An updateg remarks, on Recovery Efforts after the hurricane in texas and then answered questions on building a order wall, relations with russia and pardoning joe arpaio. This is 30 minutes. President trump we have just concluded a positive meeting at they want to begin today by extending my tprayers to those e hurrey. The catastrophe of flooding and all the other difficulties and other things that are going through in houston, Southeast Texas and now it is looking more and more like a state of louisiana will be also affected. My administration is coordinating closely with state and local authorities in texas and louisiana to save lives. We think our First Responders and all of those involved in their efforts. We are working directly with Texas Governor greg abbott who is doing a fantastic job. His entire staff, likewise, as well as with Governor John Bel Edwards who is very much involved in starting the process of louisiana. We have pledged our full support as texas and louisiana battle and recover from this very devastating and historic storm, there has probably never been anything like this, under the supervision of fema, brock long, there has been a tremendous amount of work done. He has been so outstanding in so many ways, more than 8500 federal workers are involved in the texas exit efforts alone. I have also declared emergencies in louisiana at the request of governor edwards. Recovery will be a long and difficult road and the federal government stands ready, willing and able to support that effort. Right now, the single most important thing is the safety and security of those still in harms way, including the First Responders who have been so terrific and brave, protecting the lives of our people is my highest priority, every asset at my command is at the disposal of local officials. Tragic times such as these bring out the best in americas character, strength, character and resiliency. Receipt neighbor helping neighbor, friend helping friend and stranger helping stranger and you see that all over, you watch on television and you see such incredible work and love. We are one american family, we heard together, we struggle together and believe me, we endure together, we are one family. To the people of texas and the louisiana, we are 100 with you. We are praying for you, we are working closely with your leaders and officials and i will be visiting the impact zone tomorrow to make sure you are receiving full support and cooperation from the federal government and on saturday, we would go to the we will be going to louisiana. We ask god for his wisdom and strength, we will get through this, we will come out stronger and believe me, we will be bigger, better and stronger than ever before. The rebuilding will begin and in the end, it will be something very special. I just want to thank everybody in the affected area, it has been absolutely incredible to watch the spirit, cooperation and love. I would also like to share a message to the people of finland. They have recently suffered a terrorist attack. We stand in solidarity with you against the terrorist threat. We must all Work Together to deny terrorists safe havens, cut off their finances and defeat the very wicked ideology. They are grateful for the steadfast support in the fight against terrorism, we appreciate it. Including our membership in the coalition to defeat isis. Finland makes important contributions to the coalition and its effort in afghanistan, training iraqi soldiers. To support the Afghan National defense and Security Forces on a modernday frontier between barbarism and civilization. That is what you have, arbor is an and barbarism and civilization. We are working toward our mutual security. Finland is a leading entity in cyber security. We should be calling you pretty soon, you do a fantastic job with cyber security. I congratulate you. I think in a very short. Of time, we will be right there with you. The United States is very proud, a partner of the European Center of excellence to counter modern threats through cyber attacks. In addition, we look forward to your leadership. The art of reason has strategic and economic importance for both of our nations, very much so, the foundation of our friendship is our shared love of freedom, on behalf of all americans, i congratulate you on 100 anniversary of finlands independence, 100 years. In honor of finlands centennial, the United States is contributing a half Million Dollars to the Finland Foundation through the fulbright program, we are sending more and more of the best and brightest to finland. Forging Lasting Connections between americans and ends. I applaud Finnish Companies for the community increased investment in the United States, adding new technologies and adding good jobs for hardworking americans, thank you. The u. S. Finish partnership is rooted in our shared values. As president , we discussed and look forward to further strengthening these bonds of culture, commerce and cooperation between our two countries so that our citizens and our nations can thrive and prosper together. Thank you mr. President , i would like to take you very much thank you very much for being here. It is my honor to have you here. Mr. President , i want to thank you for your very kind words. And i just want to tell you that it is a great pleasure and honor to