of the country are expected to hit 90 degrees or above in the coming week. wolf? >> cnn's tom forman, thanks very much. "erin burnett outfront" starts now. >> up next, a cnn exclusive. sources say trump's legal team is talking with key justice department officials about the criminal probe into january 6th. plus conspiracy theorist alex jones, tonight ordered by a jury to pay the parents of a 6-year-old killed in the sandy hook massacre more it and $4 million, mass shooting that jones publicly claimed was a hoax. and a reprehensible sentence, the response from the white house tonight after wnba star brittney griner was sentenced to nine years as a russian penal

colony, even as biden offered russia's most infamous prisoner to bring her home. let's go "outfront." tonight the cnn exclusive. we are learning that former president trump's legal team and the justice department are now in direct talks about the federal investigation into january 6th. this is a significant development because it is the first time that we actually know that they're talking, right? it shows trump is involved in this. the two sides are speaking. as attorney general merrick garland's investigation ramps up. according to sources, these talks revolve around conversations he would shield around federal investigators. we learned that the justice department was gearing up to battle former trump officials who might try and keep their conversations with the former president from federal investigators. i want to go straight to ka

kaitlin. what more are you learns about these talks and considering they're with the former president's attorneys, with him. what does this mean for the d.o.j.'s investigation? >> well, erin, it really is significant that they're talking here, justice department criminal investigators looking into january 6th and donald trump's defense lawyers. what they're talking about is this interest trump has to protect and keep secret if he can conversations he was having in the white house. this all is coming after a steady drum beat of developments in this grand jury investigation out of d. krc. in recent weeks. prosecutors have been asking about top trump campaign officials, they're searching devices of lawyers trump was close to after the election and then two top officials from the office of the vice president went into the grand jury and would have been able to testify about most of what they witnessed except for some of those direct conversations with trump. so over this last week, a court fight over executive privilege

has been brewing. we don't have confirmation it happened yet between trump and the justice department and then we know and were able to confirm that white house council pat cipollone was receiving subpoenas going into the grand jury. these direct talks come in between trump and the justice department. they're about preventing some of these grand jury witnesses from testifying about everything, where the lines are that trump has, that he wants to draw around himself and around the presidency. >> certainly it seems extremely significant, caitlin. so the next step then is, well, this is trump's attorneys. so he's obviously fully in the loop here. how is the former president responding to this? >> well, erin, in a lot of ways it appears to be typical trump in this situation. sources are telling our reporting teams that trump lawyers have warned him indictments are possible and they're talking about defense strategies but trump when he's

hearing this, he's asking if they really believe he would be charged with any crime or in anything would material out of this investigation or the investigation in georgia. he's not fully listening to the advice he's getting because his advisers cautioned him to stay away from people who might get swept up in the january 6th probes, including his former chief of staff mark meadows, who was so central in the white house as trump wanted to unravel his loss but meadows is still in that circle with trump and, erin, we understand they are still in touch. >> hmm. caitlin, thank you very much. with all that new reporting. let's go to kim whaley, former federal prosecutor. she's also the author of how to read the constitution and why. >> so, kim, what is the significance of this and how concerning is this as a development for former president trump?

>> well, attorney general merrick garland has been very tight lipped about this investigation, but i agree with his predecessor, eric holder, who said we are likely to see indictments of donald trump. that's kind of the big question. i do think it's coming down the pike. it sounds like the justice department is concerned about drawn out litigation around executive privilege. in this moment it's joe biden who controls executive privilege. that doesn't mean it can't get teased out and the supreme court in united states versus nixon held that grand jury investigations can supersede executive privilege. so i think donald trump is going to lose that battle, but the fact that his lawyers are engaging in this and telling him that he better beware, indictments could come, i think it's very serious news for the president but very good news for democracy, the rule of law and the constitution, frankly, erin. >> significant is you're saying that you see that, that that is

