FBI seeks further info from public on Capitol riot

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FBI seeks further info from public on Capitol riot

Correspondent David Spunt has the latest from Washington on 'Special Report'

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report" January 12, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR (on camera): I like the guy in the pool. All
right, thanks, Danna. Good evening, I'm Bret Baier.

Breaking tonight, federal officials say they are bracing for more violence
ahead of an expected impeachment vote tomorrow against President Trump and
next week's inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden.

And they are giving us new information tonight about the investigation into
last week's riot on Capitol Hill.

Also tonight, President Trump denying responsibility for inciting the mob,
insisting he does not believe in violence in any form and saying the
impeachment effort in Congress is causing tremendous anger in his words in
the country.

Back on Capitol Hill, Democrats continue to pursue all possible avenues to
get rid of the president a week before his term expires. And some top
Republicans tonight just in the past few minutes are joining that effort.

We have Fox team coverage. Mike Emanuel on exactly what lawmakers are doing
starting in little more than an hour. Casey Stegall on President Trump's
visit to the southern border.

But first, correspondent David Spunt starts us off tonight from the Justice
Department with the dramatic warning from federal authorities about the
days ahead. Good evening, David.

DAVID SPUNT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Bret, tonight we
are learning that there are 3,000 additional National Guard troops posted
outside the U.S. Capitol in response to the impeachment vote tomorrow and
the coming days. This has authorities look ahead to what could happen in
the next few days or a few weeks and also the chaos inside and outside the
Capitol last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The men and women of the FBI will leave no stone
unturned in this investigation.

SPUNT (voice over): The FBI and Department of Justice this afternoon with a
message to those who stormed the U.S. Capitol.

MICHAEL SHERWIN, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY: This is going to be a long-term
investigation, regardless of if it was just a trespass in the Capitol or if
someone planted a pipe bomb. You will be charged, and you will be found.

SPUNT: Authorities are planning for violence tomorrow the day the House is
expected to impeach President Trump. Fences surround at the Capitol
building, metal detectors are now posted outside the House floor, warnings
are in effect nationwide to all 50 states.

Authorities boarded up the state Capitol in Olympia Washington as members
of the National Guard took to the streets in Washington D.C. The Army and
Secret Service are working together to do additional background screening
for those deployed to protect the Capitol city from a repeat performance.

The Washington Post citing an internal FBI document reports the FBI office
in Norfolk, Virginia issued a warning to authorities in Washington D.C.
about the potential for violence last Wednesday.

According to The Washington Post, the document sites and online thread,
which reads in part: Get violent. Stop calling this a march or rally or
protest. Go there ready for war. We get our president or we die. Nothing
else will achieve this goal.

Last week, the FBI said there was no indication of planned violence that
ensued. Today officials clarified.

STEVEN D'ANTUONO, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE, FBI WASHINGTON FIELD
OFFICE: When my office in Washington Field Office received that
information, we briefed that within 40 minutes to our law enforcement
partners or federal state law enforcement partners that we have a command
post.

SPUNT: But there was no further explanation of what happened to that
information.

On a trip to the southern border, President Trump said his administration
believes in the rule of law.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now is the time for our
nation to heal. And it's time for peace and for calm. We're a nation of law
and we're a nation of order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SPUNT (on camera): Bret, today FBI officials created and they announced
they created a conspiracy and sedition task force. Those charges could land
someone behind bars for up to 20 years. The chairs of six different
committees inside the U.S. Capitol say they don't feel safe. They want
answers and they're incredibly concerned the fact that some of their
colleagues want to bring weapons on the House floor tomorrow, Bret.

BAIER: David Spunt live outside DOJ. David, thanks.

Also breaking tonight, at least one top Republican in the House and the top
Republican in the Senate, both indicating support for impeachment.
Congresswoman Liz Cheney says she is a yes. Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell is a maybe.

Also tonight, in less than an hour and a half, the House will vote on a
measure calling for the invoking of the 25th Amendment and removal of
President Trump from office.

Chief Congressional Correspondent Mike Emanuel following all the late
breaking details on Capitol Hill. Good evening, Mike.

MIKE EMANUEL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on
camera): Bret, good evening. Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the number three
Republican and House leadership says tonight she will vote to impeach
President Trump. Cheney says the president summoned the mob, assembled the
mob and lit the flame of this attack and that everything that followed was
his doing.

