michael steele, you led this party for many years. my question is, do you think that this is a joking matter or do you believe that you might have some sympathy for greg gianforte as one member suggested? >> i don't have any sympathy for what he did. it's stupid and boneheaded. put your big boy pants on. you want to play with the washington press corps, this is your reaction? it's beyond crazy. look, i'm a republican from maryland and washington, d.c. you live in that crucible with a hot press all the time. that's how you forge your own strength to go out and do your job teen represent your people. if you can't even answer a question on the cbo, what are you going to do when it's really important questions like you know, the essence of health care, taking people off of health care, putting people on health care. this is not complicated stuff for any candidate. you keep a cool head, you're up in the polls going into election day, you take the questioning and you move on. >> is it complicated, michael, for some of those republicans, bec

like the size of crowds. >> who is the audience there, michael steel? >> the folks in front of her, largely. i think that beyond that no one is really paying attention to what she has to say. i mean, clearly they rejected all of that during the campaign. so to jonathan's point, if this is a rollout of what's to come, then it will be interesting to see whether she carries this debate, if you will, to the president once he returns, and we're six months down talking about how hillary clinton is repositioning the democratic party to actually be competitive and fight the incumbent president. i haven't seen that yet. this is her first real foray. i know she wanted to do this speech probably as president of the united states. but her audience right now was basically those folks in front of her. we'll see how much resonance it has beyond that. it's been noted, if folks are saying where was the speech when she was a candidate? that's hillary clinton's problem. and so consistency in that regard is going to be the tale tell sign if she's really ready to go after p

michael steele, msnbc political analyst, former chair of the republican national committee, and dougormer senior adviser at the democratic national committee. thanks to both of you for joining us. michael steele, let me start with you, there was that scene on the house floor, it made pem people who have been watching congress for a long time think back to 1993, the democrats who walked the plank for bill clinton's tax hike, the republicans who taunted them as they did it and of course it was the republicans who got the lost laugh in the '94 midterms when they won the houses. democrats say they are set up for the same kind of thing in 2018 with this vote today. they're going to pin it on republicans. do you think republicans should be worried about that? >> shyou should always be worri. a hell of a lot of water between now and then, when you assess whether or not this vote costs you seats. i think the senators who have been speaking on this bill have the right approach. they're much more cautious, trying to be smart about it and they're trying to really engage the public more than we'

joining me now from the rose garden, and michael steele with me welcome the former press secretary, and speaker ryan during his vice presidential run. and nbc news medical correspondent dr. john torres. first you to, kelly, at the white house. they're looking forward to a victory in the house. they would not know if they have the votes as well as anybody. what is the real long-term gain from their perspective. >> this is a day to chuck alk u win. they think there is a cushion on the vote count. people that are faith based and politically active. michelle bachman. i was told that the president and the house speaker spoke about the vote. we know this is just an incremental piece in trying to change or repeal the health care law. after a very high profile failure in march to get a bill passed, the changes that have happened with president trump and vice president pence to talk tonight and try to bring them together. going home for members that were able to talk to people in their home communities was able to bring together the most conservative members and enough of the moderates here they

on friday, tom perez and former republican national committee chair michael steele discuss how to find common ground in washington. our coverage begins at noon eastern at c-span2, c-span.org, and the free c-span radio app. "newsmakers" with senator chuck grassley. he speaks about the firing of james comey, his expectations for the next fbi director, and senate efforts to come up with the health care law. this is 30 minutes. steve: joining us on "newsmakers" is senator chuck grassley. thank you for joining us. and joining us with the questioning is erica werner who covers congress for the associated press and niels lesniewski for cq roll call. senator, let me ask you about the news from this past week. do you have concerns about the meeting between director comey and the deputy attorney general, where he was asking for additional resources to investigate russia was the same person that wrote the memo that led to his resignation, or his firing? sen. grassley: it is my understanding that within a few hours of this interview, somebody in the justice department cleared up that they were not

panel is back, amy walters, steven, michael steel.on to you guys was, okay, i had senator james lang ford. we were going to talk about a little bit of nay toe, little bit of terrorism, a little bit of russia. we ended up talking about health care. my question to you, michael steel, in this environment would you rather be talking about health care or the investigation into russia? >> russia all day long. >> politically, why is that? >> politically because it speaks to a sweet spot with your base and the aspect of health care is still too unsettled within the party as a whole. you have factions within the gop itself. it cannot pull out a solid front. while they work that out, let's talk about the thing we should be concerned about, what russia is doing, how they're doing it, all of that, absolutely. and also, you have this thing -- >> undermine the president? >> i feel like -- i feel -- >> throwing him under the bus? >> i don't think you're throwing him under the bus. >> easier to get past russia than health care? >> yeah. >> ultimately

