at the same time, poppy, you see elijah cummings and the democrats' problem here.. you kept hearing him say, i go to my chairman and i ask him to help to cooperate and he gets his marching orders from the top, from speaker ryan on down. so, that's why he's trying -- what he's trying to do here is apply some pressure, shake something loose from the republicans to help them join the democrats to try to get something out of the white house, but the partisan politics here really do get in the way because democrats have very little power, other than to come before cameras and try to apply this kind of pressure. >> jim sciutto, we did learn today that the defense department inspector general is now investigating this. jim, what exactly does that mean? what will that investigation look like? >> well, you have two tracks here right now. one is a legal track, nonreport on a security clearance form. that's a violation of the law, if you're not truthful on that form. as a retired senior army officer, my understanding is that this is an administrative thing for them, still con

elijah cummings joins us next. >>> we received no internal documents relating to what >>> we receivedno internal documents relating to what general flynn reported to the white house when they vetted him to become national security adviser. and we received no documents relating to his termination as national security adviser for concealing his discussion with the russian ambassador. in short, the white house has refused to provide this committee with a single piece of paper in response to our bipartisan request, and that's simply unacceptable. >> top democrat on the house oversight committee, elijah cummings, being very direct today about the fact the white house has not given his committee any documents, not a single sheet of paper related to the fired national security adviser michael flynn. the white house, he says, has refused to provide this committee with a single piece of paper. joining us now is congressman elijah cummings of maryland, the ranking democrat on the oversight committee. really nice to have you here. thanks for your time. >> good to be with you. >> so i pronounce m

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because elijah cummings who revealed all of these new documents, the department of defense inspector investigation now under way involving flynn's security clearances, he was complaining, cummings, that the white house is not cooperating with this house committee and giving them the documents they need. >> well, you know, after this briefing it makes you question whether they are withholding the documents or that the process has been so sloppy or that the proper documents, that would have proved and shown the vetting of the national security adviser for the president of the united states didn't happen or happened that was a big suspicion and i also, you know -- you always know watching sean spicer to say the president is watching me now. he was asked whether the president regrets appointing michael flynn as national security adviser and he said it is the right decision at the right time. >> just to remind our viewers, mark preston, at issue is the $45,000 that he took from the russian television and the more than $500,000 he took -- his lobbying firms took from various turkish elemen

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and elijah cummings there saying that there's no proof that he did that. this belies the statement of flynn's lawyer, who said that they discussed this, they got permission from the defense intelligence agency when they left, from the military when they left. it doesn't appear that there is proof of that. so, that's a major issue, and it also fits in a constantly changing story from flynn on a number of levels, going back a number of months. initially, he said there was no payment. then he said the payment didn't come from russia, it came from my speaking agency, which is really just a middleman in all this, but there are documents. we've seen these documents that show that russia routed that payment right to him through the speaking agency. and then he had said, listen, i got permission to do this, i let them know. now elijah customings saying that's not true, either. so, a changing story and each of his defenses have been undermined by the facts. >> yeah. do you get a sense right now from your sources of what this means for the broader russia investigati

and elijah cummings said he is willing to work with the white house, he is one of the democrats who showedp at the inauguration. he is giving his assessment, that was very out spoken, we're talking about dr. king here. >> right, i don't know if congressman cumming has ever met steve bannonor met him personally, but to go to the level of calling him white supremacist like, is beyond the pale, you can say you don't like him or breitbart, that is fair. but to attack their personal character when you don't know that for sure on a public stage is a line where i think you go too far. >> adam, let me bring numbers here, this is done by the university. this is a survey that asked whether african-americans are worse off economically because most just don't have the motivation to pull themselves out of poverty. 55% of white republicans agreed with this statement, compared to 66% of white democrats, why do republicans believe that in such high numbers? >> well, i can tell you why, there is a problem with racism on both sides of the divide. there is too much of it. i want to comment if i can, don on t

