tv Happening Now FOX News April 24, 2017 10:00am-11:01am PDT
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saw on twitter, they were likely missed the first segment. that we have president trump come on as he met with the u.n. ambassador, so an exciting day. >> and back with me today on fox business network at 4:00. >> stay right here for "happening now" ." >> jenna: fox news alert from texas where police are responding to reports of a shooting in a dallas office building. >> jon: you can see officers swarming the complex along the northern part of that city, we are covering all of the news happening "happening now" ." >> we have signed more legislation into law on the first 100 days than anyone in the last 50 years. >> jon: president trump looking at a jampacked week before he marks 100 days in office, can he get everything on his agenda done? plus... >> we will respond without the slightest hesitation to all-out war. >> jon: north korea with another strong warning for the u.s. is the world braces for another show of military strength from the hermit
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kingdom. >> the minute north korea gets a missile that can reach the united states, this country is at grave risk. >> jon: and... >> you are following my daughter home. go home. >> jon: shocking video of bullying going viral on facebook. should the child's mother be able to sue the school? it is all "happening now" ." ♪ >> jon: we begin on this monday with a pivotal week in washington, tax reform, healthcare and a looming battle over a burgeoning government shut down all on the agenda, look into the second hour of "happening now." i am jon scott. >> jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee.ave until friday to pass a spending bill or else the government may shut down, the president is set to announce something about text form later this week and the daily white house press briefing should be later this hour. it is full steam ahead on the president's agenda.
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>> here's the thing, the president signed over 28 bills already. healthcare may have been xp, it may not, we are hoping it will. as far as the border, the military, right now and the cr, were negotiating one of the biggest increases in military spending in decades. he has been fulfilling his premises in doing it at break neck speed. >> jon: we have fox team coverage, kevin corke at the white house but we begin with chief white house correspondent mike emanuel on capitol hill with the latest from there. >> good afternoon, house speaker paul ryan told his fellow republican lawmakers that finishing that government funding package is the priority of the week, facing a friday night deadline. ryan was traveling overseas when he held a conference call with his fellow house republicans and said healthcare reform is still a priority, but it will not come up for a vote until they have enough support to pass it in the house. on government funding, ryan says the appropriations committee has been working closely with the white house and suggesting the final product will be something
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president trump can and will support. even some house conservatives acknowledge they won the democratic votes to get this done. >> every fiber in my being, there is not going to be a government slow down. i think we will be able to put the package together and have it out of there this week. the tough part is we have to find eight votes in the senate to avoid the senate filibuster, so we are going to have to find what brings those senate democrats along. >> as for senate democrats, their leader, senator chuck schumer has called money for a border wall a white house priority, a nonstarter. schumer said the discussions between democrats and republicans were going quite well but called the president's demands "the only fly in the ointment." she may suggesting debating the border ball down the line, not facing this funding deadline. another top democrat is also weighing in on this wall proposal. >> the wall is, in my view,
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immoral, expensive, unwise, and when the president says, i promised a wall during my campaign, i don't think he said he was going to pass a billions of dollars of cost of the wall onto the taxpayers. >> also today, ohio republican senator rob portman is introducing a bill designed to avoid government shut down. it would institute a continuing resolution if congress passes the funding deadline, they might want to fast-track that and get it done by the end of the week. >> jon: mike emanuel and the capitol building, thank you. >> jenna: now at the white house where press secretary sean spicer is getting ready to have his daily briefing and a busy week for the president when it comes to both domestic and international issues. kevin corke is live with more. >> you're right, a very busy day and week for the president come as you pointed out, a working lunch for mr. trump along with u.n. investor nikki haley and members of the security council. important opportunity for the white house to really talk about some of the major issues as it
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relates to international relations. as you know, the president has been fairly pointed to his criticism of the international body but now insisting that other members be prepared to impose new sanctions on north korea amid escalating tensions over its missile and nuclear programs. also in the briefing today, we expect to hear quite a bit about the battle of the budget as you just heard mike emanuel telling you about. this idea of avoiding another looming government shutdown in particular, the question of how best to fund the wall will get plenty of attention. speaking of, the president as is his won't took to twitter to talk about it once again today, tweeting the following: "the wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth -- and many others -- !" "if the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will never be fixed the way it should be! #buildthewall" but the question remains, will he keep lawmakers from making a deal? >> we will have a bill moving forward with some money in there
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for the wall, and it will be up to congress to pass it. if the democrats filibuster that and block it, they are the ones shutting the whole government down just to keep the law from being built, no doubt about it. >> they go, ag's jeff sessions talking moments ago, and we are expecting the president to talk a little bit about the massive phone call with peggy whitson setting the record for most commutative days in space, 535 if memory serves. that and one other thing we will probably hear just a bit of pushback on this notion that 100 days is some sort of a political benchmark that the white house has to hit. it is arbitrary, obviously you would like to get as much done in the first 100, but they will certainly say today i am guessing that there is a lot more work to be done well beyond that. >> jenna: we will see how they handled the special number we're talking so much about. kevin, thank you. >> jon: as mike emanuel just reported from capitol hill, looming fight over the budget is
