representative bennie thompson says they have talked to former attorney general bill barr. we're going to have the latest on that. >>> the putin plot. an explosive new report reveals the russian leader's alleged plan to take over the ukrainian government with a political puppet of his own choosing. revelation ramping up tensions in a region on the brink of war. >>> in washington, d.c., what's described as a who's who of the anti-vax movement hitting the streets to spread misinformation. we're live on the scene. >>> plus, the biden administration taking stock after some tough new nbc poll numbers out today. they suggest what's gone wrong for the president but also offer a possible road map for a comeback. >> good to have you with us. we begin with breaking news in the january 6th investigation. committee chairman bennie thompson confirms the panel has been having conversations with former attorney general bill barr. that development on the heels of the committee getting its hands on a trove of trump white house documents that the former president had been fighting to block f

we'll talk with mississippi democrat bennie thompson. late last week, the supreme court order the release of 700 pages of white house documents detailing president trump and his allies' communications, leading up to and including the day of the attack. the omicron wave in the east is subsiding, but the daily death toll from covid reaches a new high. we'll hear from former f.d.a. commissioner dr. scott gottlieb. plus, americans weigh in on the pandemic and the economy as president biden kicks off his second year in office. it is all just ahead on "face the nation." ♪♪ captioning sponsored by cbs ♪♪ >> brennan: good morning and welcome to "face the nation." we begin with the tense standoff along the ukraine border. more than 100,000 russian troops are now poised to potentially invade from the north, east, and south of ukraine. russian fighter jets and missiles arrived in neighboring belarus, where war games are citizen to begin. meanwhile nato naval exercises are taking place in the mediterranean, and 90 tons of military aid just a

dana bash pressed bennie thompson on this very question. he said that is still something the committee is working to determine. but if they feel like any criminal acts were committed, they have no problem making a criminal referral to the department of justice. >> melanie, this investigation is moving into a new phase with public testimony. what is it expected to look like? >> reporter: i think from a macro level, bennie thompson has said what they're going to try to show is where this was a comedy of errors or whether the attack was coordinated. he himself said it's pretty clear this was planned, not just an accident. as far as witness, bennie thompson revealed they plan to haul in local and state election officials in charge of overseeing the 2020 election, doj officials pressured by the trump administration as well as national guard troops who were eventually hauled in but it took hours to have them show up here a the capitol on january 6th. they can also speak to gop lawmakers who talked to trump that day. it's unclear whether they'll s

. >> today, bennie thompson says the january 6th panel has already spoken with william barr. >> do you intend to go to the attorney general, bill barr, to follow up on this? >> yes, we do, we have had conversations with the former attorney general already. we've talked to department of defense individuals. >> meantime, tensions between russia and ukraine are reaching a fever pitch. while the uk warns about a plot to install a pro-moscow leader in ukraine. >> we've been concerned and have been warning about exactly these kinds of tactics for weeks. that russia would try to topple and replace the government. just a few days ago, we sanctioned four russian agents in ukraine. this is very much part of the russian playbook. it's important that people look at the whole range of things that russia could and may be preparing to do in ukraine. >> guys, good to see you both. let's go to you, josh, at the white house. how is the biden administration responding to the report that russia is trying to topple the ukrainian government? >> reporter: this kind of a plot from russia would be deeply conce

the department of justice, and more public hearings by bennie thompson's committee. it is public hearings that can bring facts to the fore, that can possibly persuade anybody on the fence. the people who listen only to fox news are lost to the world right now in terms of truth. but there are people, republicans and independents, who need to hear the facts. so i would like to hear some public testimony by the people who know what donald trump did and didn't do. and we can go back to watergate and say what did the president know and when did he know it? >> jill, i as always appreciate spending time with you. and i have to say, out of all of your absolutely gorgeous pins, this one is incredibly spiking. i always urge people, go to twitter because jill is very good about sharing her rationale for which pin it is she chose. thank you so much. katie, you're staying with me. next, a jury of ghislaine maxwell's peers found her guilty of helping recruit girls for jeffrey epstein. now her lawyers for asking for that conviction to be overturned because of one juror's personal c

