Conversation. Im sure you have heard the president the last couple of weeks talk about the price of pharmaceutical drugs and the need to get those prices down and manufacturing back into the pharmaceutical industry to benefit the nation. It is an understand he is continuing to work on. We understand while we repeal obamacare on getting ahold of the price of prescription drugs. Thats a key part of health care. Thats going to happen. I think you are seeing with respect to the other meetings its working day one here. Hes going to start with the leadership, going to have a great conversation with them. But then you will see a variety of meetings, the congressional black caucus, the hispanic caucus, small groups of he is someone who really enjoys that kind can have confirmation i think you are going to see a lot of meetings occur like the ones that you did today, the Business Leaders coming in. These Union Workers. Its interesting. Ive we the president was asking these folks today, how many had you have been in the oval office . Three of them raised their hand. We talked to some of the Union Leaders and we hear we didnt get a of the will attention. And here we are on working day one and you have got the president reaching out to some of americas best Business Leaders and then some of the Union Workers and line workers and bringing them in and saying i want to listen to whats going on in your life, what can we be doing to help you . And i think that you are going to see a lot more of that, a listening president who is engaged in trying to figure out who policies and actions that he can take, that this government can take, that he can work with congress to make peoples lives better, to make their security better, to make their Economic Security better. But you are going see a lot of that. Thats what he is. Thats what he did during the transition. And i think thats what hes going to do going forward. He appreciates the ideas and opinions that come through the oval office or in small groups where he gets to share their perspective or their ideas or their opinions. I think thats what he is going to continue to do laid they are afternoon. Im sorry, april . I want to go back to what the gentleman said about the mandate, the New York Post gentleman. He said something about the obamacare now and the mandate. With the numbers that you talked about and has been in the news from the Inauguration Day and the numbers saturday, do you believe that you have the mandate to be able to force through what you had talked about, replacing portions of obamacare that really subsidize the whole piece of it to help low income people get health care . Well, i think what we have is a mandate to make health care more accessible and lower cost. Thats what the American People were promised under obamacare. And i think its not a question about a mandate and its also not about forcing anything. Its about what is doing the right thing. Its about providing people what they have been promised. Which is you go around this country and look market after market, they are down to one plan. Thats not what the American People were promised. Not only that, but in many cases you are seeing the rates go up 15, 15, 20, 30 . That is not what was promised either. I think the president has gotten bipartisan support to work with congress and take executive action that provides more health care plans, allows them to stay with the doctor they are working with already and lowers costs and improves health care. I think all leaders have a mandate to the American People to fix the system and make it better. Julie pace. I have got two Foreign Policy questions. There is skrip discrepancy between what the russians are saying and what the pentagon is saying in terms of joint action. Can you clarify that . And generally is the president open to joint action with syria with the russians. I would refer you back to the department of defense. They are currently monitoring this. I would refer back to them on that. Is he open i think the president says he is going to work with any country that shares our interest in defeating isis. If we can create greater Market Access and spur growth and joint military actions with russia and syria. I think if there is a way we can combat isis with any country, russia or anyone else and we have a shared National Interest sure we will he take it. When he was at the cia on saturday he was talking about the u. S. Not taking oil during the iraq war and said that there could be another chance for that. What did he mean when he said that . I think what the president has been very clear about in Foreign Policy is too often the United States is going in with a lot of money, a lot of manpower, and in many cases losing both loss of life. And we want to make sure that our interests in protected f. We are going into a country for a cause i think he wants the make sure that america is getting something out of it for the commitment and the sacrifice he is making. Was he foreshadowing upcoming action . I think he has been very clear throughout the campaign that he is committed to making sure that america the American People, the american taxpayer see some benefit and ensure that our interests overseas are not just sending blank checks that we are doing something that either protects america or is in our american interests. John roberts. Executive actions later this week does the president plan to take action to green light the keystone kpl and de coita access pipelines . And on tpp, john mccain says it was a serious mistake to do what the president did for americas economy for a strategic position in the pacific. Why was tpp the right thing to do the right thing. To repeal tpp. I think i said it. Because i think the multi when you enter into these multinational agreements you are allowing any country no matter the size, any one of those 12, including us, to basically have the same stature as the United States in the agreement. We are basically on par with some very small country who are getting access ton amazing market, the United States. In return we are negotiating at the lowest common denominator. I think when you look at big multinational agreements, multilateral agreements they are not always in the best interests of the United States. The beautiful thing about a Bilateral Agreement is if anyone in the two parties in the agreement decides at any time they want to get out of the agreement or they are not being treated fairly they can renegotiate it easier n. A multinational agreement thats not the case. All of the countries have to agree the an action to let somebody out. Thats not putting the u. S. First. Keystone and dakota access. Im not going to get in front the president s acts but areas like dakota and the keystone pipeline, areas where we can increase jobs, increase Economic Growth and tap into Americas Energy supply more, thats something he has been very clear about. I think he talked about it not only on the campaign but around the thanksgiving period. He was talking about that being a big priority. Thats one of those ones where i think that the Energy Sector