0 it's impossible to deny that. >> as president biden will discuss this morning january 6th represents an ongoing threat to our democracy. in the year since nearly 20 states have passed laws to restrict voting and in many republican circles trump's big lie about the 2020 election still goes unchallenged. bottom line, january 6 has become a stark testament to the fractured nation we've become and warning sign for what is coming next. with us throughout the hour, nbc's monica alba, she covers the white house, garrett haake on capitol hill, ellison barber outside the capitol, katie benner covers the justice department for "the new york times", phil rucker senior washington correspondent for the "washington post," eugene daniels co-author of the "politico" playbook and peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." monica, let's start with the president. how is he going to approach this one? >> he's going to mark, of course, the solemn anniversary, steph, but instead of making this all about looking backward the president is also going to be talking about what lies ahead and the danger that still lingers from everything that took place on that day a year ago. he will talk about how dark it was, he will honor, of course, those who lost their lives, but he's also going to very clearly call out his predecessor, the former president, and talk about the responsibility that donald trump has for what took place on january 6th, and he's not going to mince any words there, even though he may not reference him by name it will be very clear we're told by white house officials who he is talking about, and when he does that he's going to ask a series of questions to the nation, asking and talking about the importance of truth and what kind of country the united states wants to be. in terms of larger themes, there have been many democrats, including majority leader chuck schumer, who have called for the president to talk about voting rights in this particular moment and what's at stake with democracy. we are told the president will make reference to that, but he is not going to he can to us as exclusively on that, he's going to reserve that speech for a big, big, big remarks and that topic in particular next week with that in atlanta, but you're going to hear vice president kamala harris who will introduce the president just a short time from now make reference to that. of course, voting rights has been a part of her portfolio, but to really talk about the big picture here, this is a president who is going to talk about a year ago when he wasn't sworn in yet what he saw on that day, the danger that the former president contributed to and how that's really been calcified in the big lie of the election falsehoods that as you just referenced has reverberated not just with republican lawmakers but at the state level and, again, what that means for the future of the united states and democracy and all that's at stake. >> peter, when you look back it seems incredible that today president biden will be speaking to a nation where more voters want trump to run in 2024 than biden. that would have been unthinkable on january 7th, 2021. on january 7th it seemed like mitch mcconnell and lindsey graham were done with trump forever. >> yeah, you go back 364 days and told the people, told ourselves that january 7th, 2021, what january 6th, 2022 looked like, people would have been stunned. there was a sense that trump was done, that he would be ostracized for this, even republicans were furious as him, as you say, mitch mcconnell, lindsey graham, even kevin mccarthy they all said he bore responsibility for what happened and there was a bipartisan revulsion to some extent, but that faded pretty quickly. we've seen again how quickly trump asserted his dominance in the party thanks to people like kevin mccarthy who went to mar-a-lago who said he was still in effect the party's leader. you have a dynamic where this event that took place a year ago is just one more partisan reg wedge in our ongoing ideological cultural war where we see this now through our own separate partisan lens, if you are a democrat or some republicans, many republicans, you see it as an assault on democracy. if you are a trump supporter, you see it as monica said a legitimate protest that got out of hand and that the real crime was this supposedly stolen election, for which, of course, there's absolutely no evidence whatsoever. and the statement put out by republicans today who are not attending these events are mostly attacks on president biden, the democrats, for failed policies in their view in making this event partisan. it's a real divide. we are no longer united, we probably weren't very united even then a year ago, but today even less so. >> despite the fact, garrett, that on january 6th they were coming for the establishment, democrats, republicans, mike pence himself, but today contrast for us how democrats are going to be marking this day and how republicans are. because it's certainly not together. >> reporter: it's the same date on both of their calendars but they are looking at it almost entirely differently other than that. as all the events today were organized by democratic leadership, the president of the united states on down to the speaker of the house with events all day long and they will be attended by almost exclusively democrats, no congressional house republicans expect for perhaps liz cheney expected to attend, kevin mccarthy isn't even in washington, d.c. today. no senate republicans to my knowledge are expected to attend any of these events, although many of them, a majority of that conference will be at the funeral for one of their own