hello, everyone. welcome to cnn news room oig.

we're following three big stories. sinema is no longer a democrat. she registered as an independent just days after her now former party clinched a clear but narrow majority in the senate. we may see a former president of the united states held in contempt. and sources say that is what donald trump and team are potentially facing for not complying with a subpoena in the case of classified documents stored on his property. and brittney griner is back home. the wnba star took her first steps on u.s. soil the day after she was released from a russian prison. but we begin with a senate shocker. kyrsten sinema is no longer a democrat announcing her exit from the party. and democrats earning a 51st seat from raphael warnock's re-election in a georgia runoff. and sinema told jake topper why. >> i know some people might be surprised by this, but i think that it makes a lot of sense.

a growing number of arizona i don't knows and people like me don't feel like we fit neatly into one party's box or the other. so like many, i decided to leave that partisan process. i intend to maintain my position on my committees and keep doing the work that i've been doing for arizona. so i don't think that things will change in terms of how i operator the work that i do in the united states senate. >> let's get to jessica dean on capitol hill. so what is the reaction in congress to this news? >> reporter: this has been big news in a week we've had a lot of big news especially for senate democrats here on capitol hill. we heard from chuck schumer, he was told that he was told in advance about this decision and he called her a good and effective senator and said that she will be keeping her committee assignments. and that is really key when you really boy it down for what does it mean for this new slim

democratic majority. and at this point it will stay 51/49 in the balance of power. we're putting now three independents with democrats. and the other two, bernie sanders and angus king in caucus with democrats, sinema has not said whether she will do that or not, but because she is keeping her democratic committee assignments, that means that the democrats get to hold a lot of this power and the benefits that they get from having a majority. it means that they will be able to wield that greater subpoena power, they will be able to move nominees through these committees quicker and with more expediency. they will be able to do a lot of the things that they are excited about because they will be able to maintain the majorities on the committee. so that is what is pretty key. but we also are hearing from some liberal democrats including maybe someone who is challenging her in 2024 who criticized the move. but earlier today, senator amy

klobuchar laid out how she thinks that it will affect movement in the senate. take a listen. >> i don't think that it will greatly change the way the senate is working right now and in any way take away from the victory that democrats have. if she were to say, no, i'm going over republican, i'm not voting with them anymore, that is a whole different thing. that is nowhere near where she said. and she has tended not to go to the caucus meeting, something that she said so i'm not telling something out of school, except for rare moments when she is advocating for something that she cares about. and that won't change either. >> reporter: and that is true. tuesdays they always have their policy luncheons and will talk through the caucus about different issues and it is rare that she attends those you can she has legislation to talk about with democrats. so that probably won't change that much either. >> and schumer was given a head's up as was the white

house. so she weren't blindsided by the news. jessica, thank you. the white house is now trying to shrug off the sinema switch. and phil mattingly is joining me with more. give us the details on the president's response on losing a democrat in the senate just days after cinching a clean majority? we hear that as i noted that she gave that white house a head's up. what has the response been? >> yeah, a whip saw of a week if you think about over the course of the last 72 hours. and two things can both be true. from a symbolism perspective, a democrat leaving the party with a very narrow majority even a one seat expanded one is not a good look, not something -- to some degree it is an indictment of where the party may be headed. but when you talk to white house officials, they make clear that they appreciated the head's up, it is very much in line with how they operated with senator sinema. even on issues where they end up not agreeing legislatively. but too just a great rundown of

why the most port issues for the white house on the technical side of how the senate operates, they don't believe that there will be a major shift. so what does it mean for the white house and president biden's legislative agenda and a divided congress? white house officials say not that much. take a listen. >> she has worked with us on key priorities with this administration. we think about his economic policy. i just laid out all of the different historic pieces of legislation that we have been able to get done and she has played a key role. you think about the chips act o. and we think that the partnership will continue. we don't see a change in our democratic majority as it relates to the senate on we're very confident. >> so maybe a different political affiliation to some degree. but in terms of a major shift in how the white house works with the senator, they are saying not at this point that they see. we'll see how it plays out.