that from the chairman of the committee, jason chaffetz, and the democratic -- ranking democrat, elijah cummings. you can see that online at -span.org. ms. pelosi: they said children could be able to ask questions, ut you can take a picture. children asking a question. welcome, children. we always do what we do here in recognition of our responsibility to our children. as you know, washington is a place so dedicated to honoring our founders. you see monuments and statues throughout the city and throughout the capitol complex to that end. we do revere our founders and grateful for their leadership and vision. but what we do here, which is part of our founders' vision, is to work for the future. so you are inspiration, you are our purpose. thank you for being here today to be -- for being a constant inspiration as to what our purpose is and our responsibility to our children -- our founders predicated their optimism on the fact that every generation would take responsibility to make a future better for the next generation. so honoring the vows of our founders and committed to the aspiration of our

congressman congressman elijah cummings will be my guest. >>> the news continues right now. >>> hi there, i'm brooke baldwin. let's pick up where wolf left off. this brand-new headache as a new investigation is launched into president trump's investigation of national flynn. we learned today an investigation was opened this month to take a closer look into payments flynn accepted from russian interests. we are also learning about nully classified documents that show the dia warned general flynn not to take payments from foreign governments three years ago. this is coming from the house democrat, elijah cummings who lashed out today. >> the white house refused to release even a single document, not a single document in response to the bipartisan document requests. not one syllable. i watched sean spicer say how hard it would be to respond to our request. come on, man. i do not understand why the white house is covering up for michael flynn. i don't get it. after the president fired him. for lying. so the president fired him for lying about his communications with the russian ambassador. t

congressman chiefest and elijah cummings held a briefing to talk about the findings. >> thanks for beingn obligation to seek and obtain permission to receive money from foreign governments prior to any engagement with them. it does not appear to us that that was ever sought nor did he ever get that permission. we will jointly be doing a letter for a final determination on that. that will need to come from the department of army as well as the inspector general at the department of defense. and if that money was received by general flynn, and we believe that it was, that money needs to be recovered. that final determination again want to come from the department of the army as well as the department of defense, but as a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from russia, turkey or anybody else. and it appears as if he did take that money. it was inappropriate and there are repercussions for the violation of law. >> good morning, and i just like to read a very short statement. i want to be very careful because we are coming out of a classified briefing. first, we have just c

. >> in the meantime house oversight committee member democratic elijah cummings released three new documentsertaining to flynn that spell out he was he was specifically told not to accept foreign payments even as the white house refuses to hand over other internal papers. >> so, the president fired him for lying about the communications with the russian ambassador. they should be bending over backwards to help us. it does not make any sense. and it makes the american people think the white house has something to >> and joining us to talk about the flynn controversy is emily shier the politics editor for bustle.com. thanks for coming in. we appreciate it. >> it's my pleasure. >> so, what are your thoughts on this? you know, the white house -- what they're saying isn't cooperating. what do you make of this situation so far. >> well its not good for the trump administration. it was bad enough when flynn was forced to resign in disgrace for not being as we could say wholly truthful with mike pence about the nature of his conversation with the russian ambassador but that in many ways is just the

jason chaffetz, the chairman, and elijah cummings, the chairman of the oversight committee, came out of a briefing. they couldn't give us the classified part of it. the non-classified part is they continue to -- they worded it backwards. it's not that they've seen evidence that michael flynn has done something wrong. there is no evidence that michael flynn, who was obliged to seek clearance for and report that he was taking money from a foreign government, did so, something that jason chaffetz was asked directly about. do you believe he broke the law? his response is there was no information he complied with the law. the white house declined a request in writing from the committee to provide information, specifically to documents relating to general flynn's contacts wh foreign nationals, including communication between general flynn and foreign representatives and affiliates. the white house said, that's classified. you can't have it. jason and elijah were saying the information should be declassified. i think we have kasie hunt available to give us more analysis. i was trying to do

if you look at the kornls that elijah cummings released today, it is very clear. and this is kind of thing, if the department of justice would bring, that they would show that he got this letter that was very explicit, once he left the government, if he was going the take money from a foreign government, he needed to receive advance permission. it is absolutely clear. when you come to look at criminal prosecutions, the key document people will see is the sf 86. it is what you fill out every time you get a security clearance. and sean spicer said his security clearance was renewed in 2016. did he disclose that he was paid for the speech? if he didn't, that's a crime for which he could be prosecuted. >> we've heard the t word being thrown around. from everything about michael flynn's actions, i'm trying to get a sense, is this the kind of they know that falls into the category of treason? or what is it? >> i don't know if it is treason. i think he was making a buck, a foreign government, the government of russia that's hostile to the united states and failed to disc

