tv Inside Politics CNN February 3, 2017 9:00am-10:01am PST
9:00 am
bleacher report special with hines ward. it's going to be awesome. we all miss you. >> it is going to be awesome. i'm excited you're there licking your wounds. great to see you. i miss you already. >> we got to go. get out of my shot. thanks for joining us at this hour. welcome to inside politics. i'm john king. thanks for sharing your day. breaking news, everywhere you look in nation's capitol, the new january job's report is a gift to the new president. more importantly, americans much more optimistic about their odds of finding work. >> 227,000 jobs, great spirit in the country right now. we're very happy about that. i think that it's going to continue bigly.
9:01 am
also a big warning sign on capitol hill. another warning up close. one tech leader quits a white house job council and another shows up to say his new travel restrictions are wrong and will hurt the economy. the president wields his pan using executive power to roll back restrictions placed on banks and investment firms. furious democrats say it's proof president trump favors wall street fat cats over the middle class. lisa lair of the associated press. a lot to discuss. new sanctions placed on iran. the trump treasury department slapping new sanctions on 25 individuals that are tied to the ballistic missile program. this falling in iranian test firing in a statement composing the new sanctions, the treasury
9:02 am
department says the continued support for terrorism and development of its ballistics program. a con trfrontational posture. it's been a straight forward posture with iran. the question is sanctions, that's what happens. what next? >> that's a good question because the administration, really every day it's about iran. first they were put on notice. the president is tweeting he's not going to be a nice as president obama was. this is something that would have happened in the obama administration. it did happen in the obama administration. this has been under way for a while. there's no question that the bigger question mark is what is this president's red line with iran.
9:03 am
>> it's strikie ining how much s personalized this. a foreign policy experts will say there's danger of conducting international diplomacy that way. >> iran is playing with fire. they don't appreciate how kind president obama was to them. not me. they said this today, whether the trump administration intended it or not, they have created their own red line. when iran tests again, the administration will have no choice but to put up or shut up. >> that's right. in some ways, trump, as a candidate created his own red line in terms of his posturing.
9:04 am
talking about ripping up the iran nuclear deal. that's something they don't want to do. he has come in as someone saying he will much more tough than obama was with iran. even michael flynn, there's a new sheriff in town posturing to that. you have iran now saying they're a sovereign nation. they can do what they want. they are testing this new administration. it's sort of like you're saying all of these tough things, policies so far is very much in keeping with obama has done so what's next from this administration. >> the foreign policy establishment gasps at the language. what team trump says is they say, and we can have this debate but they say just like jimmy carter, barack obama was perceived as soft or was soft on iran but we're going to come in and be assertive and muscular. >> ronald reagan sold arms to
9:05 am
iran. when he speaks about president obama being kind to them, he's conflating this issue with the nuclear deal. these are two separate issues. the other thing is that consistency has not been a hallmark of this administration. foreign policy experts may think they are drawing a red line. the question is whether the trump administration and particularly the president will see that there's a red line there as well despite his rhetoric. he doesn't always follow up his rhetoric with actual policies. >> they have laid this line down pretty strong. also new today, the president just the other day announced these travel restrictions and there was a bit of chaos in the early days. government lawyers in court today. judges have issued stays saying you can't send people who have been detained. the government acknowledging that 100,000 visas have been revoked in the weeks since that was issued. is that a big number, normal
9:06 am
number? >> sounds like a big number to me. i saw that report ingreporting. this is affecting more than people. i thought it sounded big. you saw uber pull out the economic council is worried about their image. diversity very much matters to those tech companies and their abilities to get the best talent. it's having some unintended consequences for this white house. >> don't forget the people already in the u.s. say on work visas or green cards that are worried about leaving because they are concerned they won't be able to get back in. there's a level of uncertainty here that's impacting a lot of people. far more than 109 and probably far more than that 100,000.
