president's executive order, spicer of course expected to push back on criticism over the new and highly controversial order. earlier today president trump tweeted only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. big problems at airports were caused by a delta computer outage. protesters and the tears of senator schumer, secretary kelly said all is going very well with very few problems. make america safe again. one obvious problem with that explanation is that the detentions began immediately after the orders were released on friday but delta's outage didn't happen until last night. the administration is hot to defend its charge this is a "muslim ban" and pointing a finger at former president obama. >> these seven countries were identified by the obama administration as countries of particular concern. >> we're going to do a fact check on that. the ban covers iran, iraq, libya, smoomalia, sudan. not owl administration supporters are on the same page whether this is a muslim ban. former new york mayor rudy giuliani is trump's adviser on cyber security issues and saturday night he said it is essential will i a muslim ban implied trump knows it, too. >> when he first announced it he said muslim ban. he called me up, put a commission together, show me the right way to do it legally. i put a commission together and what we did was we focused on instead of religion danger. the areas of the world that create danger for us. which is a factual, not religious basis. perfect legal and sensible and that's what the ban is based on, not based on religion. >> joining us hallie jackson and david nakamura covers the white house for "the washington post." good to see both you. hallie, let's start with this, part of the white house argument this dates back to the obama administration. fact check that. >> reporter: what you're talking about when you say "this" that is the key here. under the obama administration there was a determination these seven nations specified through the administration presented a concern for travel. not an immigration-specific threat. the trump administration is using that statute passed. it doesn't name the seven nations on the screen. it refers back to the statute and essentially expands what these sort of original intent of naming the nations was. as ari melber points out a legally clever way to rely back to the statute but not the same thing as what the obama administration tried to do. the other argument from the trump administration, hey, control f, you don't search the word yemen. it does refer back to the statute. >> that brings us to this point. lot of reporters were having trouble getting information from the press office from other administration officials about what this all meant, what the seven countries were. tell us how this unfolded from the perspective not just those of you in the white house and in the press but then by extension what happened to people working in airports and people trying to enforce this. >> it's a great question. i got texts from immigration advocates late friday night and recally saturday morning. i woke up my inbox had a lawsuit filed by the advocates trying to free folks detained at the airport. that's the first time reporters heard about it. we wrote stories what was going on. the advocates talking to customs and border protection officials at the airports weren't getting answers, referred to the white house. it took a while for the white house to respond. late sunday night the white house did a briefing for reporters on a background basis they couldn't be named in the story directly. this is not the normal way to do it. the administration is saying the reason we did this we want the element of surprise, potential terrorists or folks will not try to come in by a date certain to announce this down the road. we have to do it overnight. this caused great confusion and held up people who were coming to the country legally, even green cardholders and not only reporters having truck getting information from the white house, we're getting conflicting information from dhs and the white house sometimes giving us completely different kind of statistics and information what was who was affected. >> the ari melbe is here and we'll talk to him about the legal perspective. let me go more into the whole administrative perspective of this and behind the scenes what we have learned about how all of this came to be and how different it is from what we're used to seeing, not just from the most recent administration but from the bush administration. >> let's step back big picture. it has been a wild nine days since the inauguration that the operations in the west wing beside of me chaotic is maybe one fair way to describe it. president trump how he was a candidate and president-elect he likes to make sfimz game time decisions. likes to push information out. there has been a plan in place presumably and we can report to have these key executive orders ready to roll out the first couple of weeks of the administration given they are based on complain pledges the president made since the middle of 2015, chris, for a while now. the inside maneuver that's one point to make. the other big point who is behind this, steve bannon and steven miller. it has been clear from the fwing this is a policy that particularly steven miller who used to work for alabama senator jeff sessions, soon to become the attorney general has pushed and constructed and crafted and one being implemented by the trump administration exactly like he promised to do on the campaign trail. >> that's important to point out. this should not come as a huge surprise to anybody who listened to donald trump on the campaign trail. he said some things that were stronger than this at the beginning when he talked about a total muslim ban and said there would be aggressive limits to people coming into this country and steve miller who hallie just referenced this say small reaction from a small number of people. the political part of this equation even if people think the white house handled this badly and i haven't seen any polls that suggest one way or another but the argument from republicans and concern amongst dchls i've been texting with is the majority of the american people if they feel it makes us safer it's okay with them. where is the political part of this? >> we have stories saying on our website saying that jihadist groups are praising this, because they think it will actually sway opinions especially in the middle east, you know, away from the united states. this is something president obama warned about with this rhetoric and this action, calling it radical iamic terrorism and making it look like a war on religion. trump has promised his voters what he said is control the borders for national security and because he wants to make sure the job market is not taken by illegal immigrants and so on. both on the refugees and folks from overseas and illegal immigrants here now major things he ran on. you're right, you'd have to look more broadly at the country to see how this is being sort of received. we have folks quoted in some steeries in the washington, d.c., area at the airport they think trump is on the right path. details how this was done and the communication might be in question. some say the people got caught up to the airport we need to allow them to come, they were promised this. some people i talk to believe this is what president trump promised and don't necessarily disagree. >> david nakamura, thank you. hallie i'll let you go into the briefing. i'm sure there will be plenty of questions from sean spiceber this today. meantime the courts are working overtime as challenges began almost immediately after the executive order was signed. while immigration lawyers were pouring into airports were people were detained holding signs, offering help. major organizations drafting challenges, lawyers and protesters at the airports this weekend calling for answers. >> the next step for us is really to get into a board room and let somebody take a look through this. we want the law folled. >> we're not going to stop until we see ourents and everyone see their families here and nationwide. this ban should be lifted. this shyou not be here. after this day, it doesn't matter we should still continue fighting this ban >> from the beginning msnbc chief legal correspondent ari melber has been sorting this out. how many legal challenges do we know? >> more than six, the breaking news we have this hour federal court in virginia where cair is filing a challenge. it includes a lot of muslim-americans, their members a former spokesman for the bernie sanders campaign among others who say they're worried as muslims in the united states. they're worried they're going to face deportation even though they're here lawfully. that opens up a new chapter. i was at the federal courthouse saturday night an emergency court proceeding by our account one of the earliest times we've seen a president reversed in part in court in this administration, seven days in. >> give us the basic argument the administration is making why it's legal. >> it has strong arguments, second to only the war-making powers the immigration power under federal law and longstanding precedent is an area of discretion for the president. imagine a sneak attack, the president thinks it was japan and pearl haar pour. say he's not sure. there is a power we're going to freeze incoming immigration on a security basis and not waiting a week or a month or a year for congress and as we all know depending which congress it could take an awful long time to get that action. courts upheld that authority a lot. trump administrations said this as have conservative lawyers happens to be true people tend to have less rights in the eyes of the u.s. courts outside our country trying to get in than when they're here. that's why it's not so simple to say because something is objectionable on the home front, if it's done abroad, having said all that, this order goes out and tests it. particularly because you have a person and the candidate donald trump who talked openly about banning people based on religion which raises constitutional questions even with the power i just mentioned, then you have as you were discussing an adviser of his, mayor giuliani saying yep we needed to tweak that muslim ban. lot of problems there. we can play the sound of donald trump kicking up dust as they'd say because he is talking about what sounds like in his words a preference for christians. >> let's listen. >> they've been horribly traded. if you were a crist yab in syria it was impossible at least very, very tough to get into the united states. if you were a muslim you could come in, and i thought it was very, very unfair so we are going to help them. >> there's this question at the heart of this, is this a muslim ban per se? jonathan turley, you know him, a well-known legal scholar was on this morning on "morning joe" saying to your point it's very difficult for a judge to say i'm going to supersede the decision of the country that the national security is at stake and i'm going to put a stop to this, so all of these questions are roiling out there. >> absolutely. this is a case that could go to the supreme court. in the meantime this is the law of the land, the rule. that's why we saw the problems or chaos or according to the trump administration just a little bit of sorting out, whatever words you want to use. that's why we saw the action of the airport it was being implemented and partial injunction in court only as to those people in limbo in the airport. the bulk of this thing is the law of the land and donald trump citing christians it is not true christians are not given refugee or asylum status. the united states in the modern era has a tradition of giving asylum to groups facing persecution, it includes christian in muslim majority areas and isis controled areas where there's lethal isis attacks on christians, jews and some muslims, it includes jews and included muslims as well. so he's got his facts a little wrong. why is it legally important? i'll end on this point. if a judge looks at this order and says well it doesn't say islam, but it appears to target islam, and it appears to try to make a special new exception for christianity and the language in the order says minority religions in these countries, trans lags christianity and occasionally rarely judaism or yazidis, mostly christians, does that start to add up to evidence of it being a religious ban? >> ari melber to be continued. >> thanks for having me. >> thank you. senator chuck schumer, democratic leader in the senate says he's going to call for a vote on the senate floor later today that would repeal trump's executive action on immigration, and he says he wants to delay the vote on rex tillerson for secretary of state. he's got questions for him. nbc news capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins us. let's start with the democrats, what they're trying to do tonight. dianne feinstein, right? >> we'll see the senate democrats using the toolbox of rules in the senate to try to match the message we saw over the weekend, they are united in ways that perhaps we wouldn't have expected this quickly after an election season where there were questions what direction democrats needed to go. some of the actions from the trump white house helped to hasten the pace of democrats working together on some of these issues. now, the problem is, democrats don't have control of the senate floor. so what they will do will have a symbolic effect. they have the right to raise these issues, to say they want to vote on the president's executive order, but they will not be able to move that forward, because that's the domain of mitch mcconnell. why do it? over time using these sorts of tools and raising these issues is a way to bring public pressure, is a way to have a voice for their views, the minority of the senate gets to do that and that's part what have we'll see tonight. outside of the official world of capitol hill we see protests, a way democrats or in some ways are modeling kind of the trump let's have lots of events through the day strategy to keep new talking points, new opportunities to be seen and heard on these issues happening, keeping a quickened pace of response to the trump white house. it is effective, good for their fund-raising and good for bringing progressive and that's what we're seeing play out. they are helped by some senate republicans and republicans in congress who have concerns about how the executive order may be related to travel restrictions was handled, how it has played out over the last few days and there are concerns. that's something democrats can shine a light on. john mccain has raised questions and one of the people out front asking the trump administration to do this better. here's a sense of what john mccain's view is. >> bad news is that obviously this process in these conclusions were not vetted. there are so many questions that for example it didn't filter down to our customs people, who can come in, who can't. i think the effect will probably in some areas give isis more propaganda. >> another issue that you mentioned as the democrats have power to try to slow down the confirmation of president trump's picks for his cabinet. most prominent rex tillerson secretary of state. senate republicans want to assemble his team and get through with other business. this is a slower pace than we've seen with other presidents coming in but it is a tool democrats can use in negotiation and trying to get time on the floor to talk about their issues, also to raise specific questions about some of the picks donald trump has made, including the former ceo of exxonmobil, rex tillerson to be secretary of state. don't expect a quick vote tonight, just a procedural vote, not a conclusion or final vote on rex tillerson that we expect later today. chris? >> the lights will be on at the capitol. thank you so much, appreciate it, kelly. that leads to us today's microsoft pulse question. do you believe president trump's executive order on immigration will make americans safer? the pulse is live, let us know what you think, pulse.msnbc.com. we'll check those results later on in the show. but still ahead, is president trump fundamentally remaking foreign policy with his eo? we'll talk to former assistant secretary of state p.j. crowley. people both sides of the aisle pointing to what they see is a serious management issue, mismanagement. is trump trying to run the country the way he ran a business and is that a problem? we're watching the white house briefing room. sean spicer scheduled to hold his briefing just about 10, 15 minutes from now and we'll have that for you live. presents itse? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. beneful healthy weight because find out how american express cards and services the first ingredient is chicken. (riley) man, this chicken is spectacular! (jessica) i feel like when he eats beneful, he turns into a puppy again. you love it, don't you? you love it so much! (vo) try beneful healthy weight with chicken. with real chicken as the number one ingredient. [vo] quickbooks introduces he teaches lessons to stanley... and that's kind of it right now. but rodney knew just what to do...he got quickbooks. it organizes all his accounts, so he knows where he stands in an instant. ahhh...that's a profit. which gave him the idea to spend a little cash on some brilliant marketing! ha, clever. wow, look at all these new students! way to grow, rodney! know where you stand instantly. visit quickbooks.com. we're opening more xfinity stores closer to you. visit us today and learn how to get the most out of all your services, like xfinity x1. we'll put the power in your hands, so you can see how x1 is changing the way you experience tv with features like voice remote, making it easier and more fun than ever. there's more in store than you imagine. visit an xfinity store today and see for yourself. xfinity, the future of awesome. president trump with a sweep of the pen friday turned american immigration policy on its ear banning people from seven countries with the majority muslim population from entering the u.s. there were well attended protests at the white house at boston's copley square, battery park in man hat tan. at the center of the concern of a lot of these protesters is a simple question. is this who we are, the country of give me my tired, your poor, the statue of liberty. let me bring in p.j. crowley, assistant secretary of state under president obama. always good to see you, p.j. >> hello chris, good afternoon. >> the protes were the most visible reaction we were watching these just sort of spring out of seemingly nowhere. you tweeted earlier about global condemnation of the policy and said it would be huge. what do you see as the implications of this? >> i think it is not who we are. it is un-american, and i don't think that we've seen this level of nationalism, protectionism, even isolationism probably in american politics in 75 years. >> we were talking about this earlier that president trump, his administration inciting president obama in a statement including in a statement that read "my policy is similar to what president obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from iraq for six months." do you see any correlation here? >> oh, i think that's a crazy analogy. president obama embraced mult multilateral. tr donald trump is walking abe from multilateralism. at a tactical level yes the countries have some links to terrorism and conflict that raises risk to the united states. fair enough. but at a strategic level, what we are doing in terms of these bans is we're undermining the level of international cooperation which will be fundamental to defeating the islamic state and in fact we're walking into the islamic state narrative of an intractable conflict between the west and islam. >> a parallel issue here i think is here you had steve bannon who was named again sweep of the pen as somebody who would now be part of the national security apparat apparatus. he would be one of the people in the room where it happens to quote that famous musical, and simultaneously it seems that diminish the roles of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the director of national intelligence, essentially looked like he was making him coequal with peel like the secretary of state. what's your reaction, p.j.? >> i think on the one hand it's naive to think that politics and foreign policy are separate. in fact today you can't understand american foreign policy unless you understand american domestic politics. the danger is not necessarily the steve bannon you know, won't be in the room, in the situation room, but that's not unprecedented, but having him at the table in the situation room giving him a vote on what the american foreign policy should be, that is actually unprecedented. chris, as you say it's very odd. it's hard to imagine a national security challenge today that doesn't require input from the director of national intelligence or the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. but you put those two together and they're just very boldly saying that politics is going to be significantly driving american foreign policy for the next four years. >> you can remember a situation, p.j., sometimes feelings are hurt because you're not in a meeting or not informed of something, but when you have what is essentially a policy that is a major departure from the way things are run and people who are at the head of agencies who will be charged with implementing it find out essentially after the fact or while it's happening. have you ever experienced anythi anything? >> in vietnam you can't understand how lyndon johnson fought the vietnam war without understanding the dynamic between how he fought that war and his keconcern about the gre society and richard nixon came into office 1968 saying i have a secret plan to end the vietnam war, and you see the dynamic between president bush and president obama. obama was the reaction to the overreach in iraq, and so politics sets the parameters under which foreign policy is undertaken. that said obviously there's going to be, among other things a process problem here, that normally the combination of national security policy and within the political parameters of the moment that's the job of the national security adviser and the risk here is that you now create tension and dueling power centers within the white house and that's not necessarily going to serve the president well. >> we're nine, ten days in. p.j. crowley always good to see you, thank you. >> thanks, chris. we have good news to report former president georgia h.w. bush has been discharged from the hospital. bush 41 as he's known appreciates everyone's prayers and good wishes during his stay at houston meth list. the 92-year-old former president was admitted january 14th being treated for pneumonia. we are sure barbara is happy to have him home as we wish him better health. coming up, was the communication and excuse of the immigration executive order a disaster? former dnc communications director karen finney, who also worked at the clinton white house, will join me next. we're also waiting for sean spicer to hold his daily press briefing minutes from now. stay with us. you'll want to see that one live. there's only one egg that just tastes better. fresher. more flavorful. delicious. only one egg with better nutrition- like more vitamins d, e, and omega 3s. and 25% less saturated fat. only one egg good enough for my family. because why have ordinary when you can have the best. eggland's best. the only egg that gives you so much more: better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. better nutrition. everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything. and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. these types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. rates are competitive, and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. remember - these plans let you apply all year round. so call today. because now's the perfect time to learn more. go long. but so we don't have tormin wad to get clean. charmin ultra soft gets you clean without the wasteful wadding. it has comfort cushions you can see that are softer... ...and more absorbent, and you can use up to 4 times less. enjoy the go with charmin. i just want to find a used car without getting ripped off. you could start your search at the all-new carfax.com that might help. show me the carfax. now the car you want and the history you need are easy to find. show me used trucks with one owner. pretty cool. [laughs] ah... ahem... show me the carfax. start your used car search and get free carfax reports at the all-new carfax.com. the travel ban has had several we assume unintended consequences, and it seems that the white house did not consider them. for example that caused turmoil for 109 travelers who were detained for hours and oscar nominee oscar farhadi might not be able to attend the oscars because of the ban. boston scientist stopped over the weekend, 75-year-old grandmother with a green card separated from her family, she was released yesterday. >> she has a green card. she's had green card since 1997. >> reporter: since 1997 and you made that sign? >> this is my sign "we want grandma." >> reporter: if you could say something to the people in america what would you say? >> translator: i love the people. >> you had college and university presidents coming out against this, the department of hotel security working to make sure everybody understands what's going on. they say they're committed to ensuring the legal rights of all those affected. karen finney served as communications director for hillary clinton's campaign at the dnc. >> good afternoon chris. >> you worked in the white house. something happened sunday normally happens on friday, they organized a call with senior administration officials who are involved in all of this and they briefed the press. in this case it happened a couple of days later but the overarching message and there was a big headline in several newspapers that this is a massive success