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♪ ♪ any minute, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is set to speak on the floor of the senate for the first time since his latest freezing episode as questions swirl about the future of his leadership. we're monitoring those remarks. the man hunt for a dangerous escaped murderer is now expanding. pennsylvania authorities say the convicted killer was spotted outside of the original search

area. two school districts closed their doors as hundreds of law enforcement officers deployed to help with the search. and more than 50 years after his heroic actions in vietnam, retired army captain larry taylor will be honored at the white house. captain taylor will receive the nation's highest military award. we are following these latest developing stories and many more all coming in right here to cnn "news central." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ this hour on capitol hill, the senate is back in session after its august break, and many eyes and ears are going to be trained on the minority leader. any moment now we're expecting to hear directly from mitch mcconnell amid questions over his health. it comes after two incidents this summer where he froze up in front of cameras while answering questions for reporters. today a capitol doctor released an update on that.

cnn's manu raju is on capitol hill, and what can you tell us about the capitol physician's view of mcconnell's health and whether we expect to hear mcconnell talk about his health today. >> it is unclear what he will say on the senate floor when they open in a matter of moments. we do expect mcconnell to address the senate business. he typically does that. it is unlikely that he will talk about his health. he has been very reticent to provide any details about what has happened amid these health scares. twice this summer that he froze for roughly 30 seconds when cameras were upon him including last week. in last week's episode in kentucky, after ward, we have not seen him publicly. these remarks were the first public remarks he has made. he has met with members privately including one senate candidate jim banks late last week after that incident and the immediate aftermath, spoke at that event and banks told me mcconnell seemed perfectly fine and mcconnell has spoken to

other senators as well in the recent days and tried to reassure them about his health and today a letter to ease concerns about the 81-year-old republican leader and whether he can continue to hold on to his powerful leadership post that he's held for the past 16 years. brian moynihan had consulted with several of mcconnell's neurologists. four of them that the leader spoke with as well as conducted mri imaging and eeg study to monitor electrical activity in the brain and the result according to the doctor, quote, no evidence that he's had a seizure. no evidence that he experienced a stroke or tia or a movement disorder such as parkinson's disease. that is where some of the concerns that could have been there, but here you're hearing the capitol physician ruling it out. it is still uncertain exactly what caused mcconnell to freeze. his office said he was light headed at the time and both instances and the capitol physician said it is not uncommon for know is who has

suffered a concussion to experience light headedness and mcconnell suffered a concussion late in march whafter falling aa capitol hotel including when he meets with his colleagues for the first time behind closed doors since he returned from recess and that will happen tomorrow. >> manu, please keep us updated on his remarks from the floor. thanks very much. >> let's discuss the politics of this with david chalian, cnn's political director. mcconnell has been the leader of republican senators for 16 years now. what does he need to do to ease their concerns about his ability to lead? >> well, you just heard manu describe for us. he's working overtime as is his team to do exactly that, to assuage any concerns. he's also going to be able to take the temperature of his conference when they meet behind closed doors to see how sort of

much this concern is permeating through the conference or is it not? you know, you don't become the leader for 16 years and the longest-serving leader in senate history if you don't have a pulse of where your members are on this, and so he'll work to do that, as well and you'll see by putting out two medical letters within days of each other to try and provide an update. they're clearly trying to isolate this to something that is just about sort of normal recovery from a significant concussion back in march and ruling out all other things or a lot of other things that it could potentially be. >> david, it struck me that the second time he froze it was following a question from a reporter about his decision to run for re-election in 2026. his singular focus now is trying to get republicans back in the white house and back in control

of both chambers of congress. >> yes. most significantly, first and foremost from mitch mcconnell is trying to get republicans back in control of the united states senate, and i think you are right. he was being asked about his own reelection, prospects in 2026 and he's not up for lech this cycle, and i think his immediate challenge about his own leadership post, boris is in these days and weeks ahead to put on any attempt for any conversation that maybe he shouldn't be the leader of the conference through the rest of this congress. i think whether or not mitch mcconnell is around to actually serve as leader of the republican conference beyond the '24 elections i think that is a much more robust conversation that senate republicans will be having in the month ahead. >> again, we look forward to hearing from senator mcconnell at any moment from the senate floor. david chalian, thank you very

