Biden denounces Trump's "web of lies" while Congress marks one year since January 6 attack

Vice President Kamala Harris, who was the vice president-elect on January 6, 2021, was evacuated from the Democratic National Committee headquarters that day when a pipe bomb was discovered, a White House official confirmed to CBS News.

According to a U.S. Capitol Police timeline obtained by CBS News, the U.S. Secret Service and Capitol Police evacuated  a "protectee" at DNC headquarters at 1:14 p.m., just minutes after the pipe bomb was discovered at 1:07 p.m.

Harris said Thursday that she was at the Capitol one year ago for a meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee, but left before the perimeter was breached. 

Read more here. 

Norah O'Donnell chats with John Dickerson about what January 6 means for American democracy and what comes next one year after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol.  

Floor fights, outraged outbursts and shouting matches on the steps of the U.S. Capitol have become a new normal in Congress. 

As lawmakers face an increase in violent threats from voters, they're also turning the vitriol on one another. 

"Congress is a very toxic place to work," Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger told CBS News. 

Kinzinger was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Trump and is one of two Republicans on the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol. He's leaving Congress at the end of his term in part out of frustration with his own party. 

"January 6 brought out into the light, the division, the lies," he said. 

Kinzinger's Illinois district neighbors that of Democrat Cheri Bustos, who is also stepping down as she finds it harder to work across the aisle. 

Read more here or watch the full report in the player above. 

A twilight vigil was held Thursday night on Capitol steps — the same steps that were overrun on January 6, 2021 with rioters beating, tasing and trampling officers in their zeal to get inside. 

On Thursday at the Capitol, President Biden blamed one person: his predecessor. 

"The former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He's done so because he values power over principle." Mr. Biden said. 

Watch the full report in the player above

By Congressional standards, the committee investigating the capitol attack is moving at the speed of a bullet train.  Their latest stop.  The former vice president.

Panel member Jamie Raskin said they are getting "lots of cooperation" from former Vice President Pence, who Raskin called a "critical actor" although he hasn't been asked to testify yet. 

Committee members tell CBS news they hope to wrap work by summer.    And get answers about Donald Trump 

Watch the full report in the player above. 

Lawmakers and others on Capitol Hill held a candlelight vigil after dark for the members of law enforcement who died following the Capitol attack. 

Master Sergeant Sara Sheffield began signing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" and "God Bless America," and some lawmakers joined in.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made brief remarks, and held a moment of silence. Bishop Michael Curry gave the invocation. 

 Congressman Eric Swalwell, who is on the House January 6 committee, gaveled in the House of Representatives on January 6, 2021, before a mob of angry Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Swalwell, who is on the House Judiciary Committee, joins CBSN Bay Area to discuss his memories of January 6 and what could come next for former President Trump. 

In an interview with BET.com, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas recalled the moment she realized she and her colleagues were at risk. 

She said she already sensed an uneasiness when Trump supporters arrived at the Capitol following a rally by the former president.

But then she watched Republican lawmakers scuttling from the House chamber.

"I even asked myself out loud, where are they going?" Jackson Lee told BET. "At the minute that my mouth moved … I saw or heard the shouting from the cloakroom. It was the sergeant-at-arms saying to close the chamber doors and at that point people in the chamber began to gather their belongings and flee."

When she finally reached the other side of the gallery, she heard a shot — the shot that she would later learn killed rioter Ashli Babbitt. Then, she said, the chamber fell into complete chaos. 

"I could hear my breath, sort of outside of my speaking, it seemed like I was out of breath," Jackson Lee told BET. "At some point, we got the signal that we could, in essence, escape downstairs and through tunnels. As we escaped at that moment, we could see the insurrectionists down on the ground under the eyes and guns of the Capitol Police."

Vocal Trump supporters and members of Congress Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Greene held a press conference Thursday afternoon, questioning the federal government's handling of those charged with crimes related to January 6. Gaetz said no one has been charged with insurrection or treason. 

Greene, who has insisted those charged with crimes have been treated unfairly, said those people are "wasting away in jail."

Asked about the scores of police officers who were injured on the job in the mob, Greene said, "It was appalling. And I want to know why the National Guard was not outside the Capitol — I am furious at that."

 White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that President Biden will leave it up to the Justice Department and the House of Representatives to decide if or what charges former President Trump will face in connection to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"He's going to leave that to his Justice Department," Psaki said, adding that Mr. Biden won't "prejudge" the outcome of the House January 6 committee. 

In Mr. Biden's speech at the Capitol earlier Thursday, he strongly rebuked Trump, accusing him of "holding a dagger at the throat of America" and inciting the violent mob that overran the Capitol one year ago.

