Calls grow for Trump’s removal after Capitol riot

Elinore McCance-Katz, assistant secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, resigned today in the wake of President Trump’s role and response to mob breaching the US Capitol.

“I have chosen to resign today as the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use,” McCance-Katz, assistant secretary for mental health and substance abuse for HHS, wrote in a letter dated today.

“It had been my plan to stay until the change in administration occurred, but my plans abruptly changed last evening when … I saw the violent takeover of the Capitol building. I believe that this behavior was totally unacceptable and, in my own heart, I simply am not able to continue,” McCance-Katz wrote.

President Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao also resigned today.

President Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has submitted her resignation, making her the second Cabinet member to resign over Trump’s response to the mob breaching the US Capitol, according to an official. 

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao also resigned this afternoon after taking “time to absorb” the insurrection on Capitol Hill and the President’s response to it.

“Today, there was a lot of soul-searching and discussion,” a senior administration official said. “It was obviously the right thing to do.”

Chao discussed the matter with her staff and her husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, before deciding by around 11 a.m. that she would resign.

A source close to Vice President Mike Pence said inquiries about invoking the 25th Amendment have been coming into Pence advisers and those discussions have been under way.

But the source said it is “highly unlikely” that Pence would pursue that path at this point, given that the effort is expected to be unsuccessful. And an administration official tells CNN that Pence himself has not discussed invoking the 25th Amendment with any Cabinet officials.

However, three senior administration officials also tell CNN that two Cabinet secretaries have called fellow members of the Cabinet to take their “temperatures” about demanding a Cabinet meeting with the President to confront him about his behavior.

The two Cabinet secretaries discussed the possibility of demanding the President deliver a public address committing to a peaceful transfer of power, which Trump did Thursday evening. 

Hanging over the meeting would be the possibility that a majority of the Cabinet could invoke the 25th Amendment and strip Trump of his power as president.

Chiefs of staff of federal departments have also been calling each other to discuss the possibility.

Some of the secretaries are hesitant to agree to a meeting because of the risk an attempt to invoke the 25th Amendment would face, or that they would draw Trump’s ire.

Some officials were also concerned about the optics of holding a cabinet meeting amid national discussions about the 25th Amendment. “Why take the risk?” one senior official said. 

On Thursday night, Trump released a pre-recorded video that said he would not serve a second term. It’s not known yet if that was enough assuage Cabinet members’ concerns and took the discussions of the table.

A White House adviser in discussions with senior officials said Trump only recorded the video released this evening because his presidency is currently threatened by looming resignations and potential impeachment.

“That message and tone should have been relayed election night…not after people died,” the adviser added.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called out President Trump for finally pledging an “orderly” transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20, saying “it’s about damn time.”

“Had he done this earlier, lives would have been saved,” Whitmer told CNN’s Erin Burnett, a day after rioters stormed the US Capitol building. “Had they invested themselves in a peaceful transition and started working with the incoming administration, lives would have been saved.”

What do we know: Rioters on Wednesday breached the Capitol building and the Senate chamber, ransacked the offices of Pelosi and other Capitol offices, and a laptop was stolen from the office of Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley. One woman was shot and killed by Capitol Police as the crowd breached the building and three others suffered medical emergencies that proved fatal.

“If he’d spent the energy that he has tried to use to sow doubt and violence and seeds of division toward addressing the pandemic, lives would have been saved,” Whitmer added. “I’m glad he’s come to that conclusion finally. However, we paid an incredible price as a nation for his inability to see the facts and understand them and accept them. This is where we are.”

Senate Chaplain Barry Black is urging Congress and the nation to heal and unite after Wednesday’s deadly riot at the US Capitol building.

Black prayed over Congress early Thursday morning to close the joint session following the formal affirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.

He told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that people too often these days are running from the truth and instead “need to learn to illuminate with truth.” 

“The power of life and death is in your words, and you will reap its harvest,” Black said Thursday on Anderson Cooper Full Circle, referencing Proverbs 18:21.

Black has served as Senate Chaplain since 2003.

Watch the full interview here.

Watch part of Senate Chaplain Barry Black’s interview:

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President Trump conceded publicly for the first time Thursday that he will not serve a second term, stopping short of congratulating President-elect Joe Biden but acknowledging a transfer of power is now underway.

“A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20,” Trump said in a pre-recorded video taped at the White House. “My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power.”

Trump’s recognition of his loss comes two months after the fact and amid growing calls for either his removal from office or a fresh impeachment. It also came as legal questions swirled about his culpability for inciting rioters who invaded the US Capitol a day earlier.

In the video, released more than 24 hours after Wednesday’s riot, Trump made calls for “healing and reconciliation” and said the country must move forward.

But he also misstated his role in activating the National Guard to combat his supporters who stormed the Capitol, who only a day earlier he called “special.”

Earlier Thursday, Trump issued a dark-of-night statement vowing an “orderly transition,” which came about in part to stanch a wave of resignations from within the West Wing and the broader administration, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Read more here.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to reach out to Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday to urge him to consider invoking the 25th Amendment to force President Trump’s removal from office.

The Democrats issued a statement detailing their phone call attempt to Pence, whom they were unable to connect with.

Read their statement:

“This morning, we placed a call to Vice President Pence to urge him to invoke the 25th Amendment which would allow the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to remove the President for his incitement of insurrection and the danger he still poses. We have not yet heard back from the vice president.
The President’s dangerous and seditious acts necessitate his immediate removal from office. We look forward to hearing from the vice president as soon as possible and to receiving a positive answer as to whether he and the Cabinet will honor their oath to the Constitution and the American people.”

CIA director Gina Haspel is not currently expected to resign from her post in response to President Trump’s handling of Wednesday’s violence at the US Capitol, according to a source familiar with the situation, who told CNN there is no indication, at this time, that she intends to step down before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office, according to a source familiar with the situation.  

Haspel’s relationship with Trump has deteriorated in recent months and CNN previously reported that she was on thin ice as the President has considered firing her during his final months in office. But the source told CNN that at this time, it is unlikely Haspel will resign, the source said. 

While the situation involving Trump’s Cabinet continues to evolve after the resignation of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the source told CNN that, for now, Haspel intends to stay in her role to help oversee the CIA’s ongoing operations and a smooth transition process. The CIA declined to comment on Haspel’s plans. 

Some background: There have been calls for other Cabinet members to follow Chao’s lead amid bipartisan criticism of Trump’s response to the violence. But some of Trump’s top national security officials have received calls within the last 24 hours urging them not to resign following his widely panned response to the mob attack by his supporters on the US Capitol.

The message: it is important they stay on for the continuity of government in the national security realm.

Haspel has kept a relatively low profile since the election. Sources have consistently said Haspel prefers to remain as CIA director until Inauguration Day and step down on her own terms when the new administration takes over.

As of Thursday, it appears Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, is also unlikely to resign. 

At this stage, it remains unclear if Ratcliffe has been involved in any discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment but a source familiar with the issue, told CNN Trump’s intelligence chief is well aware that a growing list of Congressional lawmakers are calling on the Cabinet to take that step.

A Capitol Police officer is on life support Thursday night after a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol a day before, according to Capitol Police union chair Gus Papathanasiou.

CNN reported Thursday evening, citing three sources, that the officer had died. One of CNN’s sources said that Capitol Police officers were gathered and told that the officer had passed away.

Papathanasiou told WUSA — a local Washington, DC, television news station— that the officer died. Later Thursday, the Capitol Police released a statement stating no officers had died as a result of Wednesday’s riot.

Papathanasiou retracted his statement to WUSA and told CNN the officer was still on life support.

“He had a stroke. I think he’s on life support. We’ve got some misinformation on that. He’s on life support from what I’m hearing,” Papathanasiou told CNN.

One woman was shot and killed by Capitol Police as the crowd breached the building and three others suffered medical emergencies that proved fatal.

Correction: This post has been updated to reflect that the officer is on life support. 

President-elect Joe Biden has no appetite for opening an impeachment proceeding against President Trump, people familiar with the matter say Thursday, as he prefers to keep his focus on taking office in 13 days.

Sources who told CNN earlier Thursday he had no intention of weighing in on the 25th Amendment talks, they said he feels the same about impeachment.

It’s unclear whether Biden will weigh in himself – he declined to answer questions today, but might Friday – but he has made his views known that he doesn’t favor impeachment.

“Impeachment would not help unify this country,” a person close to Biden said, who added that “this is a matter to be decided by the Congress.” 

Former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed growing calls for invoking 25th Amendment or an impeachment of President Trump as a “distraction,” saying lawmakers should instead be focused on a successful transition. 

“It really doesn’t excite me,” said the retired four-star general, when asked about removing Trump. “We’ve got about 13 days to go? Nothing will really happen in that 13-day period. Let’s let it play out.” 

Powell suggested the danger Trump presents to the country would mitigate itself on Jan. 20, when President-elect Joe Biden assumes the presidency.

“I would not detour in different pieces of the Constitution we think would be helpful,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “I just want him out… he’s going to be out.” 

Despite his opposition to removing Trump by a constitutional mechanism, Powell still suggested he believes Trump is unfit to occupy the Oval Office.

“You can’t not have concerns about his mental fitness when you see the way he behaves, the way he acts and the things he does,” said Powell. 

Watch the moment:

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Vice President Mike Pence has not discussed invoking the 25th Amendment with any Cabinet officials, an administration official tells CNN. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for invoking the 25th Amendment in a news conference today, and said that if that doesn’t happen, Congress may move to impeach President Trump. 

“I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the vice president to remove this President by immediately invoking the 25th Amendment. If the vice president and the Cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment that is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus and the American people,” Pelosi said.

Remember: Invoking the 25th Amendment would require Pence and a majority of the Cabinet to vote to remove Trump from office due to his inability to “discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

Any 25th Amendment push faces an unprecedented steep hill to come to fruition with little time left before Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. The calls in Congress, however, underscore the extent to which lawmakers are reeling and furious with the President in the wake of the devastation at the Capitol on Wednesday.

US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund is resigning, according to a US Capitol Police official, after facing criticism over an apparent lack of preparedness to deal with Wednesday’s violent mob on Capitol Hill.

Sund’s resignation is effective Jan. 16, according to a Capitol Police official.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today called for Sund’s resignation and said the House Sergeant at Arms has told her he is submitting his resignation as well.

Pelosi made her comments during her weekly news conference, and follows Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer saying he would fire the current Senate Sergeant-at-Arms when he becomes majority leader. 

“If Senate Sergeant Arms [Michael] Stenger hasn’t vacated the position by then, I will fire him as soon as Democrats have a majority in the Senate,” Schumer said in a statement.

As some Trump supporters leave Washington, DC, after yesterday’s attack on the Capitol, the Federal Aviation Administration is warning fliers not to act up. 

“Unruly behavior on an airplane may violate federal law,” the FAA posted in a travel alert on Twitter, warning of a possible $35,000 fine. “Always follow crew instructions.”

The warning comes after social media posts of pro-Trump passengers flying to Washington, DC, shouting down fellow passengers, flight attendants struggling to enforce mask rules, and other Trump supporters harassing GOP Sen. Mitt Romney in an airport terminal. 

On Wednesday, the head of the largest association of flight attendants said that those who participated in the assault on the Capitol should be banned from commercial flights. CNN observed a ramped up police presence at Reagan National Airport, but the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority reports no arrests on Thursday at Reagan or Dulles.

President Trump has been asking aides and lawyers, including White House counsel Pat Cipollone, about his self-pardon power, multiple sources tell CNN.

Some of those conversations have happened in recent weeks, one of the sources said. It is unclear if it has come up since the mayhem at the Capitol building yesterday fomented by the President’s rhetoric or after his recent controversial call with the Georgia secretary of state. Trump has asked about the legal and political consequences of a self-pardon, according to a source close to the President. 

He has also asked for legal opinions on whether he has the authority to issue a self-pardon and has been advised on the potential political fallout. This person said it was not yet clear whether the President would follow through with a pardon for himself.

Another person said it is not in the works in the White House counsel’s office currently but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen or that the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel is not currently reviewing the matter. 

CNN has previously reported Trump has been asking aides since 2017 about his self-pardon power and has been “obsessed” with the idea. Recently, Trump allies such as Sean Hannity on Fox have suggested publicly that he should. Trump has also tweeted that he believes he has the power to do so. 

A presidential self-pardon is untested and experts are divided on its constitutionality. A Justice Department legal memo says the President cannot pardon himself but he can step down and ask his vice president to take over and pardon him. However, that memo is not binding.

As 6,200 members of the National Guard arrive in Washington, DC, Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy said they would be used in 12-hour shifts, with 850 of them on Capitol grounds at a time, while others work traffic control points throughout the city.

The National Guard members, which will arrive from Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and DC units, are deployed for a minimum of 30 days, and they are expected to fully arrive during the weekend.

They will help erect a 7-foot non-scalable fence around the Capitol grounds as well as help support security in the area, working with other agencies and law enforcement. 

Speaking on a call with reporters, McCarthy said the rules and use of force would also be reviewed ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden, which is seen as the next major milestone — and potential target — as the transition of power moves forward.

“We’ll potentially make adjustments accordingly,” McCarthy said of the rules and use of force. National Guard members were deployed Wednesday with protective gear and riot equipment, but without any weapons, whether lethal or non-lethal.

“We are singularly focused on putting a plan in place that we have the adequate level of capability to support this next extraordinary milestone of the transfer of power on the 20th of January,” McCarthy added.  

At the moment, McCarthy said there was 741 National Guard members on Capitol grounds, with another 93 working across 31 checkpoints to control traffic into the area. McCarthy said he has been in constant communication with Congressional leadership and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser.

McCarthy began the call by condemning the violence and riots, “Yesterday was a horrible and shameful day here in the Capitol and the nation at large. The District of Columbia asked for the Army to help and the National Guard responded.”

President Trump has canceled plans to travel to Camp David on Friday, according to a source familiar with the plans. 

Earlier Thursday a White House official told CNN that the President had planned to be away for the weekend, and a temporary flight restriction from the Federal Aviation Administration had been in place over the presidential retreat beginning Friday — meaning civilian aircraft are directed not to fly over the area. 

A separate source familiar with the President’s schedule says this trip to Camp David was on Trump’s calendar, prior to Wednesday’s siege of the US Capitol. 

Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, fears that President Trump may put the US in a precarious position during his last days in office.

“After the events of yesterday, all of us have to step back and pause and say what else is President Trump capable of in the remaining 13 days of his presidency?” Coons told CNN this afternoon. “My concern would be that President Trump would get us into some sort of conflict in his last 13 days that would then leave President-elect Biden not only with the challenge of responding to a pandemic, but getting us out of or unwinding an unplanned and unnecessary and needlessly disruptive conflict somewhere in the world.”

Coons remarks come after White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany walked into the briefing room and made no apology for the President’s behavior, or his rhetoric, or his administration, in the wake of the riot Wednesday at Capitol Hill.

President Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly today said he would vote to invoke the 25th Amendment if he was still serving in Trump’s Cabinet. 

“Yes, I would,” said Kelly, hesitating slightly before replying to CNN’s Jake Tapper’s question: “If you were in the Cabinet right now, would you vote to remove him from office?”

Earlier in the conversation, Kelly, who served on the Cabinet from July 2017 through December 2018, also said current members of the Cabinet ought to meet to consider removing Trump, even though he has just 13 more days in his term. 

“The Cabinet should meet and have a discussion,” said Kelly. I don’t think it will happen. But I think the Cabinet should meet and discuss this.”

“The behavior yesterday and in the weeks and months before that has been outrageous from the President,” he added. “What happened on Capitol Hill yesterday is a direct result of his poisoning the minds of people with the lies and the frauds.”

Watch the moment:

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Two men became the first people to be hit with federal charges on Thursday for their actions in a riot at the US Capitol building one day earlier in which pro-Trump supporters overran the building leading to officers being injured and four deaths.

The men, identified as Christopher Alberts and Mark Jefferson Leffingwell, were both scheduled to appear in federal court in Washington, DC, Thursday afternoon.

Alberts, of Maryland, was charged with one count of carrying or having access to firearms or ammunition on US Capitol Grounds, according to the complaint sworn by an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department.

Alberts, who was wearing a bulletproof vest and wearing a backpack, was approached by the MPD officer after the officer identified a bulge on Albert’s right hip.

The officer said Albert’s tried to flee and after he was apprehended with the help of two other officers they found with a black Taurus G2C 9mm handgun and a magazine of ammunition.

In total, according to the complaint, Alberts had 25 rounds of ammunition on him. The officer also seized a gas mask, pocket-knife, first aid kit, and one military meal-ready-to-eat, or MRE.

Alberts told authorities after his arrest that “he was in possession of the firearm for personal protection and he did not intend on using the firearm to harm anyone.” 

Leffingwell, 51, faces three criminal counts and has not yet entered a plea.

During the push of to enter the Capitol building, Leffingwell allegedly attempted to push past a Capitol Police officer who was trying to blockade the building, then punched the officer, authorities said.

The officer, Daniel Amendola, wrote that Leffingwell punched him “repeatedly with a closed fist” in his police helmet and in the chest. The police then restrained him. Leffingwell later apologized to Amendola, according to a court filing.

The Capitol Police officer’s statement of facts released Thursday also described the police reaction to the siege as the joint session of Congress was underway certifying the electoral vote of Joe Biden for president, when a crowd gathering outside that then broke into the Capitol building. 

“Members of the US Capitol Police attempted to maintain order and keep the crowd from entering the Capitol; however, shortly after 2:00pm, individuals in the crowd forced entry into the US Capitol, including by breaking windows,” Amendola wrote.

The officer also described evacuating Congressional officials and the Vice President Mike Pence. 

“In reacting to the crowd that had breached a window of the building, I moved to a hallway” on the Senate side of the Capitol, Amendola described. “While there, I attempted to form a barrier with other officers to stop or deter additional individuals from entering the Capitol building.”

The federal court proceedings for Capitol-related defendants are before Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey of the DC District Court and are ongoing now.

Police did not report where Leffingwell resides. He is currently being held in the central cellblock of the DC jail, according to his court proceeding. He’ll stay there overnight until he can be seen in court again Friday. Prosecutors say he might flee if released.

His attorney told the court that Leffingwell is a disabled veteran who suffers from memory loss.

In her statement today, former first lady Michelle Obama pointed out the differences in how the behavior of Black Lives Matter protesters and Pro-Trump rioters was treated by the authorities

The former first lady noted that the BLM protests across the country this past summer were an “overwhelmingly peaceful movement” that brought together people of “every race and class.” 

“And yet, in city after city, day after day, we saw peaceful protesters met with brute force,” she added.

She continued by saying that “yesterday made it painfully clear that certain Americans are, in fact, allowed to denigrate the flag and symbols of our nation. They’ve just got to look the right way.”

Read more of Michelle Obama’s statement:

Acting US Attorney Michael Sherwin said they are looking at all actors involved in the unrest at the US Capitol on Wednesday, including the role President Trump played in inciting the crowd.

When asked directly by a reporter on a press call if investigators were looking at the role Trump played at the rally, Sherwin said, “We’re looking at all actors here and anyone that had a role and, if the evidence fits the elements of the crime, they’re going to be charged.”

Former first lady Michelle Obama released a statement on Twitter today about the riot at the Capitol yesterday, and called on social media companies to ban President Trump permanently from their platforms.

“Now is the time for Silicon Valley companies to stop enabling this monstrous behavior — and go even further than they have already by permanent banning this man from their platforms,” she said.

Some background: Facebook and Twitter took the step on Wednesday of locking Trump’s account on their platforms after his supporters stormed the Capitol building to protest the election.

Twitter said it has locked Trump’s account for 12 hours, and warned for the first time that it may suspend him permanently. Facebook also blocked Trump from posting on its platform for 24 hours, the company said, after it removed a video he posted to his supporters who participated in the riot. Trump will also face a 24-hour block on Facebook-owned Instagram.

Read Michelle Obama’s tweets:

Federal prosecutors in Washington, DC, have filed 15 criminal cases stemming from the unrest at the US Capitol on Wednesday, according to Acting US Attorney Michael Sherwin for the District of Columbia.

Sherwin said “most of those cases” relate to unauthorized entry to the Capitol and the Capitol grounds. He said they were also filing cases involving firearms and theft of property. 

“There was a large amount of pilfering at the Capitol. Materials were stolen from several offices,” Sherwin said. The defendants are expected to appear before a federal magistrate’s judge later Thursday. Details of the charges were not yet available.

He added that an additional 40 cases were filed in Superior Court, many of them including charges ranging from unlawful entry to certain areas of the Capitol grounds. 

“We also have a handful of assault cases we also have eight firearms cases,” Sherwin said. 

He said one man was arrested by federal agents with a military semi-automatic rifle and 11 Molotov cocktails that were ready to go. 

“Make no mistake about this. It was a very dangerous situation. We are aggressively trying to address these cases as soon as possible,” Sherwin added.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempted to reach Vice President Mike Pence earlier today, but was unable to get through to him, and it’s currently unclear whether he plans to call her back, a person familiar with the situation tells CNN.

The understanding was that she was calling to discuss her suggestion that the Cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment.

It’s not clear why she could not reach him, the source noted, meaning whether he was occupied or purposely avoiding the conversation.

Pence has not publicly commented on the proposals the Cabinet seize power from the President.

Some context: Invoking the 25th Amendment would require Pence and a majority of the Cabinet to vote to remove President Trump from office due to his inability to “discharge the powers and duties of his office” — an unprecedented step.

Any 25th Amendment push faces an unprecedented steep hill to come to fruition with little time left before Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. The calls in Congress, however, underscore the extent to which lawmakers are reeling and furious with the President in the wake of the devastation at the Capitol on Wednesday.

A source close to the Vice President Mike Pence says he’s planning to attend the inauguration of Joe Biden on Jan. 20.

“That’s the plan,” the source said.

Another source said the Pence has faced pressure from many of those around him who are encouraging him to attend. He has not yet been formally invited, however.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump, said Thursday that the President’s accomplishments have been “tarnished by yesterday” and the attack “will be a major part of his presidency”.  

“As to yesterday, that my friend, a President with consequence, would allow yesterday to happen. And it will be a major part of his presidency. It was a self-inflicted wound. It was going too far,” Graham said.

“When it comes to accountability, the President needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution,” he added.

“I’ve become close to the President personally… It has been an amazing four years in terms of judges, securing the border, a vaccine in record time, deregulating the economy, cutting taxes, historic Mideast peace agreements, the destruction of the caliphate, on and on and on, was tarnished by yesterday,” he said

While he was critical of Trump at a press conference Thursday about the Capitol riot, Graham toed the line and defended Trump by also placing blame on media coverage and Trump’s advisers.

On whether he thinks Trump could incite more violence, he replied: “I’m hoping he won’t.” Adding, that he is hopeful because “I spoke to some people this morning, I got some assurances… I think we are moving in the right direction.” 

On the 25th Amendment, he said “I do not believe that’s appropriate at this point.” But he added that, “If something else happens all options would be on the table.”

Graham said he has “absolutely no regrets” about supporting President Trump.

“The reason I’ve been close to the President is I think he’s done tremendous things for this country,” he said, pointing to judicial nominations among other accomplishments.

Asked if he thinks Trump would run for office again in the future, he replied: “I’m not worried about the next election, I’m worried about the next 14 days.”

He also called on Trump to “accept he fell short” in the election, “and a new president will be coming.” He also asked him to “turn down the rhetoric and allow us as a nation to heal and move forward.”

“I am hopeful that the worst is behind us and we can transfer power on January 20,” he said. 

He praised Vice President Mike Pence, and said “The things he was asked to do in the name of loyalty were over the top, unconstitutional, illegal and would have been wrong for the country.”

Two sources familiar with the matter say the divide between President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence has deepened over the last 24 hours. Trump is angry at Pence and Pence is disappointed and saddened by Trump, sources say. 

Pence’s feelings built up after weeks of Trump trying to convince him to unilaterally overturn the election and it culminated with the mayhem yesterday fomented by the President’s comments. 

Additionally, Pence was the one on the phone with Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller urging a more rapid response from the National Guard following widespread frustration among lawmakers about the lack of the response. Trump never called to check on his well-being and still has not reached out to Pence even now. 

The source said despite the current dynamic, at this point, it doesn’t appear either will do anything in response, such as Pence resigning. 

Additionally, the source says many administration officials who have been discussing invoking the 25th Amendment as CNN reported last night feel today such a move would do more harm than good. 

A separate source close to Pence says as of early this afternoon those conversations had not made their way to the his office but lawmakers have been trying to reach him on the matter. 

Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller called the storming of the US Capitol “reprehensible and contrary to the tenets of the United States Constitution,” in a statement released by the Pentagon Thursday. 

Miller commended the actions of the District of Columbia National Guard, and said the Pentagon would “execute the time-honored peaceful transition of power” to President-elect Joe Biden.

“Our Republic may have been disrupted yesterday, but the resolve of our legislators to conduct the people’s business did not waver. Due to their efforts, supported by local and federal law enforcement and the National Guard, the attempts of those who tried to stop our government from functioning failed,” Miller said

“I strongly condemn these acts of violence against our democracy. I, and the people I lead in the Department of Defense, continue to perform our duties in accordance with our oath of office, and will execute the time-honored peaceful transition of power to President-elect Biden on January 20,” he added.

Miller was named acting secretary by President Trump after the President fired former Defense Secretary Mark Esper after the Nov. 3 election.

Pete Gaynor, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, condemned Wednesday’s riots in a message to the workforce Thursday afternoon, calling it an “insurrection,” according to an internal message obtained by CNN. 

“Yesterday we watched with shock, concern, and sadness at the senseless attack on the house of American democracy,” Gaynor said, adding that the “heartbreaking images of this insurrection have left a scar on our nation.”

Gaynor said FEMA staff worked overnight to “support efforts to ensure continuity of government operations,” later adding: “There are many questions lingering about the attack on the U.S. Capitol and it will take time to discover the answers.” 

CNN reached out to FEMA for more information on the agency’s role yesterday.

Twitch said Thursday it has disabled President Trump’s channel on the gaming service, making it the latest tech platform to crack down on the President’s accounts after his supporters stormed the US Capitol building.

“In light of yesterday’s shocking attack on the Capitol, we have disabled President Trump’s Twitch channel,” the company said in a statement. “Given the current extraordinary circumstances and the President’s incendiary rhetoric, we believe this is a necessary step to protect our community and prevent Twitch from being used to incite further violence.”

The move from the Amazon-owned gaming service comes as other platforms escalate their restrictions on the President’s accounts.

On Thursday, Facebook banned Trump’s account from posting on the platform for at least the duration of his term in office, and possibly “indefinitely.” A day earlier, Twitter locked Trump’s account temporarily, and warned for the first time that it could suspend him permanently.

Trump has a significantly smaller audience on Twitch than he does on Twitter and Facebook.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said he thinks the nation would be better off if President Trump were to be removed from office during a news conference Thursday.

“I think there’s no question that America would be better off if the President would resign or be removed from office. And if Mike Pence, the vice president of the United States, would conduct a peaceful transfer of power over the next 13 days until President Biden is sworn in,” he said.

“We need leadership right now and we need to stop all of this craziness,” Hogan said.

He called the attack by pro-Trump supporters “heinous” and an attack on the rule of law.

“What we saw in the nation’s Capitol was not just an attack on the people’s representatives or historic buildings and our law enforcement. It was an attack on the rule of law, the foundation of self-government and who we are as Americans. The mob may have shattered glass but they did not and they will not shatter our democracy,” he said.

Hogan also noted that while he had the state’s National Guard ready to be deployed to the Capitol, he was unable to get immediate federal authorization to send them in for nearly 90 minutes.

Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, condemned security officials’ response to the Capitol Hill riots today, saying protesters who were marching for civil rights over the summer were treated much more harshly. 

“Black leaders, Black organizers, Black protesters are treated completely different,” Cullors told CNN. “…We are met with rubber bullets. People in Louisville, Kentucky, were met with riot gear. Here in Los Angeles we were met with tear gas and brutalized by a militarized police force.”

Cullors went on to say it was “disgusting” that there was “no to little security yesterday.” 

She also praised President-elect Joe Biden’s remarks earlier today in which he also drew a contrast between the security response to the Capitol riots and the police response to Black Lives Matter protesters over the summer.

“Hearing President-elect Joe Biden really speak to the dire situation that happened and clarifying that Black Lives Matter protesters have been and continue to be treated differently than White supremacist terrorists was huge,” she said. “He’s speaking not just to the country, but speaking on a global stage.”

Watch the interview:

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04:18 - Source: cnn

The first defendants arrested during the Capitol riot yesterday are appearing in court now.

In some of the first appearances in the DC Superior Court on Thursday, prosecutors asked for the judge to block defendants from being in the city, noting they were not residents.

Judge Juliet McKenna ordered Michael Jared Amos, 38, of Florida, to stay out of the District of Columbia until further notice, only allowing him in the capital for court-related appearances.

Amos was charged on Wednesday with unlawful entry into the US Capitol building and violating the 6 p.m. curfew set by the mayor. Amos is accused of disobeying the commands of Capitol Police and MPD police officers, and that he ignored the citywide curfew. He has pleaded not guilty. 

Another defendant David Ross, 33, of Massachusetts, pleaded not guilty to unlawful entry and violating the 6 p.m. curfew. He also was ordered by the judge to stay away from Washington, DC.

During his court appearance Thursday over Zoom, Amos sat in a holding cell, and said his cell phone was dead. He was wearing a surgical mask and an army green T-shirt with a stars and stripe design. He said he had a hotel room in the DC area, and would be heading out of the city.

Ross, just before his brief hearing ended, asked the judge to explain the charges because he did not understand them, so the judge informed Ross to speak to his attorney.

The federal court, DC’s District Court, will also be hearing new cases related to the riots on Thursday, and that hearing is set to begin shortly.

