ed: if you'd like to view the clips of today's discussion or find out about upcoming programming, visit washingtonpostlive.com. a reminder to make the post your destination for all your news about tomorrow's speech, we'll have it live streaming on youtube and we'll be fact checking it live and in print. thank you, everybody, see you soon. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> u.s. house will gavel in coming up in about 20 minutes or so. 5:00 eastern. a couple of bills today including one that would require

amateur athletic governing bodies to report sexual abuse allegations to law enforcement. another bill dealing with small business access to capital after natural disasters. of course tomorrow, state of the union address with live coverage here on c-span. the house live at 5:00. here on c-span when they gavel back in until then, the news conference today, the briefing from the white house, including a number of questions about the state of the union. ms. sanders: good afternoon. over the weekend, the white house released a framework for responsible immigration reform that will protect our people, put the interests of american workers first, and provide a permanent solution to daca. our framework includes four pillars, border security, daca legalization, ending chain migration and eliminating the

visa lottery moving us toward a merit-based system of immigration. we look forward to working with congress to pass and sign legislation that addresses each of these four pillars. looking ahead to tomorrow, the president will deliver his first state of the union address. the theme of the address is building a safe, strong, and proud america which is exactly what the president has worked to do during his first year in office. i don't want to get ahead of what the president will say in his remarks, but it will obviously be must-watch tv, but i do want to make an announcement about one of the most important traditions, the guests who sitting in the first lady's box. i'll name a few of those individuals and a little bit about them. first, corey adams. he's a skilled welder at stuab manufacturing solutions in dayton, ohio. last year he and his wife were able to become first-time homeowners and they will invest their extra money from the trump tax cut into their two daughters' education savings.

elizabeth alvarado, robert meaki in, evelyn rodriguez and freddie quevos. these two couples are parents of two young girls who were brutally murdered by ms-13 gang members. corporate matthew bradford. in 2007, corporal bradford stepped on an i.e.d. while deployed in iraq. he was blinded by the blast and lost both of his legs. after multiple surgeries and therapy , he became the first blind double amputee to re-enlist in the marines. john bridgers. mr. bridgers founded the cajun navy in 2016 a nonprofit rescue and recovery organization that responded in 2016 to flooding in south louisiana and in 2017 to hurricane harvey in texas. he and his team have helped thousands of people across the south. david dauber. he's a fire technician who saved 62 children and staff members from a raging wildfire that

encircled their camp in southern california. officer ryan holitz. he served as a police officer in albuquerque, new mexico. in his six dwhreerns force, he has been shot twice and experienced several near-death encounters. officer h; olitz and his wife adopted a baby from parents who suffered from opioid addiction, breaking down walls between addicts and police officerses to save lives. ashley leppert. she rescued dozens of americans during last year's devastating hurricane season. agent c.j. martinez. agent martinez is a special agent for i.c.e.'s homeland security investigation unit. his investigations have led to more than 100 arrests of ms-13 gang members who were prosecuted for crimes including homicides, assault, and narcotics and weapons trafficking. staff sergeant justin peck. last year, staff sergeant peck was part of a team clearing

i.e.d.'s from territory previously controlled by isis. when one of his come patriots was struck by a blast, he rushed to their side, saving their lives while risking his own. preston sharp. he's organized the place. of more than 40,000 american flags and red carnations on veterans graves as part of his goal to honor veterans in all 50 states and to challenge others to join the flag and flower challenge. . stuub and cindy kept linger. they started stuab manufacturing 20 years ago. thanks to the trump bump, they were able to grow the company to new nights and thanks to the trump tax cuts they were able to give all employees a larger christmas bonus. some of these stories are heroic, some patriotic, others are tragic. all of them represent the unbreakable american spirit and will inspire our nation to continue growing stronger, prouder, and more prosperous. with that, i will take your

questions. john. reporter: the last hour, the deputy director of the f.b.i. is stepping down. will we get reaction from the bhoust and the president back at the end of december was tweeting about andrew mccabe in a less than efusive praise manner. what is he thinking about him stepping down? ms. sanders: we've seen the numerous reports as all of you have. any specific -- specifics i can tell you, this decision -- any specifics i would refer you to the f.b.i. who i believe will be making a statement later today. reporter themplet white house wasn't involved in the decision but the president seemed to be involved in a public relations campaign against mccabe. ms. sanders: the president stands by his previous comments but in terms of the situation today, we have seen the reports as all of you have. we don't have any specific comments and i refer you to the f.b.i. for any specifics on the things taking place today.