Psaki said Mr. Biden has never backed down from the need to protect democracy in the U.S.

President Biden addressed the nation on January 6, marking one year since the assault on the U.S. Capitol. CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane and CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang joined CBSN with some of the highlights from his speech. 

"CBS Mornings" co-host Tony Dokoupil interviews one Republican and one Democrat about the reasons they lack trust in government institutions and what this crisis of faith means for the future of democracy. 

Despite millions of Americans watching the events of January 6 unfold on their TV screens, there have been several conspiracy theories and attempts to rewrite the story of that day a year later. Stephen Hayes, co-founder, CEO and editor of The Dispatch, joined "CBSN AM" to discuss. 

The Senate held a moment of silence at noon and the House held one just after noon. 

Prior to the moment of silence, Democratic Senator Dick Durban criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for refusing to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the attack, and praised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for creating the committee and Republican Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinizinger for participating. 

 "They are serving this nation as they should," he said. 

Prior to the House floor moment of silence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid tribute to the Capitol officers who died after the attack. She said there has been a "continued assault on our democracy, undermining the sanctity of integrity of our elections, which are the basis of our democracy" since January 6.

"That is to be true to the vision of our Founders who brilliantly established our democracy and made it a model for the world honoring the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform to protect that freedom with their lawn," Pelosi said. 

— Jack Turman and Zak Hudak  

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer lambasted Trump during a speech on the Senate floor marking the events of January 6, saying the former president continues "to spread his poisonous vile about the 'big lie.'"

"The violent insurrection of January 6 was a day that will live forever in infamy, a permanent stain in the story of the American democracy and the final, bitter, unforgivable act of the worst president in modern times," Schumer said.

Recalling his own experience being evacuated from the Senate chamber after the mob of Trump's supporters breached the Capitol building, the New York Democrat said he was within "30 feet of these nasty, racist, bigoted insurrectionists" and said he was told one rioter said "'there's the big Jew, let's get him.'"

Schumer, like other Democrats, called for Congress to pass voting rights legislation, but criticized a proposal to enact reforms to the Electoral Count Act over more sweeping changes as "insufficient" and "even offensive."

"If lying about results of election is acceptable, if instigating a mob against the government is considered permissible, if encouraging political violence become the norm, it will be open season on this grand democracy, this noble experiment and everything will be up for grabs by whoever has the biggest clubs, the sharpest spears, the most effective lie," he said "I do not believe that that is the ultimate destiny of our country."

The president also answered a question from a reporter asking why he didn't mention Trump by name. 

"Look,  I think we just have to face the facts of what happened, draw a clear picture for the American people. It's not about me, it's not about the vice president," Mr. Biden said. "It's about the system, and it's about somebody who decides to put himself above everything. And, so — but I did not want to turn it into a contemporary political battle between me and the president. It's way beyond that. It's way beyond that."

 Mr. Biden stopped briefly to take questions from reporters as he left the Capitol.

"The way you have to heal you have to recognize the extent of the wound. You can't pretend. This is serious stuff," the president said. "You've got to face it. That's what great nations do." 

Mr. Biden's words come as many Republicans still disbelieve he rightfully won the election, and as many in the GOP say they view what happened on January 1, 2021, as patriotism or defending the election, according to CBS News polling. 

 The president said he didn't ask for this fight, but he will defend the nation. 

"We will make sure the will of the people is heard," Mr. Biden said. "That the battle prevails, not violence. That the authority of this nation will always be peacefully transferred. I believe the power of the presidency is to unite this nation, to lift us up, not tear us apart." 

The presidency is meant to build up the nation, not tear it apart, he said. America is not a land of dictators or autocrats, but a land where the people rule, he added. 

"Today, tomorrow and forever at our best, we are the United States of America," he said in concluding his address. 

 Mr. Biden took a moment to remember officers who died in the wake of the attack, including Brian Sicknick. More law enforcement officers who were present that day have taken their own lives since. 

He also took a moment to recognize cafeteria workers, congressional staff members and reporters who faced harrowing hours on January 6, too.

Former President Barack Obama placed blame on Republican leaders for making more difficult the role that Americans play on the world stage in defending democracy and freedom, as some in the GOP have continued to call into question the results of the 2020 election.

"Historically, Americans have been defenders of democracy and freedom around the world — especially when it's under attack," Obama said in a statement marking the one-year anniversary of the Capitol attack. "But we can't serve that role when leading figures in one of our two major political parties are actively undermining democracy at home. We can't set an example when our own leaders are willing to fabricate lies and cast doubt on the results of free and fair elections."

Claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, which fueled the violence that took place at the Capitol one year ago, are still embraced not only by voters, but also elected officials, "many of whom know better," Obama said. 

The former president said the breach of the Capitol building last year shows the fragility of democracy.

"[W]hile the broken windows have been repaired and many of the rioters have been brought to justice, the truth is that our democracy is at greater risk today than it was back then," he said.

Continuing his address, Mr. Biden — without criticizing Trump by name — chastised the former president for failing to accept the results of the election and protect democracy. 

Mr. Biden said the former president did "nothing" for hours as police were assaulted and lives were at risk, in the nation's Capitol under siege.

"This wasn't a group of tourists. This was an armed insurrection. They weren't looking to uphold the will of the people. They were looking to deny the will of the people," Mr. Biden said.  

Great nations don't bury the truth, they "face up to it," Mr. Biden said, as some in the Republican Party have downplayed what happened that day.

Mr. Biden said the former president can't accept he lost, and did what no president has done before in failing to accept the results of an election. 

"His bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy," Mr. Biden said about Trump. 

Mr. Biden said Trump "built his lie over months" by insisting the election would be, and was, rigged. 

"He's not just a former president. He's a defeated former president," Mr. Biden said, emphasizing the word "defeated." 

The plot of those who "incited the mob" was foiled, Mr. Biden said.

 Upon entering the Capitol ahead of his speech, the president said, he's "praying that we'll never have another day like we had a year ago today."

He echoed that sentiment in his speech, beginning by recounting the events of the day.

"The will of the people was under assault. The Constitution, our Constitution, faced the gravest of threats," he said. 

The ex-president "tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power" and a "violent mob reached the Capitol," Mr. Biden said. 

"But they failed," Mr. Biden said. 

Members of law enforcement "saved the rule of law," the president said. 

"Our democracy held. We the people endured. We, the people, prevailed," he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris said that the violent assault on the Capitol one year ago demonstrates how fragile American democracy is and warned the nation cannot let its future rest on "those bent on silencing our voices, overturning our votes and peddling lies and misinformation."

Then serving as a member of the Senate and vice president-elect, Harris recalled in remarks from Statuary Hall inside the Capitol how her Senate staff was forced to use filing cabinets and other furniture to barricade themselves in an office when the mob of Trump supporters breached the building.

"What the extremists who roamed these halls targeted was not only the lives of elected leaders," Harris said. "What they sought to degrade and destroy was not only a building, hallowed as it is. What they were assaulting were the institutions, the values, the ideals that generations of Americans have marched, picketed and shed blood to establish and defend."

Harris said the events of January 6 demonstrates the "dual nature of democracy — its fragility and its strength." 

"The strength of democracy is the rule of law. The strength of democracy is the principle that everybody should be treated equally, that elections should be free and fair, that corruption should be given no hoarder. The strength of democracy is that it empowers the people," the vice president said. "And the fragility of democracy is this: That if we are not vigilant, if we do not defend it, democracy simply will not stand. It will falter and fail. The violent assault that took place here, the very fact of how close we came to an election overturned, that reflects the fragility of democracy."

Harris warned that Americans cannot let the future of the nation hinge on a faction that has pushed to reverse the results of the presidential election.

"We cannot let our future be decided by those bent on silencing our voices, overturning our votes and peddling lies and misinformation, by some radical faction that may be newly resurgent, but whose roots run old and deep," she said.

Harris raised the question of how January 6 will be remembered in future years, whether it will mark the beginning of the "unraveling of the oldest, greatest democracy in the world," or lead to the strengthening of democracy.

"The American spirit is being tested. The answer to whether we will meet that test resides where it always has resided in our country, with you, the people. And the work ahead will not be easy," she said.

Harris then encouraged Congress to pass voting rights legislation before the Senate, though it's unlikely the bills in their current form will garner enough support from Republicans in the evenly split upper chamber to overcome a filibuster. 

"We cannot sit on the sidelines. We must unite in defense of our democracy," she said about Americans. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell marked the one-year anniversary of the Capitol assault with a statement lambasting the mob of Trump supporters who breached the building, while criticizing Democrats for pushing to change Senate rules to pass voting rights legislation.

"January 6th, 2021 was a dark day for Congress and our country. The United States Capitol, the seat of the first branch of our federal government, was stormed by criminals who brutalized police officers and used force to try to stop Congress from doing its job," the Kentucky Republican said. "This disgraceful scene was antithetical to the rule of law."

McConnell reiterated remarks from the Senate floor Wednesday about Democrats' efforts to pass voting rights legislation and accused them of trying to "exploit this anniversary to advance partisan policy goals that long predated this event."

