senator ben cardin is currently speaking. they are debating amendments with a possible final passage vote sometime friday. if the senate passes its version of tax reform, members will need to meet with the house to work out the differences between the two bills. follow the senate live right now on c-span2. during today's white house briefing with press secretary sara sanders she answered questions on recent reporting saying that secretary of state rex tillerson will be replaced and also announced that president tump will give his third quarter salary to the health and human services department to aid in the fight against the opioid crisis. this is 20 minutes. ms. sanders: good afternoon. let john rogers finish his live

shot. as you all know the constitution states the president shall from time to time give to the congress information of the state of the union and recommend their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. with that in mind we're pleased to announce the president has accepted the speaker's invitation to deliver the state of the union address on january 30. as you all know the holiday season is in full swing here at the white house with thanksgiving just passed and christmas on the horizon. we also just survived black friday and cybermonday, the biggest shopping days of the year. right in the middle of all of this is another important day that deserves attention. earlier this week was the sixth annual giving tuesday. it was created in 2012 to celebrate and support philanthropy. it's a great reminder each year that we have the opportunity and duty to give back to the people, the institutions, to the country that has given us all so much. as the gospel of luke says, from everyone who has been given

much, much will be demanded and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. americans understand this. year after year, the united states ranks at or near the top of the world giving index, which ranks countries according to how charitable their people are. the president encouraged people all over the country to open their hearts and pocketbooks to support worthy causes. this giving tuesday , he said, i thank those who have given to charitable organizations, including houses of worship and ask that we continue to come together and give to those in needs, especially in communities that suffered natural disasters. as you're aware the president donates his salary on a quarterly days by. his first quarter was to fund restoration project at the national battlefield. in the second quarter , he donated his salary to the department of engineering so they could host science,

engineering and technology camps for children and today i asked cretary hargan of h.h.s. for an announcement for what the president will be doing. before i wrap up, i want to say how much we look forward to hosting everybody tomorrow and i will be back up after the acting secretary makes remarks about what the donation is for to take questions on other topics. with that, i turn it over to the acting secretary and be back up. thank you. >> thank you, sarah, for that. good afternoon, everybody. i'm acting secretary at health and human services, h.h.s. it's home to not just programs like medicare and medicaid but also national institutes for health, c.d.c., food and drug administration, and the federal government substance abuse and mental health agency known as

samsa. that's a lot of acronyms, sorry about that, but i want you to i w what h.h.s. does because want you to know about the check the president has just given. his giving is from his ompassion. he's donating this to america's opioid crisis. since day one of the administration, president trump's leadership on this issue has driven action on it across the federal government. speaking for h.h.s. in particular, earlier this year we unveiled a comprehensive strategy that attacks the opioid epidemic on five fronts. the five points, better tai ta on the epidemic, better research into pain and addiction, better pain management, better targeting of overdose reversing drugs, and better prevention, treatment and recovery services this strategy devotes h.h.s.'s

unique resources and expertise to empowering heroes on the frontlines of the crisis. after all it's our local partners in community clinics, churches, law enforcement, schools, state, and local and tribal governments who ultimately will turn the tide on this epidemic. they are fighting each day face to face with a drug crisis killing more than 175 americans every day. think about that for a second. we'll lose seven of our fellow americans to drug overdoses in this briefing aloan. that's why president trump delivered a speech back in october calling for h.h.s. to declare an unprecedented nationwide public health emergency regarding the crisis. after we did so, we have continued to take aggressive action at our department, including aproving state waivers to expand addiction treatment and clarifying that doctors and hospitals can share information with a patient's loved ones in dangerous situations like drug

everdoses. i got to meet some local heroes when i traveled to kentucky the day after the president's speech. we visited clinics in lexington that treats young mothers struggling with opioid addiction and their babies who are sometimes born physically dependent on opioids themselves. the stories we heard in lexington hit close to home for me personally because i'm from a small town in southern illinois, the kind of rural community that's been hit hard by this epidemic. it's also the kind of community that president trump has spent a lot of time in over the last couple of years where he heard about how americans are suffering. part of the way we aim to stop this crisis is by raising awareness of how devastating and deadly drug addiction can be. that's why we're so pleased that president trump has chosen to donate his salary this quarter to the plan and design of a large scale public awareness campaign about the dangers of open yode -- opioid addiction. h.h.s. is proud to be working with the white house on this effort.

