Spiegel Stuff: The Hill's 12:30 Report: Capitol Hill marks dark anniversary of Jan. 6 attack

TALK OF THE MORNING

President Biden and Vice President Harris traveled to Capitol Hill this morning to mark the anniversary of the violent riot in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Watch their remarks: https://bit.ly/3HCFMWg

HIGHLIGHTS FROM BIDEN’S REMARKS:

Tidbit — Biden did not mention former President Trump by name: According to CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Biden mentioned the “former president” 16 times. The list of mentions: https://bit.ly/3n4ne9H

Watch: https://bit.ly/3n1hb5P

Biden on Trump’s reaction to the 2020 presidential election results: "His bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy." https://bit.ly/3t3Ibp8

What a cool backdrop for the remarks: https://bit.ly/3JYolld

Biden on the differences in realities: "The big lie being told by the former president and many Republicans who fear his wrath is that the insurrection in this country actually took place on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020. Think about that. Is that what you thought? Is that what you thought when you voted that day?" https://bit.ly/3HD5NVu

THE HILL’S REPORTERS SHARE THEIR FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCES FROM THAT DAY:

Watch their descriptions of what it was like to be there: https://bit.ly/3HJkfeq

‘IN THEIR OWN WORDS — LAWMAKERS, STAFFERS REMEMBER JAN. 6 INSURRECTION’:

Via The Hill’s Scott Wong, Mike Lillis and Jordain Carney: https://bit.ly/3HJkN4m

USUALLY, AMERICANS ARE UNITED ON DARK ANNIVERSARIES LIKE THIS. BUT NOT TODAY:

Via The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch, “While one day after the attack, many Americans were united in revulsion to the ugly scenes that played out on their television screens, a year later people hold deeply different views on the gravity of the day, who is responsible for what happened and even the value of analyzing the attack. The result is a very different kind of anniversary from those the nation has previously marked to reflect on the darkest days of its history.” More on the divisions today: https://bit.ly/31wNK3X

It’s a tough Thursday for the country on the one-year anniversary of a pro-Trump mob breaching the U.S. Capitol to protest the election results. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com — and follow along on Twitter @CateMartel and Facebook.

Did someone forward this to you? Want your own copy? Sign up here to receive The Hill's 12:30 Report in your inbox daily: http://bit.ly/2UoupvN

Tidbit if you’re in the Washington, D.C.-area: According to Capital Weather Gang, we might get 2-4 *more* inches of snow tonight. The full forecast: https://bit.ly/3pY6EtV

MORE FROM TODAY

From Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.): “was barricaded in the House Chamber on January 6. I was physically there as insurrectionists — domestic terrorists — clawed at the doors of the U.S. House of Representatives. Those of us stranded in the gallery were among the final Members of Congress to be evacuated.” Read her full thread of tweets on her experiences that day: https://bit.ly/3JMABVO

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) shared a video of ducking and covering in the House chamber: Watch: https://bit.ly/32UyluW

How Fox News host Tucker Carlson covered the anniversary last night:

Watch: https://bit.ly/3sXqhnQ

CNN’s Jake Tapper retweeted a quote that he said a year ago now: “I want people to remember how they feel right now … because there is going to be an attempt by the people who were a part of this effort … to whitewash what's going on right now.” Watch: https://bit.ly/3qQYXVD

This hurts to see:

HOW REPUBLICANS ARE HANDLING THE DAY:

Via The Hill’s Cristina Marcos, Republicans are trying to balance condemning Jan. 6, 2021, while also not condemning former President Trump. The full story: https://bit.ly/3HDdtHi

‘GEORGIA REPUBLICANS CANCEL A VIGIL FOR ‘J6 PATRIOTS’ ’:

Via The Washington Post’s Jonathan Edwards, “Some Georgia Republicans planned to spend the anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol praying — not just for those killed or hurt during the Jan. 6 riot, but for the ‘J6’ Prisoners’ and ‘J6 Patriots’ who stormed the building in a futile attempt to keep President Donald Trump in power. But after bipartisan blowback, the Cobb County GOP on Wednesday canceled [the event].” The full story: https://wapo.st/339ze2h

