happy about it and he should not. there has never been a president as tough on russia as i have been. day, sarah the sanders was asked about the remarks. we will show you that briefing in its entirety, about 25 minutes. >> good afternoon. president will be traveling to kansas city, missouri, next tuesday. he will address the veterans of one wars convention. he is committed to our veterans to ensure the v.a. -- the u.s. senate confirmed randy

quarles. his nominationte was delayed. there are three more nominees who have yet to receive a vote. it is inexcusable democrats have delayed the nominees. commissionern of a on the trading commission. there is no opposition, but she has been waiting for 400 days. we urge senate democrats to stop these delays. lastly, on behalf of the president and the white house, we offer prayers for a secret service special agent and his family.

the president and the first lady are deeply grateful for his service to his country. we are forever in their debt. i will take your questions. ifearlier, it was asked russia was targeting the u.s. can review said, no. did he understand the question? his decision, no, russia is not doing anything? >> i had a chance to speak with the president. he said, thank you very much. said no to answering questions. they are working very hard to make sure russia is unable to eddle in our elections as they have done in the past and we have stated. since there is not an election today, not specifically. that we are taking

steps to make sure they cannot do it again, unlike previous administrations. this president is taking bold action and warm to make sure it does not happen again. he does believe they would target certainly u.s. elections again. they said the red lights are blinking on this topic. >> that is why we are taking steps to ensure these things do not happen again. we would not spend as much time and effort if we did not believe they were looking at us. president trump has taken action to defend our election system from interference. make him a 2017, president in may, 2017 him him president trump signed -- the department of homeland security took the lead improving election security.

increased coordination among election partners. county and local departments, others receive scans. provide assessments to states that have requested it. 18 have requested it. a new pilot program was launched. on-site cyber security support was provided. march, 2018, congress provided $380 million for election assistance. is our steps we have taken to prevent it from happening. you see there is a threat. the iscoats said ongoing. does the white house believe it is? >> certainly, we believe the threat exists which is why we

are taking steps to prevent it. you would not go through that process if you are not. can you clarify these comments? does the president stand by his other public comments? including the interview criticizing handling of negotiations? other comments, that cast doubt on the intelligence briefing of meddling in the election? saw a need tont clarify the position. he saw how his comments were being interpreted. he looked at the transcript and clarified. >> does the white house have a response of the arrest and indictment of a russian national accused of -- >> certainly we are looking at

that. no, there was massive media hysteria over confusion between the individual and a white house staffer. which shows, frankly, the outrageousness and the desire to finding negative in everything this president does. just because somebody was redheaded, they were accused of being a spy for russia. you take a step back, slow down and going after the trump administration. it.y said we are looking at this is a lengthy process. i have a response to the fact that because somebody has the same hair color, they were accused of being a russian spy. president -- talked about progress he made in talks with

mexico. whether talks with mexico and canada, whether they are off the table for now. if the administration choosing to go with mexico? >> we are continuing those tracks. see a lot of progress. if we could make a bilateral to dowe are very happy that. we are continuing both conversations. >> russians have names several americans they want to question. including a former ambassador to russia. does president trump support that idea? >> will let you know when we have an announcement. a topic that came up in their conversation?

works there was conversation but not a commitment to read the president will work. >> does the president know there could be tremendous retribution for the european union? a tariff ofed about 20%. is that what he meant? >> that is an option the president is considering. investigation process and we will let you know when there is an announcement. >> the fed, the beige book came out. here are some of the headlines. manufacturers concerned about terrorists. terrorists are increasing. prices have fallen. rosy not necessarily a picture. your response? is focused onnt

long-term economic principles. we have one of the strongest economies and decade. he wants to continue to protect american workers. this is short term. he hopes to open up different markets and create a more playing trade field. president trump, the u.s. intelligence communities. russia. said i have confidence in both parties. after someone was killed protesting neo-nazis, he said there is blame on both sides. what do you think of that criticism? >> i would not compare the situations. the president said exactly what he thought yesterday in his

remarks and i would refer you to those. the president, does he see interference in elections as an attack on democracy? the homeland security said it was an attack on american democracy. you see it as an issue for american democracy or just opponents being attacked? >> the president things we have to focus on securing our election integrity. which is why he has spent so much time making sure this does not happen again. this did not happen under president trump's watch. we are trying to make sure this gets fixed because we take it seriously. we understand systems are important.

