Electoral College Vote

As the next president of the united states... congressional leaders continued to vote through the night after a breach by a pro- trump mob at the us capitol on wednesday forced members of the house and senate to suspend the joint session.

Vice president mike pence officially declares joe biden and kamala harris the winners of the 20-20 presidential election early this morning..

The us capitol is once again secured but four people are dead -- including one woman who was shot -- after a group of people breached one of the most iconic american buildings, engulfing the nation's capital in chaos after president trump urged his supporters to fight against the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes that confirmed president-elect joe biden's win.

Good morning and thank you for joining us i'm morgan burger..

And i'm daniella oropeza today is thursday... january 7th... late last night (wednesday 10pm) after the building was cleared - the senate resoundingly rejected the challenge to biden's election win in arizona... two local senators voted in favor of challenging the results... those senators are mississippi senator cindy hyde-smith and alabama senator tommy tuberville.... here's what we know right now - the vote was supposed to take place earlier in the day..

We also know at least 30 people were arrested.... washington d-c police chief robert contee says three other people died in medical emergencies.... the mayor of washington, d.c.

Put the entire city on a curfew... that will be lifted this morning at 6... and we know that lawmakers were asked to shelter in place... to understand how starkly different the tone is in the capitol this morning - it's important to understand what led up to the events that unraveled wednesday... let's start from the beginning... we knew this day would be notable because several lawmakers have come forward in recent days and weeks and said they would object to the electoral college vote... so around 1 oclock wednesday afternoon - hundreds of people seen wearing make america great again hats and t-shirts pushed through barriers set up along the perimeter of the capitol... pictures and video surfaced showing these people fighting with officers in full riot gear... about 90 minutes later, police said demonstrators got into the building and the doors to the house and senate were being locked.... shortly after, the house floor was evacuated by police... vice president mike pence was also evacuated from the chamber, where he was to perform his role in the counting of electoral votes.

An armed standoff took place at the house front door at about 3 p.m.

Eastern time, and police officers had their guns drawn at someone who was trying to breach it..

A trump supporter was also pictured standing at the senate dais earlier in the afternoon.

By 3;30 the senate floor was clear... capitol police worked to secure the capitol floor by floor... however it took until 5;40 for the entire building to once again be secure according to the sergeant at arms..

Lawmakers began returning to the capitol after the building was secured and made it clear that they intended to resume their intended business -- namely, confirming biden's win over trump by counting the votes in the electoral college.

Proceedings resumed at about 8 oclock last night and ending this morning around 3 president trump called on his supporters to "go home" hours after the riot started, in one stunning line, president trump told the mob to "go home," but added, "we love you.

You are very special."... that statement is receiving alot of criticism..

And now president trumps video and several tweets have been removed from facebook and twitter... in a statement twitter saying in part, that the move was in response to the president's "repeated and severe violations of our civic integrity policy.... twitter officials are also warning that further violations "will result in permanent suspension of the @realdonaldtrump account.... and more breaking news just into our newsroom-- white house deputy chief of staff dan scavino released a statement from the president over twitter.... it reads quote... "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 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!"

Scavino used his own account to tweet the president's statement after trump's twitter account was suspended... there is a lot to unpack... and still so many questions remain... who was the woman that was killed?

Who are these people that were arrested?

How were they able to get into the capitol?

We are answering all of your questions ahead in our next half on wtva nine news... and we will hear more from local and state leaders about how they feel as events unfold...