in the last 90 days since we passed -- and we passed, it would not have passed without us, that c.r. and, yes, we will not be helds who tafpblgt and, yes, we will oppose -- -- hostage. and, yes, we will oppose what we think is a very, very bad tax bill and we think is an effort to avoid getting the work of this house [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national able satellite corp. 2017] >> this is 20 minutes. sarah: good afternoon.

the president will be speaking at 2:30 on the administration's efforts to reduce red tape and federal regulations. within 10 days of taking office, president trump issued executive order 13771, instructing the office of management and budget to remove two government regulations for every new one created. washington stopped but the administration acted and in under a year we've unleashed the american economy, businesses and job creation. these efforts and the rest of the president's agenda have fueled economic growth, including all-time highs in the stock market, a 17-year low in unemployment rolls, new highs in manufacturing and consumer confidence, and much more. as the president said yesterday, we're at the final stages of historic tax cuts and reforms that will provide massive relief to middle class families, lower tax rates on american businesses to make us more competitive and make our tax code simpler and fairer for the first time in decades. we want to begin lowering the tax bills in americans' paychecks starting next year.

where americans who faced economic head winds for eight years will have the wind at their backs as they seek the american dream. with, that we'll get started. because we are on a short time frame. i will take your questions. jonathan. reporter: on the taxes, what is the president's message to those americans, including some of the in the middle class, who will face tax increases under this tax bill? sarah: our focus since day one has been to aggressively push to make sure as many americans as possible get a tax break, particularly those in the middle class. that's going to continue to be our focus as we continue in this process. as i've said time and time again. reporter: but the message to those that will face an increase, i mean, every nail sis shows some people, including middle class americans, are going to face an increase. sarah: overwhelmingly the middle class will get a huge tax break. as most americans will. that is, again, our goal to make sure that more americans see more of their hard-earned money. that's what we're pushing for. that's what we're going to keep working with the house and senate to make sure happens. reporter: on taxes you have two

notes in the senate so far -- no's in the senate so far. senator corker and senator rubio told us a short time ago that he's a no unless he can get an expansion of the child tax credit. is the president willing to be a little more generous in the child tax credit in order to get senator rubio's vote? sarah: we're really proud of the work that we've done already up until this point with senator rubio. already doubling the child tax credit. taking it to $2,000 per child. we're going to continue working with the senator. but we think we've made great strides and pretty historic movement in terms of the top tax credit. we're very proud of that work. we're going to keep working with them until we get the job done which we still expect to happen before the emmed of the year. reporter: is there more room to move? sarah: right now we're going to focus on letting some of the senate move forward in the progression of their conversations. again, we're extremely excited about the progress that we've already made to double the child tax credit. i think that's something important to note. and something that we worked

very closely with senator rubio on and we think he should be excited about the progress we've made on that front. connie. merry christmas to you as well. reporter: thank you. [inaudible] sarah: what have i learned this past year? i would have to say that we would be here a really long time if i walked through everything i've learned this past year. but some of my favorite things would probably be to take time to appreciate some of the really incredible moments and the special time and opportunity and honor certainly that i have, but i think that all of us have, that we get to come to the white house every day, serve our country. weanled get to call it work. i think that's pretty impressive, pretty amazing. and sthag i hope none of us ever lose sight of. thanks, connie. reporter: does the president think that roy moore should concede? in order, does he believe he lost the election fair and square?

or does he think he was the victim of widespread illegitimate voting? sarah: i think the president's position is pretty clear. in his outreach to doug jones directly. he called and they spoke yesterday. they had a great conversation, a very positive conversation. he likes doug jones. and looks forward to meeting him in person. and hopes that he will come and follow through on his commitment to work with the president on some things that they agree on. reporter: so roy moore lost fair and square, that's what you're saying? sarah: i think the numbers reflect that and the president's outreach shows that. reporter: there are reports out this morning that speaker ryan is considering stepping down at the end of this congress. has the president spoken to speaker ryan about those reports and does he want to see speaker ryan continue in that role? sarah: the president did speak to the speaker not too long ago. and made sure that the speaker knew very clearly and in no uncertain terms that if that news was true, he was very unhappy with it.

the speaker assured the president that those were not accurate reports and that they looked forward to working together for a long time to come. reporter: did this catch the president by surprise? the ryan report that was out today? sarah: it sounds like it may have caught speaker ryan by surprise. i don't think it was very accurate reporting. it sounds like they're both committed to and looking forward to spending a lot more time together over the next, you know, hopefully seven, eight years. reporter: marco rubio as well. we have heard folks who might be no votes potentially -- no vote, potentially undecided votes. but marco rubio's potential no vote is one, we know it concerns, but him vote nothing is suddenly out of left field. has that caught the white house by surprise at all? or have you braced for the possibility that you might not have marco rubio in your corner? sarah: i'm not sure if the president's spoken with him specifically today. again, we're proud of the work that we've done with senator rubio. and we look forward to making sure that the progress that we made to double the child care

tax credit, that's kind of a mouthful, goes into full effect when this piece of legislation is signed. april? reporter: should roy moore just give his concession speech now versus holding it out? sarah: probably sounds like it may should have already taken place. look, the president's already called and congratulated doug jones and expressed his willingness to work with him and to meet with him when he arrives in washington. . reporter: second issue, did you watch "g.m.a." this morning and what do you think about this this tell-all and the uncomfortable -- incomfortablity of omarosa while she was here? sarah: i think that's something you'll have to ask her about, she resigned from her position yesterday, she'll be here this afternoon, we put out a statement yesterday and i don't have any changes to add to that.

as has been the practice in the past and will be in the future, we don't comment much further than that on personnel matters. reporter: why is it, she's resigned and she's going -- you said she'll stay on through january 20. why are the taxpayers continuing to pay her salary for another month if she's no longer here at the white house. sarah: i'm not going to weigh in any further, as we often do and as is the practice, we're not going to get into personal matters. the president likes omarosa, thanked her for her service, she'll be here later this afternoon, she's resigned from her position but there's nothing else to add to that reporter: why is she still on the payroll another month? is that normal? sarah: there's a lot of different protocols that take place in the government if you nt to reach out to h.r., certainly not that i'm privy too, i haven't been through it myself.

reporter: would the president ask the house and senate to stay here in washington even if it means bleed into the christmas holiday? sarah: we're confident we'll get there before then but this is something i think the house, the senate and the president are committed to seeing happen and we're hopeful that it will take place at the first of next week. reporter: does the president have thoughts about the disney eal to buy 21st century fox? sarah: the president spoke with rupert murdoch earlier today, congratulated him on the deal, thinks that, to use one of the president's favorite words, this could be a great thing for jobs and certainly looks forward to and is hoping to see a lot more of those created. reporter: what does the president think about the f.c.c. decision on net neutrality? there are a lot of americans opposed to that change. sarah: the trump administration supports the effort to roll back burdensome regulations. as we have always done and will continue to do, we certainly

support a free and fair internet. anything beyond that, i refer you to the f.c.c. reporter: back to the alabama result, what happened down there changed the president's relationship at all with steve bannon, given his big support for moore? and has it changed the president's thoughts on mr. bannon's opposition to other incumbent republicans? sarah: that's a question you'd have to ask mr. bannon, i'm not going to speak for him. the second part of the question you asked about whether or not he'd support more candidate, i can't answer that. in terms of their relationship, i haven't spoken with the president directly about the nature of that relationship and whether that has altered. reporter: i know you said you can't goat much further on the personnel matter but i want to try separate out some of the things we're hearing here. you're saying that omarosa was not fired on tuesday evening, that she didn't get belligerent she wasn't yelling at general kelly or cursing at him and she

wasn't escorted off the property. secret service said not by them but she wasn't escorted off by an entity other than secret service? sarah: as i said, omarosa resigned from her position. i'm not going into a detailed process any further than that we put out a statement, as is standard practice, we're not going to get into the weeds of a personnel decision at the white house. >> this morning they said she and others have been urging congress to appropriate additional funding for the opioid epidemic. the president declared a public health emergency earlier this fall but that only has a few thousand dollars in it, it's estimated to cost upwards of $190 billion over a decade to treat the crisis. can you tell us how much money the white house will be urging congress to appropriate? trying to resident give enough money to congress this year?

sarah: one of the reasons the president put one of his top people, kellyanne conway, on this is because he sees it as a priority, and a concern not just for the white house but for america. there are a number of stories, the amount of money that it will take to combat this crisis is huge. we're going to continue looking at the best ways to do that. we're working an interagency process to see what the number looks like. that hasn't been finalized. we'll continue looking at every way possible. right now that's still part of -- reporter: is that part of the republican health care plan? sarah: i think that's a start but to fully address this we want to make sure we get it right and make sure that we really address this head on and that's why the president has made it such a focus and put kellyanne and others here at the white house to really make an emphasis and make that a priority. reporter: will that get done by the end of this year? can the president promise that?

sarah: i'm not aware that we can promise full funding, this wasn't a problem that happened overnight, we're not going to be able to fix it overnight. we want to make sure we address it and make it a priority for the administration and we'll continue to do that, the president has spoken about this several times, making sure we address it from all fronts and all sides. reporter: with omarosa leave, how many senior staff at the white house are african-american? sarah: we have a diverse team across the board at the white house. we always want to continue to grow the diversity here. we're going to continue to do that. and continue to work hard -- i don't have a number directly in front of me specifically, not african-american, but i can say again we have a very diverse team at the white house, certainly a diverse team in the press office and something that we strive for every day is to add and grow to be more diverse and more representative of the country at large. we're going to continue to do that.

about reaching out to the african-american community, can you identify who will take that role and how critical is it to make sure that role is filled? sarah: i think there are a number of people who will be part of that process, who have been part of that crosess, that will continue to be. this sunt something that was a singular effort by any one individual. a member oof the cabinet, ben carson, has been engaged, talked with the president on this issue. it's not just within the white house. the president met with senator tim scott, i know he wants to continue those conversations as well to look at the best ways to dao do that and to do outreach to that community. reporter: to follow up on one of april's questions, what omarosa said is, i've seen things that made me uncomfortable, that have upset me and affected me deeply and emotionally and affected my community and my people. were her concerns addressed or dealt with? sarah: those comment she is made was the first time i heard

those. whether the raised them with other individual vedges, i'm not aware. i know she brought up specific issues where they were talked about in meetings and we addressed them at the time. reporter: can you say what any of her concerns were? sarah: that's a question you'll have to ask her. i'm not going to speak on her behalf in that regard. i do know that it's something we take seriously and something that we want to see improve. i think across all fronts. reporter: today is the fifth anniversary of the sandy hook massacre in which so many children were killed. that tragedy was eclipsed by what happened in las vegas, now the most tragic mass shooting on u.s. soil. since that time, what has president thrump done to try to protect the american people against similar type of massacre. does he think anything has been done? what is the administration trying to do? is there anything at the executive level he thinks needs

to be undertake snn sarah: i think that there are a number of different ways that we look to protect our citizens. every single day. one of the areas that the president has been outspoken about, not necessarily to those two instances but more broadly speaking in terms of national security and protecting individuals, certainly through border security, stronger vetting processes, and looking at whether or not there are other regulations that we could put in place that would offer protection. >> these weren't people who enter the united states. sarah: i said i'm speak manager broadly in terms of national security as a whole. s that president who knows that his number one responsibility is to look for ways to protect american citizens and we try to do that every single day and whether or not there's a regulation that could be put in place or not that could have prevented those things, frankly i'm not aware of what that would be but we want to look for every

opportunity, every way possible that we can to protect american lives. we're going to continue doing that. reporter: sit safe to say the administration is looking at how to prevent these mass shootings by domestic shooters on u.s. soil? sarah: i know that's something that -- absolutely. i know that's something the department of homeland security looks at and talks about. and works on every single day. i don't think there's a person in this country that wouldn't like us to find ways to protect people and we're certainly very supportive of that. and that's something that would be -- reporter: the president has highlighted that says he wants -- sarah: i don't think there's one thing you could do that would have prevented eerlt one of those instances, those horrible, horrible tragedies. reporter: very quickly the other day a failed terror attack which is why in these dayses -- cases, this is the worst shooting on u.s. soil. sarah: i understand that.

that's why i also think you have to take these matters obviously very seriously. but if you could name a single thing that would have prevented both of these i'd love to hear it. i don't know what that would look like. we're looking every sing dale at how you can protect american lives, how we can best protect american citizens. in terms of new york we know for a fact this individual came through a chain migration system, something the president has been outspokenly against and something he wants to stop. and that individual wouldn't have been here in order to commit that crime if that wasn't in place. so that's a fact that we do now. reporter: has the president mentioned the possibility -- sarah: i know they're looking at mental health issues, that's something the president raised before. in terms of a specific policy that we're moving forward with that would have prevented that, i'm not aware what that would be.

reporter: has the president expressed concerns regarding the f.c.c.'s decision to roll back obama era regulations on net neutrality? and then moving forward are there any assurances the white house can offer to the american people who are concerned that the decision and vote today will lead to a less free internet? sarah: as i said a few minutes ago, the administration supports the f.c.c.'s efforts and at the same time the white house certainly has and always will support a free and fair internet. one last question for the day. reporter: i'm going to ask about taxes. the federal reserve yesterday said that tax bill would provide a modest lift to the economy. that's in stark contrast to words the president has used like rock fuel to the economy. what is the data the president is basing his rosier picture of the impact of the economy of the tax bill versus the experts a at the federal reserve? sarah: there are several individuals i would point you to, kevin hassett, who has spoken in this room and on a

number of networks i see represented here that has repeatedly stated that a lot of the statistics a lot of the data shows this will be a huge boost to the economy, will bring companies back, will grow our jobs, push think stock market higher, i think that those are all places i would point back to and certainly i think there's great support that we have seen just based on the idea that this passes that you're seeing the stock market increase and i think a lot of that is tied to that. reporter: the word modest was used? sarah: upset is maybe not the right word. he may think the other opinions offered are more accurate. i know the president -- hold on a second. i know the call time is here momentarily and the president will be speaking in a few minutes. i want to say thanks have a good week and april i'm looking forward to having some pie with you momentarily.