>> that special election in georgia's sixth congressional district comes up june 20. back in washington, d.c., the house and senate will debate iran sanctions legislation. we learn more about from a eporter on capitol hill. host: are these sanctions on iran new and why do senators in both parties feel they're necessary now? reporter: these senators are coming after there was a big desire last year to impose sanctions. when as you remember iran carried out a spate of medium ballistic missile tests. president obama was in office at the time and he strongly pushed against democrats from pushing sanctions now. with him out of the office, that weight is now lifting. these are new sanctions.

they're sanctions that would require the sanctioning of anybody directly and indirectly involved with iran's ballistic missile program. there are also new sanctions that would be imposed on the iranian revolutionary guard core for their support of regionally desablizing activities and terrorism. host: in your recent article at cq.com on this iran sanctions bill that's coming up, you also write about likely russian saxes -- a likely russian sanctions amendment, unrelated, that could come up on this bill. why now? reporter: these sanctions are as a response to the 2016 election interference. democrats introduced a bill with considerable republican support back in january. and it's taken this long for them to build up enough support to move the sanctions forward. these sanctions would codify existing executive branch sanctions, making it difficult for a president -- for president trump to remove the sanctions without the support of congress. they would also impose new sanctions attacking, for

bidding any foreign -- forbidding any foreign investment in russia's energy sector, forbidding the sale of potentially -- purchases of iranian sovereign debt. and making it illegal to purchase privatized russian -- former russian state assets. host: why would they be attached to this iran sanctions bill and not brought up as a separate measure? reporter: i think democrats saw an opening. when this iran bill was brought up and democrats -- there's enough support to clear a cloture vote for this bill. democrats saw an opportunity to , in order to get their support for the iran bill, to require republicans to at least allow a vote on the russia sanctions. host: lastly in your cq article, you write about senator corker likely being convinced to take up the russia piece to this. who's taking the lead on the democratic and republican sides? who is really pushing this russian measure? reporter: the leaders are benjamin cardin, armed services chairman john mccain, bob

corker, and then from the banking committee, the chairman, mike crapo, and the ranking member, brown. host: rachel oswald recovers national security issues for cq roll call. read her work at cq.com. she's also on twitter. thank you for being with us. reporter: thank you for having me. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] >> c-span's "washington journal" live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up saturday morning, roosevelt institute fellow discusses republican efforts to overhaul the dodd-frank financial regulation law. and the supreme court's decision to hear a major cell phone privacy case. also, darryl burnett of education week talks about the how every student succeeds act is impacting the ability of states to identify ineffective teachers. be sure to watch c-span's "washington journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern saturday

morning. join the discussion. >> this weekend, book tv is live from the 33rd annual chicago tribune printers road litfest in chicago. our coverage starts on saturday at 11:00 a.m. eastern with author mary dearborn with her book. at noon, 2016 national book award winner and his book. followed at 1:00 by an author and his book. .nd at 4:00,

>> watch our coverage of the 33rd annual chicago tribune fest starting it saturday at 11:00 a.m. eastern on c-span's 2's book tv. this afternoon, president trump said he's willing to testify under oath about the russia and 2016 election investigations. that came out of a series of questions from abc news on former f.b.i. director james comey's testimony on capitol hill yesterday. change took place at a

joint news conference with president trump and the remaining -- romanian president who is in town for bilateral meetings. we'll show it to you in its ntirety. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and the president of romania. president trump: thank you very much. president iohannis, thank you for being here, it's an honor to welcome such a good friend of america to the white house. as you know, the people of romania and america share much in common. a love of freedom, proud cultures, rich traditions and a vast and storied landscape to call home. the relationship between our two countries stretches back ell over a century but today

we especially reaffirm and celebrate our strategic partnership that began more than 20 years ago. that partnership covered many dimensions, including economic, military, and cultural ties and today we are making those ties even stronger. mr. president, your visit comes at an important moment not just in this partnership, but among all the responsible nations of the world. i have just returned from a trip to the middle east where i worked to strengthen our alliances, forge new friendships and unite all civilized peoples in the fight gainst terrific. -- terrorism. no civilized nation can tolerate this violence or allow this wicked ideology to spread on its shores.

i address the summit of more than 50 arab and muslim leaders a unique meeting in the history of nations, where key players in the region agreed to stop supporting terrorism. whether it be financial, military, or even moral support. the nation of qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level and in the wake of that conference, nations ame together and spoke to me about confronting qatar over its behavior. so we had a decision to make. do we take the easy road or do we finally take a hard but necessary action? we have to stop the funding of terrorism. i decided, along with secretary f state rex tillerson, our

great generals and military people, the time had come to call on qatar to end its funding, they have to end that funding, and its extremist ideology in terms of funding. i want to call it -- i want to call on all the nations to stop immediately supporting terrorism. stop teaching people to kill other people. stop filling their minds with hate and intolerance. i won't name other countries but we are not done solving the problem but we will solve that problem. have no choice. this is my great priority because it is my first duty as president to keep our people

safe, defeating isis and other terror organizations is omething i have emphasized all during my campaign and right up until the present. to do that, stop funding, stop eaching hate, and stop the killing. for qatar, we want you back among the unity of responsible nations. we ask qatar and other nations n the region to do more and do it faster. i want to thank saudi arabia nd my friend king salman and all the countries who participated in that very historic summit. it was truly historic.

there has never been anything like it before and perhaps there never will be again. hopefully it will be the beginning of the end of funding terrorism. it will therefore be the beginning of the end to terrorism, no more funding. i also want to thank the romanian people for everything they contribute to our common defense and to the fight against the evil menace of terrorism. they have their own difficulties with it. and they've come a long way and they're doing a lot. romania has been a valuable member of the coalition to defeat isis. and it's the fourth largest contributor of troops in

afghanistan. there, 23 of your citizens have paid the ultimate price and america honors their sacrifice. i want to recognize president iohannis in committing row neighbor -- romania from increasing its defense spending from 1.4% of g.d.p. to over %. we hope our other nato allies will follow romania's lead when meeting their financial obligations and paying their fair share for the cost of defense. but i will say this that because of our actions, money is starting to pour in to ato. the money is starting to pour in. ther countries are starting to

realize that it's time to -- to pay up and they're doing that. very proud of that fact. as you know, i have been an advocate for strengthening our ato alliance through greater responsibility and burden sharing among member nations. and that is what has happened. because together, we can confront the common security challenges facing the world. mr. president, i want to applaud your courage and your courageous efforts in romania to fight corruption and defend the rule of law. this work is necessary to create an environment where trade and commerce can flourish and where citizens can prosper. i look forward to working with you to deepen the ties of both commerce and culture between our two countries.

romanians have made contributions to the united states and to the world. ery notable among them was nobel prize laureate elie wiesel, who was born in romania and sadly passed away almost one year ago. i understand that earlier this week, the american jewish committee presented president iohannis with the very prestigious light unto the ations award for his work to further holocaust remembrance and education in romania. join the a.j.c. in saluting your leadership in this vital cause. the people of romania have endured many, many hardships. but they have made a truly remarkable, historical

journey. the future of romania and romania's relationship with the united states is very, very right. president iohannis, i thank you for your leadership, i thank you again for being here today. i look forward to strengthening our alliance with your country and our bonds with your people. the relationship has been good but now it's stronger than ever. thank you very much. [applause] president iohannis: president trump, thank you so much for the words you found for romania, for the romanian people and for me. thank you very much for the invitation to be here today with you, and thank you so much for arranging this nice weather in this place. r. president, i am very glad

that we had such a good meeting and this is due to your strong leadership, and this is also due to our strong partnership. obviously the fact that we celebrate 20 years of strategic partnerships, this year is important for both our nations nd it is important to know and this is what i want to underline, this partnership with the united states of america shapes romania as it is today. romania is a solid democracy ith a solid, sustainable economic growth. romania, which stands together with the u.s. troops in

afghanistan. we stand together in iraq. mr. president, this partnership ontributed greatly to what romania is today, and this partnership was and is very important, and i think this partnership not only has to continue, this partnership has to become stronger. this partnership has to define our bilateral relation, and this partnership has to contribute to solve so many problems. president trump, you mentioned terrorism. i am very glad that due to your strong leadership, nato decided to go against terrorism. your involvement made so many

nations conscious of the fact that we have to share the burden inside nato. this is why romania also decided -- and if i'm right, i hink this is the first country in your mandate to step up to 2% of g.d.p. or defense spending. a significant part of this defense spending is going into strategic acquisitions, and i hope, president trump, that we find good ways together to use -- to make good use of this money. romania is very conscious of the fact that we stand on the eastern flank and we have -- we heavily rely on your partnership, president trump, because we cannot stand there without the u.s.

we cannot stand there alone. on the other hand, our partnership has a huge opportunity to step up, not only in security matters but also in commercial and economic matters and this is very important. romania is a member of the european union and i think it's the best interest of you, mr. president, to have a strong european union as a partner. this is vital for all of s. our relationship, the trans-atlantic link is vital. trans-atlantic link is not about diplomacy, about olicy. it's at the basis of our western civilization, and together we will make it stronger. together we will make it better. nato and the european union do

not have to compete against each other. they have to work together. they have to work in such a matter to have synergetic effects, make europe stronger, make the united states of merica stronger. and this is what we decided, president trump and i to make our partnership stronger, better and more enduring and his will lead very soon to nhance economic exchange, to better commerce and this is what we all decide and what we wish because we are responsible, president trump and i, not only for the security, we are responsible for the well-being of our citizens and this is what we have decided to do. thank you so much, president

trump. president trump: thank you. david bowyer, "washington times. come on, dave. reporter: apologies. mr. president, this morning on twitter you were referring to the testimony of james comey vindicating you, but i wondered if you could tell us in person, sir, why you feel that his testimony vindicated you when it's really boils down to his word against your word and if you could also tell us, sir, do tapes exist with your conversation with him? president trump: well, i'll tell you about that sometime in the near future. no collusion, no obstruction. he's a leaker. but we want to get back to running our great country. jobs, trade deficits. we want them to disappear fast.

north korea a big problem. middle east, a big problem. so that is what i am focused on. that's what i have been focused on. but yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction. we are doing really well. that was an excuse by the democrats that lost an election that some people think they shouldn't have lost because it's impossible for the democrats to lose the electoral college, you have to know. you have to run up the whole east coast and win everything as a republican and that's just what we did. so it was just an excuse. but we were very, very happy. and frankly james comey confirmed a lot of what i said and some of the things that he said just weren't true. thank you very much. o you have a question? reporter: i lost the microphone, sir.

sorry. thank you. reporter: i lost the microphone, sir. sorry. thank you. and, mr. president, if you could tell us a couple weeks ago president trump was in brussels at the nato meeting, and not only was he encouraging nato members to pay up the 2% required of gdp for national defense, but he also was saying that countries including yours who had not paid 2% in the past should make up for that difference. do you think that's fair? president iohannis: i was in brussels, and i met president trump, and i listened to his speech, and i liked it because, you see, nato is based on values

but it is ultimately a military alliance. and, you know, military spendings are complicated and you need a lot of money because nato is the strongest alliance the earth ever saw, and we want to keep it that way. so we have to spend money for defense purposes. and spending money means if you are in an alliance, everybody has to spend money. this is called burden-sharing, and i fully agree, mr. president, to that. so, of course, some people liked this better and some didn't like it so much, but it's a simple fact that we have to do this, not as a purpose in itself. we have to do this to stay

strong, to be strong, and to in defend our nations. president trump: 100% correct. and one of the things i was referring to during that speech was the fact that, yes, they and haven't paid what they should be paying now. but for many years they haven't been paying. so i said, do we ever go back and say, how about paying the money from many, many years past? now, i know no president has ever asked that question, but i do. we are going to make nato very strong. you need the money to make it strong. you can't just do what we've been doing in the past. so i did say, yes, we haven't -- you haven't paid this year but what about the past years, the many past years where you haven't paid? perhaps you should pay some or all of that money back. you have a question. reporter: thank you. i have a question for president trump.

on the matter of security, sir, many of the countries on the eastern flank of nato, including romania, see russia as a threat to the security and the peace in the region. do you share this vision and do you think that the united states should act under article 5 if this country will be under military aggression? thank you very much. president trump: well, i am committing the united states and have committed, but i am committing the united states to article 5, and certainly we are there to protect, and that's one of the reasons i want to make sure people know we have a very strong force by having the -- paying the kind of money to have that force. yes, i would be absolutely committed to article 5. him reporter: thank you,

mr. president. was there any discussion about the visa waiver program for romania? this very timeframe for including this country in this program? president trump: yes, we didn't discuss it, but it would be something we will discuss, mr. president. president iohannis: i mentioned this issue and i also mentioned it during other meetings because this is important for us. it's important for romanians who want to come to the united states. you see, more and more people come, president trump, from romania to the united states. some come as tourists. some come for business. and those that come for business should be encouraged. so the matter of visa waiver would be probably important to discuss, and we all hope we will advance on this.