andoming up, tom perez former national committee chair michael steele decide how to find common groundn washington. >> saturday at noon eastern on book tv, military historians discuss their books on world war i at the 2017 colby military writers symposium. include jennifer keane, michael nyberg with his book "the path to war: how the first world war created modern america." book, dalessandro and his "over there: america in the great war." and david merrin and his book war."g watch the 2017 colby military atters symposium saturday noon eastern on c-span two's tv. thursday's white house briefing, tom bossert announced details for the new executive to improve cyber security. afterwards, the white house principal deputy secretary fielded questions from the of fbir about the firing director james comey. this is 45 minutes.

>> that was michael steele with an e. we turn to another michael steel.ormer advisor to jeb bucsh. an attack on a reporter, as well as the audio telling the tale. there is no place for violence in our political system. there is a campaign and frankly given the special responsibility, there is should be a higher standard of protection, and it is less acceptable behavior. >> they are tweeting that greg gianforte needs to apologize. >> at what point are republicans coming out today to distance themselves from a candidate they endorsed that beat up a reporter? at what point does our party say enough? i want to hear the republicans salespeople out against it and say this is not acceptable and we don't want his vote here. we want no part of this guy. >> michael, but paul ryan while criticizing his behavior saying if he is elected, he will be seated. >> let's look at it this way, it is absolutely appropriate for the candidate to apologize to ben, it is appropriate for law enforcement to respond and they have. i think it is appropriate for him to seek anger manag

how about that, michael steele? how about our party sitting by with the few notable exceptions, i'm keeping score, i've got five now, with a few notable exceptions, most of them keeping their mouth shut about a guy who's spilling secrets in the oval office to the russians of all people. >> which is why the whining now about the president is, to me, a little bit disingenuous because it's not like we haven't seen this movie before. in fact, we were, you know -- >> didn't jeb bush say i told you so? >> you have jeb saying i told you so. and there are a number of republic chance who are now in that space. but the thing about everything that's been said at this table, for me, the underlying idea for donald trump goes to the heart of who he is. he uses everything for leverage. information, people, ideas. so the information that he's taking in in these briefings he sees as leverage when he's in conversation with foreign leaders like putin or his representatives. >> but that's -- >> he doesn't make that connection. he's not

later today, here on c-span, democratic national chair tom perez and former republican chair michael steele are at a discussion of the aspen institute on finding common ground in an era of intense partisanship. it is scheduled at noon eastern here on c-span2. c-span, where history unfolds daily. it was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. >> the president tweeted this morning, it's not possible for my associates to stand at the podium with one 100% accuracy. perhaps we should cancel all press briefings until we have one 100% accuracy. you can watch the press briefing live this afternoon. >> sunday night on "after words", physician and journalist elizabeth rose and paul examines the business side of healthcare in her book and american sickness. how healthcare became big business and you can take it back. she is interviewed by david blumenthal, president of the commonwealth fund. >> i was wondering if your book give you any thought about whether healthcare is a free market. whether we can solve our

michael steele, this a reference to the fact that the president said there might it be recordings ofis conversations with comey. how politically difficult is this for the president? >> it's incredibly difficult. one, it opens the possibility that these tapes will be subpoenaed that they will eventually become part of an investigation. two, how is any member of congress going to trust they are talking to the president and the president alone when he's encouraging them to support a policy? this diminishes the already limited ability to trust the president. >> again, remember, if copy's allies leaking that he was asked three times to pledge loyalty to the president, if the president saying that conversation was taped, this isn't a soap opera. if that happened, if so maniy's allies are saying what's true and what trump is saying is true, you're in a whole different arena now. that's why i don't think republicans will let it go. lindsey graham was on "meet the press" yesterday saying if the tapes exist, we want them. >> great conversation. thank you for helping me break there down. apprec

