thank you for being here. >> this is fun. >> you ready? >> facebook live is where you can watch this, our handle is outnumberedfnc for the cool kids. "happening now" now. >> the white house briefing set to begin just minutes from now with the russian investigation, should be a major focus. >> the attorney general prepares to take questions from the senate intelligence committee and a hearing tomorrow. we are covering all the news, "happening now." >> not yet do you have a single senator saying there is definitive evidence that there has been any collusion between the trump campaign and the russians. that needs to stop. >> the republican national committee calling for an end to the investigation into the trunk campaigns ties to russia. even as capitol hill gears up for more drama with the attorney general set to testify tomorrow.

plus, massive protests across russia. demonstrators are saying they are fed up with corruption. but is the kremlin listening? >> she combines "just kill yourself" with words of love. >> at what point do text messages become criminal? a young woman driving her boyfriend to commit suicide. it's all "happening now" ." we are just minutes away from the white house briefing this monday. welcome to the second hour of "happening now," i am jon scott. >> i am heather, thank you for joining us or sticking around. jeff sessions will testify probably tomorrow before the senate intelligence committee to answer some questions raised by russian interference in the 2016 election. earlier today, the president held his first full cabinet

meeting. he did not answer any of the questions about the investigation, but he did go through his and ministrations accomplishments so far. >> never has there been a president with few exceptions, fdr had a major depression to handle, whose past more legislation, who has done more things than what we have done. we have tremendous success and i think we have been as active as you can possibly be. >> joining is now with more, white house correspondent kevin corke, i met kevin. >> another monday, more talk about the russia investigation. we have the press briefing, no doubt the attorney general's pending conversation about russian meddling in the election will certainly be a topic of discussion. i think it's interesting, that

what he says could prove to be fairly instructive if nothing else. the story has yet to produce at this point any evidence of collusion between the campaign and the kremlin. saw the president conducting a meeting with his cabinet and he used the occasion to suggest that despite the russian distraction, the white house is hard at work. >> i think we have been about as active as you can possibly be. by eliminating these job killing regulations, by unlocking american energy, rebuilding our military, resuming fair and beneficial trade deals. transforming the department of veterans affairs and building a new partnership among nations to defeat terrorism. in just a very short time, we are seeing amazing results. >> amazing results, so said the

president. meanwhile, an interesting conversation this morning about what the trump family has faced since the president won the white house. >> it is hard and there is a level of viciousness that i was not expecting, i was not expecting the intensity of this experience. this isn't supposed to be easy. my father and this administration intends to be transformative, we want to do big, bold things and we are looking to change the status quo. >> jon: she says she is simple keeping her head down and trying to do her very best to do the work of the american people. don't forget the briefing coming up the bottom of the hour. we hope will have live coverage for here, back to you. >> heather: thank you, kevin corke live for us. >> jon: attorney general jeff sessions testimony tomorrow comes days after riveting

experience by the fired fbi director james comey. lawmakers are asking the white house to turn over any tapes of the president's conversations with comey, while the republican committee calls for an end to the russia investigations. >> we learned a lot from james comey, that these investigations are going to go he might keep going forward if the democrats have their way. the american people wanted to stop. the trump administration is working 100% cooperating with all these investigations, but it needs to end. this is a fishing expedition to try to run out the clock for the democrats. >> jon: joining us now to discuss, a political reporter for "the washington times" ." you can see that the president has been trying to change the subject in washington, last week was infrastructure weeks, i believe this week is education. the senate, especially the democrats do not seem to be biting. >> that's right. tomorrow's testimony, i think it

was probably a good choice for sessions to come out and say he would do this publicly. if he had done this behind closed doors, you would have even more calls going on in the future for him to actually have a public hearing. this is a chance to at least rip the band-aid at this part of the investigation. of course, this public testimony tomorrow was prompted by james comey's testimony last week, it will be interesting to see what new sort of eggs the attorney general leaves out there to be cracked by yet another hearing in the future. the chain seems to keep going and going. >> jon: democrats were outraged during the obama administration at the benghazi hearings, is this their attempt at payback? >> i don't know about payback but they are following the playbook. just as democrats were happy with hillary clinton's testimony in that hearing, i think

republicans were fairly pleased with the way the comey testimony went in that there were no major smoking guns out there. i would say that comey probably undermined most of the arguments about legal jeopardy for the administration or for the president. in terms of obstruction of justice, it's not clear that you can even charge president with a legal case of obstruction of justice while he is in office, but comey undercut whatever argument there was for that out there. we'll see what sessions does tomorrow, but for now i think republicans emerge from that hearing happier than they were going in. just as democrats emerge from the benghazi testimony happier than they went in. >> democrats do not always see it in the same terms as republicans do in terms of misbehavior in congress. >> a democrat saying she would

like to investigate further the fact that james comey admitted under oath that he ceded to the wishes of attorney general loretta lynch. the democrats, now they basically say the word russia more than they say america. they are obsessive about this, obstructionists. >> jon: could we see some kind of investigation of attorney he met former attorney general loretta lynch and her handling of the clinton investigation? >> you've heard calls for her to come and testify as a sessions is doing, i do think the congressional committees will pursue that. i don't know whether we would see a legal case but i do expect you would see some more from the congressional committees into that. >> jon: stephen diane, washington times, thank you. a fox news alert, there is a ruling from the ninth circuit court on president trump's travel ban. the ninth circuit obviously based on the west coast, the

most liberal of the courts in the nation. in the decision, they write "we conclude that the president in issuing the executive order exceeded the scope of the authority delegated to him by congress." the case obviously is the government's appeal of that lawsuit filed in hawaii, that challenges the president's second travel executive order. a judge in hawaii said the report violates the first amendment to stop the order from taking effect. of the government has already filed its an appeal to the supreme court against the challenge coming from maryland. another defeat for the white house it would appear from the ninth circuit, the most liberal appeals court in the nation. they did not like the president's revised travel ban. we will keep you updated as we are continuing to read through this decision. >> heather: we will have a panel talking about it coming up as well. we are expecting to hear

testimony from steven mnuchin. >> good afternoon to you, president trump talked about health care reform a short time ago surrounded by his cabinet team, saying he does not expect any democrats to help. >> we expect to get zero -- if we had the greatest bill in the history of the world on health care, we would not get one vote from the democrats because they are obstructionist, that's if they want to do. that's the game. >> big problem for senate republicans is the medicaid expansion. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has offered three years, with 52 senate republicans, he can only afford to lose two of his members in order to pass the health care bill. a senate republican expressed confidence and mcconnell but also floated a backup plan. >> my advice is if we can't

replace obamacare by ourselves, go to the democrats and say thi this. 10% of the sick people in this country drive 90% of the costs. let's take those 10% and put them in a federal system. if we can't do this ourselves. that's a good place to start. >> as for senate democrats, they talked about fixing obamacare but they don't sound willing to work with republicans. the focus is on scrapping the health care law. he senate democrats ripped republicans for the lack of open hearings and for the lack of transparency. >> we may be days or even weeks away from the republicans moving directly to the floor. a significant bill that would affect tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of americans. big tax cuts, cut back on health care, defund planned parenthood without a single public hearing. that's also wrong. >> many republicans i have

talked to say doing nothing is not an option. pressure is building on capitol hill. >> heather: thank you. >> jon: a fox news alert, we have just heard from the ninth circuit court of appeals ruling against the presidents revise travel ban. the white house is 0 for 2 in the court. the supreme court is also hearing arguments on the president's executive order, our political panel weighs in. plus, a white house briefing that is set to begin any minute now. you can be sure this ninth circuit ruling will come up. we will bring it to you live when sean spicer steps to the microphone. [ bell rings ] fun in art class.

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gave us the power to turn this enemy into an ally? microsoft and its partners are using smart traps to capture mosquitoes and sequence their dna to fight disease. there are over 100 million pieces of dna in every sample. with the microsoft cloud, we can analyze the data faster than ever before. if we can detect new viruses before they spread, we may someday prevent outbreaks before they begin. >> jon: a fox news alert, when the president first suggested that people from five muslim majority countries should not be allowed to travel into the united states until further review, that was shot down by the court. the justice department came up with another slightly revised

edition of the travel ban, that has just been shot down by the ninth circuit based on the west coast. we are continuing to read through the opinion as put forward by the justices -- i am sorry, the judges of the appeals court. perhaps it was not unexpected by the white house, the ninth circuit is the most liberal court in the country. it is also the most overturned appellate court in the country. the supreme court also is taking a look at the travel ban. we'll have more for you throughout the hour. >> heather: that decision from the supreme court not expected, any word on that today. a lot of breaking news, i know you were just getting the lowdown on all of this as well. i'll start with you, your take.

>> as john just said, this is the ninth circuit court, everyone agrees, the most liberal court in the united states. at the supreme court is a very different composite. we are looking at a more conservative court, even the most moderate judges on the group of nine to be more conservative. even though those on my side of the aisle are very hopeful that the supreme court will do it all the lower courts have done, they might be disappointed in the decision that will come down and we will hear about this week most likely. that could be foreshadowing a phase two of the specific litigation within this case. >> heather: the three judges who heard the case in the ninth circuit all appointed by president clinton, not entirely surprising. what do you expect the next move to be? >> i expect the supreme court to lift the restriction and allow the band to be enforced until the bigger issues are determined. in terms of the ninth circuit ruling, i am kind of in leslie's

camp. the most overturned, that is done so for a reason. of this people on the supreme court are much more literal about the constitution. they take the powers of the president to enforce anyone who can come into this country as being very legitimate. i think we will see the ban lifted and allowed to be enforced until they decide that bigger issues which i think are working their way through the lower court. >> heather: the bigger issues being a proper amount of vetting and the process of who is and is not allowed into this country. let's us into what secretary kelly has to say about it. >> the court has prevented us from implanting a temporary ban on travel by anyone from six countries that are states of civil war come up sponsors of terrorism, and failed states. they are the same states identified by congress in a

previous administration as nations of great concern. this is nothing do with religion, skin color, or the way they live their lives. >> heather: leslie, i know you disagree. >> i disagree for a couple of reasons. the dynamic of isis, where their training camps are located, and where we are seeing terrorists come from and where they are born is not necessarily these countries. as you know in this country, these are not where the terrorists in this country have hailed from. as of late we have seen people more likely whether they get training and some of these countries to be born in the u.k., france, or elsewhere in europe, as an example. it doesn't necessarily keep us safe, for one. also it does not speak to more extreme vetting, if you will, in regards to those specific stats. lastly, we also need to look at what is going to make us safer.

the president talks about disaster, we haven't seen that from any people from those countries here in the united states and the 128 days. >> heather: kevin, that is an argument that people are saying right now, that the sense of urgency, the fact that it was a sense of urgency, what steps have we taken during this interim period to strengthen vetting procedures? >> part of the people that make that argument are ignoring what the three fourths of both travel bands consisted of. the purpose of the ban from its very initiation was to do an audit and discovery of our current methodologies, what is working, what is not working, how we need to strengthen different security procedures, if you have been in a state of civil war for many years, you have a problem finding records. it is not that we are trying to pigeonhole geography or people groups that we don't like, it's out there are legitimate concerns that there may be security threats here and what are we doing?

three fourths of those initial travel ban were to do an audit, a discovery, and a report to make recommendations to strengthen our new procedures. then reengage immigration at full throttle. >> heather: kevin and leslie, thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate your insight, thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, heather. >> jon: 's just a week after the terror attack in london, police released these images of vomit belts worn by the attackers. plus, benjamin hall with the most recent arrest. we are also moments away from the white house press briefing, we will take you there live when ithat begins. okay, yup. good night. with accident forgiveness your rates won't go up just because of an accident. switching to allstate is worth it.

>> welcome back, today marks one

year since the orlando nightclub massacre, scores of people had gathered outside of the nightclub holding vigils to honor the 49 people who were gunned down there. orlando officials are declaring this a day of love and kindness. the terror attack was the worst mass shooting in united states history. all flags in the state are flown at half-staff. >> jon: while that is happening here at home, london police have made another arrest in last weekend's terror attack that left eight people dead. they also release these images showing the fake suicide obama belts worn by the attackers to maximize fear. >> hi, john. police have been releasing more details which suggest the attackers plan was larger and must more detail than they carried out. the area around the attack gets

back to normal, police are still piecing together the night itself and also the events that led up to it. there are still many questions, not least how the three men met. one area of focus is now on a muslim gym in east london where the attackers were caught on camera five days before the attack. footage it shows the trio laughing and joking outside the gym, where one of them worked and the other had trained. also this week, they released images of the van showing several petrol bombs inside of it, ready to use. it is thought the attackers are planning to go back to the man and getting those bombs before continuing their spree. the driver had tried to rent a bigger band, a seven and a half ton truck similar to the one used in the nice attack. three of the victims were killed by the van, five were stabbed to death afterwards. police also released photographs

of the blood splattered fake suicide belt made from water bottles which they believe may have been used to a possible hostage situation and to induce maximum panic. a makeshift memorial has sprung up, outpourings of grief and solidarity from around the world as people come to terms with the third terror attack in the u.k. in just two months. at the scene of the attack, things are getting back to normal. streets have reopened and now countless stories of bravery have emerged about people who stood up to the attackers. the market itself is reopening, but still the all-important question, how could two of the three attackers have hidden in plain sight and been allowed to carry this out? this is a question still hunting politicians in the u.k. >> jon: thank you, benjamin. >> heather: any minute now, white house press secretary sean spicer will take to the podium for the white house press briefing. we will take you there once everything gets started.

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>> heather: we are waiting for the daily white house briefing, to begin at any moment now. a busy news day with another ruling blocking the president's revised travel ban while the attorney general prepares to testify tomorrow at an open

hearing before the senate intelligence committee to answer questions raised by former fbi director james comey last week. earlier on "fox & friends," ivanka trump discussed her father's reaction to the comey testimony. >> my father felt very vindicated and all the statements he has been making and feels incredible optimistic. >> heather: the trump administration making it clear that it wants to focus on jobs. ivanka trump joining the effort to spread that message. >> we are visiting one of the great examples of skill-based learning and education in wisconsin and we are very excited to talk about the skills and highlight the fact that there is a viable path other than a four-year college experience. really investing in vocational education, skill-based training, there are 6 million available american jobs that we are constantly hearing that they have job openings, but they

don't have workers with the skills that they need to fill those jobs. so really bridging that gap and bringing experience-based education to the forefront. apprenticeship actually, that's the model. >> heather: all of this likely to come up at the white house briefing and we will bring you that live as soon begins. >> jon: the trial of michelle carter now well underway, we've followed this case closely. she is the young woman in massachusetts accused of manslaughter in the death of her boyfriend. he killed himself by carbon monoxide inhalation after carter sent him numerous text messages urging him to commit suicide. carter's defense attorney says he was searching for ways to end his life long before she encouraged him to do it. >> mr. roy was suicidal for a very lengthy period of time. it comes up in his text messages very clearly, she did not have a

legal duty and therefore any omission to call for assistance is lacking in the evidence at this point. >> jon: our legal panel, criminal defense attorney mercedes, most people are revolted by what she did, the question is, is it against the law? >> it is when you think about what he had done in the final moments of his life. he was in the car, he had second thoughts and he or she is asking him what he's doing, and telling him to get back in the car. she urged him and goaded him repeatedly to get back in the car, to finish himself off and that is exactly what it is. those finite moments when he had second thoughts, got out of the car, that is what's going to ultimately go there. >> jon: that meets the definition of involuntary manslaughter? >> absolutely.

on the defensive side, we all agree that this was disgusting and horrible. on the defense side, it is that words via text alone or not weapon enough to satisfy the manslaughter statute. i have to agree, as discussing editors. twist this allowed a bit, let's say he didn't commit suicide but she texted him and said come to my house, it's midnight. he has a few beers, gets in the car and kills somebody else. should the person who asked him to come over be criminal be liable for that? >> jon: it was a verbal push. if some guy was standing on the edge of a subway track and gave him a little bump. >> she's not even in the same town. >> i love your analogy but it comes down to this. she's not physically there but she is telling him to get back in the car, telling him she

would be there for his family. she was brilliant to get rid of the jury, every one of us would have said -- i can't even believe she did this to this young man. >> jon: the defense push to have their case dismissed and the judge said the case was going forward, that's got to give the defense some pause. >> a dozen in the sense that we always make that motion during the trial and typically we get shot down. you have to do to preserve the appeal. and believe you me, if she is convicted, this will go straight to an appellate court. this is such an unusual situation, horrible in every sense but do not be in the same room as somebody and only text them, where does the personnel responsibility for start and stop? this poor victim wasn't suicidal, nobody intervened before this, it is horrible all the way around.

