The Rachel Maddow Show weeknights at 9:00 Eastern on MSNBC tonight. This hour, we are watching the United States Capitol Building where United States Capitol Police Officer Brian Cesnik will be honored tonight. He will lie in honor under the Capitol Rotunda in a ceremony and observation that's going to begin actually within the next few minutes. Presidents and military heroes, of course, have been honored in this way before. The great Rosa Parks was thus honored in two thousand five civil rights icon John Lewis thus honored this past year.

The Reverend Billy Graham was honored similarly in twenty eighteen. For the US Capitol Police, though, this is not the first time. In July nineteen ninety eight, a delusional, seriously mentally ill man walked through the metal detectors at the Capitol building while he was carrying a loaded 38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver. US Capitol Police Officer Jacob Chestnut stopped the man when he set off the alarm, asked him to go through the metal detector again. The man then turned without a word and shot Officer Chestnut in the head and killed him.

The man then shot and wounded another police officer, Officer Douglas McMillan, who then returned fire and hit the attacker. The attacker then shot and mortally wounded a US Capitol Police detective, Detective John Gibson, as Gibson was telling members of Congress and their staff to take cover. Detective Gibson was killed by the attacker that day in nineteen ninety eight, but before he died, he nevertheless was able to return fire as well. And that is apparently what took that gunman down and ended that one man attack on the US Capitol in the summer of nineteen ninety eight.

The attacker, although he was shot by officers who returned fire, he survived a US senator who was a heart surgeon. Senator Bill Frist was nearby when the gunfight broke out. He may have actually saved the gunman's life after the shooting stopped and he accompanied him to the hospital where his life was saved. One tourist was caught in the crossfire and was wounded in that attack, as was Officer McMellon, the first officer who shot the attacker. But Officer Chestnut and Detective Gibson were killed that day, and soon thereafter, they lay in honor at the US Capitol.

You're looking live tonight at the building that was the scene of chaotic violence on Friday. Tonight, it's a place of grief and lasting tributes. The Capitol steps serving as an impromptu memorial. People left flowers, cards, notes, small tokens, all to show their appreciation for the two police officers who died in service to their country and inside a formal goodbye fit for a head of state. NBC's Gwen Ifill has that. Hundreds of police officers marching to the Capitol today in a moving display of national grief, fathers brought their daughters.

Strangers wept together, mourning two men. Nearly all of them never knew that.

What makes our democracy strong is not only what Congress may enact or a president may achieve even more. It is a countless individual citizens who live our ideals out every day.

There wasn't any precedent for this. Both houses of Congress voted special honors for Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, each killed in the line of duty during a shocking daytime gun battle at the Capitol last week. Hundreds of schoolchildren, Capitol Hill employees and lawmakers piled into the soaring rotunda today to pay tribute to the Capitol's ornate and spectacular rotunda. Echoed with muffled expressions of grief.

Many wore blue ribbons as signs of respect blew for the thin blue line often used to describe police officers. No member of the Capitol Police force had ever been killed in the line of duty before, and no one here was quite prepared to cope.

This loss hit a nerve. It was an assault on the nation's most recognizable symbol, its capital, an assault no one wants to live through again. Gwen Ifill, NBC News, the Capitol.

An assault no one wants to live through again. An assault on the nation's most recognizable symbol. That was the last time the US Capitol was attacked in US Capitol. Police officer were killed in defense of the Capitol in the line of duty as the summer of nineteen ninety eight. The ceremony tonight offering US Capitol Police Officer Brian Cesnik, who was killed in the mob attack on the Capitol last month, will look very different than that footage that we saw from from Gwen Ifill on NBC News in 1998.

Obviously now, because of the pandemic, the crowds can't come to a certain degree. That is a security condition now as well as the Capitol grounds are just closed. The public can't come through in any numbers, let alone huge numbers. But in some ways, this this will be tonight the first chance the country has had to kind of have a moment here to recognize the loss and the terror of that pro Trump mob attack last month on the capital in the court filings for those who've been arrested and charged in the attack thus far, the FBI says more than 100 hundred police officers were injured in the attack.

At least 15 officers severely injured, so, so severely injured they had to be hospitalized. Capitol Police Officers Union told Congress that the number even just in the US Capitol Police is more like one hundred and forty officers injured, including, they say, officers who are working that day without helmets, who suffered brain injuries. Officers with cracked ribs and smashed spinal discs. One officer, according to the union, is going to lose his eye. Another was stabbed with a metal fence stake.

And, of course, Officer Brian Cesnik died. The circumstances, the circumstances of his death has still not been officially described in detail, there have been reports that the rioters hit him in the head with a fire extinguisher and that was the cause of his death. But there's been no release of any information from the medical examiner. Prosecutor's office in Washington, D.C., has opened a federal murder investigation into Officer Cyc next death. But they haven't brief the public on any arrests in that murder case.

Any suspects or even indeed any progress in the case. But Officer Brian Technik will lie in honor tonight at the Capitol Rotunda, like the officers before him who were killed by a mad man back in nineteen ninety eight. This time, it was a mad mob of hundreds of rioters, hundreds of them who were trying to find and kill the speaker of the House. And the vice president broke into the office of the speaker and they broke into the office, the parliamentarian.

They broke into the Senate floor to go through senator's desk, search for the senators to try to find the vice president. They were trying to stop the count of the electoral votes on the floor of the Senate to keep Donald Trump in office as president. They thought they were the violent part, the physical force, part of a coup, a multifaceted coup by the outgoing president that somehow would keep him in power. They thought they would succeed. They thought they were there to keep Donald Trump president.

And by their actions, that would happen.

The head of the Capitol Police, the House sergeant at arms, the Senate sergeant at arms, all resigned in the immediate wake of the attack. Of course, no politician has. And some things proceed apace today in Washington. US senators got their committee assignments as Republicans have apparently finally consented to let the Democrats actually take control of the US Senate. Democrats are in control of the Senate. They won that in this year's in the elections. But Republicans have been dragging out that handover of power for weeks now in the House.

Tonight's the vote on issuing fines to members of the House who refuse to go through metal detectors that are designed to keep guns off the floor of the Congress because that's the kind of thing they have to do. Now, the House voted tonight to establish fines of up to ten thousand dollars for individual members of the House refusing to go through metal detectors. They voted today in the Senate to move ahead toward the covid relief bill under rules that mean it doesn't matter if no Republican senators vote for it.

Democrats can pass it themselves if they have to do so. But a former Democratic presidential candidate was confirmed today as the nation's newest secretary of transportation, first openly gay cabinet official ever confirmed by the US Senate, Alejandro Mayorkas, who played a senior role of the Department of Homeland Security in the Obama administration. He will be secretary of Homeland Security under President Biden. Secretary Mayorkas confirmed by the Senate and sworn in at the White House today.

Executive action from President Biden to reverse one of the I think in arguably one of the most unconscionable things the Trump presidency did and left in its wake. With the first action today, we're going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally, not figuratively, ripped children from the arms of their families, their mothers and fathers at the border, and with no plan, none whatsoever to reunify the children. With that, I'm going to stand the first order.

Which is re-establishment of the interagency task force and the reunification of families. You remove the stain. Reputation for the separation, of course. As promised, a task force on reunification and finding the kids at the Trump administration took away from their moms and dads at the southern border in the text of the executive order signed by the president tonight, it spells out that the chair of the task force will be the new secretary of homeland security. LeMarcus, the vice chairs of the task force are also cabinet members, secretary of state and the health secretary.

The task force will also include the attorney general. So this is a high powered thing. They're going to have a one hundred and twenty days to report back to President Biden on their progress, including recommendations for how to ensure that the US government can never, ever do this to kids again.

So the work of setting up the new administration is underway and Congress is starting its work. And we know that Kofod relief is going to come first and the Republicans can't stop it even if they try and they will try. The covid response at the White House includes announcements today that they are dramatically increasing shipments of vaccines to local pharmacies in the hopes that that can help boost the number of Americans who are able to get vaccine shots near to where they live, in settings to which most of us have fairly easy access in the world.

The new administration is taking a new and very, very different hard line against Vladimir Putin and Russia. Thousands of Russians turned out to protest in the streets again tonight. Today, they put the main opposition leader in Russia, Alexei Navalny, in prison. They tried to kill him with a nerve agent months ago, fell into a coma. He survived. He came back to Russia. They immediately locked him up after two weeks of protests on his behalf. Today, they sentenced Alexei Navalny two years in prison.

That's why they are large protests in Moscow and across Russia again tonight. Navalny spoke from the dock in court today as he was sentenced. He spoke about Vladimir Putin. He said, quote, He's never participated in any debates or campaigned in an election. Murder is the only way he knows how to fight. He will go down in history as nothing but a poisoner. He said, quote, We all remember Alexander the Liberator, Alexander the Second and Yaroslav the Wise.

Well, now we'll have Vladimir the poisoner. He said, quote, I'm standing here guarded by the police and the National Guard is out there with half of Moscow cordoned off all this because that small man in a bunker is losing his mind. He said the main thing in this whole trial isn't what happens to me. Locking me up isn't difficult. What matters most is why this is happening. This is happening to intimidate large numbers of people. They are imprisoning one person to frighten millions.

Alexei Navalny speaking today as he was sentenced to years in prison. He is the main opposition leader and the most serious challenge to Vladimir Putin's authority that Russia has ever faced. The US State Department today demanded that Russia release Navalny unconditionally and immediately. After four years of the previous president not only looking the other way, but actively excusing the behavior of Vladimir Putin, rationalizing it, justifying it, taking Putin's word over the word of even US intelligence agencies about it, it's night and day in terms of the Biden administration now.

So the you know, the work of the country procedes cleaning up from the disastrous previous presidency, getting on with the work of the new one, but through all of this, even on days with lots happened like today, January six looms very large. It looms in the pending impeachment trial of President Trump for inciting the attack. There was initial reporting over the weekend that President Trump had lost his legal defense team for the impeachment trial this weekend when they refused his demands that they use that Senate trial to advance his false claims that the presidential election results in our country somehow shouldn't be recognized and he somehow should still be president.

Subsequent reporting late last night from Accio suggests that in addition to that, President Trump may also have not wanted to pay his lawyers, and that might have contributed to their decision to dump him this weekend.

But he got new lawyers on some day. We'll see about whether in the end they get paid, but they did submit a brief today on behalf of the former president that responds to the charges laid out against him in the article of impeachment. Their brief on his behalf was 14 pages. It included multiple misspellings and typos, including literally misspelling the United States in the first line of the thing. But more substantively, the president's defense brief did, in fact, argue Trump's line that Joe Biden maybe wasn't legitimately elected to be president.

The whole brief, for one, never once describes Donald Trump as the former president. It describes him over and over again as the forty fifth president, as if he is still the president. They never describe him as the former or previous president. Apparently, he thinks he still is the president. The brief argues that the election results that voted Trump out and Biden and it argues that those results are, and I quote, suspect it argues that when President Trump told his supporters in the day of the attack that he had actually won the election in a landslide.

Well, they argue in their brief today that there's no evidence to say that's false. Who can say really? That claim that President Trump won the election somehow and that President Biden isn't really the president, he's a pretender and he's stolen it and Trump's the rightful president, I mean, that was the basis for the mob attack on the Capitol on January 6th. The former president is still trying to advance that claim he spelled out today in black and white typos and all that, that's going to be part of his defense in his impeachment trial.

That starts next week. The election results are suspect who can say whether or not it's actually a false claim that Trump won the election in a landslide. Maybe he did win the election in a landslide. We're not saying I mean.

So, yes, the work of the country and the work of the government continues days like today, a lot gets done, but January 6th looms every day because it isn't over. The former president is still trying to undermine democracy. He is still telling his followers, including now through his legal filings in his impeachment trial, that he's the rightful president. He needs to be avenged. I mean, his followers now are still being arrested for their various roles in the attack on January 6th.

Increasingly and interestingly, they are citing the words of former President Trump as what they took to be their instructions to violently attacked the capital that Wednesday morning.

