statements or about holding a press conference. the justice department declined all of those requests that i was just referencing because we did not think that they were appropriate based on the facts and the law. repeated attempts to over turn the election. much of yesterday hearing focused on jeffrey clark who played a central role in pushing trump s false election frauds and who trump wanted to install as the acting attorney general. just hours before yesterday s hearing, federal agents raided clark s home. we ll have much more on what led them to do that. our panel of experts join us as we cover the angles. the sarah, the select committee bringing into focus doj official jeffrey clark s role. significant role in the former president s scheme. yes, absolutely. rolling out how former president trump wanted to just set aside jeff rosen and steal jeffrey clark as the acting attorney general. look, the witnesses are in person and in their video testimony were not holding
two hours of explosive testimony about donald trump s actions and state of mind on january 6th are raising some new legal questions. former white house aide cassidy hutchinson revealed that white house lawyer pat cipollone was worried that he along with trump s entire team would face multiple criminal charges if the former president joined the rioters at the capitol. now, republican congresswoman liz cheney is now ramping up the pressure on cipollone to testify. hutchinson also said the president knew his supporters were armed and sent him to the capitol anyway. i was in the vicinity of a conversation where i overheard the president say something to the effect of, you know, i don t effing care that they have weapons. they re not here to hurt me. take the effing mags away. let my people in. they can march to the capitol from here. melanie zanona is on capitol hill, and cnn national security correspondent josh campbell is with us. how are republican lawmakers reacting to
hot texas sun. and now word of children among the victims. plus, shocking new video of a powerful blast in the war that russia started, as the u.s. and allies rush to prevent any chance of a similar fate in two other countries. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. we start today with our politics lead and the paulout from the damning, stunning january 6th hearing yesterday. it is becoming more and more clear just how distressed trump and his allies seem to be in the wake of the testimony from former white house aide cassidy hutchinson. based on how relentlessly they re attacking her. nonetheless, the former top aide to the chief of staff, mark meadows, is standing by her comments. cassidy hutchinson s lawyers telling us in a statement, you re hearing about first on cnn, quote, ms. hutchinson stands by all of the testimony she provided yesterday. under oath, to the select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the united states capitol. unquote. now, one mig
constitutional precedent before. what are people hoping to learn in the second kick of the election losing newell mule, and quote. now, even if the republican ranks could muster enough votes to push through this change, camp who is now in his second term is not likely to rally behind the effort. the georgia governor and trump parted ways in 2020 after he rejected trump s claims of election fraud in the state, not to mention trump s recent attempt to and seek kemp from office last year. attempt to a nd seek kemp fro office last yeshould trump findf convicted on the array of 13 state felony charges, could stand behind bars. some of the charges carry a mandatory minimum prison sentences. ultimately, the biggest challenge for trump, however, maybe the fact that he lacks any of the qualities at the parole board seeks when considering pardon requests. accountability and remorse for once actions. for more on this, i am joined by quinn yeargain, a
and welcome to way too early. on this wednesday, december 14th. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. never before seen text messages are providing new insight into just how deeply the trump white house engaged with bedunked election conspiracy theories following the 2020 vote. the 2319 texts are from the phone of former white house chief of staff mark meadows and more recently obtained by talking points memo after being turned over to the house from the january 6th committee. the latest batch of relief messages show multiple lawmakers offering to cooperate with plans to keep trump in office, seemingly in exchange for pardon requests. one such message came from north carolina s newly elected senator ted budd. the man budd asked to be pardoned may possibly be former congressman robin hayes. in 2020, hayes was found guilty