thank you. white house press secretary sarah sanders to questions on issues including the president's announcement about a new import tariffs to be placed on steel and aluminum, his relationship with attorney general jeff sessions, and remarks from russian president vladimir putin about his country's nuclear arsenal. this is 15 minutes. ms. sanders: good afternoon. let me start by saying what a meaningful experience it was to attend yesterday's ceremony for

the reverend billy graham. reverend graham left this earth last week, but his legacy is going to live on for eternity. as the president said during his remarks, everywhere he went, reverend graham sent the message that was always his message, god loves you. that's a message we should consider more often. the president and the first lady will be attending the funeral in north carolina tomorrow. i would like to highlight some positive and important work to passingd tuesday by hr-165. it empowers state and federal prosecutors for holding web sites available for preventing sex trafficking. as you may recall the president met with survivors, law enforcement officials and victims advocates here at the white house. he made it clear that this administration will fight to hold sex traffickers accountable and ensure survivors have the support they need. this bill is an important step forward and the white house appreciates this on a bipartisan

basis. earlier this week i mentioned we would regularly highlight the historic discussion of the democrats and issue that threatens the safety and security of the american people. and as a reminder, compared to the four previous administrations, this senate has confirmed the fewest nominees, . half of the president's highly qualified nominees are waiting for confirmation. today we have another example. 276 days ago, kevin mcleenan was nominated to be commissioner of the u.s. customs and border direction. is primarily responsibility would be to help safeguard american borders, keeping terrorists and weapons out of our nation all while facilitating lawful and international trade. he should be prohibiting contraband from entering our nation but he is awaiting confirmation. senator schumer should stop putting the american people at risk and immediately confirm him. with that i will take your questions.

john? >> the president announced a little while ago tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that will take effect next week. 10% for aluminum, 25% for steel. he announced it even though find details and not been worked out. -- what countries will involved, whether there are any exemptions. the dow is down about 500 points as a result. allies including canada say this is unacceptable. why did the president announced this now, especially since the details have not been worked out? ms. sanders: well, the president is an announcing the intent to sign those actions next week. we are not going to get into any more details until those details are finalized but that is what he intends to do next weekend when he makes that announcement. >> is he concerned about the results of the effects his announcement has had so far? ms. sanders: the president is concerned about the men and women of this country who have been forgotten about. the industries our country was founded and built on.

this should not be a surprise to anybody. this is something the president has been talking about for decades. certainly something he talked about regularly a the campaign trail and something he is delivering on, making the clear today. those details in the actual announcement and signing will take place sometime next week. >> the president often talks about stock market in reaction to his presidency and he is surprised to see the market down after making this announcement without explanation on tariffs? and you have any detail on why he decided to announce it today? it seems kind of sudden when we were called into that event. it wasn't necessarily on the public schedule. ms. sanders: this is something again that the president has been talking about for a long time. it is not a surprise. we're going to continue doing what we can to protect the american workers. that is something that the president committed to in the campaign. it is something he feels is vitally important.

that part is new. he is announcing his intent to make those things happen next week, and when we have more details on that. >> did he make that decision today? ms. sanders: again, this is something that the president has wanted to do for quite some time. >> why was it a surprise for the press gather their? -- gathered there. it was not on the schedule. ms. sanders: i don't think that the president always tells you something first but it is certainly something he has been talking about for a for a long time. >> [inaudible] ms. sanders: these are conversations that the president has had for a long time and he's made his intentions very clear to the team at the white house. i don't think it came as a surprise to anybody here. between nowt change and next week? ms. sanders: i think that is the intent but until those details are finalized i won't get into specifics. >> a couple of questions. a number of members of this cabinet have fallen under public scrutiny.

