The hearing is underway, right on time.

Chutkan has entered and taken the bench. Thomas Windom is representing Jack Smith's special counsel team.

John Lauro will speak for former president Trump.

BREAKING: Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was sentenced to prison in Russia, has been freed in a prisoner-swap and is now in US custody, a US official tells @CBSNews. MORE: To secure Griner’s return, Biden has freed arms dealer Viktor Bout. Bout gained infamy as the “Merchant of Death” & was found guilty for conspiring to sell AK-47’s that would’ve been used to kill DEA agents.

PRELIMINARY CBS NEWS EXIT POLL -- PENNSYLVANIA:

Which ONE of these issues mattered most to your vote?

Abortion 36%
Inflation 28%
Crime 11%
Gun policy 10%
Immigration 8% PRELIMINARY CBS NEWS EXIT POLL -- PENNSYLVANIA:

Which comes closest to your position? Abortion should be ...

Legal in all/most cases 64%
Illegal in all/most cases 32%

PRELIMINARY CBS NEWS EXIT POLL -- NATIONAL:

How do you feel about the way things are going in the country?

Dissatisfied/angry 73%
Enthusiastic/satisfied 25% PRELIMINARY CBS NEWS EXIT POLL -- NATIONAL:

Do you think Joe Biden's policies are mostly...

Helping the country? 36%
Hurting the country? 46%
Not making a difference? 16%

JUST IN: Judge Aileen Cannon grants Trump's motion to appoint a special master "to review the seized property for personal items and documents and potentially privileged material subject to claims of attorney client and/or executive privilege." MORE: To DOJ's argument that the FBI's privilege review team has sifted out potentially-privileged material, Cannon writes, "The Court is not so sure."

Cannon notes two known instances of investigators later sorting aside docs that might be privileged.

JUST OUT OF COURT:

Judge Aileen Cannon says she’ll decide on a special master in due course. But by her questions, she sounded skeptical of the government’s arguments against appointing one. Cannon asked government attorneys to explain what harm a special master appointment might do to their criminal investigation. She specifically wanted to know whether ODNI might still complete its review despite the appointment of a special master.

NEW: In filing tonight, Trump lawyers say Justice Department "significantly mischaracterized" the June 3rd meeting between DOJ and Trump's legal team at Mar-a-Lago... MORE: Trump's response to DOJ filing claims the Presidential Records Act "does not oblige the former President to take any particular steps with respect to" records preservation.

Via @costareports, CBS News has confirmed the text of a May 10th letter the acting Archivist of the US sent to Trump’s legal team, first posted by John Solomon last night.

It contains several important revelations… 🧵 1) NARA determined that “Special Access Program” material was in the 15 boxes turned over by Trump last winter. That’s more secret than TS/SCI.

2) There was a back-and-forth on the question of “protective” executive privilege between Trump, NARA and the Biden WH in the spring.

Pence, having removed his mask, begins the joint session. This process took approx 35 minutes four years ago, when Joe Biden presided.

Today’s joint session convenes at 1pmET, with @VP presiding and Speaker Pelosi to his left.

Pence will hand four tellers (2 from House, 2 from Senate) the envelopes.

The tellers will announce that each state’s certificate appears “regular in form and authentic.” If any objections by a House member are co-signed by a senator, Pence will halt the proceedings.

The two houses would debate each objection for up to 2 hours, with members getting no more than 5 mins to speak.

After each house votes, the joint session reconvenes.

JUST IN: Dr. Fauci says he’s staying on at NIH, has spoken with Klain several times and will meet virtually with Biden “landing team” today.

More from @MajorCBS’s interview for @TakeoutPodcast to come. MORE: Fauci tells @MajorCBS he wishes the UK had spent more time reviewing the efficacy and safety of the Pfizer vaccine.

He says when a vaccine is approved, he’d take the shot on camera to boost public confidence in its safety.

ON SELECTING ELECTORS ...

Yes, the 1787 Constitution calls on state legislatures to appoint electors.

But states began delegating that power to voters almost immediately.

The 1800 election was the *last* one where more states had legislatures than voters choosing electors. By the early 19th century, nearly all the states passed laws allowing voters to make their state's choice for president.

South Carolina was the longest holdout, refusing to allow voters to select electors until after the Civil War.

Between the WH, Interior Dept, Justice Dept and Homeland Security Dept, there hasn't been a coordinated message from the Executive Branch on what led to yesterday's violence before Trump's walk to St. John's Church.

We have heard several different explanations. The WH says the intent of authorities was to expand the perimeter, regardless of Trump's walk.

Justice Dept says AG Barr reviewed the scene (he was seen outside at 6:10p), and was surprised to see the perimeter had not been moved back, as had been discussed.

BREAKING: Trump says he is taking hydroxychloroquine. He tells reporters he's been taking it for a couple of weeks.

"I would have told you that 3-4 days ago," Trump says, "but you never asked me the question."

JUST IN: Trump threatens to use his constitutional power to "adjourn" the House and Senate so that he can make recess appointments. The power is listed in Art II, Sec 3:

"[H]e may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper."

JUST IN: Acting Navy Sec Modly apologizes to Cpt. Crozier, whom he removed from the helm of the USS Roosevelt.

"I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naive nor stupid," Modly says in a statement. This statement comes shortly after President Trump said he would get involved and seek to mediate what he cast a dispute between Modly and Crozier.

House Dem resolution:

1) Directs the committees "to continue" their ongoing investigations.

2) Sets up 90 min rounds of questioning to be controlled by chairman and ranking member at open hearings *before* members get their 5 minutes. And staffers may ask Q's...

(more to come) 3) The GOP minority may request the appearance of certain witnesses, if they submit "detailed written justification of the relevance of the testimony."

4) Minority subpoenas MAY be granted, subject to approval by the chair, appealable to the full committee.

Trump's lawyers' argument -- that he can't be pursued by prosecutors now because the Constitution provides for impeachment -- is curious.

Spiro Agnew was prosecuted while he was VP, for bribery and tax evasion committed before he took office.

Was that case unconstitutional... ? Walter Dellinger wrote about this last December ...

washingtonpost.com/opinions/shoul…

NEW: Fmr Rep. Pete Sessions, in statement, says he had no knowledge of Parnas/Fruman alleged scheme.

"[I]f I am ‘Congressman One’, I could not have had any knowledge of the scheme described in the indictment or have involvement or coordination of it." MORE: "I was first approached by these individuals for a meeting about the strategic need for Ukraine to become energy independent. There was no request in that meeting and I took no action. Over time, I recall that there were a couple additional meetings..."

JUST IN: Trump responds to Turkish incursion into Syria, in statement --

"This morning, Turkey, a NATO member, invaded Syria. The United States does not endorse this attack and has made it clear to Turkey that this operation is a bad idea." TRUMP STMNT CONTINUED:

"There are no American soldiers in the area. From the first day I entered the political arena, I made it clear that I did not want to fight these endless, senseless wars—especially those that don’t benefit the United States...."

BREAKING: In complaint to Congress, whistleblower claims Trump has been "using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election." The whistleblower's name has been removed from the 9-page unclassified version of the complaint that has just been released by the House Intelligence Committee.