Transcripts For WRC News4 Midday 20170111 : vimarsana.com

Materials used by mr. Clapper and others available to them to brief donald trump but it was never discussed in the briefing. The briefing was oral, no place at trump tower to contain top secret documents. No documents were turned over. Intelligence officials go further and say as far as they are concerned, they agree that none of the investigations have foundny conclusionive or direct link between donald trump and the russian government period. Hallie jackson is at the News Conference, we got a preview of this News Conference already. We did. You could see tsts it was a tweet storm this morning with donald trump strongly denying this, calling it fake news and questioning whether we were living in nazi germany. I can tell you about 30 seconds ago, staffers came out filled with paper next to where hell be speaking. This is his First Press Conference as president elect, nearly six months. There are a lot of questions facing him, not just about on reporting on russia but how he will separate his business interest from his interest in leading the nation. Lester. Chuck todd, this comes hours after president obama delivered his Farewell Speech in chicago. Will this be somewhat of a rebuttal . I dont think it will be anymore. He has a real challenge in front of him. His credibility and credibility of the american president being called into question by one Political Party and people in capitol hill. And his job today is to figure out what is he going to do or say particularly on the russia story that starts a process that attempts to restore the credibility of the presidency. He needs to figure out how we need to get to the bottom of all of this. There is so much in the air. Theres so much uncertainty here. Were nine days from his inauguration and were in an unprecedented situation where there needs to be a next level of seriousness here and urgency about getting to the bottom of this russian story. At the same time, of course, we know some of his cabinet picks are up for confirmation hearings and Andrea Mitchell is at the tillerson confirmation hearing for secretary of state. We understand things are getting quite heated there. Theres fireworks and from a key republican senator marco rubio taking on Rex Tillerson on whether he can be tough enough against russia on cyber hacking and whether or not he would advise donald trump to repeal the executive order sanctioning putin and other colleagues in the russian intelligence on the russian hacking and also whether he would say that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal for what has happened in aleppo. Tillerson pushed back saying that he had questioning whether Vladimir Putin is personally responsible for murdering journalist. He said that he did believe the Intelligence Report on russian hacking, something that donald trump has not been able to say that he would hold up the possibility of continuing the sanctions but he would not get into a discussion about war crimes on Vladimir Putin. Lester. Watching that hearing for us and were told were about three minutes from the president elect coming down and again, this first News Conference of any kind really taking a few questions outside the elevator but first formal News Conference since the election. Back to these allegations that surfaced yesterday, it helps his argument, you know, against the media. Look, politically, hes got a buzz feed, the organization that decided to fun lickly re this unverified filled with unsubstantiated claims against president. There are specifics he can deny but the problem were in now, this is much bigger you can deny and your supporters can believe youre denying it all. Thats the political favor that buzz feed did here by releasing this. But the bigger picture, is were in a situation where the next president of the United States, what he does on putin and sanctions and crimea and all of those things, whatever action he takes, theres going to be a seed of doubt. Was that influenced by a relationship that he may or may not have with Vladimir Putin . Does he owe the russians anything. Is he sympathetic more sympathetic there are too many questions. Its imperative on him and his own presidency, he should want to get to the bottom of this. Smart thing to do, we need and get to the bottom of what russia did. If he did that, it would calm the waters big time. Hell come out and based on his tweets say he did not receive that information and hell be correct based on what based on our reporting. Why was it part of this addendum if the Intelligence Community didnt believe it to be true, says it wasnt verified . And it was context. They wanted it available, were told so that if they felt they needed to explain to the president elect the difference between vetted intelligence, ie the russians did try to participate and influence our election and disinformation out there. They had it available and had information about Hillary Clinton and the clinton foundation, not verified, not believed, not intelligent. As a way to say hey, we see that other stuff out there but we understand the difference. In trying to explain to the president elect just political. Were show you just political. This is the political junk thats out there, we dont believe it. They never got there in the briefing. The real consequence is this though, if president if a President Trump needs to sanction or make the case to strike say north korea, lets say we think north korea is on the verge of having a Nuclear Weapon and were basing it on intelligence, this issue of distrust betweened president elect and Intelligence Community is a rift that will be cited around the world. This is no longer a political problem in this country. This is a problem for americas credibility around the world. Obviously, one of the big topics well hear shortly when the president elect emerges. Hallie jackson, what else desh a lot of questions we havent been able to ask. Its a pretty full plate. Earlier this week the president elect came down and answered questions from reporters who have been gathering here to look at the comings and goings of the upstairs and repeatedly the president elect pushed off questions until today. Saying ill address that on wednesday. His relationship with russia and Intelligence Community and frankly, its not just about his conflict of interest but i expect when the president elect comes out, youll see that headline for him, possibly for his attorneys, perhaps members of his family who will join him. We do expect for example his sons will end up taking over the Trump Organization business. But in addition to that, look what is happening in congress. You just heard from Andrea Mitchell, the issue of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care act, which the complain pledged donald trump made repeatedly is front in center in washington and the president elect will have to answer questions what kind of plan he favors. Does he want repeal and replace simultaneously. Is that possible . What is his plan to ensure that as House Speaker paul ryan and others have said, people are currently covered under the Affordable Care act, will repealed. In addition to that,less a laundry list of questions on syria and iran and domestic policy too. The president elect came into office, essentially leading a very divided nation. So will he speak to that today . Looking over a crowd of hundreds of journalists who have made the trip here to trump tower to see what the president elect has to say. It was scheduled to get under way at 11 00. To give you a background, typically in a president ial News Conference we get a two minute warnings and we work from that. We got the twominute warning here but some sort of delay as they prepare for the News Conference. Chuck, not only Affordable Care act, lets talk about the wall, another promise, dismantling the iran nuclear deal. So many questions about the candidate and what the reality of governing will be. Thats right. I think the other part the conflct was supposed to be that press conference. This was a postponed press conference from his initial announcement he was going to do one in december to talk about how he was going to run the businesses. The last time he did a News Conference it was the infamous News Conference where he called out russia if youre listening, go find Hillary Clintons missing emails. So i expect a lot of fireworks at this press conference it does seem if donald trum p not happy this morning by the tone of his tweet. I think its much i think this russia issue is so much bigger now than Everything Else on the agenda that i dont know unless hes looking for it as a lifeline. Lets not minimize the business the president has never been in this posin, the white house. Were in a full your brain is blowing up here. The whole idea of whats happening nine days before the election, imagine the reaction before the inauguration. Imagine in the kremlin today we talked to russia experts this morning and said the russians shall just sitting back laughing. If their intention is u. S. Intelligence that was originally to throw shade on the u. S. Democracy on our process, man, have they more than achieved their goal. They already succeeded. If this were another country we were looking at and right before its transfer of power, we were from the outside this is what it could look like, that the Intelligence Community and incoming president are at war with each other, we would say, boy that country is under a political crisis. Thats what the world is seeing right now. Thats where its sort of like it feels as if were talking about Health Care Tax reform, it feels so small given the fact that a credibility of the command the next commander in chief has been called into play. Jared kushner just walked in the room and hell be one of the new senior advisers to the new administration. Lets go back to hallie jackson. Who else is in the room . Basically all of his top advisers, let me bring you in the room. Theres a bank of elevators to my right here next to where the podium is set up. We do expect to see the president elect when he comes down probably any minute from now. Saw Kellyanne Conway and Donald Trumps soninlaw, taking on a senior advisory role and steve bannon the chief strategist and other members of the family. I believe standing behind me here you can see jared kushner. I see for example economic adviser gary koenz arudy giuliai as well. T this is a tumultuous 18month campaign and eight days out from the inauguration, the president elect has his top west wing team in place. They have gathered in the lobby. Theres a blue curtain separating the members of the media from secret service and other personnel further back in the trump tower lobby but right now all of the trump advisers are standing to wait to see what the president elect will have to say. There have been stacks of manila folders placed out on display, the table in front of the podium. All indications are the president elect should be coming down any minute. Were told by sources that the top staff behind me here has been very involved in figuring out how the president elect will separate himself from his business interest. Im looking at the elevator because the president elect is coming up now. You see him waiting, esident elect donald trump entering the room now and making his way towards the microphone. The first News Conference since the election. One scheduled in september that was thanks for being here. Were nine days away from the inauguration of the next president and Vice President of the United States. Its an opportunity to be here today to allow the president elect take your questions. After the president elect takes marks, well introduce a prominent attorney in washington, d. C. With the prestigious form of morgan lewis who structured the agreement pursuant to the president s business arrangement and will give brief remarks. Before we start, i want to bring your attention to a few points on report published in buzz feed. Its frankly outrageous and highly responsible for a left wing blog openly hostile to the president elects campaign to draw up sal lashs and false information on the internet days before he takes the oath of office. According to buzz feeds own editor, there are some in the report. The executive editor of the New York Times dismissed the report by saying it was totally unas you say substance shated and many other concerns expressed on the internet. The buzz feed and cnn made this claim to come up with this claim is a satd and pathetic attempt to gets hits. Inissue talked about was the relationship of three individuals associated with the paul. These three individuals, carter page is an individual who the president elect does not know and was put on notice months ago by the campaign. Paul manafort denied this development and Michael Cohen said to have visited prague did not leave or enter the united stat we asked him to produce his passport to confirm his whereabouts on the dates in question, there was no doubt he was not in prague. He has never been in prague. A new report actually suggests that Michael Cohen was at the university of Southern California with his son at the baseball game. One report now suggested apparently its another Michael Cohen. For all of the talk lately about fake news this political witch hunt is based on flimsy reporting and shameful and disgraceful. With that, it is my honor to introduce the next Vice President of the United States, mike pence. We are nine days away from the inauguration of the 45th president of the of america. [ applause ] im profoundly honored and humbled that i will take the oath of office to serve as Vice President of the United States. Nine days from today but im even more honored to stand shoulder to shoulder with a new president who will make America Great again. [ applause ] now, the president elects leadership and energy during the campaign was impressive. As chairman of the transition effort, i can assure the American People that his energy and vision during the course of this transition has been more inspiring. The way he has brought together men and women of extraordinary capability at a historic piece, 19 cabinet officials have been announced and 9 Committee Hearings scheduled and seven more on the books in the next severalay a compilation of men and women with an unprecedented caliber of leadership and background to help this administration move our nation forward. Thats why theres been a concerted effort by some in the Mainstream Media to delegitimize this election and demean our incoming administration. I have long been a supporter of a free and independent press and always will be. But with freedom comes responsibility. And the irresponsible decision of a few news organizations to run with a false and unsubstantiated report when most news organizations resisted the temptation to prol pull gate this fake news can only be attributed to media bias and attempt to demean the president elect and the American People are sick and tired of it. [ applause ] today well get back to real news. To real facts. And the Real Progress are incoming president has already made in reviving the American Economy and assembling a team that will make America Great again. Well hear from the president elect about issues that are of paramount importance to the American People today. It is my honor to introduce to all of you my friend and president elect of the United States of america, donald trump. [ applause thank you very much, we used to give News Conferences on an almost daily basis and maybe won the nomination because of News Conferences and its good to be with you. We stop giving them because were getting quite a i have to say and must say i want to thank a lot of the news organizations here today because released by maybe the intelligence agencies, who knows, but maybe the intelligence agencies, which would be a tremendous blot on their record if they in fact did that. A tremendous blot. Because a thing like that should have never been written. It should never have been had and certainly never have been released. But i want to thank a lot of the news organizations for some of whom have not treated me very well over the years and couple in particular, they came out so strongly against that fake news and the fact it was written about by primarily one group and one television s he want to compliment many people in the room, i have News