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS FROM THAT DAY

Throwback — Here’s the Jan. 6, 2021, edition of The Hill’s 12:30 Report: This is a few hours before rioters breached the U.S. Capitol. It’s an interesting time capsule: https://bit.ly/3t3jCbC

^ And for comparison — Here is the Jan. 7, 2021, edition of The Hill’s 12:30 Report: “Aftermath of terror at the US Capitol.” https://bit.ly/3eUphZx

CNN’s Manu Raju posted a series of photos and videos he took throughout the day: It’s unnerving to watch the progression. Watch: https://bit.ly/32RRIEV

Watch: https://bit.ly/3hQJXlz

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Democrats are quietly looking into banning Trump from office:

Via The Hill’s John Kruzel, “In the year since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, a handful of Democrats, constitutional scholars and pro-democracy advocates have been quietly exploring how a post-Civil War amendment to the Constitution might be used to disqualify former President Trump from holding office again.”

What we know: https://bit.ly/337D1gG

‘A YEAR LATER, JAN. 6 BECOMES JUST ANOTHER WEDGE IN A DIVIDED NATION’:

Read the news analysis from The New York Times’s Peter Baker: https://nyti.ms/3F0K1ZW

More quiet discussions:

Via The Hill’s Jordain Carney, “Lawmakers are quietly discussing trying to make changes to the formal counting of the Electoral College results, a year after dozens of Republicans, with then-President Trump’s backing, challenged the outcome of the 2020 election in key states.” https://bit.ly/3ztwER2

What we know: “Talks of making changes to the Electoral Count Act — an 1887 law that lays out how Congress formally counts the Electoral College vote, as they did on Jan. 6 — are still in the early stages. But there are already signs of bipartisan support for the general idea of making reforms, even though lawmakers still need to delve into the details.”

What we know: https://bit.ly/3ztwER2

LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS

‘How omicron has reshaped sports’:

Via FiveThirtyEight’s Neil Paine, “In just a matter of weeks, the hyper-transmissible omicron variant has completely upended the protocols that sports leagues had been using to navigate their way through the pandemic.”

“Mercifully, due to a combination of high vaccination rates, youthful players who are in excellent shape and omicron’s potentially lower inherent severity, most cases have been mild or asymptomatic among athletes so far. But the pandemic-long policy of frequently testing players to prevent uncontrolled viral spread has resulted in a logistical crisis not unfamiliar to other sectors of the economy: Mandatory quarantines are causing an extreme shortage of workers.” https://53eig.ht/3F5fcn0

CASE NUMBERS:

Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 57,825,917

U.S. death toll: 832,311

Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y

VACCINATION NUMBERS:

Total number of vaccinations administered in the U.S.: 514 million shots have been given.

Seven-day average of doses administered: An average of 1.03 million doses

For context: The U.S. population is roughly 331 million.

Breakdown of the numbers: https://bloom.bg/3iVTPLH

NOTABLE TWEETS:

The CDC has been the butt of jokes for quite some time now:

This video from “The Daily Show” has more than 750,000 views so far.

Watch: https://bit.ly/3t3FUKf

ON TAP:

The Senate is in. The House is out. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C.

Noon: A moment of silence in the Senate for the events on Jan. 6, 2021. The Senate’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/3pXI7oP

5:30 p.m. EST: Vice President Harris ceremonially swears in Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon as U.S. ambassador to Spain and Andorra.

WHAT TO WATCH:

9 a.m. EST: President Biden and Vice President Harris delivered remarks to mark the one-year anniversary since the U.S. Capitol breach. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3HCFMWg

1 p.m. EST: White House press secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3JIMgEW

IN LIGHTER NEWS:

Today is National Shortbread Day.

Because we could all use some good news this morning:

Girl Scouts are selling a new flavor cookie this year: a salted caramel brownie cookie. https://bit.ly/3FWd2HD

The description: "[An] indulgent brownie-inspired cookie with caramel-flavored crème and a hint of sea salt."

When the cookie is available: Starting on Jan. 11

Details and photo of the new cookie: https://bit.ly/3FWd2HD

And to leave you on a happier note, here’s a little girl forming real-time opinions on the snow: https://bit.ly/3t3QMbd

^ Make sure your sound is on.