about the allegations that are out there in terms of what may or may not have been. it is an allegation, someday we are not going to confirm at this time, but as you can imagine from the president's previous comments, he is extremely concerned about this, about these about the potential that something, if this were true, would have on our national security. make no mistake about it. the president has talked before. that anybody who leaks classified information will be held at the highest degree of law. we will go after people who leak classified information. we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. this is playing with our night national security is not something that should be taken lightly under this administration. >> when it came to the campaign and hillary clinton, the president said, quote, i love wiki leaks. does he still feel that way today? >> there is a big difference between disclosing john podesta's g mail accounts and back and forth and his undermining of hillary clinton

and his thoughts on her and the leaking of classified information. there is a massive, massive difference between those two things. it is again, the interest and the outrage that occurred last year by democrats when it came to leaks, it's interesting that we're hearing not as much outrage when it comes to our issues of national security. >> sean, question. one, you said congressman cummings meeting with president trump today. >> yes. >> in the last press conference president had, he talked about senator schumer and elijah cummings. what happened to smooth this over and what is the conversation going to be about? is it solely going to be on the high cost of prescription drugs? >> i think the nature of the meeting stems from the conversation they had on the phone, which was on prescription drugs. and then i'm sure that if

congressman cummings or the president brings up another subject, it will go there. the nature of it is an area where they agree. one of the things they talked about on the phone, that there were probably several more areas that they would agree on and find that they would agree on throughout a conversation. i hope that conversation, you know, does exactly what they said they would in terms of, you know, getting to those areas of common agreement where they can work together to help solve additional problems that our country faces. >> you don't have any knowledge of what happened to smooth it over? >> i know our team was in touch with his office. as you know, there were a couple times when the meetings had been tried to be scheduled and just didn't work out. luckily now they have. >> one member of 49 right after that press conference the white house reached out to

congressional black caucus, the head of the caucus. where is that meeting? where is that meeting planned? is it happening? >> i know we've reached out and we're looking for a date on that as well. we're pleased that this one was able to come together. >> yesterday there was comparing contrast with visual, show and tell, if you will. >> i saw that. >> yes, yes. if you compare in contrast about how you're going about it and how the obama administration went about obama care. one difference that they make no -- i want to get your response to this. is the fact that you may have this, say you're doing this versus what they're doing. one thing that they did. they scored their bill. you did not score this bill. >> it is being scored. this is the same group who

passed it then told us we could read it. i mean, this bill is online for every american to go to read the bill.gop. it's on the speaker's website. we link to it on several accounts. i understand that. again, if that's the complaint, the same group that didn't let let anybody read it. this president reached out to both sides of the aisle. had governors hear, senator here. this is going through regular order in the house. every member of the house and the senate will be able to have their opportunity to have amendments offered through the committee process and on the floor. so the idea that they can compare the date they got a score is pretty reaching deep on this. there's been an opportunity for members to have their input on this and to talk about their concerns, to give their input on it. especially the governors who were left on the side line last time and who have such an important role in administering

health care when it comes to medicade. the idea that anyone talks ab when the score was issued. there will be a score in all good time. let's be honest. the irony of the score is that the cbl was way off the last time. i don't think that we're waiting to -- that that's a big issue to us right now. of course cost matters. look how off they were last time. if you're looking at a cbl for accuracy, you're looking at the wrong place. they were way way off on every aspect of how they scored and projected obama care. if you look at the number of people they projected would be on obama care, they are off by millions. so the idea we're waiting for a score. it will be scored. but if that's any kind of authority is a little farfetched. jessica? >> questions on the wall. i just was curious about the timing of that. how much pressure there was to get that going quickly.

secondly, if r is there guidance from the white house about what kinds of vendors can build a wall. especially international vendors. >> i think that process is working through, as the president talked ab before, we're trying to move ahead with existing funds that dhs has and then we will continue to create a timeline to ask congress for that funding. we're not -- we're working with congress on that. i don't think it will be any surprise to know that the president is going to favor american workers and american companies when it comes to an american project. that shouldn't be a surprise. >> is it increasingly likely that the federal reserve next week will hike interest rates? two brief questions. how does the president feel about that? secondly, does he have the full confidence of jan yelis as he described during the campaign too political to lead the federal reserve. >> let me get back to that. i don't have any comment on the federal reserve. i'll look at the team. what i will say is that, you

know, as i mentioned at the outset, when you look at the hiring and the job and the manufacturing and the pace and the numbers that have already come out, we see a resurgence and optimism by job creators to want to hire here, manufacture here, who want to grow here. and i think that our economy is clearly on the upswing. i think you see statement after statement, company after company coming out and sharing in the president's vision for moving the country forward. for renewing the optimism and building and being part of an american resurgence in terms of our economy. >> is there no comment on mrs. yellen? >> i'll get back to you on both. how's that? >> one thing the obama administration did do was get aarp, organizations have come

