Who says hed rather go to jail than enforce a proposed new law that takes guns away from people who may pose a risk. Up first, a matter of National Security and questions about who is allowed access to the countrys most important secrets. According to the chairman of the House Oversight commit, a white house staffer says about two dozen individuals were given security clearances despite initially being denied. Democratic congressman elijah congressman says the clearances were turned down due to a range of issues from fears about foreign influence to potential conflicts of interest. Lets get straight to congressional reporter lauren fox on capitol hill. What more can you tell us about this . Reporter what we know is Trisha Newbold appeared before the House Oversight committee and she told them she was deeply concerned about how the security clearance process was working at the white house, basically she would express she didnt think someone would have a security clearance and then that decision would be overturned by senior white house officials. Now, you know, her concerns with coming forward at great risk to her job she said were just because she was concerned about National Security. She told the committee, quote, i would not be doing a service to myself, my country or my children if i sat back knowing that the issues that we have could impact National Security. Now cummings also said that he will subpoena carl klein who served as the personnel Security Officer at the white house for the two first two years of the Trump Administration, that he has questions he wants answered from carl klein. Now, jim jordan who is the leading republican on this committee, he said simply that this is a fishing expedition, that he does not think that Elijah Cummings has the best intentions here when hes trying to get answers on the security clearances. Instead, he said, quote, its extremely unfortunate and disappointing that chairman cummings is now using this sensitive topic as a pretense for a partisan attack on the white house. Dana . Shocker. Theres partisan politics being accused and going on on capitol hill, even on important issues of oversight. Lauren, stand by, because with me here in the studio i have jis lu, the white house cabinet secretary and transition director for president obama. Thank you so much for coming in. Thank you. I want you to put this in context because this is the kind of thing you did, security clearances, you oversaw this in the Obama Administration, so explain how the process works in so much as how unusual what this alleged whistleblower is saying is. You know, its sometimes hard given the daily barrage of news to separate whats important and whats not important. This is important. 25 individuals, white house officials, were granted clearances despite career officials raising objections. Those objections ranged from foreign influence, possible blackmail, possible corrupt activity, questionable activity, financial problems. Those decisions are made by career officials for a reason. Political appointees should certainly not have anything to do with this and certainly the president should not have anything to do with this. This is supposed to be based on the best interests of the u. S. Government and National Security. Thats how it worked in the Obama Administration because were you a political appointee . I was cleared three times during different times when i worked for barack obama. Ive known barack obama since law school. I suspect if i could not have gotten a clearance i know for a fact he would not have overruled career officials. Thats not the way we conducted business. I want to read something that this woman, miss newbold, the whistleblower said to Congress According to the cummings statement. The white house had not stopped doing Credit History checks during the review process. Lacked security for personnel files and add cut staff during the review process and allowed for an unusually high number of interim security clearances, people deemed unsuitable for access to classified information according to the memo. Does that concern you . We talked about this over the last year. During the period of time when they had an interim clearance they were granted access to classified information t. Later turned out that several of these individuals were not granted the permanent clearance. You cant unring the bell. Had access to all this information. On top of that the white house wasnt doing basic credit checks to find out if people had financial problems. They were subject to potential blackmail and this is concerning. This should be bipartisan, and i think of all of the investigations this is potentially the one that should concern republicans most of all. You started to ask that question. Before i get to lauren to switch gears here on why it matters. You mentioned blackmail, but big picture. People watching this and saying, okay. So they got security clearances. Maybe there were some regular florida, but, you know, how really how dangerous is it really . When you get a top secret clearance you have access to the most Sensitive Information in the u. S. Government. Its not only the information but its how that information was collected. That the would be incredibly valuable to any foreign power, and you want to make sure that every box has been checked, every hurdle has been cleared before those are given out. Okay. Stand bit. I want to give back to lauren fox on capitol hill because shes also following a new development in the battle over the Mueller Report. House judiciary chairman jerry nadler plans to authorize a subpoena calling for congress to get access to the full unredacted report. Lauren, tell us about the congressmans plans on this. Well, certainly, this is just escalating the fight with the white house and the executive branch over getting the full Mueller Report. Of course, you know, the concern here has been that they want just not just a summary of this report, not just a redacted version of this report as has been promised to them, but they want to see the underlying evidence of how decisions were made when it came to the final conclusions of this report, dana, so on wednesday the committee will meet. They will vote to authorize these subpoenas, but, again, its a preemptive measure. Its unclear when the chairman would actually force a subpoena and actually move forward with that. Okay. Lauren, thank you. Chris, what is your view on what you just heard lauren report, especially given the context here which is that the attorney general says that he is going to hand over the Mueller Report with redactions, he says, for security reasons and some executive privilege reasons. Should the democrats be pushing this as quickly as they are . Well, look. I think this is a protective measure that chairman nadler is taking to make sure that no stone is left unturned, that at the end of the day the American People get to see all this information. It is possible that the attorney general handles these redactions in a reasonable way. Obviously safeguarding National Security and grand jury material, but i think theres a broader concern based on the attorney generals previous writings about an expansive executive power that much of the stuff might be held back for improper reasons, so i think this is an appropriate preemptive protective measure. Chris lu, thank you so much. Thank you. Great to have you here giving us your insight. Lauren fox as well on capitol hill. Thank you. Meanwhile, at the white house, President Trump is at least people around him saying hes not bluffing on his threat to close the u. S. Border with mexico. He says he could close parts or all of it as soon as this week, and were just learning the Trump Administration will speed up its plan to send more officers to the border and might even add an additional 2,000 officers as well as Officials Say they are reaching a breaking point. President trump is also directing the state department to cut off aid to three Central American countries, el salvador, guatemala and honduras. Cnns White House CorrespondentKaitlin Collins is with me and what are you hearing that the president is actually going to follow through on this threat . Reporter some people are skeptical because this is a threat the president has made before and never followed through on and chief of staff Nick Mulvaney says unless something drastic happens he does expect the president to follow through on the closure of the border. Now theres questions about how they are going to do that. Not only trade, air travel, those are questions that the white house is not answering right now, the logistics part of this, and how that would go on and what the repercussions of closing the southern border would be. The acting defense secretary pat shanahan says hes not began given any directions at the pentagon so far to carry out this or to close the southern border or send anyone down to the southern bothered. This is still very much a fluid plan. They dont have any strategy in place. So far judging by what our sources have told us. Its not just the threat to close the southern border, its also the threat to cut off the aid, the directive that the president says he issued to cut off the aid to the three Central American countries. Mulvaney yesterday during an interview with jake tapper was asked about the data that shows actually giving aid to countries like that helps stop the surge of migrants and actually makes the border safer. He said that was just career Officials Saying, that and he said its clear its not working because if you look at the numbers, including that recordbreaking number, the 11year high last month with 76,000 people trying to cross the border. He said its proof they do need to follow through on the threat and there is a crisis on the border in Nick Mulvaneys words. Kaitlan collins, thanks so much for the report. Here with me at the table cnn political director david chalian. Cant wait for this download because theres so much to discuss. Lets begin with what kaitlan was talking about. Obviously there are incredible politics at play in anything that any president does with regard to immigration but particularly donald trump. Yeah. I was just thinking listening to kaitlan, you realize were two months away from the fouryear anniversary of donald trump coming down the escalator and launching his campaign for president and putting immigration front and center as the issue, and it has been four years of consistency of staying on this as what he sees as the sort of lifeline and his support to his base. This clearly is part of that. Weve s donald trump having the ability of raising immigration in the consciousness of americans as an important issue and when he talks about it all the time it does become more important. Americans tell us that in polling and it doesnt necessarily play to his positive. Obviously it also riles up a key part of the democratic base. It does, and then were also as the point where hes got his base, and he has had his base, and were get together point where he needs to expand beyond that. Yeah. Does that help or hurt or we dont know the answer yet. I look for that every day because thats the equation. You need your base plus to win. He had that plus with independents in 2016, and and i dont see anything hes doing right now that actually even on this issue that really expands the universe beyond his already existing supporters. Ago them enthusiastic, committed, constantly ride up is a key part of his success equation. Lets talk about the democratic side and the fund raising numbers, the First Quarter ended last night. Its april 1st, not just april fools day. These numbers are real. They all want to see how much they raised because that has a big impact, particularly on these newer known candidates. One of them is Pete Buttigieg. He announces he raised 7 million since he launched his exploratory committee. Thats pretty impressive for somebody who is the mayor of south bend and didnt have a national profile. Exactly, and its even a little more impressive than you think. He opened his account in january, but nobody even know who Pete Buttigieg was. This is impressive and yet we already know orourke and sand verse said they raised nearly that much in their first 24 hours. We dont have the numbers yet. But they have told us in the first 24 hours they raised near that, so there are going to be bigger numbers. Pete buttigieg hell have staying power and there will be folks well ahead of him in the money race. What do you make of Elizabeth Warrens finance director leaving this weekend . A big battle inside the campaign because Elizabeth Warren by necessity more probably than a plannedout strategy decided to say, hey, im not doing big dollar fundraisers or hotel ballroom. Ill raise grass roots donations so the whole reason the person had the job was to do the big dollar fundraiser and there was a strategic split inside the campaign in the early stages, and they are adjusting to that. Which is not necessarily a positive thing when youre someone like her and money is key at the beginning. Before i let you go, well talk about joe biden later in the show, but im dying to get your take on this because we know that the former democratic Lieutenant Governor candidate in nevada, lucy flores, she came on cnn yesterday and described in detail how she felt uncomfortable when they were at a Campaign Event together, that the Vice President leaned behind her, smelled her hair and planted a slow kiss on her head in anticipation of that joe biden released the will following statement i. Ive offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort, and not once never did i believe i acted inappropriately. If it is suggested i did, so i will listen respectfully, but it was never my intention. So what do you make of there in the big picture here of skwliden generationally and in terms of having his footing firm ready to go as a candidate in the 20292020 era . You raised the right question, this to me besides the specifics of the story which joe biden addressed and doesnt remember the event this way but fully supports lucy flores desire to talk and says hes willing to listen, but what i think is so important here politically for joe biden hes aware now. This is the frame through which his candidacy is going to be viewed time and time again. Is he out of step with where the modern Day Democratic Party is in the postme, too era in this moment of time in a media environment . Is joe biden fully geared up for that . Its a very different world obviously from his first run in 88 but even from his run in 2008 and would i rarg even wharn i was on the ticket in 2012 last. The big thing for joe biden is how does he show he can navigate that new environment . Look, hes a tactile person is probably the best way to put it, and we all know and maybe have seen him approach people in that way. Hes a touchyfeely guy, and and in this postme, too era or in this current me, too era its a very, very different situation. David, so good to see you. Thank you. As always. And the white house and republicans are making promise after promise about the president s replacement plan for obamacare. The problem is that plan doesnt exist. Plus, a rapper and entrepreneur shot to death just before he was to meet with the lapd over Gang Violence. And dueling protests under way in chicago as protesters come together face to face over Jussie Smollett and his case. That rocking chair would look grahh, new house, eh . E. Well, you should definitely see how geico could help you save on homeowners insurance. Nice tip. Ill give you two bucks for the chair. 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