buckle up. >>> january 6th house select committee chairman bennie thompson looking forward to the next step in the investigation as questions swirl over the remaining five spots on the committee. one still open after minority leader kevin mccarthy yanked all of his picks yesterday. sources tell nbc news congressman adam kinzinger is possibly under consideration to fill one of those spots. although thompson said he is the kind of person they want to have on the committee, no official announcement has been made. also reportedly under consideration, former gop congressman denver riggelman who would serve as an advisor to the committee and is currently meeting with the speaker in her office. he was supposed to be onset with us to talk but his meeting is apparently running long. they both alike have been outspoken about their party's role in propagating the big lie that lies at the heart of this capitol insurrection. >>> that's where we begin this hour. joining us former congresswoman donna edwards, "washington post" contributing columnist and msnbc contributor. sam stein, white house edito

i also think that nancy pelosi especially and bennie thompson, they both want to make sure this isn't seen as some kind of political farce. that is something they are working very hard to make sure isn't a legitimate attack on what they're doing. that's why they started with these four officers. start with that emotional apea. don't try to go after one of the trump administration officials. go with that emotional appeal. go with and set the stage for what actually happened because a lot of us have been reading all types of testimony. a lot of us have heard from some of the leadership of that day. but this is the first time we really heard from officers who almost got their eyes gouged out, that one tried to come on their side, all of these kinds of things. i think something that moving forward what democrats and liz cheney and adam kinzinger want to do is make sure that they try to stay focused, put on the blinders and try as much as they can to keep the politics out of it. however, i will say we did a playbook event earlier this year with shawn patrick maloney, and he said, even thou

chairman bennie thompson will lead us in a very thoughtful way. anyone who has worked with him knows that he is incredibly measured as he goes about carrying on the work. by the way, he has been talking about domestic violent extremism for decades, so i think his leadership will play a key part in this. but i would not rule out having those hearings, you know, where more individuals and members of the public can see them, so they can see our work product and judge for themselves that this isn't about politics and this is about seeking the truth. >> congressman pete aguilar on a really important day, really important endeavor you are embarking on. i hope we can call on you often. thank you for spending some time with us today to talk about it. we're grateful. >> thanks so much. >>> when we return, democrats are vowing to not back down in the fight for voting rights in this country after the united states supreme court upheld voting restrictions that critics say make it harder for minorities to vote. that story is next. i am robert strickler. i've b

i'm delighted with chairman bennie thompson. you know, sunlight is the greatest disinfectant, so let's shine sunlight on the facts of 1/6. this committee is armed and able to do that. we'll see if the republicans bother to populate the rest of the committee, but we will get to the facts and circumstances and, you know, let the chips fall where they may. why do you think mr. mccarthy is against everything having to do with looking into this? is it possible he is afraid of that which will expose him and many of his colleagues? you know, the democrats are here. it is important that we have the select committee, but i would love to talk about what we are actually doing. we passed the american rescue plan this week, july 15th will be the beginning of the expanded child tax credit, which is really a tax cut for working families that will be generationally transformative. in my own district on july 15th and then every 15th thereafter, 40% of children living in poverty in my district will be lifted out of that. that's what democrats are

. >> i want to talk about chairman benny thompson saying subpoenas are coming soon, laura, this is right up your ally here. liz cheney said they should be issued quickly and the justice department is saying former d.o.j. officials can testify, the department will not assert executive privilege. which top officials will be among the first called? could it be the president should be called or will be called? >> i think -- >> the former president. >> i think he should be called and jeffrey are rosen. what the dorj .o.j. would have assert, is why it's a significant thing, remember, you are saying, in order to have transparency and a full investigation, i have to premove the hurdles and people saying i don't care what uyou want to hear, i don't have to tell you. that hurdle is being over come, saying you can speak freely about what it is that you know about the es. if you know the who, what, when, where, why, the paper trail, if you know something different than what your oath of office should have been or otherwise, lets us know. it's a level of transparency that we need here. >> give me a b

your colleague bennie thompson says that evidence is necessary to produce a report. how are you going to figure out what was said on that call? >> as chairman thompson said, everything is on the table. we really have to dig in deep into all of the events that happened that day. and, you know, i can't say every witness or everything that we will move forward with in the investigation, but we will examine all of the facts and where those facts take us, we will draw from that to come to the conclusions for the committee. >> okay. speaking of witnesses, are you willing to subpoena the former president or people close to him to get answers? >> don, like i said, and like chairman thompson has said, and going into this, everything is on the table. the committee is just now coming together, coming up with a plan, waiting for our additional members. i think we're all here because we took an oath as members of congress, i did, the first time when i was 17, and spent two decades in uniform. we truly think that that oath to protect the constitution against all enemies foreign an

the chairman benny thompson who says the committee will issue subpoenas soon without resorting to writing letters asking for voluntary information says we cannot let the liars and cheaters win. >> we did not ask for this, for the house of representatives did its job to give this country its first peaceful transfer of power. and we'll do our job now to make sure the peaceful transfer of power remains a pillar of our democracy. we cannot allow ourselves to be undone by liars and cheaters. >> liz cheney one of two republicans on the committee says that we need to know the truth about every meeting, every conversation, every phone call leading up to and during the attack. >> we must know what happened here at the capitol. we must also know what happened every minute of that day in the white house. every phone call, every conversation, every meeting leading up to, during and after the attack. honorable men and women have an obligation to step forward. >> you will hear more from liz cheney a little bit later on in this show as well as from other republicans on the committee or the other republi

i mean we heard bennie thompson earlier. he is a no nonsense balls and strikes kind of guy. i think he's going to conduct the committee like that. it's not going to be a sideshow in the way the benghazi committee became just an absolute sideshow and circus for republicans. >> clint, liz cheney and adam schiff also both on the committee. adam schiff has investigated the ex-president, follows the facts where they go. he has successfully obtained testimony from government officials like maria yovanovitch and others. liz cheney has already said one witness she wants to hear from is kevin mccarthy about what he knew, when we knew it and those conversations with donald trump. where do you think as just a pure fact-finding investigation this starts and where do you think it leads? >> i would say they should work backwards and start with the event of that day and work all the way back to incitement and motive. there is a lot that has not been uncovered yet in terms of what the planning was, what the preparation was from november and december, you know, in the months prior that led t

and so if individuals, as chairman bennie thompson has mentioned, if people have information that is pertinent and helpful to us, to our investigation and discussion into this, then we would hope that they would share those stories. but we're only concerned about the causes, the effect, ensuring that this doesn't happen again and what led up to the events of january 6th. so to the extent people have information and knowledge, we would hope that they would voluntarily come forward and share their stories. >> tara, to that point you know when you start to peel an onion, what happens? you start crying, right? it is safe to say mccarthy and republicans aren't going to come forward voluntarily and it could wind up being very frustrating for democrats. what say you? >> well, that's true because there are a handful of republicans there that are basically the proverbial unindicted co-conspirators. the reports there were some members of congress that had given tours beforehand or they were tweeting out locations and encouraging them. we already know what congressmen those are. mo brooks said,

, bennie thompson, has made good on his call saying that he's going to proceed with hearings whether or not kevin mccarthy makes appointments, just a presentation of the facts. the truth is that republicans on capitol hill know exactly what happened that day. they may be trying to rewrite it or ignore it, but they know what happened that day. it's important to see step-by-step so they can understand how under threat our democracy was and is because of what happened on january 6. >> matt dowd, i think the idea of an ongoing threat makes this investigation not just urgently needed seven months out but urgently needed in the moment, in the threat environment in which we live. the ex-president by whatever the heck he uses to communicate is churning out, prompting out lie after lie after lie about the election. it is a fixture of his post presidency to continue to lie about the election results. there are brushfires in michigan, in pennsylvania, there's the ongoing faux audit. it is an ongoing delusion there was election fraud and i thought one of the most important things the president d

here was congressman bennie thompson, chair of the new select committee yesterday when asked about who he might call to testify. >> you would not resist calling in donald trump? >> well, let me -- i would not, but from the standpoint of doing our work. >> and how important would it be to hear from those members of congress who were having conversations with donald trump in the run-up to january 6th, people like mo brooks, jim jordan and those types? >> well, i think we need to have access to all available information, and part of what we plan to do is hire some of the best people who can help us get access to that kind of information. >> uh-huh. >> so if we need to get it by request or by subpoena, i'm not reluctant to do either. >> what's next for the select committee investigating january 6th is where we begin this hour with the aforementioned congre member of the new select committee on the january 6th attack. he's chairman of the intelligence committee and was lead impeachment manager during trump's first impeachment trial. thank you so much for being with us. i want to ask you, ha

the chair of the select committee, congressman bennie thompson, has reiterated his mission to follow the facts and leave no stone unturned. in an interview with the guardian, thompson said that he will investigate donald trump as part of his inquiry into the events of january 6th, a day he sees as the greatest test of the united states since the civil war. thompson said that he is also prepared to depose members of congress and senior trump administration officials who might have participated in the insurrection that left five dead and nearly 140 injured. absolutely thompson said of his intent to pursue a wide-ranging inquiry against the former president and some of his most prominent allies on capitol hill. quote, nothing is off limits. with or without mccarthy's picks, the select committee has enough members for a quorum to move forward. as we look ahead to the first hearing next week, four police officers who were on the scene that day will testify to the horrors they saw and experienced. congressman stephanie murphy of florida, one of the other democrats serving on the select com

