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Congress finalizes Biden's win after riot disrupts Capitol

By Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes, Melissa Mahtani, Veronica Rocha and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN

Updated 5:15 p.m. ET, January 7, 2021

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4:26 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Biden calls on Trump to go on TV to order end to Capitol mob

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

President-elect Joe Biden speaks at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. Susan Walsh/AP

President-elect Joe Biden called on President Trump to appear on national television and condemn his supporters who breached the US Capitol.

“The words of a president matter, no matter how good or bad that president is. At their best, the words of a president can inspire. At their worst, they can incite. Therefore, I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege,” Biden said in an address to Americans.

Biden called the mob an “insurrection.”

“Threatening the safety of elected officials, it’s no protest. It's insurrection,” Biden said. “The world's watching. Like so many other Americans, I am shocked and saddened that our nation, so long the beacon of light and hope for democracy, has come to such a dark moment.”

"President Trump: Step up," Biden added.

Watch:

4:14 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Republican National Committee headquarters cleared after officials found pipe bomb outside

From CNN's Dan Merica and Mike Warren

The headquarters for the Republican National Committee were cleared Wednesday after a suspicious device was found nearby, committee communications director Michael Ahrens told CNN.

The headquarters are just a few blocks from the US Capitol. The evacuation happened roughly an hour ago, Ahrens said.

An RNC official told CNN that a pipe bomb was found on the ground outside, along the wall of the headquarters. The device was safely detonated by the police, the RNC official said.

The Democratic National Committee was also evacuated on Wednesday after a suspicious package was being investigated nearby, a Democratic source familiar with the matter tells CNN.

The party preemptively closed the building ahead of the protests, the source said, but a few security and essential personnel were evacuated.

4:26 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Biden: "Our democracy is under unprecedented assault"

From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury

President-elect Joe Biden addressed the riots that erupted at the US Capitol building, calling it an "assault" on democracy.

"At this hour, our democracy's under unprecedented assault. Unlike anything we've seen in modern times. An assault on the citadel of liberty, the Capitol itself. An assault on the people's representatives and the Capitol Hill police, sworn to protect them. And the public servants who work at the heart of our Republic... Let me be very clear. The scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect a true America. Do not represent who we are. What we're seeing are a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent. It's disorder. It's chaos. It borders on sedition. And it must end now," Biden said.

Watch:

4:18 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

President Trump has not yet called for rioters to disperse more than two hours later

From CNN's Melissa Mahtani

It’s been more than two hours since a chaotic mob of rioters surrounded and breached the Capitol.

Despite many calls from both Republican and Democrats for President Trump to demand his supporters leave the Capitol building, the President has not yet done so.

Even Vice President Mike Pence has been more forceful, tweeting that an attack on the Capitol "will not be tolerated," and calling for rioters to leave.

Trump did send out a couple of tweets urging people to be "peaceful" but has not asked them to leave.

4:12 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

White House adviser: Trump doesn't want to do more to calm riots

From CNN's Jim Acosta

A White House adviser said some aides around President Donald Trump are becoming furious that the President won't do more to stop the insurrection at the Capitol.

The adviser said aides have been all but begging Trump to come out and make a statement to begin to calm the situation.

"He doesn't want to" to do more than what he is doing right now, the adviser said.

"If we could throw him to the angry mob, we'd throw him to the angry mob now," the adviser said.

4:18 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Van Jones calls on GOP to uniformly denounce riots: "What if Black Lives Matter did that?"

From CNN's Van Jones / Written by CNN's Maureen Chowdhury

CNN's Van Jones called on Republicans and conservatives to denounce the riots at the US Capitol building today.

"I don't think that Republicans and conservatives can look at this and say, 'this is okay,'" he said.

"I'm calling on all of my conservative friends, my Republican friends to say, what would I do if Black Lives Matter dropped 30,000 Black people on the nation's Capitol and laid siege to the seat of power in the middle of a joint session of Congress and broke in? What would I say if Black Lives Matter did that? I'm going to say it right now. What if Muslims did it. If Muslims dropped 30,000 Muslims on the seat of government in the middle of a joint session of Congress and ran in there and there was blood on the floor and tear gas, what would we be saying?" Jones pressed.

Jones called for a uniform denunciation, right now, from "top to bottom of the Republican Party of what we're seeing."

Watch:

4:01 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

CNN's Abby Phillip contrasts Trump response to Capitol mob versus BLM protesters, calls it "shameful"

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

CNN’s Abby Phillip drew a contrast between the response of President Trump to pro-Trump rioters who breached the Capitol today and Black Lives Matter protesters during the summer.

“A few months ago in Washington — where we live and where we work — you couldn't drive down the street without being stopped by National Guard vehicles, by law enforcement of every type and every stripe,” Phillips said.

“Every block of this city was in lockdown because of Black Lives Matter protesters. Now you have thousands of armed protesters who happen to all be Trump supporters, who are mostly not Black Lives Matter protesters; they're mostly white, and they're storming the Capitol with violence, someone has been shot, glasses being broken, lawmakers are in lockdown wearing gas masks, and looking at these pictures, where is law enforcement?” she said.

“Capitol police struggling to control this, and you don't hear the President saying, ‘we are sending reinforcement.’ You don't see him saying, ‘we are sending help to protect this federal building, to protect the lawmakers who are inside of it and the people who work there and the people of this city.’ That is incredibly shameful," she continued.

Trump has so far tweeted for his supporters to "remain peaceful." Aides are urging Trump to put out a stronger statement in response to the chaos unfolding on Capitol Hill.

Watch CNN's Abby Phillip:

3:58 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Schumer and Pelosi issue joint statement calling on Trump to demand rioters leave immediately

From CNN's Lauren Fox

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a joint statement calling on President Trump to demand the rioters leave immediately.

It says:

"We are calling on President Trump to demand that all protestors leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol Grounds immediately."

3:58 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Schumer responds to Trump tweet calling for peace: "It's a little late"

From CNN's Nicky Robertson

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took to Twitter to react to President Trump's calls for peace after rioters breached the US Capitol building.

The New York Democrat retweeted Trump's tweet calling for those on Capitol Hill to "remain peaceful" and said "It's a little late for that. Don't you think?"