Fallout intensifies over Trump's response to Capitol riot

Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, citing conversations with senior White House officials, said on Hugh Hewitt's radio show that President Trump "wanted chaos on television" on Wednesday and was "confused about why other people on his team weren’t as excited as he was as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building."

In an interview Friday morning with Hugh Hewitt, Sasse also said Trump was talking about "a path by which he was going to stay in office after January 20."

On impeachment, Sasse signaled he was seriously considering whether he would vote to remove the President from office, but that "there are a lot of questions that we need to get to the bottom of," specifically citing delays with deploying the National Guard. 

"But I think that the question of was the President derelict in his duty, that’s not an open question. He was," Sasse added.

Vice President Mike Pence has arrived at the White House for the first time since the insurrection at the US Capitol incited by President Trump and since he certified the 2020 election results for President-elect Joe Biden.

He emerged from his SUV and walked into the West Wing.

Pence did not come to the White House on Thursday.

One of President Trump's closest confidants and top aides, Hope Hicks, is discussing resigning from her role before he leaves office, according to two people familiar with her thinking.

She has told people if she does resign, she would leave within the next 48 hours. It's not clear she has made a final decision.

After speaking with Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her caucus that she has gotten assurances there are safeguards in place in the event President Trump wants to launch a nuclear weapon, according to multiple sources on the caucus call.

What we know: Pelosi told members in a letter that she spoke to Milley about Trump and the nuclear codes.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells her caucus she prefers Trump resigning or the 25th Amendment before impeaching him. But she made clear that there is more backing within the House Democratic Caucus for impeaching Trump now than there was in 2019. 

She has not yet given a sense of timing or detailed the articles they are pursuing, but the call is ongoing.

According to this person, she also said, “How we go forward is a subject for this caucus.”

Some background: A source tells CNN that the current draft of the impeachment resolution now includes 131 members, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler and Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern, a further sign of the growing momentum.

The Senate Homeland Security and Rules committees jointly announced they will hold hearings on the security failures ahead of the attack on the Capitol on Wednesday.

US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund resigned yesterday following criticism over his apparent lack of preparedness to deal with Wednesday's violent mob.  

The House Appropriations and Administration committees, which both have oversight of the Capitol Police, say they intend to investigate the riots, and multiple congressional aides said "heads should roll" at the Capitol over the security failures.  

A source tells CNN that the current draft of the impeachment resolution now includes 131 members, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler and Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern, a further sign of the growing momentum.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told members in a letter that she spoke to the chairman of the joint chiefs about President Trump and the nuclear codes.

In the letter she also thanks members following Wednesday's insurrection, shared the news of USCP officer Brian Sicknick's death following the breach, and that she hopes to hear from Pence "as soon as possible" about removing Trump from office. 

"Nearly fifty years ago, after years of enabling their rogue President, Republicans in Congress finally told President Nixon that it was time to go. Today, following the President’s dangerous and seditious acts, Republicans in Congress need to follow that example and call on Trump to depart his office – immediately. If the President does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action," Pelosi wrote. 

The letter also announced that there will be a letter coming from the Office of the Attending Physician and the Office of the Employee Assistance about resources available to members for responding to trauma in the wake of Wednesday's attack. 

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a news conference today that the "current president" incited the violent rioters that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.

Trudeau is among other American allies that have decried the attack against the Capitol.