for months bannon remained defiant, but on the brink of his trial, typical bannon an about-face, bannon testify. >> give me a date, a time, a room number, a microphone and a holy bible i can take the oath on. boom, deliver that and we'll see how good you are. >> that didn't matter to prosecutors. >> the judge has announced there is a verdict. >> bannon was convicted on both counts. he faces a minimum sentence of 30 days in jail. >> we may have lost a battle here today, but we're not going to lose this war. >> there's got to be some accountability here. these people believe that they are above the law. >> outside a recent hearing in his case, cnn caught up to steve bannon. >> why do you continue to push the lie that the 2020 election was stolen? >> it's not a lie. it's a fact. >> it's a lie. you have no proof. we've looked at all the facts. you don't have the facts, rudy doesn't have the facts. >> do me a favor, get this guy, i want to sit down with you this week, go through all the evidence. >> okay, how about friday? >> despite that pledge, the interview never happened. bannon ultimate

bannon gave up.ple came to us and say what's going to happen? how should we do this? he was the oracle. >> the most outrageous audacious thing to do was to pull in these clinton accusers. >> bannon's defense against the tape, to go on offense. hours before the second presidential debate, steve bannon brought together four women claiming abuse at the hands of the clintons which the clintons had long denied. >> why did you say you -- >> why don't you ask bill clinton that? >> my girl paula jones the first one. bill clinton raped me, right, boom. they hit it, it was perfect. >> just beyond the forced smiles there, they were. >> all of a sudden, the story on cable news isn't donald trump and the "access hollywood" tape. if you look at the photos that the press took of everyone standing on the side you'll see steve bannon over in the corner with a smirk on his face at moment. you'll see the genius of steve bannon. >> bannon staged a media coup. the trump campaign never looked back. >> right now a historic

you'll see the genius of steve bannon. >> bannon staged a media coup.ampaign never looked back. >> right now a historic moment. cnn projects donald trump wins the presidency. >> i went to the president and said, sir, you need to get dressed. you've won. i remember bannon standing right there next to me, and bannon was like, yeah, you won, sir. everyone got pretty emotional obviously. i am today. one of those moments i'll never forget. i can see bannon was proud. everyone was really proud. the president walked up to me. good job, brad, you really did a good job, but just don't stand next to me on stage. >> because you're too tall. >> because i'm too tall. >> the last thing donald trump said before being president of the united states is don't stand next to me. >> what was bannon thinking at the time that he created this political revolution and now he'd have the kind of bannon he only dreamed about. >> bannon was chief strategist and senior counsellor to the president of the united states. >> this american carnage stops right here and stops right now. >>

bannon. congress did not negotiate or weight on bannon. the committee made an assertive decision, unusual for democrat-run probes to immediately hold wanten in contempt when he defied, to immediately push for the doj to indict him, which it did. there were some at the time that said, gosh, this set it off on essive footing. or, will it do what doj and garland want to co? will it look political? congress led by this select committee and its chairs, they said, no, we're going forward. that's why bannon is facing up to two years in prison, and that's why apparently his tough talk bebegan melting, news broke of the deal this weekend. here's how bannon's talk went from a type of theatericle pack of maga lies to now pleading for a deal. >> this is the complete charade that the 6 january committee -- >> the house is voting now to find steve bannon in contempt of congress for brazenly defying a subpoena from the january 6th committee. >> this is going to be the misdemeanor from he will for merrick ga

bannon's lawyer says what's the point of a trial? the judge says yeah you should ask yourself, that we start a week from tomorrow. that was the gist of the hearing. >> it's a pretty damning comment from the judge. i think everybody realizes steve bannon is in if he lets this go to trial next week. the it seems like such a clear cut cased. i did hear from a few people who thought maybe if steve bannon were to plead guilty, and then testify honestly and turn over all the documents to the january 6th committee, that would be his best way of avoiding jail time, maybe the judge would look favorably on his actions. but as of right now, basically this whole weekend the letters he's been sending, and evidence he tried to put forward, it doesn't seem to be working for steve bannon. >> that's a great point. he's facing actual jail time if he's convicted right? i don't know that the maxim, a year he's facing, six months something that ballpark? >> two years, when years for each count, and up to 100,000 dollar fine on each count. as the justice

