Tech Security Update

• This month, soldiers from the US Army's 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) worked with Hellenic Armed Forces, to execute Eddie's Odyssey, a first-of-its-kind training mission in the Aegean Sea.
• During the exercise, US helicopters supported Greek special operations forces while they operated on objectives only accessible by traversing long distances over water.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

STEFANOVIKEIO, Greece - The US Army's 1st Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), together with Hellenic Armed Forces, executed Eddie's Odyssey, a first of its kind, joint training mission on Velopoula Island and over the Aegean Sea, January 13-14.

The exercise, named after Ugly Eddie, the battalion mascot, consisted of US AH-64E Apaches, UH-60M and HH-60M Black Hawk helicopters working together with Hellenic 1st Aviation Brigade Apaches and CH-47D Chinook helicopters.

The joint training encompassed transporting troops, aerial coverage operations and providing medical evacuation capabilities to Greek special operations forces (SOF), while they operated on objectives only accessible by traversing long distances over water.

"This exercise was really built from the ground up," said Lt. Col. Anthony Marston, 1st battalion commander. "We had some time on our calendar and at the company level there were folks who were interested in doing over-water training and some live-fire exercises. Working with the Greeks, we were able to plan Eddie's Odyssey, an air-assault and deliberate attack exercise."

A US Black Hawk and Hellenic Chinook worked together to transport troops to the remote island in two phases.

The Black Hawk, escorted by a US Apache, touched down on the island first with a small team that identified and set up a landing zone for the larger Chinook. They simultaneously set up a laser targeting system that identified the objective that the Apaches were tasked to destroy.

After the Chinook dropped off the rest of the ground forces, US Apaches worked together to engage and destroy the target, identified by the SOF team, using 30 mm chain guns and 2.75-inch rockets. When they needed to return to base, a team of Hellenic Apaches relieved their US counterparts and continued the assault.

"These training exercises give the opportunity to both sides to exchange knowledge and experiences that can take place in various conditions," said a Greek SOF second lieutenant. "The keys to a mission rely on detailed planning, standard operation procedure and training. This event between Greek SOF and US aerial platforms enhances the interoperability between those NATO members."

The two partner forces also used the training opportunity to practice their medical evacuation capabilities off of the island.

In order to fly over the Aegean Sea and execute Eddie's Odyssey, pilots and flight crews from the 101st had to conduct specialized refresher training on how to react if a helicopter unexpectedly goes down in the water.

This "dunker training," provided by the Hellenic Navy partners, was another first-time training opportunity spearheaded by 1-101. It used a large indoor pool and equipment that simulates an aircraft crash on the water.

"One of the great things about being here in Greece is that our Hellenic partners have a vast experience with over water flight ," said Marston.

"Interoperability wise, we are not only teaching them our gold book standards and how we do air assault planning and deliberate attacks, we are also learning a tremendous amount from our 1st Aviation Brigade Hellenic partners, both from their attack helicopters and their Chinooks," said Marston. "Through that, we get after not only how we do over water flight, but now we know how to plan together, how to establish command and control together, and come up with tactics we wouldn't necessarily think of if we were just training at home."

"Building these types of training opportunities that strengthen our partnership and operational teamwork with our allies is what the 101st is all about," said Col. Travis Habhab, commander of the 101st CAB. "Training shoulder to shoulder with our NATO Allies is one of the key factors that make us so effective working in environments comprised of joint, international forces."

The mission helps to strengthen readiness and lethality through collective training across multinational allies and partners, improved interoperability and relationships with allied and partnered nations to maintain a high level of collective readiness throughout 101st CAB, and allow a quick transition to other designated contingency operations.

• Disney+ localized its content strategy by launching special streaming services such as Hotstar in Indonesia to attract more subscribers. 
• The platform's affordable subscription fees and business model make Disney+ more favorable over Netflix in these markets, some analysts say.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Disney+, the video streaming platform launched by Disney in 2019, has been growing in popularity in Indonesia and it could overtake Netflix in markets across East Asia as it builds its subscriber base by strategizing opportunities rising from closed theaters during the pandemic. 

Although Disney+ is in an early development stage in Indonesia, a country with 270 million people, its streaming service Hotstar had attracted as many as 2.5 million subscribers as of January 16, according to Hollywood Reporter.

Launched in September, Hotstar service offers movies, series, and content from Disney, Fox, Marvel, LucasFilm, Pixar, National Geographic, as well as more than 250 local Indonesian films.