Fox is also confirmed that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is
furious with President Trump for the riot last week. And believing the
president was a key reason Republicans lost control of the Senate, and that
McConnell believes impeachment could help rid the Republican Party of
President Trump and his movement, all this breaking ahead of action in the
House this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL (voice over): Tonight in the House, a preliminary step on the path
toward impeachment. Lawmakers will vote to urge Vice President Pence to use
the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office. The President
says he's not worried.

TRUMP: The 25th Amendment is of zero risk to me. But we'll come back to
haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration. As the expression goes, be
careful what you wish for.

EMANUEL: Lawmakers argued back and forth preparing the bill for the floor
vote.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): That it's up to the vice president and we're not
trying to usurp his authority in any way. We're trying to tell him that the
time of 25th Amendment emergency has arrived. It has come to our doorstep;
it has invaded our chamber.

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): His actions will only again continue to divide the
nation. Turning to the 25th Amendment into a political weapon by demanding
that the vice president invoke it to remove the president from office, I
think is just wrong.

EMANUEL: Tomorrow the focus shifts to impeachment accusing President Trump
of incitement of insurrection with lawmakers still bickering about the
election.

REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D-MA): I asked you to lay bare the fact that there's lie
out there that somehow that Joe Biden did not win the election fair and
square, he did.

JORDAN: Are you saying there was no problem with methods (INAUDIBLE)

(CROSSTALK)

EMANUEL: Last night in a call with fellow House Republicans, leader Kevin
McCarthy warned: Personally, I continue to believe that an impeachment at
this time would have the opposite effect of bringing our country together
when we need to get America back on a path towards unity and civility.

House Republicans have floated a censure resolution instead of full-blown
impeachment. GOP conference chair Liz Cheney called tomorrow's impeachment
a vote of conscience. The Senate Democratic leader says this is all the
president's fault.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Trump causes the anger. He causes divide -- the
divisiveness. He foments the violence and blames others for it. That is
despicable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL (on camera): Some House Republicans are expected to break ranks on
impeachment tomorrow. Fox has confirmed GOP leaders do not intend to lobby
members to vote against it. Now that Cheney is in favor, that number could
grow, Bret.

BAIER: We'll follow that. Mike Emanuel, thank you.

President Trump is using his final days in office to promote what he
believes have been his administration's biggest accomplishments.

Today the president made what figures to be his final trip to the southern
border and the southern border wall while in office. Correspondent Casey
Stegall reports from Alamo, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY STEGALL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In his first
public appearance since the U.S. Capitol attack, today President Trump took
a victory lap of sorts along a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border.

TRUMP: They said it couldn't be done and we got it done.

STEGALL: The President toured part of the wall in South Texas and even
autographed it while also touting his other immigration measures.

TRUMP: We removed nearly 20,000 gang members from the United States. We
have ended the immigration chaos and reestablished American sovereignty.
Our most important reform was ending catch and release.

STEGALL: The barrier was a controversial cornerstone of his 2016 campaign.

TRUMP: We will build a great, great border wall.

STEGALL: And throughout much of his presidency, more than 450 miles have
now been built.

According to CBP data, roughly 17 percent of that is brand new, covering
areas once unprotected, while about 83 percent replaced old and outdated
infrastructure.

JULIAN CASTRO, FORMER SECRETARY, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: The most
significant thing about the Trump presidency is not the wall that he's
built around us, it's the wall that he has built between us.

STEGALL: Critics staged a protest not far from the president's event to
highlight what they call Trump's inhumane approach to immigrants.

REP. LLOYD DOGGETT (D-TX): He is here for mass distraction, not because he
has any real accomplishment in the wall that Mexico never paid for and that
he really could not build.

STEGALL: The 15 billion was designated to construct 738 miles. Dollars that
came from a combination of U.S. Department of Defense, Homeland Security
and Treasury Forfeiture Funds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEGALL (on camera): President-Elect Joe Biden has vowed to both halt
construction of the border wall and also to undo many of President Trump's
immigration policies by executive order.

However, the Biden team says that that will not happen on day one right out
of the gate to try and avoid preventing a further crisis down here, Bret.