The DC Superior Court initial hearings are ongoing. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called President Trump “a very dangerous person who should not continue in office,” adding, “this is urgent. This is emergency of the highest magnitude,” when asked at her news conference if she would encourage Cabinet members not to resign so that they can invoke the 25th Amendment.”

Asked how long she would wait to see if the 25th Amendment would be invoked before potentially pursing impeachment, Pelosi said, “While there’s only 13 days left, any day can be a horror show for America.”

Pelosi also described the interest she is receiving from members to move forward with impeachment.

“My members are very much interested. My phone is exploding with ‘impeach, impeach, impeach,’” she said, adding, “I don’t have immediate plans. We haven’t even been to sleep since the folly of the Republicans deciding we should go until four in the morning for no purpose whatsoever except to be enablers of the President’s sedition.” 

Asked about how long she would give Vice President Mike Pence to take action Pelosi said: “I don’t know how quickly he might respond, we’ll see. That could be quick.” She added, “I don’t think that it’ll take long to get an answer from the Vice President. It will either be yes or it will be no.”

As she discussed members of the Cabinet, Pelosi also said that the acting Secretary of Defense “has to answer for where the national guard was yesterday.”

“Ask each member of the Cabinet: Do they stand by these actions? Are they ready to say in the next 13 days this dangerous man can do further harm to our country, an assault on our democracy,” Pelosi said.

Watch the moment:

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02:43 - Source: cnn

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she called for the resignation of the US Capitol Police chief and said the House Sergeant-at-Arms has told her he is submitting his resignation.

“I am calling for the resignation of the chief of the Capitol police and I have received notice that Mr. Irving will be submitting his resignation,” Pelosi said.

Watch the moment:

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A State Department political appointee was fired by the White House today after tweeting last night that President Trump was unfit for office and was to blame for the mob attack on the Capitol, according to two sources familiar with the firing.

“President Trump fomented an insurrectionist mob that attacked the Capitol today. He continues to take every opportunity to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power,” Gabriel Noronha, who worked on Iran at the State Department and was previously a staffer on Capitol Hill, tweeted. “These actions threaten our democracy and our Republic. Trump is entirely unfit to remain in office, and needs to go.”

Noronha also said that all government officials must uphold the Constitution, not a political party.

“All government officials swear to uphold and defend the constitution. That is where our loyalties must lie – not to any man or political party. @JoeBiden has won the election for President and we must all work together to rebuild our economy and defend our nation,” Noronha wrote in his second tweet.

Noronha was notified that he would be fired in a letter from the State Department liaison to the White House today, said a source familiar with the letter. He was given no explicit reason for his ouster, the source said.

Noronha’s bosses at the State Department did not object to him posting his opinion on his personal Twitter account, the sources said. It is unclear who at the White House made the decision to fire him.

Together his two tweets received almost 30,000 retweets as of Thursday afternoon.

Noronha, the State Department and White House did not immediately reply to request for comment.

 See his tweet:

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday said the “violence and destruction of property” at the US Capitol building Wednesday showed “a blatant and appalling disregard for our institutions of government and the orderly administration of the democratic process.”

Wray, in a statement, went on to say that “we do not tolerate violent agitators and extremists who use the guise of First Amendment-protected activity to incite violence and wreak havoc,” and the FBI director went on to say that they would be held accountable.

“Such behavior betrays the values of our democracy,” he said in the statement. “Make no mistake: With our partners, we will hold accountable those who participated in yesterday’s siege of the Capitol.”

Wray said the FBI has deployed its full investigative resources and they are working closely with local, state and federal authorities to “aggressively pursue those involved in criminal activity during the events of January 6.”

He said agents and analysts have been gathering evidence, sharing intelligence, and working with federal prosecutors to bring charges.

President-elect Joe Biden’s attorney general pick Merrick Garland addressed the Capitol siege while accepting his nomination, calling it a reminder of why rule of law is the very foundation of democracy.

“As everyone who watched yesterday’s events in Washington now understands, if they did not understand before, the rule of law is not just some lawyer’s turn of phrase. It is the very foundation of our democracy. The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, one rule for friends, another for foes, one rule for the powerful, another for the powerless, one rule for the rich, and another for the poor, or different rules, depending on one’s race or ethnicity. The essence of its great corollary, equal justice until law, is that all citizens are protected in the exercise of their civil rights. Those ideals have animated the Department of Justice since the very moment of its inception,” he said.

Garland, whose nomination to the Supreme Court in 2016 by President Barack Obama was ignored by Senate Republicans, was seen as a top contender for the position, but concerns about the vacancy his selection would create on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia had raised alarm bells among Biden and many advisers who believed Senate Republicans would block any nomination to that seat. Democrats winning both Georgia Senate allayed those concerns.

President-elect Joe Biden said that yesterday, after the chaos started, at the Capitol his granddaughter texted him a photo of police in full military gear lining the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during a Black Lives Matter protest.

“No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday there wouldn’t — they wouldn’t have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol,” he said.

He continued:  “We all know that is true, and it is unacceptable. Totally unacceptable.”

Watch the moment:

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President-elect Joe Biden said he would work to restore the “honor, integrity, independence” of the US Department of Justice that’s been so “badly damaged” by President Trump, during his announcement of his Justice Department appointments and nominations, including Merrick Garland for attorney general.

“I want to be clear to those who lead this department who you will serve. You won’t work for me. You are not the president or the vice president’s lawyer. Your loyalty is not to me,” Biden said.

“It’s to the law, the Constitution, the people of this nation, to guarantee justice,” he said.

Watch the moment:

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for invoking the 25th Amendment over the riots at the US Capitol and said that if that doesn’t happen then Congress may move to impeach. 

“I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the vice president to remove this President by immediately invoking the 25th Amendment. If the vice president and the Cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment that is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus and the American people,” she said in a news conference

This comes after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer earlier today called for the vice president to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment.

Some context: Invoking the 25th Amendment would require Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of the Cabinet to vote to remove President Trump from office due to his inability to “discharge the powers and duties of his office” — an unprecedented step.

Any 25th Amendment push faces an unprecedented steep hill to come to fruition with little time left before Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. The calls in Congress, however, underscore the extent to which lawmakers are reeling and furious with the President in the wake of the devastation at the Capitol on Wednesday.

Watch the moment:

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President-elect Joe Biden began his remarks Thursday before introducing members of his judiciary team by addressing the siege on Capitol Hill Wednesday, admonishing President Trump for inciting the violence and condemning the rioters. 

Biden called yesterday one of the darkest days in the history of our nation and reiterated that it was an “unprecedented assault on our democracy.” 

“I wish we could say we couldn’t see it coming. But that wasn’t true. We could see it coming,” he said.

Biden said that he will not address questions regarding the invocation of the 25th Amendment against President Trump.

Biden had harsh words for Trump, condemning him for attacking the free press and independent judiciary and using tactics long-used by autocrats and dictators all over the world. 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is not expected to resign and plans to serve out the administration, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Mnuchin is currently abroad on a multi-country swing but called the violence in Washington “completely unacceptable” during a stop in Israel on Wednesday.

Earlier today, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao became the first Trump Cabinet member to resign in wake of President Trump’s response to a mob of his supporters breaching the Capitol.

President-elect Joe Biden said today that President Trump incited “a mob to attack the Capitol.”

He continued, saying Trump’s intention was to “threaten elected representatives of the people of this nation, and even the vice president, to stop the Congress from ratifying the will of the American people and the just completed free and fair election.” 

“Trying to use a mob to silence the voices of nearly 160 million Americans, who summoned the courage in the face of a pandemic, that threatened their health and their lives to cast that sacred ballot,” he said. 

He called the Trump-inspired attack an “assault on Democracy.”

Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton said impeachment proceedings against President Trump should move forward, and the 25th Amendment should be invoked as well. 

“The President of the United States, just down Pennsylvania Avenue, called on his supporters to attack the United States Capitol. He refused to call out the National Guard to protect our government. He was the one behind an attempted coup. That’s why the commander in chief needs to be relieved of duty,” Moulton said to CNN’s Brianna Keilar. 

Moulton said Trump failed to protect the government and the American people, and action is needed as a precedent for future presidents. 

“It’s never too late to do the right thing; it’s never too late in America to uphold the law. We are a country where the law applies to everyone. That’s why if the President breaks the law, he should be impeached. We should go through that,” Moulton said. 

In a new statement Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said that an investigation into yesterday’s security breach is needed and that bipartisan discussions have begun.

“The ultimate blame for yesterday lies with the unhinged criminals who broke down doors, trampled our nation’s flag, fought with law enforcement, and tried to disrupt our democracy, and with those who incited them. But this fact does not and will not preclude our addressing the shocking failures in the Capitol’s security posture and protocols,” McConnell said.

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to tap Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as labor secretary, two sources familiar with the decision tell CNN.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is resigning, a person familiar with the situation and a senior administration official tell CNN.

She’s the first Cabinet member to leave in wake of President Trump’s response to a mob of his supporters breaching the Capitol.

Chao is linking her resignation to Trump’s handling of the unrest on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the administration official said. Chao — who is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — is expected to tweet more details about her resignation shortly.

Here’s her full statement:

Dana Bash weighs in:

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President Trump spoke at a rally in DC on Wednesday before the Pro-Trump rioters storming the US Capitol.

At the rally, he encouraged his supporters to protest at the US Capitol. 

Here’s part of what he said at the event:

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol. And we’re gonna cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. And we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them, because you’ll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength and you have to be strong,” he said at his rally on the Ellipse.

Despite promising he would join them, Trump retreated to the White House in his SUV and watched on television as the violence unfolded on Capitol Hill.

Erin Burnett reports:

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Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who will soon be the majority leader, says will fire the current Senate Sergeant-at-Arms when he ascends to his new role in the wake of the attack on the US Capitol. 

“If Senate Sergeant Arms Stenger hasn’t vacated the position by then, I will fire him as soon as Democrats have a majority in the Senate,” Schumer said in a statement. 

Michael C. Stenger was appointed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and it was expected that Schumer would eventually replace him when the chamber flipped to Democrats. 

