joining me now is democratic congresswoman val demings from florida.a member of both the house judiciary and intelligence committees. she's joining us now, congresswoman, we appreciate your time. i want to out of the gates ask you a little bit about the news rudy giuliani made in part today. he said on "meet the press" that the negotiations as it related to trump tower in moscow, those conversations went throughout 2016, which would be significant because it's further than the time frame we had been discussing before, which had previously sort of ended at roughly june of 2016. here's what giuliani said earlier today -- >> you said the president is not sure when talks ended. it's your understanding it ended when, in january as michael cohen incorrectly testified to? >> it's our understanding that they went on throughout 2016, there were not a lot of them, but there were conversations. i can't be sure of the exact dates but the president can remember having conversations with him about it. the president also remembers -- >> throughout 2016? >> yeah, prob

what it will take to break this impasse, i spoke a brief time ago with democratic congresswoman val demingsmp blamed democrats for the shutdown. it's now in its 19th day. is it time for democrats to make concessions, fund the border wall, and give government employees back their paycheques? let me just say there's — i spent 27 years in law enforcement, served as the chief of police. i'm certainly am no stranger to emergency situations, or no stranger to what it means to provide security at our borders. i believe that itjust makes real good sense to look at the amazing technology that is available to us, to not only enhance security at our borders, butjust as we are doing in cities and towns all over this nation, to improve the safety. so, the president is looking at an antiquated way. he's looking at antiquated technology to really solve a problem of today and the future. he said last night that a wall would keep out drugs in the country. his administration has said that a wall would help keep out terrorists and that it would help keep out of the number of illegal people coming into the cou

. >> all right, congresswoman val demings, thank you very much for your time. i appreciate your insights. >>> we have a very special guest joining us by phone. ari has the night off but he's decided to phone in, help break this story down. never turn down the advice of a good lawyer like ari. let me ask you this because i know you've covered so many of these stories from the very beginning. how is this story different from the ones you've covered before? >> well, thanks for having me, amon. >> it's your show, you can come on new tiany time, buddy. >> thanks for your hard work. i am off but this seemed big enough to at least check in with you. the story is big because we are looking at an allegation of the direction of criminal conduct by the sitting president. this is not campaign. this is not pre-president. this is how he conducted himself in office, and that's why the congress, as we just heard from your guest, is looking at this as a potential high crime, because it is a potential abuse of power while in office. that, immediately, amon, makes it different. >

. >> the chair recognizes congresswoman from florida, val demings. >> thank you mr. chairman and our witnesses for joining us today. i appreciate everything i've heard, i appreciate the information you have shared. for me, the bottom line is, too many working families in this country believe the system does not work for them. i think they believe the economy works for the wealthy and the well-connected. as you both know, i believe there is mounting evidence of increasing concentration and market power throughout the u.s. economy. resulting in higher prices for consumers. consistently high corporate prices or profit. business is okay as long as it does not consume everybody else in the room. i think it also results in decreased innovation and less attention on efficiency of operation and delivery of service. is a member of congress, i'm certainly interested in the health of our businesses. every day i think more about the people. who work at the corporation or the consumers who are affected by the decisions that are made. i would like to hear from you, how are anti-la

val demings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida is recognized. mrs. demings: thank you so much, mr. speaker. and thank the gentlelady from new york. mr. speaker, i reintroduced h.r. 449 to enhance counterterrorism preparedness at the local level. in recent years we've seen acts of terrorism, especially in planning and execution, take place in cities throughout our nation. whether it's occurred in a church in charleston, a synagogue in pittsburgh, or a night club in orlando, local law enforcement is the front line of defense in protecting our communities from acts of violence. it is therefore necessary to equip our first responders with the tools to allow them to quickly adament to the evolving -- adapt to the evolving terrorist threat landscape. this bill, h.r. 449, does just that. today the department of homeland security's training catalog is a primary resource for state and local jurisdictions to find opportunities to enhance their counterterrorism and preparedness capability. specifically h.r. 449 directs d.h.s. office of state and local law enforc