Thank you guys for being good afternoon. Thank you guys for being patient with us. I brought a very special guest. I figured you might be ok if we were a little delayed. As you know the president hosted a very productive Cabinet Meeting this morning and made some news by announing the United States has designated north korea a state sponsor of terrorism and one of the goals of his recent trip was to pursue the denuclearization of the korean peninsula. There will impose increased sanctions and penalties on north korea that will continue our progress toward that goal. Additionally, it is a reminder that north korea has repeatedly supported International Acts of terrorism, including assassinations on foreign soil. The president s position is this. The north korean regime must be lawful. It must end its unlawful nuclear and ballistic program. We have secretary of state Rex Tillerson to answer some of yours questions on this topic. He will come up and make a couple of remarks and take questions on that topic and i will be back after that to answer other news of the day. With that, mr. Secretary. Secretary tillerson thank you, sarah. As sarah indicated, the president announced it in the Cabinet Meeting and it is just the latest step in a series of are of ongoing steps to increase pressure i call it the peaceful Pressure Campaign, the president calls it the maximum Pressure Campaign so there is no confusion they are one and the same, and this is to hold north korea accountable for the actions they have taken the last several months, the last year or so. Some of you will know north korea was designated as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1988 so they have been designated before. That designation was lifted in 2008 as part of an effort to andtiate with north korea end their nuclear program. That obviously failed because we can see where we are today. As a result of actions they have taken including assassinations outside of their country, using banned chemical weapons they are serious actions that put the public at risk, as well as a that, along with a number of other actions they have taken, has resulted in their designation now again as a state sponsor of terrorism. Said, the practical effect of it is, we are ready have many actions in place through the current sanctions. It may disrupt and dissuade some other parties from undertaking certain activities with north korea as it does impose prohibition on other activities that might not be covered by existing sanctions. I think importantly this is continuing to point out north koreas illicit, unlawful internationally, and we felt it necessary to reimpose the designation for that region. With that, i will take questions. I will let sarah referee because im no good at refereeing. Thank you, sir. Is this move an intent to incentivize kim jongun toward negotiation . It has been more than 60 days since we have seen some kind of test. Do you think that timetable is promising, and why wait until we are back in the u. S. . The president said there was hope for diplomacy in asia and this seems to be counter that. Secretary tillerson no, we still hope for diplomacy. The timing of this is just one of us concluding the process. There is a very specific designation process that we have to go through at the state department to be able to be meet the criteria to make summer a make such a designation. To make sure that we had fully met all those requirements. This is all part of continuing to turn the pressure up. We continue it turn the pressure up on north korea by getting other countries to join and take actions on their own. We have had other countries and our visit to vietnam, they have committed that they are going it curtail activities further with north korea. Malaysia has indicated a curtailment. Singapore has cut off all trade with north korea. The philippines have cut off all trade, and just recently, the deputy secretary of state has been in africa and had meetings with the Sudanese Government. The Sudanese Government have been traditionally buying military weapons from north korea and they have agreed to halt these purchases, as well. It is taking effect all of the world, and it as it takes effect this continues to tighten the pressure on the kim regime and all wan intentioni to with the attention to have him understand this is only going to get worse until you are ready to talk. Reporter the 60 days, and you dont think secretary tillerson we are that continues this quiet. It is our objective that he continues to be quiet as well. This designation is one that we are required to undertake from time to time and we have been monitoring the situation. We want to be sure we had sufficient evidence before making the designation. This is a process that started several months ago. Reporter thank you, secretary tillerson. Reporter thank you, secretary. You mentioned that you are increasing regional pressure. Do you have any indication that is working . And if you have not seen the indications just yet, how long do you go down the path before the administration changes strategy . Secretary tillerson we have a lot of anecdotal information that this is working and we have our own intelligence sources. What chinese and others share with us is that i think that the general belief is it is having a significant effect on north korea. We know that there are current shortages of fuel based upon what we can gather anecdotally, but also certain intel sources. We know enough that their revenues are down because the number of Revenue Streams are being curtailed now. I think it is having an effect. Is