texas, florida and puerto rico. thanks for joining us. that was a lot of news in one hour. i enjoyed it. i'm dana perino. here's shep. >> shepard: republican civil war. a powerful republican senator calls the president of the united states untruthful. a bad role model. says he's concerned about his stability and will not say whether he trusts him with the nuclear codes. his legacy says the senator, the debasement of our nation. bob corker unloads on president trump and the president strikes back. then they had lunch. ahead, the war within that is overshadowing all, including the tax plan was trump is pushing. paul ryan promises we're staying on track. >> all this stuff you see on a daily basis twitter this, twitter that, forget about it. focus on helping people, improving lives and doing things

we said we would do that accomplishes that. >> we'll take you live to capitol hill where we just learned another powerful republican senator is retiring in the wake of the atmosphere around the trump presidency. and now we await the press briefing from the white house coming shortly. that should be quite the show. let's get to it. never in collective memory has washington ever looked like this. now we wait to hear what comes next from the white house. the press secretary sarah sanders set to take to the podium during this hour. we'll see if she responds to the president's ongoing fight with a former supporter, bob corker. both men trading personal insults hours before they had lunch together. senator bob corker has released

the hounds. first through cnn and now through every camera and microphone on capitol hill. >> standing up in front of the american people and stating untruths that everybody knows to be untrue. just the attempted bullying that he does, which everybody sees through. just the dividing of our country. you know, the name-calling. you know, for young people to be watching not only here in our country but around the world. someone of this mentality or as president of the united states is something that is i think debasing to our country. you know, it's -- you know, you would think he would aspire to be the president of the united states and act like a president of the united states. but you know, that's just not going to be the case apparently.

>> shepard: the senator from tennessee chairs the foreign relations committee. he's announced he's not running for re-election next year and he stepped up his criticism in recent weeks of the president. before their lunch on the hill to talk taxes, senator corker said the president should stay out of the negotiations. and then the president went on a twitter tirade writing bob corker that helped president obama give us the bad iran deal and couldn't get elected dog catchner tennessee is fighting tax cuts. he dropped out of the race in tennessee when i refused to endorse him and now he's only negative on anything trump. look at his record. more tweets. isn't it sad that lightweight senator bob corker that couldn't get reelited in the great state of tennessee and will fight tax cuts. plus, he's the incompetent head of the foreign relations committee. look how poorly the u.s. has done. he doesn't have a clue as the entire world was laughing and

taking advantage of us. people like little bob corker have set the u.s. way back. now we move forward. senator corker says the president did offer to endorse him if he ran for re-election. he said the president repeatedly encouraged him to run and the fact is, there's no truth to the president's claim that senator corker was somehow responsible for the iran deal. world powers reached that agreement in 2015 under the obama administration. senator corker voted against the iran deal. he urged other lawmakers to do the same. today senator corker hit back first on twitter writing same untruths from an utterly untruthful president. #alertthedaycarestaff that is a reference to a previous corker tweet in which the senator said the white house has been an adult day care center. he said the president's behavior is getting worse and he said the

president's own aides have trouble controlling him. >> you know, multiple occasions where the staff has asked me to please intervene. he was getting ready to do something off the tracks. look, i have seen no evolution in an upward way. as a matter of fact, it appears to me that it's almost devolving. >> shepard: devolving. senator corker told cnn that he regrets supporting the president during the campaign season. >> do you regret supporting him in the election? >> let's put it this way. i would not do that again. >> you wouldn't support him again? >> no way. no way. i think he's proven himself unable to rise to the occasion. many of us, me included, have, you know, tried to intervened. i've had private dinner, been with him on multiple occasions to try to create some kind of

aspirational approach, if you will, to the way that he conducts himself. i don't think that that's possible. he's obviously not going to rise to the occasion as president. >> do you think he's a role model to children of the united states? >> no. >> you don't? >> no. absolutely not. >> shepard: to recast some of the statements of senator corker. president's staff needs to control him. he's not up to be a leader. president trump is untruthful. it's sad for the nation that the young people here see him as untruthful. president trump is not a role model for children. does corker trust him with the nuclear codes? he doesn't answer when asked. he does say he's concerned about president trump's stability. senator corker says white house staff has asked him to intervene when the president was about to go off the tracks. he says the president's legacy will be his debasement of the

