mandate the process of a white house staff working with the archives on documents begin much sooner than it does now, in year three of a presidency so it's not rushed. he says he'd also like to see the archives themselvesed admore people to their rank, people who would have the sole task of helping to preserve white house documents. wolf, they've got to find a way to make this more airtight. >> they've got to learn the les lessons of what has happened. thank you for your report. and to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. you can always follow me on twitter and instagram @wolf blitzer. you can always tweet the show @cnnsitroom. erin burnett out front starts right now. out front next, more classified documents at biden's private home. the attorney general naming a special counsel and the question tonight for biden is why are

americans only finding out about this now? plus republican congressman jarj santos even more scrutiny tonight over a mysterious $700,000 contribution to his campaign concerns about how, where it was spent and where did it go. in a story you'll see first outfront russians speaking out against putin's war, one calling it a terrible mess, complete chaos. all of this on camera to cnn. you'll see it first here. let's go out front. and good evening. i'm erin burnett. out front tonight on the defensive. more classified documents and a special counsel. president biden says he does want to tell the american people everything he knows. >> let me -- i'm going to get a chance to speak on all of this, god willing, soon. >> he says he wants to speak but right now the white house isphasying a barrage of questions over the classified documents and so far the administration is speaking very little. >> but, again, i'm just not

going to go beyond what the president said. i'm just not going to go into the particulars or specifics of what the department of justice did. i'm not going to get into the decisions that was made by the attorney general, and i'm not going to go beyond the lawyers say. i'm not going to go into specifics here. >> in case you missed it she's not going to go into specifics. look, it's not a joking matter. the tense white house briefing coming just a couple hours after attorney general merrick garland named robert herr, a former u.s. attorney who worked in the trump administration as the special counsel in the biden administration. coming hours after more classified documents were found at biden's home in delaware. president biden's lawyer said, quote, all but one document was found in storage in biden's garage and one document was in stored materials in an adjacent room. biden today had this to say about handling the classified documents properly oddly saying

the garage is also where his prized corvette seen here in a 2020 campaign ad were stored. >> by the way, my corvette is in a locked garage, okay, so it's not like they're sitting out on the street. >> as i said it was a bit odd of an explanation. here's the thing, we're just learning about all this this week, and that is by choice and design. the first batch of documents were found on november 2nd at biden's office in washington, d.c. thathey were given to the national archives the next day. on november 4th the doj was notified. during this the public was told nothing. biden's attorneys informed doj additional classified material was found in biden's garage. and then today word of another document found last night at his wilmington home. here's the thing with all of this it wasn't until this week the public was told any of it. and frankly, the only reason they told it broke in the news.

the white house statement that came out only acknowledged those documents even though they were well aware other documents were found in the garage. it took the news media a couple days, that comes out and here we are. we don't know why they didn't say anything contemporaneously or while the news just broke. look, it's easier to draw parallels when there's less transparency even though the situations are not the same. even though from the little we do know, we do know of significant differences, biden had what's described now as a small number in two locations. trump had 200. biden's attorneys found them, handed them over immediately, notified the archives. doj was notified. trump, of course, as you know only returned some documents after a request was made by the national archives, didn't reveal them all even after a subpoena and fbi search. and finally the biden team is cooperating while trump is now under investigation. so let's begin with evan perez out front live in washington

tonight. you've been talking to your sources at department of justice. this story has moved very quickly today. we've got a special counsel now. what are you learning? >> especially for attorney general merrick garland he felt this was a necessary step because of the extraordinary circumstance. obviously he'd already appointed a special counsel jack smith to investigate donald trump and his handling of classified material. it turns out that when he made that appointment he already knew about the first instance of documents that were found at president biden's former office, private office while he was out of government. and what we know now is there was a lot of information that was able to develop including from doing interviews with people who worked with then-vice president biden and who may have been involved in shutting down the transition from his vice-presidency to this private office. those people have been interviewed, and as a result of

that john loush recommended attorney general merrick garland appoint a special counsel. we heard from officials at the justice department that garland believed that the decision was very easy to make. once he got the recommendation, he made it very, very quickly including before he traveled to mexico, by the way, with president biden. but i'm also told by at least one official, erin, that it certainly didn't help that the white house was putting out a narrative that was incomplete. that certainly reif forced the attorney general's decision that this was a necessary step, again, because of the extraordinary circumstance. the idea that, you know, on december 20th they knew about these additional documents and yet only disclosed the initial batch when they talked about it this week. >> all right, evan, thank you very much. and now margaret hoover is with me, host of firing line on pbs and a staffer at george w. bush

white house. margaret, let's start where evan ended reporting that obviously special counsel had been recommended, but it was the handling this week that they did not disclose all the documents when the first batch came to light, that according to his source sort of tipped the -- tipped the scales here for garland to go the direction of a special counsel. >> they -- merrick garland almost had no choice but to appoint a special counsel in the sense he has a former president who's being investigated in a documents case. in order to even have the appearance of handling this and the appearance of a fair and flat playing field he had to appoint a special counsel. there are a couple of things. first of all, it doesn't bring great comfort that joe biden thinks his documents are in great shape buzz the corvette is there and he really loves the corvette, so government secrets

are in good shape. >> a slip of the tongue wasn't the best moment. >> perhaps not the best moment. but one thing that really strikes me if the reporting is true, that as soon as they found these documents in early november, the biden team directly contacted nara and the department of justice simultaneously and then merrick garland dpbegan a preliminary investigation. it could be they didn't want to step on doj because they wanted an internal investigation to play out. politically the biden white house has mishandled the communications with the public, and all that does is create the appearance of obfusication and impropriety. >> let's play this moment when president biden said i want to tell you everything but i'm waiting to do it with a baited breath because of the corvette. >>ads i said earlier this week -- and by the way my corvette is in a locked garage,

okay, so it's not like they're sitting out in the street. >> listen, biden, that's like 3 out of 10 on those jokes. that was not a good time for him. i think this was an interesting development. they've gotten some criticism throughout the administration for not being necessarily as transparent as they could, as forthright as they could. that's certainly not the same as the criticisms of the trump administration which was on a different level when it came to press. but on the biden administration there's been a desire to be more forthright and come out with that information on a number of fronts. i think this is an example of a white house being acute by a half. since it was a different time line there could be communication with the public, and i do think that's where the questions are going to be for this white house right now. why did they not acknowledge both sets of documents when they

knew the second batch was coming? >> so, ryan, from what we know at this point, and obviously it's still developing. i don't think yesterday we'd be talking about the documents found near corvette in the garage necessarily. >> the same one would apply in the trump case, which is did biden willfully obtain these documents and fail to deliver them to the government for over the course of six years? and that's what i think the special counsel will be investigating. to determine if it's willful, we don't have that evidence right now. >> and willful being separate from the obstruction piece of it. trump ended up with a subpoena and fbi search, which of course categorically did not happen here. >> right, and the fbi search also comes with obstruction of justice and obstruction of investigation as well. there's no indication here. in fact, it's textbook of the way you should cooperate. >> it is interesting of course when the trump news was breaking

there was a lot of moral outrage and also outrage that people who held classified documents that anybody would have them, no one does this. in fact one of his defenses was, oh, yes, it does. this seems to give some air to that balloon. would we be having this conversation on this level about biden if it weren't for trump and everything that's gone on? >> i actually think it's a pretty basic rule when you work in federal government that the documents you're seeing especially the secret, top secret documents those are not yours. those belong to the government. the reason the elected have power because it is blessed to them by the public who has granted them that trust. and when you go back into private life those documents, that information belongs to the public, the government. then people can go access that in order to tell our history. transparency is the key. this is how we operate. how anybody ends up with classified documents boggles the mind truly.

we need to understand why he has them. we need to understand why trump has them. >> i mean it does -- you're sitting here a lay person you're starting to think they all have them lying around in boxes. >> exactly. i think the point about a legal question is one thing, a hypocrisy to the way republicans were going to come at this. it just muddies the waters. the way the trump case was supposed to be used was also politically to kind of show him as a careless leader in government as we know he kind of showed in multiple forms, right? but on this specific instance and this specific case i think the special counsel allows republicans particularly in the house to make that equivalence between the two president's actions and that has a political epicket even though it doesn't have a legal one. >> thank you very much. and i want to go to ty cobb, a former trump white house lawyer. you've been clear the doj has everything it needs in terms of

evidence if they want to indict trump on everything with the mar-a-lago documents. but now this whole story has entered into the equation. do you think this makes it any less likely that the doj will charge trump? >> well, i think it makes it slightly more difficult for them and so arguably less likely only because, you know, one of the things that the justice department has to guard against is, you know, an effective assertion of the special prosecution doctrine. and that's can you target one person on a set of facts but not target someone in a similar situation on the same set of facts? and when we talk about distinctions you've got to keep in mind the issue isn't, you know, whether the garage is locked. the issue is did he -- there is no willful standard, by the way. i would correct that.

it's knowingly, which is slightly different standard and subject to specific instructions that, you know, you merely have to be aware of the fact. and one of the problems -- >> well, he said he wasn't aware. he has been specific about that. that's been one of the things they said. he did not know. >> no, i agree. one of the problems he has in talking about it that way remember he wrote a book and talked about russia and iran and ukraine. and one of the things that the justice department is going to do is compare those passages to these documents, and, you know, it'll either show they were likely used or there's no mention of them. but it's a problem. and in addition, here you have a situation, i mean, nobody's trying to defend what trump did at all, and he typically responded, you know, in a irresponsible, brash, sort of combative style that doesn't do

him or anybody else any good. assuming the narrative that the biden lawyers were putting out is accurate, which is always something where you have to nail that down. but assuming they contacted nara immediately and made the disclosures and are cooperating and they continue to provide full cooperation, which by the way would normally include a full interview of the president under these circumstances because it's his intent that governs. will they do all the cooperation that's required? that would be up to the special counsel. but it does make it slightly les likely in my view that these will be the grounds that trump gets charged on. on the other hand, as you know i've always been a champion of the idea let's prosecute him for the, you know, unprecedented and unconstitutional cling to power offenses that he committed. and let's process crimes, be

treated it slightly differently only because of the avoidance of the third world country problem. >> let me ask you one question because you mention the special counsel robert herr. do you think he's a good pick for this role? >> i do. i think -- i think, you know, there's no one particular person at the top of a list, you know, who should or should not have been selected. rob has all the talent and skills and experience that you would want to look for in somebody for this assignment. he was -- he's a very smart guy. i followed his career closely. he was an assistant u.s. attorney in the same office where i had previously led the criminal division. he was highly regarded. i dealt with him frequently or several times i guess when he and rod rosenstein were together at the justice department, and

rod was rob's assistant and then he was the u.s. attorney in maryland. so he has the investigative and trial experience to do a good job here. i think he has the independence as well. i think, you know, the problem is that no matter what people want, this shouldn't be a fast result because you have to look into who else had access. you know, we know hunter biden listed joe biden's home including his garage with his address until late 2019. you know, who else had access? was any use made of it? are their references and writings to the contents of the document? heez will all be things the just department has to look at. >> all right, and it all takes time as you say. thank you very much. and next george santos defiant despite new questions where he

got $700,000 to give his campaign. so what do his voters think? >> i was fooled by him. >> all these people are accusing him. they're politicians. they're lying. they're all liars. >> well, it's a story from the ground you'll see first here out front. plus russians speaking out on camera to cnn against putin's war. it's pretty incredible to watch, and we'll bring it to you next. and he just signed into law one of the nation's strictest assault weapon bans. governor pritzker of illinois is out front tonight. more of what you e earn. this is the planning effect. ♪ ♪ ♪ voltaren. the joy of movemen ♪

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new tonight congressman george santos refusing to say where more than $700,000 he gave to his congressional campaign came from and again insisting he has no plans to resign. this as three more house republicans today called for him to step down. now at least eight house republicans have said he has to go. he also faces more scrutiny for other claims he made like founding a non-profit pet charity and having family members who fled the holocaust. this all appears to be false. despite the growing calls from republicans for sant tose to resign the new speaker of the house kevin mccarthy is still standing by him. santos supported mccarthy in all 15 rounds of votes for speaker. >> the voters have elected him. he is seat. he is part of the republican

conference. there are concerns with him so he'll go before ethics. if anything is found to be wrong, he'll be held accountable. >> so what do the voters who ele elected santos actually think? miguel marquez is out front. >> members of your own party calling for your resignation. >> reporter: george santos a congressman less than a week under increasing pressure to step down. >> i will not resign. >> reporter: santos defiant but the lies, revelations, and questions growing. many of those who voted for him feel betrayed and want him to go. >> i don't feel like i can trust him to represent myself, my interests, or the third district. >> i'm more concerned about him representing to people that of his accomplishments and really not having accomplished or achieved anything that he said he did. >> reporter: the latest concern for his constituents, his campaign money. he poured over $700,000 into his campaign, but there's little indication of where the money came from and concern as to how

it was spent. >> i've lived an honest life. i've never been accused of any bad doing. >> santos being interviewed today by fellow republican matt gaetz on steve bannon's war room podcast suggesting he gave his own campaign the money. >> it's the equity of my hardworking self and i've invested inside of me. >> reporter: republican supervisor jennifer desanta endorsed santos and trusted him. she says she trusted him and says he needs to step down. >> i thought he had the qualifications and seemed so successful and ambitious that i was fulled by him. >> reporter: and to know that's all a fabrication? >> it's shocking. it's shocking. i was hopeful there would be some explanation, but there was none. >> reporter: questions of campaign financing aside, the scope of santos' lies seemed to touch every part of his existence. among other things he lied about being jewish and that his

grandparents survived the holocaust. he lied about working at citi group and goldman sachs. he even lied about being an a championship volleyball team. >> calling for his immediate resignation. >> reporter: the nassau county republican committee says santos should resign and that he outright lied to them when he presented his credentials. >> we have a standard process we follow, that we trusted people, that we are now going to change our process. shame on me for believing people. >> reporter: despite the lies, some of his supporters say they'd vote for him again. you'd vote for george santos. >> i did. >> would you vote for him again? >> i would. >> reporter: why after everything you've heard? >> okay. he's bad. but he has admitted that he's lied. all these people arecusing him they're politicians. they're lying. they're all liars. >> reporter: for those who didn't vote for santos deep

frustration and resignation that this is the new norm in american politics. >> very discouraging but not surprising ever since the election of donald trump. it's been a total swamp. >> reporter: but look, look, we spoke to republicans and independents who liked the opponent, the democratic opponent santos had in this last election but they said they voted for santos because they didn't like the direction democrat were taking the country. they worry now santos will be such a distraction it's going to be harder for republicans to carry out their agenda. >> thank you very much in meniola, that distribution. now a man who leaves a large portion of santos' district and calls for him to resign. i appreciate your time. you heard from santos' voters there. one of them saying, quote, i

don't think i can trust him. which is sort of stating the obvious here, but should this -- should his voters make congressman santos reconsider his vow to not step aside? >> well, you heard george santos say that he's been honest his whole life. i mean this guy is delusional. to lie about such fundamental things and one lie after another makes me very, very reticent to have any dealings with him whatsoever, and i'll not have any dealings with him. the fact of the matter is how can i entrust him with information? how can i entrust him talking about important issues, public health, economic development, public safety, infrastructure? this is not somebody that i can deal with on a day-to-day basis because i don't believe a word he has to say.

his fabrications were outrageous, and i'm not going to deal with somebody that i can't trust. >> as you say and as miguel point out in his piece they touch every aspect of his existence, the volleyball team, his mother's death, his grandparents, his religion, his job, everything. but let me play a little bit more for you what he said today about all these calls for him to resign. here's his response. >> i'm going to outwork any of the pundits and talking heads that are out there saying i should resign, that i'm unfit for office. the reality is and the case and point here being is i'm a workhorse. i've worked my whole life. i've lived an honest life. i've never been accused of any bad doing. >> i should say he has been been charged with embezzlement in brazil, so he has been accused, so even that doesn't add up. but you hear him, he lived an honest life.

how do you even square that circle? >> he said -- he just told another lie. he said i've never been accused of anything. we know he's been accused of crimes in brazil. we know he's been untruthful. we don't know where his money came from. he said he's worked hard all his life. where? where did you work? because it certainly wasn't for goldman sachs or citi group. >> well, that's true, right? point taken. so kevin mccarthy, though, has been backing him not at all publicly saying what you're saying. he said he won't tell santos to resign because the voters elected him. and for two days in a row mccarthy has specifically said this about congressman santos. here he is. >> he's going to have to build the trust and he's going to have the opportunity to try to do that. he's got a long way to go to earn trust. >> okay. but the implication there is there's a road that he could earn that trust. what do you say to that?

>> well, america is a very compassionate and forgiving country, and there is a road back for george santos. it starts with his resignation. it starts with him getting help for his deep emotional issues, and it starts with him trying to rebuild his life not on lies but on substance. if george santos was to do that maybe five, six, seven, eight years from now -- who knows -- he could have a productive career in the private sector or the public sector. but so long as he sits in congress and stains that institution, i don't see him being able to rehabilitate himself, and i don't think he's going to get a second chance. and i think what you just saw today was more lies. the guy doesn't know how to tell the truth. >> county executive blakeman, i really appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> i appreciate it. and next putin's forces locked in a bloody battle for that crucial town in eastern

ukraine that they've made crucial. both sides suffering heavy losses as we understand it. but some russians are now risking their own safety and they're speaking out to cnn, and you're going to see them and hear them first here out front next. plus the breaking news, a frantic search right now for survivors under way after a string of tornados tore thru alabama. one county official telling cnn there are multiple deaths, and we're going to have the latest on this ahead. ♪ i gotta good feeling about this, yeah ♪ ♪ i'm with it ♪ ♪ i gotta good feeling about this ♪ ♪ yeah, ♪ ♪ so let's get i♪ ♪ i'm feeling good vibes ♪

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that's why i do what i do. that and the paycheck. tonight we are just abandoned, that is a quote from a ukrainian soldier fighting in solidar, what he said on the situation on the ground as he

and his soldiers desperately wait to evacuate. it's the town in ukraine we've been following and showing you here. it's one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles are being waged right now and comes as russian citizenerize speaking out on camera angry and bewildered some of them by their military's performance, calling it chaos, a complete mess. it is a story you'll see first here out front. >> reporter: while the situation on the battlefields in eastern ukraine remains red hot, the mood in moscow surprisingly frosty. when cnn asked people when physical therapy optimistic about what the kremlin calls its special military operation in ukraine. >> translator: i simply do not get why we haven't won yet. i just don't get it. i'm former military and i just don't get it at all. >> reporter:iate i think this points to a complete chaos of our authority that allowed for

this terrible mess to happen, a war with a brother nation. >> reporter: all of this after vladimir putin standing amid russian soldiers attempted to rally the nation in his new year's address. there's nothing stronger than love for our near and dear he says, loyalty to our friends and comrades in arms and devotion to our fatherland. now putin has demoted the man in charge of the land and replacing him with russia's top general whose close to putin and russia's defense minister, often accompanying them to military exercises and briefing putin on the war in ukraine. the move comes as analysts say russia seems to be gearing up for a massive spring offensive after mobilizing more than 300,000 people late last year. but also with its top brass under fire as the only gains russia is making around the town

