This breaking news as well, a new name joins the list of accused sexual violators, democratic senator al franken he is now apologizing after this radio news anchor has accused him of groping her, touching her inappropriately more than a decade ago. And with this one, there is a photo. You see it here with then private citizen al franken with his hands in a place they never ever should have been while she is asleep. So well get to all of that. But lets start with cnn White House Correspondent jim acosta in the Briefing Room. The there is a lot the white house needs to answer for. Reporter absolutely, brooke. And we did not get a lot of questions answered in the foreign trip. He held 2 plus 2 press conferences only a couple of questions answered. He did answer questions on the air force one one day, off camera, no audio of that. So when Sarah Huckabee sanders comes into the Briefing Room there will be a whole slouew of questions for her. And most critically what is going to happen to ray moore . Why hasnt President Trump pushed him out of the way, he has not done that despite mounting objections in washington to ray moore candidate from Senate Leadership saying as soon as ray moore comes to washington, if he wins, wo well try to get him out of here. Even to shawn hannity, he has time and its running out. President has not gone that far up until this point and he was asked this question up on capitol hill. He sailed right past the cameras when that question was put to him. So i suppose that will be one of the first questions out of the gate. But also my guess is, brooke, when Sarah Huckabee sanders walks into the Briefing Room she will want to talk about the tax plan that passage. That of course is one step in a complicated process for republicans up on capitol hill. They still have to get this version through the senate. And has some pretty controversial provisions. As you no he this attempt to repeal obamacare is baked in that senate plan as currently stands. As well as this controversial provision that would essentially allow the Corporate Tax rates cuts to be permanent while expiring those individual tax rate cuts. So that i assume will be brought up as well during this briefing. So a lot of questions to be asked. And well see how many answers we get. And we should point out that these new allegations facing senator al franken, that is likely to come up here as well. Obviously, you know, that is a storm that is really brewing and gaining steam up on capitol hill. And i suppose that will be asked here as well. Who knows how Sarah Huckabee sanders will handle all of those questions. Keep in mind, this is what he has come into question, until recently, just before the foreign trip, as a matter of fact, Sarah Huckabee sanders was saying that those accusers that have alleged that the president was guilty of some kind of Sexual Misconduct against them, that those accusers were liars. That they were not telling the truth. That was one notable moment before the president left for asia. And so that is sort of the footing that we are all on here as those questions come in, in about 30 minutes from now, it was delayed. So we expect her to come here a little less than half hour from now. So taxes, ray moore, al franken. Thank you very much. Lets stay on al franken and get everyone caught up on this story swirling as of today. Raids owe news anchor now accusing the democratic senator of forcibly kissing her at this backstage uso experience and groping here and photographic evidence while she was asleep. She posted this photo of the incident from 2006. I think 9th uso tour. And she wrote about it then she spoke out publicly a short time ago. He said we need to practice the kissing scene. I was like yeah, whatever, just blew him off. Its just a quick little thing. Then he persisted and said, no, we need to practice the kissing scene. Okay, al, you just turn your head right, ill turn my head right, we got this, you know, whatever. And he kept persisting. Im like al this isnt s nl. We are not really going to kiss so we dont have to practice. And he just kept persisting. And it just reminded me of the Harvey Weinstein tape that you heard the girl when she was wired up for the nypd and just persistent and badge r badgering and relentless. So i was just like, okay, fine, just so he would shut up. And he just sort of came at me and did the line, and he came at me. Before you know it he would get close and put his hand on the back of my head, and he mash he had his face, happened to fast, stuck his tongue in my mouth so fast. And all i can remember is that his lips were really wet and it was slimy. And in my mind i called him fish lips the rest of the trip because thats what it reminded me of. He stuck his tongue down my mouth. And i remember i pushed him off with my hands. And i just remember i almost punched him. Because every time i see him now my hands clench into fists and im sure thats probably why. I said if you ever do that to me again im not going to be so nice about it the second time. And i just walked out away from him and i walked out. And i just wanted to find a bathroom and just want today rinse my mouth out. Because i was just disgusted, you know. They give you cds as you leave that has behind the scenes photos of you on the tour they give you when you leave. And i get this and open it up when i get home. I probably opened it the next day. And it was a photo of al doing his, you know, this on my breast. Like looking at the camera, just kind of smirking and smiling, like, hey, look at me many and i took that as the, you know, the final like haha, like i got the last laugh, you know. I mean, he knew i wouldnt see it until i got home, and, you know, was away from everybody else. I mean, yeah, there is no reason i shouldnt accept his apology, you know, i mean if thats, sure. We have cnn National Politics mj lee following the story on capitol hill. Posted up just outside of senator frankens office. We have heard leeann story. What is the senators response . Microphone issues. Mj. I cant hear you. I hate it when that happens. We get her up live again . Hang tight mj. Technical issues. As we get mj up, you were saying to me as we were listening to leeann, and again i should say, you know, the senator is apologizing and saying as we know, both schumer and mcconnell are saying yes to potential ethics investigation. Hes saying yes ill participate, whatever you need. Although he says he remembers the incident differently than she does. But you are saying she appears credible . Look, her testimony seems very credible there for a couple of reasons. First of all, how she presented herself. This does not seem to be rehearsed in any way. Shes not reading off a piece of paper. When you watch her, you feel as if you are reliving what she went through. And even though it was ten years ago, 11 years ago, 2006, what she walks you through, its so palpable how she reacted to it, that i believe her. I just do. It sounds as if it happened just that way. Chris, how does i mean, if i could be frank. Its been a swing and a miss with the white house. And addressing any of these Sexual Harassment stories when theyve been asked about the Harvey Weinstein, now when theyve been asked about, listen, i realize it is sensitive given the president and the female accusers that have come forward, but how can they not . Look, the presidency, brook, is not just about policy. Its not just about tweets or any of those things. Its ultimately sort of about moral leadership. Values. Of the country, right. Thats why i think the charlottesville moment was such a low point, not that he failed politically, but he did, but it was a moral ab sen shah that we look to lead morally. What concerns me if you will hear white house talk about al frank and not about ray moore. This is the only story from Harvey Weinstein until now, and unfortunately it doesnt seem like it will a bait any time soon with new allegations with new people. The white house has to take a level of moral leadership and say this isnt about party or politics or hollywood versus not. This is about how do we want to lead morally in the country and in the world. And you do not treat women this way, doesnt matter if you are a democrat, libertarian, you are not in politics, you are in politics. That needs to come not in my opinion, not from Sarah Huckabee sanders or any other staffer, that needs to come from donald trump, and why is it hard to do that, brooke, exactly what you talked about, because donald trump now, hes denied this, but i think it was a dozen, i dont want to overstate it, an um in of women came forward during the campaign and said he acted inappropriately towards him. He denied it he said they were not telling the truth. Sarah Huckabee Sanders echoed that. Calling them liars. These people are lying. So that makes it hard. Thats what happens when you elect someone with a background and approach like donald trump that we have not seen before. We are in a place where we need moral leadership. No question about that. And we dont have a president , i think, who has inclination to step into that space. And also has a narrative behind him that we all know that complicates any effort to say ill take the high ground and ill show us how we need to act. Just because he doesnt want to talk about, doesnt mean that makes it okay. No. I want to continue this conversation, but let me pivot back over to mj whose microphone we have ready to roll. So again you are standing in front of senator franken office and he has said what . Yeah, we have been out here for a couple of hours now and no sign of the senator all day. But he did put out a lengthy statement and i want to read a part of that for you. He said the first thing i want to do is apologize. I dont know what was in my head when i took that picture. And it doesnt matter. There is no excuse. I look at it now and i feel disgusted with myself. It isnt funny. Its completely inappropriate. Its obviously how leeann would feel violated by the picture. He goes on to say, while i dont remember the rehearsal for the skit as leeann does, i understand why we need to listen to and believe womens experiences. Im asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken and ill gladly cooperate. Now, two notable things about this statement, brooke, one is that the statement is much longer and much more extensive and a lot more remorseful than the initial statement that he put out this morning. And the second thing is what he said about this ethics investigation. Essentially saying that he supports an investigation being taken place about these allegations and that he thinks it should happen. Now, this is a point of view that his colleagues actually agree with him on. Senate majority leader Mitch Mcconnell, Senate Minority Democrat Chuck schumer and a newspaper of other senators we have talked to today, both democrats and republicans, both men and women saying this ethnics investigation is entirely appropriate. And i think the fallout is only just beginning, brooke. For example, senator i am told is going to return all of the money she has received from senator franken pact and given that money to group that works to combat Sexual Assault in the military. And i think in the big picture, brooke, this is going to be a reality check, a moment for a lot of these members of congress to contend with the potential reality that this is just the beginning. That we now have one name, one current sitting member of congress who is being accused of this kind of misconduct. And its very, very possible that other victims could choose to speak out and that we may hear of other kinds of allegations in the coming days and weeks. Change is afoot. You can fill it. Thanks mj for all your incredible reporting this week and bringing this conversation back around. I should also mention as more and more accusers speaking up, the accuser here in this al franken story will be speaking live with jake tapper on the lead well. So stay with us for that. So we have another layer to this story, which is according to sources, an emotional and upset senator al franken apologized to staff after this allegations that he groped this woman some years ago. Doesnt surprise me. When you look at some of these things they are generational, things that men did and didnt think twice about years and years ago they wouldnt do now hopefully. And if they do do them now, they are hopefully fewer. And get in trouble for it. And get in trouble for it. Yeah. And he was kind of this famous guy, this comedian. Snl. And all the rest. So i dont doubt his remorse at all. And he admitted he did what he did. There was a picture of it. And he didnt remember the messy kiss, but whatever. And so whats stunning to me about all of these things is that a lot of these men are not really denying it. Judge moore is. Except for President Trump. And ray moore. Exactly. President trump, ray moore denying it. And weinstein to a certain degree because he says he never raped anybody. So i think that we are going through this kind of reeducation here. And women of my generation are looking back and saying, oh, all that stuff that happened to us, you are laughing, janet, we didnt pay a lot of attention. We are the same generation. Right. Which i think. We didnt pay a lot of attention to. You dealt with it, right. Right, you dealt with it. You avoided circumstances. Sort of uncomfort bly laughed. Yeah, there wasnt any real hr to go to to be honest. And not enough women to talk to about it. So its a whole different thing. So i look at this and i look at franken, and im sure hes remorseful and im sure hes beating himself over it, because hes in a lot of trouble over this. And i want to point out about her, which she hasnt recommended any remedies. She hasnt said he ought to lose his seat. She hasnt. Thats a great point. She hasnt said a thing. She says i need to speak out because congresswoman jackie was on the radio show and i have to speak out. I commend her for that. She felt the need to sort of tell people her story. But didnt come out and say, you know, he ought to lose his jb over this. The embarrassment. He is suffering tremendously. But now talking ethics investigation. But in a way, and we can talk about this, by saying there is going to it be an ethics investigation allows every member of congress to say i support that. I think there should be an ethics investigation then run away from reporters. Its easy. Its just an easy thing to do for every democrat to say, i support the ethics investigation and then go on your merry way. I want to say one thing about his memory. He had to remember the picture. The picture exists. The proof was there. As far as the messy kiss, he could say i dont remember that happening. And i think that we have to point that out for this reason. In most of these cases, 99. 9 , there is no picture. It is he said, she said. Thats the difference. Or he said, he said. Weve talked a lot about harassment in the last couple of weeks. And, so, the picture existed. It gave her something to stand on. But he says he doesnt remember it. And he did it in front of a lot of people, which is what sort of blows my mind, which clearly people taking photographs of this and he was entertaining them or so he thought. Or, right so he thought when she was asleep. And listen she must have had this photo for all these years and destieded now is the time. Im so curious to see how the white house responds to all of what we have just been discussing. They have to. They have to. Ladies, thank you, stay with me. Coming up here well take the White House Press briefing should get under way minutes from now. Also ahead we have to talk about ray moore the Alabama Senate candidate expected to speak as welcoming up there in birmingham as two new accusers have come forward and told their stories to Washington Post. Well bring you ray moore remarks. Busy hour on this thursday afternoon. Stay right with me. 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But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brainhealth supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. Id never serve my family whichanything else . Cial, only egglands best. Better taste. Better nutrition. Better eggs. All right. Live pictures here. Right side of your screen, white house briefing. Everyone is set and ready to roll. We are waiting for Sarah Huckabee sanders to take the podium and answer questions. Left side birmingham alabama where we are told Senate Candidate ray moore is set to speak in just a moment. Facing these new accusations coming out in the Washington Post. But well go first to athena jones who has some big big news with regard to former president george h bush. A theen t athena, what is going on . Thats right. New woman coming forward saying he touched her in prappropriate at a fundraiser in campaign april of 1992. Does not want us to use her name. Picture taken 25 years ago with then president. And her father. She says this happened in 1992 t and this is significant because she is the first woman to come forward to say that the president touched her inappropriately while he was still in office. Brooke, youll remember a few weeks back, when this story began, many of the early allegations we were reporting on took place in the last few years, 2014, 2015, 2016. This is 1992 earlier accuser we know of so far. As i said she doesnt want the Media Attention and name known. So i spoke with her exhusband and best friend both of whom she told about the incident at that time. She said it was also during a photo op as we heard from the other six women that weve heard from about similar allegations. She said that he didnt use a joke or anything, but that he gave her what she described as a gentle screws. A squeeze. And it was like holy crap, she said, in describing the moment that bush she says touched her buttocks. And one more thing, brooke, shes women that ive been talking to not been easy for them to come forward. Very, very reluctant. Afraid of the Media Attention and the backlash. And most of them, therefore, havent come public in realtime. They have waited in many cases years even though they have told family and friends this is yet one more example of that. And this woman said to me she was irritated put forward by bushs team about allegations, all of the focus has been on hes old. But, but he wasnt old when it happened to me. Ive been debating what to do about it. So thats the latest news here. Brooke. All right. Athena jones. Thank you for that. Lets go back to the live pictures in alabama asset to hear from ray moore in a second. Hes the Senate Candidate em broiled in really a mess with regard to all these female accusers came out he in p appropriately touched them, one when they were 14 years old. Do we know what hes going to say . We dont know what hell say. They said the whole thing is character assassination and unsubstantiated. He also said he is the most valiant leader running today and doesnt believe the claims. He let out a little smile saying that if he were a lesser man he would have withdrawn already. There is no indication he is going to withdraw. I had a front row seat to this all and he seemed to be in good spirits, brooke. We made eye contact several times. Smiling throughout this presentation by faith leaders holding his wife kayla hands. We expect him to take the podium any minute now. Brooke . All right. Nick, thank you. Chris, come back. Here i am. I have a question for you. So, not quite yet. I have my eye on the screen. We know ray moore and perhaps this is indication part of what he might say. He had tweeted talking about franken story. He admits guilt. Then he says mitch, Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell lets investigate. Then ray moore says in alabama zero evidence, allegations 100 rejeted. He says, mitch, moore must quit immediately or be expelled. Okay. First of all, i mean i understand the tendency to lump the al franken situation in if you are ray moore, look, its over here. Hes talking to. How did you know. Here he is ray moore. Thank you very much, janet. Its in deed an honor when i look at this group of people behind me, i wont repeat their names, but ive known many of them through the years, some ten years ago, some 20, some 30, and some 40, but some 40 are gone. Many of them have lost their jobs. They have lost their positions. They have suffered imprisonment. Jail time. They have been fined. They suffered persecution. And some are gone like mr. Schlify who i dearly loved. Which all reminds me of a story when i first got into politics, they said in the court system three things you have to have to be a good candidate. Thats honesty, dedication and experience. So i went to seasoned old judge and told him that. He said roy thats not correct you dont need honesty. What you need to have is eyeglasses shows people that you study a lot and read a lot. And ive come to where i have to have glasses close range now. He says next thing is you have to have graying hair or thinning hair, well as you can see mine has been going for a while. And he said you have to have that to show your age. You have to be studied and be of an age proper. Then he said then you have to have one other thing. I said whats that judge . He said you have to have hemorrhoids. And i said judge, i dont understand that. I dont have hemorrhoids. He said well you have to have hemorrhoids. I said why . He said well it gives you a concerned look. I think the one thing that drives these people to come from places all across our country, from california, and texas, and ohio, and maryland and pennsylvania and new york and florida, illinois, one thing we have in common is concern fr our country and concern for our future. I want to thank everyone of them individually. Its been a great honor and great encouragement to hear them. They know what they are talking about, i think. They know that this country faces rough times ahead if we dont go back to the one upon whom it is founded. I thank all of you who have come to support me in this campaign. I sincerely appreciate your support and look forward to serving the United States senate. One thing i want to see happen is unity. I never dreamed that i would succeed even before i got elected. But i have unified the democrats and the republicans in fighting against me. Because they dont want me there. As you know the Washington Post has brought some false charges, not charges, allegations, which i have emphatically denied time and time again. They are not only untrue, but they have no evidence to support them. Two of the speakers up here said words that i caught one said unsubstantiated, and another said unproven. Another said they were fake. All of that is true. And the Washington Post is certainly not evidence. What i want to do in this campaign is very simple is get back to the issues, which some are avoiding addressing. I havent had one question from the press or the media about issues in this case since these allegations have occurred. What is important is how we address the future of this country. And by cutting taxes, rebuilding our military p repealing obamacare, and putting good judges and justices on the federal and supreme courts of the United States, we have to stop judiciary supremacy or we are losing our form of government. [ cheers and applause ] many of you have recognized that this is an effort by Mitch Mcconnell and his cronies to still this election from the people of alabama, and they will not stand for it. They over came 30 million and voted me in the primary. And now they are trying a different tactic. They even, well, today we got a call from one big magazine, that you all recognize if i say the name, i dont want to say it, but they got a call that said asked me to step down from the campaign. Well, i want to tell you who needs to step down. Thats Mitch Mcconnell. [ cheers and applause ] there have been comments about me taking a stand. Yes, i have taken a stand in the past. Ill take a stand in the future. And ill quit standing when they lay me in that box and put me in the ground. Im proud to stand with people that i see behind me and with people of alabama to bring forth the truth to washington d. C. Not just about what we stand for, but what the people of this country stand for, an acknowledgment of god and constitution, and acknowledgment that we need moral value back in our country. And without god we can never succeed. I want to thank you for coming here. I want to close by just saying my god bless you, bless the state of alabama, and the United States of america. Thank you. And now the moment youve all waited for. Ray moore says he is not going anywhere. He wants to get become to the issues. He wants to get back to the issues. But i would say the issues are about women. And the issue is about this allegation of improperly touching a 14yearold. Chris, we also heard him double down on clearly his ir for the Senate Majority leader and saying to round of applause in a very friendly room there in birmingham that Mitch Mcconnell should step done. What did you think of that. Mitch mcconnell the stop republican in the senate is in cahoots with not only the democrat but also the Washington Post in a grand conspiracy to get eight or nine, ive lost track, eight or nine women who do not know one another to come forward and tell very similar stories about ray moores approach to them, and efforts to purview romantic relationships with them. Thats the con seat. That is what ray moores argument is. And that i find hard to believe. Brooke. I mean, he is right. There is not full proof undeniable evidence that these women are telling the truth and ray moore is not telling the truth. I get that. There is not going to be that evidence. But if you believe ray moore, you have to believe everything that i just said, that Mitch Mcconnell and the democrats and the Washington Post and by the way the birmingham news are all in on something where eight or nine women are alleging sexually inappropriate behavior, 20 plus people are core brroborating thn the Washington Post. I just struggle to seek you have no words. You have a mountain of things here. And on the other side we have fake news. And what, frankly, i spent a lot of time in washington in politics, it just strikes me that it would be odd that Mitch Mcconnell and the democrats and the Washington Post and the birmingham news would all be on this grand conspiracy that only ray moore can see. Right. Jamie, what do you think . Well, one of the things hes thrown down a marker here, right. And the other thing is whose playbook is this . This is Donald Trumps playbook. He denied, denied, denied. Its clear that ray moore has decided hes going to go all the way. And if you look at a lot of the other instances, we have seen recently, when people apologized, when people admitted they were wrong, they lost their jobs jobs, they lost their book contracts, and tv shows. There are consequences. Al frank ken just said hes sorry and hes going to cooperate. But his life has now been turned upside down. Ray moore is not going that way. Hes going donald trump is the president of the United States despite what was it 15, 16 women in that case who came out. Hes going to go the denial route. What do we go ahead, chris. I was going to sail i mentioned this before, ray moore, but i do think its important, look, when that acce access hollywood came out in the fall and donald trump dismissed it as locker room talk, i knew there was a shift happening, but hard to mark that in the moment. I think what you are seeing here is what happens when you elect someone who takes the approach that jamie just outlined. Who i think is both unwilling and unable in some ways to sort of seize the moral leadership that our past president s, democrat and republican have had. We saw a hint of it as it related to charlottesville, but this gets to the core of it. A president imagine if barack and george w. Bush were president , you would have them saying this conduct is unacceptable whether its al franken or george hw bush, although that would be tough for george bush, admittedly, but this is not how we antibiotic. We need act. We need to say this is not what we do. And trump because of who he is and where he came from in the campaign, past things he has said about women, and his sort of unwillingness i think to do the things that past president s have done as it relates to standing up and being that moral leader, there is a vacuum there. You know, we are not getting a comment from him. Sorry, go ahead. But obviously you heard the room, you know, chris, you have a thought and rest of the country has a thought on this. But what matters at the end of the day how people feel in alabama because they are the ones going into vote. What is it, december 12th. And they are the wunsones, i do know if this is indicative of the state but there was steer us applause for him. Hes going to get a chunk of votes, brooke, no doubt about that. Could he win . Sure. I do think it is less likely that he wins thenty moment assuming there is no other republicans trying to replace him . Lets say candidates are ray moore and doug jones, i think doug jones is likely to wendys piet the fact that you are right, its not just in that room, there are a lot of places that ray moore goes in alabama where hes being cheered on. We have seen, youve had people on the show, defending ray moores behavior. Alleged behavior. Yes. But that doesnt make it right h and i think its important to say that. Alabama will have their say. But i would suggest that there is a reason beyond simply moral principle that is leading Mitch Mcconnell and others to want to try to get ray moore out and Jeff Sessions in. That is because they believe they will not win the seat. Or they will not be able to hold the seat in any meaningful way. I dont think thats not their number one calculation. But it is a calculation. And i think ray moore, he has not been destroyed by this. He would not get zero votes if the election were held today. But i do think that he has been hurt by this outside of the hard core base. And that hard core base for him i dont think is big enough for him to win statewide even in a republican state like alabama. So we have the picture up from the white house. Reare abo we are about to see her, Sarah Huckabee sanders. As we talked about a second ago calling the female accusers in the donald trump essentially calling them liars. Thats the last on the record comment. Here she is about to be on the podium. She is going to be asked lets just go there. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Apologizes for the delay. Its great to be back with everybody. Certainly i miss seeing most of you who werent on the road. Most of us. Most of you. I gave myself a little wiggle room there. The president s historic five country trip to asia was incredible success. He rally the world against the menass of north korea, street end our alliances, and showed our commitment to a free and open endo Pacific Region and took a stand for fair and reciprocal trade. Tas a result of the trip, americans families will be safer and more secure, and American Workers and companies are one step closer to competing on the level playing field. Speaking of leveling the playing field, the president a plauds the house for passing the tax cut and jobs act massive step for fulfilling our promise to deliver historic tax cuts for the American People by the end of the year. We are encouraged that the house and Senate Continue to Work Together to deliver what the president asked them to do. Allow hard working middle class families to keep more of their hard earned money and empower our companies and workers to dominate the global competition. Senate finance committee is also making it progress on companion bill and soon advance it to the floor for a vote. A simple fair and competitive tax code will be our rocket fuel for our economy and its within our reach. Well bring back jobs, well bring back our wealth. And as the president has said many times well bring back our Great American dreams. Now is the time to deliver. And we fully expect the senate to follow the house soon. And with that, ill take your questions. Thank you, sara. Two questions, two topics if i may. Does the president believe ray moores accusers and think ray moore should drop out of the race . Look, the president bloefs the allegations are troubling and should be taken seriously and he thinks that the people of alabama should make the decision on who their next senator should. So thats a no he thinks ray moore should stay in. Look, the president said in his statement earlier this week if the allegations are true, then that ray moore should step aside. He Still Believes that. How would the president like to see that proven . Look, im not going to get into and litigate back and forth. But the president has been clear that if any of these allegations are true, allegations that he takes very seriously, finds very troubling, if those do happen to be true, then he should do the right thing and step aside. Does the president believe that accusations themselves, that is to say the women themselves and their own credibility can be established . Outside of them making these allegations . Whats the mechanism by which the president will be satisfied that the allegations are true . Look, i dont think the president has laid out what the mechanics are that should be determined possibly by a court of law. But thats also something in the people of alabama need to make, not the president , whether or not they want ray moore to support them in the senate. Sara, ivanka trump says she has no reason not to believe the women. Does the president disagree with her position . The president is not disagreeing with anyone. He says he finds the allegations troubling. He doesnt know anymore than you do on this fact other than that these are something that should be taken very seriously and that the people of alabama should be the ones to make the decision on whether or not to support ray moore. Having the information that we have and the information that the people of alabama have, would President Trump vote for ray moore . The president is not a voter in alabama. So. I know hes not but endorses candidates all time in states that hes not a voter and says i would vote or wouldnt. Would he vote for ray moore . I havent asked him. Would you get back to us on that . John. Sara, a number of republcan senators have pulled their endorsement for ray moore and urged him to step a side, senator said he wouldnt vote for him and write someone in on the ballot. Senator cruz has pulled his endorsement. The president is the leader of the republican party. Why wont he weigh in on this . Why wont he take the same type of strong position that these other republican senators have taken . Look, the president supported the position by rnc to withdraw resources from this race. But feels its up to the people of alabama to make the decision. I dont have anything further to add on that front. James . Thank you, sara. I dont mean by asking about this to stug its necessarily the most important thing facing the country right now but it happens to be my story assignment for the day. You say that the president finds these allegations against mr. Moore, judge moore to be very troubling, extremely troubling, et cetera. As we all know, the president faced a number of similar allegations or somewhat similar allegations during the course of the campaign and vigorously denied them. But i wonder what you would assert to be the difference between the two situations such that on the face of things we should find one set of allegations very troubling and on the other we shunned Pay Attention to them or all or totally disbelieve them. I think the president has certainly a lot more in sight into what he personally did or didnt do. And he spoke out about that directly during the campaign. And i dont have anything further to add beyond that. Sara, id like to ask you about two other topics. Tax bill that passed by the house today. One of the things that the tax bill does is increase the deficit by 1. 5 trillion. I know the white house has argued that that would be paid by growing the economy. But if the economy doesnt grow, how do you square that with the republican view of or general principle that the deficits are bad . And on a second. I disagree with the premise of the question. We do expect the economy to grow. We have stein that happen over the last ten months and we expect that to continue. But are you confident that the economy will grow consistently enough to cover these costs that otherwise would lead to a balloon deficit . Yes, thats been part of our process and part of what we have laid out from the beginning. We expect this to be consistent. And thats certainly what we hope for. Thats one of the reasons that the president continues to push for things like deregulation. That have helped boost the economy. Hes going to continue to push things that help do that. And accomplish that. And we feel confident let me ask you about the tax code as well on the house side, they passed it today on the senate side still has a ways to go. These are similar, but they are also different bills and plans. At this point, does the president have a preference for the house or the senate bill and if so, which one . Right now both bills achieve the president s priorities, thats been his focus, tax cuts for middle class families, simplifying the tax code, slashing tax for businesses of all sizes so they can grow, create jobs, raise wages for their workers and compete in the global marketplace. Hes laided out those priorities right now, both of those pieces of legislation do that, and thats what hes been focussed on throughout the process. You didnt say there repealing the obamacare individual mandate, is that a priority for the president as well . Thats something the president obviously would love to see happen, but in terms of the big things that he laid out on the very front end of the principles for the tax reform package, its those things i just laid out. First of all, does his endorsement of moore still stand . As ive said, this is a decision for the people of alabama to make. Not one for him to make. And my question about the trip is hes made a strong argument that having a Good Relationship with russia and with Vladimir Putin is a good thing for the United States. Does the president believe that putin would ever lie to his face . Look, as the president said many times before, he doesnt think that its helpful for him to get into a back and forth argument with Vladimir Putin, but he does think that there are places where we can work with russia, particularly whether its on syria, north korea, or other big global issues that the world is facing, and thats been the president s focus and hes going to continue to look for ways that we can work with them that help america. Let me ask you about question about tax reform, 13 republicans broke from the president s, Party Leaders because they believe that this will increase taxes for some, if not many or most of their constituents, california, new jersey, and new york. And those 13 members represent millions of people who in theory voted for the president , believing that he would lower their taxes, what does the president say to those people and how is this whole tax reform endeavor for them not a bait and switch . Look, the president s still incredibly focussed. Hes laid out the priorities of making sure this tax plan helps those in the middle class and thats exact lay what it does. Thats the focus of both pieces of legislation in the house and the senate, jim. On roy moore, when the president campaigned with roy moore. Not that im aware of. Followup. Do you think hes a creep . Do i . Yeah. Look, i dont know roy moore. I havent met him in person, i wouldnt be able to respond in that personally. Does the president think that roy moore is qualified to serve in the u. S. Senate . The president as ive said about seven or eight times now thinks this is a decision for the people of alabama. Weve heard from you and weve heard from ivanka on this, when are we going to hear from the president . The president has put a statement out earlier in the week when we were on the trip and he stands by that statement. Questions for two straight days, is the president of the United States, the leader of the republican party, i think a lot of people im aware of all of the qualifications of the president , and its actually my job to answer questions on his behalf, which im doing, which ive done, and which he has done repeatedly over the last 12 days while we were on a trip across asia. So to act like he hasnt answered questions is just silly. Sorry kristen, im going to move it around. On the other side of the aisle, does he have a response to the allegations against senator al franken and also the mistrial over senator on senator franken it appears that the senate is looking into that which they should, and we feel thats an appropriate action. I havent asked him about senator mendes. Sarah, could you talk a little bit about the decisionmaking behind nick mul vany to lead Consumer Financial protection board, at least on an interim basis given the fact that hes been a long standing critic of the board in the first place and what the signal should we take from that in the future of that board of directors. I dont have any announcements on that front at this point, well followup with you in the coming days over any movement in that area. Francesca. Thank you, sarah. China has announced that its sending a special envoy to north korea tomorrow. The president was just in beijing, is that something that the president talked to president xi about while he was there . Is that something that the president favors . The president certainly favors china taking a greater role in putting maximum pressure on north korea, this is one of the things that he and president xi spoke extensively about over the course of our visit and certainly any effort in order to denuclearize the peninsula there in north korea, then china participating in that, the president certainly supports those efforts. I have another question about china and trade. Yesterday in his remarks, the president said that we can no longer tolerate unfair trading practices that steal american jobs and wealth and intellectual property, the days of the United States being taken advantage of are over. Does the president still believe that china is raping the u. S. Economy . Look, the president knows that there hasnt been a fair and reciprocal trade with china. Hes been very clear and he was very clear directly with president xi which hell continue to be to make sure that American Workers getting the best deal and the best pieces possible. That was one of the reasons that he worked to security massive deals of totaling over 250 billion while he was in china. Hes going to continue to push for those types of efforts. Jordan. Thanks sarah, before the president left for asia, officials here hinted that north korea might be added back on to the list of state sponsors of terror. Has the president decided to go forward with that move . I believe the president will making an announcement decision on that at the first part of next week. Well keep you posted on those details. Hunter. Thank you, sarah. The fish and Wildlife Service is lifting a ban and will now allow elephant trophies imported from zimbabwe. President trump said he disagreed with big game hunting, why does he want this ban lifted and has he changed the view on the practice . There hasnt been an announcement, at this point, i defer you to the department of interi interior. I spoke to them today, they said they have a draft of whats going in the federal register tomorrow. Again, there hasnt been an announcement, until thats done, i wouldnt consider anything final. Again, defer you to the department of interior for the time being and when we have an announcement on that front, well let you know. Thank you sarah. The Senate Judiciary committee sent a letter to Jared Kushner alleging that he did not provide all the information that he should have about his emails during the Campaign Including emails regarding wikileaks. Do you acknowledge that mr. Kushner has not been fully forthcoming and secondly, donald trump jr. Sent out all of his correspondents of wikileaks on his twitter account, do you acknowledge that the campaign was in touch with wikileaks during the campaign and was the president aware that his son was corresponding with wikileaks . On the first question, jareds attorney will be putting out a statement momentarily. If that hasnt happened yet, itll probably happen here within the next half hour or so. I would refer you to that. Terms of any other questions, id refer you to the campaign, debora. Thank you, sarah. After the house passed the Gop Health Care law, you had a celebration in the rose garden, im assuming theres not going to be a celebration today about the tax bill. What are you doing differently this time around . The president was on the hill earlier today to praise and rally support for the vote, hes very engaged in this process, were going to continue to be and were looking forward to seeing the same results come out of the senate when they pass a bill and signing historic tax cuts and tax reform by the end of year. Noah. Yes, you talked about the tax bill in terms of fulfilling the promise to middle class people that the president made during the campaign and afterward, why does the president support where the individual tax rates will the cuts will expire at the end of 2025, but the corporate rates will never expire and going down from 35 to 20. Look, the president laid out his principles, thats what weve said all along. Were counting on the house and senate to actually put in the details of that legislation that reflect the priorities that the president laid out. Were going to continue letting this bill work through the process and right now we think its in a really good place and were going to keep pushing forward for progress. Do you think thats a fair bill to have that, one tradition expire and the other not . Again, the president has made clear what his priorities for this legislation are. And were going to continue to stay focussed on those jessica. One of the other things that happened in china right after the president left was that this announcement about more ownership in the Financial Sector in china was announced, but it was announced after the president left. I wonder if that came up in the conversations between the president s and if that was part of any ongoing conversations or dealing that were reached during the visit or before the visit. Im not sure if thats specific thing came up, id have to check and get back to you. Taken issue today with the president s statement yesterday that he and president xi agreed that there would be no freeze for freeze proposal regarding north korea. What is your understanding or the president s understanding of what he and xi agreed about that and does the president stand by that statement yesterday . Yeah, both sides made their position clear. Theyre different, but we agree that theyre going to be different positions and therefore its not going to move forward. Thank you, sarah. Before the president left for his trip to asia, he recalled on the Justice Department to look into the democrats and that situation and he put it, and days later the attorney general asked special prosecutors to look into the uranium one foundation in the clinton foundation. Did the president cross any lines and the attorney general to look into the situation of the democrats . Look, the president hasnt directed any investigation or the appointment of a special counsel, in fact he said publicly that he hasnt been involv
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