sarah: good afternoon. president trump's 2020 budget, which was released today builds upon credible success and keeps his promises to the american people and continues the president's pro-job policies, keeps taxes low and combats the protects our c,

nation and secures our borders. even with a strong economy deficits are a threat and this budget will restrain washington spending and raised protects ou 2034. this is a clear road map if congress chooses to follow it. to talk about the president's budget proposal, i bring up the .cting director of o.m.b. >> good afternoon everyone. happy budget day. today, we have released fiscal year 2020 budget, a budget for a better america, promises kept, taxpayers first. this budget reflects the president's prites to ensure that all americans can benefit from the nation's historic economic boom and record low unemployment. no president has done more in two years to strengthen our military, restart our economy and reform our government,

promises he made while running for office. this is threatened by our unsustainable national debt which has doubled under the previous administration and now stand at more than $22 trillion. annual deficits are continuing to rise and will exceed one trillion a year and interest payments on the national debt will exceed military spending by 2024. washington has a spending problem and endanger the future prosperity of our nation for generations to come. this budget contains nearly $2.7 trillion in savings, more spending reductions proposed than any administration in history. this budget will balance in 15 years. last year, president trump directed federal agencies to eet a target of a 5% reduction to nondefense discretionary spending. i'm proud to report to you today we have achieved that target. in terms of the economy, our

g.d.p. grew by 3.1% over the four quarters of fiscal year 2018 while many claimed we were guilty of wishful thinking. we have met our economic forecasts two years in a row. the first administration to ever do that. we are confident that the president's historic tax reforms, deregulation, trade policy unleashing american energy will continue our economic growth. economic policies in this budget will generate more than enough revenue to pay for the tax cut. the president's budget outlines a number of key prites for the administration to continue to pursue. the budget supports public and private school choice through a federal tax credit of up to $50 billion over 10 years. while this sfration has made major progress streamlining our infrastructure permitting, we continue to request $200 billion to level up to a trillion

dollars in total spending. it's the government's responsibility to protect the american people, the homeland and american way of life. it requests $750 brillion for national defense. this is not funding for endless wars but for research and development and procurement to fund the awe aspiring military. in addition, federal resources and front line defenders are overwhelmed at the southern border. in the fiscal year 2020 budget, provides sizeable funding $8.6 billion for full completion of the wall and other security resources. in terms of other major resources, work requirements for medicaid, tan if and certain housing programs. we can end dependency by strengthening work requirements. the administration wants to lower drug costs.

it proposes a drug pricing strategy that promotes generics and redustes out of pocket costs. this administration has identified a number of wasteful inefficient programs. for example, we can save hundreds of millions of dollars by right sizing and reforming the underperforming programs like job corps, a youth training program for the number of security incidents at the facilities. or take the $600 million that we spend at 85 different cultural exchange programs at the department of state despite the fact that 1% of the one million students that come to this country to study ever benefited from that program and at the state department, these programs doublet in the last 10 to 15 years. this budget is fiscally responsible spending plan. the president has continually called for fiscal restraint and

will persist in his efforts to end the wasteful spending. thank you everyone. reporter: there are some concerns by washington dogs that money will end up building a barrier on the border, can you allay concerns that none of ta money will be used that barrier. >> we do not request money for the o.c.o. money. we have emergency spending that we devote to it and we continue the military rebuild by asking for what's necessary to complete the wall. that does include military construction funding. we back fill in fiscal year 2019 any funding that is used in military construction and fiscal year 2020, we asked for congress to appropriate these dollars. reporter: one other question, it

also calls for purchase of eight f-15's and you will lower the number of f-35's. >> we go along with the lines what the defense department has requested with their program. it's a different allocation. this is something that has been requested by the military and something that will make sense when congress considers it. reporter: two questions, you mentioned what the president promised during the campaign and he said he would eliminate the national debt in eight years. as you though, the debt at the end of his first year was $20 trillion, last year $21 trillion. what happened to that? the president has added to the debt. reporter: the last

administration doubled the debt and when he ran for office he said he would tackle the debt. he did it the very first queer he came to office by sending a budget that balanced within 10 ears and more spending reductions. reporter: he had $2 trillion. >> he had an economic recovery to put people back to work and rebuild reductions. the military and historic levels of military at $716 in national defense dollars. congress has been ignoring the president's spending reductions. om now in our third budget they are willing to have a conversation. we have been trying to have it. the president is putting forward these reductions and 5% cuts in nondefense nondiscretionary programs. while keeping his commitment to

