the overall commitment to doing a better job in criminal justice systems, including the correction portion of that system. so i've been there. >> right. >> having said that, in connecticut, based on some of the laws we changed, you couldn't buy that weapon that was used in connecticut. and that's true in seven states and the district of columbia. and what i would also say, picking up on latter part of the discussion that i just witnessed, listen, i think we -- we are going to leave this and turn away for live coverage of the daily white house briefing. >> let me start by saying what a meaningful experience it was to attend the proceedings involving rove are rend billy graham. he left this earth last week, but his legacy is going to live on for eternity. as the president said,

everywhere he went, he sent the message that was always his message god loves you. the president and the first lady will be attending the funeral in north carolina tomorrow. i would like to highlight some powerful work that the house did by passing hr-165 to allow state and federal pros u coutures for holding web sites available for preventing sex trafficking. he made it clear that this administration is going to hold sex traffickers accountable. this is an important step forward and the bill will help p provide this on a bipartisan basis. we are going to be highlighting the historic discussion of the democrats and issue that threatens the safety and

security of the american people. and as a reminder, compared to the four previous administrations, this senate has confirmed the fewest nominee, and half of the president's highly qualified nominees are waiting for confirmation and today another example. 276 days kevin mcleenan was nominated to be the director of border and customs director. he would keep unlawful people out of our borders and providing lawful trade. and he is also to prohibit contraband from entering our nation, but his nomination is on hold. so congress u should stop putting the american people at risk and immediately confirm him. with that,ly take yo li will ta questions. john? >> and a moment ago the president announced tariffs on aluminum and steel, and he

announced that even though the fine details have not been worked out about what countries are involved and whether there are any exemption, and the dow is down as a result of this, and our a allies are saying that these actions are unacceptable, and why did the president announce them now before the details have been worked out. >> well, the president is announcing the intent to sign those actions next week. we are not going to get into anymore details until the details are finalized, but it is not going to be what he intends to do next weekend, until he makes that announcement. >> and about the effects that announcement has had so far. >> he is concerned about the men and women of this country that are forgotten about, and the industries that our foundation of our country is built on. this should not be a surprise to anybody, because it is something that the president has been talking about for decades and something that he talked about regularly on the campaign trail and something to be delivering on making it clear today in the

details and the actual announcement in the signing of the bill next week. >> the president talks about the stock market in reaction to his presidency and he is surprised to be seeing the market down with this without an explanation on the tariffs and any detail of why he decided to announce ment today? it was sudden to be called in on that event, because it was not necessarily on the public schedule? >> this is something again that the president has been talking about for a long time. it is not a surprise. we will do what we can to protect the american workers and that is something that the president committed to in the campaign and something that he feels vitally important -- >> but that is new. >> and he is announcing the intent to make those things happen next week, and when we have more details on that -- >> did he make that decision today? >> again, this is something that the president has wanted to do

for quite some time. >> and it was a surprise to the press gathered there. it was not on the schedule. >> i don't think that the president always tells you something first, but it is learn i something that he has been talking about for a for a long . these are conversations that the president has had for a long time and he's made his intentions very clear to the team at the white house. i don't think it came as a surprise to anybody here. could that change between now and next week? >> until those details are finalized i won't get into specifics. zeke? >> a couple of questions. a number of members of this cabinet have fallen under public scrutiny and first-class travel at the dining set and the president talkeded about it again, and does he plan on

draining his cabinet? >> if you're asking if he's getting rid of anybody on the cabinet. i'm not aware that that's taking place at any point to be clear on secretary carson, the order that you referenced was cancelled and they're looking for another option that's much more responsible with taxpayer dollars. >> the number of times, and what will the president will lose his confidence and he tells us, and he has confidence in these people and can you explain why the president has confidence and who are a number -- and their numbers investigations that are spending, so why do they have the president counting on this? >> look, starting with the va, with secretary shullkin, the president is glad for the job that he's been doing in reforming the va and modernizing the va. a lot of the movements that they've had there and he supports him in those efforts, but they're also -- we have been

