Thats why youre going with speed, right . You are not putting this out to bid. We have not agreed on any pricing, but i can assure you before we were to sign off on a contract, we are going to make sure that this is the best value for taxpayers. Yes. Yep. Youve had a couple of questions around this, what kind of fights do you anticipate in congress when this, by [inaudible] and not having a competitive bid, there will be some pushback, right . Well, this wouldnt be washington if there wasnt pushback, but i dont expect, i do not expect anymajor fights on this. I think that the one thing i feel extremely proud about, about the way the congress has acted when it comes to veterans issues, is the bipartisan support when its the right thing to do for this countrys veterans. And i do expect that to, essentially, carry through on this. That does not mean that it is not appropriate to ask hard questions, to make sure that the Due Diligence is there, to make sure, as we said, this is a risky process that weve thought about everything and that weve considered people who have different options. But in the end, i do believe this is something that we will see strong bipartisan support for. And another version of one of my colleagues questions, ehr has been promised before. Why is it going to happen . It was promised during the previous administration. Why is it going to happen now . You say bipartisan support, we havent seen a lot of evidence of that in washington, so what makes you hopeful for this time . Well, ive not seen the department of veteran affairs come out with this type of decision before, so i think that this is new. We now know what is in the best interests of veterans, and were moving ahead with an accelerated process so that we can get this done. And i do believe that this exactly what congress has asked us to do. I can count four times when theyve asked dod and v. A. To get in the same room, and i can count four times when v. A. And dod left doing separate things. So this ones going to be different. The department of defense and the department of veteran affairs are together in lockstep on this. And the president is behind this. And we need congress to support it, and i believe that support will be there. Yes, all the way in the back. Thank you. You mentioned [inaudible] prevent, suicide prevention, yes. Yes. In that context, are you willing to sit down with dod and encourage the active Duty Officers to go on record about their mental problems and issues while they are still on active duty so you are [inaudible] we are, were doing exactly that. We are in discussions with the department of defense, secretary mattis and i have talked about this. We know that what were doing is not enough, and we have to look at exactly the issues that start in the department of defense and make sure that were addressing them, the transition time is and that gap between when you leave active service to when you enter as a civilian and you get health care, we have to thats an area that we have to pay particular concern about. Thats why this ehrs going to be helpful. But we have to look all the way back into the process, just as youre suggesting. So we are doing that. Yes. Yes, sir. Oh, yeah, thanks. You mentioned [inaudible] yes. Whats been the opposition [inaudible] well, i think one of the things that were doing differently in this administration is that were essentially eliminating some of the silos and turf battles. And, frankly, i think that if you put the veteran and the Service Member first, you would come to the conclusion that weve come to today. But nobody likes to give up power and progress control over their power and control over their system. In the department of veteran affairs, we are very, very proud of our history of being the first major system to develop Electronic Medical record. This was done over 30 years ago by brave clinicians who went on their own and developed this. So giving in this up, i do not want to underestimate how difficult that will be for people in the department of veteran affairs. Change is not ease i. But when youve easy. But when youve had that for 30 years, its going to be really hard. So this is a major decision for the department of veteran affairs. And as ive said previously, i wish the department of defense had joined us years and years ago so that we could with working we could be working together. That isnt the situation i faced as secretary. Theyve moved forward, its time that we move forward and come together. Take one more question. Secretary yeah. Ill just drill down on a question [inaudible] asked which was the office of [inaudible] you mentioned they are one of the stakeholders you consulted with. Can you speak about that role, particularly Jared Kushner who leads that office and what kinds of interactions you had with him in developing it. Yeah, yeah. When i became secretary and the office was stood up, they indicated a strong interest in helping the department of veteran affairs, which i welcomed. And when we sat down and they said talk about the pinpoints, what do you really need to do to make a quantum leap in where you are. I identified the electronic record. And what we talked about is best practices about how industries make quantum changes, how you go out and solicit information from leaders in the field to make sure that you get the right stakeholders and opinions. And so they were advisory in this process. This decision, though, was fully my decision to make. And there was no influence ever put on this. But they were very helpful in helping us keep and move the process along. And in facilitating discussions with the department of defense as well. Thank you very much, everyone. Appreciate it. Thank you very much, mr. Secretary. As the Vice President noted this morning, the American People elected a builder to be the 45th president of the United States, a builder who has a vision for modernizing the entire federal government. Secretary shulkin just spoke about how that vision is being carried out at the v. A. X this morning the president launched a great new era in american aviation. Starting with the modernization of our outdated air Traffic Control system. Today everything from the cars on the road to the cell phones in our pocket use gps technology, but washington has been unable to upgrade the air Traffic Control system from groundbased radio and Radar Systems despite 14 years of attempts by the faa. This delay has left us stuck with a system that just cant keep up with an industry that has grown exponentially since it was designed. Our current air Traffic Control system costs our economy as much as 25 billion a year in delays, inefficiency and unreliability. This is a problem that nearly everyone agrees needs to be solved. Joining the president today were representatives from the air Traffic Controllers union, passenger advocates, leaders of airline and Cargo Companies and every former coo of the faa. And those arent groups that typically agree on much of anything. But even with all of these stakeholders behind air Traffic Control reform, it was still stuck in the washington political machine. President trump was elected to unstick these kind of common sense efforts and will be continuing to work with congress on getting these principles turned into legislation and getting that legislation to the president s desk. To accompany the president s announcement, the department of transportation today launched a new microsite, thats smarterskies. Gov, which will continually be updated with fact sheets, q a and other information red carpeting atc reform. Infrastructures only regarding atc reform. The Health Care Team is engaging with Congress Daily on the American Health care act which we hope to see the senate take up soon. News stories of skyrocketing premiums and fleeing providers are coming almost every day. Just last friday Blue Cross Blue Shield in nebraska announced that they are canceling their obamacarecompliant bronze and catastrophic plans, and the only remaining plans they currently which are the only remaining plans they currently sell on the exchange. That leaves the entire state with only one choice for insurance on the exchanges, and that insurer raised rates by 51 last year and is threatening to pull out of iowa completely. With our Health Care System breaking down around us, this administration is committed to finding a solution. This afternoon Vice President mike pence, secretary of hhs services, dr. Tom price, administrator of the Small Business administration, Linda Mcmahon and administrator of the centers for medicare and Medicaid Services are holding a listening session with female Small Business owners to talk about how we will repeal and replace obamacare with a plan that benefits all americans. Tomorrow the president will welcome representatives and senators to the white house to talk more about whats next on the legislative agenda including repealing and replacing obamacare and crafting a revolutionary tax reform proposal that will provide relief to hard working taxpayers. And on wednesday infrastructure week continues with the president s visit to cincinnati, ohio, where he will speak about his wideranging vision for rebuilding our country with a special focus on repairing our 12,000mile inland waterway system which carries 230 billion in commerce annually while our locks and dams crumble because the federal government cant fund the critical repairs they need. The president present his sustainable solution to this problem in ohio on wednesday. And because i know all of you are very deeply concerned about the births of each of my children, i wanted to carry on with tradition and announce that my son george will be 2 on thursday, so happy early birthday to george. And with that, ill take your questions. John roberts. Sarah, as you know also on wednesday as the president heads to ohio, james comey is scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence committee, and theres a question as to whether or not the white house will allow him to testify thursday. Did i say . Did i think wednesday . Im still jet lagged. Wasnt that nice of them if only they had that same politeness when correcting us. Hes scheduled to testify on thursday, and theres a question as to whether or not you will invoke he w executive privilege or allow him to testify. And then i had a second question. Sure. The president s power to exert executive privilege is very well established. However, in order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding james comeys scheduled testimony. I have a followup on that question. On the president s tweets regarding the travel ban, Kellyanne Conways husband pointed out that such tweets are not helpful when it comes to the solicitor generals ability to make an argument, an effective argument before the Supreme Court. Is the president concerned that he may be tainting the waters of the legal system by issuing up tweets . Not at all. The president is very focused on exactly what that order spells out, and thats protecting americans, protecting National Security. And he has every Constitutional Authority to do that. Through that executive order. And he maintains that and that position hasnt changed in the slightest. John . Thank you, sarah. He president picking a fight with the mayor of london right after his city was hit by a terrorist attack . I dont see that the president is picking a fight with the mayor of london at all. I think, again, the president s point is something he said, frankly, back, gosh, its been almost two years now, a year and a half ago when the president talked about how we have to be more committed to National Security. One of the reasons we have the travel ban here through that executive order is a focus on National Security. That was the point he was trying to make. But the president is saying the mayor said there was no reason to be alarmed by the terrorist attack. That is not what the mayor said. The mayor, in fact, said that the threat level remains severe, the chances of another attack are highly likely. He was saying dont be alarmed by the Armed Police Presence on the streets. And the president directly misrepresented what the mayor of london said. I dont think thats actually true. I think that the media wants to spin it that way. But i think [inaudible] no reason to be alarmed by an attack on his city . You think thats what he was saying . Look, i think the point is there is a reason to be alarmed. We have constant attacks going on not just there, but across the globe, and we have to start putting National Security and Global Security at an alltime high. President trump has been very clear thats his priority, and hes not backing down from that. Steve . Sarah, what was the president s reaction to movie several middle eastern allies to sever ties with qatar . The president s committed to continuing to have conversations with all of the people involved in that process, with all of those countries. We want to continue to deescalate that. And at this point, were continuing to work with each of those partners. Secondly, did the president get any word that this was going to happen when he was in saudi arabia a couple of weeks ago . Im not aware of that, but the state department would probably be best suited to answer that question. Jim . Yeah. You just mentioned the word ban. The president , when he was treating earlier today, said people, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but im calling it what we need and what it is, a travel ban. Early on when you were trying to justify, this white house was trying to justify the executive order on extreme vetting and the travel restrictions, the white house was adamant these or were travel restrictions, it was not a travel ban. Sean spicer, from that podium, said it was not a travel ban. Is it a travel ban . Look, i dont think the president cares what you call it, whether you call it a ban or a restriction [inaudible] he cares that we call it National Security and that we take steps to protect the people of this country. Its real simple. Everybody wants to get into the labels and the semantics of it, but the bottom line is hes trying to protect the citizens of this country. The danger is extremely clear, the law is very clear, and the need for this executive order is very clear x the president s priority in protecting the people is very clear. Full stop. And let me ask you a followup on what john was asking you about with respect to the mayor of london. There are going to be folks who are going to ask the question was the president attacking the mayor of london because hes muslim. Not at all. And i think to suggest Something Like that is utterly ridiculous. Matthew. Given the importance of sorry, i said matthew. Thats okay. Ill go to you, and then well come back. [laughter] all right, thank you. P given the importance of twitter, can you tell me if his tweets are being vetted by a lawyer or any other aide . And if not, why not . Or if so, when did that start . Not that im aware of. I think social media for the president is extremely important. Gives him the ability to speak directly to the people without the bias of the media filtering those types of communications. He at this point has over 100plus million contacts through social media and all those platforms. I think its a very important tool for him to be able to utilize. Matthew. So i have a question about those executive order comments the president made this morning. He said that he wishes that his Justice Department had stuck with the original executive order. Doj, of course, is part of the executive branch. If he wanted to stick with the original one, why didnt he order the department of justice to stick with that, why did he even sign the revised one if he wanted to stick with the original . They were trying to meet the demands of the ninth circuit. But again, the president s been very clear he wants to go as far and as strong as possible under the constitution to protect the people in this country. Thats what he felt the First Executive order did. The second one was another version of that. But, look, lets be really clear about what this is. These are six one countries that were six countries that were identified not just by this administration, but by the Obama Administration and by congress that are dangerous, theyre unstable, theyre volatile and, frankly, theyre not capable of unwilling to even vet people coming in or out. Thats what this is about. Everybody wants to make it manager different than National Security issue, and thats exactly what it is, and thats why the president s so focused on pushing it forward in the strongest form possible. If it is that important to National Security and if he believes the first one was safer and constitutional, then why did he sign the second one if now hes coming out today saying, oh, we never should have done the second . Hes looking to, again, match the demands laid out by the ninth circuit and for the purpose of expediency to tart looking at the best way possible to move that process forward. Sarah . [inaudible] lets clarify that. As it is currently written, as matthews pointed out, politically correct, does the president support his own tra