. >> michael steele, an msnbc political analyst and former chair of the republican national committeesmith, a democratic strategist. i want to start with michael. i don't -- i guess i know why the republicans had this vote today because they've been promising to get rid of obamacare. it's like the -- you know, i understand the heart of that. but the details were a problem because the reason your party has opposed any kind of social progress over the last 50 or 100 years is because once there is progress, people d't want to go backwards. >> right. >> nobody says get rid of social security really. nobody says get rid of medicare really or medicaid. when it comes to obamacare, mixed bag. but it's dicey to take things away from people that they've learned to benefit from, began to rely on. i said today my conservative republican father, lovely guy, he loved medicare. >> yeah. >> because for the first time in his life when he was retired, he got something. he didn't pay into it, but he got something. you can't take that away from people once -- and now with people on obamacare, you go, a c

msnbc political analyst michael steele is the former chairman of the republican nationrepublican national committee, of course. the trump party celebrated at harrisburg at the campaign style rally on saturday night. they've got a new campaign video to celebrate 100-days and all their achievements. yet there's so much push/pull with the congressional party and the various wings of that party that the speaker is trying to hold together. >> you set up this dynamic perfectly in your conversations just now because what you do see is the president going out before his base and saying all these things and really you know, reiterating and restoring that campaign energy and rhetoric. at the same time, his team has backed a budget bill that does exactly the opposite of everything that he is still on a platform and preached about. epa only saw 1% cut in its budget. you did not defund planned parenthood. there is no building of a wahl. so the reckoning will come. i think what the trump administration is doing particularly with the president is relying on that old time feeling, that old time religion

garret is at that town hall for us and former rnc chairman and friend of the show, michael steele isoining us, as well. garret, first to you. who is in the room, what are you hearing? give us a sense of the flavor down there? >> hallie, good morning from a hot and muggy southern louisiana today. there is a crowd forming out here over the last hour and a half or so. they're just starting to let folks in. but this is a very republican parish but only an hour fm n orleans which went about 80% for hillary clinton and those are the folks we're seeing in this line. i would say about 5-1. critics of senator cassidy who is a republican as opposed to supporters. a lot of folks driving in from new orleans and surrounding areas. they seem to have more that they want to say to senator cassidy than they want to hear from him. but i did ask one woman sort of what's on the agenda and what she wants to hear from the senator today. she was waiting in line. take a listen. >> i would like for him to promise not to cut medicare, medicaid, to improve the trump care bill that's going in and to promise to

mike lupica and michael steele. you may have brought yourself a little quote, you are so excited for this. >> we've got people running this country now whose mantra is everybody into the life boats, boys -- us first. this is a quote from mick mulvaney, director of the office of management and budget. if you're on food stamps and you're able-bodied, we need you to go to work. if you're on disabity insurance and you're not supposed to be, y're not truly disabled, we need you to go back to work." so there's this implication in this budget that all of these people are just sitting back and not looking for work when they're supposed to be and talking about cuts to medicaid that are going to attack the neediest people in this country. >> the problem is -- and it is a mindset that's been pervasive among some in the republican budget world who look at the numbers and not the people behind the numbers. and so i have a very simple question i ask folks when i give talks around the kwunt. when you wa country. when you wake up i

michael steele, thank you. and jay, you're great.ou. >>> up next, hillary clinton speaks out about why she lost the 2016 election. she strongly suggests trump and the russians were in cahoots. that's the heart of this whole investigation, trying to nail that thing. this is "hardball," where the action is. you were made to move. to progress. to not just accept what you see, but imagine something new. at invisalign®, we use the most advanced teeth straightening technology to help you find the next amazing version of yourself. it's time to unleash your secret weapon. it's there, right under your nose. get to your best smi up t50% faster. visit invisalign.com to get started today. there's nothing more than my vacation.me so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. booking.com gets it. they offer free cancellation if my plans change. visit booking.com. booking.yeah. i use what's already inside me to reach my goals. so i liked when my doctor told me i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by

democratic national committee chairman, and former chairman of the republican national committee michael steele that is live at noon eastern, >> in a world of ambiguity and temptation, you need a moral compass was you must develop principles you compromise for no one. not for a loved one or a job or a chance at fame or wealth. >> whether the individual acts in legal, governmental or private realm. >> starting at the bottom, shelve your ego, bulldog forward. >> the goal, excellence. the agenda aplenty, piece, protection of the environment, >> the c-span video library, watch commencement speeches by politician, on may 20, 27th, 29th, memorial day and june 3rd. on c-span and c-span.org. >> yesterday on capitol hill federal housing finance agency director mel watt urged lawmakers to end longtime conservatorship of fannie mae and freddie mac, stressing that it is the job of congress to chart a course out of it. here's a look at his testimony before the senate banking committee, it runs about two hours.