Conference<\/a>, we got a preview of this News Conference<\/a> already. We did. You could see tsts it was a tweet storm this morning with donald trump strongly denying this, calling it fake news and questioning whether we were living in nazi germany. I can tell you about 30 seconds ago, staffers came out filled with paper next to where hell be speaking. This is his First Press Conference<\/a> as president elect, nearly six months. There are a lot of questions facing him, not just about on reporting on russia but how he will separate his business interest from his interest in leading the nation. Lester. Chuck todd, this comes hours after president obama delivered his Farewell Speech<\/a> in chicago. Will this be somewhat of a rebuttal . I dont think it will be anymore. He has a real challenge in front of him. His credibility and credibility of the american president being called into question by one Political Party<\/a> and people in capitol hill. And his job today is to figure out what is he going to do or say particularly on the russia story that starts a process that attempts to restore the credibility of the presidency. He needs to figure out how we need to get to the bottom of all of this. There is so much in the air. Theres so much uncertainty here. Were nine days from his inauguration and were in an unprecedented situation where there needs to be a next level of seriousness here and urgency about getting to the bottom of this russian story. At the same time, of course, we know some of his cabinet picks are up for confirmation hearings and Andrea Mitchell<\/a> is at the tillerson confirmation hearing for secretary of state. We understand things are getting quite heated there. Theres fireworks and from a key republican senator marco rubio taking on Rex Tillerson<\/a> on whether he can be tough enough against russia on cyber hacking and whether or not he would advise donald trump to repeal the executive order sanctioning putin and other colleagues in the russian intelligence on the russian hacking and also whether he would say that Vladimir Putin<\/a> is a war criminal for what has happened in aleppo. Tillerson pushed back saying that he had questioning whether Vladimir Putin<\/a> is personally responsible for murdering journalist. He said that he did believe the Intelligence Report<\/a> on russian hacking, something that donald trump has not been able to say that he would hold up the possibility of continuing the sanctions but he would not get into a discussion about war crimes on Vladimir Putin<\/a>. Lester. Watching that hearing for us and were told were about three minutes from the president elect coming down and again, this first News Conference<\/a> of any kind really taking a few questions outside the elevator but first formal News Conference<\/a> since the election. Back to these allegations that surfaced yesterday, it helps his argument, you know, against the media. Look, politically, hes got a buzz feed, the organization that decided to fun lickly re this unverified filled with unsubstantiated claims against president. There are specifics he can deny but the problem were in now, this is much bigger you can deny and your supporters can believe youre denying it all. Thats the political favor that buzz feed did here by releasing this. But the bigger picture, is were in a situation where the next president of the United States<\/a>, what he does on putin and sanctions and crimea and all of those things, whatever action he takes, theres going to be a seed of doubt. Was that influenced by a relationship that he may or may not have with Vladimir Putin<\/a> . Does he owe the russians anything. Is he sympathetic more sympathetic there are too many questions. Its imperative on him and his own presidency, he should want to get to the bottom of this. Smart thing to do, we need and get to the bottom of what russia did. If he did that, it would calm the waters big time. Hell come out and based on his tweets say he did not receive that information and hell be correct based on what based on our reporting. Why was it part of this addendum if the Intelligence Community<\/a> didnt believe it to be true, says it wasnt verified . And it was context. They wanted it available, were told so that if they felt they needed to explain to the president elect the difference between vetted intelligence, ie the russians did try to participate and influence our election and disinformation out there. They had it available and had information about Hillary Clinton<\/a> and the clinton foundation, not verified, not believed, not intelligent. As a way to say hey, we see that other stuff out there but we understand the difference. In trying to explain to the president elect just political. Were show you just political. This is the political junk thats out there, we dont believe it. They never got there in the briefing. The real consequence is this though, if president if a President Trump<\/a> needs to sanction or make the case to strike say north korea, lets say we think north korea is on the verge of having a Nuclear Weapon<\/a> and were basing it on intelligence, this issue of distrust betweened president elect and Intelligence Community<\/a> is a rift that will be cited around the world. This is no longer a political problem in this country. This is a problem for americas credibility around the world. Obviously, one of the big topics well hear shortly when the president elect emerges. Hallie jackson, what else desh a lot of questions we havent been able to ask. Its a pretty full plate. Earlier this week the president elect came down and answered questions from reporters who have been gathering here to look at the comings and goings of the upstairs and repeatedly the president elect pushed off questions until today. Saying ill address that on wednesday. His relationship with russia and Intelligence Community<\/a> and frankly, its not just about his conflict of interest but i expect when the president elect comes out, youll see that headline for him, possibly for his attorneys, perhaps members of his family who will join him. We do expect for example his sons will end up taking over the Trump Organization<\/a> business. But in addition to that, look what is happening in congress. You just heard from Andrea Mitchell<\/a>, the issue of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care<\/a> act, which the complain pledged donald trump made repeatedly is front in center in washington and the president elect will have to answer questions what kind of plan he favors. Does he want repeal and replace simultaneously. Is that possible . What is his plan to ensure that as House Speaker<\/a> paul ryan and others have said, people are currently covered under the Affordable Care<\/a> act, will repealed. In addition to that,less a laundry list of questions on syria and iran and domestic policy too. The president elect came into office, essentially leading a very divided nation. So will he speak to that today . Looking over a crowd of hundreds of journalists who have made the trip here to trump tower to see what the president elect has to say. It was scheduled to get under way at 11 00. To give you a background, typically in a president ial News Conference<\/a> we get a two minute warnings and we work from that. We got the twominute warning here but some sort of delay as they prepare for the News Conference<\/a>. Chuck, not only Affordable Care<\/a> act, lets talk about the wall, another promise, dismantling the iran nuclear deal. So many questions about the candidate and what the reality of governing will be. Thats right. I think the other part the conflct was supposed to be that press conference. This was a postponed press conference from his initial announcement he was going to do one in december to talk about how he was going to run the businesses. The last time he did a News Conference<\/a> it was the infamous News Conference<\/a> where he called out russia if youre listening, go find Hillary Clinton<\/a>s missing emails. So i expect a lot of fireworks at this press conference it does seem if donald trum p not happy this morning by the tone of his tweet. I think its much i think this russia issue is so much bigger now than Everything Else<\/a> on the agenda that i dont know unless hes looking for it as a lifeline. Lets not minimize the business the president has never been in this posin, the white house. Were in a full your brain is blowing up here. The whole idea of whats happening nine days before the election, imagine the reaction before the inauguration. Imagine in the kremlin today we talked to russia experts this morning and said the russians shall just sitting back laughing. If their intention is u. S. Intelligence that was originally to throw shade on the u. S. Democracy on our process, man, have they more than achieved their goal. They already succeeded. If this were another country we were looking at and right before its transfer of power, we were from the outside this is what it could look like, that the Intelligence Community<\/a> and incoming president are at war with each other, we would say, boy that country is under a political crisis. Thats what the world is seeing right now. Thats where its sort of like it feels as if were talking about Health Care Tax<\/a> reform, it feels so small given the fact that a credibility of the command the next commander in chief has been called into play. Jared kushner just walked in the room and hell be one of the new senior advisers to the new administration. Lets go back to hallie jackson. Who else is in the room . Basically all of his top advisers, let me bring you in the room. Theres a bank of elevators to my right here next to where the podium is set up. We do expect to see the president elect when he comes down probably any minute from now. Saw Kellyanne Conway<\/a> and Donald Trumps<\/a> soninlaw, taking on a senior advisory role and steve bannon the chief strategist and other members of the family. I believe standing behind me here you can see jared kushner. I see for example economic adviser gary koenz arudy giuliai as well. T this is a tumultuous 18month campaign and eight days out from the inauguration, the president elect has his top west wing team in place. They have gathered in the lobby. Theres a blue curtain separating the members of the media from secret service and other personnel further back in the trump tower lobby but right now all of the trump advisers are standing to wait to see what the president elect will have to say. There have been stacks of manila folders placed out on display, the table in front of the podium. All indications are the president elect should be coming down any minute. Were told by sources that the top staff behind me here has been very involved in figuring out how the president elect will separate himself from his business interest. Im looking at the elevator because the president elect is coming up now. You see him waiting, esident elect donald trump entering the room now and making his way towards the microphone. The first News Conference<\/a> since the election. One scheduled in september that was thanks for being here. Were nine days away from the inauguration of the next president and Vice President<\/a> of the United States<\/a>. Its an opportunity to be here today to allow the president elect take your questions. After the president elect takes marks, well introduce a prominent attorney in washington, d. C. With the prestigious form of morgan lewis who structured the agreement pursuant to the president s business arrangement and will give brief remarks. Before we start, i want to bring your attention to a few points on report published in buzz feed. Its frankly outrageous and highly responsible for a left wing blog openly hostile to the president elects campaign to draw up sal lashs and false information on the internet days before he takes the oath of office. According to buzz feeds own editor, there are some in the report. The executive editor of the New York Times<\/a> dismissed the report by saying it was totally unas you say substance shated and many other concerns expressed on the internet. The buzz feed and cnn made this claim to come up with this claim is a satd and pathetic attempt to gets hits. Inissue talked about was the relationship of three individuals associated with the paul. These three individuals, carter page is an individual who the president elect does not know and was put on notice months ago by the campaign. Paul manafort denied this development and Michael Cohen<\/a> said to have visited prague did not leave or enter the united stat we asked him to produce his passport to confirm his whereabouts on the dates in question, there was no doubt he was not in prague. He has never been in prague. A new report actually suggests that Michael Cohen<\/a> was at the university of Southern California<\/a> with his son at the baseball game. One report now suggested apparently its another Michael Cohen<\/a>. For all of the talk lately about fake news this political witch hunt is based on flimsy reporting and shameful and disgraceful. With that, it is my honor to introduce the next Vice President<\/a> of the United States<\/a>, mike pence. We are nine days away from the inauguration of the 45th president of the of america. [ applause ] im profoundly honored and humbled that i will take the oath of office to serve as Vice President<\/a> of the United States<\/a>. Nine days from today but im even more honored to stand shoulder to shoulder with a new president who will make America Great<\/a> again. [ applause ] now, the president elects leadership and energy during the campaign was impressive. As chairman of the transition effort, i can assure the American People<\/a> that his energy and vision during the course of this transition has been more inspiring. The way he has brought together men and women of extraordinary capability at a historic piece, 19 cabinet officials have been announced and 9 Committee Hearings<\/a> scheduled and seven more on the books in the next severalay a compilation of men and women with an unprecedented caliber of leadership and background to help this administration move our nation forward. Thats why theres been a concerted effort by some in the Mainstream Media<\/a> to delegitimize this election and demean our incoming administration. I have long been a supporter of a free and independent press and always will be. But with freedom comes responsibility. And the irresponsible decision of a few news organizations to run with a false and unsubstantiated report when most news organizations resisted the temptation to prol pull gate this fake news can only be attributed to media bias and attempt to demean the president elect and the American People<\/a> are sick and tired of it. [ applause ] today well get back to real news. To real facts. And the Real Progress<\/a> are incoming president has already made in reviving the American Economy<\/a> and assembling a team that will make America Great<\/a> again. Well hear from the president elect about issues that are of paramount importance to the American People<\/a> today. It is my honor to introduce to all of you my friend and president elect of the United States<\/a> of america, donald trump. [ applause thank you very much, we used to give News Conference<\/a>s on an almost daily basis and maybe won the nomination because of News Conference<\/a>s and its good to be with you. We stop giving them because were getting quite a i have to say and must say i want to thank a lot of the news organizations here today because released by maybe the intelligence agencies, who knows, but maybe the intelligence agencies, which would be a tremendous blot on their record if they in fact did that. A tremendous blot. Because a thing like that should have never been written. It should never have been had and certainly never have been released. But i want to thank a lot of the news organizations for some of whom have not treated me very well over the years and couple in particular, they came out so strongly against that fake news and the fact it was written about by primarily one group and one television s he want to compliment many people in the room, i have Great Respect<\/a> of the news and freedom of the press and all of that. I will tell you, there were some news organizations with all that was just said that were so professional, so incredibly professional that ive just gone up a notch as to what i think of you, okay . All