The president will be speaking at 2 30 on the administrations efforts to reduce red tape and federal regulations. Within 10 days of taking office, President Trump issued executive order 13771, instructing the office of management and budget to remove two government regulations for every new one created. Washington stopped but the administration acted and in under a year weve unleashed the american economy, businesses and job creation. These efforts and the rest of the president s agenda have fueled economic growth, including alltime highs in the stock market, a 17year low in unemployment rolls, new highs in manufacturing and consumer confidence, and much more. As the president said yesterday, were at the final stages of historic tax cuts and reforms that will provide massive relief to middle class families, lower tax rates on american businesses to make us more competitive and make our tax code simpler and fairer for the first time in decades. We want to begin lowering the tax bills in americans paychecks starting next year. Where americans who faced economic head winds for eight years will have the wind at their backs as they seek the american dream. With, that well get started. Because we are on a short time frame. I will take your questions. Jonathan. Reporter on the taxes, what is the president s message to those americans, including some of the in the middle class, who will face tax increases under this tax bill . Sarah our focus since day one has been to aggressively push to make sure as Many Americans as possible get a tax break, particularly those in the middle class. Thats going to continue to be our focus as we continue in this process. As ive said time and time again. Reporter but the message to those that will face an increase, i mean, every nail sis shows some people, including middle class americans, are going to face an increase. Sarah overwhelmingly the middle class will get a huge tax break. As most americans will. That is, again, our goal to make sure that more americans see more of their hardearned money. Thats what were pushing for. Thats what were going to keep working with the house and senate to make sure happens. Reporter on taxes you have two notes in the senate so far nos in the senate so far. Senator corker and senator rubio told us a short time ago that hes a no unless he can get an expansion of the Child Tax Credit. Is the president willing to be a little more generous in the Child Tax Credit in order to get senator rubios vote . Sarah were really proud of the work that weve done already up until this point with senator rubio. Already doubling the Child Tax Credit. Taking it to 2,000 per child. Were going to continue working with the senator. But we think weve made Great Strides and pretty Historic Movement in terms of the top tax credit. Were very proud of that work. Were going to keep working with them until we get the job done which we still expect to happen before the emmed of the year. Reporter is there more room to move . Sarah right now were going to focus on letting some of the senate move forward in the progression of their conversations. Again, were extremely excited about the progress that weve already made to double the Child Tax Credit. I think thats something important to note. And something that we worked very closely with senator rubio on and we think he should be excited about the progress weve made on that front. Connie. Merry christmas to you as well. Reporter thank you. [inaudible] sarah what have i learned this past year . I would have to say that we would be here a really long time if i walked through everything ive learned this past year. But some of my favorite things would probably be to take time to appreciate some of the really incredible moments and the special time and opportunity and honor certainly that i have, but i think that all of us have, that we get to come to the white house every day, serve our country. Weanled get to call it work. I think thats pretty impressive, pretty amazing. And sthag i hope none of us ever lose sight of. Thanks, connie. Reporter does the president think that roy moore should concede . In order, does he believe he lost the election fair and square . Or does he think he was the victim of widespread illegitimate voting . Sarah i think the president s position is pretty clear. In his outreach to doug jones directly. He called and they spoke yesterday. They had a great conversation, a very positive conversation. He likes doug jones. And looks forward to meeting him in person. And hopes that he will come and follow through on his commitment to work with the president on some things that they agree on. Reporter so roy moore lost fair and square, thats what youre saying . Sarah i think the numbers reflect that and the president s outreach shows that. Reporter there are reports out this morning that speaker ryan is considering stepping down at the end of this congress. Has the president spoken to speaker ryan about those reports and does he want to see speaker ryan continue in that role . Sarah the president did speak to the speaker not too long ago. And made sure that the speaker knew very clearly and in no Uncertain Terms that if that news was true, he was very unhappy with it. The speaker assured the president that those were not accurate reports and that they looked forward to working together for a long time to come. Reporter did this catch the president by surprise . The ryan report that was out today . Sarah it sounds like it may have caught speaker ryan by surprise. I dont think it was very accurate reporting. It sounds like theyre both committed to and looking forward to spending a lot more time together over the next, you know, hopefully seven, eight years. Reporter marco rubio as well. We have heard folks who might be no votes potentially no vote, potentially undecided votes. But marco rubios potential no vote is one, we know it concerns, but him vote nothing is suddenly out of left field. Has that caught the white house by surprise at all . Or have you braced for the possibility that you might not have marco rubio in your corner . Sarah im not sure if the president s spoken with him specifically today. Again, were proud of the work that weve done with senator rubio. And we look forward to making sure that the progress that we made to double the child care tax credit, thats kind of a mouthful, goes into full effect when this piece of legislation is signed. April . Reporter should roy moore just give his concession speech now versus holding it out . Sarah probably sounds like it may should have already taken place. Look, the president s already called and congratulated doug jones and expressed his willingness to work with him and to meet with him when he arrives in washington. Reporter second issue, did you watch g. M. A. This morning and what do you think about this this tellall and the uncomfortable incomfortablity of omarosa while she was here . Sarah i think thats something youll have to ask her about, she resigned from her position yesterday, shell be here this afternoon, we put out a statement yesterday and i dont have any changes to add to that. As has been the practice in the past and will be in the future, we dont comment much further than that on Personnel Matters. Reporter why is it, shes resigned and shes going you said shell stay on through january 20. Why are the taxpayers continuing to pay her salary for another month if shes no longer here at the white house. Sarah im not going to weigh in any further, as we often do and as is the practice, were not going to get into personal matters. The president likes omarosa, thanked her for her service, shell be here later this afternoon, shes resigned from her position but theres nothing else to add to that reporter why is she still on the payroll another month . Is that normal . Sarah theres a lot of different protocols that take place in the government if you nt to reach out to h. R. , certainly not that im privy too, i havent been through it myself. Reporter would the president ask the house and senate to stay here in washington even if it means bleed into the Christmas Holiday . Sarah were confident well get there before then but this is something i think the house, the senate and the president are committed to seeing happen and were hopeful that it will take place at the first of next week. Reporter does the president have thoughts about the disney eal to buy 21st century fox . Sarah the president spoke with Rupert Murdoch earlier today, congratulated him on the deal, thinks that, to use one of the president s favorite words, this could be a great thing for jobs and certainly looks forward to and is hoping to see a lot more of those created. Reporter what does the president think about the f. C. C. Decision on Net Neutrality . There are a lot of americans opposed to that change. Sarah the Trump Administration supports the effort to roll back burdensome regulations. As we have always done and will continue to do, we certainly support a free and fair internet. Anything beyond that, i refer you to the f. C. C. Reporter back to the alabama result, what happened down there changed the president s relationship at all with steve bannon, given his big support for moore . And has it changed the president s thoughts on mr. Bannons opposition to other incumbent republicans . Sarah thats a question youd have to ask mr. Bannon, im not going to speak for him. The second part of the question you asked about whether or not hed support more candidate, i cant answer that. In terms of their relationship, i havent spoken with the president directly about the nature of that relationship and whether that has altered. Reporter i know you said you cant goat much further on the Personnel Matter but i want to try separate out some of the things were hearing here. Youre saying that omarosa was not fired on tuesday evening, that she didnt get belligerent she wasnt yelling at general kelly or cursing at him and she wasnt escorted off the property. Secret service said not by them but she wasnt escorted off by an entity other than secret service . Sarah as i said, omarosa resigned from her position. Im not going into a detailed process any further than that we put out a statement, as is standard practice, were not going to get into the weeds of a personnel decision at the white house. This morning they said she and others have been urging congress to appropriate additional funding for the opioid epidemic. The president declared a Public Health emergency earlier this fall but that only has a few thousand dollars in it, its estimated to cost upwards of 190 billion over a decade to treat the crisis. Can you tell us how much money the white house will be urging congress to appropriate . Trying to resident give enough money to congress this year . Sarah one of the reasons the president put one of his top people, kellyanne conway, on this is because he sees it as a priority, and a concern not just for the white house but for america. There are a number of stories, the amount of money that it will take to combat this crisis is huge. Were going to continue looking at the best ways to do that. Were working an interagency process to see what the number looks like. That hasnt been finalized. Well continue looking at every way possible. Right now thats still part of reporter is that part of the Republican Health care plan . Sarah i think thats a start but to fully address this we want to make sure we get it right and make sure that we really address this head on and thats why the president has made it such a focus and put kellyanne and others here at the white house to really make an emphasis and make that a priority. Reporter will that get done by the end of this year . Can the president promise that . Sarah im not aware that we can promise full funding, this wasnt a problem that happened overnight, were not going to be able to fix it overnight. We want to make sure we address it and make it a priority for the administration and well continue to do that, the president has spoken about this several times, making sure we address it from all fronts and all sides. Reporter with omarosa leave, how many senior staff at the white house are africanamerican . Sarah we have a diverse team across the board at the white house. We always want to continue to grow the diversity here. Were going to continue to do that. And continue to work hard i dont have a number directly in front of me specifically, not africanamerican, but i can say again we have a very diverse team at the white house, certainly a diverse team in the press office and something that we strive for every day is to add and grow to be more diverse and more representative of the country at large. Were going to continue to do that. About reaching out to the africanamerican community, can you identify who will take that role and how critical is it to make sure that role is filled . Sarah