bennie thompson said that is still something they are working to determine. but if they find a criminal act was committed, bennie thompson said they have no problem making a criminal referral to the department of justice. >> and melanie, this committee says it's gearing up for public hearings relatively soon. what do we know about the plans in the coming weeks or perhaps months? >> reporter: the committee has been conducting a lot of this work behind closed doors but they plan to take this into a much more public phase. there will be an interim report in the fall -- in the summer, excuse me, with a final report in the fall. they also plan to conduct public hearings. we could hear from state and local election officials, doj officials who tried to overturn the election or were pressured to do so. the national guard troops. another big question is whether any republican lawmakers who were in contact with trump will come and testify. if they don't come voluntarily, bennie thompson says subpoenas are certainly on the table. >> melanie zanona from capitol hill, i

the same thing. >> congressman bennie thompson, i appreciate your time. i know this is important work. we obviously look forward to seeing this completed and to seeing those hearings. thanks for coming on "meet the press." >> thank you very much for having me. >>> when we come back, the anatomy of donald trump's big lie, how the former president actually spent years manufacturing this epic falsehood and how millions have bought into it. a must in your medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam is the #1 cold shortening brand! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam. zinc that cold! new year, new start. it shortens colds! and now comcast business is making it easy to get going with the ready. set. save. sale. get started with fast and reliable internet and voice for $64.99 a month with a 2-year price guarantee. it's easy... with flexible installation and backing from an expert team, 24/7. and for even more value, ask how to get up to a $500 prepaid card. get a great deal for your business with the

reports of what was happening with him on that day now chairman benny thompson is officially releasing information that he says the committee needs to learn about how the president's plans, president trump's plans for january 6th came together and all the other ways he attempted to alter the results of the election. let me bring in ali vitali who will talk through this with us. significant here as kevin mccarthy says to him, you have acknowledged speaking directly with the former president while the violence was happening on january 6th. this is why the committee wants to talk to kevin mccarthy. i should note, i know this is literally just out in maybe the last 45 seconds or so, this is not a subpoena, obviously. a voluntary request for information and kevin mccarthy believes this is a partisan committee. >> yeah, it is. nevertheless, one of our house producers kyle stewart was talking with chairman benny thompson as this dropped and thompson believes mccarthy will voluntarily come forward to testify. that is what his thinking is at this point and an important distinction that you're m

and chairman bennie thompson has said there is going to be a series of public hearings this year. really their goal here being they want to get to the bottom of what happened before the 2022 midterms and americans cast their votes in those elections. but the bottom line being we are really learning more about what this committee is looking into, laura. >> they keep dropping bread crumbs. more to come. daniela, thank you. >>> so, it's time for three questions in three minutes. let's bring in cnn politics senior writer zach wolf. good friday morning, zack. you know, we're kind of doing, you know, the day after look at this president biden speech, the most direct pointed speech yet explaining the dangers of trumpism. let's listen to it a bit. >> he's not just a former president. he's a defeated former president. former presidential supporters are trying to rewrite history. they want you to see election day as the day of insurrection. and the riot that took place on january 6 as a true expression of the will of the people. can you think of a more twisted way to look at this country, t

it's just the beginning. >> recently, i spoke to congressman bennie thompson of mississippi. he's the chair of the house january 6 committee to find out where the committee's investigation is heading. let me start with some big pictures here. we're on the cusp of the first anniversary from january 6th. if i asked you today do you have a better sense of whether this was a protest that got out of hand or a coordinated effort to attack the capitol, how would you answer that question one year later? >> well, i think it would have been a little bit of both, chuck. obviously, some people came upset with what happened in the november election. but others came with ulterior motives, and so you had citizens who had the right to protest, who thought that was the end of what would happen, and you had others who obviously came with bear spray, camouflage, kevlar, hockey sticks, everything, prepared to do something else. and the fact that those two convergence of individuals came together at the same time, and that is what we ended up with. >> have you been able to determine what presiden

congressman bennie thompson says that the committee had conversations with barr about a draft executive order reportedly given to former president trump. the order would have directed the defense secretary to seize voting machines after he lost the 2020 election. thompson says that they have also talked to dod officials. the draft executive order was never issued. >>> turning to the coronavirus, the midwest may be the next region to see a high number of cases as the variant continues to spread. but health experts are hoping that the virus could level out in just a few weeks. danya bacchus explains. >> reporter: in the nation's capital sunday, demonstrators gathered at the lincoln memorial. many voicing opposition covid-19 vaccine, others protesting vaccine mandates. >> don't shackle our hands. we will not comply with your silliness. >> reporter: among the speakers, robert kennedy jr., son of the late new york senator and attorney general robert f. kennedy. sunday's rally comes as daily covid-19 cases in parts of the northeast are showing signs of leveling off, but some regions are still

chairman bennie thompson said these will be nontraditional hearings. they won't be the, you know, the daytime typical hearings we see, if you tune into cspan at any time of day. these will not be traditional hearings. they want the chance to show the public with as many eyeballs as possible what they know. >> interesting. whitney wild reporting for us, thank you very much. >>> let's discuss with former deputy director of the fbi, andrew mccabe, author of the book "the threat: how the fbi protects america in the age of terror and trump." >> andrew, what do you make of the chair and the vice chair of the select committee congressman bennie thompson and congresswoman liz cheney telling cnn there is a chance they will be able to find criminal activity by trump and his associates as they probe the insurrection? >> wolf, i think it is important that the committee has that on their mind and there is always a chance that they'll turn over evidence or information that the president may have stepped outside the boundaries of federal law. but let's remember that

benny thompson told cnn he would like to hear from the former vice president mike pence about what he was being told that day. the committee also asked fox news info tainment host to cooperate with its investigation calling him a fact witness and released text messages showing discussions hannity had with mark meadows and other trump allies expressing real concern about the lead up to the january 6th election challenge and trump's continued election lies afterwards. in the statement to axios that first broke the story jay sekulow who was the former president's said it would raise serious constitutional issues including freedom of the president. joining me leigh ann caldwell and the issue of that defense was something in the letter that essentially benny thompson, nuthing to do with sean hannity the public figure, everything to do with sean hannity the guy who was texting mark meadows behind the scenes and on the record. correct? >> that's absolutely right. the letter also said no executive privilege conversations that could be applied to these conversations between the former presiden

bennie thompson, the chairman of the select committee was pressed by dana bash earlier today, take a listen. >> the only thing i can say, it's highly unusual for anyone in charge of anything to watch what's going on and do nothing. >> is it criminal? >> well, we don't know. we're in the process of trying to get all the information, but i can say if there's anything we come upon as a committee that we think would warrant a referral to the department of justice, we'll do that. >> it's unclear what trump's mindset was or his intent was for friesing to act during those 187 minutes, but that is something investigators are trying to determine and could play a big role in whether or not they make a criminal referral to the department of justice for the former president. >> melanie, we know the committee wants to continue ramping up public hearings in the coming weeks and months. have you learned any more about that? >> yeah. the committee plans to move their investigation into a much more public phase this year that includes hearings throughout the year as well as an interim report in the s

bennie thompson is the puppet, and she is the puppet master." rep. thompson: you know, now, this is somebody who voted against a committee made up of 50% appointed by pelosi and 50% appointed by republican leader mccarthy. my posion is, those individuals who voted against it don't want the truth to come out. but thank goodness speaker pelosi took the leadership mantle by recommending the select committee to congress, and the congress, or the house approved it. and we will do our work. so, the congressman is entitled to his opinion, but, in this situation, he's dead wng. judy: chairman bennie thompson, who is the chair of the select committee investigating the attack on the capitol on january 6, congressman, thank you very much. rep. thompson: thank you for having me. ♪ judy: to help us understand the broader effects that january 6 is having on our politics, our culture and democracy itself, and consider where we go from here, i spoke yesterday with four writers who have spent the last year engaged in this conversation. george packer is a staff writ

i'll speak to january 6th committee chairman bennie thompson and maryland governor larry hogan next. >>> and tidal wave, hospitals brace for more covid patients, as the omicron variant triggers more remote learning and travel delays. >> what really counts is making sure people don't get sick. >> reporter: how worried should americans be about what's to come? dr. anthony fauci joins me to discuss ahead. >>> plus, remembering reid, from a house with no running water to the highest perch in the senate, the late senate majority leader harry reid in his own words on his legacy and parting push for democrats now. hello i'm dana bash in washington where the state of the union is hoping for a good year. happy new year. 'not where many expected to be at the start of 2022, facing new restrictions and soaring cases from the pandemic that has now killed more than 800,000 people in the u.s. and this thursday, january 6th, marks the one-year anniversary of the deadly attack on the u.s. capitol. despite the months that have passed and hopes that the country might come together, the nation remains b

the panel's chairman, bennie thompson telling npr, quote, i think you could expect that before the month's out. congressman adam schiff, a committee member explaining why pence's information could be critical for their inquiry. >> he would have, i think, very undoubtedly relevant testimony for us about that pressure campaign. no one would be in a better position to speak to it than he would. all of the efforts to get him to violate his constitutional duty, to count the votes and instead reject votes without basis as the chairman's indicated, we intend to extend that invitation fairly soon. let's hope that he's willing to do the right thing. >> the marking of one year since the attack on the capitol has sparked a fresh push on voting rights legislation. senate majority leader chuck schumer said the chamber will vote no later than the martin luther king jr. holiday on changing senate rules if republicans keep blocking voting rights legislation. earlier today, house majority whip james clyburn told msnbc how he thinks legislation can pass through congress. >> reconciliation is a term much mor

i'll speak to january 6th committee chairman bennie thompson and maryland governor larry hogan next. >>> and tidal wave, hospitals brace for more covid patients, as the omicron variant triggers more remote learning and travel delays. >> what really counts is making sure people don't get sick. >> reporter: how worried should americans be about what's to come? dr. anthony fauci joins me to discuss ahead. >>> plus, remembering reid, from a house with no running water to the highest perch in the senate, the late senate majority leader harry reid in his own words on his legacy and his parting push for democrats now. hello. i'm dana bash in washington where the state of the union is hoping for a good year. happy new year. it's not where many expected to be at the start of 2022, facing new restrictions and soaring cases from the pandemic that has now killed more than 800,000 people in the u.s. and this thursday, january 6th, marks the one-year anniversary of the deadly attack on the u.s. capitol. despite the months that have passed and hopes that the country might come together, the nation

. >> reporter: congressman bennie thompson who chairs the january 6th committee says eventual ly all of those documents will be made public for you and i to see, setting the stage for a tense weekend here in washington, which is already on edge over the situation in ukraine with white house officials saying an invasion or an incursion by russia could be imminent. the president, he is spending his weekend at camp david where he is expected to huddle today with his national security officials as they try to lower tensions and avert an even bigger crisis in ukraine, alex. >> okay, we're certainly going to have a lot more on that coming up. thank you so much, josh lederman, more on ukraine and from the white house, of course. first, we have some breaking news to share from arizona. that is where the state's democratic party has just formally censured senator kyrsten sinema. let's go to nbc's julie tsirkin who's going to fill us in on what all of this means. >> reporter: yeah, so the arizona democratic party actually just met behind closed doors this morning taking this formal vote to cen

representative bennie thompson, a democrat from mississippi, chairs that committee. i spoke with him a short time ago. congressman thompson, thank you very much for joining us. you should know, you received a vote of confidence today from vice president harris. when i spoke with her, she said she has full confidence that you and your committee will get to the bottom of what happened on january the sixth. my question to you is are you equally confident and that you will also get to the bottom of the complicity of the former president? >> i thank the vice president for her vote of confidence. i can assure everyone who's looking at this show that our committee will do its level best to conduct a thorough investigation on the facts and circumstances that occurred on january 6 and make recommendations, if adopted, so that it won't ever happen again. what we had occur on january 6 was a clear threat to our democracy. >> woodruff: your committee has received thousands of pages of records, of documents. you have interviewed, i saw, more than 300 witnesses. can you say who or

now, listen to how bennie thompson said it on cnn. >> his life was in danger. i would hope that he would do the right thing and come forward and voluntarily talk to the committee. we'd like to know what his security detail told him was going on. >> reporter: people close to mike pence have been working with the committee or engaging with the committee at least including his former chief of staff mark short, so this isn't over, there's a lot more information and a lot more the committee plans to do. >> steve, we got a lot of polls out there about january 6th and where our country is at now. what stood out to you? >> yeah, a couple of things. a lot of numbers this week. just attitudes towards how people think about january 6th. this was a usa today suffolk poll. do you think of it more as a protest that was trying to overturn a legitimate election. you see 53% saying that or a protest to prevent a fraudulent election, you see 29% who chose that. there are some who were undecided or unsure about this. that's why the numbers don't add up to 100. what's striking abo

what do you make of what bennie thompson said there? >> i think he is pointing to how important it is for people to tune in now, not just to as we think about the elections but to save our democracy. a thing you asked is what can people do as they watch and see the midterm election and the conversation happen. one is to tune back in. see the facts. these conversations happen in school boards, people need to show up there. we do need to have a conversation about how to bring the country back together again. it is never more important now not only thinking about january 6 but setting the country back in the right direction and not just happening in congress but on the ground where we live every day. >> danny, amanda, rena, thank you all. >>> cracking down on covid misinformation. twitter banned congresswoman greene over false and misleading posts about the pandemic and the damage is done. are partisan politics the reason we cannot kick this crisis? are you ready for football? new cdc guidelines get players back on the field faster but tha

dana bash, benny thompson are saying they want to speak to mike pence. that would be incredible. can you imagine the fallout there? >> no, it's hard to imagine that the former vice president would actually go and speak to the committee members. this was very clear from benny thompson, the chairman's interview with our own ryan nobles that this is something they would like. they're not talking about s specifically subpoenaing him or they have not put in a formal request yet. that would be pretty unlikely for him to do that. remember mark schwartz, the chief of staff has agreed to talk to the committee. he was there with mike pence at the capitol that day and also the general council, the chief council is going to speak. there is going to be movement in pence's world and that's likely to happen either this month or next month and the question is going to be how does that go before or ever the former vice president that speaks to them for a lot of reasons. number one, precedent and number two, maybe this should be in reverse order, don. politics, he's already in deep trouble with th

chairman bennie thompson wrote in his request to ivanka that general keith kellogg testified that the white house staff wanted trump to take immediate action, quell the unrest. but he thought ivanka may be the only person to get him to act. you said she was one of the few that could get to him. here is the quote. presumably the first time ivanka trump went in, it wasn't sufficient or she wouldn't have had to go back at least one more time, i assume. is that correct? you heard kellogg saying, yes, i think she went back in there because ivanka can be pretty tenacious. you make a point about that we know a lot about what she did which includes that she called personally for a stop to the violence at 3:15. do you think ivanka has to wrestle at all with what she knows happened, the extent to which she was there participating in everything on january 6th, and this request to speak to the committee. what's that like for her? >> i think what's probably happening with my cousins and donald is they're trying to make the calculation of what is in their best interests. donald isn't playing the ca

bennie thompson did say to our dana bash that if they determine a criminal act was determined, they have no problem making a criminal referral to the department of justice. that is something we could see reported in the final report the select committee plans to report this fall. >>> u.s. president joe biden vowing the u.s. and its allies will, quote, respond decisively if russia further invades ukraine. that statement coming through in a conversation on sunday with president zelensky. last week president biden was on the phone with vladimir putin. he warned of a, quote, heavy price to pay if russia invades ukraine. cnn's nic robertson is following developments. strong language this latest round of language from the white house. >> reporter: yes, very strong language in support of ukraine. this is what president biden promised them and it was clearly warmly received, greatly received by the ukrainian president who talked about the importance of the first international leadership conversation it had in years. it showed the strength and importance of bilateral relations. he spoke about kee

thompson's committee. it is public hearings at that can bring facts to the floor at that can possibly persuade anybody on the fence. the people who listen only to fox news are lost to the world right now in terms of truth. but there are people, republicans and independents, who need to hear the facts, so i'd like to hear some public testimony by the people who know what donald trump did and didn't do, and we can go back to watergate and say what did the president know and when did he know it. >> jill, as i always as always appreciate spending time with you and your insights. out of all your absolutely gorgeous pins, this one is striking. go to twitter. jill is very good about sharing the rationale for which pin it is she wears. >>> next, a jury of ghislaine maxwell's peers found her guilty, but now her lawyers are asking for that conviction to be overturned because of one juror's personal confession. >>> and later a rare look at how extremist groups are expanding in america and how women are being increasi

representative bennie thompson is the committee chair. >> january 6 was a difficult day for me personally because i was in the capitol. i have seen a lot of people come to this capitol, people have the ability, i thought, in waington, d.c., to express themselves regardless of incision. but if i ever imagine that mebody would invade the united states capitol, never in my wildest dreams did i imagine th would occur despite what had all occurred, we were called back in the early morning hours to complete the certification. because if we don't certify the election, then donald trump is still president. and he can do a number of things -- are for law -- martial law as a potential post of >> it could've been something looking like a coup. >> absolutely. you get people who i talked to on a daily basis who will actually tell me that what i saw and experiencedon january 6 really did not happen. close people come to you and say, january 6 did not happen? >> look, it was the black lives matter folk, it was 18 five --antifa dressed up as trump people who did that. in addition to that, of millions of

but bennie thompson made really clear they would really like to speak with him. we know this is a formal outreach to sean hannity. they are collapsing in on the trump inner circle. for two reasons, brianna. one of them is about the details going on in the white house in this really critical time on january 6th remain very elusive at this point. and the reality is the committee needs to establish the mind-set of the former president. that is why they are reaching out to the people they think may know it best. the house select committee investigating the january 6th insurrection now wants to talk to former vice president mike pence and fox news host sean hannity. the chairman of the select committee told cnn he wants pence to voluntarily speak with the panel about what he witnessed one year ago tomorrow and the conversations leading up to that day. >> i would hope that he would do the right thing and come forward and voluntarily talk to the committee. >> reporter: he said he certified the election despite risk of the rioters, who heard from days president trump's p

benny thompson intends to ask about the executive order that would have directed to seize voting machines in battleground states. >> this is further indication several former trump administration officials are cooperating with the panel, even as several others are defying subpoena efforts. cnn law enforcement correspondent whitney wild is following the latest. whitney, do we know the substance of the communications between barr and the january 6 committee? >> we don't yet know the substance but our understanding is that these are casual and informal conversations but what the committee thneeds from bill barr is his assistance in everybody in trump's orbit the election had been stolen through voting fraud was a total lie. he was instrumental to that because he was outfront saying as publicly as possible that there was just no voting fraud that would have overturned the election. it didn't happen. and so he becomes this very crucial part of the puzzle, and further, because he was at the department of justice at this really critical time in the month long period leading up to january 6th whe

committee chair bennie thompson announcing the formal invitation could come before the end of this month as the investigation moves into a new phase, taking a closer look at donald trump's inner circle and new public requests for voluntary testimony. nbc's julie tsirkin is on capitol hill for us following the story. julie, it's good to see you. the former vice president's testimony, obviously incredibly crucial here. are we expecting him to turn down this request? how likely is it, a subpoena from the committee could happen? >> reporter: well, yasmin, i'll tell you, just on thursday, the one-year anniversary of the january 6th attack on the capitol, i asked senator -- excuse me, chairman bennie thompson whether he has been in touch with the vice president's team or not. the committee plans to decide this month whether they will extend an invitation to the former vice president. now, we don't know whether that will come in the form of subpoena. they're hoping it will be voluntarily. remember, his role is central to the investigation. his role on january 6th, a year ago, under pressure by

taking a substantive turn this weekend with the news that the house select committee chair, bennie thompson, has called on mike pence to come before the committee at some point this month. but i'm curious, as we learn more about the depth of engagement many republican lawmakers had with january 6th participants about whether you agree with the legislation put forth by your colleague, cori bush and other house progressives, that call for those lawmakers to be investigated and removed from congress. >> let me tell you, i have great confidence in chairman bennie thompson and the select committee. and what they have shown is they have interviewed over 300 witnesses, is that they are committed to finding the facts and telling the truth. and that is how we are going to get to who was responsible for january 6th. who helped fund it. we know some of the underlying causes. we have discussed before that white supremacy, anti-semitism played a role in this. and we know that this is tied to the voter suppression laws that we have seen 19 different states pass since. so this is our moment to stand up fo

bennie thompson did say if they determine a criminal act was committed, they have no problem making a criminal referral to the department of justice and that is something that could be included in the final report, which the select committee is aiming to release this fall. christine, laura. >> melanie, thank you for all of that reporting. president biden and vice president harris plan to address the nation on thursday which marks one year since the deadly insurrection. it's part of a series of events organized by house speaker nancy pelosi. there will be a moment of silence and a prayer vigil. >> almost a year since violent scenes were broadcast live across the country. the current chief of the u.s. capitol police is revealing a stark reality. his force remains short staffed. >> when we looked at the events of january 6th. those things have been addressed and they have been largely fixed at this point. one thing that we have not been able to fix, so to speak, are the staffing issues. we've lost over 130 officers that have left through either retirements or resignations after january 6

we're joined by the chair of the january 6th committee bennie thompson and liz cheney. chairman thompson, let me begin with you. what are your most consequential findings so far? >> well, i think obviously what occurred on january 6th was definitely a dark day for our country. our challenge is to get to the facts and circumstances that created it. we're in the process of interviewing witnesses, taking depositions, and clearly we have uncovered some things that cause us real concern. things like people trying to -- the will of the people to make sure that our government by the people would not be served, and basically for the most part, undermine the integrity of our democracy. so we found some of those things. we're in the process of documenting it. we're getting volumes of material. we're talking to witnesses, but i can assure you what we have seen causes us real harm, i can't say a lot about it right now. >> what can you say about it? what kind of specifics -- what kind of specifics can you give us about what you found? what concerns you most? >> well, that it appeare

bennie thompson, the chairman of the select committee, was asked earlier today about all of this by our dana bash. take a listen to what he had to say. >> we are convinced that we'll have access to those 187 minutes of whatever occurred. but the harm that i see is the president of the united states seeing the capitol of the united states under siege by people he sent to the capitol and did nothing during that time. something's wrong with that. >> do you think that lack of education on january 6th may actually warrant a criminal referral? >> well, the only thing i can say is highly unusual for anyone in charge of anything to watch what's going on and do nothing. >> now, what's unclear at this point is what was trump's intent and what was his mindset as the riots were unfolding and he was refusing to act for that period of time. and does that inaction amount to something criminal. that is what investigators are still working to determine. but bennie thompson did say that if they find a criminal act was committed, they have no problem making a criminal referral to the department of justice

npr is reporting that chairman bennie thompson says the panel expects to ask pence to appear voluntarily. cnn justice department correspondent, jessica schneider, has more on the investigation. >> after a day of remembrance on capitol hill, the january 6th select committee is back to work, and they say learning more about individuals conspiring to overturn the 2020 election res results. >> individuals including people in the inner circle of the trump white house? >> no question about it. >> reporter: committee vice chair liz cheney says they are not ruling out the possibility of concluding the former president and his associates committed a crime. >> for a president through, either his action or his inaction, for example, attempt to impede or obstruct the counting of electoral votes, which is an official proceeding of congress, is -- the committee is looking at that. >> reporter: some republicans have spoken out against trump. alaska senator lisa murkowski calling the rioters a mob incited by our former president. but others are folding under pressure, after senator ted cruz said this on

the panels chairman bennie thompson told npr, quote, i think you could expect that

. >>> separately, i had a conversation with bennie thompson, the chairman of the committee. and i asked him how interested he is in talking to the former vice president mike pence. and this is what thompson said. >> 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. >> reporter: that's interesting. thompson would like pence just to come forward on his own accord and answer questions from the committee. at this point they haven't formally asked him to come and speak to the committee, either on a voluntary basis or through a subpoena. but it's clear that bennie thompson and others on the committee are very interested in pence's role regarding this, not just the pressure campaign that was put on him in the days leading up to january 6, but even what happened on january 6 itself, how he was ushered out of the senate chamber and was given a level of protection that made

. >> now, as bennie thompson hinted there, this investigation plans to enter a much more public phase in the new year. that includes a number of public hearings as well as an interim report in the summer with a final report expected in the fall. but the clock is ticking because, paula, as you know, the midterms are sort of the unofficial deadline to complete the committee's work here. >> melanie, thank you so much for your reporting. i want to bring in cnn's senior legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor elie honig. he joins us now. all right, elie, we know that they've been talking to hundreds of witnesses, but so much of their work happens behind closed doors. where is this going, what are they learning? and this seems incredibly significant. we're learning that someone, maybe multiple people in trump's inner circle, gave the committee firsthand information about what he was doing during those 187 minutes. what is your take on this? >> yeah, paula. that phrase first-hand testimony is so important. it's so telling because what it tells us is this is not just somebody wh

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in a statement released yesterday chairman benny thompson says the committee wants to know how these individuals were brought together and who actually put them up to this scheme. here's how this plot was supposed to play out. on december 14, 2020, the legitimate electors around the country gathered to cast their votes for joe biden. now, at the same time groups of people who back trump gathered in seven key battleground states that trump lost in a sham attempt to cast electoral votes for trump. these groups then submitted official looking documents to federal and state authorities. the submission of those documents as if they were legitimate is one of the key things here. don't forget that point for a second. if they knowingly submitted false documents that is a crime. the state of georgia is one of the focal points of this scheme, and given the number of unresolved issues with the 2020 election in the peach state you can be sure we're going to keep hearing about georgia in the coming weeks and months. and case in point, on monday a judge approved a request from the fulton county di

thompson is the puppet and she is the puppet master. you want to claim it's bipartisan, when you look at bipartisan, ms. cheney and kinzinger are pelosi republicans. kinzinger isn't running again and liz cheney is going to defeated in 2022. but that entire committee have one thing in common, they hate donald trump. they despise him. they talk aout him all the time and i kind of joke they have a serious crush on this guy because that's all they want to talk about. what they want to do is blame donald trump with january 6th with everything. they want to go after all his associates. they could do contempt of congress against bannon and then mark meadows. but nobody on this committee is asking the real difficult questions, the questions the american people need to know about and that is why were the capitol police so ill prepared to deal with it that day. >> reporter: how do you move forward and think we get past the divide in the country in a sentence or two. >> that's a difficult question. i think our country lacks overall faith. i think

