We know who we are, and so its trying we are in a tough spot as democrats. We really are as progressives. You can watch the rest of this discussion to live on cspan dot according to. Thrive the white house for a press briefing with sarah huckabee. Today at 5 45 p. M. , the white house will hold a background briefing for the iran strategy. At 12 45 tomorrow, the president will deliver remarks announcing the strategy to the country. Further details on both of those events will be forthcoming. Until then, i know you guys have lots of questions. And although i really enjoy answering them every single day, especially your more serious policy focused questions that we tend to ask in here, i thought it would be nice since were at the white house and we had the option of calling in the marines, that today we might call in one of our favorites, general kelly. So with that, im going to turn it over to the chief of staff and let him make some opening comments and answer your questions today. And after he concludes, of course, our team will be around later this afternoon to answer any further questions. Thanks, guys. Questions. Thanks, guys. Good afternoon. Great to be here. Couple comments i guess. Then open it up for q a. I would have to tell you that coming into the job as chief of staff, i had decided to not do too much with the press until i got my feet on the ground and figured out what base i was on on any given day. Prior to this when i was at dhs and certainly as a marine general officer interacted with the press a great deal. Coming into this job i really needed to get to know the lay of the land. I have done i think three off the records. The first one of which was of course violated, but thank you for all of you that didnt violate the trust from that from those off the record periods. I would just offer to you that although i read it all the time pretty consistently, im not quitting today. I dont believe and i just talked to the president , i dont think im being fired today. And im not so frustrated in this job that im thinking of leaving. I will tell you this is the hardest job ive ever had. This is in my view the most important job i ever had. I would offer, though, it is not the best job i ever had. The best job i ever had as ive said many times is when i was an enlisted marine sergeant infant infantryman. That was the best job i ever had. Unless things change, im not quitting. Im not getting fired. And i dont think ill fire anyone tomorrow. So with that, john. If i could, you said youre not so frustrated that youre thinking of leaving, but are you frustrated . No, im not frustrated. This is really, really hard work running the United States of america. I dont run it. But im working for someone who is dedicated to serving the country in the way that hes talked about for a number of years. There are incredible challenges, economic challenges, health care challenges, all of that, obviously International Challenges that have to be dealt with. I dont mean any criticism to mr. Trumps predecessors, but there was an awful lot of things that were in my view kicked down the road that came have come home to roost pretty much right now that have to be dealt with. This is hard, hard work, john. My only frustration, with all due respect to everyone in the room, is when i come to work in the morning and read about things i allegedly said or things that mr. Trump allegedly said or people who were going to be fired or whatever or think and its just not true. Thats my frustration. I mean no disrespect to you all. I dont know all the names. Thank you for coming out here today. We hope to see you more often. Lets go to one of the hard things that is facing you right now. The situation in puerto rico. Since youre here to speak for the president , lets talk about his tweet this morning. Does President Trump believe that the people of puerto rico are american citizens . Yes. Who deserve the same access to federal aid as people who live in texas and florida . Yes. What is his tweet about then . What tweet . The tweet where he says we cant be in puerto rico forever . I think he said the u. S. Military and fema cant be there forever, right . He did. First responders. The minute you go anywhere as a first responder, and this would apply certainly to the military, you are trying very hard, working very hard to work yourself out of a job. There will be a period in which we hope sooner rather than later to where the u. S. Military and fema generally speaking can withdraw because then the government and the people of puerto rico are recovering sufficiently to start the process of rebuilding. I just got off the phone. Ive talked to him many times with the governor of puerto rico. Great relationship. The president deals with him periodically. We saw him when we were down there last week. So this country, our country will stand with those american citizens in puerto rico until the job is done. But the tweet about fema and d. O. D. Is exactly accurate. Theyre not going to be there forever. The whole point is to start to work yourself out of a job and transition to the rebuilding process. Christian newspaper association, and in light of the president in support of pulling out of unesco, what is the president s response to the funding which is a u. N. Agency in a school inciting kids to violence and our tax dollars going into that. Do you have anything in light of them pulling out . Im not as familiar with that as i should be. I would just offer that the responsible way to look at any program, and certainly when i went to dhs and i did this in iraq and other places ive been, when were spending u. S. Taxpayer money, we should look at every program and decide whether it is being successful. If its not being successful, change it so it can be successful or sometimes say its not going to work. The follow up to that, the Prime Minister came out, the Prime