We left it the recess just after President Trump's to 24 tweet attacking
the vice president. By this time the president had been in his dining
room for an hour.
I want you to just think of what you would have done. If you were
in his shoes and had the power to end the violence. You would have
immediately and forcefully told the rioters to stop and leave, like
stop and leave done.
As you heard, that's exactly what his senior staff had been urging
him to do.
But he resisted.
And he kept resisting for another almost two hours.
In the meantime, all the president did was post two tweets.
Wanted to 38.
And the other at 3 13.
Once said, quote, Stay peaceful.
The other, said quote remain peaceful.
But the president already knew that the mob was attacking the police.
And had invaded the capital.
Neither tweet condemned the violence were told the mob to leave the
capital and disperse.
To appreciate how obvious it was that President Trump was not meeting
this moment.
It's helpful to look at the real time reactions of his own son Don
Jr to the first tweet captured in a series of text messages with
Mark Meadows.
I warned the audience that these messages contains some strong language.
As you can see, Don Junior's for Don Jr first texted Mr Meadows at
2 53.
He wrote. He's got to condemn this ship ASAP.
The Capitol police tweet is not enough.
Mr. Meadows replied. I am pushing it hard. I agree.
Don Jr responded.
This is one you go to the mattresses on. They will try to fuck his
entire legacy. If this on this if it gets worse.
Here's what Don Jr told us. He meant by go to the mattresses.
It's 58. When you say that he needs that Mr Meadows needs to go to
the mattresses.
On this issue. When you say go to the mattresses. What does that
mean?
Just a reference for going all in
I think it's a godfather reference.
Sean Hannity agreed. And he also turned to Mark Meadows for help.
After the president's second tweet, as you can see, Mr Hannity texted
at 3 31 to say Trump needed to deliver a statement to the nation
telling the rioters to leave the capital.
Mr Meadows responded that he was quote on it.
Don Jr and Sean Hannity. We're not the only ones who import Mr Meadows
to get the president to speak to the nation and tell the mob to leave
to go home. Go home.
Throughout the attack, Mr Meadows received texts from Republican
members of Congress.
From current and former Trump Administration officials from media
personalities and from friends.
Like President Trump's staff, they knew President Trump had to speak
publicly to get the mob to stop.
Let's look at just a few of these text messages.
Fox News personality Laura Ingram said. The president needs to tell
the people in the capital to go home.
Former chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney urged Mark He needs to stop
this now.
Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade said. Please get him on TV, destroying
everything that you guys have accomplished.
When we interviewed White House counsel pets abalone, he told us
that he knew the president's two tweets were not enough. Let's listen
to what he said.
I need to question Did you believe that between square
Anything about your advice to the president.
No, I believe more needed to be done.
Okay. I believed that public statement needed to be met when you
talk about, uh
Others on the staff thinking more should be done or thinking that
the president needed to tell people to go home.
Who would you put in that category?
Well, I would put, uh
Half elven Eric Hershman.
Hmm.
Landmark Meadows. Um
Ivanka once Jared got there, Jared.
Lovely.
General Kellogg
Probably missing some
Kaylie, I think was was there but I don't
Dance could be no.
And who on the staff.
Did not want people to leave the capital.
On the staff.
In the White House about I
I can't think of anybody.
You know, on that day, I just want people to get out of the
The capital wants to, you know, particularly lots of violence started.
No.
I mean,
Mhm.
What about the President? Yeah.
She said. The staff
So I answered. No, I said in the White House.
Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize. I thought you said
staff
Um, I can't reveal communications, but obviously, I think
What
Yeah.
Let's pause on that last statement.
Although Patsy abalone is being careful about executive privilege.
There really is no ambiguity about what he said.
Almost everybody wanted President Trump to instruct the mob to disperse
President Trump.
Refused.
To understand how inadequate the president's tweets were. Let's examine
his 2 38 tweets and more detail for context. Here's what was happening
at that time.
Glass. Everybody down.
Barricade. There's people planted the hallways outside. We have no
way out.
We were
Just told that there has been tear gassed in the rotunda being instructed.
Each of us get gas masks.