i think elijah cummings, clearly leadership there.vil rights organization, we have a different role than someone who has to deal with their constituents and trying to get bills passed, not bills passed. the art of politics is compromised. the art of civil rights is to try to change policy and to advocate to get things done. for example, at our convention, parents of of trayvon martin, we work with real victims. this is not some policy on a placard onto us, it's real. a lot of people deal with the real pain of people. >> where do you fit in that spectrum? do you just resist or do you seek middle ground? i'm not saying you but what do you think the civil rights movement should do. >> best speak to most vulnerable. that's the key. the overarching value, the overarching commitment is pursue policies that will benefit circumstances of most vulnerable and most marginal. what will that entail? assessing policy recommendations of the trump administration. it will involve aligning your self with folks resisting some of those policies. it will

representatives jason tibbetts and elijah cummings updated reporters. let's watch. representative tibbetts: thank you for being here. we had an application to seek and obtain permission to receive money from foreign governments prior to any engagement with them. it does not appear to us that that was ever sought nor did he ever get that commission. we will jointly be doing a letter for a final determination on that. that will have to come from the department of army as well as the inspector general. of the department of defense. if that money was received by general flynn and we believe it was, that money needs to be recovered. that final determination again will have to come from the department of the army as well as the department of defense. as a former military officer, you civilly cannot take money from russia, turkey, or anybody else. and it appears as if he did take that money, it was inappropriate and repercussions for the violation of law. cummings: i would like to read a short statement. briefingome from this with the end -- intelligence agency. review to

representatives jason tibbetts and elijah cummings updated reporters. let's watch. representative tibbetts: thank you for being here. we had an application to seek and obtain permission to receive money from foreign governments prior to any engagement with them. it does not appear to us that that was ever sought nor did he ever get that commission. we will jointly be doing a letter for a final determination on that.

today congressman elijah cummings revealed that the department of the inspector general is investigating whether michael flynn failed to get permission to receive that payment for that speech in russia. as of now, congressman cummings and the republican chairman of the house oversight committee jason chaffetz agree that they can find no evidence that michael flynn complied with the law and obtained that permission. michael flynn committed a crime if he ignored the sentence that appears just below the italics in this letter that he received, explaining how he could legally earn income. and that sentence says if you are ever in a position where you would receive an emolument from a foreign government or from an entity that might, might with controlled by a foreign government, be sure to obtain advance approval from the army prior to acceptance. might be controlled. obtain advanced approval. michael isikoff asked michael flynn about that speech at the republican national convention. >> my intent for speaking at that event was -- and they allowed me to do it -- was to talk about russia's inf

republican jason chaffetz and democrat elijah cummings say during his white house vetting flynn did not report money he received from russia nor did he receive permission to receive money from a foreign source. >> as a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from russia, turkey, or anybody else. >> the white house has refused to provide this committee with a single piece of paper in response to our bipartisan request and that's simply unacceptable. >> we have reports and analysis from nbc's kasie hunt, kristen welker and chief legal correspondent ari melbur. kasie, on capitol hill, we need to explain the background here. all this starts well before the election. >> it does, chris. at issue is the -- are these payments that mike flynn received from rt, the russian network with ties to the russian government, and jason chaffetz and elijah cummings wrote to the white house and other government agencies saying hey, we have a lot of concerns about this and we would like to see all of the documents related to the former nsa director's contacts with foreign officials, with any fo