Minister welcomed the withdrawal from unesko. I had met with the Prime Minister in may. He was very concerned. He made a statement in the Jerusalem Post not too long ago denouncing unra. Id have to get more familiar. Sorry. General kelly, thank you very much for coming out and doing this. You focused a lot on process and establishing processes here at the white house. Im wondering if you can explain is this the iron hand that i brought to the staff . No. But did you . Is that how you see it . No. You dont see that you have an iron hand . Put an organization to it. With a smile on my face. Although the cameras always catch me when im thinking hard and it looks like im frustrated and mad. What is your frustrated face . Back to the question, can you explain what the process was with this pakistan raid, what the president s involvement was. Pakistan raid . To release these americans, Kaitlyn Coleman and her family. The level of the president s involvement and awareness. I think we have roughly 20, in fact, with four of them, the three children of course being u. S. Citizens and the mother. Weve now reduced, im not making a joke here, but weve now reduced the number of hostages by almost a third. Thats not to take away from the unfortunate people that are still being held hostage. You know, our ill use the term partners in pakistan, weve been watching for the family. What can i say . Not making up a lie here. Im just staying within the classification. Let me just say the pakistanis great partners in this regard that they are and i dont think i think theres been a change, hopefully there will be a change in the cooperative relationship between the United States and pakistan, but the good news is the pakistani officials got custody of the american citizens, four american citizens, three children, one adult female, and then of course the husband was is a canadian citizen. Took them into custody. Held them for us. Not for us. Held them. We had arrangements to transport them back to the United States or to canada any way they wanted to go, medical treatment along the way. A lot of this would be psychological treatment. Theyve been essentially living in a hole for five years. Thats the kind of people were dealing with over there. Luckily, thank god, the pakistani officials have took them into custody, soto spe to from the forces of evil in that part of the world and theyre being cared for now as we speak. As a flag officer, a gentleman with knowledge of world affairs, certainly you know the quote from Prime Minister mcdonalds mila mcmi, what are the concerns that keep you awake at night in terms Global Affairs . The big ones naturally. The Nuclear Threat from north korea, a possible Nuclear Threat in time by the iranians. You know, probably the biggest concern, its not an immediate concern, if this continues in north korea, if eventually other countries, ill let it go at that, become nuclear powers, obviously we already have some out there, theres a real it will be a real emimpetus for a t of countries to buy or develop Nuclear Weapons. Ill tell you this in spite of what someone reported the other day about the president and i dont think hed mind my sharing this, what he said to me many, many times and to the group oftentimes, i hear him most say about Nuclear Weapons that wouldnt it be great if we could get rid of them all as opposed to needing ten times more. Even more than when he references the maintenance of Nuclear Weapons and modernization, that doesnt mean increase in numbers. I hear him say more talk more about wouldnt it be great, how could we get rid of Nuclear Weapons. So not a lot keeps me up at night. The good news is we have a great state department to go the diplomacy thing night and day as jim mattis and i many, many times have said when we were in uniform f uniform, if we dont fund the state department properly, buy us more bullets, so out there youve got the state department doing what it does every day and all the americans working those kind of issues, and the u. S. Military, the greatest military on the planet. We dont like to think in terms of military but thats an option. The great thing about our military is its a great deterrent around the world, whether Nuclear Deterrent or general deterrent. Just to get back to the thing that happened a couple of days ago, the president tweeted the problem with agreeing to a policy on immigration is that the democrats dont want secure borders. They dont care about safety for usa. Do you think thats a fair characterization . How i would put it is that there is an element with first of all, let me step back and say i believe that honest men and women can disagree on anything politically or otherwise. The one thing i draw a little bit of line to is on the security of the nation. There are certainly people in our country that have the opinion that open borders or near open borders are fine. People should be able to come and go. There are others, myself included, you can bet the president , but i think the majority of americans feel as though security on the borders is important. How you achieve that is a different story. I believe and i have a great relationship with the mexicans. We have great relationships with the mexicans on the border. They are in the counter drug fight with the United States. In fact, in my view, suffer more from the drug our drug demand, which we dont seem to address. Were trying to under the trump administration. But places like mexico, Central America suffer more from our drug demand and do more in many ways to stop that drug flow than we do in our own country. I was recently down in mexico before i took this job and saw mexican military risking their lives pulling out tens of thousands of poppy plants that are eventually turned into heroin and eventually consumed by americans. But we need to secure our borders and that includes the maritime. Our ports. We have unbelievably dedicated men and women, cdp, dhs that are doing that every day. We need to reinforce what theyre doing down on the border. We definitely need more wall or physical barrier. We have about 600 miles of that secured by physical barrier. The obsk the obscur fence act in 2006, you should check that out. We have a worse situation on our southern border, not condemning mexico here again, theyre great partners. But we have a worse situation in our borders ten years later, yet this is unbelievable resistance to securing our border. Again, some of that is physical barrier. All of that for sure is people, technology, things like that. We have to secure our borders. This includes as i say our ports. Boston, houston. Dont have nearly the issues on the northern border with canada. Great partnerships there. But the problem with our southern border is the drug flow and the illegal immigration flow rides on a network that right now comes up through into the western hemisphere a broad up through mexico, Central America, mexico and into the United States. Weve got to do something about it. You talk about frustrations. Since youre in a first row Vantage Point with the president , what are his frustrations right now and secondly, whats going to be upcoming is the fed chair position possibly here in the next few weeks or upcoming months. Where does that stand . How active of a how actively is the administration engaging that at this moment . One of his frustrations is you. All of you. Not all of you, but many of you. As i say, when i first started talking, again, im a reasonable guy, but when i read in the morning, i read the i wont tell you what i read, but when i watch tv in the morning, it is astounding to me how much is misreported. I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you are operating off of contacts, leaks, whatever you call them, but i would just offer to you the advice i would say, you know, maybe develop some better sources. Some person that works way down inside an office or well, just develop some better sources. The congress has been frustrating to him. Of course, our government is designed to be slow and it is. His sense i think as a man who was outside of washington arena, a businessman, much more of a man of action, his great i will say his great frustration is the process that he now finds himself because in his view the solutions are obvious. Whether its tax cuts, tax reform, health care, infrastructure programs, strengthening our military. To him these all seem like obvious things that need to be done to protect the American People. Bring jobs back. These are all the things that he sees as vital to protect the American People or to advance american economy, what not. And the process is so slow and so hard sometimes to deal with. So i think those two things. Where does everything stand with the fed right now . Are you days away . Weeks away . Some time away. Theres still ongoing interviews, but every candidate im trying to learn about things that have to do with what youre talking about, but all of the people that have been in to interview have been really first round draft choices and we have more to come. Very measured process. He has great, obviously, advisers to help make that decision. President trump are the people in the front row the most important people . No. { laughter } general kelly, thank you so much and thanks for being here today. President trump in recent days has got into a bit of a war of words with senator bob corker, the latest republican who hes had a public feud with. As his chief of staff, are you concerned that hes jeopardizing his agenda by feuding with members of his own party . Im not. Hes a straightforward guy, the president is is the one thing ive found he is. I have found him what am i . Nine weeks in the job. Willing to work with anyone to advance the agenda. The agenda being whats good for america. What protects america. Youve seen him reach out to these people on the other side of the aisle. I think not to get well, let me just say that when members of congress say things that are unfair or critical, the president has a right to defend himself. When i read about things that are what i would perceive to be unfair or critical, unnecessarily critical, i will call members of congress and just ask, you know, is there anything i can do to help you with that misconception you have or maybe explain to you why he did this or that. Oftentimes members of congress that i talk to will say jeez, i didnt realize it came out that way, im sorry, or no, i meant it. But it was kind of a grown up comment and so ill take that to the president to say but then theres others that are as the president would say grand standing. Im not saying senator corker is that way. Im just saying that some people grandstand and kind of enjoy the attention. Have you called bob corker . In the wake of this ive talked to bob corker. Do his tweets make your job more difficult, general kelly . No. I mean, the job of the chief of staff is to staff the president. Give him the best advice or go get the best advice i can give him. Help him consume advice. Help him work through the Decision Making process. An informed way. But thats my job. And thats what i do. Youve got it next. Ill go to you next. Does the president believe that the cuban government is directly responsible for these attacks on americans . And does the president plan on closing the u. S. Embassy in cuba and is the president aware of the visa crisis for whats the rule . How many questions can you ask . We believe that the cuban government could stop the attacks on our diplomats. Now you. While were waiting for the president to make a decision tomorrow about the iran nuclear deal, can you talk broadly about the strategy to counter iran terrorist activities and will you list the revolutionary. [inaudible] as a terrorist