much for that perspective. brianna? >> happening now, sentencing hearing for former proud boys chairman enrique tarrio. he was arrconvict of seditious conspiracy at the u.s. capitol. evan perez is live outside of the courthouse. what more are you learning? >> rid now, brianna, the judge is considering whether to add a terrorism enhancement which would up the sentence that he is able to give or that he would give to enrique tarrio. it's something that he has declined to do in the previous four of these sentencings for four members of the proud boys that we saw in the last few days. just as a reminder, we've had four of them already sentenced. ethan nordian got 18-year sentence, and zachary reel 18 years and dominic pizzola, four

of these men were convicted of seditious conspiracy. enrique tarrio is of course, the leader. he was not here that day and that's something his lawyer and his attorney is emphasizing to the judge saying, look, he wasn't here that day. he wasn't in touch with them, with the members of the proud boys. he wasn't even able to control them in some of the previous rallies and some of the previous altercations that they had with police, but the judge said that is something you argued to the jury, and they didn't believe it. rid now the judge is saying that -- the judge is saying that he is looking to add that terrorism enhancement which again would increase the level of sentence and the prosecutors have asked for 33 years and so we're waiting to see what the judge decides. his lawyer right now is saying enrique tarrio is not a terrorist. he's a misguided patriot. something the judge is not really buying at this moment.

>> not really buying. >> we'll see you. thank you so much. the legal fallout of january 6th does not stop there. donald trump and his 18 co-defendants in georgia have now pleaded not guilty to charges tied to racketeering and election interference. former trump chief of staff, mark meadows is one of the defend defendants who entered that plea today. he was hoping to move it before this step. cnn's nick valencia has the latest from fulton county. nick, none of these defendants have to appear in front of a judge and for cameras, at least for the arraignment tomorrow. is that how prosecutors expected that to play out and of course, it will be different for the trials. >> well, jim, we have anticipated that this could be a possibility under georgia law, these co-defendants have the right to waive their arraignment and have the right to plead

guilty or not guilty prior to appearing in court and that's what the 19 co-defendants did and what was going to be a very busy day in court wednesday on no longer and mark meadows one of the last of these co-defendants to enter a not guilty plea and to waive his arraignment and meadows has been charged with two straight crime and the rico, and trying to get an official to violate their oath and it was recently that he was mapging his case in federal court, arguing under oath that the akds for which he's charged were done while he was operating under his official role as the chief of staff or the former president. the federal judge still has not made a decision on that so we're waiting there. >> look, there has been a flurry of legal activity and today that continued. not only did meadows enter a not guilty plea and there was jeffrey clark and john eastman, the pro trump attorney and kathy

latham, and david schaefer among the many that entered these pleas and there were several of these co-defendants that tried to sever their cases and some wanting speedy cases and others like the former president wanting to delay their case until after this proposed trial date. >> they're even traying to sever the cases to one another, we're, they are charging these 19 co-defendants. >> former trump lawyer, john eastman someone of those who filed to separate his case from others for a speedy trial. when the folks are making the case not for a speedy trial, what is the argument they're making? >> well, you know, it's probably a scheduling conflict when it comes down to the former president. four indictments in the past five months and all of that takes time to try to figure out and coordinate among his many legal teams that are represent iing him in the trials.

for those that want a speedy trial it was announceded by a legal analyst that fani willis was calling the bluff of ken chesebro, and we saw fani willis for an october trial date and it's interesting to see the information surrounding this case. >> thanks. >> you bet. >> we are follow regular election interference case against donald trump. the cnn has learned the special counsel is widening his net. prosecutors are anyexamining ho trump allies tried to access voting systems in key battl battleground states. cnn's zach cohen and paula reid. >> jack smith has expanded this probe and it does include some of those folks who were references, unindicted co-conspirators in his

indictment of donald trump which came out a couple of weeks ago. one in particular has come into focus and multiple witnesses and that's sydney powell, the former trump lawyer and prosecutors want to know about money raised by powell's non-profit defending in the republic and they want to know if that money was found to find evidence of voter fraught he gets increases that show their defending republic, to show thing things like michigan and places, and it's after donald trump is fating chris nal charges, prosecutors are asking questions about the people around him and how the money was spent and house it was raised. >> zach, there is a grand jury deadline. how does that speak to this? >> we are bumping up to

september 15th, next week? that can be extended if prosecutors want to. so really not a hard deadline there, but if it is extended that might be a sign there's more to uncover and more to investigate from the prosecutor's side. >> really interesting how the federal case overlaps with the georgia case. a lot of threads to keep up with. zach cohen, thank you so much. brianna? >> still to come, police in pennsylvania are expanding the search for an escaped serial killer. so far the only thing that has caught him is a security camera. plus, this hour, a veteran is set to receive the nation's highest military award more than 50 years after his heroism in vietnam. >> later, a possible deal between the u.s. kria and russia on cnn "news central." ♪ stay off the freeways! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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>> police in pennsylvania are expanding their search for an escaped killer danelo

cavalcante. a trail camera spotted him outside the original search area. these are from the long wood botanical gardens a few miles from the prison he escaped from just last thursday. two school districts are closed today as police scour the wooded areas about 30 miles west of philadelphia. helicopters and patrol cars are blasting an audio message from the escapee's mother urging him to surrender. cnn's danny freeman is live in chester county. i wonder, what's the latest update from police? >> jim, the latest update from police is exactly what you said, that this search is intensifying and this search is expanding. remember, it was just six days ago when danelo cavalcante broke out of the prison behind me, the chester county prison and six days ago is when he broke out and now we have six confirmed sightings of him since and five of those sightings were actually in a pretty confined, two-mile radius south of where we are

here at the prison, but it wasa sighting last night at longwood gardens outside of the perimeter that escalated the man hunt and the search today. you've been looking at this picture that was, as you described, a trail camera surveillance video basically that was taken at longwood gardens and you can see in the photo right there, cavalcante, he is shirtless, but he's also wearing a duffel bag and those prison-issued pants right there and what police are taking from that is that cavalcante has probably been able to burglarize some homes or break into perhaps some cars to get things like a backpack, a duffel bag and potentially other clothes, as well and that risk, jim was all too real for one homeowner that we heard from over the past few days who said that he came into contact with cavalcante in his home. take a listen. >> i woke up my wife and said hey, i think there might be somebody downstairs, you know,

get on the phone. i decided to do was flip the light switch on and off three or four or five times, pause, and then he flipped the light switch from downstairs three or four times which was the moment of, like, oh, my god. this guy is down there. >> now even though at this point, cavalcante has still not been captured, pennsylvania state police are optimistic at this point because he hasn't gotten that far. he's only about five miles and the most recent search radius from the prison and also they believe that that sighting out of the perimeter, yes, he was able to slip out of it, but that means they're putting the pressure and forcing cavalcante to move and that's when police hope he will slip up. jim? >> that encounter inside the home. i can only imagine, danny freeman, thanks so much. boris? >> still ahead, 55 years after a daring rescue during a fire fight in vietnam, a helicopter pilot is about to receive the

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the critical issues facing our state from relentless inflation straining families and business owners to the challenge of finding workers in the lagging labor market. i also had a chance to travel to the eastern part of kentucky where i met with health care and recovery workers in manchester.