this the reason we havent had a provocative act in 60 days . I dont want to suggest to you i can say, but we hope this. Bank will continue. I think the president in his address in seoul, south korea to the General Assembly he laid out the case very well to them that he wanted them to have talks because he wants to deliver a different future to the people of north korea. Reporter thank you, mr. Secretary. I have a couple. Can you give us an example of a thirdparty transaction that is not covered that was not covered by existing you when sanctions . Sec. Tillerson there could be equipment that was not covered by sanctions that this would prohibit. I dont want to suggest that the designation is suddenly going to put a new layer of sanctions on them because, again, we already have north korea so heavily sanctioned in so many ways with the u. N. Resolutions that have been undertaken, but this will close a few additional loopholes off. Reporter you talked about the assassinations, perl. We know about the plural. We know about the assassination at the airport. Can you give us another example of another assassination on foreign soil . Sec. Tillerson i dont have anything that i can share with you specifically. Reporter sir, there seems to be more unilateral u. S. Sanctions on the way. Have you given up on getting [inaudible] china . Sec. Tillerson we have not given up. With china, we continue to talk with them. First to eventually sure they ensure they are fully committed to implementing the u. N. Sanctions and though assured us they are. The last round imposed a restriction on finished products. Fuels, petroleum, jet fuel, whatnot. We have suggested, you control that oil pipeline that feeds the refinery. You can do that unilaterally on your own if you want to increase the pressure. Whether they are doing that or not we dont know and it is very difficult for us to know whether they are taking actions to curtail all supplies to them. Reporter secretary, earlier today, President Trump said that the Treasury Department is going to be announcing additional sanctions tomorrow. A very large one the highest level of sanctions. Can you give us insight into that . Sec. Tillerson i would like to leave it to treasury to announce them. They are similar to sanctions we have taken in the past. We are just going more broadly to more entities. I would like to leave it to their announcement tomorrow, not jump the gun on it. D. C. Todays announcement as more symbolic, or as something that really does have a lot of teeth to it . Sec. Tillerson it is very symbolic on one hand because it just points out again what a rogue regime it is and how brutal and how little they care for the value of human life. So i think, in that in and of itself makes a strong statement, just the nature of this regime. As ive said, the practical effects may be limited but hopefully we are closing off a few loopholes with this. Reporter if china doesnt agree to cut off Oil Shipments with north korea, how could you create enough pressure on them . Sec. Tillerson their fuel supplies are already quite constrained. We have evidence that there are inl sort uses shortages north korea, obviously the civilians are the ones who cant get fuel so we see long lines of vehicles at petrol stations and certain petrol stations that appear to be out of fuel because they are closed when normally they would be open. So there are indications that fuel supplies are quite tight. As you know, they only refine a small amount of their fuel needs internally. They only have one refinery that operates, and it operates at a low capacity. They were heavily dependent on import of finished fuel products which have been constrained considerably with the u. N. Sanctions. Reporter do you need china to cut off those Oil Shipments . Sec. Tillerson i dont know if the cutting off of oil is the magic wand or Silver Bullet that will bring them to the table. What i would say is that the north koreans have demonstrated they have an enormous capacity to withstand a lot. They will make their people pay, but they have an enormous capacity to withstand a lot so i dont want to suggest we think that one action is all that it will take to get them to the table. Reporter thank you. Welcome. I want to pick up on olivias questions about the assassinations. How determinative was that in the specific evidence that you made the determiation and i also wanted to ask you, i think you and Ambassador Haley spent time with the president and could you tell us about that meeting and any substance that came of that . Sec. Tillerson on the assassinations, the assassination in malaysia was a significant event that caused us to begin to look carefully at what else they might have been doing. As you know, that assassination involved the use of a chemical agent, a very dangerous agent in a public place. So that really got our attention. One of the things we wanted to ensure is that we had a sufficient certainty around their role in that particular assassination, so we have been working with malaysian authorities, as well, and been in conversation with them. Wanted to let them have their own process play out as well. Sec. Tillerson we were both in the Cabinet Meeting today. Without getting too much into it, i know to suggestions from the north korean media about violent threats. Was that a determining factor at all . Sec. Tillerson know. , you talk about assassination using chemical agents. Russia has been accused in london. Should they be considered . Sec. Tillerson i think we have to consider every country that would take a substance like that and use it