so we will get you over to the white house briefing underway for live coverage here on c-span3. >> in your view, is the president remaking the republican party, and if he is doing that, is he remaking it in a positive way? >> i would not say that he is necessarily remaking it, because you have a couple of individuals who are no longer running for office. look, he has a great relationship with a number of republican senator, and he is

going to continue to work with them, and make sure that we get things done for the american people. he wants the people to be in the senate that are committed to actually moving the ball down the field, and i don't think that these two individuals have been as focus odd on that. the president wants to get things done, and that is what we will work through for the fall. john? >> sarah, i understand that neither of the two senators that we are talking about now have been allies to the president. this has been an extraordinary series of attacks on the president from major figures in the republican party, and not typical political attacks and saying that the president is responsible for the debasement of the nation, and the civility is the fault of the president, and enough is enough, and we have seen similar remarks from john mccain, the party's former nominee, and does any of this make the president pause and wonder if he is doing anything wrong? if he bears any responsibility for what these senators are

saying is a breakdown of civility in our country. >> look, i think that the voterers of these individual n senator states are speaking in pretty loud volumes. they were not likely to be re-elected and i think that show s that the support is more behind this president than it is those two individuals. >> why is there so little pushback from the other republican senators on this? mitch mcconnell is the republican leader, and bob corker is still a committee chairman. >> and look, leader mcconnell stood with the president just last week here at the white house and talked how they were working together and getting things done, and focused on moving the agenda forward and so that is a pretty clear indication of where the sup is port lies and what we are working to do. steven. >> if i could pick up on what jim is talk about. one of the criticisms of senator corker today was the idea that history is most going to be remembering president trump for debasing the country, and hearing in senator flake's

remarks the idea that he is running for history, and how do you think that history will view not only the remarks of the two senators today and former president bush last week? >> i certainly think that history is going to be looking at the president who helped to defeat isis and built a e kcono stronger than it has been in decades and brought unemployment to the 16-year low, and created 1.7 million jobs since being elect and those are the things that people a actually care about and not some petty comments from senator corker and senator flake, and they are a lot more considered about the big policy initiatives that this president is driving including the historic tax cuts that will be done by the end of this year, and focusing on other thing, and this is what this president is going to be remembered by and those are certainly good facts, and ones that we are happy to stand by. peter? >> thank you, sarah. the president had lunch today asked sen foators for a show of hands with senators powell and taylor, and are those the favorites for the president's

chairs for the fed, and what are you hearing about that? >> well, they are many individuals he is looking at and no announcements at this time, but the president is taking that decision seriously and thorough in the process and an announcement, soon. >> sarah? >> yes. sarah, are you concerned, is the white house concerned at all that the conflicts keep escalating and could impact the president's agenda, and specifically, could senator corker as the president continues to lash out at him like this, and could that prompt him to, you know, do things that compromise the tax cut? >> i would hope that senator corker is more focused on getting things done in his final months, and so we hope that he will be supportive of the tax cuts and tax reforms that the people in his state have demanded and frankly elected him to go to congress to help do. >> and what about the distraction though? >> the president in two tweets

said that senator corker was fighting tax cuts and those were his word, and he will now fight tax cut, and so there is nothing p public from senator public that he is against the tax cuts, so what is the president suggesting or referring to in the tweets as senator corker privately told the white house or the president that he is against the tax cuts? >> i don't know if he has said that he is against them, but he has indicated his unwillingness at this point to step forward to work with the administration to get things done. we hope that he is going to come around and vote for tax cuts as the people in his state have demanded and requested and pushed for him to do such. francesca? >> what about flake, mccain and corker will eventual willy vote for tax cuts? >> i certainly hope that america hopes they will. francesca? >> last week, i asked you if the president wanted senator corker to resign, and you didn't want to go there and in light of

everything that has happened since, has the white house changed the position on, that and at the very least, does the president think that senator corker should step down as the head of the foreign relations committee especially since senator corker told cnn today that he quote wants to inve investigate some of the things that he is breaking down. >> well, look, that is a decision for chairman mcconnell on the chairmanships and not for the president. >> do you think that he should step down or resign? >> i have not spoken to him about that, but as far as the chairmanships, that is up to leader mcconnell. >> sarah, thank you. two questions. there is currently contested primary for senator corker's seat, and congresswoman blackburn facing former congressman fincher, and it is almost inevitable that there is going to be a contested primary in arizona, and dr. ward not going to be left to get the nomination.

