Senate Intelligence Committees investigation into russian interference in last years election, and federal hurricane response in puerto rico and the virgin islands. The briefing ran about half an hour. Sarah good afternoon. Still working on that, i see. Well get better. Yesterday three u. S. Service members and one partner nation member were killed while providing assistance to counterterror operations. As many of you are aware, u. S. Forces are in the country to provide training and Security Assistance to the local armed forces. In their efforts to counter violent extremist organizations. Additionally, two u. S. Service members were injured and evacuated in stable condition to germany. Names are being with held at this time as part of the next of kin notification process. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the Fallen Service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the freedoms we hold so deer. Dear. The president also visited las vegas yesterday to offer his support to the incredible people there. He met with Law Enforcement, First Responders, the medical trauma teams, all of whom did incredible work under dire circumstances. And visited with survivors and their families. The president was deeply touched by the spirit of the people in las vegas. In one particularly stirring moment at the hospital the president met 28yearold Thomas Gunderson who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the leg. After being shot, thomas drug himself behind a rofe bleachers and began worrying that he may bleed out. But two young women rushed to his side, one tied a belt around his leg to stop the bleeding and others rallied a group of men to carry him to safety. He suffered a torn muscle in his calf, making it difficult to stand. But when the president and the first lady walked into his room at the hospital, he endured the pain and rose to his feet. When asked why did he it, thomas said, i will never lie down when the president of this great country comes to shake my hand. The las vegas strong hashtag that has swept across social media in recent days could not be more fitting. Looking ahead to tomorrow, the Vice President will be traveling to florida, the u. S. Virgin islands and puerto rico. He will meet with survivor, local officials and First Responders and personally assess the massive recovery efforts. The federal government continues to provide muchneeded personnel and supplies to puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands. Puerto ricos governor recently said, and i quote, the president and the administration, every time weve asked hem to execute, theyve executed quickly. That has been and will continue to be our goal. This unprecedented relief effort should make it very clear, we will not rest or stop until all of our people are safe, secure and set on a clear path toward building the very Bright Future they deserve. And with that i will take your questions. Jill. Reporter two questions for you. I want to start off with [inaudible] does the president support legislation that would ban or regulate [inaudible] sarah right now, our focus has been on healing and uniting the country. The investigation still continues to be in very early stages. We know that both members of both parties and multiple organizations are planning to take a look at bump stocks and related devices. We welcome that and would like to be part of that conversation and wed like to see a clear understanding of the facts and wed like to see input from the victims families, from Law Enforcement from policymakers. And were expecting hearings and other important factfinding efforts on that. And we want to be part of that discussion and were certainly open to that moving forward. Reporter [inaudible] what the president s thinking . Sarah we want to be part of that conversation as it takes place in the coming days and weeks. Reporter [inaudible] asked about daca today. Obviously the october 5 deadline. Is there any thinking right now about potentially extending that deadline because so many people can submit a renewal form . Sarah ill keep you posted on any announcements on that front. Right now president s position has been that hes called on congress to come up with a permanent solution and a fix to this process. To have responsible immigration reform. Wed like to see that be a part of it. Reporter asking for cuts in immigration [inaudible] and the daca fix . Sarah were going to roll out the specific principles that wed like to see in that responsible immigration reform. Very soon. Probably in the very short future. And well let you know when we do that. You can see all the details on that day when its there. Reporter couple questions on puerto rico. The president said that the debt in puerto ricos going to be wiped out. Director mulvaney said he wasnt we shouldnt take the president word for word on that. Can you but the continue down from the podium, whether or not the president will take action or push for legislation to forgive any of the debt that puerto rico currently has . Sarah right now the primary focus is to provide relief to puerto rico and support in the rebuilding efforts. While were still dealing with is immediate disaster, it inappropriate to talk about the problems they were dealing with before the storm. Theres a process to deal with puerto ricos debt and it will have to go through that process to have a lasting recovery and growth. This is a process that was put in place and set up under obama and that has a board of advises that are deals with that debt and it will go through that process as it moves forward. Matthew. Sorry, im going try to jump around. Well come back. Reporter thanks. Im wondering if theres any concern in the white house that the president s frequent use of the term fake news to describe mainstream outlets mudies the water a little bit and makes it harder for citizens to identify the actual fake news that the intelligence agencies have said countries like russia use to interfere in the last election . Sarah i think that the president has a great frustration with the fact that