Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20170309

All this as President Trump is courting lawmakers and republican conservative groups opposing the bill. According to those at a meeting yesterday, the president revealed his plan if if the republican effort is not successful. Let obamacare fail, he says, and then blame democrats. The white house will likely be pressed on this strategy during todays briefing. Thats coming up momentarily. Also expected to come up, the president s still unproven allegation of wiretapping by his predecessor. And the wikileaks document dump detailing the cias alleged surveillance techniques. Our senior White House Correspondent jim acosta is in the White House Briefing room getting ready for the briefing. Our National Politics reporter m. G. Lee is up on capitol hill. Jim, opposition to the Republican Health care bill seems to be growing from key Industry Groups and plenty of conservatives out there. Does the white house believe it can sway that opposition . They are confident that they can win this argument in the end, but they certainly have a big hill to climb at this point, wolf. No question about it. You can tell this is top of mind for the president because he tweeted it right in the middle of that presentation that was given by House Speaker paul ryan at the capitol. Walking reporters through the ins and outs of his health care proposal. Sort of a ted talk or powerpoint presentation. It was in the middle of that presentation that the president put out this tweet. Essentially acknowledging some of the concerns that are out there about this Health Care Initiative in the republican party. And he said that, despite everything that youre hearing in the media right now that all this is going to end in a, quote, beautiful picture. The picture is not so beautiful right now when you talk to republicans. There are a group of Tea Party Conservatives at the white house meeting in the oval office with the president. I talked to some sources in the room last night with the president who said they have very big concerns about whats being proposed over on the house side. They dont like this idea of offering tax credits as Financial Assistance to people who cant afford health insurance. They see that as a subsidy like whats already in obamacare. And they dont like the fact this medicaid fix thats going to be pushed off until 2020. Theyd like to see that happen in january of 2018, as in next year. According to one source i talked to, there was some willingness on the part of the white house to accept that as a potential compromise. So thats, obviously, going to rile some of those moderate republicans in the senate who will be needed ed ted to push r the finish line. They are dealing with a very, very tough task ahead. And sort of, i think appreciating what president obama went through when he took some two years to get obamacare passed and signed into law. But make no mistake. When you have senator tom cotton tweeting this morning that the House Republicans should just start over again, thats not the kind of reception they were hoping for over here at the white house. Certainly not. Well get more on tom cottons warning to his house friends over there. House republicans. Another important issue, wikileaks wiretapping allegations, jim. Both expected to come up at the briefing. Youre there. Have we heard directly from the president or Vice President on either of these issues . You know, i think the last time, and theres a lot of reporters in this room so they can all correct me, but the last time the president took a question from us was on that Aircraft Carrier last thursday. Now there might have been some individual reporters here and there who have had a chance to ask the president a question. Hes not had a chance to weigh in on camera on a whole range of issues whether its this baseless wiretapping allegation that hes made against the president , accusing the former president obama of committing a crime and bugging trump tower. An outlandish claim thats not been supported by any evidence at this point. The president has not commentod that. And weve also not heard him weigh in on wikileaks. He was asked about it this morning. Heres what happened. Document dump from wikileaks. Any thoughts . All right. Im going to interrupt you, jim. Sean spicer is now at the lectern in the briefing room. Lets listen in. Thank you to cnn viewers around the world. Good to see you guys. Good morning, everyone. Its nice to thank you all. Appreciate the john roberts Fact Checking from the seat. Good morning. Good afternoon. Its not my fault. Its on the paper. After receiving his daily intelligence briefing this morning, the president led a National Economic council at a listening session with ceos of small and Community Banks. Since 2008, the number of small banks has declined 30 . The dramatic increase in regulation following the financial crisis has been a Major Driving force in the decline of these banks. Dodd frank alone has resulted in 22,000 pages of new regulations. While large banks can hire armies of compliance officers whose sole purpose it is to ensure they meet the ever growing number of regulations, it increases the cost of doing business for Community Banks leading some not to engage in some forms of lending or simply due to the time and costs involved. Our Community Banks are key Funding Sources for Small Business owners, entrepreneurs, farmers and ranchers across the country. Many of whom cant qualify for traditional loans. They provide approximately half of all loans to Small Businesses. By reforming the regulatory system so that its efficient, effective and appropriately tailored, well stop treating these institutions in our communities the same as banks that have more in assets enabling them to engage even more with Small Businesses and entrepreneurs that stimulate local economies. The banks participating in these listening associations are members of the American Banking associate and independent Community Bankers of america. A full list is available to those who are interested. Yesterday i noted the continued signs of good news in our economy in terms of hiring and the morning reports showed that consumer comfort has risen to the highest level in a decade. Illegal southwest border crossings are down by 40 . Significant deviation even when you consider the seasonal friends. Both the economy and the border are responding to the president s agenda even while were still in the beginning stages of puttings his policies in place. The country and the world are clearly ready and waiting for the change the president campaigned on and is already delivering. Right now the president is holding a