allowing employees this accent to classified material, but you tell me how the chairman is going to basically argue that doesn't hold? >> well, what the chairman is saying is that there ought to be basic standards for vetting and for security clearance. no matter who these people are, whether they're the son-in-law or the daughter or the president or anybody else, that there have to be basic standards. and when red flags are raised, they ought to be considered properly and of course the president has the final say. if he wants somebody to get top clearance, that person can have top clearance. but when you have this large number of people, 25 people that this whistle blower says did not deserve clearances, i think that does raise a huge red flag about what's going on with the process inside the white house, and are people getting cleared just because they have a close relationship with the president? >> phil, i wanted to ask you about the number. this isn't one or two people. 25 individuals who were denied the security clearances in the white house overturned them. is 25 a lot of people? you tell me. >> yes, it is. i mean, if you look at the kinds of issues you would raise in this circumstance, there would be the kinds of issues the american public would expect. investments overseas that might be a conflict of interest. in a lot of cases the issue isn't related strictly to national security. it can be alcohol or drug abuse. we've seen situations in the white house about spousal abuse, financial problems. so you can see those occasionally. there is a standard what's called and you've talked about this, adjudication process. a separate pile of people getting a security clearance where somebody says do we really want this person on with these kinds of problems? 25 people in a staff as small as the white house? that is a lot of people to clear going through an adjudication process. that's a surprise. >> you hit on some of the reasons apparently why they were initially denied. drug use, criminal conduct, foreign influence, financial problems. what kind of drug use or financial problems would disqualify you from getting a security clearance? >> let's be careful here. that word disqualification is not quite accurate. what happens is you get put into a pile of questions raised about whether someone wants to hire you or not. it's not black or white. the kinds of issues that might come up, marijuana use, how recent has it been, how severe. financial problems, how many credit cards do you have? i think the process here is significant. the numbers are the question. >> are there -- either of you, can you think of examples of former presidents overruling on clearances? >> i don't know. i mean, phil might know. i don't really know of any. i think one of the problems inside this white house is that so many of these people have never had any government experience before. so many of these people have never been vetted before by the federal government for any kind of position or job. and so whether there's a con -- and they come a lot of them from private business, for example. whether there's a conflict with foreign investment, for example, or drug use or whatever it is, these are people who have not been in government before. so red flags haven't been raised in the past because they were never cleared before. so you may have more than you would normally have, but this notion of this many people with red flags, some of whom were cleared, i think is really troubling. >> and if i be specific, karl kline, the personal security director for the first two years in the trump white house is the one who told the whistle blower to change the recommendation who they refer to as white house official three. we don't know who it is. and newbold wasn't on the fence. she said i would absolutely not. so it wasn't like these were people or at least in this one case with the white house official of three where they were thinking oh, pros, cons, maybe this person. she's like definitive, i would not green light this person. and it was overruled. >> yes. let me make a quick comment about that to take you inside the room here for a moment. when i was at the agency and at the fbi, we didn't like the security people. when they come in and say we have a problem with this applicant because of financial issues or past drug abuse, the chance that you're going to walk in in one case and say because of the value that person brings to the officer, we want to get them over the bar and we're going to ignore your security objections, boy, i don't remember that happening. because the security people, they had an advisory role. their mission wasn't to tell us what to do or not to, but to look at them in the eye and say we're going to ignore your tim? no way. >> and again, what kind of information would have been at these people's >> boy, you name it. >> visa -- i'm sorry. go ahead. >> meetings they had with foreign affairs. don't forget on jared kushner's original form he didn't fill it out about all the meetings that he had had with foreign officials, and he had to revise it three or four times so it would include meetings with foreign officials, past drug use, investments, whether there are any liens against you. phil, you can fill in the rest. >> yeah. there's -- you name it. let me list the kinds of things that come up. because remember, it's knot jno documents. you're interviewing friends and neighbors and in my case, conducting things under polygraph. shoplifting. we eliminated people because they were shoplifters. spousal abuse, kid abuse. you don't pay your credit cards and you have a history of credit card nonpayments for years. your friends say you get drunk every week and you say you only drink two glass of wine a day. it's not about whether you talk to a russian. it's about whether you're responsible and you can be trusted. that's a lot of stuff. >> that is fascinating, all