deas. we're gonna hit our launch date! (scream) thank you! goodbye! we help all types of businesses with money, tools and know-how to get business done. american express open. ♪ morning glory, america. i'm hugh hewitt. lots going on this week. i'm focused on the bad things big tech is accused of doing and whether donald trump and facebook. chris coons will join me. but first we'll start with three of the beltway's brightest young stars to talk about donald trump, twitter, amazon, facebook, big tech. tim alberta of political, is sung-yueng kim of the "washington post".

we all take money from jeff bezos in some way. how surprised were you to see the president take on amazon this week? >> our sources have told us that the president has talked privately among close friends about amazon for some time that he is concerned they are not paying enough taxes. he's concerned about the revenue effect that the post office may be having from amazon. i will point out here that the postal service has said they are actually gaining money from amazon services. but it is noteworthy, i will point out, that brad parscale, who is the 2020 campaign manager, has stressed this point as well and basically brought in "washington post" tweet criticizing amazon. ist is not amazon that owns the "washington post". it is jeff bezos. you are seeing all of these

pieces brought together there with the attacks the president has had towards amazon this week. >> eugene, i sat down with you last week in washington for "march for our lives". all of a sudden a week later that is almost a case that has been turned in the media, and the president did that by focusing on amazon. is that strategy or just the way trump operates? >> i think it could be a bit of both. the "march for our lives" did not do any favors for president trump, and more broadly the republican party, since many of the activists represent issues that are in conflict with what conservatives currently want regarding gun violence, especially when you think of some of the more extreme arguments or more radical arguments. some of the liberal student activists are asking for. but the reality is the president has expressed his frustration with amazon and the company being able to what he would say take advantage is of loopholes that disadvantage small businesses even before this

"march for our lives" and the gun violence issue began to dominate the headlines. it is arguably one of the more populist ideas we have seen from this president. many said it is "the voice" of populist america. >> tim alberta, good to have you here where the tigers are officially eliminated from the playoff contention. i want to ask you what the reaction was on the hill before -- after the amazon attack and before the response about-face book, et cetera. is it just confusion up there? >> i think it's confusion. i think it's some sort of -- you know, i think folks are exchanges looks, trying to gauge exact lu what this means, what it doesn't mean. some of this is sort of par for the course as they have become -- folks on both sides is of the aisle have become accustomed on dealing with surprises from the administration. i think it is also a little bit puzzling, hugh, we are maybe reading into donald trump's intentions here too much

vis-a-vis amazon. on the policy sides, as far as the loopholes and the taxation, i don't doubt that's been raised in conversations. but as with so many other things with donald trump, this can be a gut emotional reaction. the president is not if not nostalgic, right? he comes from an era in which when you wanted to buy a refridge traeurt, you went to sears. when you wanted to buy clothes, you went to the department store. there is something visceral that either does not approve of this seed change in which the new economy is driven so much by internet sales rather than brick and mortar stores. and i think there is a certain resentment towards the "washington post" because of some of its coverage of him. he is sort of a master of conflation. for him he sees an opportunity to kill two birds with one

stone. >> tim, let me stick with you for a second is on the hill and the president's new national security team. i describe it as mike pompeo his right arm, and corner men john kelly. the first two have to get confirmed. are those going to happen and when? big endorsement on my radio show of mike pompeo. is it going to happen quickly? >> i don't expect any of them to happen terribly quickly, no. just talking with some republicans in the last few days about this, there are concerns across the board about a number of these folks. i think pompeo probably the safest. but even ronny jackson, a lot of folks have questions about his credentials, qualifications to lead the v.a.

one thing republicans are surprised about now is the administration with other things on its plate, is choosing to kind of charge headlong into what are going to be a couple of -- at least a couple of tricky confirmation fights. and they're thinking, look, we have tax reform in the rear-view mirror. we're not going to do a whole lot legislatively now that the omnibus has passed. we are looking to november trying to sell economic momentum to the american people. do we really want to get sidetrack said by more of these circuses on the hill. that's what we are going to have either way, regardless if all of these folks end up confirmed. >> we're going to a summit with north korea here. mike pompeo seems to have wide and vast support. do you expect him to be easy and quick or haskell to be slow and arduous? what's your read on this? >> i talked earlier this week about this confirmation battles that are stacking up in the

senate. and the general thinking for now, and obviously the hearings have not happened is and that will determine amount of their prospects. but the thinking right now is that mike pompeo does seem to have an easier shot at being confirmed as secretary of state considering the criticisms we have seen from republicans on gina haskell and questions about her tenure at the cia with those coming from the likes of john mccain and rand paul. however, there is growing concern about pompeo and his ability to be confirmed. obviously, as you know, it's a 51-49 majority in the senate. rand paul is opposed to both nominees. senator mccain has been absent from the hill as he recovers at home from brain cancer treatments. so they are going to need democratic help to get these confirmations through the senate. and there are some -- i mean, remember pompeo did get 14 democrats to vote for him as cia director. democratic senators told me privately he will get far fewer this time. so it will be a nail biter.