nation. this from a man, mr. trump, once considered for secretary of state and vice president. when manu asked whether corker would support the president again, he said no way. now lunch together. john roberts is live on the north lawn. we heard from senator corker again moments ago. >> we did. first, some background here. it's interesting the last time that the feud erupted, which was about three weeks ago, it was the president who threw the first punch out of nowhere on a sunday morning. today it was senator corker that threw the first punch in an interview on nbc when he suggested the president should keep his nose out of the tax reform legislation debate going on on capitol hill saying -- >> shepard: i'm sorry, john. breaking news. now from the senator that is retiring, bob flake of arizona. listen. >> freedoms and institution, the

flagrant disregard for truth and decency. the reckless provocations most often for the pettiest and most personal reasons, reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with the fortunes of the people that we have been elected to serve. none of these appalling features of our current politics should ever be regarded as normal. we must never allow ourselves to lapse into thinking that that is just the way things are now. if we simply become part of this condition, thinking that it is just politics as usual, then heaven help us. without fear of the consequences and without consideration of the rules of what is politically safe or palatable, we must stop pretending that the degradation of politics and the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. they are not normal.

reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior is excused as telling it like it is when it's actually just reckless, outrageous and undignified. when such behavior emanates from the top of our government, it is something else. it is dangerous to a democracy. such behavior does not project strength because our strength comes from our values. it instead projects a corruption of the spirit and weakness. it is often said children are watching. well, they are. what are we going to do about that? when the next generation asks us, why didn't you do something? why didn't you speak up? what are we going to say? mr. president, i rise today to say enough. we must dedicate ourselves to

making sure that the anomalous never becomes the normal. we respect and humility, we fooled ourselves that a pivot to governing is around the corner. a return to civility and stability right behind it, we know better than that. by now we all know better than that. here today, i stand to say that we would be better served, we would better serve the country by better fulfilling our obligations under the constitution by adhering to our article one "old normal." mr. madison's doctrine of separation of powers, this genius innovation which affirms madison's status as a true visionary and for which madison argued in federalist 51 held the equal branches of our government would balance and counter act with each other if necessary. ambition counteracts ambition.

what happens if ambition fails to counter act ambition? what happens if stability fails to insert itself in the face of chaos? if indecency fails to call out indecency? if the shoe were on the other foot, would we wrecks meekly accept behave i don't know from dominant democrats? of course we wouldn't. we would be wrong if we did. when we remain silence and fail to act, when we know that silence and inaction is the wrong thing to do because of political considerations, because we might make enemies, because we might alienate the base, because we might provoke a primary challenge, because ad nauseam. when we succumb to those considerations in spite of what should be greater considerations in defense of our institutions

and liberty, we dishonor our principles and forsake our obligations. those things are far more important than politics. now, i'm aware that more politically savvy people and i will caution against such talk. i'm aware that there's a segment of my party that believes that anything short of complete and unquestioning loyalty to a president that belongs to my party is unacceptable and suspect. if i have been critical, it's not because i relish criticizing the behavior of the president of the united states. if i have been critical is because i believe it is my obligation to do so. as a matter and duty of conscious. the notion that one should stay silent as the norms and values that keep america strong are undermined and as the alliances and agreements that ensure the stability of the entire world

are routinely threatened by the level of thought that goes into 140 characters. the notion that we should say or do nothing in the face of such mecurial behavior is historic. a republican president named roosevelt had this to say about the president and a citizen's relationship to the office. "the president is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. he should be supported or opposed to the degree to which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct. his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able and disinterested service to the nation as a whole. he continued, "therefore it's necessary that there should be a full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly as necessary

to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. any other attitude in an american citizen is both base and servile." he continued "to announce that there's no criticism of the president for that we are to stand by a president right or wrong is not only unpatriot tick and servile but morally treasonable to the american public." acting on principle is a way we expect ourselves and as such loyalty to conscious should supersede any loyalty to any party or man. i certainly put myself at the top of the list of those that fall short in this regard. i am holier than none. too often we rush to -- not to