where this is going from your analysis. john, sources tell cnn that trump is talking with his visor advisers, his inner circle. the justice department is accelerating their investigation. they now have all the ducks up and it's boom, boom, boom, boom, right? it is getting closer and closer to trump. >> it certainly seems to be. this reporting is significant. it establishes the fact that the department of justice and trump's lawyers have been in direct contact. that is huge. i do think they need to be careful about saying that will necessarily lead to the indictment of the next president. we're not there yet. and i think it's important we proceed with what we know. what we do know is not only questions about privilege but also the lens seems to be focusing on the white house and people in the white house and trump's immediate orbit's role in this. let's just proceed with what we know. but it is historic what we're

learning today without getting to the question of whether or not donald trump will definitely be indicted. >> so, kim, i don't know if you remember the reporting recently on the heels of cassidy hutchinson's testimony about ketchup on the wall, that trump reached out to somebody he never ordinarily reaches out to and after that hutchinson's testimony. we know he ignored advice to not speak with former aides, specifically mark meadows, the former chief of staff. he's been instructed to stop contact with him because he could become a fact witness if he has to choose between himself and trump when it ultimately comes down to it. what does it mean for trump legally that he is reaching out to these aides when he's been told not to?

>> it just means that these conversations that he has about potentially the events leading up to, during and after january 20th, after he left office, right, january 6th, january 20th, they would not be covered by executive privilege under any conception of that because he was no longer president. so his lawyers probably said, listen, don't talk to mark meadows who is at the center of all this, cassidy hutchison, there were some allegations that his team might have sought to int interfere with her testimony. if the justice department gets him to sit down in front of a grand jury and really spill the beans and cooperate, that also bodes poorly for him, though i agree of course it's speculation. i'm just saying down the road i think it's a fair assumption that we're going to see some indictments. if not from the justice department, from the georgia probe relating to the election. >> and trump always being the

one i hope there are tapes when he knows there aren't, but it's his way to get people to question whether someone's being honest. at this point in the investigation it would seem very reasonable for a lot of people having conversations to be recording them. i'm just saying you shouldn't be talking to anybody if you're not willing to have it out there, you got to take that risk. so ty cobb told me that meadows is perfectly positioned to be the john dean of this mess. he was referring of course to nixon's former white house counsel, the watergate whistle blower. what would meadows' cooperation with federal investigators mean for trump? i mean, is he going to be the person who ultimately gets this over the line and without him it doesn't get there or not? >> well, it may very well be because presumably the chief of staff is the person who knows the most about the president's intent and state of mind in and around january 6th. the john dean parallel, nixon is as close to parallel as we've got here.

you heard the precedent of executive privilege coming up and now john dean. i actually called john dean to see what he thought of the parallel. here's what he said. there are parallels to the extent that john dean flipped when he thought he was being set up to be the fall guy. there have been suggestions that maybe he'll try to blame it on meadows or eastman and that is an issue. the difference is, though, is dean was sincere. tapes showed that he had been opposing a lot of the worst impulses inside the white house and it was a young enough man where he could remake his life. the constraints of meadows are different, it seems to me, in fundamental ways. he seems to be a go along, get along kind of guy. second of all, the impact of the partisan economy in corrupting people is profound. mark meadows role is to monetize his role as chief of staff and being a good partner to trump and the party. that's a constraining factor

that's very different than what folks in the nixon administration faced. >> thank you both very much. >> and next, pay up. a jury has just decided that alex jones, the conspiracy theorist, must be pay more than $4 million to the parents of a child killed in the sandy hook massacre. >> and she spent nine years in a penal colony. now that she's been convicted, will biden offer up more? ♪ ♪ ♪ "shake your thang" by salt n pepa lactaid is 100% real milk, just without the lactose. tastes great in our iced coffees too. which makes waking up at 5 a.m. to milk the cows

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ozempic® tri-zone. announcer: you may pay as little as $25 for a 3-month prescription. new tonight, a jury ordering s conspiracy theorist alan jones to pay the parents of a 6-year-old, jesse lewis, one of the 20 children and since adults killed in the 2012 shooting in newtown, connecticut. jones repeatedly claimed that the shooting was staged, but when it finally came now, right, ten years later to the trial, he said he now believed it to be 100% real. we didn't know when this verdict was going to come, obviously came really just before we came to air. $4 million, an award the family

had asked for $150 million. what -- how are they responding to the news? >> yeah, erin. it seems like a drop in the bucket, we've heard in this case how much money alex jones has made down through the years, tens of millions of dollars through his companies. the parents of jesse lewis responding tonight saying that they are thrilled actually with the result and look forward to putting mr. jones' money to good use but it is very far away from what they had initially asked for. >> so explain where we are because you've got this but this is not the end. i understand the jury comes back tomorrow and they're going to be talking about the punitive damages that jones may o'we if the court finds his behavior especially offense of. can you put that into english and what that means in light of the $4 we found out about today.