out strongly say they are opposed to this proposal. what's your message particularly to the aarp? >> heard the aarp got a really good deal when it came to prescription drugs in particular. this is a patient centric bill. it is about patients. it's about people. it's ability the americans left behind. look at what those deals got people last time. for all those people on medicade in particular, they don't have choices any more. so i would argue that the president has put the american people first and has put patients first. so you can talk about, we're glad to have support. make no mistake about it. but i think the support that this administration and i think the house is focused on is getting every american their buy in an their support. obviously look, we would love to have every tkpwrup group on board. we heard it going through the corn hufb husker kick back. it was deal after another to buy

votes to get it to the senate. if you want to line up how many special interests got paid off versus now, they'll probably win hands down. this isn't about trying to figure out how many special interests in washington we can get paid off. it's about making sure that patients get the best deal that lowers prices. again, i think what i'm trying to figure out, at some point you're defending the indefensible. nancy pelosi put out three criteria for how they judged obama care. by their own standards they fail by three. costs are up, choices are down. every single premium by every standard is up. choices are down across the country. so there is a horrible deal that the american people got sold. what we're trying to do is put patients back first in line. >> the aarp talking about patients in their 50s and 60s. aarp describes this as an age tax that will affect people who

right now are low income and according to the aarp estimate could take a hit of thousands in their premiums when the tax credits go in. what's your message to those people? >> the message from the president is we want you to get more choice and a lower cost. as we work this bill through, throug jam it through in the middle of the night, that they are going to see, as more and more people will, that this is a deal for the american people that's gonna put patients first and give them more choices. again, there is probably not a person out there either through themselves or a loved one or a friend or a colleague that has seen choices go down and premiums go up. so what people are dealing with now is not acceptable. i think the idea that anyone is defending the current status quo. even in some of the statements of some soft groups, they admit there's a problem. so my advice to those people is join the process. share your ideas. share your thought. let the process work its will so

that it is a bill that has input. but the bill, the way it was done last time, is not something that's acceptable. >> is the president worried though that every doctor's group, american academy of pediatric, american college of physicians have all come out and said they have serious concern? for all the talk of doctors and patients and choice, the doctors groups are so far coming out saying they are not supportive of this. is that concerning? >> when you look at a lot of doctors versus the associations here in washington, we have had tremendous input from doctors. dr. price himself is a doctor, is the one who crafted this. you have a doctor in charge of the administration's effort to work with congress. you've got several physicians in other professional medical teams are talking ab their experience. many ran for congress because of the concerns they saw in theire give or not give to people. >> can i follow-up?

>> sure. >> you talked about people having a card. you've got a card, but if there's a $2,000 deduckable and there's only ten doctors in your town will help you. but that's better than nothing if you get cancer or hit by a car. it is. pwer than no insurance. if they ban access to people and choice, but it reduces the number of people who actually have health insurance. can it do both? >> yeah, of course it can, and it will do both. right now you've got more people paying the penalty and saying i don't want health care. but a costs are too high. probably five, six, seven years ago before obama care went into place, a single individual young individual person on the open market could get a premium, a plan with a premium of $100, $150 a month. it's in the high 300s now. there's a big difference. for young people entering the

work place. they get in an accident. right now you've got a lot of individuals that get off their parents health care and say, i'm healthy. i have no desire to get health care. that's another few hundred dollars a month that i don't have. if we can get that cost down and get them plans that are tailored to them. 27, 28-year-old individuals don't need care that's for folks that talk about certain things that are for the end of life. right now you have a one size fits all government mandated plans that offer people a suite of medical services that they do not need because there's no choice. it's a government mandated system. offering more choice and more competition allows people to pick a plan that is more tailored to you. this goes back to what john was asking. if you can actually pick a plan and across state lines find one that suits you as an individual, as opposed to maybe there's a

family plan that's more comprehensive that has dental an vision and all the things that your kids will need. of all the things that you anticipate. that's a plan that a young family might need versus an older person that's single or a younger person that's just entering the work force. but right now there's no competition. there's no choice. it's not an either/or situation. we're facing a situation where more and more people are getting less and less and paying more for it. [ talking at the same time ] >> the military recently conducted some kind of exercise at the naval base at guantanamo bay. it was preparing for an migrant crisis. there is a dhs mitkpwrapb grant center there. i wonder if they thought about what you thought about using that facility for immigrants. >> i would -- that exercise is a

rather regular exercise that occurs, as do many of the exercises that the military prepares for a whole host of contingency operations. that is a routine military operation. it is a routine military operation. as several of them do with our partners throughout the world where we plan for random contingencies that may or may not happen. that's the job for the military to practice for contingencies that may or may not happen on a whole host of issues. >> are you considering using the facility for immigrants? >> there is nothing to consider it for. we're fine right now. there's nothing we would need to use it for. again, i think part of the goal of preparing the military going through various exercises is on a whole host of issues. on ref fewugrefugees. they prepare for natural disasters. we're not anticipating a natural disaster, but we prepare for

them. we, at the white house, when we were coming in as an administration, i think we e did, during the transition period, right see left see operation. we sat down and talked about cyber attacks and natural disasters ppl and the whole of government response in some of these things. doesn't mean that we anticipate them. doesn't mean that we want them. means we're going to prepare for them. in the same way many organizations do fire drills. not that you anticipate or expect a fire, but you prepare for them, as many family doss. preparedness is the key to executing well. i think that's all we're doing. >> secondarily, the louisville media is reporting that president trump will be there on saturday. can you confirm that? is this about health care? >> yeah, i have seen that report. we have nothing to announce with respect to the president's schedule at this time. as i mentioned earlier to i think it was shannon, that we will have -- or jill, i can't

remember. somewhere in this area. we will have an young date on the president's schedule later this week. i do anticipate the president to be very active in his support for the repeal and replace effort. and so this is what you should expect. >> cbl score is set to come out last week. are you questioning their credibility? >> just so we're clear. i appreciate it. their record is what i'm calling into question. when you look at the number of people and the cost on what they scored the last obama care bill on, it's laid off. that's a fact. that's not anything more than that. >> people base their votes on what they think will happen to the cost and the coverage. >> that's right. >> is there any analytic organization that you would expect a score from? >> well, yeah, i mean -- omb

will probably put out a score. hold on. all i'm saying look at what the cbl's record is on obama care. it's vastly off. they projected 20 million people to be on obama care. i believe the number is 12. they're way off in terms of the millions. it's not a question of whether i'm questioning anything. anyone that can actually do basic math can understand that their projection force obama care the last time were way way off the mark. so my only point is that i think when they come out with this score, we need to understand the track record when it comes to health care. i think members have to look at a lot of things to cast their vote on. they're going to have to look at the totality. the bill, the support of their constituent, the current state of things. i think there's no question. look, when you look at the trajectory of the cost right now in terms of premiums, you can either say -- not just the

premium. but obama care is gonna collapse on its own weight very soon. and the president made it very clear in his press conference and a lot of statements. the politically easy thing to do is just let it collapse and let democrats come back to the table. i don't think that's the right thing. the president made it clear. he doesn't think that's the right thing. this is an opportunity for him to show the american people that the right thing to do is show we care ab their health care. >> you mentioned deductibles and how they're going up under obama care. are you promising people their deductibles will come down under this plan? >> everything that we have been led to believe about how this, yes, this will drive costs down. when you talk about opening up cooling, driving costs down because you can buy it over state lines. everything that has driven up costs, all of those market forces that will come in, and i think every leading economist that looked at this said it will drive costs down. john? >> thank you, sean. the premiere argument by

democrat, notably former president obama today, is that enactment of the act that was illustradcare. certainly heard that from democrats. but also several of the republican governors who were here for the national governors association, including strong allies. governor netly of alabama, governor hutchison of arkansas voiced the same concern. they did not want any plan that would lead to anyone losing their present health care. what does the administration say to what is the leading argument against a new plan? and then i have a follow-up question. >> i would say that any governor that's concerned about people losing care right now should join us. they're losing their care right now. they're losing their options and they're paying too much. so the answer is if you're

concerned about those principles, then you should be concerned with what's happening right now, and you should be concerned and want to join in this administration and work with this congress. the big difference is here. instead of us jamming a bill down congress and not allowing the american people to read it until it's passed, as we've done with obama care, with then speaker pelosi, is this bill is out in the open for every single person in the world to read. it is open for people to let their member of congress share their thoughts, share their ideas. it's out in the open. i think that is a vastly different approach with how this is going about than the last time. that makes a big difference with the approach. and it gives people an opportunity through the process, what they call regular order, to have input on this. if it can be made better, then great. at this time, we recognize there's a lot of work that needs to get done on behalf of the patients that are having trouble getting care. alexis. >> my follow-up question is a

follow-up question about the wall. during the recent governor's association meeting, governor ramirez, who is the chairman of mexico's association of fed rated governors warned that continued discussion about the wall and the president's talk of building it might very well lead to the election of mr. lopez obrador as president of mexico, and he is considered the most anti-american, most hostile to america of any of candidates. are these any concerns that come up with the discussion of a wall, namely the impact on mexican politics? >> no. pretty good. the president's number one concern is the safety of our country. number two is the jobs that are impacted by this and the ability of americans to get the wages they deserve. but again, this is a national security issue. something that, frankly, when he

discussed this with mexico's president, there is a shared concern about drug cartels, arm sales over the border. there's a shared concern for the respect of the border. it means a lot to both sides. this is something that we care ab from a national security standpoint. then obviously the president is concerned as well as on an economic standpoint. alexis? >> your answer was that if the health care bill could be made better. can i just clarify when he meets with the congressional conservatives this evening who have misgivings about the legislation, is he going to talk to them about what they would like to change? is he open to making those changes? is that the mode he's in, rather than a sell mode and listening mode? >> i think he's in very much of a sell mode. the president and his teams have

worked very hard on this. they are very proud of the effort and the product that they have produced in consultation with the house and the senate. obviously it's going through the process. and so if somebody has an idea, and that could be on the administration's side that we believe that after a consultation with individuals or group, that there's a way to improve upon this. but that's the beauty of going through the process that we are. make no mistake, the president is very proud of the product we produced. we are out in full sell mode all around the country talking about how we think this is the best way to solve the problem that the american people face. and that's why we believe that solutions we put forward in this bill are the right ones. and it will benefit them. >> before the president meets with chancellor merkle next week, is it possible we could see the president in a more general multiquestion news

conference? from north korea to health care selling, we'd love to talk to him. could we speak to him? >> i would ask that. is there anyone else? i would be glad to ask -- show of hands. thank you. i appreciate that. i'd be glad to ask the president, share your request with him and i'll see what we can do on the schedule. he is very busy these days. he has done a lot of sprays. he will continue to interact with you guys. i will be glad to make your request known. katie? >> sean, yesterday you said the bill was a starting point. on capitol hill there was a talk of the starting point being a nonstarter. sounds like negotiations have to be made. does the president have any nonnegotiables in his bill that he will not take out?

>> well, katie, i mean, i think as i was just saying to alexis, it is a starting point. it's going through regular order in the house. and so part of that process as it goes through the kpheultty markup, both in ways and means and the energy and commerce committee. that by its very nature allows for input through both of those committees and ultimately on the floor before it moves through the senate. so i think frankly we're just acknowledging the reality of where the process is. we're proud of the process. we're proud of the input that we've received from governor, from senators, from associations, from companies. we feel very proud of the work that is encapsulated in this bill and the results it will yield. that being said, i think the president understands that if someone's got a really good idea, that he's gonna listen to it. if he can be part of the process to make something better, there's nothing that is going to preclude that. we have been very open to

listening to people. we're very proud of it. if there's an idea that comes across, we're going to entertain that to make it clear. >> in the past you and others accused democrats of rushing through the original health care law. now there are some republicans today who say this is simply moving too fast. is the president willing to accept a delayed timeline if it pushes repeal and replace into later in the year? >> going through the process can't be -- by its very nature. we're going through the committee process. there are two house committees. it's subject to how the house does its will and how the senate does. we would like this to move forward. there's a lot of stuff in the queue. this bill is attached to the fy 17 budget reconciliation. i know that for a lot of americans that means nothing in terms of the phrase and the

nomenclature around how congress does it. it's important to recognize that that vehicle allows congress to do certain things but not others with a 50-vote -- with a majority vote in the senate. that's important. there are certain things you can do through that that you can't do through other vehicles. it will take a 60 vote and you can do administratively. so it'sactually, if you heard dr. price talk yesterday about the three phases. it's actually multiphases. there is no contrast about how we are approaching this. there has been input from across the aisle, both from the governors who are here, attorneys general, outside groups, house and senate democrats have been able to provide the input to the staff, senior officials and the president. second is actually going through the process. while we can pro di predict the

timeline, it is up to the senate on how fast it goes. anybody has the ability to give input. >> meeting with senator cruz tonight. he has come out and expressed skepticism on the bill as it stands now. as you mentioned, i was wondering if the president has plans to apologize for the insin weighses he made on the campaign trail. >> they're looking forward to a great dinner. he had dinner with the rubios a couple days ago. maybe a week ago. he had lunch yesterday with senator graham. this is as i stated weeks ago, the president will continue to have outreach to members of congress, both parties. meeting with congressman cummings today. this is a president who wants to engage with members of both sides of the aisle, in both houses. but also groups, business leaders, union leaders. the afl/cio president was here

yesterday. this president will engage with anybody who can help with thoughts and opinions on how to move the country forward. he looks forward to dinner tonight with senator and mrs. cruz as he has with several others. i think you'll see a continuation of this kind of effort to reach out and get people's ideas. >> does the president believe the cia has been compromised in any way? >> with respect to the disclosure? that's u.s. government policy not to confirm this. he is obviously been very concerned as i stated about the disclosure of national security on any level. it under minds our country's national security. and i think that, you know, i will tell you, i think there's been a big double standard when there comes to disclosures of classified information. the outrage that exists when one side has it happen versus another. there has been a lot of disclosures about national security that occurred last

cycle when there was potential that the fbi had been leaked certain information. the members of congress on the other side of the aisle, hillary clinton and others, talked ab how there was so much concern ab classified information, seeing such silence and outrage from the media and others with the current disclosures now with things that may or may not happened when it comes to this side. there's a vast difference when it comes to how disclosures are approached. >> what is president trump thinking about north korea? what are his thoughts? >> on politics? oh, policies? we're very troubled by the launch of missiles that occurred from north korea. that's why the thad missile system that we started to deploy in south korea is so important.

we'll continue to work with the government of south korea to make sure they have the defenses necessary to protect themselves. it's the dephroeut of the thad system is critical to their protection as witnessed by this weekend's ballistic missile test. f china and the united states in particular both understand the threat that north korea poses to the region. i think there's areas and concern that we can work tpogt to protect the country. >> a lot has been said about the access to hel care for women. will the president commit to reaching out to female democratic lawmakers as the next two phases of this health care bill continue? additionally what is the president's stance on access to birth control for him across the country? >> i think that question was asked and answered by secretary price yesterday. with respect to women's health, the president has also made it clear that he intends to have a

substantial increase in funding towards community centers that fund women's health services. that will be reflected in his budget. margret? >> thank you. >> sorry. >> is the president the target of a counter intelligence investigation? >> i think that's what we need to find out. there's obviously a lot of concern. i mentioned to john, there was considerable concern last week when a reporter was the target of one. part of the reason that we have asked the house and the senate to look into this is because of that. you know, it was interesting. i think if you look at last week, all of a sudden these stories that keep coming out about the president and his links to russia. it has continued to be the same old play over and over again. the president has made it clear he has no interest in russia. yet a lot of these stories that come out with respect to that are fake. they are a series of fake allegations that while there's no evidence to substantiate

this, it's the same unnamed sources, quote unquote sources that we get tagged with. get there is no evidence that continues to be shown. every single person that gets briefed on this, whether senator cotton, chairman nunes, who has done a phenomenal job trying to get to the bottom of this. it's interesting the double standard that exists between the concern about getting to the bottom of the allegations with respect to the president, that there are on so many other issues. when you talk about -- >> he doesn't know whether he is the -- >> one of the issues we have asked the senate and house to look into. you look at the former clapper's comment. he said dni did not find any evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and russian agent. senators rubio, cotton, nunes. all of the people who have been

briefed on the situation have come to the same conclusion. it is interesting how many times this fake narrative gets repeated over and over again. and yet no evidence has ever been suggested that shows the president has anything to do with any of the things that are being said. it's a recycled story over and over again. i think there's a bit of -- it's amazing. president goes out last week. does a joint session. then literally 24 hours later stories start getting recycled ab potential issues that literally continue to offer no fact, nothing but the unsubstantiated rumors over and over again. yet what is ignored is when you have someone like the former dni clapper go out and literally say, quote, that they did not find evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and agency, you have rubio, cotton, nunes all say the same thing. >> i just want to make sure i'm upbgs this. are you saying there is a possibility that he is the target of a counter intelligence

probe? >> i think what i'm saying is there's a difference between that narrative and the narrative that has been perpetuated over and over again. the concern the president has of why he asked the senate and house intelligence committees to look into this is to get to the bottom of what may or may not have occurred during the 2016 election. when you look at every single person that's been briefed, they've all come to the same conclusion, that nothing happened during the 2016 election tying him to russia. yet the fake narrative continues over and over again. and the idea that it continues to be recycled without any substance, without any evidence, needs to stop. >> president said he was tapped. he said that as fact. >> i understand that. that's not what i said. what i said was -- hold on. one at a time. i said the president made clear

on sunday that he has asked the house and senate house intelligence committees to use their resources and processes to examine the facts and come to a conclusion. chris? >> talking about whether things are true or not, let me ask you something about something yesterday. you seemed to acknowledge that the president was wrong when he tweeted that 122 prisoners released by the obama administration from gitmo returned to battlefields. by the bush administration. will he retract or even apologize for that given that he also called it a terrible decision by the obama administration and given that that was incorrect, that there still has been no proof either of his tweets about widespread voter fraud or the wire tapping. does the president have a credibility problem? >> i said yesterday, i think troy asked the question, that the president meant the total number of people. hold on. i understand that. i'm actually explaining.

that's the way you asked the question. he meant that the total number of people released from gitmo was 122. just to be clear there is a big difference under the bush administration most of those were court ordered. the obama administration took great steps. it was a campaign promise from day one to close gitmo. this president is very clear that he understands the nature of the threats the people in gitmo pose to our nation. and the rate there are among people that we have released. that is a concern that he shared. the reason the bush administration did it, in many instances they were under cower order. the obama administration actively desired to close that camp and release more and more of those people especially in the waning days. there's a huge contrast between the posture and the policies of the last two administrations on how they were dealing with gitmo. this administration understands, and the president has been very

clear, that he understands the people that are kept in gitmo pose a danger to our country and to the rest of the world. there is a big big difference between the posture of those two. >> so you acknowledge the tweet was wrong. >> i just said it was the totality of the people. that's what i said to trey yesterday. i'll say it again today. >> totally different topic. you said you're in full -- you're in sell mode, completely in sell mode. i wonder if the president sees this as a test of his ability to make a deal, something that he talked about, something that voters responded to on the campaign trail. is this essentially does he feel on him? that this is him going to show the american people that he can get this deal done? >> he is a deal maker. he's a negotiator. he's a world class business leader. he's been highly successful at

it. if anybody can get a deal on something, it will be donald trump. that's part of the draw by the american people of what they saw in him. when it came to the big problems, that if somebody could come in and work across party lines, work with another country to get a deal that is in the country's best interest, he had that skill set. that's why they, frankly, elected him president. he feels about the product that he is putting out. we are in sell mode. but the president has an open mind. he enjoys meeting with people, hearing ideas how to make this country better. how to create better schools. if there's someone that comes up with a better idea that will help lower cost and increase access, he's going to listen to it. dave? >> sean, yesterday president's meeting with the deputy whip, you talked about a tax cut plan. said it's going to be the biggest since ronald reagan, maybe even bigger. said i know exactly what we're looking at.

my first question is easy. tell us about the plan. >> what the plan is. thank you. i appreciate the lay up. we're ready to roll it out. we will do just that. we're not there yet. let's go on with the next, hopefully. >> secondly, building on the jobs numbers today. obviously there's a lot of ceo's who are excited about the possibility of a tax cut plan. and yet the president has also expressed a lot of concern about the national debt. if you're going to get a tax cut on the level of ronald reagan, historic size tax cut, how are you going to do that, plans the need for continued job growth with concerns about the debt? >> i think one of the best ways to get the national debt down is to grow the economy. the more the economy is growing, the more we can get it at 3%,

4%, 5%, the more the debt goes down. that's the best way to tackle the deficit is to grow the economy, put people back to work, create a deeper manufacturing base. that is between that and some of the efforts that the president put into make government more efficient and effective and save money at that level. those are two things that i think combine to get the deficit down. jennifer? >> sean, of the more than 13,000 in this country, 150 of them, less than 150 of them are christian, shia. same groups that u.s. government acknowledges are literally being at risk of being wiped off the map. i wonder now that secretary tillerson has time to set in, as you review the refugee program, immigration policy, is this something that's being discussed? is this a priority, to give these groups relief? >> i think you know that when we talked the first time about the executive order, it was something that we acknowledged.

there is definitely an area where, in the executive order that we just passed, one of the areas that we talked about was i'd have to look at the exact phrasing, but we recognize that certain groups, and they can be religious in nature, are being persecuted. i think that's going to be a factor on how we look at that program. something the president talked about in the past, something secretary tillerson has acknowledged. that's not just refugees coming into this country. one of the reasons we take in syria, is groups or individuals, whether they be part of a group or religion that are being persecuted have a degree of safety that they can count on. >> maria. today is international women's day. thank you very much. so the president on the record saying he is up ports some sort of legalization for many of the

people in the country. there was a person caught in the raids in seattle washington. we don't know if he will be released or not. does the president want to or plan to meet with people to talk ab what's on his mind about getting ideas for some sort of legalization? and if so, where would that meeting occur? >> the president i think has been, has talked about how he wants to tackle this wholistically. back to chris' question, he's made clear that if there's someone who has the ability to strike a deal, to get people in a room and acknowledge we have to stay true to our principles that we can get a deal on a way to fix our broken immigration policy, we are not at that phase yet. this is something he's talked to senators about. i think that as we continue to move forward, obviously, the focus now is on obama care, repealing and replacing it with this program. it is something we are going to continue to move forward with.

not just the illegal issue, but the visa issue. how we deal with the other folks who are in this country. we've got more to go on this. we'll go further. >> no meeting on the dreamers? >> there's nothing on the schedule at this point. [ inaudible ] does this mark a new strategy? >> i think the president talked about this a lot during the campaign about giving the authority and trusting the generals and the decision makers of his national security team with executing what they need to to prosecute the war on terror.

it's not a question of delegating authority. we addressed this in the briefing in previous weeks. there's a big difference. he's not delegating the authority, but making sure they have the ability and the timeliness to act in an appropriate manner to prosecute the case there's a difference between this president and the laugh administration in terms of giving the generals and the national security team and the defense department the tools and authorities they need to prosecute the case against isis. jenny? >> israel's defense minister said yesterday that u.s. officials have sent a direct warning to prime minister netanyahu against annexing part of the west bank. i wonder if that was the request of president trump. also if you could tell us where the white house is in terms of

reaching a deal with israel on what they consider permissible settlement construction? >> yesterday the president spoke with prime minister netanyahu. that conversation had to do with areas of regional security. i don't have anything further to read out on that. i know when they met at the white house, there was discussion on settlements. the president was very clear about what his desires and his wishes were. i think as we continue to follow up with israel in the coming weeks we will have more on that. >> i have a follow upquestion. asking about the thousands of women who have chosen to strike today. saying it is a free country. but at channel 5 we reported on the schools and the districts that are closing because so many women chose to strike today. it is a free country but what would be the president's reaction, what is more important, students being at school today or the woman's

right to strike and kind of make a statement, if you will, on this day? >> i think that's an important question. locally, this affects a lot of individuals throughout northern virginia, maryland, the district. look. i haven talked to the president specifically about this. obviously, as i mentioned, people have a right to express themselves. as the president is doing today by making sure that we appropriately salute the contributions that women make to this country. there's clearly an impact, in the case of schools. localities throughout the country, here and in the greater washington, d.c. area. i think that concern is best utilized by any parents through their local school boards, city councils and majors. whrorpb they find it appropriate for that to occur. i have not spoke ton the president about this, but i think there's a balance. i would hope that we should use

these opportunities to recognize the role of women in the work place and the family and throughout society for the contributions that they continue to make and have made in the past and making the country as great as it has. one last thing to clarify. i think jill asked this. i want to be really clear on one point, which is there is no reason that we have to think that the president is the target of any investigation whatsoever. i'm sorry, that was margret. i apologize. there's no reason to believe that he is the target of any investigation. that's very important point to make. what i'm saying -- hold on. one question dealt with whether or not -- the tweet dealt with wire taps. the other is an investigation. they are two separate issues. there is no reason to believe there is any type of investigation with respect to the department of justice. thank you, guys.

thank you. >> are you aware of any investigation? >> sandra: there you have it. about 70 minutes and counting the white house briefing has wrapped up. some of the main themes the obama care replacement bill an wiki leaks. hello everyone. i'm sandra smith. joining me is arie flesher. good to have you here. good to have you react to that very lengthy press conference by sean spicer. >> i think he broke by record by about 70 minutes. >> sandra: there's a reason that he's answering as many questions as he possibly can. there's a lot going on, from wire taps to wiki leaks. >> there is. sean has been on camera the last couple days. he is on camera. he is awesome. he takes every question they ask. >> sandra: coming from you, that means a lot. you know the job well. let's get to the wiki leaks and the troefrb of alleged secret cia information. spicer was asked about it in

that press briefing just now by john roberts. listen to this first. >> we've had, you know, your own networks correspondent james rosen had his phones multiple phones tapped. what -- was that appropriate? i think the idea that we are having these on going disclosures of national security, classified information, should be something that everybody is outraged in this country. this is the kind of disclosure that under minds our country, our security and our well being. you've seen over the last two years, you know, depending on the leak, it depends on the outrage. >> how concerned are you about these leaks? >> i'm deeply concerned. this is horrific. the fact that somebody inside the cia, either a contractor or employee, could violate their oath, could violate morality is extremely troubling. it's troubling that the u.s. government let it happen twice. it was bad when snowden did it. now it's happened at the cia

apparently. this is terrible. and nothing gets the cia more upset when something like this happens. it still never should have happened. >> sandra: house intelligence committee chairman david nunes said the documents released are very serious. he is concerned ab what information will be exposed in the future. how do we stop it? >> you stop it through technology and morality. that's how. people that go into the cia have got to be vetted better. we have to make sure anybody with a clearance is not doing this type of thing. there are also technologies that have to be employed to physically stop it. >> sandra: i want to get your take on what's happening with these wire tap claims by the president. all referring back to chairman nunes. he said he hasn't seen any evidence to support these allegations but does want to get to the bottom of it. he calls the president an neophyte to politics. >> the president is an neophyte

to politics. he's been doing this over a year. i think a lot of the things he says, you guys sometimes take literally. sometimes he doesn't have 27 lawyers and staff looking at what he does, which is i think at times refreshing and at times can also lead us to have to be sitting in a press conference like this answering questions that two guys are asking. >> sandra: he said the president was actually asking a question in that tweet and the press are taking him too literally. >> when i first heard about the series of tweets, i thought this makes no sense. there's no evidence to support it. i have never been one to like outlandish charges, saying your predecessor is a criminal. somebody brought to my attention a "new york times" story that came out the day before the inauguration which did say american law enforcement, intelligence agencies are examining communications of financial transactions as part of an investigation of trump and russian officials. then it said one official said intelligence reports based on

some of the wire tap communications have been provided to the white house, says "the new york times." so my point here is that if i was the press secretary and the president wanted to do something of this magnitude, he should have called people together, said i'm very upset to see this. i want to issue a statement. lawyers should have advised him. for the president trump to say that this was criminal violation by barack obama, he lost the key point here that he wanted to make about possible wire tapping. president trump has brought this on himself. even though there may be a nugget of something here worth pursuing. >> sandra: interesting thing about the tweets and the way people are feeling in this country. usa today poll showing that for the first time in many years voters see the country moving in the right direction. 46% to 43%. that's a net positive of 3 points. another usa today poll on trump tweeting. 59% say that trump should stop tweeting so much.

28% said trump's tweets are a good way for him to communicate directly with americans. should he be tweeting? >> he should tweet, but he should tweet with more judiciousness. what really gets me, donald trump has all the ingredients there. very successful presidency. but he counter punches and hits himself. he stands in his way to being more popular. he's already improved america dramatically since election day, but he's hindering the am of growth he can accomplish because of some of the outlandish things he says and tweets. >> sandra: very interesting to get your perspective. thanks for hanging on. long press conference. but thank you. all right. senators lindsay graham and sheldon white house sending a letter to the justice department and the fbi requesting copies of any warrant applications relating to president trump's wire tapping accusations. let's bring in ben carton. he is the ranking democrat on

the foreign relations committee. lawmakers are seeking this wire tap paper trail senator. how do you see this going? >> well, i think it's appropriate for the congressional committees to get as much information as possible. this is the judiciary committee. they are entitled to get justice regarding the president's allegations. it sort of doesn't answer the broader question what was happening with russia, what was happening with all the contacts with americans. we need an independent commission similar to what was developed after our attack on 9/11 that has brought jurisdiction to look at all these issue. you've been talking about them today on this show. all of that should be reviewed with a report to congress and the american people. >> sandra: i also want to get to the latest on the obama care replacement battle that we are seeing in washington, sir. bill seems to be being criticized on all fronts.

we are especially seeing criticism coming from members of the gop. how is this going? >> well, what you need to have is a very transparent and open process. so far the republican leadership has not done that. they're trying to ram the bill through without hearings. without the public really knowing what's in it. i think it's important to find out. there are different views on health care, but let's start with the facts of where we are today, the number of people who have quality health insurance, their ability to afford quality health insurance. president said he does not want to diminish that. i believe that the proposal the republican leadership has come in with will cost many people their insurance coverage. certainly affordable coverage and quality insurance coverage. >> sandra: as it was just pointed out in that press briefing the cbo hasn't even scored that yet. sean spicer said they didn't exactly get it right the first time around with obama care. >> i don't know about that.

if you take a look at the number of people who have insurance today. we've cut the uninsured rate in half. we have affordable coverage for the overwhelming number of americans. they have quality insurance covering what they need including mental health and addiction and attorney benefit. that's important coverage. so i think we've accomplished that aspect of it. the cost has come in less than the cbo scored. that's not unusual. they're conservative in their score keeping. i don't know how you proceed without this neutral scoring agency giving us how much this bill cost and what it does with coverage. you have to start in a neutral place. >> sandra: all right. the president has thrown his full support behind this and his administration. president still has room. he said he is open to negotiation. what does that mean to you, senator? >> well, it means to me they probably don't have the votes. they're trying to negotiate to see if they can find the votes. i'll show you how you can get

the votes. negotiate with the democrats. democrats are fully prepared to improve obama care. we recognize there are areas that can be improved. prescription drugs costs can be brought down. the president wants prescription drug costs brought down. working with democrats, we can get a provision in this bill that will really help consumers on lower drug costs. so there are areas we could work together. >> sandra: senator, i would want to finish up by, we just heard the 70 minute plus press conference at the white house. there was questions ability the wire tap allegations, about wiki leaks. if i were to ask you one question about the wire tap claims that are out there right now and you just heard nunes refer to this as the press is taking things too literally. i'm getting wrapped right now. senator, it has been a long hour. you waited for us. thank you for joining us. very good to see you, sir. >> always good to be with you. i was listening with great interest. >> sandra: i'm sandra

>> shepard: it's noon on the west coast. 3:00 in d.c. where there's a twist now to what president trump calls a new and great plan to replace obamacare. some republican senators are offering yet another option. they would let states keep obamacare if they want. i'll speak live with the lead author of the legislation, the louisiana republican senator bill cassidy. and don't worry. cia? the fbi has your back. the bureau launching a man hunt to find the mole that leaked secret c.i.a. hacking techniques. breaking today, new word of a criminal investigation. and the first legal challenge to president trump's latest immigration ban. breaking now, hawaii is fighting