ly elliott williams, thank you very much. barbara rez appreciate the personal perspective as well. >> another big story breaking on our watch. the pictures, i don't think anybody was expecting to see today. bill cosby is a free man. pennsylvania's highest court vacated his sexual assault conviction and they said something else. that you need to know because it's not being reported correctly. and it makes this even more controversial. the attorney who got the conviction thrown out, joins us next. it's the simple act of enjoying time with friends, knowing you understand your glucose levels. ♪ ahhh! get out of here mouse. ahhh! ♪ don't flex your pecs. terminix. at carvana, we treat every customer like we would treat our own moms, with care and respect. to us, the little things are the big things. which is why we do everything in our power to make buying a car an unforgettable experience. happy birthday. thank you. we treat every customer like we would treat our own moms. because that's what they deserve. betty: honorary forest r

former federal prosecutor elliott williams joins me now to dig into the congressman's legal arguments, a little bit of context, elliott, first. this is a civil suit. this is a private lawsuit filed by eric swalwell well against mo brooks and others seeking accountability for the events of january 6th. is the lawsuit viable? >> it is. but here's the thing, it's not just mo brooks. it's mo brooks the individual in his personal capacity, not mo brooks the congressman. and the tricky question here, michael, is where does the man end and the congressman begin? now, representative swalwell's lawsuit claims these are all statements that are made in his personal capacity. what representative brooks has said in his filing today is no, no, no, no, no, no, this happened during the work day. it happened on the grounds of congress. i was driven there by a member of my staff. therefore this must have been an official act of me as a congressman, and therefore you can't sue me for it. >> elliott, you know that the decembe discussion continues in the house of representatives about a congressional inqu

ly elliott williams, thank you very much. barbara rez appreciate the personal perspective as well. >> another big story breaking on our watch. the pictures, i don't think anybody was expecting to see today. bill cosby is a free man. pennsylvania's highest court vacated his sexual assault conviction and they said something else. that you need to know because it's not being reported correctly. and it makes this even more controversial. the attorney who got the conviction thrown out, joins us next. this may look like a regular movie night. but if you're a kid with diabetes, it's more. it's the simple act of enjoying time with friends, knowing you understand your glucose levels. ♪ you need an ecolab scientific clean here. and you need it here. and here. and here. which is why the scientific expertise that helps operating rooms stay clean is now helping the places you go every day too. seek a commitment to clean. look for the ecolab science certified seal. i've got moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. with sk

also with me, elliott williams, former federal prosecutor and cnn legal analyst.rning to you both. dr. wen, what do you think? how much does this move the needle? big companies saying you have to get vaccinated and president biden saying federal employees, you've got to get vaccinated or we're going to make your life pretty annoying with a bunch of testing and mitigation measures? >> this is huge, and i think we need to talk about why it's being done. i mean, imagine if you're being asked to go back to work in-person, and you know that you're going to be surrounded by potentially unvaccinated people who could infect you. and even if you're vaccinated and then you know that you're not going to get very sick yourself, what if you live at home with young children who are too young to be vaccinated. what if you live with immuno compromised people. this is basically saying that workplaces have an obligation to their employees. either you have testing or you have proof of vaccination. and i think this is such an important move. i wish the biden administration, of course

former federal prosecutor and cnn analyst elliott williams is here. be prosecuted? or exposed to legality? i say no. >> neither you nor i can answer that question. the most important thing today, chris, look, no one should be shocked by any of these revelations we see in these notes, the former president had a pattern of conduct going back to i believe june of 2020, casting doubt on the legislatecy legitimacy of the election. january 2, 2021 he calls the secretary of state of georgia and lean on him to overturn the election. why should it shock anyone that he was calling senior justice department officials and trying to put a thumb on the scale with respect to the election? big revelation today is that the justice department is making that available to congress and that is how a function government should work. we want a president to be able to talk to his cabinet officials but we don't want him to be able to engage in misconduct. when a president does, that information should be turned over to congress. >> is there any question whether or not what tr

let's talk about it now with elliott williams, our cnn legal analyst and he's former deputy assistantl. okay, elliott, just a reminder for people where he's talking about the first amendment, the first amendment says congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging press. >> what was the first word you read there? >> congress. >> congress. it does not say private actors or private tech companies. what the first amendment does is check on government activity. you can't say that merely because a tech company works with the government, which is what the president is arguing in his lawsuit, that somehow they become now the government. companies have every single right to decide who they choose to interact with. you sign terms of service when you sign up for facebook or google or twitter anywhere else entering this building. and if you violate those terms, they can kick you off. that is not a first amendment issue. >> okay. so then talk about this other thing because he said and i'm just going to read part of this, he