i think there are a number of people who will be part of that process, who have been part of that crosess, that will continue to be. This sunt something that was a singular effort by any one individual. A member oof the cabinet, ben carson, has been engaged, talked with the president on this issue. Its not just within the white house. The president met with senator tim scott, i know he wants to continue those conversations as well to look at the best ways to dao do that and to do outreach to that community. Reporter to follow up on one of aprils questions, what omarosa said is, ive seen things that made me uncomfortable, that have upset me and affected me deeply and emotionally and affected my community and my people. Were her concerns addressed or dealt with . Sarah those comment she is made was the first time i heard those. Whether the raised them with other individual vedges, im not aware. I know she brought up specific issues where they were talked about in meetings and we addressed them at the time. Reporter can you say what any of her concerns were . Sarah thats a question youll have to ask her. Im not going to speak on her behalf in that regard. I do know that its something we take seriously and something that we want to see improve. I think across all fronts. Reporter today is the fifth anniversary of the sandy hook massacre in which so many children were killed. That tragedy was eclipsed by what happened in las vegas, now the most tragic mass shooting on u. S. Soil. Since that time, what has president thrump done to try to protect the American People against similar type of massacre. Does he think anything has been done . What is the administration trying to do . Is there anything at the executive level he thinks needs to be undertake snn sarah i think that there are a number of different ways that we look to protect our citizens. Every single day. One of the areas that the president has been outspoken about, not necessarily to those two instances but more broadly speaking in terms of National Security and protecting individuals, certainly through border security, stronger vetting processes, and looking at whether or not there are other regulations that we could put in place that would offer protection. These werent people who enter the united states. Sarah i said im speak manager broadly in terms of National Security as a whole. S that president who knows that his number one responsibility is to look for ways to protect american citizens and we try to do that every single day and whether or not theres a regulation that could be put in place or not that could have prevented those things, frankly im not aware of what that would be but we want to look for every opportunity, every way possible that we can to protect american lives. Were going to continue doing that. Reporter sit safe to say the administration is looking at how to prevent these Mass Shootings by domestic shooters on u. S. Soil . Sarah i know thats something that absolutely. I know thats something the department of Homeland Security looks at and talks about. And works on every single day. I dont think theres a person in this country that wouldnt like us to find ways to protect people and were certainly very supportive of that. And thats something that would be reporter the president has highlighted that says he wants sarah i dont think theres one thing you could do that would have prevented eerlt one of those instances, those horrible, horrible tragedies. Reporter very quickly the other day a failed terror attack which is why in these dayses cases, this is the worst shooting on u. S. Soil. Sarah i understand that. Thats why i also think you have to take these matters obviously very seriously. But if you could name a single thing that would have prevented both of these id love to hear it. I dont know what that would look like. Were looking every sing dale at how you can protect american lives, how we can best protect american citizens. In terms of new york we know for a fact this individual came through a chain migration system, something the president has been outspokenly against and something he wants to stop. And that individual wouldnt have been here in order to commit that crime if that wasnt in place. So thats a fact that we do now. Reporter has the president mentioned the possibility sarah i know theyre looking at Mental Health issues, thats something the president raised before. In terms of a specific policy that were moving forward with that would have prevented that, im not aware what that would be. Reporter has the president expressed concerns regarding the f. C. C. s decision to roll back obama era regulations on Net Neutrality . And then moving forward are there any assurances the white house can offer to the American People who are concerned that the decision and vote today will lead to a less Free Internet . Sarah as i said a few minutes ago, the administration supports the f. C. C. s efforts and at the same time the white house certainly has and always will support a free and fair internet. One last question for the day. Reporter im going to ask about taxes. The Federal Reserve yesterday said that tax bill would provide a modest lift to the economy. Thats in stark contrast to words the president has used like rock fuel to the economy. What is the data the president is basing his rosier picture of the impact of the economy of the tax bill versus the experts a at the Federal Reserve . Sarah there are several individuals i would point you to, kevin hassett, who has spoken in this room and on a number of networks i see represented here that has repeatedly stated that a lot of the statistics a lot of the data shows this will be a huge boost to the economy, will bring companies back, will grow our jobs, push think stock market higher, i think that those are all places i would point back to and certainly i think theres great support that we have seen just based on the idea that this passes that youre seeing the stock market increase and i think a lot of that is tied to that. Reporter the word modest was used . Sarah upset is maybe not the right word. He may think the other opinions offered are more accurate. I know the president hold on a second. I know the call time is here momentarily and the president will be speaking in a few minutes. I want to say thanks have a good week and april im looking forward to having some pie with you momentarily
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