But i am watching over everybody, jerry. Youre in good hands, okay . Thank you. Youre in good hands, believe me. You can tell the people of new york. Even though i didnt win new york state. I should have won new york state, but i didnt. Mr. President , cathy. I want to return to a conversation we had with ivanka, dean and wilbur on jobs, the work force of the future. As we think about that and think about our skillsets, in new york city alone, our Public High SchoolGraduation Rate is at 70 . But the readiness of our students for college and careers is only assessed at 37 . As we look at the pace of change, we look at the Digital Transformation we all see in business in the marketplace, and look at the skills, this disconnect between what employers need and what our students are coming into our work forces are prepared to deliver. It would be great to get your
thoughts on the priorities of the administration around education, around, again, what i like to call not the future of work but the work of the future. Because the future of work sounds a little ominous. The work of the future sounds visionary. If you could give us the priorities and how before you so youre giving me numbers from new york. Youre a proud new yorker. But youre giving me numbers. Why is it doing so badly . Tell me. Why are the numbers so horrific in terms of education and what happens when somebody goes through school and then they cant read after the, you know they graduate from high school and can barely read. Whats the answer . Yeah. First, i would say that as we look at new york, new york has made enormous progress in a decade. The 70 was 50 . A 40 increase. Were making enormous progress. See how quickly shes changing . Enormous progress but we have a lot of work to do. I think we talked earlier about
public private partnerships, apprenticeship models, which we have a beautiful model that works and brings our next generation of leaders. I do think there is a lot we can do through relooking at funding programs. We talked earlier about consolidating the many programs that are out there. Were all trying to make our individual impact. We can make a huge impact together. Sure. I know you work very hard on it, and you have made progress. Charter schools are another thing that people are talking about a lot. Some of the Charter Schools of new york have been amazing. Theyve done incredibly well. People cant get in. You cant get in. Its been i dont call it an experiment anymore. It is far beyond an experiment. If you look at so many elements of education, and so sad to see whats happening in the country. Even the numbers, as good as you say were doing better, but the numbers in new york, the numbers in chicago are very rough. The numbers in los angeles. The cities, its a very rough situation. Common core, i mean, we have to bring education more local. We cant be managing education from washington. When i go out to iowa, when i go out to the different states and talk, they want to run their School Programs locally. Theyll do a much better job than somebody and, look, these are some very good people in washington. But you also have bureaucrats that make a lot of money and dont really care that much about what theyre doing or about the community that they have never seen and theyll never meet and they never will see. I like the fact of getting rid of common common core to me is, we have to end it. We have to bring education local. To me, ive always said it. Ive been saying it during the campaign. Were doing it. Betsy devos is doing a terrific job. Highly respected. Tremendous track record. But shes got one of the toughest jobs of any of our secretaries, to me. Shes got one of the toughest jobs. It there are tough jobs out there, but shes got one of the toughest jobs. Were going to spend a lot of money and expertise. Were going to have great talent dealing with education. There is nothing more important than education. Weve got to get the numbers in new york better. I think they will be better. A lot of people a lot of the greatest people i know in new york, theyre totally in love including ivanka and jared. Theyre so much involved, and it is so important to them, the word education. It is happening. I see it happening in new york very much. But it is happening elsewhere, too. I think were going to have a great four years. Mr. President , i know you have a pressing issue to deal with. Steve and mike, i think, just wanted to thank you for attending today, and maybe make a final comment on behalf of that, too. Thanks a lot for being here. And thanks for everybody, for
being here. Its been really interesting. Youve had everybody of importance at the event. I think its terrific, in terms of the stuff youre trying to do to modernize the government, educate and so forth. I think we have to keep a focus on that. The outside world doesnt always get the message, that thats really whats going on. Because youre doing profound things. Ure taking on enormous, embe issues, and i think with the kind of effort that can be marshalled, you can do amazing things. Thats on behalf of mike and myself, who chair the partnership. It is sort of a trust. Gets rotated from person to person every two years. I want to wish you really good luck with the chinese. Thats an important thing, as we all know. And i think theres a real opportunity to make progress with them. You should have a good time in florida. I hope the weather is good. The weather will be beautiful. Thank you, steve. I just want to finish by saying that we are absolutely destroying these horrible regulations that have been placed on your heads. Over not eight years. Over the last 20 and 25 years. You have regulations that are horrendous. Dodd frank is an example of what were working on, and were working on it right now. Were going to be coming out with some very strong far beyond recommendations. Were going to be doing things that are going to be good for the banking industry, so banks can loan money to people who need it. I speak to people all the time. They used to borrow money to