republican leaders do want to get him in place before the planned talks with north korea in may. senator bob corker, foreign relations committee chair announced his intentions to hold a hearing in april. that's all we have as far as is a confirmed timeline. >> i can't imagine heidi heidt camp. he got 64, 65 votes as cia director. he's had a good run at the cia. what are you hearing? >> i'm hearing from the democratic base they are putting pressure on their lawmakers to vote against pompeo. they don't want to see someone else take the top position in the state department who they don't have any confidence that would lead trump to reentertain or relisten to many of the complaints that people have had about the direction of his foreign policy and his ideas that people just left of him have found a bit problematic.

there's no confidence that many democrats that pompeo could leave things to be much different from rex tillerson when influencing global affairs. so these are some of the people that i think a lot of lawmakers are listening to as they head into midterms and are looking to be re-elected this fall. >> back to you, tim alberta. i just can't see mike pompeo getting beat. am i being blink erred here? >> i think it could get contentious but i think there is no other way he doesn't get confirmed. john tester. joe donnelly. i do think a couple confirmation battles could get very srerbgs tight. and it's no sure thing that gina haspel is confirmed. not saying she doesn't have a chance. but mike pompeo of the entire bunch probably seems the safest.

>> i want to thank you all three for spending time with me this weekend. i'll be right back with senator chris coons, democrat from delaware, right after this. alo, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking, or allergic and skin reactions which can be life-threatening. stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. tell your healthcare provider if you've had depression or other mental health problems. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. the most common side effect is nausea. quitting was one of the best things that i ever did. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. many insurance plans cover chantix for a low or $0 copay.

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♪ we talked about twitter and facebook and google. is it time to look whether or not either the trust division or new agency has to get control over them? >> if you spend your time trying to stop big firms from being big, you will end up slowing down economic growth and development. >> they ought to be more

interested in cooperating with a law enforcement issue. >> let's discuss and see where we're going but protect the first amendment. >> we worry about concentrated marketplac marketplaces. we want them to be competitive. >> should the house intel committee look into establishing a new agency to regulated big tech? >> let's focus what russians do, how do they do it, how do we stop them from doing it? >> we ought to retaliate. seriously retaliate against the russians. and these tech firms could be helpful. >> i want to look at everything, yes. this is the point. social media is a wonderful thing, but it also allows isis to recruit. >> welcome back, america. i'm hugh hewitt. what you just saw were excerpts from the shows i did and interviews i did last year with with speaker ryan, fcc chairman

pai. it turns out i was ahead of the d.c. curve focusing on whether big tech needs big regulation. that issue broke up this week for demands for mark zuckerberg to testify about election 2016 and facebook's role, plus the reports of donald trump's anger with amazon. those are the headlines. the biggest question is what to do? senator chris coons, the democrat from delaware, on the senate judiciary and foreign affairs committee, floating the idea of a new committee to monitor big tech. welcome. always good to see stkphru thank you, hugh. good to be on. >> up until now, have members of congress, both houses and both parties, been intimidated by facebook? >> well, i don't know if i would say intimidate said but perhaps not clear about some of the risks and the downsides that facebook poses. most of us use oren joy or are familiar with facebook.

and social media facebook in particular has been a remarkable tool to connect people around the world and bring us together as communities. as the investigation into what happened in the 2016 election has continued, there's been more and more evidence about ways in which facebook may well be be exploiting our positive use of its capacities and instead using its business model which involves hoovering up huge quantities of personal data and selling it to other entities. this now raises i think more concerns for americans. that's why the senate judiciary committee, on a bipartisan basis, has asked for zuckerberg, the founder and leader of facebook, to come and testify april 10 when we're back in session. >> hoovering up is a terrific way to put it, senator. let's pause there for a moment and talk father to father, dad to dad. are you concerned about the matter of raw data they are