a lot of times you have inaccurate information thats being presented as factual. A lot of times you have opinions that are being presented as news and theyre not. I think that that is a real concern and something that certainly should be looked at. Reporter is there a distinction between erroneous reports or reporting that he finds offensive and the type of fake news that we saw pushed during the election by russian intelligence . Does he see the distidges there . Sarah we see a problem with any stories that are inaccurate or untruthful being presented to the American People as facts. Reporter can you give us a readout on [inaudible] sarah the president routinely meets with senators and house members and this wasnt anything beyond that. They talked about a number of issues. Obviously senator cotton has been somebody the president has worked with regularly, since taking office. Were going to continue to do that. If we have further information well let you know. Reporter [inaudible] sarah i think both of those topics were discussed. Reporter beyond bump stocks, does the president have as open attitude about other measures of gun control that have long been debated or is the White House Open in willing to be a part of that conversation, is it limited to one on bump stocks . Soipt president s a strong supporter of the sarah the president s a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. That hasnt changed. This is a president who want to look at wants to look at i think at this point in the process, i think we all need to take a step back. We had one of the most horrific tragedy thats ever taken place on u. S. Soil and before we can run out and Start Talking about the preventions for Something Like that to happen again, which we all certainly want to do, we have to determine what caused it. We havent got than far down the road. Thats something that Law Enforcement agencies are all collaboratively working day in, day out to do. We want to help support that effort in any way possible. And, again, i think that this administrations position is extremely clear. We would look at taking any step we could to prevent Something Like this from happening again. Reporter just to be accurate on that. Bump stocks is what youre open to having a conversation about. And thats it for the moment. Sarah thats something were certainly open to having that conversation. At this point, again, i dont think that we want to go out and start having and making rash decisions while were still in an open investigation. Wed like to get more facts about what we can do. Not just in this case, but this is a president whos very committed to doing every single thing he can every single day to protect american lives. Whether thats securing the border, whether thats defeating isis. Whether thats containing north korea. And whether thats looking at legislation legislative fixes that may be necessary to help protect american lives. Thats something that the president and the administration are committed to doing and looking at and being part of that conversation every single day moving forward. Reporter a lot of people talk about the bump stocks. Im going to talk about something else. Thats the Iran Nuclear Deal. October 15 deadline coming up. I want to make it clear for the people that dont know, its a little more complicated because theres also the review act that congress enacted last year. So im just curious, given that the president has previously said this deal was an embarrassment, does it make sense then to presume that he will not choose to recertify or might he decide to strengthen sanctions and sort of stay in the deal that way . Sarah the president has, as he said, made a decision on this and hell make that announcement at the appropriate time. The main focus that he has had has been a comprehensive strategy on how to deal with iran. That is what he wanted his team to put in place and i think you will see that announced in short order and that will be a comprehensive strategy with a unified team behind him supporting that effort. Reporter im imagining voices in the room on that. Even though it will move forward is one, theres been some debate. Is it fair to say that . Sarah the president s team has presented a united strategy that the National Security team all stands behind and sports. And the president will make that announcement soon. Reporter since the briefing began, the n. R. A. Has put out a statement as it relates to bump stocks, their position on bump stocks. They write that they believe that devices that allow semiautomatic rifles to function as fully automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulation. Does that change the administrations point of view . After all, the president has been a big supporter of the n. R. A. And the n. R. A. Has also been a big supporter of the president. Sarah as i said a few minutes ago, we welcome certainly that and a conversation on that. That hasnt changed. Its something were very open to and, again, we want to be part of the conversation on that moving forward. Reporter one on puerto rico and then one on taxes. Going back to puerto rico. You said that with the debt, that theres a process in place and that the process will play out. Does that mean the president s comments of just simply wiping away the debt is no longer on the table . Sarah the president wants that to go through that process and thats the stage we are in. Reporter and on taxes. Chuck schumer writes now or at least the schedule to have a news conchings about the state of local tax deductions. Being wiped off the books, how they should stay on the books. Theres currently one republican senator, seven republicans at least in the house who want that to stay as a part of the tax framework. The president talked about red lines. Is he up for negotiation on salt or is this something for him that is a red line . Sarah the president has laid out his priorities and the framework of what he wants to see in this tax relief package. I think one of the big things you have to look at is that most americans dont actually itemize deductions. 