so if you're steve bannon, make sense. just think, i've got away with everything else so far was not? now this is someone who was at his core hustler. going all the way back to his involvement at all three acre dome in the 1990s. >> it's been referred to in the past as a planet in a bottle. and wallet does not directly replicate earth, it's the closest thing we've ever come to having the major by owns an echo systems, animals et cetera that really try to make an analog for the planet earth. >> that ended up about as good as the trump presidency. steve bannon would be like trying to self-tourists bus tours at times square, or just a guy ranting at the end of the bar. but by the shore ravenous dysfunction of the modern american right, bannon was elevated to the right-hand of the president of the united states. at transformation began when bannon took the helm of the right far-right breitbart news in 2012. bannon took decide even to further to the right the 2016 he proudly declare the pry bar was the platform for the alt-righ

bannon is getting scared. this is an obvious ruse to say i'm going to testify because the former president has finally waived executive privilege. but that would mean he had the privilege to begin with. it wasn't his to waive. a former president cannot waive it. steve bannon doesn't have executive privilege. he stopped working for the white house in 2017, years before january 6th. but he wants to raise these defenses as an attempt to put some reasonable doubt in at least one juror's mind, and if he put reasonable doubt in all their minds it's an acquittal. i don't think it's going anywhere and i think it shows the desperation of steve bannon who sees he's running out of excuses. >> i understand why bannon would want a public hearing, because i think based on what we've seen on his podcast, he likes to turn things into a circumsts, he lik chaos. the committee is wary of that, but they want to ask him, i would imagine, about a specific prediction he made on his podc podcast the day before january 6th. here's wha

, and steve bannon's long game. it was a long game that began before donald trump. i think that is what is the real danger here that we might be missing in some of this. steve bannon has started a political movement based on a lie. we may all believe in our hearts that no one could possibly follow him. he is it that the modern people that believe in the lie and believe that they are somehow aggrieved by this election lost to action. he is getting people to run for offices who are election deniers. he is setting up a scene where into thousand 24, we may actually have election deniers, who are overseeing the vote. that is the real danger that we found in our documentary, and he is doing it all on this podcast which has millions and millions of followers who basically live within the echo chamber that he has developed. i don't think you can overlook that in terms of his political power. it i s -- there and a big shift, prosecutors say, that all 16 so-called fake electors, we are part of the former president scheme and

in our report, we looked at steve bannon and steve bannon's long game. it was eyea long game that bega before donald trump. that's the danger here that we might be missing in some of this. steve bannon has start aid political movement based on a lie. we may believe in our heart that no one could possibly follow him. he is very adept at motivating people who believe in that lie and believe that they are somehow aggrieved by this election loss, to action. he is getting people to run for offices who are election deniers. he is setting up a scene where in 2024, we may actually have election deniers who have overseeing the vote. that's the real danger that we found in our documentary. he is doing it all on this podcast which has millions and millions of followers who basically live within the echo chamber he developed. i don't think you can overlook that in terms of his political power. it's not just about trump. it's about his view of what the united states and the world should be. i think many people would be frightened of that. >> interesting. drew, john,

ladies and gentlemen, this is steve bannon and he's innocent of these charges, bannon attorney proclaimed in his opening statement. fleshing out bannon's biography with tidbits about his service in the navy and current podcast. corcoran got to the heart of his defense claiming lawyers were still negotiating about the subpoena including the date. there was no ignoring the subpoena. there will be no evidence showing that. leaving court today an impassioned bannon took aim at committee chairman bennie thompson, who just tested positive for covid. >> have the guts and the courage -- the guts and the courage -- to show up here and say exactly why it's a crime. bennie thompson is a total absolute disgrace. >> reporter: now obviously steve bannon wanted bennie thompson to testify at the trial. the judge did not allow that. there is still a slight chaps the judge could revisit that decision. that all depends on how the prosecution's case plays out. erin? >> sarah, thank you. and i want to go now to the former trump white house communications director. our senior legal analyst and former assistant

so steve bannon didn't testify. he stood outside the courthouse each day listing his political grievances, but it's a far cry from going medieval, which he said he would do. >> right. or be able to get up on a witness stand and spew his rather or even just stand outside the courtroom and try to defend trump or put his arm around trump. two things i didn't say. i didn't see bannon fighting back vehemently on the street. i didn't see any of trump or trump's people coming to his aid, either. so it was very telling to me the distance that still remains, at least publicly, between these two entities, trump world and steve bannon. even though we do believe that there is some sort of level of communication or wink and nod communication, should trump run again. i'm sure bannon will be behind it. but it is telling to me that there is public distance between trump and bannon at this point. >> skand jeffrey, what about th claim of a bulletproof appeal from bannon's counsel, who's basing that on the idea that bannon was doing t