former georgia senator johnny isakson down in georgia. the divide overall speaks to, you know, what peter and monica were talking about, the ways in which the partisan viewpoints around january 6th have been completely calcified, locked in place. i could tell you that started immediately. i mean, we think about it happening in the days and weeks afterwards, but i was just going back through my notes from the 6th and found an interview i did with ron johnson, republican senator from wisconsin, who told me that night before the vote counting was even done that he said republicans, himself, donald trump took no responsibility for what had happened. so the rewriting of history around january 6 continued on the last january 6th, it continues through this one and i suspect it will continue through all the anniversaries to come of this day. >> we are less than a minute from the president taking the podium. eugene, karl rove wrote an op-ed in the "wall street journal" arguing that if the shoe were on the other foot and democrats had been the one trying to overturn donald trump's win republicans would be losing their mind. so the question is do the majority of republicans who are embracing the big lie, do they actually believe it or is this just a political calculation? >> it's hard to know, honestly, because what we know is that they follow donald trump, his whim, how he feels about things. that's what we're seeing. so whether or not they believe it actually in their heart of hearts and their brain of brains almost doesn't matter because all of the actions show us that they do seem to believe t and more importantly, they're operating within this country, changing election laws based on that lie. you have a republican party that has been white washing this as everyone has been saying, but also how they can't untie the big lie, the lie about this election, from the voting rights and the tightening of voting restrictions around the country. i will put an even finer point on it, if these were black and brown people, people who were blm protesters or something like that it would have been a completely different day than we saw that day and i think that's something that this white house and this president are grappling with. >> i'm going to interrupt. we are seeing coming to the podium vice president kamala harris and president biden. kamala harris beginning her remarks momentarily. >> fellow americans, good morning. certain dates echo throughout history, including dates that instantly remind all who have lived through them where they were and what they were doing when our democracy came under assault. dates that occupy not only a place on our calendars, but a place in our collective memory. december 7th, 1941. september 11th, 2001. and january 6th, 2021. on that day i was not only vice president-elect, i was also a united states senator. i was here at the capitol that morning, at a classified hearing with fellow members of the senate intelligence committee. hours later, the gates of the capitol were breached. i had left, but my thoughts immediately turned not only to my colleagues, but to my staff who had been forced to seek refuge in our office, converting filing cabinets into barricades. what the extremists who roamed these halls targeted was not only the lives of elected leaders, what they sought to degrade and destroy was not only a building, hallowed as it is. what they were assaulting were the institutions, the values, the ideals that generations of americans have marched, picketed and shed blood to establish and defend. on january 6th we all saw what our nation would look like if the forces who seek to dismantle our democracy are successful. the lawlessness, the violence, the chaos. what was at stake then and now is the right to have our future decided the way the constitution prescribes it, by we the people, all the people. we cannot let our future be decided by those bent on silencing our voices, overturning our votes and peddling lies and misinformation. by some radical faction that may be newly resurgent, but whose roots run old and deep. when i meet with young people they often ask about the state of our democracy, about january 6th, and what i tell them is january 6th reflects the dual nature of democracy. its fragility and its strength. you see, the strength of democracy is the rule of law. the strength of democracy is the principle that everyone should be treated equally, that elections should be free and fair, that corruption should be given no order. the strength of democracy is that it empowers the people. and the fragility of democracy is this, if we are not vigilant, if we do not defend it, democracy simply will not stand. it will falter and fail. the violent assault that took place here, the very fact of how close we came to an election overturned, that reflects the fragility of democracy, yet the resolve i saw in our elected leaders when i returned to the senate chamber that night, their resolve not to yield, but to certify the election, their loyalty not to party or person, but to the constitution of the united states, that reflects its strength. so, of course, does the heroism of the capitol police, the d.c. metropolitan police department, the national guard and other law enforcement officers who answered the call that day, including those who later succumbed to wounds, both visible and invisible. our thoughts are with all of the families who have lost a loved one. i wonder how will january 6th come to be remembered in the years ahead. will it be remembered as a moment that accelerated the unraveling of the oldest, greatest democracy in the world, or a moment when we decided to secure and strengthen our democracy for generations to come. the american spirit is being tested. the answer to whether we will meet that test resides where it always has resided in our country, with you, the people. and the work ahead will not be easy. here in this very building a decision will be made about whether we uphold the right to vote and ensure free and fair elections. let's be clear. we must pass voting rights bills that are now before the senate, and the american people must also do something more. we cannot sit on the sidelines, we must unite in defense of our democracy in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure blessings of liberty to ourselves and to our prosperity and posterity. that is the preamble of the constitution that president biden and i swore an oath to uphold and defend and that is the enduring promise of the united states of america. my fellow americans, it is my honor to introduce a public servant with the character and fortitude to meet this moment. a leader whose life's work has been moving our nation toward that more perfect union. president joe biden. >> madam vice president, my fellow americans, to state the obvious, one year ago today in this sacred place democracy was attacked, simply attacked. the will of the people was under assault, the constitution, our constitution, faced the gravest of threats, outnumbered in the face of a brutal attack the capitol police, the d.c. metropolitan police department, the national guard and other brave law enforcement officials saved the rule of law. our democracy held. we the people endured. we the people prevailed. 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. on this day of remembrance let us make sure that such an attack never, never happens again. i'm speaking to you today from statuary hall in the united states capitol. this is where the house of representatives met for 50 years in the decades leading up to the civil war. on this floor is where a young congressman from illinois, abraham lincoln, sat at desk 191. above him, above us, over that door leading into the rotunda is a sculpture depicting cleo, the muse of history. in her hands an open book in which she records events taking place in this chamber below. cleo stood watch over this hall one year ago today as she has for more than 200 years. she recorded what took place, the real history, the real facts, the real truth. the facts and the truth that vice president harris just shared and that you and i and the whole world saw with our own eyes. the bible tells us that we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. we shall know the truth. well, here is the god's truth about january 6, 2021, close your eyes, go back to that day. what do you see? rioters rampaging, waving for the first time inside this capitol confederate monuments flags that symbolized the cause to destroy america, to rip us apart. even during the civil war that never ever happened, but it happened here in 2021. what else do you see? a mob breaking windows, kicking indoors, breaching the capitol. american flags on poles being used as weapons, as spears. fire extinguishers being thrown at the heads of police officers. a crowd that professes their love for law enforcement assaulted those police officers, dragged them, sprayed them, stomped on them. over 140 police officers were injured. we all heard the police officers who were there that day testify to what happened. one officer called it, quote, a medieval battle, and that he was more afraid that day than he was fighting the war in iraq. they have repeatedly asked since that day how dare anyone, anyone diminish, belittle or deny the hell they were put through. we saw with our own eyes rioters menaced these halls, threatening the life of the speaker of the house. literally erecting gallows to hang the 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 the 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. this wasn't a group of tourists, this was an armed insurrection. they weren't looking to uphold the will of the people, they were looking to deny the will of the people. they were looking to uphold -- they weren't looking to uphold a free and fair election, they were look to go overturn one. they weren't looking to save the cause of america, they were looking to subvert the constitution. this isn't about being bogged down in the past, this is about making sure the past isn't buried. that's the only way forward. that's what great nations do. they don't bury the truth, they face up to it. it sounds like hyperbole, but it's the truth. they face up to it. we are a great nation. my fellow americans, in life there's truth and tragically there are lies. lies conceived and spread for profit and power. we must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie. and here is the truth, the 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 interest as more important than his country's interest and america's interest. and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our constitution. he can't accept he lost, even though that's what 93 united states senators, his own attorney general, his own vice president, governors and state officials in every battle ground state have all said. he lost. that's what 81 million of you did as you voted for a new way forward. he has done what no president in american history, the history of this country has ever, ever done, he refused to accept the results of an election and the will of the american people. while some courageous men and women in the republican party are standing against it, trying to uphold the principle of that party, too many others are transforming that party into something else. they seem no longer to want to be the party, a party of lincoln, eisenhower, reagan, the bushes. whatever my other disagreements are with republicans who support the rule of law and not the rule of a single man, i will always seek to work together with them, to find shared solutions where it's possible because if we have a shared belief in democracy then anything is possible. anything. 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? 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. the big lie being told by the former president and many republicans who fear his wrath is that the insurrection in this country actually took place on election day, november 3rd, 2020. think about that. is that what you thought? is that what you thought when you voted that day? taking part in an insurrection, is that what you thought you were doing? or did you think you were carrying out your highest duty as a citizen and voting? former presidential supporters are trying to rewrite history. they want you to see election day as the day of insurrection and the riot that took place here on january 6th as a true expression of the will of the people. can you think of a more twisted way to look at this country, to look at america? i cannot. here is the truth, the election of 2020 was the greatest demonstration of dem straes in the history of this country. more of you voted in that election than have ever voted in all of american history. over 150 million americans went to the polls and voted that day. in a pandemic. some at great risk to their lives. they should be applauded, not attacked. right now in state after state new laws are being written not to protect the vote, but to deny it. not only to suppress the vote, but to subvert it. not to strengthen or protect our democracy, but because the former president lost, instead of looking at the election results from 2020 and saying they need new ideas or better ideas to win more votes, the former president and his supporters have decided the only way for them to win is to suppress your vote and subvert our elections. it's wrong. it's undemocratic. and, frankly, it's unamerican. second big lie being told by the former president's supporters is that the results of the election of 2020 can't be trusted. the truth is that no election, no election in american history has been more closely scrutinized or more carefully counted. every legal challenge questioning the results and every court in this country that could have been made was made and was rejected, often rejected by republican-appointed judges, including judges appointed by the former president himself, from state court to the united states supreme court. recounts were undertaken in state after state. georgia -- georgia counted its results three times, with one recount by hand. phoney partisan audits were undertaken long after the election in several states. none changed the results. and in some of them the irony is the margin of victory actually grew slightly. so let's speak plainly about what happened in 2020. even before the first ballot was cast, the former president was preemptively sowing doubt over 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 no the just a former president, he is a defeated former president. defeated by a margin of over 7 million of your votes and a full and free and fair election. there is simply zero proof the election results were inaccurate. in fact, in every venue where evidence had to be produced, an oath to tell the truth had to be taken, the former president failed to make his case. just think about this. the former president and his supporters have never been able to explain how they accept as accurate the other election results that took place on november 3rd. the elections for governor, united states senate, house of representatives. elections which they closed the gap in the house. they challenged none of that. the president's name was first, then we went down the line, governors, senators, house of representatives. somehow those results are accurate on the same ballot, but the president was flawed. on the same ballot, the same day, cast by the same voters. the only difference the former president didn't lose those races, he just lost the one that was his own. finally, the third big lie being told by the former president and his supporters is that the mob who sought to impose their will through violence are the nation's true patriots. is that what you thought when you looked at the mob ransacking the capitol, destroying property, literally defecating in the hallways, rifling through the desks of senators and representatives, hunting down members of congress. patriots? not in my view. to me the true patriots were the more than 150 americans who peacefully expressed their vote at the ballot box, the election workers who protected the integrity of the vote and the heroes who defended this capitol. 