story in its implementations. give me your take on it, as somebody who has worked on the inside. >> sure. it was a debacle. it undermines just the chaos that we saw over the weekend i think undermines this argument that donald trump is trying to make that you know, he is this great businessman who knows how to get things done and can execute smoothly. obviously trump and i'm sure in a few moments sean spicer are going to tell us the alternate facts about why it was such a success, but i think what we saw on the ground was it was a disaster particularly given what's been reported that as people on the ground who were dealing with people either getting on planes in other countries or arriving in this country, didn't know who to call to figure out what the parameters were. you know, chris, here's the flipside of it. on the one hand, yes, it undermines his argument as somebody who can get things done and it was a calamity and all of that. but on the other hand politically speaking, it was a great success for donald trump, and that is because he got the headlines, the initial headlines he wanted, and that is to his base, to the steve bannon breitbart alt right wing base he kept a campaign promise and i suspect that most of those voters didn't follow much of the back-and-forth once the big piece of the news was actually out there. >> that's their argument, right? their argument is we said we were going to do this and dald trump has donhis on a number of different issues. >> sure. >> during theampaign ts is what i'm going to do, i'm going to build the wall, stop people from coming in who might be dangerous to us and he has done these executive orders, but their counter argument to the pushback and all of the people who we saw come out spontaneously to protest this, lawyers who came in to defend people who were being held is, this is a small number of people and we heard it last night, if you watched the s.a.g. awards shall the screen actors guild awards, julia louis-dreyfus, and here's what ashton kutcher said. >> good evening fellow s.a.g. members and everyone at home and everyone in airports that belong in my america. [ cheers and applause ] you are a part of the fabric of who we are, and we love you and we welcome you. >> one of many, karen, but here's the thing. here's what a supporter of the president would say, one is that those are left coast liberals who don't understand what's going on in the real america and we haven't seen polls that suggest what the real reaction to this is. their feeling is that their base and beyond feel like if this is going to help keep america safe they're okay with it and there's another potentially unintended consequence, which is that when those people out there, that the white house would say are "real america" watch the s.a.g. awards it reinforces to them that the liberal left coast, east coast folks frankly don't get what it is to be a real person in this country. >> well or that you know, those people and by that i mean the left coast type people or the democrats or liberals that we look down on them and that we don't understand their concerns or their values. i agree with you completely, and i think one of the things that's so important for democrats not just in this fight but going forward, of course what he did is immoral and un-american and we need to make those oorgments. we need to pursue the legal arguments in terms of what this means about the constitution and certainly on behalf of people who have green cards and just the overall immigration policy, absolutely do all of that. but we also have to do a better job connecting why this is so dangerous and destructive to those people's lives, and by that i mean it is making america more dangerous, when our soldiers on the ground are now looking at those iraqi interpreters who were told, who were helping our troops and were told you would have the opportunity to come to the united states, when our soldiers are looking at these folks who are working side by side with them, i mean donald trump just ripped out their credibility. that's not safe. that's not good for our soldiers. secondly, i think we have to make the argument that, while he's doing all of this, he's not telling us how he's going to create these jobs he's been talking about. he's he nnot increasing incomes by making us less safe in the world and creating chaos with these countries we're also not increasing and improving our capacity to, he says he's going to renegotiate all of these trade deals. where is that? i think the key thing going forward -- >> i might have to interpret you because sean spicer we've gotten a loose warning he's on his way out. who is the messenger here? who is the person who has to make that or does every democrat have to go back to their district? who is going to put that message out there if you think that's the effective one? >> having been, perfectly honest, having been at the dnc when we talked about the culture of corruption, it only broke through when we all talked about it and we tied it back to why it matters in people's everyday lives. so every democrat has to make the argument, every person like myself who is an observer of this process, former participant, i think members of congress, i think when we have our new dnc chair, over and over again we have to be able to connect. yes, let's call out the initial atrocity of what he's done and trust me, it will be a challenge because there will be plenty on a daily basis as we've already seen in the last nine days. but at the same time, we have to be disciplined in reminding people so that that argument that this is just oh, the media and liberals setting their hair on fire, no. there's a real cost to you, mr. and mrs. smith, who may live in the rust belt and are wondering where the jobs are, when he's doing these things. that's absolutely critical. >> karen finney, good to see you, thank you. >> you, too. >> let's look at your responses to our microsoft pulse question. do you believe president trump's executive order on immigration will make americans safer? we're getting some of the preliminary results in and right now it stands at 11% say yes americans will be safer, but 89% say they will not. you can still weigh in, pulse.msnbc.com. let your voice be heard. we're going to take a quick break and we're waiting for sean spicer to come out to the white house press room. so beautiful. what shall we call you? tom! name it tom! studies show that toms have the highest average earning potential over their professional lifetime. see? uh, it's a girl. congratulations! two of my girls are toms. i work for ally, finances are my thing. you know, i'm gonna go give birth real quick and then we'll talk, ok? nice baby. let's go. here comes tom #5! nothing, stops us from doing right by our customers. ally. do it right. whoo! look out. ally. do it right. ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. ally. do it right. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. the briefing getting under way with sean spice per. >> -- to discuss the vicious attack on a quebec city mosque last night. the president offered his condolences as well as this thoughts and prayers to the victims and their family and to all canadians. this is another senseless act of violence that cannot be tolerated. the president pledged to support the canadian police and intelligence service in any way necessary. prime minister trudeau is extremely appreciative and cautious to draw conclusions on the motives at this stage of the investigation and the president shared those thoughts. canadian law enforcement officials are actively investigating this matter. we within dome the attack in the strongest possible terms. it's a terrible reminder why we must remain vigilant and why the president is taking steps to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to our nation's safety and security. we are of course praying for those injured in the attack and are keeping in close contact with officials in quebec and canada. we're moving into a quick recap of the events of the past few days. the president had an extremely busy weekend. he followed up on his first week of action with a weekend of action. on saturday and saund lounday ae president spoke with eight foreign leader, signing executive orders delivering on the biggest campaign promises he made with the american people and planned another busy week. also we carried out a successful raid against al qaeda and arabian peninsula resulted in the death of 14 aqap and tragically, during this raid the life of a brave servicemember was taken and four were wounded. our thoughts and our prayers are with the family of this fallen american hero, and we also pray for a speedy recovery and complete recovery of those servicemembers who sustained injuries. as a quick recap, on friday, you saw the president's enthusiastic reception at the department of defense for the ceremonial swearing in of secretary mattis as our secretary of defense. while at the pentagon, the president also signed two executive actions to protect america from those who wish to do us harm, this focus on security our borders and homeland was a major part of what the president campaigned on and now he's doing exactly what he told the american people he would do. the president will always put the safety and prosperity of our country first and foremost. we kicked off saturday by launching the weekly address debuted on facebook live. nearly 11 million people were reached by the address online, 1.1 million comments, likes and other interactions and as of this morning the video had been viewed almost 5 million times. just as he did throughout the campaign this is another example of the president being able to take his message directly to the american people. on saturday the president signed three executive actions on issues ranging from government ethics to national security. as part of the president's plan to drain the swamp in washington and return power to the american people he signed an executive order imposing strict post employment rules on all federal political appointees including a five-year lobbying ban and a lifetime ban for foreign government lobbying among other restrictions. the president continues to make it very, very clear that if you want to be part of a trump administration, you're going to be serving the country, not yourself. the president also signed a memorandum modernizing the structure of the national security council and the homeland security council. there's been a lot of misreporting this week about what this memo does and does not do. so let me walk you there you this real quick. there's two issues at hand. one is the makeup of the nsc and the other is the makeup of the principals committee. the principals committee is nearly the nfc mine us the president. the idea is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and dna being downgraded or removed is utter nonsense. they are at every nsc meeting and welcome to attend the principal's meeting. if there is a principal's meeting outside their scope, for example a domesticish auto thaw doesn't pertain to the military they're not required but certainly welcome to be in attendance. we recognize that certain homeland security issues may not be military issues and it would not be in the best interest of the joint chief's valuable time to be at these meetings. just yesterday we called several outlets who were severely misreporting this topic to better inform them about what this memo means. let me walk through this. this is the 2001 nfc standup memo. this is the 2009 memo, and then this one is the, i have' got the '13 here as well or the 2017 rather right here. this is the language that is, the language consists of the national security team, the director of the central intelligence and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff as statutory advisers to the nsc shall also attend nsc meetings. of the identical language in 2017 as it was in 2009 when obama drafted his, verbatim, identical. the makeup of the principals committee from 2017 is exactly as it was in both 2017 as it was in 2001. 100% identical except we add the word "also." i think it's pretty clear if you look at all three of these, that's what it does. to be clear, the memo just yesterday we called that out, starting with the membership of the nsc the language part of the president's memo is identical to the language from presidents bush's 2001. the only thing that changed is the addition of the director of national intelligence, as a position that didn't exist in 2001. for what it's worth, it's the same as obama's save for the word "also." in terms of the principal's committee from the various language here, and this is i'll give you 2017 on the principals committee, this is the principals committee in 2017, and this is the 2001 principals committee, it is literally 100% the same. 2001 and 2017 are identical. so this idea that there's been a change or a downgrade is utter nonsense. with respect to the joint chiefs in particular, the president holds chairman dunford in the highest regard. the suggestion that he would downgrade the important role that the chairman plays in matters of national security reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the tremendous respect that the president holds for both the chairman himself and the joint chiefs as a whole. for the record, i know someone tweeted out where was the cia in this? the cia hasn't been part of the nfc since the dni was sworn in for the first time in 2005. that being said the president has such respect for director pompeo and the men and women of the cia that today the president is announcing that he will amend the memo to add the cia back into the nsc so i know there was a tweet yesterday from the former national security adviser that said "where is the cia out of everything?" i'd like to remind the former national security adviser that, when the memo was drafted in 2009, i don't see the obama administration including the cia in theirs. it is president trump that is including the cia, not the former administration. so just to be clear, when it comes to the cia, as you know, number one, it wasn't part of the restructuring of the nfc after the dni was named and sworn in, in 2005, and we are the administration that's adding it back into the nfc and amending it. it was the obama administration that didn't have it in. to answer the former national security adviser's tweet, the cia is in ours and it wasn't in theirs. with respect to over -- hold on one second. moving on. the president also signed another memo when he was at the department of definition instructing joint chiefs of staff and the next 30 days to deliver to him a plan to defeat isis. this comprehensive strategy and plan must include a recommendation to changes of any rules of engagement and other policy restrictions that exceed the requirements of international law regarding the use of isis. public diplomacy, information officers and cyber strategies to isolate and delegitimize isis in its radical ideology, identification of new coalition partners in the fight against isis and powers to fight isis and its affiliates. mechanisms to cut off isis' financial support including financial transfers, money laundering, oil revenue, human trafficking, the sales of looted art, and other revenue sources in a detailed strategy to robustly fund the plan. this presidential memorandum is a profound statement that the president's clear objective is to defeat and destroy isis and that we're going to do it systematically. this is not only a necessary step for america's national security, it is also a humanitarian imperative. if isis is left in power, the threat is poses only grows. we know it has attempted to develop chemical weapons capabilities, it maintains a goal of recruiting homegrown terrorists in attacks against allies and partners continues to mount. the united states must take decisive action and the president is taking the necessary steps. over the weekend the president also held constructive phone calls with the heads of government from australia, france, germany, japan, russia, saudi arabia, south korea and the united arab emirates. during the calls the president reaffirmed our partnerships and discussed strengthening our mutual defenses and interests throughout the world. the safety of the american people and the security of american homeland continue to be the president's top priority. his outreach to these leaders is a critical step in turning the page on the failed foreign policies of the past eight years. notably, he did all this in the face of extreme obstructionism from democrats in the senate, who are holding up 17 of his department or agency leads that require senate confirmation. in contrast, ten days into his term, president obama only had seven people in these positions awaiting confirmation. president bush had all but four confirmed. if senate democrats think voters are going to be okay with them continuing business as usual, dragging their heels and confirming qualified nominees they sorely misunderstood the message this november. the truth is, these cabinet members are unbelievably qualified and will all be confirmed by the senate. and democrats know this. so it's time to stop playing political games with the core functions of our government. this morning the office of the u.s. trade representative sent 12 letters officially notifying nations to transpacific partnership that the u.s. has withdrawn from the agreement. the next step in fulfilling the president's campaign promise to get our country out of unaccepted trade deals that don't put america's interests first. the president will continue to negotiate new, better trade agreements that will bring jobs back, increase american wages and reduce our trade deficit. the white house of intergovernmental affairs has been hard at work making sure all lines of communication are open at all levels of government throughout the country. today the white house has made contact with all governor's officen every state and territory, and deeper-dive conversations on a range of topics. outreach efforts have reached 220 attorneys generals, 15 speakers of the house, the leaders of the ten largest federally recognized tribes and the leaders of some of the country's largest counties and municipalities. all have expressed enthusiasm about working with the white house on issues impacting their local communities and families. the intergovernmental affairs office is also preparing the national -- is preparing for the national governor's association meeting in washington at the end of february. which the president plans to host a dinner. today the president started his day with a breakfast and listening session with small business leaders, a list of attendees is available if you're interested. the meeting comes on the heels of similar listening sessions that the president held last week with some of the country's top business and union leaders and front-line workers. he's made it clear in his first week in office, through numerous executive actions, meetings and listening sessions, that he's fully committed to fighting on behalf of american workers and small businesses. this morning the vice president hosted a breakfast with king abdul ii of jordan at naval observatory and the president expects to greet the king at the national prayer service. he thanked the king for his efforts in advancing peace and stability in the middle east and reaffirmed the united states' commitment to jordan's security and economic development. the two leaders discussed events in the region including ways to accelerate the coalition's efforts to defeat isis and promote a political solution to the syrian conflict. the vice president welcomes the king's views on potential changes involving the u.s. embassy in israel and reiterated the united states is at the early stages of this decision-making process. the two leaders discussed how best to make progress towards a comprehensive agreement between israels and palestinians. the vice president and king abdullah agreed on strengthening u.s./jordan relations and planned to keep in close contact. this morning the president signed an executive order reducing regulation and reducing regulatory costs. the order instructs the office of management budget to issue guidelines that for every one new regulation, two existing regulations in an agency be eliminated. we're calling it one in/two out. additionally the order states cost of all new regulations finalized in fiscal 2017 must be no greater than zero for each agency. and beginning in 2018, each agency will have an incremental cost cap set by director of omb beyond which it cannot issue regulations. this executive order is the first step in the president delivering on his promise to slash bureaucratic red tape that is choking our nation's small businesses. under the president's leadership, the federal government will no longer punish americans for working and doing business in the united states. every year overregulation costs our economy billions of dollars and reduces the wealth of every american household. this executive order will help get the economy back on track and is part of the president's bold plan to create 25 million new american jobs in the next decade. it's worth noting that this order is, perhaps, the most significant administrative action in the world of regulatory reform since president reagan created the office of information and regulatory affairs in 1981. final lishgs a fuad minimum straightive notes. i'm pleased to announced prime minister netanyahu of israel will visit the united states on february 15th. our relationship with the only democracy in the middle east is crucial to the security of both our nations and the president looks forward to discussing continued strategic, technological, military and intelligence cooperation with the prime minister. as you know, tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. the president will announce who he intends to nominate for the supreme court. for a party preaching tolerance, it's funny to see some democrats have come out already against this unnamed individual. with that i'm glad to take a few questions. >> sean, over the week president trump requested the king of saudi arabia join him by supporting safe zones in syria. what type of support does president trump intend to provide and when can syrian civilians expect to receive this support? >> i think it came up in several calls. that's an important note that there is such strong agreement how we resolve this problem. you're seeing it across the spectrum. it's important we have stability in the region. this was an area of mutual discussion and agreement is important when we talk about stability in the region. so, we'll have continued discussions on it, but i think that first step of getting both sides on the first page was a huge step forward. blake? >> the president said today in that on-camera session with business leaders about how the market has run up during his last couple months. i want to ask you a question related to that. today coincidentally is the biggest market drop since october. one uncertainty is tax reform might not get done this year. my question is, can the administration commit to major tax reform in 2017? >> it's a two-way street. you've seen the president fight on behalf of small businesses. that's what this regulation was today. it can't underscore how important it is. since 1981 we haven't seen anything this magnitude to address the regulation daisht regulatory impact that small businesses face. we're going to continue to work with both houses of congress, both the senate finance committee and house ways and means committee to develop a comprehensive tax plan. there's eagerness on behalf of congress to do that as well. that's a very promising thing. i would also note when you look not just at the ups and downs of a market, but you look at consumer confidence and a lot of the other market indicators, a trump presidency brought a lot of confidence back to traders, to investors. more importantly, to job creators. and you look at the number of individuals, the small businesses, the large businesses, the automakers, all coming in and saying to the president, i want to be part of your effort, your agenda, to make the country better, to grow jobs here, to bring jobs back here. i think it's a positive sign, not just on the ups and downs of one day's market fluctuation, but the overall commitment that businesses have to want to work with this administration. to add jobs, to create better jobs, to add benefits, to find out how the president can ease the regulatory burden they face. so, it's a holistic process that is being undertaken to unleash the american economy. it's the approach that he's taking not just in small businesses and large businesses and with union workers, but he's looking at the energy sector. how do we unleash america's natural resources not just to help us make us more energy independent but how do we do that to create good paying jobs in america as well and get that economic boone that can come out of it? april? >> sean, two questions. one, how important is national security information to you? you're saying they're at the table and they can come to the table if they wanted to meet -- >> no, no, that's not what i

Related Keywords

Vietnam , Republic Of , New York , United States , Georgia , Canada , Japan , Alabama , Australia , Germany , Iran , Washington , Boston , Massachusetts , Virginia , Syria , United Arab Emirates , Russia , Quebec , Jordan , Copley Square , Iraq , Arabian Peninsula , Saudi Arabia General , Saudi Arabia , Sudan , Israel , Libya , Houston , Texas , Yemen , Capitol Hill , District Of Columbia , South Korea , France , Americans , America , Canadian , Canadians , Iraqi , Syrian , American , Chuck Schumer , Lyndon Johnson , Madeleine Albright , Dianne Feinstein , Steven Miller , Sean Spicer , Karen Finney , King Abdullah , David Nakamura , Julia Louis Dreyfus , Hallie Jackson , Craig Melvin , Oscar Farhadi , Ashton Kutcher , Al Qaeda , Jonathan Turley , Rex Tillerson , Mitch Mcconnell , Steve Bannon Breitbart , Richard Nixon , Steve Bannon , Rudy Giuliani , Steve Miller , John Mccain , Hillary Clinton , Bernie Sanders ,