steve bannon, divided we fall. that airs tonight at 9:00. >>> and next, prosecuting trump, so the january 6th committee says that they have made their case successfully that trump broke the law and that it's now up to the justice department to make a move, to decide whether to charge the former president. >>> plus, i'll speak to former d.c. officer michael fanone who was at the capitol and assaulted on january 6th. what was his reaction when he heard the chilling secret service radio traffic from the insurrection last night? >>> and tens of millions of americans suffering through a dangerous heat wave affecting the whole world that is about to get worse. and, no matter how much i paid, it followed me everywhere. between the highgh interest, the fees... i i felt trapped. debt, dedebt, debt. so i broke up with my credit card debt and consolidated it into a low-rate personal loan from sofi. i finally feel like a grown-up. break up with bad credit card debt. get a personal loan with no fees, low fixed rates, and borrow

bannon has interest in helping bannon and the evidence should and will be excluded from his criminal trial. >> luke, all of this comes days after pat cipollone spent seven hours testifying before the house january 6th committee. what were some of the big takeaways from that testimony? >> we don't know everything, but we have been able to learn some of the questions he was asked and i think we will see clips from pat cipollone played this week at the january 6th committee hearings. we know he was asked about pardons. we know he was asked about his view on donald trump's claims on election fraud and we know he was asked about the pressure campaign that donald trump was using against the vice president, mike pence. in the past, we have seen the committee play clips of bill barr and other top officials saying there was no election fraud and condemning some of his actions. i wouldn't be surprised if we saw similar steps from the top white house lawyer played at these hearings. he is saying donald trump was out of line here or the things he was saying were false. >> chuck, the issue brough

steve bannon, facing up to two years in prison.y but we won't lose the war. here is why they wanted to speak with him. all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. it is all converging and now we are on, as they say, the point of attack. right? the point of attack tomorrow. talking one day before the riots kicked off, they believe this showed he had beenin they believe this showed he had been in contact with donald trump ahead of the chaos. considered the brains behind the former president's 2016 election victory, he had served as his campaign chief as course strategist before he was fired by the white house in 2017. inside the court, mr bannon argued his old role made hit protected by executive privilege, and so he wouldn't have to give evidence about his former boss, but this was dismissed by investigators because he was no longer in government, and they said he had chosen his loyalty to donald trump over compliance with the law. 0utside court, steve bannon�*s lawyer said he would appeal the decision. you will see this _ would appe

bannon. >> after leaving court today, bannon spoke briefly to reporters. listen. >> look, it was a very good first day. it was a long day for jury selection. >> and so it goes. now bannon faces two criminal charges for his failure to comply with a house january 6th investigation. it's been ten months since he received a subpoena from the committee. the case is a major test of how much power congress really has when a witness defies a subpoena. bannon, one of the biggest purveyors of trump's election lies was a key figure in the lead-up to january 6th. days before he was outlining trump's plan win or lose. in his words then, trump is just going to declare victory and bannon has never wavered from that message. here he is december, 2020. >> we're here for reality. trump won a massive landslide on the 3rd of november. >> according to reporters, bob woodward and robert costa, bannon convinced trump to return to d.c. from mar-a-lago for that stop the steal rally and spoke to trump twice on january 5th. one of those calls minutes before he said this. >> all hell

., a bannon? it was quick, it took three hours. it bannon?took three hours- it was _ bannon? it was quick, it took three hours. it was an _ bannon? it was quick, it took three hours. it was an odd _ bannon? it was quick, it took three hours. it was an odd case. - bannon? it was quick, it took three hours. it was an odd case. he - bannon? it was quick, it took three hours. it was an odd case. he was. hours. it was an odd case. he was subpoenaed by the january 6th committee to come testify over what happened onjanuary 6th, 2021 when donald trump's public pronouncements at the foot of the capitol inspired an assault on the capitol building. and he had declined to answer or turn up, so he was cited for contempt. he was tried — that judgment came through just now, and faces up to a year on each count, two counts, maybe, maybe not that long a sentence, and a significant cash find. this is not by congress — i guess this must be a federal court. . ., ., , ., court. the court hands-down the 'udument court. the court hands-down the judgment because _ c

bannon? chairman thompson said, no, and that was something they said they needed to see before they even started having conversations about banning coming in and testifying because your member, in the initial overture from bannon, he said he wants to come in and testify but that he wants to do it live and in public, it's not something the committee was willing to do at least not initially, they said they needed to see something in good faith from him in the form of documents and records and that doesn't seem to have come so now that the trial is over, what does that mean for the cooperation. was it just a ruse to get out of the trial or was it something that actually meant something? >> before i ask you to answer your own question, i want to go back to glenn and ask glenn, could this be a negotiating tool between now and sentencing if in fact it's okay, i'm going to testify, could the judge offer up a more lenient sentencing for bannon, if in fact he decides to offer up documents and/or testi