salva salvage principal and excuse our failures until the accommodation becomes our principle. in that way and overtop, we can justify almost any behavior and sacrifice any principle. i'm afraid that this is where we now find ourselves. when a leader correctly identifies real hurt and insecurity in our country and instead of addressing it goes to look for someone to blame, there's perhaps nothing more devastating to a society. leadership knows that most often a good place to start in assigning blame is to look somewhat closer to home. leadership knows where the buck stops. humility helps. character counts. leadership does not knowingly encourage or feed ugly or debased appetites in us. leadership lives by the american

creed e pluribus enum from anyone. american leadership looks to the work and just as lincoln did, sees the family of man, humanity is not a zero sum gain. when we have been at our most prosperous, we have been at our most principaled. when we do well, the rest of the world does well. these articles of civic faith have been critical to the american identity for as long as we have been alive. they're our birth right about our obligation. we must guard them and pass them on for as long as the calendar has days to betray them or to be unserious in their defense is a betrayal of the fundamental obligations of american leadership and to behave as if they don't matter is not who we are. now the efficacy of american leadership around the globe has come into question.

when the united states emerged from world war ii, we contributed about half of the world's economic activity. it would have been easy to secure our dominance. keeping those countries who had been defeated or greatly weakened during the war in their place. we didn't do that. it would have been easy to focus inward. we resisted those impulses. instead, we financed reconstruction of shattered countries and created international organizations and institutions that have helped provide security and foster prosperity around the world for more than 70 years. now it seems that we, the architects of this visionary rules-based world order that has brought so much freedom and prosperity are the ones most eager to abandon it. the implications of this abandonment are profound and the beneficiaries of this radical departure in the american

approach to the world are the idealogical enemies of our values. despitism loves the vacuum. what do we as united states senators have to say about it? the principles that underlie our politics are too vital to our identity and survival to allow them to be compromised by politics. politics can make us silent when we should speak and silence can equal complicity. i have children and grandchildren to answer to. so, mr. president, i will not be complicit or silence. i decided i would be better able to represent the people of arizona and to better serve my country and my conscious by freeing myself of the political consideration that consumed far

too much band width and would cause me to compromise far too many principles. to that end, i am announcing today that my service in the senate will conclude at the end of my term in early january 2019. it is clear at this moment that a traditional conservative who believes in limited government and free markets, who is devoted to free trade, who is pro immigration has a narrower and narrower path to nomination in the republican party, the party that has so long defined itself by its belief in those things. it is also clear to me for the moment that we have given up or the core principles in favor of a more viscerally satisfying anger an resentment that the people feel that the royal mess we created are justified. anger and resentment are not a

governing philosophy. there is an undeniable potency to a populous appeal by miss characterizing or problems and giving us the impulse to scapegoat and belittle. that threatens to turn us into a fearful backward looking people. in the case of the republican party, those things threaten to turn us into a fearful backward-looking minority party. we were not made great as a country by indulging in or exulting in our impulses. we did flout our institutions and failing to understand just how hard one and vulnerable they

are. this spell will eventually break. that is my belief. we will return to ourselves once more, and i say the sooner the better. because we have a healthy government, we musts will have healthy and functioning parties. we must respect each other again in an atmosphere of share facts and shared values. comety and good faith. we must argument our positions and never be afraid to compromise. we must assume the best of our fellow man and always look for the good. until that day comes, we must be unafraid to stand up and speak out as if our country depends on it because it does. i plan to spend the remaining 14 months of my senate term doing just that. mr. president, the graveyard is full of indispensable men and women. none of here are indispensable.

nor were even the great figures of history that toiled at these very desks in this very chamber to shape the country that we've inherited. what is indispensable, the values that they created in philadelphia and in this place. values which have endured and will endure for so long as many and women wish to remain free. what is indispensable is what we do here in defense of the values. a political career does not mean much if we're complicit and undermining these values. i thank my colleagues for indulging me here today. ly close by borrowing the words of president lincoln who knew more about healthy and preserving our founding values than any american that has ever lived. his words were a prayer in his time and no less in ours. we're not enemies but friends.

