Transcripts For CNNW At This Hour With Kate Bolduan 20170612

Confidence in Jeff Sessions, and its really a tough question, and i think when you look at it, you have to ask yourself, do they also have confidence in Rod Rosenstein . This is the same man who youll remember appointed this special counsel. So, clearly, if sessions were to resign at one point, you would then have that man in that position. Unclear at this point in thats what the white house really wants. Youll also have to remember, sessions, though, his relationship with the president may have soured, but you also have to remember, he still has supporters here in the west wing. You look at people like steve bannon, stephen miller, who are definitely still, at least still as far as we know still in sessions court. So, he still has some support here in the west wing, but the optics of the meeting of those two men at that Cabinet Meeting is going to be something to behold. Kate . Something to behold. Lets see what he hear coming out of that. Great to see you, jason. Thank you so much. Now to a big decision that just suddenly fell into the senates lap. Will he or wont he . Whether they will allow the attorney general to testify behind closed doors, or will they require and demand that it be before cameras and the public . Cnns Suzanne Malveaux is joining me from capitol hill with much more on this. Suzanne, word is that sessions caught folks off guard with his offer to testify, so what exactly do we know about this . Reporter he did, kate. And you would think that, of course, they want to see him before the committee. It would be a nobrainer, right . But there is a lot of debate thats taking place behind the scenes. The reason why here is that the head of the committee, Senate Intelligence committee, richard burr, he believes that, yes, this is a good idea, but the debate that theyre having, the democrat on this committee, mark warner, believes that this could be a strategy by sessions to avoid a public hearing, to go ahead before this committee. He offered it in this letter on saturday, but to do it quietly behind the scenes, and they believe that he needs to have this kind of public hearing to be held accountable. So, that is the debate thats taking place. They are getting some advice, if you will, from the special counsel. Bob muellers going to be meeting with him through the week. There are going to be discussions, ongoing discussions, about what is the most appropriate way to have him go before this committee, if it is this committee at all, and in what forum. The other thing thats happening is that the Senate Judiciary committee, also investigating the russia probe here, they are trying to create a sense of urgency in getting their hands on those comey memos from comeys friend, law professor daniel richmond, who comey was handing over his notes to during a time, richmond slipping it to the media and exposing the kinds of conversations he was having with President Trump at the time. They gave him a friday deadline, and cnn has learned that, yes, he is cooperating with that particular committee. There should be some movement on that sometime today to see whether or not they actually physically get those memos, copies of those memos, in what form they would get that. But that is something they, too, want in earnest. So theres a lot, kate, that is going on here on capitol hill, and clearly, they are trying to create this sense of urgency in getting this information in their hands. I think theres urgency all around, we could say. Great to see you, suzanne. Thank you so much. Reporter great to see you. I want to bring in cnns political director, david chalian. David, im going to look down four just one second because we are getting news in about Jeff Sessions and the possibility and schedule of him testifying. Im going to read this as were all getting it. Laura jarrett sent this in from a Justice Department spokesman saying sessions has requested a public Senate Intelligence hearing for tomorrow, and heres a quote from a spokesman for doj he believes it is important for the American People to hear the truth directly from him and looks forward to answering the committees questions tomorrow. This is a fascinating chain of events, david. It is. Clearly, i think sessions was aware that if he was going to cancel his publicly scheduled testimony, remember, before the appropriations committees about the doj budget, which is what he was supposed to be doing this week. Right. And then say i want to testify before senate intel, if he was then to go behind closed doors, he would have caught a lot of flack for that, obviously, as would have his republican colleagues on senate intel, if they allowed that. Well see. We still have to hear, of course, from the senate intel chair and vice chair. Thats right. But hearing from the attorney general that he would like it to be public, i think it would be surprising if senator burr and senator warner did not certainly agree to that and make that happen here. This is now welcome to the hot seat in washington, right . Yeah, i guess so. This is the seat that jim comey was before last week. He was sitting in this before the senate intel committee, and now if Jeff Sessions is there publ publicly. Kate, i think there are three different Big Questions Jeff Sessions would have to answer in this. One, jim comey said that when the president cleared the oval office on february 14th, that you were lingering behind, as if you didnt want to leave. Well, what was going through your mind, ag sessions . Did you not think it appropriate for the president to be in a oneonone meeting with the fbi director . Were you concerned that he was going to bring up the Flynn Investigation . What was going through your mind there . Thats one. Two, you saw chuck schumer, the Senate