Calls grow for Trump's removal after Capitol riot

Elinore McCance-Katz, assistant secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, resigned today in the wake of President Trump's role and response to mob breaching the US Capitol.

“I have chosen to resign today as the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use,” McCance-Katz, assistant secretary for mental health and substance abuse for HHS, wrote in a letter dated today.

President Trump's Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao also resigned today.

President Trump's Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has submitted her resignation, making her the second Cabinet member to resign over Trump's response to the mob breaching the US Capitol, according to an official. 

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao also resigned this afternoon after taking "time to absorb" the insurrection on Capitol Hill and the President's response to it.

"Today, there was a lot of soul-searching and discussion," a senior administration official said. "It was obviously the right thing to do."

Chao discussed the matter with her staff and her husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, before deciding by around 11 a.m. that she would resign.

A source close to Vice President Mike Pence said inquiries about invoking the 25th Amendment have been coming into Pence advisers and those discussions have been under way.

But the source said it is “highly unlikely” that Pence would pursue that path at this point, given that the effort is expected to be unsuccessful. And an administration official tells CNN that Pence himself has not discussed invoking the 25th Amendment with any Cabinet officials.

However, three senior administration officials also tell CNN that two Cabinet secretaries have called fellow members of the Cabinet to take their "temperatures" about demanding a Cabinet meeting with the President to confront him about his behavior.

The two Cabinet secretaries discussed the possibility of demanding the President deliver a public address committing to a peaceful transfer of power, which Trump did Thursday evening. 

Hanging over the meeting would be the possibility that a majority of the Cabinet could invoke the 25th Amendment and strip Trump of his power as president.

Chiefs of staff of federal departments have also been calling each other to discuss the possibility.

Some of the secretaries are hesitant to agree to a meeting because of the risk an attempt to invoke the 25th Amendment would face, or that they would draw Trump's ire.

Some officials were also concerned about the optics of holding a cabinet meeting amid national discussions about the 25th Amendment. "Why take the risk?" one senior official said. 

On Thursday night, Trump released a pre-recorded video that said he would not serve a second term. It's not known yet if that was enough assuage Cabinet members' concerns and took the discussions of the table.

A White House adviser in discussions with senior officials said Trump only recorded the video released this evening because his presidency is currently threatened by looming resignations and potential impeachment.

“That message and tone should have been relayed election night...not after people died,” the adviser added.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called out President Trump for finally pledging an "orderly" transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20, saying "it's about damn time."

"Had he done this earlier, lives would have been saved," Whitmer told CNN's Erin Burnett, a day after rioters stormed the US Capitol building. "Had they invested themselves in a peaceful transition and started working with the incoming administration, lives would have been saved."

What do we know: Rioters on Wednesday breached the Capitol building and the Senate chamber, ransacked the offices of Pelosi and other Capitol offices, and a laptop was stolen from the office of Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley. One woman was shot and killed by Capitol Police as the crowd breached the building and three others suffered medical emergencies that proved fatal.

"If he'd spent the energy that he has tried to use to sow doubt and violence and seeds of division toward addressing the pandemic, lives would have been saved," Whitmer added. "I'm glad he's come to that conclusion finally. However, we paid an incredible price as a nation for his inability to see the facts and understand them and accept them. This is where we are."

Senate Chaplain Barry Black is urging Congress and the nation to heal and unite after Wednesday’s deadly riot at the US Capitol building.

Black prayed over Congress early Thursday morning to close the joint session following the formal affirmation of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.

He told CNN's Anderson Cooper that people too often these days are running from the truth and instead “need to learn to illuminate with truth.” 

“The power of life and death is in your words, and you will reap its harvest,” Black said Thursday on Anderson Cooper Full Circle, referencing Proverbs 18:21.

Black has served as Senate Chaplain since 2003.

Watch the full interview here.

Watch part of Senate Chaplain Barry Black's interview:

President Trump conceded publicly for the first time Thursday that he will not serve a second term, stopping short of congratulating President-elect Joe Biden but acknowledging a transfer of power is now underway.

Trump's recognition of his loss comes two months after the fact and amid growing calls for either his removal from office or a fresh impeachment. It also came as legal questions swirled about his culpability for inciting rioters who invaded the US Capitol a day earlier.

In the video, released more than 24 hours after Wednesday's riot, Trump made calls for "healing and reconciliation" and said the country must move forward.

But he also misstated his role in activating the National Guard to combat his supporters who stormed the Capitol, who only a day earlier he called "special."

Earlier Thursday, Trump issued a dark-of-night statement vowing an "orderly transition," which came about in part to stanch a wave of resignations from within the West Wing and the broader administration, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Read more here.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to reach out to Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday to urge him to consider invoking the 25th Amendment to force President Trump's removal from office.

The Democrats issued a statement detailing their phone call attempt to Pence, whom they were unable to connect with.

Read their statement:

CIA director Gina Haspel is not currently expected to resign from her post in response to President Trump’s handling of Wednesday’s violence at the US Capitol, according to a source familiar with the situation, who told CNN there is no indication, at this time, that she intends to step down before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office, according to a source familiar with the situation.  

Haspel’s relationship with Trump has deteriorated in recent months and CNN previously reported that she was on thin ice as the President has considered firing her during his final months in office. But the source told CNN that at this time, it is unlikely Haspel will resign, the source said. 

While the situation involving Trump’s Cabinet continues to evolve after the resignation of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the source told CNN that, for now, Haspel intends to stay in her role to help oversee the CIA’s ongoing operations and a smooth transition process. The CIA declined to comment on Haspel’s plans. 

Some background: There have been calls for other Cabinet members to follow Chao’s lead amid bipartisan criticism of Trump’s response to the violence. But some of Trump’s top national security officials have received calls within the last 24 hours urging them not to resign following his widely panned response to the mob attack by his supporters on the US Capitol.

The message: it is important they stay on for the continuity of government in the national security realm.

Haspel has kept a relatively low profile since the election. Sources have consistently said Haspel prefers to remain as CIA director until Inauguration Day and step down on her own terms when the new administration takes over.

As of Thursday, it appears Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, is also unlikely to resign. 

At this stage, it remains unclear if Ratcliffe has been involved in any discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment but a source familiar with the issue, told CNN Trump’s intelligence chief is well aware that a growing list of Congressional lawmakers are calling on the Cabinet to take that step.

A Capitol Police officer is on life support Thursday night after a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol a day before, according to Capitol Police union chair Gus Papathanasiou.

CNN reported Thursday evening, citing three sources, that the officer had died. One of CNN's sources said that Capitol Police officers were gathered and told that the officer had passed away.

Papathanasiou told WUSA — a local Washington, DC, television news station— that the officer died. Later Thursday, the Capitol Police released a statement stating no officers had died as a result of Wednesday's riot.

Papathanasiou retracted his statement to WUSA and told CNN the officer was still on life support.

"He had a stroke. I think he's on life support. We've got some misinformation on that. He's on life support from what I'm hearing," Papathanasiou told CNN.

One woman was shot and killed by Capitol Police as the crowd breached the building and three others suffered medical emergencies that proved fatal.

Correction: This post has been updated to reflect that the officer is on life support.