. >> ryan nobles on capitol hill. talk about the subpoenas. >> that is right, the january 6 select committee issues 14 subpoenas to the individuals that were behind this push to send an alternate slate of electors to the united states congress and in nan attempt to subvert the will of the american people and that election that did name joe biden the next president of the united states. now the 14 individuals are the folks that were listed on the electors as either the chairperson or secretary from the seven swing state where's this push was made. so we're talking about states like arizona, georgia, michigan, new mexico, nevada, and wisconsin. and these are not household names. these are not names that are familiar with politics know on a day-to-day basis. but there are still some people that are significant actors. people that play prominent roles in the state parties in these various states. for instance, david schaefer, the chairperson of the georgia republican party and part of a lawsuit filed shortly before the ve

. >> the committee has issued subpoenas to giant social media companies, cnn's ryan nobles joins us now. let's talk about minority leader kevin mccarthy, and cnn's k file has uncovered a radio interview shortly after the riot where he says that the former president, donald trump, admitted personally to bearing some responsibility for the attack. tell us more. >> yeah, victor. this is more evidence that there's a lot about what kevin mccarthy knows leading up to on january 6th and after january 6th that hasn't really been publicly revealed. we knew that at one point mccarthy told some of his republican colleagues in a closed door meeting that the president had expressed some responsibility for what had happened on january 6th but he quickly walked that back and had really come to defend the former president in the days after ji january 6th. this is the first time we're actually hearing him say those words. take a listen to what he told this radio host in bakersfield shortly after the january 6th insurrection. >> i say he has responsibility, he told me personally that he does have some re

>> ryan nobles with the breaking news.know about mccarthy's engagement with the former president that day it makes sense they want to speak with him. the significance now. and there are a couple of nuggets in this letter that's released, this press release about what they already know about his engagement with the former president. >> and what they already know is what he's said publicly. he's told colleagues that he had disagreements with the president. he told news organizations as much. and so what the committee is saying here in their letter is, as is readily apparent, all this information bears directly on president trump's state of mind during the january 6th attack as the violence was under way. so he is somebody who is a firsthand witness here who spoke with the president, who argued with the president. he's a leader, a republican leader in the congress. and they believe that his testimony is hugely important to them to say, okay, what was the president's state of mind? now, obviously, there's a privilege issue her

. >> cnn congressional correspondent ryan nobles joins us now. , tell us what these lawmakers are revealing about the testimony they have heard so far. >> reporter: victor, and alisyn, it seems to be pretty clear that the january 6th select committee is really keying in on what the former president donald trump did and do not do as the events were unfolding here at the capitol. they talked about this 187 minutes of inaction from when those rioters first broke through into the capitol building and then that video statement that the president put out at one point. it's not just what he didn't do during that time frame, but it was the type of activity that he was engaging in that the committee at this point believes represents a serious dereliction of duty. listen to what liz cheney, the vice chair of the committee said on sunday. >> the committee has firsthand testimony now that he was sitting in the dining room next to the oval office watching the attack on television as the assault on the capitol occurred. members of his staff were pleading with h

john. >> ryan nobles. grateful for the latest update.urprised many people how aggressive and methodical this committee has been going up the trump chain and inner circle. this is the formerer staff secretary stephanie english i engli english ham. she was asked who went up to tell mr. trump to stop it? . >> i know mrs. trump did not. i know he was in the dining room gleefully watching on his tv as he often did, look at all the people fighting for me. hitting rewind, watching it again, that's what i know. >> if you think of this a year ago it's like a 9/11, it was, test an attack on our government. you think of the committee building a narrative that includes the then president of the united states gleefully watching on his tv, hitting rewind, watching it again, look at all of these people fighting for me. that is reprehensible. >> look. there is a lot of testimony to back up the fact that he was watching tv at the time. englis gar grisham was not in the white house. people are pleading with him, to speak up more first, his allies, his fam

i'm ryan nobles in washington.y and exploit the anniversary of the january 6th riot. officials say there are no specific or credible threats at the moment. the report was compiled by the department of homeland security, fbi and law enforcement agencies. officials say conspiracy theories and election fraud claims continue to resonate with domestic extremists and could inspire some to promote or commit violence. >>> family, friends and dignitaries gathered this morning for the official state funeral for archbishop desmond tutu. the new year's day service which was limit to do 100 people due to covid restrictions, capped a week of events honoring the anti-apartheid hero. south africa's president delivered the main eulogy at st. george's cathedral and hailed tutu as the country's national conscious. tutu died last sunday at the age of 90, after years of health complications. >>> betty white is being remembered today as a talented comedienne, entertainer, and despite having great success, remained humble. >> i've been l

