Who declares who wins the presidency

Law enforcement officers have begun deploying flash-bang grenades and tear gas in an effort to disperse rioters from the steps on the west end of the Capitol. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising around demonstrators as they retreated from a balcony where they had broken a window and entered an office. Protesters reached the interior of the Capitol building, prompting the evacuation of senators and causing House members to take cover under their seats in the House chamber. Lawmakers were told to use gas masks to protect themselves from tear gas before being escorted out. Congressman Gerry Connolly of Virginia tweeted that tear gas had been used in the Capitol Rotunda.

Trump calls for support of law enforcement as supporters siege U.S. Capitol

As pro-Trump demonstrators stormed the steps of the U.S. Capitol and made their way inside, the president broke his silence on the violent protests and called for support of law enforcement.

"Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!" Mr. Trump tweeted.

The president did not urge his supporters to withdraw from the Capitol.

Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021

D.C. mayor orders 6 p.m. curfew

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has ordered a 6 p.m. curfew, as the crisis at the Capitol intensifies.

"Today, I'm ordering a citywide curfew for the District of Columbia from 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 6, until 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 7," Bowser tweeted.

The sun sets at roughly 5 p.m. in Washington, so the curfew still comes after dark.

Senate recesses abruptly as protesters swarm Capitol

As Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma delivered remarks, the Senate abruptly recessed and lawmakers left the chamber. An aide could be heard telling the senator "protesters are in the building."

Pence was also rushed off the Senate floor, and the U.S. Capitol is on lockdown.

Videos showed protesters inside the Capitol building.

In the House, members abruptly left the floor amid the debate there.

Cruz pushes for 10-day emergency audit of election

During the debate over the objection to Arizona's results, Senator Ted Cruz stepped up to rationalize his opposition to tallying the Electoral College not on the basis of specific facts, but by stating that much of the country believes the election was rigged.

Both sides of the aisle are doing lots of "moralizing," Cruz said, "but I would urge to both sides perhaps a bit less certitude and a bit more recognition that we are gathered at a time when democracy is in crisis."

"Recent polling shows that 39% of Americans believe the election that just occurred was rigged," Cruz said.

Still, Cruz said he isn't trying to set aside the results of an election, saying instead there should be a commission to study the integrity of the election. There should be a 10-day emergency audit, the senator argued.

Schumer on Republican objectors: "They will embarrass themselves"

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer excoriated the efforts from Republican lawmakers to object to the electoral ballots cast in Arizona, saying they will be an embarrassment and risk harming the view of American democracy.

"In the process, they will embarrass themselves. They will embarrass their party. And worst of all, they will embarrass their country," Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said during remarks in response to the objection from Gosar and Cruz.

The Senate's top Democrat called the efforts an "insurrection" and a "coup," and questioned the message their actions will send to the rest of the world that look to the United States as a beacon of democracy.

"What will we show those people? Will we show those people that there is a better way to ensure liberty and opportunity of humankind?" Schumer said. "Sadly, a small band of Republican objectors may darken the view of our democracy today, but a larger group of senators and House members from both sides of the aisle can send a message, too, that democracy beats deep in the hearts of our citizens and elected representatives, that we are a country of laws and not men."

Schumer noted the slew of losses the Trump campaign has suffered in court, with many of their legal challenges dismissed because they did not present evidence to support allegations of fraud.

McConnell rejects GOP effort to challenge election in blistering speech from Senate floor

In a remarkable speech from the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Mitch castigated his fellow Republicans who challenged Arizona's election results, arguing they were subverting the Constitution by attempting to overturn the election results.

"I've served 36 years in the Senate. This will be the most important vote I've ever cast," McConnell said. "The voters, the courts and the states have all spoken. They've all spoken. If we overrule them, it will damage our republic forever."

McConnell addressed senators as they gaveled in to debate the objection over Arizona's slate of electors in a session presided over by Pence.

He also noted that the election was "not unusually close," as Mr. Biden defeated Mr. Trump with 306 electoral votes.

"If this election was overturned by allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral," McConnell said, predicting that every election would become a free-for-all in which the loser would try to overturn the will of the voters.

"Self-government, my colleagues, requires a shared commitment to the truth. And a shared respect for the ground rules of our system. We cannot keep drifting apart into two separate tribes with a separate set of facts and separate realities," he continued.

The Senate majority leader was impassioned, his voice trembling at moments. Meanwhile, outside the Capitol, crowds of angry pro-Trump protesters pushed back against barricades set by Capitol police officers in their demonstration against the count.

"It would be unfair and wrong to disenfranchise American voters and overrule the court and the states," McConnell said. "I will not pretend such a vote will be a harmless protest gesture, while relying on others to do the right thing. I will vote to respect the people's decision and defend our system of government as we know it."

Congressional office buildings ordered evacuated

The Capitol Police ordered the evacuation of the Cannon House Office Building, which is part of the Capitol complex, as supporters of the president confronted police outside of the Capitol building. A Library of Congress building next to Cannon was also evacuated.

Staffers received an alert instructing them to "remain calm and move in a safe manner to the exits."

Protesters have gathered on Capitol grounds, waving flags and cheering for lawmakers to "stop the steal." Mr. Trump has said he will walk the two miles down Pennsylvania Avenue to join the protests there.

Footage from the Capitol showed protesters attempting to charge up the steps of the Capitol and being met by police.

GOP lawmakers object to Arizona results, prompting round of debate in each chamber

Arizona Republican Congressman Paul Gosar objected to the counting of electoral ballots from his home state, and his objection was joined by Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. Sixty GOP House members joined the objection, as did seven Republican senators: Mike Braun of Indiana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Steve Daines of Montana, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.

Both the House and Senate will now separate and debate for up to two hours the objection. The objection is not expected to be sustained once they each vote.

"Objecting to counting the electoral votes of the state of Arizona, we, a member of the House of Representatives and a United States senator object to the counting of the electoral votes of the state of Arizona on the ground that they were not under all of the known circumstances regularly given," the objection read.

The electoral votes from Alabama and Alaska were read aloud and counted first, with no objections.

Republicans applaud Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) after he objects to counting the electoral votes for Arizona, which will go to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris https://t.co/wTKxzqAo9U pic.twitter.com/eFHCAs2PhZ

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 6, 2021

Pence rebuffs Trump's pressure to reject electoral votes

Just before the joint session convened, Pence sent a letter to Congress confirming he does not have the authority to reject states' electoral votes, as Mr. Trump has been pressuring him to do.

"As a student of history who loves the Constitution and reveres its Framers, I do not believe that the Founders of our country intended to invest the vice president with unilateral authority to decide which electoral votes should be counted during the joint session of Congress, and no vice president in American history has every asserted such authority," Pence wrote in a letter released by the White House.

"It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not," Pence continued.

Pence's letter, dated January 6, was released as the president delivered remarks to supporters outside the White House, during which he continued to push the vice president to reject the Electoral College votes from states he lost.

Pence, however, wrote that he wanted to reassure the American people that while presiding over the joint session, he will uphold the oath he made to them and to God.

"When the joint session of Congress convenes today, I will do my duty to see to it that we open the certificates of the electors of the several states, we hear objections raised by senators and representatives, and we count the votes of the Electoral College for president and vice president in a manner consistent with our Constitution, laws, and history. So Help Me God," the vice president said.

Joint session gets underway as lawmakers meet to count electoral votes

Lawmakers from the House and Senate are assembled in the House chamber to begin the process of counting the Electoral College votes. Vice President Mike Pence is presiding over the session in his capacity as president of the Senate.

The vice president will hand each state's certificate of votes to a "teller," who will read it aloud. At this point, members can object to the results. The objection will only be valid if it's in writing and signed by at least one House member and senator. If Pence determines the objection is valid, both chambers will separate to debate and vote on whether to accept the state's results.

The states will be presented alphabetically, meaning Arizona will likely be the first state to have its results contested. If the objection is sustained, it could take more than three hours to resolve the objection, based on the two hours allocated for debate and the time it takes for members to vote. A majority in each chamber must vote to reject the results for the electors to be thrown out, a near impossibility given Democrats' control of the House.

Live stream of House chamber during joint session to count electoral votes

Watch CBS News' coverage of the joint session on CBSN in the player above, and find the live feed from the House floor below:

Tillis and Young join GOP senators who won't challenge electoral votes

Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana are the latest Republicans to oppose efforts by their fellow GOP lawmakers to object to electoral votes from several battleground states.

Tillis warned in a statement that doing so would set a precedent to allow Democrats to reject presidential electors after the 2024 presidential election.

"The Framers of our Constitution made it clear that the power to certify elections is reserved to the states, not Congress. Refusing to certify state election results has no viable path to success, and most importantly, it lends legitimacy to the Left's stated policy objectives of completely federalizing elections and eliminating the Electoral College," he said. "Congress should not overstep its constitutional authority by overturning the results of states and the will of American voters, especially absent legitimate requests from states for Congress to intervene."

Tillis said that Congress cannot change the results of the presidential election "without inflicting irreparable damage to our Constitutional Republic."

"I will not oppose the certification of the Electoral College votes, and I will not embolden politicians in the future to appoint our presidents instead of having the American people duly elect them," he continued.

Young, meanwhile, said in a separate statement that he will "uphold my constitutional duty and certify the will of the states as presented."

"The people voted and the Electoral College voted," he said. "Congress must fulfill its role in turn."

Young said that the role Congress plays in the election process is "narrow by design," as the states are responsible for their elections and determining the presidential electors.

"Congress has no authority to do anything other than certify states' Electoral College votes as reported," he added. "For Congress to supplant the will of a state's certified electors for its own would be unconstitutional and set a dangerous precedent."

Trump tells supporters he'll "never concede"

The president unleashed a flurry of falsehoods about Vice President Mike Pence's role in the counting of electoral votes, vowing to "never concede" while addressing supporters near the White House ahead of the joint session of Congress.

"We will never give up, we will never concede," Mr. Trump told the assembled crowd.

"Because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election," Mr. Trump said falsely, as Pence has no power to overturn the election.

The president claimed he just spoke with Pence, and told his vice president it doesn't take courage to do what he wants.

"I said, 'Mike, that doesn't take courage. What takes courage is to do nothing,'" the president told his supporters.

Rick Scott says he'll likely vote to uphold objection to Pennsylvania's electoral votes

Florida Senator Rick Scott, a Republican, joins the group of 13 GOP senators who intend to challenge the electoral votes from battleground states, saying in a statement he "will likely" vote to uphold an objection to Pennsylvania's votes.

"The actions of the governor's administration and the courts in Pennsylvania pose a serious threat to the integrity of future elections," Scott said. "The Democrat governor of Pennsylvania, along with state courts, made a decision to allow votes to be counted that came in after election day, even if they did not have a postmark, in defiance of state law. This is absurd, and cannot be tolerated."

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri plans to contest Pennsylvania's Electoral College votes, while Senator Ted Cruz is expected to object to Arizona's. The Texas senator led a coalition of 10 other Republican senators who pledged to challenge the electoral votes.

Lankford says he'll object to Arizona results

Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, who signed a letter with 10 other Republican senators on Saturday saying they would object to some results unless an electoral commission is created, affirmed on Wednesday that he would object to the Arizona results.

"We'll start with Arizona. So we'll let that go from there," Lankford told reporters on Capitol Hill. He did not say whether he would object to the results from other states. He also said that the results of the two Senate runoff elections in Georgia may change how lawmakers approach the count today.

"I thought about that this morning as well, how people will view that. I don't know that I can give an answer to that," Lankford said.

Fact checking objections GOP lawmakers may raise during electoral count

When the vice president of the United States presides over the counting of the Electoral College votes and announces the final tally and winner of the election, it's usually little more than a formality. But this year, Mr. Trump's refusal to accept his loss to Mr. Biden — and the willingness of many Republican lawmakers to indulge him — has teed up a tense day in the Capitol.

It's Vice President Mike Pence who's tasked with this duty on Wednesday for the pro forma joint session of Congress. Tellers will read each state's tally aloud, and at any point, members may object to that state's votes. It takes one senator and one House member to trigger consideration of an objection. The Senate and the House then debate the objection separately and vote on whether to accept the state's ballots.

Read some of the claims viewers may anticipate — and whether they stand up to scrutiny — here .

Kathryn Watson and Audrey McNamara

Romney says Trump has "disgraced the office of the presidency"

Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah lambasted Mr. Trump for ongoing attempts to pressure Pence to reject the electoral votes from states he lost and support for Republicans' plans to object to the Electoral College votes from battleground states.

"The gambit that we're seeing today, very disappointing," Romney told reporters on Capitol Hill. "President Trump has disrespected the American voters, has dishonored the election system and has disgraced the office of the presidency."

"I'm confident that we'll proceed as the Constitution demands and tell our supporters the truth, whether or not they want to hear it," he continued.

Romney has chastised plans from his Republican colleagues to challenge the electoral votes from some states, saying in a statement Sunday that "the egregious ploy to reject electors may enhance the political ambition of some, but dangerously threatens our democratic republic."

Dozens of House Republicans say they will challenge results in 4 states

Thirty-seven House Republicans announced plans to object to electoral results in four states on Wednesday: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

"Our support of objections will not diminish the value of the vote of any individual citizen, but rather protect that value," the House members argued in a statement, responding to criticisms that Congress is seeking to unilaterally overturn the will of the people by objecting to certified Electoral College results.

However, it is unclear whether these Republicans would be joined by senators in challenging the results in all four states. At least one member of both the House and the Senate must object to a state's results in order for that objection to be considered and voted on by each chamber.

Trump continues to pressure Pence ahead of joint session

Mr. Trump continued his crusade to pressure Pence to invalidate electoral votes cast against him and overturn the outcome of the presidential election. The vice president, however, does not have the authority to do what the president is asking him.

"If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency. Many States want to decertify the mistake they made in certifying incorrect & even fraudulent numbers in a process NOT approved by their State Legislatures (which it must be). Mike can send it back!" Mr. Trump tweeted.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia certified their election results, and none have moved to decertify their results, as the president claims. When the Electoral College met December 14, presidential electors, Mr. Biden's victory was formalized, as he received 306 electoral votes, exceeding the 270 needed to win the White House.

Still, Mr. Trump has been unrelenting in his effort to push Pence to reject the electoral votes.

"States want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval. All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!" the president said in a second tweet.

A senior administration official told CBS News the vice president does not believe he has the power to decertify election results.

How to watch today's joint session of Congress

• What: Joint session of Congress counts the Electoral College votes
• Date: Wednesday, January 6
• Time: 1 p.m. ET
• Location: U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.
• Online stream: Live on CBSN in the player above and on your mobile or streaming device.

Some GOP members plan to object to electoral count

Heading into the joint session, it's unclear how many states' results will be challenged, though at least 100 House Republicans and a dozen GOP senators are expected to object to the counting of electoral votes. To force debate and a vote on an objection to a state's electoral votes, it must be supported in writing by at least one member of the House and one member of the Senate.

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri has raised issues with Pennsylvania's election results, specifically, though it's unclear whether he will object to the electoral votes cast in any other state. The coalition of 11 GOP senators led by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, meanwhile, has not specified how many states' votes they will challenge, though Cruz is expected to object to Arizona's electoral votes.

Still, because debate on the objections can last up to two hours, lawmakers are in for a long day.

Republicans' efforts to challenge the electoral votes are not going to change the outcome of the election. Sustaining an objection and tossing out a state's votes requires a simple majority from each the House and Senate. With Democrats controlling the House, it's all but a sure thing the lower chamber will vote down any attempt to invalidate electoral votes cast for Mr. Biden.

Regardless, the president has rested his hopes for a second term on Congress, and the White House has blessed Republicans' plan to challenge the results.

More Republican senators speak out against plans to object to results

A slew of senators announced Tuesday they will not join the objections expected from their Republican colleagues to the electoral votes cast for Mr. Biden in several battleground states, bringing the number of Republicans expected to support the counting of those votes to at least 20. Among those who announced their decision not to bless the efforts from their fellow Republicans are Senators Tim Scott of South Carolina, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.

"As I read the Constitution, there is no constitutionally viable means for the Congress to overturn an election wherein the states have certified and sent their electors," Scott said in a statement. "Some of my colleagues believe they have found a path, and while our opinions differ, I do not doubt their good intentions to take steps towards stamping out voter fraud. Importantly, I disagree with their method both in principle and in practice."

The South Carolina Republican noted the high hurdle Republicans would have to mount in order for their objections to be sustained and a state's electoral votes invalidated: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats, which maintain a slim majority in the lower chamber, would have to join the challenges to electoral votes cast for Mr. Biden and reelect President Trump.

"That is not going to happen, not today or any other day," he said.