great to have you here. >> great fun as always. >> our live chat, foxnews.com/outnumbered, click on overtime is alive and well, lots going on. let's get to that peewee will pop up online, facebook as well, our handle is "outnumbered" fnc, now "happening now." >> jenna: we start with a fox news alert, republican senators powering forward and confirming president trump's cabinet while democrats work to put on the brakes as mr. trump says he will announce a supreme court nominee next week after issuing several new executive orders today on pipelines. he's been busy so far, welcome to the second hour of "happening now," i am jenna lee. >> jon: i am jon scott. this hour, the president is due to sit down with his new cia director mike pompeo come in three more of his nominees answer questions in the senate, tom price for health and human services secretary, a critical job when it comes to changing obamacare, congress at mick mulvaney for budget director in linda mcmahon, to head up the

small business administration. later today, president trump is set to meet with republican and democratic senate leaders on his supreme court justice nominees. we will get the latest from chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel life on capitol hill keeping a close eye on congressman price's hearing. >> good afternoon. this is round two for dr. tom price, and at times, it doesn't feel like boxing in his confirmation process to be the next secretary of health and human services. this session is critical because it is in front of the senate finance committee which will vote on dr. price's nomination. he has been an orthopedic surgeon who has spent 12 years in congress so he has extensive knowledge as a medical doctor and congress both the healthcare system and the government bureaucracy here right off the bat, the finance committee chairman raised concern about the way democrats are treating trump cabinet nominees. >> i am serious when i say that i am worried about what my colleagues on the minority side are doing to the senate as an

institution. while the overriding sense of courtesy among senators has admittedly been in decline over recent years, i have never seen this level of partisan rancor when it comes to kneeling with the president from an opposing party. >> as for the question and answer in this particular hearing, dr. price has been asked if he is working with president trump on a replacement plan for obamacare. price responded that he has had conversations with the president about health care. dr. price has also taken some heat from democrats about some of his investments. >> you have a paper trail for every comment i have made, yes or no, doesn't this show bad judgment? >> no. the reality is that everything that i did was ethical, aboveboard, legal and transparent. >> some republicans suggest price is being held to a different standard than other members of congress who have

been up for cabinet positions in the past. price joked that his wife has reminded him that he agreed to this level of scrutiny. >> jon: it has been fascinating to watch. mike emanuel, thank you. >> jenna: the next health and human services secretary will have a full plate with republicans trying to repeal and replace obamacare, right now the replacement plan includes proposal to hand more power to the states. democrats say it does not come close and millions will actually lose coverage. amy is associate editor in editor-in-chief at "the daily caller." so mike ended with the comment that some g.o.p. lawmakers feel like there is a double standard here when it comes to tom price, do you think that is the case or is there some questions you believe he needs to provide answers on? >> the democrats think there are. one of the legitimate complaints they have are that several disclosure forms have not been completed by trump's nominees for cabinet and secretary

positions but i think that is fair. everyone who goes through the process has to fill those out. what they discovered is that not just stock purchases but admissions about tax payments and stuff from those disclosure forms, so they have every right to scrutinize prices disclosure forms. how much they play games on the timing and delays is another thing, they are going to question him in these hearings about these ethical issues, and they may or may not stand up to scrutiny. i think that they probably will, but remember, democrats don't really have the vote to block these nominations. they are sort of more taking the opportunity to flex their muscles as a party come in because they have taken this approach, my argument is they will not be able to take anybody down because if they want a shot at betsy devos or someone wants a shot at scott pruitt, in some advocates want a shot at

tom price, so it is using the power they have to stop that. >> jenna: interesting point as we headed over to you as well. we don't want anyone in a position of power not to be properly vetted, but at the same time it is difficult to decipher what is really a legitimate complaint or even more questions and answers and what is policy, how do you see it? >> i think democrats and part are insistent that they want to put their foot down against anything donald trump does, and in a big way, this is -- obamacare is why republicans were able to recapture the house and then the senate and ultimately, in part, the presidency. i look at this ansi democrats busily continuing to wage the war for obamacare, they want to defend that, so now they are hoping to i think wound tom price before he becomes the hhs secretary. doesn't seem like they have any chance do do to do that becausf you want to judge was winning the round, trump and tom price are because they have not

secured any republican defection which is exactly what they need to stop tom price for becoming ex-secretary. >> jenna: good reminder for us, thank you for that. as we look at the executive orders president trump has ordered so far, the one on obamacare is vague but some are saying it is dangerous, supporters of the bill, effect one president of a consulting firm called the executive order a bomb because it really allows you to interpret it however you want. talk to us a little bit about that, what the executive order did and what about this new plan that republicans have now pushed forward softly. >> you are right, it was ambiguous and sort of generic. it started the process of repeal, but really the legislative body has to repeal obamacare, and the person who is going to interpret the ambiguous terms of that executive order would be the new hhs secretary, tom price is not going to be in that position for several weeks, we don't think. what the result of it

practically is that sign-ups are going to drop -- there are only a few more days until january 31st, which i believe is next tuesday before the end of enrollment for 2017, and obviously, the exchanges which are already suffering and already, i believe, in eight spiral because good insurance companies have left, coverage is getting worse, much more expensive, in the pools are much thicker, if you have the healthy who are predominantly the young to say oh, wait, does this mean he's not going to force the mandate because of the executive order? i don't have to join or is this not an option anymore i can join? there is a lot of confusion, and there is an interpretation that the mandate will not be enforced as of now, and that will stop people from signing up. >> jenna: let me point to the language, what the executive order did what grant exemptions or delay any part of the law that imposes any financial regulatory burden on those affected by it.

as a bee is pointing out, it can be interpreted in any way. that is why the mandate is in question. two questions for you, vince, republicans are suggesting some sort of state-by-state approach to healthcare, and if this is an attack on the individual mandate, do you think that individual mandate as we know it is completely gone from healthcare or do you think republicans are going to put it back in a different way? >> i think it is on the endangered species list at the very least. trump surrogates have already signaled that the individual mandate may very well be gone, so that enforcement mechanism disappears. it is also one of the most unpopular parts of a law that is unpopular. i think president trump wanted to take his day went opportunity to say i promised to get rid of this so i'm going to start with broadly telling my agencies to ease the burden of obamacare, and tom price may very well come into say the individual mandate will not be enforced. when it comes to that

state-by-state approach that some senators are taking, senator collins and cassidy, both republicans, they are trying essentially to bring democrats to the table. this bill they have presented as of yesterday is an effort to say, democrats, come to the table, obamacare in states where they like it, they can keep it. in states where they do not like it, they can change to a health plan where the federal government gives them the same funding to establish their own health system, and that is the first opening salvo in an attempt to negotiate with democrats a plan that works better better than obamacare does now. >> jenna: we will see what happens, so far we know there is a a lot of assistance on both sides. we will leave ourselves open, optimistic, let's go for it, why not? [laughs] great to see you both, thank you so much. >> jon: as you recall, one of president trump's biggest campaign promises was to build a wall along the mexican border. where do thanks stan on that ahead. plus a woman in kentucky is fired over an investigation on what she said on twitter about

president trump. we will tell you what she said when our legal panel weighs in. why are you deleting these photos?

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>> jon: one of president trump's constant campaign promises was to build a wall along our border with mexico. now the trump administration is moving forward with that plan, white house press secretary sean spicer says the president has already started working with congress on allocating funds for the wall. live in san diego with a look at where things stand, william? >> the question is that while it is true for every fence there is a ladder, but i will tell you what agents tell me, having a fence is better than not and that basically it stops, slows down and deters illegal immigration pair that is mexico. the average wage in mexico is $50 a day, half that in centrall america, 95% of illegal immigrants come from those countries.

all that separates them is the fence that you see down there and the border patrol, of course, so yesterday trump made his move to keep the promise that he would protect the border and u.s. labor markets by building a wall, not a metaphor. sean spicer said he did not determine where it is going to go, how much it will cost or how long it will be, but he did say he has asked congress for money and asked agencies like homeland security and the corps of engineers for engineering and design, border agents told me they remain concerned because the catch and release policy that some mexicans and central americans will still be released. >> we have eight years of finding excuses and reasons and loopholes to allow people to walk down the front door of the border patrol station. we are encouraged that every sign we have seen shows that is going to stop. >> also yesterday, the trump administration said it would not end president obama's "illegal

amnesty for dreamers" as candidate trump put it, who said that they were going to send home illegal immigrant children. instead, spicer said they would allow the 750,000 up to 1.5 million dreamers not to leave yet, at least, that he would concentrate on the 2 million criminal aliens already here. >> first and foremost, the president has been very clear that we need to direct agencies to focus on those who are in this country illegally and have a record, criminal record or pose a threat to the american people. >> but that is expensive, going after these criminal aliens cost about $6,000 per alien. >> jon: so how does the trump administration plan to handle those kinds of criminals in the future? >> that is a $50,000 question. you have all of these sanctuary cities who decided it is their