i'm ryan nobles. 2022 begins with more disruptions and a grim warning.hings will likely get worse as the omicron variant spreads across the u.s. the nation broke records twice this week for the seven-day average of new daily covid-19 cases. now, one doctor is warning this latest wave is unlike anything we've seen before. while hospitalizations and deaths are lower than their 2021 peak, the cdc predicts that more than 44,000 people could die of covid-19 in the next four weeks. and now, with the millions prepared to return to work and school, there are concerns that the number of new infections will rise further. cnn's polo sandoval reports. >> reporter: the u.s. is shattering records this week, with an average of about 356,000 covid infections reported every day in the past week, according to johns hopkins university. ♪ >> reporter: as the world rang in the new year, the latest surge is sweeping across the u.s., pushing indication and hospitalizations to unprecedented levels. experting warning the turning point could be weeks away. >> given the size of ou

that you didn't have anything to hide, so -- >> i've got nothing to hide. >> speaking to cnn's ryan nobles. jordan has been identified as one of the lawmakers who messaged trump's chief of staff mark meadows before the attack. >>> a u.s. federal judge is asking why donald trump didn't do more to stop last year's attack on the capitol. the comments were in the hearing on three lawsuits seeking to hold trump, his son, rudy giuliani and republican senator mo brooks liable for fighting the insurrection. cnn's jessica schneider has the story for you. >> reporter: the first of these three lawsuits was filed 11 months ago. they are now being considered for the first time from a federal judge who will answer the crucial question, should the lawsuits be dismissed or can they move forward. if the judge allows them to proceed, it would open up all of the defendants to sworn depositions and all kinds of discovery. that includes former president trump, his son donald trump, jr., trump's former attorney rudy giuliani, plus congressman mo brooks and oath keepers and proud boys. capitol officers contend t

. >> cnn congressional correspondent ryan nobles is live on capitol hill. so, first, let's start with the significance of williamson's testimony. >> reporter: ben williamson was a top aide to the former white house chief of staff, mark meadows and, of course, we know the drama that's gone on between meadows and the january 6th committee where he initially was willing to cooperate, then backed off, and is now in the process -- could be indicted for criminal contempt of congress because he now refuses to cooperate. the fact that williamson, very close with meadows, was willing to go to the committee, speak to them for close to seven hours and not plead the fifth is very significant. and also what we're learning what he talked about is also significant. we're told, according to a source familiar with this meeting, that williamson talk about the effort to get the former president to file that video where he asked supporters to leave the capitol after hours of the insurrection ongoing, the process behind all that, also conversations williamson had not only with

wolf. >> ryan nobles reporting. thank you.mittee. congressman pete aguilar. let me begin with your reaction to this news that the justice is now looking into these fake electoral college certifications. how significant, congressman, is that? >> well, we think it's very significant, and we support the department of justice in their review of this. we'll stand by and let them do their work. but i think this is significant because it really shows the lengths to which the former president and people around him were going to go to continue to perpetuate the big lie, which led to the insurrection on january 6th. >> cnn has also learned, congressman, that a top aide to former white house chief of staff mark meadows, a man named ben williamson met with your committee yesterday. what kind of information do you believe he might have? >> well, i'm not going to talk about the specifics of individuals who the committee has met with, as we've shared before over 450 witness interviews that we have conducted to date. the national archives law

let's get to cnn's ryan nobles live on capitol hill for us.x-page letter to mccarthy. what does the committee specifically want to hear from him? >> jake, no doubt by what we've read in this letter the committee believes that kevin mccarthy is in possession of a lot of information as it relates to not only january 6th itself but the lead up to the insurrection that he hasn't fully revealed to the public that they believe is a crucial part of their investigation. let me read to you just one section of that letter from bennie thompson to the house minority leader. we must also learn about the president's plans for january 6th and how they came together and all of the other ways he attempted to alter the results of the election. for example, in advance of january 6th, you reportedly explained to mark meadows and the former president that objections to the certifications of the electoral votes on january 6th was, quote, doomed to fail. so that is an example of the information that at this point has not been made public and obviously the committee

cnn's ryan nobles looks at what a pivotal year it could be ahead. >> reporter: it is the most sweepingr since the deadly insurrection that came dangerously close to preventing the peaceful transfer of power in america, the house select committee is still figuring out what went wrong and who is responsible. . >> there are a lot of things that should have occurred in a more orderly and streamlined fashion that didn't. and i'm convinced that that was, in my opinion, by design. >> reporter: on paper, the committee's mission is straightforward. they want to write the definitive narrative as to what led to january 6th and what happened on that day. they plan to offer up a series of recommendations to prevent it from happening again. and if they discover criminal activity in the course of their investigation, they plan to refer that to the department of justice. it's that potential for finding criminal activity and holding certain individuals accountable, like former president donald trump, that is getting the most attention. >> i think that there are a number of, as the chairman said, potent

