and let's look to march 23 where we can finalize what we have done. i urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation. and i yield back the balance of my time. and i move >> this is a 15 minute portion of today's briefing. >> on the president's shandong province -- shutodown comments.

he previously said a shutdown would be dangerous to the military. does he believe it would be necessary, even if members of the u.s. military would be negatively impacted? the only people that have caused a shutdown are the only people that have caused a shutdown are the democrats. democrats actually shut the government done a couple weeks ago. isn't looking for this, but if the democratic party is going to threaten a shutdown because they won't include responsible immigration reforms, fixing ms-13 loopholes, then the president welcomes that fight. it is a fight we are confident we would win again. the presidentour goal is to getr budget deal and to get a deal on immigration, which the president has generously laid out, addressing both republican and democrat concerns. >> is in the president encouraging shutdown?

-- isn't the president encouraging a shutdown? sec. sanders: the president is encouraging people to do their jobs, to get a budget deal that helps our military, instead of a short-term deal. the president is encouraging everyone to do their jobs and come to terms on immigration, especially the four pieces he outlined that needs to happen on any legislation. >> could you clarify -- would the president rather see a shutdown or short-term spending? sec. sanders: again, we are not advocating for the shutdown. that is the fault of the democrats not being willing to do their job. the president wants to get a deal on immigration. we hope the democrats will get that done. >> chief kelly says some eteamers were "too lazy to g off their asses" to register for immigration protection.

is that the position of the white house? sec. sanders: we want to fix a problem created by the previous administration. we have a system that is normal, that -- that is not lawful, that has a lot of loopholes and has a large national security concern. we want to solve the problem on daca, end chain migration, end the visa lottery system. we don't want to continue kicking the can down the road. if anyone is lazy, it's probably democrats who aren't showing up to work and not getting to the table on a deal with this. >> what does the president make of stock market volatility? does he have any regrets taking credit for the stock market thrive? sec. sanders: the economy is incredibly strong right now. the president's focus continues to be on the long-term economic fundamentals, which like i just

sent, are strong in this country. we are infinitely better off today than when the president took office. we have historically low unemployment. we have increasing wages for american workers. there is nothing that has taken place in our economy in the past few days that is fundamentally different than two weeks ago. >> do you have any second thoughts about taking credit for when the stock market goes up? sec. sanders: does the president have second thoughts about taking credit for a booming economy? absolutely not. >> [indiscernible] sec. sanders: the president has seen the memo. he met with davidian eternal john rosenstein -- with deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. we are undergoing the same process we did with the previous memo, in which it will go through a full and thorough

legal national security review. when that is completed, the president will be given a thorough briefing on the findings of the different organizations and stakeholders involved. we will make a determination at that time. >> the president made it clear to lawmakers he would release the republican memo. has he made any similar comments about the democratic mother? -- the democratic memo? sec. sanders: the process will take several days to complete. we will make a determination at that point. >> republican memo says he is completely vindicated. this weekend we heard from trey gowdy, who had a large part of writing that memo. to what extent does the president believe the republican memo vindicates him? sec. sanders: he has consistently called the russian investigation a witchhunt,

politically motivated, and this memo indicates the president's position that there was political bias in this. it's pretty simple. >> i think it is fair to say many members of the senate were surprised by the president's comments. unlesspresident saying there is an immigration compromise he is satisfied with, he will not sign the emerging budget compromise that mcconnell and schumer are working on? or is that separate from the talks? sec. sanders: we want into your budget deal. we will see what this looks like. -- we want a two year budget dela. al. >> they have to be together. sec. sanders: they are not mutually exclusive. >> would he sign a deal that does not include immigration reforms? sec. sanders: we do not expect the budget deal to include

specifics on immigration reform. we don't want to hold because -- we don't want to hold the government hostage because of these items. "i have seen the president's most ardent argumentsuse in weary that the president's comments were used as a joke, just sarcasm, but treason is not a punchline." can you say for the sake of the arguments withthe president'sfuture thate senator flake, that treasonous as a punchline is not a joking matter? sec. sanders: honestly, i'm not going to respond directly to senator flake's comments. i don't really care what senator say. has to i don't think his constituents do either. the president was clearly joking with his comments. what isn't a joke is that

democrats refuse to celebrate the accompaniments that have helped all-americans. what the country doesn't understand is why democrats are so upset about higher wages. that is something democrats refuse to celebrate the accompaniments that have helped all-americans. every american should not be crying about. democrats have to decide that they hate this president more than they love this country. i hope the answer is no. >> i want to ask you a question about stocks. news, thereeconomic thought among economists that given the current growth, injecting the economy with tax cuts could spark inflation. prices necessarily go up thoughg economists that given the current, and the prices people pay go up, and that is not a good thing. how keenly focused is the president on inflation fears? has the president spoken to chairman powell about whether interest rates should go up or not? sec. sanders: our team is in

close contact with the stakeholders in the process. our president's focus is on the long-term fundamentals. we will be focused on that. >> anything on interest rates one way or the other? sec. sanders: no specifics. >> the president in the white house argued it was important to release this memo for the sake of transparency. can the american people expect to see the democratic memo for the sake of transparency? sec. sanders: i think the american people can expect this memo to go through the exact same process the republican memo went through, which includes having national security having national security perspectives weigh in. >> why not the same -- sec. sanders: we did not release the memo prior to that review process being complete, and we are not going to do that this time. >> what about john kelly and his comments, indicating some dreamers are lazy.

