the january 6 committee exposing the big lie, piece by piece. the doj reviewing mark meadows criminal referral after the votes to hold him in contempt. and the omicron variant. and more than 80 million americans from the rockies and midwest under high wind alerts tonight, as powerful storms topple tractor trailers on the

interstate, highways and spawn tornadoes. my next guest knows the dig liar well. joining me now is mary trump, donald trump's niece. good evening. good to see you. let's get right to it. so we are learning so many new details about what was happening inside the white house on january 6. 187 minutes of your uncle reportedly reveling in the destruction of the day. it's all been revealed, but publicly he is still pushing the big lie. why do people buy it? >> one of the biggest problems we have right now in the country is that news is so siloed. people who watch fox probably didn't see one second of the

hearing that the january 6 committee put on when they were considering whether or not to hold mark meadows in conternmpt. so they're only getting the spin and none of the facts. i think this has been a huge problem all throughout starting with his candidacy. people get very selective information, and so much of it is either skewed or entirely inaccurate and false. >> let's talk about these texts. texts from your cousin, don jr. to mark meadows. he's got to condemn this shit asap. the capitol police tweet is not enough. are you surprised he was going to the chief of staff to get ahold of his own father? >> no, it doesn't surprise me at all. on the one hand, i kind of like to think that it's because he knew donald wouldn't answer his

phone calls. but i think the answer is even worse. it's that donnie knew that things were going south, and that they were all on the wrong side of this, and yet he also knew that the message he had to send his father was a message his father did not want to hear. and don, he's a coward, and he did not want to face it himself. so he basically outsourced it to mark meadows. >> this is what a source is telling cnn, that your uncle, the former president, is annoyed with mark meadows and feeling blind sided by the material handed over. meadows is trying to have it both ways, handed over documents but refusing to testify. you would think he would realize only undying feelty is acceptable here. how is this going to end, do you think? >> it is kind of odd, right? that's one of the few things

that surprises me that meadows was so forthcoming with the committee before changing his mind about showing up in person. but yet he had already handed over so much damning information. i don't really know how he thinks he's going to get out of this, unless, you know, he's been paying attention and he's seen in the past how people always manage to get back into donald's good grace it is they know how to handle him. but still, i -- this is game changing potentially, right? we were looking at a situation now where not only has meadows apparently thrown himself under the bus, but he has allowed the committee to draw a straight line from donald trump to the insurrection. >> well, yes, i understand that part of it. but doesn't he -- when will

people at some level realize, you know, that old saying everything that trump touches dies. look at the people who have been involved with him, the people who carried his water, most of them have gotten into trouble. the people that got out of trouble were only pardoned, and he doesn't have that power any more. don't these people understand they're in a world of trouble and donald trump can't pardon them? >> no, and i think it's because people who are around donald think that there's something special about them. they remind me of people who smoke and think that it's never going to catch up with them, you know? they're going to be the one person who is always the favored one, who is always the one who gets away with it. a lot of people have still gotten away with it. bannon has gotten away with it. and donald's children, and many, many other people, actually, in the executive branch, continue

to get away wit. let alone members of congress. so i think they continue to bet on the side of doing what donald has been doing his entire life, brazening through it and getting away with it in the end. >> uh-huh. listen, cnn spoke with one of the organizers of the january 6 rally who met with the select committee. his name is dustin stockman. this is what he said about the rioters. >> they were absolutely looking for his twitter account for guidance. i mean, they were looking to hear instructions from the president. and they weren't getting it, so they continued to do what they were doing, it seemed like. man, it -- that was the point for me -- it feels like when you get conned, right? like when you finally realize and the shade is pulled from your eyes and you just look back at all the different warning signs you should have picked up

on. >> listen, he said basically what i was thinking, the curtain has been pulled back. do you think more people will see the light, like stockman? do you think the fever has broken or no? >> you know, i think the fact that the committee hearings were televised is a huge watershed moment, and may, indeed, be history altering. they need to continue doing that. again, as i said earlier, there are some people who will never see it, because they're only watching fox news -- sorry, i shouldn't say fox news. they're watching fox or oan or news max. however, the more information that comes out, the less it's going to be possible for people to ignore it, because it's just going to seep into the main stream cob snsciousness, right? so i do hope more people like that will come to their senses and realize not just that it

peoples like they were conned, but that they actually were conned. >> mary trump, always a pleasure. thank you so much. >> thank you. let's bring in cnn's chief legal analyst jeffrey toobin and laura cotes. she has a new book coming out in january titled "just pursuit, a black prosecutor's fight for fairness." good evening to both of you. jeffrey, before we get into the nitty gritty of, this it seems very clear that we almost had a coup last time. as you look at what happened since january 6, do you have any doubt that the same people would try again next time? and the question is, might they succeed? >> well, the odds are better this time, because they will have learned from the last -- from the last, uh, experience, about what they can do. but let's just talk about, you know, what we have -- what we are learning about what's gone on at the white house, you know, between november and january. i mean, the -- the -- the degree

to which the entire white house was fixated on trying to overturn this election, and, you know, what i don't think enough people have focused on is that in the past week, the district court in washington, two different judges, have said, you know, when you go into the congress and try with corrupt means to overturn an election, that's obstruction of justice. that's a crime. and so the number of people who are at risk of prosecution has really gone up in the past couple weeks, because, you know, we have seen the degree to which not just, you know, the mopes and the morons who were breaking down the doors at the -- at the capitol, but the people who were directing them and using the political means and the political in the willard hotel and the people in the white house itself. those people are now at greater risk, and, you know, this justice department is not done

with this investigation. >> let's -- let's talk more about that. because this is from "the new york times" reporting tonight, laying out how six members of the house freedom caucus worked with the trump white house to try to overturn the election. they were pressuring the doj to investigate fraud claims and planning how to disrupt the certification process. and it all started right after the election was called. this was a deliberate campaign, but if the gop takes the house next year, jim jordan, he's going to be leading the judiciary committee. what impact do you think that would have? >> i mean, it's just -- you know, i -- just going back to the phrase that we used, or at least i used over and over again during the trump presidency, which is, this is all shocking but it's not surprising. these people have no respect for the democratic process. they have no acknowledgement to this day that joe biden won this election. and they were using corrupt means, lying to the public,

hiing to congress, lying to the courts, about what happened in this election. and we'll see if they suffer any consequences for it. >> they told a lie so much they believe it. >> that's -- that's a great question i always wondered and i don't know the answer. hook how often president trump told falsehoods, how many he believed and how many he knew he was lying. i don't know the answer to that. >> laura, what do you think? >> i think they believe none of what they are saying, but hoping they are the smartest people in the room and they're duping the electorate. frankly, people that they hope will support them, that they continue to allow the big lie to grow. what you're seeing is further indication. what we saw on january 6 was no coincidence. it was really the middle of the story. there was so much work and coordination that went into what we eventually saw.

and people were at risk and people were injured. at least one person was shot. you have officers fighting for their lives and on behalf of the lives of people who we're now learning were somehow involved or trying to perpetuate, and the way that congresswoman liz cheney and others have phrased it, it's the idea of what they did do and failed to do. and jeffrey makes a great point about the idea what the district courts said about criminal behavior. the january select committee, their job is -- they've referred people for criminal proceedings for contempt. but remember, during the investigation, it could ultimately transform into a criminal prosecution, if doj sees fit, based on the very same thing, except you have people not coming from the outside to do harm, but from within. an implosion of our democratic values. so i think -- i just can't give the benefit of the doubt that you would be an elected

official, you would understand how you got elected into office. and then you would think somehow that the rules of the electoral process did not apply to anyone you did not want to be in office. they're not layman. they are legislative officials, and they know better, and the idea of being the quote unquote freedom caucus really is rich at best at this point. >> and laura talks about those texts that -- that liz cheney read at -- at the hearing the other day. and to me, you know, it's -- it's beyond simply the inaction, the failure to stop the riots. think about, you know, the fact that donald trump, jr., the fact that all those fox hosts were saying, get the president to stop this. what does that mean? it means the president was the person who started it. if he's the one who can stop it, he started it. and that's a criminal undertaking.

