Thank you for being here to sign the Historic NationalDefense Authorization act, which includes the largest pay increase, support for our military families and investing in our military readiness. Climb to glory, tenth mountain division. Thank you. She says an incredible representative. I also want to thank representatives don baker, dan donovan and joe wilson, who are with us today also. Thank you. Where are you . Stand up, please. Stand up. Thank you. Thank you, fellas. Theres another member of congress here today who is not only an air force veteran but the first woman ever to fly a fighter jet in combat in u. S. History and ive gotten to know her very well and she is terrific. Congresswoman martha mcsally. Congresswoman. Thank you, martha. Thank you for being here. Thank you very much. Thank you all for fighting for our military and for fighting for our vets. Nobody has made more progress on anything than what weve done with our vets. We have choice approved, you know that. We have so many other things approved for our vets and its really moving along well. I think maybe almost as important as choice is accountability. Now when we find somebody not treating our vets properly, you know what we say, right . Youre out, get out, youre fired, get out. They couldnt do that. They couldnt do that. Now they can do it. Now they have to treat our vets properly. Our vets are our great people and they get treated properly, so you have choice and you have accountability and nobody thought that would ever get approved. They have been trying for many, many decades. Finally i want to thank a very special group of patriots at ft. Drum. All of the amazing spouses and Family Members whose love and support make your service possible, whether you like it or not. They make it possible. Please, thank you. Thank you very much. They know. They know, right . Look at him. Hes smiling. They know. Last year we secured a historic 700 billion to rebuild our military, and now the National Defense authorization act paves the way for another 17 listen to this now. So weve been trying to get money. They never gave us money for the military for years and years and it was depleted. We got 700 billion and next year already approved, we have 716 billion to give you the finest planes and ships and tanks and missiles anywhere on earth. Nobody makes them like we do. An very, very far distant in this case, jobs are very important in all cases, but in this case the military might is more important than even jobs. But all of this equipment is made right here in the usa and its the best equipment on earth. Nobody makes it like we do. So you have 700 billion and now 716 billion. So congratulations. America is a peaceful nation. But if conflict is forced upon us, we will fight and we will win. Right, general . Right . Right . You Better Believe it, generals. Theyre the guys. Were powered by the Unstoppable Force of the United States army, very special. With this new authorization, we will increase the size and strength of our military by had by adding thousands of new recruits to active duty, reserve and National Guard units, including 4,000 active duty soldiers. And we will replace aging tanks, aging planes and ships with the most advanced and Lethal Technology ever developed and hopefully well be so strong, well never have to use it. But if we ever did, nobody has a chance. It all includes 135 brand new beautiful m1 abrams tanks, 60 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and over 3,000 joint light tactical vehicles for the army armored brigade combat team. New blackhawk and apache helicopters, finest in the world, for the army National Guard. 77 f35 joint strike fighters, you know thats stealth. I talked to a couple of pilots, great pilots. I said how are they . They said theyre hard to beat because you cant see them. Its always hard to beat the enemy when you cant see it. The greatest in the world. Full funding for the b21 raider bomber program. 13 new Battle Force Ships and support ships, including a fourth class Aircraft Carrier and three additional lateral combat ships. Funding to modernize our Nuclear Arsenal is so important. Were doing a major upgrade of our missile defense. Were spending a tremendous amount of money on our Nuclear Arsenal. Nobody will have close. We will hopefully never, ever have to use it. But nobody will be close. More than 11 billion for the military construction, including Family Housing and we are proudly giving our troops the biggest pay increase a decade. I know you dont want it because youre very patriotic, youll say just save the money, youre going to pay down debt. Does anybody want it . Just raise your hand. Whats going on here . Are these real patriots . I dont know. Its the biggest increase in a decade. A Strong Military also requires a strong economy, and our economy is setting records like never before. We have the greatest economy weve ever had. I think thats going to help us a lot in a lot of ways. It also helps us a lot in funding and doing all of the things were doing for our great military. Weve created almost 4 million new jobs since the election. A number that the media in the back would never have said would be possible. If during the campaign. True. Im so proud of myself. I didnt call them the fake news media. I didnt call them. I said to myself, i will not today in front of our great armed forces call them fake news. We know the real truth, but we wont say it today. But they wouldnt have believed it possible, 4 million new jobs. Nobody would have thought that possible on the campaign trail if when we were campaigning, mike, if i would have said that, if i would have said 2 million new jobs, people would have laughed us off the stage. But we have 4 million new jobs. Something im very proud of, the africanamerican, hispanic, hispanic american and asian, asian american, the Unemployment Rates for all three have reached the lowest levels in the history of our country. Unemployment for africanamerican, hispanics, asians, the lowest level in the history of our country. Womens unemployment is not, im sorry, doing quite as well. Its only the lowest level in 65 years. So were not doing as well. But well do better. I think within about three weeks when the new numbers come out, youll probably be lowest in history also. Very importantly, the veterans Unemployment Rate recently reached its lowest level in nearly 20 years. Thats a big one. And we are creating manufacturing jobs again. Remember during the campaign they said, oh, you cant create manufacturing jobs. I said really . Were not going to make things anymore . Is that what its come to . Were going to have other countries make things and were going to buy them and theyre going to have the jobs and were not . It doesnt work that way. Were doing manufacturing jobs at the fastest pace in many, many decades. No longer are we apologizing for america. Instead we are now standing up for america. Its called america first, if thats okay with you. Were standing up for our military and were standing up for our Great American flag. Were standing for our flag. The armed forces have endured continuous combat for the past 17 years, yet since the 1990s the number of soldiers on active duty was cut by more than onethird. Our bases and Vital Equipment were allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. And i saw some of them. Total disrepair. But those days are over. Every day the army is fighting for us, and now we are fighting for you 100 . No one better understands how stretched our military has become than the soldiers of the tenth mountain division. Is that right, general . You were the first conventional combat force to deploy after 9 11. Since then, no division in the army has been deployed more times to iraq and afghanistan than you. Youve sent over 9,000 courageous soldiers to 26 Different Countries all around the world in the past year alone. The Second Brigade Combat Team just returned from a rotation at the joint Readiness Training center, and later this year they will once again bravely answer our nations call and deploy to afghanistan. Through it all, youve proven to the world, to our country, to your families that ft. Drum soldiers arent just tough, youre mountain tough. Thats what you are, mountain tough. I said to your general, whats the difference . He said, sir, trust me, theres a difference. So i said i trust you, general. Right . I said dont go into it, i trust you. One of those soldiers is specialist braden cook, who is with us today. Wheres braden . Oh, good location, braden. Last october his team came under heavy fire while cleaning and clearing, clearing them out, Taliban Strongholds in various locations in afghanistan. An afghan soldier fighting alongside u. S. Troops was badly wounded when an explosive detonated nearby. Specialist cook braved the hail of bullets and mortar rounds all over. They said it was all over. It was heavy fire, saving the life of that wounded soldier and earning a bronze star for valor for his courageous action. Braden, i want to thank you, brave young man. Thank you. Please stand up again, braden. Were also inspired by the devotion to duty shown by the Family Members who serve their nation here at home. Ashley shepard is one of those Family Members. She has been married to Sergeant First Class ian shepard for more than 14 years. Ashley supports military families in every way you can imagine. She has served as a Family Readiness group leader, coleader, treasurer, and assistant treasurer for three companies. She works hard. She raises money for scholarships, organizes Charity Events for gold star families and feeds homeless veterans. Ashley, i want to thank you. Ashley, where is ashley . I had a feeling that was you, ashley. Stand up, ashley. Thank your husband too. Thank you. America is eternally grateful for every soldier, Service Member and Family Member here at ft. Drum and we are forever in the debt of every american who has ever served our nation in uniform. From the snows of valley forge to the jungles of vietnam and the mountains of afghanistan, its just incredible what you do. A few days ago Vice President pence flew to hawaii to greet the remains of some of our nations greatest heroes. Our fallen warriors who gave their lives many years ago in korea. Now these american heroes are finally starting to come home. They will be laid to rest on american soil. We believe in no american left behind. And we believe our war fighters deserve the tools, the equipment and resources they have earned with their blood, sweat and tears. In a few moments in honor of that sacred obligation, i will put my signature on the National Defense authorization act. This authorization will give americas war fighters the firepower they need to win any conflict quickly and decisively. Thanks to the leadership of representative stenanek, were also making an unprecedented effort, in order to maintain americas military supremacy, we must always be on the cutting edge. That is why we are also proudly reasserting americas legacy of leadership in space. Our foreign competitors and adversaries have already begun weaponizing space, developing new technologies to disrupt vital communications, blind satellites, and just i mean you look at what theyre doing, they have given me rundowns. Ive seen things that you dont even want to see what theyre doing and how advanced they are. Well be catching them very shortly. They want to jam transmissions which threaten our battlefield operations and so many other things. We will be so far ahead of them in a very short period of time, your head will spin. China even launched a new military division to oversee the war fighting programs in space. Just like the air, the land, the sea, space has become a war fighting domain. It is not enough to merely have an american presence in space, we must have american dominance in space and that is why just a few days ago the Vice President outlined by administrations plan to create a sixth branch of the United States military called the United States space force. Got to get it, joe. Right, joe . Right . We will ensure that the next great chapter in history is written by the heroes of the United States military. America will always rise to every challenge and overcome every danger because we are backed by the strength and power of the american soldier. Speaking to his troops, general george patton, a great one, once said we have the finest equipment and the best spirit and the best men in the world. Now, if it were today, he would be saying the best men and women in the world. Things do change. But that was quite a statement many years ago. Continuing his remarks, patton then declared i dont want to get any messages saying i am holding my position. We are not holding a damn thing. We are advancing constantly. That was patton. Nearly 75 years later, pattons words still ring true. America has the best equipment anywhere in the world. We have the best spirit, the best soldiers ever to set foot on any battlefield anywhere at any time. We are the most powerful. We are the best funded. We are the biggest, we are the strongest, we are the smartest. And we are still not holding a damn thing because america is on the move once again and we are not backing down. Our country is respected again. I dont know if you see it, but america is respected again. Theres a big difference and a big difference in the air. You take a look around. Theres a big, beautiful difference. We are advancing forward with our confidence renewed, our might restored, and the unwavering conviction that our destiny is our victory. Americas future is safe, sound and brighter than ever because each of you is mountain tough, mountain proud and mountain strong and always will be climbing to glory. You will be climbing to glory. Thank you again for the incredible men and women of ft. Drum. Special, special great people. G god bless our troops, and god bless the United States of america. Id now like to invite a few of our fantastic soldiers from the tenth mountain division, Second Brigade Combat Team to join me onstage to sign the National Defense authorization act. Its been an honor to be with you today. Thank you all very much. Thank you. This is it, but ill just sign it. We wont be here long. Okay. Thats good, right . Thank you very much, everybody. Great honor, thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. Im ali velshi. Youve been watching President Trump at ft. Drum in new york. They prep him to lie every day. While the president holds his bill signing for the john s. Mccain National Defense authorization act for fiscal year 2019, Omarosa Manigault newman is hurtling serious claims against the president and administration. She told the entire country that the Communications Staff surrounding the president prep him to lie every day. The president is responding to the allegations on twitter. To start the hour joining me now is nbc News White House correspondent geoff bennett. Geoff, the white house has been watching omarosa on tv today and yesterday. How are they handling the response to omarosas tellall media tour . Reporter its interesting because the white house had been slow out of the gate starting late last week. They knew this book was coming and yet didnt put out a Public Statement until excerpts started to leak. Im told that was by design. Senior Communications Officials felt to respond to the book would only draw more attention to it. But weve seen in just the last few days that a response really evolved. You have the president just the other day leveling that scorcher, calling omarosa a lowlife. You have the White House Press secretary saying the fact that omarosa surreptitiously recording the chief of staff and the president today weighing in on twitter. Wacky omarosa who got fired three times on the apprentice now got fired for the last time. She never made it, never will. She begged me for a job, tears in her eyes. I said okay. People in the white house hated her. She was vicious, but not smart. I would rare low see her but heard really bad things. Nasty to people and would constantly miss meetings and work. When general kelly came on board, he told me she was a loser and nothing but problems. I told him to try to work it out if possible because she only said great things about me until she got fired. This is something we dont often get to say about President Trumps tweets, but fact checked true. Omarosa was a divisive figure in the white house. Top white house officials warned the president against hiring her in the first place but that the president liked her. Its also true based on our reporting that the president thought it was politically advantageous to have someone like omarosa, who happens to be an africanamerican woman, on staff who at times would have to defend the seemingly indefensible. Now that omarosa is on a book tour, she said she was complicit in lying to the american people. Geoff bennett for us at the white house. Omarosa made some serious accusations