new overnight. after a chaotic day on capitol hill, congress returned to work, and they confirmed joe biden's election victory early this morning. the question is, after yesterday's protests, what will inauguration day look like? and this morning, president trump has put out a statement promising an orderly transition, but it comes amid discussions about the 25th amendment. and the question is, could he be removed from office? and world leaders are reacting to yesterday's scenes of trump supporters storming the capitol. the question is, what is america's standing on the world stage this morning?

it's "way too early" for this. good morning and welcome to "way too early." i am kasie hunt on this thursday, january 7th, and we will start with the very difficult news. one of the saddest days in modern american history, as pro-trump rioters, insurrectionists, really, incited by the president, stormed the united states capitol in a failed attempt to thwart the certification of joe biden's election victory. here was the president addressing his supporters just before the capitol was breached for the first time since the war of 1812. >> and we're going to have to fight much harder. and mike pence is going to have to come through for us. and if he doesn't, that will be a sad day for our country. and after this, we're going to walk down -- and i'll be there

with you -- we're going to walk down -- we're going to walk down, any one you want, but i think right here -- we're going to walk down to the capitol -- and we're going to 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. >> then, just after 2:00 p.m., about an hour after the president's speech, i was on capitol hill when we heard news of the breach. the senate was forced into recess just as senators were debating an objection to arizona's electoral count and an aide was caught on a microphone telling senator james lankford, protesters are in the building. the vice president and senate president pro tem, chuck grassley, were rushed out of the

chamber to a secure location. and those inside the capitol were told to stay away from windows and doors. as that was unfolding in the senate, this was happening over in the house. those are rioters trying to break into the house chamber. can't tell you how many times i've stood outside those doors. capitol police fired a single gunshot that killed one woman. and here was the scene on the other side of that door. members of the house and their staff crouched in the house gallery, including there congressman jason crow, a former u.s. army ranger. as this all unfolded, calls mounted for president trump to call off his supporters, including one from president-elect joe biden, who delivered a public address denouncing the violence. there are also calls this morning for the 25th amendment to be invoked to remove the

president from office. the social secretary has since resigned in the wake of this, and multiple sources tell nbc news that more resignations could follow, possibly from national security adviser robert o'brien, deputy national security adviser matthew pottinger, and transportation secretary elaine chao. despite the chaos, congress still completed its work. the debate resumed just after 8:00 p.m. the president-elect's win was certified early this morning with vice president pence making the announcement. and just moments ago, the president released a statement on twitter, though through one of his top aides, dan skaveno. it reads -- "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. i have always said we would continue our fight to ensure only legal votes were counted.

and 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!" what we saw yesterday was the furthest thing from great. joining us now, nbc news producer haley talbot. also with us, politics reporter for "the huffington post," egor bobbic. haley, let me start with you. and for everyone that's watching, haley and i work together every day. we're both part of a tight-knit nbc news team that covers capitol hill day in and day out. and she and i have been covering this election together over the course of the last few months. and as she was working to support all of us yesterday, i was in the senate russell office building reporting on basically what she was seeing, because haley, you were inside the house chamber. we saw some of those photos of lawmakers sheltering in place. just as we reset for everyone who is waking up this morning, take us inside the chamber.

what did you see? >> that's right, kasie, quite the chaotic scene in the house chamber yesterday. i was up on the second floor in the gallery watching this go down. members were up in the gallery with us, hundreds of members down on the floor. what really escalated things was when we were told there was tear gas inside the capitol. that's when they told us we needed to grab our gas masks, which were under our seats. some did start to put them on. and that we needed to all huddle together under our seat and brace for whatever was to come. we weren't sure what was to come. we saw up top members, about 100, maybe more, being evacuated off of the house floor. i was with, you know, some democrats up top, a few veterans. they were holding hands and praying over each other, trying to comfort each other, while we saw the door of the floor, like they're showing, being hit and

glass breaking, while insurrectionists, as you said, were trying to break into one of the most secure places in the capitol complex in this country. and as they were being barricaded, guns were drawn on them, and we watched all of this, everyone holing hands from the top. eventually, we were evacuated, as you can see there. we were eventually evacuated to one of the house office buildings. once we were in the house office buildings, i took shelter with congressman ruben gallego in his office, and we all tried to make sure everyone was okay. but what transpired on the floor is just not something you would ever think to happen in that sacred chamber. >> no, it's so true. and we go to work there every day through the magnetometers

with the capitol police, and i think this was incredibly stunning to all of us. egor, let me go to you, because the picture that you posted on twitter was one of our first signs of these protesters that had gotten into the hallway right outside the senate, if i'm identifying your location correctly from that. walk us through what you saw yesterday, how it unfolded initially, what the scene was like. >> well, i was in the middle of reporting on the electoral vote certification, as you said, when i heard a loud commotion, yelling. really was not expecting that at all. i ran towards it immediately down on the first floor of the senate and encountered this lone capital police officer trying to courageously hold off a group of about 20 trump supporters, protesters who were trying to make their way inside. i was surprised and shocked to see them there. i had no idea that they had breached the capitol as of yet, and i'm sure this police officer himself was surprised.

i noticed he did not have his weapon drawn. he was trying to hold them off with merely a baton, was unable to do so and was forced to retreat up the stairs to merely steps away from the senate chamber where there was a confrontation between more police officers and this group of protesters who were holding confederate flags, were shouting "traitors," and you know, "we need justice to stop this handover of power to joe biden." at another point a little bit later, they also made their way into the senate chamber and rappelled actually down into the senate well. one man got up onto the dais where vice president mike pence was presiding just minutes earlier, and posed for photos, saying trump actually won this election. pretty stunning, stunning, tragic day here in the capitol. >> the scenes were absolutely unbelievable. and haley, what's the reaction

been from lawmakers and their families on both sides of the aisle? i mean, there are going to be a lot of questions here about how this could possibly happen here in america, from a safety and security perspective. >> exactly, kasie. and you know, i have to say, in the moment, it was a mixture of a lot of fear, anger, frustration. as we were being evacuated, as we were huddling down there, people were cursing their republican colleagues and president trump for the situation they say that had put us in. we will see and we'll continue to follow this fallout throughout the next day. but you know, as i said, a number of veterans that were there were, you know, calm, trying to console others, you know. jason crow, abigail spam berger, others were calling home, calling their families, text, "i'm okay," "don't worry about me," you know, i know what you're seeing but we're okay. and just trying to just make sure that everyone could just

stay calm and stay safe together. >> i know i certainly appreciated the many texts i got, and i'm sure that you got, haley, from your family who were worried about you as we were reporting what you were seeing on the house floor. egor, what happens next here? you cover the capitol every day. we see each other in the hallways. the republican party just -- i mean, they are saying that they're splintering in two is not even -- it's just not a strong enough way to put it. i mean, what we saw is just -- i'm honestly at a loss for words. and there have been many of republicans who have stood up and said that this was completely unacceptable, we're going to move forward, we're not going to entertain any of this. but how do they move forward from this? >> i mean, that's the biggest question in washington right now. and the scariest question. i mean, we have 14 days left, but there is still so much more damage that donald trump can do, and that's why you're seeing all

of these conversations about the 25th amendment and how do we potentially get him out of office. >> all right, nbc's haley talbot and "huff post's" igor bobic, thank you both. and haley, we both have a long day ahead of us, so i'm sure we'll see each other soon. thank you for getting up early with us. still ahead, we'll go live to capitol hill where a curfew is still in effect after yesterday's riots protests, the mob that stormed the capitol. we'll be right back with much more. he capitol we'll be right back with much more - i'm norm.

- i'm szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. we do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. - we've both been taking prevagen for a little more than 11 years now. after about 30 days of taking it, we noticed clarity that we didn't notice before. - it's still helping me. i still notice a difference. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

more than 50 people were arrested in the nation's capital yesterday, following a day of historic proportions. 47 of those arrests by washington, d.c., police involved breaking a 6:00 p.m. curfew set by the city's mayor. it's amazing that this number is so low, considering what we saw. four people were arrested for carrying a gun without a

license. and one person was taken into custody for possession of a weapon. more than a dozen d.c. police officers were injured yesterday in the chaos, and the fbi is looking for tips to identify protesters who actively instigated violence on capitol hill. d.c.'s curfew remains in effect until 6:00 a.m. today. joining us now from capitol hill, nbc news correspondent catie beck. catie, give us a sense of what the scene is like out there, where things stand where you are and what you've seen since you've been in your position overnight. >> reporter: hey, good morning, kasie. yeah, d.c. right now is eerily deserted, except for the media and police. there is a massive police presence right now outside the capitol. everything here is quiet and clear, but the streets surrounding the capitol, where we are, are lined. every curb has a police unit on it. maryland state police, national guard, d.c. police, capitol police are still surrounding

this area in number, officers in their cars sitting at the ready, despite the fact that the threat has, for now, at least, appear to be diffused. the curfew last night was obvious. you couldn't travel more than a few blocks without seeing red and blue lights on every corner. there are basically barricades and reroutes. and as far as the streets this morning, as i was heading here, there is basically no one on the streets. a lot of businesses took precautions as they did around the election by boarding up their windows, so d.c. is looking very deserted and very quiet this morning, as i think was intended by this curfew that expires at 6:00 a.m. this morning. it will expire. but as i said, the police presence here is still extremely large, and that is obviously to try and keep security and peace as long as possible. they're not taking this threat lightly and they are not thinking that this is over yet. that is clear by the huge presence we're seeing this morning. >> yeah, absolutely.

it took quite a while, at least for those of us who were in the capitol waiting for those law enforcement officers to arrive from all over the country. but as this unfolded, come they did. catie, what are they saying about the protesters? the fbi's looking for people who instigated violence. what kind of charges can we expect? there are a lot of photos of people who -- i mean, you're not allowed to come into the capitol and do what these people did yesterday. >> reporter: right. and the d.c. mayor said as much in the press conference last night, that, basically, these illegal actors that think they might have gotten away with something, they are still being heavily sought after, and the fbi is involved. their washington field office putting an online form out for the public's help, that anyone that could identify these unlawful actors should contact them. so, obviously, if if the fbi is involved, federal charges are certainly on the table, and these people that they are searching for are going to have a huge number of people looking for them in the coming days.

additionally, the d.c. mayor extended the public emergency that she put in place yesterday for another 15 days to extend through the inauguration, and that is to try and ensure that peace and security will remain, that if these people intend to come back and cause chaos again, that there will be a public emergency already in place. so, clearly, the arrest number will likely go up, and the people that were at the forefront in the capitol yesterday breaking in and doing things illegally will have people looking for them, if not, you know, sooner than later. >> all right, nbc's catie beck, thank you very much for being there for us. stay safe out there. we appreciate your reporting. and still ahead here, we're going to take a look at how leaders around the world are reacting to yesterday's chaos on capitol hill. we'll be back in just a moment. capitol hill we'll be back in just a moment i,

their laundry smells more amazing than ever. ah, honey! isn't that the dog's towel? hey, me towel su towel. there's more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze odor remover in every fling. gain. seriously good scent. love the scent of gain flings? then you'll swoon for long lasting gain scent beads.

unlike ordinary memory want supplements-ter? neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the difference. welcome back. world leaders, especially america's allies, reacted in

shock to yesterday's mob violence at the u.s. capitol, incited by president trump. the uk's prime minister, boris johnson, tweeted -- "disgraceful scenes in the u.s. congress. the united states stands for democracy around the world, and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power." french president emmanuel macron tweeted this video message in english -- >> i just wanted to express our friendship and our faith in the united states. what happened today in washington, d.c., is not america, definitely. we believe in the strength of our democracies. we believe in the strength of american democracy. >> canada's prime minister, justin trudeau, tweeted in part, "canadians are deeply disturbed and saddened by the attack on democracy in the united states. our closest ally and neighbor."