let's go to ryan nobles. he's working the story for us. update us on the latest.cant development. what this does is allows the district attorney there to begin the process of seating a grand jury as soon as as may 2nd. and what this grand jury will allow her to do is subpoena individuals' information and all relevant information necessary to conduct this investigation into the former president donald trump. it shows she's getting serious about this process. now, this is something the former president and his allies have said is nothing more than a political ax to grind by a democratic prosecutor there in fulton county is going to open the door to a lot of information that was closely aligned with what happened in georgia after the federal election there in which we know the former president put a lot of pressure on election officials there to you know, find votes, as he said to brad raffensperger. >> cnn is also learning now that the former attorney general of the united states, william barr, has now spoken to the january 6 select committee. what can you tell us a

let's get to ryan nobles up on capitol hill with more. ryan? >> yeah, john.mber of reasons. but the most obvious being that his boss, mark meadows, is not cooperating with the committee. he's facing a criminal contempt charge from the january 6th select committee now in the hands of the department of justice. the fact that williamson was willing to sit with the committee for almost seven hours. the fact that he also had conversations with the committee about the events that were taking place in the oval office and in the west wing on january 6th are also very important. we're told that he talked about the process of getting the president to create that video that was eventually posted hours after the violence had started here at the capitol. and also talked about conversations that he had with both meadows and the former president. and there's also this, john. this text exchange that we now know became -- was between williamson and alyssa farrah, a former white house staffer, that talked about what was going on. this is part of the letter sent to ivanka trump

i'm joined by congressional correspondent ryan nobles. what are they seeking from hannity. >> they think it's a material witness to what happened on january 6th and they want to know about the conversations that he had not only with officials that had a very close relationship with the former president donald trump but trump himself and in this letter that they sent to thahannity they outline several text messages he sent to mark meadows, jim jordan, where he expresses concern about the way the president was conducting himself, and questions the motivation they had to convince the former vice president mike pence to stand in the way of the certification of the election results. they want to know about those conversations. they want to know how trump responded to these pleas by sean hannity. it's interesting because the posture that we're seeing in the private text messages very different than the public posture sean hannity had at that time and then of course the days and weeks after. >> has there been a response from mr. hannity's attorn

our congressional correspondent ryan nobles is joining us up here up on capitol hill. so what did one of trump's aides at time say, what is this aide saying now about trump's mindset on that day? >> wolf, the january 6 select committee is so interested in every decision and movement the former president made on january 6. and it zeroed in on this tweet about 20 minutes after rioters broke in the capitol. it said please support our capitol police and law enforcement, they are on the side of our country and then is said stay peaceful. according to the aide it is the stay peaceful part that the president was resit ant to include in his tweet. of course we have a lot of testimony that the january 6 select committee is uncovered about the president's mood and his disposition at that time, watching television and even sometimes cheering on the rioters safing those were his people. the committee believes that is an example of dereliction of duty by the former president and talked to a number of former tr officials and they are compiling what happened on january 6. >> you did

i'm ryan nobles. 2022 begins with more descriptions and a grim warning, things will likely get worse as the omicron variant spreads across the united states. the nation broke records twice this week for the seven-day average of new daily covid-19 cases, which remained at an all-time high of 356,000 new daily infections on thursday. meanwhile, the faa says staffing shortages caused by covid-19 infections could lead to even more flight cancellations. more than 11,000 flights have been scrapped since christmas eve, including more than 1,000 today and tomorrow. but none of those are the result of faa issues. now with millions prepared to return to work and school, there are concerns the number of new infections will rise even further. cnn's polo sandoval reports. >> reporter: the u.s. is shattering records this week with an average of about 356,000 covid infections reported every day in the past week, according to johns hopkins university. as the world rang in the new year, the latest surge is sweeping across the u.s., pushing cases and hospitalizations to unprecedented levels. experts w

cnn's ryan nobles joins us from capitol hill.erson said at one time to have been in the congressman's orbit, and how he is cooperating? >> reporter: his name is big j jjoe ell ellicott. he's worked out a plea agreement and the reason that his cooperation is significant, anderson, is because he could serve as someone who can corroborate the testimony of joel greenberg. he's the former tax collector from that part of florida who was a very close associate with matt gaetz and is suspected to be at least part of some of these crimes that they're investigating that matt gaetz could be linked to. now, ellicott, his lawyer says by his own admission was not necessarily close himself with gaetz. but he did run in some of the same circles. they partied together at times, and it seems as though ellicott is going to serve as a corroborating witness as this investigation plays out. >> and how is congressman gaetz's office responded? >> reporter: from the beginning, anderson, he has claimed he did nothing wrong. in the past, he's said he's nev

cnn's ryan nobles reports for you from washington. >> reporter: there are many conversations that the january 6 select committee would like to have with key players in the events leading up to the riots that took place here almost a year ago. among them, sean hannity, the fox news commentator, a close political adviser of the former president donald trump. they sent a letter to hannity this week asking him to voluntarily appear before the committee and answer questions about the communications that he had with white house officials, with members of congress, and the former president himself. and in that letter, they outline a series of text messages that hannity exsent to meadows, jim jordan, members of congress where he expressed real concerns about the rhetoric and the movement that was being made by the white house around that time to attempt to get the vice president, mike pence, to stand in the way of the election certification results. now, it's unclear if hannity will comply. this is not a legal request. they're asking him to come on his own accord, but it does stand to reason

>> ryan nobles, thank you for all of that reporting.of course, had plenty of time to offer any context at all for these text messages on his show last night. he opted not to mention january 6. >>> it's time for three questions in three minutes. let's bring in former federal prosecutor, michael zeldin, host of the podcast that said, with michael. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> part of the story that strikes me here, all of the hand wringing, all of the concern from hannity behind the scenes. of course, none of that was happening in public, but behind the scenes he's texting things before the insurrection, like, quote, we, we, the royal we, can't lose the entire white house counsel's office. he's also saying, i'm very worried about the next 48 hours. his lawyer, jay sekulow, is now flirting some sort of first amendment defense here. but what's clear is he wasn't acting as a journalist. he's acting as an unpaid adviser. can the committee get his testimony? >> they should be able to. the information they want is factual, not who i

. >> cnn's ryan nobles joins us now. >> that's right, jake. from the beginning, the committee has not ruled out finding criminal charges against either the former president trump over people closely associated with him for their role in what happened here january 6th. your interview with liz cheney last night crystallized the direction they're heading. it seems to be focused on the conduct of trump on the days leading up to and on january 6th itself. what cheney told you was they're looking closely at the former president's action or what she called inaction around the time that rioters were breaking into the capitol. and what she suggested is that perhaps trump not calling them off and telling them to leave could actually be a crime because it prevented the certification of those election results. it's not exactly clear where they are going to find the law to back up those charges. and if they need more evidence to prove it. the other thing we have to keep in mind is this committee doesn't have the ability to charge any

ryan nobles is still with us. i want to bring in our chief political correspondent, dana bash, and elie honig. only a few of them, but apparently dozens of text messages to the white house from sean hannity. how significant is that? >> those texts are very revealing. . hannity is a fact witness any way you cut this. before these events happened and while january 6th happened. he's an obvious person. any prosecutor, any investigator would go right to that and say that's a person i need to speak with. he's a journalist so there are first amendment concerns, but the distinction here, they don't seem to be looking at anything that has to do with hannity's journalistic capabilities. they're not asking about his sources. they're asking about his communications with the white house. >> you know, dana, this is someone who mr. trump's, one of his biggest defenders in public. how credible is it to see what was going on behind the scenes? he was raising the alarm just ahead of the january 6th attack, urging the then presiden

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let's go to ryan nobles.ongresswoman liz cheney first saying about the former president's role? >> reporter: i don't think there is any doubt that this seems to have become a special focus for the january 6 committee. the conduct of the former president donald trump in the days leading up to and on january 6 is the fact that he did not move quickly enough or was not engaged enough in attempting to get his supporters to leave the capitol on that day and an example of at the very least a dereliction of duty or all the way up to a crime. liz cheney, the vice chair of the committee, talked about the thinking the committee has on that topic in our special event that we held last night. take a listen. >> the president of the united states is responsible for ensuring that laws are faithfully executed. he's responsible for the security of the branches. so for a president to, through either his action or inaction, for example, attempt to impede or obstruct the counting of electoral votes, which is an official proceedi

