>> i am trying to get you to care about someone who was born in a different country, has a different color skin than you did, a totally different background, and tried to make you care about their lives and understand the parallels between yours and theirs. >> former reagan advisor and advocate for trickle down economics. >> it is really, really true there are consequences to taxation. and those consequences are the same across the whole spectrum. you cannot tax an economy into prosperity, period. >> this week in primetime on c-span. minutes we will be live with a discussion on privacy concerns raised by surveillance and data used by governments and corporations, including the use of facebook

data by the political research firm cambridge analytic.sa -- analytic of. -- cambridge analytica. until then, the white house press briefing. [crowd noise] mr. shah: good afternoon. let me start by saying the united states is deeply saddened by the news of yesterday's tragic fire in siberia. the american people extend our deepest sympathies to the russian people, the families of those who lost their lives and were injured in the fire. separately, as many of you saw, the president or the expulsion of russian

intelligence officers. this is a response to russia's use of a chemical weapon in united kingdom, and was taken in conjunction with our allies and partners around the world. including more than a dozen countries in the eu, and nato, and others around the world. today's actions make united states safer by reducing russia's ability to spy on --ricans and to convert conduct covert operations and threaten national security. the u.s. and allies and partners make clear to russia that actions have consequences. we stand ready to cooperate, to build a better rushed -- relationship with russia but this can only happen with a change in the russian government's behavior. looking ahead, the president will welcome the leaders of estonia, lot via, and lithuania to the white house on april 3. president trump and the three baltic heads of state will

celebrate the 100th anniversary of estonia, lafayette and lithuania -- latvia's and lithuania's and defendants. the summit will focus on how to strengthen security, business, trade, energy, and cultural partnerships. the visit will highlight baltic states achievements since independence, including the economic growth, recent success in meeting nato's defense and spending pledges. a quick reminder, the white house easter egg roll will be a week from today. we are inviting the white house press corps to bring your kids to the event. please work with the press office to secure your tickets. zeke? >> first, on thursday white house officials were on the stage -- on friday morning he threatened to veto. said h.r.o he

mcmaster had his support. thursday we found out he was leaving the white house. there was a shakeup last week. can you talk to the white house's credibility and why the people should trust anything administration is telling us. mr. shah: our job as an administration is the best information we have available to us, the most accurate information in a timely fashion. sometimes the dynamics are fluid in any given situation. you mentioned personnel matters. facts and circumstances change. 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 -- did not violate election loss regarding that payment? -- election laws regarding that payment?

mr. shah: i can only speak for the white house. the white house did not engage in any wrongdoing. can campaign for mr. cohen address anything with respect to their actions. with respect to the interview, i would say president strongly and currently and has consistently denied underlying claims and the only person was been inconsistent is the one making the claims. >> regarding the russian actions announced earlier today, 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 putin on the attacks despite the advice he was given by his 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 -- entirely different approach than the president? mr. shah: though statements coming from the press secretary on this in the last sentence

outlines in our approach to this which is our relationship with , russia is up to the russian government and up to vladimir putin and other senior leadership in russia. we want a cooperative relationship with russia. the president wants to work with russia but their actions don't allow that to happen. the poisoning in the u.k. that has led to today's announcement was a brazen action. it a reckless action that endangered not just two individuals poison but many innocent civilians. this is not the type of conduct that the united states or our allies can accept. but the president remains open in working with russians in areas of mutual concern. counterterrorism for example and others. that is really up to the russians to decide. >> does the president believe of the brazen and reckless action, why did he not say so to putin when he had the opportunity to do that? mr. shah: we did secure with

putin on that call some positive interaction when it comes to nuclear arms. so there are certainly positive , developments from the call and the president will continue diplomacy with russia and putin. but this action by the president is very clear. we are heartened that it comes in conjunction with over a dozen allies within nato and the eu. >> you mentioned it was brazen and reckless. does the attack on the soil of a valued allies rise to the level of an act of war? is that the administration's policy here? mr. shah: we have been joined at the hip with the u.k. on this matter. we stand firmly with our allies. again, i will classify this action is both brazen and reckless and i don't want to get , ahead of what the president may or may not announcer declare later on. >> you mentioned the president

continues to maintain his consistent story that he did not do what has been alleged by mr. -- ms. 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 has consistently denies these allegations. >> thank you. was the president aware of a physical threat made against ms. daniels back in 2011? mr. shah: the president doesn't believe any claims that ms. daniels made. >> what is your basis for that? mr. shah: be just is not believe -- -- there is nothing to corroborate her claim. >> city had dinner with michael cohen at mar-a-lago on saturday? mr. shah: yes, he did.