We went from a peaceful protests and this is a very dangerous situation
right now
that there are I'm being told. These protesters on the inside are
around both chambers and there is now tear gas inside the Capitol
Rotunda. In fact, members locked in the house are being instructed
to put on masks.
Miss Matthews after President Trump's tweet about vice president
Pence You told us you spoke to immediately spoke to Kayleigh Mcenany.
What did you tell her? And where did she go afterwards?
After the tweet about the vice president. I found Caylee and told
her that I thought the president needed to immediately send out a
tweet that condemned the violence that we're seeing, and that there
needed to be a call to action to tell these people to leave the capital,
and she agreed and walked over to the Oval dining room to find the
president.
We interviewed Ms Mcenany and others who were in the dining room,
with the president, urging them to put out a statement.
Miss Matthews. Ms Mcenany told us she came right back to the press
office after meeting with the president about this particular tweet.
What did she tell you about what happened in that dining room?
When she got back. She told me that a tweet have been sent out. And
I told her that I thought the tweet did not go far enough that I
thought there needed to be a call to action and he needed to condemn
the violence and we're in a room full of people. But people weren't
paying attention. And so she looked directly at me and in a hushed
tone shared with me that the president did not want to include any
sort of mention of peace in that tweet and that
It took some convincing on their part those who were in the room
and she said that there was a back and forth going over different
phrases to find something that he was comfortable with. And it wasn't
until Ivanka Trump suggested the phrase stay peaceful that he finally
agreed to include it.
The president resisted.
Writing. Stay peaceful in a tweet.
He told Mark Meadows that the rioters were doing what they should
be doing and the rioters understood. They were doing what President
Trump wanted them to do.
President Trump's message was heard clearly by stop the Steal organizer
Olly Alexander.
At 2 38, he told another organizer, quote POTUS is not ignorant of
what his words would do.
Writers storming the capital also heard President Trump's message.
In this video, you'll see surveillance footage from the rotunda that
shows a group of oath keepers, including Jessica Watkins, who's been
charged with seditious conspiracy.
You'll hear her walkie talkie communications with others as they
share intelligence and communicate about President Trump's 2 38 tweet
in real time.
Again, we warn the audience at this clip also contains strong language.
CNN just said that they evacuated all members of Congress into a
safety room.
There's no safe place in the United States for any of these motherfucker's.
Right now, Let me tell you, I hope they understand that we are not
joking around.
Ballot. Terry principle one of five military principle one of five
cave means grave.
Trump just tweeted. Please support our Capitol police. They are on
our side Do not harm them in our problem That's saying a lot. But
what he didn't say You didn't say not to do anything to the congressman.
Well, he did not ask him to stand down. He's just said stand by the
Capitol police. They are on our side and they are good people so
It's getting real down there. I got it on TV, and it's um it's looking
pretty freaking radical to me. CNN said that Trump has egged this
on that He is egging that on and that he is watching the country
burned two weeks before he leaves office. He is not leaving office.
I don't give a sh it what they say.
And we are in the mezzanine. We are in the main dome right now. We
are rocking it throwing grenades. They're freaking shooting people
with paintballs, but we're in here.
Be safe. Be safe. God bless and Godspeed and keep going. Get it,
Jess, do your ship. This is what we fucking lived up for.
Everything we fucking trained for
Capital overran the capital
capital.
We've now seen our president, Trump supporters reacted to his tweets.
Mr Pottinger. You told us that you consider the tweets sent to this
point to be quote wholly inadequate, given the urgency of the crisis.
What in your view would have been needed?
Yeah, I was insufficient. I think what
You could count me among those who was hoping to see an unequivocal
Strong statement.
Clearing out the capital telling people to stand down, Leave go home.
Um, I think that's what
We were hoping for
Something a lot more kind of definitive and not ambiguous.
Yes, he has that power over his folks. Miss Matthews. You told us
About a colleague who said during the attack that the president should
not.
Condemned the violence. Can you please tell us about how that about
that moment in your reaction?
Yes. So a conversation started in the press office after the president
sent out those two tweets that I deemed were insufficient.
