>> now, reaction from the white house following video that was struck in the senate to reopen the government. sarah sanders was asked about the president's role in negotiations and his position on immigration moving forward. this is 20 minutes. press secretary sanders: good afternoon. obviously the impending conclusion of the schumer shut down is leading media coverage today. i want to start with a couple of other national security issues first. we call on all parties to remain focused on the goal of defeating

isis, de-escalating and resolving the syrian conflict. turkey'seriously security concerns. acreased violence disrupts relatively stable area of serial. it distracts from efforts. it could be exploited by al qaeda and asus and risks exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. thatge turkey to ensure operations are limited in scope and duration, ensure humanitarian aid continues, and avoid civilian casualties. we want to ensure that assad's brutal regime cannot return to action. will be working to end the syrian war. in afghanistan, such attacks on

civilians only strengthen our resolve to support our afghan partners. afghan forces with our support will continue to relentlessly pursue the enemy's of afghanistan who also seek to export terror around the world. we call on pakistan to immediately arrest the taliban leader. lastly, in regards to the government shut don't -- down, with our pleased to see senator schumer except the deal that the president put on the table. the statement from the president says, " i am pleased that democrats in congress have come to our senses and are now willing to fund our great military, border control. once the government is funded, my administration will work

toward solving the problem of very unfair illegal immigration. we will make a long-term deal if, and only if, it is good for our country" >> how is the president going to work with democrats when he is running a campaign advertisement that is called them -- is called them complicit with the murder? >> he has been very strong on discussing the need for border security. the is a big focus of both president's campaign at the time and also since he has become president. details as far as the advertisements. how that impacts national security is something that we have talked about. >> how is this going to be any

different? over the weekend he was only talking to republicans. obviously there will be a deal by february 8. >> we have been very clear as far as what we want to see in any legislation. i don't think there is a lot of daylight between where we are and where the democrats are. we are hopeful that we can resolve this in the coming weeks. >> schumer claims that the deal that he had today was much different from the dough that that he week -- deal had last week. >> i think democrats realized that their position was indefensible. they had to focus on first, funding the military, protecting border patrol agents, fund during -- funding vulnerable

children with the children's health insurance program. democrats i think realized that they had to move past that piece of legislation so that they can focus on the conversation they are desperate to have. >> is it your contention that the deal that chuck schumer excepted is really no different than the deal he had on the table friday. >> i do not see it to be drastically different, no. >> was there no interaction between the president and the campaign committee in the creation of that? >> i would not be a part of that process. has somee president liberties that i do not. i would refer you to the campaign. they are the only ones that can speak specifically to the issue. they would be complicit in

any future murders because of the shutdown. they are unwilling to secure borders, unwilling to unwillingmigration, to fix all of the problems that we have in our immigration system and are not willing to actually do things that fix that system that we know to be problematic, then yes, that would be a problem, and certainly allow for future incidents to take place. is the two-year requirement required from the president for defense spending going forward, is that one of his top goals? not just for this fiscal year? >> i am not going to negotiate with you here. we have made clear thatnot justs certainly our preference. >> the president several months ago called on congress to provide a legislative fix for

the daca recipients. he insist upon -- what he insist upon funding that border all protection? >> we would like to see --. those priorities have not changed. daca, chainn migration, and funding for border security, that would certainly include the wall. >> tomorrow i believe is the beginning of the final round of negotiations regarding nafta. how are those negotiations going right now? we are hearing that they are not going well? as the president prepared to pull the u.s. out of nafta? >> we do not have any specific announcements, but we feel like things are moving forward. with are going to continue on those negotiations.

the president is going to make sure that he gets the best deal for america and american workers. that is the focus. episode,this shutdown does the president feel like he can deal with democrats anymore? the president did not know the difference between reauthorization and appropriation -- reappropriation. what is the presidents level of trust with senate democrats going forward? >> i would not say that it is the highest level of trust. i am hopeful that we can reach an agreement on responsible immigration reform. agree onhat democrats most of those components and we hope that they will come to the table ready to make a deal and less focused on playing political games. we hope so. we hope that democrats will not

play politics and they will focus and put the needs of the country ahead of the political gamesmanship. we hope that we can move the ball down the field on a number of issues, starting with a budget and then moving into immigration. pathway to a citizenship for dreamers? >> we have said that we would support a permissive -- permanent solution for daca going forward. >> does he support this divisive issue? a pathway to citizenship? >> the number of people that are already in that program, we hope to find a permanent solution that would address that. >> does it not matter to the president? >> i think that is part of the negotiation process. right now we want a permanent solution for that program. a big priority for the

administration is making sure that we do not find ourselves having the same battle years down the road. we have to have a responsible immigration reform that addresses a number of issues, not just the daca program. >> you just said that you would be open to a permanent legal solution for the people in the daca program. what about beyond that? i read a story that said that what democrats want what potentially legalize about 3 million dreamers. where did you get that number? and what is the limit on the population of dreamers for the president? where do you draw the line? >> i am not going to negotiate with you. this is something that we are going to work on with congress and look for the best solution for our country.

don't forget, a big priority for this administration is making sure that we address this program in its entirety, not just that one piece of it. who have thatple daca protections, other dreamers have decided not to apply for whatever reason. having a open to debate on a level playing field on this issue and negotiating. and making sure that we get a deal that meets the criteria that we have laid out. >> the president is still planning on going to davos? >> all things go as expected with the reopening of the government, the president's delegation will leave tomorrow and he will continue on his trip later in the week. fix,e priorities of a daca where exactly does that link?

