others, what we saw in the march, a commitment to change the debate on guns, the commitment to not only march but to organize and influence the election and have a turnout of people saying enough is enough on guns, whether that can change republicans' attitudes or vote them out of office if they do not change. host: senator rubio is one who spoke to students. we asked about influence. he responded. this is according to the huffington post saying the influence of these groups comes not from money, it comes from -- the millions of people who we express sympathies to those injured in the fire, and separately as many of you saw the president ordered the

expulsion of dozens of russian intelligence officers and the closure of the russian consulate in seattle. this action ends in response of russia's excuse of a military great weapon used in the united kingdom and taken in conjunction with allies and partners around the world, including more than a dozen countries in the eu and nato and others around the world. makes the yes safer by reducing russia's ability to spy on americans and conduct covert operations applicant america's national security. the u.s. ands, allies and partners around the world make clear that russia actions. have consequences we stand ready to cooperate to build better wretches with russia but this can only happen with a change in the russian government's behavior. looking ahead to next week, the president will welcome leaders of gastonia, latvia, and lithuania to the white house on

april 3. president trump and the three baltic heads will celebrate that of the independence and set the stage for another century of strong ties between our countries. the u.s. baltic summit will focus on how to strengthen trade, andusiness, partnerships. the visit will also highlight achievements including economic growth, recent success in meeting nato's defense, and spending pledges. easterual white house and cut will take place the week from today and we invite the press to bring your kids to the event and police work has office to secure tickets. with that i will take questions. thursday, what does officials on the stage were warning that he threatened --

and 10 days ago sarah said that h.r. mcmaster at the president's confidence in leaving the white house. -- then there was a shakeup can you speak of the white house's credibility? why should the american people trust anything this administration is telling us? mr. shah: our job is to give you the best information we have available to us and the most accurate information in a timely fashion. sometimes the dynamics are fluent in any given situation. mattersioned personnel and facts and circumstances change and we continue to give you the best information we can as quickly as possible. can you state categorically if the president is campaigning and trump organization to not violate election law regarding that payment?

mr. shah: i can only speak for the white house. the white house did not engage in any wrongdoing. -- they can or mr.: address anything with respect to their actions. with respect to the interview, i would say president strongly and clearly and consistently has denied underlying claims and the only person was been inconsistent is the one making the claims. >> regarding the russian sanctions -- the president has not personally said anything about the expulsion of these diplomats. in his phone call last week with president putin he decided not to confront him on the attacks despite the advice he was given for ms. national security adviser and went on to congratulate you can on that phone call. how do you address that actions being taken with a entirely the front approach than the president? mr. shah: though statements

coming from the press secretary on this outlined our approach to this, which is our relationship with russia is up to the russian government and up to let -- we want a cooperative relationship and the president wants to work with russia but their actions don't allow that to happen. the poisoning in the u.k. that led to today's announcements was a brazen action. it a reckless action that endangered not just to individuals poison but many innocent civilians. this is not the type of conduct that the u.s. or allies can accept. the president remains open in working with russians in areas of mutual concern. counterterrorism and others. that is up to the russians to decide. >> does the president believe of the brazen actions -- why did he congratulate putin at the

opportunity? withhah: we did secure putin on that call some positive interaction when it comes to nuclear arms. there are certainly positive developments from the call and the president will continue diplomacy with russia and putin. this action by the president is cleared and we are hardened that it comes in conjunction with over a dozen allies within nato and the eu. >> you mentioned it was brazen and practice -- does the attack on the soil of valued allies rise to the level of an act of war? mr. shah: we have been joined at the hip with the u.k. on this matter. we stand firmly with our allies. it was both brazen and reckless and i don't want to get ahead of what the president will announce later on. >> you mentioned the president

antinues to maintain consistent story that he did not do what has been alleged by mr. daniels. did you watch the interview last night? mr. shah: i am not going to get into what the president may or may not have seen, but he consistently denies these allegations. >> was the president aware of a physical threat made -- back in 2011? mr. shah: the president doesn't believe any claims that miss daniels made. >> what is your basis for that? mr. shah: he just doesn't believe -- there is nothing to corroborate her claim. did he have dinner with --?