reporter: when you say you've seen the reports, does that mean the president wasn't informed that this was happening or seen any reports? ms. sanders: he has not. reporter: the president didn't played a role in mccabe stepping down. ms. sanders: we refer you to the f.b.i. where christopher ray serves as director which as i said last week and i'll repeat again today, the president has full confidence in him and put the decisions at the f.b.i. in his hands. reporter: does the -- did the president at any time convey he wanted to fire robert mueller to anyone on staff here? ms. sanders: not that i'm aware of. reporter: no one at the white house contacted the f.b.i. about minnesota cabe? o one -- about mccabe? no one had any comments about his tenure at the f.b.i.?

ms. sanders: nothing about mccabe, nothing about him stepping down today, that is what is being reported. reporter: what would you say to critics who believe this white house and this president have had almost sort of a steady pressure put on the justice department, put on the f.b.i., since president came into office on this special counsel investigation? whether it be conversations with jeff sessions' office about recusal, whether it be this desire for robert muler to go away, and now with andrew mccabe? there were reports that rob rosen stein was also feeling pressure from the white house. it sounds like there were multiple officials at multiple levels being pressured by the white house and by the president. ho would you say -- ms. sanders: i would say what i've said probably 100 times before and will probably say 100 times today, the white house has been fully cooperative and is

going to be fully cooperative. in fact, we've gone above and beyond many times and certainly done everything that we can. the white house has provided over 20 witnesses and tens of thousands of pages of documents to the special counsel. we've den everything we can to be fully transparent and we're going to continue to do that throughout the process. reporter: what about the notion the president has been applying pressure for months? ms. sanders: the only thing the president has been applying pressure to is make sure this is resolved so you guys an everyone else can focus on what americans actually care about, making sure everybody gets the russia fever out to have their system once and for all that you're all reminded once again there was no collusion and we can move forward to focus on things like national security. the economy. and solving the immigration crisis that we have here in our country. reporter: no obstruction of justice new york inappropriate here at all whatsoever from the president since he came into office when it comes to this investigation? ms. sanders: no, and i think

we've been clear on that. reporter: i want to ask if he president continues to have confidence in the deputy attorney general, rod rosen stein. ms. sanders: when the president no longer has confidence in someone, you'll know reporter: i have another question about the memo. the house intelligence committee could vote as early as today to release the memo that chairman nunes has purportedly crafted this ehouse rules contemplate the president would get five days to determine if he has any cause to object to its public release. what's the president thinking? what's the curn level of white house involvement in this decision? can you shed any light on the process between this white house an capitol hill for this question? ms. sanders: no one at the white house has seen the memo. it would be hard for us to make a decision or speak about it before that would take place. right now we're going to let the house process play out. if and when it's time for the white house to weigh in, we'll

do that through the proper protocol, making sure we follow legal process. again, we're not to that point in the process yet. reporter: following up on that, the white house, i know you said you have to wait and see, but is the white house open to the idea of a release of this memo to the public? and can you say in the state of the union whether the president will mention at all this ongoing russia probe which you said is really russia fever that the country needs to get out of its system, will he address it in any way? ms. sanders: we want full transparency what we said all along. we'll make a decision when and if that time becomes necessary. in terms of the state of the union, i'm not going to get ahead of the president ieas doctor -- address. it's tomorrow night. i know you're all excited and will eagerly tune in and can see at that time exactly what is going to be included. [inaudible]think --

ms. sanders: we've addressed it every single day. we spend more time on that than any other topic despite the fact that time and time again, poll after poll says that frankly no one cares thabt issue, it's certainly not the thing that keeps people up at night. we'd love to talk about all the things that do and my guess is that will be the foe coufs the president's state of the union tomorrow. reporter: two topics, bag on the state of the union, when the president gives the state of the union address, particularly his first, presidents normally are optimistic. when they say the state of the union is. what's the state of the union today? ms. sanders: i think it's incredible, and i think you'll hear that in the president's words tomorrow night. we've got an economy that's booming. isis son the run. we're remaking the judiciary in a way that believes in upholding the constitution. there are some great things happening in this country. and i think you can expect to hear the president talk about a lot of those not only what we've been able to do in the first year but all the great things we're going to do in the next