of that. adult shoplifting, my goodness. >> oh, yeah. >> let me move on. the other piece of news out of d.c., the house judiciary chairman jerry nadler says he'll issue a subpoena to obtain the full unredacted mueller report. we know mr. barr said he'll have it out redacted, yes, by mid april. why can't the democrats wait? >> well, i think the democrats want to put some sort of sense of urgency on this. look, mueller is doing the redactions with bill barr, but the question here is whether there should be any at all. there's some precedent for providing congress with grand jury testimony, for example. that happened during water gate. so i think what nadler is saying in advance is if you try and redact, for example, grand jury testimony, we're going to try and get it from you. we want it all. and so while barr is going through this process, he's sort of trying to put this front and center and make it very clear to barr that he thinks he deserves everything. so i think it's not so much a battle over the date as it is so much a battle over the extent of what the congressional committees are going to get. >> i got you. my one thought was well, if n nadler is hitting the gas, would this risk barr redacting more. if you feel the pressure to get it out, you redact more so less is open for everyone to read. >> you could, but mueller is sitting on his shoulder, and i bet he wants a lot of it out. >> thank you both for that. good to see you today. also today the white house is reiterating the president's threat to close the border. if he plans to make good on that, the pentagon hasn't been asked about it. at least not yet. >> secretary, has the pentagon been asked to support the closure at the southern border? >> not as of this morning. but as you are tracking, it's very dynamic situation. i'll be having conversations with secretary of state today, and most likely secretary nielsen. >> homeland security secretary kiersten nielsen announced she's fast tracking a fan to send people to the border. some facilities in texas have become so overcrowded that customs and border patrol say they've had to release an estimated 2000 migrants into texas since friday. and martin savidge is at one of the borders in texas. how is the city preparing for the thousands of people that have begun arriving? >> they had a heads up. they've been working on this since last tuesday. that's when they say the migrants started showing up in their community, and progressively the number of migrants showing up on their doorstep has been increasing while the communication of the commerce agents they've been having with the federal authorities have become nonexistent. so it's really been a problem for the city of brownesville. buses will show up with these former detainees coming out of federal detention centers, but they had no idea they were coming. city officials, you may see them in the background wearing the yellow safety vests. they're trying to make themselves very obvious for the migrants so when they come in the door, they know exactly who they should be talking to. essentially what this community is trying to do is organize the migrants once they've come out of the federal hands, and try to get them in connection with their families located somewhere in the united states. they'll give them telephones and then begin becoming either bus tickets or flights. that's why the bus station here has become the obvious place for the processing point. and this is all taking resources out of the city's coffers. money and, of course, things like police. and the mayor is extremely frustrated at how it's going down. >> you know, as long as washington doesn't listen, this is the way we're going to have to handle it. >> doesn't that seem outrageous or crazy? >> it's totally outrageous, but like i tell people all the time, you know, as a mayor, we have to walk the streets of our own town and we got to make sure they're safe and healthy and they have to deal with anything that comes across our front door. okay? >> reporter: they're doing everything they can to make the migrants feel welcome and feel like part of their family, but also to help them move on. the last thing brownsville wanted was to become another kind of detention facility. and they certainly don't want to be a destination. they want to help the migrants find where they're going in the united states until somehow it's determined what their fate will eventually be. brooke? >> martin, thank you. in brownsville, texas at the bus station. we have more on president trump's threat to cut all off aid to elle salvador and guatemala and honduras. plus joe biden defending himself after a fellow democrat said she made him feel uncomfortable with a kiss on the back of her head. details on how it could impact his 2020 plans. and later the infamous conspiracy theorist as mitts for the first time hethe lies he spread about the sandy hook shooting were lies. now he claims a form of psycho situation was to blame. hi i'm joan lunden. today's senior living communities have never been better, with amazing amenities like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars and bistros even pet care services. and there's never been an easier way to get great advice. a place for mom is a free service that pairs you with a local advisor to help you sort through your options and find a perfect place. a place for mom. you know your family we know senior living. together we'll make the right choice. -it's our confident forever plan. -welcome to our complete freedom plan. -it's all possible with a cfp professional. ♪ -find your certified financial planner™ professional at letsmakeaplan.org. -find your certified financial planner™ professional these days we're (horn honking) i hear you, sister. that's why i'm partnering with cigna to remind you to go in for your annual check-up. and be open with your doctor about anything you feel. physically, and