tragically, the substance abuse crisis has become even deadlier in heesent years, specially in my home state. so we discussed what we're doing to combat it, and find ways the federal government can fill the gaps. i also welcomed dr. roe gupta, the national drug czar back to the commonwealth to hear more about what we're doing to fight back against addiction. i look forward to continuing working with dr. gupta to make ken kentucky a safe and healthier place. throughout the month i was pleased to see over $6 million go toward addressing the opioid crisis at home.

this federal funding will go a long way to supporting programs to offer a lifeline to countless ken kentuckyians who struggle with substance abuse. in bowling green i met with community bankers to discuss what senate republican are doing to check on the biden administration's reckless spending and regulatory overreach. at the kentucky state fair i had a chance to indulge in some of the best that the bluegrass has to offer like the farm bureau's famous ham breakfast. this event is a highlight of mine every august and this year was no exception. i met with farmers from across the state to discuss their priorities and concerns as congress takes up the all-important farm bill. this input will be vital to our work here in the senate in the month ahead.

in northern kentucky, i wrapped up the month with local business leaders to talk about some of our landmark infrastructure investments in the state like overhauling the spence bridge and revitalizing our river ports and ports. from rural farm families to businesses of all side every kentuckyian voiced the same message. there's too much government and help everyday boom. so as the senate gets back to work in washington i'll keep these conversations or concerns in the forefront of my mind. this month, of course, congress needs to address our nation's most pressing needs with family appropriations and we need to keep the lights on from october 1st. back in january i pointed out

that washington democrats had a new normal they faced and the american people have a divided government and demanded we work together on the most basic governing responsibilities. well, as i reminded our colleague, the government through regular order and it's been encouraging to see senator collins, senator murray and our colleagues on the appropriations committee make serious headway in that direction. next week we'll aim to pass the first batch of their work out here on the floor. i've also made clear at that time senate's top priority must be keeping the american people safe, and this month we'll have a chance to do that with supplemental appropriations for urgent, nice and security disaster relief priorities. we need to continue to invest in america's defense, industrial

base. to support our partners in today's fate and to help our forces deter tomorrow's threats. and as our colleagues from floor da and hawaii know all too well that's working overtype to help -- >> so the senate reconvenes the deadline is fast approaching and i hope each of our colleagues is ready to return to do their part. >> all right. i want to go now to the white house where the president will be awarding the medal of honor to army captain larry taylor who the white house calls conspicuous gallantry during the vietnam war and it is the nation's highest military award for valor. >> men and women from across the

country will arrive at fort worth, georgia, to attend ranger school, one of the toughest military courses in the world. for nearly 20 hours every day they'll run, march, swim and climb some of the most challenging obstacles under the most grueling of conditions. but most importantly, they'll learn how to lead, study the stories of our greatest nation's warriors. they include the story of a pilot who 55 years ago risked his own life to save a group of young soldiers like them. the pilot we honor today, captain larry taylor. the medal of honor is our nation's oldest and highest recognition of valor. now when i called larry to let him know he was finally receiving his recognition, his response was i thought you had to do something to receive the

medal of honor. let me say that again. i thought you had to do something to receive the medal of honor. larry, you sure did something, man. if you ask anyone here i'm sure they'll say you did something extraordinary and that includes the secretary of defense, secretary austin. secretary mcdonogh, the secretary of the army, and chairman milley and senator -- senator blackburn and also senator h senator hagerty who all join us today and previous recipients who came to honor their brother in arms, arthur marn and james mcewan, and petrie, gentlemen, you're the very best the nation has to offer. we owe you and same goes on

sergeant darren hill, vietnam veteran, former firefighters and the last survivor of larry's mission the driving force behind his medal of honor nomination. on behalf of our nation, thank you all for being here, and finally, tony, larry learned many ranks and call signs throughout his military service, he earned them. captain, darkhorse, mustang, and probably a few we can't say out loud. [ laughter ] >> best left out of the presidential record, i guess. but i believe -- i believe that larry's most proud of being called your husband, and it's an honor. it's an honor to have you both here as we give this heroism its full oak regular mission that it deserves. born in the volunteer state, raised by a world war ii veteran, and duty to find larry taylor's life from the earliest days, as a young man he

