laura coates is back with us.t i think was your first day in the u.s. attorneys as a prosecutor's office where one of your bosses was ex-claiming" we got another one" and you reflect on what that meant to you. >> thank you. i'm really proud of this book. oftentimes i'm speaking about the law, i'm explaining the law objectively, talking about what it means but in this book i write about what it feels like, what is really looks like and what justice when we ask for it really means. if we speak to power it is episodic. it allows the audience to live the battles of allegiance that i personally had as a black woman, as a wife, as a mother, as a prosecutor, as a public servant, and you talk about one of the things that made me leave the justice department is the notion of wondering why it was that somebody felt that i was not on the side of justice or that i was in the position, seated at the table but also on the menu and i write about everything from what it was like to be asked to aid in the deportation, to what it's

let's bring in our legal analyst, laura coates. paula makes a key point in the sense that some of these judges are sitting on the bench. some of theme have republican votes to confirm them for lower positions. that could be afn asset if you have a bruising battle, you have a 50/50 senate, to get at least a few republican votes if, and i emphasize the if, possible. >> reporter: it certainly would add to the idea if they were now to change their minds because of a supreme court opening it would demonstrate a hypocrisy that someone could serve on a court as well-revered as the d.c. court and be prepared to do that but somehow the rules change and your ability and your intellect when it goes to the supreme court of the united states. the proximity from which something like a judge brown to an opening in the supreme court would really point out why was it okay in this court but not the other? i remind people there have been more than one supreme court justice to come from that. i think one of the questions people might have is the lengt

laura coates, i want to start with you. i'm sorry, kaitlan collins.talk much about the process but he'd consult republicans, do the vetting, interview the candidates and he'd be done in 30 days, by the end of february. >> he confirmed he's not made a selection yet for successor for justice breyer. noeting he's retiring but not until the end of the term. he did not want to take questions there at the end but the president said he is standing by that pledge that he made on the campaign trail to nominate the first black woman to the supreme court. to put the first black woman on the supreme court and mark a milestone, therefore, with that decision. but he said he has not selected the candidate yet and instead it's going to conduct a rigorous process and he said the qualifications he is looking for is experience and integrity and character and he said he is going to consult republican senators, democratic senators, legal scholars. the vice president of the united states on who his decision is going to be. and he did make some news there, john, setting him

we talked about rock me on the water and now we have to talk with laura coates now. ura, please stick around pause we need to talk about your book, a black prosecutor's fight for fairness we were thrilled to see on the front page of the sunday "new york times" book review. la laura. >> i was thrilled and really humbled. this is the book i don't think people expected me to write. i think they would assume i would write a very dry supreme court book, not that i don't like the supreme court for the reasons ron is talking about but the idy of having a supreme court opinion and talking about it, it person sonified the issues we've been talking about today. each chapter stands alone and really trying to ensure people understand that the pursuit of justice can create injustice, don and what it looks like, not just to talk about the law as you see me on tv doing but to talk about what justice really looks like, feels like and maybe could be. >> yeah. listen, i get asked to write, you know, excerpts about books, right? and laura asked me and i was like of course i'm thrilled.

that oppressed woman you just saw is called laura coates.t to an expensive private school and minnesota and headed off to princeton on law school. now she's on tv. all because of how victimized she has been. it is almost enough to make you like america. someone that's completely marginalized is now so powerful. it sounds like a success story, but now, in fact, still more evident that america is an evil and racist place. to speak of what would it be like for some of the on the supreme court >> i would be overjoyed and thrilled. >> tucker: [laughs] he's got to hate himself at some level. saying stuff like that. what would it be like to see someone on the supreme court who looks like you prayed that god, finally, some justice in this country at long last. maybe someone will send her to princeton for free just to make it official. she has been liberated. but wait a second, color counters. what about clarence thomas? he vaguely looks like laura coates. does he count? no, he doesn't count. he's not a race monger. he believes in the constitution of