amy: that is maryland commerce member of elijah cummings.ngressman peter welch, just to correct what i said, you are the only congressman from vermont. of course, there are two senators. it you join with your democratic colleagues in the house oversight committee in demanding white house documents on michael flynn. what are you looking for here? you also have the trump administration blaming president obama for giving michael flynn security clearance. >> first, with respect to general flynn, we are looking for evidence of the payment that he received from foreign governments that would be in violation of the law. there is an immense amount of evidence. he has acknowledged some of this, that he was on the payroll , getting conversation from foreign governments during the time he had security clearance. there are serious questions about him being in absolute violation of the law. that is the issue with respect to general glenn. the second issue, the one that is really ongoing, is the russian connection. and what was it, if any, and the campaig

and as elijah cummings put it, what they learned is extremely troubling. he said he has concerns, and what he's seeing may be a major problem. they just left that briefing. let's talk to another person who just left that briefing, democratic congressman raja christa murthy, a democrat from illinois who sits on that very same committee. congressman, thank you so much for coming in. >> thank you, kate. >> we just heard from the chairman and ranking democrat. i want to get your take. you just walked out of that same meeting to view documents related to payments that flynn may or may not have received from foreign contacts. what did you learn? >> you know, basically, what i learned is that there are more questions now than answers at this point. i'm just -- i've got to say, first of all, thank you to chairman chaffetz and ranking member cummings for arranging this briefing, this bipartisan approach to uncovering the facts here. but what i learned, i mean, just simply raises too many questions at this point, and it's all the more reason why we have to continue

what you saw elijah cummings do tonight and the challenge he laid down to sean spicer to let you know there is a big problem going on and it's senseless. >> the whole russia stuff, the white house said if they want to have an investigation let them have an investigation, it's never been to van's point we will do everything we can to make sure. >> if anything, going back to the earlier point about the president defending flynn early on i think there has been -- i'm not saying this is why this is happening, i don't want to connect the two, i want to take note some in the white house have been concerned about flynn has been around them a very long time. if flynn feels as if he is being fully thrown under the bus or whatever met for we're using, that risks coming back possibly painfully against the president and i think they're a little mindful of that. thank you. we're going to take a break. >>> does the white house have a new strategy on nafta. what the president is saying about it now when we continue. e. it's a supercomputer. with this grade of protection... it's a fortress. and with

jason chaffetz and elijah cummings updated reporters. >> thanks for being here. -- an obligation to seek and to engage withon foreign governments. it does not appear that he ever got that her mission. we will jointly be

maryland representative elijah cummings announced the probe. the pentagon is looking into the payments to flynn by the russia state sponsored r.t. television network and a company linked to turkey's government. jonathan: the negotiations longed down the short-term extension is expected to be approved tomorrow. michelle: a mother racing from police and the child in the emergency seat. >> they will arrest me. >> no. pull over! michelle: what prompted the wild chase that ended with the mother racing in a motorcycle dealership. doug: we have the weather update coming up at "abc7 news at 6:00". vo: for dominion, part of delivering affordable energy includes supporting those in our community who need help. our energyshare program does just that, assisting with bill pay and providing free, energy-saving upgrades. it's more than helping customers, it's helping neighbors. ♪ stand by me jonathan: the fire that consumed a building on college park on monday is called accidental. it prompted the biggest response in county history. investigators are still tr

thanks so much. >> coming up on "morning joe", elijah cummings joins the conversation.iss-proof,ff? cry-proof, stay-proof look? neutrogena® makeup remover does. it erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. need any more proof than that? neutrogena. yes, wise man. i'm confident in my credit score... just not about protecting it. confidence is a state of mind. find it in the free creditwise app from capital one. by providing your credit report, and alerts to changes, creditwise can give you credit....wiseness. if that's all, i'd like to get back to my chai tea. don't you mean tai chi? you tell me, greg. you tell me. what's in your wallet? >>> welcome back, attorney jeff sessions dismissed hawaii as an island in the pacific. here is sessions on the show earlier this week talking about the ha why even federal judge who halted the president's revised travel ban. >> this is a huge matter. i really am amaze the that a judge sitting on an island on the pacific can issue an order that what appears to be clearly a statutory and constitutional powers. >> doug chi

earlier today the leaders of the house oversight committee, jason chaffetz and elijah cummings, talked to reporters about their investigation into russia in the 2016 elections. chairman chaffetz said he sees no evidence that michael flynn, the former national security advisor to president trump, complied with the law when he received money from meeting with russian organizations in 2015. his is 10 minutes. mr. chaffetz: thank you for being here. this is an obligation to seek and obtain permission to receive money from foreign governments prior to any engagement with them. it does not appear to us that that was ever sought nor did he ever get that permission. we will jointly be doing a letter for a final determination on that. that will need to come from the department of army as well as the inspector general at the department of defense. and if that money was received by general flynn, and we believe that it was, that money needs to be recovered. that final determination, again, will have to come from the department of the army as well as the department of defense, but as a former mili