we must not be enemies. those passion may have strained, it must not break the bonds of our affection. the mystic cords of memory will swell when again touched as surely as they will be by the better angels of our nature. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. >> shepard: senate eor jeff fla the arizona congressman from arizona. he said flagrant disregard for the truth and dee sen sen is upon us. belittling the people is not normal. this is not politics as usual. reckless outrageous and undignified behavior is dangerous to the democracy. if i've been critical to the president, he said it's because it's my obligation and duty to do so. senator flake said we must never

accept personal attacks, threats against peoples, freedoms and institutions. he said depotism loves a vacuum and world leaders are looking elsewhere for leadership. he says i have children and grandchildren to answer to. so i will not be complacent or silence. there are times he said when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles. and today he announced his career in congress and the united states senate will end at the end of this term. further, he said, this spell will eventually break. i say the sooner the better. mitch mcconnell speak live on this matter. >> senior senator from arizona. >> mr. president, it's very hard for me to add to the eloquence

of my friend and my dear friend from arizona. but i do want to say that it's been one of the great honors of my life to have the opportunity to serve with a man of integrity, honor and decency and commitment to not only arizona but the united states of america. i have seen jeff flake stand up for what he believes in knowing full well that there would be a political price to pay. i have seen him stand up for his family. i've seen him stand up for his forbearers that were the early settlers of the state of arizona. in fact, there's a place called snowflake, arizona. that obviously the flake part comes from his direct predecessor. it's the flake family and

families like them that came and worked and slaved and raised families and made arizona what it is. it has never had a more deserving son than jeff flake. and his beautiful wife, sheryl and children. so i would just like to say, jeff, i have known you now for a number of years. i know you have served arizona and the country. there's one thing that i'm absolutely sure of and that you will continue that service which is part of your family, it's part of your view of america, it's part of your willingness and desire to serve arizona. one of the great privileges of my life has been to have the opportunity to know you and serve with you. so as we look, all of us, at some point at our time that we

have spent here, whether it be short or long, we look back and we think about what we would have done what we should have done, what we might have done. the mistakes we made and the things we're proud of. well, when the flake service to this country and this senate is reviewed, it will be one of honor, of brilliance and patriotism and love of country. i thank you and god bless you and your family. >> shepard: and now we wait to see if there will be more. at the moment, it appears at least not for the second. therefore -- >> as unanimous consent rule 22, all time being considered expired except for the motion to

concur and senator paul be recognized to speak up to five minutes and make a budget point of order that myself or my designee be recognized to waive and following disposition of the -- >> shepard: so we'll wait to see if senator paul -- i believe he said representative ryan -- at any rate, we'll wait. the long and short is, jeff flake, the junior senator from arizona who has repeatedly criticized the president on a number of matters across the political spectrum and beyond on policy matters and otherwise today said, as you just heard, he believes the spell will eventually be broken and he hopes sooner than later. criticizing the president not by name but in every other way humanly possible. peter doocy is outside senator flake's office. was this expected? did this come during the lunch? what do we know for a back story? >> it doesn't seem based on how

very clearly well-prepared his remarks are that he went into lunch with the president and walked out and decided he would quit the senate. he's not quitting. he will let his term expire. he will leave at the beginning of 2019. not expected because we had no idea this would happen today. but flake's seat has been a big target of the steve bannon outside movement, this effort that he's undertaking across the country to try to take back seats in the senate and in the house from republicans that he does not think are helping the president trump advance his agenda enough. so this was -- this is a state, arizona, that steve bannon has visited to endorse a candidate to challenge flake in a primary coming up next year. we had no indication that flake was feeling that kind of pressure at least politically, primary politics, this early to

the point that he was planning on stepping down. chuck schumer was asked about this. he had not heard the news, but when a reporter hollered out to the senate minority leader from new york whether or not this puts arizona in play for democrats, schumer had a big smile on his face. so it seems like the outside trump ally groups had their eyes on this side and now democrats do as well. flake had written in a book over the summer and july that he was going to work with the president when he thought it was appropriate, but when he thought the president needed to be called out, he was going to be calling him out. that's what we've heard from other republicans as well. clearly flake has decided that he just doesn't want to have any part in washington d.c. after 2019, after his term is up. he spoke to the arizona republic more about the practical part of running in a republican party. he said he just thought to win that primary, he would have to say things and do things to make

republican primary voters in arizona happy that he was not willing to do or say. that's kind of what we heard from senator luther strange on his election night after he lost, even though he was the president's pick. he said it's really tough right now to read the political winds in this country one way you think you're going your way and the other day you think they're not. you realize these elections are unpredictable. so it does seem to be part of a national movement, not arizona specific but unexpected today, shepard. >> shepard: peter doocy live on capitol hill. we heard in a six minute with manu raju from cnn, we heard bob corker said the man of his own party that considered him for secretary of state, said 11 times he was untruthful, other

world leaders thought he was untruthful. now senator flake announcing his retirement. says there's a flagrant disregard for truth and decency. both of these are retiring. doesn't sound as if others are doing the same. >> we have yet to see at this point. it's not surprising that jeff flake would take himself out of the game. he delivered an impassioned speech standing on his principals. i'm sure the president will say don't let the door hit you in the you know what on the way out. the president was supporting his opponent, kelly ward. as peter doocy said this fell into the steve bannon camp of launching primary challenges against senators and other members of congress that bannon believes are not looking out for the president's best interests. i imagine they're probably clanking the champagne glasses. now to what we talked about

earlier, the hatfield mccoy-style feud between the president and senator corker. senator corker threw the first punch. it was an interview on nbc news when corker said to the president, keep your nose out of senate business when it comes to writing tax reform legislation. he sent out the tweet yesterday, taking a reduction in tax-free contributions to people's 401(k) without consulting us. that's when the president launched in his response and a back and forth that lasted the better part of the morning. senator corker said he didn't speak with the president. he said there wasn't much of substance during the lunch anyway. listen here. >> how was lunch? >> how was the conversation? >> i didn't partake in it. i normally don't on policy.

you ought to talk to other people. whatever i would say about it might be slanted off in a direction. >> let me ask you a more policy question. do you think the president's appearance will be helpful in passing tax reform. >> tax reform barely came up. >> what did the president discuss? >> ya'll have given me so much time today. i appreciate that so much. >> tax reform didn't come up according to senator corker. we heard from senator mcconnell. the president talked at least about what he plans to do to address the opioid crisis in the nation. we heard that tax reform did come up. one of the reasons the president went up there was to push the senate to get tax reform done. another point of contention this morning, when senator corker suggested the president should leave foreign policy to professionals like rex tillerson and james mattis. that combined with his 401(k)

response prompted this response from sarah huckabee sanders. >> i think if bob corker is suggesting leaving to it the professionals and referring to himself, we've left it to him long enough and he's been ineffective. now i think we need to let the president take the lead on this front working with leader mcconnell and others. >> you know, i was wondering if the president was going to tweet something about the fact that flake decided to take himself out. there's nothing yet. we know the folks surrounding steve bannon are happy about what happened. if senator flakes wants to know the treatment he might be in for over the next 15 months as he finished out his term in the senate, he only needs to lock at what the president has been saying about the fact that bob corker decided not to stand for re-election. a lot of sharp elbows in washington. no question about that. >> shepard: it's interesting what senator corker said about taxes barely came up, tax

reform, tax cuts. we'll ask others about that for their reflections. he was widely criticized in his own party for not going out and about in the country to sell healthcare. now he's being criticized -- we don't know what the tax plan is. we don't know what middle class is, we don't know much of anything about this tax plan. we don't even know for sure that there is a solid tax plan. if there is, we haven't seen it. i say this because so many are beginning to wonder, john and i'd like your take on it, is he interested in policy? is he interested in agenda or a cultural presidency? he is a cultural warrior like a guy we used to have here? >> it's kind of both. if you take a look at how he was an a candidate, it was about being a culture warrior and bring different type of governing to the united states of america. when you looked at his website for policies, it was thin to say the least. there wasn't depth there. the president is trueing to do

here is drive home the notion of tax reform. he has ideas about what he'd like to see, in particular lowering the corporate tax rate to 20 percent and making it advantageous for the corporations to repatriate. that the corporations could not repatriate because the taxes would have been so high on it in the past. so he's leaving the policy details to the tax-writing committees in the house ways and means. they're the ones that will come out with the details such as what are the particular tax brackets that go along with the rates the president has announced, whether there will be a fifth tax bracket for the richest americans and whether the line will be drawn at a million dollars a year, we don't know. sometimes within the next couple weeks, we should get the details on what the tax plan will be from the tax writing committees on capitol hill. >> shepard: that's after they have decided whether to go ahead