but for now that is how they thinks things are or maybe wants them to be. >> phil mattingly, thank you. let's discuss first with abby phillip and doug high and also our political analyst and sen se senior correspondent. so abby, what happens now as she turns to the independent party? >> i think it comes down to what did she want her political future to be. not a surprise that she wants to talk down a primary on her left. and i started going back to the exit polls from a month ago in the midterms. and when you look at those exit polls, you see about 40% of the

arizona electorate describes themselves as independent or moderate. those are the people that kyrsten sinema is trying to appeal to, but then you look even further and look at where republicans end up, about 9% of republicans ended up voting for the democrat in both the senate race and in the governor's race. and that means that there is about 10% of the republican party that is up for grabs. if you add up those two numbers, you are getting pretty close to the possibility that she could compete as an independent. i think that sinema sees the maverick seat that used to be occupied wouby john mccain as bg open and the question is can she execute that move before she faces voters again. >> so then let's ask a republican to weigh in on perhaps what is her deficit. she is not polling well among democrats in arizona. she says she is doing it for the collective good, that the country in her view should be moving toward the middle because

part politics is too broken. so do you take her at her word? >> and it both can be true and not mutually exclusive. it is fascinating that the decision can be made this week. we saw the senate and house move on the gay marriage legislation that she had a whole lot to do with. wouldn't have happened without her. president biden will sign that into law. and to make this decision after that, i think it also sends a message back home. and what we can see, we know she wouldn't win a democratic primary, but if she does get challenged by a democrat, it either says to the democrats that they need to get in line behind sinema against a republican and that republican wouldn't be a john mccain or even a barry goldwater republican.

it might be a kari lake or somebody else that they rejected and could do so in the future. >> and i couldn't help but notice that we heard a white house that was rallying around senator sin 2345cisinema here a that 99% of the time she voted with the administration. and behind closed doors, do you think that democrats and the when you say in particular are more nervous about this move than they are letting on publicly? >> well, i have to imagine that they did the calculus, right? even after raphael warnock won and they thought kyrsten sinema always was a bit of a wild card. so even though there were these headlines and celebration of the democrats owning this balance of power, you still didn't know where sinema would come out in

future votes. so i think that they were playing the hand that they were 3wi89, trying to stay wall in the midst of the news. because at the end of the day, their hands are tied. what can they really do. but i'm really fascinated by kyrsten sinema's insistence that this is about arizonians. she said that again and again. but as we discussed, many are not happy with her. and so it just makes you wonder why this week and what is the strategy behind this move. >> so abby, is this a state specific issue meaning arizona, and the reason i'm asking, because as we heard from natasha, she was a bit of a thorn and tricky for the white house and for democrats throughout their hands around to make sure that she was on board with them on many legislative bills. same could be said about joe manchin. where does that leave him or is

west virginia a different different category? >> the next midterm presidential year, 2024, is going to be a year in which a lot of democrats in those kinds of, you know, purplish, reddish states will be up for re-election. joe manchin, sinema, john tester, others. so it will be a tough year for those folks who have to run in states that kind of have red dna. but they themselves might have "d" next to their names. so these challenges that sinema is facing, they are not necessarily unique to her. and i think that it is really just about the kind of sliver of votes that they take that are controversial. you know, 97% of the time she has voted with her party. it is the 3% that really starts to matter. and i think that you will start to see all of those types of kind of what is left of maybe what you would have called in a previous era the blue dogs really trying to excerpt their