steve bannon and the committee? ? >> they first subpoenaed steve bannon in september, one of their% batches of subpoenas. bannon defied that subpoena, he claimed executive privilege. i want to explain how weak that claim is legally. first of all, we're talking about executive privilege as applied to a former president, trump was out of office by this point. second of all, bannon was not even in the government at that point and third the substance of these communications are probably not even what executive privilege is about, it's supposed to be about legitimate policy considerations. it's a weak argument on defense on executive privilege. the committee, full house, rejected it, held him in contempt, doj rejected that argument, they indicted him. bannon has been indicted, facing a criminal trial that's supposed to start for criminal contempt of congress. if he's convicted he has to go to jail for at least 30 days. steve bannon has been desperately trying at the last moment to postpone that. this happens all the time

he's been very deliberate listening to bannon's concerns but ultimately bannon tried to do things likeelay the trial. the judge refused to do that. bannon wanted to argue that he had some kind of presidential executive privilege that prevented him from having to comply with the subpoena. the judge blocked that. the judge has basically blocked most of the defenses that steve bannon wanted to bring up at trial to the point where at one point steve bannon's attorney said what's the point of even going to trial if we don't have any defenses. so we'll see how this pans out for bannon of the right now we're in the jury selection process. it's slow going but they want to be very clear they're picking jurors who do not have a predetermined view of steve bannon and this case. they're asking these jurors how much of these house select committee hearings they're watching. it's been slow going so far this morning, abby. >> thanks, sara, for that. steve bannon faces as little as one month or as much as one year on these charges. we'll be back with you. >>> here to share their reporting is manu raju

bannon was getting. to be back in trump's good graces, partially by using his podcast and other platforms by amplify false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. >> biden can only win by cheating. he can only win by stealing trump's victory and we're not going to let it happen. >> or this, the day before the capitol riot. >> all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. just understand this. all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. >> this all fits into bannon's brand of being bombastic, combative. he uses terms like going medieval and all hell is going to break loose. >> there a no evidence that bannon was involved in plan anything aspect of the attack on the capitol or that he knew it would happen. author joshua green said steve bannon was introduced to donald trump before the 2016 presidential run. bannon was a perfect fit, he says, to be the part of the trump campaign. >> he didn't come from the establishment and he didn't have a background in gop politics and all he wanted to do was come in and bu

steve bannon was _ trump had sacked him. steve bannon was gone _ trump had sacked him.e bannon was gone from the i trump had sacked him. steve . bannon was gone from the white house for three years prior to sixth of january 2021, tim. house for three years prior to sixth ofjanuary 2021, tim. he was not involved in it. he had nothing to do with it, and neither did peter navarro. forgive me, i don't want to keep on interrupting you, but his original excuse was claiming executive privilege, wasn't it? because he was part of the trump administration. but how can he be part of the trump administration when he has been fired by the president?— has been fired by the president? has been fired by the resident? ., , ., ., president? he was not part of the trump — president? he was not part of the trump administration - president? he was not part of the trump administration on | president? he was not part of. the trump administration on the sixth of january. the trump administration on the sixth ofjanuary. however, sixth of january. however, steve sixth ofjanuary. however, steve b

but bannon's lawyer is doubling down on that defense he says bannon recently received a letter from mrtrump waiving executive privilege and giving him the green light to testify >> the great irony that bannon had privilege invoked by the former president he believed that that was valid. and i think the letter from former president trump now makes that quite clear, that he did invoke it and it was valid >> but the justice department says he didn't bannon's lawyer says he does not know if bannon will actually testify to the committee before his trial begins all of this comes as the committee prepares to hold what could be its second to last public hearing tomorrow. with a focus on alleged ties between trump associates and the right-wing extremist groups accused of seditious conspiracy. we'll have expert legal analysis from former federal prosecutor renato mariotti. first live to cnbc congressional correspondent ylan mui y ylan >> well, shep, today the committee said it is still interested in what steve bannon knows but it has no update on engagement with witnesses. bannon's attorney said

steve bannon has worked for him. people are affiliated with something like g tv, or just v news. they run, and bannon has worked with -- they were planning on how to cover election night, that's a chinese language. far-right site. the person who gave it to me, obviously i can't say very much about that. but there are a lot of people who are both unhappy with some of the people involved in bannon's circles. and also to have a lot of regret about january 6th and other activities that they were involved in. >> you write that bannon predicted widespread political violence, can you share more about that? >> one thing that he said was that he had this idea that antifa was having tens of thousands of people in washington on election day. obviously, that was wrong. more generally, he said that when trump falsely declares victory, biden is winning, and trump says, as they had a plan to do. when trump said he won, even though he was losing, that's going to start a fire storm. the left is going to be very upset. when he was say

