CNN Shows Extended Behind-The-Scenes Footage Of Nancy Pelosi And Other Congressional Leaders As January 6th Attack On Capitol Unfolded

Hours after the January 6th Committee showed behind-the-scenes footage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders calling and even begging federal officials and others for resources to stop the attack on the Capitol, CNN showed extended clips throughout much of Anderson Cooper’s AC360.

The clips were riveting, capturing Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell working in unison to try to secure federal and state law and enforcement to quell the violence. As the Capitol was breached, the congressional leaders were taken to a command center at Fort McNair, about two miles away, and it was from there that they called cabinet secretaries and Vice President Mike Pence. They also considered reconvening Congress at that location if the Capitol could not be secured.

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In one moment, Schumer shouted into the phone at Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, as rumors swirled that President Donald Trump was preventing D.C.’s National Guard from assisting.

“Please. he whole Capitol is rampaged,” Schumer said. “There is a picture of someone sitting in the chair of the Senate. We’ve all been evacuated. There have been shots fired. We need a full National Guard component, now.”

The footage came from Alexandra Pelosi, a documentary filmmaker for HBO and the House Speaker’s daughter, and it appeared to be for a project for the network. Some of the clips had the HBO watermark.

CNN also showed extended clips of phone calls between Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, who stayed at the Capitol in a secret location after being whisked away from the Senate floor.

“I worry about you being in that Capitol room,” Pelosi told Pence. “Don’t let anybody know where you are.”

“What was striking was them working as one,” David Axelrod said during Cooper’s show, which also featured comments from Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

As Pelosi and Schumer contact administration officials, they appear frustrated at points. When talking to Jeffrey Rosen, who was serving as acting attorney general, Schumer yells at him to get Donald Trump to tell his supporters to leave the Capitol. “Answer my question!” Schumer said angrily at one point.

The footage also showed Nancy Pelosi earlier in the day, as Congress prepared for the historic day of counting the electoral votes and finalizing Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential race.

In one moment that was shown, Pelosi is in her office and is told that the Secret Service had dissuaded Donald Trump from coming to Capitol Hill that day.

“At the moment he is not coming, but that could change,” an aide told Pelosi.

“If he comes, I’m going to punch him out. I’ve been waiting for this,” the speaker responded. “For trespassing on the Capitol grounds, I’m going to punch him out. And I’m going to go to jail, and I’m going to be happy.”

It was unclear why the footage was not released until now, nearly two years since the siege on the Capitol.

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