eastern on book tv on c-span2. >> steve bannon and michael wolff's "fire and fury" once again dominated the white house briefing with press secretary sarah sanders. this is about 20 minutes. ms. sanders: good afternoon m.s. we are pleased -- good afternoon it we are pleased to see that the dow jones industrial average broke through 25,000 for the first time ever today. the president's economic engine of lower taxes, less regulation, and more opportunity for all is already paying off, and american families and workers are the big winners. with that in mind, we have a message from a special guess i would like to share with you. i will ask you to tune into the screen, and then i will continue. president trump: thank you for being with us today. the historic tax cut i signed into law just two weeks ago,

before christmas, is already delivering major economic gains. hundreds of thousands of americans are seeing larger paychecks, bigger bonuses, and higher pension contributions, and it is all because of the tax cuts and the tax reform, and i want to thank all of the companies that worked so hard to do it. workers at at&t, bank of america, comcast, southwest airlines, american airlines, and many other companies are receiving bonuses of $1000 or more. aflac and others are investing more in employees' 401k's. cvs announced it will hire 300,000 new workers. boeing, another great company, is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in employee training and infrastructure. more than 60 companies have announced they are raising wages, including many that have voluntarily raised their minimum wage to $15 an hour, and i mean

they did that voluntarily, which , many politicians said could only be achieved by government mandates. investing in the american worker is the most important investment a business will ever make. i want to thank all of these companies for putting the tax savings to the best possible use by creating more jobs and higher wages for the american family. these great results are just the beginning. when the dreams of the american people are unleashed, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, we can't achieve. we are going to make america great again, and it is happening a lot faster than anyone thought possible. thank you. ms. sanders: thank you, mr. president. as he said, this is only the beginning, and we are excited to see the economic growth and optimism continue to soar in 2018. earlier today, the president hosted republican senators to talk about responsible immigration reform. he reiterated our view that any action on daca must come with action on the president's immigration reform principles which were released last year.

these include a physical border wall on the southern border, interior enforcement, which includes more ice and border patrol agents, as well as a crackdown on sanctuary cities, and reforms to the legal immigration system, like ending chain migration and the visa lottery program in favor of a merit-based immigration system. next week, the president is inviting a bipartisan group of senators to the white house to discuss the next step on responsible immigration reform and to continue the discussion. with that, i will take your questions. reporter: sarah, a follow-up on the steve bannon issue. have to house staff sign nondisclosure agreements when they came to work at the white house? ms. sanders: there is an ethics agreement. beyond that, i cannot get into additional details. reporter: does the president for to have steve's support antiestablishment political

candidates in the midterm elections? ms. sanders: the president wants all americans' support. he hopes that every american in this country wants to see us do bigger and better things. that is his focus. he is not going to single out the support from any one individual, but he wants to bring everybody together to move this country forward. that is what he campaigned on and that is what we will , continue to do the next seven years. reporter: the white house has said there were false statements in this book. the president's lawyers said there were libelous statements. could you give us a few examples of things that have been said in this book that are false that set thed like to record straight on? ms. sanders: i am not going to go through everything a page of the book, but there are numerous examples of falsehoods that take place in the book. i will give you one because it is really easy, the fact that there was a claim that the president didn't know who john boehner was is pretty ridiculous considering the majority of you have seen photos and, frankly, some of you have tweeted out that the president

not only knows him but has played golf with him, tweeted about him. that is pretty simple and pretty basic. ages of employees, which would be super easy to fact-check, are wrong. again there are numerous , mistakes. but i am not going to waste my time or the country's time going page by page talking about a book that is complete fantasy and full of tabloid gossip, because it is sad, pathetic, and our focus is going to be on moving the country forward. john? reporter: thanks a lot, sarah. i read this letter sent by the president's lawyers to both michael wolff and the publisher of this book which seeks to stop , the sale of his book. did the president's lawyers share with the president the idea that this is a prior restraint in that prior restraints are generally unconstitutional? ms. sanders: i'm not sure about specific details of the conversation between the president and his personal attorney, but i would refer you to them for questions regarding that matter.

reporter: does the president believe in the first amendment? does he believe in prior restraint such as the one he is contemplating here? ms. sanders: the president absolutely believes in the first amendment, but as we have said before, the president also believes in making sure that information is accurate before pushing it out as fact when it certainly and clearly is not. jordan? reporter: what is the president's reaction to the growing number of suggestions , both in this book and in the media, that he is mentally unfit to serve as president? ms. sanders: the same way we have when it has been asked before, that it is disgraceful and laughable. if he was unfit, he probably would not be sitting there and would not have defeated the most qualified group of candidates the republican party has ever seen. this is an incredibly strong and good leader. that is why we have had such a successful 2017 and why we are going to continue to do great things as we move forward and -- move forward in this administration. john?