what is the committee hoping to learn from steve bannon? what are we see as the motive here, the motivation for bannon to in fact testify? >> it's worth noting, yasmin, that steve bannon is about a week away from his trial beginning. the jury selection for a trial and his contempt of congress charge. the department of justice charge bannon with that at the house voted to hold him in contempt. this is very, as you said, interesting timing for this lighter. it opens the door for bannon to be with the january six house committee. as several number set on the shows today, they will welcome any and all testimony from bannon. the key though, they have to agree on the terms. i would like to read a portion from the letter that bannon's attorney sense to chairman bennie thompson shortly after president trump waved, as you said, that executive privilege. the letter reads, in part, president trump has decided to be it would be in the best interest of the american people to waive executive privilege for bannon to comply with the subpoena issued by your

bannon now facing jail time. pierre thomas with late reporting. >>> the bannon verdict coming less than 24 hours after that dramatic public hearing. the january 6th committee sharing testimony from former top trump officials showing how the former president failed to act. the dramatic secret service recordings from agents protecting then-vice president mike pence. the testimony that some feared for their lives, calling to say good-bye to their families. and the outtakes of the former president refusing to say the election was over 24 hours after the mob stormed the capitol. jonathan karl standing by. >>> the dangerous and deadly heat wave sweeping from coast to coast. 94 million americans in 28 states under heat alerts. rob marciano timing it all out. >>> new video just coming in. the moment a small plane crashed into the water off a crowded beach in southern california. >>> the tragic sudden death of a former notre dame football star. 35-year-old paul duncan, what we're learning tonight. >>> new word late today

. >>> also this morning, former trump strategist steve bannon reversing course. he now says he'll testify before the january 6th committee, which holds a new public hearing tomorrow. >>> the new gathering in uvalde, texas. hundreds coming together in the sweltering heat. what they're pleading for, and what's set to happen today. >>> plus, the guided tour group that found themselves directly in the path of an avalanche. what the man behind this video did to survive and why he did not run out of the way. >>> and ahead of french fry day, see where to find the most expensive french fries in the country. it's monday, july 11th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." >>> i don't think there's a limit to how much i'll spend on french fries. by the way, they have to have truffles to be super expensive, yeah? >> i was just going to say. >> like real truffles. >> i did see something similar to this where they had truffles, gold flakes. it was like 24 karat gold edible flakes. >> see, that's gimmicky. at least truffles is like -- >> you know what you're gett

bannon outside court today. he is now convicted and faces a mandatory minimum unless it is overturned on appeal, and yet he was defiantly trying to continue his fight with the committee. take a listen. >> i want to thank the jury for whatever they did, the judge, the court administration. i only have one disappointment and that is the gutless members of that show trail committee, the j6 committee, did not have the guts to come down here and testify in open court. >> as mentioned john you have advised the j6 committee -- your response to how often that would happen went committee members testify at a normal trial and -- big guilty verdict for the man who ran donald trump's 2016 campaign, steve bannon. >> it is interesting for a guy to say they would not come here and talk went in his own case in defense he would not talk although promising a medieval attack on charges against him and then before the trial his lawyer admitted we don't have a defense and the jury agreed. and then we have the lawyer come out that he

in terms of the -- steve bannon himself. no witnesses were called for him. he didn't attend.peaker pro tempore: he didn't testify. he did attend and would make statements outside after the hearings, largely continuing to talk about the stolen election. his -- he had various strategies at the lawyers wanted to pursue that the judge said he wouldn't allow and so in the end the defense didn't call witnesses. what it did argue was that this was a politically motivated attack on steve bannon, they argued he should have executive privilege. they also said he hadn't defied the subpoena, that he had in fact been in negotiations with the committee and he didn't realize there was a deadline for not showing up. those were broadly speaking the argtds. toward the end in the closing statement the defense went so far as to suggest the signature on the subpoena by the committee chairman had been forged. there were various attempted they made to make the case to the jurors. the prosecuon argued, as i said that executive privilege department apply. it also said that it was quite clear that he

in a letter obtained by abc news, bannon's attorney writing, while mr. bannon has been steadfast in his convictions, circumstances have now changed. those circumstances, trump informing bannon he's waiving his objections because i watched how unfairly you and others have been treated. >> the committee, of course, has not yet had a chance to discuss it, but i expect we will be hearing from him and there are many questions we have for him. >> reporter: banning bannon's reversal comes a day after former trump white house counsel pat cipollone testified behind closed doors for roughly eight hours. in a recorded interview, the committee asked cipollone detailed questions about pardons, false election fraud claims, and the pressure trump placed on vice president mike pence to overturn the election. >> you'll see over the next couple hearings a little of what he said, certainly you'll see a lot of that in the report. but at no point was there any contradiction of what anybody said. >> significant to hear that there were no contradictions. kenneth moton joins us