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. those who stormed this capitol and those who instigated and incited and those who called on them to do so held a dagger at the throat of america, of american democracy. they didn't come here out of patriotism or principle, they came here in rage. not in service of america, but rather in service of one man. those who incited the mob, the real plotters who were desperate to deny the certification of this election, defy the will of the voters, but their plot was foiled. congressmen, democrats and republicans stayed. senators, representatives, staff, they finished their work the constitution demanded. they honored their oath to defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. look, folks, now it's up to all of us, to we the people, to stand for the rule of law, to preserve the flame of democracy, to keep the promise of america alive. the promise is at risk, targeted by the force that is value brute strength over the sanctity of democracy. fear over hope, personal gain over public good. make no mistake about it, we're living at an inflection point in history, both at home and abroad. we are engaged anew in a struggle between democracy and autocracy, between aspirations of the many and the greed of the few. between the people's right of self-determination and self-seeking autocrat. from china to russia and beyond they're betting the democracy's days are numbered. actually told me democracy is too slow, too bogged down by division to succeed in today's rapidly changing complicated world, and they're betting -- they're betting america will become more like them and less like us. they're betting that america is a place for the autocrat, the dictator, the strong man. i do not believe that. that is not who we are. that is not who we have ever been and that is not who we should ever, ever be. our founding fathers, as imperfect as they were, set in motion an experiment that changed the world, literally changed the world. here in america the people would rule, power would be transferred peacefully, never at the tip of a spear or the barrel of a gun. they committed paper and idea that couldn't live -- they couldn't live up to, but an idea that couldn't be constrained. yes, in america all people are created equal. i reject the view that if you succeed i fail. if you get ahead, i fall behind. if i hold you down, i somehow lift myself up. the former president who lies about this election and the mob that attacked this capitol could not be further away from the core american values. they want to rule or they will ruin. ruin what our country fought for at lexington and concord, at gettysburg and omaha beach, seneca falls, salma, alabama. and what are we fighting for? the right to vote. the right to govern ourselves. the right to determine our own destiny. with rights come responsibilities, responsibility to see each other as neighbors. maybe we disagree with that neighbor, but they are not an adversary. responsibility to accept defeat, then get back in the arena and try again the next time to make your case. responsibility to see that america is an idea, an idea requires vigilant stewardship. as we stand here today, one year since january 6, 2021, the lies that drove the anger and madness we saw in this place, they have not abated. so we have to be firm, resolute and unyielding in our defense of the right to vote, to have that vote counted. some have already made the ultimate sacrifice in this sacred effort. jill and i have mourned police officers in this capitol rotunda not once, but twice in the wake of january 6th. once to honor officer brian sicknick who lost his life the day after the attack and a second time to honor officer billy evans who lost his life defending this capitol as well. you think about the others who lost their lives and were injured and everyone living with the trauma of that day. those defending this capitol to members of congress in both parties and their staffs, to reporters, cafeteria workers, custodial workers and their families. don't kid yourself, the pain and scars from that day run deep. i've said it many times and it's no more true or real as we think about the events of january 6th, we are inbattle 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. believe me, i know how difficult democracy is and i'm crystal clear about the threats america faces, but i also know that our darkest days can lead to light and hope from the death and destruction as the vice president referenced in pearl harbor and the triumph over the forces of fascism. from the brutality of bloody sunday on the edmond pettis bridge came historic voting rights legislation. so now let's step up, write the next chapter in american history, where 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 will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy. we will make sure the will of the people is heard, that the ballot prevails, not violence. that authority in this nation will always be peacefully transferred. i believe the power of the presidency and the purpose is to unite this nation, not divide it. to lift us up, not tear us apart. it's about us -- about us, not about me. deep in the heart of america burns a flame lit almost 250 years ago of liberty, freedom and equality. this is not a land of kings or dictators or autocrats. we are a nation of laws, of order, not chaos, of peace, not violence. here in america the people rule through the ballot and their will prevails. so let us remember together we're one nation under god, indivisible. that today, tomorrow and forever at our best we are the united states of america. god bless you all. may god protect our troops, and may god bless those who stand watch over our democracy. >> you cannot love your country only when you win. we have just been watching president biden mark one year since the january 6th insurrection, putting the blame squarely on the former president, but reminding us that democracy held one year ago today, and notice while he did speak about the former president quite a bit, he did not utter his name. i want to bring my panel back in. phil, this was the clearest dissection of trump's big lie we have heard from president biden. do you think it's going to break through? >> you know, steph, biden has to hope it breaks through. it was clearly the most forceful rebuke that he has delivered in his year as president against trump, against trumpism, against the lie over the election and against the