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focused on billions requested to begin construction on the border wall. budget director mick mulvaney, however, is downplaying those concerns. >> i don't think anybody is trying to get to a shut down peer shutdown is not a desired end, not a tool, not something we want to have. we want our priorities funded, in one of the biggest priorities during the campaign was border security, keeping americans safe and part of that was a border wall. we just don't understand why the democrats are so wholeheartedly against it. >> jon: let's talk about it with scott bolden, democratic strategist and former chairman of the democratic party in the district of columbia. former assistant to george w. bush, i hope you were both able to hear nancy pelosi in that report a couple minutes ago. she said that the wall is, in her view, immoral, expensive, unwise. immoral, really, why? >> because from appearance purposes and given the political rhetoric from donald trump during the campaign, he's
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building a wall to keep out mexicans who want to be americans. that feels, looks, and sounds not only just racist but also immoral because we are a country of immigrants. our ancestors are immigrants and building a wall to keep them out is going to be super expensive and really not necessary. if you listen to general kelly comey says the numbers at border crossings are down to historic lows, so why should we spend $40 billion -- i'm sorry, by the way, i thought mexico was paying for appeared are we learning mexico the money than getting it back some white in some undefined manner? it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, that money could be used to enforce border crossings and with border personnel rather than to spending money on a wall. remember, in 2006, that wall, that legislation passed, but it has never been funded by republicans or democrats appear there is a better way to do this and not shutting the government down over this border ball is going to give all of the exposure to the republicans and
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all of the leverage to the democrats. >> jon: that is the democratic view of the wall. brad, i think president trump has said it's not just about keeping up people who want to come here and work. >> no, it's about security, security for our country. high fences make good neighbors. i have a great wall between my neighbor, when my neighbor wants to see me come she doesn't have the wall, she comes to the front door. that is what you are supposed to do. you know what is ironic? nancy pelosi wasn't for the wall before she was against the wall. there were no morals back in 2006 when she supported it. it is in the american interest. the problem with democrats is they have to figure out, do they dislike the president more than they like the american people and what is in the american people's interest? that is what is happening here. everything against donald trump. the wall is in the nation's interest. it is a clear and present danger to our national security. on a whole host of issues, drugs being one, but also people coming into the country who should not be here.
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when we talk about the resolutions, this is a negotiation. there is not going to be a democratic shutdown of this country because they know it is not in their interest. republicans certainly are not going to do it, so the question is how long will it be and what will we get for the continuing resolution? >> jon: there was a triple murder on new york's long island last week, young man who apparently we are trying to get out of the ms-13 gang. the president says you build a wall, you help keep ms-13, that is a central american gang come out of the united states. >> absolutely no empirical data whatsoever. i'm a former prosecutor, no data whatsoever that says if you build a wall you are going to keep a gang, a dynamic and powerful and awful gang out of the u.s. as well as any other country simile by building a wall. the wall is a symbolic symbol of keeping our neighbors out. that is really all it represents. there are other ways to keep border control and border security and place to get
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immigration control underway and republicans who own the white house, the house, the senate, need to be doing more outreach to the democrats because they are the ones were going to shut this government down over a border wall that is ineffective and immoral, then that is their problem, and they have to answer to their republican supporters. we don't control this government anymore. republicans and donald trump need to own it and they are going to pay for it if they shut the government down. >> jon: we know about brad's situation, do you have a fence in your backyard, do you have a backyard? speak i have a backyard, not a big one, wooden fence, very nice fence, and i can see my neighbors over it, i invite them over all the time. >> jon: this is an interesting argument. we just heard scott saying the republicans are about to shut the government down. >> it's not going to happen. republicans are not shutting the government down. this is a negotiation, the question is how long will the continuing resolution become a kicked until september, shorter resolution in order to get more accomplished? it's really up to the democrats.
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you have a transactional president who is more transactional than he is political or ideological so really, if you want to make a deal, this is the president to make a deal. either were going to make a deal today or tomorrow or make a deal next week or month, it's really up to the democrats. yes, we are in control, but democrats certainly have the obligation to deal in good faith with the republican president. >> jon: "the art of the deal." scott, i am sorry, we have to say goodbye. thank you both. >> jenna: back to some of the breaking news out of texas on a situation we are monitoring and dallas. police responding to reports of an active shooter and a high-rise office building in lake highland, there are reports of shots have been fired, and there is a rather large police presence. that is all we know for right now. we going to continue to monitor the situation and bring any new details as they come in. >> jon: secretary of state rex tillerson raising new questions about the nuclear agreement with iran. coming up, how u.s. officials will be addressing them head-on.