you know, organizing the riot and supporting and sponsoring and encouraging that riot is a crime. and -- and -- you know, the justice department is getting closer to proving that people at very high levels nos authorized supported this -- >> that was probably the only time when he could have fixed it and moved slowly to do so. laura, all this new information shows from election day through january 6, you said we picked this up in the middle. mark meadows was personally involved in all kinds of ways, trying to overturn the will of the people. his fate is now in the hands of the attorney general. so what do you think is going to happen there? >> well, i think the delays you saw in contemplating about what to do in the steve bannon case are not going to be there any longer.

they were able to expect and i guess anticipate what would come down the line, the copy cat of the steve bannons, the additional assertions of priv privilege. but neither bannon or mark meadows has a legitimate claim of executive privilege here. mark meadows, he would have a more favorable valid claim of prich lidge to the extent he had privileged communication. but he told the committee what he handed over he does not believe is privileged. they have nothing to do with direct communication with the president of the united states. there's no conceivable claim they had communication with fox news hosts or members of congress would translate into executive trifprivilege. so he cut off his nose to spite his face. the doj should move quickly on this matter.

but there is still the looming supreme court offer in terms of the district court said listen, you have a two weeks head start here. former president trump to ask the supreme court to look into the national archives. they are looking at what the courts might ultimately say about the assertion. but they have a clear cut case of validly issued subpoena, and one that was not complied with. >> and just one more weakness in meadows' case, which is he wrote a book about all this stuff. he told the story. he told the world for profit about his communications with the president. you can't do that and turn around and say i -- >> yes, you can. he's doing it. >> laura knows there's a legal concept called waiver. you waive the right to claim secrecy when you write a book about something. >> and it's also called --

>> hoozbah. >> thank you both. so covid slamming pro sports and forcing fee players to miss games. how worried should we be about a winter surge? >> yes, there will be breakthrough infections, no doubt about that. which know that from the emerging experience we're getting from people in south africa, and particularly in the uk. we will be seeing that in this country.

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very, very important that you pay attention to this next segment, okay? because covid is wreaking havoc in the nfl and other places. let's talk about the nfl first. cleveland browns quarterback baker mayfield joining several teammates added to the covid reserve, after the team's head coach tested positive. this week alone, at least 65 nfl

players testing positive. it is important to note, though, most of these are asymptomatic cases. here's the thing, here in new york city tonight, "hamilton" is now the sixth broadway show to cancel a performance due to covid this week. so joining me now to discuss this is the medical director for the national foundation for infectious diseases. good evening, doctor. this is, i think, getting bad here. i don't want to alarm people, but we should take some precautions. it's not just the nfl going through this, the nba postponing games due to covid for the first time this season. why are we seeing so many cases like this? >> well, don, covid has done it again. it's thrown us a curve, high and tight. and it's called omicron. and this is an extraordinarily infectious variant. even more infectious than delta. and although our vaccines look

as though they can provide, if they're boosted, some protection against being admitted to the hospital, it looks as though this omicron variant can even infect people who have been previously vaccinated. as you just said, it often doesn't make them sick at all or it just gives them a bad cold. but nonetheless, it can be transmitted. and you can spread it to other people. some of whom are unvaccinated and at greater risk. so it's now spreading very rapidly. if you're in a circumstance such as cornell university, or the national football league where they do regular testing, you're going to find these people who have infection, but they feel otherwise fine. and that's bringing up the cases and demonstrating how widely and rapidly this omicron variant is spreading in our country right

