waiting for the white house press secretary, sean spicer. we'll take you there when it happens. first, headlines this hour. casting call, wanted, one fbi director. democrats have their own ideas about who should be hired. >> anybody who has been involved in politics in one way or another, i believe, will not meet the test. and tapes or no tapes? that is the question. at the white house, at least. trump said he recorded conversations with james comey. he is told if they do exist, turn them over. courts are hearing trump's travel ban. joining me from washington, a team of reporters covering the white house and the hill. let's start with nbc's hallie jackson who is inside that press briefing. hallie, they're looking for an fbi director. who are the top names right now.

>> katy, there's eight of them. the department of justice has been interviewing among them people like senator john cornyn, for example, someone who has raised eyebrows, particularly on capitol hill. there is concern that could politicize his position. they are meeting with the crown prince in the oval office. he was asked just moments ago about this search, how it's going, how it's progressing. he said it's happening, quote, rapidly. we expect to see any minute the tape playback from that. that's why this briefing has been a little bit delayed. typically they may be 10 to 15 minutes past when they're set to start. we were waiting for the crown prince to be in the white house for the president to have that meeting. we're expecting to see sean spicer to talk to him about a number of headlines that have evolved over the weekend, specifically about the fbi search as well as the tapes. the president has not personally interviewed any of these candidates yet, and that's not expected until that short list

of eight names gets whittled down even further, maybe to the last three or four, kate. >> there is other news of perhaps a staff shakeup in the west wing. what is our latest reporting on that? >> want imminent, at least not now. my colleagues and i have been reporting out of the white house what we have been hearing about the potential for a shake-up. it's clear the president has been frustrated, fed up, really starting with the way the comey firing was handled. the palace intrigue has dominated a lot of the headlines over the weekend, particularly that something big is coming. we believe if we pulled out our crystal ball and do some predictions, which is always a little bit dangerous with this president, if it happened it wouldn't be until after this big trip. aides are hoping that provides an opportunity for a reboot here. that is a crucial moment for president trump, something he's been preparing for at the end of a very busy week this week, start of a busy week with that international trip. multiple countries in just a

short period of time, eight or nine days or so, and it's a very high-profile meeting. we do know some folks close to, for example, strategist steve bannon, he seems to be increasingly out of the loop here. we will see if he has anything to say about that today. >> hallie jackson, hold on just a moment. donald trump was just in the oval office with the crown prince of abu dhabi. he's talking right now. let's take a listen. >> i can tell you he loves this country, and i think loves the united states which to us is very important. thank you very much for being here. >> thank you. thank you. very good. it's very good. we'll be wrapping up. thank you all very much. >> president trump not answering substantially to the question of how the fbi director search is going and potentially who is at the top of the list but saying

it is going very well and moving rapidly. let's bring in phil rucker of the "washington post." phil, i want to read a moment from an article you wrote for today. it says trump is in some ways like a pilot opting to fly a plane through heavy turbulence, then blaming the flight attendants when the passengers get jittery. you're talking about what happened last week when it comes to james comey and how it wasn't necessarily that the white house got enough of a heads up in order to spin this information to their advantage. after all, donald trump came out and told lester holt something completely different than his aides and that the vice president was telling folks on capitol hill that donald trump was the one who made the decision to fire comey on his own. so what is the result of this? what's it like inside the white house right now? >> reporter: well, there is a sense of trepidation and unease. you've got a president who is angry. he's been fuming for days.

he student aboewed about this l. he feels like these negative headlines that have dominated the news about the comey fallout, the saga, really, are unfair and he blames his staff. as you know, katy, this is nothing new with him. he reacts a lot of times like this during the campaign, but we have to remember these are decisions he made himself. his staff is executing what he wants done and there's all this talk about a staff shake-up. i can confirm what hallie just reported. we're hearing the same thing, too, but it's unclear if that's going to make much of a difference because the president, as we know, has a very unique leadership style and makes decisions on impulse and emotion and often rejecting the counsel of his advisers. >> in the wall street journal yesterday, since wednesday a staffer has been reaching out to cable tv seizure gats to gauge their interest in joining the