BAIER: Casey Stegall along the southern border. Casey, thank you.

President Trump says technology companies are dividing the country and
"Doing a horrible thing to the country." The comments coming as big
corporations continue to take action against groups and individuals accused
of contributing to last week's Capitol riot. Correspondent Mark Meredith
has the latest tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'd like to say that free speech is under assault like never before.

MARK MEREDITH, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Trump
is accusing America's largest tech companies of political censorship. While
corporate America is canceling checks in the aftermath of last week's
riots.

Dozens of companies now plan to cut back on political donations among them
retail giant Walmart, hotel chain Marriott, insurance carrier BlueCross
BlueShield and communications conglomerate AT&T. All four will not donate
to Republicans who challenged the electoral college results.

Several technology companies are also vowing to hold off on donations at
least for now. Microsoft's political action committee says it's stopping as
it "assesses the implications of last week's events."

The riots also have tech companies reexamining existing relationships.
Amazon Web Services cut ties with social media platform Parler over
concerns the site was not regulating violent content. Parler is suing
Amazon over the decision claiming the move is "designed to reduce
competition in the microblogging services market to the benefit of
Twitter."

In a statement Amazon says, there is no merit to these claims. Parler CEO
says they are working to find new servers.

JOHN MATZE, CEO, PARLER: We're going to be back online one day and
hopefully soon and soon as possible. But this is a real challenge.

MEREDITH: The struggle comes as some lawmakers fear Parler shutdown means
more discontent in the days ahead.

REP. ANDY BIGGS (R-AZ): They're going to foment actually more problem, more
discord by doing this. They're making it -- trying to create a single party
system and that's wrong.

MEREDITH: Democratic Congressman David Cicilline says social media
companies deserve more scrutiny.

REP. DAVID CICILLINE (D-RI): I expect to move forward with significant
reforms of the social media platforms and to bring more competition and
really deal with the monopoly power of these large technology platforms.

MEREDITH: But with Democrats holding a narrow majority in both chambers,
it's unclear how much change can be expected this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MEREDITH (on camera): While some companies are cutting contributions, a new
group called the Republican Accountability Project says it's ready to raise
and spend $50 million to defend GOP lawmakers who end up supporting
President Trump's impeachment, Bret.

BAIER: Mark, thank you.

Stocks were up today. The Dow gained 60, the S&P 500 finished ahead two,
the NASDAQ rose 36.

The Trump administration is taking steps to speed up the delivery of the
coronavirus vaccine across the country. One of the places accelerating that
effort is New Jersey, where six vaccination mega sites are opening now.

Correspondent Bryan Llenas shows us tonight from Rockaway, New Jersey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We are now at an important
juncture in the vaccine program.

BRYAN LLENAS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Today Health and
Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced new federal vaccination
guidelines urging states to immediately expand vaccination eligibility to
everyone, 65 years or older and adults with certain pre-existing conditions
to utilize more pharmacies and health centers to administer shots and to
make all vaccine doses available including those reserved for second doses.
Azar says there is enough supply.

AZAR: We are 100 percent committed to ensuring a second dose is available
for every American who receives the first dose.

LLENAS: It's an effort to jumpstart a slow vaccine rollout, just 35 percent
of the nation's distributed vaccine doses have been administered. Azar
blame states like New York for imposing strict guidelines limiting
vaccinations to just health care workers.

AZAR: There was never a reason that states needed to complete vaccinating
all health care providers before opening vaccinations to older Americans
and other vulnerable populations.

LLENAS: This as mass vaccination sites are coming online nationwide from
Dodger Stadium and Disneyland in Los Angeles to this close down Sears in
Rockaway, New Jersey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the efficiency here, we can get through 2,400 people
a day once we get the vaccine.

LLENAS: Through six vaccine mega sites like this transform department
store, New Jersey is hoping to vaccinate 70 percent of its population by
May.

So far, it's only vaccinating healthcare workers and first responders like
police lieutenant Steven Bittman who received his first shot of Moderna
this morning.