american seniors by not making changes to medicare and social security. reporter: to go back to what john asked, if the deficit is such a problem why not cut the rate of increase to the defense budget? and secondly, he has said promises kept but cutting medicare. >> he is not cutting medicare but putting forward reforms that lower drug prices because medicare is a very large share of drug prices in this country, has the impact of finding savings and medicare spending will go up every single year by healthy margins. reporter: why not at least cut the rate of increase if the deficit is of such concern? >> he is the commander in chief and thinks it's important to

secure the country. one of his most basic constitutional responsibilities. the military put forward a five-year defense plan and done -- which gets back to john's question. we are going along with the five-year defense plan and putting additional dollars towards the military construction funds that we have tapped. baseline budgeting and entitlement spending in general. and secondly, this may be more ambitious in terms of savings than in previous budgets you proposed and i wonder why you are now dealing with a democratic house where in the past you might have been -- >> we balance in 15 years. our first budget in 10. one of the reasons -- it gets

harder each and every year. you mentioned mandatory spending. it is a driver and we have more reforms. what has happened for far too long congress has blamed mandatory spending and increased discretionary spending which they have voted by large degrees. they continue to let a paradime exists that says for every dollar we will increase nondefense spending. we are going to break that paradime. reporter: realistically, the administration is not going to get $8.6 billion. are there other executive actions you are looking at to pursue despite the national emergency being declared and the drug enforcement dollars that you could use to continue to fill the additional funding that you say is necessary for the wall? >> we are focused on spending the money congress gave us in

the last appropriations bill and the money we have identified as part of declaring the national emergency. and this $8.6 billion is geared what we would need in addition to complete that wall. reporter: the administration talks about the importance of infrastructure and you propose $200 billion infrastructure this year. but last year there were cuts to other programs that would have caused a net decrease in infrastructure spending. would there be a net increase in infrastructure spending under this budget? >> when they look at that and make that assertion they are seeing that the trust fund doesn't have enough revenues coming into it. this budget looks at the baseline and assumes that to be the case, but we are totally willing and able to talk to congress to ensure there are dollars in the federal trust fund and put $200 billion in new investment to make sure it is

not just a surface transportation bill, because when we need broadband, that is also something we can pursue. reporter: sounds like the administration didn't take on debt because the economy needed the kick. but this is an economy that is roaring right now. how do you square having deficits in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, four years going forward of trillion dollar deficits. >> we need deficits to get the economy starting. and we put spending reductions and we have each and every year. we do have large deficits. that's why we are here saying we have a problem as a country. it takes a long time to get out of that mess. we came into office and faced $10.5 trillion right off the bat. instead of being with us and considering our proposals and allowing us to make the case why

american people would be better off under these reforms, congress hasn't been willing to play ball even though they have the power of the purse. reporter: one of the ways you re going at it is reducing nondefense discretionary spending. do you really believe that congress is going to yank spending down that significantly over the next decade? >> every budget is an opportunity to put forward our vision of the next 10 years. we are go go to do it in this budget and we can no longer afford the paradime that congress gives us, that we are not going to make tradeoffs, that we are not doing what every family does in trying to afford before they go out and spend. we are trying to say we need to continue to secure the country. we need to continue to secure

the border. and we are not going to be bashful about that but at the same time we have many programs that are wasteful and inefficient that we can no longer afford. eporter: [indiscernible] how much money is proposed for welfare, job training and with snap. what are the lessons learned that you are trying to reshape this harvest box proposal because it came under great criticism before and you are proposing it again. >> it did receive criticism but we thought they were unmerited and we won't walk away from the proposal that pertains to the harvest box. in addition to your normal food stamp spending benefits that you would get at the retail that you would get a harvest box that allows you to get a balanced

meal and save money. in terms of work requirements it has long been viewed as a success since the 1990's and we expand on it and we have long viewed as important to take the same principles of reducing dependency that we saw in tanf and apply them to housing, sfood stamps and medicaid. >> some people that slipped through the cracks and may need job training, are there funds proposed for training? >> absolutely. the department of labor receives an adequate amount of funding in an era where we have $1 trillion deficits. there will be work force development programs funded as part of this budget. reporter: a lot of the objection has been in terms of federal debt. but can you address the federal unfunded liabilities? where does that number stand