staff. are you hearing anything about that? >> we've been hearing this from the beginning of the administration that he's checking in with friends and advisers and people around him, how is reince priebus doing, up or down? how is sean spicer doing, up or down? it feels a little bit more real now. i know a lot of the president's blame is at that operation, feeling that spicer and mike zinke, the service director, are doing him any good. i suspect we won't see any movement until after the foreign trip. >> what's the latest on steve bannon? >> i actually had mixed reporting over the weekend about steve bannon. several sources told me he was totally out of the loop on the comey deliberations, was not among the advisers talking to the president, counseling him through that decision, and that he found out from watching television news reports about it on tuesday night. another said steve bannon had been in the know, but it's unclear how he had been on this

decision. since he started feuding with jared kushner about a month ago, he's been marginalized in the white house and kept out of some decisions. however, some of his nationalist idealogy, s agenda, is making it through and is reflected in both what the president is saying and doing. >> pete williams back with us in our washington bureau. pete, there is also the issue of these tapes, whether or not they exist. it's not just democrats saying they want to see him now, it's some republicans and pretty high-profile ones at that. take a listen. >> and if there are any tapes, they have to be turned over. you can't be cute about tapes. >> if, in fact, there are such recordings, i think those recordings will be subpoenaed and think they'll probably have to turn them over. >> i have asked, others have asked to make sure the tapes are preserved if they exist. >> if there are tapes, the president should turn them over immediately, of course. >> can congress subpoena those tapes? >> sure. the question is, does the president have executive privilege? does he have to turn them over? now, in a criminal case, we know what the answer is.

we've known that answer since 1974. richard nixon argued during the whole watergate controversy that he didn't have to turn over white house tapes to a special prosecutor who was looking into it. but he lost that argument in the supreme court. so we know the answer in terms of a criminal case. but the whole question of executive privilege is always a bit of a mushy one when it comes to congress trying to get information from the president. there have been repeated attempts over the years to try to define this, and it all has to do with there certainly is an executive privilege to withhold things. so i don't know that there is an absolute answer to the question about whether the president would have to turn them over or could cite executive privilege. but the big if here in all those answers, if there are indeed tapes, and we don't know if there are. >> let's be clear for the audience. we do know there is an intelligence investigation going on, but do we know one way or another whether there is a criminal investigation going on? >> oh, yes.

the fbi director was pretty clear about that. that's what the fbi does. they -- it is their counterintelligence operation that's leading it, but the question is were laws violated, and that's the essence of a criminal investigation. so it doesnthere doesn't seem th doubt about that. we're talking about requests of these recordings from congress, not from the fbi. >> and mike viquera from capitol hill, i have two questions for you, one about james comey and one about deputy secretary rod rosenstein. we learned that he will be coming to capitol hill on thursday, correct? >> that's correct. recall chuck schumer in the aftermath of the firings last week took to the floor with the senate seated around him. he wanted rod rosenstein to come here and brief all senators behind closed doors in a closed session about how it all went

down, about how james comey ended up being fired and all the events that have turned out to be so controversial. mitch mcconnell, it took a couple of days, but katy, i think it's an indication of the situation the congressional republicans are in here, and it is a very uncomfortable situation. in phil rucker's analogy, those jittery passengers are otherwise known as republicans, and he had to go with those recommendations and the tick-tock of how the firing happened. >> in your experience, have you ever been in the situation where republicans are feeling so unea uneasey about their president? >> no, i haven't. whoever is in power at the white house, be it democrats or republicans, their fortune will rise and fall on the popularity of the president. in this case, president trump, they don't know how to react. i think a reflection of that is what you saw in some of the sound bites you played earlier.

we have republican senators allowing for the fact that those tapes are going to have to be subpoenaed come up here one way or the other as part of these investigations. so i think, again, you're seeing some very jittery passengers up here in the form of congressional republicans. as soon as they determine that their own political fortunes are not going to be best served by following the president through his twitter account so they can fire the staff, they can fire the press secretary as long as those tweets still come out, congressional republicans will remain in a very precarious position. >> we're also hearing nancy pelosi wants in on the rosenstein information as well. she wants him to come before a full meeting of the house. the other question i wanted to ask you, mike, that i alluded to a moment ago was about fbi director james comey potentially wanting to testify but only if it's public. what is the word out there on the push to make that happen? >> well, the word is that last week both richard burr, the

republican, mark warner, the democrat, leading that senate investigation from their perch a top the intelligence committee had to ask jim comey to come and testify behind closed doors to the senate committee. that was supposed to happen tuesday. comey declined. he doesn't want to talk about the investigation behind closed doors, certainly not in an open hearing. but there are indications that comey would testify in an open hearing in the senate or the house, whatever the case may be, to tell his side of the story about how he was ultimately let go in such an ignanimous situation. >> thank you to my panel. i appreciate all of your time. will the federal court deal another blow to president trump's travel ban? another hearing concluded in the ninth circuit. but could another case end up with the highest court in the country?

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here is sean spicer at the white house press briefing. >> and then i'll go on with the events today without further ado. tom? >> thanks, sean. thank you. good afternoon. i'm tom bossert, assistants to the president on counterterrorism. i would like to honor the fallen police officers that the president and vice president ak non knowledged today. they are the front lines of our

security. on cyber security, our responsibility is to coordinate government cyber security efforts. i want to give you an update on the ransom attack that's been known as warner crypt. we continue to monitor that at the highest sources of government. we are bringing all the capabilities on this issue and working side by side with our partners in the private sector and our international partners. i spoke moments ago with my counterpart in great britain and learned an update from them, that they have a feeling of control over this ransomware event, and that as their affected computers seemed to be tied to this given their health care is so large in the network, they are painfully aware it was a global attack, as are we. as of this morning it reached 150 countries and affected more than 300,000 machines. the good news is it has slowed over the weekend. we were concerned about that when last we talked.

telecommunication companies, hospitals and other organizations. the u.s. health care organization affected many computers affected and that affected telephone service, but extremely minimal effect on disruption to patient care. that was something quite evident in my conversation. computers at the spanish tell chu -- telecommunications company were compromised and we had some at ups and fedex. they continue to lead public and private coordination. his team is issuing twice daily situation reports, is holding multiple calls per day. among experts at operation centers managing our response. as of today, no federal systems are affected. overall, the u.s. infection rate has been lower than many parts of the world but we may see significant impacts on additional networks as these attacks morph and change.

despite appearing to raise money, it appears less than $75,000 has been paid in ransoms and we are not aware of payments that have led to any data recovery. the cyber threat intelligence and integration center is keeping us informed because of these hacks. let me talk about the warhead. it is important to know that three variants of this ransomware have emerged using similar techniques. we talked last when i was hear about variance of this malware. if you follow the advice published by the u.s. to patch your systems, you are protected against all these variants. it's also important to know that unlicensed versions of affected software often will not receive patches, so it's important not to use that unlicensed software. if you do, you'll be subject to extraordinarily susceptible

infection. while it would be satisfying to hold accountable those responsible for this hack, something we are working on quite seriously, the worm is in the wild, so to speak, at this point, and patching is the most important message as a result. business and government have responded to upgrades and patches and this has dramatically reduced the invasion of the last three days. this continues to be our focus. let me finish by repeating advice that all organizations be vigilant in updating their software and that the only communications that can be compromised by the ransomware virus are the ones that don't have security patches available from microsoft. >> tom, so this is one episode of malware or ransomware. do you know if, from the documents, if hacking tools were stolen by the nsa if there is more out there? >> there's a little bit of a double question out there. one has to do with the

vulnerability exploit used. instead of directly answering that, i can't speak to how we do or don't do our business as a government in that regard. i would like to instead point out this was a vulnerability point that was part of a much larger tool put together by the culpable parties and not the u.s. government. this was not a tool developed by the nsa to hold ransom data. this was a tool developed by culpable parties, particularly criminals or foreign national states, to put it together in such a way to put it in embedded documents and cause infection, encryption and locking. i think i said this morning the underlying vulnerability is a little less of a direct point for me. >> i guess the best way to put it is, is there more out there that could lead to another hack in the institute. >> i think the united states are extremely careful about how they

handle their processes, anything they're aware of. that's what we do when we know of the vulnerability before they lost the vulnerability. i know adversaries that don't provide any such consideration to their people, customers, industry. >> you mentioned the british counterparts are feeling a sense of control. was there any time as you monitored this here in the states where you felt there was any lack of control or this could get out of hand here, and if not, what is it about what was here that was protected that didn't exist, for example, in europe or other parts that have obviously taken a much bigger hit? >> no comparison with lack of control. my counterparts stood quite comfortable with where they stood today. >> was there any time you felt here that things could spiral out of control? >> as we were gaining and gathering more information, it was important to understand the parameters of this. once we got our hands around the parameters of the malware, that

was the beginning of knowing what was happening. in that time frame you don't feel entirely in control, but you're searching for information. once we got it and realized what the situation was, we realized there were patches available and had been available since march, so at that point communications become the key and they're preparing for how we handle this response. from the british perspective, two points. one, they thought it was an extremely small number of patients that might have been inconvenienced. not necessarily a disruption to their clinical care as opposed to their processes. they thought they might have been misstated or overblown. we'll have to do announcements why certain organizations or sectors were more greatly affected than others. that's the point i would like to make. >> how does this affect the average consumer, and what are you going to do going forward to make sure it doesn't get out in

the open? >> bottom line for the consumer, patch your software, turn your automated support on. make sure your i.t. folks in your organizations with patching the software. that's the bottom line, and this particular malware and some we've seen since are all fixable from microsoft. i don't want to encroach too much on mr. spicer's time. >> who did it? >> i don't know. it would be very satisfying for me and all of our viewers, i think, if we find them and bring them to justice. sometimes it eludes us. attribution can be difficult here. i don't want to say we have no clue. i feel they're working on that. i'll let you know. thank you very much. thank you, tom. the president was pleased to see this morning the national

association of homebuilders and wells fargo announce earlier that recent reports show u.s. homebuilder confidence continues to rise, with numbers now at their strongest since the housing bust. according to the nabh's chairman, quote, this report shows that builders' optimism in the housing market is solidifying. we've already seen tremendous response in the economy in the wake of the president's pro-growth agenda. the unemployment rate is at the lowest it's been in a decade. manufacturing job openings are higher than they've ever been since 2006, and by nearly every measure of economic confidence, the future of the american economy looks very bright. the president is also very glad to see businesses once again making significant investments in america, from intel to general motors to walmart to apple, who specifically just announced earlier this month that we'll start a $1 billion fund to promote advance manufacturing jobs here in the united states. it's not just the president's domestic economic policies that are generating optimism.

just last week, we announced the first ten agreements as part of the 100-day action plan initiated by president trump during his meeting with mar-a-lago with president xi from china. from natural gas to beef exporters to financial services who will all now have have acce the massive chinese market. those negotiations continue with our representatives. we look forward to sharing this with you as the process continues to unfold. this morning the president and vice president join tens of thousands of law enforcement at the peace officers memorial service at the white house capitol. this is the third year the police have honored the memories of the brave men and women who have lost their lives in the line of duty with this service and ceremony. in the vice president's opening remarks, he reiterated the trump administration's commitment to standing with the men and women of law enforcement, quote,

without apology. and the president said that these men and women are, quote, the thin blue line between civilization and chaos. words cannot express the depth of our gratitude, end quote, but we hope the actions of this administration show how deeply we care about protecting those who protected us all. . recently the police department suffered a loss of a police officer from olmstead police department, phoenix police department and new jersey state troopers. he also signed a proclamation in national peace week. the president was honored to welcome recently the crown prince of abu dhabi for a national visit. his highness is a including intense cooperation, security

and defense terrorism. the united states recently concluded a defense cooperation agreement to allow us to work closer together to resolve threats. this is the president in his highness's first meeting. at the conclusion of the meeting we'll make sure to have a readout. later this afternoon the vice president will share in robert lighthighsr as the trade representative. he has spent decades working at the highest levels of u.s. trade policy. >> the that will put the american worker first. now that he's officially on board this afternoon, ambassador lighthow

lighthouser is getting to work. thursday he will travel to iran. the president will now final vl this entire cabinet in place, able to fully place the agenda across the entire spectrum of the federal government. in other cabinet news, they kicked off infrastructure week with an event with the u.s. chamber of commerce this morning, noting the newly reopened 580 bridge in new atlanta wanting to work with local governments together. president chau will be heading to the ribbon cutting. there is an announcement in texas about the vets project to help veterans health records and solve health-related issues for veterans. part of the trump administration's commitment to modify fuses for hours.