♪ ♪ and you ain't around ♪ yeah >> stephen: let me remind you, elijah cummings is a member of the congressional caucus and lifelong progressive democrat. so if this quote sounds a little far-fetched, it's because, yeah, representative cummings released a statement saying, "i have said repeatedly that trump could be a great president if-- if-- he takes steps to truly represent all americans rather than continuing on the divisive and harmful path he is currently on." so apparently, no matter what you say to trump, he only hears the good parts. ( laughter ) everything else just sounds like the charlie brown teacher. "wa-wa-wa-wawa, great president, wa-wa-wa-wa-wa." ( applause ) ( piano riff ) today we're learning more about a big event yesterday when steve bannon was removed from the national security council. ( cheers and applause ) it's so nice to have bannon fans here tonight! they're so rare, so rare. it wasn't easy to remove him. they held a hot match against his back until he released his pincers. ( laughter ) they think the head might still be in there. might get an infection. now, a senior

congressional elijah cummings knows the dnew deputy ag very well.whimpers ] find ping-pong. okay, let's go. find your awesome with the xfinity x1 voice remote. that's amazing! >>> welcome back to "morning joe." joining us now from capitol hill, the ranking member of the committee oversight and government reform, democratic congressman elijah cummings of maryland. congressman, always good to see you, sir. thanks for being with us. >> good morning. >> let's pick up on an issue you've been talking about for some time now and that is michael flynn. you're looking at ties between russia and the trump campaign, potential ties anyway. you've been trying to get these documents from the white house. sean spicer said from the briefing room two days ago, we don't have the documents. these are things that took place before we were in the white house. can you still get your hands on them, and if so, how? >> well, i'm hoping that we will be able to get our hands on them. clearly the white house is stonewalling. and i don't use that word frequently. because i try

. >> congressman elijah cummings also released documents on flynn, showing that the pentagon warned flynn about accepting payments. the documents show he did not report the money he received from turkish interests. what is more, the comments say that michael flynn must have seen the warnings about flynn and cash. >> this letter explicitly warned general flynn as he entered retirement that the constitution prohibited him from accepting any foreign government payments without advance permission. the pentagon's warning to general flynn was bold, italicized and could not have been clearer. >> today, the white house responded by blaming the obama administration, the administration that fired flynn nearly a year before donald trump even began to run for president, and by repeatedly deploying the talking point that the current president made all the right decisions. >> general flynn was a career military officer who maintained a high level security clearance throughout his career in the military. his clearance was last reissued by the obama administration in 2016 with full knowledge of his activ

elijah cummings says look, they don't appear to be cooperating. how do they respond? >> stone-walling, covering up, whatever language you want to use. the white house is glad that the president fired michael flynn when he did because if he hadn't gotten rid of him on february 13th, he likely would have had to fire h two more times since then given everything that has come out. the white house insists there was no need to investigate flynn for security clearance when he became the national security adviser. he had the clearance for years, one that was reinvestigated as revealed today through the obama administration. that was after he appeared in russia and was paid $45,000 for attending that gala that was put on by the kremlin-backed media giant r.t. in russia. the question is when the security clearance was re-upped, did it flynn disclose his payments from a dutch company that was representing turkish interests that flynn did consulting for. sean spicer said he believed the department of defense in investigating flynn is taking a a -- appropriate action. listen here.

