doj cross hairs. cnn learning tonight that cassidy hutchinson, the aide to former white house chief of staff mark meadows, is now cooperating with the department of justice s investigation into donald trump s efforts to overturn the election. now, this is a major development, because of course, you know, hutchinson was a key witness for the january 6th committee. her testimony there providing a window into trump s state of mind in the days leading up to, and in those crucial moments of january 6th. she was in the room for some of the most damning and important conversations, including one that shows that trump knew that his rally could turn violent, because his supporters were armed. i was in the vicinity of a conversation where i overheard the president say something to the effect of, i don t care if they have weapons, let me people in, they can mar to have the capitol from here. knew they were armed and take the mags away, head for the capitol. ty cobb told us, if this
probe of the capitol insurrection. key witnesses subpoenaed by the doj this week including two top aides of former vice president mike pence were asked specifically about the fake elector scheme and the role of trump s lawyers. and according to the washington post, justice department investigators in april received phone records of key officials and aides in the trump administration, including his former chief of staff, mark meadows. these are by far the most in-depth accounts of the federal investigation. until now we had virtually no sign this investigation had touched on the actions of the president himself. and it comes as the new york times reports new details on the so-called fake electors scheme, including previously undisclosed emails among trump advisers that show knowledge as the times puts it that a key element of their plan was of dubious legality and lived up to its billing as fake. let s go first to sunlen serfaty who is live for us on capitol hill wit
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
president mike pence has confirmed he testified before a grand jury investigating the attack on the capitol, a potentially major development. i can confirm that i did receive a subpoena for the federal grand jury, and i complied with that subpoena. but under advice of counsel, i can t say much more than that. that was my only appearance before the grand jury. i m not going to comment on what others had to testify or not and what they testified to. he s the highest profile witness known to have testified and signals prosecutors are moving beyond the rioters into looking into the trump administration itself. the new york times and the wall street journal are reporting that a second aide to pence greg jacob testified as well. he countered efforts to persuade pence not to certify the electoral results. let s start with evan perez. quite significant developments here. reporter: absolutely, bianna. this is criminal investigators reaching into the trump white house. we re
taiwan would be a reckless act that provokes beijing at a time it is supposed to be projecting strength, control, and stability. having the pelosi visit come now will make xi jinping fear that other people will see this as a humiliation of him. and that will cause him to feel that he has to react very strongly. given the overreaching that xi jinping has been doing, i don t believe we can count on his good judgment. a u.s. official told cnn china could impose a no-fly zone around taiwan. but the chinese government hasn t announced details about how it could retaliate. zbl it s a commitment we made. reporter: biden has said several times that the u.s. would intervene militarily if china were to attack taiwan. but as china s military might grows, more are calling for the