you also spoke to the chairman of the january 6th committee today, benny thompson. what did you learn in that conversation? >> it feels like a long time ago. there's been so much news today. >> several news thingies ago, yes. >> it really was. the chairman's trying to keep his options open. i was asking him mostly about the subpoenas that came out yesterday for the attorneys that had worked with then-president trump. what we've heard from those attorneys so far mainly giuliani and epstein they would rely on attorney-client privilege not to testify. thompson told me they were reviewing their options to compel them further beyond these subpoenas, and he thinks they're on sound footing to force that issue legally, to get around that potential privilege. you know, i tried to ask him whether he's concerned about the way the time that might take. time is the enemy of the january 6th committee as we look to the mid-terms and whatever might come after that. he is patient to a point, and this perhaps he didn't know it at the time but maybe he got a bit of backup from the sup

those are the details that are crucial because bennie thompson has always talked about this 187 minutes or so where the committee is looking to see exactly what the frame of mind was of the former president. >> chuck, to continue on what yamiche just said i want to read some of the testimony referenced in bennie thompson's letter, this is from former national security adviser keith kellogg about a conversation trump had on the morning of january 6. here it is. question, it's been reported that the president said to the vice president, you don't have the courage to make a hard decision, and maybe not those exact words, but something like that. do you remember anything like that? kellogg, i don't remember exactly, either, but something like that, yeah. being like you're not tough enough to make the call. question, another report of this phone call is that trump said, mike, it's not right. you can do this. i'm counting on you to do it. if you don't, i picked the wrong man four years ago. you're going to wimp out. do you remember anything leek that? kellogg, words like that, yes. so i'm int

thompson is the puppet and she is the puppet master. you want to claim it's bipartisan, when you look at bipartisan, ms. cheney and kinzinger are pelosi republicans. kinzinger isn't running again and liz cheney is going to defeated in 2022. but that entire committee have one thing in common, they hate donald trump. they despise him. they talk about him all the time and i kind of joke they have a serious crush on this guy because that's all theyant to talk about. what they want to do is blame donald trump with january 6th with everything. they want to go after all his associates. they could do contempt of congress against bannon and then mark meadows. but nobody on this committee is asking the real difficult questions, the questions the american people need to know about and that is why were the capitol police so ill prepared to deawith it that day. >> reporter: how do you move forward and think we get past the divide in the country in a sentence or two. >> that's a difficult question. i think our country lacks overall faith. i think we

now, bennie thompson, as i mentioned, was on "cbs this morning." he said the committee still plans to move into a public phase of their examination this spring. he expanded on why they want to hear from ivanka trump, the committee's latest move. take a listen. >> obviously ivanka trump was a major adviser to the president all along, there are a number of items attributed to what she's been saying. so we're asking her to come in voluntarily and give us the benefit of what she knows. >> will she? >> well, we'll wait and see. february 3rd, and we'll go after that. >> reporter: the committee giving her some time to respond there. obviously this is not a subpoena, which suggests the committee believes they may be able to get ivanka trump, the former president's daughter and special adviser, to cooperate voluntarily. they want to hear from her because she was privy to a lot of conversations based on their investigation and things they know so far. she may have pressured and tried to convince her dad to call off the riot at the capitol on january 6th. she

today chairman bennie thompson telling cnn the committee plans to seek information from former trump lawyer rudy giuliani at some point. let's get right to ryan nobles. did chairman thompson say what information they want from giuliani? >> he wasn't very specific about their interest in rudy giuliani, but the fact they are interested really isn't a surprise. giuliani was trump's personal lawyer in the days after the 2020 election and leading up to the january 6th insurrection. he was one of the most prominent peddlers of the big lie, and, of course, gave a speech during that stop the steal rally on the ellipse outside the white house where he suggested that trump supporters should engage in trial by combat, and that was just a few hours before the capitol riot. now bennie thompson said they are very interested in speaking to giuliani, that he's on a long list of people they want to talk to. but he didn't provide a timeline when they'd ask for his cooperation. and he also wouldn't say whether or not they'd subpoena giuliani. it seems this is still a process of the committee trying to