refusal to testify before the january 6th select committee and his failure to turn over documents. let s begin this morning outside the u.s. district court in washington, d.c. cnn political correspondent sara murray is there. how is all of this expected to play out today? reporter: well, you know, look, steve bannon is here in court, we expect this could take a couple of hours. what we know is that steve bannon is trying to get out of any kind of jail time. he was convicted on two counts for refusing to show up for a subpoena to testify before congress and refusing to hand over documents. the government has asked that he spend six months behind bars and they said he should pay a $200,000 fine. now, bannon s team has said, look, at the most he should get probation, he listened to his attorneys advice and if you are going to put him behind bars it should be house arrest only. they are also saying bannon plans to appeal his conviction and they re saying that any punishment he
hire, everyone. it s 4:00 in new york on a very busy day of news and more details on what promises to be a blockbuster hearing on the january 6 hearing and we ll have much more on that. we begin with the verdict in the alex jones trial where a jury has just awarded nearly $1 billion in damages to the family members of the sandy hook victims, people who suffered from the lines that alex jones started spreading hours after the massacre. harry lipman joins us, a former u.s. attorney and former deputy assistant attorney general. let me just not go the down the rabbit holes of alex jones but the families had pain and suffering from the massacre being described as a hoax and the nearly billion dollars in damages does nothing, nothing to deal with their grief but it was as signal, it seems harry, that the jury felt that it was represent henceible. even his defense attorney said in close, nicole. this is a despicable human being and, of course, he s the vilest vermin out there on
oh, no. also ahead, the latest from the war in ukraine where both sides are preparing for the next major battle among fears of a false-flag attack that could end up flooding 80 towns. plus, hospitals across the country have reported a surge in cases of a virus that s making infants severely ill. it s not covid, but covid has a big role in why the kids are getting so sick. we ll explain that just ahead. willie, our top story this morning. we begin in washington where moments ago former trump adviser steve bannon arrived in a d.c. courthouse to hear his sentencing for contempt of congress after he refused to comply with a subpoena from the house select committee investigating january 6th. the justice department has asked the judge to sentence him to six months in prison and to fine him $200,000. bannon s lawyers argue he should get only probation. they also have asked bannon be allowed to remain free until his lawyers are able to appeal the sentence. nbc news justice an
i m that s annoying but soft alarms on your smartphone. no. i mean one of those really obnoxious alarms that you might hear a few rows back on the plane. turn that off. but you can t turn this alarm off. and as much as we might all want to wish it away, it s clear with less than three weeks until the midterm elections, the forecast is doom and gloom. and maybe that s why president biden today gave not one, but two, speeches on the economy. families are hurting. you ve heard me say it before, but i get it. it s been a rough four or five years for the country, but a lot of folks here are still struggling. but there s some real bright spots. i get it. folks are still struggling. but one word you did not hear from president biden today, the word, recession. but he did admit a recession was a possibility during our interview last week. i don t think there will be a recession. if it is, it ll be a very slight recession. that is, we ll move down slightly. look, it s possib
the news continues, cnn with jake tapper starts now. welcome to cnn tonight i m jake tapper. tonight the economic alarms are blurring, and i don t mean one of those vaguely known but soft alarms on your smartphone. [noise] no, i mean one of those really have noxious alarms that you might hear if you are he s back on the turn that off. but you cannot turn this alarm off. and as much as you want to wish it away, it is clear that with less than three weeks after the midterm elections, the forecast is doom and gloom. that is why president biden today today gave not one but two speeches on the economy. families are hurting, you have heard me say it before, but i get it. it has been a rough for five years for the country. but a lot of folks here are still struggling, but there are bright spots. i get it, folks are still struggling, but one word that you did not hear from president biden today? the word recession. but he did admit a recession was a possibility during o