>> blaming the victim is it so dangerous. the fact that they are loading up and saying "he was suicidal anyway, he would have done it ultimately," that can play both ways. >> jon: just the fact that he did, he started to gas himself and then climbed out of his truck, texted her, she texted back and told him to get back in. award and the other direction, saying "your life is worth living" could have had a different result. >> that's exactly right. >> jon: you might say she is stupid, cold and unfeeling, she might be a psychopath. but you are saying that is not necessarily against the law in the state of massachusetts. >> legally speaking. in the state of massachusetts, if i kill you because you verbally provoked me, i can't use your verbal provocation as a defense. it's not going to get me off the hook. how can words get somebody on

the hook if in massachusetts they won't get you off the hook? that to me seems a little contradictory. >> this is all cyber, this is all development. we are in a new age where it is going to be developed in law, there are going to be cases that will push the envelope. if ever a case was going to push the envelope about the impact texting can do, this may be that case. >> jon: we are watching this one very carefully and we will certainly let our viewers know what the judge decides. thank you both. >> heather: something else we are watching very carefully, any minute now press secretary sean spicer will take the podium for the white house daily news briefing, and we will take you there want to get started. stay with us.

>> jon: you know it's going to be a hot one at the white house press briefing today. >> you've all probably heard the president of the united states placing a big emphasis on workforce development. along with the president's daughter ivanka tromp and the office of american innovation have been deeply involved in this effort. we've had an opportunity to address this issue just a few moments ago at the president's first meeting with his fully confirmed cabinet. i like to kick off by having the

secretary come up and talk to you about the initiative. >> thank you and good afternoon. i especially want to thank the work that has been done by ivanka trump and the office of american innovation and development proposals. i'll be traveling with her tomorrow to wisconsin where we will be looking at excellent programs for leadership. as you know by now, the president will be making an important announcement regarding apprenticeship this week. there are currently 6 million job openings in the united states, vacant jobs that could be filled. this is the highest number of job vacancies ever. a roundtable survey was released last week and found that 95% of executives who reported problems finding qualified workers. americans want to work.

american companies want to hire. the issue is the mismatch between jobs and employees job skills. it also persists to some of the more traditional sectors of the economy, currently 360,000 job vacancies in manufacturing. 200,000 job vacancies in construction. and with the upcoming plans for infrastructure, those job vacancies in construction are only going to increase. apprenticeships teaches skills needed to bridge this skill gap. an apprenticeship combines a paid work component within educational opponent. apprentices and while they learned in the process they largely avoid the substantial student debt that you see with higher education today. the most obvious benefit of apprenticeship is a good job. individuals who complete

apprenticeship programs have an average starting salary of about $60,000 a year. 9 out of 10 are employed upon completion of the program. both the starting salary and the employment rates are higher than that of traditional college graduates. apprenticeships are also going to increase the labor productivity. apprentices hit the ground running when they start a job, they are more able and more productive and tend to be more loyal to the employer. despite these benefits, apprenticeships take up only 3% of the american workforce. this administration -- higher education should assume responsibility for promoting apprenticeship. community colleges and four-year colleges have an obligation to work with students to educate them in skills they need to succeed. demand driven, experience-based education is not new. it is used to some extent in the health care sector, demand

driven experience-based education can be improved and can be used in a wide variety of sectors to further advance the workforce. incorporating apprenticeships in two and four-year degree programs, both traditional learning and skills-based learning. this is particularly important for those students who learn better by doing. president trump can speak firsthand to the success of apprentice programs in the building trade. the building trade invests nearly a billion dollars a year into the impressment apprentic. president trump has made clear his commitment to expand job opportunities here in a america. apprenticeship is one very important way that president trump will fulfill that promise. i am very excited to work with ivanka trump and the office of american innovation as this program goes forward.

