Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20170124 : vimarsana.com

At one point one of the senators, i believe it was senator heller from nevada said, do you abide by the stock act . The stock act was passed in the wake of that book by author schweitzer, who went on to write the clinton cash book, but this was about extortion, how members of congress potentially abuse their position to find out whats going on and then invest in those companies to know whats gg coming down the pike in terms of tax credits or whatever. And then Congress Passed a bill that was fairly toothless in terms what it did. It was sold as a remedy, but members of congress are the burden to prove, to violate the stock act is so high, members of Congress Really still are able to get away with something that i think a lot of americans would find unethical. Im talking about democrats, republicans, anybody in congress has the right to do this as of now. And the burden for proving it is very difficult. So, congressman price said, yes, he abided by the stock act. That was end of that. I want to bring in our panel to talk a little more about todays hearing. Our National Political reporter niamalika henderson is with us, gloria borger, chief Political Correspondent dana bash and senior political analyst mark preston, also joining us chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta. Dr. Gupta, so many people are watching this hearing right now. They want to know, will their Health Insurance, will obamacare, the Affordable Care act, will it still be in place . If it isnt in place, its replaced, if you will, whats going to happen . Well, its interesting. I think that you can probably safely say theres going to be a significant change to the Affordable Care act. Maybe it is completely repealed and ultimately replaced with something. Certainly sounds like thats whats likely to happen, as jake was just pointing out. There was kind of a little startling lack of specifics even after three hours or so of these hearings. I mean, i was just i was listening to the whole thing. Its remarkable how little we still fully understand. But i think we can we can probably safely say, its going to change dramatically. I think the majority of the questions, interestingly enough, really focused on federal entitlements like medicare and medicaid. There were fewer questions about the exchanges of the Affordable Care act specifically, and even fewer questions about the stock concerns of congressman price. With regards to medicare and medicaid, you know, the idea that hes brought forth and hes been releasing his own plans over the last seven years now, congressman price has, basically saying he wants to create a premium support sort of program. Meaning that, yeah, you can still buy medicare. Well give you the amount of money medicare costs now. You can buy medicare if you want it or use that money to buy private insurance. The big concern brought up by a few senators, that money wont may be enough now, but it wont be enough next year or the year after that. Ultimately, thats what the privatizing of medicare, thats the vehicle to privatization. That was one of the big concerns that kept coming up over and over again. Gloria, how do you think dr. Price did . Well, i think he did a very good job in not saying much of anything. And, therefore, sort of kept the place kind of calm. I mean, he it was as if senator ron wyden, for example, was very aggressive, Claire Mccaskill, very aggressive. They kind of talked past each other. At one point ron wyden asked for a guarantee that no one will be worse off. And price would say, people who lost coverage under the Affordable Care act wont lose their coverage under whatever comes next. But its very clear to me that republicans and price, in particular, are aware that in repealing obamacare, they may have created another third rail of american politics. And they dont want to touch it right now. They just dont want to touch it because they dont have a plan in place to ensure people that theyre not going to lose the things that they like. And so, price was smart. He couldnt do anything else. There is no plan right now. And he cant talk about something that doesnt exist. He knows hes not going to write it on his own. Lets play that sound, its sot 2 to the people in the control room, when ron wyden of oregon asked tom price, can you guarantee what youre about to do. Nobody will be hurt. Take a listen. Under the executive order, will you commit that no one will be worse off . What i commit to, senator s working with you and every Single Member of congress to make certain we have the highest Quality Health care and every single american has access to affordable coverage. That is not what i asked. I asked, will you commit that no one will be worse off under the executive order . You ducked the question. Will you guarantee that no one will lose coverage under the executive order . I guarantee you that the individuals that lost coverage under the Affordable Care act, we will commit to making certain that they dont lose coverage under whatever replacement plan comes forward. Thats the commitment that i provide to you. Thats kind of doublespeak, dana bash. I garn tie the individual in washington . That lost coverage will not lose coverage under the replacement. Okay, thats great. Theres a point made that people lost coverage because of premium spikes and the rest. Thats a perfectly legitimate point to make, but thats not what the question was. No, it wasnt. Thats a confusing answer for the American People. Absolutely. That was not an accident. That was prepared and that was very carefully delivered to answer without answering and give doublespeak. And the reason is, what gloria said, they dont know how theyre going to change this. The argument that tom price made is one, i think, a certain point in these hearings, these three, four hours, is what well hear from republicans as they try to fashion this, that people have insurance more than they did before, 20 million people, but that doesnt necessarily mean that they have access to coverage. So, you could have Health Insurance, but then when you get sick or when you want to go to the doctor, you cant you cant make that happen. And so, thats the argument that theyre going to make to people with the insurance that, you know, its not as great as you think it is, but its easier said than done. The one thing i do want to say, and i think one of the reasons why this hearing is so important is you kind of take a step back, tom price, assuming he will be confirmed, and as you said earlier, theres no reason to think he wont be since republicans have the majority, is going to be in charge of so many. Domestic agenda that President Trump and republicans in congress behind us are going to be focusing on. Obamacare, number one. Entitlements, number two, medicare not social security, but certainly medicare. Those are going to be the big fights. As hhs secretary, that role has a lot of discretion over how any and all of this is put forward. Sanjay, obviously, there are individuals who because of premium hikes, theyve lost their coverage. Under obamacare. But the question that senator wyden was asking was about the people who now have Health Insurance because of obamacare, whether its because of they got free insurance, basically, free for them at least, because of the Medicaid Expansion or those individuals who got stipends and tax credits to help them afford it. There are millions of americans who now have insurance because of obamacare. Whatever the problems with obamacare, lets set them aside for a second. He did not answer the question. He did not answer the question, clearly did not answer the question. Anticipated the question and knew he wasnt going to answer it specifically. The question being, can you guarantee people wont lose their health care under whatever plan, the replacement plan i dont think he can answer that question. He cant answer that question in the affirmative, although least not on what weve seen so far. Theres sort of again, sitting here listening to this for three hours, making diligent notes about all of this, theres still a startling lack of specifics here. I dont think you could explain what the plan what the plan is, if there is a plan, or even what some of these changes that dana was just talking about to federal entitlements. We know theyve come up in all these various cursory ways but its hard to describe to people. I was going to say, its going to take a while, mark preston, for, i guess, the whole process to sort out, even as dana points out, the republicans have the votes, hell most certainly be confirmed. No doubt about that. We saw a couple weeks ago where paul ryan told jake they hope to get this done or put down the marker and said they would get this done within the first 100 days. The problem is theres no agreement from republicans on capitol hill about how to get it done and they havent reached an agreement how to put it in place. Were seeing from democrats theyre trying to lay down markers. Theres a very short window for them to actually put Donald Trumps nominee, you know, on the hot seat and try to extract some kind of markers from tom price about what he is going to do. Now, tom price, everyone has said, has astutely sidestepped all of that because he knows he has no answers at this point. While this was such a good issue for donald trump to run on with his base in the election, this could become very difficult for republicans heading into the midterm election. Yeah. And you could see Claire Mccaskill essentially saying, listen,ist obamacare now, and once you appeal it, its going to be trumpcare. You also saw Sherrod Brown essentially maybe even call President Trump not such a truthful person when President Trump said there was a plan. Sherrod brown was questioning tom price and asking about that, that whether or not there was an aca which was nearly finished and will be revealed after prices confirmation. Price said, its true that donald trump said that. Not true, obviously, that theres an actual plan. Yeah, this is a very complicated issue for republicans. Remember, in some of these republican states, there is a Medicaid Expansion. You think about ohio, even think about indiana. Pence, they expanded medicaid in that state. So, this is something that was easy in terms of a Bumper Sticker and eelscy for republicans to have that repeal and to send it up to a democratic president and get it vetoed. But when it comes to actually putting the meat on this,ist going to be very tough for them to do. There was a different congressman, republican congressman, who was on the hot seat today, congressman mulvaney, nominated for office of management and budget. In previous years when people have had to withdrawal their nominations because it turns out they didnt pay taxes on a nanny or a chau fewer or something, Nick Mulvaney explaining his tax issue. She helps my wife with the kids. I did not consider her a household employee for purposes of withholding and did not withhold and didnt think about it again until two days after the president nominated me for this position. And during the transition i got a checklist, have you ever had a babysitter, nanny, governess, i said, yes. They sent me a government circular. I read it. Immediately i made a mistake and the irs viewed our babysitter as a household employee for whom i should have paid taxes. I will abide by the law to the best of my ability. Why would you not consider a housekeeper somebody that you would have to