And a colleague suggested that the president shouldn't condemn the
violence because they thought it would be quote handing a win to
the media if you were to condemn his supporters
And I disagreed. I thought that we should condemn the violence and
condemn it unequivocally, and I thought that he needed to include
a call to action and to tell these people to go home.
And a debate ensued over it, and I became visibly frustrated, and
my colleagues were well aware of that, and I couldn't believe that
we were arguing over this in the middle of the West Wing, talking
about the politics of a tweet being concerned with handing the media
when when we had just watched all of that violence unfolded the capital.
And so
I motioned up at the TV and I said
Do you think it looks like we're effing winning? Because I don't
think it does. And I again reiterated that I thought that the president
needed to condemn the violence because it didn't matter if it was
coming from the left or the right that you should condemn violence
100% of the time.
We've we've heard this evening how everyone in the president's orbit
was pushing him to do more to tell the mob to leave the capital.
One of these people. One of those people was Republican leader Kevin
McCarthy.
He managed to get the president on the phone and told him to call
off his supporters.
As you will hear. The president refused, and so leader McCarthy reached
out
For help to Ivanka Trump.
It was at the White House in Jared Kushner, who that afternoon had
just arrived back on a flight from the Middle East.
So at some point in the afternoon, Mr McCarthy placed a phone call
to Mr Scavino's desk line, and it was transferred to the president.
Is that correct?
Mhm. That's generally what I recall. Okay. Were you involved in making
that
Transferring that call.
I I'm
Yes.
Okay. Where was the president at the time that he took that call.
He was in the dining room. Would you personally reach out to the
president for more support?
I've already talked to the president
called them. Um, I think we need to make a statement. Um, make sure
that we can calm individuals down. Did Mr McCarthy indicated he had
been in touch with the President Trump?
She indicated that, uh, he had had some conversation. I don't recall
whether it was the with the president or somebody at the White House.
But I think he expressed frustration that, um, not taking the circumstances
seriously as they should that moment. Kevin McCarthy, who is the
Republican leader about this and he said he called Donald Chief finally
got through to Donald Trump. And he said, You have got to get on
TV. You've got to get on Twitter. You've got to call these people
off.
You know what the president said to him? This is happening. He said.
Well, Kevin, these are my people. You know, these are these are antifa.
And Kevin respondents said No, They're your people. They literally
just came through my office windows and my staff are running for
cover. I mean, they're running for their lives. You need to call
them off, and the president's response to Kevin to me was chilling,
she said. Well, Kevin, I guess they're just more upset about the
election. You know, theft, then you are and that's you know, you've
seen widespread reports of Kevin McCarthy in the president having
a basically a swearing conversation. That's when the swearing to
bet because of President was basically saying no.
I I'm okay with this leader McCarthy. The President. United States
has a briefing room steps from the Oval Office. It is. The cameras
are hot. 24 7, As you know, why hasn't he walked down and said that
now?
I conveyed to the president, What I think is best to do and I'm hopeful
the president will do it.
And have you spoken with his chief of staff?
I've spoken to the president. I've spoken to other people in there
into the White House as well. Who else reached out to Mr Trump that
you know of?
That afternoon about the attack on the capital.
Ah, I believe in one point, McCarthy did.
Um, some, I heard my phone ringing Turn the shower off. So I was
leader McCarthy, who had a good relationship with He told me he was
getting really ugly over at the Capitol and said, Please, you know
anything you can do to help. I would appreciate it. I don't recall
specific. Ask just anything you could do again. I got the sense that
you know they were. They were they were scared.
Hmm. They meeting Mr Leader McCarthy and people on the hill because
of the violence. He was scared. Yes.
Think about that leader. McCarthy, who was one of the president's
strongest supporters, was scared and begging for help.
President Trump turned him down.
So we tried to call the president's Children.
Republican House member Mike Gallagher also implored the president
to call off the attack.
Mr President.
You have got to stop this. You are the only person who can call this
off.
Call it off.
The election is over.
Call it off.
President elect Joe Biden also went live on TV to demand that President
Trump tell the mob to leave.
I call on President Trump.
To go on national television now.
To fulfill his oath.
And defend the constitution.
And demand and then to this siege.
There was a desperate scramble for everyone to get President Trump
to do anything. All this occurred and the president still
That did not act.