To send troops down to mexico. New details are out on the botched raid in yemen as the president welcomes home the remains of a member who lost his life. Something very sad, very beautiful. Should the raid have been called off . And, down to the wire. Trumps nominee for education secretary lose zs two key republican votes. I cannot vote to confirm her. I was trying to get to yes. I couldnt. If one more senator defects, it is game over. So much to cover as Mark Halperin says, a lot of stories the white house thooz cover today. We are going to begin with President Trump flexing his muscle on the world stage and ruffling feathers i the process. This sets up interesting challenges for rex till oreson, who well be hearing from in 30 minutes. Also, donald trump taking to twitter, of course, about iran, one of three countries the new administration butted heads with in recent days. You are in luck, we have the best team in business to break it down and a great panel. Kristen welker is live at the white house. I want to start with President Trump and the phone calls, one to australia, one to mexico. They are our allies, but thats not what happened. Reporter doesnt seem so. Here is what we know. Reports that the call between President Trump and mexican president were very heated. He threatened to send in military troops because mexico has bad hombres. The Associated Press reporting that was light hearted banter according to a u. S. Official. Based on my own conversations here, the white house pushing back firmly against that characterization of the call. Look, the president never threatened to send u. S. Military troops to mexico. We are going to press sean spicer about all of this during the briefing. The other thing is the conversation with another key ally to the United States, australia. In a conversation between President Trump and the Prime Minister of australia, the president became enraged when he learned about a deal that was struck under the Obama Administration for the u. S. To take more than 1200 refugees from australia. They would have to go through the typical vetting process. Thats a two year process. The president , apparently saying, why would we take over refugees . We might be importing the next boston bombers. This was the tweet for President Trump last night. Do you believe it, the Obama Administration agreed to take thous of Illegal Immigrants om australia. Why . I will study this dumb deal. This is one of the United States closer allies. The broader question, why is the president picking fights with allies and what could the Ripple Effect be . Could say it was light hearted. Where hes not light hearted is with iran. Reporter yep. Can you talk about the hard line the administration is taking there . It fits with what President Trump was saying throughout the campaign. Reporter its not a huge surprise, steph. If you listen to candidate trump, he said he thought the Iran Nuclear Deal brokered under the administration was a bad deal and he wanted to rip it up. This was a separate issue. The National Security adviser, mike flynn came to the Briefing Room saying he was putting iran on notice. He said because they test fired a Ballistic Missile violating a u. N. Agreement and because of other provocative actions. We pressed Senior Administration officials. What does it mean to be put on notice . They didnt rule out a range of actions. Everything for more economic sanctions and potentially military action. This is something we need to press the administration on. This is rattling with iran, not an ally of the United States, but comes on the heels of the u. S. Brokering a nuclear deal with them. What could the fallout be . Thats what we are digging into. We have been told to take him figuratively, not literally. I want to turn to the australia bit. One of the journalists who broke the story about President Trumps call to the australian Prime Minister, philip rutger. You got the details of this. What did you find out . This is a call that took place on saturday over the weekend. It was one of five foreign leader calls President Trump made. It was contentious and heated. They had a disagreement overhe refugee policy as kristen was explaining. Trump seemed to threaten the Prime Minister. He said, look, this is a dumb deal. Its going to hurt me politically. He said this would be akin to australia exporting potentially the next boston bombers, a reference to the boston bombing. Trump tried to rub in his popularity, his crowd sizes and victory. 25 minutes in, it ended abruptly. Do we know who prepped President Trump for this call . Is he aware of how long australia has been our ally . Next to the United States, they have more troops fighting isis than any of our other allies. They have been working side by side with us for decades. Does he understand this relationship . I assume he has to have understood the relationship and his National Security advisers did as well. I believe the Vice President had a conversation with his counter part in australia ahead of the trump call. Clearly, the u. S. Government knew what they were doing with australia. I think trump, he was elected to disrupt the world order and change policies and redo the agreements in a way that, in his view, would benefit the american interests. Thats what he seems to be trying to do here with australia, irrespective with the alliance with australia. We are waiting. President trump is at the National Prayer breakfast. Hes going to speak in a moment. Mark burnett, coproducer of the apprentice is at the podium. I want to bring in susan from slate. Susan, i want to start with you. Tough talking is what we knew we were going to get from President Trump. People wanted this. This was a change election. But, tough talking, does it not need a level of diplomacy . Are you concerned with how aggressive President Trump has been in places like australia and mexico . Of course. We heard donald trump say America First. Thats fine, but does that mean going it alone . Thats the message hes sending which is trouble. People in europe responding to the ban. They are issues people were concerned about on foreign affair. On the issue of iran, he looks like the donald trump everyone knew we were going to get. Now people are concerned about how is he handling the diplomacy of what needs to get done around the world. We cant be by ourselves. How does America First read to the rest of the world . We know australia and mexico, canada are shocked right now. How are they reading it and what are they doing . America first sounds great. What does it mean . Ahead of the eu, they put the United States on a list of problem areas, things we have to worry about. Hes a polish president. America is more popular in poland than america. Literally. For the europeans to look at this as uncertainty and uncertainty is bad in the markets as you know. Is bad internationally. If this is in service of a policy, thats one thing. To me, cutting off an ally like australia is not a policy, its a spasm. You have to wonder, was he looking for the one line on the refugees . Is that what he wanted to come out of the call . Look america, im not going to let refugees come in. I think its playing more to that than anything else which is umpb unfortunate. Theres a lot of issues. Pulling tpp out there. You have the pm on the phone, dont blow it up over refugees. Talk about whats going on in the white house, what Donald Trumps intentions are and people around him. Rex tillerson is standing by his side, waiting to get sworn in. The person focused on Foreign Policy issues. A person who wants to be part of the conversation whether it has to do with iran or australia. Then mike flynn gets on the podium and says iran, you are on notice. Whats going on inside the white house . Do you think things are coordinated . Its coordinated within the white house. This is the strategy President Trump wants. Steve bannon is playing a huge role in foreign affairs. Hees behind this. For Rex Tillerson, he inherits a lot. He inherits a crisis, at the moment, with australia and the iran situation. That doesnt bring up russia, china, north korea and syria. A lot on his plate to deal with. Are they giving Rex Tillerson an unfair hand . To take the podium yesterday, that missile was launched on sunday. Many say reason to say something. Did he need to say it yesterday and make tillersons first day on the job that much more complicated . Whether they needed to or not, it was planned. They knew what they were doing when it came to that. It wasnt like the immigration ban or the travel ban. I have to interrupt you. President trump shook hands with mark burnett and is taking the podium. Hes smiling. Hes been waiting an hour. Here he is. [ applause ] thank you very much. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you very much. Its a great honor to be here this morning. So many faith leaders, very, very important people to me from across our magnificent nation. So many leaders from all across the globe. Today we continue a tradition begun by president eisenhower some 64 years ago. This gathering is a testament to the power of faith and is one of the great customs of our nation. I hope to be here seven more times with you. [ applause ] i want very much to thank our cochair senator bozeman and senator coontz. We have one guest that was sworn in last night, Rex Tillerson, secretary of state. [ applause ] going to do a great job. Some people didnt like rex because he actually got along with leaders of the world. I said, no, you have to understand, thats a good thing. A good thing, not a bad thing. Hes respected all over the world and is going to go down as one of our great, great secretaries. Thank you, rex. Thank you, as well, to Senate Chaplain barry black for his moving words. I dont know if thats an appointed position . Is that appointed . I dont know if you are a democrat or republican, but im appointing you for another year. The hell with it. I dont think its my appointment, but its the senates. Well talk to them. Your son is here. Your job is very, very secure. Thank you, barry, appreciate it very much. I also want to thank my great friends, row ma. Where is roa . The voice of anangel. That voice is so betiful. Everything is so beautiful about roma, including her husband. Hes a special, special friend, mark burnett, for the wonderful introduction. So true. So true. I said to the agent, im sorry. My agent said it will never work. I fired him after it became the number one show. It became so successful and he wanted a commission. Thats what i really said. We have tremendous success on the apprentice. When i ran for president , i had to leave the show. Thats when i knew for sure i was doing it. They hired a big, big movie star, arnold schwarzenegger, to take my place. We know how that turned out. The ratings went right down the tubes. Its been a total disaster. Mark will never, ever bet against trump again. I want to just pray for arnold, if we can. We have had an exciting life. An outstanding man. Thank you for introducing me. Appreciate it. Its a great honor. I also want to thank my dear friend, Vice President mike pence who has been incredible. And an incredible wife, karen. Every time i was in trouble with something, where they were questioning me, they say, but he picked mike pence so he has to know what hes doing. And, its true. Hes been, you know, on the scale of zero to ten, i rate him a 12, okay. I want to thank you. Thank you very much, appreciate it. But, most importantly i want to thank the American People. Your faith and prayers sustained me and inspired me through some very, very tough times. All around america, i have met amazing people whose words of worship and encouragement have been a constant source of strength. What i hear most often as i travel the country are five words that never, ever fail to touch my heart. Thats, i am praying for you. I hear it so often. I am praying for you, mr. President. No one has inspired me more in my travels than the families of the United States military. Men and women who put their lives on the line every day for their country and their countrymen. I just came back yesterday from Dover Air Force base to join the family of chief William Ryan Owens as americas fallen hero was returned home. Very, very sad, but very, very beautiful. Very, very beautiful. His family was there. Incredible family, loved him so much. So devastated. He was so devastated. But the ceremony was amazing. He died in defense of our nation. He gave his life in defense of our people. Our debt to him and our debt to his family is eternal and ever lasting. Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends. We will never forget the men and women who wear the uniform, believe me. [ applause ] thank you. From generation to generation, their individual lens kept our liberty alive. Our freedom is won by their sacrifice and our security earned with their sweat and blood and tears. God has blessed this land to give us such incredible heroes and patriots. They are very, very special and we are going to take care of them. Our soldiers understand that what matters is not party or ideology or creed, but the bonds of loyalty that link us all together as one. America is a nation of believers. In towns all across our land, its plain to see what we easily forget, so easily we forget this that the quality of our lives is not defined by our material success, but by our spiritual success. I will tell you that and i tell you that from somebody that has had material success and knows tremendous numbers of people with great material success. The most material success. Many of those people are very, very miserable, unhappy people. I ow lot of people without that but they have great families, they have great faith, they dont have money, at least not nearly to the extent and they are happy. Those, to me, are the successful people, i have to tell you. [ applause ] i was blessed to be raised in a churched home. My mother and father taught me that to whom much is given, much is expected. I was sworn in on the very bible from which my mother would teach us as young children. That faith lives on in my heart every single day. The people in this room come from many, many backgrounds. You represent so many religions and so many views. But, we are all united by our faith in our creator and our Firm Knowledge that we are all equal in his eyes. We are not just flesh and bone and blood. We are human beings with souls. Our republic was formed on the basis that freedom is not a gift from government but that freedom is a gift from god. [ applause ] it was the great Thomas Jefferson who said the god who gave us life gave us liberty. Jefferson asked, can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that theseiberties are the gift of god . Among those freeds is the right to worship according to our own beliefs. That is why i will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution. I will do that, remember. [ applause ] freedom of religion is a sacred right but also a right under threat all around us and the world is under serious, serious threat in so many different ways and i have never seen it so much and so openly as since i took the position of president. The world is in trouble, but we are going to straighten it out. Okay . Thats what i do. I fix things. We are going to straighten it out. Believe me, when you hear about the tough phone calls im having, dont worry about it. Just dont worry about it. They are tough. We have to be tough. Its time we are going to be a little tough, folks. We are taken advantage of by every nation in the world, virtually. Its not going to happen anymore. Its not going to happen anymore. We have seen unimaginable violence carried out in the name of religion. Acts of want and slaughter against religious minorities, horrors on a scale that defie description. Terrorism is a fundamental threat to religious freedom. It must be stopped. It may not be pretty for a while. It will be stopped. We have seen [ applause ] by the way, general, as you know, james mad dog shouldnt say it in this room, never lost a battle. Always wins them and always wins them fast. Hes our new secretary of defense, will be working with rex. Hes right now in south korea going to japan, going some other spots. I tell you what, i have gotten to know him really well. Hes the real deal. We have somebody who is the real deal working for us. Thats what we need. So, you watch. You just watch. Things will be different. We have seen peaceloving muslims brutalized, victimized, murdered and oppressed from isis killers. We have seen threats of extermination against jewish people. They cut off heads of christians. Not since the middle ages have we seen that. We havent seen that, the cutting off of heads. Now they cut off the heads, they drown people in steel cages. Havent seen this havent seen this. Nobodys seen this for many, many years. All nations have a mo