80 of the benefit goes to sixfigure tax filers. The fact is, is it it isnt fair and it doesnt make sense for working americans across the country to subsidize the very wealthy in a few states. The president s been clear about his position and were moving forward with the framework that weve laid out. Reporter a question on puerto rico. Yesterday the administration in its supplemental request asked for 13 billion to help storm victims. Will some of that go toward helping puerto rico rebuild its power grid . Which was in pretty dire straits before this storm . Sarah there was a large portion of that that will go to femas Disaster Relief fund. And that will be determined at the appropriate time, which parts of those will go to which efforts and so i direct to you fema on the specifics of what that would look like. Reporter why did the president tweet this morning that hed like to see the Senate Intelligence committee investigate news outlets and i guess this quest to go after fake news . Does he value the First Amendment as much as he values the Second Amendment . Sarah absolutely. The president is an incredible advocate of the First Amendment. But with the First Amendment you have hold on. I allowed you to finish. With the First Amendment, with those freedoms also come responsibilities. And you have a responsibility to tell the truth, to be accurate. I think right now when weve seen recent information that says that only 5 of Media Coverage has been positive about this president that administration, while at the same time you have the stock market and Economic Confidence at an alltime high, isis is on the run, unemployments at the lowest its been in 17 years. Weve cut regulations at a historic pace. Were fixing the v. A. For our vets. Youve only found 5 of your time to focus on some of those big issues and frankly those are the issues most Americans Care about. Not a lot of the things that you cover, not a lot of the petty palace intrigue you spend your time on. I think we need to move toward a certainly more fair, more accurate and, frankly, a more responsible news media for the American People. Reporter if i could follow up on that. Sarah im going to try to get to everybody. Like i told your colleague, if i have time. Reporter should Congress Investigate reporter a few questions. One, is Governor Brown in california, just signed a sanctuary state statute. And interested in what efforts the administration will make to block the move. And whether this signifies that the administrations efforts to crack down on sanctuary jurisdictions has failed, given that california has more than 12 of the nations population and it will now be an entire state under the sanctuary designation . Sarah look, we are spending every day we can trying to find the best way forward. The president will be laying out his responsible immigration plan over the next week. Will hope that california push back on their governors, i think, irresponsible decision moving forward. Reporter my second question was a follow up to sarah hold on. Im going to try to get to everybody today. Reporter was the president upset that his secretary of state didnt deny calling him a moron in his public remarks yesterday . Sarah as the secretary of state said, this is a petty, ridiculous accusation and frankly i think its beneath the secretary of state to weigh in on every rumor out there. His spokesperson however did come out and clarified that the secretary of state has never used those words. Reporter whats the the president saying he has undercut the secretary of state. Sarah i think the premise of that question is ridiculous. The president cant undercut his own cabinet. The president is the leader of the cabinet. He sets the tone. He sets the agenda. And i think that question makes no sense because of that. Reporter thank you, sarah. Two questions, first, let me follow up on kevins question earlier about the iran agreement. We know that certified does not mean a complete cut. And it would still keep the u. S. In the negotiating procedure. On the other hand, a clean break such as advocated by former ambassador john bolton would completely separate the u. S. From any agreement with iran. Ambassador bolten opposed that, reportedly has been unable to talk to the president about it. Is the clean break advocated by him still on the table . Sarah as i told kevin, the president is going make an announcement about the decision that hes made on a comprehensive strategy that his team supports and well do that in the coming days. Im not going to get ahead of that announcement. John, im going to try to get to everybody. Reporter i asked two. Sarah i know, everybody has two. [laughter] if thats the case that were setting, somebody can say, i have 12 questions on the front end and i never get to go to anybody else. Ill come back to you if i can reporter we know that secretary price was essentially let go for his private jet trail and travel and we know that, i think in close proximity to his firing secretary perry took a private jet. E know that kelly anne conaway. At the same time the president has now spent i think 17 weekends at taxpayer ex pents for the flights ear expense or flights in air force one. Heres the question. Is he not setting the tone that tells his cabinet members that this kind of misuse of taxpayer money or overuse, if will you, is ok . Sarah ill start with north carolina. My understand something that for political event, that that will be reimbursed for any political travel. The president reporter the [inaudible] sarah id have to check on that. The president is in a different position. Hes not allowed to travel in a different way other than in a secure airplane, as air force one. Reporter he could stay here and work. Sarah he hasnt been there every weekend and every weekend that hes traveling, no matter where he is, hes working. Hes hosted foreign leaders on several of those trips which have led to great accomplishments. Theyve led to putting further pressure, unprecedented pressure on north korea in large part because of the Relationship Development thats taken place at some of those weekends that youre attacking for. This is a president that is committed to helping move his agenda forward and certainly i think that those webbeds have been very successful in doing weekends have been very successful in doing that. Reporter i wont ask about the president s tweet this morning about the Senate Intelligence committee. Is he frustrated with how long the investigation into alleged Russian Election interference is taking . Sarah i think more important thanly more importantly than the president being frustrated, i think the American People are frustrated. The Senate Intel Committee told us yesterday that after nearly nine months of investigation, thats included more than 250 hours, 4,000 pages of transcripts, 100,000 pages of documents, interviewing officials in the Intelligence Community who wrote the report on Russian Election meddling, interviewing relevant Obama Administration officials, and talking to every Trump Campaign official theyve requested. Its literally found zero evidence of collusion between the Trump Campaign and russia. I think that the American People would like them to focus on some other things. I know that we certainly have said this all along. And were glad that as they continue this process theyre coming to the same conclusion. Reporter on the vote last week, im wondering, the u. S. Commanders have regularly praised the peshmerga for their ability to fight isis. What message is the white house and the u. S. Government sending to them now by not backing them in their desire for independence . Sarah look, weve been clear and consistent on that. It hasnt changed and were not going weigh in any further than we already have. Reporter does President Trump believe the senate tense committee should investigate Intelligence Committee should investigate America Media organizations . Sarah i dont know that thats the case but i do think that we should call on all media to a higher standard and certainly i think i weighed in very clearly what our position is. When jim asked the question earlier. Reporter [inaudible] Intelligence Committee looking into the Fake News Networks in our country . Sarah you have a lot of responsibility. And a lot of times false narratives create a bad environment, certainly arent helpful to the American People, and you have a responsibility to provide and report fair and accurate details. When we dont, thats i think troubling for all of us. Reporter you said several times that the white house wants to be part of the conversation on bump stocks. The president will be talking about gun laws as time goes by. But you also suggested, i think, that the time to talk about that is after the investigation has gotten to another stage or wrapped up. If not now, when is it appropriate to start having a conversation about policy . Sarah i havent said that the investigation has to be fully complete before conversations can take place. But i think we have to be careful that before we go out and try to talk about things that prevented something, we need to know what caused it in the first place and were not there yet. Were still in that process. We certainly want to, again, look at every way that we can prevent anything even remotely close to this from ever happening again and we want to be part of that process and we hope to. Reporter one question just to clarify the white houses position on these bump fire stocks. This morning in a couple television interviews, kelly ann conaway suggested that the a. T. F. In 2010 made a decision that these bump stocks were firearms parts and not firearms themselves and couldnt be regulated under the existing law. Is it the white houses feeling that that was the wrong decision on the part of the a. T. F. . Sarah im not aware of kellyannes comments. Id vk to look at that before i weighed in and have all the information before me. I think the bigger point here, were open to having that conversation. We think that we should have that conversation and we want to be part of it moving forward. Reporter two las vegas questions. One, is the administration considering overriding the 2010 obama a. T. F. Ruling on gun stocks . Sarah i think thats something we should look at. Were very open to it and we want to have that conversation and move forward in the process. Reporter [inaudible] congresswoman from las vegas said she personally delivered a letter to a member of the white house staff yesterday inviting the president to meet with the Gun Violence Task force. Did the president see it . Is he going to say yes . Sarah im not sure if he saw the letter but i think we certainly would be open to having a meeting with a number of different organizations and people that would be involved in this process. Reporter do you know if he got the letter . Sarah id have to check before i commented. Reporter has the president had preliminary conversations with congressional lead bump stocks . And did he talk with any of the rescuers in las vegas about these devices . Sarah i know the conversation came up in the very early stages with some of the members that were traveling yesterday. But nothing definitive. Again, opening up that conversation. Like ive said, several times today, that discussion that we welcome and that we want to be part of. Reporter over the last couple of days the president has used the word fear, hate, cruelty. Youre having conversations on Different Things that [inaudible] what is the conversation when it comes to the issue of terror . Youve not talked about it yet. Youve not classified it as such. In talking to people from both sides of the aisle, theyre saying theres no one settled universal definition for terrorism. Weve seen Timothy Mcveigh with oklahoma city. Emanuel in ther charleston. I mean, under all circumstances that weve seen so far, people were intimidated, scared, ambushed, militarystyle, in a planned, thoughtout effort. Whether its political or not, they were terrorized. Is this administration willing to start having conversations about other things, was this terror, domestic terror . Sarah i think thats something