reporter:s after this on the second issue. black unemployment. is the president going to start targeting black unemployment as he's saying that unemployment has gone down over his watch? i have never heard of a targeted approach from this administration. is this administration aware that the black unemployment rate of december, 6.%, the white unemployment rate is 3.7%. the asian unemployment rate is 2.5% and the his pavenic unemployment rate 14.9%. the black unemployment rate continues to be higher. is this something the administration is touting, is it something they're making an active effort to fix? ms. sanders sprk we're trying to fix unemployment for all americans that's the point the president has made time and time again he wants it to be better for everybody. we've made significant progress in that, both through the number of regulations that have been

cut to make this a measure job-friendly market, a more job-friendly environment. and certainly adding to that the tax cuts and tax reform legislation that the president led on has been historic in what has happened and in the way it has helped our economy and certainly helped create jobs across the country. reporter: what about jay-z, he was talking in terms of black america, he took issue, he seemed screamed with all caps have you seen my black unemployment numbers? ms. sanders: they're better than they have been. we're making progress. we want every day to be better than the day before. again, certainly for black americans, for hispanic americans, across the board,s the president who wants life to be better for all americans and he's going to keep fighting and pushing for that i think you'll hear him talk about that tomorrow night. john? reporter: the former attorney general of the united states, eric holder derek scribes a

dedicated public servant who served this country well, would the president, would you describe him in that same manner? ms. sanders: i don't have a personal relationship with him. i think we've talked about some of the concerns we have with some of the actions that he's taken but in terms of anything specific, regarding the deputy director particularly the news reports of today, i would refer you to the f.b.i. francesca. reporter: the president on past tweets he put out regarding mr. mccabe does not seem to be a big fan of mr. mccabe. is he disappointed he's leaving his post as the deputy f.b.i. director? ms. sanders: i haven't asked if he was disappointed, i can tell you he didn't play a role in that process. reporter: in one of the president's tweets in december he said andrew mccabe is, quote, racing the clock to retire with full benefits, 90 days to go. does the president belief that

andrew mccabe should be allowed to retire with full benefits? ms. sander: again i refer you to the f.b.i. for any specifics around the news of today of his stepping down. reporter: i have a question about the state of the union. you mentioned who would be in the first lady's box at the state of the union you talked about a lot of different guests. i didn't hear anything about the president's family. can you say choff the president's family members will be there? nd can you potentially preview travel the president will take? ms. sanders: all the president's children will be at the state of the union along with the first lady, with the exception of barron, i don't think he'll be there. as far as travel we'll keep you posted about any travel announcements. reporter: i want to ask you a question about treasury -- inaudible] can you tell us

whether or not that's going to happen today and whether the news on the oligarch will be public and on the impact on sanctioning, will portions of that be public? ms. sanders: we do expect the reports today, i refer you to the department of treasury on hat. we're coordinating, i'm telling you they're taking the lead in for questions specifically to that and you should reach out to treasury. reporter: i'll let them know you said they could tell us. on 5-g, there's speculation about what might happen whether there's a security case to make for one secure network but some experts including the republican s.e.c. chair again are a little concerned about the idea of one nationalized network. can you bring us up to speed on whether that idea is dead or is still alive or where that's at?

in anders: as we outlined the strategy, on page 19, i think, we discussed the need far secure network. right now we're in the earliest stages of the conversation. there are absolutely no decisions made on what that would look like. what role anyone would play in it. simply the need for a secure network. that is the only part of this conversation that we're up to right now. reporter: one network or possibly -- ms. sanders: there are a lot of things on the table. these are early stages and there's been no decision made other than the fact, the need for a secure network. reporter: tomorrow night will the president talk about an urban rescythe liization plan? ms. sanders: i'm not going to get into the details beyond what was discussed last week on the state of the union, but i think it's something worth tuning into

for all to see. reporter: the president repeatedly touted black unemployment when faced with allegations of racism. given the numbers, the low black unemployment, why do you think so many in the african-american community are still so uncomfortable with the president? ms. sanders: that's a question you would have to ask them. we hope and pray and expect to spend every day working to build a greater relationship within that community and as i said before with all americans, this is the president who wants to lead for everybody. he's not looking to lead for any one person. >> as this wraps up, we'll leave. the u.s. house coming in, beginning a short week with a couple of bill this is evening, including one that would require amateur athletic governing bodies to report sexual assault reports to law enforcement. now live to the house floor. d questions at a later time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition?