documents, you may have seen earlier today that one of the protesters, one of the attackers whos gotten a lot of attention, the guy who was wearing horns and body paint and face paint, jake angeli, also known as Jacob Chansley, the charging document from the u. S. Attorney says his intent and others were to capture and assassinate members of the United States government. That obviously sets up a whole series of charges now potentially including potentially sedition against these particular ring leaders, if you will, or those on the front end of the attack last
wednesday. The Washington Post reporting is really quite compelling as well. You will get into that in just a moment about how close it really was for members of congress and also for Vice President pence. And wasnt that stark when we had a particular moment of when last night Vice President pence thanked the members of the National Guard for doing their duty, the real patriots, and protecting the congress and protecting the inauguration. Of course the inauguration that will replace Vice President pence and president trump. It is a city on lockdown. I think most people are feeling safe. The concern is of course other state capitols around the country. Andrea . Ashley, youre reporting in carolina, the colleagues, take us through the extraordinary proximity of the Vice President and his family to the approaching mob. Absolutely. So the two key figures to remember here are 60 seconds and less than 100 feet. That is how close the violent mob of protester, some of who were chanting hang mike pence, came to witnessing the Vice President and really being in incredibly close proximity from him as he was Spirited Away from the Senate Chamber into his ceremonial office. At the beginning of your hour, you played that video of officer goodman being incredibly heroic and luring the mob away from the Senate Chamber and helping to keep those members safe. But thats that moment in that viral video at the top of the stairs where he pauses for a second and looks over his shoulder to his left. And right there, just seconds earlier, less than a minute earlier, is where the Vice President and his detail and his family members, his wife karen, his daughter charlotte, his brother greg pence, who is a
house lawmaker, had just been raced away to safety. Thats sort of the key of our reporting. It goes on to detail how the Vice President was in the senate chair presiding for 14 minutes after the initial breach, which for security reasons as everyone sort of does a postmortem on what went wrong, is far too long, and how the Vice President and his family was ultimately evacuated to a second safer location in the capitol complex that we are not revealing the specifics of, of course, for security reasons. Ashley, we should be clear, he has a secret Service Detail. He also has an assault team around him at all times. So were not saying what would have happened. It just would have been extraordinarily difficult to say the least. Thats exactly right. And we dont know again, we sort of dont get into the whole
evacuation route or how long it took, but he did we spoke to people, they did not see any of the rioters as they went through that path through his second, more secure, location. Of all of these members, the Vice President was sort of the top vip in the capitol that day. As you point out, he has a security detail, an assault team with him, but at the very least, if the protesters had seen him, this is the key person, the president had encouraged them to be furious at. At the very least, we dont want to think about worstcase scenario, but the situation would have escalated. And just one other piece of your reporting is that the secret service had repeatedly wanted to move him more quickly to a third location and he resisted at first because he wanted to stay there and carry out his duties and not be, you know, threatened by the mob. But eventually they did go to a more secure location somewhere near the capitol. Thank you very much, ashley, and your team as well, tom costello,
of course on the job. I want to bring in now also that the nbc news has confirmed that a dozen people on a National Terrorist watch list were in washington, d. C. , last week for the protrump rally that erupted in violence. The majority are suspected White Supremacists whose past actions alarmed investigators enough they were added to the terrorist screening database. This has inspectors general from justice, defense, and Homeland Security and interior opening a sweeping overall security review of the intelligence and the response to the attack on the capitol. Expecting momentarily a briefing from the mayor and related groups, National Park surveillance as well. Joining me now is former fbi director james comey. Mr. Comey, we want to bring you in to this new experience. Your new book is saving justice truth, transparency, and trust. Were hoping we can have a longer interview maybe on the other side of the may yrs
briefing. But it is startling to here there are so many people on this watch list and there wasnt enough security to retain them. Stand by. The mayor is briefing right now. To provide an update on preparations for the 59th president ial inauguration which by now everyone knows has an unprecedented level of preparation and execution. I am joined by members of my administration as well as our federal partners. Let me start by introduing matt miller, the special agent in charge of the Washington Field office of the United States secret service. The United States secret service is of course the lead agency for National Special security events, including the 59th inauguration. Mary ann tierney, the regional administrator for the federalEmergency Management agency. Well har from miss tierney, but she will have to depart following her remarks. Jeff reinboldt, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, for the National Park service. Steven booker, who is the acting assistant chief for the United States park police. Paul weederfeld, the general manager and ceo for the washington Metropolitan Area transit authority, or metro. Ronald pablit, the chief of metro transit police. Also chief conte of the metropolitan Police Department, or d. C. Police. Kevin donahue, the city administrator for the district of columbia as well. Chief donnelly, who is the chief of the d. C. Fire and emergency medical service. We may be also joined by
representatives of the d. C. National guard, who we have invited to join us as well. Let me start with a brief situational update, and we will then hear from our guests. I want to reiterate my request to americans to enjoy this 59th inauguration of the president of the United States and the Vice President of the United States from home. Enjoy it virtually on january 20th. Our tradition, in fact, our constitutional mandate that the transition of power occurs by noon on january the 20th will happen right here in the district of columbia, and we want everybody to enjoy it and enjoy it right in their own states, in their own living rooms, and with their own families. We know that this is the right request for our Public Safetyand our Public Health. The National Park service is of course the steward of our nations parks, including parks right here in washington, d. C. And while the situation continues to change each day, we do know that as of this morning various road closures are in effect and garages in the district have been restricted as well. If you have tried to drive around the city, you already know this. There is a recent posting of streets that have been impacted by these closures, and here is the most recent list of road closures released this morning by the National Park service in cooperation with the United States secret service. We continue to ask anyone who doesnt absolutely need to be out and about or in those restricted areas to avoid them. Earlier this week, metro announced Service Adjustments that went into effect today and will be in place through thursday, january 21st. And includes 13 metro stations and 26 bus routes. You can learn more about those adjustments at wamata. Com. Additionally, Streetcar Service in the district is suspended, and you can continue to find updates on that at inauguration. Dc. Gov. We also know that residents are eager to do what they can do to keep our city safe, and we certainly appreciate it. So we want you to be vigilant, look around yourselves when youre out and about, and if you
see something, absolutely say something. And you may report anything that you think is out of the norm by calling 911. You may report suspicious activity at 7279099. You can go to mpds i watch d. C. Dotorg website or text tips to 5411. We are recommending that businesses download, print, and display these signs. These signs let anyone know that firearms are not welcome on the premises. We want businesses who encounter anyone with a weapon to call 911 and try not to confront that person or persons themselves. These signs can be downloaded at
inauguration. Dc. Gov. Later today, d. C. s Homeland Security agency and mpd will host a Community Call to discuss the districts planning. Residents and stakeholders can join that call today at 4 30 p. M. By dialing 8448811314. The conversation will also be broadcast live on channel 16 as well as all d. C. Government platforms. If you havent already done so, sign up to receive specific alerts. You can register and text inaug2021 to 888777. Finally, all of this information can be low capabilitied at one place at inauguration. Dc. Gov. Once again, we will hear from our partners who have been engaged in this planning and are responsible for various aspects of execution. First and foremost, matt miller is the special agent in charge of the Washington Field office for the United States secret service. Mr. Miller. Agent miller, i should say. Mr. Miller works. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you, mayor bowser, for inviting me to join you. On behalf of the men and women of the United States secret service, im happy to speak about plans for next weeks president ial inauguration and answer any questions that may arise at this time. January 20th will be this nations 59th president ial inauguration. Designated as a National Special security event, the secret service is again serving as the lead agency with respect to operational planning and security. As most of you are away, the
department of Homeland Security recently extended the nsee designation dates for the period covering january 13th to january 21st in response to the e venltss of january 6th, when an election protest turned into a violent, deadly, and unlawful assault on the United States capitol. For well over a year, we have been working with our federal, state, and Municipal Partners to develop and implement a comprehensive Operational Security plan to ensure the safety of everyone participating in the event as well as those who may try to come to d. C. To watch the inauguration or spend time in the nations capital. Anyone whos seen any of the mayors recent press conferences or listened to her earlier statements will realize we are discouraging this in lieu of virtual participation, but we are. We cannot allow a recurrence of the chaos and illegal activity
that the United States and the world witnessed last week. Our democracy is built on the rule of law, and the secret Servi