Disney's local content acquisition strategy in Indonesia helped promote Hotstar across the country. Indonesia content offered made up 20% of all Disney+ Hotstar mminutes consumed in December 2020, according to researchers at Media Partners Asia (MPA), a regional consultancy firm.

The service, which adopts the Subscription Video on Demand business model, became popular when Disney partnered with Indonesia's wireless network provider Telkomsel, allowing the company to market Disney+ Hotstar with its mobile data plans.

The Hotstar average monthly subscription ranges from $0.80 to $1.40 for Telkomsel users and $1.10 to $2.60 for direct subscribers. Those subscription fees are less than Netflix's mobile plan which costs $3.60 per month while other Netflix services range between $8.10 and $12.50 in Indonesia.

Around 3% or slightly over eight million people of the total Indonesian population are subscribing to SVoD services, as opposed to 850,000 Netflix subscribers, the data shows.

Indonesia had an estimated 3.4 million streaming subscribers before Disney+ launched its Hotstar service in the country. This figure increased 106% to around 7 million as of January 16, according to MPA's report. 

"The growth of SVoD in Indonesia, the most populous market in Asia after China and India, is encouraging but has a long way to go," MPA Vice President Anthony Dobson told the Hollywood Reporter, noting that just 10% of Indonesian households are currently streaming subscribers. 

READ MORE: The 10 biggest Netflix original movies of all time

Disney's global SVoD expansion "has been a success to date" and could secure over 90 million subscribers in India if it can obtain key sports rights and continue to deliver local original content, MPA said earlier this month.

Other analysts also agree that both Indonesia and India are promising markets for Disney+ as they represented around 18.4 million of the streaming service's subscribers in 2020. India has the potential to become Disney+'s largest market with a massive population of 1.3 billion in the country,  David Heger an analyst at Edward Jones told Fortune.

"What we've done in India will help illustrate how we have adapted our approach," said Chairman or International Operations and Direct-to-Consumer at The Walt Disney Company Rebecca Campbell during Disney Investor Day in December. "With a rapidly growing middle class and expanding discretionary spending, India is a promising market opportunity and we are uniquely positioned to succeed in India due to our existing presence with Star TV and Hotstar digital brands."

Even though Netflix has been around for over a decade, Disney+ obtained 86.6 million subscribers as of December 2, which is 44% of Netflix's total subscribers worldwide. Of the 86.6 million subscribers, 30% are Hotstar subs.

In December, Disney+ announced that it will launch in the South Korea and Hong Kong markets in 2021 as well as Eastern Europe markets. 

—Disney (@Disney) December 10, 2020

Online video revenue in the Asia Pacific region is expected to reach $50 billion by 2024 due to a developed payment infrastructure and better access to local content, according to a 2020 report by Media Partners Asia.

Read More: Netflix added 8.5 million paid subscribers in Q4, surpassing 200 million for the first time despite slowed growth following a massive pandemic-driven spike

• An early bitcoin adopter says the best time to buy is when no one's talking about it.
• He started out with an initial purchase of 2.5 bitcoins in 2013, when the token was trading around $100. 
• The buyer, who prefers to remain anonymous, lost 16 bitcoins in the 2014 Mt. Gox scandal.
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The ultimate time to buy bitcoin is when no one is talking about it, according to one early adopter.

"The best time to buy bitcoin is whenever blood is on the street, everyone's panicking, and no one's talking about it," the investor, who prefers to remain anonymous, told Insider in a phone interview from Manila, Philippines. 

In 2013, he made an initial purchase of 2.5 bitcoins from a seller who went by the name "Mang Sweeney" on LocalBitcoins.com when the cryptocurrency was trading at $100 per coin. "Mang" denotes a sign of respect in the local language in the Philippines. 

At the time, the platform allowed face-to-face meetings, after which the seller would transfer the cryptocurrency on-the-spot via their laptop or mobile. Mang Sweeney was already trading bitcoin when it was worth $10 a coin since speculative buying and selling was popular even then, according to the anonymous buyer.

Still, online interest in bitcoin in 2013-14 was nowhere near current levels. A chart below shows how Google searches for "bitcoin" in the Philippines have risen steadily since that period, then hit a peak in late 2017 when its price shot to a record high. It declined throughout 2018, but has returned in the last year.

Read more: An engineer-turned global macro investor breaks down why bitcoin is so volatile - and shares 3 reasons why she remains bullish about the digital asset

"People forget this isn't the first bubble," the investor said. "Until people understand the technology of it, it will always be a speculative asset."

The early bitcoin buyer said he doesn't advise friends and family to trade the token when it's stuck in bubble territory. "When no one wants to touch it, that's when you buy it. Not when people are talking about it," he said.

Bitcoin's deflationary nature discourages using it as a real currency, according to him. He lost 16 bitcoins in the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox, one of the few exchanges that early adopters could trade on. It closed abruptly in 2014 following its collapse after hackers apparently raided the exchange. Almost 850,000 bitcoins belonging to investors were lost. 

Read more: This day trader just made the biggest trade of his career exploiting the momentum around bitcoin. Here's how he did it - and his 4-step strategy for identifying speculative themes to trade.

Anyone talking up the $100,000-$150,000 level, according to him, are actually unloading their bitcoin investments bit by bit while saying it'll get to a certain price because some of them have already accumulated large amounts. 

"The only reason I would tell people to dabble in it is because it's important to understand how it works and how to take care of it. If you don't know your way around passwords or simple two-factor authentication then you're going to get creamed. People will steal your bitcoin," he warned.

But there are voices cautioning investors who are beginning to view bitcoin as digital gold.

"For bitcoin to be considered in a portfolio and to become an investable asset, similar to gold, the asset would need to improve the risk-return profile of that portfolio," said Gerald Moser, chief market strategist at Barclays Private Bank. "This seems a tall order."

While it is near impossible to forecast an expected return for bitcoin, its volatility makes the asset almost "uninvestable" from a portfolio perspective, he said.

Read more: GOLDMAN SACHS: These 22 stocks still haven't recovered to pre-pandemic levels - and are set to explode amid higher earnings in 2021 as the economy recovers

• Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top disease expert, said he was "blocked" under the Trump administration from going on  MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow" show. 
• "I've been wanting to come on your show for months and months," Fauci told Maddow Friday.
• Fauci has openly expressed his feelings about working under Biden compared to when he previously worked on the coronavirus task force under Trump. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor, said that he could not go on "The Rachel Maddow Show," as he was "blocked" from doing so under the Trump administration. 

"I've been wanting to come on your show for months and months. You've been asking me to come on your show for months and months," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious, told Maddow in an interview Friday. "And it's just gotten blocked. Let's call it what it is. It just got blocked because they didn't like the way you handle things, and they didn't want me on."

Trump had repeatedly attacked MSNBC and its reporters during his presidency, even mocking a reporter who had been shot by police with a rubber bullet at anti-racism protests last May. 

Fauci said that health officials would be more present and available to the media under Biden's new administration. 

"I think you're going to see a lot of transparency," Fauci said. "You might not see everyone as often as you want, but you're not going to see deliberate holding back of good people when the press asks for them." 

—Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) January 23, 2021

A day before Biden's inauguration, the nation's top disease expert said serving in Trump's administration was " somewhat awkward." At the start of the pandemic in the US, Fauci was reportedly barred from speaking publicly about COVID-19 without approval. When he later warned against lifting lockdown measures too soon, Fauci disappeared from TV appearances. 

"I don't take any great pleasure in criticizing presidential leadership or the people around the president, but we had a situation where science was distorted and/or rejected," Fauci said. "And a lot of pressure was put on individuals and organizations to do things that were not directly related to what their best opinion would be vis-a-vis the science," Fauci told Maddow. 

Fauci also recalled that he "resisted" that pressure and "had to do something that was not comfortable" by "directly contradicting the president and some of the people around the president who were saying things that were not consistent with the science."

In an interview with CNN Friday, Fauci said Biden wants to "reset" the nation's approach to the virus and "let the science speak."

"We've really got to restore trust and restore a unified approach," he said.

During a White House briefing earlier this week, Fauci stated," it is somewhat of a liberating feeling" to no longer work under Trump, who repeatedly undermined his assessments and guidance about the pandemic.

"The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence - what the science is, and know that's it, let the science speak, it is somewhat of a liberating feeling," Fauci said. 

Read more:

Fauci says it's 'a liberating feeling' to work for Biden instead of Trump, who made claims 'not based on scientific fact'

Fauci said the US's COVID-19 vaccines are powerful enough that they should be able to shoulder new strains of the infection with limited impact on efficacy

Fauci says the US could see a 'degree of normality' by the fall if 70-85% are vaccinated by the end of summer

• SpaceX said on Saturday it scrubbed its launch of 143 satellites. 
• "Due to unfavorable weather, we are standing down from today's launch," Elon Musk's company said on Twitter.
• The launch is now scheduled for Sunday, January 24, at 10 a.m. on the East Coast, the company said. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Elon Musk's SpaceX on Saturday said it had scrubbed its plan to launch a rocket with 143 satellites and other payload, adding that it would try again Sunday. 

"Due to unfavorable weather, we are standing down from today's launch," the company posted on Twitter. 

—SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 23, 2021

The company said it would move its Falcon 9 launch of Transporter-1 to January 24 "with a 22-minute window opening at 10:00 a.m EST."

Saturday's launch in Florida had a 42-minute window, opening at 9:40 a.m. on the East Coast, according to the company's launch website. On board were 133 commercial and government Seattleites along with 10 Starlink satellites. 

—SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 22, 2021

Saturday's launch would have been "the most spacecraft ever deployed on a single mission," the company said, surpassing the previous 104-satellites launched in 2017 by India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

The latest SpaceX mission comes after Wednesday's successful launch of 60 Starlink satellites, a small portion of the 42,000 satellites SpaceX plans to launch to create a superfast global broadband service. 

Read more: Here's how many millions of users Starlink may need to break even if it loses $2,000 for every satellite dish it sells, according to experts

That launch was also delayed because of unfavorable weather conditions. SpaceX in January also delayed a launch for its Starship rocket prototype, after its first attempt exploded on the landing pad.  

On Friday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he was excited for the launch, which is part of a new ride-share program to provide small satellite operators affordable access to space. 

"Launching many small satellites for a wide range of customers tomorrow," he wrote on Twitter. "Excited about offering low-cost access to orbit for small companies!"

• Several GOP senators expressed opposition to Biden's stimulus plan in recent days.
• Several moderate Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins, are skeptical of the plan's large cost.
• The opposition imperils the package's new measures of stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment insurance.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion economic rescue package ran into opposition from moderate Republican senators in recent days, imperiling the odds of a speedy passage for an early White House priority.

The Biden administration is moving to garner bipartisan support for the plan. Brian Deese, the National Economic Council Director, said during a press conference on Friday the White House is pitching it to a working group of 16 centrist Democratic and GOP senators in a Sunday call.

"We're at a precarious moment for the virus and economy," Deese said during a press conference on Friday. "We risk falling into a very serious economic hole, even more serious than the crisis we find ourselves in."

The proposal contains measures such as a $1,400 boost to stimulus checks, enhanced unemployment insurance, aid to state and local governments, and vaccine funds. It needs 10 Republican votes to clear the Senate.

Several moderate Republicans who form part of the bipartisan group, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, were skeptical of the plan's large cost ahead of the meeting. 

"It's hard for me to see when we just passed $900 billion of assistance why we would have a package that big," Collins told Insider in a brief Thursday interview on Capitol Hill.  "Maybe a couple of months from now, the needs will be evident and we will need to do something significant, but I'm not seeing it right now."

She added she was "sympathetic" to directed spending on measures like vaccine distribution.

Other GOP senators struck a similar tone. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a member of the Senate Finance Committee that presides over economic matters, said he wanted to hear "justification" from the White House about why Congress needed to enact another large rescue package. 

"It seems to be trying to go after things that have already been addressed," Cassidy said in a recent Capitol Hill interview, adding it didn't appear to be "targeted" spending. He was critical of a provision to enact a $400 federal unemployment benefit until September.

Then Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told reporters on Friday: "My focus is to see where's the need, and let's make sure that the numbers are real based upon need, as opposed to simply looking for more stimulus."

Many experts are urging lawmakers to support robust federal spending to combat the economic and public health devastation caused by the pandemic. The economy shed 140,000 jobs last month, and the number of Americans who have died from COVID-19 reached 412,000 on Friday - surpassing the number of US combat dead in World War II.

Yet rising resistance among Republicans against the emergency spending package is creating a path laden with obstacles for the Biden administration. 

Democrats could opt for a legislative maneuver called budget reconciliation to circumvent Republicans in a chamber split 50-50. That only needs a simple majority, though Democratic control of the Senate hinges on a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris.

The process sets up a very slim margin for error and it could scale back some of the plan's components to comply with strict budgetary rules. President Barack Obama used it to enact the Affordable Care Act a decade ago, while Republicans approved a large corporate tax cut in 2017 under President Donald Trump.