this brings about the, with the world technology to improve health care and quality of life for our veterans. secretary chelkin will be here also. this event brings together public and. coping with the effects of traumatic brain injury and trauma. they addressed the assad regime and the effects it has on the syrian people. they believe syria's picture should be decided by syrians in a clear and free process. however, we also believe in a free process, it's. it will be stable.

it has done so. for this reason we expect you to continue the political support process in 20, nmplt n. and i lan to find a slugolution. russia and iran need to admit to the atrocities and use their v sovereignce to stop them. i plan to have general mcmaster here hopefully tomorrow to walk through the trip with further detail. with that, your questions.

with china, they say the u.s. is forming a working group and say the u.s. company has much to offer. so what's the perspective of the u.s. future collaboration? >> as i mentioned, with respect to the 100-day plan, i think there are a lot of areas that we are going to continue to work with china to develop a way forward. i think the relationship the president established with president xi in mar-a-lago continue to pay dividends for our country. and whether it's this policy or trade or market access, we're going to continue to see all of those individuals from the president's cabinet that were down in mar-a-lago continue to work with their counterparts in china to find a path forward. john? >> a couple topics, but first back to what you said about syria. does this now make a regime change in syria?

>> i think i've made it clear what our policy is and needs to be. >> the comey replacement process, first of all, jeff sessions is leading the search. a lot of democrats think because he recused himself in the russia investigation, he should not be in that position. secondly, some of the democrats and the senator saying before they will consider the president's next nominee, they want a special prosecutor to look into the russia investigation. >> i think this is a process that's running completely as it should as being headed by the deputy attorney general and the attorney general. as you've maybe noted in the past, the fbi director reports to the attorney general. they continue to move through a series of highly qualified candidates. ma ma >> are you going to get a special prosecutor? >> there is no need for a

special prosecutor. you have two senate committees looking into this. the fbi is conducting their own review. and i think if you even look at what acting director mccabe said last week, he made it very clear that they have the resources they need and that the work continues. but the bottom line is, again, i think there is a difference between what we've talked to in that and it's been made very cle clear. senator feinstein, senator schumer and others who were briefed on this made it clear that there was no collusion by the president himself and no investigation there. mike? >> about the ransomware attack, should somebody have their computer detected not to pay the ransom? >> what we have seen so far is the most effective is if people take the necessary, proper steps

in advance and use the patches available to ensure what we're stressing. >> at the end of a long day, this is extortion from hostile foreign actors. might the administration set some sort of guidelines and policy as it relates. >> yeah, i think that -- our immediate goal is to make sure we're protecting both our individual, government and. >> that's the number one priority. >> you mejsed fedex. do you know if that was a -- something specific happened to fedex? >> i don't. i'll have tom follow up. jim? fred, i'm sorry.

>> i wanted to ask the election commission. is the primary goal going to be looking for recommending reforms as to laws like in the nra or is it going to be more of an audit? >> the executive order that the president signed and the vice president and secretary of state kobak are leading, they're looking at all forms of integrity, voter fraud, allegations of voter suppression. they're looking at this realistically. >> one more. as far as north korea goes with the new south korean government. if they had -- >> i'm sorry --

>> the new south korean government. is the administration advising in south korea, reaching out to north korea after this. >> in the search for a new fbi record, it was said it was moving rapidly. in the past 24 hours, the senate majority leader said merrick garland. is that a name the president would possibly consider in the move to name a new fbi director? >> the search for a new fbi director sk hais being handled e department of justice. i imagine when they have a name, they will contact the president. but they are leading that.