will the president take any role in the nomination process there? >> as i have said many times before from the podium, i won't weigh into any political race, and whether or not the president will engage. it is not appropriate for me to do from here. charlie? >> another thing, sarah, in the penultimate salvo on twitter, the president said that senator co corker asked him to be secretary of state, and he are refused the request. that is a pretty serious claim because nobody really has been provetone ask for a job in modern times like that, and did senator corker actually ask the president to be a secretary of state? >> that is is my understanding, but i don't know much beyond the initial comments. >> does the president believe that the majority leader mcconnell can pull the full caucus together? >> yes sh, he is, and he thinks

that we will work together with republican senator, and particularly leader mcconnell to get the tax cuts and the tax reform done this year. >> is he upset by the senators? >> the white house and the president specifically continue to say that senator bob corker helped president obama on the iran deal when the facts are clearly that it is not clear. >> well, the facts are true, and it is senator corker who wrote the legislation that legitimized the iran deal, and to eradicate the votes, and corker's bill rolled tout the red carpet for the obama administration, and he may not have voted for it, but he certainly held it happen. >> but he did not vote for it. >> and he a allowed it to take place. >> and if you are looking through -- >> and as i said very many times before, i would not use the washington post as my source, and you should know that, jeff. >> and the president is clearly not telling the truth on this, and why are you continuing to say that he helped president obama with it. >> and that is not true, because

he voted against, sarah. >> and he put it in motion, and rolled tout red carpet and made it possible to move forward and that is a fact and it is true. >> what did the president advise him on the use of twitter and on a separate and unrelated issue, is the president seeking to kill a deal between boeing's deal to sell planes to iran air? >> on the first one, i would say in regards to twitter as i have stated several times before from here, it is always a benefit for the president to be able to speak directly to american people without any filter or without any bias, and i think that is a positive thing, and one of the reasons that the president is president is because he often goes directly to american people, and speaks directly to them, and that is a plus. second question, i am not aware of that, any detailed conversation, and i could not weigh into that right now.

>> sarah, and i won't ask you to talk about the ongoing investigation, but the commander of the u.s. forces in africa told the congress last march that only a quarter of the reconnaissance flights were available for him to do his job, and that impacted search and rescue mission, and is the white house concerned that forces in west africa don't have adequaea resource ashs and that could have affected what happened in niger? >> that is always a top priority is the safety of our resources. and as general dunford said yesterday, we will get full and adequate answers for not just the american people, but for the families of those who were lost, and we will continue to do that and the administration fully supports the department of defense in that process. >> outreach on the white house to niger? >> i am not sure. i would have to check and circle back. april? >> sarah, back on niger and

offshoot, the widow of sergeant la david johnson is concerned that there may not be remains in his coffin, and what does the white house say that she is not able to get anything more than dog tags as it relates to trying to put to rest all of this? >> well, my understanding is that the family can request to see those remain, and that is a process handled through the department of defense and the casualty officer and i refer you to the department of defense on specifics for that. >> and one of the last pieces on the subject very fast, beyond the personality, the president's personality, beyond flake, and beyond that, there is a divide in the nation or be it in your own party, and when is there a effort to unifishgs and you have people saying in their own party, in the president's party a that the president is not helping to pave the way in the

path th-- and the path that the president has take zen wrong. when is there an effort for the president to unifying and within the party and the country, because of so many divides. >> there is an effort to unify, and you can see it with the policies that the president is pushing, and tax cuts that affect everyone, and particularly the middle-class and that is is something that even should rally around whether you are a democrat or republican, and it should bring everybody together. looking at the defeat of jis and the growth of the economy, and the unemployment, and these are things a that should bring the country together and things that the president is focused on and continue to be focused on moving forward. >> sarah, the president is likening his tax cuts to what reagan did, and as we know after the 1981 cut, there were a series of tax increases including the social security payroll tax ip crease which affected middle-class american, and to dday, the social securit fiscal situation is far more dire and what does the president have to say about his intentions