>> how exactly do you plan to expand these apprenticeships? what does the government plan to do, are you going to put more money towards these programs? how are these apprenticeships going to expand? >> if you look in the building trade, there is almost a billion dollars spent every year and that's all private sector money. the building trade put together management organization that jointly invest in these apprenticeship programs because they know on the labor and management side that the workforce is critical to the building trade. that's how it works for a number of years. i have talked to several ceos, ivanka trump has spoken to several ceos and there is a segment of the business sector, the private partnership where businesses come together with education institutions to

actually focus on demand driven education, focused education on the skills that businesses demanding. yes? >> reporter: my question is where do you see these apprenticeships, because most people would guess that it is for low-paying jobs and other higher education jobs that people need and would amount to nothing more than indentured servitude. >> that is just factually wrong. the average starting salary for an apprentice is $60,000 per year, that is higher than a college graduate. i was out in michigan, i met with some of the apprentices at the ford facility. they love it. they love it. let me finish. they are excited about it, they are being paid a very good wage. i should add that you see apprenticeships and other positions as well. there are a number of firms that we are talking to that are

looking at it for areas like bookkeeping and accounting, if you look at law schools, there have been conversations even in law school about the need for more experience-based education. the carnegie commission came out with a reported number of years ago about the important of experience-based education and law. the point i am making is that we need to stop thinking that this is limited to a certain kind of job. experience-based education works throughout all sectors of the economy. >> reporter: is your program geared towards the white collar jobs? >> our program is geared towards all industries and all jobs. the point here is to foster private partnerships between industry and educational institutions so that when students go to a community

college or when students are looking at apprenticeship programs in the building trades or four-year institutions, when they leave they have the skills necessary to enter the workforc workforce. >> reporter: and the president's budget, congress was talking about some new welfare reform. could this sort of integrate into that at all? >> certainly the dash one of the important aspects of this is the portability of credentials. when someone earns a skill, when someone learns a skill it is important to signal to other employers that this person knows a certain set of skills. the emphasis is on high quality apprenticeships, it's important to not water things down, it is important to have skills that are portable and are indicative of quality.

>> reporter: the president's budget contains about 40% cuts in all workforce programs from the last budget. if workforce development is a priority, i understand the president had said that $90 million for mentorship programs. >> let me circle back to the point i made about private partnerships and what the building trades do. the building trades invest $1 billion a year of private money to develop skilled workforce. i want to challenge the assumption that the only way to move policy is to increase government spending. what we are trying to measure here is outcomes, right? private partnership, industry is in the building trade willing to work with labor to foster these

programs. isn't that exactly what we want to see? we should measure success based on outcomes and not based simply on spending. >> reporter: how do you foster the private relationships? is there some executive action that will be taken, is there a tax policy? how are you proposing that this would happen? organic happen? >> you've already seen that to a large extent as we have had roundtables with business leaders, ivanka trump has conducted several meetings with ceos around the country here at the white house. the second part to your answer is stay tuned and listen to the wednesday announcement.

porter >> reporter: is there a n you are focusing on, especially since the unemployment rate -- there are still groups of people, be it by region, race, gender, that still have issues with employment. is your focus going to be in certain regions? >> you are correct that the unemployment rate i believe is 4.3%. the broader unemployment rate is now at 8.4%. we've had discussions with ceos that are looking at these apprenticeship programs, one of the items of discussion is a way to work with communities that you simply don't see going into the stem fields and other fields. part of that discussion has been how do you target those groups? how do you reach out?

it is interesting, because apprenticeships help here because apprenticeships bring students together in a cohort model with individuals who are currently working in their field. it allows the possibility of role modeling. an apprentice can have a role model that can provide support and introduce them to the field. i think this is going to be a great thing for extending opportunities to women in stem. >> reporter: with that, you are saying women in stem, the african-american and hispanic unemployment numbers. is this administration looking to push also apprenticeships for those communities as well as for the private partnerships? >> again, we are looking to a push apprenticeships across the board, all people in all industries.

this is an opportunity for everyone. >> reporter: thank you, sir. you mentioned that you were targeting all sorts of troops, not just blue-collar professions. how do you get around -- in many states there are laws that would prevent this sort of thing, especially in the legal profession where most states don't allow people to do things like read for the bar anymore. how do you get around regulations and state law? >> let me clarify. it's across-the-board, i gave an example where experience-based education has been advocated. i want to be clear. the vast majority of apprenticeships are not for law. let's start there. the question about state barriers, i really think is a nonissue because for the vast majority of apprenticeships are going to be in the types of