of soledar in eastern ukraine are coming thanks to the private military group wagner. the boss has ripped into the leadership essentially calling the generals running the war incompetent, and now in an audio message making clear he is the only one who can give putin some wins. i want to emphasize that in the storm of soledar no other units participated than wagner. it's known for extreme brutality. this video reports to show them advancing passing the bodies of ukrainian troops. many are convicts recruited from russian jails with the promise of freedom if they survive. it's not clear whether the army's change ofened command is a move to counter russia's pressure and many folks on moscow's streets certainly weren't keen to comment. >> translator: we have a

president. let him think for us. we have full faith in him, and we trust our military. >> reporter: some voices from moscow there. and erin, tonight pregoesen taking another swipe at the russian defense ministry after the russian army said some of its forces had also taken part in the battle for soledar. a telegram channel affiliated with wagner put out a video allegedly showing two russian soldiers that they had not fought there and only wagner forces on the ground there. as you can see a lot of bad blood there. >> infighting never a good sign. out front now retired lieutenant army general ben hodges. and general, i appreciate your time. you know, you heard fred there the woman at the end, i'll let the president do the thinking for us. that, of course, is what you hear from inside russia. but yet also you heard those men inside russia, their faces on

camera willing to speak to cnn, willing to describe what they saw this war as a terrible mess and complete chaos. what does that say to you there's really anyone who's willing to do that now from russia and put their faces on that? >> well, erin, it's always difficult to know what russian people are really thinking because they don't have a free media. people are scared to speak out often. what really stuck with me is last september 500,000 russian military age males left the country rather than get mobilized. so that's a pretty loud statement there. >> so you -- when you look at what's happening in soledar, you're looking even more broadly than that, and of course it is brutal and the death toll there is terribly high. i know you believe that ukraine is going to be able to liberate crimea, which of course has been under russian control since 2014, and frankly prior to putin's invasion almost a year ago, it seemed ukraine had kind of given up on.

they were fighting in the donbas and weren't fighting in crimea. you think they're going to take it back by the end of august. that is a bold bet you're standing by. >> of course i have to put a caveat on this and that's the west continues sarngzs and continues delivering everything we said we're going to deliver. that's the key, obviously. i think when i look at the map crimea is actually very vulnerable. there are only two roads that lead into crimea. one goes over the bridge and it's already been severely damaged. it's being repaired, but i expect ukrainians will revisit that bridge. and another is a land bridge that runs along the coast, and ukrainians have already demonstrated they can hit it near the city. so i think over the next couple of months we're going to see them continuing to press russian logistics and russian headquarters and eventually get to the point where they can make crimea untenable.

they're not going to do just a frontal assault like what we see the russians doing around soledar. they're going to make it untenable using long-range precision fires. >> general hodges, thank you very much. i appreciate your time. always do. >> thank you. all right, next, president obama praising the governor of illinois for signing one of america's strictest assault weapons bans into law. what a growing number of sheriffs tonight are now refusing to enforce. governor pritszer is next. plus sam bankman-fried behind what's being called one of the largest frauds in history speaks out for the first time after his arrest. immune c cells and sustain tissue health. ensure with twenty-five vitamins and minerals, and ensure complete with thirty grams of protein. hey, it's ryan reynolds, owner of mint mobile. it's the holidays and the big wireless companies are busy spending billions on advertising. at mint we're not into wastg money. so we bought this spiffy ock footage for $500.