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plus, protests in paris following the french presidential election. angry crowds burning cars and clashing with police they are. ahead, the results that have white house chief of staff reince priebus reassuring the french people. >> we've got a long-term relationship that is historical with the french people and the french government. no matter who wins, that relationship is going to continue. >> jon: also, we are awaiting the white house daily briefing, sean spicer, the president's spokesman should be stepping up to that podium about 70 minutes from now. we will keep you updated and take you there live in it begin. tomorrow is not a given. but entresto is a medicine that helps make more tomorrows possible. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow... ♪ i love ya, tomorrow in the largest heart failure study ever,
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ukraine. that briefing coming up about 1n sean spicer steps to the podium, we will take you back there liv live. >> jenna: that conversation of particular importance especially because of what we are watching in france, violent protests closing streets in paris after results from the first round of the french presidential election last night. six officers and a few demonstrators injured in the clashes. protesters angry that centrist emmanuel macron and far right leader marine le pen will advance to them a seventh runoff as the current french president calls for the country to elect macron. more on that as we get it. >> jon: the u.s. and iranian officials are said to me in yemen tomorrow after secretary of state rex tillerson slammed the iran nuclear deal which was of course brokered under president obama, he called it part of the failed approach of the past. rich edson is live from the state department, he has the latest. >> good afternoon. the trump administration has just overhauled the u.s. edition
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of the iran nuclear agreement and now a u.s. official will meet with iran and other counterparts who signed this agreement, that happens tomorrow and vienna. the u.s. position is even though iran is technically complying with that nuclear agreement, the deal only delays what would be an eventual development of a nuclear weapon by iran. it also does not fail to stop and perhaps even encourages iran with its other aggressive behavior whether it is harassing u.s. ships, imprisoning americans, continuing the development of its missile program. tomorrow, the u.s. meets with the other signatories of the agreement including china, russia, france, the united kingdom, and along with iran, and one weapons expert says the focus will most likely be on iran's adherence to this nuclear deal. >> iran, in a sense, there's not a major violation, there are a lot of little violations ongoing reported in a different document to congress, that is 180 days, every 180 day requirement. that should come out within a
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couple months. so if the joint commission meeting, they look at those things. >> there is one iranian opposition group, and this was reported on fox news on friday, that has detailed showing evidence that iran is continuing to weapon eyes, continuing to develop its nuclear program in violation of the iran nuclear agreement. the iranian government came out with a response today, according to press reports and iran, basically saying that such claims are farcical. the trump administration is reviewing the iran nuclear deal and its entirety, something the secretary of state has announced. the u.s. options to walk away from the deal are somewhat complicated, however. first off, the u.s. is already unfrozen billion's of dollars worth of iranian assets which they now have access to, and secondly, to fully reinstate the sanctions regime that was in effect before the iran nuclear deal, it would require the assistance of otheres. could he brought international
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consensus to go back on the iran nuclear deal, big day in vienna tomorrow as we begin to talk about these issues with the trump administration which has dramatically changed the u.s. position on this agreement that was reached by the obama administration in 2015. >> jon: fascinating to see how it all turns. rich edson, keep us updated there from the state department, thank you. >> jenna: and with the theme of looking overseas, our pacific allies are still on edge amid rising tensions with north korea as a u.s. intelligence shows the regina making new strides in its nuclear weapons program here also awaiting the white house press briefing at the beginning of a very busy week in washington. we will take you there live in the briefing begins.