with it. >> well, i mean, you know, they're not the only ones. >> shepard: i meant -- i have a long memory. but on this point -- >> remember what nancy pelosi said. we have to pass the bill to find out what is in it. it happens all the time in both parties, shep. >> shepard: okay. have a nice day. >> wait a little while. it's like what was said about the weather in new england, shep. what mark twain said about the weather in new england. if you don't like it now, wait 15 minutes. >> shepard: yeah. thanks, john roberts. so earlier -- i'm going to get to a.b. stoddard in a second. you haven't seen this and you should. remember earlier in the last hour at the very end of the last hour, dana perino, we listened in to senator schumer and others? they were giving their untruthful diatribe and piling

on to the republican things on the other side. as they were doing so, we moved on to other things. all the networks moved on. we moved on. as it was ending, one of the reporters in there got the tweet and realized that jeff flake was throwing in the towel. he's done after this. but senator schumer, the democratic leader, did not know this had happened. so you should hear the exchange as we did. listen. >> can democrats win arizona, sir? >> jeff flake. >> can you win arizona? leader schumer, can you win arizona? >> shepard: did you hear that? a.b. stoddard, let's go to her from real clear politics. that's a quote. what are we seeing here?

>> well, it really is interesting. democrats are thinking that kelly ward who is the steve bannon-backed resurgent candidate that was being run and against jeff flake in the primary in arizona was doing much better. democrats think she's not really electable statewide and they're going to pick up the seat. kelly ward was trounced by john mccain. i spoke with senator flake about a month for so ago about this very subject. he was hoping that there was going to be a come-from-behind sort of -- you know, cementing of support for the kids of things he talked about today, the values and principles of traditional republicans that me have in the policies about immigration and trade and in an election year things would change. but for all the reasons here

articulated, shep, this is just a very difficult decision for him. but not a confusing one. i think he reached a point especially with what you saw in the last week with what senator corker has said, with what senator mccain said in philadelphia in his speech with what president george w. bush said in his speech. these people are talking about values that they think are disappearing from the current state of the republican party. they want to herald them and protect them. it's an interesting situation in terms of democrats thinking this is a pickup. you're hear this splintering of these -- of the parties into four groups of democrats who believe in free trade and pro business and more internationalists, want to protect and preserve the world order we're in, confront russia, et cetera. republicans do, too. those republicans are not welcome in the party of trump.

>> shepard: okay. you went through those past presidents and their speeches. now we have senators that are retiring, ex-scorating the president of their own party and not answering whether he is fit to have his finger on the nuclear button, which is a thing. but it's a real thing if someone who is staying in power on the republican side joins this avalanche. is there any sign of something like that happen something if so, what would that mean? >> i just don't see it. i believe it when i see someone who -- that was jeff flake, right? he was running for re-election and wrote a book that basically criticized the president for all of this behavior, all of this kind of statements and conduct. he did it much to the surprise of his colleagues and did it -- the publication of the book is that he was going to loose his seat. he saw the writing on the wall so he backed off from running for re-election.

no, until we see someone come out and say this kind of thing, i believe it's just within the purview of people who feel liberated to say this kind of thing. i think that even though the president fights back, i don't think that senator corker or senator flake will stop saying those things. >> shepard: this isn't a mike lee or lisa murkowski or susan collins. >> susan collins has been blunt about the president's conduct and his reckless statements. she's been blunt. you know, he will -- if he wants to keep picking a fight with her, we'll see. he's taken after a lot of senators, as you know, heller,merkowski, mcconnell. it's not the last time he's going to do it. i think that senators that are up for re-election traying to court trump voters will be quiet. mccain and flake and corker