independence in different ways. this is her way of doing it. there are unique elements to. >> larry: >> larry: that make this a much more feasible proposition for her, but i think that you will see it across the board for a lot of these democrats running in tough states politically. sbr >> doug, does it impact senate republicans? >> not at this point. and it highlights the prison that republicans have had, it depends on who they nominate. if they nominate someone who can win, which has been a problem in arizona and other state, they will be okay. if they don't nominate someone who can win, this sets up a potential split. and this is not just specific to kyrsten sinema. natasha referenced this earlier. she has received a lot of criticism from the arizona democratic party which is true. being from north carolina, my old boss and thom tillis the other senate have been condemned by the state party. more and more the republican party of north carolina, more

and more we're seeing state parties trying to tell their senators what do and act as party bosses and we're starting them to be smart enough to say i don't need to follow your rules, i need to go a different way. and if she is ultimately successful, democrats perhaps nationally could have a lot to think about. >> and of course wil watch what happens on 2024. thank you all. a federal judge is being asked to hold donald trump in contempt of court for not complying with a subpoena to return alls s classified documents. more up next. and four form are trump associates may be a target in the capitol insurrection. we'll explain. we don't't even need an eight-time all-star to tell yoyou about it. wait what? get it befefore it's gone on the subway app!

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in federal court the justice department is arguing that donald trump's team should be held in contempt for failing to c comply with a subpoena. trump's legal team said it conducted searches in four locations just before thanksgiving and found two more documents with classified markings at a storage unit in florida. sara murray is joining me with more. how could the process play out in court today? >> reporter: first of all, this is going to be happening all behind closed doors under seal. but the judge has a couple options. federal prosecutors want the judge to hold trump in contempt. so she could go that route, she

could decide it today, she could decide to ruminate on it and rule later. or she could tell the trump team, look, prosecutors want you to desk nature someone that is custodian of records to sign saying that you have returned everything. or some he could come up with some other compromise or suggest they come up with something else to move it forward. but i think what is clear is that the process is increasingly contentious. doj is still moving forward asking trump to be held in contempt. so it is clear that the justice department still is not satisfied. they want more. >> yeah, i don't know if there was ever any goodwill. just seems to be getting worse. and we know the january 6

committee is considering criminal referrals for trump and four others. who are the other fours? >> they are looking at a handful of former allies. mark meadows former trump white house chief of staff, rudy giuliani and john eastman, as well as jeffrey clark. and these are names under consideration. it doesn't mean that they will be on the final list, but it also doesn't mean the list is exhaustive. the committee could decide there are other trump allies that they want to put on the list of criminal referrals. they expected to meet privately on sunday and sort of go over some of these options and what the background is going to be for these criminal referrals. but they say they won't make any public announcements until december 21. >> thank you so much. and with me now, elie honig. good to see you. so let's start with the january 6 committee meeting this weekend

to further consider criminal referrals. as we heard, in addition to former president trump, there are mark meadows rudy giuliani, john eastman, jeffrey clark. what to thedo these names tell ? >> one thing that they have in common, they were the key advisers, the key drivers behind the attempt to steal this election through fraud and through pressure. and so it is not surprising in some respects that these are the four people who the committee has decided reported wly to foc on. for me, it is interesting that there are only four. if you look at the hearings, there is evidence that dozens of people were involved in at least some manner of wrongdoing. so i think that there may be a tactical consideration going on here. let's focus the fire on the most important people, the people we most want to draw attention to. that is a tactical decision that investigators make all the gen.

you want to focus on the primary wrong doers. >> and the jodoj is not require to act on this laundry list. >> and it is important to understand that criminal referral from congress to doj is important, but it doesn't require prosecutors to do anything. that said, you can bet that prosecutors will be reading every page of this report when it comes out and every page of the criminal referral when they get it. and really the question is how compelling a case can congress make to doj. and i think tmore specifically focused that the facts and art are, i think that that will resonate more. >> and so let's turn to the hearing taking place today in washington, d.c. and question whether or not the doj will hold the former president in contempt. what do you think odds will be

