Think all of you know, from the standpoint of defense, we will be doing the space of force, i assume you are all in favor of the spaceports. I would be surprised if you work. We are very close to getting that operating. It will be very exciting. Lots of things are happening. We have buzz aldrin with us. He has been an incredible gentleman. We have been friends for a long time. A fantastic man. Apollo collins, he flew 11 overhead. Aldrin and armstrong walked on the moon. Thats for sure. You have armstrongs son mark. These are incredible space families. Incredible men. Gotten to knowe some of the women in the family. Men andmen and great great jeans. Tomorrow is a big day. Tomorrow is a day where, 50 years, and we also have jim and he is the head of nasa. Is a different thing. He is somebody that everybody wanted that job. There is a love for space that is unparalleled. Mike pence and myself felt strongly about jim. We gave him the job and he has surpassed any of our expectations. Nasa is back. Having rich as you sit and pay us rent, i like that. Watching rich guys ascending have rockets. That goes to our credit and their credit. Field. Ed up our when they took it over, they were covered in grass and broken and in bad shape. You look at kennedy or down in florida, where ever you want to look, it was not a pretty picture. You could say,t, abandon. And now they are in tip top shape and rockets are going all the time. We would get rockets from russia and other countries. From russia to send people out. The relationship from russia, but we will be doing it ourselves. We are in a position we havent been in for many years. Space is important to me for defense and offense. Space is important for defense. Its not just about going to the moon and mars. It is a trip that will be interesting. To get to mars you have to go to the moon first. Is that a possibility . If we go to mars, we will have to be there for a long period of time. It is about a seven month journey there. Earth and mars are only in the same side of the sun once every 26 months. We have to be able to stay on mars for a long period of time. We have to prove that on the moon. Pres. Trump you dont want to be on the ship. You come back and try again. How did you feel about it yet echo mars direct. President trump it seems to me mars direct. Who knows better than these people . They have been doing this stuff for a long time. What about the concept of mars direct . The challenge is if we go direct to mars, there is going to be a lot of things we havent yet proven. We need to think about this. We need to use the resources of another world and own in order to live and work for long periods of time. The moon has water and ice that we discovered in 2009. Water and ice, it represents air to breathe in water to drink. It is also rocket fuel. So it is available, and mr. President , that is a market, and available market where some of these commercial guys are interested in going to the moon to utilize that resource for their own stays on the moon. They could be for tourism. It could be for resources. President trump they havent landed that close to the portion of the moon you talking about . Thats correct. In the apollo era we landed in the equatorial region. From 1969 until 2009, many people believed the moon was bone dry. Now we know there is hundreds of millions of tons of water. We need to learn how to use it so we can live and work, and that gives us the opportunity to go to mars. President trump so you feel landing on the moon first and figuring it out and getting ready to launch, and you really feel launching from the moon to mars . The best way to think about it is, we learn how to live and work on the moon, but we launch to mars from a space station that we have in orbit around the moon, a space station we called gateway, which gives us access to the moon but ultimately becomes the deep Space Transport that takes us to mars. With a gateway, we will have more access to more parts of the solar system with humans than we could have otherwise, because from the mood it is easy, the moon gravity well is smaller than earth. President trump Jim Bridenstine was a great congressman. He was with me most of the time, not all of the time. It was not that easy it decision. Thats ok. You know what i am talking about. And ultimately, once i got to know him and he got to know me, it was a different ballgame. You have done a fantastic job. And you love it. And more importly, he loves it. And he is doing very well with mike. Where my . Mike, come forward. Tell me what you think of the job jim is doing, nasa is doing. What do you think of the jobs they are doing . Vice president pence thank you, mr. President. I share your enthusiasm for our nasa administrator, Jim Bridenstine. Really putting into practice your vision of reviving American Leadership in human space exploration. To be able to be here in the oval office with you and the first lady, with buzz aldrin, mike collins, and the family of Neil Armstrong as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the apollo 11 mission is very humbling for me. I thank you for your leadership. You have revived the National Space council, you asked us to lead it and we have really revived American Leadership in space. We are launching a space force to make sure we can defend this nation and the outer reaches of space, because of your leadership i know everyone gathered here, these families, these astronauts, are excited to know that within the next year, we will be able to return american astronauts to space on american rockets from american soil. And that is all a result of your leadership. [applause] President Trump maybe you could just hold up your hands so the media could see, the family of Neil Armstrong, where is our family . Hold up your hands. They are all sort of one family, but i want you to do it. Buzz, just introduce your family. Thats your family. [laughter] my family is from hawaii to florida to los angeles. President trump do you have any questions . Before we go, i want to ask one question of either mike or jim. Private guys, wealthy guys are spending a lot of money with you right now. A lot. I assume they are using the facilities, they are leasing the facilities, they are paying money to set up the rockets, you can charge them so much, and they like rockets. Thank god i dont like rockets that much. I like it the way we are doing it. I also like it the way they are doing it. How much of the work that you are doing is privatelyfinanced, and whether it is bezos, i could name many, ok, there are many involved. How much of the work you are doing is private versus governmentfunded . Right now on the right now on the interNational Space station, we are commercially resupplying the space station by buying service from these commercial providers who have invested their own money, because they are looking for a market, they are looking for business that is not necessarily us. Which means our costs go down and our access goes up. That is resupplied to the interNational Space station. Now we are doing commercial to the interNational Space station, and the value is this. This is a Publicprivate Partnership where we are going to have the opportunity in the future to have nasa be one customer of many customers in a very robust marketplace in lower orbit, where the costs go down, access goes up, but we also want to make sure, this is important, we have numerous providers competing against each other on cost and innovation read and as cost and innovation. And as they compete, our costs will go down and access goes up. The goal in, we want more access to space than ever before. That is ultimately how we are going to go to the moon. That is how we are going to get to mars, and there are markets out there that are not nasa. That is a good thing for our country. President trump what about our Defense Industry . Nasa has a lot of technology the department of defense takes advantage of, and that goes back to alan shepard launching into space. He launched on an icbm. There is a lot of backandforth between what nasa does for science and technology and what the department of defense does for the National Security interests of the country. I have been very public about it, the United States air force is an amazing institution. The challenges to their budget are pretty steady, and yet the greatest threats that the air force deals with are in space and cyberspace. These are areas where the air force is going to run out of capacity from a National Security perspective. We need to take that element and create a separate space force where we can organize and equip a cadre of professionals t t t t keep us space from that keep us safe from a space perspective. We would have more opportunity to explore space than we otherwise would. President trump fantastic job. Michael collins flew apollo 11. What is the difference, that was a long time ago, without an what with that, and what they are doing today, because you are abreast of what they are doing today . The whole system has advanced. We are talking a minute ago about private funds. I think that is wonderful. The more the merrier. Musk and bezos, money out of their own pocket, it is all one lump as far as i am concerned. Maybe the budgeteers dont agree, but the more the merrier. Private funds, appropriated funds, we need them both. Lets go with both. President trump you like that whole concept . Yes. President trump do you see a tremendous advancement from apollo 11 . The propulsione systems come back, and they reuse them again. That was unthinkable a long time ago. Yes, that was oneshot and they fell into the ocean in a tremendous waste of five good rocket motors for every saturn five that you sent up. Thats the most dramatic new idea, the reusability. How many things in our life to we use once and throw away . Too many. Maybe that reusability doctrine could be more widespread and the rest of our economy. President trump very good point. Vice president pence mr. President , you signed the directive saying america was going to the moon, then mars, was one of the first acts of the administration. But this president has also taken action to streamline regulations for private space exploration. The president s vision is that we will continue to have American Leadership in space. Some of that will come from nasa, some of that will come as a part of our national defense, but much of that will come by unleashing the Entrepreneurial Energy of American Space entrepreneurs, and all of it represents what i know all the families are excited about, renewed American Leadership in human space exploration. And it all comes through articulating and putting into practice your visions, mr. President. President trump thank you very much, mike. You have been watching the Space Program closely, and what a career you have had come great careers. What would you say . Ive been disappointed in the last 10, 15 years. We were able to achieve so much, maybe because of conflicts in Southeast Asia we had to terminate apollo. They did and moved on in other directions, but in the last 50 years we had a rocket, saturn five, and it took a command module, a spacecraft, and the lunar module, but we all went together and we got into the lander and we landed. And we came back. We have the number one rocket right now in the u. S. , and we have the number one spacecraft, and they cannot get into lunar orbit with significant maneuvering capability. Thats a great disappointment. President trump how do you feel about that, jim . We are working on it. The soviet orion space capsule, the obrien crew capsule is amazing, and we need it to go to the mood in five years. That is the direction we are on right now. When we are there, the gateway is going to attach to a small module and orbit around the moon, think of it as a small space station, and that is going to give us that maneuvering capability to go out of lunar orbit and backup to a lander. Those are the pieces of the architecture we are working on. Some peopleump would like to do this a different way. I know this has been going on, we are so advanced, but i would like to hear the other side. Yes, sir. The other real benefit of space is the inspiration it provides for all the kids out there, not just the u. S. , but around the world, to focus on achieving their dreams, studying science and math and engineering, and i have heard from so many people who have said, i was inspired to be what i am because of what i saw in the apollo program. The value of that is tremendous. I think we need more of that. Im really hoping that days like today will help do that, and with the increased activity in space we are all talking about here, will all help that. President trump you have a great family. Thank you very much. And we are bringing the glamour back to it, because it lost the glamour, it lost everything. If you would have seen these fields when we took over, it was unbelievable, it looked like an abandoned town, and now there is beauty, there is beauty, and there is a lot of things happening, a lot of great things are happening so we are really proud of that. Thank you all very much. We appreciate it. Thank