be here today. I thank you also for the discussions we have had. They have been of utmost interest. Thank you. We have been closely following Hurricane Harvey. Our thoughts are with the people of texas and louisiana. They, and you, mr. President , have shown strength and courage to overcome this catastrophe. It has been touching to watch the t. V. And see how people help each other. That is what we basically are built of, helping each other. Finland highly appreciates our close relationship with the United States. Today, they are broader than ever, ranging from security to trade, to innovation. We are indeed celebrating our 100 years of independence. I want to thank you for the generous gift presented to the fulbright Finland Foundation. I want to also take this opportunity to greet the almost 700,000 americans who have finnish origin. Mr. President , we exchanged views on several international issues. Our headline was security. We discussed the importance of the transatlantic bond. History has taught us europeans the value of unity. The u. S. And nato presence is very important and it is increasing rapidly. Finland is doing its part to promote dialogue. To reduce risks, finland has proposed steps to improve Flight Safety in the baltic sea area. They are small but positive steps in reopening dialogue between nato and russia. We remain committed to supporting afghanistan, and we are a dedicated member of the Global Coalition against isis. Finland took the seat of the Arctic Council from the United States in may. We cant afford to lose the pristine arctic nature. Finland firmly believes that business and environment can both be winners in the arctic. An example is reducing black carbon. Mr. President , im looking forward to even closer cooperation with you and your great nation. I want to thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So well take a couple of questions. How about we go to texas. Todd gilman. Todd . Thank you, mr. President. Yes. Im wondering what you can tell the people of texas to expect in terms of longterm Recovery Efforts and in particular, you have been feuding with some key congressional leaders. Youve also threatened a Government Shutdown potentially next month over border wall funding. Are these going to hamper longterm the funding that will be needed longterm for recovery . No, todd. I think youre going to see very rapid action from congress, certainly from the president. And youre gonna get your funding. Its a terrible tragedy. Your governor has been absolutely outstanding in the job hes done, and his entire before staff. And i will say that i just spoke with greg and he is working like 24 7. We expect to have requests on our desk fairly soon. And we think that congress will feel very much the way i feel, in a very bipartisan way. That will be nice. But we think youre going to have what you need and its going to go fast. Texas is a unique place, great state, great people, and i think youll be up and running really very quickly. So, yeah, i think youre going to be in fantastic shape. Ive already spoken to congress. And everybody feels for you and feels for what youre going through. But at the same time, they have great respect, even additional respect for the state, because youve handled it so well, so brilliantly. But its a long road. Still pouring. Still a lot of rain. Ive heard the words epic, historic. Thats what it is. But you will have what you want, i think, very quickly. And todd, you can ask a question to the president. Does this situation make you reconsider the possibility of a Government Shutdown next i think it has nothing to do with it really. I think this is separate. This is going to go really very quickly. Again, ive spoken to many of the people were talking about. And everybody feels the same way i do. Thank you. And mr. President , i wanted to ask you, your neighbor, russia, has meddled in u. S. Politics. They have a military exercise coming up in the next few weeks in the baltics. There are tensions over there. What kind of advice have you offered and can you offer to the United States in dealing with this adversary . Sir, we are not feeling ourselves as advisors, but we are feeling ourselves as doing all what is possible to maintain peace. And that is what we are doing in the baltic sea area too. With the actually you referred to a different kind of military training, which is going to happen there. I have to tell you that a couple of weeks ago, i met president putin, and there were media interested in why chinese navy is having training together with russians in baltic sea area. Putin answered that it is not a bloc. It is not against anybody. My answer was that we are also training in baltic sea with the United States and sweden, and it is not a bloc. Its not against anybody. So we have to be very careful about this huge training, huge military trafficking over baltic. That it doesnt cause any accident or problems, because we know that from accidents might grow whatever. And that is why i think its important that we continue to work with nato to enhance, like i said, dialogue between russia and nato. And it is going forward. Do you have a question . Finnish broadcasting company, where you are . Okay. Thank you mr. President. I have a question to President Trump, if i may. As the minister told, its being raised an