9:07 am
>> vice president pence was up there reassuring this kind of thing will not happen again and they will really learn from their mistakes and putting forward this order without really thinking through and without consulting the agencies and the hill about the implications. >> you make a key point because a lot of tension on this. they think this was keystone cops the way they rolled it out. they are in the middle of being frustrated on capitol hill after years of saying barack obama was the imperial president. this president has use ed his p just about every day he's been in office. a lot of frustration there. we are continuely surprised. during the campaign and transition and even as president, donald trump said if i can get along with vladmir putin, that's a good thing. he's been very reluctant where he's criticized anything that happens by russia.
9:08 am
his new u.n. secretary, nikki haley had her first experience at a security council meeting yesterday, quite tough. >> i must condemn the aggressive actions of russia. we do want to better our relations with russia. however, the dire situation in eastern ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of russian actions. the united states continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the russian occupation of krimea. it is part of yukraine. our sanctions will remain in place until russia returns control over the peninsula to ukraine. >> if you go back to the campaign, candidate trump wjust kind of ignored this. he would say i don't think it happened. this is very tough. someone said don't watch what he
9:09 am
tweets or what he says, watch what they do at the united nations. >> it's maize iamazing. what the president says is irrelevant. >> i wouldn't go that far. >> if he's on the tweeting things that doesn't matter. she said the cabinet would lead the way and push this president on any number of issues. you saw tillerson come in and get sworn in. in many ways that was the republicans hope that there would be trumpism and the standard issue republican approach to foreign policy and that seems to be what's happening at this point. >> i think it's a little too early to say the cabinet will have all this autonomy. there's so much power inside the west wing. the people closest to the president, steve bannon at the top of the list.
9:10 am
this is an evolution that we are seeing. president trump is different than candidate trump in many respects. >> you make a key point. i think we'll see some pendulums swinging. we know there are competing factions within the white house about how to do things. the president has been very pro-israel. israel took that as a green light. after he was inaugurated announced he would expand settlements that have been taboo for the obama administration. his first full day on the job as a conversation with prime minister netanyahu.
9:11 am
the borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal. that was a push back and a surprise from this administration. >> definitely a surprise. there really is a steep learning curve. president trump has no experience in government. many of his top officials don't have experience in government or if they do, they have experience in congress. that's really a different thing than running a giant federal agency. what you're seeing is a bit of them getting a fuller understanding of international dynamics. getting a fuller understanding of how these agencies work. what can be done? what can't. how all this stuff plays out. >> president-elect trump's appointment was an ambassador to israel who was pro-settlement.
9:12 am
i don't think you can look for a trump doctrine. anything that resembles consistency, at least this early. >> that's what making allies and not allies pretty nervous. >> it's hard to figure out what that means when he says america first. a lot more to talk about. stay put. we're waiting for the white house briefing. we'll go there live. president trump's border wall gets some opposition. not from democrats but key members of his own party.
9:13 am
ah...still sick, huh? i'll take it from here. i'm good. i just took new mucinex clear and cool. ah! what's this sudden cooling thing happening? it's got a menthol burst. you can feel it right away. wow, that sort of blind-sided me. and it clears my terrible cold symptoms. ahh! this is awkward. new mucinex clear & cool. feel the menthol burst. while powerful medicine clears your worst cold symptoms. start the relief. ditch the misery. let's end this. nice tells you what you kind want to hear.ifferent... but kind is honest. this bar is made with cranberries and almonds. so, guess what? we call it cranberry almond. give kind a try.
