president trump walked over. that is a fax. we are learning right now that the reason they cleared the park was not because of president trump s presence. his photo opportunity there in front of the church. it was because they are going to enable a safely installed fence because of some of the violent protests. i want to read part of the report. it says in coordination with the secret service they determined it was necessary to clear protesters from the area and around they park to enable the contractor s employees to safely install the fence. bill barr was with president trump at that time and there was also a narrative for almost the past year that he ordered the clearing of lafayette park. he has always said that he did not. this report finds that he did not order the clearing of lafayette park. john, something else that is interesting is the garland department of justice where i am run by merrick garland. they are moving to dismissing a lawsuit by some of those demonstration groups
a year ago that called for up to 10 years behind bars for anyone who vandalized a statue or a monument. six people, shannon, were arrested and charged in connection with trying to take down the statue of president andrew jackson last june 22. it s a famous statue. vandals put a rope around jackson s head. they were close to getting it down before the park was fortified. a few days later trump signed that executive order with strict terms up to 10 years behind bars. fox has told the u.s. attorney s office is planning to offer misdemeanor plea deals but none have been formally issued. we ve still not heard back an official comment from the the u.s. attorney s office. seven other people were identified but never arrested and charged. the department of justice last week asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit from demonstration groups aimed at former president trump and former attorney general bill barr for an appearance at lafayette park. you see the date, june 1, 2020, that was one year ago.
it is a concern for so many people. there s been a lot of work done in that area and certainly over the inauguration, that s restricted air space. so, i would advise any of your viewers not to have any of those up in the air. experts tell cnn authorities can now intercept and land droenz, and even use radio frequencies to track the operators. i m not going to go into it, but we do have certain capabilities to detect and defeat devices of that nature. and official are expecting dozens of demonstration groups on inauguration day. the washington post site 63 groups both pro and con expected to be in attendance. as you heard they are prepared if anything gets out of hand. the secret service will only intervene if there is a direct threat to the president. jake? a big, big security challenge. pamela brown, thank you so much. that s for me and the lead. cnn films was allowed unique access rarely seen by the public as part of a documentary, the end, inside the last days of the obama
and this is an ipad for $69. the big mistake that had people thinking they had gotten the bargain of the year. i want to start with another apology today. this from rupert murdoch. responding to the hacking scandal from the u.k. what this shows you, this tape, it is murdock going into a meeting with the family of the murdered british teenager. it was that teenager s hacked voice mails that sparked the outrage into the scandal. listen. shame on you. shame on you. shame on you. shame on you. mr. murdoch, will you tell us what you said to the family? if you just keep silent for a minute. it was a totally private meeting. keep your head down, mate. i m the founder of the company. i was appalled to find out i apologize. i have nothing more to say. nothing more to say at that moment. he did have more he went on to say. murdoch posted an ad in several british newspapers. he said, we are deeply sorry for the hurt suffered by the individuals affected. the news of the w