Statement that reads in part, President Trumps popularity has never been stronger than it is today and his endorsement means more than perhaps any endorsement at any time. Three weeks and a day. Thats how little time it took for the party to rush back into the arms of the man who egged on the violent mob that descended on the capitol, smashed windows, beat Police Officers, bludgeoned one to death, while looking for lawmakers to capture or kill including the former Vice President. Five people died in the attack. At least two Police Officers have since died by suicide. Two weeks and a day, the house voted to impeach the expresident a second time. And the man who posed smiling today at maralago said this. The president bears responsibility for wednesdays attack on congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. These facts require immediate action by President Trump. Accept his share of responsibility, quell the brewing unrest, and ensure President Elect biden is able to successfully begin his term. That was the Top Republican in the house just 15 days ago. Today he made a complete, well, mockery of those words. Two sources tell cnn that some warned him against this with one source telling us he was told this would make it look like he was, quote, crawling back to trump, unquote. Also, that it would further isolate him from mainstream donors who want to move away from the disgraced former president. Now, keeping them honest, it doesnt seem like that is a big concern anymore for congressman mccarthy or the party. Its who they are. Its who they believe their constituents are. After all, he and 138 other Republican House members voted to overturn the election even after they were attacked. And all but five Senate Republicans have signaled they will not vote to convict the expresident for what he did because this is still the expresident s party. It belongs to him, to the insurrectionists who supported him, to those beyond even that fringe. Let me just say this about nancy pelosi. I have a message for her. Im coming. Uhhuh. I just want to say to nancy pelosi, shes a hypocrite, shes an antiamerican, and were going to kick that bitch out of congress. [ cheers and applause ] that is Marjorie Taylor greene, now congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene. The person the former president called a future star of the Republican Party. Shes been a Qanon Conspiracy supporter who apparently agrees with the belief the Parkland High School shooting was a False Flag Operation. Shes also now a member of the house education and Labor Committee. Kevin xhmccarthy could do something about that. He has not. Assigning her to the Education Committee when she has mocked the killing of little children at sandy hook elementary school, when she has mocked the killing of teenagers in high school at the Marjory Stoneman douglas high school, what could they be thinking, or is thinking too generous a word for what they might be doing . House Speaker Pelosi today. And though she did not mention the congresswoman by name she also touched on the thread that some members continued to feel since the insurrection and where she thinks some of that threat is coming from. I do believe and i have said this all along, that we will probably need a supplemental for more security for members when the enemy is within the house of representatives. A threat that members are concerned about in addition to what is happening outside. Now, when pressed on what she meant Speaker Pelosi said, it means we have members of congress who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members of congress. Separately today we learned the Capitol Police arrested a man yesterday not far from Capitol Grounds. He had a handgun, 20 rounds of ammunition, stop the steal literature and a list of lawmakers. Now, remember, just yesterday the department of Homeland Security warned of the ongoing potential for violence from extremists saying, with objections the exercise of Governmental Authority and the president ial transition as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives. False narratives pushed by the former president and either embraced or tolerated by most in his party. The few republican lawmakers who have called them out as false are being shunned. Even liz cheney, a staunch conservative, the thirdranking republican in the house, shes now facing censure back home in wyoming and efforts by trump forces to defeat her in 2022. Three weeks and a day. Thats how long its taken for republicans in congress to forget about what happened and begin the process of rewriting history and doing whatever it takes to regain power. Even if it means embracing the man who lost them the senate and the white house in the face of a raging pandemic, a sagging economy and the looming threat of more political violence. This is the selfportrait they apa aapparently want the current to see. Joining us senator tammy duckworth, democrat of illinois. Looking at the picture of Kevin Mccarthy down at maralago today gripping and grinning with the man who promoted the attack on the capitol, praised