But Schumer is making clear Stenger either needs to resign or be fired in the wake of the events that transpired.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi is about to speak following yesterday’s breach of the Capitol.

A pro-Trump mob surrounded the building and at least one rioter was pictured in Pelosi’s office with his feet on her desk.

Pelosi’s news conference comes as a growing number of lawmakers are calling for Trump’s removal from office.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, took to Twitter Thursday to address “the horrific results of four years of lies and disinformation.” 

Wolf called out Sen. Josh Hawley, Rep. Scott Perry, and other Republicans who “still continued to lie about Pennsylvania’s election.” 

Wolf called out Sen. Hawley individually for his rejection of the presidential election results and blamed him for the breach of the US Capitol.  

“Even after his actions directly resulted in a violent riot, Sen. Josh Hawley continues to lie about the election. Pennsylvania had a free, fair, and secure election. That’s a fact. Sen. Hawley’s behavior is disgraceful,” Wolf tweeted Wednesday.  

President Trump and top White House officials did little to check in on Vice President Mike Pence while he and members of his family were inside the US Capitol when Trump-backed rioters stormed the halls of Congress on Wednesday, a source close to the vice president tells CNN.

Pence was joined by his wife Karen Pence and his daughter Charlotte for the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes in Congress Wednesday. Several of the violent Trump supporters who were rampaging the US Capitol were heard screaming “where’s Mike Pence,” the source said, frightening the vice president and his family.

Yet, the President and his top aides barely lifted a finger to check in on Pence to make sure he and his family were unharmed, the source added.

“Was he concerned at all that an angry mob that he commanded to march on the Capitol might injure the vice president or his family?” the source asked.

The White House did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

People close to the vice president now believe he is being set up as a “scapegoat” to shoulder the blame inside Trump-world, after Pence refused to buckle to the President’s demands to engineer a procedural coup that would keep Trump in power.

Some more context: On Tuesday, Pence came under intense pressure from Trump to toss out the election results, during a meeting that lasted hours in the Oval Office. The vice president’s chief of staff, Marc Short, was banned by Trump from entering the West Wing, the source said, as the President repeatedly warned with “thinly veiled threats” to Pence that he would suffer major political consequences if he refused to cooperate.

“The message was pretty clear,” the source said.

The events Wednesday have left some aides to the vice president feeling Pence was betrayed by Trump as well as White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and the President’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

“Rudy, Meadows and their teams have been trying to set up the vice president to take the fall as opposed to admitting they laid out false hope in all of this,” the source said.

“Trump just can’t admit defeat and wants a scapegoat,” the source added.

On Thursday, Charlotte Pence Bond, who had been at the US Capitol with the vice president, tweeted her congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Jim Acosta reports:

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House Representative Karen Bass called for a “thorough investigation” into the riots.

“You can’t even come into the Capitol with a purse without it being screened. How can you break into the Capitol and walk around with flag poles? And you see the Capitol police right there. They were completely overwhelmed. Why did that happen? Why didn’t they erect barriers around the Capitol that are present now, the fences? I think a lot of this needs to be investigated,” she said.

Bass also criticized the “double standard” in the police response to the rioters at the Capitol on Wednesday as compared to what happened during the Black Lives Matter riots in the summer.

“Obviously, Black Lives Matters protesters were perceived as very threatening. And for some reason these weren’t,” she said. “It is so demoralizing for people, in particular, African Americans and other people of color, who know … if tens of thousands of young, old African Americans attacked the Capitol like that, what would have happened.”

“We are sick and tired of seeing the same type of double standard,” she said.

Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler and House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff – two Republicans who had rejected the results of the November election – denounced the violence by the Pro-Trump mob in Washington, DC.  

“Any act of violence or destruction is a crime and should be treated as such,’ read the statement they released Wednesday. ‘An objection to the electoral process is within the rights of members of Congress and has been exercised by members from both sides of the aisle at different times in our nation’s history. However, that process leads to debate and dialogue, not violence and mayhem.”

The two lawmakers most recently signed onto a letter, along with 60 other state legislators, urging the Keystone state’s Congressional delegation to dispute electors. 

“We strongly condemn any act of violence and destruction and pray for all those impacted today’ they added. 

President-elect Joe Biden has no immediate intention of weighing in on the rising calls for the 25th Amendment to be invoked, people familiar with the matter say. 

The Biden transition team has not commented on this, including today’s call from Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer.

Biden has expressed deep revulsion for what transpired at the Capitol, watching the events in disbelief and horror, as he said himself in his remarks on Wednesday. But he has expressed no appetite for adding his voice to the growing calls for Trump’s removal. 

There also are no conversations among the former presidents about weighing in, people familiar with the matter say, adding that they don’t believe it would be helpful.

Jeff Zeleny reports:

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Police in Washington, DC, released surveillance camera images of dozens of people they want to talk to as part the investigation into riots at the US Capitol on Wednesday.

The photos were published on the Metropolitan Police Department’s website on Thursday. Police identify those wanted as “persons of interest in unrest-related offense.”

At least one person wanted by police was identified by CNN as part of investigation published Wednesday night. The man is Jake Angeli – a protestor known by followers as the QAnon Shaman. He can be seen in photos roaming the Capitol halls shirtless, holding an American flag affixed to a spear in one hand and a bullhorn in the other. 

You can review the photos released by MDP here.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said President Trump was “completely wrong” to encourage a mob of protesters to storm the Capitol building in DC.”

“I unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way they did in the Capitol.”

Charlotte Pence Bond, one of the Vice President’s daughters, has tweeted her congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Charlotte Pence is very close with her parents and has been a frequent presence at the Vice Presidential mansion as well as on trips with the Second Lady and the Vice President. 

Her tweet comes a day after her father, Mike Pence, broke with President Trump in order to carry out his constitutional duty and certify the Electoral College vote. Trump had repeatedly – and falsely – claimed that Pence had the power to overturn the results of the election.

Acting Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen on Thursday said the Department of Justice is committed to hold accountable those who were responsible for the “attack on our Government,” adding that some participants will face charges for the breach of the US Capitol. 

Rosen, in a statement released Thursday, said prosecutors are working across agencies to ensure they face the “full consequences of their actions under the law.”

Here’s the full statement from Rosen:

“Yesterday, our Nation watched in disbelief as a mob breached the Capitol Building and required federal and local law enforcement to help restore order. The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that those responsible for this attack on our Government and the rule of law face the full consequences of their actions under the law. Our criminal prosecutors have been working throughout the evening with special agents and investigators from the U.S. Capitol Police, FBI, ATF, Metropolitan Police Department and the public to gather the evidence, identify perpetrators, and charge federal crimes where warranted. Some participants in yesterday’s violence will be charged today, and we will continue to methodically assess evidence, charge crimes and make arrests in the coming days and weeks to ensure that those responsible are held accountable under the law.”

President Trump’s top national security officials have received calls within the last 24 hours urging them not to resign following his widely panned response to the mob attack by his supporters on the US Capitol.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien have all gotten multiple phone calls within the last 24 hours from concerned former senior national security officials and the leaders of major corporate national security firms asking if they plan to stay on, according to a person familiar with the conversations who had spoken with all three of them.

Pompeo, Ratcliffe and O’Brien all got a similar message: it was important they stay on for the continuity of government in the national security realm.

These former officials and corporate figures conveyed they did not want a political crisis turned into a national security one, the person told CNN, and were concerned foreign adversaries may try to capitalize on it.

The calls come as several other senior figures are weighing resignations or have already stepped down, including Trump’s deputy national security adviser, Matt Pottinger, who resigned Wednesday. As of now, it appears Pompeo, Ratcliffe and O’Brien will not leave their roles. CNN reported Wednesday that O’Brien was considering quitting. Like many others in the administration, they were dismayed by the scenes that unfolded on Capitol Hill, this person said. 

After Wednesday’s violent storming of the US Capitol, members are already calling for a review of yesterday’s breach. And the House Appropriations Committee has announced they will review the response to yesterday’s insurrection. 

“The coup attempt at the Capitol yesterday was instigated by President Trump and responsibility for the violence rests with him and his supporters who ransacked the People’s House. However, the breach of the Capitol raises serious questions about what law enforcement did and what they should have done differently,” said House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro and House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Ryan. 

And the ranking member of the House Administration Committee, Rodney Davis, has released a statement calling for a review. 

“What happened yesterday should never happen again,” Rodney Davis said in a statement. “In the coming days and weeks, this committee needs to do a thorough review of yesterday’s attack and ensure measures are taken to better prepare for and prevent anything like this from happening again. I agree with Chairperson Lofgren that this review needs to be bipartisan and bicameral,” Rodney Davis said in a statement. 

You can read the full statement here.

One woman was fatally shot by police and three people died of apparent medical emergencies Wednesday after a mob of President Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol as Congress was certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win.

The attack comes during the deadly coronavirus pandemic that has already turned life upside down. The US reported 3,865 coronavirus deaths Wednesday, bringing the overall toll to 361,123 people in the US, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 

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White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere has released a statement on Wednesday’s events resulting in a breach of the US Capitol building incited by President Trump, resulting in four deaths and a ransacked Capitol. 

“The White House grieves the loss of life that occurred yesterday and extends sympathies to their families and loved ones. We also continue to pray for a speedy recovery for those who suffered injury,” Deere said.

Trump, who has not expressed these sentiments himself, is currently in the Oval Office, a White House official said. A Marine is stationed outside the West Wing.

The woman fatally shot by a US Capitol Police employee as a violent pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday was identified as Ashli Babbitt, Capitol Police chief Steven Sund said.

“As protesters were forcing their way toward the House Chamber where Members of Congress were sheltering in place, a sworn USCP employee discharged their service weapon, striking an adult female,” Sund said in a statement Thursday. “Medical assistance was rendered immediately, and the female was transported to the hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.” 

The Capitol Police chief did not name the employee, but said they had been placed on administrative leave per department policy while a joint investigation with DC’s Metropolitan Police Department is underway. 

Sund also provided new details regarding reports of explosives found near the Capitol complex during the riot. The chief said two hazardous devices were found in the area, which could have caused “great harm to public safety.” Sund said the devices were rendered safe and are now being investigated by The FBI. 

