The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown

A federal grand jury has indicted former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress, the Justice Department announced today. Attorney General Merrick Garland has been under political pressure to indict Bannon since the House referred the Trump ally to the DOJ for contempt back in October. Each count carries a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of one year in jail, the Justice Department said. Britney Spears' 13-year conservatorship has ended. The Los Angeles County Superior Court terminated the court-ordered arrangement today. Spears' attorney Matthew Rosengart said a "safety net" is in place for the singer's finances and personal care.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A federal appeals court granted former President Donald Trump's request to pause the release of his White House records to the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. The injunction is to protect the court's jurisdiction to address the appellant's claims of executive privilege and the judge noted the ruling should not be construed as a ruling on the claim's merit.  Testimony concluded and the defense has rested their case today in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, a teenager faced with several charges of homicide during social unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020. The judge has told jurors that he expects closing arguments on Monday.   To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A significant day today in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse as the defendant sobs on the stand, the judge admonishes the prosecutor for a “grave constitutional violation”, and the defense says they will ask for a mistrial leaving the jury to make the final distinction between self-defense and vigilante killings.  President Biden spoke today at a port in Baltimore to convey how his Build Back Better agenda can address the nation’s rising inflation. Biden noted the infrastructure bill will create a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild American saying that many jobs will not require a college degree. How long until Americans see relief from high prices?    To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Republican congressman Rep. Paul Gosar posted an animated video depicting him stabbing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joe Biden on a social media platform. In response, many are calling for his account to be suspended and for GOP leadership to intervene.  A new batch of subpoenas have been released targeting 10 high-ranking Trump associates including Trump senior advisor Stephen Miller and former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. With the DOJ yet to weigh in on the criminal contempt charges for Steve Bannon, some recipients have already indicated they will not comply with the subpoenas.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ahead of the signing ceremony for his cornerstone legislative achievement, the $1.72 trillion infrastructure bill, President Biden is facing unfavorable polling numbers. A CNN poll shows a majority of American voters feel that Biden is focused on the wrong issues. Now, with the Build Back Better bill up next on the agenda, can progressives work with their moderate colleagues to pass the social safety net legislation and possibly turn Biden's approval rating around?  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi vows the House will vote tonight on the infrastructure bill despite sources suggesting about twenty progressives could be prepared to vote “no.” Although progressives say the social safety net bill will provide meaningful impact on working class voters, splitting up the two packages up is not negotiable.  The jobs report is showing some economic recovery with the addition of 531,000 jobs in October. Although the unemployment rate fell to 4.6%, the lowest level since the economic recovery started in May 2020, millions are still sidelined by the pandemic-induced recession.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sources say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to vote on the $1.75 trillion social safety net bill tonight and the infrastructure bill tomorrow. Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal joins to discuss the status and strategy of both bills saying “we are now ready to pass both bills through.” Starting January 4th, certain health care workers, federal contractors, private businesses with 100 or more employees will all be mandated to have their employees get fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The White House announced that the vaccine rules will preempt any state or local laws which ban vaccine mandates or other measures to stop the spread of the virus. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Republicans win election races across the state of Virginia, from the Governor’s seat to the attorney general’s race. President Biden sidestepped responsibility suggesting the election results were a referendum on Congress, not his Build Back Better plan. Democrats did score mayoral victories as Eric Adams wins in New York City and Michelle Wu wins in Boston. With the 2021 election results now in, have the tides turned for the GOP? To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Major updates from the White House today after Biden spoke on the last day of the UN climate conference. President Biden expressed confidence he can receive a crucial vote from moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin on the sweeping spending bill. Further, Biden said Russia and China could have lost influence on the global stage by not attending the climate conference calling their absence a “big mistake.” With hours left before polls close in Virginia, early exit polls show what the electorate is feeling in a tight gubernatorial race. What does the early data coming in say about the state and even the country?  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over 100 world leaders gathered in Glasgow to address what scientists call one of the world’s biggest threats: climate change. Prime Minister Modi announced India would pledge to become carbon neutral by 2070. Some smaller island nations responded with tepid encouragement saying the targets don’t go far enough. At the conference, President Biden apologized for the U.S. pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords during the Trump administration. A new court filing shows the breadth of documents former President Trump is attempting to keep from the January 6th House committee. New details in the lawsuit filed by Trump reveals he is seeking executive privilege to not release hundreds of pages of handwritten notes, draft documents, and daily logs his top advisers kept related to the capitol riot.  The Biden White House said it would not be in the best interest of the US to keep the documents secret and thus would not keep them private.   To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices