i'm isa soares in london. >> he's the third member to be asked for voluntary cooperation by the committee. >> mccarthy has led the charge against the committee. >> holding a title in congress doesn't make you exempt. >> the refusal from the house minority leader kevin mccarthy puts pressure on the committee to subpoena him. novack djokovic is incolude in the australian open draw. but no decision on if he should stay or go. living in the united states hits the highest level in four decades, could it cost president biden politically? >> announcer: live from london, this is cnn "newsroom" with isa soares. morning, everyone. welcome to the show, it is thursday, january 13th and one of the top republicans in washington says he will not cooperate with the house committee investigating the u.s. capitol riots. house minority leader kevin mccarthy called the probe illegitimate and an abuse of power. in an interview with cnn vice chair liz cheney -- >> we know that kevin mccarthy was pleading with the president to tell people to go home when police officers and others were being beaten here at the capitol. i wish he were a brave and honorable man. he's clearly trying to cover up what happened. he has an obligation to come forward and we'll get to the truth. >> the house committee says it wants to ask kevin mccarthy about his phone conversations with trump on january 6th. as well as how the former president's plans for that day came together. mccarthy meanwhile says as a representative and leader of the minority party that it is with neither regret or satisfaction that i have not concluded to participate with the house committee, which stains this institution today and will harm it going forward. more from cnn's jon harwood. >> reporter: a major development overnight in the house select committee investigating the january 6th capitol insurrection. the committee requested voluntary testimony from house leader kevin mccarthy who has information to provide because he spoke to president trump by telephone during the january 6th insurrection. kevin mccarthy said a few months ago he was willing to testify before the committee. now tonight, after getting that request he changed his mind, said the committee was engaged in an abuse of power and he would not cooperate. the question now is, of course, whether they can compel him through a subpoena. his reversal is not a surprise, because he condemned president trump's actions the night of the incident, but then later when he realized he needed trump's support to become house speaker, he's turned tail and is now trying to make common cause with trump and not provide testimony. it's going to be interesting to see whether or not they can force him to, but there's not much time left for the november elections and if the republicans win control back of the house of representatives, which they're favored to now, they will surely shut the committee down. so the window is narrowing for the committee to get all the relative testimony it is seeking. jon harwood cnn. now kevin mccarthy said he would be willing to testify about his conversations with president trump last year, but his reversal comes as no surprise especially in light of his comments since then. have a listen. >> this is a political select committee that pelosi did something that no speaker has ever done. denied the republicans the right to appoint people to it. no one has ever done that. it's purely political. i have nothing to hide, but i have nothing to add. >> mccarthy had originally chosen five republicans to serve on the committee but he withdrew their names after house speaker nancy pelosi rejected two of them. he said republicans will not be party to a sham investigation. >> this isn't about threats, but it's about holding people accountable. i think the majority is going to have to approve any of those members on the committees which they could serve. so yes, we hold our members to a high standard. it's interesting to me how the democrats want rules for thee, but not for me. that's not right. and we'll change that when we're in the majority. >> cnn spoke with two members of the house select committee investigating the u.s. capitol riots and asked them specifically what they want to hear from kevin mccarthy. >> what did he know prior to january 6th. on a call with him on january 1st, i directly told him that there was going to be violence. i predicted violence, and it was very much dismissed and said next caller. it was a large conference call. he made the decision to object to the electors. all that led up to january 6th. they convinced people that, in fact, january 6th was some patriotic duty to fight against a stolen election. and, of course, he's very close with the former president. he had the conversation on that day. and i think that's of interest to the committee as we get to the bottom of what happened on that day. >> i would expect anyone who takes the same oath to the constitution that i took in order to serve here would be willing to talk about january 6th and would be willing to talk about what happened that day. but this is someone who clearly has information. he talked to the white house and to the president leading up to january 6th on their efforts to overturn the election results. he talked with the president by public reporting on january 6th. and he was concerned about the safety of the capitol after january 6th. all of those can key bits of information that we feel are important. >> the committee has been very busy speaking with other trump allies, including former white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany sources say she met virtually with the committee. she is now the co-host of a daily show on fox news. the january 6th committee is taking a closer look at the various way donald trump and his allies tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. one failed attempt involved faking electoral college certificates for multiple states. sara murray explains. >> trump allies in seven states that donald trump lost, who decided they were going to come up with fake certificates and submit those to the national archives and the fake certificates say that donald trump was actually the winner of those states that he lost. the watchdog group american oversight found these documents and essentially what these folks were doing is they were trying to mimic an official process that's part of the electoral college. the governor signs a letter saying, essentially, joe biden won our state. they submit that letter to the national archives, who later submits it to congress so they have it for the votes on january 6th. apparently they they could submit their own certificates and it would be fine. >> to be clear, those fake certificates were not backed by election officials on any state and had no impact on the final tally of votes that declared joe biden the winner. top ranked tennis player, novack djokovic is officially the number one seed in the australian open for the men's single after the draw was held hours ago. but uncertainty still hangs over his participation. australian's immigration minister is still considering whether to revoke his visa and remove him from the country. even as the decision looms djokovic was on the court practicing today. his scheduled first round match against a fellow serbian player. alex thomas is here in london but first we had to melbourne. we've been speaking to you throughout the whole week, ben. so the draw has gone ahead. he's listed as the number one seed but we're still waiting on this decision and whether he can compete. are we given any guidance as to how long this may take here? >> we're not. we assume it's been close. we thought there was a chance it would happen today, especially when the draw was postponed for almost 90 minutes, very short notice delay. people thought something was imminent but nothing came so djokovic was placed in the draw. what we don't know yet is what the timetable will be for the immigration minister who has not given too much detail or hint when he's going to come to a conclusion. getting new information, reviewing different as ppect of the case all the time but there's growing resolution in the public to reach an end to the saga. >> if we put politics aside for a moment, alex, what can we expect from the tournament now that we have a draw? how much of a cloud is hanging over this tournament because of this? >> i think the tournament itself, the reputation of it has taken a massive hit. already struggling because of the pandemic, not alone in terms of sporting context for that. but because australia is so isolated for the rest of the world. we had controversy in the event last year when tennis players did come over at a time when even australian citizens couldn't get back into their own country and started playing matches without any spectators at all to start with for the first five days or so of the tournament. here we are with no serena williams, roger federer, you have rafa nadal in the draw but novack djokovic was clearly the biggest headline act until this saga drew up. he's drawn against a fellow serb, who's 22 years old, and one of the generation that idolizes djokovic. he's a hero and a role model for what he achieved in the sport. so it's not someone who's going to get in djokovic's face, certainly someone who's not going to upset him in the first wro round, they played once before, and djokovic won easily in straight set. the draw has been kind to him. so we know that djokovic, isa, is very strong mentally, despite all this fuss, i expect if he does go through to start the tournament on monday to play very well on the court, despite what is raging around him off the court. >> be fighting it off. let me go back to ben if i could. this has been dragging on for some time, give us a sense of the mood and what kind of reception djokovic could receive once it does kickoff? >> a really heated atmosphere for sure and a lot of australians pretty strongly against djokovic, having not a lot of patience for him, having not fulfilled the vaccination rules that the other players did. i think him playing a fellow serb might dim the heat on this match a bit. a big serbian community here in australia. so in that way i think there's a calming news of the draw who his first opponent would be. but still a live, freight, weighty situation with a lot of bad vibes and feelings around the tournament that used to nickname itself the happy slam. >> i know you'll stay on top of the develops there, ben and alex. thanks very much. now in the coming day, the u.s. president will meet with senate democrats to discuss changing the rules to pass legislation on voting rights. joe biden is getting support from former president barack obama, who is calling on the senate to do the right thing. right now democrats don't have enough votes to pass election reforms without changing the filibuster rules. senate majority leader, chuck schumer is outlining the steps of that process and the goal is to get the senate to skip the 60-vote threshold required to break the filibuster and go with a simple majority vote instead. but it doesn't look like the democrats have enough support to pull that off either. president joe biden will give an update on his administration's response to the latest covid-19 surge later this morning and it comes as the u.s. reports a 40% increase in coronavirus deaths from the week before. the head of the centers for disease control and prevention said the rise is likely still due to the delta variant and not omicron. and the number of fatalities will climb over the next four weeks. the cdc predicts during that time 62,000 people would die from covid. that is about hospitalizations are expected to spike with forecasts predicting as many as 48,000 new hospitalizations a day. and president biden admits the latest report on inflation shows more work has to be done to lower consumer prices. now, the consumer price index rose 7% over the past year. it is the steepest climb in prices since june of 1982. the president's economic adviser said the administration is working to restore supply chains and noted the pace of slowed inflation. have a listen. >> it's really important to get under the hood of he's monthly inflation reports. and if you look at the change from november to december, inflation is up half a percent. that's considerably down from october and november when inflation was up .8 and .9% respectively. one reason why inflation came down in december, why the rate of inflation was slower in december, is because energy prices actually fell after growing 6%, they fell half a percent in december. >> we'll have much more on this report ahead including crucially how it's impacting americans at the grocery store. so stay with us for that. still to come right here on the show, boris johnson is apologizing for a bring your own booze party during lockdown. just ahead, why some british lawmakers say well past last call for the scandal plagued prime minister. >> the public has already drawn their own conclusions. he can run, but he can't hide. and another round of talks aimed at de-escalating the ukraine crisis gets underway soon. the latest on the diplomatic efforts to stop the potential russian invasion. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan 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about 25 minutes and believed it was a work event. even before this latest controversy that was on the show, polling shows 20% of the public had a favorable view of the prime minister. how much of a hit is he taking? let's start with salma abdelaziz in london. members of his own party are calling for him to resign. so how big is the revolt here? >> reporter: you're looking at a prime minister right now, isa, trying to defend the indefensible, somehow trying to make it okay that multiple gatherings, parties, work meetings, whatever the final wording is, took place at a time when people were making great sacrifices in this country. may of 2020. you remember that period, isa. if you showed up in a local park, a lot of the picnic tables were cordoned off. there was no gathering here. at 10 downing street garden that is what was happening with the prime minister in attendance. he's apologized, kind of, sort of. he said he is sorry, but he still did not admit to actually violating any covid restrictions. he did not acknowledge that any rules were broken. he left all that up to an independent investigation. so in some ways, this was buying himself just a bit more time, isa. we know the results of that investigation should be published in about a week or so, but already as you said, a rebellion within his own party, his own members of the conservative party, asking for him to resign. asking for him to step down. and then, of course, there's the public fallout. now with the lowest approval ratings he has had since he took office. look, you're looking a t a prim minister right now who is vulnerable, cornered and many believe he apologized because he was caught, isa. >> this prime minister has been known to hold on for far worse scandals. let's see what happens in the coming days, whether the rest of the torys stand behind him. thank you very much, salma. the organization for security and cooperation in europe is meeting in vienna. it will host the third round of talks this week aimed at solving the ukraine crisis. it follows talks on wednesday between russia and nato that ended in deadlock. you are looking at the moment at live pictures out of vienna. meantime, the u.s. says it has finalized sanctions options should russia decide to invade ukraine. one senior u.s. official saying they are ready to be issued as soon as tanks cross that border. let's get more on the story. cnn's nic robertson joins us now from brussels. nic, when you and i spoke this time roughly yesterday when the nato russian meeting was ongoing, i remember you saying the expectations for any sort of breakthrough were pretty low. did these meetings -- have these meetings until now, have they mo moved the needle in any way? >> reporter: it's such a hard question to answer. a lot of it has to do with the fact that the russian negotiators really are going to have to defer back to president putin over what to do next. so it's really hard to see if the needle has moved until president putin responds to the talks that have been had so far. the russian position was very clearly entrenched again, that they absolutely demand as a complete sort of bottom hard, bottom line that nato doesn't allow ukraine to join and that nato rolls its presence back to pre-1997 levels. and nato said that's a non-starter. i sat down with nato's secretary-general ral and asked him, what compromise is available to president putin, knowing that president putin is going to be in power for a long time to come. where is the compromise that he can take back to his own people to say, i've got some level of success? this is how he responded. >> so, they have made it clear we are ready to sit down and discuss, make compromises, talk to the russians on arms control and all areas. we are not willing to compromise and let every nation decide its own. >> the ball is in the kremlin's court. >> we are waiting for a meeting to address issues. >> reporter: and i put that point to the russian -- head of the russian delegation, foreign minister alexander gershkov. he said the ball is in your court. he said absolutely not, it's in nato's court. we haven't come herenato doesn' is a possibility of a legal military response. this is very tough language. so in answer to your fundamental question, have things really changed? probably not. the common ground just isn't being taken up by the russian side. that would be arms controls agreements. >> both sides still very much entrenched. nic robertson for us this hour. thanks very much, nic. now, russian-led forces are set to begin withdrawing from kazakhstan in a process expected to last up to ten days. they came at the kazakh president's request during the violent protests last week. at least 164 people were killed and thousands have been detained. the president said it will take at least eight months to restore the city of almati. he said 21 state-owned properties along with 45 businesses needed major repairs as well as maintenance. now, u.s. consumers are feeling the pinch. getting groceries and buying gas is costing more. coming up, coping with rising inflation. plus, germany hit a record level of daily covid infections as the omicron variant surges in europe. we'll have those alarming numbers next. 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[cheering] that was awesome. and, the hits won't quit, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. all that entertainment built in. xfinity. a way better way to watch. welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm isa soares. if you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. tennis star novak djokovic has drawn the top seed for the men's singles in the australian open. but he is still awaiting a decision whether he can stay in the country to compete. australia's immigration minister is expected to make that decision any time now. and house republican leader kevin mccarthy says he will not cooperate with the january 6 committee investigating the u.s. capitol riot. now, the panel wants to know more about the phone calls he had with former president donald trump on the day of the attack. mccarthy's refusal makes him the third republican lawmaker who is not cooperating with the committee. we'll have much more on those top two stories in about 30 minutes or so in "early start." now, a new government report is backing up what u.s. consumers have really already noticed. prices are way up from where they were just a year ago. it is the biggest jump in prices in decades. and to some americans it will be a struggle really to make ends meet as our brian todd now reports. >> reporter: at this grocery store here in d.c., customers getting crushed at the cash register. >> eggs, milk, mainly the basic things that you normally get. even paper products. they're gone up. >> they had vegetables i used to make for dinner, i noticed they did go up a dollar or two. single, double serving. so it is noticeable. >> reporter: noticeable to seemingly every american consumer. the labor department has just reported consumer prices were up 7% in december from a year earlier. the biggest one-year spike in prices in almost 40 years. >> you go to the grocery store and you reach for something, and you go, my goodness, this is much more than i used to pay for. >> the typical american family is spending about $250 a month more to buy the same amount of things that they were buying a year ago. >> reporter: at the grocery store, chicken prices have gone up 10.4% in the past year. the biggest increase in more than 17 years. fish and other seafood up 8.4%, the largest spike in over a decade. >> $34 for one bag of groceries. >> reporter: and at the pumps, americans paid a staggering 5789 by december. nearly 50% more for gas than they had a year earlier. >> it will be one price one day. tomorrow it's up 30 cents. >> reporter: for those in the market for a new car or truck, the biggest-ever one-year spike in prices, 11.8% higher. the reasons for the inflation spikes analysts say trace back to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. >> really scramble global supply chains, asia, southeast asia, factory shutdown, port shutdown, shortages of all kinds of things from vehicles to lumber to clothing, and that caused prices to rise. of course, the pandemic made people sick and made a lot of other people fearful of going to work because they might get sick. and that leads to labor shortages. >> reporter: and analysts say millions of american families already struggling to make ends meet due to the pandemic may have to make some serious sacrifices. >> it really will mean that some people might actually have to skip a appeal. maybe, you know, they can't feed their children the way they want to. they will perhaps not be able to cover their rent or all of their rent. >> reporter: is there any relief on the horizon for americans? mark zandi of moody's says he thinks there is once we get to the other side of the omicron variant. he said within three to six months he believes gas bills and energy prices will come down. then after that, probably food price wills stabilize. this time next year, after the chip shortage is eased a little bit, he expects the prices of new cars to come down. brian todd, cnn, washington. and now an update to a story we told you about yesterday if you were joining us at this time. quebec, canada is providing evidence vaccine mandates do work. one day after the province announced it would impose fines on the unvaccinated, the health minister said there's been a spike in first-time appointments for vaccinations. the amount is unclear, but it would not apply to those with medical exemptions. 90% have at least one dose of a covid vaccine, but the government says the unvaccinated remain a huge burden on the province's health system. meanwhile, the world health organization has a warning. do not take the omicron variant lightly. the w.h.o. chief says there were more than 50 million new covid cases worldwide last week. that is the most really in a single week, and that number was slightly underestimated. he added this huge spike in infections is being driven by the omicron variant. meantime, spain has reported its highest-ever covid-19 infection rate where the country's health minister said despite the rise in omicron cases, it is less stress on the health care system. germany said it should make covid-19 vaccines mandatory since they hit the highest count since the pandemic began. cnn's barbie nadeau is live for us. we are seeing surging cases and death in the case of italy. what is being done to try and contain this spread of omicron? >> reporter: well, you know, so much is focused right now not on containing the spread which seems out of control, but on getting those people who are still reluctant to get vaccinated their first shots. and, you know, here in italy it's going to be february 1 mandatory everyone over the age of 50 to be vaccinated or they could lose their job, they could face fines. that's because the health authorities say those who are vaccinated just don't get as sick as the other people. you know, as they have been getting in terms of the other waves of the pandemic that we've seen. there isn't the pressure on the health care systems that there was previously. and the people that are in the hospitals right now are primarily those people who haven't been vaccinated. but in terms of restrictions, we're not seeing anywhere near the kinds of restrictions we saw in the first waves of the pandemic. there have been sporadic lockdowns, but nothing like we saw previously in order to try to stop the spread. you know, health authorities said this would happen about two weeks after the holidays when everybody sort of threw caution to the wind and went and got together and saw friends, and we're seeing the effects of that now. they're hoping cases will peak, plateau and start to drop, isa. >> barbie, in the case of germany, the chancellor mentioned suggesting perhaps they should make vaccinations mandatory for all adults. how is that being received? >> reporter: well, you know, people who are vaccinated think that's great. they welcome it. it is reluctant people who don't believe in the vaccine or don't believe that they should be forced or mandated to have the vaccine. those people get out and protest, spread the virus even further, but they will ultimately be punished across europe because the health authorities are convinced that's the only way out of this, out of the pandemic, the only way forward, the only way to put this terrible couple of years behind us, isa. >> barbie nadeau for us in rome this morning. barbie, good to see you. now, it is a major legal setback for prince andrew. ahead, a judge's ruling in the british royal fight against allegations of sexual abuse. plus, could cold canadian air is heading south. and snow in places not used to seeing it. >> all eyes across the northern united states as another round of arctic air in the forecast, and potentially cold enough air into the southern united states where some wintry weather in store across areas as far south as atlanta. certainly into portions of the carolinas. more on that and the potential for snow coming up in a few minutes. 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yep! so while you handle that, you can keep your internet and all those shows you love, and save money while you're at it with special offers just for movers at xfinity.com/moving. now, this just in to cnn. france will ease travel restrictions for fully vaccinated visitors from the uk starting this friday. the french tourism minister said they will no longer have to prove an essential reason for their trip or self-isolate upon arrival. the british travelers will still need a negative test, negative covid pcr test 24 hours of departure. parts of the southeast could have snowfall in the coming days. here's pedram javaheri with all the details. good morning, pedram. >> good morning, isa. we've got a lot of changes in our forecast the next couple of days. for now it is somewhat quiet across the u.s. mild temperatures across portions of texas, a mix in new england where temperatures have been on a roller coaster ride the last couple of days. ice accumulation across some of these areas with freezing rain, sleet as well, pushing up to around, say, 8/100s of an inch. the backside is where it gets impressive. a secondary system drops way toward the south and it is going to be accompanied by very cold air. forecasts on that could be impressive and we'll talk about this momentarily. you'll notice across portions of the dakotas into wisconsin, into iowa as well, some decent amount of snowfall accumulating, as much as 8 to 10 inches the next couple of days as that system shifts farther to the south. into the southern u.s., a secondary system develops right along the gulf coast. that supports an enhanced area of moisture which is precisely what you need in the southern u.s. to produce wintry weather. the other element is cold air. you'll notice with the arctic air we get a piece of very cold air that shoots farther toward the south and sets up along the gulf coast. so the elements gradually come together for friday into saturday to produce a decent amount of snowfall into areas of, say, arkansas and much of tennessee and as we transition from, say, saturday into sunday, that energy shifts a little farther towards the east where parts of alabama, parts of georgia get in on the action. that's where the models have been lining up the last couple of days here, showing the american model, european model, the most consistent models we compare. consistency has been key in this forecast. you see accumulations possible around northern georgia, maybe even metro atlanta. european model does want to bring heavier snow farther toward the south to include metro atlanta. we're going to watch this carefully over the next couple of days and that system eventually ends up in the carolinas and possibly the mid-atlantic as well. the temperatures, again, a completely different story for now. 58 in atlanta is our afternoon forecast. 62 in memphis. a lot of these cities may struggle to get above the freezing mark by sunday afternoon. of course, we'll follow it as the week progresses. isa? >> thank you very much, pedram. now, the american ambassador to the united nations says the u.s. is calling for new u.n. sanctions against north korea in response to its ballistic missile launches saying they violated security council resolutions. now, earlier the united states announced it was imposing its own sanctions on the north after it fired off two, what it claims were hypersonic missiles in last week. well, the u.s. sanction target at least eight north korean and russian individuals and entities linked with the weapons program. several american officials say the latest missile launched demonstrated surprising capabilities. a fuller assessment needs to be made. it's not clear how successful the test was. he kim jong-un vowed to bolster diplomacy between north korea and the u.s. it has been stalled for more than a year now. we're bringing you the story just in to cnn. a german court has just convicted a former syrian regime official for crimes against humanity. now, colonel was charged with complicity in thousands of torture, dozens of murders and three cases of rape and sexual assault at a notorious detention center in damascus. he is the most senior official really to be convicted of such crimes. he deserted the regime in 2012 and fled to germany. let's get more on the story. cnn's jomana karadsheh outside the courtroom in germany. really this trial is extraordinary for so many reasons. what does the ruling of imprisonment mean for the countless victims who suffered torture under his watch? >> reporter: well, isa, you know, in the last few moments we heard from inside the courtroom where the judges announced the verdict they handed down, a life sentence for a conviction of detainees for the death of at least 30 people. as you mentioned, cases of sexual assaults and rape. you know, this has been the trial, historic trial, the trial of one man, one detention facility in damascus that has been in focus. but for so many victims of the syrian regime, for so many people who have been fighting for justice in syria, they tell you that this is not just, a conviction of one man, not the trial of one man. this is an entire regime that is being convicted after a decade of impunity. some of the worst crimes of the century that have taken place in syria over the past ten years, and no one has really been held accountable for these crimes, isa. we've heard from one of the syrian lawyers involved in the case calling this a victory for justice, a victory for the syrian victims, and certainly this impunity, this lack of accountability has not been because of a lack -- the lack of evidence. this has been one of the most well documented conflicts in history, but it has been because the path to justice has been blocked by syria's allies, russia and china. syria hasn't been able to refer syria to the international criminal court. this is why victims, isa, have found justice in europe, in countries like germany where the legal system has allowed national courts to prosecute grave crimes against international law under this principle of universal jurisdiction. and for so many victims, this is a new path forward. he ended up here after he defected as one of the refugees. there are so many other, what lawyers will tell you. they are going after them. they will not stop. this is the very first step for justice in syria. >> the reason the face is not being shown because of germany privacy laws. i know you'll stay on top of it. in germany. thanks very much, jumanna. now, the legal options are dwindling. coming up, what's ahead for prince andrew as he faces the possibility of trial on charges of sexual abuse. anna stewart explains next. adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant® with tremfya®... ask you doctor about tremfya® today. wondering what actually goes into your multi-vitamin? 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what are the legal options? >> reporter: well, at this stage his options are increasingly limited and increasingly, isa, out of control. his team hoped the case would simply be dismissed and that would be the end of it. now we are looking potentially at a trial which could be as early as september, but certainly expected by the end of the year. and this could be incredibly damaging. both in the process that leads up to that, the discovery process would see depositions of prince andrew, possibly other members of his family, of the royal family. we could see an exchange of all sorts of documents from phone logs and diary entries and emails. and, of course, the trial itself, the potential for a guilty verdict at the end of this. this would be very damaging for prince andrew, very undignified, but by extension to the royal family. there is potentially the option of settling, and that might be a course of action his legal team would prefer rather than going through the trial itself. however, of course, that means virginia giuffre would have to agree to it as well. at this stage we don't know whether she would. yes, this is a civil case. she's looking for financial remunera remuneration really at the end of the day. she may not want to have a financial settlement. she might want to have her day in court. she might want to see justice being done. we don't know at this stage. isa, it is hard to see unless prince andrew has these allegations cleared in court, it is hard to see anyway back for him to public life as a member of the royal family. isa? >> all this coming in the same year as the queen's jubilee, of course. anna stewart there in london for us. anna. now, affordable couches and pillows may be coming to a town near why you. big lots plans to open 500 new stores in several years in new towns and areas as well. the discount home furnishing chain has done very little expanding in recent years, but does have about 1400 stores in 47 states. now, taco bell is waving good-bye to its wings. fans of the dish have just a few hours to get them before they fly off the menu. the popular fast food chain launched the crispy chicken as a limited time offer giving them a short time to gobble them up. expected to drum up attention for the chain. thank you for watching. i'm isa soares in london. do stay in touch with me. 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