emotionally. body and mind. ♪ ♪ book now and enjoy free unlimited open bar and more. norwegian cruise line. feel free. we are back watching cnn. the white house says the president is not bluffing when he threatened to close the u.s./mexico border. now his administration wants to hold central america accountable for the influx of indocumented immigrants. they say they'll cut funding to three countries. this funding was intended to mitigate the reasons people leave in the first place, gang violence, poverty, food shortages. we are joined from mexico city. i want to get into the aid programs in a moment. first, how do you see this playing out if the president follows through with his threat to close the border? >> to close the border, the southern border with mexico it would be disastrous. there's the amount of travel of passengers, cars that go through, commerce, it's $1.7 billion of commerce that crosses the border every day there. the cities that are all along the boarderer bracing for this, and i've heard from several mayors along the southern border with mexico they're just -- it would be disastrous. you have kids going to schools. on both sides, family relations. and then the commerce that passes through there. it's incredible, the amount of commerce that passes through the two countries? >> what about the aid? the aid was reduced significantly last year already. what exactly -- let's start with what the funding provides these communities. >> well, principally what they seek to do is to as you said alleviate poverty and violence prevention and to cut down on violence. these countries, el salvador, honduras and guatemala are countries in our hemisphere and the world with the highest homicide rates and highest poverty rates. and so this money goes directly to programs to alleviate those problems. you have things like police security training and reinforcement. you have border security. you also have a lot of transparency programs, rule of law. programs that are trying to shore up the judicial system in these countries so there isn't as much impunity and violence causing people to leave the countries. they fund a lot of programs that are in the middle of funding parts right now. and so if you cut them off, you destroy these programs that have already begun to get started. >> you have new reporting about how long it takes for this type of aid to reach actual citizens deep in the communities that have been hurting. why does it take so long? >> that's a great question. there's a lot of bureaucracy that happens. there's a lot of checks and balances that need to be put in place. and this money isn't going directly to the government. it goes through a lot of different hands. it goes through a nonprofits here in the united states. and then they get distributed to nonprofits and nongovernment agencies programs within the countries they're intended to target. there's a lot of checks and balances that need to be taken into account and it takes a long time. if you remember, congress began funding or increased significantly funding to central america after the 2014/2015 crisis that we have unaccompanied minors along the board e. congress substantially raised the amount of money they were giving as financial foreign aid to honduras, guatemala and el salvad salvador. that money had just hit the ground. so these programs that they put in place have just begun funding cycles, and this money that the president says he's going to cut off would just end the programs abruptly. these types of democracy building transparency judicial system reforms and poverty alleviation don't just happen overnight. these are long-term development projects that need time for them to work. >> i think you answered my question. if it takes so long for the aid for the communities, would the reverse be true? would it take a long time to cut it off? it sounds like that would be like a fos aucet and they would get what they need. carrie, thank you so much. >> i think -- >> quickly. go ahead. you want to close it out. >> i think just there's a lot of questions that need to be answered. we don't know how and if the president can cut off the funding and a lot of it doesn't just come from the state department. there are channels that come from different government agencies. there's a lot of questions about how quickly it will be cut off and what damage it will do. >> we are listening and reading out of your reports. carrie, thank you with npr. good to have you on. >> thank you. coming up next, joe biden says he never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable after a former nevada lawmaker says he did precisely that when he kissed her on the back of her head some years ago and now several of his potential opponents in 2020 are asking him to say more. we'll discuss that controversy that is now dividing the democratic party. at is your online tax service getting you? stop by your local jackson hewitt and get all the benefits of a tax pro. with jackson hewitt you get 100% accuracy and our max refund guarantee. so, switch to jackson hewitt. open late and weekends. so, switch to jackson hewitt. all of you. how you live, what you love. that's what inspired us to create america's most advanced internet. internet that puts you in charge. that protects what's important. it handles everything, and reaches everywhere. this is beyond wifi, this is xfi. simple. easy. awesome. xfinity, the future of awesome. joe biden's not yet announced candidatety is already in crisis mode. the former vice president is defending himself against allegations from lucy florez that he made her feel uneasy. her word. when he kissed her at a 2014 campaign rally. >> very unexpectedly, and out of nowhere i feel joe biden put his hands on my shoulders, get up very close to me from behind, lean in, smell my hair, and then plant a slow kiss on the top of my head. it was shocking because you don't expect that kind of intimate behavior. you don't expect that kind of intimacy from someone so powerful and someone who you just have no relationship whatsoever to to touch you and to feel you and to be so close to you in that way. >> the former vice president has responded saying in my many years on the campaign trail i have 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. jeff zeleny is our senior washington correspondent and has covered the former vice president for years. alexis is with me, a democratic strategist. alexis, let me start with you. your response to how biden just framed that in his statement, his response. >> so it's not really about intention. right? even if you have the best intentions, if the effect of your actions makes somebody else uncomfortab uncomfortable, that's what matters. the point is to raise his consciousness. i think more broadly an awareness about what is appropriate workplace behavior, and the way -- >> what do you think about it? >> i would feel weird if that happened to me. i would say it's fairly common in politics were men to greet women like myself with a handshake and then a kiss on the cheek. even men you're meeting for the first time, i find that strange. i've developed tactics to try to avoid it? >> leaning out? >> right. >> do you think part of it is generational? >> a little bit, but i think there's this sort of mixed message a lot of culturally we have about women in the workplace versus women who you know. you're used to seeing us have a standard with women you might know which is a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and then you see a woman in the workplace. it's a relatively new concept in the history of the world. it's this strange mixup. whereas i don't think biden intended to make anybody feel uncomfortable. i think it's true. that's not what matters. >> here she is saying she did it for political reasons. >> i would say politics was the impetus. the reason why we're having these conversations about vice president joe biden is because he's considering running for president. and frankly, the reason why i felt so compelled to finally say something was because over the years as this behavior was documented as it was frankly dismissed by the media and not taken seriously, that conversation was not coming up in the discussions about whether or not he would in a complete analysis of his history and record and as we go through the vetting process for all of these candidates, that important aspect was being left out. >> jeff zeleny? you have covered joe biden for years. he himself has said he has a reputation of being an affectionate kind of guy. a former biden spokesperson defended him about how he treated female staffers. she said joe biden thrives on personal connection and emotes and empathizes like no other. when he reaches out to you man or woman, he's reaching out to touch your heart. if that's a failing, i'll take it. what do you know about in your experience? >> this has been something we've seen a string of former biden advisers and aides coming out in defense of him explaining how he is a hugger and explaining how he is someone who greets someone with emotion. i have seen him at countless events adds vice president in the senate. we've all seen the video of him previ presiding over the swearing ins. to watch it with the sound down, it looks odd. he is someone who hugs people and touches people, but, of course, if you talk to some of these people who are being written about like ash carter, the former defense secretary's wife, she penned a response to all this. she said look, some of these pictures have been circulating when the vice president was sort of touching her shoulder. she said we're friends. i was not offended by that. so there is sort of a sense here of yes, he is from a different generation which does not excuse anything. it is how this has perceived. i think the bigger point here for the vice president is just a reminder about how he running in this era is different than any other eras of his time in public life. and he's going to have to reconcile all of them. >> do you want to respond to that? >> sure. i think there's a key different between stephanie carter and lucy florez. stephanie carter is a personal friend of biden. it makes sense. if she's comfortable, that's great. that doesn't conflict with anything lucy florez has talked about. lucy met biden in a professional capacity. he was running for lieutenant governor. that's different than an intimate relationship with somebody you already know where the boundaries are more obvious. you have to maintain a professional distance, and i think biden has a certain paternalism which is really what's out of step here. it's somewhat generational, but a classical kind of benevolent sexism. women are great, i want to protect them. one of the consequences of #metoo is this larger realigning of power and expectations in the workplace. i think women are saying while that's nice uncle joe, you're kind of creepy. i don't think i need that as president anymore because we have other candidates, four of whom are women who wouldn't do anything like that. >> and jeff, you talked to one of them, senator amy klobuchar. what did she say? >> she is someone knowho has kn the vice president for a long time. i was at an event in washington where a lot of the candidates are speaking. she did not excuse the behavior as just joe being joe, if you will. she said of course she like other candidates who have spoken out believes lucy florez and her story and says she should be heard, and she did talk spre specifically about the fact that this is a different moment in the workplace. all kinds of workplaces including the political sphere here. so she is not excusing the behavior. she said this is something the vice president is going to have to explain more, explain what's in his heart, and she goes onto say one way to stop all of this is to elect a woman president. of course she would say that because she's running. i also talked to a lot of voters of different ages. there is a generation divide in some respect. this is at a first event where several democratic candidates were meeting and activists were there. some excuse the behavior. some do not. most said they also want to defeat president trump and said this isn't the main issue. so it may be today but overall, somewhere actually offended i was asking the question. certainly a complex conversation. >> 20 seconds quickly. i hear your sigh. >> i think the idea that we can't have a higher standard of conduct and maybe beat trump and that might be a woman, these are ideas that can exist together. biden is not our last great savior. we can beat trump and it can be a woman who does that. >> thank you both so much. thank you. after years of spreading the disgusting conspiracy theory that the sandy hook school shooting was staged, alex jones announces all the lies were a form of psychosis. ♪ limu emu and doug. hmm. exactly. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. nice. but, uh... what's up with your... partner? 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>> personally i think it's an insult to psychotics if he describes himself as suffering from psychosis. it's a cheap excuse as an explanation for his indefensible conduct. people have to understand that what he said was that those 20 first graders gunned down at sandy hook were part of a massive conspiracy and fraud and their parents when they were expressing grief were as you quoted earlier, crisis actors. >> so if he's saying it is his whole psychosis argument, you know, it's one thing to admit that in a deposition, but is any part of a settlement, could he be required to retract the videos? >> well, this is a civil case. unlike a criminal says where you're confined to the penalties prescribed by law, in a civil case you can work out money damages but also an apology and retraction. there are all kinds of things that can be built in. they could get creative, and i would expect if they settle the case that he would issue a public apology retracting his mindless theories about how the shooting went down. >> do you think it's unusual that a lawyer released the deposition before the case was over? >> it's highly unusual. these things are usually kept secret until the time of trial. however, unless there was a court order banning the release, it's not illegal. usually these things are not released in civil litigation. >> still back on your line, it's offensive to psychotics to be using psychosis as his argument. paul callan, thank you. >> thank you. coming up next, an investigator hired by bezos says it was actually the saudi government who hacked his phone and leaked private information about his affair. we have details on what the motive might have been and how the national inquirer is responding. billions of mouths. billions of problems. morning breath? garlic breath? stinky breath? there's a therabreath for you. therabreath fresh breath oral rinse instantly fights all types of bad breath and works for 24 hours. so you can... breathe easy. there's therabreath at walmart. a cfp professional is trained, knowledgeable, and committed to financial planning in your best interest. find your certified financial planner™ professional at letsmakeaplan.org. find your certified financial planner™ professional ♪ ♪ book now and enjoy free unlimited open bar and more. norwegian cruise line. feel free. - [woman] with shark's duo clean, i don't just clean, ♪ i deep clean carpets and floors, so i got this. yep, this too, and this, please. even long hair and pet hair are no problem, but the one thing i won't have to clean is this because the shark's self-cleaning brush roll removes the hair wrap while i clean. ♪ - [announcer] shark, the vacuum that deep cleans now cleans itself. we are getting new details right now on whether president trump will follow through on his threat to close the u.s./mexico border. pamela brown is with me now. pamela, what are you hearing? what's the conversation behind the scenes? >> reporter: i've spoken to several officials. basically right now officials are saying look, it is anyone's guess about these border closures. yes, the president has made these threats in the past of closing parts of the border with mexico and hasn't followed through, but i spoke to one administration official who said this time feels more real than the past times, because of just the amount of attention the president has devoted to this in the past few days. three consecutive days tweeting about it, talking about it. you heard his chief of staff talking about it on the sunday shows. but at the same time officials i've been speaking with say while it's anyone's guess, the president as you'll recall, brooke, on the emergency declaration for the wall, that also was a similar situation where white house officials thought maybe he wouldn't do it in the end he did. but they said they cast doubt on how realistic it is to close down parts of the border. one administration official i spoke with said it would be catastrophic economically and tick through all the different areas why it's important to the border open for trade. pharmaceuticals, produce, apple phone products, kids going to school across the border, all these different areas that would be impacting if it was closed. i spoke to another official, though, who said, look, we view this as a helpful threat to get mexico to come and help stem the flow of migrants. but the bottom line here, brooke, is that officials all over the administration are just kind of waiting to see what happens. we know that the secretary of defense hasn't been given any specific orders to support border closures. we don't believe dhs either, at this hour. but we'll have to keep an eye on it and see what happens, brooke. >> pamela, thank you. meantime, in an effort to find out who leaked private text messages to the "national enquirer" who eventually exposed a secret extramarital affair, amazon's ceo jeff bezos hired a high-end security firm to investigate. that consultant was by the name of gavin debecker and in this opinion he wrote for the daily beast, debecker said all of this information has been handed over to the feds, but the one piece he did mention was that it was saudi arabia. he said, our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the saudis had access to bezos' phone and gained private information. as of today, it is unclear to what degree, if any, ami was aware of the details. firing back, the "national enquirer's" parent company, ami, issued this statement. quote, despite the false and unsubstantiated claims of mr. debecker, american media has and continues to refute the unsubstantiated claims that the materials for our report were acquired with the help of anyone other than the single source who first brought them to us. and mark mazzetti is a washington investigative correspondent for "the new york times" and a cnn national security analyst and has written a lot about the power that is the saudi kingdom. and so, just starting with the fact that debecker revealed this, pointing the finger at saudi arabia, your response to that? >> yeah, he kind of doubled down on jeff bezos' original claim, of some months ago, that saudi arabia was behind this whole operation. and in essence, what they're saying is that this isn't just a tabloid matter, it's not just a steamy affair. this is something much bigger. these are powerful forces at work, that are trying to silence jeff bezos, and also, by extension, "the washington post," because of their coverage, the death of jamal khashoggi. so what bezos and de becker are saying is that all of these powerful forces are trying to bring down bezos and expose this portion of his life, both blackmail and extortion. but neither have shown any real detailed evidence to back up their claims. >> i was re-reading some of your reporting with "the times" last fall just on how the saudis had the power to orchestrate a social media attack, right, like the ones they would constantly carry out against jamal khashoggi, but per de becker, he alleged the saudis gained access to bezos' phone, so have you ever heard of the saudis actually doing something like that, mark? >> well, yes. and this sort of fits into this whole other line of reporting that we've been exploring, which is this boom of this new age of hacking technology where a country like saudi arabia can go to a company in israel or elsewhere and acquire the technology to go after enemies. there are cases of this. we wrote about saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, and so there's a whole market now where you can even hack very powerful people and expose some of their detailed information. now, immediately, when he raised th this, suspicion went to a company called nso group, which is an israeli company we wrote about a couple of weeks ago, because they've been selling their products around the world to mexico, to the uae, et cetera. now, de becker didn't actually blame nso, but nso put out a statement saying, they had no part of this, they can't even hack american phones. so there's a lot more to go on this story. >> keep digging. mark mazzetti with "the times," thank you very much, mark. coming up next, a former white house staffer tells democrats the trump administration pushed through 25 security clearances for officials who had been denied from everything from financial conflicts to drug use. plus, dueling protests today in chicago as protesters come face-to-face over the jussie smollett case. the latest innovation from xfinity isn't just a store. it's a save more with a new kind of wireless network store. it's a look what your wifi can do now store. a get your questions answered by awesome experts store. it's a now there's one store that connects your life like never before store. the xfinity store is here. and it's simple, easy, awesome. [ chanting: fox must go ] >> chicago's police union protesting today, asking for the city's top prosecutor, kim foxx to resign over the jussie smollett case. critics of the police department, meantime, held their own rally today. foxx's office dropped all charges against smollett. he was accused of staging a racist and homophobic attack. critics blasted the decision, calling the process abnormal and suggesting it, quote/unquote misled the public. >> ewe cwe can't have people whe been arrested, their victims are not being accounted for. we really need to have people in the prosecutor's office following through with charges that our detectives and our police officers worked hard to bring to a court case. >> chicago's outgoing mayor, rahm emanuel, has given smollett until thursday to pay the city $130,000 for the cost of the investigation. i'm brooke baldwin. thanks for being with me on a monday afternoon. let's send things to washington. t "the lead with jake tapper" starts right now. >> the final four is set. president trump now facing a full-court press from house democrats. "the lead" starts right now. dems about to unleash a whole new round of legal troubles for the president, trying to find out whether the white house played it fast and loose at all with top security clearances. right now, hundreds of officers are rushing south as president trump threatens to close the border and cuts off aid to some central american countries. critics warning, that could cause an economic disaster here at home. plus, george clooney and sir elton john leading worldwide outrage over one islamic nation's new medieval anti-gay law that involves death by stoning. welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we begin with the politics lead. president trump, may i

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