. >> as jim points out it's not just elijah cummings, it's the chairman jason chaffetz as well. they were making very strong statements. the former acting attorney general sally yates and the former director of national intelligence james clapper are now set to testify a second time. may 8th on russian interference in the presidential election. they're going to be testifying on may 8th before the senate judiciary committee. earlier they were both testifying before the house intelligence committee, but senator lindsey graham, he's the chairman of the subcommittee, what is he saying about yates's testimony? this could be very significant? >> senator graham is saying he's interested in a couple things. one, he's interested in why the former trump campaign, national security adviser carter page was a subject of a fisa warrant requested by the fbi. he wants to know what was behind that. where that may lead. that's key to him. and keep in mind you will have the former acting attorney general sally yates, the former director of national intelligence james clapper like lie to testify be

. >> chairman jason chaffetz and elijah cummings say there's no indication that flynn obeyed the law when he did not disclose payments that he did not receive from russia. >> as a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from russia, turkey or anybody else and it appears as if he did take that money, it was inappropriate and there are repercussions for the violation of law. >> i believe the oversight committee should be holding a hearing with general flynn. i'm seeing the chairman, we talked briefly about this and it seems this is the purview of the intelligence committee. but we need to have the opportunity to ask general flynn directly why he concealed these foreign payments from the defense department. >> we do have a statement from general flynn's lawyer that reads as follows. "as has previously been reported, general flynn briefed the defense intelligence agency, a component agency of dod before and after the trip and he answered any questions that were supposed by dia concerning the trip during those briefings. just to put in perspective for you, how big this inves

now the republican jay sen chaffetz and elijah cummings say flynn could face prosecution. >> personally i so no information or data to support the notion that general flynn complied with the law. he was supposed to seek permission and receive permission from both the secretary of state and the secretary of the army prior to going to russian and accept the payments and engaging in that activity. i see no evidence he did that. >> i agree with the chairman. he was supposed to get permission and supposed to report it. he didn't. period. there's no evidence of it. >> shepard: congressman cummings added because general flynn failed to report the russian payment when he requested security clearance, he could face felony charges. flynn's lawyer said that his client was up front about his business in russia and the payment from r.t. the statement reads in party "general flynn briefed the intelligence agency extensively regarding the r.t. speaking event trip both before and after the trip. he answered any questions that were posed by the director -- by the d.i.a. concerning the trip during those

elijah cummings asked the white house for documents. the white house referred cummings and jason chaffetz to other agencies which he believes that those documents. but he isn't buying that, accusing the white house at the very least of stone walling, at the most covering for flynn. jason chaffetz said he believes the white house is fully complied with the request for documents and that any suggestion that it's stone walling is bogus. he is also suggesting the number and degree of documents being asked for are such that no white house would ever comply with such a request. >> melissa: i thought some of the most interesting exchange came around their explanation of the security clearance. talk to us about that. >> reporter: here's the thing. a lot of people are assuming that when lieutenant general michael flynn was named the national security adviser, that's when he applied for a security clearance and would have put all of this down on a standard form 86. but he received his security clearance years and years ago and, in fact, that secur

first, what elijah cummings said and the decision to release documents? >> chris, i'll be limited on the response on the topic partly because of my role in other investigations. i'll say this. i have firm confidence in the inspector generals. having an inspector general do a review, they will do a thorough and detailed review. >> all right. i'm saying cummings move. what do you think of his move? >> you have to ask cummings that and the reason for showing the documents. i have not had a chance to sit down and review what elijah said and provided. again, if the inspector general is involved in something, that is a good sign. you though it will be thorough and detailed. >> the idea of who is to blame for knowing about michael flynn taking money from russia and turkey and if it was right or wrong. what do you make of the white house saying it is obama's fault? >> the person to blame is the person who may have or haven't taken the money is what i would say on that. let's make sure we have all of the facts and again the inspector general involved is a good thi

congressman elijah cummings.the pentagon opens its own investigation into payments flynn received from foreign governments. now, to be clear, foreign military officers can't accept payment from foreign gove

maryland congressman, elijah cummings, asking what a lot of people are thinking. >> i honestly do notand why the white house is covering up for michael flynn. i don't get it. after the president fired him for lying. >> they should be bending over backwards to help us. it does not make any sense and it makes the american people think the white house has something to hide. >> what is your reaction to that, ambassador? >> i agree. i think it's very odd. the clip you just played before of president trump, let's be clear, you get a security clearance when you're in the government. i've been in the government. and even when you stay in the government, when i switch from working for the national security council to becoming an b ambassador for russia, he was under review during the transition for the security clearances that he needed to become the national security adviser and for president trump to somehow blame the obama administration for that, that's very strange. i don't understand why he feels especially at this late of date the end of april that he feels it's necessary to continue to

well, congressman elijah cummings announced this investigation today into work that michael flynn didernment noun this alleged maybe effort or nondisclosure of payments that he received from the russian government on clearance documentation for the white house. now, at today's press conference, elijah cummings released these documents he says he got from the department of defense that are now unclassified. he says that attempting to get these documents from the white house he accused them of being extremely difficult making it impossible to get this documentation. take a listen. >> earlier this week the white house refused, absolutely refused to produce even a single document, not a single document in response to the bipartisan document requests that i sent with our republican chairman. not one syllable. i watched sean spicer make all kinds of excuses about how hard it would be to comply with our request. come on, man. >> reporter: well, the congressman went ton say that he believes that the white house is actually covering up for michael flynn but if the wh disagrees. in today's brie

spicer pushed back on the attack from elijah cummings that the white house is engaging in a cover up. here's what he had to say. >> congressman cummings accuses this white house of a cover up. you say what? >> i say -- i was frankly taken back by his comments today because they're frankly not true. the department of defense was the issuing agency for general flynn's sf-86. we referred them to the department of defense who owns and issued his security clearance, and they got a copy of it. that's how the system works. the documents that he requested he received. >> there are no other documents that you have at this point that could be turned over to this committee that would be helpful for this investigation? >> not that i'm aware of at this point. >> sure. now, the house oversight committee is making it very clear, anderson, they want to see the vetting documents for michael flynn. i am told by a white house official if the oversight committee wants that information, they should actually seek out the trump transition office here in washington, which is apparently still open according t

so the request from elijah cummings would now add a new wrinkle to this overall controversy. now whether or not the republican chairman of this committee, jason chaffetz, agrees to go along with this, we'll have to wait and see. but it just continues to make it more difficult for the white house to talk about things they want to talk about like job creation. perhaps repeal -- taking another attempt at health care reform and the like. so just another difficult situation for the white house to address and something at this point they haven't necessarily come up with a complete answer for at this time. >> on the issue of immunity, former national security adviser michael flynn is asking for that in exchange for his testimony. and the president also tweeted about that, encouraging him to get immunity. what does this mean? >> well, what it means is that the white house, at this point, isn't exactly sure what to do about michael flynn in this situation. sean spicer did say on friday that the president and the white house administration wants to see him testify and if he has the opp

chairman elijah cummings and all my colleagues here. i want to particularly point out my colleague from detroit, michigan, brenda lawrence, for her fantastic work. she may be a new member but has been a mayor of a major detroit city so she has lots of experience and is particularly qualified to be here in the setting. thank you so much. the rest of my colleagues, i don't have to say much about the chairman and hank johnson of georgia, but let me just make a brief opening statement complimenting what chairman cummings has already said. of course, to our particular witnesses, what a pleasure to have them with us as always. for the better part of two decades, the relationship between african-american communities and their police departments across the nation have hovered in a state of volatility, a waiting a single incident to comecombust, explode, these are a result of biased based policing by law enforcement agencies, sometimes supported by data collection efforts and video evidence have increased in number and frequency. while the curre

congressman elijah cummings released new documents on michael flynn. the latest on the department of defense investigation being opened and the pentagon's warning to him about taking money from russia. >>> also, house speaker paul ryan will give his weekly news briefing. will there be a health care deal? what about a government shutdown? we'll bring that live when it starts. >>> and we're hear from the ceo of united airlines in an exclusive interview. lester holt sat down with him to discuss united's new customer service policies. how the company is shifting its culture in the light of the rece incident. >>> on capitol hill, the defense department's inspector general is investigating former national security adviser michael flynn over payments made to him from foreign governments. this news was revealed a short time ago when democratic congressman elijah cummings, the top, ranking democrat on the house oversight committee, released several documents relating to flynn. given to his committee by the department. one shows t

then today he comes out with elijah cummings. do you have an understanding of what it is you think congressman chaffetz is do something. >> no, i really don't. there is a lot of speculation about what he's doing. there are those who were told that he's trying to position himself to run for higher office, and i think it's for governor. there are those who think that he, in some ways, have some connections to what is going on in the ukraine and perhaps in russia itself and knows something about all of this. i don't really know. i can't say, but he's strange in the way that he's conducting himself. and maybe he thinks that if he rolls out and points to the fact that something is going on with flynn that he did not disclose, and this is criminal, i mean he's violated a federal law, that somehow this will raise him above maybe what connections he may have with the kremlin. i don't know. but we need to keep an eye on him. >> i should say, congresswoman, i have not seen any evidence produced of that. i've encountered that speculation al

congressman elijah cummings is accusing the white house of trying to cover-up for flynn. sean spicer firing right back passing blame on the obama administration for renewing flynn's security clearance. also this hour, partisan battling over health care. renews the threat of a government shut down. house democrats say they'll oppose a stop gap funding measure to keep the government running if, if republicans rush to hold a health care vote for the president's -- before the president's 100th day in office. that would be on saturday. house speaker paul ryan says there's no timetable for a vote on a new gop measure to repeal and replace obamacare. republicans still are trying to lock up enough support within their own party for a controversial compromise that would weaken several key obamacare reforms. >>> we're covering all those stories much more with our guests including the top democratic in the house armed services committee congressman adam smith and our correspondents and analysts are standing by. let's go to our reporter manu raju. there are serious allegations now ag

maryland congressman elijah cummings, he is the top democrat on the house oversight committee. s accusing committee chair jason chaffetz and other republicans of not doing enough to investigate flynn. cummings also releasing several documents related to the investigation and accuses the white house of stonewalling on flynn's behalf. chaffetz's spokesman says the chairman was not consulted before the documents were released. kasie hunt joins us now from capitol hill. kasie, this is an interesting twist here because just the other day you had the sort of rare sight in washington of cummings and chaffetz, democrat/republican, standing together, briefing the press together. now looks like there's a schism here. >> reporter: it does seem that way, steve, and even after -- right after that press conference happened, i spoke to jason chaffetz in the hallway. he said at that time he thought the white house was cooperating just fine, he said, look, we're going to go get the documents elsewhere, all is well. then, of course, a couple days later we have chaffetz who's actually gone on a me

and today the top democrat on the oversight committee, congressman elijah cummings, also faulting the white house fo refusing to release documents related to flynn. >> in short, the white house has refused to provide this committee with a single piece of paper in response to our bipartisan request, and that is simply unacceptable. >> white house press secretary sean spicer getting rapid fire questions about general flynn and asked if the white house should have provided the oversight committee with the information it wanted. >> does the white house believe that lieutenant general flynn might have broken the law when he filled out s.f.-86? >> i don't -- that would be a question for him and the law enforcement agency. when you ask for -- no, that's a pretty -- to ask for every call or contact that a national security advisor made is pretty outlandish, if you will. >> how important is it to the president that everyone working for this administration is honest on their security clearance forms? >> very. >> does the white house consider mike flynn's payment from russia today to be a paymen

congressman elijah cummings. and this accusation came after the pentagon opens its own investigation into payments flynn received from foreign governments. now, to be clear, foreign military officers can't accept payment from foreign governments, but only after, only after the department of defense authorized it. congressman cummings releasing this letter given to him earlier in the month from the defense department saying it did not find any records. general flynn was seeking permission to receive money from a foreign source or getting that permission. flynn's lawyer quickly firing back saying the defense department was fully aware of flynn's trip to moscow where flynn was paid to give a speech. and tonight democrats have questions for the white house. >> i watched sean spicer make all kinds of excuses about how rdt would be to comply with our request. come on, man. look, general flynn served in his position for 24 days. so, that excuse in the white house will not fly. it does not make any sense, and it makes th