right. Weve had some great news over the last couple of weeks. Ive been quite active i guess you could say in an economic way for the country. A lot of Car Companies<\/a> are going to be moving in. We have big news announced over the next couple of weeks about companies that are going to be building in the midwest. You saw yesterday fiat chrysler, big factory going to be built in this country as opposed to other country. Ford Just Announced<\/a> they stopped plans for a billion dollar plant in mexico and very an existing plant. I appreciate that from ford. I appreciate it very much from fiat chrysler. I hope that General Motors<\/a> will be following. And i think they will be. I think a lot of people will be following and industries are going to be coming back of the we have to get our drug industry coming back. Our drug industry has been disastrous, they are leaving left and right and supply our drugs but dont make them here to a large extent. And the other thing we have to do is create new bidding procedures for the drug industry because they are getting away with murder. Pharma has a lot of lobbyists and power. Theres very little bidding on drugs. Were the largest buyer of drugs in the world. And yet we dont bid properly. Were going to start bidding and going to save billions of dollars over a period of time. And were going to do that with a lot of other industries. Im very much involved with the generals and airplane, the f35 youve been reading about it. And its way, way behind schedule in many billions of dollars over budget. I dont like that and the admirals have been fantastic and generals have been fantastic, ive gotten to know them well. Were going to do big things on the f35 program and perhaps the f18 program. And were going to get those costs way down and were going to get the plane to be even better and were going to have some competition and its going to be a beautiful thing. Weve been very much involved and other things, we had jack ma and so many incredible people coming here, they are going to do tremendous things, tremendous things in this country. They are very excited. I will say if the election didnt turn out the way it turned out, they would not be here in my office and not be would be building and doing things in other countries. Theres a great spirit going on right now. A spirit that many people have told me theyve never seen before ever. Were going to create jobs. I said that i will be the greatest jobs producer that god ever created and i mean that. Im going to work very hard on that. We need certain amounts of other things, including a little bit of luck but i think were going to do a real job and im very proud of what weve done and we havent even gotten there yet. I look very much forward to the inauguration, its going to be a beautiful event. We have great talent, tremendous talent and we have the all of the bands most of the bands from the different from the different segments of the military and ive heard some of these bands over the years, they are incredible. Were going to have a very, very elegant day. The 20th is going to be something that will be very, very spa and i think were going to have massive crowds because we have a movement. Its a Movement Like<\/a> the world has never seen before. Its a movement that a lot of people didnt expect. And even the polls although some of them did get it right but many of them didnt, that was a beautiful scene on november 8th as those states started to pour in. And we focused very hard on those states and they really resip pro indicated and those states will be a lot of jobs and a lot of security and a lot of good news for their veterans. By the way, speaking of veterans, i appointed today the head secretary of the Veterans Administration<\/a>, david shul kin and well do a news release in a little while. Hes fantastic. He will do a truly great job. One of the commitments ive made were going to straighten out the whole situation forr veterans. Our veterans have been treated horribly and waiting in line for 15, 16, 17 days. Cases where they go in and they have a minor early stage form of cancer and cant see a doctor. By the time they get to the doctor, they are terminal. Not going to happen. Its not going to happen. So david is going to do a fantastic job. Were going to be talking to a few people also to help david. And we have some of the great hospitals of the world going to align themselves with us on the Veterans Administration<\/a> like the cleveland clinic, like the mayo clinic. Few more that we have and were going to set up a group. These are hospitals that have been the top of the line, the absolute top of the line. And they are going to get together their great doctors, dr. Toby crosgrove has been very involved, pearl muter, one of the great men of business, were going to straighten out the va for our veterans. Ive been promising that for a long time and its something i feel very, very strongly. Youll get the information on david and i think youll be very impressed with the job he does. Well look long and hard and interviewed at least 100 people. Some good, some not to good. But we had a lot of talent and we think this election will be something that will with time, with time straighten it out and straighten it out for good. Because our veterans have been treated very unfairly. Okay, questions, yes. President elect, thank you so much. Thank. You couple of aspects of the intelligence briefing you received on friday, looking for further clarification on. Did the heads of the intelligence agencies provide you with a twopage summary of the unsubstantiated allegations . Secondly, on the broader opinion that Vladimir Putin<\/a> ordered the hack of the dnc and attempted hack of the rny . If you do, how will that color your chance to build a relationship with the leader who has been accused of committing an act of espionage. These meetings are confidential and classified, im not allowed to talk about what went on in the meeting. We will many witnesses in the meeting, many of them with us. I will say again, i think its a disgrace that information would be let out. I saw the information, read the information outside of that meeting. Its all fake news. Its phony stuff. It didnt happen. And it was gotten by opponents of ours as you know, because you reported it and so did many of the other people, it was a group of opponents who got together, sick people and they put that crap together. I will tell you that not within the meeting but meeting somebody released it and and it should never have been shouldnt have even entered the pain every but never have been released. I read what was released and i think its a disgrace. Its an absolute disgrace. As far as hacking, i think it was russia but i think we also get hacked by other countries and other people. And i can say that when we lost 22 million names and Everything Else<\/a> that was hacked recently, they didnt make a big deal out of that. That was something that was extraordinary and probably china. We had we have much hacking going on and one of the things were going to do, we have some of the greatest computer minds anywhere in the world that weve assembled. You saw a sample of it two weeks ago up here where we had the six top people in the world. They were never in the same room together as a group. Were going to put thoseds defense. I have to say this also, the Democratic National<\/a> committee was totally open to be hacked. They did a very poor job. They could have had hacking defense, which we had. And i will give Reince Priebus<\/a> credit because when reince saw what was happening in the world and with this country, he went out and went to various firms and ordered a very, very strong hacking defense. And they tried to hack the republican National Committee<\/a> and they were unable to break through. We have to do that for our country. Its very important. Just to the last part of that question, how could all of this potentially color your attempts to build a better relationship with president putin . Well, president putin and russia put out a Statement Today<\/a> that fake news was indeed fake news. They said it totally never happened. Somebody would say, of course hes going to say that. I respected the fact that said that. And ill be honest, i think if he did have something, they would have released and glad to release it. Had they broken into the republican National Committee<\/a>, i think they would have released it like they did about hillary and all of the horrible things that per people like mr. Podesta said about her. If somebody said about me, what podesta said about hillary, i was the boss, i would have fired him immediately or that person. Because what he said about her was horrible. But remember this, we talk about the hacking and hacking is bad. And it shouldnt be done. But look at the things were hacked. Look what was learned from that hacking, that Hillary Clinton<\/a> got the questions to the debate and didnt report it . Thats a horrible thing. Thats a horrible thing. Can you imagine that if donald trump got the questions to the debate, it would have been the biggest story in the history of stories and they would have said immedel of the race, nobody even talked about it. Its very terrible thing. Thank you, mr. President elect. On that Intelligence Report<\/a>, the second part of the conclusion was that Vladimir Putin<\/a> ordered it because he apired to help you in the election. Do you accept that part of the finding and will you undo what president obama did to punish the russians . If putin likes donald trump, i consider that an asset, not a liability. We have a horrible relationship with russia. Russia can help us fight isis, which by the way is number one tricky, and if you look this administration created isis by leaving at the wrong time. And the void was created and isis was formed. If putin likes donald trump, guess what, folks, thats called an asset not a liability. I dont know that im going to get along with Vladimir Putin<\/a>. I hope i do but theres a good chance i wont. Believe that hillary would be tougher on putin than me . Does anybody in this room really believe that . Give me a break. President elect during the visit to moscow or st. Petersburg you engaged in conduct you now regret and you are potentially vulnerable to when i leave our country. Im a high profile person, wouldnt you say . Im extremely careful. Im surrounded by body guards and surrounded by people. And i always tell them anywhere, but i always tell them if im leaving this country, be very careful because in your hotel rooms and no matter where you go, youre going to probably have cameras. Im not referring just to russia but i would certainly put them in that category. And number one, i hope youre g those rooms you have cameras in the strangest places. Cameras that are so small with modern technology, you cant see them and you wont know. You better be careful or youll be watching yourself on nightly television. I tell this to people all the time. I was in russia years ago with this the Miss Universe<\/a> contest which did very well, the moscow area did very well. And i told many people, be careful because you dont want to see yourself on television. Cameras all over the place. Again, not just russia but all over. Does anyone really believe that story . Im also very much of a ge germophobe by the way. I have to follow up on these russia remarks. Based on your comments here today, do you believe the hang over you, financial or otherwise and if not will you release your tax returns to prove it . I tweeted out i have no dealings with russia and no deals in russia. I have no deals that could happen in russia because weve stayed away. And i have no loans with russia as a Real Estate Developer<\/a> i have little debt. I have assets that are now and people found out how big the company is. I have very low debt. But i have no loans with russia at all. I thought that was important to put out. I certified that. I have no deals. I have no loans and i have no dealings. We could make deals in russia easily if we wanted to, i dont want to because i think that could be a conflict. I have no loans and no dealings and no current pending deals. I have to say one other thing, over the weekend, i was offered 2 billion to do a deal in dubai with great developer from the middle east hussein demac, friend of mine, great guy. I was offered 2 billion to do a deal in dubai, number of deals. And i turned it down. I didnt have to turn it down because as you know, i have a no conflict situation because im president , which is i didnt know about that until about three months ago but its a nice thing to have. But i dont want to take advantage of something. I have something that others dont have, Vice President<\/a> pence also has it. I dont think hell need it. I have a feeling hes not going to need it. But i have a no conflict of interest provision as president. It was many, many years old, this is for president s because they dont i understand it, they dont want president s run my business and government at the same time. I dont like the way that looks but i would be able to do that if i wanted to. I would be the only one able to do that. You cant do that in any other capacity. As president , i could run the Trump Organization<\/a>, great, Great Company<\/a> and could run the country. I do a very good job but i dont want to do that. Now, all of these papers that you see here go ahead if i can follow up, do you believe the hacking was justified and will you release your tax returns to prove what youre saying about no deals in russia . Im not releasing tax returns because they are under audit. Every president since the 70s never heard that before. The only one that cares about my tax returns are the reporters. The American Public<\/a> is concerned about that . Do you believe i dont think they care at all. I i think you care. First of all you learn very little from a tax return. You should go down to federal elections and take a look at the numbers and people have learned a lot about my company and now they rel lies my company is much bigger and much more powerful than they ever thought. Were in many, many countries and im very proud of it. And what im going to be doing is my two sons who are right here, don and eric, are going to be running the company. They are going to be running it in a very professional manner. They are not going to discuss it with me. Again, i dont have to do this. They are not going to discuss it with me and with that, im going to bring up Sherry Dillon<\/a> and shes going to go these papers are just some of the many documents that ive signed turning over complete and total control to my sons. We ask one more question on russia, sir privilege to be here today as president elect trumps request. Hes asked me as you just heard to speak about the conflicts of interest and steps hes taking. The Business Empire<\/a> built by president elect trump is massive, not dissimilar to the fort tunes of Nelson Rockefeller<\/a> when he became president but at that time no one was so concerned. President elect trump wants the American Public<\/a> to rest assured all of his efforts are directed to pursuing the peoples business and not his own. To that end, as he explained a few moments ago, he directed me and my colleagues at the law firm morgue and lewis to design a structure for his Business Empire<\/a> to completely is late him from the management of the company and further instructed that we build in protections that will assure the American People<\/a> the decisions he makes and the actions he takes as and not to support his financial interest. As he said, hes voluntarily taking this on. The conflicts of interest laws do not apply to the president or the Vice President<\/a> and they are not required to separate themselves from their financial assets. The primary conflicts of interest statutes, section 18, usc 208, its inapplicable by its terms. This is not just our interpretation. Its congress itself who made this clear in 1989, when it amended section 18 usc 202 to state that except as otherwise provided, the terms office and employee in section 208 shall not conclude the president. Even so, president elect trump wants there to be no doubts in the minds of the American Public<\/a> hes completely isolating himself from his business interest. He instructed us to take all steps realistically possible to make it clear that he is not exploiting the office of the