illegally. I dont want to comment on that. Mr. Secretary, a quick question. How do you balance the impact of sanctions . We talk about the people of north korea paying the price. Is this something you are considering when you talk about sanctions towards the regime of kim jongun . Sec. Tillerson it is always a difficult choice you make in terms of who will bear the burden here. The people of north korea already live under enormously difficult conditions, and i think what we are focused on is a mission that is going to change north koreas trajectory, their path. That is the best way we can help the north Korean People in the future, is to have kim jongun reverse his Nuclear Weapons program, allow us and the rest of the world to engage with them in activities that will provide a better life for his people. Do you believe the United States is running out of Diplomatic Options to respond to the diplomatic threat of north korea . Sec. Tillerson no, i dont. Time for one more question in the back. Thank you, mr. Secretary. He talked about the limited intelligence on north korea and the regime. Is there any evidence of any dissent in pyongyang at all or any reaction against the current government by other members of the kim family or other buttons to him opponents to him . Sec. Tillerson i want to be careful about how i answer that. What i would comment on is that you are well aware of a number of executions that have occurred within his inner circle. And within many of the military people that are close to him, so i will leave it to your own interpretation. Thank you, mr. Secretary. Sec. Tillerson thank you. Thank you very much. Hold on. We will get to some more questions. I know that there is obviously a lot of interest today. Thank you again, secretary of state coming in and answering questions. As many of you shift gears on some happier notes, a lot of you have started to notice the Christmas Season has officially arrived at the white house. This afternoon, the first lady and barron trump will receive a 19 foot Christmas Tree which will serve as the official Christmas Tree on display in the blue room. The tree will arrive via horsedrawn wagon and will be presented by jim and Diane Chapman and their son, david, in wisconsin. They were grand champion winners of the 2017 national Christmas Tree contest sponsored by the national Christmas Tree association. They have presented the official white house Christmas Tree since 1960 six. The grand champion brower winds the privilege of a trip to the white house. We are proud to have them here time. For the 52nd we have got some other holidays like thanksgiving coming up, and this will be our last press briefing before the thanksgiving holiday in this room, so i want to share a few things i am thankful for, and i think it would be nice for you guys to do so as well before asking your questions. Obviously, you probably know, and it is no secret, that i am clearly very thankful for all of you here in the room, and that goes without saying. I am very thankful for my family, my faith, and for the brave men and women of the military, many of whom are away from their families during the holiday, protecting the freedom that all of us in this room and across the country enjoy. Police,nkful for the the firemen, and First Responders that keep us safe here at home and thing for for the incredible privilege of serving this president and the american people, so this is how it is going to work today. Since i am here and i gets a call on you, if you want to ask a question, it is only fair, i am i shared what thankful for it that you share what you are thankful for. Anyone want to be first on what they are thankful for . April, i am going to go with you to start us off on what you are most thankful for. I am thankful for life, for my children, for 20 years in this job. I am thankful to be able to talk to you and question you every single day. Sec. Sanders i can feel the gratefulness. Now my question. I hope you felt the passion. So, the question is, since i did not get a chance to ask secretary tillerson, there is a black hole when it comes to intelligence for north korea. And he was talking about things getting worse until the talks. It is an thing up. What is the concern about the intelligence that we do not know about . What do we know as it relates to the Nuclear Capability of north korea and what are the concerns on the things we dont know . Sec. Sanders obviously, the biggest concern is making sure we take steps every single day to protect americans. That is what the action of the president , that he has taken today, and the Treasury Department will take tomorrow, putting maximum pressure on north korea to put a large focus on denuclearizing the korean peninsula. That has been the top priority, and that will continue to be our priority. We want to keep pushing to make sure we are taking steps to prevent them from getting any further into this process. I cannot go really deep into specifics on information like that, but certainly, again, the priority of the administration to protect americans and partner with our allies and friends around the globe to do that, and that is what you are seeing in some of the actions that took place today and tomorrow. Back and forth with twitter. Sec. Sanders keep moving. I know but does the president reject sec. Sanders im sure one of our colleagues this tweet. He changed flights sec. Sanders april, i am starting to regret calling on you. I am so thankful for all of us. [laughter] sec. Sanders but i dont want that to go away, so i am going to move on to one your colleagues. Francesca. I