right now and what does this budget do to address that much larger number? >> we have a lot of debt as a country and trying to take it head on and trying to say $22 trillion is not acceptable and can't go forward with $1 trillion a year and we need to pursue the types of reforms where we think the american people will have the opportunity to see how their lives would be better off. we do it in federal retirement benefits, student loans and welfare reforms. we think in each one of these scenarios we are going to encourage the kind of conversation that allows us to et our house in order. sarah: thank you, russ. lastly, quick comment, we extend our prayers to the loved ones and friends and family of those killed in the tragic crash eeth

ethiopia and flight, eight u.s. citizens were among the victims. we are working with the ethiopian government. with that, i will take your questions. reporter: the president said that democrats hate jewish people, according to a recent tweet. democrats are quote, the anti-jewish party. does the president believe democrats hate jews? sarah: the president is a committed ally to the jewish people and the remarks that have been made by a number of democrats and failed to be called out by democratic leadership, it is sad and something that should be called by name. what uldn't be put in a occurred-down solution. it should be done like steve king. we would like to see democrats

follow suit. reporter: the president has not condemned steve king. supreme asy. te sarah: the husband has been briefed on a number of topics nd i refer to you to those comments. reporter: the president plans to name patrick shanahan as the secretary of defense, elevating him. can you tell us whether or not that is going to happen? sarah: i'm not going to make personnel announcements. the president has a great deal of respect for acting defense secretary shanahan. he likes him. and when the president is ready to make an announcement, he will. reporter: there are a lot of actings in the administration.

sarah: a lot of possibility there. we are waiting for the confirmation process for a couple of those folks. reporter: i want to follow with the latest on china. has the president made an offer .n mar-a-lagogate sarah: in terms of whether or not we have a date set, not yet. we are continue inthe negotiations with china. when we have an announcement for the two leaders to sit down, we'll let you know. reporter: the president's negotiating partner after the talks broke down. sarah: that is absurd. the president will make a deal that is in the best interest of america and if he doesn't feel like it's a good deal, it's not worth just signing a piece of paper and the president didn't

feel like what was on the table was enough. the president is 100% committed to denuclearization of the peninsula and whatever we do further that process. we will see what happens with north korea and same thing in the negotiations with china. they are ongoing and the president wants to make sure whatever deal we get is fair and reciprocal trade and protects our intellectual property and it actually has safeguards to make sure that the chinese follow through with whatever commitments that they make. reporter: does the president have any plans to speak with president xi over the phone? sarah: i'm not aware of any scheduled calls. reporter: is that the most likely step, they speak on the phone beforehand or is it possible these two meet at the end of the month? sarah: we will keep everything on the table. negotiations are ongoing, the president's team as well as the

chinese delegation continue conversations and when they feel it's time to sit down, will make that happen. reporter: i didn't get my budget question asked before. keeps referring to western hemisphere, northern aid spending but nothing specifically about central america. the president said that he wants to cut money to central america. is that in the budget? sarah: i don't have any specific update on that. reporter: on big votes coming up this week in the senate with regards to national emergency, what is the president doing to stop a rebelion among republican senators? as many as 10 or 15 could vote against that. was he doing? sarah: he is doing his job, he

took an oath of office and has a constitutional duty to protect the people of this country. we have a humanitarian and national security crisis at the border and he is addressing it. he gave congress a number of opportunities to actually address it and they failed to do so. so the president is taking his constitutional authority that congress granted him. the only reason he has the authority to call a national emergency is because congress gave him the right to do so. the president is fulfilling his duty and is going to do what is necessary to protect the people of this country and secure our borders. reporter: is he talking to senators that he believes will be voting for that resolution? sarah: we talk to members every single day at the presidential and staff level. eporter: what is he doing to the role --

[indiscernible] sarah: current under review. i can't get into smesks. ut we are looking at it. >> i have a follow up to a colleague, yes or no, does the president truly believe that democrats hate jews? sarah: i'm not going to comment on that. i can tell you -- reporter: does he believe emocrats hate jewish people. report sarah: i'm trying to answer. the president has laid out clearly his position on this matter. democrats have had a number of opportunities to condemn specific comments. you should democrats what their position is because they are unwilling to call it out by name and take actual action against members who have done things like this like the republicans

have done when they had the same opportunity. reporter: you are not answering the question. you didn't say yes or no. does he believe democrats hate jews. sarah: you have to ask democrats. reporter: why hasn't the president ruled out a pardon for paul manafort? sarah: the president has made his decision clear. reporter: the president tweeted that michael cohen directly asked for a pardon. when did that happen? did it happen on the phone, do you have a date? sarah: i'm not going to get into specifics on things that are currently under review by the oversight committees and other committees. cohen's own attorney stated and contradicted his client when he said he was aware that those conversations had taken place.