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 there it -- doing so. she has not. >> on the expulsion, three weeks passed since the attack, what took so long? mr. shah: actions like this take time and we coordinated with over a dozen allies who wanted this to be a joint effort. the u.s. is joining both the european union and nato allies. >> the spokesperson for the russian foreign minister has now announced retaliation with other countries involved in the expulsion, your response to that? mr. shah: this action cannot be tolerated. the u.s. is responding to russia's action, as i called it, brazen and reckless. this is a u.s. response. we want to work with russia, and the ball is in their court with respect to how they want to respond. >> if you listen to national security experts, diplomatic

experts on what will happen with russia, they will say you have to hit russia where it hurts. that you have to hit russia where it hurts, you have to sanction them economically, you have to go after putin's cronies, you have to go after putin himself, potentially. would this president considers inching vladimir putin or his cronies to punish them and russia for what happened anyway and also for meddling in the 2016 election? shah: i would not close any doors. i would not preclude any potential action, but the president is not telegraph his moves. >> this weekend, there was a massive march here in washington led by the students from parkland, florida. the president did not tweet about it, he is not really said anything about this. what is the white house response to this, and or the actions that the president signed into law last week strengthening some

of the background checks and whatnot, is that the end of it? is the president going to do any more on the gun safety issue? and what about that question he asked of republican lawmakers -- are you afraid of the nra? doeshah: the president respect everybody's first amendment right, and he wants their voices to the heard. as you mentioned, there were actions he cited law on friday, be on the bill. it included over $200 billion in funding for school safety. he sponsored the school violence act and the fix nics bill, the background check portion that you mentioned. also on friday, the department of justice effectively banned bump stock devices. strongsident is a believer in the second amendment, but he does believe other measures could potentially be taken both of the federal and state level to improve school safety. he has talked about these extreme risks, protective orders that states can engage entering there is a lot that can be done.

this wednesday, the school safety commission, chaired by be meetingevos, will for the first time. we hope some fruitful ideas will come from that. mike. to speak togoing the media, on twitter, to give us an update on the? mr. shah: i have no personnel on the. >> regarding stormy daniels, can is ok forn why it those associated with the president to offer compensation to people to give them silent? why have the president done that or caused others to do that? mr. shah: i would have michael cohen address any thing you are recurring to. false charges are brought all the time. that is nothing out of the ordinary. >> why in this case would $130,000 be paid to a woman in the days before the election? you say she made false claims, but why would $130,000 be paid to her?

mr. shah: false charges are set it out of court all the time. he would have to ask michael cohen. >> you said he denies the claims. why haven't we heard from him? jen?shah: he jen: on north korea, bloomberg news has reported that the white house is in china right now. has china offered to host that summit? mr. shah: we cannot confirm those reports. we do not know if they are necessarily true. what i will say is where we are with north korea is in a better place than we usedto be because maximumident''s pressure campaign has paid dividends and have brought the north koreans to the table, so we are looking forward to a potential summit some months in advance. does the white house believe that the nation's veterans are best served by david chilton?

mr. shah: i have no personnel announcements to make at this time. >> how much longer can the secretary effectively work in the administration? mr. shah: as i said, no personnel. information > you have said that from mr. netanyahu has begun informing france and germany administrators that the u.s. is likely to pull out of the iran deal. can you tell us about that? mr. shah: the president has been clear since january. he has gone back years and says it is the worst agreement unites states has made internationally. thes consistent both that congressional level and with european partners. if changes aren't made, the president is prepared to potentially withdraw from the agreement. john.