9:14 am
you're gonna love birds eye steamwait for it.bles. in about five minutes you get delicious, premium veggies, steamed to perfection. now! ♪ ahhhhhhhhhhh... mmmm heavenly, right? birds eye steamfresh. so veggie good. and my life is basketball.west, but that doesn't stop my afib from leaving me at a higher risk of stroke. that'd be devastating. i took warfarin for over 15 years. until i learned more about once-daily xarelto®... a latest-generation blood thinner. then i made the switch. xarelto® significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. it has similar effectiveness to warfarin. warfarin interferes with vitamin k and at least six blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective. targeting one critical factor of your body's natural clotting function. for people with afib currently well-managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. like all blood thinners, don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor,
9:15 am
as this may increase your risk of a blood clot or stroke. while taking, you may bruise more easily, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. if you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto®, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle-related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. to help protect yourself from a stroke, ask your doctor about xarelto®. insurance changes? xarelto® has you covered. my insurance rates are but dad, you've got... ...allstate. with accident forgiveness they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. indeed. it's good to be in, good hands. uhh, this is never easy, sugar,
9:16 am
but your position here has been made redundant. what? who's replacing me? splenda naturals? well... she's made with stevia. come on! stevia has a bitter aftertaste. hold on. splenda naturals is not bitter. she's as sweet as sweet can be, and calorie-free. again with the calories? it turns out people don't want extra calories. so that's it? no, we made you a cake. with sugar? oh, no. (laughing)
9:17 am
welcome back. we're standing by for white house briefing. we'll take you there when it happens. getting everyone in the republican party to row in the same direction, seems to be hard at the moment. the second most powerful republican in the senate is making it harder for the president to live around his signature campaign promise building the wall. why? money and says it won't work. john corning of texas said quote, i have concerns about spending offset money which adds to the debt, period. i don't think we'll be able to solve border security with a physical barrier because people can come around it, under it and through it. what's fascinating is when you read your story is how many senior republicans, including the number two john corning not only object but go on the record
9:18 am
with their name saying we can't afford it and it may not work. >> reporter: absolutely. i was surprised when i was talking to a cross section of the moderates who say this is way too big of a price tag. the republican leaders like john cornyn of texas as well as other pr prominent voices like bob corker of tennessee that they believe the cost, which is republican leadership is estimating could cost between 12 billion to $15 billion is too steep of a price to pay especially if it's not offset by corresponding spending cuts. what we're hearing from the administration and house speaker paul ryan suggesting it will not be offset by spending cuts. it will be emergency money because they consider this a national security priority.
9:19 am
months, the question is will they get enough support in congress and right now it doesn't seem that way especially people in his own party balk at that plan. john. >> donald trump was inaugurated two weeks ago this hour. two weeks ago this hour and not just republicans, people raise questions all the time. quietly in back groubds saying i don't know if we can afford this but with a, we can't afford it and b, we don't think it's right to do it. >> people in texas know what
9:20 am
this terrain looks like. they know how ineffective a wall is likely to be. they also know that a lot of -- texas, the border unlike a lot of other border states is on private property. you'll have a lot of private property owner rights. the ways they have talked about paying for it, including tariffs could actually really put a big dent in the texas economy. >> talk about something that didn't come up in testimony kpan, the fact it's on private property. there was no nuance at all in the discussion about who will pay for it? mexico.
9:21 am
>> they don't want to anger him. they thought their opposition could come out in the process. this is sooner than they thought it would be. they did not want to go in and say your wall will not happen because that's his priority. this is interesting that he's saying that right now. >> they're all in their committee meetings and whether it's tax reform or increase military agenda. replacing obama care will not be che cheap in the short term. they are seeing him as a spender as the democrat that just left. >> that's right. remember what the tea party was all about. it was all about government spending. so odd that the republican party would all of a sudden all of
9:22 am
those values about spending and adopt these democratic ideas about infrastructure. in terms of the wall, you did initially see mitch mcconnell seem to play nice and be only 12 to 15 billion dollar and we'll figure it out. yeah, i think you're seeing cracks in the wall. i have to say that. >> he's the congressman from texas. there's a reason why you haven't had republicans talking about building a 40-foot concrete wall. the concrete alone would cost $700 million. >> a minor footnote, illegal crossings are down. >> not the mention that. >> there's also the politics here. donald trump is not in a particularly strong position. he's blowing through a lot of political capital by not keeping the hill abreast of the
9:23 am
decisions rolling out and how some of these policies have been rolled out. his approval ratings are pretty low. the politics are really unclear for a lot of these republicans. nobody knows how this will look once you get into next year and thinking about those midterms. >> and i think reminding him there's a congress. >> he now has 535 bosses. it's not quite true, but he has a couple. the thing that's true about the wall and other things even though it's the question we have to keep asking, is donald trump looking for majority support or fine with 40% of the support. if he decides to rally his base against some of these republican member, it's trouble for them as well. we have not seen push back yet from the political arm of trump. we have not seen him out in the country. if this becomes a fight, it will be a fascinating one. >> reservations about the spending and practicality of the
9:24 am
wall from republicans but they have been very loyal to donald trump in getting his team through. it's friday. the united states senate met on a friday. that's breaking news in its own right. they met before the sun came up on a friday. that's changed. don't think donald trump is changing washington. the united states senate was working before the sun was up on a friday. the final vote likely to be on monday. right now, that's a mike pence breaks the tie because two republican senators have said they can't vote for her. there's a lot of pressure on pat tomey so he can stay loyal to the president and take the flak. he's going to probably get his entire team, but this one just barely. >> it's going to take pence, sessions, delain so he can be part of the vote. this is the closest that progressives and democrats will get to victory and probably won't end up being a victory but their constituents have been
9:25 am
hearing on this and they're going to have a pretty strong block of democrats all voting against betsy devos who is called betty devoucher in progressive circles. >> they work with president trump on some things or not at all. it seems the base is clearly spoken and they have said total resistance is the only thing. >> when they get disappointed, when the democrats can't win most of these fight, maybe not vi of those fights, it will be fascinating to watch how the volatility with the tea party. sit tight. moments away from the daily white house briefing. we'll take you there live when it happens. we'll take you there live. you cbest not to spend your life seekentire bank account.is. find a lower price and we'll match it. plus 50 bucks off your next trip. travelocity® wander wisely™
9:26 am
9:29 am
9:30 am
presidency and a new boost for the new president because voters in key state believe he can kick the economy in higher gear. >> 227,000 jobs. great spirit in the country right now. we're happy about that. i think it will continue bigly. >> correct me if you think i'm wrong. for all the different things about donald trump and he rewrites a lot of rules, there's a north star that if the economy is doing well and people feel good about their bank account and wallet that a president does well. this is an enormous gift in a controversial first two weeks. they think they will have tax reform. we've had a bit of a rally on wall street. this is great building block. >> especially considering eight years ago when obama took office. things were in huge crisis. i was at the white house earlier today. one thing i didn't hear is the word hoax.
9:31 am
he spent the last year saying this is not an accurate unemployment rate. it's 4.8%. this is his baseline. my guess is sean spicer will be asked about this if they accept this as the real number. this is great starting point. it's tough to get lower than 4.8%. that's pretty much at full employment. >> the new cbs new york times poll, cbs poll, president had 40% aapproval. 48% disapprove. you mention the word baseline. he starts here. you can say that's horrible. he's under water. you could flip that coin and say that's where he starts and you get good economic news like this, there's only one way to go. >> we know how much he cares about ratings and people liking
9:32 am
him and these numbers are some sort of indication that half the country doesn't really approve of him yet. it will be interesting to see what he does. he's in a lucky position with these numbers. he spent so much time talking the economy down and now he's in a good position with these numbers. >> it's a different group of different voices. one person not at the table, the uber ceo. he said i can't go. dropping off this council because he so objects to the immigration ban. he said he thinks it's un-american but number two the tech industry wants the best and the brightest minds no come in. elan musk said he would go but get his moment with the president to tell him he thinks
9:33 am
this is a bad idea. everybody has their views on this. is this potentially, as we look at picture, is this potentially a speed bump that the president is putting in front of his own hopes for growth. >> uber was in a different situation too. it was at the business end of a boycott. this delete your uber app from your phone. elan musk makes the argument you can disagree and being in the room and disagreeing with the president to his face is a more productive place to be. let's face it, you talk to people around donald trump and they say the only people that he really considers true peers are people who have been as financially as successful as he has. the people who sit on this business council really are in almost a unique position to influence him in a way that he doesn't take feedback from other people. >> a lot of these companies are under immense pressure to boycott and complete resistance to donald trump.
