It is not doing. House Speaker Paul Ryan responded to the announcement about north korea, tweeting, i strongly support this decision, which is an important step in Holding North Korea accountable for its wide range of disabling activities. Democratic senator of massachusetts since the message, potus decision to designate north korea a state sponsor of nothing to hold pyongyang accountable for its Nuclear Ballistic missile programs. Only pressure plus direct diplomacy can help us achieve the ultimate goal of peaceful and complete denuclearization of the peninsula. Later in the day, secretary of state Rex Tillerson spoke about the decision at the white house briefing. Ms. Sanders good afternoon. Thank you guys for being patient with us. I brought a special guest so i figure you might be okay if we were a little delayed. As you all know, the president hosted a very productive Cabinet Meeting this morning and made some news by announcing the United States has again designated north korea a state sponsor of terrorism. As the president said, one of the primary goals of his recent asia trip was to pursue the denuclearization of the korean peninsula. This designation will impose sanctions on north korea that will continue our progress toward that goal. Additionally as a reminder, north korea has sported acts of International Terrorism including assassinations on foreign soil. The president s position is this the north korean regime must be lawful. This afternoon, we have secretary of state Rex Tillerson with us to answer some of your questions on this topic. He will come up and make couple of remarks and then take case on that topic and as always i will be back after that to answer other news of the day. With that, mr. Secretary. Sec. Tillerson thank you, sarah, and as sarah indicated the president did make the designation earlier today, announced in the Cabinet Meeting, and i think its really just the latest step in a series of you can see, ongoing steps to increase the pressure, i call it the peaceful pressure campaign. The president calls it the maximum pressure campaign. So theres no confusion, theyre one in the same. I think this is to hold north korea accountable for a number of actions theyve taken over the last several months, the last year or so. Some of you will know that north korea what was designated a s a state sponsor of terrorism in 1988. May have been designated before. That designation was lifted in 2008 as part of an effort to negotiate with north korea, an end to their nuclear program. That obviously failed. Because we can see where we are today. But as a result of actions theyve taken, including assassinations outside of their country, using banned chemical weapons these are all very, very serious actions on their part that the public at risk. So that along with a number of other actions theyve taken resulted in their designation now again as a state sponsor of terrorism. I think as sarah indicated, the practical effect of it is we already have many of these actions in place through the current sanctions. It may, though, disrupt and dissuade some third parties from undertaking certain activities with north korea as it does impose prohibition on other activities that might not be covered by existing sanctions. But i think importantly, this is just continuing to point out north koreas illicit, unlawful behaviors internationally, and we felt it necessary to reempose the designation for that reason. With that, happy to take questions. Im going to let sarah referee because im not good at refereeing. Thank you, sir. Is this move an intent to incentivize kim jongun toward negotiation . I think its been more than 60 days. Do you think that timetable is in any way promising . And why wait until were back in the u. S. . The president said there was hope for diplomacy in asia, and this seems to be counter that. Sec. Tillerson no, we still hope for diplomacy, and this is the timing of this is just one of us concluding the process. There is a very specific designation process that we have to go through the state department to be able to meet the criteria to make such a designation, and we wanted to ensure we had fully met all the ose requirements. Again, this is part of just continuing to turn this pressure up. And we continue to turn the pressure up on north korea by getting other countries to join and take actions on their own. Weve had other countries in our visit to vietnam, they have committed that theyre going curtail activities further with north korea. Malaysia, singapore has cut off trade, the philippines cut off all trade. Just recently the deputy secretary of states been in africa and had meeting with the Sudanese Government. The Sudanese Government have traditionally been buying military weapons from north korea and now agreed to halt all those purchases as well. That is taking effect all around the world, and we think as it takes effect, this continues to tighten the pressure on the kim regime. All with an intention to have him understand this is only going to get worse until youre ready to come and talk. The 60 day window has to be some time. Has to end sometime. Sec. Tillerson were hopeful he continues this quiet period. Thats our objective, he continue to be quiet as well. This designation, as i said, is one that were required to undertake from time to time and we have been monitoring the situation. We wanted to be sure we had sufficient evidence before making the designation. This process started actually several months ago. Mr. Secretary, you mentioned that you have increase regional treasure against the kim regime. Do you have any indication that its working and if you havent seen that indication just yet, how long before you good down this path before the administration has a change in strategy . Sec. Tillerson we have a lot of anecdotal information that its working, and we have our own intelligence sources as well. And then what the chinese and others share with us, i think the general belief is it is having a significant effect on north korea. We know that there are current shortages of fuel based upon what we can gather from anecdotally, but also from certain intel sources. We know that their revenues are down because a number of Revenue Streams are being curtailed. Is this the reason we havent had a provocative act in 60 days . I dont want to suggest to you that i could say, but were hopeful this period will continue. Again, i think the president and his address in seoul, south korea though, he laid out the case he wants to deliver a different future to the people of north korea. Thank you, mr. Secretary. A couple for you. First, can you give us an example of a thirdparty transaction now covered that was not covered by your existing american sanctions or the u. N. Security Council Sanctions . Sec. Tillerson there could be certain dual use equipment that may not have been covered that this would prohibit now, third party sell that dual use. Again, i dont want to suggest to you that the designation is something thats going to put a whole new layer of sanctions. Because again, we already have north korea so heavily sanctioned in so many ways with the u. N. Resolutions that have been undertaken. But this will close a few additional loopholes off. You and the president are both referring to assassinations plural appeared plural. We know about the assassination the airport. Can you give us a on example of an assassination on foreign soil . Sec. Tillerson i dont have anything i can share with you specifically. Tuesday morning it was said u. S. Sanctions against north north korea are on the way. [inaudible] sec. Tillerson we have not given up. With china, we have continue to talk with them to ensure theyre fully committed to implementing the u. N. Sanctions, and they assure us they are. As you will recall, the last round of sanctions imposed a pretty severe restriction on the import of finished products so fuels, petroleum, diesel, jet fuel and whatnot, but we have suggested to them you control that oil pipeline that feeds their refinery. You dont you can do that unilaterally on your on if you want to increase the pressure. Whether theyre doing that or not, we dont know, and its very difficult for us to know whether theyre taking actions to curtail oil supplies to them. Secretary, earlier today President Trump said that the Treasury Department is going to be announcing additional sanctions. Tomorrow, he described it as a very large one, the highest level of sanctions. Can you give us any in saying so what the additional sanctions may be. Sec. Tillerson id like to leave it to treasury to announce those tomorrow. Theyre similar to sanctions we have taken in the past. We are just going out more broadly to more entities. But id like to leave it to their announcement tomorrow and not jump the gun on them. Do you see todays announcement as more symbolic or as something that has a lot of teeth to it . Sec. Tillerson i think it is very symbolic on the one hand because it just points out again what a rouge regime this and is how brutal this regime and is how little they care for the value of human life. So i think if in that of itself i think makes a strong statement, just the nature of this regime, and the practical effects may be limited, but we hope we are closing off a few loopholes with this. Thank you, mr. Secretary. If china does not agree to cut off oil to north korea, how can you possibly get enough pressure on them to come to the table . Sec. Tillerson their fuel supplies are already quite constrained. As i said, we have evidence that there are fuel shortages in north korea. Obviously the civilians are by and large the ones that cant get fuel, so we see long lines of vehicles at petro stations. We see certain petrol stations that appear to be out of fuel because theyre closed when normally they would be open. So there are indications that fuel supplies are already quite tight. As you know, they only refine a small amount of their fuel needs internally. They only have one refinery that operates, and operates at a low capacity. So they were heavily dependent on imports of finished fuel products, which have been constrained significantly with the u. N. Sanctions. Is the chinese action essential . In other words, do we need china to cut off the oil shipment . Sec. Tillerson i dont know the cutting off of all is the magic wand or Silver Bullet is going bring them to the table. What i would say is the north koreans have demonstrated in the past they have hand enormous capacity to withstand a lot. Theyll make their people pay, but they have an enormous capacity to withstand a lot. I dont want to suggest we think that one action is all it would take to get them to the table. Margaret. Thank you. I want to pick up on the question about the assassinations. How determinative was that in the specific evidence that you make this determination . And i also want to ask you, you and Ambassador Haley spent time with the president thats unusual. I know she is in town today. Can you tell us about the meeting and any substance you might give us . Sec. Tillerson on the assassinations, the assassination in malaysia was a significant event that caused us to begin to look carefully at what else they might have been doing. As you know, that assassination involved the use of a chemical agent, a very dangerous agent, in a public place. And so that really got our attention. One of the things that we wanted to ensure is that we had a sufficient certainty around their role in that particular assassination. So we have been working with malaysian authorities as well and have been in conversation with them. Wanted to let them have their own process, obviously play out as well. With respect to Ambassador Haley and i, we were just both in the Cabinet Meeting today. Was the press i know without getting too much into it, but there has been a suggestion from the north korean media about some violence threat toward the u. S. President. Was that a determinative fact in making this decision . Sec. Tillerson no. Mr. Secretary. Thank you for coming. You talked about the assassination on foreign soil. Russia has been accused of assassination on foreign soil, including in london, should they be considered the same sort of designation . Sec. Tillerson i think we have to consider every country that would take a substance like that and use it illegally. Are there talks like that going on right now with russia . Sec. Tillerson i dont want to comment on that. Thank you, mr. Secretary. Two quick questions for you. How do you balance the impact of sanctions . You talked about the people of north korea paying the price. Is this something youre considering when you talk about more sanctions towards the regime of kim jongun . Well, itsson always a difficult choice you make when you impose sanctions in terms of who is going to bear the burden. This truth of the matter is the people of north korea already live under enormously difficult conditions and i think what were focused on is a mission thats going to change north koreas trajectory, change their path. Thats the best way we can help the north Korean People in the future is to have kim jongun reversed his Nuclear Weapons program, allow us and the rest of the world to engage in Economic Activity that will ultimately provide a better life for the people. Do you believe the United States is running out of Diplomatic Options in response to the Nuclear Threat of north korea . Sec. Tillerson no, i do not. Ms. Sanders time for one last question. John in the back. Thank you, mr. Secretary. You talked about the limited intelligence on north korea and on the regime. Is there any evidence of any dissent within pyongyang at all , or possibly reaction against the current government by other members of the kim family, even, or other opponents to him . Sec. Tillerson i want to be careful about how i answer that. What i would comment on is, youre well aware of a number of executions that have occurred within his inner circle, and within many of the military people that are close to him. So ill leave it to your own interpretation. Ms. Sanders thank you, mr. Secretary. Sec. Tillerson thank you. Ms. Sanders hold on. Well get to some more questions. I know that theres obviously a lot of interest today. Thank you again to secretary of state for coming in and answering questions. As many of you to shift gears just a little bit on a happier note, im sure you have started to notice the Christmas Season has officially arrived at the white house. This afternoon the first lady and barron trump will receive a beautiful 19foot Christmas Tree which will serve as the official Christmas Tree on display in the blue room. The tree with arrive via horse drawn wagon and president ed by jim and Diane Chapman and thier son david of silent night evergreens in wisconsin. They were grand champion winners of the 2017 national Christmas Tree contest sponsored by the national Christmas Tree association. The ncta has presented the official white house Christmas Tree since 1966. The grand champion grower wins the privilege of presenting a tree to the white house and were excited to have them here today for the 52nd time. As you probably also know, we have other holidays like thanksgiving coming up, and this will be our last press briefing before the thanksgiving holiday. In this room. So i want to share other few things im thankful for and i think it would be nice for you guys to do so as well before asking your questions. Obviously, you probably know, and its no secret that im clearly very thankful for all of you here in the room, and i think that guess without saying. In all seriousness im thankful for the family, my faith, particularly thankful for the brave men and women of the military, many of whom are away from their families, protecting the freedom that all of us joan all of us enjoy. Im actual thankful for the First Responder who keep us safe and thankful for the incredible privilege of serving this president and the american people. So this is how its going to work today. Since im here and i get to call on you, if you want to ask a question, i think its only fair, since ive shared what im thankful for, that you start off with what youre thankful for. So, anybody want to be first on what theyre thankful for . Ill give it a whirl. Ms. Sanders april, you have been so eager. Im going to go with you. On what youre most thankful for. I am thankful for life. Im thankful for my children, im thankful for 20 years in this job. Im thankful to be able to talk to you and question you every single day. Ms. Sanders i feel the gratefulness there. Now my question. Ms. Sanders yes, maam. I hope you felt the passion of my gratefulness. So, the question is, if i didnt get a chance to ask secretary tillerson, theres a black hole when it comes to intelligence when it involves north korea, and he was talking about that secretary tillerson said things will get worse until theyre ready to talk. With that said, the rhetoric is still amping up. What is the concern about the intelligence that we dont know about . What do we know also relates to the Nuclear Capability of north korea, and what are the concerns about the things we dont know . Ms. Sanders obviously the biggest concern is making sure that we take steps every single day to protect americans. Thats what the actions of the president that he has taken today and the Treasury Department will take tomorrow. Again, its putting that maximum pressure on north korea to put a very large focus on denuclearizing the korean peninsula. Thats been the top priority and it will continue to be our priority. We dont feel theyre there yet and we want to keep pushing to make sure we are taking steps to prevent them from getting any further into this process. I cant go really deep into specifics on information like that, but certainly, again,