democraticy, national committee chair don perez and former republican chair michael steele discuss how to find common ground in washington. live coverage from the aspen institute begins at noon eastern on c-span 2, www.c-span.org, and the free c-span radio app app. next, a discussion about what is next for the fbi after the firing of director james comey. journal," this is 35 minutes. our next guest for the morning is jonathan turley with george washington university law school, teaches law, here to talk about the firing of james comey. what was the reality of the firing versus what you may be perceived that the perception of the firing? guest: it is unusual to see the response. everyone gets ahead of their skis in terms of what the significance was and what was the motivation. the fact is the merits of the termination were debatable. there were good faith reasons why comey would be terminated. the timing was appalling. that is important when you are in government, and appearances are important, especially when theperson firing i individual is complaining about the investigation he is

. >> democratic national committee chair tom perez and former republican chair michael steele discuss bipartisanship at this event hosted by the aspen institute in washington, d.c. they talk about the 20 16th election and what their parties need to do to win in the future. this is an hour and 15 minutes.

on friday, tom perez and former republican national committee chair michael steele discuss how to findcommon ground in washington. our coverage begins at noon eastern at c-span2, c-span.org, and the free c-span radio app. "newsmakers" with senator chuck grassley. he speaks about the firing of james comey, his expectations for the next fbi director, and senate efforts to come up with the health care law. this is 30 minutes.

michael steele, and the president and ceo of the american, center for american progress. she was the director of policy for both the obama and clinton campaigns. good to see you. i haven't seen new while. we're talking about whether or not donald trump tried to obstruct the investigation. do you believe, if an argument is made for that, that republicans are going to have a hard time defending themselves? or defending the president against it? >> i think a lot of facts have to come into focus before we get to that opponent. i think a lot of noise that you're hearing from democrats talking about impeachment is a little bit misplaced and well pre mature. >> some republicans are doing it too. >> some republican, too. for me, this is why you need an independent party take over this so we can be clear of what the facts are. the total thing. not just one piece of it. but pitting it all together. republicans need to have that conversation with the white house. i long for mitch mcconnell is that speaker ryan to meet with the chief of staff and the president to say we need to get t

covering up the michael steel dossier? is why we need an independent commission at the level of congress to be able to investigation this. >> i think it's great. >> nothing in this. >> good, we agree on something. to me says there is any connection between -- >> that he lied on his forms doesn't disturb you? >> kevin, you are a communications specialist. the white house is preparing a war room. how would you lead that war room and lead this communications strategy if you were in the white house? >> look, i think oftentimes, you see white houses when they're in trouble like this, put together a war room. it's no good unless you have strategy. the strategy has to be b to conpartmentalize the ve investigation part of this issue and to have mb who's daily job is to deal with just inquiries about the special counsel and its investigation. the biggest problem and where i'm worry ied is that investigations are worrisome. they become a huge distraction. the president and his team have to get back on o innocence and talk about the

aspen institute event in washington designed to foster bipartisanship former republican chair michael steeleska dust up as emblematic of the challenges he faces in trying to unifying the party. >> have you got to recognize that your party is bigger than what you think it. >> perez admitted candidly that democrats are quote losing elections up and down the ballot. he maintained that the party's official view on abortion is not the reason why. >> the platform of the democratic party is a pro-choice platform. the platform does not say that we did not welcome people who are not pro-choice. the platform says we welcome people of varying views. >> perez moved on before he could be pressed between the apparent contradiction between his statement pro-choice statement is nonnegotiable for party democrat and his party offers varying views. >> bret: the u.s. is expected to broaden ban on in-flight laptops and tablets to include planes arriving from europe. they heard objections from the european union today. could effect routes that carry as many as 65 million people a year. the current ban involves on

. >> democratic national committee chair tom perez and former republican chair michael steele discuss bipartisanship at this event hosted by the aspen institute in washington, d.c. they talk about the 20 16th election and what their parties need to do to win in the future. this is an hour and 15 minutes. >> you guys ready for whatever happens? >> absolutely. >> well, welcome, everybody. not just those of you in the room, but people watching this live on c-span. we are glad to have you here. i know by now we have been in this generation long enough i don't need to tell you to turn off your so phones or turn off the sound, but do if you don't mind -- turn off your cell phones. i want to welcome you all here, but i want to call special attention to -- we had two groups of students here at the aspen institute. we have a very exciting program on youth engagement, and we have .tudents here when we get to the q&a, you are as welcome as anybody else to ask questions, and i hope you will. let me start with a little story here to just get me started. in this environment we live in, which is so

