that is always interesting. >> jenna: it's only noon? how many hours have passed as far as breaking news goes. >> jon: we have had a lot of developments just within the last hour, more to come. >> jenna: we will see you back in an hour. >> jon: "outnumbered" starts right now. >> we begin with a fox news alert, we are awaiting the start of a white house press briefing any moment now, as u.s. diplomatic relations take center stage, this after the trump administration put you ran officially on notice following some provocative actions by the country. this is "outnumbered," i'm harris faulkner, here today is sandra smith, meghan mccain, cohost of "after the bell" on fox business, melissa francis, and today's #oneluckyguy, the political editor of town hall.com, guy benson, and he's outnumbered. good have you. >> thanks for having me. >> you were excited about what we are dealing with, because this is sweet spot for you. >> a lot of news and politics and we are jumping in. >> let's do it.

this hour we are waiting for press secretary sean spicer to speak. it was a little bit of drama yesterday at the white house briefing, in case you missed it, president trump's national security advisor, retired lieutenant general michael flynn, issued a blistering warning to iran, following its latest missile test. >> today we are officially putting you ran on notice, the obama administration failed to respond adequately to tehran's malign actions, including weapons transfers, support for terrorism, and other violations of international norms. to the trump administration condemns such actions by iran that undermines security, prosperity, and stability, throughout and beyond the middle east, and which places american lives at risk. >> a tweet storm president trump today. he said "iran was on its last legs and ready to collapse until the u.s. came along and gave it a life-line in the form of the iran deal: $150 billion" and the iranian government has responded by calling general

flynn's remarks as baseless. instead of thinking -- the u.s. is actually helping the terrorists with such talk. there's more. reports now of tense conversations between president trump and australia's prime minister over a refugee deal agreed upon under the obama administration. president trump reportedly blasted the agreement to taken thousands of refugees who have been refused asylum by australia. as the worst deal ever. he also tweeted his displeasure and said that he would "study this dumb deal." and i thought all, contentious call with mexico's president also making headlines after president trump reportedly threatened to sending u.s. troops to take care of that nations "bad hombres." one white house official said those remarks were lighthearted and part of security talk. your facial respect your facial expressions, it was a story on

your face. >> where to begin? let's start with iran, and first of all, how rich for iran to put out a statement accusing the united states of helping terrorists. iran has been and continues to be the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world, they are a malign actor, president bush was right to call them a member of the axis of evil because they are. when it comes to that statement from general flynn, i think that we have to see what putting iran on notice actually means practically, but the tone is such a dramatic shift from what we saw under the obama administration, where they seemed willing to apologize for, or make excuses for, or sort of downplay iran's terrible behavior because it seemed that the primary goal of the obama administration was to preserve that nuclear deal at all costs, even if iran was pushing and prodding as far as they could. that is a signal, what we heard from the white house press briefing yesterday, there was absolutely a new sheriff in town, and they are not going to be nearly as lax as the last

demonstration. >> and it was a dramatic and surprising moment, because when the white house press briefing started we had no notice that michael flynn was going to take to the microphone. it happened within the first few minutes that it began, and he made it very clear his intentions and why he was there. we are officially putting iran on notice, kiki mcfarlane, the deputy national security advisor, was present as well paired we are awaiting this briefing, what do you expect? >> there are probably going to be a lot of questions from the press about president trump's various tweets, and we just highlighted a few of them their moments ago. there is the story about the australian prime minister that part of me, i'm increasingly skeptical of this parade of horrible's being reported every day about trump. so of which you go back under further scrutiny and it turns out not to be true. based on those details, some of that is crazy. >> let me step in for just a second, because we have a little bit about the president talking about those telephone calls, let's watch. >> the world is in trouble. and we're going to straighten it out, okay? that's what i do, i fix things.

we are going to straighten it out. believe me. when you hear about the telephone calls i'm having, don't worry about it. just don't worry about it. they're tough. we have to be tough, it's time are going to be a little tough, folks. we are taking advantage of by every nation in the world, virtually. it's not going to happen anymore. >> two of those calls reportedly that were tougher with the australian leader over that refugee deal that he called a dome deal, as i said come off the top of the hour, the other was with mexico's president, your thoughts? >> when you go to australia, i feel like a lot of my role now is to be business translator, because this is deal talk, what he's doing here, when a new ceo takes over or someone he buys in a company, they walk in and almost instantly they say, the guy before me agree to what? absolutely not! that is off the table. and that is the reset, that's how it starts. in all most every situation. so i understand why this is so foreign to politics, and it may or may not work. i'm not saying that this is a

way to do diplomacy. i'm just saying that this is how the conversation starts. in business, and you say did he agree to take refugees? no, no, i'm the new ceo, and i am not abiding by the deal. and you have to be very tough out of the gate to say i am not honoring that deal. >> now that you brought donkeys into it -- >> the problem as it is such a linear argument against australia. 499 years we have had an allied relationship with australia, they have fought in every american war since world war i alongside americans. we currently right now have troops and marines based in durban, australia. why start an argument in this way with one of america's closest and most valued allies? and i understand that everyone comes to the table saying, this is how it's done a business, this is how it's done in business, but they're still the question of, how do we treat our allies, because this is not a business deal, and diplomacy is an entirely different thing. for me, the idea that we could have soldiers over in australia right now serving alongside

other australian soldiers, and then we are putting out basically the statement that australia can, you know, get out of here. >> if it's true. >> the, you said we have heard the reports, you will have to see the transcripts if we get to see the readouts of those phone calls, that would be interesting. but what if the redesigns the way we do it? what if it becomes more the deal talk method rather than the old diplomacy method? i can understand why to a lot of americans the notion of a new approach is refreshing and needed. but, there are certain norms of diplomacy that ought to be abided by, and when you have your first conversation with the elected leader of a dear ally, as meghan just referred to, the ozzie's have been with us every step of the way to for decades, to go about that phone call the way he allegedly did, reportedly did, does raise some concerns, in the thing that also is odd to me, apparently he was bragging

again brought his inaugural crowd size and about his electoral college victory, i don't understand why that would need to come up in a conversation with a world leader, unless there is an insecurity that that leader doesn't view him as legitimate. he is the president. >> i keep going back to the timing. we haven't even seen the trump administration finishes second official formal week, and meghan, they are making it very clear that foreign policy is going to take center stage, that they mean business, he has artie been on the phone with all these foreign leaders. his supporters will be happy to see that, but how do you think that is appearing to the world? >> again, these are separate countries, separate issues, with australia i am concerned with the idea that we would make enemies of one of our closest and strongest allies for almost 100 years, every war since world war i. regarding the iran deal, iran is emboldened right now, lest we forget that president obama gave over $200 billion in unmarked bills to them. they are in bold and, that is what we have said, they don't really need america right now

because i got everything that they wanted, so the question here is they have already violated the red line with the iran deal, they just did that with this missile strike, so how will president trump in the trump administration now react. will we be more aggressive? donald trump seems to have a close relationship with russia and vladimir putin, vladimir putin aided and abetted into iran and the syrian refugee crisis, so there is a lot of complicated factors, and because, i will give him that his administration is less than two weeks old, it is hard to decipher where we are at. >> certainly on that point we saw speaker ryan just about an hour ago step up to the lectern, and he said with regard to the iran deal, i would like to put as much toothpaste back in the tube as possible on a deal, don't know how much that would be possible. of course we don't even know what was on the outside peripherally on a deal, so maybe this gets at that nugget. >> this is not trump's fault, this is one thing i will give them, the obama administration could not have made a bigger mess than that deal, and who is president this would be an untenable situation.

they have the money and have everything they ever wanted, and again i don't know where he is going to go, but this is not -- >> putting iran on notice, when mike flynn put somebody on notice, it is a lot different too many see president obama drying the redline come all of a sudden the country that is the object of it is throwing parties and giving out red kranz as favors, mocking him with this redline. when mike flynn comes out and says, you have a sneaking suspicion the next and you are going to hear is planes overhead. >> i think you guys just set up for a very fiery white house press briefing that is going to start in moments. >> we are looking forward to where these questions will begin, will they start with the leader of mexico and that phone call, australia, we will cover it all, so stay here, because we continue to await that white house press press briefing as mr. trump's choice for the spring court again is making his rounds on capitol hill, the new demands democrats are making before a vote is even held for judge gorsuch. whether this is justified, could it backfire for democrats? and widespread destruction and violence on the campus of one of america's premier universities.

in protest of a conservative speaker. what it says about political correctness intolerance of other opinions. and, when the tv version of this wraps up, you can join us live online, we have a line chat cooking in the "overtime" tab at fox news.com/outnumbered, something is going on with my friend, guy benson, we are going to dig down into that, you can watch is live on facebook as well, facebook.com/outnumbered fnc. tweet us anytime you want, we are coming right back. all finished.

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>> supreme court nominee judge neil gorsuch is spending a second day visiting senators on capitol hill, meeting with republican senator bob corker of tennessee in the past hour. this is democrats have threatened to filibuster, pushing for 60 votes for the colorado judge to get a hearing after president trump said he hopes the g.o.p. would use the nuclear option if gorsuch's nomination gets stalled. at the leader of the senate democrats, chuck schumer. >> it's important to clarify, because i believe 60 votes is the right standard for this nominee. not because they did it to us, we did it have them come about because 60 votes, as i mentioned

in my remarks, produces a mainstream candidate. and as i laid out earlier, the supreme court requires a mainstream candidate now more than ever. >> meantime, ice president mike pence saying he is hopeful the nuclear option won't come to pass, and he believes many democrats will come around once i get to meet judge gorsuch. >> we are very heartened by the response now of seven democrat members of the senate, who have said that they believe the judge deserves an up or down vote, and i do believe that as judge gorsuch's travels across capitol hill in the weeks ahead, sitting down with republicans and democrats, they're going to see what the president saw. >> all right, so will the nuclear option need to be used? >> i don't think it will. i think based on statements we've seen from eight or nine democrats already in the senate, they are not willing to go full-blown with this filibuster. if they do, i think that mitch mcconnell will come under major pressure from the president, the base, and others

to go nuclear and follow through on what harry reid started by blowing that institution up, or at least that tradition. i think what's interesting listening to that sound bite there from chuck schumer talking about mainstream, and we need 60 votes, and you talk about a 60-vote standard for which he was awarded to co-pinocchio's "the washington post," because they always want to play by their own separate rules, the democrats, there people confirmed, they are willing to do whatever it takes to get it, but when the republicans are doing the appointing, then all of a sudden there are new rules and we have to be very concerned. there are two sitting justices on the supreme court right now who got fewer than 60 votes, justice alito and justice thomas. who were vote both appointed by republicans because democrats play hardball. republicans finally turned their tactics against them last year with merrick garland, and again, i don't think we are going to see that filibuster from the democrats, certainly some of them will try, i'm not sure they will follow through, but it's important to remember the history, both president obama

and president clinton got two supreme court justices on the bench with no filibuster in their first term, republican should demand absolutely nothing less. >> we spoke about senator orrin hatch on the couch, he had choice words for his colleagues, he called them idiots, and he did that again when i spoke to them yesterday afternoon, but he's confident that they will come around, what do you see happening question mexico there is this picture that's gone viral that senator ben sasse put on his twitter account, and it's says stop and written in letters with gorsuch. so anybody they would have appointed, democrats would be going crazy over, it's not that they have a problem with it, he's highly qualified by anybody's standards, and in 2006 he had a lot of bipartisan support from the left. >> unanimous, by the way. >> the problem is, he's a conservative, and he's a great heir to justice scalia, and in the area of nancy pelosi having meltdowns, anything that is not completely left they will have a problem with. i think if they go nuclear with this, it will end up looking completely partisan and just set a bad tone.

>> and potentially backfire. >> i'm wondering if there isn't a split among democrats, maybe not some of the leadership, but within the party on this issue, because they see the bigger fight coming when you remove a liberal judge, or one leaves, and you try to replace with somebody who is more conservative, that is really where they ought to maybe save their powder. but the former solicitor general, acting solicitor general for the obama administration, you probably know, told "the new york times" recently that he worked with gorsuch, and while he was decidedly conservative, he found him to be a wonderful person to talk with and to work with and to work through the issues, because he is a consummate professional. and so he is an important person in the damp democratic party, and has worked with the obama administration, what is he saying that the other democrats aren't? and is this really coming down to, we just said no and we are putting a line in the sand, and are they really going to regret that when they really need to draw a line question mike >> and i think that is the key point. if you are talking tax sick

tactics and strategy right now and you are chuck schumer, gorsuch is so universally acclaimed as qualified and so on and so forth. he is going to get confirmed. so do you want to burn through your filibuster option now, or do you wait until -- >> indoor political will. >> if there is another seat that comes open, then you might want that filibuster, but the question is will the democratic base demand of the big fight right now, since they are running around furious about everything. >> i think democrats might want to look on the bright side, because gorsuch hates overreach of all types, including that from the executive branch, and down the line he might turn against president trump on his own overreach, they might want to look at that as a possible bright side for them down the road. >> i love the song "brightside," too. i haven't heard the killers in a while. what's also interesting about this, too, is just the way the candidates were laid out print remember how we got to know merrick garland from the obama administration, and there was talk then that he might be the person that republicans would

even consider because he was perhaps more moderate. then somebody, and you are having a thought bubble -- >> no, at the time that was a very difficult decision, because you are sitting there and saying well, if hillary clinton is elected, then he may have looked like a very good just as at the time, but then they took the gamble and didn't go through with it, and now here we sit. but i do think turnabout is fair play. as you said, democrats have done this before, republicans have done this, too, this is typical politics back and forth. >> that's true, although the only thing i would say is the democrats have been much more robust in their escalations of these fights over the years, and there is a wonderful "wall street journal" editorial today laying out the history of that that i sent think is essential reading. >> i want to remind everybody the reason why we are showing the white house and the bottom corner of the screen is we are awaiting the white house press briefing, it is expected at any moment now, and this has been a point of contention, the past couple of days this white house press briefing, reporters have been peppering sean spicer with

questions about this, and he is adamant that there is no reason why democrats should get in the way of his confirmation. >> yeah, and i agree with him, he's right about that. he's got the history and the democrats own standards to hang around their political next. >> all right, so we are awaiting that, meanwhile homeland security secretary john kelly saying he hopes to complete the border wall with mexico and the next two years, whether that is possible, and how it could affect our relationship with our southern neighbor. plus, violent protests at uc berkeley, leading to the cancellation of a speech by a conservative speaker. now, president trump suggesting he may hit the school where it hurts, in the pocket book whether he should.

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♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. we're family. we'd do anytbut this time...her. those bonds were definitely tested. frog leg, for my baby brother don't frogs have like, two legs? so they should have two of these? since i'm active duty and she's family, i was able to set my sister up with a sweet membership from navy federal. if you hold it closer, it looks bigger. eat your food my big sis likes to make tiny food. and i'm okay with that. open to the armed forces, the dod and their families. navy federal credit union. >> all right, so we come in with this fox news alert of a meeting that is going on, a lunchtime

meeting, executives from harley-davidson and union leaders are meeting with the president right now, this is the south lawn. let's watch this together and in just a moment they are going to be talking, this is playback that we just got into fox news. so this is just a few seconds old, and everybody gets the tape playback, and then we can listen to what they say. meanwhile, there was some question about whether or not they would show up on their motorcycles as they meet with these executives, but let's watch and listen. [inaudible] [camera shutters]

>> all right, it's a little hard to hear the words there, but some laughter around the fact about who would be writing which by, harley-davidson, as you know, sandra and i were talking during the break, their bikes are made here in america, and as the president meets with their executive and union leaders, we'll get some sort of information out of their actual lunch. but for right now they are gathered on the south lawn doing what we all would be doing, looking at the hogs and saying, can i ride that one? thank you. all right, these fresh pictures coming in.

>> a very scary scene at uc berkeley, and now president trump weighing in on those violent protests, suggesting that's the school could lose federal funding, the chaos erupting over a planned speech from a conservative speaker, more than 1500 students were peacefully protesting, and the school said rider showed up. they set a large fire near student union, mashed windows, and through molotov cocktails, and reportedly an american flag was burned, and a trump supporter was peppers played in the face. milo yiannopoulos speech ended up getting canceled, and he spoke to tucker carlson last night. >> what was particularly scary and should be particularly troubling, it is not only happening on an american college campus, supposedly in the land of the for free, these places where you should be able to engage with different ideas, hear speakers, and students who come to my talks who don't necessarily agree with me but just want to hear the other

side, they were prevented from doing so this evening by violent left, left terrified of anyone they think might be persuasive or might be interesting or might take people with them. >> school officials say in a statement that the event was canceled out of concern for public safety. president trump tweeting, "if u.c. berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - no federal funds?" berkley received $370 million in federal research money in this last school year. you know, last night you and i were tweeting about this in real time, both have the same comment, i will let you take it from there. >> there are a couple things, first of all if the ideological roles were reversed, the left would be calling those images i hate crime against gay people, homophobic hate crime. secondly, these rioters were proving his point. i am not always in total agreement with this guy, okay, but he comes out and says oh, these social justice warriors,

they are precious snowflakes that can handle views that are different from their own, and here they come out and disrupt a speech, cancel a speech, with violent protest. it's the best publicity you could ever pay for, and they are giving it to him for free. and finally, if you interviewed these thugs, if you stopped one and got their mascot their face and asked him some questions, they would say that they are against fascism. but look at these fetishistic tactics that they are using, destroying private property, assaulting innocent people, shutting down a peaceable assembly and free speech prayed >> we have the video of the trump supporter being pepper sprayed. >> ma'am? >> in a free country with free speech. >> brutal. >> they claim that they are against fascism, but they are what they claim to oppose. these are outrageous and enraging images. this is just a girl showing up to listen to a speech on a college campus, and that is the

way she is being treated. the lawlessness, and by the way, you have the mayor of berkeley coming out and sort of supporting this and attacking the free speech of milo on twitter. that is a disgraceful thing. speech, the whole point of free speech is to protect unpopular speech. it's easy to protect popular speech. and this shows once again that the left has, in some cases, these are extremists, absolutely no tolerance print >> the president is threatening to pull the federal funds from the university, do you agree with that move? >> i'm not sure that is the best way to go about it. i understand taking a shot across the bow of the university, saying if you are not going to protect free speech and you are a public institution, you've got a lot of federal funds coming, you have to stand up for some of our values if you want to make sure that that faucet remains on. but a lot of those grants go to really important research that help a lot of people, and i'm not sure that it's necessarily the best idea to threaten that money, especially over one event. but if you are going to do it over something, this was really bad and ugly. >> i went through the uc regent

system and berkeley was one of the schools i looked at, i ended up at santa barbara, but knowing it very well, actually as an alumni who is still very involved in the uc regents system, that money does go to a lot of different things, into students that actually don't agree with those who were doing those things yesterday, those violent things. i have to cut my own self off here. because there is breaking news, we want to get to that white house press briefing that we have been waiting for this hour with press secretary sean spicer. questions about foreign policy, calls that the president made undoubtedly will be asked about, let's watch together. >> the president signed a proclamation yesterday ushering in black history month, he looks forward to engaging and informative month of events honoring the enormous country visions that african-americans have made throughout our history. last night, the president was honored to host the swearing in of the next secretary of state, rex tillerson, in the oval office. as a president said last night, secretary tiller sent as a man who is already respected all over the world, for the

tremendous life that is led, and i will bring his years of experience to the critical task of making our nation more safer, more prosperous, and more secure. it's time to bring a clear eyed focus to our foreign affairs, and now with second tillerson at the helm of the state apartment, we will do just that. we will strengthen our alliances, form new ones, and enhance america's interests throughout the world. speaking of the presidents excellent nominees, praise is pouring in from around the country for his pick for supreme court, the detroit news says judge gorsuch is an "legal superstar," an outstanding choice says the "new hampshire union leader," the richmond dispatch as the initial reaction was to cheer, the "south florida sun sentinel" touted his excellent qualifications. yesterday the judge had his first round of meetings on the hill, unfortunately senate offices aren't in the habit of releasing editorials, but from everything we heard, the judge knocked it out of the park on the senate as well. the president looks forward to a fair and speedy confirmation

process for this exceedingly-qualified nominee interest. and in my last briefing i read out a list of the senators judge gorsuch has met with, in addition to meeting with majority leader mcconnell, majority with corn and, senators hatch and gardner, the judge also met with joe mansion of west virginia, recently the senator expressed the belief that judge gorsuch could win enough democrats to hit 60 votes, i agree with the senator there on that one. we have to have a true trump state democrats who want to win reelection. but as i pointed out yesterday, the so-called 60 votes standard is simple he not accurate. and the democrats are grasping at straws to block the confirmation of an unquestionably qualified nominee. i will repeat, neither of the two supreme court justices that president obama put forward were subject to the 60 vote threshold. so although i agree with the senator that judge gorsuch will probably get 60, enough democrats to get to 60, it is just simply not ever been a requirement. now under the events of today,

the president started his day by attending the national prayer breakfast, it was a tradition that continued over six decades going back to president eisenhower. the president thanked the american people for their faith in prayers that have sustained and inspired him. noting that the five words he has heard more than any other as he's travel to the country are, i'm praying for you. he spoke at length about the thomas hardiman five genocide against christians and the oppression of peace-loving muslims, as well as the threat about the extermination of and made it clear that the united states has a moral obligation to speak out against such violence. he encouraged americans to make remain a tolerant society were all faiths are respected and where all of our citizens can feel safe and secure. with that goal in mind, the president remarked that he is taking action to make sure that the united states will not allow a beachhead of intolerance to spread throughout our nation. in the coming days we will develop a system to help ensure that those admitted into our country fully embrace our values of religious and personal

liberty and reject any form of oppression or to scream and nation. the president also committed to get rid of the johnson amendment and allowing our representatives of faith to speak freely and without retribution. in particular, in a multipoint moment during his remarks, the president recalled yesterday's visit to dover air force base to join a family of chief ryan owens as america's fallen hero was returned. after honoring chief owens for giving his life in defense of the american people, the president quoted john 15: 13, greater love have no better man than this, that a manly lay down his life for his friends. after returning returned to the white house, he held a legislative legislative affairs staff meeting with his team, the team continues to work closely with congress to enact the president's agenda with the nomination of judge gorsuch to the supreme court, extensive outreach is underway on capitol hill, and we look forward to the judge receiving a swift and fair hearing. between his meetings, the president was pleased to see the epa administrator was voted

out of the senate environment and public works committee, as has unfortunately become the practice, the democrats again boycotted the hearing, requiring a suspension of the rules in order to advance his nomination. following the strategy session, the president met with senators hatch, widen, and congressman brady and neil. this meeting was an opportunity for the president to meet with the ranking levers of the senate finance and house ways and means committee to help chart the future of u.s. trade policy. the president has put together an all-star trade team that will work closely with the u.s. trade representatives and the committees led by these members to crack new trade deals. the president has expressed his concern time and again with nafta, which he believes is an out of date agreement. the ultimate goal is to ensure that the best and fairest treatment of u.s. workers and businesses, and the president believes that those interests are best secured by bilateral, whether rather than multilateral trade deals. he looks forward to working closely with ustr and congress when it comes to issues of trade. for those of you who weren't outside and just saw the harleys

roll up, it is no surprise that this afternoon the president will host a meeting and listening session with harley-davidson executives and union representatives. for a list of those individuals, please contact our office. harley-davidson has been an american success story since 1901, when william s harley, at age 21, completed the blueprint drawing of an engine drawing to fit into a bicycle. they began building in 19 oh 31903, and today the company has a proximally 6,000 employees and $6 billion in annual revenue. of the company's global headquarters is located in milwaukee, wisconsin, which may have had something to do with them getting in so quickly, there is a certain staffer. today the president will welcome to the white house the latest generation of harley-davidson executives to discuss how to make it easier for businesses to create more jobs in factories in the u.s. beyond the company executives, representatives from the machinist and steel workers unions will also be in attendance. their motorcycles have carried our american service members and war, they carry our police officers, they keep us safe,

they carry the secret service as they protect our president, and they bring joy to millions of americans throughout the world. and others throughout the world. the president is looking forward to hosting these leaders from one of america's truly great entrepreneurial success stories. of the american worker built this country, and the president is focused on restoring a government that puts their interest first. a few administered notes, the national security advisor mike flynn announced addition to the nsc stealing their staff, david kappler will be a deputy assistant to the president for regional affairs, john eisenberg will be deputy assistant to the president, and sc legal advisor to the president, kevin harrington, deputy assistant to the president for strategic planning, and kenneth, deputy assistant to the president for international economic affairs. lastly, we had a great reaction to our skype introduction seat yesterday, i know we had a tremendous amount of requests pouring in from around the country, please contact the press office if you know of anyone who has an interest in joining us in the future. in terms of the schedule for

tomorrow, the president will host a strategic and policy forum, then in the afternoon the president will have lunch with general flynn before departing tomorrow lago later in the day. with that i will take some questions. >> today president trump talked about christian genocide at the national prayer breakfast, and last year the obama officially declared genocide by isis against christians and other minorities in the middle east and north africa. now that rex tillerson has been sworn in as secretary, what specifically is the administration planning to do to comply with the legal obligation of protecting these groups under the treaty? >> that is a great question, i think secretary tillerson is learning his way around the building so far this money, he gave a great speech talking about his vision and goal for the state department. i think there will be further guidance coming out on that, katie. right now, his job is to get in, get settled, talk to the employees, make sure they

understood. but back to the issue, obviously it's important to the president, throughout the campaign, something that he addresses morning and something he is committed to. he talks about in terms of the executive orders, and allowing christian minorities in key countries to seek asylum in the united states. he recognizes that in so many nations these are the oppressed groups, in accordance with how the u.n. defines refugees. so i think you will see further guidance of that. denver. >> thanks, i have two questions. today the president renewed his promise to protect religious liberties which is under threat, some religion some americans receive that as code for discover nation, can you kind of give us a sense of how the president views this? >> it's an interesting question. because i do, this is something that comes up quite a bit. i think there is a line. people should, we have freedom of religion in this country, and i think people should be able to practice their religion, express their religion, express areas of their faith without reprisal.

and i think that pendulum sometimes swings the other way in the name of political correctness. and i think the president and the vice president both understand that one of the things that makes our country and this democracy so great is our ability to express our religion, to believe in faith, to express it, and to live by it, and that is where i think the important part is, whether it's a small business owner or an employee who wants to have some degree of expression of faith. too often those voices get pushed out in the name of political correctness, so he will continue to make sure that we cannot only speak up for it, but find ways in which we can keep that line a little bit less blurred and make sure that the pendulum doesn't swing against people. we shouldn't impose a religion on anybody. we are free to express our religion or not have one. that is obviously in our country and equally valid way of living your life. but at the same time, i think

people who want to express their faith shouldn't be ostracized because they want to live that. >> if you could give us an example, if you could come of the pendulum swinging in the direction of political correctness, and how was i going to inform the president with his executive order, as you may know a draft is circulating around town, and many wondered if that is going to be a way to either silence those on the left, or be a threat to the lgbtq community, how do you talk to both of those question my >> i think if you look back to the little sister's case, if you look back to other businesses that were under -- >> would you put hobby lobby in that category? >> i would, i think there are several businesses and institutions, catholic institutions and others, that have been mandated were apparently attempted to mandate certain things that they may or may not do and how they have to treat their employees. those are instances where clearly the pendulum is swinging a different way, where you are not carving out institutions or the ability for a privately held

business to conduct themselves according to their faith or their moral compass. so there is clearly a lot of evidence in the last couple of years of the government coming in with regulations and policy that have frankly denied people the ability to live according to their faith. >> from the president's point of view that is discriminatory in itself. >> like i said, i thickets up pendulum, and where the president is is he wants to make sure that you don't penalize someone for wanting to express their faith. and that to the extent that the that we can keep that line a little less blurred and allow people who don't believe in a faith or have an opposing faith, make sure that they are equally comfortable in the workplace. but we shouldn't penalize people or mandate them to abide by certain policies and regulations which are in direct contradiction to their faith. >> what about the executive order? >> right now there is no executive order that are official or able to read out. we maintain that. there is nothing new on that front. until we have, it is not a question, there are a lot of ideas that are being floated

outbred i mentioned this the last couple of days, but that doesn't mean -- part of it is as the president does all the time, he asks for input, ideas, and on a variety of subjects, there are staffing procedures that go on where a thought or an idea and it goes through the process. but until the president makes up his mind and gives feedback and decides that that's final, there's nothing to announce. >> in light of the tragedy that happened in quebec city last week, which prime minister justin trudeau is actually calling it an act of terror, what is the president doing, what initiatives is he taking to make sure that that kind of homegrown, he was a canadian citizen, homegrown terrorism, violence, doesn't happen within our borders question my >> there are a lot of things, number one he is looking at it from every angle. i think the first thing is to make sure that we look at our borders. you've got to protect your own people first. and then you better look the cyber threat. there is a whole a holistic approach to both immigration,

and a direct annexes between immigration and national security and personal security that we have to look up. it's a multi-tiered stat. you look at the borders, you look at who we are leading in, and then you look at what we are doing internally with our intelligence agencies and the fbi and make sure that we are looking at whether it's a cyber threat that we face, or other terrorist activities. but making sure that we are working with the nsa and fbi to be ahead of the curve, if you will. >> these are homegrown, oklahoma city was an american kid. >> that's what i'm saying, part of it is looking at the nsa, the fbi, looking at using the different agencies to see if we can get ahead of the curve and see things. and a lot of times that has been a very big issue is getting ahead of the curve when there are telltale signs, having reporting systems up, working with the various agencies, but it is a multi-effort process, if you will. >> thank you. why is the administration easing sanctions against russia russia

mark >> we are not easing sanctions. from what i understand it is a fairly common practice for the treasury department after sanctions are put in place to go back and to look at whether or not there needs to be specific carveout for different, you know, either industries or products and services that need to be going back and forth. but i would refer you back to the treasury on that. >> hold on, the language on the treasury department web site suggests that you are, in fact, easing sanctions, authorizing certain transactions with the federal security service. does that not suggest a shift from what was put in place question might >> no, the regular course of action the treasury does when there are sanctions imposed, but i would refer you back to the treasury department. >> could i ask you to describe the tone of the call on the weekend between the australian prime minister and the president? and also outline the president's

concerns about the refugee deal in question. and i ask you this way, but could you clarify whether the deal is on or not, because the president tweeted last night that i will study this dumb deal, implying that he doesn't know. >> the president at a very cordial conversation with prime minister turnbull, where they went through an extensive discussion of this deal. the president is unbelievably disappointed in the previous administrations deal that was made, and how poorly it was crafted. and the threat to national security it puts the united states on. he has tremendous respect for the prime minister and for the australian people, and has agreed to continue to review that deal, and to ensure that as part of the deal, which was always part of it, that we would go through a very, very extreme vetting process. to ensure that every single person that is being offered up his coming here with peaceful intentions and poses no threat

to the u.s. so he has ensured that while he has respect for the australian people, respect for prime minister turnbull, that we do not pose a threat to the united states of america, that the deal that was cut by the last administration is something that he is extremely, extremely upset with. he does not like it. but out of respect for him, he's going to allow that process to continue to study, allow it to move forward. under the conditions that have been set that there will be extreme vetting on every single one of those individuals. >> just for clarity. the deal itself is still under review so it is not certain to proceed? >> part of the deal is that the deal allows for the united states to vet the individuals that are being offered up to be processed. the president's goal is to make sure that every single one of those people, in accordance with the deal, and as discussed in the telephone conversation with the prime minister, is subjected

to extreme vetting to ensure that no one -- but i cannot underscore how disappointed he was in the deal that was made, and how he thought it was just a horrible deal that was offered up by the united states by the previous administration. >> the president in his national security advisor made clear the administration wants to put iran on notice -- what options are on the table, and are there any options like military action that might be off the table at this point? >> i think general flynn was really clear yesterday that you to mike iran has violated the joint resolution, that the additional hostile actions that they took against navy vessels are ones that we are very clear are not going to sit by and take. i think that we will have further updates on those additional actions, we clearly want to make sure that you ran understands that they are on notice, this is not going on responded. >> that was a saudi vessel.

>> that's right. >> on january 27th, the republican retreat in philadelphia, vice president pence had a closed-door meeting with house republicans where several of them brought up the case of irs commissioner john, and in an attempt to impeach him last year, which some of the leadership in the house felt was unfair to the commissioner, and they urged him to tell the president that given his entire record they should fire him or ask for his resignation soon. my sources said the vice president said that i can hear you. is there any pending action on the fate of the commissioner? >> i have nothing to update you on. >> on yemen, it was initially described, the rate over the weekend, as a successful raid by the administration. it turns out, i've got a couple of questions. would you still stand by the characterization of the raid as

successful? was the president given multiple options about this rate, or just one? and where their consultations with the prior administration, national security officials, military officials, about the raid moving forward question my >> actually i would like to walk thro bringing it up. let's go through the tick-tock on that raid. on november 7th they send submitted the plant to dod, clearly that was under the last administration. legal teams were involved immediately, when it was submitted to dod. on december 19th, the plan was approved by that affirmative defense and recommended it move ahead. it was sent into the national security council staff here in the white house, again, it all happened under the previous administration. on january 6th there was an inter-agency deputies meeting, the deputies recommended at that time that they go ahead. it was so easily approved, it was sent straight up. the conclusion at that time was to hold for what they called a moonless night. which, by calendar, wouldn't occur until then president-elect

trump was president trump. on january 24th, shortly after taking office, secretary of defense then mattis read the memo, presented to the white house conveying his support, on the 25th of january the president was briefed by general flynn on second mattis' recommendation and the status of the operation or potential operation. the president asked to see second mattis and joint chiefs of staff dunford, he then on that evening at a dinner meeting, which included the president, the vice president, second mattis, chairman dunford, dunford, chief of staff reince priebus, jared kushner, chief strategist steve bannon, general kellogg, general flynn, and cia director mike pompeo. where the operation was laid out in great extent. the indication at that time was to go ahead. on friday the 26th, the morning, the deputies met again, it was not a necessary step, and also we they reaffirmed their

support. on january 26th, the president signed the memo. authorizing the action. so it was a very, not only was it a very, very thought out process by this administration, it had started back on november 7th in terms of clearly well before that, but it was a move forward by centcom on november 7. this was a very, very well thought out and executed effort. >> where was the president the night of the raid? how did he learn about the death, and you still stand by your characterization that it was successful? speak of the president was here in the residence, he was kept in touch with his national security staff, second mattis and others kept him updated on both the raid and the death of chief owens, as well as the four other individuals that were injured. so he was kept apprised of the situation throughout the evening. and again, i think i would go back to what i said yesterday. it's hard to ever call something a complete success when you have the loss of life. or people injured. but i think when you look at the totality of what was gained to

prevent the future loss of life here in america, and against our people and our institutions, and probably throughout the world in terms of what some of these individuals could have done, i think it is a successful operation by all standards. again, i want to reiterate, it is tough to ever use the word success when you know that somebody has lost their life. but when you go back and look at an individual that dedicated their life to serving this country and went over and over and over again, knowing that this was not only the risk that he took, but wanted to do it because he knew the threat that these kind of individuals posed to our country into our people, you know, while not a success, you know that he died in sacrifice for someone else here on this nation. >> i've seen some criticism of the president's remarks at the prayer breakfast this morning. can you shed any light on why he

thought that was a good venue to mock "the apprentice" for its ratings? >> mark burnett, the creators of the show, a longtime supporter of the prayer breakfast, but also has a personal relationship, was there. he meant it as a lighthearted moment. i think if you look at the talent totality of his remarks, and they were absolutely beautiful, and i think to hone in on that my it was a lighthearted moment he was trying to have with a big supporter of the national prayer breakfast and a personal friend. guys, i will be out tomorrow, i want to make sure we all get to see the president now. thank you, guys, take care. >> why is the president picking a fight with australia? >> all right, we began with a statement, we got a couple of questions and with white house press secretary sean spicer, which is where we thought we might be going on exactly where we are with you ran, with those phone calls, with the prime minister of australia, and so, let's bring it out to the couch, i want to get your response. >> shout out to katie pavlich for that first question, a very

good question on a very important topic. because genocide against christians is where she started. >> that's right, and the state department. i think what we hear more about the alleging alleged using of sanctions from russia, i don't know if he got a full expedition, spicer said there was no change in policy, i think the press corps will want a little bit more detail on that print >> interesting that we actually saw quite a few questions. >> i would actually comment on the tone of this press briefing, i would say it was a bit different then recent days. it was a bit shorter, and sean spicer was a little bit more relaxed and less with a smile, if you didn't notice. >> very different, we have seen nickel back and forth, it has been so contentious, he seemed almost tired, dare i say. >> look, there has been no break in all this. i want to get to iran, let's talk a little bit about that with the time we have left. you know my big thing has been what is in the side deal and so on and so forth, but what about the tone with iran right now and with sean spicer and to say? >> like what guy said earlier in

the show, there is a new sheriff in town, and i don't blame the trump administration for taking a hard line, as i wish we would have six to eight years ago under the obama administration. but the problem is, the reality that we knew what happened is coming true. iran immediately broke the deal that they made with the obama administration, but they have these billions of dollars, we have self-funded terrorism. what the obama administration does no matter what happen, this will be tricky. >> they just performed the third or fourth illegal missile test after the deal was struck. they are testing. >> real quickly on australia, because you mentioned that there are still worked and staunch ally with us, so on and so forth, but the way that the call was described in this news conference per sean spicer, was much more congenial than what we were led to believe. >> that's what he has to say, we had a wonderful conversation, and we love the australian people in the prime minister. so that will be the white house been. >> i want to read more on this immigration refugee program that they had going on in australia,

where there were people that they, that we in a deal that president obama made were expected to take. we will cover the news as it happens, and stay with us online, guy benson is going to wear a hat, he lost a bet, >> jon: fox news alert, we are awaiting new comments this hour from president donald trump as he meets from harley-davidson executives at the white house white house. >> jenna: daily briefing just wrapping up, trade deals, foreign relations, we are covering all of the newest "happening now." >> believe me when you hear about the tough phone because i am having, don't worry about it. just don't worry about it. >> jenna: contentious phone call with a trusted ally. >> australians know me very well. i stand up for australia in every form. >> jenna: the u.s. and australia at odds. could it put this longtime alliance on the rocks? plus... >> instead of being think what