andy scholes, thank you very much. new day continues right now. good morning, everyone. to our viewers in the united states and around the world it is wednesday july 27th, i m john berman with brianna keilar. this morning a criminal investigation into the january 6th insurrection is moving closer to former president donald trump. cnn reports key witnesses subpoenaed by the justice department in recent days include two top aides of former vice president mike pence who were asked specifically about the fake electors scheme and the role of trump s lawyers. in addition the new york times and the washington post report that federal investigators in april received phone records of key officials and aides in the trump administration including chief of staff mark meadows. attorney general merrick garland called the doj s january 6th investigation the most wide ranging in its history. he says they will go where the evidence takes them. criminally charging a former presiden
electors and sending electors back to the states, end quote. in addition, doj investigators in april received phone records of key officials and aides in the trump administration, including his former chief of staff mark meadows. and a key point there, the post reports the doj received phone records in april from key trump officials and aides, signaling the criminal probe could be further along amid criticism the justice department not taking swift enough action. attorney general merrick garland responding to that criticism yesterday, making clear that anyone criminally responsible will be held accountable. the revelations coming as the new york times reports on previously undisclosed emails among trump advisers, admitting their fake electors scheme was indeed fake. they used the word fake. a lot to get to. let s bring in cnn s kara scannell for more on the latest news signaling doj, the scope of doj s investigations. kara, it is one thing to look at people around trump
they were being too fickle. for us to question every element, no, we re not doing that. she made a great point that when she was a republican she did not see that. they did fall in line more, she said. they showed up and they just voted for an r. democrats, you know, dissect and analyze. there s a color coded chart of where you fit. a flow chart and figure how it can be better. tomorrow when you tune in, you re going to hear who they would like to run in 2024 instead of joe biden. so tune in for that. it s the top of the hour with cnn newsroom, i m alisyn camerota. i m victor blackwell. flashing red warning signs suggest the risk of federal prosecution may be increasing for former president donald trump. the department of justice has escalated its probe into january 6th. the washington post reports that the doj is directly investigating trump s actions. federal prosecutors are now targeting high profile players in trump s inner circle. they ve questioned two top aid
forward. what do republicans have to say? the republicans offered a bit of a muted response. many not defending donald trump s actions, not yet criticizing what the justice department is doing, taking a wait and see approach. one of those republicans, lindsey graham of south carolina, who told me earlier today that he does not think that trump should be prosecuted. that s just ridiculous for me to comment over what some grand jury may be looking at. i don t see anything to prosecute him over. now, graham himself has come under scrutiny for phone calls he made to the georgia secretary of state in the aftermath of the november 2020 elections. the georgia prosecutor looking into donald trump s actions, has asked for graham to come before the grand jury and testify there. graham himself has said that he will not do that, he s trying to fight that subpoena. nevertheless, you re hearing some defense from republicans but most are saying they re going to take a wait and see a
release of brittney griner and paul whelan. cnn learning exclusively that the u.s. is now proposing a deal to exchange a convicted russian arms dealer for the two americans. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. we begin with new evidence that the justice department s criminal investigation of january 6th is picking up steam big time. a star witness from the house hearings is now cooperating with federal prosecutors who have been asking questions about former president trump. let s go to our congressional correspondent, ryan nobles, up on capitol hill. tell us about the key witness who is now working with the feds. yeah, wolf. it is the witness that perhaps delivered the most compelling testimony of any of the january 6th select committee s public hearings. that s the former aide to mark meadows, cassidy hutchinson. it shows that this probe is expanding, specifically into the efforts to sta