john mccain. he was such a maverick that i like. he was brutally honest. he is able to take on his own party. there are some things where i think barack obama let the progressive side down. john mccain said his party was not living up to what republicans should be and he would say so. >> watch sunday night at 9:00 eastern. >> next, white house press secretary santa sanders -- sarah sanders gets questions about the justice department's report. reporters also asked about the ministry should them a great and policy.

sarah: good afternoon. on tuesday, june 19, president trump will deliver remarks at the nfib 75th anniversary lunch. nfib is america's leading small business association promoting and protecting the right of americans to own, operate and grow their businesses. the president will highlight the strong american economy and tout the benefits we are seeing from tax reform and de-regulation, including that small business optimism has hit its highest level in more than 30 years. as you know, national economic council director and assistant to the president, larry kudlow, was discharged from the hospital

and is recovering at home. the president has spoken with we will look forward to having him back here at the white house soon. tonight at nationals park, republicans and democrats in congress will put aside their political differences to play america's game. after last year's horrible shooting at the g.o.p. practice, where capitol police acted heroically in the line of fire to save lives, we're excited to see those who were injured return to the field, including majority whip steve scalise. those injured fought hard for this moment and we'll be proudly cheering them on. i heard the republican team looks pretty good in practice and they're headed for a victory. lastly, on june 14 we celebrate flag day, commemorating the adoption of our american flag, which we all proudly stand for. the founding of our brave u.s. army. and last, but certainly not least, we would like to wish the president a very, very happy birthday. if i do say so, i don't think he looks a day over 35. with, that i'll take your questions.

[laughter] sucking up. reporter: thank you. if you would, please, comment on the recently released i.g. report. your impressions of what you've read so far, and have you had an opportunity to discuss with the president the new york attorney general's idea of suing the trump foundation to have it shut down in the state of new york? sarah: the president was briefed on the i.g. report earlier today and it reaffirms the president's suspicions about comey's conduct and the political bias among some of the members of the f.b.i. director ray will be holding a press conference later this afternoon and we'd encourage to you tune in for specific questions. as to your other question, the president has tweeted about this, specifically earlier today. the foundation raised $18 million while giving $19 million to charity, while virtually

having zero expenses. the previous new york a.g. who was forced to retire in disgrace made it a stated mission to use this matter to advance his own political gain and the current acting new york a.g. has stated that battling the white house is the most important job she's ever done. that sounds outrageously biased and certainly problematic. and very concerning. reporter: in the state of the union, the president had really harsh words for north korea. he said no regime has oppressed its own citizens more brutally than north korea. why is he now down playing north korea's horrific atrocities? sarah: the president hasn't down played. like you said, the president has razed the north korean human abuse records. he also raised them at the similarity -- razed them at the summit. that happened earlier this week. but the purpose of the summit was denuclearization and peace object peninsula and that was the purpose of the president's conversation and that's the focus what have took place there. reporter: he said a lot of other people have done some really bad

things. how is that not down playing the atrocities? sarah: again, certainly that's a factual statement. a lot of people have done some bad things. however, the president hasn't ignored the bad things that have been done by the north korean regime. he's directly called it out on a number of occasions, as yourself mentioned, and he brought it up, and again the purpose of the summit was to work toward denuclearization. reporter: could you confirm that there is a meeting today and chinese tariffs coming tomorrow? there is a report -- sarah: yes, there is a trade meeting today. in terms of any announcements, i'll keep you posted when we have something to announce. reporter: there has been a report that 800 to 900 chinese products will be on that tariffs list. it seems like quite a high

number, even though i guess the highest number is 1,300. if that number is higher than it really is, could you tell us now? sarah: i'm not making any announcements, it would be hard for me to give details of an announcement we're not quite ready to make. we'll keep you posted. but beyond that, i can't get into any details. david. reporter: thank you. two questions if you don't mind. the president said earlier this week that he did speak with kim jong un about human rights abuses. can you tell us exactly a areas of concern they talked about and what was it the work camps, torture, public execution, the lack of freedom of religion of the press, kidnapping, women's rights, what did they talk about? sarah: they covered a number of different topics. a couple that you listed. i'm not going to get into all of the details of their private conversation but i can tell you, as the president has already publicly stated, that he did bring up human rights abuses of the north korean regime.

jim. reporter: rudy giuliani spent 20 minutes today talking with one of our reporters about his love life and proclaimed that, in his words, he's not going to be a priest if he's separated from his third wife. has this become too big of a distraction, to the point where the president is going to get a new lawyer? also on, that he said his soon to be ex-judith called the president last week. can you tell us what they talked about? sarah: not today or tomorrow or at any point ever am i going to comment on rudy giuliani's love life. i will be glad to leave that to you and the reporter that spoke with him and i'm not aware of a call and don't have any information on that. reporter: can you tell us why the president saluted the north koreans when he was over in singapore? sarah: it's a common courtesy when a military official from another government salutes, that you return that. reporter: a second question completely unrelated.