democrats are saying -- bennie thompson said, look, they're simply trying to muddy the waters. this is not going to be a committee that is going to independently look at this. it's going to be another washington sort of drag-out fight. being out here in the country, one thing is clear. people are not interested in another food fight in washington regardless of what side you're on. but that is what sounds like is coming down the way. >> quite frankly it's a desperate attempt because it's hard to change the narrative when we have so many images coming out. >> and arrests. >> and none of them mention nancy pelosi except that they don't like her and they stuck their feet up on top of her desk. thank you very much. >>> i want to turn now to "washington post" investigative reporter carol leonnig. so happy to have her here. she's the co-author of the explosive new book "i alone can fix it: donald j. trump's catastrophic final year." again, so good to see you again. thank you so much, carol. listen, there are so many details from your book that we need to discuss. but i want to start w

bennie thompson, the chair of the committee, has worked with republicans as chair of the homeland security committee. he told me he will work hard to enforce the rules and make sure this committee sticks to their intended goals and that is finding answers as to what happened on january 6. they'll go wherever they need, that could ultimately mean calling someone who is on the committee to come forward as a witness, including jim jordan, kevin mccarthy, or even donald trump. >> and there we go. thank you very much, ryan nobles, i appreciate that. kirstin powers and former republican congressman denver riggleman, good evening to both of you. denver, what do you think of mccarthy's picks for this select committee, are you surprised he actually chose two people who voted to certify the election results? >> i was pleasantly surprised. i think there's a good faith effort with kelly and rodney, i know them very well, they're very good people. i have a feeling kelly's background is legal, recordny has -- rodney has been there a long time. i wasn't surprised about jim jordan being chosen either. it

. >> i want to talk about chairman bennie thompson saying that subpoenas are coming soon, laura. this is right up your alley here. liz cheney said they should be issued quickly. the justice department is saying former doj officials can testify. the department won't assert executive privilege. so which top officials are likely to be among the first called? you think the president should be called or will be called? the former president? >> i think he should be called. i think jeffrey rosen. i think others. remember, the executive privilege in terms of what the doj members would have to assert or be able to no longer have to assert -- so the notion here and why this is such a significant thing is, remember, you're saying in order to have transparency, in order to have a full, holistic investigation, i have to remove the hurdles of people saying, i don't care what you want to hear. i don't have to tell you anything. that does not bode well on the integrity of the department if there's no real basis for it. but also it's a hurdle that now is being overcome by the decision to say, you

bennie thompson, who is the chairman from mississippi, is a serious individual. he's worked with republicans and democrats for a long time in his capacity as chair of the homeland security committee. he told me today that he is going to work hard to enforce the rules and make sure that this committee sticks to their intended goals, and that is finding answers as to what happened on january 6th. and they're going to go wherever they need to find those answers. that could ultimately even mean calling someone who's on the committee, jim jordan, to come forward as a witness. that's a real possibility, including the possibility of kevin mccarthy and maybe even donald trump being called in front of this committee. >> thank you very much, ryan nobles. i appreciate that. joining me now, cnn senior political analyst kirsten powers and former republican congressman denver riggleman. good evening to both of you. so, denver, what do you think of mccarthy's picks for this select committee? are you surprised that he actually chose two people who voted to certify the election r

bennie thompson, excuse me. she talked, today, about how, in her view, this is bigger than politics. >> um, and a really important opportunity to remind everybody about the necessity of accountability. for what happened. for making sure that it never happens, again. >> accountability. accountability. accountability. that's what all this is supposed to be about. yet, kevin mccarthy, who just days after the attack on -- on the capitol, said that the then-president bore responsibility. now, he is calling liz cheney and adam kinzinger pelosi republicans. kinzinger called that childish. pointed out it was republicans, actually, who killed the independent commission in the senate. listen. >> we had an opportunity for a 5-5 commission that didn't even include members of congress. then, at every junction, it kept getting blocked, despite that we negotiated the 5-5. and so, it's become obvious that there are some that just, simply, don't want answers. and that, to me, is unacceptable. >> people don't want the truth. ther

zoe lofgren, bennie thompson, adam schiff is a chair, stephanie murphy, jamie raskin, the lead impeachment manager the second time around, liz cheney, and as we've been discussing adam kinzinger. what is the sort of talk among these members about their goal? does it line up with what claire just described? >> that's a really great question that is being overlooked in a lot of the discussions and the back and forth between mccarthy and pelosi. my colleague and i interviewed them for a piece previewing tomorrow, they told us in extensive interviews they laid out their objectives which are far more serious than how many republicans are going to serve on the select committee. take someone like stephanie murphy, for example, who actually worked at the pentagon in the wake of 9/11 and tried to implement some findings from the 9/11 independent commission from that report. these evidentiary gaps and make sure this doesn't happen again, the lines that were crossed and threatened our democracy. murphy has interesting personal story, her family escaped from vietnam. so she has personal reasons for th