9:34 am
there's one statistic from the election that i found interesting is that hillary clinton won about 500 counties. donald trump won about 2500. in those counties that hillary clinton won it was two-thirds of economic output for the country. that's where you sigh some of these brands like nordstrom say they're dropping ivanka's trump sales. the places were people are consuming these goods are not donald trump areas for most part. they face a lot of pressure from progressive and liberal groups that are demanding complete boycotts. >> donald trump has used twitter to bully some of these companies in terms of some of the financial decisions they make. in terms of jobs or closing down factories. you wonder if that kind of leverage that he seemed to have early on, not in office yet, if some of that starts to ebb away because some of the companies don't want to be associated with
9:35 am
him. >> if you're like sitting around a table with him in the state dining room, he's probably less like to send a tweet if your company is bad or done this. having a relationship with him, i think, is important. they're trying to figure him out. >> he's able to stir this debate even more signing executive order pulling back some of the dodd-frank regulations. democrats say he's pandering to wall street and abandoning the middle class workers. we'll see how this goes. you mentioned before the questioning statistics at times. we had this whole debate about fake news and the like. >> i bet there was very little coverage. i bet it's brand new information to people that president obama had a six-month ban on the iraqi refugee program after two iraqis came here to this country, were c radicalized and the master minds
9:36 am
behind the bowling green massacre. most people don't know that because it doesn't get covered. >> we'll talk about that another time. let's get you over to the white house. >> yesterday was another great deal. we made a deal with lockheed martin. a total of 90 planes. 55 were purchased for u.s. military. $455 million savings for u.s. taxpayers. it was an average cost of 7.5%. another big win the president has delivered on for u.s. taxpayers. speaking of good numbers, let's turn to the jobs report. the economy added many jobs, 227,000. it reflects the consumer confidence that the trump presidency has inspired. according to a recent poll, economic confidence is at a new
9:37 am
high. president trump campaigned on how to make america work again even before he took office, the markets knew he would deliver on that promise. the president is already taken significant steps to turn our economy around and looking forward to ensure that every american who wants a job has the opportunity to find one. the president's definitely pleased at the job growth and the labor force participation is rising. he also recognizes that there's a lot more work to be done. the president has a big and bold agenda to grow the u.s. economy and create jobs. in just his first two weeks in office, he's met with more than 50 business leaders across a vast range of industries. this morning the president participated in a strategic and policy forum with some of the most successful companies. he understands the importance of an especially dialogue with fellow business leaders on how to make the nation's economy
9:38 am
stronger. his first hand experience as a successful businessman helps to guide his decisions as president and he will continue to seek opinions of other job creators while crafting an economic agenda. all of these meetings are focused on one primary goal, providing new and improved employment opportunities for all americans. we're looking at a full range of policy measures to achieve that goal, regulatory relief, tax and trade reform, empowering women in the workplace and improving our education system. also today in pursuit of that goal, the president will be signing two executive actions as part of his plan to overall our financial and regulatory system. i expect that to happen closer to the 1:00 hour. the first is an executive order that sets the table for a regulatory system that mitigates risk, encourages growth and more importantly protects consumers. the dodd-frank act is a disasterous policy that is
9:39 am
hindering our market. it imposed hundreds of new regulations on financial institutions while establishing unaccountable and unconstitutional new agency that does not adequately protect consumers. perhaps, worse of all, dodd-frank did not address the causes of financial crisis. something we all know must be done. it did not solve the too big to fail and we must determine that the failure of large bank will never again leave taxpayers on the hook. the presidential memorandum addresses the burdens of the department of labor fiduciary rule. there's better ways to protect investors and the trump administration is taking action to do so. we're directing the department of labor to review the rules. the intent may have been to provide retirees and others with better financial advice but it's to limit the financial services available to them.