presidency for his personal benefit. He also sought the guidance of individuals familiar with and worked extensively in the field of government ethics and constitutional law. Critical to the morgan lewis team is fred fielding, standing here to our side and with us today. And many of you have known him. He has served several president s over the years, including serving as counsel to president S Ronald Reagan<\/a> and george bush and George Hw Bushs<\/a> ethics law reform and held a position of vice chair of the ethics resource center. Mr. Fielding has been extensively involved with and approved this plan. Hes here to today to support the plan and continue to provide guidance as the plan is implemented and as eric and don along with others take over management of the Trump Organization<\/a>. Im going to detailme extraordinary steps now that the president elect is taking. First, president elect trump investments in business assets, commonly known as the Trump Organization<\/a>, comprising hundreds of entities which again if you all go and take a look, it is a Financial Disclosure<\/a> statement. The pages and pages of entities have all been or will be conveyed to a trust prior to january 20th. Here is just some of the paperwork thats taking care of those actions. Second, through the trust agreement, his relinquished leadership and management of the Trump Organization<\/a> to his sons, done and eric and long time trump executive, allen wiesel berg, together theyll have the authority to manage the Trump Organization<\/a> and make decisions for the duration of the presidency without any involvement whatsoever by president elect trump. Further, at the president elects direction, the trust agreement provides to continues to operate in accordance with the highest and legal aejices standards and ethics adviser will be appointed to the management team. The written approval of the ethics adviser will be required for new deals actions and transactions that could potentially raise ethics or conflicts ever interest concerns. President elect trump as well as don and eric and alan are committed to ensuring that the activities of the Trump Organization<\/a> are beyond reproach and not be perceived to be exploited by the office of the presidency. President elect trump will resign from all over and other positions he holds with the Trump Organization<\/a> entities. Further, in addition his daughter i van ka will have no further involvement with or Management Authority<\/a> whatsoever with the Trump Organization<\/a>. As she and jared move the family to d. C. , invanka will be focused onsetling her children into their new home and their new already disposed of all of his investments and publicly traded or easily liquid dated investments. The trust will have two types of assets, first it will hold liquid assets, cash and cash equivalent and treasuries and perhaps some positions in a government approved diversified portfolio, one that is consistent with the regulations of the office of government edges. Second the trust is going to hold his preexisting ill liquid but valuable business assets, trump owned operated and branded golf clubs, commercial rental properties and resorts and hotels and rights to royalties from preexisting licenses and things like trump tower, maralago, all of the other assets, will all be in trust. Through instructions and trump agreement, president elect trump first ordered that all pending this impacted more than 30 deals, many of which set to close by the end of 2016. As you can well imagine, that caused an immedte financial loss of millions of dollars, not just for president elect trump but also don and eric and ivanka. Imposes severe restrictions on new deals. No new foreign deals will be made whatsoever during the duration of President Trump<\/a>s presidency. New domestic deals will be allowed but they will go through a vigorous vetting process. The president elect will have no role in deciding whether the Trump Organization<\/a> engages in any new deal and he will only know of a deal if he reads it in the paper or sees it on tv. Because any new deal could and i emphasize could, be perceiveds as causing a conflict or exploiting the office of the presidency, new deals must be vetted with the whose role will be to analyze any potential transactions for conflicts and ethics issues. The ethics adviser will be recognized expert in the field of government expert. Again, his role will be to scrutinize the new deals and actions. And any new deals must receive written approval. To further reinforce the wall we are building between president elect trump and the Trump Organization<\/a>, president elect trump has quartered through the trust agreement to sharply limit his information rights, reports will only be available and reflect profit and loss on the company as a whole. There will be no separate business by business accounting. Another step the president elect trump has taken, created a new position of chief compliance counsel. Whose responsibility will be to ensure that the trump businesses again are operating at the highest levels of not taking any actions that could be perceived as exploiting the office of the presidency. Hes also directed that no communications of the Trump Organization<\/a>, including social media accounts will reference or be tied to president elect trumps role as president of the United States<\/a> or the office of the presidency. In sum, all of these actions complete relinquishment of management, no foreign deals, ethics adviser approval of deals and sharply limited information rights, will sever president elect trumps presidency from the Trump Organization<\/a>. Some have asked questions, why not divest and sell everything . Form a blind trust. Id like to turn to addressing those questions now. Selling first and foremost would not eliminate possibilities of conflicts of interest. It woe exacerbate them. The trump brand is key to the Trump Organization<\/a> assets. If his brand he would be entitled to royalties for the use of it and this would result in the trust maintaining an interest in the brand without the ability to unsure it does not exploit the office of the presidency. Whatever price is paid would be subject to criticism and strutny. Was it too high . Is it pay for play . Too much paid to curry favor with the president elect . Selling assets without the rights to the brand would greatly diminish the assets and create a fire sale. President elect trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built. This offers a suitable add tern tif to address the concerns of the American People<\/a> and selling the entire Trump Organization<\/a> isnt even feasible. Some people have suggested that the president elect sell the business to his adult children. This would require massive third party debt, sourced with multiple lenders whose ability to participate would e investigated. If the president elect were to finance the sale himself, he would retain the assets he owns know. Some suggested that president elect trump could bundle the assets and turn it into a public company. Anyone whos ever gone through this extraordinarily cumbersome and complicated process know its a nonstarter. It is not realistic and it would be inappropriate for the Trump Organization<\/a>. Some people have suggested a blind trust but you cannot have a totallily blind trust with operating business. He cant unknow he knows trump tower and the press will make sure any new developments at the Trump Organization<\/a> are well public sized. Further, it would be impossible to find an institutional trustee competent to run the Trump Organization<\/a>. The approach he is taking allows Great Company<\/a> and iconic assets and this approach is best from a conflicts and ethics perspective, a complete separation from president elect trump separates him and prevents him from participating in the business and imposes instruct limits on what trustees can do. And im going to turn to one last topic today that has been of interest lately. Called amall you ments, weve all become familiar with and had no heard before. Were going to describe some other actions the president elect trump is taking to avoid even the appearance of a conflict. It comes from the constitution. The constitution says officials may not accept gifts, titles of nobility or amolluments with respect to their office and that no benefit should be derived by they have never been interpreted however to apply to fair value exchanges that have absolutely nothing to do with an office holder. No one would have thought when the constitution was written that paying your hotel bill was an amollument. Instead, it would have been thought of as a value for value exchange, not a gift and not a title. Since president elect trump has been elected, some people want to define amollument, to cover routine business transactions like paying for hotel rooms and suggest the constitution prohibits the businesses from arms length transactions that the president elect has nothing to do with and isnt even aware of. These people are wrong. This is not what the constitution says. Paying forge a hotel room is not a gift or present and has nothing to do with an office. The constitution does not require president ee wlelect tro do anng just like with conflicts of interest, he wants to do more than what the constitution requires. He has decided and we are announcing today, that he is going to voluntarily donate all profits from Foreign Government<\/a> payments made to his hotels to the United States<\/a> treasury. It is the American People<\/a> who will profit. Insum, i and president elects will avoid potential conflicts ever interest or concern regarding exploitation of the office of the presidency without imposing unnecessary and unreasonable losses on the president elect and his family. We believe this instruct tear and these steps will serve to ak plirk the president elects desire to be isolated from his business and give the American People<\/a> confidence that his sole business and interest is in making America Great<\/a> again. Bringing back jobs to this country and securing our borders and rebuildingur infrastructure. The American People<\/a> are well aware of president elect trumps Business Empire<\/a> when they voted. Many people voted for him precisely because of his business success. He wants to bring the success to all americans. Thank you. [ applause ] mr. Trump, can we ask you some policy questions, sir . Thank you. What is your response to your critics that say not only do you but also your cabinet filled with conflicts of interest and do you plan to set an example in the future to make sure your cabinet and everyone throughout your administration . I really think that when you watch whats going on with whats happening and i was just watching is an example, rex brilliant what hes doing and what hes saying. I watched yesterday as you know, our great senator, who is going to be a great attorney general and he was brilliant and what people dont know is that he was a great prosecutor and attorney general in alabama. And he was brilliant yesterday. I do think that they are i think we have one of the great cabinets ever put together. And weve been hearing that from so many people, people are so happy. The case of rex, he ran incredibly exxonmobil, when there was a find very substantial in the oil business, harold hamm, big supporter said theres nobody in the business like Rex Tillerson<\/a> and thats what we want. Thats what i want to bring to people into government because were way behind. We dont make good deals any more, i say it all the time. We make bad deals, our trade deals are a disaster. We have hundreds of billions of dollars of losses on a yearly basis, hundreds of billions with china on trade and trade imbalance and with japan and mexico, with just about everybody we dont make good deals any more. We need people that are successful and they got successful because generally speaking they are smart. Thats what i put im very proud of the cabinet. They are doing very well and interesting how its going but i think they are doing very, very well. I wanted to ask a few questions on obamacare. Can you be specific what guidance youre giving Congressional Republicans<\/a> for the time line replace, whether it needs to be simultaneous i thought it was never going to end. I was going to ask if you have outlined a plan for what you want the repleat package to look like . Would it guarantee coverage for those who have gotten coverage through the current law. Youll be very, very proud as not only media and reporters, but very proud of what we put forth having to do with health care. Obamacare is a complete and total disaster. They can say what they want. They can guide you any way they want to guide you. In some cases they guide you incorrectly. In most cases you realize whats happened. Its imploding as we sit. Some states have over 100 increase and 17 and i said this two years ago, 17 is going to be the bad year. Its going to be catastrophic. We could sit back and thought from a political standpoint but wouldnt be fair to the people, we could sit back and wait and watch and criticize. And we could be a Chuck Schumer<\/a> and sit back and criticize it and people would come they would come begging to us, please we have to do something about obamacare. We dont want to own it. We dont want to own it politically. They own it right now. So the easiest thing would be to let it implode in 17 and believe me, we get pretty much whatever we wanted but it would take a long time. Were going to be submitting as soon as our secretarys approved, almost simultaneously, shortly there after, a plan. It will be repeal and replace. It will be essentially simultaneously and it will be various segments you understand but will most likely same day and week, but probably the same day. Could be the same hour. Were going to do repeal and replace, very complicated stuff. And were going to get a health bill passed and get health care taken care of in this country. You have deductibles that are so high that after people go broke paying their premiums, which are going through the roof, the health care cant even be used by them because the deductibles are so high. Obamacare is the democrats problem. Were going to take the problem off the shelves for them. Were doing them a Tremendous Service<\/a> by doing it. We could sit back and let them hang with it. We are doing the democrats a great service. As soon as our secretary is approved and gets into the office, well be filing a plan and it was actually pretty accurately reported today, york times, and the plan will be repeal and replace obamacare, were going to have a health care that is far less expensive and far better. Okay. Which one, mr. President elect . Thank you. Go ahead. When you look at all of the meetings youve had with carrier and softbank and al bab ba, how will you see the program on capital repatriation and tax cuts . If i can save jobs i was doing individual companies and people were saying well, its only one company. I want to thank United Technologies<\/a> that owns carrier. They were close to 1,000 jobs and they were gone. And mike pence and his staff helped a lot. That was a tough one, they announced a year and a half before they were leaving, when they are building a plan, a little tougher announcement. I want to thank United Technologies<\/a> but weve been meeting with a lot of companies but what really is happening is the word is now out. When you want to move your plant and fire all of your workers from michigan and ohio and all of these places i won for good reason, its not going to happen that way anymore. You want to move your plan and you think as an example youre going to built that plant in mexico and make your air conditioners or cars or whatever you make and youre going to sell them through a what will be a very strong border, not a weak border like it is, we dont even have a border, its an open its not going to happen. Youre going to pay a very large border tax. So if you want to move to another country and if you want to fire all of our Great American<\/a> workers that got you there in the first place, you","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia902906.us.archive.org\/16\/items\/WRC_20170111_160000_News4_Midday\/WRC_20170111_160000_News4_Midday.thumbs\/WRC_20170111_160000_News4_Midday_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240627T12:35:10+00:00"}