Less than four weeks ago, the person who placed the operational pipe bombs at the Republican and Democratic Party headquarters the night before the capital attack, that person has still not been caught. There's a one hundred thousand dollar reward for information leading to the arrest and capture that person. The murderers of US Capitol Police Officer Brian Skurnik have also not been identified that murder remains unsolved. But tonight, as a country will honor him, at least, Officer's picnic was in his 13 year serving as a US Capitol Police officer when he was killed.

Before that, he was in the New Jersey Air National Guard. He's from New Jersey, one of his senators, New Jersey US Senator Cory Booker, eulogized Officer Psionic on the Senate floor. He was steadfast, he was courageous, he stood in the breach to protect the lives of the members of this body, their staffs, personnel, he faced down terrorist attackers and sacrificed himself for his own safety, his own security and ultimately his life.

In the name of love. Of country, country men and women. Officer Michnik is the very definition of a hero, and he deserves to be remembered for the richness of his life. The way that he loved the devotion that he gave this nation. That he is no longer with us today is a grievous tragedy and it is also a crime.

This great man was murdered. This crime demands the full attention of federal law enforcement officials. And anyone who still harbors doubts about what happened here on January 6th should think of him. On January 6th. When extremists, when terrorists, when white supremacists attacked our nation's capital, they took the life of one of our officers.

They spilled his blood. They took a son away from his parents, they took a sibling away from their brothers. They committed this treachery while waving flags, claiming solidarity, some of them with law enforcement.

But it was hate, it was hate, it was hate. It brought terror to our capital and the death of one of our sons. Joining us now is US Senator Cory Booker, he represents officer next home state of New Jersey. You just saw him there eulogizing Officer Technik on the Senate floor last month. Senator Booker, it's really nice to have you here tonight. Thanks for taking time. And that's a really solemn night.

Thank you very much. So Officer Will will lie in honor tonight at the Capitol. Can you talk a little bit about the rarity of that honor? What do you think it means in this context? Look, it is something that does not happen in the United States of America. This is our capital we have rarely seen in the history of our country people die here. We know the British attacked in the War of 1812, but beyond that, we have seen very little violence at our capital.

This is a sacred place, but on a very dark day, a shameful day when the attack was happening, he was one of those people who rushed to fight and defend the United States of America's most sacred spot, the capital of our country. And what is been moving to me is to talk to the other officers who knew him.

They describe him as a leader and perhaps more honorary. They describe him as a servant, that he was there for other officers, that he was a man of kindness and grace and the pain with his family.

I tell you this, it is a it is. They just think that he is lying in honor. But we can do the family no justice.

Is just that tonight and tomorrow, people will pay their respects, but we can give that family though justice justice would be their son and their brother alive right now.

And so I just I hope we as a country hurt right now. We put down our partisan posturing and just hurt. This is a sad and painful moment of remembrance of a person who gave their greatest devotion possible to the country they loved.

He served it in the military. He served it as a police officer, and he died amidst an insurrection. And so for those of us who can't truly honor him, let us at least try to rise up and show our actions, some small measure of devotion and relative to his to somehow, through this darkness, find a way to bring light back to our country.

And I just pray. And you're saying so much is going on. People are moving on the page. People are trying to turn it. But dear God, for his family, I hope that we make a much better effort at accountability and make a much better effort to show a love for this country and each other like he did.

It strikes me to just thinking about reading about him today and preparing for tonight, thinking about the rarity, this honor, it strikes me that this is also I mean, it's been less than a month, but it strikes me this is also the first moment as a country and as the capital of the community that works in the capital. The first moment to really mark the severity of what happened on January 6th. Obviously, there's the impeachment proceedings. There's a lot of legal proceedings.

There's other forms of work on accountability that's happening. But in terms of noting the loss and the trauma and the violence that happened there, this is kind of the first quiet moment.

