there can't be daylight between kevin mccarthy and jim jordan and kevin mccarthy and donald trump on this issue. simple as that. >> in this letter to mccarthy the committee brings up conversations mccarthy may have had with trump about impeachment, resigning or even removal onto the 25th amendment. that's as serious as it gets really. it suggests that mccarthy believed trump was culpable for what happened but does it also speak to his state of mind, his mental fitness. >> exactly. the number one issue that kevin mccarthy can speak to is to president trump's state of mind. kevin mccarthy had really revealing conversations with donald trump, and that's what the committee needs to get at here, and i think the number one headline of all of this is these guys are hiding. despite all their bluster and tough talk, jim jordan and scott perry and kevin mccarthy are hiding. they're hiding the truth from the committee, they're hiding the truth from congress, they're hiding the truth from the american public and now committee has to decide what their next steps are. >> mccarthy's comments about

here's what kevin mccarthy said on january 6th. in an interview with norah o'donnell of cbs news while the capitol was still being attacked. >> you said you spoke with the president. what did the president say he would do? >> i know he had put a tweet out there. i told him he needed to talk to the nation. i told him what was happening right then. i was very clear with the president when i called him, this has to stop, he has to -- he's got to go to the american public and tell them to stop this. >> the president of the united states has a briefing room steps from the oval office. it is -- the cameras are hot 24/7, as you know. why hasn't he walked down and said that now? >> i conveyed to the president what i think is best to do, and i'm hopeful the president will do it. >> have you spoken with his chief of staff? >> i've spoken to the president, i've spoken to other people in there, and the white house as well. >> democratic congressman jamie raskin of maryland, a member of the house select committee investigating the january 6th a

attack on the capitol, kevin mccarthy went to florida. he went to meet with donald trump. quote, the select committee does wish to discuss any communications you had with president trump at that time regarding your account of what actually happened on january six. your public statements regarding january six have changed markedly since you met with trump. at that meeting or at any other time, did president trump or his representatives discuss or suggest what you should say publicly during the impeachment trial, if called as a witness, or in any later investigation, about your conversation about him or on january six? here's what kevin mccarthy said on january six, in an interview with norah o'donnell, cbs news, while the capital was still being attacked. >> you said you spoke with the president, what did the president say he would do? >> i don't know. he had put a tweet out of. there i told him to talk to the nation. i told him what was happening right. then i was very clear with the president when i called him. i said to stop. and he sai

this is not normal but this is kevin mccarthy's life. the great federal florida reporter mark caputo who works for nbc news now. there is no one like him in political journalism today. today mr. caputo is the sole by line on this scoop. the nbc justice correspondent pete williams contributed reporting to this as well. if you want a little peek behind the curtain here as to how those of us in the nbc news family read scoops from our own shop like this, you should know, like i said, mark caputo an unparalleled reporter in terms of florida politics. but pete williams being a contributing reporter on this as well, pete williams is like the emperor of the kingdom of understatement. when everybody else has their hair on fire about something going on in the criminal justice system or in the courts, it is pete williams who is the cooling saucer who brings everything down ten notches and makes everybody take a breath and stop overreacting. so you put mark caputo on the byline from florida and you put pete williams, mr. calm down, everybody, as co

kevin mccarthy talking. he should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. kevin mccarthy goes on to say this. these facts require immediate actions by president trump. accept his share of responsibility, quell the brewing unrest, and ensure president-elect biden is able to successfully begin his term. then kevin mccarthy said this, tim. what we saw last week was not the american way. neither is the continued rhetoric that joe biden is not the legitimate president. let's be clear, joe biden will be sworn in as president of the united states in one week because he won the election. end quote from kevin mccarthy. has kevin mccarthy said that since? >> don't think so. maybe he said joe biden is president but none of the parts about donald trump being responsible. here's the important thing i would like to add onto that quote, nicolle. that isn't just political rhetoric. a lot of us can imbue the notion that donald trump was responsible for january 6th. of course many many public signs

how kevin mccarthy sounded in those moments i just mentioned. he did a live phone call sorks you don't see his face, but you hear his voice. this was as the insurrection was still unfolding. take a listen. >> i was very clear with the president when i called him. this has to stop. he's got to go to the american public and tell them to stop. >> why hasn't he walked down and said that now? >> i conveyed to the president what i think is best to do. i'm hopeful the president will do it. >> have you spoken with his chief of staff? >> i have spoke ton the president. i have spoken to the white house. >> one thing that kevin mccarthy probably believed on january 7th was that trump was done. the critics have been proven right this man was a want to be dictator. even the grass root was going to reject him. that turned out to be completely false. and the minute he realized that, that's when he made a beeline right for martin bashir. mair la dpo. they converted to become king of france when asked why, he said paris was worth a mess. anything he had to bear,

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 las

but i can't speak to what kevin mccarthy might have done. it's kind of, you know, i have no idea what he would do. >> former vice president dick cheney was at the capitol earlier today and said this about the state of the republican party, quote, i am deeply disappointed at the failure of many members of my party to recognize the grave nature of the january 6 attacks and the ongoing threat to our nation. do you agree? how do you change the direction of the republican party? how do you get republican officials to stop lying about the election? >> well, i do agree with vice president cheney's remarks today. you know, i've been speaking out about this myself repeatedly over the past year. it bothers me deeply. i think that people in my party who refuse to accept the realities of what happened one year ago today are making a big mistake and putting a loyalty to donald trump ahead of their constitutional oath to defend the constitution and represent their constituents. i think it's not helpful for the republican party or good for the country. i r

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 making here this is a request, not a subpoena. we have not hit the phase, even though other republican lawmakers have been asked to comply. we have not yet hit the phase where the january 6th committee have moved up by making these subpoenas. at this point they're requests. subpoenas. s that request. when they talk in the letter about needing to know about the conversation mccarthy had with trump on that day, this came up during the impeachment hearing last year. it is a well litigated well talke

one republican said trump, according to kevin mccarthy, was saying, well, kevin, i guess these rioters care more about the election than you. if that is true, that suggests trump had no plan to stop the insurrection. >> john, your perspective on this because i wonder what you make of the fact that he is a member of congress, a member of house leadership, is calling congressional investigation illegitimate and abuse of power and not serving any legislative purpose. that statement may come back to bite him, i don't know, after the next election. >> reporter: kate, kevin mccarthy doesn't care about tradition of the house. he doesn't care about telling the truth before the committee. he doesn't care about getting to the bottom of the insurrection. he cares about one thing. he wants to become the house speaker. he knows that to become the house speaker he cannot be seen as cooperating with democrats against the interests of former president trump, who we know incited the insurrection on january 6th because kevin mccarthy himself said so when he thought it was going to be politically advanta

mccarthy, were i to say it now, could see kevin mccarthy criticizing me for being partisan. even though i'm just repeating his own words against him. we need republican patriots, not just adam kinzinger and liz cheney, we need republican patriots to stand up for democracy. and we need the conservative pundits who know better to stop belittling what happened on january 6th. i think it was conservative writer kevin williamson who said, of course, the riots that we saw in the cities throughout 2020, of course they were horrific, of course they were criminal, but there is a difference between a coup d'etat and coup dtarget, there is a difference. >> if you read the op-ed out in "the new york timetimes" by jim carter, he says it takes democrats and republicans coming together, but that's not happening. finish this sentence as you described the state of the union. one year later, the state of our union is -- >> teetering. absolutely teetering. and it is not just jimmy carter who has devoted much of his post presidency period to standing up for democracy all over the world and now

but this is kevin mccarthy's life. the great florida political reporter works for nbc news now, quite a coup for nbc news to have landed him. there is no one like him in florida, political journalism today. and today, mr. caputo is the sole line on nbc news. i should mention, the legendary nbc justice correspondent contributed reporting to this as well. and if you want just a little peek behind the curtain here as to how those of us sort of in the nbc news family sort of read scoops from our own shop like this, you should know, like i said, mark caputo is unparalleled reporter in terms of florida politics. but pete williams being a contributing reported on this as well, pete williams is the emperor of the kingdom of understatement. when everybody else has their hair on fire going on in the criminal justice in the court, it is pete william who's got the saucer who brings to not just and makes everybody take a breath. so you put mark caputo on the byline from florida. and you put pete williams, mr. come down everybody, a

we all know that kevin mccarthy had this really important phone call. he's inside the capitol, while it is being ransacked, he gets on the phone with donald trump and says call off your people. is donald trump displeased by what's happening? no. he's angry that kevin mccarthy is upset by what's happening. that's really revealing. the committee made a point of saying, hey, kevin, we know this. the other thing the committee is interested in, whether there was some effort to tamper with kevin mccarthy as a witness, potentially to obstruct justice. the committee is making a statement in that letter to kevin mccarthy. >> you know, we talk about speaking indictments, which are different here, mccarthy is not being indicted, but speaking indictments where a prosecutor lays out what you have. this felt to me like a speaking letter from bennie thompson. this is what we have, this is where we're going, and on that subject of a possible cover-up there, look, i'll read you that sentence, your public statements regarding january 6th have changed markedly since you m

he made a decision, right, this is january 7th kevin mccarthy, january 6th kevin mccarthy was in one place, then he went to mar-a-lago and everything changed, right? that's adam kinzinger's take, everything changed once kevin mccarthy made this decision that, you know -- and in some ways, mitch mcconnell made the same decision, though using a different tactic, right? mcconnell decided not to convict. mccarthy decided not to ostracize. he went back down, he went a step further. but both of them in their own way believing that if they go further, they were dividing their own party, and they made the decision, party unity over perhaps what may be a seditious threat against the united states, right? so look, i think kevin mccarthy's standing becomes more precarious if this gets closer to people who are elected republicans. that's the bottom line. >> i wonder how you run, though, in 2022, with the word "sedition" hanging over the national political conversation when it comes to what happened on january 6th. and i ask that because we got some newlnumbers, and a lot of focus has been on joe

kevin mccarthy is the weakest congressional leader of either party in decades. he is not rooted in principles or values or the truth. we all remember when he went on fox news and boasted about how the benghazi inquiries, which were supposed to be about national security, had tarnished hillary clinton's poll ratings. he pushed liz cheney out of leadership for telling the truth about the 2020 election. on january 6th when the insurrection was going on he thought his personal survival and advancement required him to condemn donald trump so that's what he did. later when he realized that was going to harm his ambition to remain as the republican leader and become speaker if they win the house he went down to mar-a-lago and turned tail and is telling a different story. same thing on whether he is going to cooperate with the committee. yeah, he said, sure i'll cooperate. now he says he won't. the question is now whether the committee can compel him with a subpoena to cooperate and of course if he does cooperate whether he tells the truth. there is no assurance he'll d

>> the committee absolutely needs what kevin mccarthy, his testimony because kevin mccarthy talked to donald trump on january 6th and urged him to send help to call off the rioters and they a lot about the conversation that we don't know. wef gotten conflicting reports from kevin mccarthy himself about that conversation. so the notion that kevin mccarthy has said some things publicly is hogwash because what he said publicly directly conflicts with what else he said publicly. so the committee needs to understand exactly what happened with kevin mccarthy, donald trump on the afternoon of january 6th as well as additional conversations that mccarthy had with trump before and after the insurrection. so the notion that any witness can dictate to a lawful and duly authorized committee what the witness has and what information the witness has or whether that witness' testimony would be helpful or not is a farce. there's no investigation in the world where people under investigation or witness to an investigation could justifiably determine whether or not it's legitimate with the investigator

kevin mccarthy refused to take that offer. and instead, we have the select committee that's getting dramatically more and more information than it would have come out if he accepted the offer that pelosi and made. that said, it would be consistent with his career and worries that on this for him to totally step down the committee and their them to take even more aggressive steps. yeah, it's a great point. in fact, he had deputized a member of republican leadership. the ranking member on the security committee to work out a deal with benny thompson. which they did work out for a bipartisan commission. which he then pulled the rug out from under. they passed it in the house, mcconnell filibustered in the sudden. it would've been a 50/50 split. it would've been done. i think under statutes in a year. so this is all sort of produced by those choices. you know, the other question i have here is just going through the facts there as laid out in the committee, so much of this is already in the public record. i mean, him being at the

and you see it with hannity and ingraham and with kevin mccarthy. one of the themes that's coming out it seems to me in the committee's investigation is everyone during those three hours, everyone across the board, had hair on fire about how horrible it was and how the president had to stop it and he didn't. and this is another example of yet another person who is in that boat. >> no one said this is a good idea and it's going to work. there were zero people saying great strategy. give it a couple more hours. nobody thought that. my sense is that the text messages of the committee has been getting, majrle what they've gotten from mark met yoes, they describe getting reams of production is helping them get their foot in the door and crack open, get a much more detailed picture of the communications of the people who were closest to the white house, closest to the president. that's meaningful information they're getting. i think there is a lot more to come. >> betsy woodruff swan. thank you. i want to turn to one of the members investigating the insur

plus, a capitol hill staffer who at the time worked for kevin mccarthy. he'll join us to talk about his experience and why he is now working for mccarthy's republican nemesis congresswoman liz cheney. of course we'll take a look at how this nation heals if it can. if we can from this unprecedented and dark time in america. we'll start today with cnn's alex marquardt and a closer look at what we've learned about the awful day in terms of the specifics of the maga terrorist attack on the capitol. we want to warn you especially parents there are scenes of graphic violence and explicit language. >> reporter: for weeks, president donald trump hyped the rally on january 6th. be there, he tweeted. it will be wild. that day his family and allies whipped up the crowd. >> have some back bone. show some fight. let's have trial by combat. >> then trump proceeded to call out his own vice president. >> mike pence is going to have to come through for us. and if he doesn't, that will be a sad day for our country. >> reporter: he lied about the election and urged his foll

and your speaker kevin mccarthy. he's already made clear, he's going to take retribution if you become speaker. he, said in the last few days, he's going to kick off democratic congressman like adam schiff and others who angered him off of the committee. so this is a really toxic moment on the hill where members are going at each other. and the parties are in full-throated contact with each other. and where we head will be determined by the election in the fall. >> okay, but then peter, should the presidents message to democratic members and congress help me, help you? they need his help in holding on to power. and he needs their help in getting any more of his legislative agenda done. >> well, you can certainly argue that they have been helped him by blocking his build back better social program. that has been, you know, a singular failure of this administration. >> and voting rights -- >> he had everything packed into this one program. essentially a whole new deal. a whole society in one piece of legislation. and i

as far as the information after seeking from kevin mccarthy if you look at the letter there they list out about 20 public statements that kevin mccarthy said, and said we want to bring you in and talk to you about this statement made to politico, this statement you made to the wall street journal. they already have all the evidence, it's sitting in their letter, they can use it right as as to adam schiff in what he's doing, it's a little rich for us to start taking advice from the quarterback of the fake russian hoax for the past four years. this is political theater. >> it is bad theater. jason, your take? >>sean: jackson, and want to axes when thing first. ask you first. why, when the committee chairman, bennie thompson was asked if nancy pelosi is off limits, he acknowledged she is off limits. okay. and nancy tipped off jim jordan and jim banks and put on the two biggest trump haters and the political republican party. >> the person in charge of security for a separate but equal branch of government, the legislative branch, the person in charge of security at the house of represent

tucker speak, kevin mccarthy is supposed to act. >> kevin mccarthy's position makes him one of the most powerful republicans in the country, but we all know he's not the most powerful conservative in the country and that's someone like tucker carlson. someone who wants to be speaker of the house in the future, really following those voices which gives us a with trump. that's wit carlson. that's frankly pushing the mccar thiz and mcconnells of the world >> i think historians dana call it the misty may-treanor rule meaning it's all about the base. >> it is all about the base. there's the base and then there's the absolutely undemocratic conspiracy theory qanon people in your caucus, and there used to be a line, a line between people who want smaller government, low taxes, are socially conservative which is an ideology, and people like emgroene who are conspiracy theorists and the fact that republican leader is kowtowing to the conspiracy theorists, that's what is new and that is why the democrats felt that they had to act to remove them from committees. it's because kevin mccarthy didn't

including kevin mccarthy. the "new york times" reports for weeks members on the special house panel have privately agonized over how aggressive to be in pursuing sitting members of congress, weighing their desire for information about lawmakers' direct interactions with former president trump against a potential legal difficulty and political consequences of doing so. now they are wrestling with whether to subpoena mccarthy, the man who is line to be speaking if republicans retake the house this november, setting in motion a process that could potentially lead to a democratic-controlled house holing him in contempt of congress with the midterm elections looming. investigators have rarely encountered such a situation. it is a situation with hefty stakes for their institution and their investigation as well given mccarthy's many conversations and meetings with the expresident, and given that questions are mount being what was said during those interactions. just days after the insurrection, kevin mccarthy told a

happening on capitol hill this week the january 6 committee asked for representative kevin mccarthy's cooperation.he rejected that and then also in usa today they note that the january 6 committee has subpoenaed social media companies as it seeks the role of disinformation in the capital attack on the voting rights legislation let's hear from senator kristen sinema of arizona on the floor yesterday before president biden madehis way to capitol hill . talk to democrats behind closed doors to try to encourage them to change the rules . here's what she hadto say . >> consider this. should we take a partyline v response to every problem we face in this body, every action taken to protect the cherished value that led usto more division ? not lessth. the impact is clear for all to see . the steady escalation of. [bleep] for tat in which each new majority weakens the guardrails of the senate and excludes input from the other party. furthering dissent and anger amongst this body and our constituents at home.and the currents increased use of requiring culture for traditional nominees under pre

kevin mccarthy has been casting dispersions on this committee since it was formed. he defiantly pulled all of the members he appointed to the committee when nancy pelosi did not agree to two of his picks. so it is a very adversarial way opposing the formation of the commission, and he got the entire republican caucus to vote against it and it died in the senate, and now with the house select committee, at every turn, he has found a way to get in the way of the investigation, and continues today. what is most interesting with the remarks today, jon, and we should not overlook it today, but when pressed about why he would not be willing to talk about what he knows about january 6th is that he has nothing to offer the committee to help them in crafting any legislation. well, what does that mean? he does have information that perhaps might be of aid to them if they were to find some sort of criminal activity in this investigation, and now he was making that point as it relates to that he believes it is not the committee's job to look into the criminal activities around

i think that's most likely what kevin mccarthy is seeing. he knows if he were to speak to the committee it would hurt him tr tremendously in his standing with the former president. i wouldn't be surprised if he ends um turning over information. some documents. he cares about legacy. when the book is written january 6th, the reports, he will want it to show he tried to do the right thing. tried to get the national guard there. may be a level of cooperation there at some point certainly not voluntarily and not publicly. >> what do you make of kayleigh mcenany, former press secretary speaking to the committee. did this yesterday virtually after subpoenaed. not taking the route of defying the subpoena. what do you think the committee would want to know from her and why do you think she made that decision to comply? >> well, two things. kayleigh is a lawyer. a smart person. i think she realizes there's quite a bit of legal exposure that comes with defying a congressional subpoena, but also i imagine that fox news expected her to go in. i wouldn't

january 6th investigators want to talk to representative kevin mccarthy about the capitol riot. why cbs news is mentioned in the request. >>> prop supplier sued. the new twist into the deadly shooting on the movie set of "rust." >>> caught on camera -- new video shows the moments before a medical helicopter crashed to the ground with everyone on board surviving. >>> well, good morning, and good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. there is cautious optimism this morning that the omicron surge could be peaking in parts of the country, but health officials are warning americans to keep their guard up. according to the cdc, the seven-day average for new cases is still at a pandemic high of about 761,000 cases per day. hospitalizations and deaths are up, as well. yesterday, chief medical adviser to president biden, dr. anthony fauci, vowed the government will eventually control the virus but said virtually everyone will get exposed and likely infected. laura podesta is in new york with more on all of this. laura, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. well, one way to

kevin mccarthy did to, a year ago. kevin mccarthy was silent today, but listen to what he had to say last year. >> some say, the riots were caused by antifa. there's absolutely no evidence of that. conservative should be the first to say so. the president bears responsibility for the states attack, why mark brighter's. he should have immediately denounced the mob, when he saw what was unfolding. these facts require immediate action from president trump. except his share responsibility during the unrest. and ensured president biden could successfully begin his term. and the president's immediate action also -- which is why i think a fact finding commission and, censure resolution would be prudent. >> so, he was opposed to impeaching the president, at that point, but he wanted to censure the president of the united states, who ease now in service to, every day. -- former president. >> lawrence, you know, sadly, i talked about people, like kevin mccarthy, today. those who have forgotten their oath. those who will push the

donald trump can roll over kevin mccarthy. mccarthy will have debased himself like a busload of people in washington, dc, had before him. maybe i should say a stadium full of people thinking they are going to figure out a way to curry favor and he betrays every last person. mccarthy is doing this for no reason. >> they think there's an upside but there isn't. at the center of all of this is donald trump. it doesn't take a whole lot to get on the wrong side of a conversation. just ask governor desantis who was blind sided with a smack to the vaccination status by the president calling out all politicians who refuse to acknowledge their vaccination status this coming from donald trump. >> wow. >> you're saying, where did it come from? the fact that desantis is making those moves to become the nominee of the party and he needs to cut that off. if mccarthy thinks donald trump is going to embrace his potential speakership in a way that is going to be long term and consistent, he's fooling himself. the question then becomes what doe

kevin mccarthy told the committee he will not cooperate with this investigation with th predetermined outcome. and it was only another excuse to smear donald trump and has nothing to do with protecting the capital from future attacks. he couldn't be more right. take a look. >> you babbled the creation of an outside commission from the start. he also told the select committee. >> that's not true. >> why should the public not conclude that, you are trying t hide something here. with the facts were getting now. >> great question, i hope everything gets corrected at cnn . >> can you answer the question. >> after january 6, who was the first person to offer a bipartisan commission? was it me? i will help you. the answer is yes. >> i called for it to, but it had to be bipartisan not by committee full of trump impeachment haters and never trumper's grade we also need a committee to look into the riot and the summer of 2020. we can't have this kind of violence in this country. we are better than that. as we reported two days before january 6, donald trump as required by law authorized up t 20

they haven't even found kevin mccarthy in contempt. they haven't issued a subpoena much less found him in contempt. they would have to go to the justice department. they would have to, you know, go to the full house, go to the justice department. i mean, look at steve bannon. steve bannon is the only person they have moved against for criminal contempt, and the case against him, which is now a couple months old, is on a slow boat to nowhere. this is -- the idea that in the middle of january you can start pressuring people through the courts for investigation that's supposed to end in the fall, that's just a fantasy. and i think people need to recognize that for better or for worse that if people don't want to cooperate with this committee, there's nothing they can do about it at this point. that's a sad fact but it's true. >> and the delay strategy might be working. we do want to play for you what liz cheney, of course one of the members of the january 6th committee, had to say and get your reaction. have a listen. >> we know that lead

kevin mccarthy did, too, a year ago. kevin mccarthy was silent today. but let's listen to what kevin mccarthy said last year. >> some say the riots were caused by antifa. there's absolutely no evidence of that. and conservatives should be the first to say so. the president bears responsibility for wednesday's attack on congress by mob rioters. he should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. these facts require immediate action by president trump. accept his share of responsibility. quell the brewing unrest. and ensure president-elect biden is able to successfully begin his term. and the president's immediate action also deserves congressional action, which is why i think a fact-finding commission and a censure resolution would be predunt. >> so he was opposed to impeaching the president at that point, but he wanted to censure the president of the united states, who he is now in service to everyday, the former president. >> well, lawrence, you know, sadly i talked about people like kevin mccarthy today. those who have forgott

i've not heard back from kevin mccarthy or his team as of yet. but i do think this is something the committee is deliberating. we'll have to find out what their next step will be. >> well, ryan nobles, gloria borger, elie honig, thank you for helping us understand this breaking news. "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. >>> might the u.s. be about to turn a covid corner? "the lead" starts right now. covid cases could -- could be peaking in parts of the u.s. which means they could -- could -- be coming down soon. this as top health experts warn every american could end up being exposed to omicron. >>> plus, the january 6th committee just invited a new ghost their party. they're asking the top house republican kevin mccarthy if he feels like voluntarily cooperating. >>> and match point for novak djokovic. a deci

i've not heard back from kevin mccarthy or his team as of yet. but i do think this is something the committee is deliberating. we'll have to find out what their next step will be. >> well, ryan nobles, gloria borger, elie honig, thank you for helping us understand this breaking news. "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. >>> might the u.s. be about to turn a covid corner? "the lead" starts right now. covid cases could -- could be peaking in parts of the u.s. which means they could -- could -- be coming down soon. this as top health experts warn every american could end up being exposed to omicron. >>> plus, the january 6th committee just invited a new ghost their party. they're asking the top house republican kevin mccarthy if he feels like voluntarily cooperating. >>> and match point for novak djokovic. a decision on the tennis star's fate in the australian open could come at any moment. >>> hello and welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we begin in our health lead. a new warning from the top health experts. today dr. anthony fauci, a

let go through kevin mccarthy for a minute. we played earlier what kevin mccarthy said in realtime. it was clear he is like this needs to stop and trump needs to stop it. on january 6th, he said i was clear with the president when i called the president and told him to make it stop. one week later he gets on the house floor and says the president bears responsibility also accurate but then one week later, he tells reporters the opposite. i don't believe that trump provoked the insurrection. suddenly changes his mind and does an interview and says everybody bears responsibility on the 24th of january. now we get to january 28th. now he goes down to mar-a-lago, which adamkinzinger which is where he said he rest recollected donald trump from the dead. he said he completely changed his story. it seems talking to him would be very important for the committee. at this point, it's a letter, a request. at what point does that request become a subpoena for the house minority leader. >> you're absolutely right. his testimony is very important. he was on the phone with the president in realtim

the january 6th select committee tonight's asking to speak with house minority leader kevin mccarthy -- a man who spoke to trump on the day of the insurrection. well, the man who once claimed he had nothing to hide cooperate fully? plus it is being called a game changer for treating people with covid but will it be months before more antiviral pills are delivered? we will tell you why dr. sanjay gupta reports. >>> and any moment now, australia could decide whether novak djokovic will be allowed to stay in the country and compete in the australian open. let's go out front. and good evening, i'm erin burnett. out front tonight, the january 6th select committee raising the stakes. asking the house minority leader to meet with them. offering up two specific dates for his testimony, and here is their letter tonight to the house minority leader kevin mccarthy. they write, quote, we request -- we write to request your voluntary cooperation on a range of critical topics, including your conversations with president trump. so, it's about five and a quarter pages here and the committee lays out

late today the january 6th committee asked the top house republican and close trump ally, kevin mccarthy, for a voluntary interview. the house committee's six-page letter to mccarthy asks for details about his communications with trump during and after the riot. the lawmakers also want to know about mccarthy's contact with white house chief of staff mark meadows in the days that led up to january 6th. >>> he's made significant public statements about what occurred on january 6th and we'd to hear from him. >> he gave a statement on the floor about president trump bearing some responsibility for what occurred. >> if he doesn't cooperate with the voluntary request, would you subpoena him? >> well, let me say we'll consider it. >>> well, tonight mccarthy issued his own statement saying he will not comply with the committee. quote, i have concluded not to participate with the select committee's abuse of power that stains this institution today and will harm it going forward." but here's the thing, this past may mccarthy was singing a very different tune. >> would you be willing to testify abo

he did so with the tacit approval of kevin mccarthy at the time, and then after the deal was hatched mccarthy backed out of it and encouraged republicans to vote against it. there were enough democrats and republicans able to pass it in the house and then mitch mcconnell, of course, stymied it in the senate and it never came to become a reality. there will be a lot of questions about this decision by john katko. he was someone who we weren't track as a possible retirement, someone who has been consistently been able to win in what is a d-leaning district in upstate new york, a senator in the syracuse region. the democrat who ran against him and said earlier this year that she wasn't going to challenge him this time around. republicans were counting on this district. obviously new york has not finished their redistricting process so we don't know what his district is going to end up looking like, but you'd be hard pressed to find another republican that can win in that part of new york, especially if it's centered around an urban center like syracuse and this is a blow to the republic

[ applause ] >> my kevin from the start kevin mccarthy proved to be an object that exists solely for orange jewelous cesar to play with. we all remember how kevin had a staffer take the time to pick out just the right color star bursts to put in a jar so he could give it to trump as a present. throughout last five years, he's done just about everything to keep the florida man and his maga happy with the hope he could one day become a real boy just like that trained dog that occasionally pees in the house, mccarthy had an accident on january 6th and in the days following talking about the phone calls with the dear leader. >> i say he has responsibility. he told me personally he does have some responsibility. i think a lot of people do. >> of course on that same day, trump had a very different take. >> what is your role in what happened at the capitol? is your personal responsibility? >> if you read my speech and many people have done it and i've seen it both in the papers and in the media on television, it's been analyzed and people thought that what i said was totally appropriate. >>

lauren mentioned kevin mccarthy and his letter at the top of the program. do you think he had a sense here in that he had a chance to have a real bipartisan committee. he blew it up. liz cheney and adam kinzinger joined it, the committee surprised a lot of people by methodically going about its work and having its case and you don't have a distraction of some trump ally blowing it up because kevin mccarthy walked away. >> john, i think mccarthy a year ago made a calculated decision that it was a political imperative for him to stick with donald trump on this and not go his own way and he stuck by that for better or for worse, both politically and substanttively. i think what the committee is doing now is important on two different tracks. what we're seeing in terms of testimony about different people including the president's children, that's important to him because it will put on the record into the timeline so much of what we've already seen in the reporting. axios has reported, the "new york times," "the washington post," a lot of people have timelines

his call to kevin mccarthy, where he seemed to be more concerned about election fraud than you are, that would lead to anecdotal evidence to that. but if the president knew violence was going to happen on january 6 and went ahead with his speech where he said we will march down to the capitol, we have to fight, those kinds of words have now a different meaning. the lawyers in the justice department will have to figure out where that leads culpability, again taking into account we still have more information that we could hopefully get with archive records. jacqueline: do you feel like the committee has the fullest picture possible of the 187 minutes that trump was paralyzed by indecision, the time from when violence at the capitol started to when he put out his first tweet? rep. kinzinger: we may never get that full picture. there may be moments when he was by himself. it could be a lot of moments where he was by himself. we could get a pretty good idea of who communicated to him, an order he needed to give, or what did he communicate back? every person we interviewed that may be able to