organization . I know that we have great partners in the persian gulf. Clearly we have a war being won every day in iraq. In the last nine months i never thought i would ever feel sorry for them, but theyre getting crushed every day. The cal la fate is gone. We see them trying to escape from iraq and it should cause europeans much concern. Back on your question about iran, the partners in the region were very close with, great relationships with. Were out there. We have footprints on the ground, naval and air forces there. To just demonstrate our resolve, our friendship, and try to deter anything that any country out there may do. So thats the approach were taking to iran right now. Clearly the president has hes deep in thought to say the least about way ahead in iran and once again, hes not the only one that thinks that maybe the deal that was struck under the Previous Administration is a deal that in the long term, even in the medium and long term, will protect america. Thank you, general. I wanted to ask you about the effort to repeal and replace obamacare. As we saw just a few moments ago, the president signed an executive order, an executive order that he says will bring more choices for americans, will lower premiums for americans as well. Its october the 12th. Hes been in office since january the 20th. Is there any particular reason why he didnt sign this executive order his first week in office . Whats taken him so long . And my other question, if i may, general, the other question is very important. Do you blame senator mcconnell, the leader of the senate, for the failure to repeal and replace obamacare . On the first question, i came in late to all of this, but the idea was, and it is a great question. All of what was in that executive order today, there was a sense that had the big bill passed, all of that would have been taken care of. So since the big bill didnt pass, and we probably wont have a Health Care Bill until, say, the spring, this was a way to take care of as Many Americans as he could legally with an executive order. As far as the second question goes, the congress is an extremely complicated its designed to be an extremely complicated, slowmoving part of our government. I have nothing but respect for members of congress and the staff that work so hard for them. The sometimes the its like talking to nancy pelosi once. Shes the leader, but boy, is it really hard to lead. Id say the same thing about the majority leader in the september. There are 100, whatever, 100 members of congress that look to their states, you know, have their own political baggage to deal with. Theyre not always reliable on every vote to vote the way that the president or Mitch Mcconnell wants to vote. One more. First of all, congratulations. On what . The new job. As far as u. S. And india relations are concerned, many tragedies have taken place here and Indian American community and india paid a tribute on 9 11 at the Georgetown University and also the Gandhi Center as far as the tragedy in las vegas is concerned. My question is the indian ambassador said the time has some to extend together against all these terrorism and here at the white house he told President Trump that india is with the u. S. Anytime, anywhere as far as intelligence. So where do we stand today as far as u. S. And india that face i had on was my listening intently face. The United States of america will stand with any country against terrorism. We stand with countries were not so friendly with. We stand with countries that were extremely friendly with, like india. This cancer of terrorism, as we crush it is moving in other directions to include the west and into western europe. But the northern part of africa is suffering terribly and it will grow there as it moves south in africa. Its moving out into its already in south asia. Very, very dangerous. I went to a very Good Conference at King Abdullah of jordan invited me to where he had all of the Southeast Asia countries represented. Particularly the big muslim countries to include the philippines. They have many muslims as you all know in the southern part of the country. The discussion was what do we do as this isis form of terrorism, cancerous goes in those parts of the world and those countries are very, very afraid of. That theyve had to deal with it locally but not, if you will, you know, a threat that will go into places that typically you dont normally see islamic terrorism thrive. So again, i would say that the United States will work with any country, does work with every country that is trying to get its arms around terrorism of all kinds. There are different types. Its not all religious based. But that would be my answer. Thanks a lot. Someone asked me thank you, general kelly. I have a question about a tweet thats a big part of his administration. Do they take you by surprise and are they officially statements . And on the war against north korea, what are the chance . Should the American People worry about a war . Thats two questions. Which one should i answer . Both. The American People should be concerned about a state that has developed a pretty good icbm capability and developing a pretty good nuclear reentry vehicle. I would believe, i think i speak for the administration, that that state simply cannot have the ability to reach the homeland and for that matter well, the homeland. Right now theres great concern about a lot of americans that live in guam. Right now we think the threat is manageable but over time it if it grows beyond where it is today, lets hope diplomacy works. As far as the tweets go, its funny, i read in the paper, you know you write t ive beit, iv failure at controlling the president or a failure at controlling his tweeting. I was not sent in or i was not brought to this job to control anything but the flow of information to our president so that he can make the best decisions. I have found that mr. Trump from the day i met him does not hes a decisive guy. Hes a very thoughtful man i should say. He takes information in from every avenue he can receive it. I restrict no one, by the way, from going in to see him, but when we go in to see him now, rather than ones and twos, we go in and help him collectively understand what he needs to understand to make these vital decisions. So again, i was not sent in to or brought in to control him and you should not measure my effectiveness as a chief of staff by what you think i should be doing. But simply the fact is i can guarantee to you that he is now presented with options, well thought out options. Those options are discussed in detail with his team. And then he comes up with the right decision. But its always, always, always focused on protecting america and advancing americas economic development. Jobs for america, safety for americans. And with that ill let you go and ill enjoy reading about it tomorrow. Thanks a lot, everyone. Hearing there from white house steve of staff during this briefing, general john kelly and shortly President Trump will be announcing general tellys deputy. Kirstjen nielsen has the next nominee for Homeland Security secretary. She works shes set to replace general kelly at the Homeland Security department. President trumps announcement scheduled for about ten minutes from now, 2 30 p. M. Eastern time. Well bring you back to the white house live here on cspan3 when it does begin. Before that, well take a look at some of todays washington journal. Back at our table, congressman david price, congressman, the iran nuclear deal, what are you expecting to hear from the president . Cnn reporting the announcement wh of what hes decided will come tomorrow. Im afraid i expect, because theres been a lot of news coverage, that he will decline to certify what Everybody Knows to be true. That is that iran has abided by the terms of the deal. Why do you say and what evidence do you have that iran has abided by the deal . Everybody that is to look at this, starting with the iea, all of our allies, theres no evidence whatsoever that iran has violated the nuclear deal because it hasnt violated the nuclear deal. What about some technical issues that have gone on . What have you heard about that . Well, there was a technical issue involving a slight exceeding of the limit with respect to arrive water. That would immediately corrected. The the inspections are daily. The inspections are intrusive. If we want to go, if the inspectors want to go to places that they suspect activities going on, the bar is very low to getting access to those places. The deal is working as intended. The question is, does the u. S. Live up to its obligations under the deal . Thats ironic that this country that we view as an international outlier, all of a sudden the roles are reversed and its the u. S. Thats breaking faith. Its the u. S. Thats not upholding its end of the bargain. Its the u. S. Thats breaking with our allies. Its the u. S. Thats making iran a more sympathetic country. Thats quite a feat and the president needs to really think hard. This is whats being predicted. I hope its not cast in stone. I hope the president will certify as he should, as every objective observer, inspector says that he should. According to a piece in the washingt Washington Post, President Trumps aids came to him and he put his team to work on other options, not the decision of to certify or not including a decertification option that would not involve congress and would not immediately break the deal. Under the expected announcement the president will declare the deal not in the u. S. National interest. What does that mean to you then . Well, it means hes trying to have it both ways. Im thankful that those more prudent observers or advisers are around him. There is this law in place, the iran agreement review act which does involve congress and it was first put in place to make sure that president obama stayed in line. Now it might have the effect with President Trump of bypassing the worst consequences of his decision. I hope so. I think its still a very, veriy decision. How does the law allow him to bypass decertification . Its his obligation to certify. As i side, there are all kinds of reasons he should certify. Its very, very risky not to do what the evidence suggests he should do. If he chooses to go against the evidence and decertify, then congress does have 60 days under this law to make the decision about whether to reimpose sanctions. And the president may advise that we not reimpose sanctions, but its a role of the dice. Its not one that a responsible commander in chief should make. If he were to advise to not reimpose sanctions, what does that mean for the Nuclear Agreement . Well, the agreement could in effect remain in place. In other words, none of our negotiating partners, and were talking here about china, russia as well as britain and france and germany, none of these partners agree with the decertification. They all think that President Trump should do what the facts dictate that he should do. If he goes the other way, theyre not going to go with him. Theyre not going to break the deal. Theyre not going to reimpose sanctions. And so that isolates us, but it also means that iran might have strong incentives to stay in the deal. To continue to obey the terms of the deal. And to essentially continue working with the other partners. That is what i believe the president s advisers hope and expect might occur. The president has said when he was campaigning that this he didnt think it was a good deal that the Obama Administration struck with iran and these other countries because they believe the deal should also include Human Rights Violations and the proxy wars that iran wages with hezbollah and yemen and other areas around the world. Is there Something Congress can do to pressure iran on those issues . Yes. And we have repeatedly. The deal was never about the nonnuclear issues. And the negotiators will tell you if they had brought those other issues in, and there is plenty of bad behavior on irans part to worry about, but if they had brought those other issues in, the Ballistic Missile testing, the hezbollah support and so on, then they would have had to give on the nuclear points. In other words, thats the way a negotiation works. You dont entirely get your way. So their decision, and i think it was the right decision, was to make the nuclear deal as tight as possible. To make it as stringent as possible. And to leave these other issues to deal with. There still is a whole raft of sanctions that apply to the nonnuclear violations. American businesses arent doing business with iran, believe me, because those other sanctions remain in place and those sanctions as you know are augmented a few weeks ago. There are many ways that we can deal with this bad behavior. Now and we need to do that. But that has nothing to do with the nuclear deal and that was very, very clear from the beginning. So the nuclear deal is as strong as it is because it was focused like a laser beam on nuclear behavior. Theres not a thing iran is doing that wouldnt be for more serious if they had a Nuclear Weapon or were moving rapidly toward one. Lets hear from billy whos in miami. Youre up first with the congressman. Go ahead. Yes, good morning. Id like to take this back even before that and im 67. And on sunday mornings i go to a coffee klatch and its mostly men of my age. The conversation were having is we remember how they paraded our Embassy Personnel out with blindfolds and they were in our embassy and they were going through papers and that. My question is, did iran not invade the United States by invading our embassy which is considered land owned by the United States . Or did a small portion of our country is in iran . We all agree almost nine to ten that they invaded our embassy, game over, we should have never given them their money back. That was the deal breaker in diplomacy. Thats why we have an embassy. We are so angry well, moderately angry that we gave them that money back. That should not even have been on the table. And the last thing i wanted to say is when you say laser beam, isnt that kind of blindfolded, you know, like you put on a horse so they can only see forward . They cant see whats going on around them . And ill take my comments off the line. Thank you so much for the discussion. Congressman . Sure. Well, the laser beam analogy i think is quite accurate. The Nuclear Negotiators wanted to deal with the Nuclear Threat. That was quite clear. You negotiate with your adversaries, not with your friends. So theres going to be some shortfalls from our point of view of any agreement we make. If that werent if we werent ready to accept that, wed never make any agreement. So i think the decision was correct to make this Nuclear Agreement as tight as it is. Its the most intrusive, the tightest agreement of this kind ever made anywhere. And you recount the history with iran. Yes, very, very negative history. A lot of memories that you bring back. And that makes it all the more remarkable that we were able to get this International Coalition together, which included kindch and russia, by the way. Its just a remarkable diplomatic achievement and we need to uphold it and not slide back. Now, the question about the frozen assets, these are these were frozen assets that iran did get back by virtue of abiding by the deal. But what happened to the front end was a basic dismantling of Irans Nuclear program. They didnt get a dime back until they had reduced their Nuclear Stockpile by 97 until they had dismantled their high end sen tri fujs. Until they poured concrete into the center of the iraq heavy water react or. Until they had done a whole series of things that basically took their Nuclear Capacity to a nonweapons grade and also admitted the inspectors, admitted the whole regime which would make sure it stayed that way. Only then were the assets returned. Those were iranian funds that had been frozen by virtue of earlier conflict. Melvin in georgia, a democrat. Yes. I have a question for your guest. My question is this. What effect will se certification have on the north korea negotiations . And keep in mind that the nourt koreans see what we did with kadaffi and with his program. And in the iranian election they could use another leader and look at the new agreement that the trump administration, if they were able to get a new agreement, say suppose we dont like the former agreement. Can the iranians come to the table and say you know what . We want to negotiate a definite agreement, different arrangement, different framework because we feel like the one that the Previous Administration got was a horrible agreement, the same where trump is expressing where our Za Administration got a horrible agreement with them. Got your points, melvin. Very good points. We talked earlier about why President Trump is taking a big risk if he refuses to certify or decertify this, because there is no material evidence of a breach and all the validate ors agree on that. Number two, breaking faith with our allies who are partners in this and then our caller brings up the third major point. Why would any country, including north korea, ever trust us again . Is this the way that we deal with our International Obligations and our International Agreements . Dont take my word for it. Let me read what former Prime Minister of isreal, former defense minister said yesterday about this korea problem. The lessons of a broken deal will not be lost on north koreas leader kim jongun. And im quoting. They will say it makes no sense negotiating with the americans. If they can pull out of a deal that has been signed