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>> jenna: right now, our pacific allies bracing for more provocative moves by north korea paired kim jong-un said to mark the founding of his military tomorrow as u.s. sidelight images apparently show the road redeem gearing up for another nuclear test, homeland security secretary kelly warning that they could threaten the u.s. mainland in just a few years. >> the minute north korea gets a missile that can reach the united states, put 11 onto that missile, nuclear weapon, the instant that happens, this country is at grave risk. >> jenna: it can only reach south korea, and we have thousands of u.s. troops there. for more, let's bring in rob, vice president for scholars at the widger do my woodrow wilson center, this his particular area of expertise, nice to have you on the program. your quote last we got a lot of attention, calling this the cuban missile crisis in slow motion. why do you believe that? >> unlike cuba in october 1962,
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this crisis is not playing out over 13 days. but as a secretary kelly indicated, within the next several years, north korea could achieve a nuclear breakout. they could have an arsenal approaching 100 nuclear warheads peer that is an arsenal about half the size of great britain' great britain's. if you juxtapose that to its economy, a paltry $16 billion, that is the size of asheville, north carolina. so north korea is a failed state with a very large, potentially large nuclear program. >> jenna: such interesting numbers, i know you're right about that in "usa today." north korea with a economy that is comparable to asheville, north carolina, but with a nuclear arsenal that can be powerful and very threatening paired you said it's a moment for serious diplomacy, what do you mean? >> is a fair question why would diplomacy work now when it has not in the past? we essentially have three options, we can bomb, negotiate, or acquiesced. the military option is always on
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the table, but it is really off the table because of the catastrophic risk of escalation, and when you can't bomb, won't negotiate come you can acquiesce to a build up i called for a serious diplomacy to freeze the program at its current level, not to roll it back fully as we would hope, but a feasible deb did not -- diplomatic objectivee to use freeze it and i think we can enlist china and other powers to bring reasonable pressure on north korea to do that. >> jenna: why would north korea agree to that? >> a freeze agreement would achieve all of the parties near-term point of optimization, so to speak. for north korea, it would keep the regime in power and would allow them to maintain a minimum deterrent, the current arsenal is in the mid teens. for china, it would prefer their buffer state but avoid the adverse strategic consequences of a breakout for example japan and south korea could reassess their nonnuclear status. the united states finally, the
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freeze would be that we would characterize it as an interim step toward long-term denuclearization. it's really making the best of a bad set of options. >> jenna: we will see if we can achieve that. it's been an interesting issue to look at over the years from this chair, i'm sure is even more interesting from year to year as well. unfortunately, i hate to use this term, but it's the perfect nonpartisan, bipartisan issue because republicans and democrats both have not solved this question of north korea. what is it that we cannot do? we cannot afford to do when you look at how you would advise this administration, what should we completely avoid at all costs? and other material option is one thing, but in general, how can we learn from the past? >> i'm going to link it to the article, the story you had just before this segment on iran. iran and north korea are of a kind. both present urgent nuclear challenges, but these nuclear issues -- it's embedded in the broader context of these
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countries societal evolution. the problem is the ridging changed timeline is indeterminate, and we cannot allow at this prospect the redeem evolution to play out while they continue to build out a nuclear program, so the key element of the iran deal was decoupling the nuclear question from the question of redeem change, that is controversial because as our officials have indicated, it does not address other areas of concern like the human rights record or support for hezbollah or with north korea, other threatening behavior. nuclear diplomacy will require us to look at the nuclear issue and its discrete context and to disaggregate it from the broader question of regime change. i think that is an analytical starting point for thinking about how to address the nuclear challenge in north korea in the near future. >> jenna: that is really interesting because that is one of the big criticisms of the iran nuclear deal because it does not address the other issues and how could you not some would say. others say we have this nuclear
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issue we have to address just that because that is what is pressing immediately. if you quickly, robert, see the way the iran nuclear deal has been debated, again, what can we learn from that to apply perhaps to north korea who already have these nuclear weapons? >> you are right, your final point is spot on because north korea is a much more mature nuclear program. i think the decoupling piece is important. if you look at the structure of our debate on the hard cases of iran and north korea, it goes back to the post-9/11 period where there was a divide in our debate over how to address these hard cases, so-called rogue states, should arid objective be to change their behavior or should it be to change their regime? for those who focus on regime change, it's on understandable because they say the danger arises from the character of the regime and changed behavior lot take you there if that regime stays in power, the character of the regime is unchanged, and that is from where the
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threatening behavior arises. it's an understandable tension, but we have to manage it in the here and now. when regime change is not a possible near-term feasible objective, we have to focus on but could affect us in discrete terms which is the nuclear program and the ballistic missiles upon which north korea would want to put warheads that could reach the united states. >> jenna: absolutely, it could kill a lot of people. it is the best of a bad situation, great to have you on the program, thank you very much. >> jon: a viable video allegedly capturing the ongoing bullying of a young girl. now after repeated pleas for help from the school, the girl's mother is taking action. our legal panel breaks this case down. also, we are keeping an eye on the white house as the press secretary gets ready to weigh in on what is going to be a pivotal week in washington, we will take you there live when sean spicer stepped to the podium.
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>> jon: fox news alert, let's go to sean spicer in the white house briefing room. >> jon: ambassador to the u.n. security council visiting, ambassador haley wanted to come by and make sure we have an update as to what they are talking about. when she is done come she has to join a meeting in progress. secretary steven mnuchin has some comments he would like to make, we will take questions from him then resume their briefing.