our team of public health experts brings a great deal of experience and expertise to the table regarding how to make these campaigns effective. at h.h.s. our goal is to create healthier lives, stronger communities, and a safer country. we're glad to have a president who recognizes that the opioid crisis is is a huge threat to all these of thoo -- all three of these goals this peth is personally dedicated to defeating this crisis because addiction hits home for so many of us. you heard him share the storyry in his opioid speech about how he lost his own brother to alcoholism and speaking personally, opioid addiction has been a presence in my hometown and my family for years. it was years ago, in fact, that i lost a close relative who constantly struggled with opioids this christmas and holiday season, all of us should consider following the president's example and think about what we can do in our private lyes to help fight back against a crisis that's tearing american families a-- apart. we are know people who are hurting this holiday season and i know we as americans will rise

to their aid. thanks again for having me here today an thanks once again to president trump for his generous donation. thank you. ms. sanders: thank you so much. i actually have strep throat. thank you for your concern. and i may not stay as long as normal but i'll do the best i can. steve, we'll start with you on questions. >> with all these reports about secretary tillerson today could you talk about the relationship between the president and secretary? does the president have confidence in him? and does the president agree with most -- all of the positions the secretary has taken regarding north korea, the gulf crisis, etc.? ms. sanders: as we said before, many of you love to write these

type of story, when the president loses confidence in someone they'll no longer serve in the capacity they're in. the president was here today with the secretary of state. they engaged in a foreign leader visit and are continuing to work together to close out what we've seen to be an incredible year. >> can we deduce from that the president has confidence in the secretary of state? ms. sanders: i think i addressed that clearly. as i said, when it comes to questions like this, senior staff and cabinet secretaries, when the president loses confidence in somebody he'll no longer be here. as the president said on the record and several of you were in the room in the oval today, the secretary of state is here and we're working hard to get big things accomplished and close out what's already been a very strong and positive year. > what's his o-- future in the administration? ms. sanders: i think his future is to continue working hard as the secretary of state and to

work with the president to carry out his agenda. >> the joint committee on taxation said people making between $40,000 and $50240urks a year will pay a combined $5.3 billion more in taxes under the current bill while those earning $1 million or more will pay $5.8 billion less. and coupled with that, the university of chicago surveyed 38 commithses, only one said the bill would lead to substantial economic growth and all 38 said that the cut will increase the debt. is it the white house's position that these analyses are wrong? ms. sanders: i can't speak to that specific report, i haven't had a chance to look at it and talk to the economic team here. what i can tell you is what i've said every single day we've been part of this process. the president laid out his priorities. we feel like the plans from the house and senate neat the priorities of cutting taxes for the middle class, simplifying

the tax code, bringing business back home. those have been the big focus of the administration and those are going to be the things we continue to fight for as we go through this tax policy. >> j.c.t. nonpartisan, they seem to say middle class taxes will go up. ms. sanders: there are studies that say the opposite. s re have been several study that say this is a good thing for me the middle class. i saw one yesterday, we'll send it to you after the briefing concludes. we'll continue fighting for this and making sure the middle class does receive tax cuts that they deserve and frankly that they immediate and we think we're making a lot of progress on this front and we think we're going to get it done by the end of the year. >> based on ambassador haley's speech at the u.n., does this administration now advocate regime change in north korea? if not, why not? ms. sanders: this administration is focused on one big thing when it comes to north korea and

that's denuclearization of the korean peninsula. that's our number one priority. anything beyond that is not the priority at this point. >> i want to ask about the president, does the president feel he has an obligation to ensure the information that she shares on his twitter feed with millions of people is accurate? ms. sanders: i think the president feels bringing up important issues of our time like extreme violence and terrorism are important to do. that was what he was doing in that process. and i think he's going to continue to do that in a number of venues, whether it's through speeches, whether it's through twitter or other platforms. >> does he understand that those videos might incite violence and he's elevated a fringe group that many outside of britain didn't know about until this? ms. sanders: he brought up a real threat, extreme violence,

something the president feels strongly about talking about and bricking up and making sure is an issue every day to look at the best way to protect americans. >>en that point, did the president, when he retweeted geena francen know who she was? ms. sanders: i don't believe so, but he knew what the issues are. that is we have a real threat of extreme violence and terrorism, not just in this country but across the globe. particularly in europe and that was the point he was making and i don't have much to add beyond that. >> yesterday, president said nbc should terminate joe scarborough because of the unsolved mystery that took place in florida years ago. why did president trump think it was appropriate to reference the death of lori in 2001 and does he think scarborough is responsible for the death of his former aide? ms. sanders: i don't have anything to add beyond the tweet. >> a couple of things. one, what was the sticking point