when it comes to the entitlements once the tax cuts go through? >> the president said that he did not want to impact social security and wanted to make sure that we protected it. the biggest thing that he is focused on right now are the tax cuts to make sure that they are permanent tax cuts that really impact and help the middle-class and that is the biggest priority. cecilia? >> well no, changes? >> well, not at this time, no. >> and the three republican s senators have hit at the same theme of a deg ridation of cir l civility in the white house, and does the president agree that there is a lack of civility happening in the american political system, and does the president bear any responsibility for that? >> well, as i said before, we can all do better, and we are looking at ways every single day, as i told april to bring the country together and focus

on the policies that help peo e people, and empower people, and do it for all americans, and that is the president's what he laid out on the campaign, and what he has been focused on since he became president. >> sarah, can you -- >> thank you, sarah. i wanted to ask you about the president's tweet in which he called pastor robert jeffers a wonderful man. and given there are 70 million american catholic, why would he say that about somebody who is so viciously anti-catholic? >> i am not aware of robert jeffers being anti-catholic, but i nknow that he engages with th catholics in his home state on a regular basis to participate in events such as the march for life, and those are the only actions that i have seen him participate in, and so i could not comment any further on that front. >> and sarah, one tof the acts f civil discourse is for people in the discussion to acknowledge when they have is made misstatements, and there is a pattern in the white house, a wand the president when they make misstatements they are not

corrected. for example, the chief of staff came out here to the podium, and mischaracterized the speech by a congresswoman given that the fbi building dedication, and why won't the chief of staff or you right now acknowledge that it was a mischaracterization, and correct the record? >> i don't believe that general kelly mischaracterized, and he gave his account of what took place, and general kelly and hi family made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and he has led with honor and integrity and he is doing a great job as the chief of staff and he does not have anything to correct or apologize for. callie? >> why wouldn't, if when, even if president trump meant to console mrs. johnson, and why hasn't he apologized for his call? >> the president is taking the point that his call was meant to be sympathetic and to offer

condolences on be hhalf of the nation. >> and can you talk about the two big initiatives that the president is going to be judged for, and so far he has not had any made through the legislative process? >> a and that is not true. i would say that neil gorsuch went through, and that is something with a lasting legacy and probably far beyond more individual piece of legislation is how the courts can shape and determine a lot of the different thing, and i think that you will see that in justice gorsuch. >> and to finish the first question then, and when you are talking about the policy such as health care or tax reform which has not been completed on capitol hill, and the support of someone like bob koscorker may e it more difficult, and given that, does the president feel like he is winning? >> he feels like america is winning, and that give n the

progress, and despite the fact that the congress has done very little up until this point, and the president has gotten rid of nearly 1,000 regulations to pave the way for massive job creation and job growth in the country, and we are looking at a booming economy and those are things that people care about and looking at the defeat of isis and something that the president has led on and worked with the coalition forces to help do, an he has created better relationships with countries around the globe, and bolstereded the relationship with nato and had other countries encourage hdd in the growth of the amount of money that other people are participating in that, and the historic moment that we saw with the president on his first foreign trip when he was in saudi arabia and he spoke in front of nearly 60 muslim majority kcountry, and these ar historic moments that he has done without congress and imagine how incredible and how many good things we would be doing if people like senator bob koscork er got on board to do h job instead of the grandstanding on tv. >> and my second question,

sarah. >> excuse me, day. >> and some believe there should be a loyalty test for senator, and -- >> the loyalty should be to the american people, and the agenda that they were elected to carry out. >> and that is where they say that the loyalty is? >> well, we will see that in their votes. >> and today, there is an announcement that there is going to be an investigation into the obama administration's deal to allow the u.s. to obtain uraniu uranium? >> i have not spoken to him directly about that, but i certainly think that it is a move in the right direction, and so something that we have spoken about several times here that if there was any collusion wh whatsoever during the campaigns of any point, or any collusion at a any point with another country, they should look at the clinton, and so that is the right thing. >> sarah, thank you.

the president regularly highlights the success of the stock market and only 50% of americans are invested in the stock market, and you know, earlier today, i spoke with grover norquist who is pushing for tax reform and he characterizes the economy and he says quote that the e kconomy itself still suck, and what is your reaction to that and for the people who are not benefit ing from the success of the market right now? >> well, i think that there is also a lot of other things beyond the stock market, and the fact that unemployment levels have dropped and this is a big thing and the fact that 1.7 million new jobs have been created since donald trump was elect and those are positive things in the economy. we did not say it is completely fixed, but we are moving in the right direction, and we have been more successful in the first nine months than obama was in eight years. >> sarah, two questions. one is that do we understand that when the president is hit, he hits back, but what is he trying to accomplish when he says that bob corker could not

win a race for dog catcher, and what is he trying to accomplish? >> well, look, i think that the president is voicing the frostration that probably you see fr -- frustration are that probably, you will see voiced from a lot of people in tennessee which is where his votes are where they are. >> and is there any votes that the -- >> what is that? >> can you point to any legislation that corker or flake took against the president? >> will have to take deeper look at that and get back to you. >> and sarah, can you tell us -- what exactly in senator flake's speech did you find to be offensive? >> i thought that the attacks and the comments that he made were not befitting of the senate

floor. >> in particular -- >> are sorry, go ahead. >> can you talk about vote that seemed to happen in the senate meeting where you saw according to senator scott geontjohn taylt the most votes if that is going to influence the president's decision on that, and then just to follow up on the question -- >> let me answer that first question. and as i said earlier the president is taking this decision very seriously and going through a thoughtful and thorough are review and interview process, and when we have an announcement on that, we will let you know. he is talking to relevant stakeholders and individuals about this and knows that it has a great deal of impact, this decision, and so again, he'll take his time and make sure that he makes the right one and not a fast one.

>> sarah. >> sarah? >> yes. >> and sarah, thanks. to fol llow up some other questions that have been asked, how does fighting with members of his own party advance the president's agenda and the stated goals for the american people? >> and look, the president is fighting for the agenda, and he has as i have said, if he is hit, he is going to be hitting back, and people did not elect him to be weak, but they elected him to be strong, and if he is feeling that it is necessary to respond, and he is going to do that and at the same time he can talk and chew gum at the same time, and he is pushing forward on the agenda and it is going to take 30 seconds to send a tweet, and he spends the bulk of the day working on and pushing the policy initiatives like tax reform and tax cuts, and that is what he is committed to doing. >> and let me clear up some confusion around the 401(k)s and some republicans are saying it is making their job to get the tax reform done more difficult, and can you say definitive ly that the republican tax reform

will not touch 401(k)s? >> that is the president's plan and he wants to see congress get on board as well, and he wants to make shure that we are protecting the american futures and american's retirements, and this is part of the process. >> sarah, on the opioid crisis, we have seen the president organize a commission, and we have seen him host meetings, and he has used the word crippling, and the words national emergency, and we have seen the administration put more resources into the law enforcement, and we have seen him take on this message of telling kids just not to start. but advocates for those who are addicted say that they feel like they have just not seen enough work towards helping people who are currentlied a dekted, and that there is a need for a huge rush of money to get more people into treatment. what is the president's thinking right now. >> it is a growing epidemic,

that the president is committed to fighting against. he has been working with the policy advisers a and the team diligently, and all of the relative come ponecomponents, a will be seeing more details on those efforts by the end of the week, and in the next couple of days some specific announcement s that the president said that he would have. and thank you, guy,ly be around for the rest of the afternoon to answer questions. have a good day. >> and sarah, why has the president not sanctioned the -- hunger strike? and some news from capitol hill this afternoon, the senate passing a 3$36.5 billion disastr aid bill which includes funding for the wildfire recovery efforts and debt relief nfor th national flood insurance program. today, senator jeff flake announced on the floor that he would not seek re-election. here is currently in the first term as a senator. he came to the flo