prerogative who decides or who is going to get deported, so how will the trump initiation go after stationary cities so when a guy is arrested tomorrow for a dui or shoplifting, robbery, burglary or homicide, are they turned over to ice for those detainers? that going forward is the real question going forward so you do not increase the body of criminal aliens going out there that are so expensive to get, taking away their law-enforcement grant money, is that enough or will it simply end up in court? you might remember there was when the highway initiation went after states that did not turn down the jigging age at 21, there is something called coercion, you cannot just take away state and city money, all of it if you will come it has to relate specifically to whatever you're going after. >> jon: the other question, who is going to pay for that wall? we will see. thank you. >> jenna: last night he had some thoughts on that, and i'm sure it's a conversation that

will continue. high winds, freezing rain and snow slamming the northeast but not the only reason they are dealing with severe weather, who else could be in the path of the dangerous storms? we will be watching. also new efforts to introduce safety precautions after you northeast train crashes. new tests that could be required for trade operators, you don't want to miss this.

>> jon: fox news alert in california, they are declaring a state of emergency and 50 counties after getting drenched by winter storms that caused flooding, mudslides and heavy damage to california roads. meanwhile, the northeast continues to be pounded by heavy winds, freezing rain and snow. meteorologist adam klotz following the latest from the weather center for us. >> both sides of the country really dealing with some winter

weather, heavy rains, kind of targeting the northeast. here is what we are looking at now, running up along new york stretching up to boston which is where the winds are the strongest, further inland is where snow is falling. no snow along the coast but still a mess, something that will be wrapping up this evening peered we still have the rest of the day today if you are in the northeast, battling some of these windy conditions, certainly some of this very heavy rain. this is our future forecast, you can see it moving up the coast and by early on wednesday, that is when we are clearing off to see the sunshine return. at times, it has really provided some very heavy rainfall, so you are seeing their up throughout new england than just a little bit of snow running up mostly into the state of maine area, so for the most part, these temperatures are a little too warm to be seeing snow forming. on the other side of the country, yes, it has been a mess in california, we are beginning to see this fall apart a little bit but the very tail end of it sits and just dropped a lot of rain along the southwest, and it is continuing.

that is going to be lifting up eventually to the plane states, more on that in a moment but here is the type of rainfall we saw on the last week, almost unheard of areas getting up to 6-8 inches, that is why we are talking about flooding in some locations. good news for folks in california, it is drying off a little bit later today, then the rest of the week, things are looking drier, but the low-pressure system everyone on the west coast was dealing with is beginning to work its way through the rockies. it's going to move across the center of the countries of the upper plane states eventually to the upper midwest, that is the next system we will be paying attention to at storm center here in the weather center because we are going to be tracking snow and in some places, quite a bit. would not be surprised if we got closer to 6-8 inches, some cases even more. that is the next big weather system, both the coasts are about to get a break in the next couple of days. >> jon: nice to have a little heads up on the next storm. adam klotz, thank you. >> jenna: deadly train crashes have led to questions about how to make travel safer across the

united states. now some state officials are pushing for action, calling for a special test for operators that could have ripple effects nationwide. laura ingalls is life in new york with more. >> at least one agency is working to put a new safety plan in place, is the metropolitan transit authority board, if they approve that proposal tomorrow, the mta as it is known would be the first public transportation agency to systematically screen all of its employees for sleep apnea. that would also give those employees priority specialized treatment. doctors say sleep apnea is a serious disorder in which breathing stops and starts during sleep and can lead to daytime sleepiness and poor memory. many of these train operators in the recent derailments and accidents have stated they do not remember the moments leading up to the crash and were later diagnosed with the condition. while the mta board has been working out details along the long island railway crash, sleep

apnea was reportedly a contributive factor in that crash, the national transportation safety board has not issued an official ruling. the director of the ntsb tells us that they have been pushing for required testing for years, but because there is not yet a federal regulation, many do not test for the condition. >> that does not exist in the railroad. it is just hearing and vision. it is a discrepancy that has existed for a long period of time, and it is something we are looking to get fixed. >> sleep apnea specialists say treatment is relatively easy with the use of cpap masks for users so that they can get the sleep they need. >> everybody over 33 gets a sleep study, they can be home studies, not expensive, use that as your screen. it still going to cost them money, but think about the accidents. if you prevented one of these accidents in the legal costs related to these accidents, you

probably could pay for the entire program. >> the federal railroad administration tells fox while the agency has been working on a rule, the railroads do have the ability to implement programs on their own. now that president trump has put a hold on all new and pending regulations, that rule could take a wild. >> jenna: thank you. >> jon: fox news alert, a concerning update to a story breaking last night. minnesota governor mark dayton says he has prostate cancer and will discuss treatment options with doctors next week. the governor, as you might know, collapsed during the state of the state state address last n. he had been speaking to lawmakers in st. paul when he paused for a sip of water, he briefly resumed speaking, touting the success of the affordable care act in minnesota when he slumped onto the lectern. video of monday's speech shows aides rushing to catch dayton as he crashed to the floor.

he will work today and finish his speech as well as some budget proposals. nearly eight years after the obama administration pulled the auto industry back from the brink bankruptcy, they met today with his successor president trump. he is calling on them to produce more american jobs. plus, mr. trump pledged to move the u.s. embassy in israel to jerusalem. we will tell you where the initiation stance stands on tht controversial proposal.

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>> jon: president trump continues his push to boost american jobs coming leading with auto executives today, calling on them to produce more cars in the united states. this meeting comes a day after the president met with business and union leaders. meanwhile, late this money, trump signed five executive orders to revive the controversial keystone xl and dakota access pipeline. let's talk about what he is doing here with scott jennings, former special assistant to president bush and a former political advisor to senator mitch mcconnell. cory is also with us, former communications advisor to president obama. welcome to both of you. scott, what do you make of the steps that the president has taken so far to try to restore jobs in this country? >> he is responding to what the people want. i've not seen a survey in the last several years in which jobs in the economy was not the number one issue and for the last eight years, we have had an

admonition that is openly hostile to job creators. they assume if you're doing well or making a profit that you must be cheating someone, so the hostility in our taxation system and the regulatory redeem was saying to job creators that we don't agree with what you're doing, so now we have a new attitude from the white house, and we have a new set of policies coming down the track that we think is boosting attitudes and boosting confidence in the american economy. >> jon: we noted earlier that you worked for president obama, but i understand you like part of what mr. trump is proposing. >> i will say it this way. as president obama was leaving the white house, he urged us to wish for a successful presidency for president trump. if that means adding to the 50 million jobs that were created under president obama in the record 75 months of private sector job growth, i am all for that. anyone around the country who

supports the president is all for that. we need to build on that success. but free-market economies right now are a little bit confused because on the one hand, president trump is using the same old tactics we have seen before with tax cuts and reducing regulation, which we know does not work, while at the same time, he is poking his finger in the chest of businesses around the country, saying you need to create more jobs or else. i would be very curious to know if the real donald trump, the businessman would respond to president trump in the way that he wants them to enforcing people to create jobs. there is a lot of confusion right now. he has an opportunity to do big things when it comes to jobs and impact the people who need it most, but right now he's just tinkering around the edges. >> jon: scott, president trump obviously is talking about how he has canceled tpp, threatening to renegotiate the nafta agreement although some suggest he would not be able to do much there.

at any rate, free trade is usually a bedrock principle of republican conservatism. is this president not pleasing the rest of the party in making these threats and canceling agreements, is he going straight for the voter? >> i think a lot of people in both parties felt tpp was nnegon with. i think you can have free trade but you can have better deals and that is what he ran on, the concept of having better trade deals than what was negotiated in the tpp. all of his actions speak to the heartland, the pipeline issue which is a no-brainer, obama and his in-transit on that hurt hillary clinton, in his speech directly to the people who elected donald trump, they don't understand what the federal government steps in front of automatic job creation because that is what they tell us they want. i think on all of these fronts, he is being responsive to the political base that elected him and responsive to the middle of the country appear they want the government out of the way so folks can go to work.

we are hearing that out of union leaders who also one of the pipeline signed off on when barack obama was president. i actually think in doing some of these things, he may be scrambling the political order we have seen lineup inside of both parties over the last few years. >> jon: he took pains to point out 28,000 jobs are estimated to be created with the construction of the keystone xl pipeline that he is now trying to revive. >> that is fine, if it happens, that is great, but we need to take a look at the opportunities he has right here in his own backyard, his new bacard in washington, d.c. he can continue to poke his finger in the chest of businesses across the country, wonder about what businessman trump would say to president trump in his threats to create jobs or else, but he has the capacity to work in a bipartisan fashion with republicans and democrats on what he says is the number one issue which is infrastructure, building eric or crumbling, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, roads, bridges, airports, highways all over the country.

