AILSA CHANG, HOST:
All right, taking stock of the day now; a day that started with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and ended in the same space. In between, pro-Trump insurrectionists, many of them armed, broke down fences.
(SOUNDBITE OF RIOT AMBIENCE)
CHANG: They broke windows. They climbed through, and they took over.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JAMES LANKFORD: It's not about the good people of Arizona.
(SOUNDBITE OF GAVEL BANGING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: And it will stand in recess until the call of the chair.
LANKFORD: We'll pause.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Protesters are in the building.
LANKFORD: Thank you.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Members of Congress were rushed to a safe location. Police faced off with armed rioters on the floor of the House. One woman was shot. She later died. The insurrectionists were mobilized by President Trump, who repeatedly claimed with no evidence that the election in November had been stolen. President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to call off the rioters.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOE BIDEN: The words of a president matter no matter how good or bad that president is. At their best, the words of a president can inspire. At their worst, they can incite. Therefore, I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege.
CHANG: That is not what happened. After remaining mostly silent for several hours, Trump released a video repeating his false claims and telling the rioters to go home but also that they were special and that he loved them. As police cleared the Capitol, as order was restored, Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, had a different message.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win. Violence never wins. Freedom wins, and this is still the people's house.
KELLY: The people had returned to that house to complete the business of the day - to certify the votes of the Electoral College. Here's Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NANCY PELOSI: Today a shameful assault was made on our democracy. It cannot, however, deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
KELLY: At this hour, lawmakers continue to speak in the Capitol. But Inauguration Day is January 20. Joe Biden won the election. And so on that day, he will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States of America. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