?- does that rank the actual duck a solution, how big of a priority is that one component for the president? >> we look at all of those as equal parts in this process. that is why we laid out our 4 priorities and listed that as one of them. level ass on the same the wall? >> we don't want to do that without the other three components. we want to make sure that we are lly anding this more fu in a responsible way. we want to deal with the issue long-term. >> what has he been doing behind the scenes as this drama has

unfolded? >> we have put out several different calls both with members on the hill. he has met with members of his cabinet to manage the shutdown. a big priority of the president was to make sure that this was "ll-managed and it was not weaponized." i think it certainly went much smoother than it has in the past. the president was putting pressure and standing firm on exactly what he was willing to do and what he was not. it very clearly worked, because we are back where we basically started on friday. the democrats have allowed this to move forward. hopefully the house will move this through quickly and it will be at the white house for the president to sign. then we can start immediately on discussions on immigration

reform. >> when will we see him? >> i will keep you posted. i will make sure that you are aware when that time comes. we will let you know the timing of that. we have got to wait on the house ce.ce -- pie some reviews have to take place before actually hits the president's desk. david? >> [indiscernible] >> we will let you know, we will keep you posted. >> does the president still have faith in wilbur ross? >> absolutely. he has 100% confidence in secretary ross. he loves them and think that he is doing a great job and has been a strong advocate for the administration and been a great leader when it comes to the train discussion -- trade

discussion. the president was very clear back in september when he said that dreamers have nothing to worry about. is that still the case? >> i think we have been pretty clear that we want to find a solution on the daca program. we are going to hope that democrats are willing to work with us to make sure that we actually resolve this issue. >> there are a lot of dreamers in this country that do not know what their fate is. what is the white house's message to that population? >> i think they should protest on capitol hill. that is the place that held up this discussion. democrats forced a government shutdown. we lost 4 days over this process. the conversation should have been focused on immigration reform. if they had been part of the solution instead of part of the

problem, and i think we would have already been further down the road on our negotiations. hopefully we will not have problems like that in the future. john? -- said, congressman over the weekend that republicans in the house were committed to the three priorities the president laid in the process of reopening the government. in cements onnt those three and the negotiations to follow? >> yeah. we have been clear that those are our priorities. >> they are nonnegotiable? >> these are the priorities that we want to see in the package and we are going to negotiate those with progress -- congress.

those are the priorities and principles that we have outlined that we want to see in any legislative package that the president signs. >> sarah, on a completely different subject. behr are prepared to merge. their ceos have met with the president. many fear that this will lead to the seedy for them in industry. is the president in favor of the and behr?monsanto >> i have not spoken to the president about that. i will have to get back to you. >> is the president saying that if he does not get

what he wants, that he will begin to deport the dreamers? >> we are hopeful that we do not have to do that and we do not have to get there. -- we would like the democrats to become serious about solving these problems. if they are willing to shut down the government, surely they will be willing to come to the table and get something done. the president is the one that has enforce the law. it is his job as commander-in-chief. congresses --e of congress'failure to address the issue. the president gave a six-month timeframe in order for them to do that. all of america is counting on them to show up and make sure that happens. >> the president said that the shutdown was a good thing for us

--. does the president agree with that? >> i have not spoken to him about those comments. [indiscernible] parksin, most of those they tried to maintain and keep those open. unlike in past shutdowns, they really try to minimize the impact on the american people. in terms of the turnaround time for a full reopen, we are waiting on the house to vote. then it will go through the budget process and then hit the president's desk, which we expect sometime late afternoon or early evening. it would make most government offices already closed, so they would start back in full capacity tomorrow morning. if that changes, we will certainly let

stephen? >> would you respond to the criticism that senator schumer gave this weekend? the senators read that the great dealmaker sat on the sidelines. a plan on the president's part not to reach out this weekend? was it part of his strategy? sanders clearly, the strategy worked. the vote was 81-18. i am not sure what changed for him, and what he gained, other than maybe nancy pelosi taking a bunch of republican members out to dinner to celebrate their shutdown. i am not sure there was anything positive that came out this week and for democrats. one last question. kristen. reporter: in addition to chuck schumer saying that the president negotiates like jell-o, he was not really clear on when the president -- whether

president stood. is he shifting his policy positions behind the scenes under pressure? >> not at all. party memont has a that has been that she has laid out a memo about what his priorities are. and he has been very consistent on that front. the only person with veto power in this country, is the president. thanks, guys. >> is it still too early to talk about gun control? thanks, everybody. announcer: reporters caught up leader, house majority kevin mccarthy, to ask him a few questions, leading up to the vote in the house. minority leader nancy pelosi also briefly addressed r