departed for atlanta, president trump met with reporters on the white house lawn. he spoke about the transcripts of the first and second calls to ukraine and whether or not he will endorse jeff sessions who is running for u.s. senate. this is about 25 minutes. >> i just told them i have to come over and see the fake news. [indiscernible] >> the deposition and are you concerned. >> i'm not concerned about anything, the testimony has all been fine. for the most part i've never even heard of these people. i've have no i? they are. there are some very fine people. you have some never trumpers. it seems nobody has first-hand

knowledge. there is no first-hand knowledge. all that matters is the grand strip. it was perfect. last night on television, great constitutional lawyer rocket down. he was respectful, he said president trump. he said it was perfect on the transcript. what he said on the telephone call with the president of ukraine was perfect. he said nothing else matters. what he said was perfect. he analyzed it every nine, every paragraph, it was not complex, it was perfect. nothing else matters. oft being said, every one those people canceled themselves out. so what they do is they go all over washington. let's find 10 people that hate president trump the most and let's put them up there. in some cases, they really turned out to be very much honest and fair. but in no cases have i been heard. and no cases icy have i been heard.

>> what you say to people that don't believe you. >> they should not be having public hearings. this is a hoax. this is just like the russian witchhunt. this is just a continuation. when you look at the lawyer for the whistleblower, i thought it ended when they found out that the lawyer was so compromised. the lawyers a bad guy. so you look at that. i thought that was the end of it. this is just a continuation of the hoax. it is the disgraceful thing. in the meantime, we have the best markets we have ever had, stock markets. we have the best unemployment numbers. we have the best employment numbers. we have almost a hundred and 60 million people we have never been close to that. we are doing it. but unfortunately you people do not want to talk about that. [indiscernible] >> can you tell me whether a tariff rollback will be part of the phase one trade. >> they would like to have a

rollback i have not agreed to anything. china would like to get it rollback, not a complete rollback. because they know we will not do it we are getting along well with china because we know they want to make a deal. frankly they want to make it till more than i do. i'm very happy right now. we are taking in billions of dollars. china would like to make a deal much more than i would. endorse jeff sessions and his alabama session run? >> i haven't gotten involved i thought he said very nice things about me last night. i have not made up my mind. >> the russian investigation? have you forgiven him for recusing himself for the rest investigation? >> i don't even think about it. believee who just don't that you have something and he did something wrong. what you tell them? >> is a very simple thing. had a very good call with the president of ukraine. the call was perfect. call but nobody

knew about it. i guess they want that call to be produced also. you heard that. i have a second call. i had a second call the president. which i believe can be for this one. now they all want that one. if they want it, i will give it to them. i have not seen it recently. but i will give it to them. i had a call before this one with the president of ukraine. i understand they would like it. and i have no problem giving it to them. i have no problem. [indiscernible] u.s. billbidens, did barr or anyone in your department of justice to investigate the bidens and if not, if you do not ask them why would you ask the president of ukraine to do something you are not willing to ask your unjust apartment to do? -- your own justice department to do? >> we are looking for corruption. hundreds of dollars and we're looking for conjure corruption. all you have to do is look at biden and you will see corruption.

what he did was quid pro quo times 10. >> did you ask the doj? >> i never spoke to them about anything. it is up to bill barr. delmar can do whatever he wants to do. tape onw the same television and it shows that joe biden is the crook. he is in present cricket. and the fake news which is you and you and you -- he is 100% crooked. and the fake news which is you and you and you. walks out with millions of dollars from ukraine. millions of dollars from china. he does not know anything. it is a crack deal. as a corrupt enterprise. and if the press dinner right, and is a hell of a story. did itif the press right, it is a hell of a story. neveruming we get it, i like to talk about things until we have them in. it could be iowa or farm country or someplace like that.

it will be in our country. it could be someplace like that. i do not think so. isaac moore the farm belt. will go more the farmout. >> jeff sessions. >> i won't, we will see how it all goes alabama is a place where my approval numbers are very good i think i one by 42 points. i love alabama. i'm going to go watch a very good football game on saturday, tomorrow. with lsu and that is going to be great. we will see what happens. he has enough competition. you have the football coach doing very well. peoplee some good running in alabama. let's see what happens. we will see what happens. we are getting along very well. they want to make the deal far more than i do.

i will tell you they want to make it far more than i do. but we will see what happens. we are taking it right now. and you know as a reporter of finance, you know what i'm saying. currency andtheir they hate this tariff. we are taking in billions of dollars of tariff money for china and i like our situation. i want to make a deal much more than i do but we could have a deal. that if you can't change her behavior, you probably should not run again in 2020 p what you say to that? >> you really shaped my behavior because the day i came in here i've had problems with phony staff like a funny dossier that turned out to be false. like false investigations that had beaten. a lot of my behavior was shaped by the fake news and by the other side. that was a lot of my behavior. the fact is that we created the greatest economy in the history of our country with all of that

stuff going on behind me. nobody else could have done it, rush limbaugh said he does not know a man in the world that could have done what trump dead. i do not know leon cooper man, but whoever leon cooperman is, i know of him. he can have his own view. in the meantime, i making him rich and i'm making a lot of other people rich, including the working man and woman. they have never done so well as they have done right now. our job's are the best ever been. everything about our economy is just about the best it is ever been. , iluding unemployment so think in light of all of the things going on, and you know what i mean by that, the fake news, the commies of the world. all the bad things. that went on. it is called the swat. and you know what happens and you know what i did. a big favor. i caught the swamp. i caught them all. let's see what happens. nobody else could have done that by me. i caught all of this corruption going on.

nobody else could have done it. on top of that, we have the best economy, greatest economy we have ever had. the best job numbers we have ever had. african-americans, asian americans. hispanic, the best ever. i think we have done a great job . and tell leon, who i've seen but i do not know, tell him congratulations because he did very well with trump. [indiscernible] on with india? on a are dealing with any lot of different things. prime minister modi and i are very good friends. you saw me at the event, 55,000 people, it was great. we have a lot of things happening within you. we have a very good relationship within you. he wants me to go there. i will be going at some point india. why did you acknowledge charity? -- your

>> my charity was sued because new york is a harnessed nass and acu for anything. if on a really bad thing, you look at that clinton charity, they left her alone. that's because new york is a hornets nest and they see you for anything. away $19 million, i took no rents i techno-fees, i took know nothing. 100% of that money was given away and i had to actually go through a process for years with new york because you know why, new york is a corrupt state. it is a corrupt state. it is a shame. away.$19 million what happens is, instead of saying thank you, great, they hit me with a lawsuit, and it was started by a man who had to get out because he beat up women. that is the kind of place it is. [speaking simultaneously] >> we are going to be coming out with a very important decision on vaping. we have to take your of our kids most

importantly. we will have an age limit of... 21 will be coming out something next week very important on vaping. we have a lot of people to look at including jobs, frankly. it has become a pretty big industry. where going to take care of that. there is also. when you mention vaping your talk about e-cigarettes on a lot of things. we are coming out of the big paper next week. [indiscernible] >> bloomberg. >> dial back. >> we are talking about the age and the flavors, also talking about keeping people working and there are some pretty good aspects. we are coming out, close to a final report, john giving a next wake. >> the industry does support raising the age. -- john will be getting it next week. call april 21.

it is my understanding the white house counsel is not keen to release that. will you overrule him? >> they don't want to give all this information on a scam. it is a witchhunt. i'm ok with releasing it. it does not bother me. i said it was fine. they do want to have a second call -- which is really the first call, the one before this, i had a call. i'm sure it was fine. i make a lot of calls. i have no problem releasing it. i'm very transparent. nobody is more transparent than i am. if i wasn't and didn't release it would have been a problem. the fake whistleblower said something about the call, about all many things which were wrong. when the whistleblower came forward, he talked about the horrible call. turned out to be a perfect call as i say mark said it was a perfect call. so they lied.

they live. the whole thing is a scam by the democrats to win an election. now they want my first call. i have no problem giving it to them, other than i do not like giving calls to the media when i am dealing with foreign nations, but i will give it if they want it. [indiscernible] gordon sondland said at the beginning of september, he presumed there was a quid pro quo. then there was a call on some temer nine. did he talk to you prior to that telephone call? >> i hardly know the gentleman, but this is a man who said that there was no quid pro quo. and he still says that. he says that i said that. he has not changed that testimony. this is a man that said, as far as the president is concerned there was no quid pro quo. everybody that has testified, even the ones that are trump haters, they have all been fine. they do not have

anything. but now they want the first call with the president of ukraine. i will probably give it to them, they want it badly. if they want it, i will give it to them. i do not like that, because it sets a time some because from china, or korea are they worried ? about me giving the call but in this case because the press has been duped into a hoax, and in some cases started the hoax, i will give the letter -- call if they wanted. i think it is a very revealing call. >> the mayday parade? >> that's right, i was invited. it is in the middle of our camping season, but i will certainly think about it. president vladimir putin invited

me -- it is a very big deal. celebrating the end of the work. -- war. i appreciate the invitation. it is in the middle of the political season, so i will see if i can do it, but i would love to go if i could. >> bill barr and at doj are not denying that you asked him to have a press conference. >> there not saying anything. let me tell you. i never asked him for a press conference. it is fake news by the washington post which is the fake newspaper. and if i ask bill barr to have a press conference, i think he would do it. but i never asked him to have a press conference. why should i? you know why wouldn't do it, because the phone call was perfect. just read the transcript of the phone call. nobody has to have a press conference per night think if i asked him, and by the way we confirmed, i never asked him. i think if i did ask him, i'm not said this yet, and i do nothing i well, i'm sure i will. but if i asked him to have a

press conference i think he would. that being said, it is fake news. they write a fake story. we told them that before they wrote the story. today when you tell the press something it is meaningless. because they write whatever, it is fiction. and they do not have sources. they make it up. not everybody. not john. not everybody. but they make it up. [indiscernible] >> what they want is my first phone call. i had another phone call. it is a very important phone call. it came to my attention last night that they want the first phone call. now, the problem i have in releasing the first phone call, because that was actually the second phone call. and it is a perfect call. but they found out that there is another phone call, and that is

the first phone call. and they want it released and we are considering that. which one? i do not know about any calls. i have no problem, it is up to mike. but i have no problem. >> you keep calling it a coup rather than impeachment. >> you know what it is, really, it is a crooked deal. this is like the fake dossier. this is like everything else. these are crooked people. they lost the election, it was a landslide from electoral college standpoint and they will lose . and they will lose again. they want to weaken me, but it has made me stronger. you look at the polls that just came out, my polls are up. fundraising is through the roof. it has never been this high. people are angry

, and i'd say the whistleblower, i call in the fake whistleblower. he gave them a fake report of my phone call. and all of the sudden when i released the call, all of a sudden everybody disappeared. the whistleblower disappeared. what happened to the second whistleblower? why isn't the first going to testify anymore? you know why, because everything he wrote in that report almost is a lie. it is a phony phone call. my phone call was perfect. he made it sound bad. that is why i had to release it. the whistleblower is a disgrace to our country. and the whistleblower, because of that, should be revealed. and his lawyer, who does the worst things possible -- two years ago he -- he should be sued, maybe

for treason. but he should be sued. his lawyer is a disgrace, and then ask this where is the , second whistleblower, right? where's the witness that give the whistleblower the information? they all disappeared because adam schiff is a corrupt politician. he is corrupt. he made up a speech and he put my voice in it. he made up a speech. it had nothing to do with what i said. adam schiff is a corrupt politician that is not giving us due process, not giving us lawyers. despite all that, we are kicking their ass. taylor and [--]

still work for you? >> they have gone out of their way to find the people who hate president trump the most. they put them up there. everybody has been absolutely fine. i do not even know most of these people, many of them i've never heard of. so what crooked adam schiff is doing, he is a corrupt politician and what he does is he looks all over, tries to find people that do not like donald trump and he puts them up. we are winning so big. my polls are all i the highest they've ever been to my am leading in every swing state -- been, i am leading in every swing state. the numbers just came in. they are the highest in history. i will tell you what, we are winning so big because we are going -- these are corrupt politicians, that includes nancy pelosi. she is a corrupt politician. she should go back to her district, which is its filthy, you should

see what is happening in san francisco. nancy pelosi should focus on her district. these are corrupt politicians. [indiscernible] >> where going to atlanta. we have call a black vote. we are doing very well with african-americans. i think a big factor is the fact that they are having the best economic year they've ever had in the history of our country. we are going there, we have been invited and i think it would be fantastic. >> are you worried about -- [indiscernible] can you beat michael bloomberg? >> i have known michael for a long time. go back early on, he said a lot of good things about donald trump. i know michael, he became a nothing. he is not going to do well, but i think he will hurt joe biden, actually. he does not have the magic to do well. little michael will fail. he will spend a lot of money. he

has some big issues, some personal problems and a lot of other problems. but i know michael bloomberg fairly well, not too well, but well enough. he will not do well. if he did, and i would be happy. there is -- there is nobody i would rather run against than little michael. reporter: what about white house officials preventing -- depositions, evidence the white house is obstructing and could lead to an article of impeachment. pres. trump: they are making that up. this whole thing is a phony setup. when you look at the lawyer who got this started, the whistleblower lawyer. it is a phony deal. these democrats are corrupt. nancy pelosi is a corrupt politician. shifty schiff is a double corrupt politician. he took my words from the phone call, and they were so good that he totally changed them. he went before congress and made a speech to congress, and in that speech, john, he said

things that were horrible. it bore no relationship to the call. and later on he was embarrassed. let me tell you something, schiff is a corrupt politician and our people know it, they know it too, by the way. we have the highest poll numbers . we have the most energy. i was with mitch mcconnell and a group of people last night, actually, i was with the leaders of faith, evangelical leaders -- all of them said they never had the energy that we have had and we have now in the republican party. and beyond the republican party. people that were democrats and are for trump. >> can you explain, just so people understand, why you are not allowing people like mick mulvaney and others to testify? pres. trump: i do not to give credibility to a corrupt witchhunt.

i would love to have mick go up. i would love to have every person go up, who know me. but what i don't like is when they put people up that i never met before. when they put the head of the never trumpers on the stand. but even those people were fine. those were people i never heard of. the people that i know, i would love to have them go up. the rest is up to the lawyers, i have to do with the lawyers say to a certain extent. not always, but to a certain extent. i will tell you, i would like to have the people go up. except one thing, it validates a corrupt investigation. adam schiff is corrupt politician. he is as corrupt as you will ever see. when he makes up my words and reads fake words to congress and he acts so innocent, he is a corrupt politician. ok, thank you.

[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] >> watch the c-span networks live next week as the house intelligence committee holds the first public impeachment hearings. the committee, led by chairman ater shift -- chairman adam schiff, will hear from the top u.s. diplomat in ukraine, william taylor and deputy is next deputy assistant secretary of state george kent. then, on c-span2, former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, marie

yovanovich. find the transcript c-span.org/impeachment. our c-span campaign 2020 trustee is traveling across the country, visiting key battleground states. asking voters what issues they want presidential candidates to address during the campaign. issue i want the candidates to focus on has to do with environmental justice and environmental rights. coming from michigan, growing up here, i have seen the consequences and aftermath of the floodwater crisis and currently the detroit water shut off. i want to see the candidates come out strong with policies that will fight environmental racism and environmental injustice broadly. >> i think the next election will be pivotal for our nation. we will be looking forward to hearing about all the things

that are important in the economy. interested inr their thoughts on the national debt and health care and i feel those are two items that are intertwined. at the state level, every dollar we -- half of every dollar we spent is on health care. i know we are running a massive deficit nationally. that deficit is considerable concern given the warnings given andrior auditor general just he public in general. what i would like to see the candidates most highlight is climate change. we can't do economic development if we don't have an environment within which to do it.

making certain that our world is a better world in which to do economic development for our kids and grandkids in the future. >> joining me is caitlin emma, appropriations and budget report for politico. congress is still debating spending before the budget deadline. tuesday, the top four appropriators are on the calendar to meet on capitol hill. who will be in that meeting and where the key issues that need to be resolved? caitlin: the top appropriators in the house and senate will be meeting on tuesday evening. we are talking about appropriations, chairman richard shelby and his democratic counterpart patrick lahey. as well