by monitoring the citgo risks, we monitor one of maduro's vital vanes of sustenance. what this -- veins of sustenance. this would also alout united states to use the diplomatic tools of travel to discourage further russia-venezuelan military entanglements. it would block travel to the united states for anyone who has acted on behalf of the russian government in direct support of the venezuelan security forces. except in rare circumstances, this would allow for a ban and immediate revocation of visas from anyone working on behalf of the russian government to directly bolster -- i'd ask for an additional two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields two minutes. mr. malinowski: i yield two minutes. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you. i thank the gentleman for yield. except in rare circumstances -- yielding. except in rare circumstances, this would rev kate visas. right now the people of venezuela are enduring an unimaginable onslaught of hunger, preventable medical dangers and escalating economic pain. we cannot stand idly by while putin assists maduro in car

he's also the head of the new citgo board named by juan guaido. sanctions. is that going to work?that going to actually force maduro's hand and tell him and his crony's we don't want to be here anymore? >> eventually it should. there are certain things happening. i just learned this morning when i was coming here from virginia that last week at the end of last week only 90,000 barrels of oil were processed in u.s. refineries of venezuelan oil. venezuela, the only source of cash that it has at this point in time is whatever little it was getting from the united states because of the sanctions that's going to dry out real quick. and then whatever we are getting exports to india which is not too much. and it's sold at a discount. it's not one of our natural markets. but it's the only thing we have left. what we are giving to russia and china is just paying back money they already have spent. so they are going to be in a tight position financially, and the only thing that is actually maintaining them is the support of the military, which is changing some people are already going to su

so that is citgo will sell venezuelan oil here but they can't ship you know send the money back so it's just getting stuck in the u.s. so venezuela hast to. find a means to do a work around both the united states and europe in order to get the value for their oil and to get needed revenue for their people the other thing i'd like to point out is that we also know that in two thousand and fourteen the u.s. and saudi arabia. conspired to lower oil prices to hurt countries like venezuela and this is not a conspiracy theory this is well known the independent of london spoke of this and that devastated venezuela's economy so venezuela has to find other partners to be able to dig themselves out of the crisis that the u.s. has really put them in this situation is so fluid even compared to a week or two ago as things stand now down in your view is more duros administration doomed still tenable and if so what is the need to do to hang on. well i think it is still tenable i think you know the one thing that u.s. threats of of intervention do and have done in venezuela is really cause people to ra

our officials are standing up for these guys publicly and holding citgo accountable to make sure theing taken care of. they are an american company. we are hoping with this new board juan guaido appointed, nell be able to help us out. we are struggling to support our family members. trish: what's your favorite story about your dad? >> sorry, trish. trish: okay. >> sorry. trish: i am sure you have a lot. >> this has been a really bad week. trish: i know. it's been a bad year and a half for you. >> yes. trish: we can save that for another time. i look forward have much to the day when you and your dad and the five others that are being held hostage there tonight are back here safe and sound and week talk all about your favorite stories of your loved ones. okay? we are going to keep at it. it's important we get them back. thank you. we have much more coming up. le have in common, limu? [ paper rustling ] exactly, nothing. they're completely different people, that's why they need customized car insurance from liberty mutual. they'll only pay for what they need! [ gargling ] [ coins hitti

. >> maduro's regime has been holding six citgo employees, including five u.s. citizens, who live in texas, for over a year now. the citgo executives have been detained on baseless charges and subjected to harsh imprisonment. it is well past time to secure their release and my hope that new venezuelan government will work with the u.s. to swiftly ensure their safe return. mr. abrams, is the administration in discussions with the guaido administration or the maduro regime, on the imprisonment of the citgo executives who are u.s. dual nationals and can you describe what efforts are being made to secure their release? >> as you know, we are unable to get consular access to them. the position of the regime is, because they are also venezuelan citizens, you don't get to see them. we've not been able to do that. it's also true that the church in venezuela has asked to see them on a pastoral visit and refused, no. we're in it touch with the families. we keep pressing the regime because there are two court orders for their release which the regime refuses to implement.

even something as close as citgo to the united states, it will take time for that to impact.the other thing is there is a strategic struggle taking place between the united states and the democratic countries in the world, in south america and europe. and the authoritarian regimes that line up with maduro. who are they? russia? china, iran, nicaragua. and cuba. the only one that provided tangible assistance since the crisis has begun is cuba. they have provided certainly military assistance in the way of paramilitary forces and goons in leadership and mentorship to the regime. the other countries offering to fiction the utility problem in has been no direct offer of assistance from those countries, i think for obvious reasons. trish: they would have to deal with us, being annoyed by it. china is willing to help on the electricity front. is that their attempt to get in the way of things and maybe show that they have some influence, especially about they try to deal with us on the trade front? >> i think it's more symbolic than anything else. the power is beginning to come back

>> i think in this case, kit go is an american -- citgo is an american company.oard is moving into the facilities. and i expect the next few weeks it will be effectively managed by the people president guaido has put into power. trish: we saw juan guaido calling for a national strike, a million-plus workhorse would not be going to work, but would be protesting the maduro regime. could that be a tipping point? >> absolutely. when you thrift philippines calling for a national day of prayer stopped the country in its track. if guaido can get the unions to go on strike. the few pdvsa workers who are actually productive don't show up, that will have to be the beginning of the end for the maduro regime. they will not be able to operate if they have no cash flow. trish: how long can they lost in this interim space where they are turning to the likes of russia and china. i imagine in due time less so because of the sanctions we are putting in place that will make it more difficult for some of this money to transfer to some of those bank accounts. but how long do they hav

other stores, other chains following walgreen's that violated these policies, marathon, exxon, bp, citgo and mobile scott gotlieb testified on capitol hill last week the latest is this letter to walgreen's stock down by the way walgreen's 2.5% >> one of the worst performers here's what else is ahead on "the exchange" >> announcer: coming up will volvo be able to control how fast you drive >> spielberg goes after netflix. elon the masr teof distraction raising revenue by selling montana. it's all ahead on rapid fire >>>k let's get you up on a few stories that should be on your radar today. this is rapid fire welcome, everybody first up the u.s. and china are getting a deal and just not the one you're thinking of office depot and alibaba are teaming up for customers the chinese ecommerce giant would have access to office depot distribution network what does this tell us about alibaba's plans? >> it's a great deal for alibaba. office depot, office max huge presence. i wonder what's in it for office depot. clearly if the chinese start to come in to buy office depot it might not go so well th

if you've ever bought gas at a citgo station, that was a venezuelan oil company. money from the oil to pay for things like housing, education, health clinics and more which helped some people but artificially boosted the country's standard of living. chavez died in 2013 after appointing his deputy, nicolas maduro, as his successor. maduro has not gained the cult of personality that chavez had but he's exerted much more control as the venezuelan economy has collapsed under him, a situation exacerbated by in ing oil prices over the last caracas, venezuelan, and the former spokesperson for the u.s. mission to the united nationsnt official. gabe, what's happening in venezuela right now? >> hi, ali, good afternoon. as you know, this is a country that is used to food shortages, used to power outages over the last several years. but as the scale and magnitude of this recent series of blackouts has left a lot of people desperate here, and as you mentioned, escalating tension between the u.s. and russia, china is also bringing humanitarian aid to venezuela today. the white

we barely had any relation with them with the exception that citgo is there. the money that's paid for oil to be purchased is hard currency. a lot of the other payment is forgiveness of debt and other things that are not hard currency. even though we have a relative to our relationships with other countries small contact with venezuela, there's enormous power in the u.s. economic relationship. to my mind, venezuela represents more the way things ought to be done than other thing weerz talking about. i'm not sure i can come up with another example. in the last couple years though another example. in the last couple years though. i'm not sure i can come up with another example. in the last couple years though. >> dprk sanctions. the last six months or so of the obama administration when i was in the sanctions job, we were starting to turn towards something which the trump administration implemented as maximum pressure. although, this will probably irritate people on both sides, a lot of the specific sanctions that the trump administration put in place and execut

while some people thought as soon as we shut down the oil export business coming from citgo, it wouldlapse immediately but we have known for years given the sanctions that president obama imposed, president bush and now president trump imposed, it takes awhile for sanctions to hit. now as announced by ambassador bolton, they are going after international banks who are still doing business with venezuela. so the sanctions are going to get worse. civil protest will increase is what senator rubio is talking about and i agree with them. it likely would be massive. those are two pressure points for the regime. if there was ever going to be force, and i don't think it's on the table at all, and the reason for that is there's consensus in the region to try to do this peacefully and not do a forceful regime change, which in itself could be very violent and of course, cause a lot of casualties. connell: you could be dealing hypothetically, and everybody hopes it doesn't happen, with some sort of humanitarian crisis. already are, but one that's made worse over a period of time if maduro doesn't

i would also like to note that maduro has taken for texans who citgo and sicko -- put them in a venezuelan prison. i support taking back their country through free and fair elections and applaud countries like columbia, brazil and the lima group for their effort. secretary pompeo, it's a great honor to welcome you today as a secretary and former colleague and friend. i've always said that partisanship as the chairman says must end at the water's edge. this hearing gives us a chance to put partisan politics aside and offer solutions to complex issues. i look forward to your testimony, and i yield back. >> thank you, mr. mccall. now let me introduce our witness. michael pompeo is the 70th united states secretary of state, taking office april 26th of last year. from january 2017 until he became our top diplomat, mr. pompeo served as the 6th director of the central intelligence agency. from 2011 until 2017, he represented kansas fourth congressional district right here in the u.s. house of representatives. he's a lawyer, entrepreneur, and from 1986 until 1991 served in the united states army.