it s 4:00 in the east. big day of news today. on capitol hill today a brutal collision between reality and delusion, a republican effort to whitewash the ex-president s ties for russia culminating in a veteran prosecutor under oath seemingly unwilling to acknowledge basic facts in service of republican conspiracy theories. just a few weeks after releasing a 300-page report after an investigation that went on for four years, cost the taxpayers $6.5 million, a report the washington post described this way as, quote, landing with a thud resulting in no new charges and none of the widespread abuses trump and his allies have alleged for years now. special counsel john durham testified today before the house judiciary committee. now, despite all those facts durham described his findings sobering and it was left to it democrats on the committee to point out the truth of his own investigation, an investigation that trump and his hand picked attorney general bill barr setup to inves
a bedrock principle of the department of justice and our nation s commitment to the rule of law sets a an example for the world. we have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone. applying those laws, collecting facts, that s what determines the outcome of an investigation. nothing more, nothing less. the words of rachel math maddow, stunningly simple words in both the indictment and from behind the podium. it was the first time we as an american public have ever heard from the special counsel notably he praised the fbi and the prosecutors on his team. rachel pointed out they have already come under vicious attack by the indicted ex-president. he encouraged all of us to read the indictment itself, an endeavor we re taking seriously. it s known as a speaking indictment, meaning it is straight forward and, frankly, gripping and dramatic. it lays out the alleged crimes trump faces. 31 counts have to do with the espionage act. we re going to unpack all of them.
united states or wherever around the world, i m richard quest in london and this is the cnn newsroom. we ll tell you about the scale of israel s bombardment of gaza. new cnn analysis is putting this in greater context. the idf continues not to let up in its fight against hamas. the special counsel rejected. the u.s. supreme court denied a major request by jack smith in his presidential immunity dispute with donald trump. now the former president and what he says. join me in the kitchen, lord help us all, as i make holiday bri with the founder of the food blog half baked harvest . 4:00 in the morning on the east coast of the united states, 9:00 london, and 11:00 in gaza where israel s military said it s pressing ahead with operations in gaza despite pressure to scale back the offensive. an idf spokesperson said the campaign will widen to new areas with an emphasis on southern gaza. the united nations security council adopted a negotiated solution. the u.s. abstained b
and, quote, lending work and life in the new year. kind of a bomba vibe there. travelers can expect to spend longer hours at the airports today as they head out for the holidays. a new report shows many of their fellow flyers are not on their best behavior. we are following these developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central. welcome to cnn news central, i m brianna keilar, boris sanchez is off with jim acosta. what a treat. very nice. we are watching this donald trump tape, another one, that could have major legal ramifications. it has surfaced and this one is a recording of a call that he made two election workers in michigan. pressuring them to block joe biden s victory two weeks after election day in 2020. there was a meeting to certify michigan s result, you ve seen the footage here of that meeting, two-way and county election officials initially voting against certifying. then they flipped and voted to certify. that is when trump ste
the tape from donald trump discussing a very sensitive military document could be a game-over moment for the ex-president in the classified documents investigation. it s a recording that not only significantly increases trump s legal exposure. but it also blows a gaping hole through many of the defenses that team trump has been peddling in public in the case. the ex-president s lawyer jim trusty went on cnn last night, playing defense in the wake of the bombshell news first reported by cnn of the tape s existence. and repeated a line that will be familiar to anyone who s been following this case. will trump display documents at will or as trump puts it even by just thinking about it. what i will tell you is there is no doubt as commander in chief when the president left washington, d.c. for mar-a-lago, he was actually still president, when he left with boxes that he brought he was the command in chief. there s no doubt he had the authority as commander in chief to be classi