turn on us and blue us. -- boo us. bob schaffer on the impact on changing the impact of journalism in his book, overload. he is interviewed by susan glasser. the first thing we have to keep doing is doing what we are doing, sorting out the true from the false. overwhelming job, a bigger responsibility than we have ever had because we are dealing with more information. we have access to more information than any buddy in the history of the world. we are running short on curators right now. we are getting so much information we can't process it. >> for more, go to book tv.org. during the daily white house

briefing, sarah sanders announced the president will announce a chaired nominate next week. she also answered questions about puerto rico recovery efforts, the russia investigation, and the president's upcoming trip to asia. the briefing is 15 minutes. sec. sanders: hey, guys. happy friday. good afternoon. it is great to see so many family faces in here, not that that is different than normal. obviously i am referring to the children around the room. we are excited and welcome the kids of the press corps to the white house.

they will love trick-or-treating in the executive office building, and i look forward to taking some questions, maybe even from some of the kids today. a couple of things to note -- yesterday was an important moment for our nation's fight against the drug addiction and opioid epidemic that has hurt so many families. by directing a nationwide health emergency to address the crisis, the president is mobilizing his entire administration to confront this issue. the president's remarks included a powerful story and set the stage for the country to unite behind this fight to save lives. in the wake of the announcement, several cabinet members and agency heads are traveling around the country for event related to the crisis. among those participating are attorney general sessions, secretary schultz and hearken. these events illustrate that the president truly has made this issue an administration-wide priority. on the economic front, the u.s. economy grew at 3% for the second quarter in a row despite

the damage from this year's hurricane season. unemployment is at a 16-year low. the stock market continues to climb to record levels, and economic confidence are soaring. it is fitting that we have some kids with us here today. ultimately, this tax plan is about a brighter future for their children. with that, i will take questions. >> i wanted to ask about the $300 million contract whitefish energy got to rebuilding electrical grid in puerto rico. does the white house 70 concerns -- have any concerns about the way this contract went down and the fact that company has no experience of doing this to this magnitude?

sec. sanders: this was a contract determined that was confirmed by local authorities in puerto rico, not something the federal government played a role in. there is an ongoing audit. >> are there red flags raised, and it can you say whether one of the primary investors in the company was a donor to the trump campaign is up and to do with this contract being awarded? sec. sanders: right. sec. sanders: right. the federal government had nothing to do with the contract or the process. this is determined by the puerto rican government, and we will look for to the audit to see if there are other issues beyond that. >> a question on the russia sanctions the president said in august. recipients were supposed to be named on october 1, and that just came out today. i am wondering if you can explain the delay and how soon administration will act to implement those sanctions? sec. sanders: right, there was an interagency review that has been completed. that was the cause of the delay. guidance was issued by the state

department. for further details, i would refer you to the state department. >> the president tweeted out this morning regarding the russia investigation "after months of costly looking." is the president suggesting that the mueller special investigation is a waste of money? sec. sanders: i think the president has been clear throughout this process -- that is not the own investigation that has taken place. congress has spent a great deal of time on this, a better part of a year. all of your news organizations have spent a lot of money on this as well, which we would probably consider a pretty big waste. i think our position has not changed since day one. i think we are seeing now if there was any collusion it was between the dnc and the clintons, and certainly not our campaign. >> important one on a 401(k).

sec. sanders: we have to move around. maybe your colleagues will ask. >> do you have any comments on the events in catalonia? spain put out a statement. has the president made any phone calls on that? sec. sanders: i am not aware of any phone calls today, but we certainly go the state -- echo the state department and again reiterate our support for a unified spain. i am going to jump around. >> the president this morning with interior secretary zinke -- did the president ask him directly if he has a knowledge of this deal? sec. sanders: the primate purpose of this meeting that has been on the schedule for several weeks was to discuss the secretary's monuments report that will be coming up shortly, and that was the reason for the meeting, but he did ask secretary zinke he just for clarification purposes, and he reiterated once again that we have no role -- the federal

government and specifically he had no role in that contract. john? john: thanks a lot, sarah. on whitefsh energy, prior to hurricane maria they had two employees, and after hurricane maria it is awarded a $300 million plus contract. i realize you say it was a contract awarded by officials in puerto rico, but would you acknowledge that does not look right on the surface of things? sec. sanders: i am not going to comment before the audit is conducted. we certainly look for to seeing the results of that, and this is a state and local decision made by the puerto rican authorities, not the federal government. but we will look into the audit once it's published. >> the president says there is a lot of corruption in puerto rico. woody think this falls under --would you think this falls under the umbrella of corruption? sec. sanders: i am not going to get into it until the audit. >> the president declared a national health emergency. the declaration did not come with a request for money from congress. how much does the president want congress to put toward this crisis, and when will he put in a formal request for the money?

sec. sanders: there was $45 million originally in the health care plan that the president supported and no democrat in the country supported. ideally it would have been done through that, but it wasn't. we're hoping congress will come together and it will be bipartisan support to put behind the opioid crisis and join the president in dealing with this effort. >> based on your answer just now, $45 billion is what you would like to see as an initial approach and done during the budget deal. sec. sanders: i am not going to negotiate with you from the podium, but that was the number we outlined in the health care bill. there has been $1 billion spent to date. we do feel of the $45 billion would have been a good number in the health care bill. that is what we supported.

we will continue looking at that and determine future numbers. >> is that a good way -- place to start with congress? >> in the meeting the president had with secretary zinke it, did he agree to shrink the size of the national monument in utah? sec. sanders: i will not get ahead of the president's announcement on the specifics of that, but i can tell you he will be going to utah in the first part of early december and we will be releasing more details at that point and he also spoke with both senators hatch annalee -- hatch and lee through the course of that meeting. >> central harassment has been in the news. 16 women accuse the president of sexual harassing them. during the press cap is in the rose garden, he called it fake news. is it the official white house statement that all these women are lying? sec. sanders: we have been clear about that from the beginning and the president talked about it. >> last weekend former president jimmy carter offered his availability as a go between

with the north korean regime in the hopes of resolving the differences between this country and pyongyang. he has a history with the family of the current leader in north korea, meeting with his grandfather in 1994. is the administration in contact with president carter, and does he have any plans to use them as a go between or an envoy to pyongyang? sec. sanders: i don't think that is part of our process at this time. if that changes, we will certainly let you know. that is not part of our current plan or thinking for how to deal with north korea. >> i will ask the 401k question. sec. sanders: see, you have friends helping you out. and you did not think anyone likes you here, john. >> i have john's back. is the president considering dropping the amount of pretax contribution americans can put into the 401(k)? does the president support

taking the $18,000 to a level and potentially lowering that? sec. sanders: as i said earlier this week, the president wants to continue to fight and push for protection of americans retirement, and that hasn't changed, but i'm not going to negotiate any deals beyond that. that is the president's position, and that is the same today as it was earlier this week. >> there have been a number of politicians over the past week, including chris christie at the white house yesterday, who said rob mueller should step aside from certain investigations at the special counsel. does the president share those views? sec. sanders: the president wants to see this completed. we think that we are continuing to see day in, day out, as this investigation moves to completion, the same as it started -- there is no evidence of collusion between the president and anyone. if any collusion took place, it would be between the dnc and the

clintons, and i think we're starting to see all the things the democrats accuse this president of doing they are guilty of themselves and i think that is a problem that should be looked at. >> sarah, me? sec. sanders: sure. >> the lawmakers in egypt are preparing a measure that would criminalize someone's sexuality with up to five years in prison. would you condemn the measure? sec. sanders: i'm not aware of the specifics, so i would have to look into it before i can make a response. but we will certainly be happy to check into it. >> thank you, sarah -- at the risk of wasting my question, i will ask about the fed. since the last time you are up here, there's been a couple of reports, one that the president will make an announcement next week. can you confirm that he will make an announcement, and can you give us time and. second, there have been reports that chairman yellen is out of the running and jerome powell is at the top of the list. can you confirm any of that? sec. sanders: i can confirm the

president plans to make an announcement next week. but beyond that, i do not have anything else to say. >> i want to ask about a comment sebastian gorka made on fox news. he does not work for the white house, but he claims to be still involved in what is going on here, and he was talking about the uranium one deal and hillary clinton and said had this happened in the 1950's, there will be people on treason charges. this is the equivalent of what the rosenberg's did, and those people got the chair. think about it. does the president agree with those statements? sec. sanders: i have not seen the comments. i will not comment on sebastian gorka or validate that. it should be looked into, but i cannot, then someone outside of the administration's comments. >> question on the upcoming asia trip -- can you talk more about the criteria you use to decide which of the many multilateral meetings he attended, and can

you confirm he will not be at the east asia summit, and why? sec. sanders: he is participating in at least the opening ceremony and some of the other parts of that event. in terms of the specifics, we will do a full and more detailed briefing on that next week. and so, i will wait until we get to next week because the final details of some of those things are being worked out. >> the president said on twitter that he congratulated president xi on his extraordinary elevation. does he have any misgivings on the way it occurred or the impact on the nation? sec. sanders: that i'm aware of. >> i was wondering why did the president involved himself in the uranium one investigation? are you trying to gin up your own russian investigation to rival won a cap he'll, and where is the evidence of hillary clinton colluded with the russians as he tweeted this morning?