volunteered to join the college rotc unit at the university of tennessee knoxville. then after graduating in 1966 he commissioned as an armor officer and larry had dreamed of leading men into battle in what he called chariots of steel, but it didn't take many days on the ground to make larry realize he belonged in the sky. he wanted to be a pilot. not just any pilot. a cobra pilot, flying the newest, deadliest army helicopter at the time. a gun ship built for only two people and their ammo. so when larry was ordered -- when larry's order was offered a spot to fly first in vietnam he jumped at the chance. it was then that then lieutenant taylor would go above and beyond the call of duty, quite literally. june 18, 19678, it was pitch

black. no moon. no stars. no light beyond the globe. going by the cockpit controls when he heard a whisper come thank you his radio. we're surrounded. we're surrounded, that's all we could. ? i it inclued sergeant david lil. ? the men pent sent out on recon the wrir, and found themselves in the strong hold. more than a hundred enemy soldiers picked up moment movement. it was they needed a rescue mission over the radio he laid out the game plan. he would use his cobra to give

the unit cover until a rescue helicopter could extract them. there was one simple problem. it was pitch black. lieutenant taylor couldn't determine exactly where they were. so he asked his men to launch a flare, a move that revealed their location to him, but also to the enemy. lieutenant taylor knew the risk, but he was ready. over the radio he said, let's get to work. a flare went up and the flight fight was on. lieutenant taylor and his co-pilot dove down, positioning their cobra nearly parallel with the vietcong fighters. they flew dangerously low levels for more than a half an hour firing thousands of rounds of rockets to cover the ground -- cover ground in which the men were and then lieutenant taylor heard a sound and not only meant one thing, his helo was hit and then it was hit again and again and again. at that point according to army

standards he could have left the fight, but lieutenant taylor had his own sacred standard. quote, you never leave a man on the ground, end of quote. he tried to find an escape route for the unit and his cobra taking more round as he did. he kept trying to radio for rescue knowing that he and his men were almost out of time and ammunition. on his last try he learned that any attempt to save the men had been called off. the rescue helicopter was not coming. instead, lieutenant taylor received a direct order, return to base. his response was just as direct, i'm getting my men out. i'm getting my men out. lieutenant taylor would perform the extraction himself, a maneuver never before accomplished in a cobra. remember, the cobra was only a gun ship only. there was no cabin for

passengers, but that was the least of his problems. first, lieutenant daytaylor nee to give his men a way out of the rice paddy where they were pinned down. he needed a diversion so despite the fact that he had no rockets or rounds left, lieutenant taylor drew the enemy fire himself using his landing light to trick the enemy to thinking he was still at ammo, he started making runs on the vietcong fighters. the ruse worked a few times, but it was enough for the men to make it to the extraction point. there, still under heavy gun fire, lieutenant taylor landed. the men monitored the exterior of his helo clinging to the skids, climbing on the rocket pods. within seconds lieutenant taylor was back in the air, but the mission wasn't over. lieutenant taylor saw his fuel light flickering. he had started off with 1,600 pounds of gas and now he had

about six, not enough to make it back to base. worse, the soldiers he was carrying were covered in wet mud against 50 knots of wind. even if he could make it back to base, his men would freeze or fall first and he once more risked his own safety for his fellow teammates and he located a friendly area to set his bird down. four men dismounted the helo and disappear back into the pitch black night. no moon. no stars. no light beyond the glow of their faces when they briefly turned and saluted lieutenant taylor for saving all four of their lives. he wouldn't see some of these men again until 30 years later and he had become captain taylor. he had flown more than 2,000 combat missions and received a silver star, a bronze star, two