there's bad blood between kevin mccarthy and swalwell and schiff. i think that's part of it. there might be some local dynamics, but again, i think kevin mccarthy's disagreement with those two is really largely over policy disagreements, not over necessarily bad conduct. >> well, i appreciate your time, as always, congressman dent. good to see you. >> thank you, ana. >>> and thank you for joining me. i'll be back tomorrow at 1:00 eastern. in the meantime, join me on twitter, @anacabrera. the news continues next with alisyn and victor. have a great one. better skin from your body wash? try olay body wash with skincare super ingredient collagen! olay body wash hydrates to improve skin 3x better, from dry and dull to firm and radiant. with olay body, i feel fearless in my skin. ♪ ♪ 80% get genetically meaningful health info from their 23andme dna reports. ♪ ♪ 80%. that's 8 out of 10 people who could get something enlightening. something empowering. something that could change everything. info that could give you greater control of your own health. and it's right there, i

and another challenge to democrats, republican house leader kevin mccarthy is now threatening to strip january 6th select committee member adam schiff of chairmanship of the intelligence committee if republicans take control after the mid-terms. i'll be joined this hour by congressman schiff to get his response. but let's start with the latest from the covid hearing. nbc capitol hill correspondent leanne caldwell joining me now. give us highlights from this morning. >> reporter: there were a lot of questions from administration officials not only about the efficacy of vaccines, testing, also about isolation periods as well. we know those are the newest guidelines about how long to isolate if you can track covid at five days, and of course as expected there was the back and forth a contentious discussion between senator rand paul and dr. fauci. senator paul has repeatedly attacked dr. fauci about the origins of the virus, and today it was more focused on why he says dr. fauci dismissed epidemiologists who tried to -- who disagreed with mr. fauci, and dr. fauci says rand paul is never fa

something that kevin mccarthy bucked. look, you can look at this as obvious petty, partisan politics at its worst. you have to tremember this, and you know this, this is what gop voters want. they are here for the pain, the punishment, own the libs. it's not so much legislation and governing anymore. reuters did a poll about a month ago asking what republicans are most united around. and it's not taxes. it's not, you know, tariffs. they are united around protecting america from threats against their way of life. you know what that is code for, all the things. that is what is animating republican voters right now. in a way, mccarthy is the perfect avatar for what this party has become. then for the rest of us, people in the moderate majority or on the left, we're kind of left without representation and just watching this circus happen before our eyes, as real problems go unsolved because kevin mccarthy is off, you know, getting revenge. >> kevin mccarthy, avatar, i see you. s.e. cupp, thank you very much for that. >> sure.

as kevin mccarthy said, we will hit the ground running if we are entrusted with the majority, we will not slow down but be like newt gingrich when he took over the house. we will have an agenda and kevin mccarthy just started laying the ground work to that agenda. >> griff: i remember newt gingrich had a contract and laid things out clearly. you now have leader mccarthy laying out the priorities everything from the border to out-of-control crime to the soaring 40 year high inflation. what do you believe should be priority number one, and how will republicans begin to tackle it? >> well, as far as i'm concerned, priority number one would be to hold the biden administration accountable. i mean, we have to look at every debacle in this administration to afghanistan to scenting tax dollars to the wuhan lab for gain-of-function research. we have to look at the unfunded, unconstitutional mandates, the vaccine mandates, the executive order halting the border wall, the executive order with the keystone pipeline. each of these policies that the biden administration has had detrimental effects

and kevin mccarthy who is minority leader in the house. one of those two will be in charge. but right now the republicans, all this in spite of the 1/6 event. >> let's talk about the confluence of things that have happened to bring us to this moment, in terms of the build back better bill, all the back and forth with joe manchin, the fact that we're still looking at this january 6 committee. biden's approval rate, how much damage have all these things done individually? or is it the collective that's really potentially going to hurt democrats? >> you've got the list there in front of you. there's a whole series. and on top of all that we have a convergence of other things, first of all, redistricting and we're going to have a long list of elections. and with redistricting, many of those seats will change because of the population shift. the democratic hold in california is substantial, much different than nationwide. on the other hand, so many things can happen. people in office, some of them will retire. some of them will be redistricted out of their seats and will have to