>> can i follow up on the names last week. they are trying to seek additional information in writing about the existence of any tapes, producing the tapes and any further information about the potential taping of conversation. is the white house intending to cooperate with those requests and gathering information? >> the white house has no further information on that. >> does that mean the president will deny the request? >> i made it clear the president would have nothing further on that last week. >> this is by the legislative branch's request. >> i made it clear what the president's position is on that issue. hunter? >> people clearly still have concerns about russia's role in the election even though the president has essentially said there is nothing to it. if there is nothing to hide, why not back a special prosecutor or

independent commission just to settle it beyond any doubt? >> again, it's not a question. you have the house committee, the senate committee, the fbi. i don't know why you need additional resources when you already have three entities. >> we saw polling this weekend from nbc news in the wall street journal. 80% of the people want this and they don't have confidence. >> the bottom line is you have three entities already looking into this matter. the president's position has been very clear there is two issues at hand. one is the involvement of russia potentially with respect to an election and the president's involvement. the fbi director and others have made it very clear the president is not a subject of anything. we have several entities looking into that. >> in north korea is there a new sense of urgency for the president to act following these successful ballistic missile attempts over the weekend? >> i think there is no question

that north korea continues to threaten the united states, our allies, japan, including both china and russia. i think we are calling on all of those folks in the region, particularly china and russia, to do everything they can in terms of sanctions to help resolve the situation and bring stability to the peninsula. >> on a quick domestic issue, what characteristics is president trump looking for in an fbi director? >> i think obviously he wants someone with high integrity and leadership skills to lead the entity, but i have not specifically discussed the qualities with him. richard? >> thank you, sean. two questions. first one, you told us over and over that if we're not done -- we were waiting for hawesouser.

>> i think there's one on two hours before he's sworn in. i think you ought to give him i t a -- a little bit of time. he's going to go to vietnam. i'm sure we'll get around to it but right now we need to go through the process of getting him sworn in. >> just last week, they touched on the topic, but when will the president be with nato allies? is it going to ask for a larger, bigger involvement in afghanistan with troops on the ground from the members? >> i'm not going to get into what he will say and not say. >> he -- we haven't announced the afghan strategy yet. i think he's been very clear. one is he'd like a greater effort to combatting terrorism, and two, see more of the

countries live up to their financial obligation that they agreed to. >> is president trump still. he's also keeping some majestic loopholes such as limb. so is he committed to the equipment, no full steam a head? >> we continue to meet with stakeholders and members of capitol hill. that conversation continues. they're continuing to meet with individuals and those are part of those talks. his plan has been pretty clear from the beginning as far as what he wants to see and the framework with which it's being guided. >> should low tax states, though, subsidize higher tax states because florida,

virginia -- there's others. >> that's the debate. i think the principles that were outlined. >> the search for the new mib director, there have been critics who said in this particular climate, who it is. we see at least two of them are former political figures. does the president have a feeling on whether or not having held elective office is a plus or minus to hold that job? >> as i mentioned just a minute ago, i have not talked to him about the specific kaulqualitie he's looking forward to seeing, but i know the department of t justice is working on it. >> why don't you just say whether or not there are recordings? >> the president will work with them on it. >> so assuming you won't confirm

or deny this, how are they supposed to have a private conversation with him? >> the president has made it clear his position on this. i've answered the question the same way over and over again the same way. >> so second question i have for you, then, in the ninth circuit on the travel ban, why hasn't the president disavowed his travel ban? will he do that? >> we believe the travel ban will be upheld. in one argument it was made clear that if anyone were to oppose this, which just shows it is legally sound. it was based on the law and authority that the president rile fully had. >> but my question sl, the measures that he took in that extraordinary and make it clear

they seek to keep this country safe. that's it. >> do you think the president will come out and. we want to make sure he make the appropriate arguments to get the ban in place. >> considering a contrast to much of the expression during the french presidential election, and that has been recorded in france especially, there may be a lot more in common between president trump and the new president emmanuel macron of france. both successful businessmen, both leaders of two very powerful countries, and two of the oldest allies going, basically. knowing this, would the president look forward to an opportunity to brief this young president closer to him, maybe meeting on the borders at the g-7 or maybe even inviting him

here in the next few months? >> if we have updates to share on additional leaders thoo tat l be meeting with on this trip, we'll let you know about that. but with respect to whether it's the president or any other head, the president is looking to reestablishing some of the relationships. i think what you've seen so far, whether it's president xi or prime minister abe or other individuals, as you can see by the week we're having this week, the eu, columbia, turkey, the president is making sure he reestablishes relationships around the globe to further advance our relationships. >> there is a lot of relationships the president wants for the good of this country. >> first there are reports and

