The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown

The U.S. is urgently tracking the spread of the Omicron variant. It’s now in at least 20 countries and the CDC is stepping up surveillance at U.S. airports as federal officials brace for the variant to be detected here.  Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is now cooperating with the January 6th select committee revealing a critical shift in the investigation. At the same time, President Trump is fighting in court to block the panel from getting hold of his records. But, the judges hearing his case appear to be skeptical.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The CDC just weighed in on the newest coronavirus variant, “Omicron”, as President Biden is urging all Americans not to panic about the threat. Moderna’s Chief Medical officer joins to address if this new variant will evade immunity from the Covid vaccine.  Former Trump associate and top Department of Justice official, Jeffrey Clark, could soon face a criminal contempt referral for defying the January 6th Committee. If the committee moves to hold Clark in contempt, he would become the second person to potentially face criminal charges for refusing to provide information to investigators.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The jury found all three men on trial for murder of Ahmaud Arbery guilty. The verdict sparked cheers in Brunswick, Georgia, where Arbery’s family has been waiting for justice ever since he was gunned down.  Attorneys for former President Trump say that the committee probing the January 6th attack on The Capitol could permanently damage the presidency. Will a panel of judges buy his argument?  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A jury in Charlottesville, Virginia, orders the White supremacist organizers behind the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally to pay millions in damages to nine plaintiffs. It could be any moment a verdict is reached in the trial of three men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery as the prosecution makes a strong rebuttal today. President Biden is taking on soaring gas prices releasing 50 million barrels of oil from the strategic reserve but will it make any difference at the pump in time for holiday travel?  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Closing arguments are done for the day in the trial of three men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man gunned down while jogging last year in Brunswick, Georgia. Jurors in Charlotte have wrapped up another day of deliberations as they consider whether organizers behind the 2017 white supremacist rally are responsible for the deadly chaos that ensued.  Police in Wisconsin say the driver who killed five people and injured almost fifty has now been charged with five counts of intentional homicide.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kyle Rittenhouse is found not guilty of all charges after claiming he fatally shot two racial justice protesters and wounding another in self-defense. The events occurred amidst social unrest in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake in 2020. Jacob Blake’s lawyer, B’Ivory LaMarr, joins to discuss Rittenhouse’s acquittal.  President Biden’s landmark $1.9 trillion social spending bill has been approved by the House after months of delay. Build Back Better has been the centerpiece of the president’s agenda but it now faces serious hurdles in the Senate.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The defense just rested its case in the trial of three white men charged in the killing of black jogger Ahmaud Arbery. The defendant who fired the fatal shot admitted under cross examination that Arbery never threatened him nor pulled a weapon. Closing arguments in the trial will begin Monday morning. The House is closing in on a long awaited vote on President Biden’s nearly $2 trillion social spending bill. The vote could happen as soon as tonight as lawmakers get a new assessment of the price tag and the Senate braces for a shutdown.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A divided House casts an historic vote to censure Republican congressman Paul Gosar and expel him from committee assignments. Partisan tensions rise over Rep. Gosar’s posting of a cartoon video depicting violence against President Biden and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Jurors in the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial requested and are reviewing key video evidence as they deliberate on the five felony counts. How might the video influence their potential verdict?  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The January 6th Select Committee is on the brink of issuing more subpoenas but the panel still has not decided how to approach the defiance of former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. This as Trump is making a new argument for hiding his records from the committee.  Jurors are entering hour eight of deliberations in the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial. CNN is live in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on watch for a verdict on whether the teenager was a vigilante or acted in self-defense.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney James Kraus concludes his rebuttal for the state today arguing that Kyle Rittenhouse's actions were not reasonable self-defense. Mr. Kraus said "it is not up for Mr. Rittenhouse to be the judge, the jury, and eventually the executioner." The jury will begin deliberations tomorrow. Rittenhouse, the armed Illinois teenager who killed two people and wounded another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer, is on trial for multiple counts of homicide.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices