Rep. Peter DeFazio discusses 'coup' attempt at the nation's Capitol

Congressman Peter DeFazio says that he was outside when groups opposing the ratification of November's election stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.

Will likely be drier.

This forecast for next week could change.

We'll of course keep you posted.

We're continuing our coverage of breaking news tonight -- right now you're taking a live look at the united states capitol building.

Less than 10 minutes ago r- n-c members released a statement condemning violence at the capitol.

That statement said in part "these violent scenes we have witnessed do not represent acts of patriotism, but an attack on our country and its founding principles."

We've also learned that twitter has locked president trumps twitter account for 12 hours.

The senate will reconvene at 8 p-m tonight.

We will continue to keep you updated as this situation continues to develop.

As we continue to follow the riots in washington, dc, the nation's capital.

We're joined by congressman peter fazio, congressman.

Thanks for being with us.

Uh, thanks.

Appreciate the opportunity that you're safe and all your staff members are safe.

Can you describe what the day has been like for you today?

Well, it's been a kind of, uh, uh, up and down day.

Uh, you know, we took the, uh, peers that we took back, uh, united states senate.

Which means that my long delayed infrastructure bill that, uh, trump promised he would do and wouldn't do, uh, will finally get done and we'll put millions of people to work, rebuilding our infrastructure in a way that is climate friendly, uh, deals with fossil fuel pollution and create it's a heck of a lot of, uh, family wage jobs.

Uh, so that was a great start.

Um, you know, i had seen scatterings of, of, uh, trump supporters around town.

I was just walking around in cognito, dressed like this, and i talked to some of them and asked them why they're here.

And they're saying, oh, stop the steel.

And i said, well, tell me about it.

Well, georgia, georgia.

I said, well, georgia, they counted.

They had paper ballots and they counted them with the machines twice.

And by hand once, and it took 10 days with observers, how has it stolen?

And they're like, well, um, there were fake balance or this or that, or dead people voted.

And i mean, there's a lot of people who've just bought onto trump.

Um, and his, uh, uh, his cronies giuliani and, and the others who are saying the election was stolen.

So, uh, most of them seem to be pretty good natured, but obviously a different group showed up at the capitol today.

And, uh, i was outside shooting a little video.

Message.

And, uh, i heard, uh, you know, loud noises sounded like flash bangs and there was a capitol police officer nearby and he said, sir, you have to back to your office.

I said, okay.

So, uh, they locked us down in our offices.

So when did you first get into it?

Was that the first indication you had that something had gone from what you thought was a fairly peaceful protest to something that we're seeing now in the nation's capitol?

Uh, yeah, absolutely.

I mean, i, i it's unexplainable to me that it wasn't anticipated.

I anticipated it would be violent.

I thought it was a miracle that they didn't invade any of the vote counting centers, uh, like in georgia when they were recounting.

And, and i guess they did better security.

Uh, capitol hill did not have adequate security, uh, here today.

And, uh, they actually overran the capitol hill.

Police took over the capitol, uh, destroyed, priceless, uh, artifacts in the building and, uh, and interrupted the electoral count.

It's essentially attempt, uh, to have a coup uh, over our representative democracy.

Well, i guess that you go directly to my next question.

Why do you think there was such lack security?

Certainly in the days of black lives matter, there seemed to be a much larger show of force in the nation's capitol.

When demonstrations were occurring, this did not appear to have the same level of pushback from law enforcement.

Do you have any indication?

Why and where do we go from here?

No.

And a lot of tough questions need to be asked.

Apparently it was just the capitol hill police force.

Um, metropolitan district police weren't here.

Uh, the, uh, the mayor asked for national guard yesterday, but since she's a mayor and not a governor, she had to ask and it took 24 hours for the pentagon to approve it.

Uh, but now we have national guard from dc national guard from virginia national guard from maryland, and a lot of very, very heavily armed and equipped, uh, troopers from maryland and virginia in dc.

Uh, and they are starting to clear the building and the grounds.

There's a 6:00 pm curfew.

It just kicked in, uh, and they're going to drive people off the streets.

What does that mean for you?

How do you get back to your residents and your staff members and, and what happens to the us capitol tomorrow?

Well, they, uh, i believe we're going to continue to work on the electoral college, uh, votes tonight.

I mean, that's, that's the hope so i'm, you know, i'm here, i'll probably be sleeping in the office.

Um, you know, if you're an essential personnel, you can travel.

I get it.

I've been told if, if, if we do that, i'll lend my staff, my car and i'll stay here.

And, um, you know, we'll see how, uh, how it works out.

I would hope, uh, that the, uh, seditious, uh, members of the republican party who are a small minority in the senate and, uh, perhaps a majority, but not all in the house.

Uh, we'll see what they have wrought and the danger they have created and suspend with the false accusations.

They they're not offering a proof.

They just say this wasn't a proper election, uh, because there are accusations.

Well, if we arrested in jail people, uh, and put them in prison on accusations, i mean, really, so there've been accusations, all of which have been thrown out of court.

But that's why we should overturn the vote of the american people.

Uh, this is clearly, uh, an attempt at a coop.

I assume you expect at some point, this, we will be moving forward from this, uh, this will be, uh, unpleasant historical chapter in this country's history, but what comes after january 20th?

Okay.

Do you think that this will change the course of where we're going in terms of bipartisanship?

Or do you think that solidifies one side, seeing the outpouring of support for the president?

Well, i, what i hope is that, uh, when joe biden begins to offer, uh, uh, programs with a democratic senate that truly benefit the american people, a national plan for vaccine distribution, you see apathetically, it's going into oregon and other states, uh, acquiring more vaccine, more testing, uh, making the american people safe as soon as possible and opening everything up.

Uh, when we, uh, uh, when we pass, uh, you know, more economic relief to small business and others who are dramatically impacted.

And then when we do my major infrastructure bill as a major recovery package for millions of jobs for americans, but then a lot of these people have become disenfranchised because they're economically distressed.

They don't know how they're going to make ends meet.

They're worried about their future and they bleed donald trump would help them while he hasn't.

Uh, he had seven fake infrastructure weeks or trade deficits are bigger than when he took office.

Uh, and his tax breaks went predominantly to millipede millionaires, and 80% with people earned over four $50,000 a year.

Uh, but he somehow convinced other people that he wanted to help them.

Uh, and, uh, they believed that well, we got to show them, we really can help them.

And i hope things will change.

Well, congressman, uh, we appreciate your time today.

And what i'm sure is, uh, obviously an historic day, uh, safety to you and your staff members as you, uh, make your way back to your home.

And we, uh, we look forward to hearing from you and the other,