that that could happen and what are the implications if that in fact does turn out to be the case? >> doj is clearly at wit's end here with donald trump. i served more subpoenas than i could count when i was a prosecutor and i never had to ask the judge to hold the other party in contempt. but doj seems to be of the view that donald trump's lawyers simply are not to be trusted, that they have not complied with subpoenas. so the judge has to have a hearing. and the judge has quite a bit of discretion, but the doj has to convince the judge that the donald trump lawyers have ignored the subpoenas and done so intentionally or excusebly and then the judge will want to hear from trump's people as well. but the doj is saying we need you to potentially sanction trump's team. it is a rare step and shows that there is a real breakdown in

trust between the parties here. >> and this is all under the purview of new special counsel jack smith. what does that tell you as far as the speed with which he was caught up to the case? >> yeah, on the day that merrick garland announced this special counsel, his statement and jack smith's written statement both stressed that this will not slow things down. we're aware of the need for speed here. and they have lived up to that. it is quite clear. this investigation has not skipped a beat. we've seen subpoenas going out, we've seen jack smith endorsing some of the briefs that doj has put in and we're seeing doj move aggressively on this as well. and it appears that jack smith is doing what new prosecutors do all the time, which is you catch up on the fly, you let the cops and prosecutors on the case continue to do their work. if anything, this case has sped up to some extent since jack smith came on board. >> do you expect that he will press for more search warrants

given the revelation there were two more classified documents found in a storage facility in florida. >> i guarantee you they are where he is lijun with that question. it is clear that tox does not want to execute search warrants. obviously search warrants in this case would be controversial. and i think this is a reason that they are trying everything else including going to the judge and asking for contempt, including asking to have some central responsible person who can account for these documents. so it is a drastic step. it probably would be within doj's legal ability to do that, but i think that they see it as a last resort. >> remember last time that it turned in to a political mud fest where a lot of republicans said it was a witch hunt and raise of a home. clearly don't want a repeat of that. elie honig, thank you. wnba star brittney griner is back on american soil after nine

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brittney griner is back on american soil. she touched down in san antonio earlier this morning. she has been reunited with her wife and then taken to brooke

army medical senator a routine health evaluation. earlier i spoke to griner's head coach who had this message for her. >> bg, we love you and we're so happy that you are home. i burst into tears when i heard that you were returning and i know so many other people did as well. we're just so touched to have you back. we love you so much. we live in a world that can be divisive and there is a lot of noise out there, but from the people nearest to you, we love you and we're so happy that you are home. >> like that message there. and kylie atwood is joining me now. what more do we know about process that led to her release and the efforts now to bring home paul whelan as well?

>> it was a complex process that carried out over the course of several months. and it was really in recent weeks that the biden administration realized that it was one or none, that they were going to get this deal for brittney griner and trade viktor bout or no deal at all. so that is why they went ahead. but over the course of those nts nos, u.s. officials were frustrated because russians were putting people on the table who wasn't even in u.s. custody. the percenson they kept asking was a person in prison in germany, a former russian spy. and the russians kept saying that that is who they wanted in return for a prisoner swap that included paul whelan. and so that was frustrating to u.s. officials. and now, going forward, the question is, how can they figure

out something to put on the table that will actually get paul whelan home. because administration officials said that they were quite creative over the course of the last few months to try to put something down that russians would actually accept. but what they are saying today is that they are trying to think of new innovative ways, new things that they can offer to russia to try to get paul whelan home. and i do think that it is significant that just today we're hearing from president putin. he is the one who will make any determination on any prisoner swa swap and he said that there is the possibility of a future prisoner swap. so that is a positive signal, but u.s. officials are headed back to the drawing board to try to be creative to get out this american wrongfully detained for four years now. >> and that offer that russia put on the table of the releasing that russia held in german prison, of course that was something that the united states was never going to did or put germany in the position of

having to address. kylie atwood, thank you. joining me know is sheila lee who helped in the process to bring brittney griner home. thank you for joining us, congresswoman. we see brittney griner back home in the state of texas. we know that she is undergoing a medical evaluation right you no. what do you know about her welfare and how she is doing? >> thank you for having me. there are no words that can express the ex-at tcstatic feel have here in houston. she's a hometown girl. she's been playing for phoenix mercury, but we're so excited. this is the home she grew up in, the high school she went to and of course baylor university and of course her parents and her relatives, siblings and others are here. so we call her a hus tone i

can't. and we know she is resilient. she showed that in high school and college. she went through a grueling experience. and from our perspective, the best place for her to be a is of course at brooke army medical center, but more importantly, we believe that is of course at brooke army medical center, but more importantly, we believe thatis of course at brooke army medical center, but more importantly, we believe that issue is stronger than might have thought. but there are aspects that have to be reviewed. we hear that she has sounded good and looking forward to seeing them. and we also know that she walked on her own capabilities both in terms of the swap and then when she landed in san antonio. so from our perspective, brittney is on the way, but we want to be as respectful to cherelle and brittney as we can so that she can truly be strong and get back to what she loves. we hope that it will be playing basketball. but those are her decisions.

>> yeah, have had the opportunity to speak with her wife cherelle or her parents since she returned back to the u.s.? >> i have spoken with a parent. and he was eagerly waiting for a call which was arranged and so she was able to in midair call her dad. and i can assure you that made him more than ek cstatic. he is veteran and what we kept saying as we pushed for the negotiations, he is a veteran whose daughter has been taken by one of the who leaders in the world. so he is happy. obviously they all want to see her. and might even want to see her back here at home. and i know that that was a happy phone reunion to hear his daughter's voice. >> and i remember that his father is a veteran, she referenced her father in that letter that she hand wrote to president biden over the summer. >> absolutely. >> what is your understanding of the conditions that she faced at that russian labor penal colony?

i read that through her attorneys she told them that she carried fabric all day because given her height at 6'9", she wasn't able to sit down and sew along with the other women at that camp. that must have been really grueling for her to be doing. >> it was gluling. and may i remind the audience what a false andrueling. and may i remind the audience what a false and legal process is in russia. 99% of those who go into the courtroom are quinkconvicted. and it almost looked like the judge was gleeful. and the labor champ is none too pretty. as 6'9" young woman, completely incapable of handling her bedding. food was distasteful.

and i don't want to judge the other prisoners, but there was comment about how possibly disagreeable they might be and that would make her stay very difficult. and how much you could trust the guards, if you will, to be protective of her, the living conditions, the water, it was more than -- it would have been more than grueling. we certainly understand, i'm a big supporter of p.o.w.s, mias and men and women in the united states military. and she honored her father and knew the difference. but it was inhumane, it was cruel. and it would have been violent, if you will, just by her presence there and the inability to speak the language and what would happen with the other prisoners and lack of protection with the guards. it wasn't going to be a situation that we'd want to have her to be able to survive. . >> and in that bit of video of her leaving, i could hear the russian guards speaking to her

in russian and it did appear that they were taunting her as she was leaving the facility. congresswoman, as someone who also grew up in houston, this is a story i'm following. and this whole country is relieved that she is home and we also hope and are thinking of those others not as fortunate like paul whelan who are still wrongfully detained. thank you for joining us. >> and if i might just quickly say, everything we did had paul whelan in it. the legislation that we introduced and vote ordd introduced and vote or on, we wt paul whelan home. no matter what anyone says, it was the russians who played the game and played and played and played with the idea that they would take and bring out both paul and britstney. it was only vladimir putin who made the ugly decision to keep

paul. and we'll fight that every single day that we can and bring him home as well. >> i know brittney was your constituent, but i'm sure it will be reassuring to paul's family to hear that you will continue to fight for his release as well. >> thank you for caring. >> thank you. and a predominantly white county just declared racism a public health crisis. what is behind the move, up nenext. the eat fresh® refresh just won't stop! now, subway® is refreshing their catering with easy-order platters and lunchboxes perfect for any party. pool pties... tailgates... holiday parties... even retirement parties. man, love parties. subway keeps refreshing and refreshing i brought in ensure max protein with 30 grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. uhhhh... here, i'll take that. [woo hoo!]