distinguished flying crosses and 43 air medals. thank god he's not putting them all on his chest, he'd have trouble standing. [ laughter ] incredible. no, really think about it. it's incredible, but the greatest honor of all, family showed up at these reunions, too. they'd look for larry, they'd hug him and they'd say you don't know me, but you saved my daddy's life. in the few days young soldiers about the same age as larry was during the dark night in vietnam. they'll arrive at ranger school. like all of us today, they're inspired by his story and they will be, but how? how he refused to give up, refused to leave a fellow american behind, refused to put his own life above the lives of others in need. when duty called larry did

everything -- did everything to answer and because of that, he re-wrote the fate of four families for generations to come. that's valor. that's valor. that's our nation at its very best and that's why it's now my great honor to ask lieutenant colonel hughes to read your medal of honor citation. may god bless you all and may god protect our troops. >> attention to orders, the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress, march 3, 1863, has award in the name of congress the medal of honor to first lieutenant larry l. taylor, united states army, for conspicuous gallantry andic trip idity at the risk of his life above and beyobd the call of duty.

larry l. taylor distinguished himself by acts of gallant ra and intrepidity while serving with troop delta, 4th squadron, 4th cavalry infantry division in 1968 at the village of the rell public of vietnam. on this date, first lieutenant taylor commanded a light fire team of two helicopter gunship, scrambled on a nighttime mission in response to an urgent call for aerial fire support from a four-man long-range patrol team. upon arrival, first lieutenant taylor found the patrol team surrounded and heavily engaged by a larger vietcong force. he immediately requested illumination rounds and supporting artillery to identify enemy positions. despite enemy ground fire he flew at a perilously low altitude having machine gun fire on enemy forces and encircling the friendly patrol. for over approximately 45

minutes first taylor and his wingman made close attack runs on the surrounding enemy positions. when enemy fire increased from the village, he requested artillery rounds with lower illumination altitudes be fired on that portion of the village so that the burning rounds ignited the enemy positions. with both cobra gunships nearly out of ammunition and the enemy still closing in on the patrol team, first lieutenant taylor flew the patrol time's potential ground evacuation route finding it unviable based on the heavy enemy ground fire encountered. returning to the patrol time's location he continued to circle it at a low level under intense enemy fire employing his search light to make fake gun runs to distract them from the patrol team. running low on fuel and with the patrol team nearly out of ammunition, first lieutenant taylor decided to extract the team with his two-man helicopter g gunship a feat never before

accomplished. first lieutenant taylor fired his last rounds on enemy positions opening an avenue east for the patrol team. he direct the pat rom al teams where he landed his helicopter and instructed the patrol team to climb aboard anywhere they could. with the four-man long-range patrol team on rocket pods and skids he evacuated them to the first friendly location, undoubtedly saving their lives. his profound concern for his soldiers and at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army.

[ applause ] [ applause ]

>> ladies and gentlemen, please join me for the benediction. most holy god, we thank you again for the shining example of valor and selfless service you have given us in captain larry taylor. bless him richly as he takes his place in the pantheon of our nation's most distinguished heroes, as we leave this ceremony inspireded by captain taylor's legacy of courageous action under fire, empower us to commit ourselves to greater acts of service to one another and to our nation. we rely upon you, o, lord, to keep us all strong in spirit and

to give each of us the wisdom we need to fulfill our responsibilities one to another. now, lord, god, we ask that you will bless and protect all of those serving our army and our armed forces today as they preserve our precious freedoms just as captain taylor did, and m may the lamp of liberty continue to shine brightly upon the united states of america and upon our allies and our friends around the world. we pray these blessings in your holy name. amen. ♪ ♪ >> what a thing to behold. retired captain larry taylor receiving the medal of honor. i want to bring in cnn pentagon correspondent orrin lieberman as we're watching this. you know, he did this to save