. >> joining us for more, cnn's ryan nobles at the capitol who just spoke with the congressman. what did he say? >> anderson, we tried to press more on these questions about his willingness to cooperate or lack thereof with the january 6th select committee and i -- and i asked him if his letter meant that he completely shut down the door or closed the door to talking to the committee and all he would do was refer me back to this letter. he said that the letter answers all the questions that we might have. so i pressed him a little more. i asked would you be willing to sit in front of the committee, in a public hearing, and answer questions that everyone can hear and see? again, he just referred me back to that letter. and then, i asked him you said at one point that you have nothing to hide. you still have nothing to hide? he again said that he had nothing to hide. but then, went on to say all the problems that he has with the committee. the way that it was formed, the way that they have handled their business up until this point. but then, again, refused to say whether or not h

. >> joining us for more on cnn ryan nobles at the capitol who just spoke with the congressman, what did he say? >> we tried to press him more on thesecooperate. i asked him if his letter meant he completely shut down the door or closed the door to talking to the committee and all he would do was refer me back to this letter. he said the letter answers all the questions we might have, so i pressed him morement would you be willing to sit in front of the committee in a public hearing and answer questions everyone can hear and see. again, he just referred me back to that letter. and then i asked him, you said at one point that you have nothing to hide. you still have nothing to hide. he again said he had nothing to hide but went on to say all the problems he has with the committee, the way it was formed, the way they handled their business but refused to say whether or not he would talk to the committee. the last thing we asked him was whether or not he's had any communication with president trump and his legal team. he simply would not answer that question, just referred us back, once

ryan nobles is out front liven on capitol hill. so, ryan, what options does the committee have to go after mccarthy if he refuses to cooperate? i mean, reading here, they are very clear, you know, we want to work with you. here is the dates. does this date work? does that date work? they lay it all out. >> reporter: yeah, thaerts, erin. the committee does want to make it as easy as possible on kevin mccarthy to come before them, and provide them the information that they are looking for. but, you know, certainly over time mccarthy has begun to hedge his bets in terms of cooperation. sure, he answered manu about an independent commission back in may by saying sure i will come before the committee. but local tv station asked him about a month ago if he would be willing to come before the select committee and he said he has nothing to lied but also has nothing to offer. so the option they do have at their disposal is to subpoena him. that would mean a legal request that he come before this congressional committee that is within the aut

c cnn's ryan nobles joins us now.poke and he deflected comments from the committee. where are we now? >> reporter: there seems to be information that mccarthy has on what happened on january 6, what happened leading up to january 6 and what happened beyond january 6 that he won't reveal publicly and that the committee feels is part of the investigation. the committee would like mccarthy to shed light on this investigation, and mccarthy just isn't interested and believes this committee has become too partisan, that it's basically just a political witch hunt to go after the former president donald trump and his allies, so, therefore, he won't participate. just listen to his excuse that he gave earlier today as to why he doesn't think it's appropriate for him to participate. >> i didn't wait a year later. on january 6 i spoke to the public. not one network but many networks. my conversation was very short advising the president of what was happening here. there is nothing that i can provide the january 6 committee for le

. >> straight up to capitol hill with cnn's ryan nobles. early they are trying to get everyone in camp trump to play along. >> they are trying to get former vice president pence and his allies. obviously vice president mike pence was a central figure in all of this. he was in the capitol on january 6. he was at the center of this pressure campaign for him to intervene and prevent the certification of the election results. then, of course, there is sean hannity who is one of the former president's closest advisors and was in regular contact with members of congress, the white house chief of staff, and the committee wants to know if he was in contact with the president himself. hannity's conduct revealed in these text messages that the committee has offered to the public to show he was actually trying to talk trump down from this effort to decertify the election results. this was one text he sent to white house officials. quote, pence pressure, the white house counsel will leave. clearly he was concerned that this whole plan hatched by trump a

cnn's ryan nobles joins us now. r ryan, the judge's ruling will be significant, no matter what he decides. >> no doubt about that, jake, because this is an opportunity for some folks who were victims of that capitol insurrection to find accountability through civil litigation. and if for some reason the judge puts a stop to it, that would mean that avenue of finding people accountable would be closed off to them. right now the judge is continuing this hearing. it's gone on now. they're in their third hour of deliberations. and this is a series of lawsuits filed against the former president donald trump and some of his closest associates, including representative mo brooks of alabama, his son donald trump jr., rudy giuliani and members of the proud boys and the oath keepers. and what these groups are contending is that their first amendment rights protect them from being sued for something having to do with what happened on the january 6th insurrection because their lawsuits are claiming that it was the rhetoric by th

let 'get to ryan nobles. >> reporter: i'm told this conversation that barr had with the committee was the record, so there's a long way to go before they can take some of this information theft lenders from the former attorney general and make it a tangible part of their investigation. there's been talk about this draft executive order, that did discussing different ways to interrupt the certification of the election process. that doesn't really have anything to do with this conversation with the former attorney general. the committee just received that document through this tranche of information that came from the national archives. their conversation with the attorney general happened several weeks ago, so these are part of the investigation their moving down on different tracks at this point, but all part of the big scope of what they're trying to ascertain what it comes to trying to figure out exactly what led to the january 6th insurrection, and peddling these election lies are a big part of that. john, barr as a figure in all of this is also very important. you'll remember he l

this was very clear from benny thompson, the chairman's interview with our own ryan nobles that this is something they would like. they're not talking about s specifically subpoenaing him or they have not put in a formal request yet. that would be pretty unlikely for him to do that. remember mark schwartz, the chief of staff has agreed to talk to the committee. he was there with mike pence at the capitol that day and also the general council, the chief council is going to speak. there is going to be movement in pence's world and that's likely to happen either this month or next month and the question is going to be how does that go before or ever the former vice president that speaks to them for a lot of reasons. number one, precedent and number two, maybe this should be in reverse order, don. politics, he's already in deep trouble with the trump base because he upholds his constitutional oath. >> he's been backtracking and so as mark meadows and meadows going down to mar-a-lago kissing him. brian, let's talk about sean han hannity. he sent this text message to mark meadows and jim j

cnn ryan nobles joins us now. tell us where alex jones fits into this and anything more we know about this meeting? >> jones was pretty revealing in his podcast about his experience with the january 6th select committee. he's of great interest to them because he was a central player in raising the rhetoric around the false claims about the 2020 election. not only in his podcast leading up to january 6th but on january 5th and january 6th itself. he was one of the keynote speakers at several of these rallies that fired up the crowd on those days. he also played a big role in the financing and the fund raising of these rallies in the days leading up to january 6th. to your point, what he said is that he simply did not answer a lot of these questions that the committee put in front of him. he pled the fifth close to 100 times. he said the committee had access to his phones. they were reading back text exchange with some of the fund-raiser and rally organizers at that time. he was concerned if he answered their questi

i'm ryan nobles. 2022 begins with more

cnn's ryan nobles joins us from the capital.r the draft executive order that would have seized voting machines was dated. is the committee discussing that with attorney general barr? >> it doesn't seem that they are at this point, jake. the committee just received this memo recently as part of that set of documents that came from the national archives after winning the supreme court case. their conversation with william barr, i'm told, was several weeks ago. it was an informal interview. there were not a lot of specifyings tied to it at this point. that doesn't mean it's not a conversation they can have with him in the near future. they are very interested in barr's role in everything that happened after the 2020 election as the former president and his allies were peddling these false accusations about the election lie. and you'll remember, jake, that shortly before he stepped down as attorney general, william barr made it clear that he saw no direct evidence of voter fraud that would have been enough to change the results of t

congressional correspondent ryan nobles is telling us about it return this is the former white house deputy press secretary jed deer. somebody that was very close to the former president donald trump 'was in the white house and in the west wing both on january 5th and january 6th and the activities those two days that they're concerned about. they want to know about any role that deer played in formulating the white house's response to the january 6 insurrection including the video that the white house produced that's put on the president's twitter feed asking people to leave the capitol. they wanted to know if he has early drafts or outtakes and interested in a meeting of january 5th with a number of people and trump reportedly said to the group what are the ideas to get the rinos to do the right thing tomorrow? how do we convince the congress? they ask for dire to come forward and he currently works for the united states congress, a deputy chief of staff to a united states senator, republican senator. we have to see how it plays out as the committee attempts to compel him. >> repub

ryan nobles is on capitol hill. so ryan, tell us about those texts. >> yeah, that's right. the econocommittee very interesn communication hannity was having with members of the congress, the white house, and even the former president himself. not just on january 6th, but in the time period leading up to january 6th. based on these text messages the committee released yesterday in their letter to hannity, it seemed as though he had a good idea of just what lengths the white house and trump campaign were willing to go to to try to pressure mike pence to stand in the way of the certification results on january 6th. here's a sample of some of those texts. on december 31st, 2020, hannity to meadows, writes, we can't lose the entire white house counsel's office. i do not see january 6th happening the way it's being told. this is hannity raising alarm bells about this strategy to try and convince pence to stand in the way of the certification results. then on january 5th, the day this was supposed to take place, a year ago today, hannity said to meadows, very worried about the nex

