we will speak with elizabeth williamson, author of the book "sandy hook: an american tragedy and the battle for truth." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the fbi seized documents from donaldrump's mar-a-lago resort and home in florida. on monday evening, trump issued a statement saying "my beautiful home mar-a-lago in palm beach, florida, is currently under siege, raided and occupied by large group of fbi agent's. they either broke into my safe." trump was in new york at the time. multiple news outlets are reporting guy executed a search warrant as part of the probe and whether trump removed 15 boxes of white house records, including some classified documents, after he left office. such a move might constitute a criminal violation of the presidential records act. in response, house minority leader kevin mccarthy threatened to investigate attorney general merrick garland of republicans win back control of the house after the midterm elections. this all comes as donald trump is facing multiple other inv

elizabeth williamson is a future writer and former editorial board member from the new york times and she has previously written for the washington post and wall street journal. williamson will be joined in conversation tonight with kara swisher now, please join me in welcoming elizabeth williamson and careless. i like that you have to do the work afterwards. you have to clean up. that's my favorite part of this that introduction. so elizabeth, and i've been talking a lot over years about this topic. it's a topic that's been sort of i wouldn't say near and dear to my heart, but i have been especially troubled by what's been happening in with online social media particularly and how it's sort of congested weaponized and amplified hate and obviously one of the first instances of this and something i know very well was sandy hook. there's a couple instances of this oddly enough today. the reason i'm late. i was interviewing kathy griffin who as you know got investigated was put on the no-fly list, etc, etc. and then became subject of death threats and stuff like that. i know she's funny,

join me and welcoming elizabeth williamson.plause] >> i like that you have to do the work to clean up, that's mya favorite part of the introduction. elizabeth and i have been talking a lot for years on this topic, i wouldn't say it's near and dear to my heart but i've been troubled by what's happening with online social media and how it's congested, weaponize and provide hate and obviously one of the first instances in something i do well was sandy hook. there's a couple of instances ei the reason i'm late, i was introducing kathy, she was put on the no buy list in the subject of death threats and that. she's funny but her story is not as funny as she is so you see it iterate in many places years ago and sandy hook was probably the most rubber handle version although january 6 is in competition in terms of how much our society and the way we talk to each other has changed so dramatically including conspiracy theories running wild and part of the bali body politic including everywhere, it's everywhere whether election flies, ant

. >> i was bring in elizabeth williamson, author of "sandy hook and the american tragedy and the battlezabeth, can you describe what it was like in the courtroom today? >> i think probably the most notable thing -- and this has been true since the beginning of the trial, which has been going on for nearly two weeks -- is how uncomfortable jones was. as the judge pointed out, this is not his fact. he makes assertions that are not backed up by fact. and he tends to opinionate in answer to every question. sweat running down his eyes going down to the collar of his shirt. this was just not a familiar environment for him. and mark banks and the family's lawyer presented that with several instances he's lied under oath. >> there were also awkward moments surrounding the judge. >> his show continues and part of the show is to say this is a show trial, that there's a script that the jury and judge are following. and he even has connected the judge to pedophilia in a bizarre way. that moment, awkwardly, was brought up while jones was on the witness stand today. and seated right to his left was t

elizabeth williamson is a reporter for the new york times and author of sandy hook, an american tragedyiscuss all this. elizabeth, let's talk about the outcome of the trial. did we expect such a sizeable win for the plaintive? i know they were asking for more, but this was a lot. >> yeah, especially for texas, this is a lot. there has been a lot of talk about how damages in the punitive category are kept at 750,000 per plaintiff, that would be for each of the parents, nil and scarlet. this is a symbolic judgment that the lawyers for them are saying that they are going to test and try to get as much of this money as they can for the families. regardless, it's not only an unexpected financial win, but it is also a moral victory for the parents, what they really wanted to do was to strike a blow against disinformation and viral false narratives that alex jones is the chief purveyor of. >> i would like to step back for a second. how did we get to this point? it is not normal for a person to write in a defamation suit, let alone a child. what is it about this case that got us to this point w

drew griffin, paul callan, elizabeth williamson, thanks so much to all of you. >> thanks. >> we sure to catch drew's special report, megaphone for conspiracy, the alex jones story. that's tomorrow night, 11 pm eastern time on cnn. and next for us tonight, exclusively reporting, on talks underway between lawyers for president trump and the justice department about the doj's january 6th criminal probe. and later, another cnn exclusive. house select committee vice chair liz cheney. her thoughts on potential criminal charges against him. her and her father, dick cheney, now calling the former president a coward. discover is accepted at 99% of places in the u.s.. ["only wanna be with you" byby hootie & the blowfish] bubbles bubbles so many bubbles! as an expedia member you earn points on your travs, and that's on top of your airline miles. so you can go and see... or taste or do absolutely nothing with all those bubbles. without ever wondering if you're getting the most out of your trip. because you are. new astepro allergy. now available without a prescription. astepro is the first and o

joining us now to discuss is elizabeth williamson from the new york times. an tragedy and the battle for truth. so, elizabeth, you followed this nightmare inflicted on these families after the nightmare of having their children murdered. how did it feel today in the courtroom to see alex jones finally being punished and held accountable for lying about it? >> thanks for having, the zerlina. i only wish that he was actually physically there for that. this trial has gone forward almost in his total absence. but scarlett louis, we just spoke about, definitely had her moment. she was able to confront alex jones to speak with him. and it was through an accident of scheduling. he was really trying to avoid the families in this trial. but he turned up after lunch and she was still testifying, so that gave her moment to address him from the witness stand, actually more than a moment, for 90 minutes, she addressed her comments to him saying, why have you done this? you know this is wrong. do you realize that every day of my life, since my son's murder, you have made l

. >> lots to discuss, joining me now is elizabeth williamson of the new york times who was in the austin book called sandy hook: an american tragedy and the battle for truth. elizabeth, what happened in the courtroom today after the judge left the room? >> it was an emotional day to say the least, anderson. at the end of that day, after the judge went back to her chambers, alex jones approached scarlett lewis and neil heslin, jesse's parents, shook their hands. i think scott -- garland offered him a bottle of water, because he had been coughing through's testimony. and he was telling them that he was sorry. the lawyers kind of got into the middle of this because they see this as a kind of gambit because jones has repeatedly said that he's apologized to the parents, but this has always been a backhanded apology, bookended by another charge against them for being an actor. so what have you. with i mean, the fact that they have to be in the same room with this person, and touch this hand, you know the fact that they're willing to touch his hand to shake it it says a lot about them. but it s

please join me in welcoming elizabeth williamson. t [applause] i like that you do the work afterwards, that you get to clean up. that'sdu part of the introducti. we've been talking a lot over the years about the topic. it's a topic that's been sort of i wouldn't say near and dear to my heart that especially troubled by what's been happening with online social media particularly in how it's sort of congested, weaponize and amplified hate. one of the first instances that i know very well was sandy hook. there's a couple instances of this. the reason i am late i was interviewing kathy griffith who as you know got investigated and was put on the no-fly list and became the subject of death threats and things like that. i know she's funny but the story isn't as funny as she is so you see it iterating in little places p many years ago sandy hk was the most reprehensible version of it although january 6th is in competition in terms of how much our society and the way we talk to each other has changed so dramatically including with conspiracy

. >> drew, i want to bring in elizabeth williamson of the new york times, in the courtroom phase shewonderful, i've read it, sandy hook: an american tragedy in the battle for truth. can you talk about what it was like in the courtroom today? >> well, i think probably the most notable thing, and this has been sort of true since the beginning of the trial, that has been going on for nearly two weeks, is how uncomfortable jones was. as the judge pointed out, this is not his show, he makes assertions that are not backed up by facts. and he tends to opinion eight an answer to every question. so the judge, repeatedly silenced him and he was sweating, like sweat running into his eyes, going into -- this was just not a familiar environment for him. and mark bankston mark bankston, the family's lawyer, really underscore that by presenting him with several examples of incentive-ism which he -- lied under oath. >> yes, outside the courtroom his show continues. but of his stick for the show is to say that this is a show trial, but there's a script that the jury and the judge are following. he ev

elizabeth williamson is a feature writer and former editorial board member from the new york times and she has previously written for the washington post and wall street journal. williamson will be joined in conversation with kara swisher. join me in welcoming elizabethwilliamson . and kara swisher. >> i like that you have to do the work afterwards, it's my favorite part of this introduction. elizabeth and i have been talking a lot over the years about this topic . it's a topic that's been sort of s di would say near and dea to my heart i've been especially troubled by the and happening with online social media particularly and how it's sort of congested, westernized and amplifier eight. and obviously one of the first instances of this and something i know very well was sandy. there's a couple instances of esesthis, a in a the reason i'm like today i was interviewing kathy griffin got investigated, was on the no-fly list and then became subject to death threats and stuff like that. she's funny but her story is not as funny as she is so you see it iterating in races many years ago and s

elizabeth williamson, appreciate it.coming up, we'll check back in with john king, magic wall, more proi mare results coming in and more can'ted at the top of the hour when some arizona polls close. the latest next. unless you happen to be a dog. if maga republicans get their way, abortion will be banned nationwide, with no exceptions. medicare andocial security will end in five years, with no replacement. elections will be decided by politicians, with no regard for your vote. elif maga republicansided get back in power, your rights, benefits and freedoms will be in danger. democrats will protect your rights. and the only way to stop maga republicans is to vote for democrats. ff pac is responsible for the content of this ad. in a recent clinical study, patients using salonpas patch reported reductions in pain severity, using less or a lot less oral pain medicines. and improved quality of life. ask your doctor about salonpas. it's good medicine. ♪ it wasn't me by shaggy ♪ you're never responsible for unauthorized purchase

there's a reason why alex jones is in both because people will draw a line and your colleague elizabeth williamson does this in her new book, a line between that sort of nexus of all those conspiracy theories or the origin of them i should say and what we have seen born of that going into january 6th. it's really something to pay attention to. >> and that's an excellent book. >> it is an excellent, excellent book, yes, and we are going to be speaking with her. maggie, thank you so much. daniel, thank you. >> appreciate it. >>> tomorrow join drew griffin as he talks with people who know alex jones, the cnn special report "megaphone for conspiracy" begins at 11:00 p.m. eastern. >>> all right. this morning we've got more vote counts coming in overnight from tuesday's key primary races in arizona and washington. election denialism being put to the test. joining us now to break down where things stand, cnn's senior data reporter harry enten. i like the hand gestures as always. >> thank you. >> what's coming overnight? what's the latest? >> let's take a look at where we are right now, the trump-backed c

joining us now is a writer for "the new york times" elizabeth williamson she has been in the courtroomew very important book called "sandy hook an american tragedy and the battle for truth." it's that battle for truth that is so important to talk about here, elizabeth. i want to ask you first, though, starting with these damages, what are the implications of $4.1 million in compensatory damages for this one family? >> i think for scarlett lewis and neil heslin this is sort of a moral victory. they felt like they needed a symbolic judgment against him, but as they said in court, this is really a victory for truth and also a message sent to others who might, you know, be tempted to harm vulnerable people by spreading lies of this nature. >> so has this really -- is this really going to stop alex jones? as you've watched him even doing his show throughout the trial, what do you think? >> no. i mean, for someone like alex jones, as we know, there's really no bottom. he was on his show claiming victory, saying that this family loves him now and that their lawyers are using them as pawns. if