open up theres one in nevada to open a pizza shop, three shops, had a bank. At the time, he called me mr. Trump because i hadnt won yet. He said, mr. Trump, i cant open up anything. I cant do anything. The banks dont even i had a bank for 20 years. Now they dont take my phone call. I was always a very good customer. So i havent been able to do what i do. They cant do it. The banks got so restricted. Ive always said and some people get insulted but it is not necessarily the man thats making a lot of money thats running the bank. You look at the folks from government that are running all of the banks. Theyre running the banks. And the people that are really, you know, the head people, theyre petrified of the regulators. Theyre petrified. They cant move. The regulators are running the banks. Were going to do a major haircut on dodd frank. We want strong restrictions and regulation, but not regulation that makes it impossible for the banks to loan to people that are
going to create jobs. But were doing thats just one example. Were doing so many cuts on regulations. We have a book on regulations, and if you add them all up, it goes up to the ceiling three times over. It is just one after another after another. Its just like that chart. I thought the chart was so descriptive. Every industry is just like that chart. Thats to build a simple roadway or highway. Thats what you have to go through. And were going to be able to get rid of 90 , 95 of that and still have the same kind of protection. We want safety and we want environmental. We want environmental protection. I mean, ive won awards on environmental protection. Im a big believer, believe it or not, but we want that kind of protection. We want clean air, and we want clean water. But we shouldnt have to get the approvals from 16 different agencies for almost the same thing. So we have a country with
tremendous tension. We have the greatest people on earth, but we have to use their potential. We have to let those people do their thing. With that, i just want to thank you all. I think youre going to see a very much different environment than youve been used to over the last, again, 20, 25 years. Were going to unleash the country, and im willing to take the heat. Thats okay. Ive been taking the heat my whole life. But in the end, i know it is the right thing to do. Were going to create a lot of jobs. We have a hundred Million People if you look. The real number isnt 4. 6 . They told me i had 4. 6 last month. Im doing great. I said, what about the 100 Million People . A lot of the people came outnd vod for me. I call them the forgotten n, the forgotten woman. A lot of those people, a good percentage of them, would like to have jobs and they dont. One of the statistics that, to me, is just ridiculous. So the 4. 6 sounds good, but
way, way down in terms of drugs pouring into our country and poisoning our youth. General kelly has done a great job. When you think youre going to sell that car or airconditi c r conditioner, it is not going to happen. Youll have a tax. The tax may be 35 . You know what . Every single Major Company that ive had that conversation with had said, you know, weve decided to stay in the United States. It is amazing. And you would have thought they would have said this, frankly, for years, but nobody ever said it. Weve lost close to 70,000 factories over a relatively short period of time. 70,000. You wouldnt believe it is possible, to lose 70,000 factories. 70,000. You look at a map of the United States. How many factories can you list . We lost almost 70,000 factories. And i will tell you, thats not happening because now, theyre all staying here and theyre all expanding here. Ford announced last week a
massive expansion of three of its plants. That was not going to happen, believe me, if i didnt win. So good luck, everybody. Enjoy yourselves. Youre my iends. Youre amazing people. Were going to putou to work. Thank you. [ applause ] good morning, everybody. Im in washington. Youve been listening to President Trump taking questions during a very interesting ceo town hall. Just set the stage for you, it was donald trump. It was the director of the National Economic counsel, gary cohn. The department of labor secretary. Majority leader mccarthy. It was wilbur ross, the department of Commerce Secretary. Ivanka trump was there. Dina powell was there. Then there were 24 business leaders, ceos of Major Companies like mastercard, general electric, the new york stock exchange, jet blue. It was a town hall with these business leaders. I have a Special Treat this morning. Im joined by my buddy, stephanie ruhle, who agreed to
help sort of make sense of this thing. He was doing okay until he got to the end, telling you the Unemployment Rigate is not righ and the 70,000 factories that closed. All over the world, factories closed in some part because of automation. We dont need as many people to make things. In some part because of trade and offshoring. But the thing at the end is something donald trump has gotten used to saying. That things were really terrible. He showed up in town, and now everybody is creating new jobs everywhere you look. Hes gotten used to saying it because those points, the narrative, he had written sticks. The problem is the narrative isnt true. When he mentioned he speaks to ceos. Were going to be building here. He says, im going to come see you then. The question is, is he going to see them while he is wearing a trump tie or a trump suit made in the United States . Theyre not currently made there. To his point that all of the ceos are saying, president
trump, no one ever told me before i should have the plants here and i should right. That isnt true. There arent the many, many examples of ford, gm, that are moving thousands of jobs. So many of these jobs were always going to stay. They were planned. The same companies are still doing things overseas. That said, this is an interesting construct, right . The idea that he sat there. A lot of americans will say, youre sitting there in a meeting with the biggest of businesses. Thats not real america. But they are businesses that employ people. By the way, a lot of them are businesses in which many of our viewers have stock. They have a 401 k . And those businses do employ people all over the country. The point he was making about regulation is heard around the country. Small Business Sentiment has gone up since President Trump has won because people feel bound and constrained by overregulation. They hear when he says, you pile up the regulations, it is three stacks to the ceiling. Whether or not thats true, what
a Small Business owner feels or hears in this country is you roll out the red carpet for Big Companies to come in, but you dont do anything for little companies. Little companies seem to be set back all the time. Part of the problem, stephanie, is a lot of the regulations that little Companies Feel have nothing to do with the federal government or dodd frank. That is correct. The ceo of zillow was on president obamas entrepreneurship council. He himself tweeted, we need to see regulation pulled back so more Upstart Companies will have less regulation to go public. There is an argument to be made that it is time to dial it back. The devil is in the details. Simply the blanket statement, we have to wipe out what regulations . Why are they there, and who do they protect . American small and medium businesses create a lot of jobs. Thats where you want the juice. You want entrepreneurs who come here and some are immigrants, coming from india and china, and
some are homegrown in america but this is the best place to start a business. If he keeps the sentiment, we have Something Interesting happening. People are saying, the way presidt obama dissects what constites being rich or wealthy is keeping them from king their businesses any larger. If youre making 250,000 or more getting taxed, like those who are making 10 million or more, you aint in the same business. Maybe well have stephanie for Small Business administrator or Something Like that. Maybe. I know why youre here, when you were anchoring, it was lo looking rainy. It was. Now the sun is out. Stephanie, you can see her every morning at 9 00. This morning, a new Court Document shows that carter page, a former Foreign Policy adviser to truDonald Trumps president i campaign, seen here, met with and gave documents to a man he
says he doesnt know was a russian spy in new york city four years ago. Page was targeted and did not initiate the meeting, he says. This adding fuel to the controversy about possible russian connections to trump associates. This morning also, two intelligence sources confirm that top Trump Campaign contributor, prince, founder of the giant defense contractor, formerly blackwater, held a secret meeting just before the inauguration with a close associate of vladimir putin. Nbc News White House correspondent Kristen Welker joins us live. What can you tell us about the developments and whether or not the white house had anything to say about it . Digging deeper into what you said, lets start with carter page. This morning, a new Court Document newly revealed shows page, a former Foreign Policy adviser to Donald Trumps president ial campaign, met with and gave documents to a russian spy in new york city in 2013. Hes an Energy Industry consultant. He confirmed to nbc news that he is the unnamed man identified in the federal complaint, who was targeted by and met with a russian intelligence agent, posing as a Bank Executive in new york four year ago. Page, who is not a defendant in the complaint and was unaware the man was a spy, he says, was first identified by the Online Media Company buzzfeed. He says he gave only basic and Material Information and publicly available documents. In a Statement Released overnight, page denied any wrongdoing to nbc news and called the entire episode a result of a political hit job by the former obama administration. To your second point, this all comes as two intelligence sources confirm to nbc a big contributor to the Trump Campaign held a secret meeting just before the inauguration in the islands north of madagascar. That meeting first reported by the Washington Post took place between prince, founder of the defense contractor, formerly called blackwater, and an associate of russian president
vladimirputin. The post reported the meeting was arranged by the United Arab Emirates and wanted a trump putin back channel. Devos was also a major donor, now in the cabinet as secretary of education. Sean spicer saying, we are not aware of any meetings, and erik prince had no role in the transition. A second source i spoke to at the white house tells me any suggestion of a trump putin back channel is, quote, ridiculous. Clearly, this is something that the Trump Administration wants to turn the page on very quickly. Right. Heres the problem, kristen. Sean spicer said erik prince had no role in the administration or the transition. When conversations about carter page were coming up, thats almost the same language that sean spicer used. First, they say nobody has any connection to the russians. As soon as somebody establishes connection to the russians, the
response from the administration and the trump team tends to be, well, they had no rol