The chief appeared to defend his agency in the wake of growing criticism over the apparent lack of preparation that allowed violent extremists to overrun the Capitol Police checkpoint and enter the building. 

“The actions of the USCP officers were heroic given the situation they faced, and I continue to have tremendous respect in the professionalism and dedication of the women and men of the United States Capitol Police,” Sund said, adding that the agency is reviewing its policies and response to the violent event. 

The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, is asking for the public’s help in identifying some of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol yesterday.

The department tweeted four photos of some of the people in the mob and urged anyone with information to call them.

Here’s a look at the photos:

After the storming of the US Capitol Wednesday, Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser held a press conference where she called on the incoming Biden administration to approve statehood for the national capital within its first 100 days.

She also called on the new Congress to “immediately transfer command of the District of Columbia National Guard from the President of the United States and put it squarely under the command and control of the Mayor of the District of Columbia.”

Calling the riot at the Capitol “textbook terrorism,” Bowser urged Congress to create a nonpartisan commission to understand the “catastrophic security failures” at the Capitol on Wednesday that led to the rioters breaching the building. She also called for an investigation as well as arrests and prosecution of the rioters.

She raised the question of whether the response of law enforcement was stronger during the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer following George Floyd’s death than during the riot at the Capitol.

In stressing accountability, she said:

“More immediately, we know the current President must be held accountable for this unprecedented attack on our democracy. What happened yesterday is what he wanted to happen. And we must not underestimate the damage he can do to our nation and our democracy over the next two weeks. And it’s not just the President who must be held accountable. So too must the domestic terrorists who stormed the Capitol and threatened members of Congress.”

WATCH:

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Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is calling for the 25th Amendment to be invoked. He declined to comment on this yesterday when CNN asked.

“What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer,” Schumer said in the statement. 

The 25th Amendment has periodically been discussed as a means of last resort to remove a rogue or incapacitated president.

To forcibly wrest power from Trump, Vice President Mike Pence would have to be on board, according to the text of the amendment (read the full language here).

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said his calling for the 25th Amendment to be invoked and President Trump to be removed from office is “the right thing to do for our democracy.”

“We in essence have a President that seems unmoored from reality. We’re getting indications of staff leaving in droves. And I think just for the sake and survival of this moment, it’s far bigger than politics. And the 25th Amendment putting Vice President Pence in charge until the President can lead again, which obviously in a short amount of time, probably will not happen, is the right thing to do for our democracy,” he said to CNN’s Erin Burnett.

Kinzinger said he’s not sure if any of his GOP colleagues will join him.

“I certainly hope that others at least hear what I’m saying and put aside the political moment and realize…history will never judge how we did in the politics, but it will judge how we did in managing the people’s business,” he said.

“And yesterday when the President seemed to stir people up at rally when he tweeted after the occupation of the Capitol things that were obviously meant not to fully stop this from happening, it became quite obvious that he cannot be in the position to protect the American people — Republicans, Democrats, everybody in between and outside on the extreme. That is his job, that is our job,” Kinzinger added.

Rep. Kinzinger’s call with Erin Burnett:

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US Capitol Police, facing criticism over an apparent lack of preparedness to deal with Wednesday’s violent mob on Capitol Hill, provided first details about the deadly incident that left lawmakers and staff fearful for their lives. 

In a statement released Thursday morning, chief of police Steven A. Sund said Capitol Police and other law enforcement officers were “actively attacked” with metal pipes and other weapons. 

“They were determined to enter into the Capitol Building by causing great damage,” Sund said. 

The Capitol Police fired on an adult woman as “protesters were forcing their way toward the House Chamber where Members of Congress were sheltering in place.” The woman was later pronounced dead after being transported to a nearby hospital. The officer involved has been put on administrative leave pending a joint investigation with Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department. 

Sund also said Capitol Police responded to reports of pipe bombs and a suspicious vehicle on the southeast corner of the capitol, adding that the Capitol police “determined that both devices were, in fact, hazardous and could cause great harm to public safety.”

The FBI is investigating the incident further. 

Here’s what else the department said:

Lawmakers say they are perplexed at the lack of preparedness among law enforcement given that it had been known for weeks that President Trump was promoting a rally he said was aimed at preventing the certification of Joe Biden’s win. 

Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley, who was locked in the House chamber during an armed standoff between Capitol Police and a rioter, praised the officers who were in the building that put their lives on the line to protect the lawmakers. But Quigley made clear that they were outnumbered and law enforcement was underprepared.

“The Capitol Police I was around did an amazing job under difficult circumstances,” Quigley told CNN. “My concern wasn’t with how valiant the Capitol Police were. It was that an hour before the debate started, I looked at the throngs of people surrounding different sections of the Capitol — and said, we don’t have enough security.”

Quigley added: “I’m no expert in security, but you can tell we were outmanned in an hour before the debate,” referring to Congress’ proceedings to certify Biden’s win.

William Barr, Trump’s former Attorney General, accused the President of “orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress” and went on to call his conduct a “betrayal of his office.” 

In response to riots that took place at the US Capitol on Wednesday, Barr said in statement sent to CNN: “Orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable. The President’s conduct yesterday was a betrayal of his office and supporters.”

DC’s Metropolitan Police Department made 68 arrests last night following an insurrection at the US Capitol, according to a mayor’s spokeswoman.

Most of the arrests were made for curfew violations after DC Mayor Muriel Bowser imposed a 6 p.m. ET curfew in the District of Columbia. Other charges included weapons charges and unlawful entry.

Last night’s arrests include the following charges:

Facebook’s restrictions on President Trump’s account will continue at least the next two weeks and perhaps “indefinitely,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post. 

The decision marks a major escalation by Facebook as it’s come under intense pressure to ban Trump following his inflammatory rhetoric encouraging insurrection.  

If the restrictions hold, Facebook could be the first major platform to remove Trump permanently.

After violent pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday, a growing number of Republican leaders and Cabinet officials told CNN that they believe Donald Trump should be removed from office before Jan. 20.

Some of them called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked — as has at least one GOP lawmaker, Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

The amendment has periodically been discussed as a means of last resort to remove a rogue or incapacitated president.

Here’s what you need to know about the amendment:

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, tweeted a video message Thursday calling for the 25th Amendment to be invoked and President Trump to be removed from office.

Kinzinger said that yesterday, it became evident that Trump “has abdicated his duty to protect the American people and the people’s house.”

Kinzinger said Trump “invoked and inflamed passions that only gave fuel to the insurrection that we saw here.”

“It’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment and end this nightmare,” he added.

Watch the video:

Following Wednesday’s embarrassing federal response to Pro-Trump rioters ransacking of the Capitol, the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies are planning a push to make arrests and bring charges against those who led the insurrection, federal law enforcement officials said. 

Dozens of charges are expected in Washington DC’s local and federal courts, including as many as 15 federal cases against people who are believed to be involved in the more serious alleged crimes, the officials said Thursday.

FBI digital experts spent the night ingesting surveillance video from the Capitol buildings and the area around the complex and are using software to match images and faces with social media posts showing some of the mayhem. In some cases, people involved in storming the Capitol made social media postings ahead of the rally making clear what their plans were, which federal prosecutors can use to help bring charges. 

Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and other federal officials are coordinating the response but are also facing questions about why law enforcement appeared unprepared for the onslaught that in many ways had already been telegraphed by President Trump and his supporters on social media. 

Part of the response Thursday includes repairing and building new harder-to-breach fencing around the capitol west-facing grounds to protect the area to be used for Inauguration ceremonies in two weeks. Trump supporters could be seen swarming over the stage where Biden will take the oath of office.

Some more context: On Wednesday, CNN reported that a law enforcement source confirmed to CNN that pipe bombs were found at the headquarters for the DNC, RNC and grounds of the United States Capitol. The source said all the devices were safely detonated by the police. A source told CNN there could be charges related to that as well.

Ryan Tully, senior director for European and Russian Affairs, has resigned from the National Security Council, a White House official confirms to CNN. He quit after a violent mob stormed the US Capitol yesterday.

The resignation was first reported by Bloomberg News. 

Livestream video appears to show a Capitol Hill police officer taking a selfie with a rioter inside the building.

The snippet of livestream posted online is short, and it’s unclear what prompted, or followed, the interaction.

CNN has reached out to the Capitol Hill Police for comment about the incident.

Several states and the District of Columbia are mobilizing approximately 6,200 National Guardsmen to Washington, DC, a US defense official tells CNN.

The guardsmen being deployed from out of state include 1,000 from New York, 500 from Maryland and 500 from New Jersey.

As CNN previously reported, the DC National Guard also activated 1,100 members Wednesday to assist in the response to the insurrection at the Capitol.   

The FBI is asking Americans to step up and help identify the people that participated in Wednesday’s riot and insurrection at the US Capitol.

It’s not just tips and information that the agency wants, it’s also asking for photos or videos.

“The FBI is seeking information that will assist in identifying individuals who are actively instigating violence in Washington, DC,” it said on its website.
“The FBI is accepting tips and digital media depicting rioting and violence in the U.S. Capitol Building and surrounding area in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021.”

You can find out how to submit tips and information here.

DC Attorney General Karl Racine on Thursday said that federal law enforcement officials let down DC in handling the rioters Wednesday but notes that it is not in his jurisdiction to prosecute the majority of offenses committed.  

“DC law enforcement officers, frankly, they did their jobs. And they went out and afterward, they helped the Capitol Police restore order and arrested folks pursuant to the curfew order that Mayor Bowser invoked. Our federal partners let us down,” Racine said, noting DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s curfew last night, during an interview Thursday morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.    

Racine said that he hopes President-elect Joe Biden’s attorney general pick Merrick Garland will pursue arrests. 

“My office, for example, is not the predominant prosecutor for the adult offenses that were committed yesterday. The United States attorney’s office with the United States attorney appointed by President Trump is the prosecutor. I certainly hope those career prosecutors and I do have faith in career prosecutors, will do the right thing, and I know that Merrick Garland and his new U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia will prosecute,” he stated. 