it may be confirmed by now that gingrich may be the first woman to be in the esc. confirmed? >> she will not be confirmed yet. >> the answer is we have no personnel announcements. >> the other question is the process with the fbi director. sarah spoke last week about an interim acting director of the fbi, but with the interviews that you describe with the department of justice, can we expect that the name who is nominated for the position from that podium will be for permanent director and promptly submitted to the senate? >> that's what i believe the president's expectation is, yes. >> so no interim or acting? >> you have an acting now until someone is selected. the reason that the president's team is going through this

process is to select the next director. mara? >> i know this isn't on the front burner right now, but i actually have a health care question. as it goes to the senate, i wonder if the president's negotiating strategy will change. does he want to get involved earlier, does he want to wait until the senate comes up with something, does ehe want to get rid of the house bill? what is his approach to the new chapter? >> i think he feels very strong about the product that came out of the house, but he recognizes that the senate has a duty to review it and come up with ideas, and if it can be stronger, great. he continues to have relationships with the senate. his staff is as well. we'll continue to work with them, but they're an independent body. they have the right to go through their own process. if we can make the bill stronger in any particular way, you know,

that's something he'll support. >> but he kind of came in at the end to kind of close the deal on the house? does he want to get more involved in the process earlier or stick with what's happening? >> i think the team has been intimately involved with the process, and the team was involved in a way people hadn't seen on capitol hill in a long, long time. jill? >> this goes back to the fbi director search. can we expect the president to begin interviewing personally the short list before he goes on his trip? >> i think that will be driven by the department of justice. as soon as the department of justice has a recommendation for the president, then we'll move on. but at this time there is no update on where that is. >> i want to go back to -- you started off with syria there. the state department announced the syrian government has apparently been carrying out mass killings, burning thousands of prisoners. i'm wondering if that causes any kind of red flag for the

president and whether we can start to see any kind of military presence for that? >> the president has always made it clear he's not going to telegraph action that he takes. that's number one. number two, it was important what the state department did did today. to enewsroom night the atrocities. and then further and the world community to join with us to put pressure on syria. >> can we expect any direct action by the president? >> the president has made clear over and over again that he doesn't telegraph his actions. he will continue to raise this issue. when he is ready to act, he will let everyone know. >> when it comes to vetting for the fbi director, after the experience with michael flynn, is the white house recommending doing anything different with vetting the director? are you already doing something different with that vetting? >> i won't get into internal processes that exist but obviously, he would have the full resources of the fbi. i'm not going to get into how

that process is handled. i'm not going to get into the processes of how that's being done. >> two questions. how has the president made it clear what his position is. >>? i've made clear several times. that's his position. he said he has nothing further to add. there's nothing further to add on that. >> my second question is has he made any other inquire business the russian investigation to any other fbi officials? >> no. i haven't asked him about that. >> one small follow-up. last week you said you would get back to us on who requested the dinner between him and comey in. >> i apologize. i will follow up on that today. one of the things that's important with almost to that, to clear something up. i think there was clearly bipartisan support that james comey wasn't up to the job. the president has every right to

fire a person because he believed director comey lacked the judgment and wasn't up to the job. the president's retook this, what his reaction was was completely misrepresented. he said that he didn't care this would make matters worse for him. that it might even lengthen out the investigation because he would take action against james comey and firing him. he said he twanlts investigation to be done absolutely properly and he said it might even confuse people knowing it would make matters worse for him. the actions he took he knew could be detrimental to himself. none of those things mattered because the president had to do right thing for the american people because he believes james comey it was right man for that position and i think we have to be very clear as to the reason the president took actions that he did. he knew that what he did could be detrimental to himself. could it lengthen the investigation but he knew it was right thing for the country, the

right thing for the filibuster and the right thing to get to the bottom of it. because he didn't have the leadership skills necessary on plead institution. and as he said at that time, the fbi is the crown jewel of law enforcement and they deserve a leader can properly lead the institution. >> sean spicer ending his daily briefing this monday afternoon. some big headlines coming out of this. hallie jackson at the white house, the rick tyler, president of the strategy group for media republican advertising agency. the big news out of that briefing, sean spicer still refusing to confirm or denial whether or not the president of the united states is recording people in the white house without their knowledge. this came out last week when the