the secretary-general for spending for first-class travel, ben carson spending $31,000 on a dining set. the president talked about how he is going to drain the swamp. does he plan on draining his cabinet? ms. sanders: in terms of if you're asking if he's getting rid of anybody on the cabinet, i'm not aware that that's taking place at any point. to be clear on secretary carson, the order that you referenced was cancelled and they're looking for another option that's much more responsible with taxpayer dollars. >> you've already said a number of times that the president will lose his confidence and he tells us, and he has confidence in these people. can you explain why the president has confidence in these people? there are numerous investigations into their spending. why did they have the president counting on this? ms. sanders: look, starting with the va, with secretary shulkin,

the president is glad for the job that he's been doing in reforming the va and modernizing the va. a lot of the movements that they've had there. and he supports him in those efforts, but they're also -- we have been reviewing these actions and making sure that we're being very responsible with taxpayer dollars. this is something that the president has asked all of his team to go back and look at. >> senator mcconnell up on capitol hill a few minutes ago said next week the senate would not be moving forward with the legislation, and cordin said they would be discussing regulation next week and not government legislation. after yesterday's session it seems that republicans are running away from what the president wanted a quick resolution on this front about. why didn't the president have the clout on capitol hill that the president -- that the republican president in congress, and why can't he seem to get congress to vent, as

-- to bend as well. ms. sanders: i don't think it's necessarily bending to his will. i think it's about an ongoing discussion about the best pieces of legislation that they can put forward. yesterday was certainly an important part of that. the president has met with a number of stakeholders. next week who will also be meeting with members of the video game industry to see what they can do on that front, as well. this is going to be an ongoing process and something that we don't expect to happen overnight, but something that we're going to continue to be engaged in and continue to look for the best ways possible to make sure we're doing anything we can to protect schools across the country. >> does the president want to get rid of his attorney general? ms. sanders: not that i know of. >> how about jared kushner? ms. sanders: no. >> is he becoming a distraction given the controversies that he's been at the center of in recent days? ms. sanders: jared is still a valued member of the administration and he'll continue to focus the work that he's been doing and we'll continue pushing forward on that front, as well. >> is there a conflict of interest given those meetings that he had with executives from

companies that gave his family business millions of dollars? ms. sanders: i would refer you to the statement that was put out by his attorney. >> you aren't concerned about this? ms. sanders: again, i will refer you back to the statement put out by his attorney. >> back on the tariff announcement, is the president concerned about the impact that this may have on america's allies like canada, the uk and the eu? ms. sanders: the president's biggest concern is making sure that we're doing everything we can to protect american workers and that was what his announcement on his intentions next week are specifically geared towards. this isn't something that he shied away from or something that he hasn't spoken about regularly and often or something that he's going to stop talking about at any point soon. >> is the president concerned about any retaliation? ms. sanders: not that i'm aware of. >> i wanted to ask you about a

comment and get your reaction, republican senator been sassy put out a statement in regards to these tariffs. he said the president is proposing the massive tax increase on american families , protectionism is weak, and not strong, and he concluded by writing, you'd expect a policy this bad from a leftist administration and not a supposedly republican one. do you have a comment on that? ms. sanders: i don't know that the president will or should ever apologize for protecting american workers, and certainly not to senator sasse. blake? >> thank you, sarah. let me try to drill down on this. you said you won't be getting into details at this point, so if there are details to get into , should we read into it that there will be exemptions for certain countries? ms. sanders: again, i'm not going to get ahead of the final details that will be put out next week. at this point there's no additional information to share as all of this is still being finalized. >> has the president made up in his mind which countries he

might exempt or is at least considering? ms. sanders: again, i'm not going to get into any details on this front and i don't have anything further to add on his intensions that will take place next week. we're a little bit tight so i'll keep moving. jordan? >> yesterday was the deadline that chairman gowdy set for the white house chief of staff to reply to this question about security clearances at the white house. was that request met with the chief of staff apply to chairman gowdy? ms. sanders: we're having conversations with the committee and we'll continue working with them and i can't go further than that, at this point. >> do you think that you might answer the committee? ms. sanders: again, we're in regular conversations with them and we'll continue working with them. trey? >> this week, the president expressed frustration with his attorney general and the department of justice as it relates to the process looking to fisa abuses. what would the president like to see done differently? ms. sanders: look, the president's made clear that he has a lot of concerns like you said with the current fisa process. nothing makes the problems of