legislative Affairs Luncheon with mulvaney and key members of congress on the federal budget and repeal and replace that weve talked about. This is just the latest opportunity to continue the dialogue between the president and members on capitol hill on turning his ambitious agenda into action. The strong relationship between president and congressional leaders will be key as the budget process moves along. As director mulvaney has been saying, our budget blueprint will be released in midmarch and the president is working collaboratively with both his cabinet and congress to create a think about that keeps the president s promises to secure the country and make the most efficient use of taxpayer money. In attendance are senator crepo, the chairman of the senate bachking committee, chairman cochran, the Senate Chairman of the senate appropriate jobs committee, senator mike enzee, senator bob corker of the senate, congresswoman black, the chairman of the house budget committee, congressman thornbury, congressman jim jordan of ohio, congressman meadows of north carolina, the chairman of the House Freedom caucus, and congressman rokita of indiana. Later this afternoon, the president will meet with pete meterson. Then the president has a meeting with kelly and the director of the ceo mike pompeo. Finally, the president will make remarks to the Senate Youth Program around 4 00. A tradition that begin with president kennedy and has continued through every administration. The president s honored to be speaking to this distinguished group of young men and women who are interested in pursuing careers in public service. I also want to mention right about now the Vice President is giving the keynote remarks at the Latino Coalition policy summit. His remarks focus on the negative impact of obamacare on Small Businesses, many of who have been unable to hire more workers or forced to scale down their operation due to high taxes and burdensome requirements imposed by the law. The president s dedicated to improving Health Care System for every american, including Small Business owners who have especially have had to suffer through complying with thousands of pages of regulations and rules. Thats exactly why hes working with congress to enact the American Health care act which he was glad to wake up and see approved by the house ways and Means Committee. Also the president was pleased to see his ambassador to israel, David Freeman voted out of xhpt wed hoped to see seema verma who would be confirmed as the administrator of Health Centers for medicare and Medicaid Services at the department of health and Human Services. Unfort notally, Senate Democrats continue to unnecessarily delay her confirmation. At this critical time when were talking about health case, its ironic they refuse to consider someone with such amazing expertise in this area. Seema verma has worked for over 20 years in health care policy. She has redesign eed Medicaid Programs in indiana, iowa, ohio and kentucky. Shes worked with governors offices, state medicaid agencies, state health departments, state departments of insurance and private companies and foundations. Shes unquestionably and uniquely qualified for her position and especially now that Health Reform is at the top of the president s agenda, its time to get her in place. This delay by Senate Democrats at this critical time is unacceptable. On a scheduling note for the weekend, the Vice President announced yesterday that hell be in louisville, kentucky, on saturday with governor bevin. The Vice President s office will have further details for you on that trip as we get closer. Finally, want to take a moment to acknowledge today is the tenyear anniversary of the disappearance of former fbi agent Robert Levinson from iran. The Trump Administration remains unwavering in our commitment to locate mr. Levinson and bring him home. The levinson family has suffered far too long, and we will not rest until his case is resolved. And with that, ill take your questions. Hallie jackson. I have a couple of topics for you if you dont find. Julian assange says the cia has lost control of its entire cyberweapons arsenal. Does the president agree . As weve commented before, theres grave concern that the president has about the release of National Security and classified information that threatens and undermines our nations security. Obviously, he believes that the systems at the cia are outdated and need to be updated. Were not commenting on the Current Situation as weve as u. S. Government policy. But i think the situation technologywise at the cia, the president acknowledged needs to be updated. The cia put out a statement regarding the Current Situation. Is he going to talk about that with mike pompeo today . He gets a Daily Briefing from the director. Im not privy to the contents of his discussion. Obviously, issues of National Security, including that are probably something that gets discussed. And then some republicans have said Julian Assange should be in prison. Does the president agree . The u. S. Government has had a position on jewel yulian asaun position in the past. Ill leave it up to the department of justice to further comment on their disposition of him. Second topic second two topics. An interview not a press conference. The president tweeted just a little bit ago that he believes health care is coming along great. Weve also been watching paul ryan deliver a lengthy power point presentation. Very good. Aimed at convincing republicans to get on board. Isnt that a sign that health care is not coming along great . I think anybody who has been in washington for a few days or longer recognizes that any major piece of legislation takes a lot of explanation. The president has been very committed to talking to members of congress. Another meeting last night. Something as complicated as this that deals with onefifth of our economy, a major takeover of our Health Care System, isnt a simple thing. Its a major, complicated piece of legislation thats got three prongs to it. N this is the first one. The reconciliation piece that starts to chip away at finally repealing obamacare. When they passed obamacare, they rushed it so quick they gave the then secretary of health and Human Services Great Authority to enact certain aspects of it. That would be our phase two is having secretary price go through the pieces of obamacare hes been given the authority to when they passed it to help unwind a lot of things they did and phase three has to be done through other pieces of legislation that does stuff like allow people to sell insurance across state lines that allows Small Businesses to pool. Theres been a lot of facets to getting this pushed through. One of the things weve been able to do effectively is talk to members, especially in the house but the Vice President has been very active on both chambers to communicate how this is a comprehensive strategy and three prongs to repeal and replace it with something more effective. Will he, for example, roll back medicare hallie, this is going through the process of its working its way through ways and means. Today theres a markup in the house energy and commerce committee. And i think thats where were going to continue to see action in the house and then when it goes to the senate, the president will continue to engage with the house and senate to get this done. One at a time. Thank you. Mccray said in a statement that donald trump should keep his hands on womens bodies, and Womens Health care. I want to know what the response from the white house was on this. Well, with respect to planned parenthood, specifically, the president is very clear hes prolife. He is weve worked with them to talk about making sure that theres a difference between taxpayer funding of abortion and Womens Health services. We have and the president has committed to making sure that funds for Women Health Community centers is going to be reflected by a substantial increase in his budget. Hes committed to doing that and hes trying to figure out a way to make sure the focus of taxpayer money is spread toward Community Centers that provide Vital Health Services to women and that were not using taxpayer funds for abortion. John roberts . Just want to follow on hallie which one . An unrelated topic. On health care, senator tom cotton sent out a series of tweets in which he said this is dead on arrival. Go back to the drawing board adding its absurd for the committees to be voting on something that hasnt been scored yet. What does the president think of what senator cotton said today . Does he plan on having a conversation with him . Well, were going to engage. He has talked to senator cotton. Well continue to talk to any senator that has questions or concerns or ideas. It went through the ways and Means Committee last night. I think they started Something Like 10 15 yesterday morning. It was an 18hour i dont believe hes met with senator cotton. He had dinner with senator cruz. I think youre going to see a very aggressive, very robust push. We continue to have the team out doing talking to local media, local radio, talking to local leaders. We believe the more we talk about the comprehensive threeprong approach that we have to doing a lot of the things that conservatives have talked about to bring back Cost Containment to get people to be more patient centered in the Health Care Decisions they make is going to bring people on board. The thing thats really interesting, john, about the current approach is that no matter where you are, especially on the conservative side, you cannot possibly believe that the current Health Care System is an effective program. It is a monstrosity. Its a government gone wrong. And i think [ inaudible ]. Well continue to engage with him and other members of the house and senate that have ideas. But its going to continue to work its way through the process. It went through the house ways and Means Committee. Currently going through the house energy and commerce committee. When the house passes it and it goes to the senate, im sure senator cotton and other senators will have an opportunity to have their say. Thats part of the process. We welcome his ideas and his thoughts as we do with other senators. The president has continued to do tremendous outreach. And our staff has continued to do that. Mick mulvaney has been on the hill. Vice president pence has maintained an aggressive schedule and other members of the administration. Well get this passed with all their input and ideas. Was the president aware that Lieutenant General Michael Flynn was acting as a Foreign Agent when he appointed him to be the National Security adviser . I dont believe that that was known. I would refer you to general flynn and to the department of justice in terms of the filings made. Had the president have known that, would he have appointed him . Thats a hypothetical im not prepared to answer. I dont know what he discussed prior to being appointed in terms of his background, resume, client base. I dont know any of that. From what ive read, he has filed the appropriate forms with the department of justice, and you should ask him and subsequently them if you have any questions about the specific filing. Following up on senator cotton. He told me a short while ago he believes this bill might actually make things worse than the current obamacare. What do you say to senator cotton . I respectfully disagree, and i think that we i hope we have an opportunity for the team to continue to not only talk to him about what were trying to do and how were trying to do it but that we would love to hear his ideas. As i mentioned, were not jamming this down peoples throat. Were welcoming ideas and thoughts. We think this is a great vehicle to restore a patientcentered Health Care Bill to drive down costs. And i think senator cotton clearly recognizes the current version of health care out there right now is its not sustainable. And so we welcome him his input into this process. We think that the work that weve done prior to putting this together with the house is something that reflects a lot of the best ideas and wed continue to welcome his input in this. Are you open to charlie . Im not open to it. I think the president major changes or i think the president has said he wants to hear members ideas. He believes this bill encompasses the best of ideas and the best way forward. But again, were going to let the process work its way through the house and through the senate. If members have ideas, we want to hear them and want to be part of it. Its not this isnt getting jammed through. N we welcome that. Thats why the president continues to meet with folks. He met with individuals yesterday. Hes going to meet with them today. Hes going to be hitting the road. He wants to hear members of congress outside groups, physicians, health care providers, patients. But he wants people to have an unput to make sure we have the best possible bill that serves their needs and we dont look back like we do with obamacare and say, i wish we had done this right. We have a system that isnt working. And no matter where you are in the political spectrum, you have to admit that either you or a loved one or friend or colleague isnt getting the care they deserve or paying what they thought theyd be paying. We have to do this right so we dont look back the way we do now and regret the way it was done. Charlie . Senate and house conservatives said they want a return to the 2015 Obamacare Repeal effort. If that effort landed on the president s desk, would he sign it . I think the effort thats going through right now is the vehicle thats got is what people are on board with. One of the things we have to remember is that the process, this threeprong process is done for a particular reason. The reconciliation process, which i know for most people, it sounds like a very arcane, inside baseball congressional term, but it only allows for certain things to happen in that repeal process. And thats why weve been very clear, and i think paul ryan laid out, dr. Price has laid it out, Mick Mulvaney is laying it out when he comes up to the hill. Theres a reason we keep talking about it in three prongs. Theres only so many things youre legally allowed to do through the reconciliation process. When the democrats jam this through, they did it in a way that they did it basically in two steps. They jammed it through the reconciliation process, and number two, they gave Broad Authority to the secretary of health and Human Services at the time that she could unilaterally do certain things with health kaur and implement certain things we have to undo in the same way. What weve done is add a third prong which allows for additional legislative vehicles that will go through the house and senate that will allow core conservative principles weve talked about for decades, about allowing more competition, allowing people to pool and to do things we think will allow lower prices to come out of the process. Thats a big difference in how if a repeal lands on the president s desk it is going to land on his desk because well go through this process. Repeal without replace . Again, i think the way that were doing now is the right and the responsible way to do this. This bill will land on the president s desk. He will sign it. We will repeal obamacare and put in a system patient centered that will allow the American People to have greater choice and lower cost. Youre getting so far with health care. Do you think its realistic to have a health care and tax reform done in 2017 . I ask you that because Mitch Mcconnell was asked about this and he talked about certain constraints and the tax reform portion of it could be a 2018 item. We feel very confident well get a lot done. Continue to get a lot done this year. Tax reform is high on the president s priority list. Its high on the American Peoples priority list. Especially as april grows closer n closer n people look down at their federal tax form and realize how much they are paying and we see companies pledging to come back recognizing that these companies bought into the president s vision and agenda to make america more tax and regulatory friendly so that theyd create jobs, manufacture more here. Thats something that he is committed to. He understands how important it is. The president s uniquely qualified as a businessman. A successful businessman, to understand what a Good Business climate does to job creation and to manufacturing. And i think his commitment isnt just a campaign promise. Its something that he has lived by for decades now, understanding that thats what spurs economic growth. That makes one place more attractive to investing or to hire more people or to grow jobs. And so for him, this is deeply personal. And i think that youre going to see secretary mnuchin and others work on the contours of that in the next several weeks. We intend to maintain to the schedule he laid out. The portion is still the timeline . Thats right. Ayman . On drug prices, Elijah Cummings was here yesterday. He said the president was enthusiastic about his bill to cut drug prices . Is the president enthusiastic about that, and if he is, how much pain should Drug Companies be prepared to take during this . Ironic youre talking about Drug Companies and pain. Maybe theres a pill for that. I think the president , as you know, one of the reasons he reached out to Elijah Cummings is because they share that and yesterday came to a lot of other areas where they can find Common Ground and work on other issues. And i know that drug prices is something that he understands near and dear is helping many people get the care that they need but the rising cost is something that is so as we look at the vehicle in terms of the specific legislation, they share a commitment to it. And i think that there will be continued followups as to what the best piece of legislation is and how we get that home. Democrats said theyll draft this bill in two weeks. Is the president prepared to push i think thats a bigger conversation that we have to have with house leadership in terms of some maybe it is that right vehicle. Maybe speaker ryan and leader mccarthy and chairman brady have other ways to achieve the same goal or work with congressman cummings. I dont wantprescriptive to the house. The president wants to work with congressman cummings and others who share that. Thanks so much, sean. John gizzy. Ill come back. Thank you, sean. Two questions. And first, a Japanese News Service is reporting this morning that the president will have a meeting with president xi jinping of china in april. Does this mean that there is a new meeting before their scheduled meet at the g20 in july . Im not going to comment on the president s schedule or foreign leader visits at this time, john. Ive pretty much gotten that one down. So until i have something further for you, im just going to let you get on to your next question. All right. Thank you. Going back to the meeting and to your Opening Statement about the banks, in the last campaign, candidate trump campaigned hard on restoring the glass steagall act which would put a barrier between commercial and major investment banks. It of course was repealed in 1999 and the repeal signed by president clinton. Senator sanders campaigned on this as well. Noted that it was in the republican platform in cleveland and said in december hed be happy to work with the Trump Administration on restoring glass steagall. Is there any plans for the president to meet with senator sanders, and is repeal of glass steagall on his agenda . Theres no current schedule to meet with him. Im sure as he has done with several other members of congress, from both sides of the aisle, at some point that will be scheduled. We dont have anything on the books for now. Hes shown and today was or yesterday was another example. Today another example of his willingness to reach across the aisle he aisle. His willingness to look into both chambers. Not just business but labor union and other industries where we can find Common Ground. If senator sanders and others want to work with the white house on areas of ways that we can improve the financial industry, were going to do that. Still committed to restoring glass steagall . Yes. Erin . On infrastructure, can you give us a sense of timing where it is on the priority list and if these new reports say the infrastructure is in really bad shape, does that give it new urgency . The president mentioned in the joint address, were looking at a Public Private partnership as a funding mechanism. Theres a lot of work being done behind the scenes. I dont want to put a timeline on that. Obviously, weve got currently dealing with the repeal and replace of health care. We need to move on to tax reform but thats definitely somewhere that were trying to figure out how to move that vehicle. There will be further discussion of that as we get closer to the budget as to where that fits in to the piece. John decker. The president last evening at the white house with some conservative groups. Out of that meeting, can you tell us whether the president was successful in twisting arms, getting these conservative groups to back this particular Health Care Bill . And i see on the president s Campaign Website that there is a campaignstyle rally planned in nashville, tennessee, next week. Can you confirm that, and why did you choose nashville, tennessee . Theres a democrat iic congressn that represents nashville, tim cooper. Are you hoping to get some democrats behind this bill . On the first part, you saw a lot of the statements that came out last night from various groups. They were very encouraging. Their guiding principle is we want to get to yes. One of the things thats really interesting and i addressed it earlier, is that theres a lot of a lot of members, a lot of interested parties, a lot of groups that havent fully heard the threepronged approach. Speaker ryan did a phenomenal job of laying this out. Dr. Price did a good job. People need to understand the totality and comprehensive nature of this. There are three pieces of it. What happens sometimes is that the reconciliation piece of this and the totality of it and people need to understand. The Health Care Advocates and conservatives have fought for a long time that allow greater competition that allow Small Businesses to pool those resources together. Theres a lot of things that occur in phase two and phase three that help bring down costs and create greater choice. Its amazing when you listen to some of these meetings how often people say, i didnt realize that and didnt understand the full scope and totality of what the plan was. Its very encouraging, and then i think without getting into details, theyve shared some ideas with the president that we might be able to find Common Ground on. So well take it one step at a time. Go ahead. And then on the Campaign Style rally. I think the president is going to be traveling next week. And then the details of that are listed on the campaign site. Theres going to be additional travel on the official side and as we get closer to the end of this week or beginning of next week, ill try to have more for you. How can a promise to immediately terminate daca. Its been nearly seven weeks tomorrow and you still havent done it. Can you definitively say if hes going to get rid of daca and is he giving them legal status and whats the plan for d. R. E. A. M. Ers . Weve talked about the status of that and how many steps we have to go through on immigration. Weve made significant headway in achieving the president s priorities. Starting the wall, driving down illegal immigration. The numbers show even when seasonally adjusted we see a 40 dip in people crossing our southern border. Thats a very promising sign. That being said, the execute uf order, the second one, there was a lot of effort put into making sure that was rolled out effectively and achieved the goal of protecting the country the president sought to do initially. Were continuing to take steps on immigration, both legal and illegal immigration. And as i mentioned, well have more as we go forward. So he does still plan to get rid of daca . The president has been very clear about how he plans to address immigration as a whole both legal and illegal. Katie . The president s meeting with conservative groups. Theres also opposition on the left. Does he plan to he brought bipartisanship to washington. Does the president plan to meet with the ama, aarp, which supported obamacare but are not supporting this bill . It would be ill advised for me to start saying who he is going to, but what weve shown over the last couple of weeks is the president s willingness to meet with individuals, senators, groups. I dont want to rule in who going to meet. Ive said with respect to members and with respect to groups that i think if people have ideas that will help provide a more patientcentered Health Care System that drives down cost, the president and the team here will be willing to meet with them. I dont to be prescriptive in terms of telling them who they have to meet with. Their day is pretty busy with the hill. But ill get back to you on some of the other groups theyll meet with. Brian . Two quick questions. One, this morning at the National Press club, a local business in d. C. Filed a superior court suit against the president in regarding the trump hotel. And theres i dont expect you to speak to that issue specifically, but their feeling was as much as this administration has supported Small Business, couldnt they divest themselves from this and support Small Business in the district . First question. Im really not sure how how would he, in terms of what. Theres 25 Small Businesses, restaurants in the area. Theyre saying the trump hotel is taking all that business away from them and could he walk away from it and help out the Small Businesses. As far as the president s obviously, the president has made very clear in that december press conference at trump tower, he doesnt have conflicts, and hes done everything in accordance with the guidance hes given and gone well beyond what he ever needed to do. But, obviously, you know, you cant your name is on certain things and thats a very big difference. In terms of some of the properties he owns. But he understands the importance of Small Business. Thats why were meeting with Community Banks to talk about the lending they need. Farmers, ranchers, throughout the country. He understands the role of Small Business in our economy. And how many jobs they provide and hes been a champion of it. Second question was, in his speech before Congress Last week, he said it wouldnt its not too much to dream at some point in time. Im paraphrasing. With the nasa budget being released yesterday, i believe, is there a Major Initiative by this administration for Space Exploration . Or is that were just talking dreams . Im going to let director mulvaney get into the details of the budget next week. Or whenever that im trying to remember the calendar here. But when the director comes out, hell talk about the specific funding levels. As you know, were in the middle of this pass back provision where weve sent some numbers. Theyre sending us back their recommendations and observations and edits and questions with respect to their budget. So were going to take this one step at a time. Does he when he said obviously, hes very keen on americas role in space, and i dont want to get into specific Budget Priorities or numbers until were ready to release them. You called on me. Sorry. Its very important. I know. I saw the hands right away. So, really fast, following up on john, were seeing the Campaign Information for next week in nashville. Who have you said something about talking to the campaign . Who is the campaign . Ill try to get you a name. Theres a Campaign Infrastructure still in place. It would be inappropriate to comment on Campaign Activities from the podium. Theres a website up. Same one during the campaign and i would suggest that you utilize that. But i dont im not here as im only here as an official of the government. I dont want to get into that. Yesterday, going back to congressman cummings, you talked about some other issues they talked about in that meeting. I want to hit two issues. The voter irregularities, fraud and voter suppression. Where does the president see this coming together . We heard from congressman cummings. But where does he see we understand he was saying that voter fraud is real when there are other people saying its not but then there are factual documents and cases of voter suppression. So what does how is there a marrying of this in this president s eyes . Thats why hes asked Vice President pence to look into it. I would disagree with the ascertation that theres also factual evidence of people voting illegally. S we saw that in texas a few weeks ago and other places. Part of the reason hes having Vice President pence to task this issue. And its an area theyll continue to discuss. Sarah . Now also, congressman cummings said that when he talked to the president and he brought up the issue of funding for agencies, President Trump said to congressman cummings that the president did not ask for money. Now they came here, according to many of those that ive canvassed, they came here with the fact that they were going to get some money from this executive order. And i dont think the executive order but they were thats what their belief was. But then what i understand that there was talk about investment in these colleges from steve bannon. One president wrote this down saying that we are looking for a plan from you to invest in hbcus and we will execute it when we get it. And so theyre looking for full funding for title 3 pell grant full funding, fall, spring and onetime 25 billion investment. What does this white house think about this plan that theyre trying to give back to this white house, especially at a time when you are looking at cutting domestic spending. When they were here, we were pleased to roll out the executive order that talked about making historically black colleges and universities a priority in this administration. Moving that sort of point person into the white house so that we can coordinate with a whole of government opportunities for we talked about this. Looking at the different Educational Opportunities that expand government. Whether its health or investment in sciences or even stuff like rotc programs that are some of these that span out of the department of defense. Weve got to look at how were providing government assistance in a whole host of ways to historically black colleges and universities. I think the issue of funding will be properly addressed in the budget. And at that time. But, obviously, this is something thats been discussed. The president is this funding request april, im not going to negotiate the budget from here. But i think that the president has been made very clear that the vital role that they play in our society. And i think he has shown that initially by the executive order that he unveiled, and well have further information for you as we get closer to the budget. Sara . Certainly back to what you said about critics characterizing the budget reconciliation bill as the entirety of repeal replace, how quickly does the president want to see republicans move on phase three, the companion legislation . Does he envision those unfolding simultaneously and then given the early opposition to the budget reconciliation bill, does the president maybe want republicans to recalibrate their strategy when it comes to that companion legislation . I am not going to start to tell speaker ryan or leader mccarthy or the whip mr. Scalise how to release and when to release information. But obviously we need to make sure that members and all americans understand the totality of this. So at a schedule they see fit, and ill let them unveil that schedule. They talk about the totality of this plan and the comprehensive nature and all three prongs that make up the repeal and replace part of this. Its important, i think, for people who do understand theres a commitment to do all those things weve talked about, whether its pooling or across state lines. Theres a lot of principles and things weve discussed that i think are important to let people to know about. Im going to what is your assessment of the situation in afghanistan because there has been a series of attacks there and sending additional troops to afghanistan . On troops, i refer you to the department of defense on that one. We are in the middle of a comprehensive review on our policy in afghanistan that working with our afghan partners in the department of defense and our key military leaders to create an approach to address afghanistan, to defeat isis. So i were in the middle of that proerks acess, but i think department of defense is probably the best place to go to get that. Trey . Today hundreds of u. S. Marines were deployed to syria. So im wondering how involved was the president in that decisionmaking process and is this part of his wider antiisis strategy . Obviously, the president was made aware of that. This was something done in consultation. He understands the regional issues that need to be addressed there and i would refer you back to the department of defense on that. Sean, thank you. I have a followup to hallies first set of questions. Calling for Julian Assange to be in jail or to be arrested. What about the Tech Companies he says hell work with to give them the cia hacking techniques . Should there be any legal repercussions for Tech Companies willing to sort of embrace and use this technology that you are taking a stance against, if you will. So number one, ill go back to the statement that we dont comment on validating or authenticating allegations of this sort as a u. S. Government in terms of u. S. Government policy. I will say that, you know, the president obviously feels deeply concerned about anybody, an individual, anybody that seeks to undermine the National Security of our country. I dont want to, as stay within my purview here, but i do think that i would check with the department of justice in particular about if a program or a piece of information is classified, it remains classified regardless of whether or not its released into the public venue or not. So i would just suggest someone consult with them regarding the legal repercussions of any individual or entity using any piece of still classified information or technique or product that hasnt been declassified. Theres a reason we have classification levels, and thats to protect our country and our people. And thats something that we have to maintain regardless of how its laid out. Two questions for you. One, back to general flynn. How concerning is it to the president and to the white house that a registered Foreign Agent was selected to become was the National Security adviser for a brief period of time . Look, i think this is what he did for a living. He talked to as the president said in the press conference, talking to individuals that are within the realm of the duties youre going to perform is part of our job. [ inaudible ]. I understand that. He was being compensated. He wasnt, you know, being compensated as part of the transition, as far as im aware. And so he was a private citizen at the time. And when youre a private citizen, youre allowed to engage in legal activities. I dont have anything further on that. I think theres nothing nefarious about doing anything thats legal as long as the proper paperwork is filed. Sean, real quick. Several reports out of the state department from our colleagues there that on secretary tillersons Upcoming Trip to asia hell not be taking any press with him on that trip. Thats a breach of precedent certainly of the last bipartisan administrations. Is it concerning to the white house that the administrations Foreign Policy may not ively communicated . This is the first im learning of it. Ill be happy to follow up with you. We all have been a very Transparent Administration in terms of access to the president and his activities here. I would be glad to follow up with the department of state and follow up that you can share that with your colleagues. Margaret . Yesterday you said there was no reason to believe theres any type of investigation with respect to the department of justice. Did the Justice Department give you that assurance because they are telling the New York Times they did not. I am not aware of it, but thats my point. Were not aware of anything. You havent been told by the Justice Department that there is no investigation . So there might be one in you just dont know. Right. I said im not aware and thats why we want the house and senate to do what the president has asked of them, to look into this. But, no, were not aware. To discover if there is an investigation . No, to look into the situation. The Justice Department is saying they never gave you the assurances you gave us. The assurance i gave you was that im not aware. Thats 100 accurate. When you said no reason to believe, its i am not aware if there was an investigation . I dont know that theyre not interchangeable. Im not aware. I dont believe. I dont know that theres a distinction there thats noteworthy. But were not aware. I dont believe that that exists. Thats based on ive not been aware of. Thats the answer to that. Someone is asking me if im made aware of something and the answer is no. The question is whether he was the target of a counter the answer is were not aware. I dont know how much clearer we can be. The white house is not aware if the president is the target of a counterintelligence probe . Correct. Im not sure what were dancing around the same question. Because yesterday when you came out and corrected and clarified, people took that as a definitive answer that, in fact, that was it means were not aware. That should be the definitive answer. I have two questions and a quick followup. So that three. Can you elaborate on to what extent Michael Flynn was involved in shaping the current turkey policy for President Trump . Was he engaging with the turkish leaders . I dont have anything on that. Okay. You can contact the nsc on that. Im not aware. For my two real questions, first, is there any official response to the lawsuit in hawaii over the revised travel ban . We feel very comfortable that the executive order that was crafted is consistent and were going to go forward on this. But i think by all means, i dont want to we feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given. Thank you. And second thing is, nigel farage was at the Ecuadorian Embassy in london today where Julian Assange happens to be staying. Dont know if they met or not. Was he there . Hes a close ally of President Trump. Was he there in any capacity . I dont keep his schedule. Was he delivering a message . I have no idea. I have my own concerns here keeping track of what everyone is doing. I generally dont worry about whats going on across the pond. Jonathan . You already gave me a little bit, but just to follow up wow. All right. But on the the question is not what but can you tell us he wasnt there on behalf of the white house . Sure. I dont he is not i am not. This is silly. I dont think asking where random foreign leaders are and whether they are there im sure he was there doing whatever on i understand that. But i. Dont keep his schedule. Two questions on two different. Topics. The success tear sent a letter to congress saying congress should raise the debt ceiling. We know the budget director when he was in congress voted against raising the debt ceiling multiple times. So is he going to support the raising of the debt ceiling . And is he going to Push Congress to do that . We have a few months to do that. The secretary was making congress very much aware. We got ive been in the white house six weeks. I think we are trying to deal with the swaugs at hand. The reason the president addressed the budget is to get the debt deficit in order. Hes continuing to show a tremendous respect for tax pawer the way we spend money and bring it down. There are certain things that are beyond our control when we walked into this building and woer going to work with secretary to address this issue. And obviously work with congress. Second question. Scott said today that Carbon Dioxide was not a contributor to global warming. Thats at odds with global scientific consensus. Does the president agree . Thats a snippet of what he said. He went on and said i dont think we know con can collusively. I would suggest that you touch base with the epa on that. But he had a a very lengthy response. Thats just one snippet of what the administrator said. Two things, one, i think you mentioned at the top but im not sure that apprehensions were down across the border. There was a a question yesterday about the wall. Is the wall still needed if the apprehensions are down . I think so, sure. The president was clear. It its not just needed. The president committed to doing it. While we can have a good month and well see if that continues, that the president made a commitment to the American People to make sure that this isnt just an anomaly and while it may be down, we have to do what we can to prkt our country both in terms of National Security and economic security. So its still needed. Its a commitment the president made. One of the things the American People regardless of where they stand across the aisle is hes a man thats kept his word. He made commitments to them. Hes fulfilling them to make the country better. I said there was a second one. You did. I think youve been asked this before but have been reluctant to say whether president obama and President Trump have spoken since the inauguration, although President Trump was very forthcoming a about that. During the transition. But im asking it again. There was a a report yesterday that said aids for both president s have spoken. Can you talk to us about either of those thing . Id be glad to follow up. I did not ask the president. I will be back tomorrow. Can you comment . I keep my word to you. All the way in the back. You talk about guantanamo and how it might have changed. Whether guantanamo will be expanded, detainees will be brought to guantanamo, transferred out . I u dont have anything to announce with respect to its expansion or its use. But i think the president has commented on the importance of guantanamo in the past. And the need to maintain that it the people there are not people who seek to do anyone good. They are there for a reason. E had e has no plans to close it, if thats what youre asking. As far as the future goes in terms of expansion, i dont have anything to b comment on at this time. You keep trying to steal his question. The tax, they are not new. It happened in the past although, but they have been having those things done also. The state Department Officials and also with President Trump. Any way how to stop the a acts . I think with respect to the event in kansas city specifically . I think the president whether its the event that happened in kansas city, other events and attacks on Community Centers, we saw another report this morning. I think we have to continue to call it out. We have to continue to root it out. We have to continue to engage Law Enforcement. Whatever the applicable level of Law Enforcement on the event. They made it clear while certain policies may divide us as individuals, there are certain principles that can e unite us. Dst been in the past and we have two businessmen so recent recently from india. So what are you confuse d an bilateral. We as talked about during the campaign and the transition establishing a deeper relationship with the Prime Minister and businesses and i think as we move forward in terms of our Foreign Policy will have further updates on b that. But as you know very well, he spoke very clearly and frequently about the relationship that we have and hope to continue to grow with india. President trump was not shy about his desire to get out of these war, but we sent 250 marines into syria. Is President Trump committed to going to congress to receiving authorization for an aumf or declaration of war if we continue to deploy United States troops overseas. I think theres a big difference between authorization of war than sending a few hundred advisers. Most in congress would probably agree with that as well. Thats a big difference between a hostile action and going in to address certain concerns. Whether its countries in the middle east or elsewhere. I would refer you to the department of defense on that one. I think the actions that he has done and taken with the advice that his generals have given him as well. Its something we will continue to work on. First off clarifying the difference between the campaign stuff and also the health care roll out. Nashville will be the campaign stop. How will the white house pick and choose how that goes whether its to be a president ial visit trying to sell the Health Care Rollout or one for the campaign. I think the campaign will make decisions with respect to how they want to spend their money and where they. Want to go. And the white house will do the same. But i think thats something that every president as far as modern history has done as well. The president will be visiting several cities over the next coming weeks to engage the American People on the need to repeal and replace. Other steps hes taking on promises as commanderinchief. Senator cruz was here for dinner. Can you characterize the relationship between the two men b . 2018 will be here before you know it. Do you anticipate the president will be there to support him in that effort . I think we had a few battles to get through legislatively, but i know he enjoyed welcoming senator and mrs. Cruz and their two daughters last night to the white house. They had an enjoyable time and a fruitful discussion. But its something that hes going to continue to do with members of both parties and both chambers. And not just here in washington. Youre going toen continue to engage with governors and the attorney general and lieutenant governors. The president truly enjoys this level of engagement. He like s s to sit down and tal about ideas, talk about the future of this country and get their unput and ideas and they talked a little business and personal and it was a very enjoyable thing. Have a a great day. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be one question friday. Thank you all. Here we go. Wuf been listening to the White House Briefing. The overarching part is the white house is standing by this latest plan defending the Health Care Plan there that we have out of washington. Gloria borger may be joining me as