Jim Sciutto Reports:

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Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, says rioters who ransacked his office at the US Capitol building Wednesday stole a laptop that was on a table.

In a video posted to his Twitter page early morning, Merkley says rioters “smashed the door virtually off its hinges.” He said the door was unlocked.

Merkley said rioters “tore things off the walls,” including art from a renowned artist, showed a Trump 2020 flag that was left behind and stole a laptop that sitting on a table. He also show a cigarette butt that was stamped out.

“So count this office is trashed. You can see the debris is all over the floor,” he says.

Watch the video here:

John Costello, the Commerce Department’s deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and security, has resigned his post in the wake of the insurrection on Capitol Hill yesterday and the President’s response, a senior administration official tells CNN.

Costello’s resignation is the latest, but likely not the last, in a string of resignations fueled by the President’s handling of yesterday’s unrest.

President Trump on Thursday will return his focus to the trappings of office on Thursday, one day after a mob of his supporters breached the US Capitol and the 2020 presidential election has been certified for Joe Biden.

He is expected to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to golfers Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player, as well as Olympic athlete Babe Zaharias, a White House official told CNN.

With 13 days left in office, the White House has been inundated with requests for the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Thursday’s presentation was not listed on Trump’s public schedule, which instead said Trump would have “many meetings” and “many calls.”

Earlier this week, Trump bestowed the Medal of Freedom upon Rep. Devin Nunes, and is expected to honor Rep. Jim Jordan. Trump is also considering granting the Medal of Freedom to Bobby Bowden, the retired Florida State University football coach.

President Trump’s statement overnight acknowledging that there will be an “orderly transition” was released on Twitter by the President’s aide Dan Scavino without the knowledge of the White House press office, a White House official said.  

Nearly six hours after Scavino posted the statement on Twitter, the White House has yet to release the statement on official White House letterhead. It has so far only been posted on Scavino’s personal Twitter page.

White House press officials woke up Thursday morning to find out about the statement via the news, just like everyone else, the official said.

It remains unclear whether the White House will release the statement via official channels.

This is some of the damage and debris still seen throughout the US Capitol building today after a violent mob stormed the building Wednesday afternoon. 

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly said he was “horrified” by the violent mob that stormed the US Capitol yesterday and urged voters to “look infinitely hard” at who they elect to public office. 

In a statement released Wednesday night, Kelly said:

“I watched today’s actions on the Hill brokenhearted. Horrified. That’s not us … This is an attack on our democracy, our way of life, and not just by the criminals who assaulted our Congress today. The good news is our Constitution is strong, and our people are overwhelmingly devoted to the rule of law.”

He continued: “We need to look infinitely harder at who we elect to any office in our land. At the office seeker’s character, at their morals, at their ethical record, their integrity, their honesty, their flaws, what they have said about women, and minorities, why they are seeking office in the first place, and only then consider the policies they espouse.”

Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, served as President Donald Trump’s chief of staff from July 2017 to January 2019. 

As rioters breached the US Capitol, House Rep. Jason Crow said there was a 15- to 20-minute period “where we were surrounded and had no way out.”

In the moment, he said he reverted to ranger mode and ensured the doors were locked, moved other lawmakers away from the door and “directed the other members to remove their pins so they weren’t identifiable in case the mob did break through.”

He was also ready to fight.

“I had a pen in my pocket that I could use as a weapon, I was looking for other weapons as well. And then I was coordinating with the Capitol police to try to find a way out to for us.” 

Crow said he is not surprised this happened after a Trump rally that was held at a short distance from the White House on Wednesday. 

“This is the inevitable conclusion of Donald Trump. The story right now in my book is a story of the enablers — the hundreds and thousands of people, the members of Congress who are traitors to their country after last night, the people in Trump’s inner circle, all of whom should know better and do know better, and have allowed this to happen.”

To move forward, Crow said it should be ensured that “the terrorists from yesterday are tracked down and put in prison” and that there is a push for the safety of this country.

Watch more:

American Airlines says it is taking several new “precautionary” measures, including no longer serving alcohol on flights to and from Washington, DC, as one union reported several incidents during which flight attendants “were forced to confront passengers exhibiting politically motivated aggression towards other passengers and crew.”

The airline did not provide details on specific incidents, but the announcement came on the same day thousands of rioters — supporters of President Trump — stormed the US Capitol as Congress kicked off its joint session to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

In a message to union members, the president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants said union leadership was aware of incidents on multiple flights headed to DC.

“As safety professionals, we are well trained in handling inflight disruptions, but we should never find ourselves having to deal with politically motivated verbal or physical altercations onboard,” the message said. 

It directed flight attendants to continue to “maintain situational awareness, and attempt to deal with all safety and security issues on the ground.”

“Remain extra vigilant on flights departing from the Washington, D.C. area for the next few days, and involve your fellow crewmembers if you have safety concerns.”

Read more here.

President Trump has removed the three tweets from his profile that prompted a temporary lock of his account on Wednesday, a Twitter spokesperson told CNN. The move clears the way for Trump to regain control of his tweeting privileges as early as today. 

The official confirmation comes after Trump appeared to comply Wednesday evening with Twitter’s requirement that he delete the tweets or face a continued lock on his account. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Twitter said Trump’s account would be placed in a temporary time out for policy violations, lasting for 12 hours from the moment he deleted the tweets. Twitter also threatened Trump with a permanent ban from the platform for further violations. No sitting president has ever been banned from Twitter.

Asked what time Trump will be able to tweet again, Twitter declined to comment. 

Following the Capitol Hill riot yesterday, former Chief of the US Capitol Police Terrance Gainer said, “We failed. We did not secure the Capitol and people need to be held responsible and explain what went on.”

Speaking on CNN’s New Day on Thursday, Gainer said police were “outnumbered.” They “underestimated their strength” and “overestimated their ability to control the crowd,” he said.

Gainer said watching police try to hold the crowd outside, while also clearing the building inside “was a slow, ugly process.”   

Gainer said over the summer authorities “mishandled” how they dealt with Black Lives Matter protests in Lafayette Square. “I’m pretty sure the Capitol Police were trying to do something a little softer, as we try to welcome protestors up there, but it got out of hand.” 

Though Gainer was clear to say it’s not fair to compare how police managed the two different groups, he added, “I think it’s a little more complicated and deeper than that.”

“It’s heartbreaking when I know the goodness and the hard work that the Capitol Police do and the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms and the House Sergeant-At-Arms. They will analyze this and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “But it was a failure and I apologize on behalf of the security people. We failed.” 

WATCH:

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The police response to rioters storming the US Capitol on Wednesday was a message on “double standards” around race for young people of color in the country, CNN commentator Van Jones said.

“Every young person I have spoken to, especially young people of color, got the message loud and clear, that they can be beaten, arrested and worse for jaywalking, for just being an African American in a store. And yet, you can have a band of White traitors go and tear up the Capitol building and walk out,” CNN commentator Van Jones said.

13 people were arrested for the riots on Wednesday. But many drew comparisons between the police response yesterday and last year’s Black Lives Matter protests, where police met protesters with tear gas, violence and arrests.

“If you’re Black, if you are a progressive, the price of protesting — I don’t mean a riot, I just mean civil disobedience — …the price of that is you go to jail for it,” he said. “So to watch a complete lawless band of traitors and insurrectionists go and tear up the Capitol, bring guns to the Capitol, put their feet up on people’s stuff, take pictures of emails, walk out … and now those people are eating a pancake someplace,” Jones added.

He continued:

“You just sent the best message you could ever send or the worst to a whole generation, black, white, brown and otherwise that there is a double standard like you would not believe,” he added.

Stephanie Grisham, the former White House communications director and press secretary and current chief of staff for first lady Melania Trump, submitted her resignation Wednesday afternoon, effective immediately, in the wake of the violent protests.

Grisham was the first person to resign in reaction to the pro-Trump mob attack on the nation’s Capitol. She was one of the longest-serving Trump administration officials, having begun working for then-candidate Trump in 2015 as a press wrangler on the campaign trail.

Grisham’s resignation was followed by Matt Pottinger, President Trump’s deputy national security adviser, who also resigned Wednesday afternoon.

Early this morning, Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former chief of staff and current special envoy to Northern Ireland, confirmed his resignation. In an interview with CNBC he said he called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Wednesday night and resigned.

“I called Mike Pompeo last night to let him know I was resigning from that. I can’t do it. I can’t stay,” Mulvaney said in the interview.

WATCH MORE HERE:

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New York Democratic Rep. Grace Meng said it was “very frightening” as a mob breached the Capitol yesterday. 

Meng said she was in a room close to the House chambers and realized rioters were “literally right outside my door.” She barricaded herself by moving furniture in front of her door and stayed there for over five hours, she said on CNN’s “New Day.”

Meng sent a tweet during the chaos saying she said goodbye to her family.

“I texted them and I did a quick phone call. I didn’t really want to talk out loud. I had to turn off the lights and turn off any sound. I was watching the TV on mute, and I just texted them that I loved them,” she said. 

Meng said she was surprised at how the mob was able to breach the Capitol. 

“I honestly did not fully expect…that they would be able to in such a quick amount of time be able to break through the barriers and come into the people’s house. The pace of them being able to infiltrate our Capitol was not expected,” she said. 

Meng said she wants to see people held accountable for yesterday’s actions. 

President Trump “did not do anything until it was way too late to tell these folks to taper down and to be peaceful,” she said. 

“These dangerous words and actions by this President and how it impacted people across the Capitol yesterday, from members to staff and to the public who might have been around, it’s unacceptable. And something must be done. A clear message that those actions were wrong must be sent,” she added. 

Watch:

President Donald Trump’s former chief of staff and current special envoy to Northern Ireland, Mick Mulvaney, has resigned.

He told CNBC in an interview this morning that he called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last night and resigned.

“I called Mike Pompeo last night to let him know I was resigning from that. I can’t do it. I can’t stay,” Mulvaney said in the interview.

He added: “Those who choose to stay, and I have talked with some of them, are choosing to stay because they’re worried the President might put someone worse in.”

Mulvaney’s resignation follows the departure of at least two other Trump loyalists. Stephanie Grisham, the former White House communications director and press secretary and current chief of staff for first lady Melania Trump, submitted her resignation Wednesday afternoon, as did President Trump’s deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger. 

WATCH:

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President Trump’s dark-of-night statement vowing an “orderly transition” was designed in part to prevent a wave of resignations from the West Wing and broader administration, according to a person familiar with the matter.

At least one person, who was believed to be considering resigning on Wednesday, is now planning to remain in the administration. National security adviser Robert O’Brien has told aides he now intends to remain in his post until Trump leaves office, though his plans could still change depending on how Trump approaches the day. He made his decision before Trump released the statement.

O’Brien was persuaded to stay by other senior staffers who expressed concern about the national security implications of a vacant post in the final days of the administration.

The statement from the President, released through his deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino’s twitter account at 3:50 a.m. ET, said “there will be an orderly transition on January 20th” even though he disagreed with the outcome of the election.

Trump agreed to the statement after being advised of the dismay and disgust among many of his aides, though the person familiar said it was not the sole reason for its release. It also came after reports that early discussions were underway about evoking the 25th Amendment and restarting impeachment proceedings.

It was meant as a signal from Trump that the next 13 days will proceed without incident. But it came months after Joe Biden won the election and hours after Trump urged his supporters to protest at the Capitol. Even among his team and close allies it is viewed as coming far too late and offering far too little condemnation for what happened at the Capitol building.

Just after Congress met yesterday for a joint session to certify Joe Biden’s Electoral College win, pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol, prompting lawmakers to evacuate the building.

The Capitol was secured later that evening, and Congress returned to resume the certification process, with proceedings stretching into the early hours of this morning.

If you’re just reading in now, here’s what you need to know about what happened over night:

In its first comments on the chaotic events at the US Capitol on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it wishes “the friendly people of America” to go through this “dramatic moment in their own history with dignity.”

A spokesperson for the ministry criticized the US election system, calling it “archaic,” and claimed it created “opportunities” for violations:

“At the same time, we once again point to the fact that the electoral system in the United States is archaic, it does not meet modern democratic standards, creating opportunities for numerous violations, and the American media have become an instrument of political struggle,” spokesperson for the ministry, Maria Zakharova, said as quoted by RIA Novosti. 

“This largely caused the split in society that can be now observed in the United States,” she added.

Reminder: Elections in Russia have been long criticized for multiple violations, from ballot stuffing to lack of real competition, according to both foreign and domestic observing organizations. 

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said that 2018 Russian presidential elections have been characterized by “restrictions on fundamental freedoms and lack of genuine competition.”

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, who was just sworn in on Sunday, condemned “anarchy” after pro-Trump rioters breached the Capitol yesterday.

“It was a sad day for our nation. I was shocked. I was heartbroken. And I was pissed off and angry by seeing this violent mob. This wasn’t protests — this was anarchy last night,” Mace told CNN’s John Berman.

Mace, a single mom, said that she was so concerned by rhetoric “from the President on down” before the rally on Wednesday that she sent her two kids back home after she was sworn in.

“I thought, ‘how neat would that be to roam the halls of Congress, do your virtual classes,’ and instead, I put them on the first flight home Monday morning, because I was worried. And my fears came true yesterday,” she said.  

Mace said the Republican Party needs to “start over,” and some GOP lawmakers should take responsibility for the deadly insurrection. 

Trump’s “entire legacy was wiped out yesterday,” she said. “… We cannot condone the violence. … We need to have leadership more than ever right now in our country. We’ve got to rebuild our nation and rebuild our party.”

“What happened yesterday is because millions of people across the country were misled by Republicans and by the administration that members of Congress could overturn and usurp the Electoral College in a single vote to object yesterday. And that’s simply not true,” she added. 

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed sadness and anger at the scenes of pro-Trump rioters storming the US Capitol on Wednesday.

“A basic rule of democracy is after the election there are winners and losers,” Merkel said, adding,

Merkel is one of many world leaders who condemned Wednesday’s violence around the US Capitol.

She made her comments during a virtual meeting with German conservative parties this morning, saying:

“We have all seen the disturbing images of the storming of Congress. I was made angry and also sad by these images. And I’m pretty sure I feel like the vast majority of friends of the United States of America, like millions of people who admire American democratic tradition. A basic rule of democracy is after the election there are winners and losers, both have to play their role with decency and responsibility so that democracy itself remains the winner. I regret very much that President Trump did not admit defeat in November and again yesterday.”

However, Merkel expressed optimism that US lawmakers went back to work and certified Joe Biden’s Electoral College win, calling it “a sign of hope.”

“It is also certain with the confirmation of the election victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that the United States of America will open a new chapter of the democracy in less than two weeks, as it is supposed to happen,” she added.

President-elect Joe Biden formally announced Judge Merrick Garland as his nominee for attorney general, along with additional members of his justice team, which CNN reported yesterday. 

“Judge Garland’s nomination underscores the President-elect’s commitment to restore integrity and the rule of law, boost morale of the dedicated career professionals at DOJ, and build a more equitable justice system that serves all Americans,” Biden’s team said in a statement announcing Garland’s nomination.

As lawmakers sheltered in place when pro-Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday, New Hampshire Rep. Annie Kuster said she was “fearful for her life.”

“We were scrambling to hide behind the wall of the balcony,” she said as she described the moment. “I was trying to get my colleagues to safety, getting them behind the railing.”

Eventually, the lawmakers were told to evacuate. 

“They told us to use the gas masks that are under the seats, and we had to scramble across the entire length of the balcony,” she said. “It was shortly after I left that the shot rang out that broke the window and within minutes, they had breached the door and they were in the chamber.”

She added:

“I was frightened that it would be a mass casualty incident, that if they had automatic weapons they could have killed hundreds of members of Congress.”

Kuster called the incident “domestic terrorism.”

Watch more:

One of President Trump’s most loyal Cabinet members, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, described the violence at the US Capitol Wednesday as “completely unacceptable.”  

Standing alongside Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Mnuchin said:

“The violence that occurred last night was completely unacceptable. These actions must stop. Our democratic institutions have been strong for a very long period of time. Our democracy will prevail, and our institutions will remain strong. Now is the time for our nation to come together as one and respect the democratic process in the United States.” 

President Donald Trump’s comments “directly led” to the violent protests at the US Capitol, British Home Secretary Priti Patel told British media early on Thursday.

“His comments directly led to the violence,” Patel said on BBC Breakfast.

“Quite frankly the violence that we’ve seen has just been so appalling and there is no justification for it,” she added.

Patel referred to the US as “a beacon of democracy and freedom,” adding that the country should now move on and get on with an orderly transition.

Since Patel’s interview, President Trump has said in a statement “there will be an orderly transition on January 20th.” This came after a formal affirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.

Congress has now certified President-elect Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory, despite a chaotic and deadly scene that erupted after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol and delayed the proceedings.

The joint session of Congress, which is normally a ceremonial step, was halted for several hours when rioters breached the Capitol.

Proceedings resumed at about 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, with Vice President Mike Pence bringing the Senate session back into order.

The Senate and House rejected objections to throw out Georgia and Pennsylvania’s electoral votes for Biden. Republicans also objected to Arizona, Nevada and Michigan’s electoral votes, but the motions failed before they reached debate.

The Senate voted 93 to 6 to dismiss the objection raised by Republicans to Arizona’s results, and 92 to 7 to reject the objection to Pennsylvania.

These are the senators who voted to object to some of the results of the election (and the states they objected to):

The House ultimately voted to reject an objection to throw out Pennsylvania’s Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden, but over half of the House Republicans backed the effort. The challenge failed by a vote of 282-138.

The GOP House minority leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, and his deputy, Steve Scalise, were among those seeking to overturn the results.

Following a formal affirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, President Trump said the decision “represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history.”

“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” Trump said in a statement.

“I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again,” Trump said while repeating false claims about the election that incited a mob to storm the Capitol.

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to introduce Merrick Garland as his choice for attorney general, along with other senior members of the Justice Department leadership team, during an announcement at 1:30 p.m. ET Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware, aides say.

The timing of the event has taken on even greater significance, given the violent breach of the Capitol yesterday, along with the rest of the mob-fueled insurrection.

Following Biden’s strong denunciation of the violence yesterday, Garland is also poised to speak for the first time, offering a window into his thinking on what the role of the Department of Justice is in the post-Trump era.

Some background on the nominee: Obama nominated Garland to the Supreme Court after a vacancy was created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016. Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, refused for months to hold confirmation hearings or the required vote in the chamber.

When Trump took office, Garland’s nomination expired and he returned to his position as chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. The court is charged with reviewing challenges to administrative agencies. He stepped down from the position as chief judge in February 2020, but still serves on the court. President Bill Clinton appointed him to the court in 1997.

All four living former presidents — Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter — derided the rioters who forced an evacuation of the House and Senate chambers of the US Capitol in strongly worded statements that stressed the need for a peaceful transfer of power.

“History will rightly remember today’s violence at the Capitol, incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of great dishonor and shame for our nation. But we’d be kidding ourselves if we treated it as a total surprise,” Obama said of his successor and the chaos that engulfed the nation’s capital Wednesday.

Supporters, spurred by President Trump, breached the Capitol complex on Wednesday and threw into question when Congress would resume counting Electoral College votes and declare President-elect Joe Biden the winner of the election.

“Right now, Republican leaders have a choice made clear in the desecrated chambers of democracy,” Obama, a Democrat, said. “They can continue down this road and keep stoking the raging fires. Or they can choose reality and take the first steps toward extinguishing the flames. They can choose America.”

Bush, the last previous Republican president, said that “this is how election results are disputed in a banana republic — not our democratic republic.”

“I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election and by the lack of respect shown today for our institutions, our traditions, and our law enforcement. The violent assault on the Capitol —and disruption of a Constitutionally-mandated meeting of Congress — was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes,” he added.

Supporters of President Trump breached the Capitol yesterday, engulfing the building in chaos after Trump urged his supporters to fight against the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win.

A woman, who is yet to be identified, died after being shot in the chest on the Capitol grounds, DC police confirmed to CNN. 

Here’s how key events unfolded throughout the day: