sara murray, cnn, washington. >>> we have some breaking news to bring you from kazakhstan.he president of kazakhstan addressed the country in the last 30 minutes or so where he authorized forces to fire without warning, and he had a very bullish speech. our nina dos santos has been monitoring it. she joins me now. nina, what else did he say? >> reporter: really worrying stuff. it's autocratic talk that thankfully we don't hear that often, but it will be raising eyes in washington, paris, diplomats will be eagerly picking out what the speech means. it sounds extremely worrying for any of those protesters who have been taking to the streets across kazakhstan, isa. the past several days, the flash points happening since wednesday. all of this has gathered pace since a few spiked over the course over the weekend. he removed subsidies on the type of fuel people fuel their cars with in kazakhstan. this is a huge energy-ritchie economy. ironically, corruption and inequalities and unemployment and issues like that dr. dogged this economy many years. the president said anybody takin

. >> we're with sara murray. sara, tell us why the doj requested this grand jury. >> now ivanka trump sent a letter to the grand jury. she wants to compel witnesses to testify with subpoenas and more readily gather evidence. as you pointed out, this stemmed from the recording of this incredible call between former president donald trump and brad raffensperger. here is a portion of that. >> the people of georgia are angry. the people of the country are angry, and there is nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated. >> mr. president, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong. >> reporter: now, in her letter, willis says they're having trouble getting witnesses to cooperate. she wants to talk to witnesses by subpoena. she specifically said brad raffensperger is one of those witnesses. they already provided some documents from staffers. they think it's very clear from this letter to try to seat the grand jury. she is seriously looking at potential criminal charges against either

let's begin with sara murray following the developments out of fulton county georgia. sarah, explain how a dgrand jur could change the investigation. >> she's been looking into donald trump and his allies for a year in their efforts to overturn the results in the georgia 2020 election and whether that's criminal. it allows her to essentially compel witnesses to gather more evidence and also it has this group of people that are just going to be focused on this trump matter. they're not going to be looking at evidence in any other case. here's how she described it if her letter to the court asking for a special grand jury. she said we have made efforts to interview multiple witnesses and gather evidence, and a significant number of witnesses and prospective witnesses have refused to cooperate with the investigation absenct a subpoen. brad raffensperger has indicated that he will not participate in an interview or otherwise offer evidence until he is presented with a subpoena by my office. now, we know the secretary of state's office has already provided documents and sta

sara murray, thank you so much for your reporting this morning.really appreciate it. >>> former department of justice prosecutor, former senior counselor to ken starr. great to see you. a lot to talk to you about. quickly, let's talk about georgia, the special grand jury and what specific legal jeopardy the former president might be in there. >> awell, georgia law, as every state law requires, prohibits interference with election activities along a broad range of prohibitions, most importantly fraud and false declarations relating to electoral counts. obviously, it seems to me the fulton county district attorney is trying to determine whether or not she will have enough evidence to back up a charge of that nature against either trump or one of his employees, one of the other white house employees. clearly the tape is an important piece of evidence. but prosecutors need to convince a jury with live witnesses, and that means mr. raffensperger, some of the other election officials in georgia possibly, as well as people on president trump's side of th

cnn's sara murray has been following this and joins us with the very latest.we have learned there are still a lot of folks out there who believe the election was stolen. look, some of those should know better. but some of them really believe this in their hearts and they want something done about it. >> i'm ron hanks, and i approve this message. >> reporter: u.s. senate hopeful ron hanks is shooting at dominion voting machines in colorado, a state joe biden won by more than 13 points. in liberal washington state, a local republican party is knocking on doors, trying to uncover voter fraud. . >> we're canvassing now in about a dozen counties. >> reporter: in minnesota, a state that has gone blue since 1976, they are pressing for an audit based on false and misleading pretenses. >> that log will tell us if it went onto the internet and switched any votes. >> reporter: republican secretary of state john merrill is still batting back unfounded claims of fraud. . >> i think a lot of that is people listening to people who have absolutely no idea what they're talking