sec. sanders: in terms of the president's involvement, the president has push for transparency, if that is what you are referring to when dealing with congress. that is something new for a president to push for transparency, and that is what he has done. that was the purpose of what he was trying to do in the process. >> the president made a charge that hillary clinton -- sec. sanders: i think i have addressed that pretty thoroughly. >> so you are saying -- you sec. sec. sanders: i'm saying i am calling on your colleague. >> with the majority leader attacking steve bannon -- i am wondering if the white house has an opinion on that. is mr. bannon fair game, is he viewed as helpful to the president's cause, and has the president had any success talking him out of backing off on some of the incumbents. sec. sanders: in terms of how a

pac spend their money, i would direct you to the pit we do not comment on political conjugations from the podium. >> monday is going to be the one-month anniversary the las vegas shooting, four weeks. the shooter increased the speed of his fire by using bump stocks. at first he did not want to comment on that, but i am. to know, does the president think the atf should prohibit their sales? is he going to ask them to, this he think only congress can do it, or does he think bump stocks are not the problem? sec. sanders: he has asked that the process be reviewed and we are waiting for the details to take place, but a decision has not been finalized on that. but we're looking at that and it is certainly under review. i'm going to cut it a little short today and i have one last announcement i wanted to make. the president asked me to let all of you know -- those of you that have your kids here for trick-or-treating, before they go over to the executive office building for trick-or-treating, he has invited them to come into the oval, so if you would like to have your kids participate, please meet us here, and we will walk them over shortly, and then

give them back to you so that you can sugar them up and take them home to your house to run wild. thanks so much, and have a good friday. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] you can listen live with the c-span radio app. >> this week on q&a. [chanting] >> their target was charles murray. and i was a little bit behind him. it intensified and it looked like he was going to fall to the ground and at the time, he was 70-year-old man.

decent person any would do. i grabbed him by the arm. i wanted to make sure he didn't fall but i was afraid -- i don't know how many, but i was fearful of being separated and left behind. that's when it all turned on me. somebody pulled my hair and body slammed me from the other direction. >> she discusses the violent protests on the campus west march following a lecture by charles murray. professor on c-span's q&a. >> on lectures and history, university of california san diego professor luis alvarez on the 1943 los angeles zits it right and how the seats -- zoot wereriots and how they

used to challenge race relations. >> they were viewed as public enemy, if not number one, the japaneseo or 1b americans. as un-american. >> saving slave houses project explores the plantation. >> the plantation has the , perryl slaveowner active in the slave trade. one of the things he decided to put in his yard is a slave auction lock and auctioneer stand. feel then definitely power of this place. it is a huge reason why this was so powerful. this would have been one of the women, andmen,

children would have been with their families. after this, they would have been scattered across the united states. this is ground zero. interview about the stone basis and the outer walls of the white house. the door is carved with lilies and flowers and ribbons and acorns everything you can think of. it is very lush over the front door. probably the finest example of carving in america for 100 years. >> american history tv all weekend every weekend only on c-span3. defense secretary james mattis visited the demilitarized zone between north and south korea as a part of a trip that included civilian and military leaders. president trump will visit south korea next week.

-southke about the u.s. korea alliance. >> you have to go back behind the line, behind the white line. behind the line. [speaking korean]

[speaking korean] we arearea standing and now was not only a bloody battle for the u.s. marine corps also on the day 1 963, 27th of july was the day when the pharmacist agreement was signed. [speaking korean] displaced has -- this place's historical significance is even more profound when you find out that this was where they maintain peace between the two

koreas. however, at this point, there is no dialogue that continues between the two koreas. [speaking korean] >> myself and secretary mattis stand here today together to alliance is closed and will cooperated, as well as completely aligned in our stance . [speaking korean]

>> reaffirm although north korea continues to develop nuclear weapons and missiles, these are weapons that should never be used. should they ever use them, they will be faced with the strong mites of the combined forces. they will be met with a proportional and firm response. we strongly implore north korea stops the reckless publication and come out toward a path of peace and dialogue. the republic of korea and the united states secretary of defense will continue to defend

peace through strong will and strong mite. thank you.: i'm here today to reaffirm the united states ironclad commitment to the south korean people. this visit today to this in demilitarized zone portrays and very strong terms the difference between the between two nations. sec. mattis: to the south life a vibrant country, a vibrant economy, a free country, and it is underpinned by peaceloving

members of a free society. sec. mattis: behind me to the north, and oppressive regime that shelters its people, then i'm their freedom, welfare, and human dignity. they have nuclear weapons and the means of delivery in order to threaten others with catastrophe. sec. mattis: north korean

provocations continue to affect regional and world peace. despite the unanimous condemnation by the united nations security council, they still proceed. sec. mattis: as the u.s. secretary of state, tillerson has made clear our goal is not war, but rather the complete verifiable and your personal denuclearization of the korean peninsula. sec. mattis: two days ago at the meeting and the republic of

philippines, we make clear and mutual commitment to a diplomatic solution to address north korea's reckless outlaw behavior. sec. mattis: together, we noted we are serious about solving this problem. sec. mattis: and we stand shoulder to shoulder with you, with your soldiers, and with your people in confronting the threats posed by the king john jong-un regime.

sec. mattis: i look forward to our discussion tomorrow at the security consultative meeting or --look discuss ways to 30 further strengthen the u.s. alliance. this is an alliance of more than 60 years and one that we both know is built on trust. it is an alliance designed to ensure peace and stability in the korean peninsula and the strongest military defense of our shared democratic values. sec. mattis: thank you.