updated its controversial covid isolation guidelines. we'll break down the new recommendations and whether they clear up the confusion so many americans are feeling now. and we're also tracking the winter storm nightmare on i-95 in virginia. not far from where we are here in washington where hundreds of drivers and passengers were stranded in bitter cold. some for over 24 hours. we're going to get an update on how this happened, the rescue operation, and what traffic is like now as darkness falls. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. >> let's get right to the breaking news on the january 6th investigation. cnn congressional correspondent ryan nobles is joining us right now. tell our viewers what you're learning. >> first, wolf, we are learning about text messages that the fox news host, sean hannity, sent to mark meadows and other white house officials and why that has led the committee to ask hannity to voluntarily appear before the committee at some point in the near future. the committee sending hannity a letter today asking him to make that move and appear before the committee on his own accord in part because they want to ask him questions about the regular communication that he had with white house officials and the former president himself in the days leading up to january 6th and during the period of time after the riots here on capitol hill. here's a sample of the text messages. one of them, this is on december 31st of 2020. he wrote we can't lose the entire white house counsel's office. i do not see january 6th happening the way he is being told. after the 6th, he should announce that he will lead a nationwide effort to reform voter integrity. go to florida and watch joe mess up daily. stay engaged. when he speaks, people will listen. so clearly, hannity was concerned about the rhetoric around the big lie and how it impacted january 6th. look what he wrote on january 5th. he wrote january 5th, 2021. i'm very worried about the next 48 hours. on that same day, he wrote pence, pressure. white house counsel will leave. talking about the intense pressure campaign that was on mike pence to prevent the certification of the election results. then look at what hannity wrote after january 6th. he said, quote, guys, we have a clear path to land the plane in nine days. he can't mention the election again, ever. i did not have a good call with him today and worse, i'm not sure what is left to do or say and i don't like not knowing if it's truly understood. then he asks, ideas. this is what the committee wants to ask hannity about. these communications, the things he was worried about, and how much he knew about the white house, the campaign, and donald trump's plans as it relates to january 6th. the big question of course, wolf, will hannity appear? his lawyer saying that there is a concern this could violate his first amendment rights. keep manyin mind, this is not a legal subpoena. he is not required by law to appear in front of the cam committee. >> and sean hannity, as you know, isn't the only very big name the committee now wants to talk to, right? >> yeah, that's right. i wrapped up an exclusive one-on-one interview with the chairman this afternoon and i asked him that question about the role vice president mike pence played on that day on january 6th and how interested the committee is in hearing directly from pence and this is what thompson told me. >> do you believe that the committee needs to hear from the former vice president directly and how close are you to asking him to appear in front of your committee? >> well, obviously, his life was at risk. there were people who had gallows directed on lawn of the capitol. to hang the vice president. there were people on -- threatening the life of the vice president. the vice president could not leave the capitol of the united states because of the riot. he was sequestered in an area in the capitol. so his life was in danger. i would hope that he would do the right thing and come forward and voluntarily talk to the committee. you know, everybody there didn't have the security detail so we'd like to know what his security detail told him was going on. and what all went on. i think it's important that the public needs to know. this was a number two person in government. >> so this is significant. the committee, very interested in hearing from the former vice president, but you heard thompson there, they aren't at the step yet when they're going to subpoena the vice president. they haven't even formally asked him to appear. wolf, they are hoping he comes on his own accord. i reached out to the vice president's office today. they told me they had no comment. >> stand by. i want to bring in our special corres correspondent also working her sources. what are you learning? >> just to go back to the sean hannity letter for a second. i think these texts are fascinating, but just for some context, wolf, what the committee's letter says is that there are dozens of these texts. so they're just showing us a few of them. and the way they approach him is very interesting. if you look at the first page of the letter, it says that they believe that hannity quote, had advanced knowledge regarding president trump's and his legal team's planning for january 6th. then it degoes on to say that i also appears that hannity was expressing concerns and providing advice. then they follow up, quote, you also had relevant communication when the riot was underway and in the days thereafter. these communications make you a fact witness. so i think it's critical that in the letter, they say they have the upmost respect for the first amendment. they're asking sean hannity to come voluntarily, but they're making it very clear that they have a lot of information, dozens of texts and what they consider to be relevant communications about january 6th. >> and what else are you learning, jamie, about this new mike pence news that we just got from the committee chair? >> so i just want to say i think it's fascinating that the former vice president's office declined to comment when ryan reached out to them. i think what we have to remember is this. mike pence's top staffers are cooperating with the committee. his former chief of staff, mark short. we're told his general counsel, greg jacob. these two men are extremely close to mike pence. they would not be cooperating with the committee if mike pence did not tell them it was okay for them to cooperate. my guess is that we will see mike pence cooperate down the road. >> and jamie, keith kellogg, the vice president national security adviser, general keith kellogg, retired, he's also cooperating, right? >> absolutely. we saw him go in the other day to the committee. he told us he testified under oath he would not discuss the substance of what he said, but keith kellogg is another critical person. he was then vice president pence's national security adviser, but he was with donald trump all day on the 6th. he he was at the white house with him. he saw everything he did. everything he could not do. what he said. what he didn't say. so he's a critical witness and again, i think we have to underscore here, team pence is cooperating with the committee. >> that's really, really important. jamie, stay with us. ryan nobles is still with us. i want to bring in our chief political correspondent, dana bash, and elie honig. only a few of them, but apparently dozens of text messages to the white house from sean hannity. how significant is that? >> those texts are very revealing. . hannity is a fact witness any way you cut this. before these events happened and while january 6th happened. he's an obvious person. any prosecutor, any investigator would go right to that and say that's a person i need to speak with. he's a journalist so there are first amendment concerns, but the distinction here, they don't seem to be looking at anything that has to do with hannity's journalistic capabilities. they're not asking about his sources. they're asking about his communications with the white house. >> you know, dana, this is someone who mr. trump's, one of his biggest defenders in public. how credible is it to see what was going on behind the scenes? he was raising the alarm just ahead of the january 6th attack, urging the then president to stop talking about the election. >> he was one of so many people we know about who had a direct line to the then president, begging him to stop with the lies. what is really fascinating as elie said, in this letter that the committee just sent, they explicitly say that they don't, they're not interested in source material and anything that you and i would hold dear as a part of the first amendment rights and desire to keep quiet as journalists. but because of the fact that sean hannity was acting not guilty not necessarily as somebody who's trying to glean information from the white house staff, but give information to him, and we know he spoke to the former president all the time. getting advice. giving advice, i should say, to the president. that it's understandable that the committee wants to talk to him. especially given the nature of these texts, some of which saying i'm very worried about what's going to happen on january 6th, but you have to remember they're asking him to come voluntarily and we know his employer and the people that he works with, they have, they're cr critical of this committee. it would be a far different ball game if the commission were allowed to go there and this wasn't just a select committee. >> ryan, the committee believes hannity may have spoken directly with trump the evening of january 5th. how much progress are they making about learning about the former president's mindset around the attack? >> well, there's no doubt, wolf, that they've gotten direct testimony from a number of people that were in and around the former president on january 5th and january 6th. and they are really relying heavily on this traunch of documents from the national archives that were collected in the post presidency of the former president donald trump. somewhere in the range of 700 documents or so, that they've won several court cases to obtain despite the fact the former president has asked they be kept secret. the supreme court will get the final say on whether or not they get that information. but contained in there are call logs, messages, communications, different pieces of information they think are very relevant to the state of mind that donald trump had during that period of time. they're specifically interested in that level of inaction. that 187 minutes they talk about from when the rioters first broke into the capitol here before the president actually made some sort of message to them to tell them to go away. one of the things thompson told me today is that they believe there's probably several ediedits of that video he eventually sent out, that they believe are white house property because it was produced on white house grounds and therefore should be a part of the national archive record. this is all information they are hoping to obtain. they believe there will be a lot of revealing information once those documents are in their hands. >> and elie, what do you think about the former vice president, mike pence? some of his closest advisers while he was vice president are fully cooperating with the select committee. clearly, the chairman wants pence to come in and cooperate and answer questions. you think he will? >> well, woclf, it's an enormously powerful statement by the committee, first of all, if they seek testimony by mike pence voluntarily or involuntarily. the message there is nobody's above the law. it doesn't matter how powerful you are or were up to and including the former vice president of the united states. if you have information that will bring us closer to the truth, we are going to pursue it. there's an obvious riff here that investigators are wise to exploit. there was a riff on january 6th between trump and his people and mike pence and his people as ryan said, we know mike pence's people are cooperating. they have information about what he was doing. he would be a crucial witness if he cooperates. i think the likely outcome here is they negotiate some sort of agreement where he tells them, he answers some of their questions, but he will draw lines, areas he's not willing to go into. >> can i just make one point on that, wolf? that is that what jamie said earlier is so important. that these top aides to the former vice president, they're already cooperating. that is far different from mike pence actually talking to this committee. he's already in deep political trouble with the trump base because he dane to actually follow the constitution and do his duty on january 6th of last year. if he makes the decision to agree to talk to this committee, then he is making the decision that at 60, 61, he's probably in the short-term done with his pa presidential ambitions because it will be very, very hard for him in this current republican environment to overcome that on a political level, but he might be calculating you know what, that ship has sailed and it sailed on january 6th because i made the decision to certify the electoral results. >> and obey the constitution. everybody stand by. we'll have much more on all the major breaking news after a quick break. we'll be right back. some of my best memories growing up were cooking with mom. so when she moved in with us, a new kitchen became part of our financial plan. ♪ ♪ find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm.com looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? 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[sigh of relief.] slack. where the future works. the former president, donald trump, just announced he's canceling, repeat, canceling a planned news conference and speech he was scheduled to deliver this thursday on the first anniversary of the january 6th attack. let's discuss this and more with congressman crow of california. what's your reaction to the former president deciding all of a sudden he's not going to go this big event on january 6th. >> it's kind of a flashback to years past when trump would do everything and nothing at the same time. i'm glad he's not doing the event because it would just be lies like he always does. but we're going to stay focused on the events of the 6th. thursday, we're going to read some testimonials, talking about the officers that gave their lives, sacrificed so much to help protect my life and the lives of my colleagues. wee we're going to talk about the historical perspective of the peaceful transition of power in america, what that means, and set some context for what january 6th was about. and what it continues to be about. >> video from a year ago on january 6th. you were in the fwgallery over there. you're an iraq war veteran. you fought in afghanistan. you were reassuring some of your colleagues there that you would be able to get out safely, right? >> yeah, that's right. i never in a million years did i ever think i would be thrust back into a position back into a mindset like i was when i was an army ranger. when i did three combat tours in iraq and afghanistan. i just had to take my emotions and put them in a box and set them aside and think through a checklist of how i was going to get me and my colleagues and everybody else out of there alive. luckily those capitol police officers were able to hold the line long enough for us to be evacuated. it could have been far worse. it was bad enough as it is. millions of dollars of damage with the capitol being overrun by these insurrectionists, the police officers who would die. had they broken through, they certainly would have killed many of us which would have changed our democracy and derailed the election certification. this is not an exercise in history right now. this one year anniversary of january 6th on thursday, the events leading up to it. we're not trying to write a history book. this is an ongoing investigation, effort, to point out there's a domestic violent extremist movement that's being incited by donald trump and his enablers. that's what we're dealing with now. >> let's get to some of the breaking news. the select committee just releasing these text messages from sean hannity. who the committee says had advanced knowledge of president trump's planning of january 6th and quote, relevant communications while the riot was underway. what's your reaction? >> the more we unpeel the layers of this onion, the more we find. this was not an accident. this did not just happen. this was planned. they had powerpoint presentations about this. there was a deliberate process by the president and his key allies and enablers to overturn a fair and democratic election because they did not win. that's shocking and if folks are not shocked by that, they should be paying more attention. there's a lot that we have to still discover here. the more that this investigation continues, the more we learn, the more disturbing it becomes. >> we've also learned from the committee chair they would like to speak to the former vice president, mike pence, and any other situation you would expect the former sitting vice president who came under attack himself to cooperate. this isn't necessarily a normal political situation unfolding now, is it? >> it's not. i think one of the really stunning characteristics of the political challenge we face is you have almost an entire republican party that is under the grip of one man. this is not about a conservative ideology. this is not about democracy. it's about a party that's been captured by one person and the fear he inspires within that party in that it has blinded so many of them. not all. there are a few that have stood up with incredible courage and conviction and have took a stand for democracy and those folks are patriots, but writ large, that party continues to be under the spell of donald trump and it's very disturbing. >> congressman, thanks so much for all you're doing. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. coming up, the cdc updates its controversial and confusing isolation guidelines. we're going to tell you what they're now recommending in their brand-new statement. we'll be right back. so the light hits it just right, and people think... wow... ...he knows what he's doing... ...when i'm actually pretty lost with my payroll taxes. intuit quickbooks helps you manage your payroll taxes. cheers. 100% accurate payroll tax calculations guaranteed. dove 0% is different. we left aluminum out and put 48 hour freshness and 1 quarter moisturizers in. dove 0% aluminum deodorant lasting protection that's kinder on skin. so at at&t, everyone gets our best deals, aren't others doing that? 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[ chantell ] clearchoice dental implants changed everything. my digestive health is much better now. i feel more energetic. the person that i've always been has shown up to the party again. and there you have it. woah. wireless on the most reliable network nationwide. wow. big deal. we get unlimited for just 30 bucks. sweet, but mine has 5g included. relax people. my wireless is crushing it. that's because you all have xfinity mobile with your internet. it's wireless so good, it keeps one-upping itself. take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings or visit an xfinity store to learn how our switch squad makes it easy to switch and save hundreds. there's more breaking news we're following this hour. the cdc just a little while ago releasing updated covid isolation guidance. let's go right to our chief correspondent. tell us about these recommendations. >> they say if you have tested, taken a test and you are positive and you've isolated for five days, they're still maintaining you can leave after those five days and are not recommending you take a rapid test after five days of isolation, but now are saying that once you have left, that you should, they are advicing that you should not travel, that you should not got to restaurants where you cannot wear a mask. you should not go to a gym where you can't wear a mask. what's notable is if you decide to take a test and you can get your hands on one five days after testing positive and then test positive, they say you should stay in isolation for five more days. of course, we heard big questions on this given it's an update, not a change, and they received a lot of criticism last week for not including a testing component when they shortened the isolation period in half for people who test positive. it's also notable that now they're saying here's something you should do if you have a positive test result because listen to what the cdc director told me last week when i asked why not testing come opponents was included in this guidance. did the shortage of rapid tests play a role in this decision? >> no, this decision really from the isolation standpoint had everything to do with the fact that we wouldn't change our guidance based on the result of that rapid test. >> so, wolf, the cdc is saying you still don't have to take a test. they're not recommending you take a test after testing positive, but if you take a test, it should change the way you behave and the way you determine whether or not you're staying in isolation. we should not confusing data, maybe the data's not confusing, but the decision is confusing. they cite a study from the uk that reenforces the use of masks. this is coming from the uk where they say you should stay in isolation for seven days and only come out if you have a negative rapid test on day six and seven. here in the yunited states, the cdc says you can leave isolation with no negative rapid test result as long as you continue to wear a mask, avoid travel, avoid restaurants. those are new qualifier that is the cdc did not issue last week but are now advising in this new guidance tonight. >> still a bit confusing, i must say. thanks for your excellent reporting. i want to bring in cnn medical analyst, former baltimore city health commissioner. dr. wen, does this new isolation guidance from the cdc from your perspective make sense? could it cause more confusion? >> i do not think that the clarification helped at all. i actually think it made things worse. especially because the cdc is not adding a testing requirement, which i think a lot of public health experts were urging them to. i think they should be up front and say they can't do this because they don't have enough tests. but now they're say federal gove governmenting if you get your hands on a test and test positive, you have to extend your isolation, so essentially, they are making it a dise disincentive to get tested. i think it makes sense for them to say if you're an essential worker, you have to go back to work and you're able to mask while at work, you can do so but with a mask. don't go to restaurants and other settings where you can't wear a mask because you can still be infectious. i think they can make it a lot easier. as it is now, i think a lot of businesses, university, health departments, are going to have trouble following it because it doesn't really make sense. >> in your new opinion article you wrote for the "washington post," you write it's unreasonable to ask vaccinated people to refrain from pre-pandemic activities. what exactly should this phase of the pandemic look look fir vaccinated people? >> woe're at a very different point in the pandemic compared to last year at this time. omicron is milder than previous variants. also, we know people who are vaccinated and boosted by and large are going to do just fine if they contract omicron. so it is not reasonable to impose restrictions on people who are vaccinated and have done everything right, but at the same time, we can't just say let everybody have omicron because what's going to happen is that we're going to overwhelm our healthcare systems. so there is a practical middle ground that we need to figure out and i hope that the biden administration will be more intentional about, don't close things down, but require indoor masking with high quality masks. don't restrict people from going to restaurants, but try to require vaccinations in these high risk settings and it's crucial for us to keep our schools open. we know exactly how to do this and teachers who are vaccinated and boosted and wearing a mask, they should really be going back for in-person instruction. coming up, a truly catastrophic traffic jam strands dr drivers for more than 24 hours. we'll have a live report from i-95 where 14 inches of snow shut down the highway. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." a multivitamin alone, you may be missing a critical piece. preservision. preservision areds 2 contains the only clinically proven nutrient formula recommended by the national eye institute to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. 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(naj) one that we don't take lightly. it's why our fees are structured so we do better when our clients do better. fisher investments is clearly different. tonight, traffic is finally moving again on i-95 after a winter storm dumped 14 inches of snow on the highway in virginia and not far from we are in washington, stranding some drivers for more than 24 hours. pete is joining us from wood ridge, virginia right now. what are you seeing and hearing? tell us what happened. >> well, wolf, where we are right now, the back upstretched to here. six miles from where it's shut down. right now, the virginia department of transportation says nobody is left stranded on i-95, although it is still working to clear about 20 abandoned cars from this mess. the back up on one of the busiest stretches of highway on the east coast stretched more than 40 miles. for hours. stranded drivers moved only inch by inch after 14 inches of snow fell near fredericksburg, virginia. isaac arcos shot this. >> since i was at a stop, i had to conserve my gas. so i turn off my car every maybe hour and turn it back on maybe every 15 minutes. i try to rest my head as much i could, but there was no resting. >> we were prepared for the storm that was predicted, a few inches of snow. but instead, mother nature sent more snow to the area. >> officials do not know how much got stuck in this chain reaction of jackknifed tractor trailers and out of control cars. one trucker microwaved a meal for someone stranded next to him. one handed a stranded senator tim kaine an orange. >> it was kind of a survival challenge. you were trying not to run out of gas. heat the car up. turn it off. and then try to catch some sleep. and about 20 or 30 minutes, it gets so cold you have to do it again. >> state officials are apologizing to drivers, but insist that crews could not have possibly kept up with the quick clip of the snowfall. crews decided not to pretreat the interstate, underscoring the storm started at rain, which would have washed the solution away. >> the state and other agencies are working as fast as possible to clear the road, get traffic moving and make sure that everyone is safe. they'll continue to do that until every vehicle is cleared and traffic is able to move freely again. >> state officials called the back up enormous and unacceptable. not enough for the countless drivers stuck in one of this snowstorm's scariest scenes. >> call me -- what was about to happen. how is it that they did not realize what was about to happen? >> state officials say the goal is to fully reopen i-95 by the morning rush tomorrow morning. the good news here, wolf, no deaths and incredibly, no injuries. state officials are vowing a full review saying this cannot happen again. >> some people were stuck in their cars for more than 20 hours. crazy situation. potentially very dangerous. pete, thank you very much for that report. coming up, senator manchin delivers yet another blow to democrats hopes of passing a major piece of president biden's agenda. whe will the west virginia moderate agree to any, any senate rule changes to pass a voting rights bill? kim is now demonstrating her congestion. save it slimeball. i've upgraded to mucinex. we still have 12 hours to australia. mucinex lasts 12 hours, so i'm good. now move! kim, no! mucinex lasts 3x longer for 12 hours. 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(sings dramatically) oh, i need to get to work. telling people to check the singlecare price. >> vo: my car is my after-work decompression zone. ♪ music ♪ >> vo: so when my windshield broke... i found the experts at safelite autoglass. they have exclusive technology and service i can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ earn about covid-19, the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia's pouring cold water on his party's hopes of passing voting rights legislation. a major center piece of president biden's agenda. let's discuss this and more with democratic senator, chris coons, of delaware. where to democrats go from here? is voting rights dead in the water at least for now? >> well, wolf, i don't think we should reach that conclusion just based on a brief in the hall interview with is that right manchin. as you know well, as your viewers know well, senator manchin has been negotiating with the white house and with our caucus leadership over build back better for months. just before we got to the christmas holiday, we made a comment on fox news sunday that he was a no. my understanding is there is still an openness on his part to negotiating about that. similarly, i would say on voting rights, which is critical for our democracy to survive, as we come up on the anniversary of january 6th, it's important that we realize there are substantive revisions we could make to restore the fill ibuster to howt was previously practiced in the senate that might create a path forward for passing voting rights legislation. this is very much a live issue. something that's being discussed in the democratic caucus. we are all just returning from two weeks away from our families in our home states and i would not reach the conclusion yet that what senator manchin said in the hallway means that conversation come to an end. so do you still believe senator manchin is an honest broker in this? >> he is only one of three senators who served as a secretary of and he spent weeks and weeks last year with senator klobuchar and senator schumer negotiating a revision to a voting rights bill. he has now indicated he supports it. there is 50 democrats willing to move forward on this important voting rights legislation. that would strengthen and secure our electoral system for the next election. i hope he is still willing to do the work that we have to do to get that to the floor of the senate. >> but he doesn't want to change the filibuster rule, in order to get 50 votes? >> wolf, that's what he said in the hallway today. i haven't had a chance to talk to senator manchin since we came back, and i look forward to talking with him about that in direct -- directly and in person this week. >> how essential is it for your party, and for the president, for that matter, to -- to have something to show on build back better -- that bill -- before the midterms? >> well, look. we have spent months on this. i think it's time for us to reach a conclusion. i am encouraged senator manchin, senator sinema are both saying they are willing to move ahead. senator manchin, i believe said today he was willing to do climate change to take up many of the pieces, um, that had previously been in build back better that would deal with the rising costs of energy and with making our country more climate resilient. look. just earlier in this show, you were interviewing senator kaine who i think took 27 hours because of a freak-snow storm here in washington to get to the capitol. there were news reports last week of tornados in the deep south in january. who's ever heard of tornados in december and january? climate weirdness. changes to our climate are impacting communities all over our country. um, and we need to do more to combat climate. i think we have a path forward on that with senator manchin, as well as some of the other provisions we have been negotiating on. >> we shall see. senator chris coons, thanks so much for joining us. just ahead, the former new york governor andrew cuomo will not -- repeat not -- face misdemeanor sex crimes charges after the albany da declines to prosecute. stand by, we have details. move to sofi and feel what it's like to get your money right. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ move to a sofi personal loan. earn $10 just for viewing your rate — and get your money right. ♪ (announcer) carvana's had a lot of firsts. 100% online car buying. car vending machines. and now, putting you in control of your financing. at carvana, get personalized terms, browse for cars that fit your budget, then customize your down payment and monthly payment. and these aren't made-up numbers. it's what you'll really pay, right down to the penny. whether you're shopping or just looking. it only takes a few seconds, and it won't affect your credit score. finally! a totally different way to finance your ride. only from carvana. the new way to buy a car. get your personalpoints plan! i'm james corden and i'm here to tell people that ww is getting even more personal. keep on shopping. ignore us. i've lost, like, 28 pounds. you look great! wow. i love that my clothes fit better. but i just love ice cream a little bit more than that. the new ww personalpoints program is particular to you. so what kind of foods do you like? 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[ marcia ] clearchoice dental implants gave me the ability to take on the world. i feel so much better, and i think that that is the key. earn about covid-19, the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. more developments tonight in the andrew cuomo investigation. the albany district attorney announcing he will not prosecute the former-york gnew york gover a misdemeanor crime charge. athena jones has the latest. z zblr. >> reporter: former governor andrew cuomo will not be prosecuted for allegedly groping a former aide at the executive mansion in late 2020. one of several such allegations he has repeatedly denied. >> the most serious allegations made against me had no credible, factual basis in the report. >> reporter: the albany county district attorney will not move forward with a misdemeanor forcible touching charge because prosecutors could not prove the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. david suarez saying in a letter to the judge, although we found the complaining witness and her allegations credible and supported by the available evidence, we have concluded that we would be unable to secure a conviction at a criminal trial. the groping complaint was filed in october in albany city court by sheriff craig apple. >> early august, we received a complaint and a report was placed on file from a young woman who worked for the governor's office. >> reporter: today's move comes two months after suarez signalled problems with the criminal complaint in a letter calling it potentially defective because it did not include a sworn statement from the alleged victim, former executive assistant brittany commisso, and left out pieces of her testimony. the decision comes just days after the district attorneys in nassau county and westchester county said the former governor would not face criminal charges over misconduct allegations their offices investigated. and this week, an attorney for the former governor telling cnn the manhattan district attorney's office closed its investigation into whether nursing home leadership or state officials should face criminal liability for covid-19 deaths that took place in those facilities. >> new york, as everybody knows, was ground zero for covid and nursing homes were, and still are, ground zero for covid. and losing a loved one is very, very painful. >> reporter: cuomo resigned in august. >> i think that given the circumstances, the best way i can help now is if i step aside and let government get back to governing. >> reporter: a week after attorney general letitia james issued a scathing report detailing sexual misconduct allegations against docomo. >> the independence investigation found governor cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, many of whom were young women by engaging in unwanted groping, kisses, hugging, and by making inappropriate comments. >> reporter: now, a federal investigation into sexual harassment allegations against cuomo is still underway. and the governor could still face civil litigation in the groping case. wolf? >> all right, athena, thank you very much. athena jones in new york reporting. and to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. you can always follow me on twitter and instagram @wolf blitzer. you can always ptweet the show t cnn sit room. thanks very much, once again, for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. out front next. breaking news. the january 6th select committee releasing text messages tonight between sean hannity and trump's white house. one message, a warning, hour sent hours before the insurrection itself. it comes as we are learning the committee wants to speak to the former vice president mike pence. president biden calling on schools to remain open through the omicron surge. bun of the nation's largest teacher unions is now threatening to shut schools down. also, senator joe manchin saying signaling he may be open to changing the rules of wash but open may be far from the same as onboard. let's go out front. good eveningi'