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tonight, it's been hail as one of the nation's strictest laws banning assault weapons. governor jb pritzker of illinois vilified by many in his own state, though, including a growing number of sheriffs who are signing a bill which bans a long list of a.m. automatic weapons, high capacity magazines and so-called switches that allow guns to fire automatically and the law also requires people who currently own these weapons to register them. this comes as gun stores in illinois reporting a massive spike in sales just before the bill was signed by the governor. >> we were standing room only. we were overwhelmed. >> out front now the democratic

governor of illinois, jb pritzker. i appreciate your time. the bill you signed this week, and just gave a few of the headlines. it is ens tensive. there's a six page list in there of more than 600 guns banned in your state. you've got the endorsements of former president obama of course from chicago praising your bold action, former president bill clinton says this law will save lives. do you share these big statements? i mean what do you think specifically it will accomplish, governor? >> well, let me just remind you that we had several terrible tragedies over the last six months beginning with the highland park shooting. seven people dead, dozens injured, hundreds of people, frankly, traumatized by it. we had shootings at the mcdonald's in downtown chicago, the bonito juarez high school on the southwest side of chicago.

these were all mass shootings using either a switch or an ar-15-style weapon. assault weapons needed to be banned in our state. it's taken a long time for us to organize to get it done. and of course we elected a lot of gun safety advocate candidates to the general assembly. and finally, we were able to get this passed and overcome the power of the nra in our state. >> and you're now reportedly facing push back for at least 40 sheriffs in the state. they say they're not going to proactively check to make sure people are registering their assault weapon. and obviously we know part of this law is, well, if you have one already you have to register it. gun store owners are reporting a spike in sale. one owner saying standing room only, another said rifle sales had surged ten fold from a year ago. look, i understand you've got to start somewhere, and you're very proud about where you are. but how worried are you about your ability to enforce the law?

>> well, let's start with the fact that sheriffs take an oath of office to enforce the law. and they're obligated to do that, and they will do that. we also have the state police that are responsible for carrying this out, and they're under my command. and then let's talk about those gun stores. actually we did this in a relatively short period of time. the good news about that is from the time that the bill was introduced to the time that i signed it was only a few days. you can imagine what would have happened if i hadn't signed it as fast as i did after it passed finally the senate. i did it within a cup of hours of receiving the bill. so we didn't have a prolonged period of time where people were able to go purchase these kinds of weapons. they are illegal in our state now, and we will enforce the law. >> so have you had any conversations with those sheriffs or what are you going

to do about them right now? >> well, i think they're relying upon the idea that the nra and their affiliates here in the state are filing suit and hoping to take that suit all the way to the supreme court and have this law overturned. they won't be successful. we've had, you know, lots of attorneys involved in drafting this legislation. we believe that we will prevail. and if the law of the land here in illinois is in place, these weapons have been banned, you can't purchase one, you can't sell one in this state right now. we're very proud of that fact. and we are truly saving lives. so i'm pleased with where we are. obviously, you know, when these folks lose at the ballot box and they lose in the general assembly they decide they've got to go to court in order to see if they can get it overturned. they won't be successful. >> governor, of course you are the governor.

you're also a very prominent face in national politics, and i want to get your reaction to our top story tonight which is the attorney general merrick garland has appointed a special counsel after classified documents more of them were found at president biden's home in delaware in a garage and an adjacent room in his home and in his private office in washington. do you think, do you have concern about how president biden hand. ed these documents? do you think he could have broken the law? >> i should say i have been a little busy over the past couple of days. i haven't focused on all the details. i can say this, appointing a special counsel is the right thing to do. there ought to be complete transparency around this. and this is very different than what happened with donald trump, hiding classified documents. this white house, when they found that they had some documents to turn over, did so relatively immediately and have been forthcoming with information about it. that's not the case with donald trump.

he was hiding them for months and months and refusing to turn them over. quite a contrast between the two. >> governor pritzker, i appreciate your time. thank you, sir. >> thank you, erin. and next, jailed crypto founder sam bankman-fried breaking his silence tonight as we are learning more about exactly who is investing in crypto and losing their pants. plus breaking news. we're just getting word of a deadly tornado outbreak across the south. one official telling cnn we have multiple deaths and are still searching for bodies. so you only pay for what you need! whoooo! we gotta go again. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty liberty libeberty♪ ♪liberty♪ introducing the new sleep number climate360 smart bed. only smart bed in the world that actively cools, warms and effortlessly responds to th of you. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. proven quality sle. only from sleep number. [ melissa ] you hear about cancer.