LT. STEPHEN BITTMAN, MENDHAM NEW JERSEY POLICE: I feel very, very
fortunate. Very fortunate to be included in this group. And I think it's
important not just for my own health but for the health and the safety of
the people I serve in the community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LLENAS (on camera): The federal government is also changing how it
allocates vaccine doses to states. It will no longer be based on just
general population size. Instead, states that administer the vaccines, the
quickest and which have the largest 65 and older populations will get their
doses first.

BAIER: Bryan Llenas in Rockaway. Bryan, thanks.

Some very important officials could be facing some very serious charges in
the Flint, Michigan water scandal. We'll bring you that next.

And still ahead, what Joe Biden says today he will do about President
Trump's border wall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: There will not be another
foot of wall constructed in my administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: The former governor of Michigan is one of several people who have
been told they will face charges in the Flint water scandal. Republican
Rick Snyder was in charge when Flint's water supply became dangerously
undrinkable.

Correspondent Garrett Tenney has the latest tonight from Chicago. Good
evening, Garrett.

GARRETT TENNEY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Bret, good
evening to you. The Michigan attorney general's office isn't commenting on
any potential charges but says the investigation is ongoing. And it is --
it expects to have an announcement soon.

However, according to the Detroit News, as many as 10 individuals are
expected to be indicted as soon as Thursday for their roles in the Flint
water crisis, including former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, his top aide
Rich Baird, and former state health director Nick Lyon, though it is not
clear what kind of charge the charges they are facing.

Flint entered the national spotlight six years ago when in an attempt to
save money, the city switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint
River. The move ultimately led to both state and national emergency
declarations as the water supply for the city of 100,000 people became
contaminated with lead from old pipes along with bacteria. It was blamed
for a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that claims 12 lives.

Snyder has faced heavy criticism for his handling of the crisis but is
maintained he responded to it as best as he could.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SNYDER, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN: If you were involved in something
that didn't go right, if you had people beneath you that didn't do the
things that could have avoided this or dealt with this problem, that first
of all, you should take responsibility if they work for you. So, I'm trying
to stand up and take responsibility like our value system says we should.

TENNEY: Six years later, Flint is still replacing its lead pipes that led
to this disaster. And despite the EPA and others saying the water is now
safe to drink, many residents of the majority-black city continue to rely
on bottled water on a daily basis. Bret.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Garrett Tenney in Chicago. Garrett, thank you.

Up next, President Trump celebrates the border wall, Joe Biden has other
ideas and has for some time. We'll bring you that.

First, here is what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are
covering tonight.

Fox 2 in Detroit, as energy company Enbridge says he will defy Michigan's
demand to shut down an oil pipeline that runs through a channel linking to
the Great Lakes. Governor Gretchen Whitmer says the company has put Lake
Michigan and Lake Huron at risk.

Fox 9 in the Twin Cities as court documents indicate a separate trial will
be held for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of
George Floyd. Those documents say concerns over COVID-19 are too great to
have all four ex-officers charged in the same case go on trial in the same
courtroom at one time. Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder and
manslaughter.

And this is a live look at Tampa from our affiliate there, Fox 13, one of
the big stories there tonight. The International Space Station bids adieu
to 12 bottles of French Bordeaux wine and hundreds of snippets of
grapevines that spent a year orbiting the world in the name of science.

SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule undocked with the wine and vines and
thousands of pounds of other gear research, including mice, and aimed for
splashdown Wednesday night in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa.

That's tonight's live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT. We
will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Police in California say a career criminal from El Salvador shot and
killed his former girlfriend in front of her infant daughter after he was
released from custody because of the state's sanctuary laws.

Immigration officials say they asked Los Angeles police to detain Herbert
Flores after a September arrest for domestic violence. Flores had been
ordered deported 10 times. Flores killed himself, Saturday in Texas during
a police chase.

The president, as we showed you, made a trip to the southern border today.
Part of his effort to focus on what he sees as accomplishments in his
administration in the final days of his term. One of those is the border
wall.

Correspondent Peter Doocy tells us tonight, President-elect Joe Biden has a
very different take on border policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Trump says build
the wall. Biden says stop.

BIDEN: There will not be another foot of wall constructed in my
administration.

DOOCY: Biden wants to work with neighbors, instead. Writing in 2019, "At a
time when the challenges we face demand a united, regional response, Trump
repeatedly invokes racist invective to describe anyone south of the Rio
Grande, including calling migrants, animals."

As immigration policy changes come, look for Biden to lean on, Alejandro
Mayorkas, his pick to run DHS.

BIDEN: And it's the job that plays a critical role in fixing our broken
immigration system.

DOOCY: And officials responsible for separating families at the border in
recent years could be prosecuted.

BIDEN: There will be a thorough, thorough investigation of who's
responsible, and whether or not, the responsibility is criminal, and if
that is the concluded, the attorney general make that judgment.

DOOCY: Biden is going to need votes too from the democratic controlled
House and Senate.

BIDEN: In the first 100 days, I will send immigration bill to the United
States Senate with a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million
undocumented people in America.

DOOCY: During those first 100 days, there will also be a pause on
deportations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to protect the DREAMers on day one.

DOOCY: And it's not just DACA recipients brought here illegally as children
who stand to benefit.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, HOST, NBC: Raise your hand if your government plan would
provide coverage for undocumented immigrants? OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY (on camera): The last time Congress came close to big immigration
reform, 2013, when the Gang of Eight drafted a bill that passed the Senate.
But here is how much things have changed since then Joe Biden, then vice
president was close enough to one of the Gang of Eight's Republicans to
jokingly offer to help get him re-elected. His name, Lindsey Graham. Bret.

BAIER: Peter Doocy in Wilmington. Peter, thanks.

The Biden team is not responding to inquiries yet, concerning a report that
its inaugural committee is returning a donation from former California
Senator Barbara Boxer over her association with China. That's according to
Axios.

The Democrat has registered as a foreign agent for a Chinese surveillance
firm accused of assisting in the country's mistreatment of ethic -- ethnic
Muslims, the Uighurs.

The Trump state department is going out with a bang. The secretary of state
connecting the dots between two of America's rivals in the Middle East and
calling for a tough approach from the Biden administration.

State Department correspondent Rich Edson shows us tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE:  Al Qaeda has a new home base. It is the
Islamic Republic of Iran.

RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT:  Days ahead of a
transition at the State Department, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is
warning of unprecedented ties between Iran's government and Al Qaeda. A
senior State Department official says U.S. intelligence shows Al Qaeda
reorganized and Iran in 2015 and enjoys operational freedom and support, as
Iranian officials even allow Al Qaeda leaders shopping trips and use of a
pool in Tehran to swim laps.

POMPEO:  We ignored this Iran-al Qaeda nexus at our own peril. We need to
acknowledge it. We must confront it. Indeed, we must defeat it.

EDSON:  Though officials have been warning for years that Al Qaeda leaders
were operating in Iran. In his speech, the secretary also confirmed the
assassination of Abu Muhammad al-Masri, Al Qaeda's second in command, who
gunman killed August 7th on the streets of Tehran. Pompeo never mentioned
who killed al-Masri, although it has been reported that Israeli operatives
were responsible. Al-Masri was on the FBI's most wanted terrorist list for
U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya.

During Pompeo's speech, Iran's foreign minister tweeted, quote, "Mr. "we
lie, cheat, steal" is pathetically ending his disastrous career with more
warmongering lies." Officials say they're trying to cement Trump
administration foreign policy before the hand off to the Biden team. That
includes continued sanctions on Iran. The secretary announced more today.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

EDSON (on camera):  The State Department has announced it's suspending
travel, including an upcoming trip to Europe for Secretary Pompeo, citing
the transition to the Biden administration. Those sources say European
diplomats had also rejected meetings with the secretary. Bret?

BAIER:  Rich, thank you.

New England Patriots football coach Bill Belichick says he will not accept
the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Trump. The six-time Super
Bowl winning coach cites what he calls the tragic events of last week.
Although he describes himself as apolitical, Belichick wrote a letter in
support of then candidate Trump during the 2016 campaign that the future
president read aloud at a rally of the days before the election.

Up next, some Republicans are beginning to say they will vote on
impeachment and vote yes. The panel reacts after this, but first, longtime
Trump supporter and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has died. Adelson was a
prolific donor to the Republican Party and politicians, and a significant
foe to Democrats, including former President Obama. He was also a major
backer of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says Adelson's
great actions will be remembered for generations.