and chief white house correspondent for politico and michael steele, the former senior adviser to jeb bush and john boehner. mike, to you. on the hill on monday trying to whip up support. where do things stand on health care? >> reporter: vice president mike pence was on the hill yesterday. he's due on the hill again today, trying to find support among wavering house members. it's still touch and go. it does not appear that republican leadership has the votes necessary at this point, early on a wednesday morning, to move forward by putting this new health care bill, this new iteration of the republican health care plan on the hill. we've heard from many members trickling out of this meeting. we are in the basement of the capitol. the republicans holding the closed door meetings. arms being twisted. people being cajoled. we're told that president trump himself has been on the phone with some wavering members. congressman lou bar leta, a republican from pennsylvania. told reporters he had concerns that were allayed by a long conversation, in his description, with president trump. we kno

i'm joined by ron reagan and eugene robinson and michael steele. i want to start with gene. how do you make so many enemies so fast in a week? >> yeah. i mean, look, the mideast part of the trip, the first part, i would seriously quarrel with some of the policies and the touching of the orb was weird. but he got through that, and the saudis like him, and he likes the saudis. so we get that. but the european part was a disaster, a catastrophe, whatever you want to call it. how do you drive a wedge between the united states and europe that's not -- >> what's his problem with germany, which is the one -- whatever terrible history it had in the last century, it is a well run, peaceful country that holds europe together now. >> i think a lot of it has to do with how donald trump perceives these nations going into it. he's looking athis from his dealings with them in terms of business. i'd be interested to know how many deals he could not get done in germany. he could not get in other parts of europe versus the middle east versus elsewhere around the world and asia. i think from h

. >> democratic national committee chair tom perez and former republican chair michael steele discussed bipartisanship at this event hosted by the aspen institute in washington dc. they talked about the 2016 elections and what their parties need to do to win in the future. this is an hour and 15 minutes. >> i don't know. it will put your name on all their advertising. you guys ready for whatever happens? all right. welcome, everybody. not just those of you in the room but people watching live on c-span. we are glad to have you here. i know by now we have had in this generation long enough that i don't need to tell you to turn off your cell phones or turn off do if you don'tyo mind. i want to welcome all of you here but i want to call special attention that we have two groups of students here here at the aspen institute. we have a very exciting program on youth engagement. we have students here from the beret school. where are you? the cesar chavez public charter school for public part of see that public policy. -- school for public policy. where are you? when we get to questions, we hop

president's interview on nbc, i'm joined by the former chair of the republican national committee michael steele and columnist for "the washington post," yeugene robinson. first of all, the president not only put out ms. huck -- what's her -- huckabee sanders, the daughter of the governor. he put her out for two days to say that all this came from the deputy attorney general, from mr. rosenstein. it all came from him. i accepted the recommendation of rosenstein. now the president comes out and corrects his own flakry and says, know, what the vice president has been saying for two days, what all my people have been saying for two days, that's not true. i ordered it. i made up my mind long before those guys came in the office. why is this happening in america? why is the chief executive of the united states, the president of the united states, having his people put out the wrong story? he puts out what apparently is the true story. it's got nothing to do with hillary clinton last year. it has to do with what trump doesn't want -- he doesn't want comey doing now. >> he doesn't want this investigati

conversation] >> we are alive with the aspen institute with chair tom perez and former chair michael steeletalking about how to find common ground in an area of intense partisanship. it will be moderated by mickey edwards, congressman from oklahoma. live coverage on c-span2. [inaudible conversation] [inaudible conversation] [inaudible conversation] [inaudible conversation] [inaudible conversation]

cable satellite corp. 2017] >> coming up, democratic national committee chair, tom perez and michael steele discuss how to find common ground in washington. our live coverage from the aspen institute begins at noon eastern. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. >> live today on c-span, "washington journal" is next. michelle obamady speaking about childhood obesity at the partnership for a healthier america forum. >> coming up in an hour on "washington journal,", william banks on the history and laws pertaining to special counsel. at 9:00, edwin lyman on nuclear waste safety. and at 9:30 a.m., caroline finkel on team mental health and suicide prevention. host: good morning everyone on this friday, may 12, president trump's firing of james comey earlier this week has as collated calls among democrats to a point of special counsel to oversee the investigation into the trumps campaign contact with russia during the election. republicans in t

