deal with the messaging on the ukraine, on all the scandals going on. >> harris: josh kraushaar, political editor for the national journal. great to have you. thank you very much. i am harris. here is dana. >> dana: president trump said to speak any moment as the fight over impeachment hits a new level. hello, everyone. i'm dana perino and this is "the daily briefing." president trump is about to hold a joint news conference with the president of finland but the big focus right now obviously, impeachment. the president attacking what he's calling the do-nothing democrats, accusing them of wasting time and not focusing on other issues. president trump also going after the whistle-blower who reported on his july call with the ukrainian president. >> they come up with this impeachment nonsense and everyone knows. all based on one phone call that i had. there was no quid pro quo. the whistle-blower was so dishonest. the whistle-blower said terrible things about the call, but i then found out he was secondhand and thirdhand. these are bad people. these are dishonest people. when the american people find out what happened, it's going to be a great day. >> dana: all of that after house democrats threaten to subpoena the white house for documents on the president's dealings with ukraine. they say the white house has left them no choice. democrats also accusing the president of trying to intimidate the whistle-blower and other potential witnesses. they also say he's trying to change the focus. >> let's not make any mistake here. the president wants to make this all about the whistle-blower. people that come forward with evidence of his wrongdoing, are somehow treasonous. and should be treated as traitors and spies. this is a blatant effort to intimidate witnesses. >> dana: will have complete coverage this hour and as we wait for the president, let's begin. chief white house correspondent john roberts in the east room. we heard a lot from the president but this is a formal press conference where they are sure to be more. >> number of times president trump has done this. he goes into the oval office with a leader, in this case the finish president sauli niinisto then takes more questions. sometimes during the press conferences, fewer questions than they took in the oval office but there's no question, data, that the president really is hot under the collar about this whistle-blower and despite the fact that his own acting director of national intelligence, joe maguire, believes that the inspector general of the intelligence community's acting properly by protecting the identity of the whistle-blower. president trump wants to know who he is or she is. also wants to know who gave that person the information, saying that what was included in the transcript of the telephone call was completely different than what the whistle-blower wrote in their complaint. the president wondering if the person is a whistle-blower at all or simply a leaker. listen to what he said in the oval office a short time ago. >> the whistle-blower wrote not that conversation. he wrote a vicious conversation. in other words, he either got it totally wrong and made it up or the person giving the information to the whistle-blower was dishonest and this country has to find out who that person was. that person is a spy. >> in the oval office with the finish president, the president saying that never in a million years did anyone think you would actually release the transcript of that telephone call when you remember, dana, after the transcript came out, then many democrats it said it reinforced their worst fears about what the president spoke with volodymyr zelensky about. president trump ten choice words for house intelligence committee chairman adam shift after schiff after the opening statement wite director joe maguire basically giving his own interpretation of what the whistle-blower complaint said really adding his own adam schiff embellishment. here's the criticism the president had for him today. >> he should be forced to resign from congress, adam schiff. he's a lowlife. he should be forced to resign. he took that conversation which was perfect, he said i can't read this. so he made up a conversation and he reported it and set it to congress and to the american people. it was more about he said. and that was supposed to be coming from me. but it was all fabricated. he should resign from office in disgrace and frankly they should look at him for treason. >> president trump also ripping schiff for criticizing secretary of state mike pompeo because pompeii was on the call was latimer zalewski. democrats in congress calling him a fact witness in the very fact that pompeo, i don't want to say he's stonewalling but slow walking the idea to get people to congress for depositions. democrats are saying because he's a fact witness, anything he does to try to slow walk access to congress to members of the state department would be seen as obstruction of congress and in intimidating witnesses. the president saying to schiff, how can he criticize somebody like my pompeo, first of his class at west point. the president going so far as to say that adam schiff could not hold pompeo's blank-strap. >> dana: i'm going to try to figure out what that is during the commercial break. >> i don't think you have to try too hard. >> dana: the white house is no stranger to subpoenas from congress for documents or information or witness testimony. they haven't always complied. why would that be different this time? >> well, i don't think it will be different. that's one of the questions that you want to ask the president. during the mueller investigation, the president was really bragging on the idea that the white house was being completely transparent and cooperative and document production and making people available for interviews with mueller's team. don't forget that was an intraexecutive branch investigation. this crosses branches. it's an article one investigation of an article to a branch. the president might not be so inclined to cooperate as he did during the mueller investigation but certainly a line of inquiry we will pursue this afternoon when the president and the president show up. >> dana: looks like they are going to be there any moment. let's bring in martha maccallum, anchor of "the story" and juan williams, cohost of "the five." we await the president and the finnish prime minister. it's easy for the foreign leader there with a president dealing with a domestic issue. they have issues or talk about. chinese telecoms, huawei, the arctic. but this story really is sucking up all the oxygen. >> martha: i kind of felt sorry for him in the prior appearance, the president of finland sitting next to the president as he gets a barrage of questions. at one point the president turned to him and said i guess they are not that interested in finland. i'm very interested but the reporters are not. a story that's crossing now from "the new york times" moments ago, it says the whistle-blower originally given early version of his complaint to a house aid to adam schiff. this cia officer wanted to pass along this information to this congressional aide who is with adam schiff, that they didn't see the actual full transcript or his notes or complaint. according to this report, they advised him to go through the process and fill out a form and make his whistle-blower complaint, go through the formal process. nonetheless, this is going to raise questions obviously. it's interesting that nancy pelosi in her "60 minutes" interview, criticism towards her was that she went ahead with this impeachment process before she had seen the call. during that "examines" interview, she said we had already seen it which is a little bit odd. i don't know she got her timeline messed up. it raises questions about -- >> dana: it does. thank you for checking the wire wires. joe maguire, acting director of national intelligence, when he testified in front of congress last week, he said he believed the whistle-blower and the inspector general had followed the process to the letter of the law. i don't know if that's inappropriate to talk to a house aid. maybe it's the right thing to do, then for the house aid to say you've got to go through the process. juan, any thoughts about that or the news that we had that the house democrats plan to subpoena the white house documents and officials and those of the state department. >> juan: i think what john roberts that is important here, you have a difference in terms of the nature of the investigations. previously it was, as john described, an intraagency activity because mueller technically was appointed from the justice department. the president is in charge of the justice department. now you have the congress of the united states engaged in impeachment and it changes the way that the court system would view a subpoena. it makes it far more -- >> dana: interesting and a good point because progressive democrats would want at this process to get underway sooner were frustrated, saying we would be able to get more information quickly if nancy pelosi would go ahead and pull the trigger. now that trigger has been pulled. i think it's pretty interesting if you look at the room, the president has the bully pulpit but he also has the pageantry. you have the white house, they are in the east room. i wonder about the president focusing on something bill clinton did which helped bill clinton which was to focus on the fact that i'm just here trying to do my job for the american people. he has labeled them the do-nothing democrats. we've heard do-nothing congress before but do-nothing democrats. if you say it enough times, he could stick? >> juan: i think it sticks with republicans, with his base. i don't see much erosion in terms of the polling but i don't because working with most people who are tremendously concerned about the nature of the phone call and the idea that he of course would be putting pressure on a foreign leader based on u.s. military aid to stop russian incursions into the ukraine. >> dana: speaker pelosi and her comment said i think -- i think she's aware being labeled the do-nothing congress doesn't help her politically either. she even says we are willing to work with the president on lowering drug prices. she brought up infrastructure. she wants to give it another go. >> martha: it's going to be interesting to see if they feel the pressure to get something done. to prove they can get something done during this process. perhaps usmca is able to get through this situation because really they democrats are going to need -- we didn't put the brakes on everything. we got some important things done. that may ironically open a pathway to a few things, perhaps drug prices as well. >> dana: yesterday it was reported that nancy pelosi wants a narrow focus on impeachment, on this ukraine call. but chuck schumer in the senate to say no way. broaden it. make it bigger. if they are not on the same page, why does it mean in terms of democrats and unity of message? >> juan: if and pelosi clearly needs to narrow and specify the focus. you had several committee chairman who wanted jurisdiction here. i think she settled pretty much on adam schiff in the intelligence committee versus going to jerry nadler and judiciary or even finance committee, maxine water and the like. i think that's the nature of her challenge. the challenge in the senate is a little different. you heard senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said he would have no choice but to proceed with a trial if, in fact, the house goes ahead and impeach as the president. the challenge areas is the senate majority leader a republican who has been very loyal to the president, trying to limit the scope in order to speed it through and make it seem like it was a pro forma process. schumer on the other hand wants to broaden it. it's a different arena. >> dana: martha, what about the congressional republicans who -- you have some of the president's supporters out there or defending but there's a lot they don't know. there seems to be some hesitation and letting the president take the lead as he seems happy to do or willing to do, seems like the safer bet. >> martha: you've got that situation on both sides of the equation. democrats and trump districts and on the republican side with people who might be forced to take a vote that might be more difficult for them and perhaps because of their electorate they're going to be more cautious. on the senate side, cory gardner, thom tillis, martha mcsally, susan collins all in very difficult races as they look ahead. just one thing, if i may, going back to what you are asking about nancy pelosi's focus. i think she's focusing on the one element of the conversation that i think a lot of people agree is problematic. she doesn't want to lose focus on that because i think in the president's words when you break it down in terms of potential liability, most of the phone call was what he calls perfect but when you get to the part about joe biden and rudy giuliani's involvement in the process, i think that's the avenue for them where they see that as abuse of power with regard to the election. it's behavior that's easier to explain to people. >> martha: weeded out panel last night with a group of young people. >> dana: i loved it. >> martha: thank you. it was very eye-opening. they were bright and up on what's going on and they didn't really focus on exactly what the issue is. well, if people are unhappy they should be able to impeach the president. that's where this is going to end up. most people are not going to be able to tell you. >> dana: as we keep reminding people, impeachment is a political decision. there is no legal definition. martha and juan, if you will stick with me, we will wait for the president trump press conference. the state department, inspector general holding an urgent meeting in this next our briefing staffers from key committees in the house and senate about ukraine. she congressional correspondent mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. if you could catch us up on that while we wait for the press conference to get underway. >> in addition to congressional correspondent the briefing, there are a number of faces that we expect who are invited to appear on capitol hill in the days ahead. let's show them to you. special envoy for ukraine kurt volker expected to give an interview to several committees. monday deputy assistant secretary of state george ken's. tuesday a counselor. thursday, ambassador gordon sumlin, american investor to the e.u. former ambassador recalled from ukraine in may expected to appear a week from friday though it's not entirely clear how many will show up, we know secretary of state mike pompeo is fighting some of it. stay tuned. we will let you know who appears on capitol hill. speaker nancy pelosi earlier today said she's trying to be fair to the president in this impeachment inquiry process but some republicans counter that they think she's trying to be fast and not fair. >> dana: what about the threats to subpoena the white house? is that in the realm of fair? >> there you go. we expect the oversight chairman, elijah cummings, of baltimore, maryland, saying that he is prepared to subpoena the white house on friday saying "the white house's flagrant disregard of multiple voluntary request for documents combined with stark and urgent warnings from the inspector general about the gravity of these allegations have left us with no choice but to issue this subpoena." t national security republican told us he thinks it's a fishing expedition. democrats will never be satisfied but all indications are this will be battled out in the courts. >> dana: mike emanuel, keep us updated. we will want to know more. bringing back martha maccallum and juan williams, as martha was gracious to be checking and bringing us the news, "the new york times" just reporting that apparently according to this report adam schiff, chairman of the intel committee, had seen a copy of the whistle-blower's initial complaints days before the whistle-blower filed with the cia, the actual form. the question about the whistle-blower now is at the top of everybody's mind. the president saying the identity should be revealed. democrats saying that's intimidating a witness -- a whistle-blower. this "new york times" report turns out to be true, it adds more of a wrinkle. >> martha: it raises the question of how politically motivated and it is to remind everyone, even the dni, when he went through this process and spoke in front of congress, said there was an indication that there was a political bias on the part of the whistle-blower but that given what was in his report, he felt it was irrelevant and that they should move forward based on the content of his report. all of this is obviously going to give a republican -- republicans and supporters of the president more fuel to the fire that this is cooked up in some sense by people who are inside the white house, connected to the cia agent who was old so working there and passing it along to the whistle-blower who gives information to a house aide in adam schiff's office. >> dana: fuel for president trump supporters but with the president's comments about the whistle-blower giving fuel to the democrats? >> juan: yeah, his line which has been pretty hot. on the one hand, people sort of marking. talking about traitors and spies and you know how things happen with treason. when you think of it seriously, you think about the president mounting a defense that amounts to "these people are out to get me. they don't like me and they don't like my supporters." and it's intended to rally his base and secure support. to get back to what martha had reported earlier and that you mentioned, "the new york times" story, i think the idea to keep in mind here is that adam schiff is head of intelligence in the house and so one of his aides would be someone who might be in touch with the intelligence community and intelligence actors. >> dana: it's curious to me. i worked at the justice department. i never had a reason to be a whistle-blower or anything but you go through the training or you get your initiation, your they are. you're told that if you have a problem, then you go to the inspector general. there's a process to do it. to me it's a little bit curious and i don't know why the whistle-blower may not have gone directly to the inspector general. maybe they are friends or neighbors or something. it's washington, d.c. that's curious. the other thing is president trump brought up a couple times, the whistle-blower says this is secondhand information so the president has focused in on who is telling the whistle-blower this information and to me that person could arguably still be working in the situation room or the white house. i imagine it's a tense atmosphere there. >> martha: think about the prior phone calls released in the beginning of the administration, the australian president and one author whose calls were released during those early stages. it's a white house that has been on tenterhooks about leaks. that's the reason they say they've been putting some of these conversations into this more secure environment. it's absolutely true that that person could still be there, as you say, dana. concerned about this and for whatever reason -- >> juan: didn't they say there were multiple people who spoke with the whistle-blower so there's multiple people. >> dana: that was one of the reasons the dni in the inspector general said this looks like something they should push forward. i wonder about it. you need everybody to be focused on the security of the country and not worried about other concerns. we are waiting for the president to come out with the president of finland. they will be having -- they had a great meeting in the oval office and the president took a lot of questions. they have a lot of issues talk about foreign policywise. we are waiting for them. they're going to be here any moment and we are going to pause for one moment to let our fox stations join us. i'm dana perino in new york. president trump is about to hold a joint news conference with the president of finland that the big issue right now is still impeachment as democrats continue to plow ahead with their investigations of president trump's july phone call with the president of ukraine. the president a short time ago telling reporters there was nothing wrong with the call. he blasted the whistle-blower who reported it and democrats for going forward on impeachment. earlier today democrats threatened to subpoena the white house for records of the call. house intelligence committee chairman adam schiff said democrats were "not fooling around." house speaker nancy pelosi called drums after the assault on the constitution. will bring in martha maccallum and juan williams of the fox news channel to help to figure all this out. the meeting the president is having today, when world leaders come to the white house, it's always an important meeting. in this case, they were certainly talking about 5g and the concerns about china aggression and technology. also about the arctic circle. we can expect that the president might make a little bit of news on that but the american press, we know them well. they're going to ask about impeachment and the president is already fired up about it today. >> martha: dana, you know better than anyone that perhaps the delay here is preparation for this and the communications discussions about how many questions that are going to take, on which side, to try to give the president of finland a little bit of breathing room so he can also answer questions relevant to some of the issues that you bring up but that the president is so incensed about what is going on. i think we have not seen him as fired up as he is now. tweet storms coming out pretty much every few minutes on this story. using the b.s. word spelled out as he has done before, we should point out come in his response to what's going on this morning. this is an extraordinarily hot situation right now and it's not looking like it's going to cool down anytime soon with these subpoenas flying around. >> dana: juan, you have been a reporter in a room like that. what's the strategy amongst the white house press corps? i know they talk a little bit amongst each other. what are the questions that we want to get asked. you can have a ruger border that screws everything off. >> juan: the thing is and this is the question for dana perino. i think the relationship with the white house press office is very important here in traditionally in situations that i've been in, there's been conversations about not only were a red dress like dana has honked to get the president's attention but let's try to figure out, here's where the press office -- >> dana: what are the questions today that they would really want how is the president planning to respond to the subpoena. >> juan: i don't think this white house communications team has the same relationship team with the mainstream media reporters that previous administrations had. when it comes to the questions, i think the number one news topic of the day would be the subpoenas. how the white house intends to deal with it and how if, in fact, the congress presses ahead that this white house feels they would be on strong ground going to the courts to say this is an overreach and an abuse of congressional responsibility and oversight. the second area i think is the president himself talking to the president about going after the whistle-blower, that if you have a whistle-blower statute as was approved by this congress and the congress says we will protect that person's identity so as not to provide a disincentive for future whistle-blowers, how does the president understand? >> dana: i want to bring in ron fournier. former washington bureau chief at the associated press. he covered the clinton impeachment in the 1990s and broke the story that clinton would admit to the grand jury that had been lying all along. good to have you here. when you broke that story, there wasn't social media, there wasn't a 24/7 news cycle per se although it was getting going. what did you learn back then the reporters might think about today? >> when i was sitting in the front seat they are of the white house, i always tried to think what is the simplest question i can ask and not try to be too complicated. for example, i was the one who asked president bush, do you trust this man, pointing to putin? bush was kind of flabbergasted by such a simple question. >> the president of the united states. >> dana: i will hold you there there. thank you. president trump and president sauli niinisto, marking 100 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries. let's listen in. >> president trump: look at all the press you attract. do you believe it? >> they are not after me. [laughter] >> president trump: i hope not. you're lucky. thank you very much. today is my honor to welcome president niinisto of finland to the white house and mr. president, it's wonderful to host you once again in washington. we've got to know each other over the last period of time then it's been a great experience. the president and i have just concluded very productive discussions on a number of exciting opportunities for our two nations. before going further, i want to express our deep condolences over the horrific stabbing attack that took place yesterday at a college in finland. america is praying for the victims and their families and we send our unwavering love and support. the american unfinished people are linked by an abiding commitment to self-government, individual rights, democracy and the rule of law. this past may, our countries celebrated the 100th anniversary of america's recognition of the independent nation of finland in 1919. as president wilson wrote at the time "our recognition was prompted by the sympathies for a cost similar to that which caused our own declaration of independence in 1776." a century after we established diplomatic relations, the united states and finland remained united by those same cherished values. central to this effort as our nations close cooperation on matters of security and defense, although finland is not a member of nato. save a lot of money. finland participates in many nato missions and exercises and i'm pleased that finland is substantially increasing its military budget. america and finland are also working together to advance stability, freedom of navigation and respect for national sovereignty and the arctic. both of our nations are committed to a secure arctic region free from external intrusion, interference, and coercion. simply put, we believe that the affairs of the arctic should be governed by the actual nations of the arctic, and as you know, there are other people coming into the arctic and we don't like it. we can't let it happen. we won't let it happen. the united states and finland are likewise partnering to ensure the security of 5g networks. it is critical that we use safe and trustworthy technology providers, components, and supply chains. we welcome the establishment of the innovation center in finlan finland. they've done a fantastic job with that. this innovation center will greatly expand american and finnish businesses and cooperation in 5g. we are also glad that the finnish company, nokia, great company, global leader in 5g technology, developing its cutting edge products right here in the united states at bell labs in new jersey. of course united states foreign direct investment from finland totals over $10 billion. each year, finnish-owned companies invest more than $120 million in research and development in america and expand our exports by more than $1 billion. just today, finnish tires opened a new manufacturing plant in dayton, tennessee. a $360 million investment that's creating hundreds of brand-new beautiful jobs for a great state, tennessee. we love tennessee. they made a wise choice. you never lose when you go to tennessee. i encourage other finnish companies to increase their investments in the united states. there hasn't been ever been a better time to do business in america. we have passed the largest tax cuts and reform and also regulation cuts in the history of our country. we slashed business tax and we are fueling job growth through our record-setting campaign to abolish all of those really terrible, unnecessary regulations. we have plenty of regulations but many of them we didn't need. we got rid of them. the american economy is booming. wages are rising. incomes are soaring, and unemployment has hit its lowest level in more than half a century. we want finnish companies to join in america's extruder economic revival. so many countries are coming in, it's a hot place. we have the hottest economy of the world and it's the hot place to be. they'll want to be here. the president and i are also working on a way to improve international trade based on the principle of fairness and my favorite word, reciprocity. i hope that finland which now holds the rotating presidency of the e.u. council will support our efforts to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement with the european union. we are going to have to start doing something with the european union because they have not been treating this country right for many, many years and i tell them and they know it and they know it. america's trade deficit with the e.u. has been averaging $160 billion a year for many, many years. achieving more balance and robust trade flows would greatly benefit both finland and the united states. we also appreciate finland's strong partnership in combating predatory trade practices worldwide including the theft of intellectual property. from trade to security, from travel to commerce, we are immensely grateful for close and deeply valued french with the people of finland. great people. we are working on a deal to sell a large number of airplanes, fighter jets hopefully, to finland. see how that works out. we make the greatest jets in the world. we make the greatest missiles had military equipment anywhere in the world. nobody's even close. mr. president, i want to thank you for visiting the white house. the history of our two nations is a profound testament to our resolve. i look forward to continuing to work alongside of you. as we safeguard our precious sovereignty and build a future of hope, harmony, and peace for the american and finnish people. thank you very much for being with us at the white house and the oval office. we had a very special number of hours. appreciate it very much. thank you, sir. >> thank you, mr. president. first of all, i will live through your -- deliver your yor condolences to the finnish people. before meeting, i had some spare time so i visited a couple museums here. museum of american history, museum of african history and museum of american indian history. in addition to that, i had a possibility of attending a ceremony in arlington. mr. president , you have here great democracy. keep it going on. we had a very good discussion with the president, like you mentioned. our diplomatic relations are 10. during that time, we have developed our cooperation not only in official meetings like this but american and finnish people, scientists for example, meet each other, cooperating, working together. we have quite a lot of cooperation and security sector also, in defense. because i think we share the feeling that the most important thing for the nation is to guarantee security to its citizens. that is the starting point for finland also, this cooperation. i wanted to take up with the president the importance of transatlantic cooperation. well, we all know europe needs usa. but i say that usa needs also europe. we know the price of everything. we should recognize also the value of everything. we share the same values, democracy, human rights. in that we are very similar. europe has, in a way, awakened during the couple last years to understand also more about the security point of view. i just wanted tell you that in my opinion, the stronger europe we have, the stronger partner you have. the arctic area, you know finland is very north, is becoming more and more interesting, like the president said. we both come alongside with six countries from the arctic council. we are working heavily. there are surely possibilities, like the maritime roots are being opened. maybe there are also resources. but there are huge risks. one of them is that we should keep the low tension we are used to having there. that is what we have been discussing. i do appreciate the president's position to emphasize that it's not a place for military. but an even greater challenge is the environment and a very glad that we have started to talk two years ago in this very house about black hole. it's not maybe the worst which causes climate problems but everybody can understand that the black comes down in ice and snow. when the sun meets it, it melts down. melting of sea ice in arctic is very crucial. i used to say that if we lose the arctic, we lose the globe. we have a couple of words that are very important on arms control. some of us remember the first years of the cold war in the 1960s. there was no agreement at all, just cold war. we can't let the situation return no agreement at all about arms control. that's why it's important to try to negotiate new agreements and continue the new start agreement. that will be of good new start for international cooperation. you referred to 5g. the issues as a whole, we are very proud to have the excellence of -- center of excellence in helsinki. usa has been very helpful in that. very many countries are working there together to fight against the future nature of hybrid warfare. when it comes to providers in that area, i'm not very willing to point out any country or company. we are maybe a bit late from usa making the risk assessment. it will be prepared in one or two weeks' time. after that, we are in a place that we have to choose the tools to perfect us. mr. president, i want to thank you very much for having a possibility of meeting you here. it's very valuable. i found the discussions very open, very interesting. thank you, sir. >> president trump: before we take questions, something happened that's been going on for many decades and we came to a conclusion. can i ask ambassador pence to explain the importance of what just took place. it's been going on for many, many years. this is ambassador pence, no relationship to our great vice president. hard to believe. nobody believes that but it's true. >> i have been in produced as his father, cousin, brother, uncle. we are friends. good afternoon. when i arrived in helsinki about a year and half ago, there was a stack of papers on the desk. one of which concerned indigenous peoples from the southwestern united states, arizona, colorado. i refer to them generically as hopi indians. they were one of a group. in 1895, a lot of their remains had been excavated and removed along with 500 artifacts to finland. there they have remained despite a lot of activity to get them back. i will jump to the end and say due to the good offices of our state department and in particular president niinisto and his entire team, we have secured a mutual agreement whereby all of those remains including a number of petrified bodies will be going back to be put back where they were buried. it's special to us. i think it's probably special to indigenous peoples everywhere around the globe, that we are all concerned about paying appropriate respect to those who have departed before us. thank you, thanks to both presidents for supporting it. >> president trump: thank you. that's a good job. that's been going on for many, many decades. so i just want to thank you. john roberts. >> mr. president, thank you. president niinisto. if i could, i have two questions to ask. maybe i could ask them separately to get a fresh answer from each one. the three house intelligence cs looking into the impeachment inquiry gave notice that they will be sending a subpoena to the white house for documents and other materials. will you cooperate with them subpoenas? >> president trump: i always cooperate. this is a hoax, the greatest hoax. it's a continuation of what's been playing out, john, for the last -- since my election i would say. probably will find out soon but probably even before my election. this is a fraudulent crime on the american people. we will work together with shifty schiff on pelosi and all of them and we'll see what happens because we did absolutely -- i had a great call with the president of ukraine. 100%. you have the transcript. and then schiff went up as the chairman of the committee and related a call they didn't take place. he made up that language. hard to believe. nobody's ever seen this. i think he had some kind of a mental breakdown. but he went up to the microphone and he read a statement from the president of the united states as if i were on the call, because what happened is when he looked at the sheet which was an exact transcript of my call done by very talented people that do this, exact, word for word. he said wow. he didn't do anything wrong. so he made it up. he went up to a microphone and in front of the american people and in congress he went out and he gave a whole presentation of words that the president of the united states never said. it has to be a criminal act. it has to be. he should resign. some people even say it was treason. but it was a very sad thing. just so you know, the call was perfect. the real call, the call i made. many people were on the line. i knew that because usually when i speak to foreign country leaders, you can name any one of them, but when i speak on the phone that i know that we have many people listening from various intelligence agencies. our knowledge, i know all about it. so this isn't something like gee, i'm on the line. let's talk about a big secret. many people on the line. i don't know how many. we'll find out i guess. many people, mike pompeo was on the line. he didn't say anything. because they listen for knowledge and for security reasons and for a lot of reasons. the president of ukraine at the united nations the other day and previous to that, he announced through spokesperson, said there was absolutely no pressure put on him. there was no quid pro quo. at all. if you look at this whistle-blowers -- i have a lot of respect for whistle-blowers but only when they are real. his report of the phone call was totally different than the fact. but what got them was they never thought i was going to release the call because i don't like doing that. i hope i don't have to do it again. release phone calls to foreign dignitaries to foreign leaders. i don't want to do that, john. i don't want to do it again. but i did it with the permission of the ukrainian government to become permission. we called up their representatives and ask them would be okay? otherwise i couldn't of done it. and if i wouldn't have done it, i would've been exposed to ally because the whistle-blower report didn't he say seven or eight times i said quid pro quo. in other words, you're going to do this or you're not going to get money. in all fairness, bite and it. he's on tape. in all fairness, you have at least four united states senators, democrats, who set it and they said it a lot stronger than even schiff and his made up story said it. obama when he was dealing with the president of russia, not putin. he said hey, hey tell vladimir i can do a lot more after the election. you remember that? everybody thought isn't that cute western monkeys that cute? my talk and my responsibility. instagram said i never knew you were that nice. he said it loud and clear. it was perfect. it was perfect. that a thing wrong with it. to impeach a president over father was committed by other people that want to win and election in 2020 which they won't, it's incredible. this is the greatest hoax. it's gone on for a long time. we had the mueller collusion delusion, okay? that point on for years. and that's finally done. no collusion, no obstruction, no nothing. it was a joke. everyone knows it. it was from the day one. no i get three days of peace and i'm walking into the united nations, going to meet with the biggest leaders in the world, and i hear about the word impeachment. i said what did i do now? it was a doubt a beautiful conversation that i had just remember, the ukrainian new president, fine man, said i don't know what you're talking about. there was no pressure. he cited a number of times. what's your second question? you shouldn't be asking two questions. do me a favor. ask oneesident. >> can i come back to you? >> president trump: we'll talk later. let me see if i like the question. go ahead. maybe for the first time in three years i'll have a good question and i will love it. >> there's a report that came out before you and president niinisto walked out here that the whistle-blower met with a staff member of adam schiff. >> president trump: i love that question. it shows that schiff is a fraud. thank you, john. >> can i finish asking it? >> president trump: there's nothing to finish. >> the whistle-blower accordance the report met with members of adam schiff's staff. >> president trump: i hate to say it's "the new york times." i can't believe they wrote it. maybe they're getting better. >> your response to the fact that that happened and that schiff may have learned with the whistle-blower new? >> president trump: i think he probably helped write it. i give a lot of respect for "the new york times" for putting it out. it happened as i'm walking appear, they handed it to me and i said to mike. i said whoa, that is something. that is big stuff. he knew long before. he helped right it. it's a scam. it's a scam. to finish on it, i appreciate it, i love the second question by the way. should've asked it first. but let me say the whole thing is a scam. the mueller deal was a scam. the russian collusion was a scam. you can ask putin. nobody's been rough around russia then donald trump. okay? with that being said, it would be great to get along with russia and we will get along with russia because it's smart. nobody spent tougher on russia. ask one please. >> you had a conversation with president trump about 5g and how the nokia, finland's big company, could fill in the space and you met with chinese president xi during the summer. you renewed the ties of friendship between the nations. do you believe countries, western countries, can put huawei equipment and their 5g cores are at risk of national security? >> thank you. like i told already, and europe, the situation as may a bit different from that here because the main company you mentioned is inside europe. what european union is now doing is making a risk assessment, asking each country what kind of experience, what you have seen and found out. that will be in a few weeks' time and after that we have to decide together in the european union what kind of tools we need to protect ourselves. you refer to my discussions with the president xi. we didn't talk about 5g when meeting and we know that nokia is a major factor in this area. they will answer for themselves. thank you. >> president trump: picked somebody who's really nice. a really nice person. i think they're all nice and finland. >> are there finnish reporters? >> reporter: i have one question for president trump and one question for president niinisto. mr. trump, how will this political storm affect the u.s. foreign policy especially its relationship with finland? second, for president niinisto, because it's a big issue here at the moment, have to ask what kind of favors has mr. trump asked from you? >> president trump: or the other way around, you mean. >> of favors i asked? both ways? okay. >> president trump: the political storm, i have lived with that from the day got elected. i've done more in this administration has done more than any administration in history of this country in the first two and a half years. i am used to it. for me it's like putting on a suit in the morning. people say to me how does he handle it? rush limbaugh said i don't know of any man in america that could handle it. sean hannity said the same thing. others have said the same thing. i don't know any other man in america. because it's all a fraud. because of that and because i know i'm right and because i'm doing a great job for the american people, i'm very, very happy living the way i'm living. i thought i would finish off the first term without the threat of people making false claims. but this one turned out to be incredible. all because they didn't know that i had a transcript done by very, very talented people word for word. done by people who do it for a living. we had an exact transcript. when we produced that transcript, they died because you look at the whistle-blower statement and its vicious, vicious. the whistle-blower, there's no question in my mind that bad things have gone on and i think we'll get to the bottom of it. i think it's going to be a total reversal. but i've lived with us. i have lived with this cloud now for almost three years, more than that. probably started even before. i think nobody has done what i've done when you look at tax cuts and regulation cuts and rebuilding our military and right to try, right to try. that means people that are terminally ill and very sick, the right to use our medicines, are great medicines, because we're so far ahead of every other country. so many things that we don't. our vets are taking care of. we have choice. nobody thought we could ever get a choice. that's when you have to wait on line as a vet. you go outside, you get a doctor and we pay the bill. you not to wait for three weeks to see a doctor if your event. we cherish our vets. at least this administration does. for many years they didn't. i take care of the vets. no administration has done and i've lived with that from the dan got elected. so i'm fine with it. >> we had conversation and discussion on an equal basis which i really appreciate. i had one request specifically. i wanted the president to take more notice, transatlantic relations. i consider it's useful both for usa and europe. we were discussing trading. i told the president was that what we are doing will be finished in two years' time. and we have five candidates. three from europe and two from united states. he answered that ours is best. >> reporter: thank you. mr. president, i would like to ask about your use of the word treason. you've used it repeatedly in the last few days. do you consider anyone who opposes you treasonous? >> president trump: no, i consider when they live. when they stand before our great body and our great chamber and they make up a story that's fiction, like schiff did. he took that perfect conversation i had with the ukrainian president and he made it into a total lie. it was a total fabrication. you do admit that. it was a total fabrication. he said this is what -- and the only ones that don't like my conversations are the ones that never read it but they heard shifty schiff. that's what i call a lie and because of the fact that he is lying about the president of the united states as to what the president says. believe it or not, i watch my words very carefully. there are those who think i'm a very stable genius, okay? i watch my words very, very closely and to have somebody get up and totally fabricated conversation that i had with another leader and make it sound so bad, it was so evil. now i see this that just out minutes ago where he met at a time that was impossible to have done unless there is corruption involved. just so you know, we've been investigating on a personal basis through rudy and others, lawyers, corruption in the 2016 election. we've been investigating corruption because i probably will. i was going to definitely but i probably will be bringing a lot of litigation against a lot of people having to do with the corrupt investigation having to do with the 2016 election. i have every right to do that. the way they have treated me and other people, they have destroyed people, they have destroyed their lives with a phony charge that never existed and that was collusion, never existed. and you had 18 people who hated donald trump and you have bob mueller who hated donald trump and in the end that, they couldn't find one damn thing about donald trump having to do with collusion. this after two years and spending $42 million. i have been looking at that long and hard for a long period of time. how it started, why it started. it should never happen to another president ever. i've been talking about it from the standpoint of bringing a major lawsuit and i've been talking about it for long time. we've been investigating the corruption having to do with what they did to my people. they destroyed many people. they came down to washington to do a great job and they left home. they left washington dark. they were dark. they came down here. i say bright eyed and bushytailed. they wanted to do a great job for the people. they wanted to do a great job. we won the election. then they get served with subpoenas, all the subpoenas. look at nancy pelosi. nancy pelosi hands out subpoenas -- she has to approve it. she hands out subpoenas like their cookies. you want to subpoena? here you go. take them. like they are cookies. ryan wouldn't give anyone a subpoena. mark meadows, jim jordan, devin nunes. i'm not saying wrong or right. but paul ryan, no, let's talk about it. that's a big thing to give a subpoena. let's talk about it. two weeks later they are still talking. they want subpoenas to investigate the corrupt democrats in the corrupt people on the other side. paul ryan would not give subpoenas. nancy pelosi come here you go, take it. who wants a subpoena? every day you get subpoenas. paul ryan was actually right probably. because they should never, ever allow thing like this to happen to our country again. thank you very much. >> reporter: can you make clear right here what do you or what did you want president zelensky to do with regard to joe and hunter biden? >> president trump: you look at what he said. he brought it up. i think he brought up the name rudy giuliani. what i want is the following and i have said this loud and clear. we have our investors here. we have mike pence here. why are we the only ones they give the big money to the ukraine? we give money to ukraine and it's bothered me from day one and you have plenty of people here. i say how come it's so easy. united states gets ripped.