and india's prime minister modi tweeted in part, "distressed to see news about rioting and violence in washington, d.c. orderly and peaceful transfer of power must continue." new zealand's prime minister, jacinda ardern, posted a statement on instagram reading in part, "like so many others, i've been watching what's happening in the united states. i share the sentiment of friends in the u.s. -- what's happening is wrong." and the nato secretary-general tweeted, "shocking scenes in washington, d.c. the outcome of this democratic election must be respected." and coming up on "morning joe," we're going to hear from former secretary of state and retired four-star general colin powell, who is going to join the conversation. and still ahead on "way too early," there are so many questions this morning about the possibility of president trump's removal from office. we're going to talk about the 25th amendment and whether we could see it invoked. but before we go to break, i still want to know, why are you

awake? and here is my request for you today. send us the reasons why you are hopeful and optimistic about how we can fix this, where we can go from here. so many of you are up with your small children, your babies overnight. they're the reasons we do all of this. and that's what we want to see this morning, quite frankly. email us all of that to waytooearly@msnbc.com or send me a tweet @kasie. use #waytooearly, and we will show some of those reasons to be hopeful, coming up later on in the show. hopeful, coming up later on in the show incomparable design makes it beautiful. state of the art technology makes it brilliant. the visionary lexus nx, lease the 2021 nx 300 for $359 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. (burke)stomer) happy anniversary. lease the 2021 nx 300 for $359 a month for 36 months. (customer) for what? (burke) every year you're with us, you get fifty dollars toward your home deductible. it's a policy perk for being a farmers customer. (customer) do i have to do anything? (burke) nothing. (customer) nothing? (burke) nothing. (customer) nothing? (burke) nothing. (customer) hmm, that is really something.

(burke) you get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. see ya. (kid) may i have a balloon, too? (burke) sure. your parents have maintained a farmers home policy for twelve consecutive months, right? ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ (burke) start with a quote at 1-800-farmers. unstopables in-wash scent booster downy unstopables it would be for me to discover all of these things that i found through ancestry. i discovered my great aunt ruth signed up as a nursing cadet for world war ii. you see this scanned-in, handwritten document. the most striking detail is her age. she was only 17. knowing that she saw this thing happening and was brave enough to get involved and do something- that was eye opening. bring your family history to life like never before. get started for free at ancestry.com

to life like never before. so give your businesss more than resolutions... give it solutions, from comcast business. work more efficiently with fast internet and advanced wifi. make your business safer with powerful cybersecurity solutions. and stay productive with 24/7 support. make this year's resolution better solutions. bounce forward with comcast business. get started with a powerful internet and voice solution for just $64.90 a month. plus, for a limited time, ask how to get a $500 prepaid card when you upgrade. switch today.

welcome back to "way too early." it is 5:30 here on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm kasie hunt. hours after the ugly violence we witnessed at the capitol, congress reconvened to count the electoral votes, affirming president-elect joe biden's victory. six republican senators, including ted cruz and josh hawley, objected to the electoral college vote on arizona -- of arizona -- while florida's rick scott and wyoming's cynthia lummis joined their colleagues to object to pennsylvania's vote. both of the objections failed. house members raised several other objections, including against the vote for biden in michigan, georgia, and nevada, but they failed because they didn't have a second from any u.s. senator, as would have been required. we previously expected about 13 senators to object, but after the attack on the capitol, senators james lankford, kelly loeffler, steve daines and mike braun all announced they could

no longer object to the results. and once again, we should underscore, these objections ultimately did nothing to change the outcome, and joe biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the united states in 13 days. and as we watched all of that unfold yesterday, twitter, facebook, instagram, and snapchat temporarily suspended president donald trump from his account for violating each platform's rules on spreading disinformation and promoting violence. yesterday, twitter removed visibility on three of the president's tweets that were in, quote, severe violation of the platform's rules, and they subsequently blocked him from his account for 12 hours. the social media platform confirmed early this morning that the president has deleted the tweets in question and his account will be restored, but the site did threaten to permanently ban trump from the site if he violates its policies again.

facebook and instagram blocked #stormthecapitol, deleted the president's video response to the rioters, and blocked him from posting for 24 hours. they stopped short of mentioning anything about a permanent suspension. snapchat has locked the president out of his account. and a company executive tells tech crunch that snapchat's going to monitor the situation closely before they re-evaluate its decision. snapchat has already in the past decided it would no longer promote trump's content on its discovery tab. also this morning, there are multiple calls for the removal of president trump, from lawmakers, business leaders, and members of his own administration. axios is reporting that republican officials are considering asking vice president pence to invoke the 25th amendment and call for a vote of the cabinet to remove the president from office. impeachment is also under discussion. rhode island congressman david cicilline is leading the charge for democrats on the judiciary committee, writing a letter to

the vice president, signed by 18 additional democrats. he released it via tweet. the national association of manufacturers, which represents 14,000 companies in the u.s., also called on the vice president to consider removal. and republican vermont governor phil scott ended a string of tweets by writing, quote, enough is enough, president trump should resign or be removed from office by his cabinet or by congress. and nbc news has learned that some administration staff members have discussed removal as well, but one source questions whether there is legally enough time to complete the process and whether there would be enough votes in the cabinet to do it. joining us now, senior opinion writer at the "boston globe" and an msnbc contributor, kimberly atkins. kimberly, good morning. thank you so much for getting up early with us, or perhaps you have also stayed up late, like so many. let's talk about this push now because of the conversation today with the capitol secure is going to start to focus on what happens in the next 13 days

while president trump is officially still president. what are the politics around this now? i mean, i almost feel silly even asking that question. it feels like a petty way to put it. but there are going to be people thinking about, okay, what happens next? why are we doing it that way? and what are the legal possibilities available to us? >> well, on the one hand, yesterday demonstrates what happens when you have a president who really has never faced any sort of repercussion or has been held accountable in any way for a host of actions that he's taken that leads up to yesterday, because yesterday, as shocking as it was, it wasn't surprising. and the only remedies to try to stop him would be to remove him from office, either through an impeachment or through the removal process as you laid out through the 25th amendment, where the vice president and cabinet members would vote to do

that. i think that's one reason why we saw the statement that was released by dan scavino earlier this morning, which, frankly, i've read it multiple times. it doesn't read as a full concession to me. it reads as a way to try to say, there will be a transition of some sort, and as a way to sort of stave off efforts to pursue trying to remove him from office, because it's a big difference in running out the clock. >> yeah, just to pick up on that point, because i really want to underscore it -- it's really important for all of our viewers -- none of these statements, nothing that the president said yesterday, nothing that dan scavino has said this morning repudiates the motivation for these people, the people that came and stormed the capitol yesterday. their motivation being that they believe that the election was fraudulent, that joe biden didn't actually win, and nobody in the white house is acknowledging that that is not the case, even if they are still saying, okay, fine, we'll

transfer peacefully. i mean, what happened yesterday was not peaceful. but they are still not saying, acknowledging that the election results can and should be trusted. >> in fact, the president in this statement said the opposite, said that he would continue to fight this false, you know, this false idea or fight for this false idea that he lost the election, when he clearly didn't. and the statement didn't even say peaceful transfer. it said orderly, i believe, and we don't know what that means. it also talked about a first term, which gets me to the point that if the only way to ensure that not only president trump leaves office, but that he doesn't do this again, would be through an impeachment or a removal that would make it impossible for him to run for president again once he leaves. otherwise, he can step out on january 20th, declare his re-election campaign, and then we have four more years of him having the ability to incite his supporters to engage in the same