>> jones may have to pay up a lot move. we have seen so much evidence in this trial of how malicious so much of this behavior was and the effect that it had on families and jesse's parents in that same statement from their lawyer tonight said that, you know, jones will not sleep easy tonight. and, look, i think it's also important to point out that jones is at the nexus of so much in this country right now. and the place of this country is in and i think this trial really showed that. we saw that the real effect that these conspiracy theories and lies have on families like those, the parents of the sandy hook children, and then also of course the role that jones played in relation to january 6th and now interest in the contents of his cell phone. can you really see from the political to the very personal the effects and corrosive nature

of conspiracy theories. >> certainly obviously he's tried to declare bankruptcy. you talk about the money he's earned. it's unclear what the pay out will be, never mind what happens tomorrow. there are other legal cases facing jones, right? >> look, i think somebody pointed out during the trial that speech is free but there should be a cost to lies. jones has more legal fights ahead of him. but we've also seen on his show, on his network online that he's not stepping away, his enterprise is not stepping away from still kind of spinning all of this b.s. >> all right. thank you very much. and next, brittney griner found guilty today in moscow, sentenced to nine years in a russian prison. some sort of a penal colony. but any measure this is unjust

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moments ago 42 seconds of silence for brittney griner at tonight's phoenix mercury game. the verdict came after russia had offered the most well-known prisoner in exchange for griner. earlier griner was emotional. >> i had no intent on breaking any russian laws. i had no intent, i did not conspire or plan to commit this

crime. i made an honest mistake, and i hope that in your ruling, that it doesn't end my life here. >> today's sentence comes after griner's arrest more than five months ago at moscow's main international airport. custom said they discovered vape canisters in her luggage. president biden releasing a statement today that reads in part russia is wrongfully detaining britney, it's unacceptable and i call on russia to release her immediately. kiley atwood is at the state department. you have broken so much news on this and biden's offer of arms de dealer viktor bout to try to get greiner back. what are you learning about what the bide general administration will do next? >> no doubt that today's sentencing puts more pressure on

those negotiations, right? and i think there's a few factors to consider here, first of which the biden administration officials have always believed that a sentencing was necessary in order for a prisoner swap to actually come to fruition. so they may view this as a positive moment in the direction towards a prisoner swap because russia could come back to the table with some serious counterproposals given that the biden administration said their previous counterproposal wasn't a serious one. but you also have to consider the fact that president putin may view brittney griner as having leverage. what the white house has said thus far is they aren't willing to detail where president biden stands in terms of if he's willing to put more on the table to put a new prisoner swap on the table but the biden administration faces increasing pressure from the family, from the teammates, from the

supporters of brittney griner with one congresswoman saying today that the biden administration has more cards in the deck and essentially urging them to put a more formidable, put a heavier proposal on the table to the russians. so they are facing all of these pressures and we will watch to see how this unfolds over the next few weeks now that this critical sentencing of nine years is in. erin? >> thank you very much. let's go to democratic congressman allred. i really appreciate your time. look, you knew there was going to be a verdict. did you think it was going to be this? were you at all surprised today? >> not surprised but still heart broken because it was heart breaking to see britney in distress and see the toll this

process has taken on her. in many ways it is a positive. it is actually a positive that we've gotten to this point already. trevor reed and paul whatlen ha to wait much longer before they got their trials and sentencing. and it wasn't until the sentencing that we believed the russians would actually negotiate with us in good faith. so it is actually moving forward. as depressing as today is, seeing a nine-year sentence for such a minor thing that in most cases in russia would only result in a fine, it is actually in some ways a positive that it's happened so quickly. >> all right. so that's important to explain. but where we are is that the biden administration offered to exchange both griner and whalen for viktor bout. russian officials responded said

