[laughter] [applause] helping you protect your cities is one of the best investments i can make in our country as a philanthropist and together we can really make america safer and stronger and save an awful lot of lives. so thank you for having me. i love this conference. been coming for many, many, many years. tom, you're the greatest. and mayor benjamin, you really are the mayor's mayor. thank you for having me. [applause] goodbye. >> thank you, mayor bloomberg. i think it's safe to say the -- >> secretary of state mike

pompeo talked about the political situation in venezuela. abramsunced elliott would serve as the special envoy. the secretary would say more at the united nations security council. sec. pompeo: good afternoon everyone. today, i am incredibly excited to announce a season, principled, and tough-minded foreign policy veteran is joining our team. elliott abrams is coming aboard to lead our efforts on venezuela. his critical work will get started right away. tomorrow, he will travel with me to the un security council with united states has called a long overdue meeting to urge other nations to support venezuela's democratic transition. elliott's long career in foreign affairs includes a long time as a senior leader in this

organization. under president reagan he served as assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs. under president george w. bush he served on the national security council on human rights and international affairs, senior director for north africa and near eastern affairs. the rightsassion for and liberties of all peoples makes him a perfect fit and a valuable and timely addition. the venezuelan people have rejected, president maduro's illegitimate rule. consistent with their constitution and the people in the national assembly, the interim president has declared himself. these are the first steps on venezuela's road to liberty. elliott will be a true asset.

on this issue and all others he presidento advance trump's interests and the american people. left thisiefly, i building 30 years ago this week. it is nice to be back. venezuela is the and difficult and dangerous and i cannot wait to get to work. >> we have time for questions. secretary, can you talk about in more detail about what mr. abrams will be doing, what will his first task be? what will the chief focus be? will he traveled to the region, and can you talk about some of the -- what will happen to overseas assets, the

gold has in the bank of england, money it has in overseas accounts, will the expectation be the interim resident will have control over those funds? sec. pompeo: to your first question, elliott will have responsibility for all things related to our efforts to restore democracy in venezuela. it is a global challenge. there are multiple dimensions in thewe help to assist venezuelans achieved democracy, and he will be responsible for leading that effort. we have an enormous team that has done truly remarkable work today to get us to the point we are at today. they have done this over my eight months, but long preceding that as well. i am proud of the work our state department team has done. elliott will lead our effort that relates to our efforts on behalf of the venezuelan people. i would expect his first task will be to get up to speed, and then travel to new york for the

un security council meeting. after that, i cannot tell you where it will take him. it will surprise me if he travels to the region, but the road ahead will be driven by the demand of the venezuelan people in how we can assist them. overseas assets, we will have announcements from other places later today talking about how we president the interim juan guaido will have to leave venezuela forward. among the countries that have not recognized juan guaido's has offereduruguay diplomacy to help in the crisis. is the u.s. thinking to work with them, or is the u.s. asking them to recognize juan guaido?

sec. pompeo: we think every country ought to recognize the constitutional leader of venezuela, and that is who the united states has concluded juan guaido is, the interim president of venezuela. we think every country ought to recognize the venezuelan constitution and the demands of the venezuelan people. whether mexico, uruguay, or any country, we can ultimately have a free and fair election in venezuela where the voices of the venezuelan people who under the maduro regime have been starved, an enormous medical and humanitarian situation. in colombia, over a million refugees have fled the horrors of the maduro regime. we think every country should take steps to achieve that and not side with this cruel dictator in venezuela who has devastation.h tha

mr. secretary, a lot of people are concerned about the diplomats who were down there. would you tell us what you are prepared to do if tomorrow when a 72 hour deadline passes, say the venezuelans cut up electricity and water, or tried to go into the building to bring out the diplomats by force. would you be specific about what you intend to do in the event of any of these scenarios, and how can you assure people they are protected? sec. pompeo: there has been no activity that has taken more time over the past days that ensuring the protection of those folks under our authority there in venezuela. we are working diligently to make sure they are protected. there is no higher priority for the secretary of state or the president of united states. we have discussed this at some length. with respect to how we will deliver that, we will make clear to everyone that it is our

expectation that the u.s. officials that are there and have been invited to be there by juan guaido will have the privileges and immunities. we have every expectation those rights will continue to be protected. aday, we have ordered departure, we are moving some staff out. with what thetent state department does every day. the first meeting i get is all over the world every mission, every consulate, every facility where we have officers come a i receive a briefing on risk and risk analysis. we will continue to do that in venezuela. moment to evaluate this and we will get right, we will make sure we protect our folks on the ground, and take all appropriate measures to ensure they are

protected. thank you all. c-span's "washington journal," live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. this morning, the president of public affairs clifford young analyzes his groups recent polling on the government shutdown. world magazine reporter jim long discusses his series on the legalization of recreational marijuana in the u.s. jones onr writer tom the top media stories of the week, including video of the covington catholic school students, and an erroneous story on the mueller investigation. "washington journal,"