kind of lawlessness we saw yesterday. >> it's true. if he can't -- if there is no chance that he is going to end up in power, it's a much different situation for a president trump -- or an ex-president trump in exile. and this is the republicans' chance to say, no, we don't want to do this again, we don't want you to have the ability to run for office again. the question is, are they going to have -- i don't think i can use the phrase that i want to use on tv, but are they going to move forward with that or are they going to take this chance to do it or are they going to go back to looking the other way, which they have spent so much time in the trump administration doing? kimberly atkins, thank you very much. we always appreciate having you here on "way too early." and still ahead, we're going to look at some of the other major stories making headlines amid the chaos at the u.s. capitol, including jon ossoff's projected victory in georgia that gives democrats control of the senate. plus, president-elect joe biden's pick for attorney general. don't go anywhere. "way too early" back in just a

moment. nywhere. "way too early" back in just a moment ♪

you're not using too much are you hon? nope... charmin ultra soft is so soft you'll have to remind your family they can use less. charmin ultra soft is twice as absorbent so you can use less. don't worry, there's plenty left for you, dad. we all go, why not enjoy the go with charmin. so you want to make the best that means selling everything. and eating nothing but cheese till you find the perfect slice... even if everyone asks you... another burger truck? don't listen to them! that means cooking day and night until you get... [ ding ] you got paid! that means adding people to the payroll. hi mom. that means... best burger ever.

intuit quickbooks helps small businesses be more successful with payments, payroll, banking and live bookkeeping.

welcome back. with two crucial senate runoff victories in georgia, democrats have officially taken back the u.s. senate. nbc news projects that jon ossoff is the winner against republican david perdue in what had been a tight race right up to the end, but ossoff ultimately defeated the incumbent by more than 35,000 votes. and hours earlier, nbc news projected that reverend raphael warnock won the special election race against incumbent senator kelly loeffler. both wins place the senate's balance of power at 50 democrats to 50 republicans. and that makes vice president-elect kamala harris the one who will cast tie-breaking votes. senator chuck schumer has since declared himself the new majority leader, taking over after mitch mcconnell's previous reign.

for the first time since 2005, democrats will hold the majority in both the house and the senate, as president-elect joe biden prepares to take office later on this month. i think it was more recently than that. president-elect joe biden will nominate merrick garland to serve as his attorney general, two sources tell nbc news. garland has served as a judge on the u.s. kourpt of appeals for the district of columbia since 1997. he gained recognition in 2016 after then president barack obama nominated him to fill the supreme court vacancy that opened up after the death of conservative jurist antonin scalia, but senate republicans who controlled the chamber then refused to hold a hearing for him. sources also told nbc news that biden's also expected to announce lisa monaco as deputy attorney general, vanita gupta as associate attorney general and clark as assistant attorney general for civil rights. still ahead, the republican lawmakers condemning president trump for inciting his

supporters to storm the u.s. capitol. "way too early" coming right back. tol. "way tooar ely" coming right back still fresh unstopables in-wash scent booster downy unstopables myi'm 70 and i live in mill valley, california. my biggest passion is gardening. i love to be outdoors. i have jaybirds that come when i call. i know how important it is to feed your body good nutrition. i heard about prevagen and i heard about the research behind it. taking prevagen, i have noticed that i can think clearly. my memory is better. i can say that prevagen is one of the most outstanding supplements i've ever taken. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. the rx crafted by lexus. get 0.9% financing on the 2021 rx 350. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

i condemn any of this. this is appalling. this is un-american. as a nation, i know we sit back, and we're appalled by what we're seeing, but i want everybody to take a deep breath and understand, we all have some responsibility here. >> that was minority leader kevin mccarthy, who was among the group of house republicans planning to object to the tallying of electoral college votes, calling into an abc news broadcast after being evacuated yesterday. while mccarthy also said he begged for president trump to address the nation, he appeared to blame the country's political climate for what transpired. meanwhile, a number of republican senators blamed trump after mobs stormed the capitol, seeb seeking to disrupt congress' counting of the electoral college vote. senator mitt romney of utah said in a statement, "what happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the president of the

united states." a statement from senator richard burr of north carolina reads in part, "the president bears responsibility for today's events by promoting the unfounded conspiracy theories that have led to this point." and senator ben sasse of nebraska released a statement saying, "today the united states capitol -- the world's greatest symbol of self-government -- was ransacked while the leader of the free world cowered behind his keyboard, tweeting against his vice president for fulfilling the duties of his oath to the constitution. lies have consequences. this violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the president's addiction to constantly stoking division." but among the sharpest rebukes was the reaction from the third ranking house republican, congresswoman liz cheney of wyoming, who was called out in an address by the president yesterday for failing to support his efforts to overturn the election results. >> we just had a violent mob assault the u.s. capitol in an

attempt to prevent us from carrying out our constitutional duty. and there is no question that the president formed the mob, the president incited the mob, the president addressed the mob, he lit the flame. >> the president incited the mob, she said. and while republican senator ron johnson of wisconsin, a steadfast trump ally, said he did not vote in favor of the objection to arizona's electoral college vote because of what transpired at the u.s. capitol, he told my colleague, garrett haake that as events unfolded, the president and the objectors bore no responsibility. watch. >> do you guys think you have any responsibility for what happened here today? >> no. no, absolutely not. >> none. >> none? >> no. >> none whatsoever? does the president have any responsibility for this? you don't think the language you guys have been using about a stolen election could have contributed to this violence? nothing else to say on this at all, senator? >> no. thank you. >> and joining us now, republican strategist michael steele. he served as a top aide for

former house speaker john boehner. mike, thanks for getting up early with us this morning. you and i have worked together for many, many years, since you were working on the hill for john boehner. you've worked on campaigns that i have covered. we have tussled over language in stories or how things were covered, but i know that after more than a decade of covering the hill, i certainly never expected to see what we saw play out yesterday, and i'm, you know, grappling with the sadness of it, because i love covering the capitol, and i know that you have also devoted much of your life to trying to make our government better and to make it work. so, what did we see yesterday from your perspective? and republican leaders, honestly -- you know, we've taken them on "morning joe" and elsewhere, critics have taken them to task for not saying

enough in the face of donald trump's actions. they always seem to think, well, the system will hold, i'll just keep my head down and get through this. and this is where it's led. what responsibility does the president bear, and what responsibility do people who stood by and were silent bear? >> look, you're right, i worked 12 years in the house as a staffer, 7 years working in the capitol itself, then a couple years as a reporter covering congress before that. i am shocked and disgusted and angry at what happened yesterday. i think that a clear message that everyone should take away from it is that if you play with matches long enough, you will get burned. and in this case, the entire country got burned. i can only hope, and i think we saw glimmerings of it last night, that republican leaders, republican rank and file are beginning to understand that there is a consequence to lying to the american people about something as important as the integrity of our elections and that unflinching dedication to donald trump is going to get you in a very, very bad place. and i hope that the violence,

the anger, the ugliness we saw in the american people's house yesterday leads to a new beginning, a new understanding. we're working with the new president, assuming survive the next 13 days, a large group of republicans in the house and the senate can work with their democratic colleagues to make sensible, moderate progress on some big issues because i think that this wasn't like -- there's not a large democratic majority with a huge mandate here. this is the narrowest democratic majority in the house. the only way anything can get done in the next two years is through bipartisanship. >> right. i want to pick up on phrase you used assuming we survive the next 13 days i would have said perhaps that's hyperbolic but based on what we saw yesterday i think all bets are off. we don't know what could happen. there are conversations going on

about the remedies that are available. there are tools that the vice president, the cabinet have, that the congress have to address something like this to not just remove the president from office, but in this case the important piece of the equation is preventing him from holding office again. he's already threatening to run again in 2024 once he leaves office here. right now that would be allowed and therefore we'd have to cover him as somebody who might end up back in power and that's of course why we cover the president the way we do because they have the power to do all of these things. so what should republicans do now in the next 13 days as it relates to this question? >> yeah. i don't -- look, i think that the country and the republican party would both be healthier over the next four years if there's not the possibility of donald trump running for president again. at the same time, the 25th tool, the potential impeachment again are very clumsy, very difficult, they're very slow. they've never been successfully