divide in the country that we're experiencing. it was a rhetorically very forceful speech, it was the kind of -- of remark that i think a lot of democrats have been hoping to hear from biden for some time. what we saw here was president biden clearly believing that his predecessor, donald trump -- the threat of american democracy and using that moment the anniversary and the attention that it has around the country to try to galvanize americans to understand that threat and to fight to protect what he perceived as democracy and peril. >> peter, why haven't we heard this speech before? >> i think president biden didn't want to have his presidency subsumed by living in the past, by simply making it about trump. you know, he wanted to make it about his own agenda, about his own policy goals and so forth. i think what he's seen in the last year is that you can't simply pretend that president trump has gone away because he hasn't gone away, he is still not only a force in american politics, he is the leading, you know, figure in the republican party and if he wants the nomination in 2024 to run for the presidency again i think most people believe he will be the like least person to win that nomination for the republican party. you cannot pretend that he doesn't exist anymore. this is the most full throated denunciation by the sitting president, the former president of what we've seen from him. whether he makes a difference or not, big question. obviously he's speaking to the choir to some extent among people who already agree with him on this. a lot of republicans will close their eye to this. you're hearing already republicans talk about how democrats are the ones politicizing this event for their own purposes. he mentioned the voting rights act of course is a contentious piece of legislation in the senate right now, but it's a rather striking moment. i'm trying to think of another example where a sitting president went after his predecessor in quite so forceful, full-throated and vehement a way and i'm not sure we can think of an example of that in modern history. >> katie, attorney general merrick garland said yesterday he will hold perpetrators, quote, at any level responsible. what does that mean? of course, you know, those are saying you've got to be talking about trump, but let's get serious about what one could actually be charged for. >> sure. so i think that garland was trying torques first of all, reassure the american people that the justice department has not foreclosed any path toward investigation, they intend to follow the facts wherever they lead, it will take referrals from a committee if given criminal reference but he needed to reemphasize following the facts means building an airtight ironclad case. people could be charged with -- many legal pundits have mentioned interfering in an act of congress, conspiracy against the united states, they've mentioned some really big possible charges, but keep in mind any charge we need to get through not only a jury and district court level, it would need to stand up to an appeals court and would also probably need to stand up to the supreme court. so that is an incredibly high bar, somebody like merrick garland, a former judge, is extremely aware of these judicial hurdles, would not bring a case that he thought the justice department would have any chance of losing because a loss in a case against a former administration official, against somebody who is a member of a former president's inner circle or against a former president himself could be disastrous for other reasons. i think this is also one of the reasons why we saw -- why we saw attorney general merrick garland and the president today mention voting rights. it's not just because it's a democratic and civic act, but when you look at the constitution it is the ultimate form of accountability for whether or not the american people think somebody should be in office and it's a lot more immediate and a lot more fast moving than courts and what the justice department can do. >> that was not a folksy president joe biden we heard. no one can place a dagger on the throat of democracy. garrett haake, any reaction yet from republicans? >> reporter: yeah, lindsey graham, one of the first republicans i've seen tweeting out calling it one of the most political speeches he has ever seen and making a kind of snide comment relating it to the pull out from afghanistan. a striking turn about, a human pretzelization of lindsey graham who said one year ago today that he was done with trump, cutting him loose. it speaks to the political zags of january 6th and in the senate there are seven republicans with clean hands when it comes to january 6, the seven who voted for impeachment they have been able to stay consistent in their messaging, almost every other republican starting with graham has had to twist themselves into knots to find some way to condemn the violence of that day but absolve the president at the time or their party of having any role in it. >> ellison, i don't want to get too personal, but you are in the same place where you were standing january 6th last year outside the capitol. i know there's more surveillance today, but how do you feel in your head, in your heart? >> reporter: you know, this is almost the exact place where i was standing when we noticed that protesters had breached the bicycle racks and started to push law enforcement back and make their way up those capitol steps. if you walk a little with me this way i can show you a little bit of what things are like today. it does feel different. we've seen more capitol police officers out patrolling on foot, more of them out on bikes. capitol police say that they have made changes. they're still having some issues with staffing. they have lost about 200 people for various reasons since january 6th, but they say staffing was an issue prior to that day as well. some of the biggest complaints, biggest criticisms of their response that day had to do with issues related to intelligence. they say they have made a number of changes on that front where they are getting daily intelligence briefings not just to capitol police leadership every single day but also to officers. they are in the process, the final stages, they say, of getting new intelligence director, but as you see kind of people preparing to leave and people preparing to go in the security, january 6th did not happen simply because capitol police made mistakes. the things that i heard people saying that day in this crowd, the rage that we saw as people busted through these bicycle racks and then attacked law enforcement to get up those steps, security changes alone it doesn't fix that. stephanie? >> i want to bring into the conversation congresswoman madeleine dean, a democrat from pennsylvania who hid in the gallery when the mob stormed the capitol. i don't imagine what this day is like for you both personally and professionally, but are we forgetting that on that day when you were under threat you went back to the capitol with your republican colleagues, with your fellow democratic colleagues and you voted to certify the election. our democracy watt at threat but it held. in some way does it show the strength of america? >> good to be with you today on this important historic day, and i'm here to say that the lives that stormed the capitol remain a threat to our democracy today. you're absolutely right. the fact that we went back to the floor and completed our institutional duty showed that democracy held, but it showed the other side, that it is precious, it is fragile. we have to have the courage to defend it, as justice brennan said, and we have to have the fidelity to live by it. i'm very pleased with the incredibly forceful speech of the president of the united states, calling out -- calling upon all of us, every single citizen, not just elected officials, you, me, every single citizen to uphold our precious democracy, hold it in the truth and the truth will set us free, as he quoted. >> as i mentioned, when you were hiding in the gallery you were not just with other democrats, you were all together with your republican colleagues. what has it been like now, republicans who spoke out last year against the insurrection, they have gone silent in the last six months. how can we possibly last six months. how can we possibly move forward when your own colleagues who were there hiding out with you whitewashed that devastating experience? >> well, you're absolutely right. up in the gallery, i want to note that we were also there with members of the press and we were told through a series of announcements from the floor from capitol police, i later learned to prepare to sit down, lie down, get your gas masks out from under your seats. i had no idea there were gas masks under our seats. you're right. we were hustled out. republicans and democrats, to a safe space. i remember being told as i was running through the tunnels, take your pin off. the pin we should be proud of, take it off because those who stormed the capitol won't care if you're a republican or a democrat. they're coming after you. they're chanting "hang mike pence." it is extraordinary that we spent that time in the safe room. i thought and said to members, republican and democrat, don't they know these lies have gone too far? and so i was proud that we went back. liz cheney, hakim jeffrey said to us in that safe room, when there was no clarity whatsoever as to what was going on, they said "we will go back and do our duty." but in the time since, stephanie, i have to remark to you, that for the most part, it has been very difficult to work with republican members of congress who continue the big lie. i no longer ask do they believe it. i only say now, check their motivation. is their motivation to retain or to gain further power? so we have to reject the big lie. that's why i'm delighted with the president. his call upon every one of us, i am reminded of a movie i love and in that movie the person says "america isn't easy. it is advanced citizenship." we're in a moment of advanced citizenship, and it is in our hands whether democracy will hold. it is up to every single one of us. >> congresswoman dean, thank you so much for joining me this morning. i appreciate it. i want to bring into the conversation congressman adam schiff, a democrat from california and a member of the house committee investigating the capitol riot. congressman, everyone watched the riot a year ago with our own eyes. your committee is set to start a more public phase soon. how soon is that going to happen? >> i think it will happen in a matter of weeks. we wanted to tell the story from beginning to end. we want to tell it in a coherent and clear way. we want to push back on this effort to revisit, revise history, to continue the big lie, but we also want to make sure that people are held accountable and that we legislate in a way that protects the country going forward, but i think you'll see us start to put those together in the next few weeks. >> what makes you think they're going to be held accountable, even if this airs in prime time? we've got a country so divided, people don't believe what they see with their own eyes. how is watching this in prime time going to change anything? >> well, you have a good point. as one of my colleagues, mike quigley said, i think he put it so well, it used to be people would say "i'll believe it when i see it." now it's more "i'll see it when i'm ready to believe it." we have to hope and i believe there are millions of americans who are open to the facts, who don't have a closed mind and are not so siloed in disinformation world that they can't be reached. and so it's enormously important that we try, that we put good information out and write the deanyonive report on this terrible chapter of our history so we can make sure we don't repeat it. >> i guess it takes me back to that definitive mueller report filled with so many things that didn't actually resonate or make their way to the american people. why do you think it will be different? trump's former press secretary stephanie grisham talked to your committee last night and wrote a tell-all book about her time at its white house and hasn't changed anything. >> the mueller report didn't change many attitudes because it really wasn't brought to life through public hearings. i think that was one of the failings, we did have obviously two hearings with bob mueller himself, but what we really needed was i think to bring forward the actual witnesses to those events, but many of them were part of both indicted and unindicted coconspirators. in this case, we have, i think, many witnesses who are cooperating, who will cooperate, who will participate in open hearings. the first unit we did with the capitol police officers was powerful in pushing back against the lies that that was somehow a norm's tourist day, people there with when you heard what the police officers went through. >> former vice president mike pence, you'd like him to speak, but the likelihood he's going to do it on his own slim. how long are you willing to wait before compelling him to do so with a subpoena? >> well, i don't want to get ahead of the committee. look, i think he has good reasons to want to provide information to our committee. he was in a hunt to put on a scaffold and also someone who was a key witness on the subject of this campaign to coerce him to ignore his constitutional duty. if anyone should have a reason to share that experience with the american people, it ought to be the vice president. now, again, what his personal future ambitions will do to color that, i don't know, but this is a moment where we need all americans to put patriotism first and that includes the former vice president. >> in some way, is it also a day to celebrate the strength or at least acknowledge, not celebrate, acknowledge the strength of our democracy, despite all that happened, and the big lie, and the insurrection, democracy held. >> democracy held, and yes, we should cherish the fact that it did, but i have to tell you, and it's with a very heavy heart, and deep alarm, we are more vulnerable today than a year ago. after that terrible day, i thought, you know, finally now people have seen what a terrible understand trump and trumpism and the big lies have brought us to finally now we will see the republican party repudiate that, return to its roots as a party of ideology, and ideas, but that didn't happen. they decided instead to double down on the big lie and dump that -- >> congressman, sorry, i need to interrupt. president biden is speaking. we're going to listen in. >> -- that's the thing that bothers me most about this sort of attitude that seems to be emerging to some degree in american politics. it's not about you. it's about me. that's how it's viewed, but it's not about me. it's not about whether i'm president or she's vice president. it's about the system and about somebody decides to put himself above everything and so but i did not want to turn it into a contemporary political battle between me and the president. it's way beyond that. it's way beyond that. >> reporter: mr. president, is calling him out [ inaudible ] you talk so much about healing, sir -- >> the way you have to heal, you have to recognize the extent of the wound. you can't pretend. this is serious stuff and a lot of people understandably want to go, look, that was -- i'd just as soon not face it. you got to face it. that's what great nations do. they face the truth. deal with it and move on. >> reporter: mr. president -- >> before we go, i do want to ask, though, you know, former president trump was supposed to give a press conference today. he didn't do it, but steve bannon is doing it in his place. mark meadows and steve bannon have been held in contempt but steve bannon is out there continuing to push the big lie day in and day out. it's frustrating for the american people. >> well, it is frustrating and of course, more than frustrating, it's dangerous that these people continue pushing that big lie, and no more destructive than the big liar himself, donald trump, still out there, even if he was silent this morning, he'll be soon back issuing false statement after false statement. i was glad joe biden called him out today. i was glad he was as forceful as he was. we can't mince words about the danger to our democracy, and that danger is posed by that former president and the lies that he is spewing, so i think we saw very powerful address by joe biden today. i think it was heartening to hear that vigorous defense of democracy and we all ought to view this day as a day of awakening. >> congressman schiff, thank you so much for joining me this morning. i appreciate it on this historic day. that wraps up this hour. special coverage to mark one year since at tack on the capitol had will continue all day right here on msnbc. my colleague and friend jose diaz-balart picks up coverage right now.

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