for the Law Enforcement communities to define and identify. I think the bigger thing that this administration certainly has been focused on is the prevention. And looking at how we can stop things like this from ever happening again. I dont care how you label, it its something that should never take place in country. And this president is committed to looking for ways to prevent it. Reporter what about sarah sorry, im limiting everyone to one question today. Reporter what does this white house believe . The president went there, very controversial. Sarah actually it wasnt controversial. It was widely praised even by democratic governor. I think that it is sad that the mayor of san juan chose to make that a political statement instead of a time of focusing on the relief efforts. The president invited her to be part of that conversation. He specifically asked in the meeting, where many were present, including a couple dozen other mayors who were very happy with the recovery efforts, the governor, the congresswoman, he opened the floor up for discussion and she actually made zero comments. To me that would have been the time and the place that she should have weighed in and asked for what she needed and laid out what she was asking for san juan. She didnt. Instead she chose to wait until the president left and then criticized him on tv which i think is the wrong thing for her to do for her constituents and i hope next time shes give the opportunity to help her constituents shell take it. Reporter very clear that the president is open to the conversation about bump stocks and regulations on gun control. Does he want to leave that conversation or use the power of the president ial platform to push for more regulation on, for example, bump stocks . Law enforcement officials have said they were used in vegas. Sarah i think right now the position of the president has been to lead on the effort of uniting our country. Weve had a country in mourning and i think we saw what kind of leader this president wants to be by what he did yesterday. He went in, he met with the Law Enforcement officials, he met with the medical teams, he met with the survivors of that horrific tragedy. Obviously this president wants to be a leader. I think hes demonstrated that. I think hell continue to do that in this process. If you want me to get down into the wheed weeds on specific policy, i dont think were there yet. Right now we want to lead the effort on bringing our country together and offering comfort to those that have been hurt over the last several days. Sorry. This is the last one. Reporter some talk that some of the main facilitators of the Iran Nuclear Deal could are significant contenders for the Nobel Peace Prize. Is the white house aware of that . And do you have a thought on [inaudible] sarah im not sure about the Nobel Peace Prize process. Certainly not as it pertains to that. But weve been very clear what our position is on the deal. That hasnt changed just because some people may receive an award for it. Thanks so much, guys. Have a good day. Reporter you said no on Congress Investigating news outlet, right . [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2017] and a look at our primetime schedule on the cspan networks starting at 8 00 p. M. Eastern here on cspan. And a tweet from abc news about reaction from the House Speaker to the resignation of republican congressman tim murphy of pennsylvania. House Speaker Paul Ryan saying congressman murphy announced he would not seek reelection after a news report said he request added a woman with whom hed had an extra marital affair get an abortion. Hes a member of the house prolife caucus. Hes voted to impose more restrictions on Abortion Access and earlier this week voted in favor of legislation that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Cspans cities tour takes book tv and American History tv to south dakota with our cable partners. Well explore the rich history and literary life of the States Capital city. Saturday at noon eastern on book tv. Author Nathan Sanderson talks about pioneer cowboy ed lemen in his book, controlled recklessness. Tpwhreffs involved in the expansion of that cattle ranching industry primarily in western south dakota. Which was essential along with mining and the expansion of the railroad into the growth of our state in the early part of the 20th century. And director of the pioneer girl project, explores the memoirs and inspiration of laura engels wilder. The pioneer girl project is a research and Publishing Program of the Historical Society that is designed to study and publish a comprehensive addition of laura engels wilders pioneer girl. Which is her auto biography. On sunday at 2 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv, well tour the south dakota state capital. If you look up, there are also four corner areas with flags. Obviously the south dakota flag. There is a flag from daca territory, theres a flag for the united states, of course. There are also flags for spain and france because they controlled this territory at different times. And then each corner has one corner has a white flag. One a red flag. One black and one yellow. And those are the native american colors that symbolize the four directions of the compass. And hear about lewis and clarks encounter with members of the la codea sioux along the Missouri River and why that meeting was so important to the area. Watch this all saturday at noon eastern on cspan2s book tv and sunday at 2 00 p. M. On American History tv on cspan3. The cspan cities tour, working with our cable affiliates and visiting cities across the country. Earlier today, the House Foreign AffairsCommittee Held a hearing on muslim refugees who fled myanmar. According to reports about half a million people. U. S. State Department Officials testified on the u. S. Response. The hearing begins with graphic images that some viewers may find disturbing. The hearing is two hours. This hearing will come to order. Before my opening statement, without objection, id like to play a video, short video, from