Calls grow for Trump's removal after Capitol riot

President Trump has canceled plans to travel to Camp David on Friday, according to a source familiar with the plans. 

Earlier Thursday a White House official told CNN that the President had planned to be away for the weekend, and a temporary flight restriction from the Federal Aviation Administration had been in place over the presidential retreat beginning Friday — meaning civilian aircraft are directed not to fly over the area. 

A separate source familiar with the President’s schedule says this trip to Camp David was on Trump's calendar, prior to Wednesday's siege of the US Capitol. 

Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, fears that President Trump may put the US in a precarious position during his last days in office.

Coons remarks come after White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany walked into the briefing room and made no apology for the President's behavior, or his rhetoric, or his administration, in the wake of the riot Wednesday at Capitol Hill.

President Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly today said he would vote to invoke the 25th Amendment if he was still serving in Trump's Cabinet. 

"Yes, I would," said Kelly, hesitating slightly before replying to CNN's Jake Tapper's question: "If you were in the Cabinet right now, would you vote to remove him from office?"

Earlier in the conversation, Kelly, who served on the Cabinet from July 2017 through December 2018, also said current members of the Cabinet ought to meet to consider removing Trump, even though he has just 13 more days in his term. 

"The Cabinet should meet and have a discussion," said Kelly. I don't think it will happen. But I think the Cabinet should meet and discuss this."

Watch the moment:

Two men became the first people to be hit with federal charges on Thursday for their actions in a riot at the US Capitol building one day earlier in which pro-Trump supporters overran the building leading to officers being injured and four deaths.

The men, identified as Christopher Alberts and Mark Jefferson Leffingwell, were both scheduled to appear in federal court in Washington, DC, Thursday afternoon.

Alberts, of Maryland, was charged with one count of carrying or having access to firearms or ammunition on US Capitol Grounds, according to the complaint sworn by an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department.

Alberts, who was wearing a bulletproof vest and wearing a backpack, was approached by the MPD officer after the officer identified a bulge on Albert’s right hip.

The officer said Albert’s tried to flee and after he was apprehended with the help of two other officers they found with a black Taurus G2C 9mm handgun and a magazine of ammunition.

In total, according to the complaint, Alberts had 25 rounds of ammunition on him. The officer also seized a gas mask, pocket-knife, first aid kit, and one military meal-ready-to-eat, or MRE.

Alberts told authorities after his arrest that “he was in possession of the firearm for personal protection and he did not intend on using the firearm to harm anyone.” 

Leffingwell, 51, faces three criminal counts and has not yet entered a plea.

During the push of to enter the Capitol building, Leffingwell allegedly attempted to push past a Capitol Police officer who was trying to blockade the building, then punched the officer, authorities said.

The officer, Daniel Amendola, wrote that Leffingwell punched him "repeatedly with a closed fist" in his police helmet and in the chest. The police then restrained him. Leffingwell later apologized to Amendola, according to a court filing.

The Capitol Police officer's statement of facts released Thursday also described the police reaction to the siege as the joint session of Congress was underway certifying the electoral vote of Joe Biden for president, when a crowd gathering outside that then broke into the Capitol building. 

"Members of the US Capitol Police attempted to maintain order and keep the crowd from entering the Capitol; however, shortly after 2:00pm, individuals in the crowd forced entry into the US Capitol, including by breaking windows," Amendola wrote.

The officer also described evacuating Congressional officials and the Vice President Mike Pence. 

"In reacting to the crowd that had breached a window of the building, I moved to a hallway" on the Senate side of the Capitol, Amendola described. "While there, I attempted to form a barrier with other officers to stop or deter additional individuals from entering the Capitol building."

The federal court proceedings for Capitol-related defendants are before Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey of the DC District Court and are ongoing now.

Police did not report where Leffingwell resides. He is currently being held in the central cellblock of the DC jail, according to his court proceeding. He'll stay there overnight until he can be seen in court again Friday. Prosecutors say he might flee if released.

His attorney told the court that Leffingwell is a disabled veteran who suffers from memory loss.

In her statement today, former first lady Michelle Obama pointed out the differences in how the behavior of Black Lives Matter protesters and Pro-Trump rioters was treated by the authorities

The former first lady noted that the BLM protests across the country this past summer were an "overwhelmingly peaceful movement" that brought together people of "every race and class." 

"And yet, in city after city, day after day, we saw peaceful protesters met with brute force," she added.

She continued by saying that "yesterday made it painfully clear that certain Americans are, in fact, allowed to denigrate the flag and symbols of our nation. They've just got to look the right way."

Read more of Michelle Obama's statement:

Acting US Attorney Michael Sherwin said they are looking at all actors involved in the unrest at the US Capitol on Wednesday, including the role President Trump played in inciting the crowd.

When asked directly by a reporter on a press call if investigators were looking at the role Trump played at the rally, Sherwin said, “We’re looking at all actors here and anyone that had a role and, if the evidence fits the elements of the crime, they’re going to be charged.”

Former first lady Michelle Obama released a statement on Twitter today about the riot at the Capitol yesterday, and called on social media companies to ban President Trump permanently from their platforms.

Some background: Facebook and Twitter took the step on Wednesday of locking Trump's account on their platforms after his supporters stormed the Capitol building to protest the election.

Twitter said it has locked Trump's account for 12 hours, and warned for the first time that it may suspend him permanently. Facebook also blocked Trump from posting on its platform for 24 hours, the company said, after it removed a video he posted to his supporters who participated in the riot. Trump will also face a 24-hour block on Facebook-owned Instagram.

Read Michelle Obama's tweets:

Federal prosecutors in Washington, DC, have filed 15 criminal cases stemming from the unrest at the US Capitol on Wednesday, according to Acting US Attorney Michael Sherwin for the District of Columbia.

Sherwin said “most of those cases” relate to unauthorized entry to the Capitol and the Capitol grounds. He said they were also filing cases involving firearms and theft of property. 

“There was a large amount of pilfering at the Capitol. Materials were stolen from several offices,” Sherwin said. The defendants are expected to appear before a federal magistrate’s judge later Thursday. Details of the charges were not yet available.

He added that an additional 40 cases were filed in Superior Court, many of them including charges ranging from unlawful entry to certain areas of the Capitol grounds. 

“We also have a handful of assault cases we also have eight firearms cases,” Sherwin said. 

He said one man was arrested by federal agents with a military semi-automatic rifle and 11 Molotov cocktails that were ready to go. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempted to reach Vice President Mike Pence earlier today, but was unable to get through to him, and it's currently unclear whether he plans to call her back, a person familiar with the situation tells CNN.

The understanding was that she was calling to discuss her suggestion that the Cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment.

It's not clear why she could not reach him, the source noted, meaning whether he was occupied or purposely avoiding the conversation.

Pence has not publicly commented on the proposals the Cabinet seize power from the President.

Some context: Invoking the 25th Amendment would require Pence and a majority of the Cabinet to vote to remove President Trump from office due to his inability to "discharge the powers and duties of his office" — an unprecedented step.

Any 25th Amendment push faces an unprecedented steep hill to come to fruition with little time left before Joe Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20. The calls in Congress, however, underscore the extent to which lawmakers are reeling and furious with the President in the wake of the devastation at the Capitol on Wednesday.