issue about the security situation in the baltic region, baltic sea specifically. And it has been concerned about the russian planes flying there without transporters on. My question to you, mr. Trump, would you consider russia as a Security Threat . Thank you. Well, i consider many countries as a Security Threat, unfortunately, when you look at whats going on in the world today. As you know, a few weeks ago, our great Vice President , mike pence, who is right here, was in the region. And he spent quite a bit of time there. We consider that a very, very important part of the world. We have great relationships there. We have a great relationship with finland. So i would consider many countries threats, but these are all threats that well be able to handle if we have to. Hopefully we wont have to handle them, but if we do, we will handle them. Can i have a followup, as he had also . So if the situation in the baltic were to escalate, what would the u. S. Be ready to do in that unfortunate circumstance . Well, we are very protective of that region. Thats all i can say. We are very protective. We have great friends there, great relationships there. We are extremely protective. Thank you. A question for the president . Yes. No. Sometimes do you have a question for the president . Its all right. Somebody else can you dont have to. Ha ha [laughter] mr. President , from finland. Did you speak about Climate Change at all, and what about your, mr. President , minister initiative about cleaning up the arctic and doing it together with the United States . What kind of response did you receive here in washington, d. C. . We discussed a lot about black carbon. And to explain to everybody what happens is that from atmosphere, black carbon covers the arctic, and we know what happens when the sunshine meets the black carbon. It melts the ice. The problem is not only arctic. If we lose the arctic, we lose the globe. That is reality. So we must fight against those initiatives spreading black carbon. I understood that the United States is going to put it in half. And we know that black carbon sources are a lot of them in russia. They are oldfashioned plants producing heating. The other problem is flaring, you know. That in the oil fields, they flare up, the extra gas. And the amount is huge. Yearly they flare 40 times more than finland. So if we can and here comes also business to the picture. It would be a Good Business to renew those oldfashioned plants, to make more with less energy. It would be a business to stop flaring, to take use of that gas, which is now burned. And i think that these elements are things that we can continue discussing in the Arctic Council. We have inherited the chairmanship from the United States, and we continue the work. We had a very good discussion, in particular on the arctic and black carbon. And i think we have much in agreement. One of the things we also agree on, we want crystalclean water and we want clean air, the cleanest ever. Very important. So we have a lot of agreement. John roberts, yes. Mr. President , thank you so much. President niinisto, i have a question for you as well, but if i could start with President Trump. In the middle of Hurricane Harvey hitting friday night, you chose to pardon sheriff joe arpaio. I wonder if you can tell us, what was behind your thinking for issuing the pardon, and what do you say to your critics, even some in your own party, who say it was the wrong thing to do . Well, a lot of people think it was the right thing to do. Actually, in the middle of a hurricane, i assumed the ratings would be far higher than they were normally. And i put it out that i had pardoned, as we say, sheriff joe. Hes done a great job for the people of arizona. Hes very strong on borders. Very strong on illegal immigration. He is loved in arizona. I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly when they came down with their big decision to go get him right before the election voting started, as you know, and he lost in a fairly close election. He would have won the election but they just hammered him, just before the election. I thought that was a very, very unfair thing to do. When i mentioned him the other night, you saw the massive crowd we had. The people went crazy when i said, what do you think of sheriff joe, or something to that effect. The place went crazy when i was in arizona last week. And as far as pardons are concerned, i actually did this just before the meeting, because i assume that somebody would ask me the question. I didnt even know it would be you. I thought i would. And sheriff joe is a great veteran of the military. Great Law Enforcement person. Somebody thats won many elections in the state of arizona. But i wanted to look at some of the other people that were pardoned over the years. And if you look at, as an example, president clinton pardoned mark rich, who was charged with crimes going back decades, including illegally buying oil from iran while it held 53 american hostages, wasnt allowed to do that. Selling to the enemies of the United States. He was pardoned after his wife donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the clintons. Then you have dangerous criminals. President clinton pardoned susan roseburg, a member of the weathered underground. Part of a bank robbery that led to a guard