asked vadim, a former courage from their spy agency as well. that's been described as not a serious offer. how do you see it? do you have any sense of where negotiations stand now? >> i really can't confirm or deny any of the reports about what was exactly put forward in our package. i just know that it was a strong one and one that we have taken to the highest levels of the russian government and asked them to consider. they have said repeatedly under russian law they could not even consider a prisoner swap until this point. i think now is the time we'll see the negotiations in earnest and hope a counteroffer of some kind. we tried in working with the administration is they know we support their efforts to try to get britney and paul whelan at home. >> i'm sure i'm not alone when

i'm hearing russian saying it when they want to say it. to that effect, do you ever feel like the u.s. has given putin in any way an upper hand by making these negotiations public and, frankly, by offering something like viktor bout before there was a sentence when they knew russia was saying wait until after she's sentenced? >> i trust the administration. i think they made the fact of the offer, not the details, which is still, as i said, i'm not confirming that. but the fact that they offered public, i think they did that to make it public to show how seriously try trying to get them home. in america we value every u.s. citizens so highly that we'll do almost anything to get them home. in russia, people are expendable. some are more valuable than others in putin's russia. they'll be using this to try to

get leverage over the united states. i know the equities that the biden administration is doing is what can we do to get them home without harming the long-term national security of the united states. they're not going do that but whatever they can do to get her home as soon as possible, that clock in many ways has started now. >> i appreciate your time. thank you very much. now you've heard the congressman lay some of this house. paul colby joins me, the former chief of the cia's central yo russian officials say add the former colonel in, he's accused of murder and he's in german custody right now. so how do you see this, paul? does putin have the upper hand here or is that not the way to

look at it? >> no, i don't think that's the way to look at it. look, russia has taken political prisoners, taken hostages for decades. it's a tried and true mechanism for them to spring their own criminals or their own spies who have been caught and convicted. you go back to when colonel able was exchanged for francis gary powers, a spy pilot. there have been exchanges of prisoners for a long time. russia is always trying to trade bait. they'll manufacture cases, set people up or exploit very minor crimes with extraordinary sentences. >> you hear some people say that on some level this is personal for putin perhaps in part because of ukraine but also because of who greiner is, a member of the lgbtq community,

an african-american. is it personal for putin, this particular situation or not? >> look, i don't think anything's personal for putin. he looks at things with cold dead eyes. they simply saw a hostage that they could take that they saw would have high publicity value, high emotive value. paul whalen has sat in jail for a number of years and haven't had the same publicity. so they saw an opportunity, we're going to grab it and squeeze it for everything it's worth. it's not surprising they came out with so-called counteroffers. this guy was a bicycle assassin who gunned down a political person who gunned down a person in the middle of a park. >> so when did this happen? does this drag on for years?

does it happen sooner than that? >> i have no idea but it certainly could drag out for years. look at how long whalen has been sitting in prison. look at how long navalny is going to sit in prison. they're perfectly happy to have this play out. when they get to the right point, when they feel like they can cut a deal, when they reached that tipping point when putin perceives it to his advantage, but i think in the words of the congressman, it's important to note that the u.s. does look after its own citizens and will despite how unseemly it might seem, how unequivalent it is to trade this, we are looking out for the best for our own citizens. i simply say don't go to russia. you'll be vulnerable. >> yeah. all right, paul, thank you very much. i appreciate your perspective. and next i'm going to speak to the sister of mark fogle, who

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tonight the hometown paper of an american held prisoner in russia is calling on the biden administration to do more to get him back. mark fogle is a 61-year-old teacher from the pittsburgh area, recently sentenced to 14 years in a hard labor camp for possession of medical marijuana. 14 years in a hard labor camp. like griner, he was arrested when he arrived of russia and half an ounce of marijuana was found in his luggage. quote, while the u.s. state department treats them as wrongfully detained, it does not treat mr. fogle that way, though

he was arguably in prison for for less reasons than they were, he could miss out on potential horse trading that could bring him home from russian imprisonment." he's detained under extremely similar circumstances of brittney griner. he gets a nine-year sentence and your brother is starting a 14-year sentence in a hard labor camp. >> you can see how completely out of whack the sentencing is to the crime. especially when you're looking at the fellow that they're trying to trade for him who shot a man in broad daylight. it's so -- it's so demoralizing