>> mr. president? >> mr. president? president trump: look at those hands up. do you have this in romania? if i could only sell that. if i could only sell it. -- >> mr.ent >> president question mark president trump: should i take one of the killer networks that treat me so badly with fake news? go ahead, john. remember how nice you used to be before i ran. such a nice man. always fair. reporter: let me go back to james comey's testimony. you suggested he did not tell the truth in everything he said. he did say under oath that you told him to let the flynn -- you said you hoped the flynn investigation -- president trump: i didn't say that. reporter: so he lied about that? president trump: i didn't say that. i will tell you i didn't say that. reporter: and did he asked -- president trump: and it wouldn't be wrong if i did say that but i didn't say that.

reporter: did he ask for a pledge of loyalty from you? president trump: no. reporter: would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version? president trump: 100%. i hardly know the man. i wouldn't say i want you to pledge allegiance. who would ask someone to pledge allegiance under oath? think about it, i hardly know the man. it doesn't make sense. no i didn't say that. ,and i do not see the other. reporter: if robert mueller would want to speak to you about that -- president trump: i would tell him the same. reporter: you are hinting there are recordings -- president trump: i will tell you that within a short period of time. reporter: when will you tell us? president trump: short period of time. reporter: are there tapes, sir? president trump: you are going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer. don't worry. john, do you have a question for the president?

reporter: thank you, and, president iohannis, you are no stranger to russian aggression. for matter -- vladimir putin said that romania could be in russia's crosshairs. how concerned should the world the about region and how concern ed should the world be about russian aggression in your region and what about what russia tried to do in our election, sir? president iohannis: everybody's concerned, but, you see, being concerned should lead you to being prepared. in my opinion we have to be very clear, very simple, and very straightforward if we talk about russia and with russia. in the opinion, we need dialogue, but on the other hand, we need what we all together decided in nato, a strong deterrence.

this combination, strong deterrence and dialogue should lead towards a solution which is feasible for every part. reporter: hello, mr. president trump. you mentioned earlier the anti-corruption fighting in romania. it's a matter of high importance in our country, but we see now that the anti-corruption fight and to consolidate the rule of law are sometimes undermined by some politicians. part of what we can call the bucharest swamp. is your administration going to support the anti-corruption fight in romania and how can you do it? thank you. president trump: well, we support very strongly romania

and, therefore, we obviously do support that fight on anti-corruption. we will always support that and we support your president. we think he's done an outstanding job. very popular. very solid. working very hard. we know everything that's going on, and, yeah, and he's going to win that fight. he's going to win that battle. but he has our support. reporter: a problem for the u.s.-romania partnership and investor because we have corruption in romania despite this anti-corruption fight. president trump: well, you do but i can tell you there are many american investors right now going to romania and investing. in fact, i was given a chart just before our meeting, and we have people going over to romania and investing, and they weren't doing that a number of years ago, so that shows very, very big progress. there really are a lot of congratulations in store. but a lot of people are

investing from our country to yours. and people love from romania the united states, and they come here a lot and we're very proud of them. thank you, all, very much. thank you. thank you very much. >> mr. president, how can he be a liar and vindicate you? [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> some news out of that press conference this afternoon. of the house intelligence committee are asking the white house to lose any takes that might exist of the president's conversations with former fbi director coming. that is according to political. the inquiry gives white house counsel until june 23 the

existence of and produce the tapes. developing this friday afternoon, the u.s. is asking arab nations to ease a blockade atar.tter -- q five countries cut the chromatic ties with qatar on monday over isegations that doh supporting islamist groups. arex tillerson made the request earlier today. secretary tillerson: good afternoon. and i thank all of you for your patience. i know you have been waiting a while. three weeks ago the president joined embers of a counsel in a partnership, and a plan