the attackers even after the fact, what does that meeting and that picture say to you . It tells me that he stands with someone who basically incited insurrection as opposed to standing with our constitution. He has essentially violated his Oath Of Office that he took when he was sworn in. That is to protect and defend the constitution. Instead hes now standing with the enemy of the constitution. What do you think with this congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene most republicans seem are unwilling to even talk about her or address any of her past actions and words. What does it say about the future of the Republican Party . When trump said shes a future star of the Republican Party, a lost republicans said oh, thats just not the case. Shes in congress now. And shes a Qanon Conspiracy supporter, or was even though shes trying to now hide it on her past postings. Well, i mean, it tells me that theyre not standing with the american people, that they dont care about the constitution, that they are backing these Conspiracy Theories, these people who seek insurrection and to overthrow our government. Thats what these qanon people believe. They believe that we need to overthrow the government as opposed to protecting and defending the nation and our constitution. It boggles the mind. I mean, these are the same people who were hiding and who were in the same safe rooms that we were in, that i was in while the capitol was under attack. And yet as you said three weeks and a day is all it took for them to turn their backs on reality, on the truth and to go stand with those who would actually violently overthrow our democracy as opposed to keeping their Oath Of Office to defend our constitution. Kevin mccarthy going to see and pay fealty to President Trump and be photographed with him, i mean, thats all just politics, isnt it . Its hes afraid of Trump Supporters who are in his district and he wants to be he wants to be the Top Republican in the house. He wants to take the house. Isnt this just pure politics of him choosing his own political future over any other consideration . Well, see, thats the thing, anderson. You just said it. Hes putting his own personal ambitions above the wellbeing of our nation. Hes putting his own whatever he needs to do, his own Political Expediency above protecting our constitution and protecting and defending this great nation of ours. And people like that are not fit to be in office. Thats why trump wasnt fit to be the commander in chief, because he always looked out for trump first, not the United States of america, not our great union. And it is absolutely shameful that Kevin Mccarthy did this. But unfortunately hes not the only one. You know, in both the senate and the house you have all of these republicans who are choosing to stand with trump as opposed to choosing to stand with our constitution. Well, Lindsey Graham sort of indicated in the heat of the moment after the attack on the capitol that night, you know, stood up and said you know, im done, count me out, im sorry it ended this way, its not how i wanted to, you know, he was a consequential president , whatever that means. Thats like faint praise. He now seems to he has people yelling at him at the airport, which is certainly unpleasant and uncalled for. And now he seems back, you know, kind of throwing love bombs at trump. I think that its clear that Lindsey Graham is out for Lindsey Graham and not necessarily for the wellbeing of our country. Im sorry to say that. You know, hes had a long career of service but it seems like Lindsey Graham has lost his way under donald trump and has decided that as you said, you know, Political Expediency is his priority, not protecting and defending our country. Are you worried about security inside the Capitol Grounds . Of course i am. You know, listen, anderson, going around the capitol and seeing all the barricades up, seeing National Guard patrolling is not how i want our nations capitol to be. But there is there are security concerns. My office, they attempted to break into my what we call the hideaway. We all have a Little Office at the capitol itself away from our other offices, and that still has got broken glass and boardedup windows where the insurrectionists attempted to penetrate. Thank goodness my window held and my door held. Were still seeing the scars of insurrectionists, and yet my republican colleagues seem to have golossed over that. We just lost another Capitol Police officer who committed suicide just recently. Now weve lost three lives in terms of the Capitol Police and yet theyre overlooking that just so they can go and stand with trump. Thats shameful. Senator duckworth, i appreciate your time. Thank you. Before he get more perspective from our next guest i want to play a piece of sound that underscores the contrast between how this former president is seen how his party and how thoroughly Richard Nixon was shunned. Its Political Writer fred barnes talking about how then president ford would not even say the former president s name. And i asked him, mr. President , why dont you refer to your predecessor as president nixon or as Richard Nixon . And ford said, and i was amazed at this answer, he said, i just cant bring myself to do it. Joining us now chief National Correspondent john king and cnn political commentator mike shields who we should mention is Kevin Mccarthys political strategist. Mike, as we mentioned, youre strategist for the House Minority leader Kevin Mccarthy. Going down to maralago today, it sort of looks like someone whos kissing the ring, playing to an audience of one and also to that persons supporters. It seems a big evolution of Kevin Mccarthy from three weeks ago saying the president bears responsibility and he should correct this and he should make the stranz igs to the Biden Administration smooth. What happened . Well, he got a commitment from President Trump to help republicans in the midterms. And to work together. And look, President Trump, 75 Million People voted for him and st twitter deplatformed him, facebook has but those voters havent and they still believe in him. And when you look at what the Biden Administration has done just in the last 48 hours to poke those voters in the eye, they want someone who represents them and they put what President Trump stood for ahead of a lot of the other things were talking about i understand that. But essentially youre saying he had principles three weeks ago, he had beliefs about President Trumps responsibility and he now is afraid of his base and so he goes and kisses the ring. Its actually not the base. These are American Voters who may vote or may not vote. You know, the old joe biden that i know john has covered for years, the old scranton joe biden, used to speak to these voters. Manufacturing base voters. Energy base voters. No ones talking to them anymore. They feel like trump represented them. And what kevin is saying is you have those voters we want you in the Republican Party. Thats the difference between guys who wear horns and attack the capitol, who should be in jail and kevin was in the capitol that day. He spoke very sternly about what happened. And hes been consistent. Hes even continued to say the president should have been more strong once he saw what was going on to stop it. He said that multiple times including a couple days ago. But just because he that doesnt mean we dont want the voters that supported President Trump because theyre up for grabs and theyre American Voters who are frankly not being represented by joe biden right now. John, it just seems, i mean, beyond shifty for Kevin Mccarthy to in mikes words speak strongly three weeks ago when he still got the adrenaline from running and hiding in the in congress with the help of security because there are people out there rampaging through the halls of congress and killing at least one Police Officer and then when he starts to look at the polls and he starts to look at his own future and starts to think about his own power he goes to the heart of, you know goes to maralago and pays fealty. You saw this, anderson, right after the insurrection not just from Kevin Mccarthy. You saw it from mitch mcconnell. You saw it from several other Republican Leaders who decided to have a Trial Balloon. Can we keep those voters mike is talking about, absolutely critical to the Republican Party and republican success in 2022 and 2024, a lot of them brought into the party by donald trump who are trump voters, not necessarily republican voters. Its a giant challenge for the party. Yes, mike is absolutely right about that. So what was the Trial Balloon . Kevin mckarthy going to the floor, the president bears responsibility for this. Mitch mcconnell saying even tougher things leaving open the door to possibly voting to convict the president. Its over. Its gone, anderson. Why . Because they noticed. The base did not move with them. They did not move any of what you want to call them the base, you want to call them republican voters, you want to call them trump voters. Pick any definition you want. They did not move with them. So now they have decided if we want to win back the house in 2022, if we want to win back the senate in 2022, we need the trump voters and we dont have a strategy to get them without donald trump. So in the short term what Kevin Mccarthy did today was essentially say were the party of trump. And took i respect mike a great deal, but Kevin Mccarthy undermines his own leadership when he does that because hes asking matt gaetz and people like that stop the civil war in the party. What does matt gaetz do . The day after Kevin Mccarthy says cut the crap, his words, gets on a plane, goes to wyoming and campaigns against the number 3 person in the leadership, quotes President Trump, and brings donald trump jr. In on a phone call and plays it to the audience. Kevin mccarthy is not matt gaetzs leader. Donald trump is. Yeah, mike, i mean, Minority Leader mccarthy said he wanted the Republican Caucus to help, quote, bring people back together. How does that square with matt gaetz going to wyoming and attacking liz cheney, the number 3 person in the caucus . W