we have ryan nobles for the rest. ryan? a lot of questions of how the committee will move forward on a lot of fronts. let's first address rudy giuliani. it's been kind of surprising up to this point the committee has not asked him to appear also with the big lie and with january 6 as well. remember, he was one of the people who gave a speech on the ellipse of stop the steal rally and he was also president trump's personal lawyer. he's aon a long list of people they want to talk to, but they haven't figured out if they're going to subpoena him or ask him to come in voluntarily. his attorney already expressing doubt that giuliani will cooperate, reminding bennie thompson of attorney/client privilege given giuliani did serve as president trump's lawyer. there could be other members of congress the committee is interested in talking to. the problem is these close associates of donald trump just do not want to cooperate with the committee. what can the committee force them to do? they certainly have subpoena power, but subpoena

ryan nobles is working the story. tell us about this radio interview that kevin mccarthy did earlier last year. >> reporter: he did this about a week after the capitol insurrection, he tells a radio host in california that he spoke to donald trump shortly after the insurrection, and that the former president admitted that he did bear some responsibility for the violence that took place here at the capitol on that day. this echoes a statement that mccarthy made in a closed-door phone call from members of the republican conference that our team is also reporting out. in his press conference this week, when mccarthy was asked serious questions about the january 6th committee's desire for him to come forward and testify, he said he had no recollection of what he told republican members at that time. but this shows that around that period of time, mccarthy was interested in holding the former president responsible for what happened here. his tone, of course, dramatically changed shortly after. he ended up rejecting the ide

let's get to cnn's ryan nobles on capitol hill and, ryan, this is, as of now, a voluntary cooperation there any chance that the committee, if he refuses to cooperate, could subpoena him? >> there's also that chance, jake. the committee said from the beginning they wouldn't hesitate to subpoena anyone they feel is not cooperating fully with their investigation. but it's pretty clear they would prefer these members of congress, including now the house minority leader kevin mccarthy, to do so voluntarily. they believe that mccarthy has a lot of information, not only about the insurrection itself on january 6th, but the events leading up to it that leave them to believe that there are many things he can share with the committee that would help their investigation. now in the past, mccarthy has said he has nothing to hide. he even said sure when asked by manu raju if he'd be willing to testify in front of what was then plans for an independent commission. since then, he has said about the select committee that he has nothing to hide but also has nothing to add. we'll have to see how he res

>> ryan nobles, thank you. let's discuss with our panel. s.e. cupp, it seems republican congresswoman liz cheney is inching closer and closer to accusing former president trump of a crime. she mentioned dereliction of duty on sunday. carrie cordero told us in the last hour that's a hard legal case to make. it's more likely trump might get an obstruction charge. what are the political ramifications for republicans if trump is ultimately charged with a crime related to january 6th? >> oh, i think they're huge but i think they're already huge. and i don't think you need a crime for there to be, you know, some real hard lessons down the line. whether they come in time for 2022, i don't know, but i think republicans will be punished for this in the long term for not only allowing and encouraging what happened on january 6th but also then lying about why and how it happened in the months, in fact, year after. and seemingly having learned no lessons about it. in fact, many talk about, you know, overturning elections again. and so i don't think you need

as cnn's ryan nobles reports, the attorney general is promising to hold every january 6th rioter accountable the one-year anniversary of the deadly january 6th insurrection, the capitol police chief tom manger delivered a stark reality about the threats that still exist for members of congress. >> it's gone up every year. last year was 8600. this year 9600. so the workload is increasing. >> reporter: manger and his force are still addressing problems exposed by the riot. but say they're absolutely better prepared to defend the capitol. as a chorus of calls to hold those accountable for the insurrection grows louder. >> thank you for your service, for your sacrifice and for your dedication. i am honored to serve alongside you. >> reporter: the department of justice is prosecuting hundreds of individuals who stormed the capitol that day, but questions remain about whether those who influenced or encouraged the rioters like former president donald trump will bear any responsibility. th

let's go to ryan nobles on capitol hill. what are the options now to compel them to cooperate? most obvious would be to subpoena both of these individuals and perhaps other members of congress to force them to sit and answer questions and hand over documents, but there are some legal questions about whether a subpoena is even possible for one member or committee of congress to another. it would certainly be unprecedented and even if it is legal under the institution, which there are some different legal opinions as that relates to a subpoena, there's also the question of enforcement. the committee's found some difficulty in enforcing their subpoenas with just average, every day people that don't have a position like being a member of congress. they've been forced to go down the criminal content route. two people, steve bannon and mark meadows, but there's a whole host of other trump allies who are cooperating on some level, but not as forthcoming as the committee would like them to be. what the committee is trying to decide to do is what step should they take. that's more impor