9:40 am
president trump does not intend to put unnecessary limits on economic opportunity. the department of labor exceeded its authority with the rule and this is exactly the kind of government regulatory overreach the president was put in office to stop. we desperately need to overhaul how we approach financial regulation. the president is taking action to protect american taxpayers and get people back to work. moving on, we announced we would be taking steps to address iran's recent actions. today the u.s. sanction 25 individuals and entities that provide support to iran's ballistic missile program and the islamic revolutionary force. these are in response to iran's ongoing ballistic missile program including the test on january 29th, 2017 as well as iran's continued support for terrorism. we have taken these actions and will continue to respond with appropriate action. these designations mark yet another stop in our continued effort to aggressively target iran's ballistic missile program
9:41 am
and terrorism related activetives. ov he visited korea yesterday and japan today, returning to washington tomorrow. secretary mattis emphasizes the priority president trump places on the asia pacific in the face of a nuclear ballistic threat. in the senate, the president now has 11 cabinet nominees waiting a full senate vote on their confirmations. we look forward to welcome these individuals into the administration. regarding the weekend's plans, the president will debut his second weekly facebook event this evening at 5:00. you can expect him to recap another week of action on behalf of the american people. he will comment on a selection of judge neil gorsuch and while recognizing black history month, he will discuss his vision to deliver more opportunity and safety for the african-american community. one more note, the lead in to
9:42 am
the president's remark on facebook live will feature some of the incredible art work throughout the white house that was created by african-american artists. you definitely don't want to mention this. this weekend the president will be shifting the operation of the white house down to the winter white house at mara largo. we'll provide read outs of these as they occur. the administration is already racked up more than 60 significant actions. 21 executive actions and ten stake holder meetings to name a few. we're looking at another productive week next week. on monday the president will visit central command. the president will receive command briefings, have lunch with the enlisted troops and have an all hands address to personnel. they will be present for the meetings and the president
9:43 am
return to washington that evening. with that i'm going to go to my first skype question. jackie nespral. >> good afternoon. on behalf of the viewers of south florida, thanks so mump for this opportunity. a lot of focus on current affairs. new sanction announced against iran and miami is home to the largest community in the country. in the last days of his administration he ended the policy leaving thousands of cubans in limbo. my question is has there been any contact between your administration and cuban government and any plans to change the current policy right now? >> thanks, jackie. we're in midst of a full review of all u.s. policies toward cuba. the president is committed to an agenda of ensuring human rights for all citizens throughout the world and as we review those
9:44 am
policies in cuba will be forefront in their policy. there's nothing we have on that front. >> previously, this morning the president had said they were playing with fire. you said the appropriate actions will continue to be taken. is this the full extent of the punishing actions we're seeing right now and are military options still on the table in response to the military saying all options are on the table. one of the things the president has said throughout the campaign during the transition and since becoming president, he doesn't like to telegraph his options. that's how he believes he can have much greater successful option. i'm not going to go into full extent. i think today's sanctions really represent a very, very strong stand against the actions that iran has been taking. make it very clear that the deal that they struck previously was
9:45 am
not in the best interest of this country and president trump will do everything he can to make sure that iran is stayed in check. >> it's possible there's more actions coming? >> i would never rule anything off the table. i think the president made it clear throughout his time that that's what's going to happen. >> i wanted to ask about one of the members announced as being part of president trump's team. it's gina. senator ron white has written to the president saying her background makes her unsuitable to be the cia deputy director and what he was specifically references was her role in the enhanced interrogation program that the cia had during the course of the bush administration. do you believe that this background is a disqualifier for that position? >> i think she has had an unbelievably distinguished career as a covert operative. she basically gave up that to
9:46 am
come out and serve in this role as the request of director pompaeo. she's been a distinguished servant to the american people and is highly qualified for that position. next i'm going to go to jaosh i new hampshire. >> thanks for taking the question. i know you're looking forward to the patriots coming down. getting to business, for more than two years the number one public health and safety threat facing the state is the heroin and opioid crisis. the president promised to be swift and aggressive stopping the glow of drugs coming across the border. the problem lies in synthetic fentonal being cooked up and the treatment of addiction. new hampshire is poised to become a right to work state. the voting is expected to be close. given the administration's
9:47 am
favorable view, is it actively engaged and what is the white house view? >> thanks. the opioid problem is a major problem. one of the thing s the health issue is to make sure that we're looking at border and the flow of heroin through our southern border is something the president, that's part of his whole strong immigration stance, having the wall built and having additional assets on the southern border will go a long way to stem the flow of illegal drugs up through the states. it was obviously, as you mentioned, a big issue that he made in new hampshire throughout the primary. it continued on the campaign. it's something tom price and others confirm throughout the department. this has a health component to it. it's got a border issue to it. there's a multigovernment approach that needs to basic tan to the opioid crisis.