reporter: thank you, sarah. two questions. first, the book repeatedly says that candidate trump, his family, and the top officials of the campaign did not believe he would be elected, it was the farthest from their minds. you said yesterday you believe d in this campaign and felt he would win. can you name anyone else who said at the time, on the eve of the election, that they felt he would win, and did the president himself believe he would not win? ms. sanders: look, as we have stated many times before, go back and look at some of the interviews, specifically kellyanne conway. i know she did several leading up to the days just before the election saying directly that the president can win and would win. there were a number of other campaign officials who echoed those same sentiments. the president, the first lady, his family, they would not have put themselves through the process if they did not believe he could win and did not want to win. this was something they were very committed to and have been

committed to since taking office and will continue to do so over the next seven years. again it is absolutely laughable , to think that somebody like this president would run for office with the purpose of losing. if you guys know anything, you know that donald trump is a winner, and he is not going to do something for the purpose of not coming out on top and not coming out as a winner. it is just -- i mean, that is one of the most ridiculous things i think the claims in the book. reporter: my other question is, tomorrow, can we expect a major personnel change? i particularly ask, is gary cohn going to stay where he is? ms. sanders: i have no reason to know of any personal change whatsoever. gary has stated he is committed to being here. we have just come off a very successful win on the tax cut and reform package, which gary was one of the key leaders of that effort, and we are moving full force ahead to 2018 to make sure we get a lot accomplished.

francesca. reporter: thank you, sarah. i want to follow up on something you said yesterday. the last time the president spoke to steve bannon was early december. and the president said today, i do not talk to steve bannon. i do not talk to him. how much were they incontact from the time he left the white house to that call you mentioned? how close were they when they were in the white house? there was a claim that the president frequently dined with mr. bannon. ms. sanders: the book also said he had been sidelined by april, which goes further to indicate that he has very little credibility to give much information, particularly after that point, which most of the book is based after that time frame. again, this book is mistake after mistake after mistake -- reporter: were they not close by the time that you -- ms. sanders: i am not aware that they were ever particularly close. i would certainly say that they have spoken a few times since he left the white house, but it is

regularlyhere were scheduled calls and certainly no meetings between the two of them. fred? reporter: thank you, sarah. does the president favor a national voter id? ms. sanders: look, we will continue to review the best way forward. just because the election commission is no longer in existence, we are going to send the preliminary findings from the commission to the department of homeland security and make determinations on the best way forward from that point. reporter: why dhs instead of doj, which would seem to be more of an investigative body? ms. sanders: that was the agency best determined by the administration, and we are moving forward and letting them take over the process. reporter: two questions. first, does president trump see marijuana as a state or federal issue? ms. sanders: the president believes in enforcing federal law. that would be his top priority. that is regardless of what the topic is, whether it is

marijuana or whether it is immigration. the president strongly believes we should enforce federal law. department ofthe justice has made, which is my guess is what you are referencing, simply gives prosecutors the tools to take on large-scale distributors and enforce federal law. the president's position has not changed but he strongly believes , we have to enforce federal law. reporter: the meeting this afternoon with the rnc chairwoman, do you imagine they will be discussing a potential run by mitt romney in utah? is this something the president would like to discuss with mitt romney's niece? ms. sanders: like you said, i'm not going to get ahead of a meeting that has not taken place. i will not try to guess what may be discussed. maybe we can follow up with that question at a later time. ashley. reporter: it is an incredibly high bar for a public figure to win a libel case.

especially like the president. but can you explain why the president thinks it is an appropriate use of attention and resources to marshal his west wing and his legal team against the author and publisher? ms. sanders: in terms of a legal argument, i would refer you to the president's attorneys. but in terms of the merits, i think it is pretty clear. i do not think we have been tiptoeing around our feelings on this. it is completely tabloid gossip full of false and fraudulent , claims, and i would refer you to the president's attorneys on what that looks like in the court of law. reporter: thank you, sarah. will the president go to court to stop the publication of this book? ms. sanders: again, that is something that i would refer you to the president's attorneys, but our position is very clear, we think it is full of false and fake information. reporter: the book will be published on tuesday. how far is the president willing to go to prevent the book from being published? ms. sanders: he certainly believes it shouldn't be, but in

terms of the legal process, i would have to refer you to his legal team. reporter: i know we are talking a lot about steve bannon, but he is not the only person quoted in the book. katie walsh is quoted extensively. ms. sanders: she has also put out a statement denying the quotes attributed to her. reporter: is there any action being taken by the white house against these individuals, and is there outreach to verify whether they made the statements or not? that thereeports will be implications for her. ms. sanders: i'm not aware of any specific action being taken. i know she has said the quotes were not attributed to her, as have many other people that have been quoted in this book. reporter: so you take them at their word and there will not be implications? ms. sanders: absolutely,

particularly people like secretary mnuchin, who has pushed back on this, and several others. you also have to look at this author's track record, in which he has had a real problem with this in the past, and i think that is something that is the foundation for us to make these assumptions that definitely, this is a practice that he is used to doing. reporter: legal action against any of those individuals? ms. sanders: not that i am aware of at this time. reporter: broadly speaking, what is your level of exhaustion when you have to have this issue out there when there are other policy issues to get to enter try to communicate to the american people somehow you balance that? did you speak to the president specifically about what has been said or what has been released about this book? ms. sanders: i have spoken with some of thet about specific spirit in terms of the level of extortion --

exhaustion, i am less concerned with my exhaustion than i am with the people of this country. they would like to hear more about the booming economy, the crushing of isis, all of the great things happening in this country or all of the big problems we are focused on tackling. i do not think they really care about some trash that an author no one had ever heard of until a fired employee wants to peddle. this is the focus of this administration, moving our country forward. hopefully everybody in this room will join us in that effort and focus on the policy components instead of the ridiculous lies we have just been all of our time focused on. sanders: on immigration, is it your impression something will be done, vis-à-vis the wall, and will there be a grand announcement? ms. sanders: we want to make sure we have responsible immigration reform. we would like to have a deal , as well ase daca

the priorities and principles we laid out last year, matt. that is the reason the president is inviting members of the democrat party to come over next week so we can have that discussion and see if we can move the ball forward in that process. >> as a candidate, president trump threaten some 20 lawsuits and went through with them. -- and never went through with them. why should steve bannon and michael wolff be concerned? ms. sanders: regardless of whether or not the there is a lawsuit, they should be concerned about peddling fake stories, putting out information that is not true. they should be concerned about the fact that we're spending our time here focused on this, instead of talking about things that people in this country care about. i think that is a really sad process, and i think that should be everyone's concern. >> what about following through on the lawsuits? ms. sanders: i think that is a question you will have to talk to his attorneys about. >> do you think they are drawing more attention to this for

increasing book sales? ms. sanders: i think you guys are the ones drawing attention. it is not like i came out here and read excerpts from the book. i don't think i can be responsible for the questions you ask. in fact, if i tried to do that, i am sure i would certainly be attacked for trying to. i did that once, and it did not go over very well. >> what about a response to the revelations in this book? ms. sanders: it is a ridiculous characterization. about the security and integrity of the technology systems in the white house. this is something that has been in the works for over six months. and we were making sure that all of the information and the ability for the government phones to increase their ability for other applications so that we can comply with presidential records act. that was a big piece of making sure this was done. now that that process is completed, we can move forward

and start next week. >> how would you describe the president's relationship with the mercer family? how would you describe that? ms. sanders: i believe it is good. i have not heard otherwise. i am not aware of anything specific. >> you were eager to call on --n2 fire a sports cutter sportscaster for criticizing president trump. ms. sanders: it was not just criticizing. think it is something they should look at and consider. i profess my ignorance, but -- miss anders: you said it, not me. i will not argue. week when he goes to his , are their mental tests that go along with that or is it physical in nature?

a. sanders: we will have readout of the physical after it is completed, and we will let you know. >> you said it steve bannon was entitled to his own opinions but not his own facts yesterday. this administration has had on many occasions that they are entitled to alternative facts. how is that different with steve bannon? ms. sanders: this administration has not said on numerous occasions that there are alternative facts. i know there was one reference in which they were saying there was basically two sides to the story. i think that is very different than completely false information and an opinion. >> the president said today that steve bannon changed his tune about him last night. did the president feel that the cease-and-desist letter had the desired effect on steve bannon? ms. sanders: i am not sure what aspect made him change his tune, but there was a difference in

some of the language he used for this book versus the language that he used last night. the governor of florida is expressing concerns about the administration's new offshore oil drilling plans, which would allow the drilling of most coastal waters. can the president afford to cross this important political ally, and what do you plan to say to governor scott about the whole plan? ms. sanders: our goal is not to cross governor scott. we have a great relationship with him. we will continue to work with him on a number of issues. just because we may differ on issues from time to time does not mean we cannot have an incredibly strong and good relationship. we will continue those conversations with him and hopefully come to agreement. i will take one last question. >> you were calling the michael wolff book a book full of lies. didn't this white house give michael wolff all the access he wanted? ms. sanders: absolutely not. in fact, there are probably more than 30 requests for access to

information from michael wolff that were repeatedly denied, including within that at least two dozen requests of him asking to have an interview with the president, which he never did. he never discussed this book with the president, and to meet, that would be most important voice you could have if you are looking to write a book about an individual, to have something with him. he never did. he was repeatedly denied that. there was no reason for us to waste the president of the united states's time. frankly, since we were unable -- >> should the letter from the president's lawyers aimed at steve bannon and the publisher be interpreted as a threat from the united states government, from this administration, to not publish this book? ms. sanders: it is not from the united states government. it is from the president's personal attorney. i think it is very clear what

its purpose is, and there is nothing beyond that. i would refer you to the president's attorneys. thanks so much. did the president finally acknowledge that millions of people did not vote illegally? president trump met with republican senators in the roosevelt room to discuss immigration. the president said any renewal of the obama administration's deferred action for childhood arrivals program would have to come with increased border security measures. he also answered a question about his relationship with former white house chief strategist bannon. >> happy new year. pres. trump: important meeting.