It may also be a time-consuming procedure at a moment the White House is eyeing swift action to fight the pandemic. Democrats have not ruled out using it to pass economic relief.

"There's clearly an interest in being bipartisan wherever you can," Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, incoming chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview on Friday.  "But when there's an effort to tie everything up in knots just to prevent coming through for people who are jobless and hungry, and really can barely keep a roof over [their] head, then you gotta act."

Other hurdles complicating the timeline of a relief bill include a second Trump impeachment trial and confirmation of Biden's cabinet nominees. Republican and Democratic Senate leaders struck an agreement on Friday to delay the start of the trial for two weeks, though they haven't reached a deal on the filibuster.

Meanwhile, Biden signed an executive order to boost food stamps and accelerate the delivery of stimulus checks to millions of eligible Americans who didn't already receive one.

"We cannot, will not let people go hungry. We cannot let people be evicted because of nothing they did themselves.  They cannot watch people lose their jobs," Biden said at a signing ceremony on Friday. "And we have to act.  We have to act now."

• The following is an excerpt from "The Hype Handbook: 12 Indispensable Success Secrets From the World's Greatest Propagandists, Self-Promoters, Cult Leaders, Mischief Makers, and Boundary Breakers."
• In it, author Michael F. Schein writes that people are uncomfortable with the natural messiness of human behavior and will pay a lot to feel as if they have a method to control chaos.
• If you use a brand of scientific hype — purporting data and certainty — people will be drawn to believe you and see your work as credible.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

There are few accolades more prestigious in higher education than a master of business administration from Harvard Business School. Its alumni have filled the C-suites and corporate boards of America for more than a century. As the first postgraduate business school, HBS is the template for every MBA program that followed.

The principles on which the Harvard Business School curriculum is based come directly from the ideas of turn-of-the-20th century thinker and writer Frederick Winslow Taylor - the originator of a discipline called "scientific management."

In a series of lectures delivered from the study of his mansion in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania (later captured in his book The Principles of Scientific Management), Taylor told his devoted listeners the story of a machine shop that had hired him to advise the shop during the early days of his career. While there, he hit upon a method of using mathematical analysis and behavioral engineering to dramatically improve the efficiency of the company's pig iron loading operation.

His findings would go on to form the basis of a revolution in industrial organization. Moreover, the idea that you could manipulate the messy province of human behavior through precise measurement and strict control was irresistible to those tasked with educating future captains of industry.

Taylor explained increases in productivity with formulas such as B 5 (p 1 [a 1 b 1 d 1 f 1 distance hauled/100 3 (c 1 e)]27/L) (1 1 P)*. He presented instructions for how managers should interact with their workers in terms of unalterable principles having more in common with Newton's laws of thermodynamics than with the gut-based decision-making that had preceded him. He kept his rules and stories exactly the same from meeting to meeting and lecture to lecture.

To this day, much of what is taught about industrial production is based on what Frederick Taylor put forth. However, almost all of the broad, scientific principles he presented as ironclad facts were based on nothing more than a single, non reproducible example.

Even the quickest deep dive into Taylor's "scientific management" would have revealed inconsistencies betraying a complete lack of true scientific method to anyone who might have cared to ask. Yet for the longest time, no one ever really did. Why? Because he unfailingly used a brand of scientific hype consisting of two equally balanced parts - data and certainty. In the words of Matthew Stewart, who relates this story in his book The Management Myth, "Frederick Winslow Taylor told the pigiron story so often and so well that ... critics and sympathizers alike simply assumed it was true. But it was not." 

Read more: How to write and deliver effective virtual presentations, according to a former television anchor and communication expert

The real world - especially when it comes to human behavior - is messy, and this is uncomfortable for many people. Formulas, laws, and unchanging principles allow people to feel they have a bulwark against this chaos, and they will pay a lot for this feeling.

Frederick Taylor's success didn't come about because his ideas were unsubstantiated but, rather, in spite of it. If you are struggling to gain traction around a legitimate new idea, business, or cause, elements of his strategy will prove useful in your mission to stand out and build momentum.

Always speak with complete certainty. Present your ideas as if they were truths on par with the theory of relativity. Use numbers. Find relevant statistics and cite them publicly whenever possible. Today, the internet allows you to access and compile real data from the widest variety of sources. Surround your claims with well-researched credibility signals, and you'll be able to create the Frederick Taylor effect on behalf of something real.