. >>> i want to turn now to cnn's senior legal analyst laura coates. s a new book out tomorrow titled "just pursuit: a black prosecutor's fight for fairness." also with us, senior political analyst ron brownstein. thank you for joining. laura, martin luther king iii putting pressure on lawmakers today to protect the right to vote. take a listen to this. >> so no matter what happens tomorrow, we must keep the pressure on and say no more empty words. don't tell us what you believe in. show us with your votes. history will be watching what happens tomorrow. black and brown americans will be watching what happens tomorrow. in 50 years, students will read about what happens tomorrow and know whether our leaders had the integrity to do the right thing. >> it is obvious that civil rights leaders are fed up. there's a lot of raw emotion out there and disappointment quite frankly on this mlk day. >> absolutely. this carries over from what we saw even last week before president biden spoke. the agitation about not wanting to just have empty words and empty promis

. >>> let's discuss with cnn's senior legal analyst former federal prosecutor laura coates smeep has a brand-new book called "just pursuit, a black prosecutor's fight for fairness." also joining us is former republican congressman and cnn political commentator charlie dent. laura, trump calling for massive protests, quote, the biggest we've ever had. specifically in the places where he's under investigation. how do you interpret that? does it sound like he's calling for another january 6th moment? >> he's calling for an even bigger one because he called that a protest which we know led to, including seditious conspiracy charges has been called insurrection. so if you're talking about a bigger protest than what he initially called to action in january, then the world should brace themselves for what he's saying. remember, this is the former executive, head of executive branch of government, which enforces the law. it is unconscionable that somebody would try to rile up supporters and try to get people to believe that the prosecution and investigation into matters that put our democracy

laura coates joins me now. he former president? this is a lot of information. >> this is truly monumental to have the supreme court of the united states with a former president, not taking his case and saying really unabashedly that arguments about privilege and the idea that he could somehow withhold documents when the incumbent president says they should be given over for transparency sake, they are saying that the committee needs to have these documents and they essentially say that any claim that the former president has is outweighed by the public's need to know. >> so the committee will have access to hundreds of documents from the national archives that trump wanted to stay secret, including visitor and call logs, notes from mark meadows, drafts from correspondence related from the january 6th. what could they piece together? >> they have had hundreds of different interviews of people. they have evidence that's come in. they have people behind the scenes already testified. we know the ones who have refuse

laura coates and ryan nobles thank you for that breaking news. >>> now back to that winter storm that is impacting millions of people up and down the east coast. >> okay, let's do get to allison chinchar. where exactly is the weather going to hit? >> right so. we start in the southern appalachians in the mid-atlantic and it continues to slide up the east coast. so by northern new england, the focus will be tomorrow morning. but we've got a lot of areas for this storm to hit. here is where we're seeing the activity right now. you could also see some of that rain/snow mix across areas of the carolinas, virginia and yes even some snow already starting to fall in and around washington, d.c. once we get later on in the evening, that is when you're really going to start to see the activity peak in and around washington, d.c. and then after say midnight tonight, that is when we see the activity begin to push into new jersey, new york and in toward connecticut, massachusetts and eventually in towards maine. but most of that begins to peak by saturday morning. and will continue throughout the

cnn's senior legal analyst laura coates weighed in on the high court's position.ake a listen. >> the supreme court, the former president not taking his case and saying really unabashedly, that arguments about privilege and the idea he could somehow withhold documents from the incumbent president says they should be given over for transparency sake, for the interest of the nation, they are saying that the committee needs to have these documents and they essentially say that any claim that the former president has is out weighed by the public's need to know. at this juncture, they probably have a whole host of information that could corroborate anything that comes down the line. this might be the final jigsaw puzzle piece to see whether somebody was acting at the direction of really the highest office holder of the land, the president of the united states and his orbit. it could give information about what the president was doing at the time, what he did leading up to january 6, and what he did afterwards. >> laura coates there. the organization is also in the hot s

. >>> let's bring in senior legal analyst laura coates.hese subpoenas for giuliani, sidney powell, boris epshteyn and jenna ellis. >> these were people that were prominent in the media for their role in promoting the big lie which, in part, developed into the january 6th insurrection. but the timing of it is so critical here because it's the end of the investigation, toward the end of more than 300 witnesses at this point in time by the committee. i'm assuming they've had all those people to lay the foundational bricks to corroborate in anticipation of their testimony. and as a prosecutor, why you do that is because you want to have all of your is dotted and ts crossed to compare their statements against other statements and build enough evidence to decipher truth from fiction. that these people, the most prominent of all and up to, of course, the president of the united states, the former president, having them at this juncture is really telling me that they were building in many respects a lot of corroborating evidence that could support

extraordinary that it has taken until this point to even have them nominated at this level. >> laura coates there. president biden may be on the verge of a win at home, but he is still facing a major international crisis with ukraine, with russian troops on the border with ukraine. the u.s. is waiting for an answer from moscow after it sent a written response to russia's request for security guarantees. secretary of state antony blinken said there is a serious diplomatic path forward if russia chooses it. have a listen. >> we made clear that there are core principles we're committed to uphold and defend, including ukraine sovereignty and integrity and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances. the document is with them, and the ball's in their court. we'll see what we do as i said repeatedly, whether they choose the path of diplomacy and dialogue, whether they decide to renew aggression against ukraine, we're prepared either way. >> adviser to ukraine's president says the u.s. response to russia is comprehensive, well thought out, and the right strategy. th

joining us is federal district judge vince cabrio and cnn commentator, david axlerod and laura coates, author of "just pursuit, a black prosecutor's fight for fairness." laura, i wonder what your reaction is to the president to nominate the first female black justice to the court and what you made of minority leader mcconnell's statement? >> you know, i think it's to be very well regarded the president of the united states has this impairment of riches of qualified, extraordinarily qualified black women who have long been a part of the bar, who have extraordinary resumes, that nobody could comment on as somewhat unqualified or they don't have integrity. they are women who are revered for their intellect, their ability to synthesize information and their impartiality. it's stunning in this nation that nobody would believe that it would be odd to say you need to have a woman on the bench. but somehow the idea of a black woman on the bench is something that is decades, if not centuries delayed. and that simply can't be the case. every one of the people who has been presented at least so

let's hand it over to laura coates and "cnn tonight." >>> good to see you. i am laura coates. welcome to "cnn tonight." the big headline is president biden's clarion call for congressional action on voting rights. this, of course, hundreds of miles away from the u.s. capitol, which has been a big point of contention for many voting rights advocates who chose not to stand beside him in georgia today. they say they want to see action, not just talk. and many are wondering if this conversation is coming in too little, too late, even if we're not yet a year into the biden presidency. we'll hear more about that issue in just a moment. still, the president, a self-proclaimed creature of the senate, delivered his loudest call yet for the senate to change its rules on the filibuster in order to get two stalled voting rights bills passed. he says he's tired of being quiet, this after apparently having quiet conversations for months with members of congress who are holding up voting reform. >> i'm tired of being quiet. sadly, the united states senate designed to be the world's greatest

and laura coates, a senior cnn legal analyst and former federal prosecutor. she's also the author of the new book "just pursuit: a black prosecutor's fight for fairness." welcome both of you on this groundbreaking new day in news. this won't change the ideological balance of the court, you're replacing one liberal with another. it will change the diversity balance of the court. i think back to president biden, promising that his cabinet will look like america. and now it appears that the highest court in the land will look more like america as well. how significant is that? >> it is extraordinarily significant. i mean, it is not the idea of diversity for diversity's sake. every one of the women on the list you already mentioned, extraordinary credentials. women of extraordinary legal merit who are revered in their communities at the legal bench, in the bar, for their expertise, their intellect, their ability to be impartial and i think that's a high bar what you should expect, of course from a supreme court justice. the extraordinary spectrum of opinion and d