Former U.S. president George W. Bush called Adelson an American patriot and
a strong supporter of Israel. Adelson died last night from complications
related to treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Sheldon Adelson was 87-
years-old.   

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  The 25th Amendment is of
zero risk to me, but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden
administration. As the expression goes, be careful what you wish for. The
impeachment hoax is a continuation of the greatest and most vicious witch
hunt in the history of our country, and is causing tremendous anger and
division and pain.

We believe in respecting America's history and traditions, not tearing them
down. We believe in the rule of law, not in violence or rioting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  President Trump along the southern border, touting the
accomplishment of the border wall, and also talking about the 25th
Amendment, and what will be coming soon, and impeachment vote in the house.

Meantime, leadership, one of the leaders in the Republican Party in the
House, Liz Cheney, now saying she will vote for impeachment. The president
of United States history, she writes, summoned this mob, assembled the mob,
and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing.
None of this would have happened without the president. There has never
been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office
and his oath to the Constitution. I will vote to impeach the president."

Also during this show, Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican from
Illinois, has also spoken out about the president's speech, will for
impeachment. As for Senate Majority Leaders Mitch McConnell, the word is
that he has not decided how he will vote, but he is in favor of the action
of impeachment, and that he committed, the president did, impeachable
offenses, according to Senate majority leader.

Let's bring in our panel, former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr.,
Katie Pavlich, news editor at Townhall.com, and "Washington Post" columnist
Marc Thiessen. Marc, I guess there is a sense, I had Senator Joe Manchin on
last night, he said it was ill-advised as far as the timing and what the
focus should be for the incoming administration to focus on this. But these
Republicans are standing up on principle, saying what happened needs to be
adjudicated essentially.

MARC THIESSEN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE:  So there are two different
issues here, Bret. One is, did the president commit an impeachable offense?
And second is, is it prudent to impeach him with nine days left in his
presidency? On the question of whether he committed in impeachable offense,
I think it's undoubtedly true that he did. If you play with matches and
start a forest fire, the fact that you didn't intend to start the forest
fire doesn't absolve you from the destruction, the responsibility for the
destruction. The president played with matches, he ginned up his base to
believe that the election was stolen, he brought them to Washington, he
fired them up, and he told them it's all up to Mike Pence. And they went to
the capital chanting "Hang Mike Pence."

And at the same time, he tried to use a mob to coerce the vice president of
the United States to commit an unconstitutional act, which was to reject
the legitimately cast electoral votes in favor of Joe Biden. That's an
abuse of power. So I just think it's a slam-dunk case for whether he
committed an impeachable offense. The question is, if there was nine months
left in his presidency, of course he should be impeached and removed. With
nine days left, is it going to cause more division? Is it going to turn him
into a martyr? Is it going to help rather than hurt him? And it's also
possible he would be acquitted and claim vindication. So there's a lot of
prudential questions here, but I think the case is open and shut.

BAIER:  Yes, thoughts about what Marc just said, Harold, on those two
sides, and more focus on whether it should go forward in the Senate, for
example?

HAROLD FORD JR. (D) FORMER TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE:  So thanks for having
me on. I think Marc raises the two points that have to be analyzed. But the
facts are so overwhelming here, and the developments this evening suggest
strongly that when you talk about impeachment and conviction, I was in
Congress when Bill Clinton was impeached, he was eventually acquitted. You
didn't have Democrats coming out voicing support for impeachment or voting
to convict the president.

Liz Cheney, there's not a name in American politics, in Republican politics
over the last 40 years, other than Bush, that resonates more broadly in a
foreign policy and domestic policy in the Republican Party than Cheney. For
her to do that, it sends a powerful message.

I think the president is realizing, number one, that he lost this election.
And two, for the first time, I think, in his political and maybe business
life, he may be held accountable in the most punishing and devastating of
ways. Now, I'm sensitive to what Joe Manchin and Marc is raising. Does this
poison the well, does it make it difficult, too difficult for the next
president? I think it may be a risk that this Congress is willing to take,
because had one of those thugs or terrorists got their hands on Mitch
McConnell, Joe Manchin, Lindsey Graham, gotten their hands on Jim Clyburn,
Mike Pence, would we having this same conversation? Of course we wouldn't.
It would be a very different one because violence would have probably been
inflicted upon them.