and our Natural Resources are an area where i think the president is very, very keen on making sure that we maximize our use of Natural Resources to americas benefit. Its good for Economic Growth. Its good for jobs. And its good for american energy. Jonathan carl. Thanks for being here. Good to see you. Thank you. Before i get to a policy question, just the question about the nature of your job. Yeah. Is it your intention to always tell the truth from that podium . And will you pledge never to knowingly Say Something that is not factual . It is. Its an honor to do this. And, yes, i believe that we have to be honest with the American People. I think sometimes we can disagree with the facts. There are certain things that we may we may not fully understand when we come out but our intention is never the lie to you jonathan. Our job you are in the same boat. There are times when you tweet something out or write a story and you publish a correction. That doesnt mean that you were intentionally trying the deceive readers or the American People, does it . I think we should be afforded the same opportunity. There are times when we believe something to be true or we get something from an agency or we act in haste because the Information Available wasnt complete but our desire to communicate with the American People and make sure that you have the most complete story at the time. So we do it. Again, i think when you look net net, we are going do do our best every time week. Im going to come out here and tell you the facts as i know them. If we make a mistake well do our best to correct it. As i mentioned the other day, it is a twoway street. There are many mistakes that the media make all the time. Miss report smrk dont report something, they get a fact wrong. I dont think thats always to turn around and say okay you were intentionally lying. I think we all go try to do our best job and do it with a degree of sbeg rit within our agencies. Do you have any corrections you would like to make from saturday. Ask away. I dont want the relitigate the issue. But metro ridership. At the time the information that i was provided by the inaugural committee came from an outside agency that we reported on. And i think knowing when we know now we can tell that remaattas numbers were different but we were providing numbers we had been provided. It wasnt like we made them up out of thin air. Do you stand by your position it was the most watched inaugural . Sure. It was the most watched. One Network Alone got 16. 9 people on line. Tens of millions watched it on line. Never mind the audience that was here. 31 Million People watched it on television. Combine that with the tens of millions of people that watched it on line, on a device. Its unquestionable. And i dont see any numbers that dispute that. When you add up attendance, viewership, total audience in terms of tablets, phones, on television, id love to see any information that proves that otherwise. And then do you dispute that . Well, i dont want to get into numbers. Well, i do. I mean. Okay. Im just asking saying if you are asking me a question about my integrity im saying if you add up all of the various Live Streaming that we have information on so far i dont think there is any question it was a largest watched inauguration ever. More than ronald rag apps in 1981 . Im pretty sure that reagan didnt have you tube, facebook or the enter net. Yeah, i think 41 Million People watched his. 41 million watched his. Lets take the nielsen ratings, 31 million and add it to cnn, 16. 9 million. Thats a little higher. So im just saying you are asking me for numbers. There is just two entities together. And approach that you took on saturday, any second thoughts on that . Jonathan, look i came out to read a statement. I did it. Were here today. Im going to stay as long as you want. So i want to make sure that [ laughter ] i think you guys might want to leave before i do. But, look, i want to make sure that we have a healthy relationship. We saw the other day that im not trying to rehash history but you are asking the question so im going to answer it. We had a tweet go out about Martin Luther king. Think about how racially charged that is. And someone rushes out and says to the entire press corps that the president of the United States has removed the bust from his office. Do you i mean, think about what this signal hold on. Apologized. No, no, he actually apprised to quote my colleagues. Thats the exact quote. Okay . That quote, that report got tweeted out around. And to report where was the apology to the president of the United States. Where was the apology to millions of people who read that and thought how racially insensitive it was. Do you accept it as an apology, sean. Im just saying where was that aapproximately gee. Im saying when things like that happen, when john lewis says he has never missed an inauguration and we found out, actually, he did, he skipped george w. Bushs there are points at which we have a right to make sure that we correct the record. You are talking about integrity. And you are talking about telling the truth and facts. I dont know that it was not malicious and all im not saying but there is a point at which we have a right to go out there and correct the record. I think that over and over again there is this attempt to go after this president and say, well that cant be true, and thats not right, and the numbers werent there, and there is a rush to judgment every time. And it is a twoway street. We want to have a healthy and open dialogue with the press corps and with the American People about what hes doing to help this quun country and unite it. But at a time when he is trying to unite this, he keeps talking about uniting this nation and bringing people together and then a tweet goes out saying he removed the bust of Martin Luther king, how do you think that goes over. Sean, did the media invent the feud between the president and the Intelligence Community. You saw from the response the other day, he walked into the cia, people were hooting and hollering, gave him a standing owe vague. That doesnt look like a relationship im talking about the invention. No, no, no. Inside a difference between having differences with Intelligence Leaders and leaders of that community who he has strong differences with than the people, the men and women who toil every single day in our Intelligence Community. It was reflected at the cia. They came there. They were so excited. There was 1,000 people that applied for 300plus seats. We ended up taking in 400 people. That doesnt sound like a huge feud. They were excited. They were clapping. They were cheering when he walked in. To see records that made it sound like there was fence mending that needed to happen. It sure didnt like that way when he walked in. Im going to move on. Sean, can i ask what is the u. S. Strategic interest in moving the u. S. Embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. Also in the chat with president assissi today was the status of the Muslim Brotherhood discussed . I just gave you the readout on the call with the president assissi. I think that speaks for itself what was discussed. And then im sorry, the first part. What was the u. S. Strategic interest in moving the embassy. I noted yesterday, we are at the very early stages of that decisionmaking process. Bbc. Who led the detailed discussion when Prime Minister may comes on friday on the potential parameters what have a trade deal might look like . Is there going to get a joint News Conference . Is donald trump going to get back to uk later in the year. We are here on working dayi one. We are excited that Prime Minister may is coming on friday. We are looking forward to it. Im sure there will be a discussion on trade. The degree to which im not sure yet. Im sure we will have an opportunity to brief you out. I dont believe we have plans for a joint press conference. But thats something our team will be working out with Prime Minister may and well keep you updated. After the executive order withdrawing the u. S. From the tpp what specific steps will President Trump do to expand u. S. Trade opportunities abroad . When he talks to Prime Minister may he is going to have a great conversation about the potential for greater trade with the uk. I mentioned earlier when he met with these manufacturers this morning that was, right up at the top of the list, how can we get greater Market Access . What are the specific challenges that these manufacturers are facing getting Market Access in the countries around the globe . And thats an important issue. So its not its not just other countries. But within existing trade with deals we can figure out is there a trade dispute that can be settled with the wto, a revision to one of the existing trade treaties that we have now. But there is a lot that can be done. There are things that congress can update to make sure we are importing and exporting more to benefit american businesses. Thanks, john cruz. Has the president or will the president have a chat, each an informal chat with the Prime Minister before, in fact, she comes here . There are no plans for that now. Its always possible. Ly has been having a tremendous number of calls. I think the number is well over 80 now of people that have talked to him, congratulated him prior to being elected. We read out the other day he has met with both canada and mexico. I think he talked with Prime Minister netanyahu yesterday. President assissi today. There is going to continue to be a robust number of world leaders. There is a tremendous excitement i think in the diplomatic corps and at the world leader level of people who are excited that President Trump and this Administration Want to engage. There is a lot of times when he is talking to these folks and they are saying i have not heard from anyone in years. And i think that there is a genuine excitement to reengage the United States, especially in the area of trade and other economic interests but also in the area of National Security. Its a big one and its the first im sorry . Need tolls say, this is the big one, and its the first. Tpp was why is this executive order anything more than symbolic. And when will President Trump start negotiating bilateral deals with the 11 other nation in the Asian Pacific that could take some time and some would say giving china room to make an inroad. Bilateral deals are mostly what china has been engaging in. I just said that thats what the president is going to look for countries to deal with. What about the other 11 tpp countries. Most of them we have a good deal to begin with. This was an expansion of that and some in areas it allowed Service Industry, Financial Services additional Market Access. But i think yeah, this is not a deal that was in our countrys best interest. The president could have come into office a president could have come into office and renegotiated it and sent people back to the drawing board. It hadnt gone to congress yet because it wasnt finalized. I think this president pulling out of the agreement is not just about this one agreement. But i think its symbolic both here in america and around the world of a new era of trade policy, one thats going to put American Workers first and foremost. And one that assures the rest of the world that the way that we negotiate Bilateral Agreements is going to ensure that we get something out of these deals. As i mentioned to john a minute ago, the problem with multilateral agreements sthal often it becomes the lowest demonstrate denominator on so many things. The u. S. Already has low tariffs and other Service Industry benefits for countries. We have got to go out and make sure we are fighting for the american work. You are not renegotiating . We pulled out of tpp. Of all the existing we will have further updates on trade issues later this week. Does the president feel like you need an executive order to remove yourself from nafta. Thats a great question. I think there is an action under the provision of nafta where you send notice to the other two countries. The exact nature of how thats described, i dont know. But there is a trigger within nafta, one of the sections allows the president of the United States to notify them that we intend to do that. Is it allowed or hold on. Will there still be a north american trade bloch or Something Different . I think part of it is he has already spoken to the president of mexico and the Prime Minister of ka de about his desire to renegotiate. I think as he meets with both of these individuals over the next 30 days or so thats going to be topic. If they come in and express a willingness to do that, you could negotiate it within the current parameters and update it through the existing structure. If they dont, and he decides to pull out, then we would have to go back to the drawing table in the future. Mara. Make sure mara gets a question this time. Just to follow up on the china question, china actually has a regional agreement called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and now japan and australia, two of our great al ayes are talking about joining that. Does President Trump see a National Security component to these trade deals . He is now concerned that now china will write the rules for asiapacific trade . I think he has been very, very clear about chinas place in the geopolitical landscape economically and National Security wise. So he understands the need. Thats part of the reason that trade is important, bilateral trade. It provides a check on a lot of this. Again, he is always going to be fighting for the interest of the country and the american worker. So how we engage and with whom is going to be decided on whether or not we can get a deal that benefits our country economically and in terms of National Security. That there are things that we can do economically that actually end up also benefiting us from a National Security standpoint because of the economic relationship that exists between the two countries. Yes, sir. Okay, mara gets a followup. No, you earned it. Really simple, what is the average National Unemployment rate . Whats the average . Whats the overall Unemployment Rate today. Are you talking about whether or not we include the full the bureau of labor statics. What do you accept did. It is not a question of what i accept. Its whether or not you consider the full involvement. There are several versions of that. One is the illustrative nature of you how you down the unemployed. Long term or seeking a job. But there are reasons you put out these statistics. Its so thatta economists can look at where are we starting from . Part of it is his Economic Team is going to look at a multitude of statistics. His goal is to get americans working to the. Thats his ultimate goal. When he sees people who are hurting havent had wages lift up. Who are unemployed that cant save for their kids future, having trouble with health care cost. Thats what he cares about. Its not just a number, its about is someone getting by, are their wages going up, can they find a better job, do they have access to education, higher education, college, or a voetech kinds of school so they can train for the skills of the next century . Those are the kind of things the president he is not focused on statistics as much as he is whether or not the American People are doing better as whole and whether or not a family. It was interesting. I know we talked about carrier. Thats 1,000 jobs. You talk about those thousand jobs and their families. During the Holiday Season i would beg to differ that those people were unbelievably ecstatic that the president and the Vice President intervened. So every one of these meetings that you saw happen at trump tower and then now, it is a all about, whether its 2,000 jobs or 20,000 jobs, thats the focus. Its making sure that we have that Small Businesses have greater opportunity to be successful, that American Workers can have their wages lifted up, that the benefits they receive in terms of health care and education are something that provide them the support that they need. Thats what this is all about. I think for too often in washington we get our heads wrapped around a number and a statistic. And we look at and forget the faces and the families and the businesses that are behind those numbers. So i think thats where his heads is at is trying the look at those people who have come to his rallies, his events, that he met with that are struggling saying mr. Trump im working hard as i can, two jobs, doing everything by the rules and and i keep getting screwed. Thats what he is fighting for, that man or woman out there thats doing everything they can right but cant catch a break. I think he addressed that in his inaugural speech when he talked about shifting power outside of washington, d. C. Back to the American People. For too long its been about stats, and about what number are we looking at as opposed to what face we are looking at, david. Two questions. On daca, i was curious about the message from this administration to the people that may qualify. Should they enroll going forward, and those who are in the program now seek renewal. Yeah. What those people should know is that the president has laid out a list of priorities. And the priorities are focused on making sure that people who can do harm or have done harm and have a criminal record are the focus. As he said throughout the campaign weve got a series of individuals who weve got to figure out, people who overstayed visas, people who committed crimes, we are going to go through that in a systematic and methodical way. For now the focus is on people who have done harm to our country. Yes. 2016 was the hottest year on regard and the last three years have been the hottest years on record. Scientists are saying we are getting dangerously close to the point where human civilization is being threatened. How does President Trump plan to deal with this . I think he is going to meet arew his team and figure out what policies are best for the environment. One of the things he talked about during the campaign is there is a balance and he is trying to make sure that we use our resources appropriately. That we maximize things to make sure that we dont do so at the detriment of Economic Growth and job creation. There is a balance. I dont think it is a either or situation. We can do things that are smart for the environment and longevity as well as making sure to create things that create job growth and Economic Growth. What is the message to millions of people here in washington and around the country who were protesting on saturday, and a follow up after that . Thats very polite of a you. I think he has a healthy respect for the first amendment. And he this is, you no, this is what americas your country so beautiful is that on one day you can inaugurate a president , on the next day people can occupy the same space to protest something. But he is also cognizant to the fact that a lot of these people were there to protest an issue of concern to them and not against anything. I remember this morning Debbie Dingell was on television. And you know, she was talking about let me just i dont want to inaccurately quote her. I know jonathan is a stickler for that. She said different women were there for Different Reasons but they were all there to make sure their core American Values were going to be protected i think many people like me were there for positive reasons. I think the president shares her view that there were people that came to the mall as they do all the time. Sometimes in smaller numbers. How does he reach out to them. In the way he started on the night when he won the election. On the way he did on Inauguration Day by sending a message that talks about fighting for them. More importantly i think the president is going to show through action and through success that he is fighting for them and fighting for every american. One of the thing weve seen in this town is soaring rhetoric about how much people care. I think the president is going to show through deed and action and success that he wants to fight for Peoples Health care. He wants to have a better education system. He wants a stronger america. He wants to go in and fix our inner cities. He wants to make sure that our infrastructure, our roads and our bridges so i think more than anything, showing people through action and deed and success is where he is going to prove to the American People how much he cares to unite us and how much he cares to make this america better and safer. The followup. On the other side of this, another group i forgot, you did ask. I did. Thank you for remembering. Another group, just to follow up on cbns question. What concrete promises is he making . We havent heard a lot about what that policy is going to look like. Its day one. Yeah, but you have had a lot of time to make those promises. I know, but look what should their expectations be . Their expectations should be that he is going to stand up and value life, borner unborn same as he said throughout the last year and a half, he is going to stand up and protect life, promote it. Promote life, promote adoption, that help support young women, support agencies and clinics that support womens health. I think