. >>> now to a very important and timely new book from cnn's senior legal analyst laura coates.s. justice system. joining us right now, her new book is entitled, "just pursuit, a black prosecutor's fight for fairness." thanks very much for joining us. thanks for writing this really amazing, wonderful book. you write that in your time as a prosecutor, you could in your words count the number of white defendants you saw on one hand. what does that say about who the justice system works for in this country? >> frankly, i didn't need every single family on that one hand either, wolf. it tells you about the idea of how much race and bias has played a role in the decisions made all across this country. we know that black and brown communities do not have a monopoly on crime, yet disproportionate impact is a real thing in the justice system which more and more becomes the legal system, hoping to be a justice system. in this book i really peeled back the curtain on what the experience of the justice system is like. i talk about the law and your program and others and what it means. here

. >>> i want to turn to cnn's senior analyst laura coates the author of the new book "just pursuit a black prosecutor's fight for fairness." good evening and good to see you. let's talk about what's happening with january 6th with the election. the election of 2020. the georgia district attorney just got the green light to seat a special grand jury to investigate trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 loss in that state. the grand jury will be seated may 2nd and the da says she expects a charging decision in the first half of 2022. that is essentially a month. what does that tell you about her case? >> well, that tells me it is proceeding quite rapidly although i note we're talking about almost more than a year at this point since of course november 2020 election. but remember the special grand jury in georgia is distinct from what we think of if grand juries where you have an impaneled grand jury that then returns an indictment. apparently in fulton county it is really about giving the subpoena power, gravitas to say i'm going to aid in the investigation and be able to compel people w

i want to bring in our chief legal analyst jeffrey toobin and laura coates.k by the way is entitled "just pursuit: a black prosecutor's fight for fairness." it's an excellent book indeed. jeffrey, do these admissions from eastman's lawyer paint the clearest picture yet of how much he was doing on donald trump's behalf in the days leading up to january 6? >> well, yes, they do. but the more important news i think is that the emails that he sent and received are probably going to be turned over to the committee. you know, he was a professor at chapman university, and he used his university email account to conduct all this business. and the university has basically said we are going to cooperate with the investigation. so i think the concrete evidence of all those email, if and when they're turned over could be exceptionally important to decrushing how the legal side of this attempt to overturn the election took place. >> on that point, laura, do you think the committee will be able to use these documents to establish a direct link to the former president's eff

let's get perspective, laura coates is here.on if you want a gateway and allow the civil suits going forward. can you plausibly make the case that donald trump sat least partially responsible? >> i mean, that two-hour window of time in which the president had the authority to act and we still don't yet know what in fact he was doing. remember, he's been fighting it tooth-and-nail all the way to the supreme court at this point hoping he'll be excused from having to provide or the national archives will as well but idea of plausibility is really the key word in the judge's consideration, john, thinking would it really be a stretch to believe that the president of the united states was doing nothing when we have indication that in fact he was not doing all that he could to actually try to stop, it including the bare minimum of a tweet, the bare minimum of not essentially going along with it and just being very vocal and addiment about his true pox if he did not want this to take place? the judge's questions raise the bigger issue i

the author of the wonderful new book "just pursuit: a black prosecutor's fight for fairness ," laura coates. cnn broke this yesterday. lisa monaco confirming there is an investigation, an active investigation into these fake electoral college certificates, which were something we know that rudy giuliani and others, senior players in trump world, were involved with. so how significant is the fact that we now know such an investigation exists? >> this is extremely significant. and one that should actually be happening. remember, it is not just the hypothetical conversations happening in some back room or war room about i wonder what it would look like if you tried to overturn an election or derail a certification process. you would actual steps, actual overt steps in the action and trying to create the perception that the lawful, the real legitimate slate of electors were not actually that. and so you had but for the actions and decision of the then vice president mike pence to not follow the advice, not to go through this, even having him on the floor that day, used particular language as yo

you as always. >>> i'm laura coates. i want to take a step back and unpack, in a way we haven't before, exactly what happened today and the significance of it, because one year to the day of former president trump's second impeachment based on, you recall, his alleged role in inciting the insurrection on january 6th, the one that attacked the very citadel of our democracy because, you see, he didn't want to admit that he had lost the race, which he did, remember, ever since then and since merrick garland was sworn in as the attorney general of the united states, we know that he has been ridiculed for his pacing in the january 6th investigation. you've heard it, you may have said so yourself. he's not moving fast

