and you've described the potential penalties here for the gsa administrator. in what sense does the president have to answer for this? how could he potentially be on the hook here, if at all? >> well, he would be on the hook if -- well, several things. one, if we look at it and found that there was some criminal activity, that's one reason to have hearings. we could refer it to d.o.j., but i don't know exactly what d.o.j. would do with mr. sessions heading d.o.j.. the other thing, though, is that, rachel, to even get this in a hearing, we would have to have the republicans cooperate with us and allow a hearing. right now they will not touch this administration under no circumstances. even though -- even with clear evidence like this. and so the name of our committee is oversight and government reform. oversight clearly indicates that we have to have information to do our job, and basically the republicans have been blocking us democrats from getting that information that we need. >> congressman elijah cummings, the top democrat on the house oversight committee

plus, the gsa head who the president appointed and then directed what to do about this property, sheo appears bluntly to have lied to congress about whether or not the president told her what to do here. well, today the top democrat on the oversight committee on the house, congressman elijah cummings and other top democrats sent a letter to that agency, to the gsa saying they've obtained these e-mails showing that that trump appointed head of that agency lied to congress about this and they've now got dead to rights evidence that the president appears to have intervened in the decision to build this building in a way that directly benefits his personal business interests. congressman cummings and his colleagues today asking the head of the gsa essentially hey, what else are you not telling us about this. joining us now is congressman elijah cummings, the top democrat on the oversight committee in the house. congressman, it's nice to see you. thanks for being here. >> it's good to be with you, rachel. >> so i tried to sum this up, even for people who may not have been following this.

we saw this in the gsa case. the head of the gsa, i don't know who it is. should know who it is the fact she's willing to lie about trump's influence just shows why his pervasive corruption has been so successful over the last two years. >> that's got to be the last word. thank you both. i appreciate it. joe biden was asked if dras should impeach president trump if they win the house. we'll tell you how he answered next. delicious pasta marinara. but birds eye made it from zucchini. mmm... mashed potatoes...and rice! but made from cauliflower. looks like i need a fork! oh no. (giggles) birds eye veggie made. so veggie good. ahoy! gotcha! nooooo... noooooo... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty picks up messes quicker and is 2x more absorbent. bounty, the quicker picker upper. you don't need to go anywhere dad, this is your home. the best home to be in is your own. home instead offers personalized in-home services for your loved ones. home instead senior care. to us, it's personal. the roasted core wrap. 3, 2, 1... not cool. freezing away fat cells with

another internal e-mail said that gsa was going to, quote, hold our ground on funding source and thatonstruction per the president's instructions. the documents obtained by house democrats are a preview of the kind of oversight that democrats might escalate if they win the house majority in november. house democrats are deeply concerned about potential conflicts of interest that the president might have in his business dealings. cnn has reached out to the white house, and we're awaiting a response, kate. >> all right, lauren, thanks so much. really appreciate it. >> we have breaking news coming in just now. we have breaking news coming in about steve mnuchin, the treasury secretary. it has been a big question, there's been a saudi investment conference that is next week, and a very big question of what he is going to do. is he going to attend, as multiple business leaders have been pulling out of this conference. are we going to the white house? all right, let's get over to the white house and get over to kaitlan collins who has more information on that. sorry, a little traffic confus

that gsa has done. can we bring those assets to bear on the economic challenge in areas where it has to date been uneconomic? that's one of the things we're looking at to see we can do that with the federal government. the second stream was look at the permitting process and the federal government. there's a lot of permits you can go to obtain from a number of different agencies in the u.s. government when you want to deploy infrastructure for broadband. is there a way to streamline the process? can we find ways to take the time it takes to get those permits lower? one of the biggest barriers we phase is the amount of time it takes access to get men to do -- the land itself. we're looking at ways to streamline processes. the last pieces to take a look holistically at the pieces of the u.s. government that invest whether it be a month or grants or other programs to find ways to deploy broadband infrastructure and make sure they're working together. the federal government is big and sometimes you have to

but congressional democrats in a letter to the gsa say something important changed.after he was sworn in as president and became ineligible as a federal employee to obtain the property, he reportedly became dead opposed to the government selling the property, which would have allowed commercial developers or the compete directly with the trump hotel. he was directly involved with the decision to abandon the long-term relocation plan and instead move ahead with the more expensive proposal. there is no proof so far, and the white house insists once again house democrats have it all wrong, but those democrats are demanding the paperwork to prove it. >> the government won't turn over the information on the president's exact reasoning. why is the president doing this? >> reporter: we know that this property in downtown d.c. is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, which could also be a savings to taxpayers, at least in theory here. well also know that just beyond those trees, that spire right up there, that is trump hotel. whether all of that played a role in the preside