am very thankful for you calling on me. I will follow your lead and be thankful for service members. Dad is a police officer, so i am very thankful for the service. But i want to ask today about something that Kellyanne Conway said this morning on fox and friends about the alabama senate. She brought tax reform and tax cuts and said the democrat running in that race would not be a vote for tax cuts, and she did not directly endorsed the republican that is running, roy moore, however, it opened the door thanks to a question your not really discussed in here yet, which is whether the president would be supportive of a write in campaign of someone like luther strange, who he supported in the primaries, or jeff sessions. Sec. Sanders i think we have addressed this. It quite a fewd times. The president feels it is up to the people of alabama to make that determination who their next senator will be. I have answered a number of questions on this topic. Our position has not changed over the weekend. It is certainly the same as it was when i answered those questions on thursday and friday. He said whether the president would support a write in campaign sec. Sanders the people making their decision on who the next will be. Thank you, sarah. I am thankful for my health, my family, my face. I live in the best country on the face of the earth. Sec. Sanders isnt this nice . I am thankful you address us every day here in the briefing room. My question is also about the grace in alabama. This is an unusual question. Normally, we would not ask you a question about the republican nominee, running for statewide office, and whether or not the president is supportive of the republican nominee. My question is just that. Would you be pleased if more and ins his roy moore w senate race . Sec. Sanders obviously, the president of people both in the house and the senate that support his agenda, but as i it prohibitsd as me from going forward, we think that this is something that the people of alabama should decide. I am a going to be able to weigh in anything further on this comments. Thank you, sarah. I am thankful for my wife, who is pregnant with our soontobe child. I am thankful for my family, my parents. Sec. Sanders good luck. It only gets harder. Mei am thing fall they sent to the university of michigan and not ohio state. Go blue. I will get that out there. My question is on taxes as well. The president seemed to suggest today that Democratic Health is all but gone for. Do you still think you can get democrats on board . Sec. Sanders we would certainly still like to. Frankly i dont know why , democrats would not like to support tax cuts for the middle class. As we have said many times before, it seems like something they should be running to cast their vote for, and we certainly welcome their support if they want to get on board and help that effort. I am thankful for the First Amendment. Sec. Sanders i think we all are. Kellyanne conway today, she was here on the north lawn and she would appear on the north lawn she warned alabama voters not to be fooled by doug jones. So is that the position by this white house . Voters are better off voting for someone accused of assaulting teenage girls than a democrat . Sec. Sanders look, as i have answered, i think even for the third or fourth time just today as well as 10 or 15 times thursday and last friday of last week the position has not , changed for the white house. We feel like the people of alabama should make the decision on who their next senator should be. I am giving you the answer, the position of the white house. Jim. I am am thankful for my daughter and my family, and i went to ohio state university. As opposed to michigan. But my question is, does the president really regret intervening in the case of the ucla basketball players and what , message does that send to other u. S. Citizens who may be held captive by a Foreign Government . Sec. Sanders look, the president was certainly very glad to see the release of the three ucla athletes by the Chinese Government and frankly, it is very fortunate that the president has built a Strong Enough relationship with president xi that he was able to help secure the release of the american citizens. Whenever the president is able to use his office and those relationships to help american citizens held overseas, he is certainly going to do that. And again certainly, the , president was happy to intervene, and i think, he has made that clear by taking that action upon himself to do that without being asked and certainly, something he has done something several times in these brief, short 10 months he has been in office, where he has secured the release of several american citizens and brought them home. Sarah i am thankful for , surviving our 12 days in asia. [laughter] happy to be back here. The president has not made a weekly radio broadcast for more than one month now and so have they been scrapped by this administration end of so, why . Sec. Sanders we received quite a few comments and feedback that the weekly address was not being used to its fullest potential so we are looking for different ways to revamp that and make it work beneficial and get more information out. We will keep you posted. There will certainly be a thanksgiving message. Im not sure on the specifics. I will be happy to follow up. Sarah i have a really quick , question, and then i want to ask about welfare reform. Has the president talk to roy moore since november 9, when the accusations came out . Sec. Sanders im not aware of any conversations. And then today the president , said welfare