the u.s president-elect joe biden has
launched a stinging attack on donald
trump
blaming him for encouraging yesterday's
violence in washington
when hundreds of trump supporters
stormed the capitol building the very
heart of american democracy
joe biden called it one of the darkest
days in u.s history
and said it was the culmination of four
years of attacks by mr trump on
democracy
on justice and on the press leading
republicans have distanced themselves
from the president who has not condemned
the rioters
and now there are growing calls for
president trump to be removed from
office with just 13 days to go before
the end of his term
our north america editor john sopral is
at the white house for us now john
sophie donald trump has always been able
to act with
impunity but even he discovered there
are some lines that he cannot cross
there has been a furious backlash to
what happened yesterday
and a lot of the blame attaching to him
there have been white house resignations
a cabinet member has gone and the former
attorney general said
he has betrayed his office
they can clean they can repaint and put
papers back in filing cabinets
they can easily spruce the place up but
none of it will remove the stain on
american democracy
the trump supporting trump-inspired
rioters in what's being described as an
attempted insurrection
have certainly left their mark
the mob that descended on the capitol
building probably couldn't believe how
easy their task was
outer security cordons crumbled the thin
blue line
turned out to be painfully so
and if you want one image to highlight
the inadequacy of the police response
just look at this officer endlessly
retreating
one staircase at a time or in the
chamber
playing clothes officers having to
resort to barricading the doors
their weapons drawn to stop the rioters
from entering
these are scenes that have played out in
timpot regimes
around the world but in america this
beacon of democracy
this protester ashley babbitt was killed
a military veteran who'd served her
country
in afghanistan and iraq
only to die from a single gunshot wound
fired in the hall
of the house of representatives
business resumed last night joe biden
certified
as the next president the current vice
president
condemning the mob in a way that donald
trump couldn't bring himself to
to those who wreaked havoc in our
capital today
you did not win violence
never wins freedom wins
and this is still the people's house and
today the president-elect made clear
who he held responsible for last night's
events
the past four years we've had a
president who's made his contempt for
our democracy
our constitution the rule of law
clear in everything he has done
and yesterday was but the culmination of
that unrelenting attack
oh there we go but why was security so
lax
it's not as though anyone was caught
unaware this
overwhelmingly white crowd was treated
with kid gloves
police seemingly posing for selfies with
the protesters
but this is what washington looked like
last summer when black lives matter
protesters
came to the capital after the death of
george floyd
the difference couldn't be more striking
and then there's the role of the
president himself in inciting this coup
attempt
we're gonna walk down to the capitol
that seemed to appall those who've stood
by the president rumors swirled that his
fellow cabinet members
might try to invoke the 25th amendment
and forcibly remove him from office
maybe in response to that threat donald
trump finally threw an aide
issued this statement in the middle of
the night even though i totally disagree
with the outcome of the election
and the facts bear me out nevertheless
there'll be an
orderly transition on january the 20th
donald trump couldn't tweet it out
because his account had been suspended
and today facebook announced that it was
indefinitely blocking his account
a hugely significant move and the
democratic speaker of the house nancy
pelosi
whose office was yesterday occupied by
this protester
is upping the pressure i joined 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
cabinet do not act
the congress may be prepared to move
forward with impeachment
four years ago at his inauguration on
the steps of the capital
donald trump promised that the american
carnage as he called it
would end right here right now
but last night this is what his legacy
looked like
john sopel bbc news washington
well the apparent ease with which trump
supporters were able to storm congress
has raised serious questions about
security in washington
our correspondent alim has been speaking
to some of those caught up in the chaos
last night no remorse
no guilt no regrets those who travel to
washington from across the country to
protest
are today sightseeing yesterday had to
happen
the shock and disgust is felt elsewhere
not here how do you feel about it i feel
very privileged that i was a part of
yesterday
i fight for freedom and democracy even
with everything that happened
yes even with everything that happened
we had the greatest president in our
lifetime
doing everything he could do sacrificing
his golden years to make this country
what it what it should be and what it
always has been
he sacrificed so much and that's why
you've seen so many people here they
realize that
in those fateful hours they'd been
incited to march on the capitol by
donald trump those who forced their way
into the building
believing they had the right to to
overturn the election result
that is just not how things are done in
this country lawlessness
storming buildings even and that's what
competition wasn't founded on civility
this nation was founded on revolutionary
activity
we became civil after the government
realized that they got overwhelmed
so what happens now i guess now we wait
and see if
they take us seriously because they saw
how easily we were able to breach their
defense
well in spite of everything we saw with