Well, what I appreciate your reporting, Rachel, tonight is that you talked about the Capitol Police and what they have endured. And I want to include also the Washington, D.C. police. There are a lot of law enforcement who showed up and and suffer as a result. But I'm grateful we've had two suicides now of Capitol Police officers. When I talk to the officers, the morale, many of them felt like they stood in against extreme danger and then faced a lot of public scorn afterwards for decisions that were not made by rank and file officers, but perhaps by their leadership and decisions that were made much higher up.

These are folks that love their job and they honor the space in which they work. And so I'm glad that you talked. We lost to officers. We lost two other officers to suicide. But the injuries of some will be lifetime scars and pain and adjustment. And then there is still a force here that is getting up every day. They've been running 14 hour shifts without days off here, still trying to protect us at a time that the threats of white supremacists attacks are at an extraordinary high moment.

And this is a time where they are still grieving for the loss of their officers with a lot of attention is spent paying is paid to the five hundred and thirty five of us that make up the Senate and House. But this is a place it operates with thousands of people. But for the work of our government would not get done, whether it's Capitol Police officers, people who are working as sergeant of arms office or parliamentarians or who work in our cafeterias or who work maintaining the grandeur of this place, all of them, many of them are still feeling the weight of what happened.

Many of them were experiencing the fear and the trauma being present. When the attack happened. There was a bigger story here. There's a lot more pain, there's a lot more grief, and people are still experiencing trauma. And so I know that there is a lot of stuff that's capturing the headlines. But I hope that we don't forget the depth and the texture of all that happened. And I hope it informs us. I really do hope that we don't just move on as a country.

I really hope it informs all of us and reminds us of the commitment we have to each other. US Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, thank you so much for your time tonight, sir. It's a tough night. I know. Thanks for being here. I appreciate you, Rachel.

Always. Thank you. All right, we're going to take one quick break so that we can be back right in time to see the arrival of officer sickness family at the Capitol and the way this is going to play out tonight. Stay with us tonight. We'll be right back with that live.

US Capitol Police Officer Brian Cicconetti, who died in the mob attack on the Capitol on January six, will lie in honor tonight at the Capitol. This is the hearse containing his remains. You see US Capitol police officers there. He was in the first responders unit and the mount prior to that, the mountain bike unit, which you see the officers from the mountain bike unit there, those officers will be among those who escort his man remains up the the east center steps of the Capitol into the rotunda.

His family will be greeted by the acting sergeant at arms for both the House and the Senate as this solemn ceremony gets underway tonight. Garrett, who is standing by as this is happening, he's right there near that east front of the Capitol. Carol, can you just describe to us what you can see and what we're expecting tonight?

Well, it's a bitterly cold night out here. And over the last forty five minutes or so, I've been seeing dozens and dozens of Capitol Police officers start to arrive there, closing some of the entrances to the other office buildings here so that officers who are on duty can be part of this ceremony tonight to memorialize their fallen comrade here. Just a few moments ago, we saw the motorcade itself arrive. And what we're going to see here is the remains are all officers picnic?

We brought up the East Front steps and what he's taken in that door, that is front door, he will be taken past shattered glass that is still in that door frame that was left that way, in part intentionally as kind of a reminder of physical reminder of the attack on the Capitol tonight is focused almost entirely on his family. And his Capitol Police family will be greeted by lawmakers at the top of the steps. But this is not about lawmakers and it's not even about the broader Capitol Hill community that you were just talking about with Senator Booker.

This is a night tonight for memory and for catharsis for the Capitol Police officers who were at the absolute horrible center of everything that happened here on January 6th.

And Gary, just just to underscore that what we understand tonight is that the Capitol Police, including the units he served in, will escort his remains into the rotunda along with his family. And then the viewing tonight is for the police that lawmakers won't be doing that until the morning, right? That's exactly right.

Tonight's event is meant to be for that family, the family in uniform. You mentioned in the opening that there was also a former National Guardsman. I mean, the law enforcement community that protects the Capitol is vast, empty Capitol Police, National Guard, Secret Service involved, of course, on the 6th as well. This is largely for them tonight. It'll be tomorrow morning that we'll have a separate opportunity for lawmakers, for staff, for journalists, for everyone else who works on the Capitol and as part of this community, to have their own remembrance, their own, their own memorial for Officer Cygnet tonight.

This is about his brothers and sisters in the Capitol Police and his family.

Kara, thanks, I know it's cold out there right now, I don't want to ask you to stand by in a place that's going to freeze you, but do stand by. I think we're going to be back with you as we watch this solemn ceremony tonight. Thank you, my friend. As we watch these Capitol Police officers stand at attention again, you see the hearse there carrying the remains of officer officer Nick and Gary just reported that the motorcade carrying his family has also arrived.

We are expecting over the next few minutes that we'll see the acting sergeant at arms. You'll recall, of course, that the sergeant at arms about the House and the Senate resigned in the wake of the Capitol attack. So there are acting officers in both of those positions. We will see them escort the remains and they will go right into the rotunda, right into the Capitol, where his remains will will will lie in honor tonight as we're watching this ceremony get underway.

I also want to bring into the conversation now theorist's Jones, who goes by Butch Jones. He spent more than thirty five years as a Capitol Police officer who retired in two thousand nine. Mr. Jones, thank you so much for for being with us and helping us understand some of what we're looking at tonight. I appreciate your time, sir. Thank you for having me. Can I just ask. I'm just trying to discern exactly what we're looking at here, it looks like Capitol Police officers and the members of Officer Second Family together here.

How does this strike you? How does this feel to you watching this as a former Capitol police officer?

My heart really goes out for the family.

This bring back memories in nineteen ninety eight, when I suggested that Gibson was also in the rotunda is a very sad day for all police officers, especially Capitol Police. Capitol Police officers and D.C. Metropolitan Police officers were both involved in the effort to protect the Capitol on January 6th. It's been hard for those of us in the outside reporting on this and watching this to really understand that. I think that the trauma and also the camaraderie among those police officers and within those police police forces at a time like this, it's a policing job that's unlike any other in the country.

And for me, it feels fitting that tonight is set aside essentially for officers, picnic's colleagues. Rather than having Congress there tonight, lawmakers will pay their respects afterwards. So that seem right to. Yes, I think is very appropriate at the office should get a chance to have their moment with their fellow officer and only because of the grace of God, it could have been much more that had passed that on January six. So I think it is appropriate for the Capitol Police allow the officers to spend time with their fellow officer following what we're watching here is his remains being carried up the east front steps of the Capitol.

Let's just watch this for a second.

Again, what we're watching here is the arrival in the US Capitol Rotunda of the remains of the US Capitol Police officer Brian Cesnik, who was killed in the mob attack on the Capitol on January 6th. You see a lot of US Capitol police officers there, including representatives of his units that he served in during his nearly 13 years on the force. His remains will stay in the rotunda tonight with essentially a Capitol police escort. Lawmakers can pay their respects in the morning starting at 7:00 a.m., but we did see, I believe and I'll stand corrected if this isn't right, but I believe we saw House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leader of the Senate, Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, at the top of the stairs there as Officer Skurnik was brought into the rotunda.

Just watch this moment more. We're expecting to see Officer Nick's family, his mother and father, his longtime girlfriend, his brothers, his sister in law, an aunt and uncle, cousin, we're expecting to see them as well. We know they've arrived on site in a motorcade with officers technique's remains. Again, lying in honor under the US Capitol Rotunda is a very, very rare honor. This is the fifth time in US history that somebody has been afforded this particular honor of lying in honor under the rotunda to previous US Capitol Police officers killed in the line of duty are among those who have preceded him.

You see here congressional leadership entering the rotunda. Lost the internal image there for a moment. This is also a live shot at the US Capitol right now. What we are watching is the ceremonial arrival of Officer Brian Cyc and his remains at the Capitol Rotunda. We saw congressional leadership there from both parties as part of the receipt essentially of him to for the start of this solemn ceremony. But this will go all night. It'll be overnight in the rotunda, essentially attended by Capitol Police officers.

And then we will allow they will allow members of the members of Congress to pay their respects in the morning, starting very early in the morning, starting at 7:00 a.m. and there will be a departure ceremony, which I believe there will be remarks from congressional leaders a little bit later on into the morning. Then he will his remains will be brought from the US Capitol to Arlington National Cemetery, where he will be interred.

Joining us now is Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio, Congressman Ryan's one of his responsibilities in Congress is that he heads up the subcommittee that funds and oversees the US Capitol Police. So he's worked closely with them in that capacity. And in the days after the attack, he was frequently the one briefing reporters on the on the condition of injured Capitol police officers that. Congressman Ryan, thanks for being with us tonight. And this is a really solemn night.

Yeah, thanks for doing this, Rachel. I think it's really important that the American people get an opportunity to really see the end results to real human beings, real families after January six. So I appreciate you doing this. Congressman, it has felt like you've had more insight than most of us in terms of the Capitol Police and how they have coped as an organization and just as individuals following the attack and what they went through on January six. Can you give us any insight into the immediate aftermath of the attack, the injuries that officers sustained and how they've been coping and that less than four weeks since this all happened?

Well, you had the trauma, the blood pipes smacked up against the officers, heads beating, getting sprayed with pepper spray, all of that that we saw on all the videos. But I think the context, really, Rachel, was that for days and weeks before that, these officers were working 12 hour shifts. Then they went through what happened on January 6th, completely traumatizing event for so many with so many mistakes made not by the rank and file, by the leadership, and then continuing 12 hour shifts.

And then you have a police force that's been hit severely with covid, which means you have less personnel. So you continue to work these longer shifts. And so the the anxiety, the stress, the trauma, the exhaustion is there. And it's real, which is why we wanted the National Guard to continue to stick around, really to provide some relief for them. And it's on a scale, like most things on a spectrum, like most things, some of the guys you talk to there, like I don't need to talk to anybody.

I don't need any counseling. I need a couple good night's sleep, sleep. And I need to I need to go home and I need to hug my kids. Because your kids watched you go through this on January 6th and then you're up at five or six o'clock to go to work. You work until six or seven or eight o'clock at night. You barely get to see them before they go to bed. So the things that help you heal, connection, sleep, you know, those kind of things they're not getting.

And now we're seeing a stretch of force that's really stretched. And that's that's what they and their families have been dealing with for the last few weeks. And it's been tough for a lot of them. Congressman, do you know anything about the status of the investigation of the murder of Officer Nick? I mean, one of the things that looms specifically over this incredibly solemn and moving ceremony that we're seeing tonight is that there is a federal murder investigation that has been opened into his death.

We haven't heard anything from the medical examiner. We haven't heard anything from prosecutors. We don't know of anybody being arrests arrested. We don't know if suspects or leads in this murder. Do you have any information on that or anything that we should understand about how that investigation proceeds? Well, I will tell you, it's very intense and there are hundreds of members of Congress who are very, very interested in making sure that that we get the the justice for Officer Technik and that investigation is ongoing.

I think it's important that we don't comment on the blow-by-blow of the investigation, but there is a extremely motivated group of people that want to bring people one to more to justice for what they've done to a rank and file police officer. And so there's a lot of intensity behind it and a lot of videos, as you know, and have reported on so well, a couple of hundred thousand plus to the FBI. There's almost two thousand cameras on Capitol Hill.

So you can imagine the different levels of video and footage that need to be gone through. And that's happening. And we can assure everybody that if it's possible to bring somebody to justice, it's going to happen. Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio, he heads heads the subcommittee in the House that that oversees and funds the Capitol Police, works very closely with them in that capacity, sir. Thanks very much for your time tonight as we cover this ongoing ceremony.

I really appreciate it.

Thanks, Rachel. Appreciate you. Again, the ceremony tonight that we just witnessed, the arrival ceremony of Officer Brian Cynic's remains will be followed in the overnight hours by him lying in honor under the US Capitol Rotunda attended by his fellow U.S. Capitol Police.

Officers will see members of Congress pay their respects tomorrow and there will be a solemn departure ceremony mid-morning. And then he will go to Arlington National Cemetery. What we're seeing here is just unfamiliar to us because this is such a rare thing and it's even more unique than just rare because of the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic and the fact that the public isn't there, the public isn't part of this. This is effectively a closed ceremony. Joining us now is NBC News presidential historian Michael Beschloss.

Michael, thank you so much for being with us. I just wanted to ask your your reflections on this tonight what you think we should understand in terms of how this fits into history. Well, Rachel, this is something we have never seen before, and God willing, we will never, ever see again, this was a president of the United States inciting an insurrection, a terrorist attack on Congress, terrorist attack on the Capitol could have led to assassinations and or hostage taking interruption of the certification of a presidential election.

Conceivably, this could have taken away our democracy. And this is one reason why I think we have to observe the 6th of January every single year as a time that we had a very close call to remind us that we have to be eternally vigilant because democracy is fragile. Rachel, we observe 9/11.

We remember the fact that there were attacks that landed, one that almost landed, which was an effort to fly an airplane into the Capitol Hill. A lot of members of Congress that almost happened here is a terrorist attack that did happen. There has to be a commission, an investigation, a punishment of those who are guilty and make sure we fix our system so that the 6th of January will never be seen again in this. Michael, I have to tell you that since I've just brought you on here, just in the last couple of moments, we've heard that President Biden's motorcade has left the White House.

Now, we don't we don't know if he is coming to the Capitol. We don't know if that's what he's doing. I suppose it is possible it would seem to be fitting if that is what's going on here.

But there is up to it to have had this happen on January 6th ahead of the inauguration on January 20th. And now to have all of the scrum of the new government, the new administration, getting its legs under it. And that and the accountability issues, the multiple prosecutions, the arrests, the ongoing impeachment of second impeachment of President Trump. It does feel like I was remarking earlier. It feels like we haven't had a moment to mark this trauma that you're describing and that you're saying we should be marking every year.

It also feels like a moment for leadership in terms of having us as a country, remember, and take stock and appreciate the gravity of what happened. You are so right. We have gone through four years of emotional and psychological abuse by a president of the United States, which really culminated on the 6th of January, although even then it did not end. We have to mark that and we have to take it very seriously. I understand why after this happened, they made an effort quickly to clean up the House and Senate chambers and continue the certification of the election.

But one downside of that is that it almost normalized this. That is, if it was an episode that lasted a few hours and then could be cleaned up, this is something that 50 years from now, Americans will look back on as a day. We almost lost, lost our democracy. NBC News presidential historian Michael Beschloss, Michael, thank you for that and thank you for being here with us tonight. We are going to take a quick break.

Again, we are covering this what is an ongoing ceremony tonight for Officer Brian Seneca was killed in the capital attack. The cameras. There's a pool camera for this. There is an X, there's an open press access to this. And the pool camera inside the rotunda shut off a few moments ago that was planned and part of the way they were planning to allow the pool to cover this. But that is about to come back on. And we'll also tell you that a motorcade has the presidential motorcade has left the White House.

I cannot tell you whether or not that means that President Biden is coming to the Capitol, coming to the rotunda tonight to pay his respects. But we're watching that very closely. So we will take a very quick break right now.

We'll be back in just a moment. Camera has come back on it, come back on inside the Capitol Rotunda. What we're seeing here, you see a lot of Capitol Police officers easily identifiable because they're in dress uniform. But the people of they're escorting here are the members of Officer Next family who are paying their respects, their last respects here tonight. On the right side of your screen here, the reason we've put up this split screen image is that we believe that is the presidential motorcade.

Arriving at the US Capitol. So this is not something that was announced in advance, but this is this would appear to be President Biden. Leaving the White House and coming to the Capitol to pay his respects as well. But again, we haven't had advance word on this from the White House, so we will just watch and see what happens here.

You see House you see House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, they're paying their respects and not speaking. They're just. Paying their respects tonight, you'll see other members of the congressional leadership of both parties behind them doing the same. We expect that the leadership again, this is the US. This is a US Capitol police officer who was killed in the line of duty protecting members of Congress. We'll hear remarks from some of the congressional leadership tomorrow.

But tonight, this will just happen in silence.

The Rachel Maddow Show weeknights at 9:00 Eastern on MSNBC.