. >> ryan nobles is out front live from capitol hill. y, this significant right now. right now, she is not saying reports or hearsay. i mean, she is saying, right, firsthand accounts. that -- that carries with it a legal level, right, that's very different than sources. what else is the committee saying about trump's actions on that day? >> well, erin, it's very clear that the committee is specifically interested in the inaction of the former president during the period of time bwher he his supporters broke into the capitol and when the former president finally sent out a message telling them to go home. that inaction in that period of time is what the committee believes has become what they have described as a serious dereliction of duty. and it seems pretty clear that they have specific witness testimony. they also have messages, communications of some ilk to back it up that show that there were individuals that were very close to the former president that pleaded with him to get involved and he either just ignored them or actually push

let's bring in cnn's jessica schneider and ryan nobles up on capitol hill.iated with the oathkeepers a far right extremist group. how significant is this specific charge? >> very significant, jake. this is the most serious charge we're seeing resulting from this massive investigation that's been ongoing for a year now. seditious conspiracy carries 20 years maximum in prison. put in plain english the defendants here are accused of conspiring to use violence or force to stop a government proceeding, here what was supposed to be the peaceful transfer of power. as the doj lays out for the first time here this extended beyond january 6th well into inauguration day. some of this video is video the doj references where these members of the oathkeepers actually wore military gear and traveled in military formation something doj refers to as the stack. this plot started months before january 6. they communicated over an encrypted app. one member of the oathkeepers allegedly took a reconnaissance mission to d.c. they are also accused of stockpiling weapons as part of

. >> ryan nobles, thanks. >>> joining us live to discuss, secretary of the department of homeland security, alejandro mayorkas. secretary, you said this week that dhs is not aware of any credible threats on the anniversary of the january 6th attack, but the threat of domestic violent extremists is a great one. to be frank, there seems to be a lot that law enforcement and intel folks simply don't know about radical groups as we saw last year. how concerned are you about safety at the capitol tomorrow? >> jake, domestic violence extremism does remain one of the greatest threats that we face on the homeland. and what we in the department of homeland security do is obtain information and share information and make sure that not only we across the federal enterprise but also our state and local partners are fully equipped with the information and best positioned to prevent a threat from materializing. the threat is real but it is our job to be prepared for it and to be responsive if, in fact it should materialize. it's our job to be alert, to be prepared, to be practiced and to be responsive. >

now as ryan nobles reports, the select committee is in danger of running out of time to produce results of the january 6th riot at the capitol just days away, the house select committee is zeroing in on what was and perhaps more importantly what was not happening in the white house. >> the committee has firsthand testimony now that he was sitting in the dining room next to the oval office watching the attack on television. as the assault on the capitol occurred. >> a special focus now on former president donald trump's conduct in the white house on that day. in particular, how he resisted pleas to take action to get his supporters to leave the capitol. >> firsthand testimony that his daughter ivanka went in at least twice to ask him to please stop this violence. >> reporter: committee members also have texts and other documents that back up their witness testimony. they are seeking even more evidence in a tranche of documents held by the national archives that trump is suing to keep secret. the supreme court could decide soon if they will take up the case. the committee's work comes as

however, yesterday, my colleague, ryan nobles, pushed jim jordan as to whether or not he had ultimatelye's inquiry and this is what he had to say. >> if they offered you the opportunity to speak in a public setting, would you be willing to do something like that? >> we have the letter, you can read my letter that's our response. >> you said before you didn't have anything to hide, so -- >> i got nothing. i got nothing to hide. but, i mean, i got to tell you, like i said in the letter, i have real concerns with -- i have real concerns with any committee that is going to falsify change evidence and lie to the american people about it. that's why we put it in the letter. >> and ultimately this raises a serious question, how far is the select committee going to go to get members of their own body to testify before their committee. are they going to subpoena somebody like jim jordan ultimately? are they going to subpoena someone like scott perry, another republican that they think has relevant information who has so far refused to cooperate with the committee? that is a huge question looming

. >>> and ryan nobles is joining us, and also former federal prosecutor william elliott who is also the assistant district attorney general, and lta lot o deflecting and dodging, and what is going on here? >> yes, you are right, ana. and why is he not willing to come before the committee, and even when he said he did not have anything to hide, and not sure why he would not answer questions, but it is important what the committee is looking for. they wrote in the letter to him, your public statements since january 6th have changed markedly since you met with trump, and since that meeting, did trump or any of the representatives discuss or say what you should say in the impeachment trial if called as a witness or any later conversations about what happen happened with him on january 6th? and that had changed after the comment hes made on the house floor, and remarkedly changed related to president trump's role on january 6th. in fact, take a quick listen to what he said on the house floor shortly after the riots. >> the president bears responsibility for wednesday's attack on congress by