9:48 am
with respect to right to work, i think you accurately portrayed it. the president believes in right to work. he wants to give workers and companies the flexibility to do what's in the best interest for job creators. obviously, the vice president has been a champion of this as well. it's something that's a big deal in indiana and something he has championed as well. blake. >> i want to ask you about dodd-frank. beyond the executive order that's going to be signed here, is the administration planning on or working with congress to overturn certain portios of the law itself that can't be done with an executive order? if so, what might that timeline be? is a full repeal of dodd-frank being considered or not? >> there's two aspects. there's the administratd mi-- administrative piece and the
9:49 am
piece with congress. dodd-frank has been both a disaster in terms of the impact it's had but also hasn't achieved the goal. there's no question the president talked about this extensively. the impact it's had and it's not an either or. it's frankly just not doing what it set out to do. i think we're going to continue not just to act through administration but through working with congress and figure out a legislative fix. >> the meeting with the australian ambassador, can you describe what that meeting was about and did the administration make a commitment which we heard from the state department yesterday that all of those subject to the obama administration agreement are still possible refugee resettlers just with extreme vetting or some sort of process. what was communicated and on the iran sanctions, adam was part of
9:50 am
sanctions. often times these are long time in development. were these sanctions that were on his desk or been identified and that's what made them so not easy available to enact so rapidly? >> i think you correctly pointed out, he served in the last administration these kind of sanctions don't happen quickly. i think the timing of them was clearly in reaction to what we've seen over the last couple of days. we knew we had these options available to us because they had been worked through the process, but we acted swiftly and decisively today because the timing was right. they were in the pipeline. they had been staffed and improved and the president made the decision now is the time to do it based on recent action. chief of staff priebus and banning did meet with the prime minister. i think they had a very -- >> ambassador. >> thank you. appreciate the correction. they did have a productive and can did conversation.
9:51 am
we have a tremendous amount of respect for the people of australia. it was a follow up on the call. we're going to continue to work through this. we're going to honor the commitments that we've made in some way. meaning that we are going to vet these people in accordance with the agreement that happened and we'll continue to have further updates as we do. john roberts. >> last night about the sett settlemen settlements, there's been a shift in u.s. policy. you didn't think they were helpful to achieving peace which would represent a departure from both obama and bush. there was no reaffirmation of a two-state solution in that statement. where are you on that? >> the president's committed to peace. that's his goal. i think when the president and prime minister netanyahu meet here on the 15th, that will be the topic on that. at the end of the day the goal is peace. that's what you have to keep in mind.
9:52 am
i think that's going to be a subject they that discuss when they meet on the 15th. that's as far as i want to go on that. >> what is your position on settlements in terms of whether or not, you said they were not an impediment to peace but you also don't want them building new ones. >> i think the statement is clear about that. we doebn't believe the existenc is an em pimpediment to peace b it's not going to helpful moving forward. >> 17 members of congress requested that president trump not interfere with the current way unemployment is calculated by the department of labor. does the president intend to comply with the request and how many of the 227,000 jobs added to the u.s. in january does the president attribute to his administration versus the obama administration? >> i think when you look at the confidence indexes, i'm not going to get into -- we don't have that kind of break down.
9:53 am
i think you've seen the action that he's taken whether it's carrier or some of the other companies, sprint and softbank. there's a desire for companies to want to come be part of this trump agenda and build and manufacture and create jobs and bring jobs back. i'm not at liberty to start parsing the bls and other reports as far as where that comes down. his team led by gary cohen was really pleased with the numbers. we're pleased we're 227,000 jobs is a great kickoff. we hope they get better. we know there's a lot more work to do. that's why the president continues to plemeet with busin leaders and union leaders. ashley. >> the government revealed that over 100,000 visas have been revoked as part of the travel ban. does that include visa holders already in the united states and will the government try to deport them? >> i'll have to get back to you on that. i don't have all the details.
