kenneth moton, abc news, the capitol. >> kenneth, thank you. stay with us for live coverage of the january 6th committee's next public hearing, and that's tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern. >>> now to our other top stories. officials expect a growing wildfire in yosemite national park to be active today due to high temperatures and low humidity. the fire has already burned more than three square miles of the park, which remains mostly open. a sprinkler system has been set up to protect the park's largest grove of giant sequoias, which has more than 500 of the majestic ancient trees. >> they're the biggest tree on earth. they could be 2,000, 3,000 years old, and they're not something to see. they're something to experience, and you just -- they just take everyone's breath away. >> right now it's unclear how the fire started, which was last thursday. now the smoke it's producing is creating unhealthy air quality conditions. >>> senate majority leader chuck schumer has tested positive for covid-19. 71ea to have very mild symptoms. he's vaccinated and

kenneth moton joins us now live from capitol hill. cipollone's recorded testimony is expected to take center stage at the final public hearings this week, but kenneth, steve bannon wants to testify live? >> reporter: that's right, linsey. steve bannon's attorney says he prefers to testify at the public hearing, not behind closed doors. but one committee member is saying they want all of their questions answered, which can't be done in a live format. bannon's apparent cooperation comes ahead of a hearing in his criminal contempt case tomorrow. linsey. >> lots of interest in what bannon has to say under oath there. kenneth, our thanks to you. david and the entire abc news team will be here for live coverage and analysis of the january 6 committee's public hearing on tuesday. >>> and we turn now to that scare for passengers onboard a spirit airlines flight that had just arrived in atlanta. smoke can be seen coming from its landing gear visible to passengers still onboard and told to remain seated. an update from elwyn lopez at the atlant

abc's kenneth moton leading us off tonight from the storm zone. >> reporter: tonight, after powerful storms raked the east coast, a desperate search underway in rural buchanan county, virginia. officials there say after up to six inches of rain fell in just hours, more than 40 people are unaccounted for. >> and when it comes to these 40 people, are these adults, kids, entire families -- >> all of the above. >> reporter: the floods, part of a strong system that knocked trees onto cars. >> i heard a lot of crackling and popping. i looked out the window and i saw smoke and downed wires and trees. >> reporter: those downed power lines starting fires. >> i don't know if it was a lightning striking, or wind, or -- but it just was down, and the electrical lines were down, and there was a fire on the fence. >> reporter: this home in college park, maryland, nearly ripped in half by straight-line winds. one person was hurt. >> that's the living room we're in usually all the time, there's a tv there. i was sleeping there earlier today. i could have died. >> reporter: david, at one point, more t

abc's kenneth moton is on capitol hill with a look at what's ahead. kenneth, good morning. >> reporter: whit, good morning. we are down to the final two january 6th hearings and the video testimony of former trump white house counsel pat cipollone is expected to take center stage. the high-profile witness who spent eight hours testifying behind closed doors last week. one committee member said pat cipollone with then-president trump during the assault on the capitol, didn't contradict the testimony of other witnesses. don't know how many details he confirmed, if any, but we know cipollone's role on january 6th came to light when former white house aid cassidy hutchinson from joining supporters at the capitol. trump calling it bad for the country. in these final hearings starting on tuesday the public will hear how the former president sent a violent mob to the capitol and failed to take action to stop it. she's promising a moment by moment account of what happened at the capital from several white house officials. eva? >> kenneth moton for us, thank yo

thank you, kenneth moton who is -- like he said, he's family.ially joins us as co-host here on "gma" weekend. >> we'll chat more in a bit. first let's take a look at janai's journey to how she got to the anchor desk. >> no tricks here, all treats. >> reporter: janai's journey to the "gma" weekend anchor desk began in 2011 when she first joined abc news as an intern. then launching her career in local news that took her to stations across the country from columbia, missouri, to tulsa and orlando. >> reporting live in midtown tulsa. >> broken arrow. >> shawnee. >> orange county. >> reporter: janai eventually landing back with the abc family. by 2018 she made her way here to the big apple taking a seat at the "world news now" and "america this morning" desk. >> reporter: janai adding "gma" correspondent to her resume during the week before taking the reins of "pop news" on the weekends in 2019 as we launched our saturday's second hour. >> all right, time for "pop news." >> reporter: all while out front on breaking news coverage like the search for

abc's kenneth moton leading us off tonight from the storm zone. >> reporter: tonight, after powerful storms raked the east coast, a desperate search underway in rural buchanan county, virginia. officials there say after up to six inches of rain fell in just hours, more than 40 people are unaccounted for. >> and when it comes to these 40 people or, these adults, kids, entire families -- >> all of the above. >> reporter: the floods, part of a powerful system that knocked trees onto cars. >> i heard a lot of crackling and popping. i looked out the window and i saw smoke and downed wires and trees. >> reporter: those downed power lines starting fuhrs. >> i don't know if it was a lightning striking, or wind, or -- but it just was down, >> reporter: david, 100,000 customers lost power because of these storms. the cleanup is under way here in maryland. virginia's governor declaring that state of emergency. >> kenneth, thank you. >>> we turn now to the other major headline this wednesday night, that new number on inflation. worse than expected. and as americans well know, it remains painfull

abc's kenneth moton from washington tonight. >> reporter: details emerging from former trump white house counsel pat cipollone's highly anticipated testimony before the january 6th committee, meeting behind closed doors for nearly eight hours. cipollone was with then-president trump and chief of staff mark meadows in the west wing as the assault on the u.s. capitol was unfolding. committee member zoe lofgren saying cipollone was careful and honest. >> i will say, mr. cipollone did appear voluntarily and answer a whole variety of questions. he did not contradict the testimony of other witnesses. >> reporter: his appearance follows bombshell testimony of former white house aide cassidy hutchinson, who said cipollone worked to prevent trump from challenging the 2020 election and tried to stop him from joining supporters who eventually attacked the capitol. >> mr. cipollone said something to the effect of, please make sure we don't go up to the capitol, cassidy. keep in touch with me. we're going to get charged with evry crime imaginable if we make that movement happen. >> reporter: and, whi