reviewing these actions and making sure that we're being very responsible with taxpayer dollars. this is something that the president has asked all of his team to go back and look at. >> senator mcconnell up on capitol hill a few minutes ago have said that this week the senate would not be moving forward with the legislation, and cordin said they would be next week and with legislation. after yesterday's session it seems that republicans are running away from what the president wanted a quick resolution on this front. why didn't the president have the cloud on capitol hill that the president -- that the republican president in congress, and why can't he seem to get congress to vent, as well? >> i don't think it's necessarily bending to his will. i think it's about an ongoing discussion about the best pieces of legislation that they can put forward. yesterday was certainly an important part of this. the president has met with a

number of stakeholders next week who will also be meeting with members of the video game industry to see what they can do on that front, as well. this is going to be an ongoing process and something that we don't expect to happen overnight, but something that we'll continue to be engaged in and continue to look for the best ways possible to make sure we're doing anything we can to protect schools across the country. >> does the president want to get rid of his attorney general. >> not that i know of. >> is he becoming a distraction given the controversies that he's been at the center of in recent days. >> jared is still a valued member of the administration and he'll continue to focus the word that he's been doing and we'll continue pushing forward on that front, as well. >> is there a conflict of interest given those meetings that he had with executives from companies that gave his family business millions of dollars. >> i would refer you to the statement that was put out by his attorney.

>> again, i will refer you back to the statement put out by his attorney. >> is the president concerned about the impact that this may have on america's allies like canada, the uk and eu? >> the president's biggest concern is making sure that we're doing everything we can to protect american workers and that was what his announcement on his intentions next week are specifically geared towards. this isn't something that he shied away from or something that he hasn't spoken about regularly and often or something that he's going to stop talking about at any point since. sorry. >> is the president concerned about any retaliation? >> not that i know of. >> i'm sorry. a comment and get your reaction, ben sasse put out a statement, and he said the president is proposing the massive tax increase on american families and protectionism is weak, and

not strong, and he concluded by writing, you'd expect a policy this bad from a leftist administration and not a supposedly republican one. do you have a comment on that? >> i don't know that the president will or should ever apologize for protecting american workers, and certainly not to senator sasse. blake? >> thank you, sarah. let me try to drill down on this. you said you won't be getting into details at this point, so if there are details to get into will there be exemptions for certain countries? >> i'm not going to get ahead of the final details. they will be put out next week. at this point there's no additional information to share as all of this is still being finalized. >> has the president made up in his mind which countries he might exempt or is at least considering? >> i'm not going to get into any details on this front and i don't have anything further to add on his intensions that will take place next week. we're a little bit tight so i'll

keep moving. jordan? >> last week the white house chief of staff in regard to the questions about security clearances at the white house. was that request met with the chief of staff apply to chairman gowdy? >> we're having conversations with the committee and we'll continue working with them and i can't go further than that, at this point. >> do you think that you might answer the committee? >> we're in regular conversations with them and we'll continue working with them. trey? >> this week, the president expressed frustration with his attorney general and the department of justice as it relates to the process looking to fisa abuses. what would the president like to see done differently? >> look, the president's made clear that he has a lot of concerns like you said with the current fisa process. nothing makes the problems of fisa cleaner than what was outlined in both the republican and democrat memos and the fbi used political campaign material to get a warrant to spy on american citizens. they failed to disclose to the judge that the dossier was

funded by the clinton campaign and the dnc even as it was being used to spy on people associated with the trump campaign. obviously, that alone shows us that the process needs to be looked at closely and reform to make sure that we're doing everything we can to protect the privacy of american citizens. >> as it relates to that tweet. could you elaborate between the president and the attorney general? does president trump believe it's disgraceful? the president has made frustrations very clear and i don't have anything else to add. dave? >> what was the president's reaction to what the mayor of oakland, california, did last weekend when she tipped off residents that there was an imminent immigration raid coming? does he feel that the mayor broke the law now that the justice department's looking into that? >> i think it's outrageous that a mayor would circumvent federal authorities and certainly put them in danger by making a move such as that and it's currently under review by the department of justice, and i don't have

anything else to add. olivier? >> i know you're averse to providing details about the terror plan. does the president plan to cut the plan with policies to mitigate the impact on say the auto industry? >> i don't have anything else to add at this point independent very open-ended and did you take putin's speech. >> president putin has confirmed what the united states has known all along which russia has denied. russia's been developing destabilizing weapons systems for over a decade in direct violations of its treaty obligations. president trump coulds the threats facing america and our allies in this century and is determined to protect our homeland and preserve peace through strength. u.s. defense capabilities are and will remain second to none, and now because of the new defense budget of $700 billion our military will be far stronger than ever. as the president's new clear

posture review made clear, america is moving forward to modernize our nuclear arsenal and ensure our capabilities are unmatched. >> sarah? >> john? >> thank you, sarah. two short questions. first, can you confirm or deny that the president has made a decision to go for the outside for a successor and communications director rather than promote from within. >> the decision on that has been made. i don't have a personnel announcement. >> the other thing is the president has a good relationship with senator manchin and toomey of pennsylvania, has he been in touch with either of them to discuss further the proposed universal gun ban that's been floated around this last week? >> i know they were both part and attend the meeting earlier why this week and the president spoke with senator toomey today, but has not seen that final

legislation as discussions are still ongoing and so i can't say, you know, where we fall in position on that piece of legislation at this point, but he is continuing to have conversations and is going to continue to be engaged with members of congress across the board. francesca? >> sarah, attorney general jeff sessions was to be at the white house today for the opioid summit. did the president have an opportunity to speak to him while he was here? >> not that i'm aware of. >> moving on to gun violence prevention. the president said yesterday that he would sign a bill and then he said and i will call whoever you want me if i like what you're doing. if senators, if the house, if congress passes a bill that does deal with school safety, gun violence, is the president committed to sign whatever they pass? >> the president's not going to unilaterally say without seeing that piece of legislation, but he does want congress to come together and put forth legislation that addresses the

safety in schools and gun violence specifically, and he laid out a number of things he'd like to see in that and so we're hoping that congress would continue working with us and put a strong piece of legislation forward. i'll take one last question. hold on just a second. the president's headed over to speak at the opioid summit here momentarily. i'll take one last question. sarah? >> the gun debate, sarah? >> thank you, sarah. according to the white house readout, there was a phone call this morning between south korean moon jae-in and president trump. moon jae-in briefed him on the inter-korean talks and the south korean government is also saying they plan to send a special envoy to north korea soon. how does the president feel about the dialogue between north and south korea? does he feel president moon is being too soft on north korea? >> the president wants to continue working with south korea. it's a strong ally.

we have no daylight between the two of us. we will continue those conversations and again, the ultimate goal is to denuclearize the peninsula. that's what we're focused on and we're excited about any steps moving in this process. i'll move out and the president will be speaking here in a couple of minutes. if you missed any of the white house daily briefing, you can watch it any time on c-span.org. we interrupted the discussion on the justice system for that live coverage. we return to the discussion now as hosted by "the atlantic" magazine. >> the action network, a bipartisan organization whose mission is to make the justice system more effective and more cost efficient and larry lizer is the president of assistant u.s. attorneys. welcome all and welcome back, my colleague, matt thompson. >> thank you again, margaret. [ applause ] mark, holly, larry, thank you for joining us this morning.

>> i want to start with a hard choice on you, and fortunately it will come out in the wash. holly, i'm giving you an invisible magic wand. you get to choose one person, state, federal, could be xi jinping if you want to and you convince them of one thing. you can change their mind about one thing that they hold, who do you choose and what do you want to change their mind about? >> jeff sessions, criminal justice reform. i mean, more specifically, i'd certainly love to change his mind about sentencing reform, and i hope to have a robust discussion about that today. >> so i want to ask a version of that question to you, larry. one of the interesting parts of this conversation that we're having this morning is in many ways some of the points of tension, each of you, mark, ll