now. >> doctor, as we face concerns about omicron and the winter surge, two airline ceos are questioning whether we still need masks on planes. listen to this. >> i think the case is very strong that masks don't add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment. is it very safe and high quality compared to any other indoor setting. >> i concur. the aircraft is the safest place you can be. it's true of all of our aircraft. they all have these filters and air flow. >> omicron is perhaps the most transmissible variant so far. this seems like the opposite of what we need. but i could be wrong. what do you think? >> well, i don't concur with those folks, those ceos. because, yes, the air handling in aircraft is often excellent. however, even with that in the past, we've had tcases of tb

transmitted on aircraft. so there have been many demonstrations that that probably could have been suppressed had these people been wearing masks. and personal anecdotes i've been on several flights where i know i've picked up a cold or other respiratory virus, because somebody in the same row several seats away, or the row in front of me i remember vividly, were coughing and sneezing. sure enough, two days after i got home, i was skaufi coughing sneezing. i picked it up on the plane. the air handling is not sufficient. we need to keep wearing masks in those circumstances. >> new modeling data suggests that omicron variant could double cases every two days. pair that with the delta variant

and just the normal flu, are we on the brink of a terrible wave of illness and do we have the testing or the health care capacity for what could be coming, doctor? >> well, certainly we could use more testing. testing strategies would help us as they have helped the europeans deal with this. we could talk about that a little bit. but the other thing is, yes, we are going to see more cases with omicron, and once it gets out into that part of the population, for example, the rural counties in tennessee that are really undervaccinated, it's going to go through those counties infecting people and sending many of them, i'm afraid, to the hospital. and then if you combine that with the flu, which is just waking up now around the country, and starting to spread, we could have another winter that really strains our health care facilities for sure. >> oh, boy.

thank you, doctor. i appreciate it. joe biden's massive spending bill, looking like it could be punted into next year, and it's members of his own party creating the stand still. get your zzz's... and get back to your rhythm. ♪ the relief you need. the cash you want.

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why he's still at odds with biden over the build back better plan. >> i want to make sure that we're transparent with the public. [ inaudible ] >> so let's discuss now. kirsten powers is here, charlie dent, as well. good evening. charlie, you just heard joe manchin. the child tax credit is central to the bill. how big of a blow is this to joe biden? >> i think it's a bit of a blow, but i don't think anybody should be surprised. i've been saying for months that i will be shocked if this bill in any form passed before christmas. i think it's in real trouble. i think joe manchin wants this bill to be scored fairly and the cbo just came out with a score,

and the numbers weren't pretty. pen warton said the same thing and he's concerned about the size and scope of this. he is not a progressive, he's a fairly conservative guy. and so nobody should be shocked that manchin is pumping the breaks. his people in west virginia i do not believe are supportive of this build back better. and that's why he's so hesitant and resistant. >> kirsten, sources are saying democrats are preparing to push the bill to next year. how progressives feeling tonight? it's been a month since biden signed the infrastructure bill into law. they were sure they had an agreement with this. do you think this will put the party even further apart? >> well, i think it's extremely frustrating for progressives, because exactly what you just said. there was a deal that was struck. i think charlie's right, people are realistic, realizing that,

you know, it may not happen this year. i don't think that means that it won't happen. but the problem continues really to be joe manchin, primarily. and it seems that he's not willing to give that much. and the progressives are very aligned with joe biden's agenda. so it's not that they're wildly out of step with, you know, moderate democrats, moderate democrats in the house that supported this. so i think it is frustrating that everything is being held up by one man. >> charlie, there's also a new cnn poll out showing 54% disapprove of the way biden is handling the economy, up five points from late summer. people are angry about the rise in the cost of everyday goods. the question is, are they in a position to fix it right now? >> i don't think they're in much of a position to fix it, because the big concern of rising prices

is inflation. unlike unemployment which affects most directly those who are unemployed, inflation is seen and felt by most people because they have to pay more. and so this is -- and i don't know that the president has the ability to control that. maybe the fed does by raising interest rates. but biden has a problem here. his sagging approval largely tied to the economy and also crime. we have a crime problem in this country. biden was not elected to be fdr, he was elected to be normal and stop the chaos. many people elected biden thought he was a transitional figure, not a transformational one. so i said this has been a misreading of his mandate, and that's largely why he's in trouble. those numbers have only gotten worse. so i don't see an easy path forward. and democrats are going to face tough times as long as his approval ratings remain as low as they are. >> kirsten, i want to continue

on. let's talk more about polling here and you can weigh in. 34% see biden as a leader. 66% have some doubts. i mean, this is what the president ran on, leadership and bringing a grownup back to the white house, right? why aren't americans feeling that? >> well, first of all, his approval rate is 49%, which in this climate is not bad. and we live in a very polarized environment. so this is not some really bottom of the barrel rating. i think that where you see people saying -- they're not enthusiastic about his leadership, it's fair to say that. that's because there's a lot of problems in this country. and the president is held accountable for pretty much everything that goes wrong. >> can i ask you something on that note? charlie just staid listen, i don't think that the president and the administration can do

much about inflation, can do much about the prices that people are -- so then if -- why tie in the agenda to build back better to try to move the country forward with something that you said is out of his purview, if he has no control over it, why tie the two together? should joe manchin be saying we're in a tie that unprecedented a t this point. the president is trying to move the country forward. we're going to have inflation regardless of the build back better or not. so maybe i should get on board with this. do you understand what i'm saying? >> yes, i do. i think that's -- i've been saying that. if i understand what you're saying, it's not -- first of all, i know charlie disagrees with me on this. but this is not inflationary. build back better is not inflationary. so for manchin to hold it up over that i think is a real -- is really misguided. i also think that it will lower costs for people, such as child

care or press description d-- prescription drug cost. so you are going to bring relief to people. so there's no magic bullet in terms of inflation or supply chain issues, things that are largely out of his control, he could be providing some relief in terms of cost. for joe manchin to be holding this up, insisting that it's inflationary when it would be largely paid for, i -- >> charlie says manchin wants to see a realistic score. i want to talk about voting rights, as well. soy need to move on. i have another guest to talk about that. thank you both. joe biden saying the single biggest issue is voting rights. but do all democrats see it that way? next. nothing kills more viruses, including the covid-19 virus,

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so joe biden making a strong statement today about congress taking up the issue of voting rights. >> there's nothing more importanting than voting rights, it's the single biggest issue. >> but voting rights legislation is stalled in the senate, blocked by republicans, two key democrats, senators manchin and sinema, are refusing to gut the f filibuster. the president of the naacp is here. thank you very much, mr. johnson. >> good to be here. >> today you bet with several democratic senators regarding

voting rights ledge shigs. but senator sinema is opposed to nuking the filibuster. any sense that she realizes how big this threat is to our democracy? >> we didn't get any sense. she didn't speak, although several other senators on the call who based on our scorecard, scored high. they moved their position. they understand the importance. senator peters organized the peting, changed his position. senator bennett. we are not in 2005 where old senate rules would apply in this political environment. we must stand up for democracy. we stood up with our currency last week, and we made exceptions. our democracy also should enjoy that same priority. we must protect the rights of voters across the country.

>> to that note, what you just said there, i'm wondering if you got any idea, if senator sinema open to a carveout of the voting rights, raising the dsealing? >> we have not gotten any indication that she's moving in that direction. but we'll continue to push. the scorecard has 13 senators that fell into this category. five changed their position since the release of the scorecard. so we will continue to push. it is absolutely important that before the end of this year, we protect the right of voters across the country. it's not a partisan issue, it is an issue of protecting the guaranteed rights under our constitution. >> so you mentioned five senators, and you mentioned john hickenlooper. after the meeting, he called for the senate to limit the use of the filibuster to protect voting rights.

