Bethesda interview: Manu Raju CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju on being inside the Capitol as insurgents stormed the halls, and what it’s like to cover the Hill during a pandemic By Amy Halpern | share this Manu Raju at home in Chevy Chase, D.C., with his wife, Archana Mehta, and their 5-year-old twins. Photo by Michael Ventura Just after 4 p.m. on Jan. 6, Manu Raju, CNN’s chief congressional correspondent, was in his recording booth in the Senate press gallery when he heard a pounding on the door. The U.S. Capitol Police had come to evacuate Raju, his two producers, and the 18 or so other media people in the room and escort them to a more secure location in the building. A few hours earlier, Raju and the others had been ordered to stay in the gallery for their protection as insurgents stormed the halls of Congress. Raju couldn’t see the rioters from his windowless booth. Instead, he was going on the air every few minutes with reports that he was receiving via texts from lawmakers and congressional aides on the House floor and in ransacked offices in the Capitol. Until he was being evacuated, he had no idea that rioters had been just down the hall from where he was broadcasting.