requested a colonel convicted of murder and added along this infamous arms dealer for wnba star brittney griner and paul whelan. we have a team of correspondents covering these breaking developments. frederik pleitgen is in moscow for us. let s start with natasha bertrand, who is breaking this exclusive. what have you learned. reporter: what we ve learned is that in response to the russian proposal to trade that arms dealer, viktor bout for the two americans detained in russia, paul whelan and brittney griner, the russians put forward their own request and they said we don t want just viktor bout, we want this guy name vadim krz krosokov, convicted in december of 2021 for murdering in broad daylight a chech an fighter and the germans sentenced him to life in prison. the russians in response to this proposal submitted this kind of back channel request to the americans. it was done through an fsb back channel, the fsb of course is the main security service for the russians.
2020 and january 2021. this pressure campaign on pence to overturn the lelection what understand instructions trump gave his lawyers and advisers about fake electors and sending electors back to the state. as the former president returned to washington since leading office, we ll have some of what he said shortly. first what merrick garland told lester holt when asked when indicting a former president and possible presidential candidate again might tear the country apart. we pursue justice without fear or favor. we intend to hold everyone, anyone who is criminally responsible for the events surrounding january 6th or any attempt to interfere with the lawful transfer of power from one administration to another accountable. that s what we do. we don t pay any attention to other issues with respect to that. reporter: so if donald trump were to become a candidate for president again, that would not change your schedule or how you move forward or don t move forward? i ll say
the committee may be flexing its oversight power to illuminate what happened on january 6th. but the d.o.j. is apparently investigating the president himself. key aides to mike pence and his lead counsel have already testified in front of a federal grand jury. pretty high up. they asked hours and hours of detailed questions about meetings that trump himself led, one that was described to the january 6th committee. remember this? mr. eastman came in. he said i m here to request that you reject the electorate. i said we would lose 9-0 in the supreme court, wouldn t we? he started, well, i think you would only lose 7-2 and after further discussion acknowledged, yeah, you re right, we would lose 9-0. 6-2, 6-1, half dozen of another. as for jacob s credibility, keep in mind his version of events was already shown in front of a federal judge and that judge s conclusions, it is, quote, more likely than not that president trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the joint session of
according to one passage, the prosecutors have hours of detailed questions in meetings trump held in december 2020, and 2021. his pressure her pranced overturn the election, and what trump told his lawyers in electors, and sending the election again this is the same day that the attorney general speaks out. and the former president returned to washington since the first time since leaving office. and what s male kyle told nbc s lester holt when the president again might tear the country apart. we pursue justice without fear or favor. we attend to hold anyone who was criminally responsible for the events surviving january 6th and any attempt to interfere with the lawful transfer of power from any administration from one to another accountable. that is what we do. we don t pay any attention to other issues with respect to that. so if donald trump were to become a candidate for president again, that would not change a schedule. or how you move forward or move forward? i
over to cnn tonight. everyone now hates this whole thing. is there a caramel burrito coming at some point? if the push pop goes, i m out of here. thank you so much, everyone. that just ruined our day. thank you, anderson cooper. we appreciate it. i am laura coates and this is cnn tonight. so, for everyone out there wondering which came first, the chicken or the egg? or maybe the doj or the committee investigation. it might become more clear. the committee maybe flexing its legislative and oversight powers to illuminate what led up to and what really happened on january 6th. but the doj isn t waiting for the torch to be passed. it appears to be investigating the actions of donald trump himself. that s according to the washington post tonight. cnn can confirm the key aide to mike pence, his former chief of staff, mike short, and his lead counsel, greg jacob have already testified before a federal grand jury. pretty high up! the prosecutors asked hours and asked questions of m