our own eyes a lot of those protesters
who laid siege to the u.s capitol
insist that it is the other side that is
trying to seize power
and subvert democracy among them there's
very little sense of embarrassment
at the events here if anything a sense
of pride
proud especially that they caused
politicians to
cower in congress i've never had a panic
attack but i think that's what i was
having
my heart was pounding very very hard i
was having a little bit of trouble
catching my breath
and i felt almost paralyzed
david hartfield jr works at the capitol
building and lives
close by it was scary and it and when i
got up this morning i was like maybe i
should just stay inside all day i really
had that thought
of you know am i going to be just
attacked for just going and
paying bills like that's a scary thought
to wake up with in the morning
life of course goes on but many
americans have been left
numb by events here others though those
involved
have clearly been energized aline mcball
bbc news
in washington well our correspondent
labo duseko was in the capitol hill
complex when the violence broke out
yesterday and she joins us now and give
us
a sense of what it was like and what the
mood is like now
well i was standing in this very same
spot broadcasting live on air when
police came through and told
all the media that they had to move for
our own safety we were taken through to
a tunnel which joins this building to
the main capital building and eventually
to a cafeteria where we were locked down
for several
hours we were with people that work here
watching those scenes play out on tv
and they were telling me just how
painful it was to watch they have
friends that work here friends even in
the police
and they were worried about them in
danger today
very much a sense of city taking stock
of what happened the day before
joe biden and even michelle obama really
issuing quite powerful statements
comparing also
the treatment of black lives matter
protesters
by police to the treatment of donald
trump's supporters yesterday
and asking questions about how those
people were able to get into
these buildings on capitol hill
thank you well the prime minister boris
johnson has condemned the violence in
washington last night and said
president trump was completely wrong for
encouraging people to storm the building
and cast doubt on the election result
leaders
around the world have widely criticized
the riots as our diplomatic
correspondent james landau reports
to a world that has traditionally seen
america as a bastion of democracy
these images have provoked shock
disbelief
and condemnation and to a prime minister
who made it his business to get close to
donald trump
it was a moment to cut loose he
encouraged people to
storm the the capital and in so far as
the
uh the president consistently has cast
doubt on uh the outcome of a free and
fair
election i i believe that that was
completely
wrong i think what president trump has
been saying about that has been
uh completely wrong and i understand in
the disgraceful way
that they did in the capital some
leaders tried to rally
support what happened today in
washington dc
is not america definitely
we believe in the strength
of our democracies we believe
in the strength of american democracy
but germany's foreign minister compared
last night to the burning of the
reichstag in 1933
that the nazis used as an excuse to
seize power
and the chancellor pointedly blamed mr
trump
doubts about the election outcome had
been stoked she said and that created
the atmosphere that made the events of
last night possible
china's foreign ministry compared the
chaos of the capital
to the storming of hong kong's
parliament in 2019
when a spokeswoman noted dryly no one
died
we hope she said that the american
people can enjoy peace
stability and security as soon as
possible
iran's president said democracy had left
america fertile ground for populism
that had led the country to disaster
what we saw in the united states
yesterday evening and today
shows above all how fragile and
vulnerable western democracy is
its foundations are not solid
the events of last night may have
changed the way the world sees america
but how much of these pictures also
damage democracy itself
at a time when the idea is being
challenged across the globe
james landell bbc news let's go back now
to our north america editor john sopel
in washington and president trump leaves
office in 13 days time what happens then
is a line drawn after these shocking
events we saw yesterday
no i'm not sure they are donald trump
got 10 million more votes
than he did in 2016 in november there
are millions of trump supporters
who probably are applauding what
happened yesterday
and the sense that i have in washington
is that people are unrepentant and it's
like people are talking
two different languages if you hate
donald trump you think the election was
fair and reasonable
and everything unfolded in a proper
manner and if you're one of the trump
supporters
who on social media and in this
ecosystem all you're getting
is a diet of fraud and lies and deceit
and
rigged voting machines then you don't
believe it and i
get i when we spoke earlier sophie i was
being heckled by some trump supporters i
tried to engage with them
after we'd done our live and i said look
but the attorney general has said it was
safe the head of cyber security said it
was safe
the judges have said it was safe
appointed by donald trump republican
lawmakers have said it was safe
and they say they see that as part of
the conspiracy that is trying to rob
them and pull the wool
over their eyes and i think getting
people to calm down
will be joe biden's biggest task when he
becomes president
whether he tries to take action against
donald trump or let him go off into the
sunset quietly which i'm
sure is the democrats dream would be
their preference
but will it happen john sobel at the
white house thank you