fisa cleaner than what was outlined in both the republican and democrat memos. the fbi used political campaign material to get a warrant to spy on american citizens. they failed to disclose to the judge that the dossier was funded by the clinton campaign and the dnc even as it was being used to spy on people associated with the trump campaign. obviously, that alone shows us that the process needs to be looked at closely and reform to make sure that we're doing everything we can to protect the privacy of american citizens. >> as it relates to that tweet, could you elaborate between the relationship between the president and the attorney general? does president trump believe the attorney general is disgraceful? ms. sanders: the president has made frustrations very clear and i don't have anything else to add. dave? >> what was the president's reaction to what the mayor of oakland, california did last weekend when she tipped off residents that there was an imminent immigration raid coming? does he feel that the mayor broke the law now that the justice department's looking into that? ms. sanders: i think it's

outrageous that a mayor would circumvent federal authorities and certainly put them in danger by making a move such as that , and it's currently under review by the department of justice, and i don't have anything else to add. olivier? >> i have two for you. first, i know you're averse to providing details about the tariff plan. does the president plan to cut the plan with policies to mitigate the impact on say the auto industry? ms. sanders: again, i don't have anything else to add at this point. >> very open-ended and did you take putin's speech. about the nuclear weapons? ms. sanders: president putin has confirmed what the united states has known all along, which russia has denied. russia's been developing destabilizing weapons systems for over a decade in direct violations of its treaty obligations. president trump understands the threats facing america and our allies in this century and is determined to protect our homeland and preserve peace

through strength. u.s. defense capabilities are and will remain second to none, and now because of the new defense budget of $700 billion , our military will be far stronger than ever. as the president's new clear posture review made clear, -- america is moving forward to make sure our nuclear capabilities are unmatched. reporter: can you confirm or deny that the president has made a decision to vote for the for hisfor a successor communications director rather than promote from within. ms. sanders: the decision has not been made. the president's good senators, hasith he been in touch with either of them to discuss further the proposed universal gun ban?

ms. sanders: i know they were the part of -- attended meeting this week. the president also spoke with senator to me today. senator tommey today. i cannot say where we fall in position with that piece of legislation. have continuing to conversations and continuing to be engaged with members of congress across the board. reporter: jeff sessions was to be at the white house today for the opioid summit. did the president have an opportunity to speak to him? ms. sanders: not that i'm aware of. reporter: moving on to gun violence prevention. the president said yesterday that he would sign a bill and then he said "and i will call whoever you want me if i like what you're doing." if senators, if the house, if congress passes a bill that does deal with school safety, gun violence, is the president committed to sign whatever they

pass? ms. sanders: the president's not going to unilaterally say without seeing that piece of legislation, but he does want congress to come together and put forward a piece of legislation that addresses the safety in schools and gun violence specifically, and he laid out a number of things he'd like to see in that, and so we're hoping that congress would continue working with us and put a strong piece of legislation forward. i'll take one last question. hold on just a second. the president's headed over to speak at the opioid summit here momentarily. i'll take one last question. reporter: thank you, sarah. according to the white house readout, there was a phone call this morning between south korean moon jae-in and president trump. moon jae-in briefed him on the inter-korean talks, and the south korean government is also saying they plan to send a special envoy to north korea soon. how does the president feel about the dialogue between north

and south korea? does he will commit or is he concerned? does he feel president moon is being too soft on north korea? ms. sanders: the president wants to continue working with south korea. it's a strong ally. we have no daylight between the two of us. we are going to continue those conversations, and again, the ultimate goal is to denuclearize the peninsula. that's what we're focused on, and we're excited about any steps moving in this process. thank you so much guys. i'll move out and the president will be speaking here in a couple of minutes. >> c-span's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. ining up friday morning,

light of the recent school shooting in florida, experts weigh in on gun control legislation, school safety. join the conversation all morning with your phone calls, emails, facebook comments, and tweets. sure to watch washington journal, joined the discussion. -- be sure to watch washington journal, joined the discussion. at friday, the funeral for billy graham at his home in north carolina. eastern,2 at 9:00 a.m. a forum on u.s.-israel relations and foreign policy. organization,dent students for liberty, holding their annual conference. at c-span3 at 9:00 a.m., a discussion on trade policy under the trump administration. his annual state of the nation address, russian president vladimir putin unveiled what he called a new toeration of missiles lawmakers and diplomats.

russian elections are march 18, and he is expected to win reelection. in his remarks, he talked about russia's new weapons systems, his country's military preparedness, and he showed videos of the new missile defense system. this is two hours. [speaking russian] ♪ [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you.