you as always. >>> i'm laura coates. underscore that enough. i want to take a step back and unpack, in a way we haven't before, exactly what happened today and the significance of it, because one year to the day of former president trump's second impeachment based on, you recall, his alleged role in inciting the insurrection on january 6th, the one that attacked the very citadel of our democracy because, you see, he didn't want to admit that he had lost the race, which he did, remember, ever since then and since merrick garland was sworn in as the attorney general of the united states, we know that he has been ridiculed for his pacing in the january 6th investigation. you've heard it, you may have said so yourself. he's not moving fast enough, he's contemplative to the point of paralysis, he's going to let them all off the hook just so the department of justice is not still somehow perceived as political as it was under the prior administration. and even though his doj, as you know, has charged more than 700 people conne

let's hand it over to laura coates and "cnn tonight." >>> good to see you. i am laura coates.on on voting rights. this, of course, hundreds of miles away from the u.s. capitol, which has been a big point of contention for advocates who chose not to stand besides him in georgia today. they say they want to see action, not just talk. and many are wondering if this conversation is coming in too little, too late, even if we're not a year into the biden presidency. still the president, a self-proclaimed creature of the senate, delivered hi

laura coates, our legal analyst is with us as well. i thought the attorney general merrick garland yesterday delivered a very forceful, powerful speech, making it clear, yes, they may have already indicted and charged more than 700 people who participated in the insurrection, but that's just the beginning. they're going to go after everyone. >> and isn't that striking that the attorney general after hundreds of people have been arrested, have been charged, that that's the tip of the iceberg. i think his speech was pragmatic. as a prosecutor, you know, it is not as if every other crime in the world stopped in washington, d.c. alone when january 6th happened. they're having to balance violent crimes against the violent things they saw at the capitol as well. they have this overwhelming amount of resources being devoted to this and they're still not done, nor are they backing down from that very notion. why? it is what we have all been talking about today. when president biden first entered this race, he thought he was fighting for the so

the news continues with laura coates and cnn tonight. laura? >> thank you.come to "cnn tonight." today's news could be filed under the category of, well, well, well. that's exactly what you probably have been thinking as you heard the day's news unfold. first when stewart rhodes, the head of the oath keepers and another defendant, edward vallejo pleaded not guilty to seditious conspiracy. now, you know these men are two of the 11 suspects accused of plotting to basically try to use force to stop congress from carrying out the job of certifying the presidential election. you

so i want to bring in now cnn senior analyst laura coates to talk about this. the author of the new book "just pursuit." so much to talk about. good evening to you. let's talk about this politico reporting that january 6th investigators are in possession of a draft executive order from december 2020 that would have seized voting machines as part of trump's plan to overturn the election. it said in part, effective immediately, the secretary of defense shall seize, collect, retain, and analyze all machines, equipment, electronically stored information, and material records required for retention. laura, crazy seems like an understate here. i mean thankfully this order was never issued, but what could the document mean for the select committee's investigation? >> well, it means there was really no ceiling or end to the absurdity of trying to use the power of the presidency in this way. i mean imagine this. secretary of defense, we're going to use the military in order to seize voting machines and there's no basis to do so? there's no widespread fraud, let alone an

. >> let's discuss with former federal prosecutor laura coats. there's developments to go through.ith the campaign election plot. it is so straightforward and almost hard to distinguish but draw attention to this. trump allies tried to send fake electors of seven states that trump lost and confirmed he lost the states to overturn the election. is that legally -- does that put him and the allies in legal jeopardy? >> it does and it's so brazen. the idea here to try to do this in a democracy like the united states of america. we heard about the conversations and often probably wondered why vice president mike pence didn't go along with the plan. there's good reasons but thinking about the plan and what the pressure looked like and if he had decided to go along with the plan that there were actually forward moving actions. it is a try to interfere with the election and the ability to carry out the functions. charges are coming out at this point. in some states like pennsylvania they had the legal caveat language to say we are electors in waiting to say in case we are successful in a c