and two Police Officers being killed. Drug dealers. President clinton commuted the sentence of a central player in a cocaine ring that stretched from california to minnesota. Criminal leaker. Youve heard the word leaker . President obama commuted the sentence of chelsea manning, who leaked countless classified documents to wikileaks, perhaps and others. But horrible, horrible thing that he did, commuted the sentence. And perhaps pardoned. President obama commuted the sentence of oscar lopez rivera, who was charged as part of a violent Independence Group from puerto rico, responsible for 28 chicago area bombings and many deaths in the 1970s and 1980s. Sheriff joe is a patriot. Sheriff joe loves our country. Sheriff joe protected our borders. And sheriff joe was very unfairly treated by the obama administration, especially right before an election, an election that he would have won. And he was elected many times. So i stand by my pardon of sheriff joe and i think the people of arizona, who really know him best, would agree with me. Thank you very much. Mr. President , id like to claim that you did all the research, but im afraid i have to confess, the question was fairly obvious. President niinisto, im sure President Trump briefed you or youre aware of his plan on afghanistan, that relies on its core at bringing the taliban to the table for negotiations. Given the history and ideology of the taliban, do you ever believe that they would honor any kind of an agreement that was ever made or would they, when the United States and finland and other countries leave afghanistan, renege on that deal . Yes. First of all, i want to underline that finland has been involved from the very beginning, to all the attempts to solve the situation in afghanistan. We have troops there. We have also Financial Aid going on all the time. We have to try. We have to try, in all possible ways, to solve the situation in afghanistan. It has been ongoing, quite a long time, for decades. But to solve it by negotiations, surely you have to have full respect to the one you negotiate with, and also full belief that what is negotiated is also fulfilled. These elements have to be all the time present when you discuss, whichever party in afghanistan. I know there might be a couple more questions. Do you want to take one more . Would you want to take one more . Go ahead. Pick. Go ahead. Please. Again . Youre gonna give her the same one . No. Shes not the same lady. [laughter] go ahead. They are sitting side by side. We have a lot of blonde women in finland. Mr. President trump, what kind of role do you see finland having in the u. S. Russia relations . Do you think finland can be of assistance . I hope we do have good relations with russia. I think its a good thing if we have great relationships or at least Good Relationships. Thats very important. And i believe some day that will happen. Its a big country. Its a nuclear country. Its a country that we should get along with, and i think we eventually will get along with russia. Finland has been respected by russia. Finland has been free of russia, one of the few countries that have been for 100 years. And russia has a lot of respect for finland, so thats always good. I think finland is doing fine with russia. And i hope that the United States will someday be able to have a very Good Relationship with russia also. I think thats very good for world peace and for other things. Thank you. As a followup, if finlands relationship with russia were to deteriorate, would the u. S. What kind of assistance would the u. S. Be willing to give to finland bilaterally if we need it . As i said before, our relationship with finland is a very close one. And were always ready to help finland. One of the things that is happening is youre purchasing large amounts of our great f18 aircraft from boeing. And its one of the great fighter jets. And youre purchasing lots of other military equipment. And i think purchasing very wisely. I know all of the military equipment and i actually agree with everything you purchased. We talked about it before. I think finland is really a respected country militarily. Its got large armed forces for its size as a country. Really proportionally probably one of the biggest in the world, if you think of it. But theyre very respected militarily. And theyre respected beyond militarily. So hopefully it will never come to that. Thank you. And president niinisto. President niinisto, did you discuss russia, and did you offer any assistance to the u. S. With their relationship with russia . Well, we, like i said earlier on, we did discuss about russia. But actually i dont feel myself or finland being any advisor to anybody. But we try to do our best. And hopefully we get also results from that. I want to remind you that, in nato meeting a year ago approximately, it was stated by all nato countries that with russia, you have to be a deterrent. You have to exercise dialogue too. These two elements have to be there. Go ahead. Thank you, mr. President. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, do you believe that cutting femas budget is the right thing to do . No. I think that whats going to happen is the fema money is relatively small compared to the rebuilding money. So fema, right now, we have the money necessary for texas and louisiana, if we need. But the real number, which will be many billions of dollars, will go through congress. I think it will happen very quickly. It will go very fast. And i want to congratulate you on the network. Its a great network. Thank you. If i may follow up on one other question from earlier. Yes. The southern border wall, is your plan still to have mexico pay for the wall . Yes. One way or the other, mexico is going to pay through the wall. It may be through reimbursement, but one way or the other, mexican will pay for the wall. Were right now negotiating, nafta. Mexico has been very difficult. Its one of the great deals of all time for them, one of the worst trade deals ever signed. I guarantee you, mr. President , finland would never have signed nafta with russia or whoever. This is not a deal you would want to sign. This is not a deal that finland would know about. [laughter] nafta is one of the worst trade deals ever signed at any time, anywhere in the world. I can understand why mexico is being difficult, because why wouldnt they be . Theyve had it their way. No. Mexico will pay for the wall. It may be through reimbursement. We need the wall very badly. Mexico has a tremendous crime problem, tremendous. One of the number two or three in the world. And thats another reason we need it. And the just to add on, tremendous drugs are pouring into the United States, at levels that nobodys ever seen before. This happened over the last three to four years in particular. The wall will stop much of the drugs from pouring into this country and poisoning our youth. So we need the wall. Its imperative. We may fund it through the United States, but ultimately mexico will pay for the wall. Sure. If i may follow up, on tuesday you said if we have to close down our government, we are building that wall. Well, i hope thats not necessary i i hope thats not necessary. If its necessary, well have to see. But i hope its not necessary. The wall is needed from the standpoint of security. The wall is needed from the standpoint of drug, tremendous the drug scourge, whats coming through that area, through the areas that were talking about. As you know, i have general kelly here. We stopped traffic coming through, 78 . Its gonna be, i think, 81 this quarter, which is a record. In other administrations, if they stopped it just a little bit, like 1 or 2 or 3 , they consider that a great thing. Were up to almost 80 . Well soon be over 80 . But you need the wall to do the rest. And you need the wall for the drugs. The drugs are a tremendous problem. The wall will greatly help with the drug problem. And ultimately, thats a good thing for mexico also. We have a very Good Relationship with mexico. But i will say that dealing with them, ive always said ive talked about nafta. You heard me many times. Ive said that we will either terminate it or renegotiate it. Were in the process of renegotiating right now, renegotiating the deal. I believe that you will probably have to at least start the termination process before a fair deal can be arrived at, because its been a onesided deal. This includes canada, by the way. Great respect for canada, great love for canada. But its been a onesided deal for canada and for mexico. And the United States workers, all of these incredible people who have lost their jobs because of nafta, theyre not going to be suffering any longer. Its been unfair for too long. So we will build the wall. And we will stop a lot of things, including the drugs pouring in at levels like nobodys ever seen. Well be able to stop them once the wall is up. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. [indiscriminate conversation] the white house announced their johnson will talk about the troubled advisory, his organization has issued for African Americans traveling to missouri, events in charlottesville, and protests resulting from the removal of confederate statues. We have his remarks from the National Press club at 1 00 eastern here on cspan. Washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Morning, talking about President Trumps plan to visit to texas and how previous president s have handled natural disasters. Join the discussion. This might be the yummy government class you ever take. If you will be a voter forever. A juror forever. I need to give you tools that will help you the rest of your life, teachers discuss how Current Events affect their lessons on history, politics, and government. As a history component this is a chance for them to learn about their story. Their story starts with people who have come long before then who have shaped the way the world around them operates. If they start to realize this does not just start with me but what i contribute, where i am coming from, that is part of the bigger story. Allowing them to take other peoples opinions, take in the perspective of others through social media, video, it gives them a chance to be really able to think this is how i see the world but why, how can i expand that by taking in other peoples perspectives . Tonight listen using the free radio app hearing on efforts to combat the illicit art and in cookies antiquities trade. Before a House Financial Services subcommittee testifying on ways terrorist groups like isis have used antiquities and arts sales to fund their operations. This is an hour and 10 minutes