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a largely white and wealthy california county has declared racism a public health crisis. all four members of orange county's board of supervisors at the tuesday meeting, two democrats and two republicans, approved the resolution which says in part the county is deeply alarmed by the recently racially motivated attacks and violence. josh campbell has been covering this and is joining me now. this is fascinating. so why is orange county cdoing this and what is the reaction? >> throughout the covid-19 pandemic we've seen many progressive jurisdictions taking on racism particularly in the light of so many hate crimes we've seen against asian-americans. what is notable here, it is a republican leading the co-sponsoring of this resolution. i spoke to him about his own experience dealing with racism and what he is trying to accomplish with the resolution.

take a listen. >> my experience personal is i have faces racism in many forms. when i first came, it was more which stream. l x. stream. but lately more subtle. but i want to promote understanding. we need to review our policy to see if there are any past prejudices that we did not realize that are there. and we will support diversity. >> reporter: he told me he thinks racism is more subtle in the u.s. now compared to when he came as a refugee in the 1970s, but he himself as faced a lot of racism in public settings. last year in a sprismeeting one him to go back to vietnam.

and what happened just this week, in the meeting where the supervisors were prepare ing to vote, many in the audience were against it saying that it was bl bl overblown. and a speaker was the target of a racial slur. watch. >> thank you for passing this resolution. can i please speak? can i speak? we need to have this resolution in this county. with that i thank you for your work. thank you. really, go back to china and you think that racism is dead? really? all right. so irony is concept that is foreign to some of us. >> reporter: on when they are debating whether racism is a crisis, you see someone right there subjected to racism. perhaps proof of why the resolution is so important.

>> so difficult to see play out in realtime. and interesting that he came to this conclusion because of his own experiences regardless of whatever party he is affiliated with. josh campbell, thank you so much. great to see you. up next, consumer spending is up and saving is down. why some economists worry about a so-called holiday hangover. we'll explain what that is straight ahead.

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inflation is cooling off, but not as much as economists had hoped. the producer price index which tallies what businesses pay. goods and services wrote 7.4% last month. that's still high, but it's down from october's 8.1% gain. matt egan is here to break it down for us. matt, the trajectory is headed in the right direction, but not as quickly as the fed had hoped.

how will this impact their meeting, if at all next week? >> i don't think it will really impact the meeting. the fed is waging this historying war trying to cool off the economy. despite all that tough medicine from the fed, inflation remains way too high. mixed bag with this report. the good news is as you can see on that chart, inflation is cooling off. this is the fifth straight month where wholesale prices on an annual basis have cooled off. this is the lowest reading for this figure in 18 months. i think the bad news is inflation remains way too high. this is hotter than expected. as far as the fed goes, the thinking remains the same. the fed is likely to raise interest rates at next week's meeting, but they're probably going to take it a step slower. instead of 75 basis points, the thinking is they're going to go with 50 basis points. that still means higher borrowing costs for everyone. >> inflation is going down much slower than it had risen before. we also know that americans are

beginning to dip into their savings, and going into debt, some families are. what do we make of that? >> well, bianna, holiday. s shopping sales seemed to be off to a solid start. they were pretty solid. experts say people are leaning on credit cards to cover their spending. you can see on your screen the personal savings rate is actually at its lowest level since 2005. that was when the record low was set. people were leaning on credit cards at a time when credit card rates are at record highs, and so the concern here, bianna, is that there's going to be a holiday spending hangover where people have to cut back on spending just to repay debt and replenish savings. >> matt egan, thank you. >> thanks. well, a major shakeup in the senate. arizona senator kyrsten sinema left the democratic party and registered as an independent.

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hello, everyone. i'm bianna golodryga. welcome to "cnn newsroom." we begin with the surprise shakeup in the