president tweeted that james comey better hope that there are not tapes of their conversation. sean spicer has said repeatedly, the president has nothing further to add. what do you make? you tried to press sean spicer on this multiple times. why went to white house confirm or deny whether or not there are times? if not, as you asked, other white house officials, are white house officials worried that being record? >> despite the push for answers what you heard from spaus speaks for itself. he said the president's position, the tweet, will stand throughout despite the tenned, this is round two of questions in a briefing. what has changed also over the weekend is these calls from republicans and democrats to turn over these tapes if in fact they do exist.

it is the same line we've heard from sean spicer today. the briefing on no timing for choosing the next fbi corrector. even when the interviews are set to begin. it is our understanding it will happen in person. once the short list gets whittled down to an even shorter list. you have no change in other news that has developed on syria. no change to the president's position here that they believe the people of syria need to decide on regime change. it is clear that they may ultimately decide that assad can no longer remain in power. >> a great job getting wired up. thank you very much. rick tyler, you heard toward end of the briefing, sean spicer looked down at his notes. clearly trying to get out some

coordinated, they hope, coordinated talking it's points when it comes to why the president of the united states fired james comey. now they're saying as they mention in the our nbc news interview with lester holt, it was ball judgment. that donald trump knew the firing and the timing of it could be bad for him. could make things worse for him. what do you make of this most recent spin? >> it doesn't really hold water. they've been saying the president decisively, i don't think they've backed down only. yet we keep hearing that he was thinking of firing comey from the day he was elected to the day he came into office. that would have been the right timing. he could have done it yet given all that happened with the clinton e-mail scandal. >> and the new director, the white house wasn't going on get involved in who will be chosen for that staying doj is

currently compiling a list. there are questions about whether jeff sessions, the current attorney general who has recused himself from anything having to do with the russia investigation, should be involved with that. sean spicer said the process is running completely as it should. barring that aspect, if this is not a director that's chosen, if it is not something from within the fbi ranks, somebody with no partisan quality to him or her whatsoever, what do the democrats have behind them to force republicans to push back on the administration and say no, we won't take anybody with an r or a d in front of their name. >> yeah. there are so many things not rolling the way that it can be even though sean spicer think that's it is. it is incredibly problematic that sessions is involved with this. he was supposed the recuse himself from the whole russia

investigation. the president saying they want to fick fbi director by friday is all quite insane. and look, at the end of the day, we know that donald trump fired james comey, not because of hillary clinton but because he was getting too close to the russia investigation. what we need now is indeed someone who is independent, nonpartisan and democrats will have to continue to fight for that. >> and the other bit of news, talking about the hearing on whether or not the travel ban should be reinstated. sean spicer was asked whether or not the president will disavow the muslim ban. do you think he needs officially come out and disavow it, especially since the the webb still had the ban up as of last week in. >> i think he should. he should have double it by now. it is on the website.

i don't think he will and i don't think it will be a determinant in the court's decision. >> but it is part of them finding whether or not there is intent to ban all muslims. >> right. and the what the court is saying, i think it holds water in a legal sense. the reason they're fighting against it is because donald trump called for a muslim ban in the campaign. that was explicit. he has a trip coming up to a nearly all muslim country in saudi arabia. it will be interesting to see if that comes up. >> again, the big thing coming up about this, at 3:00, is sean spicer once again refusing to confirm or deny whether or not the president of the united states was taping the fbi director when he came over to have dinner with him? the fbi director wants those

time ts out. he said he would welcome them according to officials familiar with his thinking to nbc news. the congress, congressional republicans and democrats both want to find out if there are tapes. people are talking about subpoenas now. lots of news developing at this hour. my colleague stephanie ruehl picks things up. >> today's white house briefing just wrapped up and an analysis is majorly important because it was an important afternoon west heard about everything from the wiretap to the tapes. with the best team in the business. kristenweller joins us now. ari melber, kristen i have to start wuflt you just stepped outside of that briefing rule. it always seems heated