profession where students are starting out entry processions, professions coming out of community college, professions that you typically speak at most large four-year institutions. for those professions, you don't have those types of barriers. >> reporter: thank you, mr. secretary. given the advantages of the programs, what are the ceos telling you? >> i don't want to speak for the ceo since they have not told me why they aren't used more often, but i can tell you that every ceo that i have spoken with has made a personal commitment to pursuing these. the ceos are excited. the ceos are looking forward to it because the ceos need these skilled workforce and they

recognize that americans want to work, we just need to marry up the desire to work and workforce skills. >> reporter: one of the newcomers of the administration here, i believe this is the first time we have heard from you on camera. can you give us more of a broad reading of how you see the labor market currently, you have mentioned the unemployment rate is 4.3%, i am wondering if you could give us your read on what some of the bright spots are with the job market right now and what some of the challenges are. obvious, we've had almostspots 600,000 new jobs, the 4.3% unemployment rate is the lowest it's been in 16 years, since 2001. if the of job vacancies points to the skill gap, but it's really a phenomenal number that is quite positive, 6 million job vacancies means that if we can fix the skills gap, there are

6 million jobs we can fill right now. compare that to 6.9 million individuals that are unemployed and wild. i think to fully answer your question, one of the challenges we need to look at is the labor force participation. there are number of americans are forgotten, that have been ignored and that have dropped out of the workforce. labor force education is lower than it should be. our goal for this administration, certainly president trump just this morning referenced these individuals who are forgotten because they are the ones that elected him. through this apprenticeship program, we are hoping to bring them back into the labor force. to have growth, we need that labor force growth. >> reporter: this is a small part of bringing the labor force per dissipation rate up. what else do you think needs to happen, is it tax reform, what else needs to happen?

>> all of the above. this is a small but significant part, if you start providing and changing the system to demand driven education, educational institutions, whether they are two or four-year colleges or other experience-based education institutions are providing workforce skills with each passing year for every hundreds of thousands of folks that go through this, those are new job jobs. currently, all the policy you see this administration administering whether it be, or other is part of bringing individuals back into the workforce. >> reporter: when will we see results, when with the skill gap close and what types of jobs are we talking about exactly? >> when i think it's a very speculative question, and the second question was -- i'm sorry? what types of jobs, i think we

are looking to apply this broadly across all industries. it's interesting, as some of you know i was at a university and i know of students that really wanted to be a police officer. that student majored in criminal justice. when he graduated, he had a student debt. but he did not have a job, because criminal justice does not prepare you to be a police officer. what would things be like if actually a criminal justice degree allowed students that wanted to to have the option of also attending a police academy? i want to give that is a specific example of what these possibilities could be. what would a legal studies degree be like if you could actually also get paralegal training? there are possibilities all across that we can look at. >> reporter: there is an idea

out there to require students graduating high school, whether they are going to college, the military or a trade school, i am wondering what you think of that and the second part of that is, to really help us understand what the white house is doing with these meetings with the ceos, is anything being reduced to mmo, a letter, so we actually get the pledge? i want to have more of a sense of what is out there. meetings are nice, but what is the promise you can say that people are telling you and how are you codifying it so you can go back to the ceo and say "you said you're going to do it and you did it." >> happy to answer both. what we think about requirements that every student have a letter saying what they're going to do,

i'll speak just for myself on this one, i worry about a requirement that requires students to do a, b, or c, i think our nation is about choosing and i think you need to respect individual choices. you can certainly encourage, ask you can say what do you want to do? but i always worry when i hear the word requirement because i think we're about choice. going to your second point, i'll say in part, stay tuned for the wednesday announcement as to what specifically we're going to be doing. i would say after that wednesday announcement, you can certainly expect quick and vigorous follow-up with the various ceo's and industry associations with which the administration has been speaking because at least for myself, the expectation would be okay, you said you're

very interested in this. let's sit down and let's pen something out and let's see how we can go forward. one last question. ma'am? >> can i get you to clarify your question about the budget. there's so much confusion about this. when you're saying the president is interested in outcome and you come from an academic environment, is the president saying the labor department has evaluated all the existing programs that you are recommending cutting grants or work place support for young people, seniors, agricultural, adults who have been displaced. are you saying you've evaluated all these programs in recommending they be cut because they are not working or because the president merely does not want to spend the money? >> so, as you pointed out, i come from an academic setting so let me try to answer the question by analogy. it used to be that the question of whether a university or how to -- i