sara murray, thanks. >>> dozens of republicans are spending millions of dollars spreading the big liehelp them cash in at the polls. and that story is next. slash... and this is the basement slash panic room. maybe what your family needs is a vacation home slash vacation home. find yours on the vrbo app. we have to be able to repair the enamel on a daily basis. with pronamel repair toothpaste, we can help actively repair enamel in its weakened state. it's innovative. my go to toothpaste is going to be pronamel repair. so, you're recalibrating and reconnecting to the environment. seeing yourself as an artist -legitimate and genuine- can be transformational. daddy! for the best audio entertainment and storytelling. audible. (burke) this is why you want farmers claim forgiveness... [echoing] claim forgiveness-ness, your home premium won't go up just because of this. (woman) wow, that's something. (burke) you get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. [echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ i like that my plan is built just for me. with th

here is sara murray. >> i'm ron hank. >> reporter: ron hanks is calling for an audit in colorado a stateing on doors trying to uncover voter fraud. >> we're canvassing in a dozen counties. >> reporter: in minnesota in a state that has gone blue since 1976 residents are pressing the board of commissioners for an audit based on false and misleading pretenses. >> that law will tell us if that went on the internet and switched any votes. >> reporter: in alabama which former president trump carried by 25 points, republican secretary of state john merrill is batting back unfounded claims of fraud. >> i think a lot of that is people listening to people who have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. it's almost as if they will claim that a murder was committed and yet, they cannot prove that person ever lived, let alone -- a weapon. >> reporter: in the years since rioters stormed the u.s. capitol, convinced the election was stolen, many republicans are lapping up election lies. they're prompts official to revisit 2020, some running for higher office, others passing legislation making it

cnn's sara murray has more. >> reporter: defying congress, evading questions and praising the formerng some trump loyalists when it comes to january 6th. as house select committee struggled in october to serve former trump false narrative of me trying to avoid or evade a subpoena is a disgrace. not one attempt was made to contact to serve me when i was at mar-a-lago for six days. scavino quietly engaged with the committee and still hasn't testified. his status as a witness in limbo, his allegiance to trump is on full display. in a december jaunt to mar-a-lago, in game four of the world series in atlanta, and at an october rally in iowa. >> hello, iowa. i'm thrilled to be back. >> reporter: where trump railed against the committee. >> the left's new obsession is the unselect committee. they have an unselect committee. >> reporter: as the committee seeks information about roles trump allies played up to or during the events of january 6th, some loyalists like scavino are slow-walking, stonewalling, or snubbing the committee while doubling down on their allegiance to trump. >> that is 1

more on that from cnn's sara murray. >> reporter: it was a year of cracking down on election problems that didn't exist. based on lies peddled by the former president. >> they rigged the election. >> reporter: after record turnout in 2020, at least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to the ballot box in 2021, according to the left-leaning brennen center for justice. republicans leading the charge, citing concerns about election integrity, even as no evidence emerged of widespread problems or fraud in the 2020 election. in georgia, republicans passed a law that cuts the number of dropboxes in heavily-populated areas, imposes new i.d. requirements to vote by mail, and makes it a crime to offer voters snacks or water while in line. >> it is all a part of death by a thousand paper cut structure to continuously limit people's access to the ballot, people's comfort in being able to vote and people's ability to vote the way that is best for them. >> reporter: in florida -- >> i am actually going to sign it right here. >> reporter: -- republicans passed a law limiting drop boxes, add

cnn's sara murray has details so what are you learning about what trump allies did in the weeks after the election? >> reporter: essentially, they were trump allies in seven states donald trump lost -- places like michigan, pennsylvania, arizona, who decided they were just gonna come up with fake certificates, and they were going to submit those to the nation archives and those fake certificates say donald trump was actually the winner of those states that he lost. now, the watchdog group american oversight found these documents, and essentially what these folks were doing is they were trying to mimic an official process that is part of the electoral college. you know, what happens is the governor signs a letter, essentially saying joe biden won our state. they submit that letter to the national archives. the national archives later submits that letter to congress. so, they have it for the official count of the electoral votes on january 6th. apparently, the trump allies thought they could just submit their own certificates and that would be fine. >> and these fake certificates would

take a look at what cnn's sara murray uncovered. >> just about every county in the country was hacked election was stolen gets even bigger. >> i'm standing against a whole establishment that's saying, oh, that was the cleanest election in history. >> reporter: that's douglas frank, an ohio math and science teacher who has traveled here in texas and dozens of other states with the financial backing of other conspiracy-minded americans, claiming he uncovered an algorithm proving the election was stolen. he's even absurdly claimed his findings >> his findings have been debunked by election experts and more than a year later, there is still no evidence of fraud in the 2020 election, but frank is still winning audiences with lawmakers, election officials and voerters across the country. >> we're going into each state and i meet privately with legislators and attorney generals. >> just one of the foot soldiers inspired by donald trump's election lies. now trying to convince others the election was stolen. >> who are these 35,000 people who mail ed in ballots? >> he is connected with women c

let's bring in our sara murray now. sara, we know stephanie grisham recently met with the january 6th committee. what have we learned about what she told them? >> well, she essentially told them, you know, in the run-up to january 6th donald trump was so paranoid, he was so worried about leaks in the white house that he decided to move his meetings to the residence. here's a little bit about what she had to say a little bit earlier on our air. >> "the guardian" reporting is accurate. there were meetings taking place up there. i don't have visibility into what was discussed and all of the people who were there, but i can say that, you know, mark meadows would have been there as well as the legal team that was working on all of the bonkers little plans that you were actually talking about right before this segment. >> she points out, of course, meadows might have been privy to this, the legal team might have been privy for this, but reason for holding the meetings in the residence was to keep them away from the many prior

cnn's sara murray is joining us now. what have you learned, sara?>> well, look, she has sent this letter requesting a special grand jury. she wants to be able to subpoena witnesses and make it a little bit easier to collect evidence this. all goes back to, you know, the efforts that donald trump and his allies made to try to overturn georgia's election results in 2020. district attorney willis announced her investigation after the infamous phone call that donald trump had with brad raffensperger. here's a reminder what have went on during that phone call. >> but they are shredding ballots in my opinion based on what i've heard, and they are removing machinery, and they are moving it as fast as they can. both of which are criminal fines, and you can't let it happen and you are letting happen, you know. i'm notifying you that you're letting happen, so look all i want to do is this. i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state. >> so you hear him there telling brad be rafns sperger to find the votes. we kno

sara murray is out front. ultiple times by former-president trump. finished the so-called audit despite sustained criticism from republicans in the state, as well as democrats. but they are only shutting down now. why? >> that's right. does not begin to describe this company or audit. as you point out, they have faced criticism for months over the shoddy prak its of the so-called audit, of its partisan roots and thijs have gotten even worse for the country this week. as you pointed out, maricopa county officials put out a report where they essentially refute the big report that came from the cyber ninjas, point by point. there was also a judge who said this company is being held in c contempt ever court and being sanctioned to $50,000 a day in fines for refusing to turn over documents relate toed to this review. $2 million in debts in the arizona audit and endless legal and character attacks on the company by those who opposed the audit make it untenable moving forward. so there you have it, erin. they say they

see what cnn's sara murray has uncovered. >> just about every county in the country was hacked. >> reporter stolen gets even bigger. >> i'm standing against a whole establishment who say, oh, that was the cleanest election in history. >> reporter: that is douglas frank with the financial backing of other conspiracy-minded americans, claiming he uncovered an algorithm. >> i'd like the country to stand up and say, well, this was ripped off. let's do a do-over. put trump back in office. >> reporter: frank's findings have been debunked by mathematicians and election experts. there is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. but frank is still winning audiences with lawmakers, election officials and voters across the country. >> we're going into each state clan destinly, and i meet privately with legislators and secretaries of state and attorney generals. >> reporter: he is one of an army of foot soldiers inspired by donald trump's election lies, trying to convince others the 2020 election was stolen. >> who are these 35,000 people who mailed in these ballots? you need to find out,

cnn's sara murray has the details. >> just about every county in the country was hacked. >> reporter:ger. >> i'm standing against a whole establishment that's saying, oh, that was the cleanest election in history. >> reporter: that's douglas frank who has traveled to texas and dozens of other states with the financial backing of either exxon spire see-minded americans, saying he uncovered an algorithm saying the election was stolen. he's concerned his findings could land donald trump back in the oval office. >> let's do a do-over or put trump back in office. >> reporter: his findings have been debunked and more than a year later there's still no evidence of widespread fraud. frank is winning audiences with lawmakers, election officials and voters across the country. >> e with ear going into each state clandestinely and i meet privately with legislators and secretaries of states and attorney generals. >> reporter: he's one in an army of foot soldiers inspired by donald trump's election lies, now trying to convince others that the 2020 election was stolen. >> who are these 35,000 people

joining us now is cnn political correspondent sara murray and former u.s. to you first, just take us through this. it's so significant because as we mentioned this is the one case about that. >> it is significant. you know, it's been going on for about a year and so now she's making this move to seat a special grand jury. it's been approved and will give her a lot more power in order to subpoena witnesses, to gather more evidence. you know, she made it clear when she was asking for this special grand jury that a number of witnesses have been reluctant to speak with her without a subpoena and she even pointed to secretary of state brad raffensperger his office has given her a bunch of documents, interviews with staff but makes it very clear, she wants to hear from firsthand witnesses and wants their testimony in front of a grand jury and suggests that she's inching towards this question of do i bring potential criminal charges against donald trump or against others who were helping him in his pursuit to overturn a georgia's election results. >> michael, couns

i want to bring in now cnn political correspondent sara murray with more on this grand jury investigation in georgia. sarah, good evening to you. thank you so much for joining. let's focus now on this major development out of georgia where a district attorney is requesting a special grand jury to investigate trump's election interference. that is a big deal. what do you know about that? >> it is a big deal. and it's a big deal because we know she's already been looking into donald trump and his allies for roughly a year. so this signals, you know, pretty clearly she is not giving this up. she's clearly moving towards looking at whether there are real criminal charges she could bring against either donald trump or those who were in his inner circle and helped push this amcampaign in georgia. here's what she writes in her letter. she says we have made efforts to interview multiple witnesses and gather evidence, and a significant number of witnesses and perspective witnesses have refused to cooperate with the investigation. by way of example georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger, an

pressuring local election officials to revisit the past election and recount the 2020 vote as cnn's sara murray reports there are a lot of people running for office and observers are concerned that they want to make it easier to overturn election victories that they don't like in the future. >> i'm ron hanks and i approve this message. >> reporter: u.s. senate hopeful ron hanks is shooting at fake dominion machines and calling for audit in colorado, a state joe biden won in 2020 by more than 13 points. in liberal washington state a local republican party is knocking on doors trying to uncover voter fraud. >> we're canvasing now in about a dozen counties. >> reporter: in minnesota a bright red county in a state that's gone blue since 11976 residents are pushing the board of commissioners for an audit based on misleading pretenses. >> that law will tell us if that thing went on to the internet and switched votes. >> reporter: and in alabama which former president trump carried by 25 points republican secretary of state jon merrill is still batting back unfounded claims of fraud >> i think a lot o