on these children who are being separated from their families as they come across the border. the attorney general earlier today said that somehow there's a justification for this in the bible. where does it say in the bible that it's moral to take children away from their mothers? sarah: i'm not aware of the attorney general's comments or what he would be referencing. i can say that it is very biblical to enforce the law. that is actually repeated a number of times throughout the bible. hold on, jim. if you'll let me finish. again, i'm not going to comment on the attorney's specific comments that i haven't seen. reporter: you just said it's in the bible to follow the law. sarah: i know it's hard for you to understand, even short sentences, i guess, but -- please don't take my words out of context. the separation of illegal alien families is the product of the same legal loopholes that democrats refuse to close and these laws are the same that have been on the books for over a decade. and the president is simply enforcing them. reporter: how is it moral policy to take children away from their parents?

sarah: it's a moral policy to follow and enforce the law. reporter: when they come across the border, they're with their parents and suddenly they're pulled away from their parents. why is the government doing this? sarah: because it's the law and that's what the law states. reporter: you don't have to do that. sarah: you're right, it doesn't have to be the law and the president has called on democrats in congress to fix those loopholes. the democrats have failed to come to the table, failed to help this president close these loopholes and fix this problem. we don't want this to be a problem. the president has tried to address it on a number of occasions. we've laid out a proposal and democrats simply refuse to do their job and fix the problem. sorry, jim. i've given you enough times. reporter: there is no law that requires families be separated

at the border. this is the administration's choice. to move from civil matters on immigration to criminal. why does the administration find that this was necessary and if it continues to not have much of a deterrent effect, will you continue the policy? sarah: the laws have been on the books for over a decade and the president is enforcing them. we would like to fix the broken system that our immigration -- and fix our immigration problem. however, until democrats are willing to actually fix this problem, it's going to continue. but we would like to see it fixed. reporter: it's policy change from handling civil matters to criminal prosecution. sarah: it's not a policy change to enforce the law. that's been this administration's policy since the day we got here. reporter: he made the decision in april. sarah: it's been our administration policy -- reporter: they said it's a deterrent. they're separating families to deter people from coming here illegally. sarah: our administration has had the same position since we started, that we were going to enforce the law. i know it was something that was not high on the priority list in the previous administration. but it is on ours. we're a country of law and order and we're enforcing the law and protecting our borders.

we would like to fix these loopholes and if democrats want to get serious about it instead of playing political games, they're welcome to come here and sit down with the president and actually do something about it. reporter: don't you have any empathy? come on, sarah. you're a parent. don't you have any empathy for what these people are going through? they have less than you do. sarah: guys, settle down. reporter: seriously. sarah: i'm trying to be serious but i'm not going to have you yell out of turn. reporter: these people have nothing. sarah: i know you want to get some more tv time, but that's not what this is about. i want to recognize you -- go ahead, jill. reporter: honestly, answer the question. it's a serious question. these people have nothing. they come to the border with nothing. and you throw children in cages. you're a parent. you're a parent of young children. don't you have any empathy for what they go through? sarah: jill, go ahead. reporter: does the president really believe that crimea is part of russia? because everyone there speaks russian? and the second question, the president has said that kim jong un told him that north korea is destroying -- sarah: let me answer your first question. i'm not aware of any comment like that.

i know it's been reported but i'm not going to comment on a private conversation i wasn't a part of that i don't have information on. second part. reporter: the president -- said kim jong-un told him that north korea was working to destroy a major missile engine testing site. is that the site? sarah: we'll have specific details later. we're working with the department of defense and we'll make sure we get you guys that information. trey. reporter: two questions on i.g. report. earlier this year the president suggested that the d.o.j. inspector general was, quote, an obama guy. how does the president view him today and does he feel this investigation -- [inaudible] -- sarah: again, the president thinks that this report reaffirms the suspicions he had about comey. and director ray is going to hold a press conference later today and i would encourage you to tune in for that. reporter: the text message exchange between -- sarah: sorry, go ahead. reporter: the text message exchange highlighted in the report between lisa page and peter struck. the f.b.i. agent, peter struck, said, we'll stop it.

he was referring to candidate trump becoming president. did the president have any reaction to this information when you spoke with him after he was briefed today? sarah: certainly, again, causes a great deal of concern. and i think points out the political bias that the president's been talking about and that has been repeatedly mentioned from this administration, that we found to be a huge problem and we're glad they're looking into it. reporter: the president or anyone else from the trump foundation, use funds to pay for personal business or campaign? sarah: i'm not aware of any of that taking place. reporter: can you definitively say no? sarah: i'm not aware of it. i'd have to get more information. but i'd refer you to the trump foundation for that specific point. sarah: i haven't spoken to him about that specifically. reporter: let me follow up. president trump said several months ago he doesn't think michael cohen is going to flip. is that still the case? sarah: i didn't hear the last part of your question. reporter: president trump tweeted several months ago that

he doesn't think michael cohen is going to flip. does he still think that's the case? sarah: i'd refer you back to the president's comment. reporter: two questions, please. thank you. first, there have been reports on almost a daily basis and in detail about e.p.a. head scott pruitt doing things that border on the unethical and almost on a daily basis republican members of congress call for his resignation. what is his status within the administration and does the president have confidence in him to remain as administrator? sarah: certainly we have some areas of concern in some of these assessments. but i don't have any personnel announcements at this point. reporter: my second question is, congressman mark sanford blamed the president's tweet as the final straw in his defeat, making him the second republican house member to go down in defeat.

this is the first time in 48 years a sitting president, has opposed a member of congress, of his own party. does the president intend to speak out for primary challenges to other critics of him within the congress? and if so, who? sarah: i don't have any announcements on any candidates that the president may or may not endorse and wouldn't be able to address that from this venue. i'll come back to you. reporter: first, on the two immigration bills that the house is considering. does the president have a preference for one over the other? or are both just fine with him? sarah: if the process leads to a permanent solution as outlined by the president, we would support it. we've laid out what we want to see. if this gets to a permanent solution, then he would support it. reporter: another question about

immigration. you blame the democrats for not closing the loopholes. republicans control both houses of congress and despite the president's repeated preference for mitch mcconnell to get rid of the legislative filibuster so they could pass something without democratic votes, they have not done that. so don't republicans take some responsibility for the immigration laws? sarah: if a handful of democrats wanted to solve this problem, we could quickly get it done. but they don't. they've refused to come to the table and actually be part of a solution instead of just playing political games and attacking the president. >> the president has asked numerous times it rid of the legislative filibuster. >> the majority of republicans support fixing the loopholes. the president wants to work with them. we want to get something done. we've laid out a proposal to do that. and we are hopeful that congress, democrats in congress, will come together and actually fix the system. >> no responsibility for the immigration --

immigration problems at the boarder? sarah: the president wants to fix it. we've laid out a number of different plans and proposals that would close these loopholes and we continue to be ready and willing to work with congress to get it done. reporter: on immigration, what does the president want to see the house of representative does in the next week? sarah: we've laid that out. we'd like to see a permanent solution to fix the loopholes and secure the border. reporter: on daca? an upcoming vote, is there a particular vote he favors? sarah: he wants to see all of the different components that we laid out several months ago addressed and if any of the legislation comes to the table that would create a permanent solution, that does that, then we would support it. reporter: on that subject. the presence threat of tariffs. that does that mean he will withdraw from nafta in the coming days? sarah: don't have any announcements on that. reporter: to follow up on the question of whether the president believes the inspector general was thorough. there's been call for a second special counsel. would the president support an inquiry into the special

counsel's report or does this settle the matter? sarah: this creates a great deal of concern and we're going to tune in to director ray's comments this afternoon. but certainly there are a lot of things in this report that not only worry those of us in the administration, but should worry a lot of americans, that people played this political bias and injected that into a department that shouldn't have any of that. reporter: to follow up on that. does the president believe that peter struck should still have a job at the f.b.i.? sarah: i haven't specifically asked him that question but my guess would be no. one last question. reporter: there are a number of officials at the white house are reportedly eyeing the exit. including mark short and yourself. can you give us a sense of what to expect? are any of those officials leaving and what's the plan to replace all those high-level people? sarah: i don't know there's a need to replace them. as i stated last night in a tweet, i think cbs got a little

ahead of their skis. particularly since they put out a story about my thinking without ever actually talking to me. seems that would be problematic. in terms of personnel announcements, i don't have any to make. i can tell you that i show up here every day, i love my job, i'm glad to work for the president. each and every day i'll pray for clarity and discernment on what my future looks like. right now i think the country looks pretty good and i'm glad to get to be a part of that process and i'm going to continue to do my job. thanks so much, guys. have a great day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] house speaker paul ryan spoke to reporters about immigration legislation. and said he doesn't want kids to be separated from their parents. this briefing is 10 minutes.