there were claims made on that. mr. shah: i am not going to get into that, there were clips late in the morning news shows, and i will say he has denied accusations that she made last night and has been consistent in doing so and she has not. the expulsion, three weeks passed since the attack, what took so long? mr. shah: actions like this take time and we coordinated and want this to be a joint effort in which the u.s. is joining both the european union and nato allies. >> and the russian foreign minister is that the need retaliation with other countries involved in the expulsion, your response to that? mr. shah: this action cannot be tolerated and the u.s. is responding to russia's action, as i called it, brazen and reckless. ussia,o work with ra and the ball is in their court

with how they respond. >> listening to a diplomatic experts with what happened with russia, it will say you have to hit russia where the parts and yet the section them economically and go after puritans cronies and go after -- putin's cronies. what the president consider sectioning about amir putin and his cronies to sanction them on what happened in the u.k. and also for meddling in the 2016 elections? mr. shah: u.s. has issued sanctions on key russian oligarchs in relation to meddling with the 2016 election so i would enclose any doors or preclude any action come up with the president doesn't telegraph his moves. >> there is this massive march in washington led by students florida and the president did not tweet about it and hasn't said anything about this. what is the white house response to this and are the actions that the president signed into law last week strengthening some of

the background checks? is that the end of it? is the president going to do more on the gun safety issue? question onut the republican lawmakers, are you afraid of the nra? mr. shah: the president respects first amendment rights and there were actions that he sent it to law on friday, the on you this bill that included over $2 billion in funding for school safety. stop school violence billas also the fix nics on the background checks come and the department of justice announced a new rule that banne d bump stock devices and the president is a strong believer of the second amendment but believes other measures can be taken at the federal and state level to improve school safety. he mentioned hardening schools and talked about these extreme risk and protective orders can

engage in so there's a whole lot can be done. this wednesday, the school safety commission chaired by secretary devos will meet for the first time and fruitful ideas can come from that. about davetalk shelton and if you will be fired face-to-face? mr. shah: i have nothing to add to that. why and hasxplain been the president's practice or those associated with the president to offer compensation to people to keep silent? why would the president do that and white has he done that? mr. shah: -- >> why has he done that? areshah: the false charges said in court a lot of time and this is nothing outside of the ordinary. >> why would in this case be paid to a woman in the days before the election? you are safe she made false claims but why then what they

pay her? areshah: false charges settled out of court all the time and can ask michael: about this. >> why haven't we heard from him? mr. shah: you can ask the president. thates the white house see -- as talks between president trump and kim jong-un and as china offered to host that summit? mr. shah: we can't confirm reports and don't know this is early if they are true. with our state is where we are with north korea is in a better place than we used to because the president's campaign in conjunction with dozens of countries around the world has paid dividends and has brought the north koreans to the table. forward to a potential summit in the months ahead. >> is the white house believe

the nation's veterans are better served by having jacob sullivan as secretary? mr. shah: i have no announcements to make at this time. how much longer is a secretary worker with this administration? mr. shah: i have no announcement. >> there's a party that prime minister netanyahu has informed foreign ministers that the u.s. is likely to vote out of the iran deal in may, can you confirm that? mr. shah: i can't confirm that but what i can tell you is the president has been clear since january when he gave remarks about this. and he thinksears it is one of the worst agreements the u.s. has ever made internationally. insisted on changes both at the congressional level and also with our european partners. if changes aren't made the president is prepared to potentially withdraw from the agreement. announcedt of these

expulsions of russian is thegence agents, president going full steam ahead with the russian president vladimir putin? mr. shah: we have no announcements of a potential meeting or summit. we want to work with russia and we have areas of mutual concern that we can work with them. i mentioned counterterrorism, and there is general global stability and other matters want to work with russia. the ball is in their court and it is up to them if we will have a fruitful and constructive relationship. >> the meeting with the president -- after they have done what the u.s. alleged, but what they have done. they poisoned a former russian spy on british soil and punish them for it. why at this point, and also, is it a gift give them a meeting with the president of the u.s.? mr. shah: again, there is no

meeting announced. >> it is said that there is a workaround of a supreme court ruling that is unconstitutional, what is that workaround and it is it something the white house is pursuing? mr. shah: the president outlined what he is frustrated with the legislation that he was given. it was a massive spending bill handed at the 11th hour. spending by congress hasn't been executed properly since 1996. they haven't had individual spending bills for two decades so this on to this process, the president wants reform and he talked about any filibuster and find items he has to pass. anything that is passed, he was to fix the budget process and his message to leaders in congress of both parties is that if something similar happens again he is inclined to veto it. is there a workaround to the

supreme court ruling that is unconstitutional? mr. shah: there are things discussed but i don't want to get ahead of anything that may come out in favor of. >> thank you, raj. last week the senator went made a strong speech in which he now denounced the necessity to use culture on appointments and called for a new agreement similar to the bipartisan agreement senator 2013er and republicans and allowed several votes on a nomination to come up and not require the culture so much. senator talked to barrasso about this and has the senator talk to him and his us up and the administration endorses? aware of a am not

conversation, and i would generally agree with the concept but not having seen the details, i cannot comment. >> all signs are president lcc will be reelected without opposition. does the president tried to call him? mr. shah: i don't have any plans to read out to you. spoke toesident vladimir putin last week and today we saw this major action by the u.s. to ex-mlb's russian expel these to russian diplomat's. speakd the president not about the poisoning when he's book the putin on the phone? he addressed this repeatedly and he addressed it in the quad statement this action right now. the president ate his position

in the countries position clear -- the president made his position clear. >> i would like to ask how you would describe the relation between president trump and the secretary? mr. shah: i don't want to comment on it specifically. >> what is it that stormy spaniels said that is inconsistent -- daniels said that is inconsistent? i think one or 30 diplomats from 18 countries -- what was the u.s. role in this and can you tell us more about the president's role in what looks at a coordinated effort? mr. shah: this was a coordinated effort and the president spoke to many leaders and others and encouraged them to join the u.s.

in this announcement. we think this is not just an important message to send to the russian government but also significant in the grading their intelligence capabilities around the world, not just the u.s. outhe president has come about the importance that law enforcement place in this country. as he commented at all about the death of stephon clark? and shot by a police officer and a lot of protest happening across the country as a result. mr. shah: i haven't asked directly the obviously the president cares about any individual who is harmed no fault of their own. i don't want to comment any further. >> before you leave could you speak to that? did he know?

[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] announcer: live coverage continues on c-span and a discussion on gun violence and the second amendment and will be hearing from committee leaders and public experts as well as gun rights advocates. and this evening a discussion on privacy with widespread surveillance and the use of data i government corporations. one of the topics expected is the improper use of facebook data by a clinical research firm. live coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. announcer: tonight on landmark v of, join us for gideon the story of clarence gideon, a petty thief who spent time in

jail study the law and challenged florida student can access to a attorney. are you ready for trial? >> the state is ready? do you plead guilty that plead not guilty by reasons of insanity. , no separate >> why aren't you ready? >> i have no counsel. >> it went on to establish a broader sixth amendment right. 40 -- 43rd -- and a partner at the kirkland and alice law firm. and a professor of law and political science at yale and a visiting law professor at the university of pennsylvania law school. watch landmark cases live tonight at nine eastern on c-span, c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app.

and website has resources on each case. and you can download the 30 minute landmark cases at c-span.org or from your podcast. -- podcast subscriber. >> arizona republican senator was in manchester, new hampshire, where the primary was held. article ofpeech trump at the politics and eggs breakfast. running for president. senator flake says he has no plans to run for president in 2020, but he hasn't entirely ruled it out. this is about an hour.