democrats this week put on a table exactly what he requested, a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that he can get on board with, but we know that paul ryan in the republicans are considering that now, but this is something he needs to talk about today because we need to govern in a bipartisan fashion. if you want some thing to work, you need to work in a bipartisan fashion in order to get it done. >> jon: we spent $813 billion back in 2009 on the so-called shovel ready project infrastructure package that president obama signed, and even he later admitted there were not as many shovel ready projects as he thought there would be. it did not seem to have a huge effect. >> big difference. the difference is during that time, we were digging out of a ditch, 750,000 jobs a month we were losing one president obama came into office. right now, president donald trump has a really nice step stool to stand on to begin creating jobs and teaming the trend of job

creation that began under barack obama, 60 million jobs, 75 months of consecutive private sector job growth. >> jon: final thoughts? >> when democrats give you a piece of paper that says they want to spend one chilean dollars, be very afraid for this is what we heard at the beginning of obama's term, used pointed out that we spent hundreds of million dollars on what was supposed to be infrastructure, we got very little infrastructure and a lot of pet projects p or what they put on the table needs to be scrutinized because we've been down the road with a democratic party before and they pulled the bait and switch on us. i have confidence that president trump, paul ryan and mitch mcconnell will heavily scrutinize any infrastructure deal to make sure we are getting roads, bridges, highways and things we need and not pet liberal projects which we got before. >> jon: we will continue to monitor all of these programs as the president moves forward on them. thank you very much, scott jennings corey ealon , appreciate it. it's before speaking of the new

administration, the election could have a big impact on russia, one of the world's largest economies. amy is live in moscow with more. >> thank you, when you talk to business people here, they are already thinking on president trump's positive tone toward russia, netting some very concrete results. >> frankly, if russia is treated with respect and with understanding of his position, then lots of compromises and positive agreements can be reached. >> a lot of people, rightly or wrongly, believe there is a pretty good chance that sanctions will be lifted. among them is the ceo of russia's sovereign wealth fund with $10 billion and reserved capital under management. he has pumped up about the thought of russia and america: vesting, citing russia as a partner that could even help trump with his promise to create jobs for americans. he says that the prospect of

tapping russia's 140 million strong market could be appealing for americans and claims his country's economy is in solid shape, despite the sanctions. >> they really did not destroy russian economy as the hope was. stock market grew 50% last year. we started very important agreements to regulate oil prices, 2.6% gdp growth of the russian economy this year. >> he says that the weak ruble has actually been very good for russian experts as well, but people who actually have expenses and dollars here will tell you an entirely different story. in terms of some of the concerns about corruption and other problems associated often with doing business in russia, a couple statistics, the world bank ease of doing business rating has put russia as number 40 40 out of 190 which is up from

51 last year. >> jenna: thank you, amy. >> jon: so far, no definitive word on president trump's pledge to move the u.s. embassy in israel to jerusalem. white house press secretary sean spicer said no decision has been made yet on the timing. moving the embassy was one of the president's campaign promises, but it would be a significant shift in u.s. policy. rich edson is live at the state department with more on that. >> good afternoon. it is now all up to president trump as congress passed a law 20 years ago requiring that the united states with its embassy to israel from tel aviv to jerusalem, however president clinton, bush, and obama have all blocked that move. since 2006 because of the disputed status of the city, no country has had its embassy to israel and jerusalem. during the campaign, president trump promised to move the embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem, and even his choice

for u.s. ambassador to israel, david friedman, has said he looks forward to working from "the u.s. embassy in israel's eternal capital, jerusalem." however, the white house is now short of fully committing to the move within the next four years. >> there is a reason you go through a decision-making process, and that is what we are in the process of starting right now. i do not want to get ahead -- if it was already a decision, it would not have gone through a process. >> israel claims jerusalem as its capital city, so do the palestinians. they say the u.s. moving its embassy to jerusalem would legitimize israeli concern over a disputed city and they say it would strip the u.s. of any position as a possible mediator between the israelis and palestinians on peace negotiations. >> we say to mr. trump that we hope he will not move the embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem because jerusalem from the israeli point of view is a united city and this is not correct and illegal. therefore, living the embassy to any place will be a step ahead

of anything that may happen in the future and will damage the peace process. >> though the president has refused to renegotiate with peace negotiations unless israel recitals their banks, they view it as their territory and as that happens, the news out of israel is that government has approved 25 additional settlement units in the west bank. back to you. >> jon: rich edson at the state department for us, thank you. >> jenna: a fox news alert and headline coming from the state of michigan. the water in flint, michigan, is safe, sort of. lukewarm statement from the environment to agency in michigan said that the flat water system no longer has levels of lead exceeding the federal limit. in fact, officials there say that the lead in the water in flint is about the same to lead and other cities across the nation. this is a dramatic improvement