used. at least not on a president without a functional sense of shame which is what we have at the moment. i don't know as a practical matter what our alternatives are other than to trying to influence the president and those around him not to make the rash actions and to accept the fact that he lost the presidential election and he needs to stop telling the american people particularly his most fervent supporters that he didn't. >> yeah. that -- you make a good point that so much of our system and the way that we typically deal with disputes is based on shame. there are many public mechanisms for that, but they don't work when the people in question have no shame. that seems to be where we are. michael steele, thank you very much, my friend. i realize this is a difficult conversation for everyone. thank you for being here. earlier on in the show we asked why are you awake and i want to know not just why you're awake, but to give us some reasons to be hopeful after this really dark day we had yesterday

and frankly, i don't think we had so many responses to this question. i am absolutely overwhelmed and so grateful to start my day with all of you. we got this photo from maggie. she writes, i have six grandchildren. and they will be part of the change we wish to see. that's beautiful. jason tweeted this. i'm optimistic because ending slavery started as grass roots movement. we do the right thing because that's who we are. amen. josh emails to say he's optimistic because so many of his 12th grade students reached out to him yesterday especially those who just voted for first time. josh says, he believes it's clear that this generation of new voters won't stand for their voice and their vote being threatened by disinformation or violence. thanks for all you do, josh. thank you to your students. ashley emailed us this photo of her little one writing we're hopeful that he'll grow up in a better world than the one he was born into. i hope that for my son as well.

and melissa posted this photo, saying this is my hope and why i'm up way too early. i love that image, it's beautiful. i just way to say thank you. it was a tough day for me personally and i appreciate you being willing to share your personal stories and thoughts with me. so thank you. coming up next here, the concerns being raised over the security failure that allowed rioters to breach the u.s. capitol and then reaction from debby stabenow and tim kaine. "morning joe" is just moments away.

the storming of the u.s. capitol yesterday by trump supporters raises crucial questions about the possibility of law enforcement complicity. with a complex -- its own 2,000 member police force, people were able to force their ways into the halls of capitol without

deadly weapons. they merely had to push and wave flag poles and "the washington post" reports current and former law enforcement officials said it appeared the u.s. capitol police and other agencies had failed to anticipate the size and intentions of the crowd that trump urged to march up pennsylvania avenue to where lawmakers were gathered. the video also seems to show officers simply moving out of the way and allowing the mob to enter the building undeterred. there was even an officer caught on video taking a selfie with one of the rioters. yesterday's tepid response to white house protesters taking over -- excuse me to taking over the capitol was a stark contrast to the assault on black lives matter back in june after the killing of george floyd. although one woman of course was shot and killed by capitol police. there are going to be so many questions about how this was allowed to happen. as rioters breached the capitol

yesterday, the national guard was mobilized to support local police. but a person familiar with the matter confirms to nbc news that president trump had to be convinced to approve the order. according to that source, vice president mike pence who was inside the capitol during the siege was in contact with the pentagon and quote encouraged a much more rapid deployment than what was coming. wow. in fact, a statement by acting defense secretary chris miller suggests that president trump wasn't part of the discussion at all. his statement reads in part, chairman milley and i just spoke separately with the vice president and with speaker pelosi, mcconnell and schumer and hoyer about the situation at the capitol. again, there are going to be a lot of questions about how this all played out and i just want to take a moment as i grappled with the difficult day in a place that i love to cover, to

tell all of you that it has been a struggle and yesterday was a moment perhaps of the end of faith for many of us who have covered this day in and day out. but like we talked about earlier, i refuse to give up on the idea that america can't regain its footing as a moral leader of the democratic world. let's start that today. thanks for getting up "way too early" with us. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ ♪ ♪ i hurt myself today to see if i still feel ♪ ♪ i focus on the pain the only thing that's real ♪