let's bring back laura coates and cnn chief legal correspondent, dana bash. ning the conversation, eric. great to have all of you. laura, has paula laid out, it's an embarrassment of riches in terms of who president biden can pick given he wants to pick a black woman. are there any here from what you know that would be more problematic? that have any sort of flags that would make it harder for them to make it through a confirmation process? >> i know of none, but doesn't mean that some won't be tried to impute. and have met several times, judge wright. she is somebody who unlike anyone else in the history of minnesota served at every level of the courts. the appellate level. state supreme court court, now district court. i could go through every one of those women who have been named as potential nominees and sing their praises based on their intellects, reputation and impartiality alone. but again, we're talking about a system that's inherently political. here's why that's important. for the same reasons that many of the people who have been talked about have

attorney for the middle district of georgia, and senior legal analyst laura coates is here, the authorust pursuit." good evening to both of you. laura, i spoke earlier to wanda cooper jones. it was in the last hour. it aired on this program. she said today was a huge win for the family. the judge really set the tone during the entire trial of these three men, and today was really no different. he was unsparing when he was talking about the mcmichaels. don't you think? >> absolutely, and i want to just point out first of all, the interview with her was absolutely riveting as was, of course, and heartbreaking, her victim impact statement earlier today where she pointed out even aspects of the trial, the idea of the horrible statements that were made by at least one defense counsel about the appearance, also the comment of, look, they were fully committed to their crimes. they should be fully committed to the consequence as well. the judge really put that out there thematically, to talk about the lack of remorse, to talk about wishing or thinking the worst in your neighbors and having pre

so i want to bring in laura coates to talk about this and she's the author of the book "just pursuit" a block prosecutor's fight for fairness. so much to talk about. good evening to you. let's talk about this politico reporting, investigators are in possession of a draft report from 2020 that would have seized voting machines as part of trump's plan to overturn the election that said effective immediately, the secretary of defense should seize, analyze all machines, electronic records required for retention. laura, crazy seems like an understatement here. thankfully, this order was never issued but what could the document mean for the select committee's investigation? >> well, it means there was really no ceiling or end to the absurdity of trying to use the power of the presidency in this way. i mean, imagine this. secretary of defense will use a military to seize voting machines and there is no basis to do so. there is no wide spread fraud let alone any fraud to overturn the election in any way. you heard that from bill barr. the idea you're going to go to this extent to prove you're

john harwood and cnn's senior legal analyst laura coates the author of the new book "just pursuit, arosecutor's fight for fairness." good evening to both of you. john, this new video is astounding. it's stunning. we shouldn't be surprised. we've seen so much of it. every time i see another video coming out, it is even worse than the last. it shows a rioter slamming a police officer to the ground. difficult to watch. trump can claim rioters were hugging and kissing police all he wants but this video really shows the truth here. and also, why it is so important that the select committee gets to the bottom of what happened on january 6th. it's accountability. >> it's critically important. look, we have a situation here where you had not only -- with people who assaulted police officers but property, crashed through the barriers of the capitol, but you had an assault on our democracy. that is the fact that people -- the peaceful transfer of power. that is what made the united states a model for the world for a couple centuries and they have to figure out exactly who made this happen, how

. >> cnn legal -- senior legal analyst laura coats spoke about the extra ordinary significance of this. >> i think it's to be well regarded. the president of the united states has an embarrassment of riches of extraordinary qualified women. nobody to comment on them as unqualified. they are women who are revered for their intellect, their ability to synthesize information and their impartiality. i think it's continuing to just be stunning in this nation that nobody would believe that it would be odd to say we need to have a woman on the bench, but somehow the idea of a black woman on the bench is something that is decades if not centuries delayed. that simply can't be the case. every one of the people who has been presented at least so far are people who really could run circles, frankly, around most of the lawyers in this nation and for good reason. they had extraordinary experience and expertise. any suggestion that by virtue of saying that he wants to put and nominate a black woman on the bench, that's somehow met with coded language could suggest that it might be a foregone conclus

. >>> i want to get straight to cnn's senior legal analyst elie honig and also laura coates. lau good evening to both of you. elie, i'm going to start with you. this text from hannity on january 5th says it all right here. i am very worried about the next 48 hours. what do you think hannity knows? >> well, don, what's clear from these texts is sean hannity was right in the mix here. he was serving as an adviser, as an interested party, as a cheerleader really for the president and his administration. and i think it makes perfect sense that the committee wants to ask sean hannity just that question. what did you miean by this text? who did you speak to before this text? what did you do after? one interesting thing the committee does in its letter to sean hannity, is they show him, we have the receipts. we have dozens of texts you're in, and they quote him to sean hannity. they make very clear why they are and should be interested in talking to him. >> laura, hannity texted this to mark meadows on december 31st, and i quote. we can't lose the entire white house counsel's office

see you, laura coates. >> this is "don lemon tonight" and we have breaking news. the breaking news tonight that everybody is talking about, i know that's what i'm interested in and that is tennis star novak djokovic is exactly where he did not want to be tonight. not on the court practicing for the australia open but in detention after his visa was revoked for a second time on the verge of being kicked out of the country amid this drama over his refusal to be vaccinated. a hearing on the case set for sunday. the day before he hopes to play in the first round of the open. cnn phil black has the latest from melbourne. phil? >> reporter: don, novak djokovic was ordered by a court to present himself, hand himself over to australia authorities. he is now considered in mandatory detention. he's allowed to spend time with his lawyers under close supervision by border officers but to prepare his case to sit in on virtual hearings, however, tonight, he will once again spend the night sleeping in australia immigration detention center. the latest landing him in court by ale

cnn joining us now cnn political commentator charlie dent and senior legal analyst laura coates, she's a former federal prosecutor and the author of the new book "just pursuit a black prosecutor's fight for fairness." good to see both of you. thanks for joining. good evening. charlie, i want to start with the breaking news. "the new york times" is reporting that the former vice president mike pence was considering cooperating voluntarily with the select committee but now he's undecided. you think this is all going to come down to politics? what is in it for mike pence if he cooperates? >> it a political matter. he's on very fragile ground with donald trump and many of his supporters because he in fact did do the right thing on january 6th but doing his duty and certifying the election and so now of course, he's -- i would argue he is consented that his former staff mark short and others have been cooperating with the january 6th committee so i think there is that level of cooperation. now, i think mike pence is in this situation where he must -- i need to hear it from him. i don't know

the news continues with laura coates and cnn tonight. >> that song is stuck in all of our heads.great weekend with that earworm. >> welcome to "cnn tonight." today's news could be filed under the category of, well, well, well. that's exactly what you probably have been thinking as you heard the day's news unfold. first when stewart rhodes, the head of the oath keepers and another defendant, edward vallejo pleaded not guilty to seditious conspiracy. now, you know these men are two of the 11 suspects accused of plotting to basically try to use force to top congress from carrying out the job of certifying the presidential election. you know, the thing we all assume will happen after a free and fair election. and that same thing that's part of a peaceful transition of power. the kind of thing that stops us from being addict tatership when someone says, you know what, no, i would rather stay right here. the reason the charges are so serious, well, because the stakes are too high not to be and believe me, i know from experience that charges alone won't convince a jury. proving your bur

attorney for the middle district of georgia and senior senior legal analyst laura coates, a former federald author of "just pursuit." i spoke to wanda cooper jones in the last hour that aired on this program. she said today was a huge win for the family. the judge really set the tone for the trial of these three men. today was no different. he was unsparing talking about the mcmichaels, don't you think? >> absolutely. and i want to point out the interview with her was riveting as was of course and heartbreaking her victim pact statement earlier today where she pointed out aspects of the trial, the idea of the horrible statements that were made by at least one defense counsel by the appearance and the comment of look, they were fully committed to their crimes, they should be fully committed to the consequence, as well. the judge put that out there to talk about the lack of remorse to talk about wishing or thinking the worst in your neighbors and the worst in yourself and having pauses throughout to emphasize and under score the point that the life sentence without parole for at least two wa

laura coats is a cnn senior analyst, former federal prosecutor and the author of that new book "justgood to see you. congratulations on the book. i'm going to ask you about that in a minute. >> thank you sglr. >> yes, fantastic, let's talk about this draft executive order, that considered using the u.s. military to seize voting machines. i mean, this is how democracy works, would that be a federal violation, and if so, how does the january 6th committee on doj proceed with this information. >> it's truly shocking to think they were going to have the pentagon involved in some respects in trying to try to overturn, i suppose, a fair and free election. we talked about it within the last year or two even the idea of using martial law and the fallacy and the oddity and the absurdity and horror of having that state of being in a democracy in the united states, to use your status as the commander in chief to will the armed forces to somehow do the very thing that even the then attorney general bill barr said was not an issue. there was not fraud, let alone widespread voter fraud that would

. >>> i'm laura coates and this is "cnn tonight." i want to start by asking you a question and it's a real one. anyone else tired of double standards in, you know, one rule for you and then another one for everyone else? it's something that house minority leader kevin mccarthy of all people recently railed about. >> it's an old definition of abuse of power. rules for thee but not for me. >> keep that in mind in a second, if you will, because we have some big breaking news tonight involving him and the january 6th committee. in a statement released just moments ago mccarthy has said he will not cooperate with the investigation despite that statement of rules for thee and not for me and also saying that he actually would if he were asked. and he was asked. a lot more of that in a moment. and look, i've got to tell you, i don't really know when you watch this show which side you're on. i don't know what political party you affiliate with or who you vote for or even where you're from. but i'll bet, i'll bet that you were as sick of doubl

. >>> i'm laura coates. i'm not going to mince words. this is a very big day. i can't underscore that enough. i want to take a step back and unpack, in a way we haven't before, exactly what happened today and the significance of it, because one year to the day of former president trump's second impeachment based on, you recall, his alleged role in inciting the insurrection on january 6th, the one that attacked the very citadel of our democracy because, you see, he didn't want to admit that he had lost the race, which he did, remember, ever since then and since merrick garland was sworn in as the attorney general of the united states, we know that he has been ridiculed for his pacing in the january 6th investigation. you've heard it, you may have said so yourself. he's not moving fast enough, he's contemplative to the point of paralysis, he's going to let them all off the hook just so the department of justice is not still somehow perceived as political as it was under the prior administration. and even though his doj, as you know, has charged more than 700 peop

again the book is entitled "just pursuit, a black prosecutor's fight for fairness" the author laura coates. thank you so much for joining us and for writing this really important book. >> thank you. >> i hope our viewers go out and read it and buy it. to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. >> thank you. >> i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >>> "outfront" next trump's legal problems mounting. a georgia prosecutor zeroing in on the president, investigating his pressure on the state's top election official to overturn the election. the january 6th select committee zeroes in on ivanka trump asking her to sit down for an interview in a letter revealing incredible new details. >>> plus president biden tries to clean up comments he made. world leaders say gives putin the green light to invade ukraine. tonight we'll take you there live. biden opening the door to a scaled back build back better bill but how much can you scale it back and have it be building back better? will democrats go along? let's go "out fron." good evening. i'm erin bur

and laura coates, of course, former-federal prosecutor and author of "just pursuit, a black prosecutor'schmidt, you have been on the receiving end of death threats. you have talked about that with us. one threat included a picture of your house and said of you and your family, quote, cops can't help you, heads on spike, treasonous schmidts. which appears in reuters. so, when you hear this as i point out, yes, it's more than a year. yes, it's the first one. but it appears to be the first of more. what's your reaction to the indictment? >> it's a very encouraging development but it's really newsworthy because it is the first one more than a year after most of this occurred. this has happened to many dozens of election administrators across the country, many of whom had it worse than i did involving many hundreds of threats of violence against them and against their family. um, so this is hopefully just the beginning of what is to come. >> laura, we have been hearing for months from election officials across the country, right? like mr. schmidt. have been threatened for doing their job. for