so do you think we're going to see more of this, of something like this? >> well, i would hope so. when you think about some of the senators, the outcome of the election is a direct result of communities who will be impacted if we don't provide protections. at the start of the year, several legislative bodies across the country, will be convening. and they will be drawing district lines. it will be the first time since 1960s that the redirecting process will be initiated without coverage of voting right protections. so racial and political gerrymandering will drive the conversation, opposed to drawing districts that are fair and that would ensure representative democracy. >> senator raphael warnock gave a passionate speech about voting rights.

listen. >> here's the thing we must remember -- slavery was bipartisan. jim crow segregation was bipartisan. when colleagues in this chamber talk to me about bipartisanship, which i believe in, i have to ask at whose experience? >> is he right? is this push for bipartisanship coming at the expense of people of color? >> absolutely. i mean, you look at the outcome, if we have voter right protections, we have more americans who are legitimate voters, able to participate in upcoming elections free of any vote suppression measures. if we don't have voting right protectioning, we are limiting access to the ballot book, so the many americans who cast the ballot and those ballots were effective, the will of the voters can be overturned in several elections in the outcome is not to the liking of legislative bodies. that's not a demockracy.

we are not protecting democracy here. this has to be a priority. it doesn't matter what it's passed by 51 votes or 78 votes. at the end of the day, the outcome is what should drive the conversation. how senators get there is irrelevant to me. it's the outcome, and it must happen before the end of this year. >> you're meeting at the white house tomorrow, right? we want you to come back and tell us what happened. thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> i appreciate it. intense storms ripping through huge parts of the u.s. and leaving a wake of the u.s. a live report just ahead.

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so, here's some breaking news right now. millions of americans under high wind alerts tonight as a powerful storm system from the rockies moves into parts of the midwest and the great lakes. check back now with the weather center. hello again. the midwest is experiencing unprecedented weather right now. give us the latest. >> yeah, don, this is unbelievable. just looking into some of the data coming out of chicago, would you believe it is warmer right now in chicago in advance of this front, in the middle 60s, mind you, around midnight eastern in december than your hometown down in baton rouge, louisiana. speaks to the impressive nature of what's happening here. a storm that has a history of producing 350 severe wind reports. 50 of these with wind gusts over 75 miles per hour.

50 locations, towns, observation points had winds at hurricane force this afternoon as the system pushed through and it's far from over. you'll notice tornadoes, upwards of 19 records of them. that's all you'd expect in the month of december happening in a few hours. we have 50 reports just five days ago. here we go with the wind gusts. expansive area of the central plains, the upper midwest, where we have the threat in place. and yes, the storms are still rotating. the potential is there for those to spawn tornadoes. that's why we have tornado watches expanding. these nocturnal tornadoes, when you get these, historically speaking, they are about 2 1/2 times more deadly than ones during the daytime. that's why this situation becomes that much more serious. 10% chance within a 25-mile area within that area indicated in orange, rochester to waterloo, that's where the highest likelihood is to see tornadoes into the overnight hours. and this storm system has all of the elements of a winter system, a summer event and a spring event in one.

wind gusts upwards of 100 miles per hour across portions of kansas. a land-based system, not a tropical system to produce such winds, incredible setup with what has played out here. almost half a million customers, not people, customers, without power across the western half of the u.s. >> thank you very much. we will be watching this very closely. i appreciate it. and a final note. i want to send love and condolences to our colleague here at cnn, ana navarro on the passing of her mom who died last night in nicaragua at the age of 81, following an illness. ana posting this beautiful photo of her mom on instagram today. she says she wanted to visit her, but her parents asked her not to travel to nicaragua as the government there is denying entry to members of the international press and jailing its critics. may she rest in peace. our thoughts are with you, ana, we love you. thanks for watching. our coverage continues.

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hello and eye very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the ulgts and right around the world. i'm isa soares in london and just ahead on "cnn newsroom." >> i've been doing this 30 years and we're seeing things today in the cnn weather center we have never seen before. >> we are following severe weather across parts of the united states. thousands of people without power and bracing for dangerous gusts of