thats what he is going to talk about is supporting all of life, the rn bo, the unborn, throughout life making sure that we have health care that can support the American People and the american families. Thats thats what he is going to fight for. And thats what he is going to be clear on. I have two questions. Okay. First one, with the congressional meeting today and also at the retreat, you said talking about his legislative agenda. Besides health care can you give us one, two, or three legislative things he wants to get through right away. Not the executive actions ledges. Right, immigration is obviously going to be high on that last. Tax reform. Regulatory reform. Thats three and four. Immigration is not a overhaul, though, not i think he is going to work with congress to get the appropriations process going. Its not just building the wall. Thats through the appropriations process. Its how do we enact policies to make sure that what we have now doesnt happen again. So it is it is working with them. Its a comprehensive look at how were keeping people out of this country that shouldnt be here, that people who are coming to visit are leaving when they are supposed to. To make sure we are handling immigration policies, to make sure we are not an open door for anyone just to walk in. That the people who are here to visit the country safely, or people here to do jobs or support our economy are allowed in. He is looking to support our economy, thats what he is looking at. I had a second one. Im sorry. You are right. Havent heard that you or someone else has said specifically has the president spoken to any of the intelligence agencies about the investigation into the russian connections . And will he allow that to go on . I dont believe he has spoken to anyone specifically about that. And i dont know that he has not made any indication he would stop an investigation of any sort. Clarification. You said you are willing to work with anybody to defeat the Islamic State group. Does that include Bashar Al Assad . I think what were we are going to smart she do this. Lets be clear. Part of it is to make sure that they have americas interests in what they are doing and who they are. We are not going to get together with the people of guys of defeating isis if thats not truly their guys or iffer in not lets not take that too far. Thank you. Sean, will the president release documents showing that he has left his businesses . I believe we have. He has resigned from the company as he said he would, before he took office. Don and eric are fully in charge of the company. He has taken extraordinary steps to ensure that thats happened. The president is taking political priorities. What would be the message for the hispanic commune in the u. S. Taking into consideration that one of the priorities has been the wall . What what would be the relation between this administration and the Hispanic Community in the u. S. . I think his relationship with the Hispanic Community is going to be great. As i said, i think that whether its jobs or education or health care, the president is committed to uniting all americans and working towards a better, safer, more secure, more prosperous america that benefits everybody. And i think whether regardless of your background thats something he is committed. To. Financial times does mr. Trump agree with rec tillerson that the u. S. Should try to event china to access the islands in the South China Sea where it is building runways and other facilities. I think areas in the South China Sea that are part of International Waters and International Activities i think the u. S. Is going to make sure we protect our interests there. It is a question of if those islands are in fact in International Waters and not part of china proper then yeah we are going to make sure that we defend International Territories from being taken over by one country. Does that answer would you prevent china from actually reaching the islands. I think i answered the question. I think as we develop further we will have more information on that. John gizny. Thank you sean. Thank you sean. Old on, ill get you. To i promise. And welcome to your first day on the job. Thank you. Very simply, there was an earlier question about jerusalem and putting the u. S. Embassy there and a lot of talk about executive orders. Is this something the president can accomplish by executive order . It is, but i think as i noted, john, its very early in this process. We are at the beginning process of this decisionmaking process. And his team is going to continue to consult with stakeholders. Yes, maam. Thank you, sean, and welcome here. Of course, thank you. I have a followup on the housekeeping question about nafta. Are we not to expect a executive order to renegotiate nafta or will he wait until he meets with president nieto next week . And then the other question i had is, he didnt mention latin america at all in his you know, in his inauguration speech. Does he plan to visit latin america this year . So on the first part, i think we will have further announcements on trade throughout the week. Its not going to happen today. I think were done with executive orders for the day. But as i always say, stand by. But we do not have any intention to have additional executive orders today. But i believe there could be some additional ones throughout the week on trade and well have further updates for you on there. And then the second part . If he plans to travel to latin america given that he left them out of his inauguration speech . I dont think, i dont think he left them out. I think he was focused on this country. Our American Workers. I dont think he got into detail on any countries that i am aware of, that i can rm. But i also think we are here on the first working day. We are announcing theresa may on this friday. We are excited to have the Prime Minister here. As i mentioned he talked about setting up a meeting with canada and mexico. He talked to Prime Minister netanyahu and as i i think inned. President assissi. Wool he get there. There is a lot of calls to return. There is excitement around the world and a lot of people excited both to come here and have the president visit them. A guy Republican Group delivered a white paper to the trump team urging the president to maintain a resolution by obama barring antilgbt discrimination in the workplace. I dont know that weve gotten that far on the list of executive orders but ill be happy to get to you. Will he rescind that. I dont know. I will have to get back to you. On immigration, the chief of staff i think had said over the weekend seemed to suggest that an executive order shutting down the daca program had been ruled out. Is that officially ruled out as you guys go forward and does the president support action in congress that would essentially permanently establish those protections for those. I dont have anything further on the executive action first. I think i have asked and answered the dhaka piece of there in terms of his priorities right now. The legislation. We dont have anything in front of us right now to