9:54 am
>> six hours ago the president tweeted that professional anarchists are proving the point of millions of people who voted to make america great again. does the administration have any plans to investigate the groups? >> i think we know who they are. i don't think we need to do any investigation. >> the letter sent from senator mccain and is he looking into ar arms? >> i don't know. charlie. >> nikki haley came out with strong statement on russia yesterday. does the administration have plans to keep the sanctions against russia in place or do they have any intention of adding more sanctions? >> there's two things. one i commented on the sanctions that treasury put out. those are routine or the clarification. they are a routine clarification that occurs. with respect to the sanctions, ambassador haley made it clear
9:55 am
of our concern with russia's option of crimea. i think she spoke forcefully and clearly on that. i'd like to go to the third skype question. >> thank you for doing this. hello from phoenix. with the likely confirmation on the hoe rrizon with a new veter affairs, there's privatizing the va and wait times and reports regarding the suicide rate. what is the reform that the administration seeking here and will the administration protect whistle blowers? second part of the question, we have seen protests here in phoenix as nationwide as well. when you talk about unity, what is the administration doing to bring more unity to the nation and even more transparency. we saw the secret meeting on the tarmac. how is the administration preparing all of this?
9:56 am
>> thanks. first, i think the president, mostly through deed continues to show he wants to bring people together in this country. figure out how to move the country forward economically and job wise. that's something that continues to show a desire for. talked about it at his inaugural address. i think he will continue to go through his desire to move the country forward. first and foremost on va reform, the number one thing is to get the doctor confirmed. it's hard to talk about how we will enact an i generagenda ove reform. he's the right individual to reform the va to understand whether it's lending or medical
9:57 am
care. these are people who have served our nation and deserve the best care they can get whether it's mortgage lending, health care or a variety of other stuff that the va serves. what the president has done is talked to people like dr. toby c cosgrove and others. there's still wait times that are unacceptable. there's care that's unacceptable. we have to address that. he's going to continue to do it. david jackson. >> during the campaign, candidate trump said he was going to void the iranian nuclear deal. bottom line is he going to do that? >> i think today's action speaks for itself in terms of sanctions. he's made it clear that the deal that was struck was a bad deal. we gave iran too much and we got too little for it. i think he will continue to be tough on iran in a way that wasn't done in the last eight years. i think today's actions and the way we expedited those sanctions are another example of how he
9:58 am
will stay tough on them. let me go to the fourth skype. >> thank you very much for taking questions from outside the elite media bubble there in d.c. mip question is about immigration. donald trump made this forefront of his campaign, the foundation of it. i learned from a member of congress yesterday that the trump administration is still issuing work permits to some of these individuals. question one is when are the programs going to be ended and question two, when will they stop issuing work permits to these individuals? >> thanks. as you know secretary kelly just assumed office. we're reviewing these programs. we made it clear we'll have further updates on immigration. the president has made significant progress on addressing the pledge he made to the american people regarding immigration problems that we face. i think we'll see more action on that in the next few weeks.
9:59 am
>> yesterday the president described nafta as a kas ta t e catastrophe. i'm wondering if you outline some of the irritants along the canadian border. >> he has spoken to prime minister trudeaux. i think that is a meeting that will be set up shortly. >> russian's foreign minister has pressed the administration on the president's plan to establish safe zones in syria. the president said to discuss this yesterday. when can we expect further details on that plan? >> that's a good question. i think that we are, as you noted in the read outs from last weekend, that's a subject that's come up with the middle east leaders that he's talked about. it's an area he feels strongly about.
10:00 am
we can expect further details. it's something secretary tillerson got sworn into office. there will be further follow up on that. >> he will meet with prime minister abe on next friday. what's the topic for the meeting? will the president japan should pay more and pick up all expe e expense? >> i think there's going to be a lot of trade and national security. i think as we get closer to that meeting i'll have further information. as you can imagine an economic aspect to this and national security aspect to this. >> sean, you reference polls a couple of times from the poediu, the president has 40% approval rating. we saw it drop during the transition period. he talked about polls during the campaign. what do you think that says about the way the american people are looking at the actions he's taking and w
89 Views
Uploaded by TV Archive on
![](http://athena.archive.org/0.gif?kind=track_js&track_js_case=control&cache_bust=1675360603)