This president has shown no remorse. He's apologized not once, and in fact,
never called his vice president during that whole ordeal. I think Congress
is right to consider this, and I think Senate Republicans, for Mitch
McConnell not to say that he would vote no on this, Bret, this is a sad day
for the country and for this presidency, but it's a step that might have to
be taken.

BAIER:  All right, Katie, your thoughts?

KATIE PAVLICH, NEWS EDITOR, TOWNHALL.COM:  Yes, the Republicans that are
voting for impeachment, whether in the House or the Senate, are arguing
that this is a culmination not of the ultimate horrific event last week,
but of the last couple of months with the election. When President Trump
ran out of legal options, he continued to say the election was stolen, and
then, of course, the aftermath of how he handled Wednesday, not calling
Mike Pence, not getting out in front of President-elect Joe Biden, former
vice president Joe Biden, with a statement to tell the mob to stand down.

Now, if you look at, yes, what he said in his speech on the ellipse about
organizing and going to Congress, he said do it peacefully and
patriotically. But in the grand scheme of what he's been doing over the
past two months that's outside of his right of challenging the process,
going through the court system, that's what it comes down to for these
Republicans.

And for Mitch McConnell, he probably won't run for office again. He loves
the Senate. He's an institutionalist. I would assume that he took what
happened last Wednesday very, very personally in terms of the attack on
Congress. Of course, Elaine Chao, who was the transportation secretary for
President Trump, was the first cabinet member to resign. So for Mitch
McConnell to come out and say he's interested in hearing the evidence after
backing the president on the first impeachment, I'm not surprised given
where this situation took place.

BAIER:  Yes, these Republicans are making compelling cases. They're talking
about principle, that Trump supporters look at this effort and see it as an
effort to stop him, President Trump from running again, obviously with the
second impeachment. But there's a lot of emotion behind all of these
arguments.

I want to turn quickly to the difference on China, and the two
administrations, what we are looking at and something that developed today.
Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT-ELECT:  As we compete with China, to hold China's
government accountable for its trade abuses, technology, human rights, and
other fronts, our position is much stronger when we will build coalitions
of likeminded partners and allies.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  What we would've done in
the next four years, we have been on a footing like nobody has ever -- and
now we're giving it all away. But China said we will not deal with you
unless you get rid of the America First policy. And you know what the
Democrats said? They said yes, we will do that. Can you believe this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  There's all kinds of questions about China's activities with
Democrats and there are allegations and investigations that have happened.
Today, though, "Axios" reported that Joe Biden's inaugural committee will
refund the donation from former senator Barbara Boxer after the California
Democrat registered as a foreign agent for a Chinese surveillance firm
accused of abetting the country's mass internment of Uighur Muslims. Marc,
your thought on this and kind of forecast of what's ahead?

THIESSEN:  And Barbara Boxer, who, by the way, in 2005 objected to the
electors from Ohio for George W. Bush as well, so that's a nice historical
footnote to keep in mind.

Look, it's the tragedy of what's happened here, which is you look at the
Nixon presidency and the tragedy of Watergate, but also the opening to
China. There were great foreign policy accomplishments. Trump has also had
enormous foreign policy accomplishments. The Abraham Accords, four Middle
East peace deals, the cracking down on China and on their intellectual
property theft and all the rest of it. It's just a tragedy that this
president, who has such good policies and accomplished so much for the
country, has self-destructed by his inability to behave like a decent human
being.

BAIER:  When we come back, the high-tech version of cancel culture.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  I think that big tech is
doing a horrible thing for our country and to our country. And I believe
it's going to be a catastrophic mistake for them.

JOHN MATZE, PARLER CEO:  I've seen a lot of people say that this is scary,
but I've also seen a lot of people who are participating in the five
minutes of hate and kind of egging it on and cheering. And it's disgusting.
We will be back up eventually because we're not going to give up.

MATT SCHRUERS, COMPUTER AND COMM INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION:  Free speech isn't
speech free from consequences. It means speech free from government
consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  There's a big debate right now, a company essentially being shut
down in its ability to use the Internet, but they are companies, and the
question is where is the push now on this battle on social media and big
tech? You had secretary of state this week talking about wokeness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE:  Censorship, wokeness, political
correctness, it all points in one direction -- authoritarianism cloaked as
moral righteousness. Similar to what we're seeing at Twitter and Facebook
at Apple and on too many university campuses today.

