mr. armstrong's constituents love him, a 50/50 split is never a good estimate. mr. armstrong: in fairness, they're law students and not all my constituents. mr. cline: mr. chairman, thank you for the opportunity. before we move on h.r. 8 to expand what is current law regarding background checks, we must ensure that the existing laws are being enforced. my amendment would simply require existing law to be enforced by asking the attorney general to report to i.c.e. the individual illegally aliens who haven been -- been denied a -- have been denied a firearm transfer. f.b.i. reported last month that the background check system had nearly eight million people listed as illegal unlawful aliens. additionaly, illegal aliens rankedment in one prohibited category in the f.b.i.'s nix indecease. 3,300 aliens were denied a firearm in 2017. this means 3,300 criminals were effectively allowed to stay in the united states when i.c.e. vud she been alerted about their criminal acts. h.r. 8 does not do anything to prevent crime and i encourage my colleagues to start focusing on the re

mr. armstrong rightly offered, do you stand behind that offer? >> if the chairman asks me and it's -- i'll take it under advisement now and not a problem in terms of attorney/client privilege, yes. >> you misled this committee in a written statement. you have suggested to review that. are you going to review it in our next break to correct the record? >> yes. >> question, you helped out the president's campaign. or were involved in the campaign as a representative as a spokesman. it was your idea for the campaign dating back to 2011. is that accurate? >> yes. >> 2011 is a year that sticks in my head. for it's the year my daughter was born and i was diagnosed with cancer. i was not pushing for donald trump to be president. i was fighting cancer. even in 2016 i was publicly backing a certain republican from texas. but you, you were all in. and you either wanted donald trump to be your president because it would be good for the country or your advancement. real personals in my district and across the country wanted the president to be president beca

mr. armstrong? >> mr. chairman? >> make sure your microphone is on. >> it's on. my men amendment is essentially the same as greg gianforte. i don't understand how we would have hunting, fishing and trapping excluded but not farming and ranching, particularly where we are, in these rural areas. you are often hundreds of miles from the ffl and these types of activities that occur in these rural communities are not the problem that hr 8 is trying to solve. i'm new here and we've had these debates and we just listened to it here. we headed for 12 hours in the committee and i will be 100% honest that i don't support this bill in any form but i do think it's incredibly important to deal with the realities that happen and there are some things, that should be pointed out for a temporary transfer from farming and ranching that would be the temporary transfer, the same as hunting and fishing. you can continue to prosecute it if it's not legitimately being used for those things. i know it's getting late and we are going briefly into that, i would point out that wherever it

mr. jin mr.orte, armstrong, and mr. klein. we will be one panel here. mr. thompson, do you want to speak? just hanging out. let the record reflect that mr. thompson from california was here with hr 8. >> thank you chairman mcgovern and ranking member cole. i appreciate the opportunity to talk to you regarding amendment to hr 8. our community faces tragic instances of mass violence. my wife susan and i hold the victims of violence and families in our prayers, and we need to work together to combat all forms of violence. is a solution, i appreciate that, but it doesn't solve anything, however. the already have strong strongund checks and transfer deadlines. this bill puts law-abiding citizens in the crosshairs. simply put, it is an irresponsible attempt to criminalize lawful gun owners. it is an example of a washington thats-best approach ignores the realities of our communities face. my amendment allows farmers and ranchers to transfer firearms to their employees or neighbors for the purposes of ranch activities. these activities include pest control, huntin

mr. armstrong taped information of your clients with a bat of an eye, do you stand behind that offer? >> if the chairman asks me and i will take it under advisement and not a problem. yes, i will turn it over. >> you suggested that you are going to review it in our next break to correct the record, yes or no? >> yes. >> you helped out the president's campaign or involved in the campaign as a representative spokesperson and everyone in yo even of your words and dating back to 2011, is that accurate, yes or no? >> yes. >> 2011 is the year that sticks to my head, it was the year that i was diagnosed with cancer, i was not pushing for donald trump to be president. i was fighting cancer. even in 2016, i was publicly backing a certain republican from texas. you were all in. you either wanted donald trump to be your president because it would be good for the country or you did it for your own advantage. >> rather they are sick and tired of this hole. they supported the president because they are sick and tired of the games we are seeing here today. they are sick and tired of politicians refu

mr. armstrong votes no. mr. steube vets no. >> on this vote we have 24 yes, 17 nos. >> the motion to table is agreed to. the let me say this. you made it clear that did you not want the american people to haerp what mr. cohen has to say. but the american people have a right to hear him. so we're going to proceed. the merp people can judge his credibility for themselves. now. >> mr. chairman. >> yes. >> we did not say that we said we wanted to follow the rules. we didn't say stop the hearing just postpone it so we can get his testimony and exhibits when we were supposed to get them according to the rules of the committee. that's all we said we didn't acn november. and they have a right to hear mr. cohen in public so they can make their own judgments. mr. cohen's testimony is the beginning of the process. not the end. ladies and gentlemen, the days demonstrate that the information you will hear is accurate and truthful. never in a million years did i imagine when i accepted a job in 2007 to work for donald trump t

mr. armstrong rightly inquired offered to the committee taped information with the bat of an eye. do you stand behind that? >> i don't understand. you said it so fast. >> you as my friend mr. armstrong rightly inquired taped information regarding your clients with the bat of the eye. >> if the chairman asks me and it's i'll take it under advisement now and it's not a problem in terms of attorney/client privilege, yes, i will turn it over. >> you as my friend mr. meadows point it out that today that contradicted your testimony. you have suggested you're going to review that. did you review -- are you going to review it in our next break to correct the record yes or no? >> yes. >> you helped out the president's campaign or were involved in the campaign as a representative, it was your idea for the campaign dating back to 2011, is that accurate, yes or no? >> yes. >> 2011 is the year that sticks in my head for it's the year that my daughter was born and the year i was diagnosed with cancer. i was not then pushing for donald trump to be president. i was fighting in cancer. even in 201

mr. armstrong that sits outside the hall of engineering is a reminder of the great american tradition of dreaming big even when those bit -- dreams seem impossible. having a positive impact on the world is the reason why i come to speak to you. at this moment, in american history, there is two simple questions i would like to share with you and ask of you. the first is, what kind of country do we want to live in? and what kind of america do we want to pass down to our children and grand children? this is a conversation i like to have through the country over the next few months. before we get to the questions, let me share with you my own personal story. my great-grandfather max arrived in the united states from eastern europe in 1892 with $10 in his pocket. he did not speak a word of english and he made his living as a tailor. my other great-grandfather was a russian dissent and came to america in the early 1890's. i was raised in a poor working-class family in brooklyn, new york. we lived in public housing better known as the projects. my father, a world war ii veteran, did not finish

mr. armstrong. >> mr. whitaker, you've been acting attorney general during some fairly interesting times and we've heard a lot about that today, but i also want to commend the department of justice, the fbi, the white house and all other law enforcement who is involved in the first step act. this is a tremendous shift not just for the department of justice, not just for republicans and not just for democrats and it's the way government is supposed to work. it's supposed to show redemption, tough on traffickers, organized crime and also work towards a smarter way to deliver criminal justice particularly with addiction related crimes. so my only hope is that because it is called the first step act, there will be a second step and if you ever -- unfortunately, i have some other questions for you, so any time on your way out if you have any advice on something congress can do to continue this momentum, i would be very appreciative. >> congressman, i was involved on behalf of the department of justice in the fi

mr. armstrong. >> mr. whitaker, you are are currently acting attorney general. i want to commend all the staff, this is a tremendous shift not just for democrats or republicans, it is the way government is supposed to work. also working towards a smarter way to deliver criminal justice particularly with addiction related crimes. my only hope because it is called the first step, there will be a second step. if you ever -- unfortunately, i have other questions for you. any time on your way out if you have any advice on something that congress can do to continue this momentum, i would be appreciativ appreciative. >> i was involved in the first step act, i want to commend everyone in the committee to work on that and getting the first step act. one of this things we can use your help is make sure you fund it. we continue to implement the first step act and consistent with the law that you pass. last night we sent guidance about how to implement the act. >> i would hope to work towards having a federal level of pretrial release program to be available to every state

mr. armstrong. >> no. >> mr. armstrong votes no. mr. stub. >> no. >> mr. steube votes no.eub. >> no. >> mr. steube votes no.e. >> no. >> mr. steube votes no. on this vote we have 24 yeses, 17 nos. >> the motion to table is agreed to. let me say this, you've made it clear that you do not want the american people to hear what mr. cohen has to say, but the american people have a right to hear him, so we're going to proceed. the american people can judge his credibility for themselves. >> mr. chairman? >> yes. >> we did not say that, we just said we wanted to follow the rules. he didn't say stop the hearing, he just said postpone it so we could get his testimony and the exhibits when we were supposed to get them according to the rules of this committee. that's all we said. we didn't say we didn't want to hear from the guy. >> reclaiming my time. i now recognize myself for five minutes to give an opening statement. today the committee will hear the testimony of michael cohen. president donald trump's long time personal attorney and one of his closest and most t

mr. armstrong. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, can we take a break? >> did you ask for a break? >> i did, sir. that's okay, thank you, sir. [ inaudible ]. >> thank you. >> and good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington where president trump's former attorney and fixer michael cohen, who has been sentenced to three years in jail for lying to congress among other crimes, had been on the stand for several hours in dramatic testimony. they've just taken their first brief break. his testimony revealing explosive and potentially damaging new details about president trump and cohen's decades-long work with his former boss, cohen calling president trump a con man, a race sxhisist and a cheat. the most striking allegation so far, that mr. trump knew of wikileaks' dump of hacked e-mails and that don junior told his father about that infamous trump tower meeting with russians in 2015. he produced a check which he claimed was reimbursing him for his payment to stormy daniels. that check was delivered to michael cohen after the president took office. providing evidence to congress which he

mr. armstrong? >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, can we take a break? >> not right now. >> okay. >> all right. [ inaudible ] >> i did, sir. >> that's okay. thank you, sir. [ inaudible ] >> thank you. >> all right. it's been going on now for more than two hours. a very, very explosive hearing before the house oversight committee. we've been hearing from michael cohen, jake. this is as expected, the republicans are ganging up on him. he's trying to defend himself. the democrats seem to be defending him. this is going to continue. it's very explosive. i suspect it's going to become even more explosive. >> yeah. the democrats, not surprisingly, are using this as a way to try to attack president trump, taking largely, i would say, his testimony at face value and assuming it's true even though as has been pointed out several times from across the aisle michael cohen has pleaded guilty and is going to prison partly because he lied to congress previously and democrats are focusing on trump and the republicans almost exclusively using their time to attack michae

mr. armstrong? >> thank you. >> mr. cohen: mr. chairman, can we take a break? >> not right now. >> all right. >> mr. cohen: i did, sir. [laughter] [devil] that's okay. thank you, sir. thank you. >> mr. cohen: cummings might be able to see something that we could hear in this hearing with michael cohen, but we couldn't. his microphone is a partly not on but we do know that the former president's personal attorney has asked for a short break. as that happens, we remind you that we don't mind you're watching it my best sparks fly on capitol hill as michael cohen since before the house oversight committee. he is making explosive allegations against the president, and facing strong pushback from republicans over his credibility after being convicted of lying to congress among other things. michael cohen's testimony is expected to resume as soon as they come back in the room. first, here are some of the dramatic moments already today from the hearing. >> i am ashamed, because i know what mr. trump is. he is a racist, he is a con man, and he is a cheat. >> how on eart

mr. armstrong rightly inquired offered taped information involving clients with the bat of an eye. >> i don't understand what you said so fast. >> you offered to this committee taped information on your clients. do you stand behind your offer? >> if the chairman asks me, i'll take it undered a viement now and it's not a problem in tefrpls of attorney client privilege, yes, i will turn it over. >> you misled this committee even today in a written submission that contradicted your testimony. you suggested you were going to review that. are you going to review it to correct the record, yes or no? >> yes. >> you helped out the president's campaign or were involved in the campaign as a representative spokesman even in your words today it was your idea for the campaign dating back to 2011. is that accurate? >> yes. >> 2011 the year that sticks in my head. the year my daughter was born. the year i was diagnosed with cancer. i was not then pushing for donald trump to be president. i was fighting cancer. even in 2016 i was publicly backing a certain republican from texas. you might guess who it was. b

mr. armstrong: thank you, mr. speaker. sheriffs are in d.c. this week and they have a special message for congress, secure the border. these sheriffs know that border security will help stem the flow of illegal drugs and human trafficking which effects communities all across the country. the sheriffs warn that a new demand for my -- from my colleagues across the aisle could mean over 800,000 criminals would have to be released by authorities. they wrote, and i quote, this dangerous proposal not only jeopardizes the risk of our national security, but hinders our law enforcement officers from effectively enforcing and upholding the law and protecting their communities. in other words, this demand does not make our country safer. we need to empower law enforcement to hold criminal aliens when appropriate to protect our communities. the last thing we should do is release dangerous criminals from custody. i urge negotiators to come to an agreement to secure our border, build the wall, a barrier, a fence, a partition, a panel. i'm less interested in

mr. armstrong votes no. mr. steube vets no. >> on this vote we have 24 yes, 17 nos. >> the motion to table is agreed to. the let me say this. you made it clear that did you not want the american people to haerp what mr. cohen has to say. but the american people have a right to hear him. so we're going to proceed. the merp people can judge his credibility for themselves. now. >> mr. chairman. >> yes. >> we did not say that we said we wanted to follow the rules. we didn't say stop the hearing just postpone it so we can get his testimony and exhibits when we were supposed to get them according to the rules of the committee. that's all we said we didn't say we wanted to hear from the. >> guy. >> le claiming the time i recognize myself for five minutes to give an opening statement. today the committee will hear the testimony of michael cohen. president donald trump's longtime personal attorney and one of his closest and most trusted advisers over the last decade. the on august 231st mr. cohen appeared in federal cour

mr armstrong... now. mr stew beef... no. —— mr stoobie vote no. 0n armstrong... now. a right to hear him so we are going to proceed. the american people can judge hear him so we are going to proceed. the american people canjudge his credibility for themselves. now... mrchairman, we did credibility for themselves. now... mr chairman, we did not say that, we wa nt mr chairman, we did not say that, we want to follow the rules. we did not say stop the hearing, we said postpone it so we can get his testimony and exhibits when we were supposed to get them according to the rules of this committee, that is all we said, not that we did not wa nt all we said, not that we did not want to hear him. you are claiming my time. i reconciled myself for five minutes to give an opening statement. today the committee will hear the testimony of michael cohen. president donald trump was back a long time personal tourney and one of his closest and most trusted advisers over the last decade. —— one of president donald trump's long time attorneys. in arranging secret payoffs for hundreds of t

mr. armstrong of north dakota is recognized. >> professor, i'm going to start with i think there's -- this is a great conversation to have. this an -- we've moved this responsibility over the course of 30 years and taking some power back on this side of the aisle and oftentimes the only time you can do it is looking into the future instead of looking into the present. because the present becomes highly polarized and we all know that very well. if you didn't before this week in congress, you sure do today. i do appreciate all that. but my question is not based on how congress can act to change the law, because i think we should, my question is under the current law as it stands now, what risks do you see by those who are filing these lawsuits against the president? just kind of along the lines of being careful what you wish for, you might get it? >> there is a chance of bad cases making bad law, and that's always a concern that you have when you look at a high profile case. i don't see how these cases can prevail under the existing law. i don't see a good faith argument that president trump

mr. armstrong, offered to this committee, offered taped information without the bat of an eye. do you stand behind that offer? >> if the chairman asks me, i will take it under advisement and it's not a problem in terms of attorney client privilege, yes, i will turn it over. >> you have misled this committee in a written submission that contradicted your attorney. you suggested you are going to review it. are you going to review it in the next break to correct the record? >> yes. >> you helped out the president's campaign or were involved in the campaign as a representative, as a spokesman, in your words today, it was your idea for the campaign dating back to 2011, is that correct, yes or no. >> yes. >> 2011 is the year that sticks in my head. the year my daughter was born and the year i was zyged with cancer. i was not pushing for donald trump to be president. i was fighting cancer. even in 2016 i was publicly backing a certain republican from texas. you might guess who it was. but you, you were all in. you either wanted donald trump to be your president because it would be goo

mr. armstrong, offered to this committee, offered taped information without the bat of an eye. do you stand behind that offer? >> if the chairman asks me, i will take it under advisement and it's not a problem in terms of attorney client privilege, yes, i will turn it over. >> you have misled this committee in a written submission that contradicted your attorney. you suggested you are going to review it. are you going to review it in the next break to correct the record? >> yes. >> you helped out the president's campaign or were involved in the campaign as a representative, as a spokesman, in your words today, it was your idea for the campaign dating back to 2011, is that correct, yes or no. >> yes. >> 2011 is the year that sticks in my head. the year my daughter was born and the year i was zyged with cancer. i was not pushing for donald trump to be president. i was fighting cancer. even in 2016 i was publicly backing a certain republican from texas. you might guess who it was. but you, you were all in. you either wanted donald trump to be your president because it would be goo

mr. armstrong votes no. mr. stube votes no.this vote we have 24 yeses, 17 nos. >> motion to table is agreed to. let me say this, you've made it clear you did not want the american people to hear what mr. cohen has to say but the american people have a right to hear him. so we're going to proceed. the american people can judge his credibility for themselves. >> mr. chairman. we didn't say that. we just said he wanted to follow the rules. we didn't say stop the hearing bust -- but postpone it to get the evidence according to the rules of the committee. we want all the rules. >> reclaim me my time. i now recognize myself for five minutes to give an opening statement. today, the committee will hear the testimony of michael cohen. president donald trump's long-time personal attorney and one of his closest and most trusted advisors over the last decades. mr. cohen appeared in federal government -- federal court and admitted to receiving secret payoffs on the eve of the election to silence women alleging affairs with donald trump. mr.

mr. armstrong. >> thank you, mr. chairman and in my never-ending quest to educate people about the way we live in north dakota, earlier this morning, in hr-1rk i was explaining that we're the only state in the nation without voter registration. so in the quest to solve problems in other areas we actually make it more difficult to do things in my state. and i will continue, i think, a little bit here. and i am going to talk particularly about the exceptions. and it's obviously, obvious to someone who has spent his entire life hunting and whether it is bow hunting, upland game hunting or rifle, or big game hunting, that when people write exceptions to laws like this, we do it in a way that actually doesn't take into account the rural nature of places where i live. and north dakota is a beautiful place. i invite anybody to come there whenever they can. probably not today. it is 35 below wind chill. but when we're talking about how we designate exceptions to this hr-8, we're talking about exclusively at shooting ranges,

mr. klein votes aye. ms. armstrong. ms. armstrong votes aye. mr. stubbie.hing to vote? >> i haven't voted. >> gentleman from texas. >> yes. >> are there any other members who wish to vote who haven't voted. >> mr. ratcliffe votes aye. >> the clerk will report. >> mr. chairman there are 24 noes and ten ayes. >> the motion to adjourn is not approved. i matthew g. whitaker is the acting attorney general. he previously serve as chief of staff to jeff sessions. he was appointed as the u.s. attorney for the southern district of iowa in 2004 by president george w. bush. before that a managing partner. whitaker and guise to you. and the exec i have director for fact between 2014 and 2017. mr. whitaker graduated with a master of business administration, injures doctor and bachelor of arts from the university of iowa. we welcome mr. whitaker and thank him for participating in this hearing. if you would please rise, i will begin by swearing you in. do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, informa

mrs. most holy father louis armstrong." >> the collages are so wonderful to see.e collages can also give you a new way of listening to the music. he's a collage-maker in sound. he's quoting tin pan alley. he's quoting opera. there's one piece called dinah, where he plays the hoochie coochie song. it's on fi. and in the middle of dinah, he starts to go, ♪ duh duh duhuh duh, duh duh duh duh da da ♪ >> reporter: but his musicy wasn't the odio archive armstrong left to the world. >> this is december 1950. >> always, just like this. >> teagarden. >> reporter: in 1950 armstrong's trombonist jack teagarden showed him how to use a portable tape recorder. >> then-- then-- to play it back, all you got to do is... ♪ ♪ >> now you're in the room.th you're idressing room. and from that first tape, he is so comfortable. i it's, like, thgonna be my way of, you know, of documenting my life. and so that goes on e next 20 years. >> reporter: over th years armstrong recorded more than 1,000 hours-- everything from practicing trumpet to conversations to whatever music he was listening

mr. armstrong. >> thank you. and my never ending quest to educate people about the way we live in north dakota, earlier this morning i was explaining we are the only state without voter registration. in the quest to solve problems and other areas we make it more difficult to do things in my state. i will continue on that a little bit here and i will talk about it is obvious and to someone who has spent his entire life hunting and whether it is bow hunting, upland game hunting or big game hunting that why people write exceptions to laws like this, we do it in a way that does not take into account the rural nature of places where i live. north dakota is a beautiful place, i invite anyone to come there when they can, probably not today, it is 35 below wind chills. when we talk about how we designate exceptions to this bill we are talking about exclusively at shooting ranges, galleries, or other designated areas. the noble goal of trying to end gun filings and other areas, i want everyone to be aware that we are crea

mr. klein votes i. ms. armstrong votes i. are there any other members wishing to vote? >> i have voted. r members who to let wish to vote that habit voted. >> mr. radcliffe voted i. >> clerical report. mr. chairman there are 24 nose and 10 i. >> the motion to adjourn is not approved. i will introduce today's witness, matthew g whitaker is the acting attorney general of the united states. previously mr. whitaker served as chief of staff to attorney general jeff sessions. he was appointed as the u.s. attorney for the southern issue of iowa in june 15, 2004 by president george w. bush. before that he was managing partner of the des moines based law firm whitaker hagan now and to stop. llc. he was also the executive director for fact, foundation for accountability and civic trust. between 2014 2017. mr. whitaker graduated with a master of business administration, juries doctor and bachelor of arts from the university of iowa. we welcome mr. whitaker and we thank you for participating in today's hearing. if you would please rise i will begin by swearing in. raise your right arm. do you swear