Throughout my research on hype, I have discovered hype artists who have used scientific lingo to get people to accept what they offered without question. I have also examined entrepreneurs who have found credibility in uncommon places and used it to persuade people to give them a chance. 

To be sure, in a digitally enhanced world where blatantly false claims can be uncovered in no time, pure deceit will only subvert your goals. 

Fortunately, even the most upright businesspeople and creators can use the underlying principles of hype artists at every stage of their careers. Dig deep and find exalted words for everyday things. Look for opportunities in areas in which you can see details that members of your potential audience cannot. And always remember that credibility is in the eye of the beholder. It is up to you to shape how you are beheld.

Putting it into practice

• Instead of using jargon that other people have come up with, create your own. Use it whenever possible. Doing this will convey instant expertise.
• Take your most important concepts and develop 10 punchy statements that each start with an action verb.
• Use numbers. Research statistics and cite them publicly. Refer to mathematical formulas. Talk about data. Even just using the word "data" will provide much of the desired effect.

Excerpted from "The Hype Handbook: 12 Indispensable Success Secrets From the World's Greatest Propagandists, Self-Promoters, Cult Leaders, Mischief Makers, and Boundary Breakers, in agreement with McGraw Hill." Copyright © Michael F. Schein 2021.

Michael F. Schein is the founder and president of MicroFame Media, a marketing agency that specializes in making idea-based companies famous in their fields. Some of his clients have included eBay, Magento, LinkedIn, The Medici Group, Ricoh, and Citrix. His book The Hype Handbook: 12 Indispensable Success Secrets From the World's Greatest Propagandists, Self-Promoters, Cult Leaders, Mischief Makers, and Boundary Breakers, published by McGraw Hill, is currently appearing where books are sold.

• Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a recent interview that "everybody across this country" is to blame for the Capitol riots.
• McCarthy pointed to Trump, Democrats, social media, and botched public safety efforts in his reasoning.
• He then stressed that Trump "had some responsibility when it came to the response."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in an interview that will air on Sunday that "everybody across this country" is to blame for the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riots, just days after saying that former President Donald Trump "bears responsibility" for the siege.

The California Republican, who spoke with Gray Television's Greta Van Susteren, rattled off groups that he feels have shared responsibility for the riots, which included Trump, Democrats, social media users, and law enforcement.

"I also think everybody across this country has some responsibility," he said during the interview. "Think about four years ago after President Trump was sworn in. What happened the very next day? The title was resist with people walking in the streets."

McCarthy then pointed to fellow a Californian, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, for her vocal opposition to Trump administration officials, before pivoting to social media discourse and members of law enforcement in further explaining his belief of collective responsibility.

"What do we write on our social media?," he said. "What do we say to one another? How do we disagree and still not be agreeable even when it comes to opinion?"

He added: "The FBI knew that this was planned. The FBI knew so many days in advance...told the Capitol Police. I am the Republican leader...no one told us. What did the sergeant-at-arms know? Why didn't he allow the National Guard in there? These are the people that have a great deal of responsibility for protecting the Capitol and letting the Capitol get broken into."

Five people were killed in the riots, including Brian Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer.

While debating Trump's impeachment on the House floor on Jan. 13, McCarthy criticized the former president's role in the riots, a rare time when he publicly strayed from him.

Read More: Mitch McConnell is telling GOP senators their decision on a Trump impeachment trial conviction is a 'vote of conscience'

"The President bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters," he said. "He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding."

However, during a Jan. 21 press conference, McCarthy claimed that Trump didn't incite the rioting.

"I don't believe he provoked, if you listen to what he said at the rally," he said.

When speaking with Van Susteren, McCarthy denied that he shifted his position about Trump's role in the riots.

"No, I have not changed in that," he said. "What I said, I thought the president had some responsibility when it came to the response."

McCarthy then said that government officials need to find out what went wrong in preventing the riots.

"I think this is what we have to get to the bottom of, and when you start talking about who has responsibilities, I think there's going to be a lot more questions, a lot more answers we have to have in the coming future."

House Democrats, with the aid of 10 Republican members, impeached Trump for "incitement of insurrection," becoming the first president in US history to be impeached twice. In 2019, Trump was impeached by the House on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over the Ukraine scandal.

Trump's Senate impeachment trial is set to begin on Feb. 9.