Welcome to the beat. I'm Ari Melbert, and we are tracking a lot of news, including what everyone has their eye on, the January 6th committee's prime time hearing. Its final scheduled hearing now two hours away tonight. It's expected to detail Trump's deliberate in action during the insurrection. And it comes hours after President Biden got this COVID diagnosis today. We're monitoring that. The White House says it's mild symptoms only, and he's taking antiviral medication. He's double boosted. You can see the video he shared. We're monitoring that. The White House says it's mild symptoms only, and he's taking

antiviral medication. He's double boosted. You can see the video he shared where he says he

feels like he's doing well. If we get any update on that, you can be sure we will tell you

tonight. Now, the chair of this panel, Benny Thompson, has contracted COVID as well this week,

so he will participate in this final primetime hearing

tonight virtually.

The focus tonight is on what Donald Trump failed to do and what that says about his criminal

mindset.

Was this a riot that got out of control or something that he wanted and welcomed, which is why,

according to many, he did not try to stop it. Specifically, 187 minutes that went as this

insurrection raged as people were hurt as officers were beaten on camera. And Trump sat in the

White House and would not take action, would not intervene, would not do things that really

mattered, like immediately use his power to activate the National Guard,

nor use his indirect power, what is sometimes in political science called the soft power.

If people listen to you, if they're there because of you, and you have a megaphone,

in an instant, literally in one minute, he could have tweeted or gone out to the lectern and said,

hey, I didn't mean this. Don't do that.

Calm it down. We all know he never did any of that. Committee member Adam Kinsinger releasing some new

video testimony about all of this today. So that's to my recollection. He was always in the dining room.

Yeah, what did they say? Mr. Meadows or the president and all during that brief encounter that you were in the dining room.

What do you recall? I think they were right to. Everyone was watching the TV.

It's my understanding he was watching television.

...