decades ago the men that he was serving with, but it was pretty amazing just to watch his face as the president put that award around his neck, orrin. i was le that is a moment we didn't have a chance to hear from captain larry taylor during the sale but you could see he put the medal of honor around taylor's neck, a bit of a smile there, the recognition so long in coming. 55 years for what happened on that night. and we had a chance to speak with taylor several days ago as we get ready for this medal of honor ceremony and it is clear that this was the mission at hand. and it was -- as we asked, how did you prep for this and plan for this. he said, we basically made it up as we went along. for him there were four soldiers there an owe the ground. there was supposed to by a rescue helicopter but that was called off because it was deemed to be too difficult. so taylor came up with his own plan. doing what he could with the fire power the helicopter had and then landing in that empty

rice paddy, and having them get on the skids and hang on for dear life and taking them to the nearest point where they were with friendly troops and would be safe. it was that action to keep flying in the face of fire and than do something that nobody had ever prepped for because the cobra wasn't supposed to be able to do that. that is why he earned the medal of honor and i do want to read a quick quote about what he views as what he did from that night. he told us, we took them down there and i landed. and i left my wide landing lights on and so the four them ran out in front of the helicopter and turned around and lined up, all four of them saluted and then ran for the lights. that was the four soldiers that he had saved. they saluted him as they ran realizing that he had taken them to safety. again, that is what has been given the medal of honor for. and he said, i think about 90% of flying a helicopter in vietnam was making it up as you go along.

probably not something his superior officers would like to have heard. but certainly for those four soldiers on the ground there, that he got out of there and saved, that is something they very much appreciate. actions he took and the courage he showed and the valor he shows that night. >> it was his improvisation and creativity and he made it happen. it was really a moment there. orren, thank you so much. we really appreciate it. >> of course. and we'll be right back. i need it cool at night. you trying to ice me out of the bed? baby, only on game nights. you know you are retired right? am i? ya! thqueen sleep number c2 smart bed is now only $999. plusree home delivery when you add an adjustable base. shop now only at sleep number.

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just a short time ago, attorneys for alec murdaugh finished talking to reporters about why the double murder should get a new trial. this year a jury took just three hours to convicted the disgraced south carolina attorney of killing his wife and son in june of 2021. now his attorneys alleged that the clerk of court at his trial tampered with jurors. let's get to cnn's dianne gallagher in south carolina. what did the defense team say? >> reporter: you know, boris, they say that the clerk of court rebecca becky hill was motivated by yet, money and fame. in pursuit of a book deal and television appearances. they filed that motion for a new trial here in columbia today, with a 65-page motion that includes bombshell allegations against the clerk of court there. just to redo a bit of this, they

claim that, quote, the clerk of court tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe murdaugh's testimony and other evidence presented by the defense. pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror that she believed to be favorable to the defense. now, again, these are just allegations at this point. we have reached out to miss hill. she has not given us comment yet in response to this motion. but look, the filing does contain two sworn affidavits from people who served on the jury and copies of a book that rebecca hill did publish about the murdaugh double murder trial this year. some of the jurors in the affidavits said things like hill instructed the jurors to not be misled by evidence presented by the defense. and not to be fooled by

murdaugh's own infamous testimony. it was that defense attorneys say caused that juror to come forward. >> immediately in the aftermath of the verdict, we had received information that we needed to look into what happened in the jury room. we started down that road and we met a zone of silence. no jurors would speak to us. and so we were -- what i like to call, we were given the hice man. and then when the clerk of court wrote her book and published her book, that zone of silence collapsed. and jurors were upset about that. the ones we talked with. and they were more than willing to come forward and tell us the things that we had sort of heard through a whisper campaign. >> reporter: now south carolina attorney general allen wilson said they are reviewing the motion. boris, the defense attorneys also requested the u.s. attorney

to investigate this as the clerk of court in the county is an elected official. >> just when we thought we heard the last of alec murdaugh. now the new allegations come about. diana gallagher, thank you so much. it will be interesting to see where they go with that. if that is a last-ditch effort or if they find someone there. >> also a quick book after a trial, quick public comments on such a high profile trial. >> it gave them an opportunity for this, perhaps. >> a lot more news today, and "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. ♪ welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. and we're in the middle of a very busy afternoon as we come