from 2014 when the water source of that city was switched over and quite friendly, kids were getting sick in the city of michigan. listen to this, there is still a warning about using water out of the faucet, so it is up to your interpretation about how safe the water really is. apparently, the community is being told to use a faucet filter's bottled waters because they are replacing pipes in the area, and that could spike lead levels in individual houses. a positive reading on the one hand, at least from a certain state officials about water in the city of flint, michigan, but still the community being told to be careful. this is again a story several years old, and one that we will continue to walk as we try to get flint, michigan back up and running when it comes to their water. fox news alert now as we go to the white house and the press briefing room, sean spicer. >> focus of the past 24 and 36 hours. before we begin going through the events of the day, i want to

start with a quick rundown of all of the president and his administration have done with just one official working day under our belts. i don't know about everyone else, but i think it has been a pretty impressive first and second full day here. president trump's meetings yesterday with the top business and union leaders including frontline union workers went very well, and i think it was a signal to every american worker that jobs and the economy are truly the president's top priority. a few of the participants noted afterward in each one of these groups that we meet with that this was the first time in some cases ever they have been reached out to and in almost every case the first time they were invited into the oval office. i really think that when you look at the level of concern and interest he has in the american worker, it has been clearly on display in the last 24 and 36 hours. in addition to these productive meetings, the president took major steps toward fulfilling some of his biggest campaign promises to the american people. he ushered in a new era of u.s. trade policy by withdrawing from

the trans-pacific partnership agreement and restored respect for taxpayers by instituting a hiring freeze on the executive branch. he also reaffirmed his commitment to life by reestablishing the mexico city policy, and the president ended his day yesterday with a bipartisan bicameral meeting of congressional leaders where he made it clear that he expects there to be notably delete my delay in getting an agenda through congress and action out of washington. this morning, the president began his day with a breakfast listening to key automobile executives. they spoke about the importance of increasing manufacturing capability, specific to the automotive industry. they touched on the need for regulatory reform and a modernized safety standard which will advance the industry leading and technology and job creation here in the united states. you have been briefed on the attendees, but the head of general motors was here, former governor, president of the american automotive policy council, ford, general motors,

fiat chrysler, the head of government affairs for ford, then from the administration jared kushner was on hand, reince preibus, stephen bannon, stephen miller and hope hicks. the president signed a series of executive actions that will move our country toward energy independence, but more portly, really continue to get americans back to work. the president started by signing a memorandum to fulfilling a major promised to secure swift approval for the keystone pipeline. the memorandum invites transcanada to resubmit their proposal and directs agencies to approve it without delay. there is an energy revolution that is going to happen in this country, and in spite of the bureaucratic and political barriers that have been in place in the past, we are ready to move forward. oil and gas production is up significantly in the last decade, and our imports have been cut in half. the president's actions today

will create tens of thousands of new jobs for the american workers and move us greater toward energy independence while at the same time ensuring that we keep the environment is a top priority. the president also signed a memorandum regarding the dakota axis pipeline. this memorandum directs agencies to expedite reviews and approval for the remaining portion of this pipeline. which the previous demonstration held up for political reasons. the $3.8 billion pipeline already almost 90% complete will carry over 500,000 barrels a day of crude oil from areas and north dakota to oil markets in the u.s. both of these areas as the president remarked this morning, he's going to ensure we continue to negotiate in both areas to provide the best deal for the american taxpayer. the president signed an executive order establishing a framework for expediting environmental reviews for high-priority infrastructure projects, delays and other inefficiencies in the environment a review of the

building process are severely impeding critically important projects that will help us we modernize and rebuild our nation's infrastructure. this order will help put an end to the crippling delays caused by bureaucratic red tape. the president also signed a memorandum or requiring the congress or kateri to submit a report recommending how best to streamline manufacturing. the president has been hearing for manufacturing, manufacturers that excessive regulation are driving them out of the u.s. as part of his commitment to making america worked again, he has directed the congress or kateri to reach out to manufacturers in the public to identify regulations hurting them from moving forward. the president also signed a memorandum directing the congress secretary delete a group looking into the keystone in dakota access pipeline as well as any other future pipelines with us-made steel and pipes. and accessories. this is the first step of the president really delivering on his campaign process to put american steel back at the

backbone of the u.s. economy. the u.s. has lost nearly one-third of its manufacturing base since 1997. even though the country's population has increased by 50 million people. we're going to rebuild our infrastructure and do it with american workers and with american resources. as many of you will recall, the buy american theme was a major theme in his inaugural address, this is clearly intermediate action in response to that promise he made to the american people last friday. we sorely need is in for structured jobs occurring to the national association of manufacturers that without improvements to our transportation system "the united states will lose more than 2.5 million jobs by 2025". creating jobs and boosting wages is the president's top priority and it has been very clear over the past 36 hours that this is an area he is taking immediate action. at 1:00, the president was

speaking with the indian prime minister and we will have a read out as soon that is available if we can get it to you during the briefing, we will pair this afternoon, he will hold a bipartisan meeting with key senate leadership including the majority leader, minority leader, majority whip, minority whip to announce his nomination for associate justice of the united states supreme court. as he noted earlier today, he intends to have a decision by the end of the week and an announcement early next week. the president has made it incredibly clear he will appoint justices to protect our liberty and hold the highest regards for the constitution. he continues to carefully consider potential future justices based on their commitment to upholding these principles pray this meeting is an important opportunity for the president to consult with senate leaders from both sides of the aisle on his potential choices for the bench. as you may have heard, speaker ryan extended an invitation to the president to address a joint session of congress on february 28th. i am pleased to inform you that the president has accepted that invitation. he looks forward to sharing his plans for moving the country forward. i have a feeling by the time we get to february 28th, we will

have a lot to talk about. it was great to see the nominations of dr. carson, second elaine chao, mr. ross and governor nikki haley were advance out of committee today. just as a reminder, by the end of the first week of president obama's first week in office, he had 12, so the senate has some catching up to do and i hope the senate democrats do their job and help us catch up to that number. one quick follow-up on our storm relief efforts that have plagued the southeast, white house staff has been in touch with officials in the state and will continue to provide assistance to the recovery, eight fema team is on the ground in atlanta, georgia, to support response and recovery activities, fema liaison officers have been deployed to emergency support, senate members and both mississippi and georgia response activities. with that, i will be glad to take some questions. jim, let's have it. >> activists expressed concern about the immediate action on

daca and dapa, wonder if that was a key element of president trump's platform on the campaign trail, when can they expect that? it would only require stopping renewing the applications, would not actually be retroactive against anybody, so what is the hold up? >> i think i mentioned yesterday when it comes to immigration and the present promises the presie during the campaign to both ensure that we build a wall and enforce our southern border as well as reform our entire organization of immigration system, he focuses first on people who pose a threat to our country, criminals, that is where he wants ice to focus their efforts. with response to daca, he wants to make sure the cabinet level team organizes and makes a plan to go forward with that issue which is where we are right now. david jackson. >> reporter: there are stories

out there that epa officials have been gagged from talking to the press, the media, there is a gag order, the same thing we had from the interior department over the weekend, is that true and why is that being done? >> i don't know that story is literally breaking as week came in, we are looking into it. i don't think it is any surprise when there is an administration turnover that we are going to review the policies with respect to the question you're asking. i do not have any information at the time he asked the team to look into it as we went into the briefing room, as i have an update, i will be glad to get back to you. >> reporter: did the interior department have the same thing over the weekend, supposedly they were banned from tweeting. >> because they had inappropriately violated their own social media policy, there was guidance put out to the department to act in compliance with the rules set forth. steve holland. >> reporter: and signing the orders on keystone and dakota access this morning, he said he would like to renegotiate some of the terms, what exactly was

he talking about? >> that is a a great question,e of the things the american people clearly know about donald trump as he is a successful businessman and successful negotiator. as he looks at these deals, what he is trying to ensure is that these projects that are great in the sense they are going to create jobs and help our economy, but in a lot of cases, they are going to make these organizations a lot of money. what he is ensuring is the american taxpayer gets the best deal possible. he is asking his team to review those deals and to make sure that if we are going to do all of these things to expedite these projects that go over or under a piece of u.s. soil, the american taxpayer is considered in this process and we get the best deal for our country not just in terms of jobs and future economic growth in a little bit more energy security but also in terms of making sure that the taxpayers writ large you own some of this land or access axo these lands and waters and rivers in the case of dakota are getting the best deal

possible. charles. >> reporter: as you know, president george w. bush had a tradition of addressing the marchers through a phone call at the mall, while the president be continuing that tradition on friday? >> i know kellyanne conway is going to attend the event. we are still working through the details, but we will have further points on the president's potential participation. there is no doubt that he has campaign as a pro-life president, something that is very important to him as evidenced by the mexico city policy reinstatement that he issued yesterday. obviously, we are going to have heavy admin initiation presence there. no secret that this administration and this president are going to do what they can to fight for life with the exact participation of the president, we will find out whether it is a greeting or a call of some sort, i will have a further update for you. >> reporter: does their

president believe that millions voted illegally in this election and what evidence do you have of widespread voter fraud in this election if that is the case? >> the president does believe that it has a stated that before with his concerns of voter fraud in people voting illegally during the campaign. he continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence people have first have presented to him. >> reporter: exactly what evidence? secretaries of state say they do not agree with the president's assessment, what evidence do you have? >> as i said, the president has belief that for a while based on studies in information he has. john roberts. reported mike they quietly chance for it a lot of money out of the country under the obama administration including to the palestinian authority, is the president okay with that chance for or will he seek took claw back some of that money? >> i think when it comes to how u.s. taxpayer money is spent in general whether it is overseas or here at home, you've seen through the hiring freeze and other actions he is going to

take, i just mentioned that steel come he's very concerned with how taxpayer money is spent whether it is sent over seas or whether we get anything for it in terms of our relationship and support for our democracy or aid to another country for their defenses. he's going to be examining all aspects of the budget and how we look at all money because i think there is a new found respect for how the american people taxpayer dollars are spent in this administration. with his background as it is as a businessman who scrutinizes projects to bring them under budget on time, he is bringing that business acumen to the white house to the benefit of the american taxpayer. >> reporter: is he okay with that particular transfer? >> i want to go further to say he will make sure every deal and dollar spent on behalf of america by the government is done in a way that respects the american taxpayer. >> reporter: when you were talking about the voter fraud, are you going to ask for an investigation or is the white house going to ask for a probe into the election? >> he won very handily with 306

electoral votes, 33 states. he is very comfortable with his win. reporter mike the problem is he is bringing it up. >> having a discussion with folks in mentioning something and passing which has been a long-standing belief he has maintained. this is not the first time he have heard her this concern of. >> reporter: just clarifying whether illegal ballots were -- >> one cannot and 2008 that showed 14% of people who have voted were not citizens, there were other studies that have been presented to him, it's a belief he maintains. reporter mike counted them properly as durbin said the president personally told him last night, the people who vote -- >> it is a belief that he has maintained for a wild, concern he has about voter fraud, and that is based on information that was provided. >> reporter: following the exec if actions earlier today, is he concerned about large-scale protest around him if he constructs that dakota access and keystone xl pipeline like outstanding rock, and how will he speak to those concerns?

>> he is going to make sure that he is working with all parties involved. that is part of steve's question, there is a way to continue to negotiate that whether it is native american concerns they have on some of the land in the dakota pipeline. we are 93% there with dakota, and i think that the president has shown through his business life that he knows how to negotiate a great deal with parties coming out and he is willing to sit down with all of the individuals that are involved in the dakota pipeline to make sure that it is a deal that benefits all of the parties of interest or at least gets them something we want. that is part of it. we will stick with the m for a while. >> reporter: i want to ask about james comey but also want to follow up about pipelines and renegotiation. the president suggested that some of those renegotiations may already be happening or that they would start happening and i

wonder if you can clarify, are the mechanisms said, have the discussions already began? >> he just signed the executive order today. part of it as he moves these things forward, he wants to make sure he gets the best deal for the american taxpayer and works with the parties involved to make sure that people who may have concerns have an opportunity to come back to the table to see if there is a way -- >> reporter: still being fleshed out? >> that is correct. >> reporter: could you make it official what has been reported by u.s. officials all day long that the president has asked james -- james comey to stay on and that he will stay on as they continue to investigate russian ties? >> i do not have a firm statement on that, that will be tomorrow. >> reporter: a question about the hiring freeze yesterday. it is not exempt the va and there are 41,500 unfilled medical jobs at the va which is really an extremely large

number. the va is one of his top priorities, so -- >> it is a freeze, and part of it is to ensure -- hold on, part of it is to get our va secretary in there and to figure out how we can best because hiring people when you have a system that is not working then just going out and hiring additional people does not seem to be the most efficient way of solving the problem. what we need to do whether it is the va or any other agency is make sure that we are hiring smartly and effectively and efficiently, and i think the va in particular, if you look at the problems that replace people, hiring more people is not the answer, it is hiring the right people, putting procedures in place to ensure our veterans whether it is healthcare, mortgages or get the services that they've earned. and right now, the system is brokening. the freeze is an analysis of of what will make it