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are they covered? that's right. with your medicare plan you get low-cost copays. thank you. let's talk about making things easier. walgreens is here. ♪ tonight, disgraced cryptocurrency executive sam bankman-fried speaking out for the first time since his arrest, insisting he did not siphon billions of dollars of customers from the crypto fimprm he found. writing, quote, i didn't steal funds and stash them away. the justice department begs to differ. look, he is 30 years old. he was worth $26 billion earlier this year, recently down to $100,000. apparently he is now on house arrest at his parents' home and somehow was able to post a 250 million bond. don't ask me to do the math.

harry enten is here to break it all down. okay. $100,000, a quarter billion, you have been looking into the numbers around crypto, and you've noticed some interesting trends. so who exactly is putting all this money in? >> overall, it's only about 16% of adults, but the folks who are putting it in -- >> 16% of adults, harry? only? >> but compare that to men under the age of 30. 42%, women 50 plus that is the part of the population that doesn't put money in at all. only 5% of them do. so basically, it's an age and a gender thing. women are less likely to, and older people are less likely to put money into crypto. >> i am still stunned by 16% of all adults. because how many of those 16% actually understand what they were putting money into? all right. so crypto is a relatively new phenomenon, and that's why i say this. it's complicated, right? it's hard to fully understand all the aspects here. the market obviously has been volatile even prior to this debacle. so why are people investing in

it? >> yeah, i think it's -- what we found in the polling they say it's easy to invest. it's a different way to invest, and it's a way to make money. 50% of those who invest in crypto, at least 50% gave that as a minor or major reason. but it also may be the celebrity endorsers, right? there have been all these celebrities endorsed it. larry david, gisele, tom brady, kim kardashian, and i should also note all four of those have also been sued over their endorsements and the pushing of cryptocurrency. >> and they put money in. >> yes. >> as i said, they've lost a lot of money. >> tom brady especially. >> how are these investments working out for everyone and for these, you know, rich and famous people? >> so, look, if you look over the last year, the stock market as a whole has been down. the s&p 500, which as you know is a benchmark, has been down about 15%. but look at bitcoin, which is the major cryptocurrency. it's down nearly 60%. so the fact is it's been a tough

market, but crypto has been down overall. whether you look at something like bitcoin or of course ftx, which is adios amigos, went into bankruptcy. >> and you're talking incredible amounts of money being lost by a lot of people, and including some of those wealthy individuals. brady mentioned, bob kraft. >> they endorsed and lost money. they got sued and lost money. it was lose-lose for them. >> thank you very much, harry. >> thank you. breaking news, we are learning of multiple deaths after devastating tornadoes have torn through the south. when it was time to sign up for a medicare plan mom couldn't decide.

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breaking news. at least five dead in one

alabama county after a devastating line of tornadoes tore through the south. the coroner in alabama telling cnn that officials are now searching for bodies. one tornado hit selma, causing significant damage according to the mayor there. and at least 24 tornadoes so far tonight have been reported across the south, according to the national weather service. the governor of alabama, kay ivey declaring a state of emergency in six counties already. this is broader than one state. georgia governor brian kemp also declaring a state of emergency. nearly 200,000 people are also without power in alabama, georgia, and tennessee, as the story develops tonight. thank you so much for joining us. you can watch us any time on cnn go, but it is time flow for "ac 360" with anderson cooper. good evening. there is breaking news tonight. new details on the first batch of obama era classified documents which were found back in november, but only acknowledged on monday. more on that shortly. this comes at the end of the day th