bannon was trying to delay that trial. he also is now being told he's limited in what he can say as part of his defense. he's not allowed to claim -- make these claims about executive privilege as the reason for why he is in this predicament, but as you pointed out, bannon suddenly has decided that he wants to testify to the january 6th committee. of course this is one of the charges that he is facing. he's facing two counts, one of them for defying this subpoena from the committee for testimony, a second count is for failing to turn over documents that the committee had subpoenaed. and it appears that we now know at least part of the reason why bannon has had this change of heart, we learned from a court filing from prosecutors that about two weeks ago, justin cl clark, who is a trump attorney he was interviewed by the fbi, and he told the fbi agents that he never told bannon's legal team that he had a blanket claim of protection from executive privilege that the former president has been claiming. he never had that kind

jake, steve bannon actually wasn't in court dood.another pretrial hearing on thursday, but premearily, steve bannon will be in court on monday when his criminal trial begins. >> jessica, steve bannon, he told the january 6th committee over the weekend that he now would be willing to testify, although he wants to do it publicly and live. how is that playing out there? >> yeah, this is really playing out on two fronts. here, first of all, at the courthouse and in the courtroom, the judge here, carl nichols, has said he's going to wait to rule on admissibility of bannon's new offer to testify. that remains to be seen if the jury is going to get a glimpse of this, but the prosecution is saying don't admit it because it's irrelevant. they say steve bannon broke the law back in october when he didn't comply with that subpoena, and anything he's doing now to try to fix it just doesn't matter. then on the other front, as for the committee, they haven't issued anything publicly as it pertained to bannon's offer to testify, but we did hear fro

to do the showman thing -- which is what bannon is.man -- seems far too exploitive of the process. he hasn't sat down with the committee. everyone we've seen testify has first met with the committee behind closed doors so they can understand, compare that with other information. for bannon not to do that would be a mistake on the committee's part and not serve the public. i think at a minimum they need to have a conversation with him behind closed doors and see what they find. we're in the buzzer shot position of the committee. >> it would have been a better gambit if it didn't coincide with him desperately trying to delay his trial. >> the trial is on monday. the idea of -- not the 11th hour. this is still going to happen, by the way. and i still wonder is this trumped by essentially saying, you can go ahead and talk. is that his last sort of screw you on this? >> it doesn't change the fact that he's been charged with criminal contempt. >> for his past. >> for his past behavior. whether he shows up here or not, that doesn't change the

did bannon show up. matter his reasons. they won the case maybe in closing today. they lost their appeal in closing today. the overreaching by the government in this case has been extraordinary on every level. but shame on this office of the united states attorneys office and the department of justice for how far it went in this case. they put forward an argument today that completely tears asunder constitutional principle of separation of powers. they argued to the jury today that when a person gets a subpoena, an executive privilege is invoked, it's for congress to decide whether the executive privilege is valid, and how broad it is. that's absolutely false. there's a question, whether the question is judicial in court, but if it is, only the courts can be the arbiter, they liken congress to a referee on a playing ground field with children, and that mr. bannon didn't want to listen to the referee. that's not how our constitutional structure works. whether one believes executive privilege was invoked h

bannon's lawyers asked for a continuance which was turned gown.nday, this was bannon's take on the january 6th hearings. >> i think when you have -- it would have been more productive if we had been on capitol hill in front of open mikes addressing the nation with exactly all this nonsense, this show trial they have been putting up on capitol hill. it's nothing but a show trial. >> joining me now, pete williams and glen kershner. >> the issue is this. the judge has argued and has told the defense and limited the defense in this way. steve bannon cannot argue as a defense that he didn't have to comply with the subpoena because he was relying on the advice of his lawyer, he didn't have to comply because of executive privilege by trump. what the defense says is, well, the government wants to introduce a letter from bennie thompson to bannon's lawyer in which bennie thompson lays out a recitation of those things. what bannon's lawyers say is you can't introduce that letter because it's hearsay. what the judge said is, well, maybe we could allow certai

so, that is the reason why bannon is now trying to push for , what in the hands of steve bannon. >> evan perez, thank you. with us now to discuss all of this is cnn legal analyst and democratic counsel during trump's first impeachment trial normalizing, and former federal prosecutor renato mariotti. first, i want to remind viewers what bannon said january 5th, 2021. >> all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. just understand this. all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. it is not going to happen like you think it is going to happen. okay? it is going to be quite extraordinarily different. all i can say is, strap in, the war room, you have made this happen and it's game day, so strap in. >> there are a lot of questions about what bannon knew and what he was referring to when he said all hell will break loose tomorrow. he refused to testify for months and now suddenly he says he wants to testify, publicly. what are we to make of this? >> well, anna, it is another one of the employees that steve bannon and his patron, donald trump, has been running for years, now. clearly, it is not a

bannon now facing time in jail. and here's abc's chief justice correspondent, pierre thomas. >> reporter: tonight, steve bannon's open defiance of a congressional subpoena has end in the a guilty verdict and likely jail time. after just three hour of deliberation, a jury in washington finding bannon guilty on two counts of contempt of congress for failing to produce a single document and refusing to sit down for a deposition in the january 6th committee's investigation. >> we may have lost a battle here today, but we're not going to lose this war. >> reporter: on the day before the riot, bannon, a podcaster and former adviser to president trump told his listeners all hell is going to break loose. >> it's not going to happen like you think it's going to happen, okay? it's going to be quite extraordinarily different, and all i can say is, strap in. >> reporter: he refused to cooperate with the january 6th committee, claiming executive privilege. but the judge appointed by president trump did not buy it. after all, it

bannon was subpoenaed. he didn't show up and he has delivered zero documents to the committee for many, many categories of documents they have asked for. >> you have covered a lot of legal issues in your day, sir. could you glean any reaction from the judge, the jury for mr. bennett himself went abruptly, as you said, the prosecutor said we rest? >> reporter: i don't think they were that surprised that the prosecution had indicated that it really didn't plan more than maybe two or three witnesses total all along. they've always been saying this is a very simple case. bannon was upset a little bit earlier in the government's case when there was discussion about this meeting his lawyer had. he seemed to feel it was dirty pool for an fbi agent to be testifying about his lawyer's meeting with prosecutors from the u.s. attorney's office and what he said and what he didn't say. but the judge allowed the testimony. i could see that bannon was shaking his head. he was turning a little red in the courtroom, but with

west to the gulf coast al roker tracking it >>> also tonight, the judge refusing to delay steve bannon's trial after the trump ally's about-face on testifying before the january 6th committee. why the justice department is casting doubts on his intentions >>> the surprise moment at the white house. president biden touting the new bipartisan gun law why the father of a parkland shooting victim interrupted the speech and the new poll spelling trouble for the president, a striking number of democrats who don't want him to run again in 2024. >>> the battle over abortion what the biden administration is telling hospitals they must do under federal law, even in states that ban it. >>> caught on camera, gunshots ringing out at a little league game players and parents running for cover. >>> and news tonight about the musical mind behind one of the most iconic movie themes of all time >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening ancient history is facing an immediate and uncertain future tonight in one of the most cherished slices of america a wildfire roaring throu

bannon.st he has found occasion to cooperate, to evade -- makes a big difference if you know the president. it appears the jig is up. what is today about? >> what it's about is we're piercing that veil of these powerful omnipotent people who thought they could do anything in their arrogance, and he's already on notice his defenses are not going to hold up. the judge is not going to allow them, because they're not real defenses. so he's at risk to be the first of the inner circle to go down. and even though it's going to be jail time or a suspension or something, there's blood in the water. that's the way i see it. >> really striking, and he's just, we're told, walked out of the court. we covered the jury selection today. most people on day one of their criminal trial don't give a loft public remarks. but you know, some of these folks are different. >> true. >> we're not going to give excessive attention to this, but i do endeavor to show his side. mentioned he's legally presumed innocent. i w

exactly what steve bannon described as quote our strategy. it wasn't like trump was shy himself about talking about o ts in the weeks before theas electn either. >> the only way we will lose thison election is if the elect is rigged. remember. that the onlyio way we will los this election. we have to be very careful. >> the only way they can take this election away from us is this is a rigged election. >>s the democrats are trying t rig this election. because it's the only way they're going to win. >> so the tendency to hear this bannon audio and whatever, we know trump was thinking about doing that but in terms of holding trump accountable for his actions between election day ande january 6, especially in trump will have any criminal liability for his actions, there is a really big difference between on the one hand trump was never going to accept any loss, and he was grasping at anything he could after the election. and on the other hand, trump had formulated a plot to stay in power if he lost the election, and began carrying that plot out

the committee will want to focus on bannon's conversations with trump and what bannon witness in the plot to overturn the election results, and it will also want to know more about his remarks on the day before the insurrection. >> all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. just understand this. all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. it's not going to happen like you think it's going to happen, okay? it's going to be quite extraordinarily different, and all can i say is strap in. the war room a posse, you have made this happen, and tomorrow it's game day so strap in. >> let's discuss with elie honig cnn analyst and former federal prosecutor. bannon's ominous remarks came the day before the riot. sadly they seemed to accurately predict exactly what would happen. how critical is he in the committee's investigation? >> well, pam, if steve bannon were to testify truthfully and fully and i have a major question about whether that will actually ever come to pass, i think the committee will want to go right to the heart of the preparation behind the january 6th attack. luke you said, fi

so the fact 245that bannon said that makes me believe that trump said that to bannon, they discussed it, and trump was well aware and planning to do what happened. >> it's just a powerful indictment just from your words there, stephanie. we learned yesterday about two phone calls that steve bannon had with trump on january 5th. he calls him, and he gets off the phone with trump and then says all hell will break loose. so bannon is the one who, according to kostas and woodward, does all of this add up to trump? when the whole point here is, how much planning? they proved this wasn't spontaneous. how much planning from the president himself went into this? >> it's remarkable. in that audio recording, steve bannon says this is our strategy. in fact, that's the strategy that plays out. it's really remarkable. it points to trump and bannon has some crucial information that he's willing to go to prison not to reveal to the committee about this. >> so when he's saying now i will be willing to testify after fighting the subpoena, and trump's involved in this whole last-minute testimony, seem

but when it comes to bannon's supporters, how is it playing? and what would the takeaway be if bannon does end up in prison? >> so i'm not sure how many voters in november, republican or otherwise, are going to remember bannon's trial as some type of flash point or galvanizing incident. but i will say that you are absolutely right that this overall theme of persecution that robe justice department is trying to come after law-abiding trump supporters. that is the narrative that republicans are pushing. that is the narrative that conservative media is pushing. and if you looking listen to that tucker carlson interview, bannon basically laid out the entire playbook right there. and it's the trump playbook. they are coming for you, they are coming for us. and if you inhabit this world of conservative media, that is basically all that you have been hearing about the january 6th committee. you are not hearing about the phone calls that secret service agents made to their loved ones which, by the way, tucker carlson mocked tonight on the air. so again

steve bannon has flouted justice a number of times.ed for a major fraud case by the southern district of new york back in 2000, and he was pardoned by donald trump on donald trump's last night in office. meanwhile, two of steve bannon's codefendants from that case have been convicted. they pled guilty. they have not been sentenced but they likely will go to jail. steve bannon got away with it, because he has this relationship with donald trump. he gets a perfectly lawful subpoena from the january 6th committee, he doesn't defy it, he celebrates his defiance, and a jury has spoken and he's going to prison for at least 30 days. >> and we're going to hear right now how he responded to that guilty verdict. sara, what was he right in the courtroom? >> we are told that bannon smiled as they read the verdict, and to be honest, this is kind of indicative of how he's been behaving the entire trial. he has been pretty nonchalant in the courtroom. he was nonchalant in the run up to his trial, even though he decided not to take the stand on his ow

bannon. and i certainly hope we can find a way to do that. >> i want to play clip that cnn obtained, which is not beecher analysis does documentary, about one former president trump was talking about trying to overturn the results in georgia back on december 7th 2020. almost one week after then attorney general, bill barr, publicly said there was no evidence of election fraud. so in play this for you. >> they should open it up, verify the sutures, when you do you will see that all those people that side didn't have the right to vote. there were forgeries. and other things. and all we want is that. and that simple. or a special session. let the legislature make decision because they are already largely on our side. because i see would happen in georgia. >> alexander told the filmmakers told jake tapper that this is of interest in da's investigation fulton county georgia. it's my understanding the clip has been shared with their committee. does it impact our investigation anyway? the find inter

yes, the issue is quite - straightforward - did mr bannon defy straightforward — did mr bannon defy congress the subpoena issued to him by the investigating committee? two subpoenas, one to deliver documents and want to testify, he did neither. he argued it was not a flouting, that he had executive privilege, that he was in negotiations with the committee, he didn't realise there was a deadline, and so on. the prosecution said he had blatant disregard for their demands and that he was doing so to protect his former boss, donald trump. so he's been found guilty on both charges, these are at misdemeanor crimes and, as you mentioned, the most severe sentence would be up to two years in prison. and this is of course all in the context of, when it comes to the committee that is looking at what happened during the riots onjanuary 6th, 2021, this is what is so crucial about his potential involvement that he's been accused of. . �* , involvement that he's been accused of. ., �* , . ., of. that's right, the committee wanted to _ of. that's right, the committee wanted to speak _ of. that's right, the