you. [indiscernible] you shot down a drone yesterday. There is no doubt about that, right . President trump no, we shut it down. Im behind a desk in the oval office, but john, john bolton, are you there . There is no question this was an iranian drone. The uss boxer took it out, as the president announced, because it posed a threat to the ship and crew. It was entirely the right thing to do. Are you concerned about a broader conflict with iran . President trump not at all. We have the greatest people, greatest equipment, greatest ships, most deadly ships, we dont want to have to use them but they are the most deadly ships ever conceived, and we hope for their sake they dont do anything foolish. If they do, they will pay a price like nobody has ever paid a price. Reporter you said you were not unhappy about that chant, but the chant was repeated. President trump you know what i am unhappy with . Im unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can hate our country. Im unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can say antisemitic things. Im unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman, in this case a different congresswoman, can call our country and our people garbage. That is what i am unhappy with. Those people in north carolina, that stadium was packed, it was a record crowd, and i could have filled it 10 times, as you know. Those are incredible people. Those are incredible patriots. But im unhappy when a congresswoman goes and says, i am going to be the president s nightmare. She is going to be the president s nightmare. She is lucky to be where she is, let me tell you, and the things that she has said are a disgrace to our country. Thank you, very much. Rocky is a situation in sweden. Sweden is a great country. They are friends of mine, the leadership, and we are going to be calling, talking to them, we have already started. And many, many members of the Africanamerican Community have called me, friends of mine, and said, could you help . So i personally dont know asap rocky, but i can tell you he has tremendous support from the Africanamerican Community in this country, and when i say africanamerican, i can say really from everybody in this country, because we are all one. I have been called by so many people asking me to help asap rocky. The one who knew about asap rocky was our first lady, right . She was telling me about asap rocky. Working on a little statement on that . I will be working with this state department and we hope to get him home soon. President trump we had a very Good Relationship with sweden, as you know, weve had a very Good Relationship in sweden, so that is pretty much it. Thank you, all, very much. [shouted questions] hopefully we are in good shape on the debt ceiling. I cant imagine anybody even thinking about using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wedge. When i first came into office i asked about the debt ceiling, and i certainly understand that the highestrated credit ever in history and the debt ceiling. I said, i remember, to senator schumer and nancy pelosi, would anybody ever use that to negotiate with . And they said, absolutely not, that is a sacred element of our country. They cant use the debt ceiling to negotiate. I dont forget, president obama, during his eight years, he created, he doubled the debt. You take every president , every president prior to president obama, he then took it and doubled the debt, over 10 trillion. 10 trillion with a t, not a not 1 million, not 1 billion, president obama put 10 trillion and doubled the debt. It went from 10 trillion to 20 trillion and some even went above 20 trillion. So it is attributed to him. Whether you Start Talking about using the debt ceiling as a wedge to negotiate or things that they want, they have told me very strongly they would never use that. That is a very, very sacred thing in our country, the debt ceiling. We can never play with it. So i would have to assume we are in great shape. But just remember also, the Previous Administration doubled the debt in our country. You take all of the president s that came before, doubled the debt. Pretty big statement, and certainly its a big statement to be talking about for that party to be talking about using the debt ceiling. And i dont think they are. It has been mentioned, but i dont think they are, i dont think anybody would want to play that card. Boris johnson says he is going to be the new british Prime Minister. What you think . President trump i like him, i like boris johnson. I spoke to him yesterday. I think hes going to do a great job. Were going to have a great relationship. They have done a very poor job with brexit. The previous Prime Minister has done a very bad job with exit. What can i say . Its a disaster. It shouldnt be that way. I think boris will straighten it out. I like boris johnson. I always have. He is a different kind of a guy, but they say im a different kind of a guy, we get along well. I think we will have a great relationship. Thank you. Ongoing tension . President trump ongoing tension between japan and korea, yes. The president of korea asked if i could get involved. I said how many things do i have to get involved in . Im involved in north korea, im involved with so many different things. We just did a trade deal, great great deal, with south korea. But he tells me they have a lot of friction going on now with respect to trade, primarily with respect to trade, and japan has some things south korea wants, and he asked me to get involved, so maybe if they would both want me to, its like a fulltime job, getting involved between japan and south korea. But i like both leaders, i like president moon, and you know how i feel about Prime Minister abe, very special guy also. So if they need me up there, hopefully they can work it out, but they do have tension, there is no question about it. Trade tension, ok . Thank you. [shouted questions] thank you, very much. Thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National sunday, the Senate Resumes the debate for defense secretary. Votes on the has to house are also expected. You can watch live on cspan two. The house takes up a bill to secure Retirement Savings for workers and retirees and addresses border security. Watch live house coverage on cspan. Both the senate and house live online, or free on our radio app. We spoke with a reporter about the week ahead. Daniel flatley reports on congress and this week, covering a number of fronts. The defense secretary nominee, arc esper, he is being fast tracked. Tell us about the issues we make here