sign on that give us a li of time we will see what Congress Moves forward with and then im sure we will have a further read out on both the executive order piece and the legislation. Resettlement program . I dont know, i will have to get back to you. Or contact the department of state. Yes, sir n the back. Regarding access for American Companies to the national markets, will the president try to improve access to the largest market . Look, i think he is going to increase Market Access wherever he can. Hes in the process of reviewing all of our current trade agreements and looking at potential bilateral options going forward, whether its in the eu or in the asia pacific arena or in the middle east. He is going to figure out where we can expand u. S. Market access. And thats i think what todays decision really starts to show is that its not about multilateral agreements under a trump administration. Its about Bilateral Agreements where we can figure out country to country how can we fight for the american worker, gain them access to another market thats going to benefit our large and Small Businesses who want to sell additional goods and services. Yes . Why did the president choose the british Prime Minister as the first foreign leader for him to meet . And can we take from that that he intends to make the relationship even closer . I think we have always had that special relationship with britain. And that reflects in the Prime Ministers first visit here. Hes had a great conversation with her and he looks forward to having her here. But we can always be closer. Yes, maam. What kind of relationship is trump looking for to build with china after he withdraw from tpp . And on taiwans issue, what kinds of stand he is going to make on whats the last part, please. Taiwan strained relations . On china he understand whaz a big market that is for u. S. Goods and services. When he met with the head of alley baba a couple of weeks that was part of the point. There is huge market issue there. But in many cases its not a twoway street. There are so many choice businesses individuals frankly who can have ease of access in the United States to sell their goods and services. I think whether or not you are talking about the Financial Services or the banking, you know, the other Service Industries or manufacturing goods and services or some of the ip problems we have with china it is not a twoway street. He understands the market that china has and our desire to further penetrate that market but he also recognizes there is a lore of concerns how we are treated entering chinas market and we need to review that. I think we will have further updates on that. Welcome. Thank you. Question following on what she was asking about tpp. Part of the thinking of tpp was to encircle china economically. And i wonder if the president has thought a lib about what kind of bilateral relationship in the region would accomplish a similar goal. Secondly i heard you talking about nafta and a trigger but i didnt hear you say we have triggered the trigger. We reason is triggered the trigger. We have not. I think we are going to continue to explore how we can strengthen those existing relationships and will be for ones where we didnt have one other than through tpp. Congratulations. . Thank you. Social security and infrastructure. On certainly security, the president will be meeting tonight with congressional leaders. Whats he going to do given his Campaign Promise of not touching Social Security when ryan and mcconnell sends him a package that includes reforming Social Security. And infrastructure is that falling to have radar. On Social Security, i think he is clear with his priorities in terms of preserving and protecting this important benefit to our seniors. He understands. I mean, mr. Trump has employed so many people over the years he understands the struggle that people have later in life to continue to make ends meet. And i think that he is a keen keenly aware of how important this program is to so many people in their later years. So he is going to continue to fight to make sure that thats a program that is preserved and protected. And then on the infrastructure. Infrastructure. Of course, he continues to bring that up. He talked with Business Executives today how many so many of our airports, important to our commerce system, getting planes to land in and out, roads and their ability to truck things across the country, even our freight system. That if your infrastructure is not strong it inhibits our ability to have free commerce, drives up the cost of goods and services when someone has to take a different route or is limited in the opportunities they might have because the runway has been closed or cant be expanded or a railway breaks down for highway is just not the wear and tear it puts on trucks or shut down. Infrastructure continues to be huge priority for them. Two questions. The National Security council, the staffing of that National Security council, when do you expect to have those positions filled . We have many of them. Ill have to get back to you on the number. There were a lot of holdovers. General flynn has been working with his deputy with others the make sure that thats filled out. Referee to. He has had countless meetings with counterparts and had several folks daltd over. But it is a very, very robust effort from day one. And followup to john carls question. Are you retracting your claim on saturday that it was the largest crowd in person . Thats not what i said. At the inauguration. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration period, both in fern and around the globe. Yes, in total audience, it was. Total audience, but not simply in person. About that, right, again, i didnt say in person. Both in person and around the globe, to witness it. You are saying those together . No. Thats actually what i said. Its not i dont know how you can interpret it differently. Thats literally what i said. To witness it in person and around the globe. Total audience, yes. But not in person . Hold on. Let me just but you are saying here just to clarify you are not saying you werent saying on saturday that it was the largest inaugural crowd in person . I am not. Im saying it was the total largest audience witnessed in person and around the globe. Yes, sir. Just to go back to one other thing that you said. Yes. Sources are telling cbs news those with knowledge of who was in the room in the lobby of the cia that Senior Leadership were not among those hooting and hollering and that there were some 40 people who were in the first front rows who were brought in by trump and pence and pompeo. Id like to give you a chance to respond to that reporting . I dont think thats accurate at you will. In fact, if you listen to the audio you can hear the excitement that exist here. There were some people who had to be off camera for offers reasons. But when you looked at the number of people that were there the audio alone speaks volumes to what happened. I dont think there is any question about that. So the people in the front who were seen on camera, those were cia employees . Honestly, i dont have a seating chart. I think we had a small footprint going over there. I dont know who exactly went over. I dont know, maybe ten people at most. Ten. We are in in the travel going over. Ten of 400 plus. The people in the front row, those were cia employees. Some probably. Some, some were not. Im sure eseated. I am not sure why this matters. Ten people didnt yell that loud. You said they were hooting and hollering. Yeah, they did. And there is not a rift between the Intelligence Community. Senior authorities are telling people they are uncomfortable with that portrayal and that the notion of the people in the Intelligence Community. Listen to the tape alone. I think you can hear a lot of that. Yes. A couple of questions, has the president formally requested for received pentagon advice on how he can change the campaign against the Islamic State . I think he has ordered it. As i mentioned he will be at the department of defense on friday to swear in general mattis as his next secretary to go through the ceremony of that. He is obviously the second of defense. And so, you know, at that time he will continue to have conversations about what he wants from them and the joint chiefs. Jim. Just a follow up. Yes. I dont mean to beat a dead horse on the issue of the u. S. Embassy in israel. Right. Can you at the end of the president s first four years, assuming at the end of the next four years, will the United States embassy be in jerusalem . Well, i think ive answered it twice now. We are at the early stages in this decisionmaking process. Its not whether . Its when and how . There is a reason you go through a decisionmaking process. Thats what we are in the process of starting right now. I dont know to get ahead of if it was already a decision, we wouldnt be going through a process. I just thanks, julie. Jim. First of all, congratulations, and hanks for taking the question. Getting back to saturday, at the cia and your statement here at the podium, why make this crowd size issue something to talk about at all . And why get into it . Did it bother the president that much that he felt that you needed to come out here and straighten that out for us . And why did he choose the cia as the venue to talk about that . Two things. One i was handed a note. No one in the front row was trump. They were all cia. Front row. Thats what you asked. I said first three rows. Ill find out who the other two rows. Sorry, i just got you the front row. Give me a second. Ill get you the second and third. Are we going to get to the fourth and fifth . Let me see what i can do. One of the things that happened, jim. He kept hearing about this rift that existed. He talked about it a couple of weeks ago after his briefing how proud he is and how much he respects the Intelligence Community. I think when he walked into in a and he saw it, he wanted to make sure that people knew what you are hearing on television or in reports about this rift, i have the utmost respect for you. I honor your service, im proud of what you are doing, and the sacrifices that you are making. And i think that he wanted them to know that you see and hear all this stuff on tv about this rift that socalled exists, and clearly, it doesnt marry. Like dont believe what you are hearing. Know that i have a tremendous amount of respect for you. I appreciate everything that you are doing. I think thats why he wanted to do he. Is to make sure they under, they heard firsthand how much he respects them how much he wanted to dispell the myth that there was a, quote, unquote, rift. Terms of the crowd size why bring that up at the cia. Did he tell you, sean im upset about this, i want you to come out. Im not going to get into conversations i had with the president. But i will tell you its not about crowd size. Its about this constant there is no way he can win, then if he won, its oh there is this constant theme to undercut the enormous support that he has. Up its unbelievably frustrating when you are continually told it is not big enough, not good enough, you cant win hold on. Up its important. He has gone out there and defied the odds over and over and over again. And he keeps getting told what he cant do by this narrative thats out there and he exceeds it every single time. And i think there is an overall frustration when you turn on the television over and over again and get told that there is this narrative that you didnt win, you werent going to run, you cant pick up this state. Thats not you know, thats a fools errand to go to pennsylvania. Why is he in michigan . How silly, they will never oath vote for him. Then he goes and does it. Then the narrative becomes oh, it must have been, he didnt win that. People arent attending anything. John lewis is the first person to skip his inauguration. Not true. And over and over again the mlk bust. I think over and over again there is this constant attempt to undermine his credibility and the movement that he represents. Its frustrating for not just him but for so many of us trying to work to get this message out. I mentioned this to jonathan, part of this is a twoway street. We want to have a healthy dialogue not just with you, but with the American People because he is fighting for jobs. He is fighting to make this country safer. But when you are constantly getting told that cant be true, we doubt you can do this, this content happen and thats the narrative when you turn on the television every single day it is frustrating. I think for those people around him, the senior team, and several of the other folks here in the administration that gave up their time during the transition, they left a job to work for three or four weeks because they are so committed to having his nominees get through. Its demoralizing to turn on the tv day after day and cant do this, this guy isnt going to get confirmed. Isnt that just part of the conversation that happens in washington and comes with being president of the United States. No. Look, i have been doing this a long time. You have been doing this, too. I have never seen it like this, jim. Again, im not im not looking to go back and forth but you are asking for an explanation. And i think that its important to understand that whether its the president himself, the Vice President , the senior team, the volunteers, or the people who are out there just, you know, in america that voted for hmm or walking the streets or put up a sign to be constantly told no, no, no, and watch him go yes, yes, yes, every time and to come up to the next hurdle and see someone put a block up gets frustrating. And so you see this historic thing. And he stands there at the capitol. I was not that close but on the platform, and you look out its an amazing view. Its just so many people who got in long lines, who had to go around all this different stuff to get in. And that was for the first time that we did have to go through fencing that far out. And then to hear, well, look at this shot and its not that big. Its demoralizing because when you are sitting there and you are looking out and you are in awe of just how awe some that view is and how many people are view and you turn on the deflgs and he sue shots comparing this and that. And then you look at the stuff thats happening, the nominees that you put out. The democrats stopping. There are two cabinet officials ladies and gentlemen that are taking their office today. He visited the cia, and a director that was considered a consensus candidate wasnt approved. Where is the story . And i think that so criticism you have got bigger fish to fry. Where worry about tweets about crowd size snooze thats what im saying. You are minimizing the point. Its not about one tweet. Its not about one picture. Its about a constant theme. Its about sitting here every time and being told, no. Well we dont think he can do that. He will never accomplish that. He cant win that it wont be the bige. Its not going to be that good. The crowds arent that big. He is not that successful. The narrative and the default narrative is always negative. And it is demoralizing. And i think when you sit here and realize the sacrifice the guy made of leaving a very, very successful business because he really cares about this country, and he wants despite your partisan differences, he cares about making this country better for every. He wants to make it safer for every. So when you wake up every day and thats what you are seeing over and over again and you are not seeing stories about the cabinet folks that he is putting, or the success that she is having trying to keep american jobs here, yeah, it is a little disappointing. So i just its it is not always going to be positive. No, its not, and sometimes well make mistakes. I promise you that but it doesnt always have to be negative, jim. Some days we do do the right thing. Some days we are successful. So its not its part of this is saying when were right, say were right. When were wrong, say were wrong. But its not always wrong and negative. There are things there is a lot of things he has done already, a lot of amazing people he has appointed a lot of success he is having. And it would be nice once in a while for someone just to say report it straight up, he appointed this person, heres their background. Not why they are not going to get nominated. Not why its not going to happen. Thanks, sean. One last thing. Hold on. I cant i no we are getting really into like facts. Just to be clear, there were no trump or white house folks sitting down. They were all cia. Not in rows one through anything, from what im told. I appreciate julies effort but i have got halle. John, you got one. Give me a second. Sean a couple of questions. First on russia. He was asked about interactions between mike flynn and a russian ambassador. You said at the time the calls were related to setting up a discussion later between President Trump and Vladimir Putin. Thats right. Were those conversations about anything else other than setting up that discussion . Why has that discussion not yet happened between the president and Vladimir Putin . There has been one call. I talked to general flynn about this again last night. One call. Talked about four subjects. One was the loss of life that occurred in the plane crash that took their military choir. Two was christmas and holiday greetings. Three was to talk about a conference in syria on isis and four was to set up to talk about after the inauguration, setting up a call between president putin and President Trump. I dont believe that that has been set up yet because the call was to say they did follow up, im sorry, two days ago, about how to facilitate that call once again. So there have been a total of two calls with the ambassador and general flynn. And the second call came i think its now three days ago that was to say once he gets into office, can we set up that call . It, to my knowledge hasnt occurred yet. Any other conversations between general flynn and russian else in of the government . Not that i know. During the transition i asked general flynn whether or not there were any conversations beyond the ambassador. And he said no. In a statement the president haid made on saturday and i want to clarify your answer here. Can you unequivocally state this nation will not send more troops into iraq to as the president said it take the oil. I think the president made it clear he doesnt telegraph taking options off the table. There is a reason he is successful at negotiating. Because he does it in a way that doesnt telegraph to people what he is going to take on or off the table. What does the president in terms of did you get two. Narrowing down his nominees for the Supreme Court . Okay. At the end of the Obama Administration the number of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay was reduced to 40. What are the president s plans for that prison . On the first, i think in the next week or so we should have an update on a nominee for the Supreme Court. I think we will have a nomination within the next couple of weeks. He continues to make that a priority of his. On gitmo, i think you are going the see further action. I dont want to get ahead of the president but this is something that has been discussed and has been in his current decisionmaking process how he wants to handle that. If i could ask one more regarding the cia. You said that the president disagreed with the characterize igs of a rift with the Intelligence Community . Matter in. Do you dispute his tweet about comparing the Intelligence Community to nazi germany. He was talking about the process, no of the the people. Thats a different i think this. Shane. Three months ago then candidate trump was in gettysburg and made a list of day one ms prost. Called it a contract of American Workers. A bunch of it is not going to get done today because you said he is done with executive orders. I want to ask you why not pursue all those on day one as he promised in a contract with the voters. We are going to continue to sequence those out. I think part of it is making sure we dont spend an entire day signing executive orders. I think part of it is doing it in a way that doesnt jam them out in a fire hose. Ensuring that we sequence these that these that gives the issue the proper attention they deserve. The problem is if we get them all out in one day they get lost in ether. I think he made these proms and pledges to the American People because they are important to him. He still plans to do everything on that day one list, though . Thats his intention, yeah, very clear about that. Yes, sir. Is the president going to shake up the leadership of cfpd before the term is up . No decision has been made on that. Kristen walker. Thank you sean. One on obamacare. Has he finished his plan on obamacare . When will the American People see that . And then on nafta, can you clarify, i he no he is going to meet with the leaders of mexico and canada. Has he started to have discussions with them currently about renegotiating that . On obamacare i think he is going to continue the discussion tonight with speaker ryan in particular at the meeting he is going to have after the reception. When it