cicilline, a top member of the house judiciary committee. plus. >> china is going to eat our lunch? come on, man. >> that's a very dumb statement to make. >> chris: we will ask our sunday panel about push back to joe biden's comments on china from both the right and the lef left. and our "power player of the week," melinda gates on the moment a lift for women. >> are not afraid to say what i believe and what i know to be true. >> chris: all right now now on "fox news sunday." angelo again from fox news in washington. president trump got some good economic news this week, but it's been a rough patch for trump foreign policy. first, the failed uprising in venezuela as opposition leader one why don't was unable to get the military to overthrow disputed president nicolas maduro. then reports north korea fired several short range projectiles, raising tensions between washington and pyongyang. and russian president putin in the middle challenging the u.s. on both fronts. in a moment will discuss all this the secretary of state mike pompeo. but fir

cicilline: that is correct. h.r. 5 adds protected classes to title 2 of the civil rights act but does not revise the exception for private establishments not open to the public. meaning houses of worship can can continue their practices as before, including limiting admission or attendance to members of their faith. mr. mcadams: is it your understanding nothing in h.r. 5 compels a clergy member to perfect torm a religious ceremony in conflict with their religious beliefs. that is faith groups can continue to perform marriages, blessings, baptisms, and other practices for their own members and consistent with their beliefs, consistent with the first amendment rights, correct? mr. cicilline: h.r. 5 does not nor could any legislation supersede the first amendment. h.r. 5 allows the standards set by prior civil rights law to not interfere with worship and religious practices by religious organizations. mr. mcadams: thank you, congressman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. the gentleman reserves. the

cicilline: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: i rise today to recognize her eminence, the dominican republic's first female continue ter of youth in the nation's history. since a young age she has been critical in youth and political

cicilline? mr. cicilline votes aye. mr. raskin? mr. raskin votes aye. miss deming? miss deming votes aye. .r. correa votes aye missus scanlon votes aye. miss garcia votes aye. this mcbath? -- miss mcbath? this after bar? miss escobar votes aye. mr. collins votes no. mr. gomer votes no. mr. jordan votes no. mr. buck votes no. miss robie? this robie votes no. mr. cates? mr. gates votes no. mr. johnson of louisiana? mr. johnson of louisiana votes no. mr. mcclintock? mr. mcclintock votes no. missus lesko? missus lesko votes no. mr. cline? mr. cline votes no. mr. armstrong? be votes no. mr. cohen votes aye. >> the gentleman from florida. the gentlelady from fort up. the gentlelady from georgia. the gentleman from georgia. >> mr. johnson from georgia votes yes. >> has everyone voted who wishes to vote? the clerk will report the results. there are 21 ayes and 14 nos. committeese judiciary held a shortened hearing on the beeler report

cicilline: that is correct. h.r. 5 adds protected classes to title 2 of the civil rights act but does not revise the exception for private establishments not open to the public. meaning houses of worship can can continue their practices as before, including limiting admission or attendance to members of their faith. mr. mcadams: is it your understanding nothing in h.r. 5 compels a clergy member to perfect torm a religious ceremony in conflict with their religious beliefs. that is faith groups can continue to perform marriages, blessings, baptisms, and other practices for their own members and consistent with their beliefs, consistent with the first amendment rights, correct? mr. cicilline: h.r. 5 does not nor could any legislation supersede the first amendment. h.r. 5 allows the standards set by prior civil rights law to not interfere with worship and religious practices by religious organizations. mr. mcadams: thank you, congressman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. the gentleman reserves. the

my sense from cicilline and comments he made, too, this would be a broader claim. he talked about this in terms of the white house's refusal on tax returns. this was house ways and means committee citing a 1924 law that seems to say any american asked to give over tax returns -- >> it does say, yes. >> he said the other day that their actions seem to be moving impeachable direction, barr not testifying before one committee. seems they're making a broader claim there. i guess my question is in terms of how this would play to the public, does the public see these distinct issues as adding up to something big or does the public still look at this, say mueller, russia, was he a russian algent or not? >> the public has no idea who don mcgahn is. it is great for citizens to be deep in the weeds when they can be. for the most part, the case the democrats are trying to make, you can argue over whether it is successful as you say is a broader question of stonewalling. white house stonewalling into the inquiries. the question is whether the legal, narrow legal reason they mi

cicilline: david cicilline from rhode island. we just arourned. we are extremely disappointed that the attorney general of the united states declined to appear before the judiciary committee. i think it's important to let that sink in for a moment. the attorney germ of the united states declined to appear voluntarily before the united states house of representatives committee on the judiciary. i think there is good reason in that the attorney general is uncomfortable coming before the committee and answering questions. we intend to ensure that we have the ability to get both the witnesses to testify under oath before the committee and the documents that are necessary to do our oversight work. that is the -- there are other members here. i think they want us in a group. and i think we will do whatever is necessary to get the documents we need to complete our work and bring witnesses before the committee under oath. our oversight responsibility is directly dependent on our ability to bring witnesses before the committee and compel the production of

jeffries: i thank the distinguished chair and i thank my good friend, david cicilline, for his extraordinary leadership on this incredibly important legislation. when the words we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, they were eloquent in their articulation, but incomplete in their application. as the legendary barbara jordan once observed, those words did not originally apply to african-americans. they did not apply to people of color. they did not apply to native americans. they did not apply to women. hey did not apply to members of the lgbt community. we have come a long way here in the united states of america, but we still have work to do. if you truly believe in liberty and justice for all, support the equality act. if you truly believe in equal protection under the law,

cicilline: david cicilline from rhode island. we just

cicilline: yes. mr. gosar: and do you think the court which they sued had any of the information skewed in front of it -- in front of their jurisdiction? mr. cicilline: i am not -- mr. gosar: all the information we're hearing is myth versus fact, is that true? mr. cicilline: again, i don't know about the legal proceedings. i know the litigation began by people in the local community. mr. gosar: i thank the gentleman. with that i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona reserves his time. the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, is recognized. mr. grijalva: thank you. i want to address a point that was brought up during the debate on this bill that the mashpee tribe will not lose its federal recognition if h.r. 312 does not pass. that's true. we never stated the federal recognition was in jeopardy. what we are talking about, which is fundamental to the survival of the tribe, is the destroying a tribe's sovereign government. that is what is really at stake here. with that let me yield

joining us now is congressman david cicilline. he is a democrat of rhode island, a member of the judiciary committee. sir, thank you so much for being here tonight. i really appreciate your time. >> my pleasure. good to be with you. >> so, i know this is a story that is still developing over the course of today and into this evening. let me just ask what your latest understanding is of where we are with the subpoena, a potential vote to hold the attorney general in contempt on wednesday morning. >> well, you described it accurately, rachel. the department of justice officials are going to meet with the staff of the judiciary committee tomorrow in one final effort to reach some sort of resolution of this disagreement. but the contempt citation has been set for wednesday. the committee, if an agreement is not reached tomorrow, will move forward to judge the attorney general in contempt for his failure to comply with a lawfully issued subpoena. >> what would be the material impact of him being held in contempt? obviously it's somethi

cicilline. mr. cicilline votes aye. mr. swalwell. mr. lieu. mr. lieu votes aye. mr. raskin. mr. raskin votes aye. ms. jayapal. ms. jayapal votes aye. mrs. demings. mrs. demings votes aye. mr. corer raya. mr. corer raya votes aye. ms. scanlon. ms. scanlon votes aye. miss car see ya. ms. garcia votes aye. mr. into guse, mr. into -- mr. into news -- nguse votes aye. mr. stanton votes aye. ms. dean. ms. dean votes aye. miss powell votes aye. ms. escobar. ms. escobar votes aye. mr. collins, mr. collins votes no. mr. sensenbrenner. mr. chabot. mr. chabot votes no. mr. gohmert. mr. gohmert votes no. mr. jordan. mr. jordan votes no. mr. buck. mr. buck votes no. mr. rad-r ratcliffe. mr. ratcliffe votes no. mrs. roby. mr. gaetz. mr. gaetz votes no. mr. johnson of louisiana. mr. johnson of louisiana votes no. mr. biggs. mr. mcclintock. mr. mcclintock votes no. mrs. lesko. mr. rosenthaler votes no. mr. kline, mr. kline votes no. mr. armstrong, mr. armstrong votes no. r. steubey votes no. mr. nadler: is there anyone who wishes to vote who hasn't voted? the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. n

. >> on "fox news sunday," david cicilline said the date of the 15th has been the date to testify so far. >> the white house said they would not interfere. >> cicilline later testified on twitter nothing has been agreed to yet and that a date had only been proposed but not yet accepted. and in the meantime house judiciary chairman jerry nadler has given tone jern real barr until today to deliver an unredacted version of the report. brook? >> tom hanson here in new york. thanks. >>> the u.s. is deploying an aircraft carrier to the middle east after fears of a possible attack. it's in response to troubling indications and warnings from iran. among the those being dough employed is the "uss abraham lincoln carrier." . >>> the israeli army lifted potential restrictions on people living in southern israel signaling a cease-fire with gaza. over the weekend they bombarded israel with hundreds of rockets while israel carried out hundreds of air strikes. palestinian medical officials have confirmed israel's 23 deaths. four israelis were also killed. the bloody violence was the bloodiest since

here is congressman david cicilline, who's a member of the democratic leadership, just a little while ago. >> now they're making this really broad claim that essentially says the president and his team are immune from ever coming before congress. that's legally incorrect and certainly a court will ultimately have to decide that. but i think let me be clear, if don mcgahn doesn't testify, it is time to open an impeachment inquiry. >> let me make sure i heard you correctly there. if mcgahn does not show up tomorrow before your committee, you say it is time for democrats to begin an impeachment proceeding? >> an impeachment inquiry, absolutely. we are really left with no other choice. >> more on that escalating showdown, i'm joined by chuck rosenberg, a former u.s. attorney and served as chief of staff under then director james comey. he has a new podcast out called "the oath." i'm also joined by harry litman, former u.s. attorney and assistant attorney general. we've got 30 channels of news on this as we get the showdown between the president and congress. i want to start on the first a

cicilline that i want to add a couple of point to what you said. you said is it would be illegal for a member of the house of representatives to be on the committee staff and if that is the intention, the premise of this amendment is built on an impossibility. word orhen you use the your staff uses the word holding a certificate, it means in their hands. i will yield to you for the purpose of saying do you mean if they hold it in their hands? is that what you mean? >> mr. chair, i'd like to respond. thank you, mr. chair. i meant it is just as ridiculous to ask members of staff to be able to question for an extra hour and so again -- >> i get it. distinguishedthe ranking member of the committee started by saying we should get to the work of the american verye and we have a important piece of legislation we are trying to get to and yet all we are getting are these obstructionist -- i will not yield for a second and it is not my time field anyway but i want to make this point. all of this is a distraction from one of the most extraordinary pieces of c

congressman david cicilline joins me next. and joe biden, bernie sanders and the other white male candidates have been sucking a lot of oxygen out of the democratic primary race. but a woman may be beginning to close the gap. that is coming up. y be beginnin close the gap. that is coming up. some things are out of your control. like bedhead. hmmmm. ♪ rub-a-dub ducky... and then...there's national car rental. at national, i'm in total control. i can just skip the counter and choose any car in the aisle i like. so i can rent fast without getting a hair out of place. heeeeey. hey! ah, control. (vo) go national. go like a pro. ♪ applebee's bigger, bolder grill combos. now that's eatin good in the neighborhood. nueven if you try to eat well,. you might fall short in key nutrients. get more by adding one a day. it's the #1 multivitamin uniquely designed for men and women. one serving, once a day. one a day. and done. the 2019 subaru outback is how safe is the car you're considering? an iihs top safety pick plus. the honda cr-v i

joining me now is democratic congressman, david cicilline of rhode island. he's on both the house judiciary committee and the foreign relations committee. congressman, thank you so much for joining us. help us clear up the confusion. there was some confusion over the weekend about when exactly robert mueller will testify before the house judiciary committee. you said the committee proposed may 15th and, quote, hope the special counsel will agree to it, unquote. has he agreed to it and do you know what might be a holdup? >> no, he has not agreed to it. i know there are ongoing discussions. the chairman has proposed the 15th and set aside that day and we hope the special counsel will agree to appear on that day and testify before the american people. >> is it just an issue of scheduling or does the special counsel mueller have any issues about testifying publicly? >> i just don't think an agreement has been reached, mr. mueller has not agreed to come on that date. it's unclear whether he intends to come again. there are discussions ongoing. the chairman has in

congressman david cicilline joins me next. and joe biden, bernie sanders and the other white male candidates have been sucking a lot of oxygen out of the democratic primary race. but a woman may be beginning to close the gap. that is coming up. really? [horn honks] man this is what i feel like when i wear regular shoes, cramped and uncomfortable. we can arrange a little upgrade. which is why i wear skechers... wide fit shoes. they have extra room throughout. they're like a luxury ride for my feet. try skechers wide fit shoes. they're like a luxury ride for my feet. ♪ applebee's bigger, bolder grill combos. now that's eatin good in the neighborhood. it's not small. but it's not just big either. it's the kind of big where you'll never have to ask, "should i scooch up?" it's big that looks at a sunroof and wonders why it can't just be most of the roof. it's big that's better because we built it that way. the spacious, 121 cubic feet of cargo space ford expedition. the spacious, 121 cubic feet of cargo space mom, what's for din-

i'm going to bring in david cicilline. thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> do you think he's afraid to come in as jerry nadler said, he's afraid of the questions he's going to be asked? >> it's pretty clear the attorney general objected to a process that we intend to follow tomorrow that the house rules permit, that the committee voted in favor of today to allow after members question the witness to allow the republicans and the democrats to have staff counsel do an additional hour of questioning. and it's really because it's hard to do five-minute questions, you can't do follow-up. to be sure that we get at the evidence we need to collect in this hearing it's a sensible thing, we've done it before but apparently mr. mueller refused to come because he did not want to subject himself to questioning by the staff attorneys. you have to wonder, what is he afraid of, what's he trying to hide? >> that's my question, if you've done everything by the book and you are the top law enforcement person in the country, what wou

cicilline. mr. cicilline votes aye. mr. swalwell. mr. lieu. mr. lieu votes aye. mr. raskin. mr. raskin votes aye. mr. jiappall. ms. jiappall votes aye. ms. demings votes aye. mr. correia. mr. correia votes aye. ms. scanlon. ms. scanlon votes aye. ms. garcia. ms. garcia votes aye. mr. nugus. mr. mugus votes aye. ms. mcgath votes aye. mr. stanton. mr. stanton votes aye. ms. dean. ms. dean votes aye. ms. mucarsel-powell votes ay erk. ms. escobar. ms. escobar votes aye. mr. collins. mr. collins votes no. mr. sensenbrenner. mr. chabot. >> no, and this is disgraceful. >> mr. chabot votes no. mr. gohmert. mr. gohmert votes no. mr. jordan. mr. jordan votes no. mr. buck. mr. buck votes no. mr. ratcliffe, mr. ratcliffe votes no. ms. robey. mr. gates. mr. gates votes no. mr. johnson of louisiana. mr. johnson of louisiana votes no. mr. bigs. mr. mcclintock. mr. mcclintock votes no. ms. les co. ms. reshentholler votes no. mr. klein. mr. klein votes no. mr. armstrong. mr. armstrong votes no. mr. stuby. mr. stuby votes no. >> anyone who wishes to vote who hasn't voted? clerk will report. >> mr

cicilline: it is important to recognize the house rules permits these questions. we approved it in a motion before the committee. it has been done many other times most recently with dr. blassey ford. the real question is to the -- is not why do we want to collect evidence in this way? the real question is to the attorney general. what are you afraid of? and why don't you want to be questioned? that is the real question for the american people and the media. reporter: are you now concerned this will get bogged down in the court and may now take longer for you to get these answers that you have demanded? mr. lieu: let's walk through the process of how contempt proceedings work. attorney general barr has violated a lawful subpoena to provide us the full mueller report. if we go to contempt, the house judiciary will vote. if we vote it out, it goes to the house floor. once the house floor votes it out it triggers a number of things. our house counsel can legitimate in court. but we have inherent contempt powers that courts have upheld for us to take immediate action

you hear from congressman cicilline, out there in the media a lot talking about impeachment. certainly the aoc faction, if you will, of the democratic party. there definitely is division. speaker pelosi has been very clear from the beginning on this. i tend to agree with the path that she's going down, more moderate democrats are looking at which is, one, you have to have that smoking gun. you have to do your due diligence as members of the house. two, you have to have bipartisan support. one republican congressman amash doesn't do it. by the way, if you look at people talking about him challenging trump in 2020 as a libertarian candidate. so i don't think this is all just about the facts. the whispering i have heard today is he's going to run. he has an agenda. >> i would call it more political. [ talking at the same time ] >> there are a few others as well. nancy pelosi could easily marginalize those coming on board with less experience or maybe those like representative al green who's been calling for impeachment since january 20, 2017. it's hard to do that with congress p

let me just comment, say something about david cicilline, the author of the equality act, before i move on. we thank him for his leadership. we also thank the congressional black caucus for giving its imprimatur to this legislation right from the start. john lewis stood with us when we announced the bill a couple years ago, before we had the majority, and now, every democrat will be voting for this bill on friday. we are very excited about that. again, on the health care front, for the people agenda, we promised we promised a lower health care cost by lowering the cost of prescription drugs, preserving the pre-existing condition [protections], and there are many pieces of legislation in furtherance of that goal. so, we are continuing our relentless drumbeat on the prescription drug prices, on pre-existing condition. it is a stunning thing. maybe you noticed during the campaign that the republicans kept saying, 'oh, no, we are for pre-existing conditions benefits,' but yet, almost every one of them voted against the bill on the floor. that was discretely just about pre-existing condition

. >> and later david cicilline joins me the next hour. and in the next hour, marian williamson joins me on set. she stunned many by making the debates this week. she's going to join me live for her first interview after getting 65,000 donors. "kasie dc" back after this. g 65. "kasie dc" back after this stillg a new house. is it that obvious? yes it is. you know, maybe you'd worry less if you got geico to help with your homeowners insurance. i didn't know geico could helps with homeowners insurance. yep, they've been doing it for years. what are you doing? big steve? thanks, man. there he is. get to know geico and see how much you could save on homeowners and renters insurance. i was told to begin my aspirin regimen, blem. and i just didn't listen. until i almost lost my life. my doctors again ordered me to take aspirin, and i do. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. listen to the doctor. take it seriously. every curve, every innovation, every feeling. a product of mastery. lease the 2019 es 350 for $379 a mo

cicilline: thank you, mr. speaker. every day in kitchens and living rooms across america working men and women sit down and try to figure out how to pay for their prescription drugs. that's because 25% of the people in this country can't afford the medicine they have been prescribed. seniors are choosing between copd medicine and their groceries. people with cancer are being forced to delay their treatment. cut pills in half, orer even forego treatment all together. this is happening in the richest, most powerful nation in the history of the world. it's a disgrace. if government is going to work for the people, then the people who serve in government need to end this crisis. democrats are committed to doing just that. we're taking on the big pharmaceutical companies and their lobbyists and get the job done. that's why i'm proud my legislation, the creates act, is included in this legislative package. the creates act will save taxpayers $3.9 billion, according to the c.b.o., and bring down the cost of some prescription

you heard cicilline talk about, well, we've still got this aggressive agenda. but here in washington that's not what you're hearing from the democrats, you're hearing all about the investigation. >> i really think they have to do both here because donald trump has blown up the normal way of doing things in washington on every level. and to brit's point, how this would morally get worked out is some -- normally get worked out is some sort of compromise, i'm not sure donald trump will ever do that. and if they set the precedent, i do think the american people will start to say if they have nothing to hide and they didn't do anything wrong, why won't they just come answer questions? if that's why we gave democrats control of the house in 2018 -- chris: or8. they may say why dot they move to something else. anyway, all right, panel. we have to take a break here. when we come back, former vice president joe biden positions himself as the blue collar candidate, but will the booming economy undercut his 2020 position? >> $2 trillion tax cut last year. did you feel it?

. >> leading off our discussion on the is democratic congressman david cicilline of rhode island, is he a member of the house judiciary committee. congressman, thank you for joining us tonight. your chairman jerry nadler just was on with rachel maddow where he announced that robert mueller's one of his conditions for testifying to the committee at this stage of negotiations is he wants to do it behind closed doors no, tv cameras prechbt, no media present, transcript to be released later. >>> yeah, i hope the negotiations will achieve a different result. i think it's very important that the american people hear from mr. mueller that he walk the american people and the judiciary committee through his report. to explain his findings, explain the judgments he made. this, of course, was a report done on behalf of the american people when our democracy was attacked by a foreign adversary. he details ten specific instances where the president obstructed justice. and lots of contacts between the trump campaign and russian operatives. people need to hear that directly from him. i hope we can

administration accountable and get the facts and the evidence we need to do our jobs. >> congressman cicilline, i appreciate your time. >> thanks for having me. >> more now on this from garrett graff, a cnn contributor and author of the "the threat matrix: the fbi, war and global terror." >> now that the attorney general says said mueller can testify, do you think he will do so and will do so voluntarily? >> i think mueller is probably not relishing appearing on capitol hill, but he will comply with any invitation or order from congress to appear. >> if he does testify, what challenges do you think committee members would face in questioning him? obviously he has testified before and he has shown a lot of restraint. >> yeah, he is not someone who is anywhere near as loquacious or extensive in his testimony as we've gotten used to seeing someone like james comey speak. and so i think in some ways the onus is really going to be on the members of the committee to make sure that they're asking sharp pointed questions. because mueller is not going to want to go much beyond what he's already said in

another development over the weekend was david cicilline, the member of the house judiciary committee, saying it looked like there was a tentative deal for mueller to testify on may 15th. cicilline walked that back a little bit, but obviously, this is a very live issue about mueller's testimony. the judiciary committee wants him sooner rather than later. you know, i don't know what's going to happen. the president is the boss of the attorney general. he has now spoken out. i, you know, we'll see. ask abby phillips. ask her. >> but he's not the boss of robert mueller. >> that's exactly the question that i have. but it's not clear to me that president trump has the ability to stop robert mueller from testifying. i mean, on what grounds would he or even bill barr have to stop this testimony from happening. >> because he's a private citizen. >> not yet. >> but today, he could say, i quit the department of justice, thanks very much, and would be a private citizen. >> well, that's correct. that is correct that once mueller leaves, he's in a different position. but it is quite clear that the

member of the committee that will hear mueller's testimony if it happens, direct congressman david cicilline. congressman, attorney general barr saying he is fine with mueller testify, has that cleared the way for it to actually happen? where do the negotiations actually stand? >> well, we hope so. the negotiations between the committee staff and mr. mueller's team are ongoing. we hope that he will come before the committee. as you mentioned, the attorney general has now said he has no objection. we're back to that position. so it's very important for the american people to hear directly from special counsel mueller, that he has the opportunity to walk the american people and members of congress through the findings of his report. so i hope he will be before the committee in short order. >> are those discussions between the committee and mr. mueller or between the committee and the justice department? and if it is the justice department, because i guess he still works there, do you believe they're negotiating in god faith to make this happen? >> i hope they are. i mean i think mr. mueller is

outfront now democratic congressman david cicilline. he is a democrat signed on the lawsuit. he sits on the house judiciary committee. thanks if for being with me congressman. this seems to boil down to reading through the 11-beige filing, and see you want the president's personal and business financial records. you want to start getting them in june, as soon as june. is there anything off limits? >> well, i think it's important, erin, to recognize that this grows out of in very basic principle that we need confidence that the president of the united states is making decisions in the best interests of the country and not because of some financial stake or because of some financial gain. pan so when we know for sure that the president received 38 trademarks from the chinese government, gnat chinese government and the uae are renting space at trump tower, that diplomats have been renting hotels, foreign governments paying for them at trump properties, it raises serious questions as to whether or not in violates a prohibitition in the constitution that prevents the president fro

. >> and, rev, this comes as i was mentioned to steve kornacki that you had congressman cicilline on, that he wasn't at the impeachment point but if they blow through this subpoena from mcgahn again tomorrow then he thinks it is time to step forward on impeachment. do you see that as an outlier or something that house democrats want to do as the next step? >> i think they are certainly moving very quickly in that direction, and i think that when you look at the fact this judge hit the core problem, that i think many are missing this is beyond partisan politics. the basic construct of what the government was founded on, checks and balances. he reminded people of that in his decision that congress has the right, they're co-equals, and he spoke to the core of that. i think that will also overlap in other areas because congressmen and women are now going to have to say, wait a minute, am i now going against the fundamentals of checks and balances here which changes the whole tenor now because i think what has been going on so far the trump team has tried to make this partisan. this judge

democratic congressman david cicilline of richl. don mcgahn is not going to show up before your committee today, himself lawyer has said. will you open up an inquiry? >> it is my opinion we should. there is unity on two issues, one is what we have to deliver on the promises we made to the american people and our for the people agenda to drive down health care costs, drive down the cost of prescription dug and getting we passed legislation to strengthen the aand we have to be sure we hold this president accountability, that no one is above the law and that we have to get to the truth. i think there comes a point where white house,s that not rue continue to compel the attendance of witnesses and appropriation dubs of documents to head hod. will there be a moo. >> i think again an impeachment inquiry is really just a formal opening of that question. in the nixon. and this is the end of the pross. . in the judiciary committee that we need to continue to compel witnesses, seek the production of document, lit i game it in court, to nol th

cicilline: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: madam speaker, two years ago, our republican friends voted to repeal the affordable care act. they brought in cases of beer to celebrate. they piled into luxury buses that ferried them to the white house and celebrated the attempt to kick millions off their health insurance. fortunately, we stopped them. this bill never became law, but two years later they're up to the same old tricks. the president trump is asking a federal court to strike down protections for coverage for pre-existing conditions, but the entire affordable care act. talk about not getting the memo. the american people sent a message to president trump in november and to my republican colleagues on the other side of the aisle. they want government to stop working for special interests and start working for the people again. that's why house democrats are about to pass legislation to strengthen protections for folks w

joining me is congressman david cicilline who serves on the house judiciary and foreign affairs committee. thank you for being with us. good morning. >> my pleasure. good morning. >> when is robert mueller going to testify before your committee? >> we hope very soon. it will not happen this week according to the chairman. the committee is still in conversations with mr. mueller's team. we hope he will come before the committee. we all think it's very important that the american people hear directly from him as well as our committee so he can walk the american people through the contents of the mueller report, explain the judgments, the decisions he made, the evidence he collected during this investigation. so we hope it will happen very soon. >> i don't understand and i don't think the american people understand what the holdup is here. how does this work? does the judiciary chair call robert mueller and say, mr. mueller, we'd like to see you before our committee, can you make it on this day and mueller says yes or no? >> that's what happens originally. initially you ask witnesses, partic

you have david cicilline. he's not going to loose re-election. until you start getting democrats in swing districts calling for impeachment, which there hasn't been, they're not going to move on it. it's politically toxic. >> leslie, the argument they would make, the high crime that they're talking about, is that the outrage of fighting against the investigation brought on by the fake dossier that was paid for by opposing candidates and was debunked and used to spy on the president? fighting back against that. is that the offense? >> no. what they're fighting against is what we heard special counsel mueller say yesterday and you didn't hear him say no collusion. he said the president did not commit a crime, we would have said so. he was clearly passing the buck to congress. >> what was the crime? >> you don't have to have a crime to abuse power. >> what is the offense? >> that's what they need to investigate to find out. >> what do you -- somebody has to name it. what is it? >> witness tampering. as the special counsel talked about on numerous oc

you're certainly right that, you know, the david cicillines, the people who are sort of in the proimpeachment push are not going to stop because of this. >> no. we seem to be heading in that direction regardless. however slowly or fast. >> do you think there's one branch of this investigation that worries the president more than any other? deutsche bank, his taxes? >> i think it's the southern district that worries him more than anything. in terms of the congressional investigations, he does not want people having this information. but there are, as you know, a bunch of schools of thought as to why that is. is it because there's a bunch of sources of questionable income? foreign income? or is it going to show he's not that wealthy. i just don't know the answer. i can see donald trump digging in because other people want what he doesn't want to give them and sort of causing this self-inflicted wound. it doesn't help him if these documents come out closer to the election if there's something bad in them. if there's not something bad in them, it might be more problematic for democrats, i don't k

during the leadership meeting last night, committee members jamie raskin of maryland and david cicilline and joe gneguse argued for impeachment if mcgahn failed to testify. he failed to testify. we said one thing will lead to another as we get information. we have other avenues here. the speaker stressed any consideration must be bipart an. in an interview with "morning joe," she was asked if justin amash, the first republican to signal support for impeachment meets that requirement. >> bipartisan support has been to be in the senate. >> doesn't it put more pressure on you that a conservative republican said the threshold has been met? >> no. >> why? >> this is not about politics or passion and it's not about prejudice. it's not about politics. it's about patriotism and the presentation of the facts. so that the american people can see why we are going down a certain path. it is and i feel confident that the people feel they need to know the truth and that's what we want to present to them. >> the democratic caucus meeting is tomorrow morning to give members an update on the investigatio

david cicilline laying it out from rhode island. they may go further than anybody ever thought. my question is for the president, what is next for him? >> i think he keeps on just laying down these markers. he know he's not going to get anything done now with the democrats. >> that means america loses. >> we've joked for the past two years it's infrastructure week and never gets done. this ticked him off to no end that nancy pelosi said that this morning. but you know, chuck schumer said this was preplanned. i don't know if it was preplanned. it was hastily planned. they printed up -- i've written a lot of notes. they printed up this and that -- the cardboard panel that the president had below the podium very quickly, they called this out in an instant. they knew going into the meeting at 11:00 this was doing to happen but i don't think they began the day knowing this would happen. >> infrastructure week, it's a jinx. thanks, john. here's the comment in case you missed it that set off this nuclear chain of events earlier. listen. >> it was a very positive meeting. respectful sha

i want to thank representatives cicilline, rush, schrader, castor, kim, and blunt rochester for their leadership in the component parts of this bill which will make the security for health care better for the people. they've introduced the constituent parts of this bill. of course, i want to thank my good friend, frank pallone. nobody has worked harder for a long period of time to enhance the health care of americans. nobody has worked harder in committee, both initially on the affordable care act, of which he was a very significant part of the authorship, and since then in protecting it and trying to enhance it. this bill is important for us to pass to do just that. that's why i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us in standing up for the affordable care act and its benefits. not undermining the law and its reforms. having agreement on prescription reforms and bringing prices down, making generics more available is an important step, but it's not the only step that we need to take, and this is not the final step. this is a step. it's an important step. i hope that

." >> congressman cicilline is calling for an inquiry. >> "morning joe" is moments away. ments away there goes our first big order. ♪ 44, 45, 46... how many of these did they order? ooh, that's hot. ♪ you know, we could sell these. nah. ♪ we don't bake. ♪ opportunity. what we deliver by delivering. the pain and swelling.. the psoriasis. cosentyx treats more than just the joint pain of active psoriatic arthritis. it even helps stop further joint damage. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. get real relief, with cosentyx. . >>> joining us from washington with a look at axios a.m., jim vandehei. good morning to you. >> good morning. how are you doing? >> good. talks to us about axios' "1 big thing" today. >> we talked about how advice rahal po-- visceral