does that kind of rhetoric help get a bipartisan deal done? sec. sanders: like i said, the administration is focused on actually solving this problem, not taking it down the road. we will focus on those conversations. >> capitol hill, chief of staff kelly said he did not think the president would be likely to extend the daca march deadline from the 5th. in davos, the president said if we need more time, we will take more time on daca. he said, "i might do that. i am not guaranteeing it, but i have the right to do it if i want." which is it? sec. sanders: we are hopeful we are going to get to a deal. we had laid out a generous offer offer thatgenerous meets the demands of the

democrats. it meets the pillars that we have laid out. elizabeth warren, chuck schumer -- all of these individuals have voted for a majority of the priorities we have laid out in this legislation in the past, although we have gone further on the daca component than obama ever could. that is a question democrats should be asked, what are you not supportive of this legislation? why are we not moving the ball forward? >> is he opened to extending the door cl, or is that osed? sec. sanders: we are hopeful we will get there before the deadline hits. >> on north korea and the vice president, when we have asked in recent days -- [indiscernible] whether he would be adjusted in meeting with north korean officials while traveling for saidlympics, they both

"we'll see." is the administration interested in talks with north korean officials? sec. sanders: i will not get ahead of the secretary of state. i think the answer remains the same. we'll see. >> can i get back to the chief reamers mayying the d have been too lazy to get off their asses. on the face of it, is internet a wildly -- isn't that a wildly offensive comment? sec. sanders: the only one that is offered a solution is this administration. the president gave 1.5 million eligible people a pathway to citizenship. he is planning a solution that addresses republicans and democrats concerns. it is hard to argue with that. >> isn't it on its surface? sec. sanders: that is something you would have to decide for yourself.

>> was the president ordered not to testify in front of robert mueller? sec. sanders: i would refer you ty cobatement from on that -- the council regarding how and under what terms information will be ty cob exchanged are understandably private. i will not go beyond that statement. >> on the economy and the shutdown, how isshutdown, how in that the president wants to show democrats they are wrong -- how is that shutdown going to help the economy? sec. sanders: the president wants solutions. he wants a two-year budget deal. he was 80 on immigration. -- wants a deal on immigration.

it is pretty simple. >> over the state of the union, if a it -- [indiscernible] what is so un-american about this, when this has gone on for all these years? sec. sanders: it is un-american not to be excited about the fact that more people in this country have jobs than ever before, that more people have higher wages than ever before, the fact that the economy is booming like it w asn't before, isis being crushed like it wasn't before. i don't care what party you are from, this is something everyone should be able to celebrate. >> he was talking about black unemployment -- sec. sanders: that's something everyone should be excited

about, that we are making progress. things are better today than they were a year ago. that is something we should be excited about. that is something we should be celebrating. he did not say it was perfect. he said we made progress. he said things are better. livesy before american's are improving, that is something we should all celebrate. about --s un-american >> [indiscernible] >> there have been numerous published reports that number in the fbi will be moved up to deputy director under director in the fbi wray. received both his presidential appointment as former head of los angeles fbi under former

director comey. given the administration's almost contumacious criticism of mr. comedirector comey. given[cheering] y-- >> [laughter] >> any objection to him moving to the spot under director wray? definitelys: you deserve the award for best and biggest use of a word. >> current government funding runs out thursday. the house voted to fund the government through march 23. the legislation now heading for action in the u.s. senate. live coverage of the house is tn c-span and the senate on c-span2. >> c-span's washington journal, live with news and policy issues that impact you. coming wednesday morning, oklahoma republican congressman steve russell will join us to discuss the latest on the deal to avoid a government shutdown in the government's waste watch report.

then we are live from jackson, mississippi for the next stop on the c-span 50 capitals tour. joining us will be attorney general jim hood, talking about key policy issues in his state. democratic congresswoman carolyn maloney on efforts to avoid a government shutdown, and volatility in u.s. financial markets. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal. join the discussion. >> c-span's history series, landmark cases, returns this month with a look at 12 new supreme court cases. each week and historians and experts join us to discuss the personal stories and issues behind these supreme court decisions. monday, february 26, live at 9:00 p.m. eastern. and to help you follow all the cases, we have a companion's guide. "landmark cases: volume two."

8.95 plus shipping. for yours, go to c-span.org/landmark cases. >> tonight on c-span, secretary defense james mattis testifies on military funding. then the senate armed services committee examines u.s. strategy in afghanistan. later, house debate on two bills related to sexual harassment. next, defense secretary james mattis and joint chiefs of staff vice chairman seven testify before the senate armed services community. secretary mattis stressed the need for stable funding for the military to the fully trained and ready. this is a 90 minute