pay taxes on . Especially given all the history of other nominees during the clinton administration, later during the obama administration, where people have had to have their names withdrawn because they failed to pay those kinds of taxes. I mean, this guy is whip smart, everybody on capitol hill loves him and im sure hes going to be confirmed and everybody thinks hes a budget expert, but how do you not how do you not one other moment i want to play. Congressman jeff merkley, senator from oregon, trying to ascertain how much of a truthteller mulvaney will be. Take a look. I have behind me two pictures that were taken the same time of day in 2009 and 2017. Which crowd is larger, the 2009 crowd or the 2017 crowd . Senator, if you allow me to give the disclaimer as to how this ties to omb, but ill give you an answer. It appears the crowd on the righthand side is bigger than the kroud crowd on the lefthand side. Thank you. The president disagreed about this in his news report. He said, its a lie. We caught them. We caught them in a beauty, referring to the press reporting. Interesting that all of a sudden in a hearing for the confirmation process for the director of the office of management and budget, this comes up. Well, what congressman mulvaney said ultimately is hes going to provide the facts, both how theyre interpreted from one side and how theyre interpreted from the other side, to the president , and he will be he said he will be deadly serious about providing facts. Three, two, one, waiting for the email that donald trump just withdrew his nomination. Just kidding, just kidding. But it was a stunt. It was a stunt. That was a stunt. Absolutely, a total stunt. You know, hes not the first person to do that kind of thing. Not the last person to do that kind of thing on both sides of the aisle. Hes trying to make the larger point that, you know, are you going to be the person whos going to tell speak truth to power to donald trump when he says things that are clearly just not factual. Was it effective, do you think . No. Was it effective in the sense were sitting here talking about it and jeff merkley feels he got one up on mulvaney . Sure. My question is, are we going to see this at every hearing now . Are we going to see every time democrats and republicans are at issue, are we going to see these pictures go up and say, do you agree that doesnt help. I think it was a stunt. Honestly, if you want to question mulvaney, do it about his job and what he intends to in a sea of red ink and ask him other questions about entitlements and all the rest. I think its i think its i think its kind of just showmanship. No, it is. And it doesnt help the democrats at all. I think the democrats are trying to figure out where the daylight is between some of these nominees and donald trump. He did it in a very visual way. Youve seen some of that with the tillerson hearings, for instance. You know, lets face it, a lot of these folks arent really known to the average american and theyre looking for breakout moments that go viral. This might work for the senator there. It is interesting, though, because mulvaney will have a big job. They to want reduce the deficit, eliminate the 20 trillion national debt. A tall order for anyone. Mick mulvaney very respected on capitol hill. Hell be leading the charge. He apologized, an honest mistake for not paying taxes. Still to come, Jeff Sessions will have to wait until next week for his confirmation vote. Senator Richard Blumenthal sits on the committee that will approve or deny his nomination. He will explain the delay. Plus the white house expected to weigh in momentarily over at the daily briefing. There you see live pictures for the Briefing Room. Sean spicer, his second q a with reporters coming up as well. People confuse nice and kind but theyre different. Nice tells you what you want to hear. But kind is honest. This bar is made with cranberries and almonds. So, guess what . We call it cranberry almond. Give kind a try. Wont replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong insurance company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. And if you have more than one Liberty Mutual policy, you qualify for a multipolicy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Welcome back to washington. Im wolf blitzer reporting. More of President Trumps cabinet picks are getting approved while others face more scrutiny from lawmakers. Today democrats delayed a vote on the attorney general phenomenal knee, senator Jeff Sessions, until next week. And representative tom price, the nominee to become the next health and Human Services secretary is undergoing another round of hearings today. Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal of connecticut is joining us live from capitol hill. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, wolf. Great to be with you. Youre a member of the judiciary committee. Why the delay in voting on senator sessions nomination . The delay is due very simply to the very serious questions that remain to be answered by our colleague, senator sessions. They relate to his antipathy to the civil rights and civil liberty that he is supposed to champion, his equivocation when asked about standing up and speaking truth to power, to his boss, donald trump, and his ability to speak for the nation as a legal conscience. Im asking 20 more questions. I asked a great many questions during our hearing, but im unsatisfied with the responses ive received. Its in the tradition of our committee, the judiciary committee, that there be a full round of questions in the week that remains before he will be considered. But remember, we refuse to be a rubber stamp. Thats the reason why we are asking these questions of the nations top Law Enforcement officer and three of the president s cabinet have already been confirmed. Five more have been approved by committee. Theres no effort, simply, to delay. I take it, senator, youre leaning against his confirmation. I will oppose senator sessions confirmation as attorney general. The reason is that his record and the testimony of the hearing demonstrate to me that he will not be a champion for civil rights and Civil Liberties, religious freedoms, the right to privacy, Womens Health care. And those rights and liberties are under challenge as never before. He has to be a champion. Thats the role of the attorney general. As well as enforcing vigorously and zealously the criminal laws against any threats to public safety, the champion of civil rights and Civil Liberties has to be determined, and he has to be someone who will enforce those conflicts of interest laws against donald trump and his organization, which are unprecedented at this time. He has to be the one who says, i will find an independent counsel. So far hes refused to make that commitment. Lets talk about another nominee, congressman tom price, facing more serious questions today in the second round of his confirmation hearings. Hes been nominated to become the secretary of health and Human Services. What about have you decided whether or not you will vote for his nomination and whether it will be ultimately confirmed on the senate floor . Ive supported a number of President Trumps nominees, including elaine chuo and wilbur ross. I will vote against tom price. Mainly because he has said very specifically he will seek to destroy a womans right to health care. Hes against the Affordable Care act, in favor of repealing it without effectively replacing it. Hes in favor of block granting medicaid. All of these kinds of stands and others lead me to vote against his nomination. He is, in effect, against many essential programs and policies that hes been nominated to carry out. And i think that is a disservice to those programs and the people they serve and to the nation. Senator, i assume you acknowledge that the republicans, they have the majority in the senate. They have 52 republicans, 48 democrats. Unless some republicans bolt, all of these individuals who you oppose, they will be sworn in. You appreciate that . I not only understand and appreciate it, but i have to deal with it. Were trying to persuade some of our republican colleagues that their own constituents, the people they represent in their states, will be disserved by many of these policies and, for example, putting medicaid on block grants or destroying medicare by privatizing it, both stands of tom prices would be very bad for a lot of the people who voted for President Trump and who voted for our republican colleagues. Thats why i think we have a shot. For example, on scott pruitt, whos been nominated to head the epa. His record is of sewing the epa to block the air and Water Quality programs that he is supposed to implement. He has tried to stop the clean power plant. He said that Climate Change is under debate. Those kinds of doubts and dismissal of the policies that hes supposed to carry out, i think, deserve a no vote. Were working on our republican colleagues to persuade them. One quick question before i let you go, senator. Mike pompeo has been confirmed, hes not been sworn in as new cia director. You were not able to vote on the senate floor because weather kept you from getting back to washington on time. How would you have voted if you could have . I would have voted against director now director pompeo because of the questions that i raised, and others did as well, about the Massive Surveillance Program that he has indicated he wants to implement a Surveillance Program that involves combining lifestyle and other personal information with a database of new surveillance. I want more answers to those questions. And i think that he has adopted certain policies based on Political Goals over National Security interests. How will you vote on the nikki haley confirmation as next u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. . I will vote in favor of nikki haley to be u. N. Ambassador. I think that she has a firm grasp on the threat posed by the russians. Shes indicated that the russians will push us as far and as hard as they can if we do not push back. Shes also indicated a very realistic view of what our role should be at the u. N. , particularly in protecting it s is the israeli position against the very biased and onesided view thats been expressed often, as you know. So, i will vote for nikki haley. Senator blumenthal, thanks very much for joining us. Thank you. Coming up, were only moments away from the White House Daily press briefing. The press Secretary Sean Spicer expected to address a whole range of questions, including all the hearings under way up on capitol hill. Youre looking at live pictures coming in from the Briefing Room over at white house. Hell also update us on the president s meeting. 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The guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong insurance company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. And if you have more than one Liberty Mutual policy, you qualify for a multipolicy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Why are you checking your credit score . You dont want to drive old blue forever, do you . [brakes squeak] credit karma, huh . Yep, its free. Credit karma. Give yourself some credit. President trump says hes almost ready to announce his choice to fill a vacancy on United States Supreme Court. Heres what he just said a little while ago. Some time next week ill be making my decision. This week well be announcing next week. We have outstanding candidates and we will pick a truly great Supreme Court justice. But ill be announcing it some time next week. Some time next week. Our senior White House Correspondent jim acosta is standing by over at the white house with details. Jim, picking a Supreme Court nominee would be one of the most enduring legacies, considering it would be assumed, which could be four years, eight years. A Supreme Court justice could be 20, 30, maybe even 40 years on the Supreme Court. Its a lifelong position. Thats right, wolf. Courtesy of republicans in the senate who blocked president obamas pick, merritt garland to replace late justice scalia. From what we understand at cnn, talking to sources, there are a couple of pretty conservative judges on his list. William pryor, who is a judge who said abortion is abombable. He would be a pick to overturn roe versus wade. That will send up a big fight with democrats. Judge gorsuch is taking interest in the scotus betting pools. He has not weighed in on the abortion fight. We should point out, were told by the white house that President Trump will be meeting with Senate Leaders later on this afternoon, Senate Majority leader mitch mcconnell, and chuck grassley, on the judiciary committee, along with dianne feinstein. This is going to be a big test for President Trump. Does he pick someone who can get through the Senate Without a huge confirmation fight, or does he want to rumble . Thats something well find out next week. The president also this morning signed more executive actions or orders, including reviving the keystone xl and Dakota Access pipelines. That clearly puts him on a collision course with environmentalists. That was a Campaign Commitment he made. Now hes living up to a promise, right . Reporter thats right, wolf. This is a product of the election. President obama, as we all know, we covered this pretty thoroughly, he blocked the keystone pipeline, even after the state Department Said the project would not contribute significantly to global warming. Donald trump said during the campaign that he was going to get that project going again. Also the Dakota Access pipeline, which has been the subject of numerous protests. There are still protesters out there to day. President trump saying hes going to get that project moving, signed executive orders this morning. He told reporters in the room that he wants to build pipes. The way they used to back in the old days, is the way he described it. He wants American Workers working on these pipelines, building these pipelines, and he made that pretty clear when he signed those executive orders this morning. Jim acosta, were going to get back to you. Were standing by. Sean spicer, White House Press secretarys briefing is about to begin. Well have coverage of that. I quickly want to get back to the Senate Finance committee. Senator mccaskill is asking tough questions of senator price. I understand the aspirational goal you have. But there is a record, congressman. There is a record. And the record is, as chairman of the budget committee, controlled by your party, you put out a budget document and you said over and over again that you favored block granting medicaid. In fact, your budget in 2017, that you were the chairman of, that you want to run away from today as if it never happened, and thats what i cant figure out why. Youre going to be influential, what you really believe matters. You want to run away from that. You cut medicaid by 1 trillion in your 2017 budget. And yet today, you want to stand on some notion that, well, whatever you guys do is fine. And thats just not reality. Congressman, whats reality is youve been chosen because of your beliefs. And your beliefs are reflected in your budget that you wrote as chairman of the budget committee. What i thats all the point im trying to make. Can i respond . I have a hard time understanding why you wont say, listen, it may not turn out the way i believe, but, yes, i favored block grants to medicaid. What i believe in is a medicaid system responsive to the patients and provides the highest quality care possible. And i would respectfully suggest to you that thats not the medicaid system we currently have. So, its incumbent upon you, its incumbent upon me if im given the privilege of serving in this capacity, to Work Together to find the solution so that we provide the highest quality care for medicaid patients and everybody else in this country. I understand. By the way, the argument being made in favor of block grants is it gives more flexibility and efficiency to the states. Thats the argument youve made before. Thats the argument that was made around the budget that you crafted, is when you block grant things to states, it gives them more efficiency. So, im going to turn to a block grant we have now, which is the social Services Block grant, which you have voted repeatedly to repeal. You have said that you you wanted to zero it out. And you have voted that way as a member of congress. And i want to make sure that you understand that that efficiency and effectiveness that you say you get with a block grant of medicaid is what is happening in my state with the social Services Block grants. Which, by the way, came about with ronald reagan. They are deciding where to use that money. Right now, just so you know where its being used in case you want to advise the president the same way you voted, it is being used for residential treatment for detoxing off heroine, used for day care for seniors to keep them in their home so were not paying the bill on medicaid in a nursing home, its being used for adoption services, used for Case Management to save money so that the cases are being managed effectively and efficiently in terms of accessing federal safety net programs. Will you continue to advocate, as you have in congress, for repealing of the social Services Block grants . Senator, with respect, i think theres likely a better way to provide those services in a much more efficient, effective and economical way for the individuals receiving the care. And i would also respectfully suggest to you that another state flexibility model that is held up by many is the taniff program that has been extremely successful. So, there are different ways to do things. Again, it ought to be it ought to be a collegial conversation that we have to lay out what the challenges are before us and working together to solve those challenges. And thats what id like to do. I was just trying to point out the inconsistency of saying block grants to medicaid are good because of flexibility and efficiency and block grants to states on social services is bad. Thats your statement to congress and thats why i brought it up. With respect, for individuals to say state flexible for medicaid is bad but state flexibility for taniff is inconsistent. Thank you. Were going to close this, senator wyden and myself, so ill ask senator wyden to make his Closing Remarks and then ill make mine. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Theyre wrapping up the Senate Finance Committee Confirmation hearing for tom price to become the next secretary of health and Human Services. Lets get back to our panel, niamalika herntd son, dana bash, gloria borger, mark preston. Tough questions, Claire Mccaskill very tough with him. Ron wyden, ranking member, very tough. A few others very tough. But they dont have the votes, the democrats. No, they dont. And they understand that. But what theyre trying to do is establish a narrative here. And its a narrative that says that and all these nominees. First of all, this is a president who has not drained the swamp. He brought in billionaires and so hes not draining the swamp. They have gamed the system in the past. That is not new. Then theyre trying to say, okay, these are people who dont care about you. The whole questioning on price is about, you want to repeal obamacare, fine. Where wha are you going to replace it with and who are you going to care about . Are you going to care about people who are on medicaid . Do you want to block grant medicaid or not . And so there you know, theyre establishing a storyline here with all of the nominees theyre going through. And its something thats going to continue as you go through the legislative process, particularly as it applies to obamacare because the democrats believe, and i was saying this before, that they have a new third rail here. And that when republicans touch it, its going to hurt them. Sean spicer is starting his briefing over at the white house. Lets go there. As you know, weve had a tremendous amount of activity here in the last 24 hours. Really focused on the American Worker, buy america and hire america is at the core of the president s plan to create an economy that works for everyone. I think by every indication youve seen that focus in the past 24 and 36 hours before we begin going through the events of today, i wanted to start off with a quick rundown of all the president and his administration have done with just one official working day under our belt. I dont know about everyone else, but i think its been a pretty impressive first and second full days here. President trumps meetings yesterday with top business and Union Leaders went very well. And i think was a signal to every American Worker that jobs and the economy are truly the president s top priority. A few of the participants noted afterwards in each one of these groups that we meet with that this is the first time, in some cases ever, that theyve been reached out to. In almost every case, the first time they were invited into the oval office. I really think that when you look at the level of concern and interest that he has in the American Worker, its been clearly on display in the last 2436 hours. In addition to these productive meetings, the president also took major steps towards fulfilling some of his Biggest Campaign promises to the American People. He ushered in a my era of u. S. Trade policy by withdrawing from the Transpacific Partnership agreement and restored respect for taxpayers by instituting a hiring freeze on the executive branch. He also reaffirmed his commitment to life by reestablishing the mexico city policy. And the president ended his day yesterday with a bipartisan, bicameral meeting of congressional leaders where he made it clear that he expects there to be no delay in getting an agenda his agenda through congress and action out of washington. This morning the president began his day with a breakfast listening to key automobile executives. They spoke about the importance of increasing manufacturing capabilities, specific to the automotive industry. They touched on the need for Regulatory Reform and a modernized safety standards, which will advance the Industry Leading Technology and job creation here in the United States i think youve been briefed on the attendees but quickly, mary barra, the head of General Motors was here, former governor matt blunt, president of the American Automotive policy council, mark fields of ford, craig gilden of General Motors, robert carr of fi yat chrysler, geojockey, head of Government Affairs for ford and from administration, Jared Kushner was on hand, reince priebus, steve bannon and hope hicks. The president signed a series of actions moving us toward Energy Independence but more importantly to get americans back to work. The president signed a memorandum to fulfilling swept keystone pipeline. Direct agencies to approve it without delay. Theres an Energy Revolution thats going to happen in this country. And in spite of the bureaucratic and political barriers that have been in place in the past, were ready to move forward. Oil and Gas Production is up significantly in the last decade. Our imports have been cut in half. The president s actions today will create tens of thousands of new jobs for the American Workers and move us greater towards Energy Independence while at the same time ensuring we keep the environment as a top priority. The president also signed a memorandum regarding the Dakota Access pipeline. This directs agencies to expedite reviews and approvals for the remaining portions of this pipeline, which the Previous Administration held up for political reasons. The 3. 8 billion pipeline already 90 complete will carry over 500,000 barrels a day of crude oil from areas in north dakota to oil markets in the u. S. In both of these areas, as the president remarked this morning, hes going to ensure that we continue to negotiate in both areas to provide the best deal for the american taxpayer. The president signed an executive order establishing a framework for expediting Environmental Reviews for high priority infrastructure projects, delays in other inefficiencies in the Environmental Review and permitting process are severely impeding critically important projects that will help us remodernize and rebuild our nations infrastructure. This order will help put an end to the crippling delays caused by bureaucratic red tape. The president also signed a memorandum requiring the commerce secretary to submit a report recommending how best to streamline manufacturing permitting. The president has been hearing from manufacturers that excessive regulation are driving them out of the u. S. As part of his commitment to making america work again, the president has directed the commerce secretary to reach out to manufacturers in the public to identify regulations that are hurting them from moving forward. The president also signed a memorandum directing the commerce secretary to lead a study looking into building the keystone and Dakota Access pipelines as well as any other future pipeline with u. S. Made steel and pipe and accessories. This is the first step and the president delivering on his Campaign Promise to put American Steel back at the backbone of the u. S. Economy. The u. S. Has lost nearly onethird of its Manufacturing Base since 1997. Even though the countrys population has increased by 50 million people. Were going to rebuild our infrastructure and were going to do it with American Workers and with american resources. As many of you recall, the buy american theme was a major part of the president s inaugural address. This is clearly an immediate action and extension of that promise that he made to the American People last friday. We sorely need these infrastructure jobs according to the National Association of manufacturers pp, without improvements to our transportation system, quote, the United States will lose more than 2. 5 million jobs by 2025. Creating jobs and boosting wages is the president s top priority and has been made very clear over the past 36 hours that this is an area where hes taking immediate action. At 1 00 the president will speak was speaking with indian Prime Minister modi. Well have a readout as soon as thats available. Afternoon the president will hold a bipartisan meeting with key Senate Leadership, including majority leader, minority leader, majority whip and minority whip to discuss his nomination for associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. As he noted earlier today, he intends to have a decision bit end of the week in an announcement early next week. The president has made it incredibly clear that he will appoint justices who protect our liberty and hold the highest regards for the constitution. He continues to carefully consider potential future justices based on their commitment to upholding these principles. This meeting is an important opportunity for the president to consult with Senate Leaders from both sides of the aisle on his potential choices for the bench. As you may have heard, speaker ryan extended an invitation to the president to address a joint session of congress on february 28th. Im pleased to inform you that the president has accepted that invitation. He looks forward to sharing his plans for moving the country forward. I have a feeling by the time we get to february 28th, we will have a lot to talk about. It was great to see the nominations of dr. Carson, secretary chuo, mr. Ross and Governor Haley were advanced out of i hope the Senate Democrats do their job to catch up on that number. One quick remark on the storm relief. A fema team is on the ground in atlanta, georgia, Liaison Officers have been deployed. In mississippi and georgia for response aktictivities. A few questions. Today organizations and activists expressed concern they havent seen media action on i was just wondering that was a key Campaign Plan of President Trump on the campaign trail. When can people expect action on that . It wouldnt require it would only require renewing the applications, wouldnt be retroactive in any way, so whats the holdup . As i mentioned yesterday when its comes to immigration and the promise that the president made to ensure that we build a wall and secure the border, his focus is those who pose a threat in our country, thats where he wants ice to focus their efforts. With respect to daca, he wants to organize the team and move forward with respect to that issue and thats where we are right now. David jackson. Sha shaun, there are stories that there are gag orders from the interior department over the weekend. First is that true, or if it is why . I dont know, that story is breaking. With respect to the question youre asking, i dont have any information at this time. We ask the team to go look into it as we were entering the Briefing Room and if i have an update while were here ill be glad to get back to you. What about the Enter Department . I heard they were banned from tweeting. I heard that, there was guidance put out to the department to act in compliance with the rules set forth. Steve holland. In signing the orders on keystone and Dakota Access this morning, he said held like to renegotiate some of the terms, what exactly was he talking about . I think one thing the American People know about donald trump is that he looks at successful deals, an tries to ensure projects that are going to create jobs and our economy but also make these organizations a lot of money and hes making sure the american taxpayer gets the best deal possible and asking the team to review them, so if we are going to expedite these that go under u. S. Soil that the american tax payer is considered and that we get the best deal in this country, not just Economic Growth and Energy Security but also making sure that the tax payers who own or have access of these lands in case of dakota get the best deal possible. Charley sparing. As you know the march for life is on friday and president george w. Bush had the tradition of addressing the marchers through a phone call. Will the president be continuing that tradition on friday . I know kell aie anne is goin to attend it but well have more on that. Its no secret that the president has campaigned as a prolife president. Its something very important to him as evidenced as the mexico policy that he signed yesterday. Its no secret that this president and this administration are going to fight for life with the exact participation level well find out whether its a greeting or some sort of a call ive have a update for you. Does the president believe people voted illegally. The president does believe that, i think hes stated that before and stated his concern of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign and continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence people have brought to him. Paul ryan says they dont agree with the president s assessment, what evidence do you have . As i said i think the president has believed that for a while based on studies and information he has. John roberts. In the hours of the obama administration, including 221 million in palestinian authority, does the president is the president okay with that transfer, if he is not would he seek to claw back some of that money . I think when it comes to how u. S. Tax payer money is spent in general whether overseas, you have seen through the hiring freeze and other actions he is very concerned about how tax payer money is spent whether its sent overseas, in terms of the relationship or our democracy or aid to other defenses but hes going to examine at all aspects of the budget because i think theres a newfound respect for how the taxpaye taxpayers dollars are spent and as a businessman and scrutiny to bring projects under time, hes bringing that acumen to the white house. I dont want to go any further to say hes going to make sure that every deal, every dollar spent on behalf of the government is done in way that respects the taxtaxpayer. Is the white house going to probe into this alleged voter fraud . No, i think he won very handily, hes very comfortable with his win. But bringing it up. I think he mentioned something in passing which has been a long standing belief, this isnt the first time. Thank you for clarifying whether illegal ballots. I think there was something in 2008 that 14 who voted were no noncitizens. Counted improperly such as dick durbin i think ive asked and answered it. Hes maintained a concern he has about voter fraud. Following President Trumps kpa executive actions is he concerned about protests like seen at Standing Rock and how will he deal with those that oppose the plan . Theres a way to continue to negotiate that whether its the native american concerns they have on some of the lands. In the dakota pipeline youre 93 there and the president has shown with his Business Life how to negotiate a great deal and he is willing to sit down with all the individuals involved in the dakota p dakota pipeline to make sure its a deal that involves all of the parties at interest. Margaret. One at a time. Well stick with the ms for a while. I want to ask about jim comey, but also followup on the pipeline and renegotiation, the president suggested i think some of the renegotiations might already be happening or would happen, could you clarify are the mechanisms already begun . He just signed the executive order today and part of it is he wants to make sure he gets the best deal involved, and people involved that have concerns might have an opportunity to come back to the table theyre still being flushed out . Thats correct . Can you make it official whats been reported by u. S. Officials all day long that is it the president has asked jim comey to stay on and that he has told him he will stay on . I dont know what the status is on that. Maura. The hiring freeze yesterday doesnt exempt the v. A. And 41,500 jobs, that was one of his top priorities, so hes right. Its a freeze hold on, part of it is to get our v. A. Secretary in there an figure out hiring people when you have a system thats not working and then just going out and hiring additional people doesnt seem to be the most efficient way of solving the problem. What we need to do whether its the v. A. Or any other agency is making sure we are hiring smartly and effectively and if you look at the v. A. The problems that have plagued people, hiring more people isnt the answer, whether itself health care or mortgages, we need to make sure our veterans get the services they deserve and have earned. Its not just the v. A