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without further ado, the ambassador to the united nations, nikki haley. >> thank you, i will tell you we have had an exciting day in d.c. we are hosting the members of the security council, and when you think of that, this is the most powerful group that decides sanctions, relief, any sort of conflict that comes up, this is the group. the idea they were able to come to d.c. is overwhelming for them, they are extremely pleased. we started the morning at the blair house with senators graham and cardin as well as congressman smith and congresswoman bass, so they they had a lot of interactions, probably an hour and a half talking about issues from budget of the way to peacekeeping issues as well as complex and north korea and syria and then the problems in iran. so a very healthy discussion there. from there, we came over to the white house and the president greeted all of the members, had his picture taken with them and we all sat down for lunch. it was an open dialogue, very much of the members wanted to
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hear from the president what his plans are, what he was going to continue to do on syria or not continue to do with north korea, all those issues are certainly at the forefront. the idea he would have that dialogue with them is tremendously helpful to me whereas in the security council, we need them to really engage. we need them to now know that we are about action and i think that what we have tried to do in the u.n. is really bring reform, reform in the way we spend, peacekeeping operations, but also reform and resolutions that are past, that what we pass actually means something and there is accountability and what we pass. i think they heard that loud and clear today from the president. i think they are thrilled with the engagement they had, and i think it shows the president is very engaged on foreign policy, and they see that. the idea he would want to sit down and talk to them about each of their countries and the security council collectively as massive for a president to be able to do this, and it was certainly helpful to the united states. now they are in briefings with
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general mcmaster, focusing on north korea, also focusing on isis, and engaging on that front. they will continue to have other conversations as well, but as far as we go come a great day for the security council, great day with the president and certainly more good to come as of this meeting, they give very much. i have some ambassadors waiting. we will talk to you soon, thank you. >> press secretary spicer: thank you, ambassador appear without further ado, secretary of the treasury, steven mnuchin. >> seems like i'm becoming a regular here, nice to see all of you again. earlier today, the united states department of treasury's office of foreign assets control imposed sanctions in response to the april 4th, 2017, searing attack on innocent civilians by the redeems of the syrian dictator assad. 21 employees of serious
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scientific studies and research center. this syrian government agency responsible for developing and producing nonconventional weapons and means to deliver them. we have targeted these 271 employees because they have expertise in chemistry and related fields or have worked in support of chemical weapons programs since at least 2012. today's action, less than three weeks after the attack on connor she kuehne is one of the largest ever executed by ofa c. in a single action, more than doubling the number of individuals and entities, sanctions since the start of the syrian conflict pursuant to syria-related executive orders. these sweeping sanctions are intended to hold the assad were gm and those who support it directly or indirectly accountable for their blatant violation of the chemical weapons convention and u.n.
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security resolution 21118. the united states is sending a strong message with this action that we will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons by any actor, and we intend to hold the assad redeem accountable for its acceptable behavior. the treasury department together with the department of state and our international partners looking to continue to relentlessly pursue and shutdown the financial networks of any individuals involved in serious production or use of chemical weapons. i also commented that recently we had sanctions on north korea and iran and will also continue to add to and monitor those as appropriate. with that, i would be happy to take a few questions. >> reporter: is this the only round of sanctions we can expect against syria in the wake of the chemical weapons attack or
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considering the possibility of sanctions against russia for not going far enough to try to dissuade assad? >> we do not comment on the specifics of sanctions that we are going to do in the future. again, what i will tell you is the sanction programs are very important. they are very effective. we will continue to use them to the maximum amount available by law. >> reporter: secretary, on the budget, is the border while a deal breaker for the president even to the point of government shutdown? >> i'm not going to comment on the specifics of that but i will say that i was in a meeting this monday with director mick mulvaney and other senior people. the president is working hard to keep the government open, and addressing various issues. >> reporter: can you tell us what these sanctions actually do? what is different today then was different yesterday or the day before? >> that sanctions are enormously important. by identifying hundred 71
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additional people, these sanctions, as you know, will both freeze as heads if there are assets there that prevent u. entities from doing business as well as these sanctmpact with ar partners around the world who also work with us on these issues. >> reporter: we are not doing any business. >> reporter: the admonition is trying to grapple with the agreement. zero -- do you support? >> i'm just going to say we are having discussions and it is ongoing. >> reporter: american companies, those individuals that have been sanction. >> reporter: lest we come he said there would be a tax reform proposal next wednesday. >> he did indeed, widely reported. >> reporter: did that surprise you, what can we expect? >> let me first say, i've been working with the president for over the last year on his
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economic plan in regards to creating growth. the president is very determined that we can get to sustained economic growth of 3% or higher. we are working on tax reform, working on regulatory reform, working on job creation. this is something that on the tax side i've been meeting weekly with the house and senate on designing things, and will be coming out as it's the president said with more details on wednesday. >> reporter: thank you very much. along the lines of tax reform, i know the specifics and the bride details come out wednesday, but without getting into the specifics, what does the middle-class gain if there is a simplification but also a loss of deductions whatever they might be, if we lose them? >> let me just say we've been clear on what the president objectives are for tax reform. middle income tax cuts, a
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priority of the president. simplification, the average american should be able to do their taxes on a large postcard. business tax reform, we need to make business taxes competitive, and we expect with doing that, we will bring back trillions of dollars from offshore. >> reporter: thank you, sir. the question i have is just sort of bounce off what john was asking about this announcement on wednesday. it doesn't sound like we are going to get the finer details of what this tax reform package will entail. is it a good idea to start talking about tax reform, something he said cannot be accomplished by august, when you don't have all the details? >> the details will come out. yes, i think it's important that we are talking about it and are going to move forward. i will take a couple more. >> reporter: a follow-up, for those of us were not completely clear about the 271 employees,
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are you suggesting by using these sanctions that there are u.s. companies that have holdings in the u.s. or that they would be traveling to do some sort of business that we are actually freezing? >> again, i cannot comment on the specifics of these sanctions beyond what we release, but i can assure you that when the u.s. puts out sanctions, they have impacts both here and throughout the world, and we would not be doing this if we did not think it was impactful. it is quite impactful. one more back there, yes. >> reporter: would you say that simplification of the tax code or cuts would be the first priority? you've mentioned the coast guard and closing the gap with growth, so what is first? >> again what i said, on the personal side for the middle income tax cut and simple vacation. on the business side, we are about making them competitive. this is the last one, go ahead. again, what i said before is the tax plan will pay for itself
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with economic growth. thank you, everybody. nice to see you. >> press secretary spicer: thank you, mr. secretary. and ambassador haley. i just want to walk through what the rest of the day and week and then some questions. as you know, this morning the president had a call with german chancellor angela merkel who had extended a gracious invitation for the first daughter to ansys to the assistant to the president of ankit to attend the w20 summit. she will be at the summit in berlin with a panel "inspiring women, scaling up women's entrepreneurship." this follows the roundtable on education and workforce development, issues that are central both to her and the chancellor's agenda that they hosted here at the white house in march. while in germany, she will also visit a school for interactive tour and discussion with the students participating in the
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apprentice program. in commemoration of holocaust of a rembrandt's day, she will visit the memorial to the murdered jews in berlin, a readout of the president and angela merkel's call should be out already. following that, in the president spoke with peggy whitson, commander of the international space station via videoconference, as i told you last week, she was on her third extended stay aboard the international space station, she breaks the record for the most space time of any american astronaut. the president was honored to celebrate this incredible achievement by dr. peggy whitson and the american space program and discussed the exciting future of space exploration and state backspace science including how they inspire women act which the president recently asked my client ensures nasa continues recruiting women for important stem-related jobs in aerospace. as i mentioned at the top, the president had a working lunch with nikki haley and other ambassadors of countries that are part of the u.n. security
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council. under the president's leadership, america has once again taken a leadership role on the world stage and our global partners have welcomed this renewal of american diplomacy. later this afternoon, the president will sign a proclamation on holocaust remembrance day, part of the weeklong date of remembrance first held in 1979 and later established by congress as our nation's commemoration of the holocaust. tomorrow as every president since the holocaust museum opened in 1993, president trump will participate in a days of remembrance commemoration. as he said during his video message to the delegates of the world jewish congress plenary assembly, the trump admission ration is committed to stepping out prejudice and anti-semitism everywhere it is found. following the population, the president will host a credential ceremony for newly appointed ambassadors and then have dinner with senator and mrs. mccain and lindsey graham, later this evening, the vice president will return to washington where he
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finished his time throughout the world. while in hawaii today, the president will have lunch with u.s. troops at joint base pearl harbor and participate in their arrival ceremony and u.s. before boarding air force two for the ride home to washington. as we get closer to the president's 100th day in office, throughout the week, the white house is hosting briefings and events to provide several opportunities for many folks in the press to hear directly from the administration and our officials what we have achieved in the first 100 days and what we are looking to continue to achieve on days 101, 102, 200, et cetera. throughout the week, the president, cabinet officials and senior white house staff will talk about the president's agenda on national, local, media and various platforms. finally, i wanted to acknowledge the distressing report regarding american citizens coming out of the ukraine and north korea. we are deeply saddened by the death of a paramedic in united states citizens serving
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in the organization for security and cooperation in europe, special monitoring mission. we extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones and wishes his colleagues who were injured in the blast a quick and speedy recovery. we call on all parties to cooperate with the special monitoring mission to allow us to fully investigate this incident. the tragic death of a staff member only serves to underline the urgent need for all sides, particularly the russian led separatist forces to limit their commitment under that minsk agreement. were also aware of reports of united states citizen being detained in north korea over the weekend. the protection of united states citizens is one of our government's highest priorities. i would direct any further inquiries on this matter to the state department. also on north korea come on wednesday, the white house campus will play host to a briefing for all 100 u.s. senators on the subject. the beavers will be second tillerson and second mattis, director codes and general dunford. this is a senate briefing convened by the majority leader, not a white house briefing, we
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are just serving as the location. for further questions, and direct you to the secretary's office and the office of the four brie first, with that, i would be glad to take some questions. >> reporter: talking about the budget, how committed -- we talked about this earlier, but can you talk about how committed the president is to having the border wall funded this week or having some funding and that spending bill, and if it is not in there, will he sign it? >> press secretary spicer: again, there is negotiations continuing with house and senate leadership. obviously, the money for our military and our order security and while have been part of that request, and that is something that those are the president's priorities with respect to the cr and keeping the government open. i think we feel very confident where we are headed. i'm not going to get ahead of the negotiations that are ongoing. director mick mulvaney has been very, very deep in those discussions and i expect it an
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announcement soon, but i'm knocking to start taking things on or off the table with respect what the president may or may not do. >> reporter: doubling up on that question they are about the cr and the funding, does he specifically expect there to be funding for the border wall or woodbrook border security measures be enough to satisfy the president and how do you differentiate between the two? for example, what could be funded in the cr that you could say is part of the wall even if it is not explicitly? >> press secretary spicer: there obviously a lot of components to that. tenting, drones, and i don't want to get ahead of those negotiations because they are ongoing but the president's priorities have been very clear from the beginning. >> reporter: just a follow-up, are we backing off the wall, saying it is on the table? >> press secretary spicer: no, we are saying the president has made it very clear he has two priorities in this continuing resolution. number one, the increase in funding for the military pew number two, for our homeland and border security and the wall.
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i'm not going to start to get into -- we were having a negotiation with house and senate leadership and to prejudge where it ends up at this point would be -- would not be prudent. >> reporter: two questions for you. on the syria economic sanctions, how would the ebb initiation determine how effective they ar are? >> press secretary spicer: they're going to be a lot of ways but first and foremost is to send a clear signal to make sure that they understand that we don't take their actions lightly. and that we want to do everything we can to have stability in the region. i think there's going to be a lot of ways in terms of their behavior going forward that we will know whether they are working, but i think the president has made clear and second steven mnuchin, there are a lot of tools at our disposal to achieve an outcome that bring stability to the region. >> reporter: on north korea, the fact a third u.s. citizen has been detained by the regime and pyongyang, does this make it more difficult for the president to negotiate through china to
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try to do nuclear rise north korea? >> press secretary spicer: no, i think we noted it before, ambassador haley did in several interviews, but china has been very, very helpful in this process and continues to be, and i think we hope to see a change of behavior, but it is a very positive sign the level of engagement china has, has enacted. >> reporter: is the trump administration calling for the release of this u.s. citizen currently being detained? >> press secretary spicer: absolutely. we want to make sure all of our citizens are protected and returned home, but the state department is the lead on that. >> reporter: there's quite a bit of concern among republicans on capitol hill about the federal deficit. you roll out the tax plan wednesday, you also going to include things in there that raise revenue as well as the tax cuts so that conservatives can be confident that this -- >> press secretary spicer: we will have further details p it on my getting ahead of the presidential rollout, but i'm not going to -- the level of
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semester to be in terms of the pay for it and the cost we will have to see. >> reporter: is the president aware of the american pastor jailed and turkey -- >> press secretary spicer: i'm not going to get into the specifics of the president's conversation. we are obviously aware of that action. we are going to continue to work with the state department on that. >> reporter: can you explain why president trump did not use the word genocide to refer to the killing of 1.5 million armenians in his statement? >> press secretary spicer: the statement he put out is consistent with statements that have been put out for at least several of the past administrations. i think if you look back to the language that president obama, president bush, et cetera have used, the language the president used is consistent with all of that. >> reporter: first, the border wall, secretary kelly expects
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construction to start this summer. there are those in texas and arizona that welcome the security, but there is family-owned land for generations, so what is the white house message to them directly, and what can you guarantee that they will be compensated? >> press secretary spicer: i think we will do everything in accordance with the law. this has been an issue that has gone on several times. that issue has been raised over the last several decades. excuse me, several years. so we will do everything in accordance with the law with respect to the land that is needed for that. again, the homeland security secretary understands what is going to be needed and will do surveys and the appropriate planning to make sure that we minimize that to the extent possible. >> reporter: the next question, the fbi and justice department last week ed rested two doctors in michigan for allegedly performing genital mutilation on little girls. it's the first case in the
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united states, what is the white house acknowledgment? >> press secretary spicer: we talked about pending investigations before, and we do not comment on any pending investigations or actions by the justice department. >> reporter: 100 days as the president said on twitter, is that it would take this benchmark or an important one? >> press secretary spicer: obviously, the context of an entire administration, there is a lot we feel very proud that we have gotten off -- taken done -- taken care of. like of the immigration piece in particular. border crossings way down. the number of executive orders in pieces of legislation the president has signed, we feel very proud of what we've been able to accomplish and fulfill promises he made to the american people. i think it has to be kept in context. i think that is this sort of artificial number that gets thrown out. the context is 100 days, and you know four years in your first term, eight years for two terms,
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-- >> reporter: that is the start of the contract with the american voter. >> press secretary spicer: when you look at the piece of legislation, executive orders, business confidence, the role of the u.s. in the world, there is a lot we feel -- a lot of accompaniment have occurred, and we feel very good about what we have done as we head to the first 100 days, but you're going to continue to see a lot of action and results going into the second 100 days, third 100, all the way through. >> reporter: there is no explicit funding for the wall, no healthcare reform or repeal obamacare, with the president consider that, it would you invite his supporters to consider that a conspicuous failure based on the promises he made during the campaign? >> press secretary spicer: i think when you look at the totality of what we have accomplished on job creation, immigration, trade, and it is unbelievable what he has been able to do.
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it is not -- you can cherry pick and a couple of things and say, what about this or that? but when you look at it overall in terms of the drop in border crossings, look at consumer confidence and the relationships we have developed around the globe, the accompaniments this president has on protecting the country and bringing back jobs, those have been unbelievably significant. so to minimize that or to look and pick out two or three things, but i think, look, were going to continue to push for healthcare reform. we feel very good about the direction it's going in, it's been very positive. i think the construction of the wall is going to continue to be an area that moves forward. all of that stuff is happening just as the president asked for it and committed to doing. some of it has been a little slower but mostly because of working through congress and getting through stuff, but when you think about what he started, tax reform, moving forward on tax reform, healthcare, immigration, trade, it's been a hugely successful first 100 days. >> reporter: the president not necessarily describing it as a failure, but what he said he's
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learned something about the process and how long things take that maybe he did not appreciate as a candidate, maybe he overpromise on the speed he would achieve these thanks? >> press secretary spicer: with all due respect, when you look at those list of things in various areas he's been able to do, i think he is very pleased. report of a conspicuous campaign promises at rally after rally he named, don't worry, it's going to happen. what i'm asking is does he have a different awareness offficultt he did as a candidate? >> press secretary spicer: i'm sure there are things he learned in the job, but i think he's very proud of what he has set out to do and the progress we have made. i think you're going to see healthcare get done, and it's going to get done right. that in particular is something that we are continuing to work out. we can't make people vote, but we've made significant progress and moved to the legislation forward and improved greatly. i think we are going to see progress on that. >> reporter: two questions. is the president going to sign a
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resolution that is not deficit neutral or deficit reducing? >> press secretary spicer: that continuing resolution? >> reporter: that would increase the debt. >> press secretary spicer: i have not seen a score on anything that has come out. i think we have to wait and see what the final -- >> reporter: you are not ruling it out. >> press secretary spicer: not at this point. >> reporter: following that question, the president has talked a lot about the missteps from his predecessors from both parties, it has made a point of often talking about that, so why not take this moment to label that 1.5 million arminians killing a genocide? >> press secretary spicer: it is consistent with the statement of the last several administrations. i understand that. it is perfectly in keeping in the language that's been used over and over again. >> reporter: what do you agree with the assessment that some within the administration have a
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vote on healthcare this week is very unlikely? >> press secretary spicer: i think the vote will get scheduled when speaker bryant and leader mccarthy and carson determine they have the votes and are confident. i think we have been very clear, the president made it clear on friday when he was walking from the treasury department that if it happens and we have the votes, great, if it happens the week next or after, but we want to make sure we have the votes and are in the right direction before putting an artificial deadline. >> reporter: do you think this week is unlikely? >> press secretary spicer: whenever the speaker and leadership at the house tell us they feel confident they have the votes, we would encourage them to move forward. i'm not trying to not answer the question, but i think that is the answer. it comes down to when they feel they have the commitment to push the bill forward. >> reporter: there was a push to try to get something on the legislative scoreboard by the 100th day. is it look like that now will not happen? >> press secretary spicer: as i said, i don't -- we've been very clear in the president has been very clear in his comments
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that our goal is to get it done and get it done right, get it done to make sure there are votes. i've read some background quotes and sources about when we want to but we've been very clear publicly about when we want to get it done. >> reporter: the president has been very clear that judge gorsuch, now justice, is a big part of his first 100 days accomplishment, and the white house the rollout of 100 days said there would be dinner with the president and all of the justices of the supreme court, now that it's off the list. is the dinner not happening or not is the dinner happening? >> we moved some things around, but we hope to have something. >> sweep up the high court into the politics of 100 days? >> no. i think having a relationship and meeting with the supreme court at some point would be a great idea and something we hope to have on the schedule at some point soon. >> can you explain the president's change of thought on daca? >> i think he's been consistent
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about two things. one, that he's had a heart. he wants to make sure he does what's in the interest of children in particular. but secondly, i think the president's priorities since he took office have been very clear that the focus would be on folks that are a danger to public safety. and that's what it's been. that's where it continues to be. i think he is someone who understa understands the issue and the priorities that need to get laid out by this country. >> i understand that he said the criminals would leave first. but last august he said daca defied federal law. does he still think it's illegal? >> i understand. i think comments that he made last week, that he understands that in a lot of cases this involves families and small children who have been here. he has a heart. we're going to work through the immigration process. what i'm trying to do is answer the question. that i think the president wants to make sure that he addresses the issue
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