>> the president spent two hours with vladimir putin. was there a sense of what came out of the meeting? said,the president trump issues were raised. nuclear ambition. ukraine and the occupation. reducing nuclear arsenals to read your favorite topic, in ours interference elections. this is the beginning of the dialogue with russia. our administration. we are going to continue working through those. certainly others that were covered. crimea, hexing of criticizingime

barack obama then vladimir putin. you have a sense why the president has not and more critical of putin? i think the president, as he has said, has been tougher on russia then anybody. you can see that in the actions he has taken. a plant that was closed. the treasury department issuing new sanctions on individuals and entities. continue to sanctions on cyber activity. we have expelled 60 operatives. he issued four statements condemning poisoning of the u.k. citizens. authorized military strikes against the assad regime. exporting energy to our allies. president trump has been tough

on russia. why won'teaders, he criticized putin by name? >> i think he has. he has been top on russia and taking action. >> why wasn't he critical of putin's actions? they had a number of conversations. he addressed him yesterday. as ancident sees this opportunity as he has said to work with russia. he reckoned rises the fact that areof the nuclear weapons under the direction of the u.s. and russia. is good to get along with a person who controls that. stables to create a more

world we cannot do that if cannot get along with russia in some capacity. we have called him out, we have been tough. a different passion then what has been done. y than the past. but to say he has not been top is not true. i'm going to keep going. described trade with china. that is only true if we are able to strike a better deal. tell us what the status is. why the treasury secretary is not meeting one-on-one read what it would take from the chinese, the u.s., to restart this. negotiate going to

with you guys. we are continuing to have conversations with china, looking for ways for a better trade deal. >> she asked about the idea, toin offered investigators oversee interrogations of russian military intelligence officers. interrogators come ask -- overlook interrogations. >> he said it is an interesting idea. we have committed to nothing. it was an idea they throughout. >> -- threw out. are sayingocrats they want to drag the translator in the room before congressional

committees before congressional wasittees to find out what said. is that something the white house would support? >> that would go through the state department. >> the list of subjects you went through. sanctions discussed at all? did president clinton bring it up? -- putin bring it up? president, hethe ving himself room. was he referring to any specific intelligence? >> he receives a number of briefings. we are aware of others who have made attempts. clarify, despite

the video that shows the president saying no to this question about whether russia is part of the -- multiple people ng he was replying to that question -- >> the first thing the president said, thank you very much. hesaid to come in no -- said, no come i am not answering. even cecelia did not realize with the answer was because she asked for verification. because she was not sure. i talked to the president. he was saying no, he is not taking questions. , the seconddent time in three days, the white house has reversed what the president has said.

>> i'm interpreting, not reversing. i did not take it the way you did. >> why should the president have to americans at 24 hours or three hours later come the white house said, just kidding. >> that is not what i said. i was interpreting what the was.dent's attention it was not what you explained. we never said, just kidding. can take the fact the president has credibility because he saw he had missed spoken he wanted to clarify yesterday. when he sees he has misspoken, he says that. up --follow go ahead. >> go ahead. >> you said -- >> i'm going to take it question from jordan. >> we don't remember a time when

the president has publicly called out vladimir putin. >> i think saying russia interfered with our election, that is a callout. legislation that would impose new sanctions on russia if intelligent agencies find they metal in the 2018 elections. what president trump support that? >> i will not get into a hypothetical situation until we see a idle piece of legislation and a determination if there is meddling. our goal is to stop that from happening. which is why we spent time focusing on protecting election integrity. go ahead. >> is voter suppression part of that election -- what the

president is looking for? are you not going to ask that? were not going to us that? >> john, go ahead. >> i wanted to ask about the immediate reaction. supposing he gets every cable channel, cnn, reacting to the suggestion the president made. he did not believe russia interfered. my inbox inundated from emails, republican members. hours for the president to correct the record. why did it take so long to clarify the comments he made? tweet president put out a after boarding air force one at