we know that michael cohen lied to congress prior to his testimony most recently and he has lied at least twice. it is time to stop giving him a platform and let him serve his time. reporter: just to put it on the record, anything in the president's budget request has mexico paying for the wall? sarah: as the president has stated number of times through the trade deal we look forward to getting passed, we look forward to having that take place. reporter: following up on john's personnel question, does the president have full confidence in secretary acosta or is the labor secretary possibly leaving? sarah: i'm not aware of any personnel changes. those things are under review. reporter: the other question is, is the president in discussion about signing an executive order

to undo executive order 13166, president's clinton's executive -- 19 years ago requiring multiple languages. a new executive order, i am told would make english the official language in government. sarah: i'm not aware of a specific order that has been drafted but that is the position of the white house. reporter: did the president ask gary c omphmpnmp to block at&t's merger with time warner? sarah: i'm not aware. reporter: about the president's comments about democrats and jewish people. isn't that kind of rhetoric sort of beneath everybody? and do you think that the president has thought at all going into this 2020 campaign

that the rhetoric needs to be lowered whether he is talking about democrats, the media, immigrants or should we plan on hearing the president use the same kind of language we heard in 2016 and all the first couple of years of this administration? sarah: i think that the real shame in all of this is that democrats are perfectly capable of coming together and agreeing on the facts that they are comfortable ripping babies from the mother's womb and hard time of condemning the comments of representative omar. the president is clear on his sition and his support for israel. reporter: shouldn't he drag down the rhetoric debate which you are saying that is patently untrue. democrats don't hate jewish people. that's silly. not true. sarah: they should call out

their members by name. reporter: the president said after the incident in charlottesville that there are very fine people. suggesting that there are very fine people in the nazis. sarah: that is not what the president is saying. the president has been incredibly clear and consistently and repeatedly condemned hatred, bigotry and racism in all of its forms about in america. to say otherwise is simply untrue. reporter: since the president did say that in charlottesville, some very fine people on both sides, has he in your opinion or has he or us, i don't remember, condemned the neo-nazis in charlottesville? sarah: the president has condemned neo-nazis and called them by name and asking

democrats to do the same thing. reporter: do you expect to have briefings more often now since there is a change in atmosphere here? sarah: i haven't noticed the change in atmosphere. the president is the most accessible president in modern history. he takes questions from you nearly every single day. sometimes we do it from here and answer questions from reporters all over the world. sometimes we do it from this room and other venues and other platforms. eporter: [indiscernible] . reporter: why did the o.m.b. budget include money for the and mountain repository what is the chance that congress will enact it? sarah: congress will do its jobs

based on historical precedent. but doesn't mean we are not hopeful that they will work with us, look for ways that we can reduce spending and protect our military through things like that which you see in the president's budget. reporter: what the thinking was to put that in? sarah: i'm not aware of any specific policy changes on that. one last question. reporter: why did the president write a check for $35,000 while he was here in the white house? what was the money for? sarah: i'm not aware of any specific -- reporter: was he involved in conspiracy? sarah: the president is clear there wasn't a campaign violation. i would refer you back to the president's comments and not something i'm apart of it and refer to the president's outside

counsel. reporter: does the white house deny that the president is individual one? sarah: i'm not going to comment not ongoing case and something i'm part of in the white house. what i can tell you the president has stated his position and made it clear. reporter: why does the president deny something that was caught on tape? why does he deny it? [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org >> the house will be back at 4:00 p.m. eastern today for work on several financial services bill. on the agenda this week, a resolution that special counsel robert mueller's report should be made available to congress and the public. before the mueller report resolution can come to the

floor, needs to go through the house rules committee. that will happen later today and live coverage from the rules committee beginning at 5:00 eerning on c-span 3 and see it on c-span.org. and listen with the c-span radio app. watch american history tv live on saturday, starting at 9:00 eastern from ford's theater in washington, d.c., for the 22nd annual abraham lincoln symposium . it brings together lincoln scholars to highlight the 16th president's life career and legacy.