another said gsa was going to, quote, hold our ground on funding source.rats are just a preview of the kinds oversight democrats might escalate. the white house issued a comment saying house democrats have it wrong and that the fbi did not want to move its headquarters. >> lauren fox, thanks for laying it out for us. i want to talk to michael d'antonio, author of "the truth about trump." you interviewed trump many times. before he moved into the white house, the idea of moving the fbi started years before he ran for president and according to the "new york times" reporting, he was interested in what might happen to this fbi site again as private businessmen. did he ever mention this propose fbi renovation project to you? >> we didn't discuss the fbi project but we did discuss his hotel project just a few blocks away. he's extremely enthusiastic about it. he envisioned profits well into the decades to come. and i think even federal budget he weren't president, i think he imagined the campaign for president would raise the visibility of his name, the value o

according to the gsa inspector general.ased cite e-mails and one a top opfficial describs what potus instructed everyone to do. >>> outgoing u.n. ambassador nikki haley drawing the biggest laugh at the alfred e. smith dinner in new york. she was the featured speaker at the catholic charities dinner. >> the president was here and made waves with his remarks. apparently no one here could have predicted that. so last year -- last year you we went with paul ryan who is a boy scout. that's fine, but a little boring. so this year you wanted to spice things up again, right? i get it. you wanted an indian woman, but elizabeth warren failed her dna test. >> good delivery. haley ended her remarks on a far more serious note. >> our toxic political environment, i heard some people in both parties describe their opponents as enemies or evil. in america, our political opponents are not evil. >> remember the president called democrats evil during the brett kavanaugh confirmation process. >>> a very close call in america's longest war. a t

the largest landowner in the united states the department of interior and all sorts of buildings that gsa has access to. bringing that to bear to that economic challenge that's one of the things we are looking at look at the permit process. and then to deploy infrastructure. can we find ways for the time it takes to get those permits? and to get access to the land itself. looking at ways to streamline that process. but to invest in grants or other programs to find a way with the infrastructure. and with those two paces of the government part of that exercise which pieces are you working on? 's with that broadband interagency group to look at this problem. >> anything come out of this process so far quick. >> we are doing a really well and to be excited to solve the problem so we got responses from the federal agencies and looking forward to presenting something. >> host: so wide is the status of cte in the us? >> that is a complicated question. obviously security with the department of commerce and the u.s. congress inside those congressional pieces and should do what they need to do it i

by and even talking about getting in on the action, but congressional democrats in a letter to the gsa after he was sworn in as president and became ineligible as a federal employee to obtain the property, he reportedly became dead opposed to the government selling the property which would have allowed commercial developers to compete directly with the trump hotel. he was directly involved with the decision to abandon the long-term relocation plan and instead move ahead with the more expensive proposal. there is no proof so far and the white house insists once again house democrats have it all wrong, but those democrats are demanding the paperwork to prove it. >> the government won't turn over the information on the president's exact reasoning. why is the president doing this? >> why we just don't know but inspector general found an administration official may have misled congress about the president's role in all of this reigniting the long smouldering concerns about potential conflicts of interest for this billionaire president. jake? >> tom foreman, thanks so much. both sides point

it's going to block the gsa from awarding contracts to banks that discriminate against lawful companies based solely on social policy considerations. i sure would like you to take a close look at it. in the 30 seconds i have left, let me ask you this question. i read an article where the bank of america was fined $30 million for manipulating a benchmark for intrigue great products. -- interest rate products. they dated over six years to enhance or make money on their own derivative position. they were fined $30 million. assets are $2.3 trillion. do you think that is really going to stop them? aspect to thene regulatory oversight, in addition to a fine there are usually critical factors around consent orders and various policies that are required to get adapted by the financial institution. that a fine will solely dictate whether or not the bank will be involved in that activity going forward. >> if you did that you would have the attorneys hanging all over your neck, but if you've? -- neck, wouldn't you? >> thank you, mr. chairman. so, for decades banks refuse to lend it to the low inco

of energy at networks and they're all sorts of buildings, with a few cows or other structures that gsa has access to. can we bring those to bear on the economic challenge of deploying broadband in areas where it has today the uneconomic? that's one of the things were looking at, if we can do that. the second stream was let's take a look at the permitting process. there's a lot of permits you couldn't go to, have to obtain from a number of different agencies when you want to deploy infrastructure for broadband. it is a way for us to streamline the process? can we find ways to lower the time it takes to get those permits lower? one of the biggest barriers we face when it comes to doing infrastructure is the amount of time it takes to get access to the land itself to put those assets in the grant. we are looking ways to streamline those processes. the last piece is to take a look holistically at all the pieces of the u.s. government that invests, whether it be in loans or grants other programs to find ways to do for broadband infrastructure across the country and make sure they're working

pero el inspector general del gsa asume que su directora no dijo la verdad cuando declarÓ que trump noientes, entre ellos un rec ♪ patricia: el gobierno de ecuador expulsÓ hoy a la embajadora de venezuela en ese paÍs por declaraciones del ministro de comunicaciÓn e informaciÓn venezolano, jorge rodrÍguez, quien tildÓ de mentiroso al presidente ecuatoriano lenÍn moreno. comunicado de la cancillerÍa ecuatoriana seÑala que no tolerarÁn ninguna muestra de irrespeto a sus autoridades. el texto aclara que ecuador continuarÁ brindando asistencia a los migrantes venezolanos que ingresen a su territorio. ya que hablamos de venezuela, un apagÓn que afectó gran parte del territorio venezolano terminÓ quitÁndole la vida a al menos tres pacientes que estaban en condiciÓn crÍtica. entre los fallecidos habÍa un bebe en un hospital pÚblico en maracaibo. la falta de servicio elÉctrico que ha afectado a los venezolanos en los Últimos meses ha golpeado el estado. francisco urreiztieta nos llamas sobre esta dramÁtica situaciÓn. francisco: una abuela inconsolable llora la pÉrdida de su nieto reciÉn nacido

woman in the middle is emily murphy, the administrator of the general services administration, the gsa oversees the buildings in the federal government. it's also the landlord to trump's washington hotel, which means he has a strong interest in what she does and in the neighborhood around that hotel. and that neighborhood includes the current fbi headquarters which has for years been at the center of debate. renovate at the current site or build something new in the suburbs. if you are donald trump you might have an interest in whether prime land opens up almost directly across from your hotel, who knows what could go in there, perhaps maybe another competing hotel? if you're donald trump and you're president, maybe you reach a hand into the agency process behind the decision about whether the fbi stays or goes and put a thumb on the scale to protect the revenue stream at your private hotel. now, that would be wildly corrupt, of course, not to mention insanely flagrant. there's a lot we don't know about what happened at that january meeting in this photo. we do know that emily murphy,

but congressional democrats in a letter to the gsa says something important changed. he sworn in as president and became ineligible to obtain the property, he reportedly became dead opposed to the government selling the property i would would have allowed commercial developers to compete directly with the trump hotel. waste directly involved with the decision to abandon the long-term relocation plan and instead move ahead with the more expensive proposal. there is no proof so far, and the white house insists, once again house democrats have it all wrong. but those democrats are demanding the paperwork to prove it. >> the government won't turn over the information on the president's exact reasoning. why is the president doing this? >> tom, is this any reason to doubt the white house explanation on this? >> there were certain instances where the white house was trying to hide or disguise the president's input on this. and to say no, no, no it's all about the fbi and these other agencies. everybody else made the decision. he didn't really do t although there were indicat

government purchased using the gsa purchasing process. because that's what i got out of it. >> if you got a phone from the government it's generally going to be speaking a normal phone. in your case you're an intelligence guy so maybe it's a little different. but generally speaking the government purchases a phone and you get a discount on them. >> and if the president is using a hard line, those secure phones, those hard lines are what he's going to use. but we know he uses an unsecure mobile phone. journalists just today have been saying they have seen this phone sitting on his desk, they have seen him tweet. >> let me just tell you, this maggie haberman from "the new york times" has tweeted multiple west wing aids jordan karem who has taken over as lead of the oval office ops tells colleagues about screening the call logs on the non-cell. something is wrong about this. i totally get the guy doesn't like control. it's very clear his white house chief of staff is the weakest chief of staff that a president has had in a long time by desig

one of the things we can do with those facilities with gsa buildings, with the tops of those buildingsand the ability to bring economical clues where to date have said they aren't worth it. >> perfect, the gentleman in the back and then i have a question for you. >> thank you. you had talked about american leadership in this technology space and the importance of it going forward and then we've had this conversation today about the privacy people and people's privacy and data concerns. to the extent that data and information drive innovation for a lot of these companies, there's a potential that legislation or standards in a way handcuffs the ability of these organizations to get that information to drive innovation and there are certain other countries in the world china, for example, where their companies are going to have population over a billion and not be hampered by human right concerns, so i'm curious, are there any specific commerce policy ideas for how we are going to help keep american technology companies competitive as we think -- as we maybe have some of these privacy law