"A year ago today, the Senate did not bend or break. We stuck together, stood strong, gaveled back in, and did our job," he said. "Senators should not be trying to exploit this anniversary to damage the Senate in a different way from within."

McConnell is not in Washington for the events marking the one-year anniversary of the riot and is instead in Georgia leading a delegation to the late GOP Senator Johnny Isakson's funeral.

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell receives several threatening calls every week. 

A sample voicemail: "I hope your family dies in front of you. I pray to God if you have any children they die in your face."

The threats ramped up after Trump verbally attacked her and her late husband John at a campaign rally in December 2019, the Michigan Democrat said. 

"He made very public comments about John looking up from hell. And I was just stunned by it," Dingell said. 

It's not only verbal abuse.  

"I had men in front of my house with assault weapons after [Fox News host] Tucker Carlson had done a rant on me," she said. 

In November, her Dearborn office was vandalized.

The threats have had an impact on her and she worries that speaking out about it could make her more of a target. Other lawmakers declined to speak with CBS News because they didn't want to normalize the violent threats. 

Read more here or watch the full report in the player above. 

— Michael Kaplan, Jessica Kegu and Kris Van Cleave

Thursday marks one year since a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. On Wednesday, the eve of the deadly attack, former President Jimmy Carter warned that  democracy itself "has become dangerously fragile." 

"One year ago, a violent mob, guided by unscrupulous politicians, stormed the Capitol and almost succeeded in preventing the democratic transfer of power," Carter wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times. "There followed a brief hope that the insurrection would shock the nation into addressing the toxic polarization that threatens our democracy. However, one year on, promoters of the lie that the election was stolen have taken over one political party and stoked distrust in our electoral systems." 

Last year's insurrection occurred after Trump held a rally near the White House, during which he continued to say "we will never concede," referring to the outcome of the presidential election. Despite President Biden's certified win and no evidence of the widespread fraud Trump and his allies claim occurred, the former president has continually claimed the election was stolen. He told the January 2021 rally-goers to "fight like hell." 

"All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen," Trump told the crowd. "We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn't happen. You don't concede when there's theft involved. Our country has had enough, we will not take it anymore, and this is what this is all about." 

Read more here.

Congressman Jason Crow is launching a new democracy initiative to mark the one year anniversary of the January 6 attack. The Colorado Democrat has created a "Democracy in Action" toolkit to engage citizens, civic organizations and members of Congress over the next year.

"Reflecting on the one-year anniversary of the violent insurrection at the Capitol is not just an exercise in history," Crow said in a statement to CBS News.

The toolkit will include a concrete list of actions to encourage Americans to get more involved in the elections process and to advocate for issues they care about as a way to reaffirm their commitment to democracy. Crow says he hopes the effort will combat some of the "disturbing forces" that he believes have been at play since the attack.

"We are facing a surging domestic violent extremist movement in this country, disinformation and misinformation campaigns promoted by foreign adversaries and domestic groups, and we are experiencing an unprecedented assault on our voting system elevating party loyalists over the rule of law," Crow noted. 

Read more here.

In an excerpt released by the White House, President Biden will ask the country what kind of nation it will be, reflecting on that day one year ago. 

"And so at this moment we must decide what kind of nation we are going to be.

 Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm?

 Are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people?

 Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies?

 We cannot allow ourselves to be that kind of nation.

 The way forward is to recognize the truth and to live by it."

CBSN, CBS News' 24/7 streaming network, will stream the president and vice president's remarks as well as the House events live. Throughout the day, CBSN will feature interviews with lawmakers including Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, and discussions with CBS News journalists including chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes, chief justice and national affairs correspondent Jeff Pegues, senior White House and political correspondent Ed O'Keefe and correspondents Kris Van Cleave and Nikole Killion. CBSN will also offer first-person reflections of what happened on January 6 and in the year since.

CBSN's flagship politics show, "Red & Blue," will broadcast a special edition at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET, led by anchor Elaine Quijano in New York and CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett in Washington, D.C. They will feature conversations with CBS News chief political analyst and senior national correspondent John Dickerson, elections and surveys director Anthony Salvanto and senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge. 

"CBS Mornings" co-host Tony Dokoupil will anchor the broadcast from the U.S. Capitol. Dokoupil will sit down with Americans on different sides of the political spectrum to explore mistrust in institutions and what that means for future elections. The show will report on how the sheer scale of the attack wasn't known for several weeks and months, featuring Jeff Pegues, Kris Van Cleave, Nancy Cordes and John Dickerson.