that the russians are taking it to this extreme. >> and i know you said mark was given basically what amounts to a death sentence. i just want to ask you what has it been like for you to hear the u.s. government talk about brittney griner and paul whelan. i'm sure you want them to come home, too, but they're not mentioning your brother's name. >> it's really -- it's very hard to hear that. and i have not given up hope. i'm really -- i have a lot of faith that they are working some other deal, that they are going to pull some card out of their sleeve at this point. to leave him there would be really inhumane. and i know that that's not how our country works. they really can't leave him behind. he's 61. he's in there for bringing

medical marijuana in for a very chronic pain condition that he has. after he was sentenced, he fell at the detention center that he was at and he was sent to a hospital detention center and he was there up until this week. and he's miraculously been cured. and he doesn't need treatment. of course we know that that's not true. and we're just trying to bring his story to light. he can't be there. he cannot stay there. and they are to bring him home with the other two. this is the package deal for someone like viktor bout. there should be more gusto given by the government. we need more gusto for this,

better negotiating. >> have they talked to you? are they talking to you about why they haven't formally classified him as wrongfully detained yet, which is technically something they need to do to engage in any sort of prisoner swap for him? have they been responsive and explained anything to you? >> they have not really explained anything at all other than the fact that my brother perhaps didn't check a box that he should have when it came to this and giving information to family. we're really unclear on why we're not getting better information. we've had nothing really. >> and i hope that -- >> we have an outpouring of support from his students and from his colleagues. it's been amazing. there's a petition. i think there are over 12,000 signatures on it at this point. they need to listen. they need to listen.

this is an amazing person who has put so much more in than -- into american diplomacy that he's never going to get credit for. he's been teaching american and special children for 35 years. so we need them to pay attention. >> and i hope that they will. i hope that they'll hear you. obviously this is such a difficult moment but a crucial moment and hopefully one that can draw attention to your brother in addition to paul and britney. thank you so much. >> thank you so much. we really appreciate the opportunity to share the story. >> all right. well, i'm glad to talk to you. and next, the investigation that could be former president trump's biggest legal threat heating up. trump's allies are now pushing to recall the district attorney leading it. it is a long shot but this is an important story. plus jurors touring the scene of

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hybrid work is here. it's there. it's everywhere. but for someone to be able to work from here, there has to be someone here making sure everything is safe. secure. consistent. so log in from here. or here. assured that someone is here ready to fix anything. anytime. anywhere. even here. that's because nobody... and i mean nobody... makes hybrid work, work better. new tonight team trump's

latest target. yahoo news michael isikoff reporting allies of former president trump in georgia are pushing a campaign to recall fulton county district attorney bonnie willis. she is of course leading the probe into trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 georgia election. the organizers admit the recall campaign, which trump is reportedly aware of is a long shot but they don't care because their goal is pure and simple to politicize this and damage willis. you'll see the quotes. keep in mind many legal experts believe this criminal investigation in georgia could be the single biggest legal threat to trump and lead to criminal charges. his former white house lawyer ty cobb told us the georgia case appears to pose a serious threat of indictment to the former president. ty cobb is trump's former defense attorney. and michael isikoff is now outfront with this reporting. bonnie willis, the d.a. has been

very aggressive. when it comes to the pace, it has moved rapidly. you've got a grand jury. says she's looking to wrap up by next month. that puts a ticking time clock on what team trump is trying to do. what are they exactly trying to do? >> well, what they're trying to do is muddy the water. and, you know, the argument is bonnie willis is democratic district attorney. she has targeted donald trump. this is political. that's the argument from trump allies and so game on, we're going to politicize this. we're going to make this a political issue, we're going to make the argument that bonnie willis is ignoring crime in atlanta, escalating murder rates, violence on the rise and instead focusing on donald trump so they're going to argue that this is a -- that this is disqualifying on its face and

bonnie willis should be replaced. georgia recall law is exceedingly stringent and you need 30% of all the registered voters in the relevant jurisdiction. in fulton county that's 800,000 voters. 300,000 would be needed to sign those signatures. that's a pretty steep haul for the recall folks. but i don't think they're really thinking about getting this on the ballot. this is all about politics muddying the water and making the argument that somehow the investigation is political and therefore illegitimate. >> and from your report that they would consider that a win, which is incredible to say this, right? that if you further degrade people's belief in the rule of law and ins sttitutions in this country, they consider this a win. they're telling you this directly. it's not that you're coming here

and paraphrasing. >> no! >> one republican said to you, quote, the purpose is to politicize it. right? the literal quote to you was the purpose is to politicize this. you, willis, want to make this a political game, we'll make this about politics. i mean, they admitted it you, michael. >> exactly. directly involved in raising money, if you recall, was this is a pieces strategy, much larger than in your intro, the willis investigation is further along that the justice department investigation. she has been moving much more rapidly. rudy giuliani is going to be appearing before special grand jury in fulton county next week. lindsey graham has been subpoenaed for phone calls he made to brad raffensperger. he is challenging that.

there's going to be court arguments on that coming up the next few weeks. so this is really heating up in georgia. now on the national stage, trump is facing the doj investigation. and he is talking about announcing his run for president, potentially right after november elections as a way to forestall merrick garland from indicting him. his thinking seems to be, if he announces as president, it will make it that much harder for that justice department to indict a candidate for president at this time, a republican candidate. >> right. >> so, trump is, on both fronts, doing everything he can to try to politicize this. >> all, right michael, thank you very much with your reporting tonight. and next, jurors trying the parkland florida high school where --

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its case against parkland shooter nikolas cruz. jurors today visiting the florida school building, where he killed 17 people, and now face the death penalty. our guest is out front. >> the 1200 building has haunted the marjory stoneman douglas community for four years, a crime scene left untouched since february 2018 with this day. the day jurors would walk through what remains after the horror unfolded within those walls. after survivors escaped the bloodstains, the shattered glass, valentine's day gifts, even random shoes were left behind. today, juror saad all. >> i kept thinking about these kids that should not be experiencing this. former teacher, iv, remembers what she left in room 12:14 that valentine's day. >> there is a box of valentines chocolates sitting on my desk,

with puppies on, a student brought me. >> the jury will have to decide if cruz gets the death penalty or life in prison after pleading guilty to 17 murders and 17 attempted murders. >> if there's something that you would like to tell the jury about your dad? >> yeah. >> what is that? >> it's okay. >> i miss him. >> far more damage left behind for loved ones, agony and emptiness that will never go away, strains on relationships. >> we have a void in our lives that will never be full. >> for days, loved ones told -- >> helena was murdered on her father's birthday. to try to articulate how that has affected me would be to rip my heart out and presented to you shattered in 1 million pieces. >> testimony that brought even

the shooter's defense team to tears. this all comes after weeks of the prosecution making the case that this was a methodical and calculated school shooting. prosecutors showed the jury social media post by the juries, months before the massacre struck, quote, i'm going to be a professional school shooter, in multiple posts, expressing hatred. >> just want to kill people -- >> there were also internet searches including one for, quote, good songs to play while killing people. revelations at the court and at the crime scene that explain to the jury what led up to the massacre that forever changed a school and shattered lives in this community. >> just being able to say the truth of what happened, in front of the shooter, that doesn't happen very often. most of these mass shooters don't survive the shootings. i'm sorry to say i really don't have any sympathy for him. i really don't. i don't hate. i don't hate anyone. but he deserves whatever he is going to get.

>> and seamus, the teacher at the end there, who is teaching holocaust lessons that day before she had to rush out. jurors who went into her classroom likely saw with a small group of reporters saw today, a bloodstained book called, tell them you remember. or even the learning objective that is still on the wall that reads, be aware of the world and its surroundings. erin? >> leyla, thank you so much. and thank you so much to all of us for being with us. ac360 starts now. >> that there is a nine to you. four point $1 million accounted. that is how much the lies and conspiracy theories spread by alex jones about the next shooting at sandy hook elementary school will be remembered, that killed 20 check children and six adults, will now cost him. i'm jim sciutto down i