reform is desperately needed comment needs needed. It needs to be reformed. What exactly is he talking about . Is about food stamps medicaid, . Sec. Sanders it is no secret the president has talked about this and his campaign and something that when we have specifics we will certainly announce when we roll it out. I do not anticipated happening of the next couple weeks. Were focused on tax reform and making sure we get that done by the end of the year but this is , something the president has a great deal of interest in, and i think you can count on next year seeing more specifics and details coming out. You mentioned, on friday, the president released potential number one, if you elaborate sec. Sanders you did break the rule. He did not say what your thing for four. [laughter] can you explain to me why the president thought it necessary to in the campaign. And could you address concerns about the diversity of some of the president s usual picks, across the federal judiciary and , talk about how the white house values or does not value diversity among the judiciary. Sec. Sanders we certainly value diversity, not just in judiciary but across the administration ,. We always look for more ways to grow that, improve that. But in terms of the release on friday, the president had not added any new names in nearly a year and felt like it was a good time to do that. Theres nothing more to read into it other than expanding the list should there ever be a potential vacancy for us to fail. To fill. Administration lagged when it came to diversity. Could you just why that is the case . Could you address why that is the case . Sec. Sanders i would have to look into that for the specifics. Margaret . I am thankful for the First Amendment and for the sec. Second. Sanders i think it is good preparation for everybody for thursday for your family so that you guys will already have thought through what youre thankful for so you will be the most prepared. Exactly. [laughter] can you say whether the president or the white house actively encouraged the Justice Department to move forward with the suit against at t time warner . Sec. Sanders now im not aware , no im not aware of any , specific action taken by the white house. Do you have any statement about that . Sec. Sanders not at this time. My gratitude. I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to fill in for our chief, john roberts, and im grateful we only have one month left in the oven. I have got a lot to learn. My question is back to the ucla basketball players. President trump, over the weekend, he called them ungrateful. And i am just curious because the players have already apologized in their briefing last week. So what more would President Trump like to see from them . What would satisfy him . Sec. Sanders look i think the , president , like i said, was happy to intervene. I think it was less about the players than the father of one of the americans having a problem with it. Frankly, it seemed the father did not want the president to intervene, which i think would have been a sad thing if he had not, most likely. Did he really believe we should have let the players in jail . Sec. Sanders i think if that was the case, he would not of taken the action he did. He acted to get those individuals released and brought back to the country. Matthew. Following on that if that is , not how he feels, then why did he say he shouldve let them in left them in jail . What are we supposed to take from that . Sec. Sanders look, the president it was a rhetorical response to the criticism by the father. Again, i think the president was happy to see the release of these individuals and have them back in the United States. I will take one last question. John . Thank you, sarah. I am thankful for the position i have a mcauley to her my friends. I am thankful for my father, 90s years old and going strong, and to my wife, my heroine, thankful to her for saying yes on the fourth request. [laughter] my question is about zimbabwe. [laughter] sec. Sanders that is the best tidbit i have ever seen. [laughter] will the new administration recognize the new regime being led by the general in zimbabwe, and will there be any interaction with the new aboutment, specifically their cutting back on the influence of china and north korea . Sec. Sanders i do not have any announcements on our relationship was zimbabwe at willtime, but i certainly keep you posted. Again, i want to wish everybody a happy thanksgiving, and thank you for participating in this very fun exercise. We will be around today and tomorrow. Thank you. [chatter] the Consumer Advocate Organization recently found high blood levels in some cities banners. U. S. Public Education Fund releases their annual report on toy safety this morning. Watch live coverage at 9 30 a. M. Eastern on cspan two. Then, a look at argentinas changing Political Landscape and some of the reforms proposed by the president after the recent midterm elections. Live coverage from the Hudson Institute starts at noon eastern also on cspan two. Tonight, former Vice President joe biden and Ohio Governor john kasich talk about bipartisanship in the trump zero. That starts at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. Next, a look at a new government report on u. S. Retirement Savings Rates from washington journal. This is 30 minutes. It is time for our weekly money segment and this week, we take a look at a new report on how americans are doing in saving for retirement from the Government Accountability office. The person behind this report, charles jeszeck, joins us now. Good morning