unilaterally, if they can pull out unilaterally after a deal has been signed after a r relatively short time. Thats pretty Good Authority and its absolutely right. Thats a major consideration. We have one rogue nation involved in nuclear activity. And now this could produce a second one. Why on earth would we want to do that . Whatever kind of challenges were going to face 10, 15, 20 years down the road, we certainly have protection in the immediate term and its worth maintaining. It should be maintained. Moreover if we break this or violate the terms, then we really damage our ability i think to make an agreement with anybody else, including north korea. This has been covered. A discussion recently with david of the Washington Post and senator bob corker where the senator said he has been advising the president , this is a few weeks ago before the feud between the two of them, but that he had been advising the president that if you do not certify the iran deal, you are then making it look you are making iran sympathetic, because they have not violated any part of this deal. Thats my point too. Thats exactly right. What do you make of that advice coming from a republican on a deal drafted by president obama . I think its very good advice. I think its honest, straightforward advice. He essentially got the same advice from the republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee. Whats going on here . The president seems to need to discredit the works of his predecessor. He seems to need to say he could have made a better deal and so on. But the overwhelming advice from people like bob corker and from the president s own advisers has been do not put america in the situation of breaking our word, of being the one who violates this deal. Now, the president is looking i think to have it both ways perhaps. But he still has time. I hope that he will reconsider. The most straightforward, most honest, most honorable thing to do would be to certify what everybody agrees to be the case. That iran is not in violation of the agreement. Then we can get to work as we have already. We can get to work on the other issues of diplomacy in the middle east, with iran and other nations. But theres none of this that will be made easier if we are messing up the nuclear deal. The nuclear deal is absolutely basic. Kelly, lancaster, republican. I wanted to say a few things about i respect our president and i like the fact that he wants america to be strong, america to be feared, and i agree with that completely. I think that our government has forgotten that there are people here that pay their salaries and pay for an awful lot in the world. And i am supporting our president , President Trump, because he is looking out for us. And honestly, why do we have to be the good guy all the time . Everybody goes against us. Everybody turns their back. Everybody has their hand out. But they dont respect us. Kelly, im going to leave it at that point and have the congressman respond to that question. Why do we always have to be the good guy . Is it in our National Interest to become the international outlier . Look, this notion that engaging in diplomacy or engaging in anything i suppose other than warfare is somehow a sign of weakness. No. This iran deal is a major asset to our country. This iran deal, to have iran Nuclear Capacity, not just frozen, but degraded, that is a win for america. That is a win for america. This is an extraordinary agreement. Not perfect. No agreement could possibly be perfect. Because it is a negotiated agreement. But it is an extraordinarily strong agreement. We took the leadership in this. That looks like strength to me. To lead, not just brit aain, germany, france, but russia, china in that tough sanctions regime that brought iran to the table. And then to hammer out this strong deal. So the way to put america first, if thats the way you want to put it, is to continue to lead. And to lead honorably and to lead in ways that will have others follow. And that will have irans respect. I cant imagine any realistic analysis of american strength or American Interest that would say President Trump should abrogate this deal. Lets go to butler, indiana. Walter, youre on the air. Thank you for take my call. I do appreciate it. Mr. Price, i just heard you say we are concerned with how iran views the United States. My head is hurting just listening to this go on. Im sorry, and im exmilitamil and im not a war monger. But hear me out. I actually didnt say that, but i think iran needs to view the United States as tough and determined and honest. And then you also did say and also that iran you would think that it would be important that iran, if we stay in the deal, that that would build respect. Iran would respect us. But anyway, lets if i can just go to the major points here. If you have a country that signs an agreement with the United States and the day theyre signing it thousands of people are chanting with their leaders death to america. Remember that . Death to america. And then we give them hundreds and hundreds of Million Dollars back, what do you think theyre going to do with that money . Do you think theyre going to have a charity in the street . And the next question is, does the United States consider iran a state sponsor of terror . If you believe that they are a state sponsor of terror, if you hear and take their word solemnly death to america, if you believe and know that they have american hostages today and we never got them back, i do not understand, sir, for the life of me why you would aid them, give them and live now we take you to the white house east room. President trump announcing his next nominee for secretary of Homeland Security. Me iranlania and i are honor welcome to the cabinet and welcome everybody to the white house, because this is a very, very special place. I am going to be very proud to announce