i had a photo of michael foot, david steel. i also had gary lineker and morris the! theresa may gets the kind of landslides about margaret thatcher got back in the 80s. what will that mean for you, your children, your hospital, your school was? your hospital, your schools? it's not what i want for my country and children. i'm determined to lead and children. i'm determined to lead a country where we are and children. i'm determined to lead a country where we are seen as and children. i'm determined to lead a country where we are seen as being decent to one another and i fear a tory landslide will be the opposite of that. lotsa people don't take the liberal democrats seriously. how would you convince them to vote for a party in the past two hasn't a lwa ys a party in the past two hasn't always told the truth? we are telling you like it is straightforward now. you don't need to agree with me on everything to agree that britain needs a strong opposition. following last thursday's election results, we only —— we know that yankee party left standing —— the only party left

sometimes, because you have some athletes like michael jordan, magic johnson, who are part owners of teams. and i don't care how good your union is if you're a steel worker, you're not going to own a string of steel mills at the end of the day. so it's distorted. but the whole reason that the players make their supersalaries is because of the fact that there was a union movement in sports, particularly in the 1960's. and the pivot for that was really two events. and i talk about it extensively in the book, a whole chapter on it. one was the hiring of marvin miller, a steel worker's union organizer. and i got to interview him for the book. and he brought a different kind of approach to organizing baseball players. who at the time baseball players, what they made in a year average salary in the mid 1960's for a baseball player was like low $20,000 at that point. every player, unless you were like mickey mantle basically, you worked in the off-season. i interviewed older players, they worked in quarries in the off-season crushing rocks. it's hard to imagine alex rodriguez going to a quarry. [laughter] dave: you know, but that is what the conditions w

steel is in london. >> i'm in london for the premiere of "alien: covenant." but the film was actually filmed on the other side of theld wor, in sydney. >> i'm in the water every day. >> michaeles off against an earlier an droid versus of himself. what was the hardest thing about acting opposite yourself? >> it wasn't that hard compared the a real job. >> it was just fun. >> doesn't look too fun, when you have ridley scott's alien to deal with. michael got a little r. and r. visiting his girlfriend, alicia vikander, shooting "tomb raider". >> i think she's taken to it like a duck to water. >> that's quite a boyfriend. >> yeah yeah yeah it works. >>> coming up next, charlie hunnam's chiseled "king arthur" body. >> this is my natural body size. >> why his looks almost cost him the role. >>> and new kids on the block, back on tour with their kids. but there's a new member of the show. what bad back?gels work so fast you'll ask what pulled hammy? advil liqui - gels make pain a distant memory nothing works faster stronger or longer what pain? advil. mone hundredts thousand times a day, sending oxygen to my muscles. again! so i can lift even the most demanding weight. take care of

to anything political, it's michael cohen that has been the spokesperson for then donald trump even if tru himself wasn't. that's an unconfirmed dossier by christopher steel. he declined the congressional invitations to testify and the involvement not only brings the case closer to home, but could complicate his legal defense team since the lawyer he trusts is caught up in the storm. folk, the investigations places the administration in a permanent crisis mode. kushner allegedly set up a secret communications channel with the russians. they reported the idea was to have michael flynn discuss syria with russian officials. what has been interesting since the story broke, members of the white house have not used the syria talking point anymore. >> there is a lot of different ways to communicate back channels publicly with other countries. >> generally speaking about back channel communications, what that allows you to do is communicate in a discreet manner. >> they both discussed in general terms, they are an important part of diplomacy. >> do you dispute that that happened? >> your question presupposes facts that have not been confirmed. >> spicer's defense

steel's question. why is it that the s&p stays at or near record levels? if that is all right, shouldn't stocks becoming down as well, michaelmichael: what worries me is that if you pull this back into a multi-year basis, i still see dynamics of a secular stagnation in the global economy. we are redefined sequentially of what good looks like in the same way perhaps in the political sphere that the u.s. is redefining what normal looks like. 2% growth is now a cause for celebration, but on a historic basis, these are not good numbers. i think it's particularly worrying to note that after a valueyear d rating of stocks against growth, the rally that we saw in the fourth quarter of last year has completely fizzled out. even in economies that seem to have a degree of self-sustaining growth such as the eurozone, they are seeing value stocks coming right back. what this means that the stocks level is that you are having a lot of money being funneled into a few growth names. you have to look at the structure of these u.s. indices to a dive five -- identified the stock level where these are being bid up. this is not healthy price act