all right, sara murray, thank you very much. great report. thanks as always.>>> "democracy in peril" continues a. ahead, with the gridlock in washington, the upcoming battle over the opening on the supreme court. and what do democrats need to ask themselves? wwmd? hold on for that next. ♪ life can be a lot to handle. ♪ this magic moment ♪ but heinz knows there's plenty of magic in all that chaos. ♪ so different and so new ♪ ♪ was like any other... ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ "how bizarre" by omc ♪ no annual fee on any discover card. ♪ ♪ since suzie's got goals, she'll want a plan to reach them. so she'll get some help from fidelity, and she'll feel so good about her plan, she can focus on living it. that's the planning effect, from fidelity. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ it's been nearly two years since the pandemic started. our students and teachers tried their best, but as a parent, i can tell you that nearly 18 months of remote learning was really hard. instead of helping students get back in the classroom, the school boards spend their time renaming schools and playing politics. schools that w

all right, sara murray, thank you very much. great report. thanks as always.democracy in peril" continues. ahead, with the gridlock in washington, the upcoming battle over the opening on the supreme court. and a key question democrats need to ask themselves. wwmd? hold on for that next. (burke) this is why you want farmers claim forgiveness... [echoing] claim forgiveness-ness, your home premium won't go up just because of this. (woman) wow, that's something. (burke) you get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. [echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ like pulsing, electric shocks, sharp, stabbing pains, or an intense burning sensation. what is this nightmare? it's how some people describe... shingles. a painful, blistering rash that could interrupt your life for weeks. forget social events and weekend getaways. if you've had chickenpox, the virus that causes shingles is already inside of you. if you're 50 years or older ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles. yep, it's go time with wireless on the most r

sara murray explains. >> trump allies in seven states that donald trump lost, who decided they were going to come up with fake certificates and submit those to the national archives and the fake certificates say that donald trump was actually the winner of those states that he lost. the watchdog group american oversight found these documents and essentially what these folks were doing is they were trying to mimic an official process that's part of the electoral college. the governor signs a letter saying, essentially, joe biden won our state. they submit that letter to the national archives, who later submits it to congress so they have it for the votes on january 6th. apparently they they could submit their own certificates and it would be fine. >> to be clear, those fake certificates were not backed by election officials on any state and had no impact on the final tally of votes that declared joe biden the winner. >>> top ranked tennis player, novack djokovic is officially the number one seed in the australian open for the men's single after the draw was held hours ago. but uncertainty

. >> sara murray is outfront. >> i'm ron hanks, and i approve this message. >> reporter: u.s.nks is shooting at fake dominion voting machines and calling for an audit in colorado, a state joe biden won in 2020 by more than 13 points. in liberal washington state, a local republican party is knocking on doors, trying to uncover voter fraud. >> we're canvassing now in about a dozen counties. >> reporter: in minnesota, a bright red downy in a state that's gone blue since 1976, residents of pressing the board of commissioners for an audit based on false and misleading pretenses. >> that log will tell us if that thing went onto the internet and switched any votes. >> reporter: and in alabama, which former president trump carried by 25 points, republican secretary of state john merrill is still batting back unfounded claims of fraud. >> i think a lot of that is people listening to people who have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. it's almost as if they will claim that a murder was committed and yet they cannot prove that the person ever lived, let alone a body or a weapo

but cnn's sara murray brings us the surprising story of an ohio teacher who's traveling the country and election lies to big crowds. >> just about every county in the country was hacked. >> reporter: this is how the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen gets even bigger. >> i'm standing against a whole establishment that's saying that was the cleanest election in history. >> reporter: that's douglas frank, an ohio math and science teacher who's travelled here to texas and dozens of other states with the financial backing of other conspiracy minded americans, claiming he uncovered an algorithm claiming the elect election was stolen. >> i'd like the country to stand up and say, wow, this thing was ripped off. let's do a do-over or put trump back in office. >> reporter: frank's findings have been debunked by mathematicians and election experts. and more than a year later, there is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. but frank is still winning elections with lawmakers, election officials across the country. >> we're going into each state clandestinely and i meet privat

pressuring local election officials to revisit the past election and recount the 2020 vote as cnn's sara murrayerned that they want to make it easier to overturn election victories that they don't like in the f