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>> shepard: speaker paul ryan says stay the course. house republicans are concentrating on taxes. not the back and forth between president trump and senator corker. >> we're focused on what is within our control and within our control here in congress is getting stuff done for the american people and getting a healthier economy, bigger paychecks. that's what's important. >> shepard: speaker ryan speaking before the president's lunch with senate republicans. while the house considers a budget resolution that the senate is approved last week. house lawmakers are expected to vote on the budget the day after tomorrow. once it clears, they will turn to taxes which the house speaker wants done in time for

thanksgiving. but we don't know what the tax plan is, we don't know who the middle class is, we don't know who pays nothing, we don't know how many tax brackets there are and frontally we don't know much of anything but they're going to vote. mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. going to vote. >> shep, good afternoon. it's clear that mcconnell is trying to keep an eye on fixing the tax code, trying to get the huge priority done. >> tax reform is what we are about. if there's anything that unifies republicans, it's tax reform. we've been looking for the opportunity to do this literally for years. we now have a president that will sign it. >> the president and the majority leader walked together earlier in a sign of unity. the men have had their differences but gop leaders will need to stick together to get this done. there's some conservative push-back since details of the tax plan have not yet been

released. >> i find it condescending to be asked to vote for a budget that nobody believes in when we don't even get to see the tax bill that it's supposed to be the great savior of the american economy. >> after the luncheon with the president, we heard from the senate democratic leader. he's taking aim at this tax proposal. >> as everyone knows, president trump put down his phone for an hour to come to the senate republican luncheon to talk tax reform. unfortunately what the president says about tax reform has been correctly characterized by senator corker has untruths. corker was being kind. >> no surprise the senate democratic leader jumping on today's dust-up between the president and the republican senator from tennessee. shep? >> shepard: mike, we're waiting for the white house briefing. we hear it's going to start in less than two minutes. i just got that word.

you're the designated stretcher. to that end, i give the following. senator corker of tennessee, the powerful chairman of the foreign relations committee that in the tax lunch with senators, 21% of them the. has attacked in one way or the other, tax reforms or others didn't come up. is much coming up among republican house members or is it? >> there's plenty of buzz about all of the details. they certainly are chomping at the bit for more details. to be fair, some of this is because the lobbyists and the special interests will attack the tax plan if it's all made public too soon. so there's a lot of folks in the senate finance committee and the house ways and means committee that have been closer to the details. bottom line, there's folks on capitol hill that want to see the fine print to see if they

can support the tax plan or whether they will reject it, shep. >> shepard: so you said some of them are closer to the details -- in other words, some know what the details are but have not released them. the critics will say, maybe the reason they haven't released them is because they release them, some people won't like them. >> let's be clear about it. the president tweeting yesterday that the 401(k) deduction in terms of the cap on contributions to your 401(k) wasn't going to be part of the tax plan -- >> shepard: sorry, mike. stretching has ended. sarah sanders now. enjoy. >> good afternoon. >> good afternoon! >> all right. president trump had a productive meeting at today's republican senate caucus. the president discussed the urgent need for the senate to focus on cutting taxes for hard working american families. we must also make american companies more competitive to

create more jobs and booth wages for american workers. we must simplify the tax code that is rigged in favor of the wealthy and well-connected. as president tweeted, the markets hit historic highs and unemployment is at a 16-year low. there's a spirit of economic optimism sweeping the nation. our economy cannot take off like it should unless we deliver historic tax cuts and reforms. this is the president's top legislative priority and he was encouraged by the show of unity by republicans on the hill about getting this done. during the policy lunch, the presidents will discussed the need for the senate to confirm his slate of imminently qualified nominees. in spite of democratic obstruction so that they can get to work on behalf of the american people. the president will continue to work closely with the senate to deliver on a legislative agenda that puts the interests of the american people first. this morning the president welcomed winners of the minority of the week awards, this program

is designed to celebrate the outstanding achievements of minority entrepreneurs as well as individuals and organizations leading the way in advancing minority business enterprise. the award winners that visited the white house certainly meet that criteria and the president was proud to host them. he's laser focused on building an economy that works for all americans and delivering tax cuts and reforms for these hard-working entrepreneurs by the end of the year. on the national security and foreign policy front, for the eighth time, russia has blocked u.n. security council actions to could accountable those that use chemical weapons including terrorists in the assad regime. by blocking the joint investigative mechanism, russia has demonstrated they don't care about stopping the barbaric use of chemical weapons in the world and will do whatever it takes to protect their ally, the assad regime. blocking the investigating authority means nothing less

than russia's endorsement of using chemical weapons against innocent women and children. we will continue to push back against this. with that, i'll take your questions. >> sarah, president trump said that jeff flake is a weak and ineffective senator. do you have if his has any announcement? >> i have not spoken with him since the announcement by senator flake. i think based on previous statements and certainly based on the lack of support that he has from the people of arizona, it's probably a good move. >> thanks. so we have two republican senators now just today, senators corker and flake calling the president's behavior unacceptable and dangerous saying he regularly tells untruths. senator flake just called on fellow republicans. what is the white house's response to this criticism

coming from two republican senators? >> i think we support the american people on this one. i think the people in tennessee and arizona supported this president. i don't think that the numbers are in the favor of either of those two senators in their states. so this is probably the right decision. >> thank you. today you earlier -- sarah, why is the president involved in this feud with senator corker? is there some concern on capitol hill that what you should be focused on is getting your agenda of tax reform through and petty feuds like this just distract from the bigger issue? why is the president engaging in it? >> that's what the president is focused on doing. that's what he spent the majority of his day talking about. he went to the hill and met with republican senators to talk about tax reform, push his legislative agenda. that's what he's spending the week doing and will continue to doing next week until we get the

job done. >> why does he engage like this? >> you have the president, he's a fighter. the people didn't elect somebody to be weak. they elected somebody to be strong. when he gets hit, he's going to hit back. i think senator corker knows that. maybe he's trying to get a headline or two on the way out the door. >> thanks, sarah. the president has taken office and two republican senators, senator corker of tennessee and senator flake of arizona have both announced they're not running for re-election. in your view, is the president remaking the republican party? if he's doing that, is he making it in a positive way? >> i wouldn't say he's remaking it because you have a couple of individuals that are no longer running for office. he has a great relationship with a number of republican senators. he's going to continue to work with them and make sure that we get things done for the american people. he wants people to be in the

senate that are committed to actually moving the ball down the field. i don't think these two individuals have been as focused on that. the president wants to get things done. that's what we're working through to the fall. >> sarah, i under that neither of these two senators have been allies to the president. but this has been an extraordinary series of attacks on the president from major figures in the republican party. not typical political attacks. saying the president is responsible for the debasement of the nation. that breakdown of civility befalls him. the president, enough is enough. we've seen similar remarks from john mccain. does any of this make the president pause and wonder if he's doing anything wrong? if he bears any responsibility for what these senators are saying is breakdown of civility in our country? >> the voters of these

individual senator states are speaking in loud volumes. they're not likely to be re-elected. that shows the support is more behind the president than the two individuals. >> why is there so little push back from other republican senators on this? mitch mcconnell is the republican leader. bob corker is still a committee chairman -- >> leader mcconnell stood with the president at the white house last week and talked about how they were working together, getting things done and focusing on how they were moving the agenda forward. these a clear indication of where his support lies and what we're working to do. >> if i could pick up on what he was talking about. one of the criticisms from senator corker is the idea that history will most remember president trump for debasing the country. you've been hearing in senator flakes remarks that he seemed to be writing history. how do you think history will view not only the remarks of the two senators today but also former president bush last week --

>> i think history will look at this president has someone that helped defeat isis, who built an economy that was stronger than it's been in several decades, that brought unemployment to a 16-year low, created over 1.7 million jobs since being elected. i think those are the things that people care about, not some petty comments from senator corker and senator flake. i think they're a lot more concerned about the big policy initiatives that this president is driving, including historic tax cuts which we'll get done by the end of the year and focus on other things. those are the things this president will be remembered by. those are pretty good facts and ones that we're happy to stand on. peter? >> thank you. president had lunch today with senators and asked for a show of hands for two fed candidates. does this mean that -- why would he ask input from the senate? >> those were individuals that he's looking at. as we said, we don't have any

announcements at this time. the president is taking that decision extremely seriously. he's being very thorough in the process and will have an announcement soon. >> sarah, is the white house concerned at all that the conflict keeps escalating could inpact the president's agenda? if the feud with senator corker lashing out about him -- >> i would hope that senator corker is more focused on getting things done in his final months and so we hope that he will be very supportive of the tax cuts and tax reforms that the people in his state have demanded and frankly elected him to go to congress and help do. >> the president had two different tweets today and said that senator corker was fighting tax cuts. those were his words. will