Minority leader, yesterday bring up this notion of why are you writing a memo to the president recommending comeys firing, that the president has said russia was on his mind when making that firing, if you recused yourself . Did the recusal why did that not cause you to recuse yourself from the firing of the fbi director over this issue . And three, was there a third meeting you had with the Russian Ambassador to the u. S. Right. Kislyak at the Mayflower Hotel . Was there a side meeting . Because initially, Jeff Sessions, youll recall, disclosed no meetings with the Russian Ambassador, then disclosed two, and this is what caused him to recuse himself from the whole russia investigation. He had to update his testimony before the Senate Judiciary committee for his confirmation hearing, saying i did actually meet with the Russian Ambassador. And now theres this question about whether or not there was a third meeting. So, lots of questions for Jeff Sessions to answer. Absolutely. And you lay it out perfectly, the big ones that he will most definitely be getting, if this all happens. As you say, very important to note, yet to hear from the chair and vice chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, if theyre ready to schedule this hearing. Theres a lot of preparation that goes into these hearings before they have a big witness like this, and they came very fast and caught a lot of folks off guard. Interesting to see if theyll try to delay or if they will move ahead with something of a public hearing tomorrow. Stand by for that. Let me ask you another big thing thats going on today, david. Youre getting it all. Apologies, my friend. No problem. Were seeing more of the president s supporters going after special prosecutor Robert Mueller, people like Newt Gingrich. Gingrich sent out a tweet this morning and it kind of took off like wildfire, when he wrote this republicans are delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair. Look who he is hiring. Check fec reports. Time to rethink. Add to that, heres what the president s one of the president s lawyers said yesterday when he was asked about the potential of mueller being fired by the president. Will the president promise not to interfere, not attempt at any time to order the Deputy Attorney general to fire Robert Mueller . Look, the president of the United States, as we all know, its a unitary executive, but the president is going to seek the advice of his counsel, and inside the government as well as outside, and im not going to speculate on what he will or will not do. I cant imagine that that issues going to arise, but that, again, is an issue that the president with his advisers would discuss, if there was a basis. So, you have that from jay sekulow, but on the Newt Gingrich bit, this is the same Newt Gingrich who tweeted in may that he liked the mueller announcement, saying it was a superb choice. What gives here . Whats changed . Well, you know, he clearly thought when mueller got appointed that that would be sort of an alleviator of pressure for the white house, saying, okay, now everybody can calm down because this is in the hands of a special counsel, and let that process go forward. Now, after seeing reporting about the team that muellers put together, i think gingrich is now trying to discredit not just mueller, or not so much going after mueller, but after the entire investigative effort that the special counsels put together. Heres the problem, kate, i think its going to be very hard to make this kind of strategy work, and perhaps thats why were not hearing it from republicans on the hill, but its more sort of these trump surrogates and fans outside right now. And thats because even ken starr this morning, kate right. Was saying bob mueller is uniy peachable, amazing kreblz. He was praising the legal team muellers put together. I think it will be stunning for somebody with the credentials mueller has, if republicans will try to discredit him as part of the political portion of this campaign. And even if it comes from the outside, what kind of position would that put republicans in, as example after example, tweet, sound bite, issued statement of them calling his credentials impeachable, impeccable, that he is a straight shooter, and you know, a fair guy . It would put republicans, republican lawmakers in a tough spot. In a very tough spot. And as would, obviously, which is what sekulow was responding to in that bite you played, this notion of if donald trump somehow directed right. The firing of the special counsel, you could imagine that would just create such a firestorm. Now, sekulow said he doesnt expect that situation to arise, but he did not rule it out, because as you know, the special counsel is still, though independent, in the chain of command. The president does certainly have that ability. Its within his right. It just would be political suicide. All right. Youre the best, david stand by. Thank you so much. Thank you. I do want to bring in weve got more to discuss with this breaking news that Jeff Sessions has requested a public hearing with the Senate Intelligence committee. We have now learned that Jeff Sessions hold on, let me make sure i pull this up correctly, because its just coming in, and i want to make sure i get it. We are getting this from the Senate Intelligence committee now, saying that attorney general Jeff Sessions will testify at the Senate Intelligence committee tomorrow. That is news. So, weve now heard it from Jeff Sessions says he wanted it to be public, and we are getting this in from the chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee, that they will have that hearing for him tomorrow. On this, let me bring in right now former Nixon White House counsel john dean. Whats your reaction to this news, that this new addition i mean it was going to be all eyes were on james comey last week, and now it seems all eyes are on Jeff Sessions, and this breaking news right now that Jeff Sessions will be testifying in a public setting tomorrow before the Senate Intelligence committee to answer all of these questions. I think its going to be a tough setting, but its a friendly setting. Sessions has a lot of friends on the hill. He was a very popular senator, worked quietly behind closed doors with his colleagues and got along well with them. So, i think it will be friendly, but i think its important also that he get this behind him sooner rather than later, given his strained relationship with the white house, and a big factor that no ones talking about is there are about 200 unappointed president ial posted in the department of justice that are vacant right now, and the pool of lawyers is small to start with for these kinds of jobs and they dont like these jobs when theyre in the spotlight. So, its important sessions get these hearings behind him and get the department working. What do you think . I mean, one of the Big Questions, of course, john, is going to be that february 14th meeting when that james comey described in such detail about the grandfather clock and the president asking Jeff Sessions to leave, Jeff Sessions lingering, him telling him to leave, Jared Kushner lingering, the president telling him to leave. Im sure hes going to ask for his detailbydetail, playbyplay of exactly what his view of that meeting was. I think youre absolutely right. Hes obviously heard comeys testimony. He will have his recollection of it. I think the more interesting answer will be what motivated him to leave his fbi director there alone when the fbi director asked him not to do that. Didnt he want to raise it with the president that it might not be appropriate to meet with this man . Do you want to give this a Second Thought . And hes also one of the president s lawyers. Hes by tradition the president s lawyer. So, well all be anxious to hear what he has to say about this. Let me also ask you about one other thing thats kind of lingering out there when you talk about a lot of questions right now. It comes down to the tapes, john. I know ive asked you this a couple times before, but for our viewers i think its nice to remind of where things left, where are there taped conversations that took place in the oval office or not . Heres a reminder of what the president said just on friday. Listen to this. And you seem to be hinting that there are recordings of those conversations im not hinting anything. Ill tell you about it over a very short period of time, okay . Okay. Do you have a question here . When will you tell us about the recordings . Over a fairly short period of time. Why wont you tell us now . Are there tapes, sir . Oh, youre going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer. Dont worry. The more he drags this along, do you think it is more likely there are tapes, john, or more likely there are not . I think more likely there are not. I think his telephone system has the capability of recording by hitting a switch, where the voice mail can become a recording for the conversation. As to the oval office and where they had dinner, the small dining room they ate in, hed have to have used Something Like his cell phone to make that recording. Ive read that he has done that in the past in business meetings, so maybe its a very poor quality, where he tried to do it and it didnt work very well. So, who knows. And i dont understand his answer that you will know in a very short period of time. I mean, its just odd. Its a little bit of playing reality president. Let us drag this on a little bit and build up a little more interest in it. Strange stuff. Do you see a benefit in that . No, not at all. I dont see anything, any wisdom in what hes doing in playing these kinds of games and not answering these questions. It just prolongs his problems. If it plays with his base, his base is more interested in entertainment than they are in governing. Great to see you, john. Always great to have your perspective. Thanks so much. Coming up for us, an interesting moment. Were going to hear how cnn accidentally, it appears, reached james comey. Yes, the former fbi director on the phone. It is quite a story. Youre going to hear what he told one of our cnn correspondents about this. Plus, one highprofile senator says American Leadership was better under president obama. Thats not from a democrat. Its from obamas former opponent, republican john mccain. Hear why he said that. And breaking news from the trial of bill cosby. His defense abruptly resting its case today after just an hour. Hear the only witness that they called. Thats ahead. To homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States postal service. Priority you how to win at business. Step one point decisively with the arm of your glasses. Abracadabra. The stage is yours. Step two choose la quinta. The only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free nightinstantly and win at business. Deartheres no other way to say this. Its over. 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We just learned that attorney general Jeff Sessions will be testifying before a public, open hearing of the Senate Intelligence committee tomorrow afternoon. Jeff sessions offering up to testify before the Senate Intelligence committee over the weekend, and the committee confirming just moments ago they will be taking his testimony in a Public Session tomorrow afternoon. Let me bring in right now another republican, republican congressman Adam Kinsinger of illinois, a member, of course, of the House Foreign Affairs committee. Congressman, thanks for being here. Good to be here. You had said you wanted to see Jeff Sessions testify in a public setting. Yeah. Whats the big question for him . Well, i think we need to talk about the russia meetings, the meetings with the ambassadors. I can tell you, i meet with a lot of ambassadors as a Foreign Affairs member. Sometimes i dont remember who all ive met with. Those are questions that need to be answered. What exactly does he know, you know, about the discussions between comey and President Trump . Basically, my big concern is the American People just really want answers. Right now you have people that are stuck in a way of saying, every time new information comes out, lets assume its all fake news, and there are some that immediately yell impeachment, and i dont think we fix this conversation until we know everything. So i want more information about everything to come out, and i hope this can shed light on the questions the American People have. What does it mean for the special prosecutors investigation . So many of these i mean, james comey testifying in public and now Jeff Sessions testifying in public. It doesnt get in the way of it, obviously. Right. Because he probably would have told james comey not to. Do you think it impacts this . I dont think it does. I think theres so much hunger for information in the public that people are basically destroying themselves. Theres so much fighting because everyones come to preconceived conclusions about whether President Trump is guilty or anybody else. I think the more information to come out, the better. The house and the senate has a role to play in determining this, but as long as it doesnt affect director muellers investigation, thats the most important thing, because i think i dont care about 2018, i dont care about 2020 in this context we have to defend the institution of government and we need to know that all avenues of information were explored. Let me ask you about the special prosecutor. We are seeing some republican allies of the president come out and start to, forget targeting james comey, targeting bob mueller. Newt gingrich is one of them, and i read the tweet earlier, saying the republicans are delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair. This, of course Newt Gingrich actually applauded the appointment of bob mueller earlier, but he thinks its time to rethink. Newts not the only one. Do you think, congressman, theres a problem of conflict of interest because of the long relationship that there is no. Between bob mueller and james comey . No. I think this idea that james comey and bob mueller are going to get together and come up with a conspiracy to take down somebody or the president or whoever is, frankly, a bridge way too far. They can know in this business, we all know each other. Theres a lot of people that know jim comey and know bob mueller. Its just that governments a small business, so theyre going to know each other, but from everything i know about director mueller, this is a guy who wants honest answers, so were going to get the honest answers. I think to poison the well, whether its speaker gingrich or anybody else, say its time to move past a special prosecutor, its never going to be fair. My whole thing is, after this is said and done, i want everybody to say i may agree or disagree with the conclusion, but everything was thought. He didnt rule out the possibility of the president firing bob mueller. What would you say if that happened . I dont expect that to happen. I actually dont know that the president could fire. I think that shouldnt happen, obviously. Lets let this develop itself. Lets get some answers here. I think it would be very illadvised for the president to do it. I actually dont expect that he would. But i think his allies need to quit trying to poison the well, because yeah, it may get them on tv to say something, but at the same time, this is about the institution of democracy and defending it, thats what im concerned with. Total different topic. Sure. But because of your service to this country, i did want to ask you and get your reaction to the greenonblue attack in afghanistan. Three u. S. Soldiers killed, another wounded. The Vice President offered condolences over the weekend, but this comes at a very important time, a very important decisionmaking for this white house. What more do you want to hear from the president after this . Well, i think the president needs to make the case that this is a generational fight. People hate to say it, right . We like to say heres our plan to win in a year. The fact is, when youre fighting radicalism, youre fighting generational change, and it has to be like the cold war took 50 years for the next generation to reject communism. Thats whats going to happen in this fight, and its going to be a long time coming, but the alternative, us leaving afghanistan, afghanistan being like it was pre9 11, means saying you may not be interested in war, but wars interested in you. But would 5,000 more troops in afghanistan have stopped this . No, it wouldnt stop a greenonblue. I was in afghanistan where the big one, i think 11 people were killed happened. Yes. We are having far less greenonblues than in the past. There was a point where wed get a lot, but its going to happen. You cant stop somebody from intending to do harm until they show the first step of the intention. You cant screen whats in somebodys heart. So sadly, this may happen again at some point, but actually, its been amazing how few there have been in comparison to the past. Thanks for being here. Any time. Great to see you. You bet. Ahead, a cnn reporter calls the home of james comeys father. Its a great story and starts exactly this way. Instead of getting the father, the reporter gets james comey. Hear what happened and hear was the fired fbi director told cnn. Plus, a full house. The first lady and barron trump finally moving in with the president at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. What does that mean . What changes will there be . Im not just talking about interiors. Im talking about in the president s behavior. We will see. And any moment we are expecting new video to come in from inside the president s meeting with his cabinet, and the man on the left is where all eyes are today, attorney general Jeff Sessions. Of course, in recent weeks, according to reporting, offered to resign over tensions with President Trump, now set to testify before the Senate Intelligence committee tomorrow. Lets see what comes out of that meeting. Well be right back. Theres nothing more important than your health. So if youre on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b heres why. Medicare only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. You might want to consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like any Medicare Supplement insurance plan, these help pick up some of what medicare doesnt pay. And, these plans let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. 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Breaking news this hour. The defense has just rested in the trial against comedian bill cosby. This pretty shocking move comes after only one witness was called to testify for cosbys side. The defense also moved for acquittal, but it was denied. Cosbys charged with three felony accounts of aggravated indecent assault. Correspondent britain gingras and Legal Correspondent paul callan are here with me. Brin, what happened today . This is a long road coming to this and then it ended abruptly. And you saw Camille Cosby at the side of bill cosby. Thats the first time weve seen his wife of 53 years be there, the first time weve actually seen a Family Member at this trial. Weve seen a lot of people alongside him, but credential not a Family Member. Whats happening today is theyre giving closing statements to the jurors at this point. Then were going to see jury instructions, and then its possible they might start deliberations in this case, but they certainly have a weeks full of testimony from last week. But you just said it the defense rested, one witness called. It was actually a recall of a detective that the commonwealth called in their case, but they do have, you know, 12 witnesses that they heard, those jurors, from last week during the commonwealths case, including andrea constand, the woman at the center of all this, who accused cosby of drugging and molesting her in his home in 2004, her mother, other key witnesses. And certainly now it will be in the hands of the jury soon. Very soon. So, paul, what do you 12 witnesses on one side. One, you could almost call it a half a witness, since its a recall witness on the cosby side. What does that signify to you . Its not unusual for the criminal defense to rest presenting no evidence, especially in a situation where they think its a really weak case. Now remember, this entire case is 13 years old. Thats when it was claimed to have happened. It was turned down by the District Attorney originally, who thought it wasnt enough evidence to make out a criminal case. And now as the case is presented, it relies primarily on the victims testimony and her mothers testimony as against the testimony well, not even the testimony, but the claims of cosbys attorney. So, i think the defense just thinks its a weak case. And what do you make of that, the decision to not put cosby on the stand . Oh, that was a brilliant decision by the defense, because bear in mind, if he took the stand and opened the door to cross examination about the fact that 60 other women have made claims against him, he would have no chance of an acquittal. Here now, the jurys going to have to look at constands testimony, the mother, and there was one other victim who testified during the trial that the m. O. , using drugs and then having sex with the woman occurred to her as well, but thats a far cry from 60 potential witnesses. So, it was a good idea not to put him on. As brin says, it will soon be in the hands of the jury. A long road getting here. Well see where it hands up. Thank you both very much. The attorneys general of the state of maryland and the District Of Columbia are set to unveil a new lawsuit against President Trump very soon. They say hes violating the constitution by accepting payments from foreign governments at his hotel. We will bring you that News Conference as soon as it begins. Well bring it to you live. Well be right back. For the strength and energy to get back to doing. What you love. Ensure. Always be you. Its just a burst pipe, i co laugh it. No. With claim rateguard your rates wont go up just because of a claim. I totally couldve no switching to allstate is worth it. A trip back to the dthe doctors office, mean just for a shot. 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If youd rather be home, ask your doctor about Neulasta Onpro. All right, welcome back, everyone. We are moments away now from the video that weve been waiting for this hour, the video coming from the president sitting down leading a meeting with his cabinet. All eyes, of course, on attorney general Jeff Sessions after the breaking news this hour that sessions has agreed to and the committee has agreed to as well, the Senate Intelligence committee, has agreed to have him testify in public tomorrow, amid, of course, reports that Jeff Sessions relationship with the president is on the rocks. One more time . Oh, and here is that video right now. Lets listen. Good morning. We have much great news to share with the American People today as we continue to deliver on our promises. Due to a recordlong delay in confirmation and the confirmation process by the senate democrats, which i call the obstructionists maybe theyll change, but i doubt it for a while, but they are truly obstructionists. This is our first Cabinet Meeting with the entire cabinet present. The confirmation process has been recordsetting long, and i mean recordsetting long, with some of the finest people in our country being delayed and delayed and delayed. But thats much of that is over, and now were going through, as you know, the regular process with people at other levels of government, and thats a very long process also, including ethics committee, which has become very difficult to deal with. All of that being said, we now have our cabinet finally approved, and i want to welcome secretary of agriculture sunny p purd purdue. Director of national intelligence, daniel coats, and u. S. Trade representative robert lighthizer. This is an incredible, talented group of people in this room, generals, governors, congressmen, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and many, many others. I choose each person at this table, and i chose them not only because of their remarkable experience and success, but because they have all united by one shared goal, what they want to do. Its one very simple, but very beautiful goal serving and defending our beloved nation. Together were working every day, and weve been working very hard together for our country to protect their safety, bringing back jobs into our country and putting always america first. And when i ran, it was make America Great again, and thats what were doing, believe me. Were doing it and were doing it at a much faster pace than anyone thought. I would say that never has there been a president , with few exceptions, in the case of fdr, he had a major depression to handle, whos passed more legislation, whos done more things than what weve done, between the executive orders and the jobkilling regulations that have been terminated. Many bills, i guess over 34 Bills Congress signed, a Supreme Court justice whos going to be a great one. Going to be a great Supreme Court justice, and many other things. Weve achieved tremendous success. And i think weve been about as active as you can possibly be and at a just about recordsetting pace. And were achieving these goals by eliminating these jobkilling regulations unlocking american energy, rebuilding our military, pursuing fair and resipical trade deals, achieving massive reductions in illegal immigration, transforming the department of veterans affairs, and building a new Partnership Among nations to defeat terrorism, which we have to do. In just a very short time, were seeing amazing results. And in fact, there are a couple of major stories today in the newspapers about minds that are opening mines that are opening and the miners are going back to work. Actually, theyre pretty big stories. People are surprised. Its kicking in very fast. More Small Businesses are planning to hire than at any point in over a decade. And last month, unemployment fell to its lowest point in 16 years. I recently returned from a trip overseas that included deals from more than 350 billion worth of military and Economic Investment in the United States. These deals will bring many thousands of jobs to our country and, in fact, will bring millions of jobs, ultimately, and help saudi arabia take a greater role in providing stability and security in that region. One of the big things that we did, and youre seeing it now with qatar and all of the things that are actually going on in a very positive fashion, we are stopping the funding of terrorism. They are going to stop the funding of terrorism. And its not an easy fight, but thats a fight were going to win. There will be you have to starve the beast, and were going to starve the beast, believe me. Secretary price has been working very hard to repeal and replace obamacare. The house passed a bill. The senate has it right now. Mitch mcconnell is working very, very hard, as are the republican senators. We will have zero backing from the democrats, even though they should get in and do something, but we expect to get zero. If we had the greatest bill in the history of the world on health care, we wouldnt get one vote from the democrats because theyre obstructionists. Thats what they want to do. Thats the game. They think thats the best game. Theyre looking to 18. So far, weve had two races and weve won both of those races. They spent millions and millions of dollars, congressional races. We have another one coming up and weve been doing very well. But theyre obstructionist, and thats sad. But we are coming up with something that i believe will be very good with zero support from the obstructionist democrats. Sad. Secretary mnuchin is helping us put together one of the biggest tax cuts in american history. It may be the single biggest tax cut in american history, and that also includes a great deal of tax reform, simplification and other things. Director mulvaney has led efforts to introduce a new budget that cuts washington spending and protects the taxpayer, and that will come out, and believe me, well take care of the people that have to be taken care of. So, thats a first step, but we will be taking care of the people that have to be taken care of. On the human basis, thats very, very important. Today were going to hear from secretary tillerson and secretary mattis on the ways that were combating isis and defeating terrorism. Weve had tremendous success against isis and our fight in the middle east, where were doing very, very well. Were going to be having a News Conference in two weeks on that fight and youll see numbers that you will not have believed. And frankly, if you look back to even six months ago, you wouldnt have believed it was possible. Secretary shull kin will give us an update on his tremendous work to make sure our veterans are finally given the care they deserve. One of the most important things to me on the campaign trail. Weve also been strongly pushing for the passage of the va accountability act to ensure employees of the va can be held accountable. If they fail our great veterans. Its passed the senate and the house is voting tomorrow. So, tomorrow we have a big vote coming up, david, and i think were going to be in good shape. But thats something that is going to be great for our veterans. Were also going to hear from secretary acosta about a major announcement that ill be making later this week, expanding apprenticeships and getting our people back to work. While we have the lowest number in terms of unemployment in many, many years, at the same time, ive always argued with that number, because it doesnt take into account millions and millions of people that have given up looking for jobs, and were going to be doing something about that and were going to get those people back to work, and its already starting in ohio and its starting in pennsylvania and North Carolina and South Carolina and florida. You see the numbers, and theyre starting. I call them the forgotten men and women, but theyre not going to be forgotten much longer, believe me. There are millions of good jobs that lead to great careers, jobs that do not require a fouryear degree or the massive debt that often comes with those fouryear degrees and even twoyear degrees. These jobs require advanced skills and Technical Training, and were going to start that. The apprenticeships, a very good word from the trump standpoint, the word apprentice. Apprenticeships are going to be a big, big factor in our country. We have people with tremendous talent, maybe a mechanical talent, it may be a talent for fixing an engine or a motor. A lot of people that graduated high in their class at the best colleges in the world have no clue, and they would never be good at it. Its a different kind of an ability, but its a great ability, nevertheless. Were going to help get our young people the Technical Training that they need to pursue really exciting careers and careers that they can make good money. They can really earn a great, great salary and maybe even open Small Businesses. If everyone in this room continues to do their jobs, then we can restore american prosperity and make millions and millions of dollars, and we can make for these people the American Dream come true. Were going to make the American Dream come true for a lot of people. So were here to change washington. Return power to the people. Were here to give people a great shot at a great, great job and even opening Small Businesses and employing other people. I look forward to hearing all of the reports from the different people in the room today. We have done as i said about as much as anybody ever in a short period of time in the presidency, thats despite tremendous opposition from the other side. We have done something thats very special. And you see it in the economic numbers, because the economic numbers have been incredible. One just came out, almost 4 trillion in worth has been created in the stock markets of our country. Just take a look at that. 700,000 jobs have been created in a very short period of time, since the election. 700,000. If we would have said that on november 8th, nobody would have believed the number. If we would have said that almost 4 trillion in the stock markets has been created, everybody would have laughed at us. They would have said oh, thats ridiculous. But thats what it is. So were very proud of it. We have a Phenomenal Team of people, a great group of talent. And we are really now seeing the early fruits of their labor. Some of them wont be able to kick in because statutorily you have to wait periods of time before youre allowed to unify. Well be having some major legislation very soon on the dumping of steel in our country, which is absolutely killing our workers at our steel companies. Were going to be having some major legislation on the dumping of aluminum and varies other things into our country which is killing our workers. Well be announcing that very soon. So i think that well do, most of you know the people around the room, but im going to start with our Vice President. Where is our Vice President . There he is. And ill maybe start with mike and well just go around and just name your position and then well ask these folks to go back and have a good day and were going to discuss our various reports. Mike. Thank you, mr. President. This is the greatest privilege of my life is to serve as Vice President to a president whos keeping his word to the American People. Assembling a team thats bringing real change, real prosperity and real strength back to our nation. Thank you, mike. Mr. President , its great to be here and celebrate this group. We are receiving as you know, im not sure the rest of you fully understand the support, but Law Enforcement all over america, they have been very frustrated. They are so thrilled that we have a new idea that were going to support them and Work Together to properly, lawfully fight the rising crime that were seeing. Its an honor to be able to serve you in that regard and to send the exact right message and the response is fabulous around the country. Great success, including ms 13. Theyre being thrown out in rapid numbers and rapidly. Theyre being depleted. Theyll all be gone soon. Youre right, jeff. Thank you very much. Alex. Mr. President , it is my privilege to be here. I want to thank you for your commitment to the american workers. This week is a full scheduled for you focusing on the american worker. Were very excited at the department of labor and the Apprenticeship Program that youre going to be announcing i think is going to make a real difference. So thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. Mr. President , honor to be on the team. This last week i had the great privilege to represent america in china at the green energy. Good timing. They needed to hear why america was stepping away from the paris accord and they did and that america is not stepping back, but were stepping into place and sending some messages that were still going to be leaders in the world when it comes to the climate, but were not going to be held hostage to some executive order that was ill thought out. My hats off to you for taking that stand and presenting a clear message around the world that americas going to continue to lead in the area of energy. Thank you. Thank you, mr. President. Its a new day at the united nations. We now have a very strong voice. People know what the United States is for. They know what were against. They see us leading across the board. So i think the International Community knows were back. Thank you. Thats great. Thank you for the kind words about the budget. Youre right. We are going to be able to take care of the people who really need it. We were able to also focus on the forgotten man and woman who were paying those taxes. I appreciate your support in supporting that budget. Good to be back in the United States. I arrived back this morning at 1 00 from italy in the g 7 summit focused on the environment and our message there was the United States is going to be focused on growth and protecting the environment. Good morning, mr. President. This community has never faced such an adversity of threats to our country in our lifetime. We have men and women who are working 24 7 seven days a week to make sure that we are on top of all these threats. Its a joy to be working with the people that i have inherited and we are going to provide continue to provide you with the very best intelligence we can so you can formulate policies to deal with these issues. Mr. President , its a privilege to serve, to serve the students of this country, and to work to ensure that every child as an equal opportunity to get a great education and therefore a great future. Thank you. Mr. President , what an incredible honor it is to lead the department of health and Human Services at this time under your leadership. I cant thank you enough for the leadership youve shown. Seems like theres an International Flair to the messages being delivered. I had an opportunity to represent the United States in berlin and the World Health Assembly and i cant tell you how excited folks are about the United States leadership as related to Global Health security. Mr. President , as your seal on your staff, its an honor to be your steward of our public land and energy. I am committed and optimistic that we can be both great stewards and be the Worlds Largest producer of energy. We can do both. Thank you very much. Mr. President , thank you for the honor to serve the country. Its a great privilege youve given me. Clearly we are engaged with our allies to ensure that they know where our common interests lie, what our expectations are, that america will continue to be a leader, but they must do more. They must meet their obligations both from a National Security standpoint but also for creating conditions of stability, prosperity and for our adversaries we are engaging and will engage but they have to know that we will be engaging from a position of strength to protect Americas National interest and we expect to make progress in resolving some of these differences. Mr. President , its an honor to represent the men and women of the department of defense. Were grateful for the sacrifices our people are making in order to strengthen our military so our diplomats always negotiate from a position of strength. Thank you. Mr. President. Thank you for the opportunity to help fix the trade deficit and other things. The other countries are gradually getting used to the [inaudible] theyre not happy with it, but i am thrilled to have a chance to help you live up to your campaign promises. Mr. President , last week was a great week. It was infrastructure week. Thank you so much for coming over to the department of transportation. Hundreds and hundreds of people were just so thrilled hanging out watching the whole ceremony. I want to thank you for getting this country moving again and also working again. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. President , proud to be here. Certainly very proud to represent the men and women that served the country in dhs. In the five month ive been in the job we have gone a long way to facilitate and prove the Legal Movement of people and progress across our borders. Yet at the same time have gone a long way to safeguarding our borders, particularly the southern border. Working with all of our partners to the south. 70 drop in illegal immigration. While we still welcome legal immigrants to the tune of over a million a year, we are no longer a friendly environment for illegal border crossings. Mr. President , first of all, i apologize for being late for work. In about four months i got bogged down in that swamp. I also have traveled, i just got back from paris and the message was similar to what it was. That deficits do matter and are coming down. Mr. President , thank you for the opportunity to serve at sba. I can tell you that as i havent been traveling internationally, but ive been traveling around the country and what im continuing to hear is this renewed optimism from Small Businesses. Its higher than its been in about 16 years. So those people returning to the work force, a lot of them are because Small Businesses are creating new jobs. Portfolios are up. Mentoring and our out reach, the programs are being so successful. Thank you. Were on a good trajectory and still a lot of