collecting on your children from cradle really through -- some millennials open facebook on their kids the day they're born. what do you think about that? >> i do think that certainly americans of our generation would be shocked to learn just how much personal information about where we are, what we're doing, what we buy, what our interests are, is being made commercially available so other companies can target us more specifically. when i talk to my kids on it, first, they no longer spend is a lot of time on facebook. they think it is for older folks and are on to other platforms. second, they are less concerned about the issue of intrusion because they have lived with its their whole lives. there is something creepy about doing a search on something i'm interested in, something to buy, and then have advertisements for that particular vacation spot or

product appearing in other venues on other platforms within a matter of minutes. the ways in which big tech is now monetizing that is concerning. senator flake and i, he's the chair and i'm ranking on the subcommittee on privacy of the senate judiciary committee, we are working closely on planning a series of hearings for later this year on ways in which our privacy is being violated and ways in which we as parents should be concerned about our children's privacy. >> you are going to get a huge audience for those hearingsme. let me show you a quote from tim cook. he said i think the best regulation is no regulation, is self-regulation. however i think we're beyond that here. do you agree with him, senator coons? >> i think we should approach regulation thoughtfully and

carefully because i'll remind you all of these big breakthrough tech companies started in the united states. they have grown mostly in the united states. and a lot of the economic value of new employment and new opportunities have benefited the united states. but we are at a point where they have grown so quickly and are so dominant and their business model so intrusive that it is deserving of some attention. there are costs to regulation. regulation can inhibit growth. so we need to be thoughtful, bipartisan and careful in how we regulate. but i think we're at a time when google, amazon, facebook, have become so significant in our lives, our economy, that it is time for congress to weigh in. >> president trump took a hit at amazon online and the stock tanked. i both worked for jeff bezos, and i own amazon. those are my conflicts. what did you make of the

president taking a swing at am is zone? >> the president has a talent for looking at things that concern average americans. he too the same sort of swing that a number of us have in congress. i spent 10 years in county government. local governments around the country have been complaining for years that some of these large companies, amazon in particular, were not paying their fair share on sales tax. delaware doesn't have a sales tax. but in lots of places around the country, the loss of sales tax revenue has hurt brick and mortar stores. amazon, as it has gotten larger and larger, be has been a more effective competitor, pushing out of the marketplace of small businesses, local businesses that tend to contribute to a municipal or county government. >> do you think when mark zuckerberg comes up to testify that it a ought to be in front of a brand-new committee? do you think he ought to be asked to explain why they need

so much data and all the different ways they are repurposing it? i think it will come as a shock to many americans when they figure out what the the heck is going on here. not organized crime. it's very legal. but it is just so vast. >> i think you're right, hugh. the average american doesn't know how much of their data is being used, sold and resold to other entities. the republican senator from colorado and i have teamed up for the first new full committee since the 1970s. a cyber security committee. it would be made the up of the chair and ranking members of the seven senate committees with jurisdiction over cyber committee. everything from armed services and banking to intelligence and foreign relations. i think it's important that we stop responding to cyber security, privacy, and big tech issues in a siloed way, in a

separated way across these seven committees of the senate and instead have a new committee that brings everybody with jurisdiction and expertise together in one committee. i realize we will not get it passed in the short-term. >> well, i think it's a great idea. let me close by asking, if you get to ask mark zuckerberg questions, are you going to drill down on getting him to explain why they need all of this? >> yes. . it is important for average americans to understand this isn't just a business model for facebook. it is something that has consequences for you, your family, your children in particular. because things that are posted on the internet are not just happy pictures of dogs and cats and birthdays. they're information about your interests, tastes, political leanings, friendships and affiliations. they don't go away. they are sold and resold in ways that can genuinely impact you

and your children. it is something i think the average american should be paying more attention to, and we in congress who are obligated to represent the concerns of average americans should be taking up and pressing forward. >> i couldn't agree more. i like doing that with awe democrat once in a while. thank you, senator, for coming in on easter weekend to talk to me about it. happy easter, senator. >> thank you, hugh. >> the one book that is essential for anyone interested in reading about big tech. i'll be right back. wemost familiar companies,'s but we make more than our name suggests. we're an organic tea company. a premium juice company. a coconut water company.

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and good morning to you to all of you. i'm alex witt at the half hour. growing concerns on capitol hill following new details of spending by epa administrator scott pruitt. this coming days after v.a. secretary david shulkin was fired over his own ethics violations. here's democratic congressman of virginia. >> if scott pruitt doesn't resign, president trump should fire him. this is not good f