between president trump -- ms. sanders: i don't believe there was a tipping point, they were sitting here in a meeting today working hard to carry out the president's agenda. the tipping point is making sure they do what they can to make the world a better place. >> is the president listening to them about the north koreans escalating? ms. sanders: he's listening to the national skrtswraud visor, chief of staff, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and a number of're individuals, including world leaders, he's spoken to several time this is week, specifically about north korea and will continue to do that and continue to talk to all the relevant stake holders. i'm sorry -- >> what about john conyers? he's in the hospital. there's a call for him to resign. does the president have anything to say about that? ms. sanders: that's a decision

for conyers to make. >> is it difficult in your view for mr. tillerson to carry out his job as secretary of state with all these questions surrounding whether or not he's going to be in the administration, maybe through january of next year? ms. sanders: i don't know where those stories are coming from. i don't try to spend my kay figuring that out. i'd rather focus on the points i know and the points we're driving through the administration and the secretary of state is a tough guy. i think he'll be just fine carrying his job out. >> we often hear the president or see the president talk about the stock market. him onn't yet heard from a separate, similar issue, crypto currency. has the president been following this? bitcoin specifically is the major one. does he have an opinion on it? does he feel this is something that needs to be regulated by the government? ms. sanders: i know this is

something being monitored by our team here. i don't have anything to share with you but i'll be happy to followup with you. >> what kind of monitoring? ms. sanders: i know the department of homeland security and advisor to the president brought up in a meeting earlier this week. it's something he he's keeping an eye on. we'll keep you posted when we have anything further on that. >> i'm sorry you're not feeling well, i hope you feel better. i have a question about the president's health. mr. trump's predecessors going back as far as ronald reagan every year would go to bethesda, the best doctors of the military, and report on their health and vital statistics to the american public. does the president plan to get a physical? ms. sanders: that's not something i know. i'd be happy to check.

i spent 12 days on the road with him in asia. despite the fact that he's a little bit older than me he had twice the energy i do and i'm the one sick now an he's still going. so i think he's in petty good health. i'll be happy to share any information. >> thank you, sarah. you talked about to those who are given must have, much is expected. the president said yesterday that this tax bill is going to cost him a fortune. independent analysis says that's not true. he's going to save a lot of money, his family could save more than $1 billion. can you tell us what in the bill will pay cause the president to pay more in taxes than he's paying now. ms. sanders: i think some of the provisions in the bill, a will the of deductions he'd normally receive may not be part of the package that would affect his actual what he pays in taxes. again, until there's a final piece of legislation i can't go

into much more detail. but i know that some versions of it take out those deductions that currently benefit the president and his family. i'll take one last question here. i'm sorry, i'll go right here. >> the president was definitive yesterday when he said he'd pay more and his wealthy friends would pay more. what was he referring to? ms. sanders: i think his reference was to a lot of deductions that may no longer exist that are in the current policy right now. we'll have to see what the final piece of legislation looks like. our focus as an administration has been to focus on middle class tax cuts. that's why the president doesn't care whether or not he gets a tax cut or not. but his focus is on making sure that the middle class and middle class families get those tax cuts, that we simplify the process and bring companies back home so they can informs here. margaret, i'll take one more question. it's closing at

out the successful year. will he close out the year, will he serve beyond that, when you're talking abelevating the conversation, does the president watch the anti-muslim videos? ms. sanders: i'm not sure every single video the president has viewed. in terms of the secretary of state i think i've spoken about that extensively. ms. re you really -- sanders: we're all closing out the juror. you all are closing out the year. we're all going to close out the year. we're all going to do the best job e-- job we can in the process. i'm closing out the year, you guys are, most of you are doing end of the year story. that's how the calendar works, the year ends. we're going to end on a really strong note. i think we'll end the briefing on a strong note. i'm going to go get some water and a few cough drops. our team will be around the rest

of the afternoon to answer any other questions you guys have. see you tomorrow. c-span, officials respond to president trump's twitter activity. the house homeland sick at a committee gets an update. congress tong asks approve the white house request for $44 billion in additional disaster aid. but first, a live look at c-span 2, where senator ron wyden is speaking and votes have concluded for the night on the floor. the next votes have been moved to 11:00 tomorrow. gct -- jc after the