It's time that we simply put woke-ism to sleep.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  Secretary of State on Monday. We're back with Katie and Harold,
working on Marc getting back here. Katie -- we got him. Katie, your
thoughts on this? There's all kinds of elements to this story, and people
who point out that these are private companies. And then you have the
Parler situation where a company essentially is taken off. What about this,
where is it going?

PAVLICH:  I don't think it's going to a good place or a place where they
will be more tolerance and open speech on these platforms considering that
Joe Biden has hired a number of people from these big tech companies who
are justifying kicking off dissenting voices on their platform. And they
have argued that they are clearing out Twitter accounts on the right
because they are inciting violence. Well, OK, if that's the standard,
that's fair, but they're not doing it to both sides. We've repeatedly
talked about murderous dictators who are still on Twitter. There are still
violent leftwing groups organizing on the platform. So there certainly
isn't a standard of fairness.

But in terms of where we go from here, in terms of legislation, a number of
these tech CEOs have been on Capitol Hill multiple times, testifying under
oath that they don't coordinate their actions when it comes to what they do
as a company, but it's pretty clear that this week taking down of Parler,
there was coordination between Twitter and Amazon to completely remove
their servers.

And it's one thing to say, OK, go build your own platform if you don't want
to operate within our private business, but it's another for these big
companies to then coordinate to eliminate competition and eliminate another
space where people can speak freely.

And the last thing I would say is today, Twitter unironically in their
public safety policy tweet feed is tweeting about how elections in Uganda
needs to be fair and therefore they should not be shutting the Internet
down because open debate, free expression, and access to the Internet,
meaning also Twitter, is essential to the democratic process. So if that's
good enough for differing opinions in a place like Uganda, it should be a
place for people in America as well.

BAIER:  Harold, a lot of Trump supporters, a lot of Republicans are
pointing to hypocrisy as far as what has happened in the past or what is
happening now, and you just heard Katie's comments. But there's also this
lack of liberal outrage about free speech, too. Where is the ACLU and other
groups speaking out? Understanding the security environment we're in, but
usually they're very vocal.

FORD:  I think that we shouldn't confuse cancel culture and politics. When
politicians complain that big companies stop making donations to them, and
they believe that's part of the cancel culture, that's not cancel culture.
That's called politics. They have the right to give to whom they want to
give to.

If you spread misinformation and lies, and those lies can lead to violence,
private companies have a right to act. I don't condone what any of the
death threats and the violent threats any person gets, including John Matze
or anybody. They out to find those people, law enforcement should find them
and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.

But we to understand, we have reached a low. This is a sad point for the
presidency, for politics in the country, and canceling out legitimate
political discourse you just disagree with, not discourse that prompt
violence, but discourse you disagree with, that's cancel culture. What is
happening right now, I don't define it as cancel culture.

BAIER:  All right, Marc, final word, quickly.

THIESSEN:  I'm glad to see Harold embrace Citizens United. This is the
whole point. Shutting down Parler or taking away the president's Twitter
account, that is suppressing free speech. But Citizens United found that
individuals, including corporations, have a right to free speech. And so
corporations can exercise their right to free speech by denying political
donations if they want to. That's what conservatives believe.

BAIER:  We're going to follow this. It's not going to end here, and
obviously we have the inauguration next week. Panel, thank you very much.

When we come back, a pair of farewells.  

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER:  Finally tonight, two farewells.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  I will be out of service, end of watch. It's been a
great ride.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  After serving his community for 38 years commit, Chief Deputy Dave
Pearsall delivered an emotional last send-off from his patrol car in
Olympia, Washington.

And in Roanoke, Virginia, Deputy Fire Chief Billy Altman gave a farewell of
his own.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Chief duty is out of service. That hurt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  The retiring deputy fire chief served in public safety for 40
years, beginning his career as a volunteer in 1980. Just a quick moment on
SPECIAL REPORT to thank two public servants for their years of dedication.
Thank you both and thank you for inviting us into your home tonight. That's
it for the SPECIAL REPORT. Fair, balanced, and unafraid. Here's Martha.
 
END

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