Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20170221

And Community Centers are horrible and are painful and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to rout out hate and prejudice and evil. Sarah murray is joining us from the white house. Deb is in new york. Let us know about this recent wave of threats and antisemitic ings dents. I can tell you that there was another threat this morning in san diego. That brings the total number up to 70 threats at 55 different jewish Community Centers across the country in 27 states. The Common Thread in all of this appears to be the phone call itself. The caller or callers is using some sort of a masking technology in order to disguise their voice. Each time these threats are called in, the believes have to be evacuated, the bomb squad has to come in and give an all clear sign. In maryland 200 Young Children had to be taken out of that school along with some of the elderly who were there for classes. Now, security, as you can imagine, is very tight at all of these places. The jcc confirms that so far no device has been found, but clearly these calls, these bomb threats are causing great anxiety and concern while they are going on. Afterwards life returns to normal, but clearly for these jccs to be on this high alert never a good feeling. Many of them have lots of programs for children. Preschoolchildren as well as children who come after school. The members are not only jewish, but theyre from all things faith. David posner called the president s remarks positive and helpful when asked whether he should have made them sooner, david posner said now that its done, the remarks are gratifying. A little bit of a shift there. Wolf. Very quickly, have there been as far as we know any arrests, any suspects picked up at all in connection with these threats . No. What we can tell you is that the fbis Criminal Division is investigating, and theyre looking at social media, theyre looking at phone calls, emails. Theyre trying to determine exactly where these calls are coming from. In some states, the same jcc has been targeted multiple times with these calls. Theyre looking for threats, but right now they have not identified anyone, at least not who they are telling us. Wolf. Stand by. I want to go to sarah over at the white house. As you know, sarah, Hillary Clinton reacted to these threats. Also calling out President Trump. Tell us about that and her most recent specific tweet on all of this. Well, thats right, wolf. While we did see the president today saying that these threats are horrible and painful, the delay in his response was really unacceptable to some, and Hillary Clinton in particular took to twitter to talk about these threats against jewish Community Centers saying jcc threats, cemetery desecration and online attacks are so troubling and must be stopped. Everybody must speak out, starting with potus. Remember, this is an issue that he was asked about twice during press conferences last week. He actually snapped at one reporter who asked about it telling that reporter to sit down. Not something the president was willing to address head on last week, but we saw him denounce it in his strongest yet terms today. He was asked by an israeli journalist about the antisemitic incidents and by an orthodox American Jewish journalist and the president did not speak out forcefully in response to both of those questions. That News Conference last week. Its a very big week ahead for the president. Were expecting a new version of his travel ban that could come at any time now. What are you learning . Thats right. Were still anticipating that to be in the latter half of this week, and the white house is trying to be a little bit more cautious in how they are rolling this one out. We know that they are working with their White House Councils office to get more input because theyre hoping to put forward a version that can with stand the scrutiny of the courts. That is obviously not what we saw from the last version, which has been blocked and held up. We do expect to deal with the same seven countries, and we t have not gotten a straight answer on what that means for the refugee program. Whether that will be an effort to end it indefinitely. The other thing this ban will address is how green cardholders will be impacted. Its expected to make clear that this ban would not apply to green cardholders, and were also anticipating some more specific guidance on how this could impact people with current or pending visas. Remember, that was an area of widespread confusion also around the first version of this. Wolf. All right, sarah. Thank you. Sarah marie and deb faric in new york. Senator, thanks for joining us. We have lots to discuss. Thanks. On that new executive order were expecting, weve now learned that green cardholders, not u. S. Citizens, permanent residents, will be exempt and that other changes are being made on language as far as religion is concerned. If those two items are fixed, are you ready to accept the president s new order . No, not at all. Its the wrong focus. We all want to make sure that our borders are safe and that we know who is coming into this country. I just returned from mexico and from el paso on our border with mexico, and it was clear to me that one of the most important goals in preventing people who they dont want coming to america or keeping drugs out of the cooperation with mexico. We need to have a close cooperation with their Law Enforcement to stop the flow of drugs, and mexicos actions particularly on their southern border is critically important for the flow and people coming in from central america. If we go forward with anything like the kpekstive order the president announced earlier, it compromises that cooperation we need to invest in technology and invest in smarter equipment to deal with these challenges, but the talk about stopping refugees from coming into america where there is a humanitarian leadership of the United States or building a wall with mexico, really just hurts our efforts. The secretary of Homeland Security, john kelly, the secretary of state rex tillerson, theyre both headed to mexico this week f. For secretary tillerson, trade will be an important topic. So will the border wall that the president wants built along the u. S. Mexico border. You were just there as you pointed out, speaking with Mexican Government officials. Whats the appetite for discussions in mexico on these issues, traderelated issues, renegotiating in fact yark the north American Free trade agreement, for example, and on this new border wall . I think mexico will tell our leaders that if you have that type of money to invest, invest in better intelligence cooperation with mexico invested in equipment and can help us deal with contra bands that are going across the border. There are ways of using those funds. I think theyre going to hear that theres a much smarter way to Work Together for our benefit. The secretary will likely be able to talk about new Immigration Enforcement guidelines that the administration is putting out this week. Among them expedited deportation. A surge of Immigration Judges to the border, the immediate start to planning once again for that will border wall. Does mexico have to be on board with any of these new proposed guidelines . Well, clearly mexico very much affects the flow of people coming into the United States. Many are coming in visa vi the southern border of mexico. The number of mexicans coming in to america unlawfully has declined pretty dramatically. Theres actually a net negative more mexicans returning to mexico than coming into the United States. You do need mexicos cooperation. Their cooperation on the southern border is critically important. If they believe that this immigration policy is aimed against their country, cooperation with america will certainly be much less. The new guidelines, were told, that daca stays largely intact. Those are the socalled dreamers, the children who were raised here in the United States. Parents undocumented immigrants came to the United States with young kids. They will be protected under these new guidelines. Undocumented immigrants. Is that a good positive sign as far as youre concerned . The answer is yes. We want to protect the dreamers. We want to protect those who have been in this country for a long time that are not causing any risk factors. President obama issued executive orders, as im sure you are aware, that target our deportation on those who are violent creating criminal problems here in the United States. President trump accepted that. Now he is changing it. We dont know exactly how he is changing it. We are concerned that the net may become so broad that a lot of people are going to be at a major disadvantage under the enforcement, which, again, causes communities in america to question whether they should work with Law Enforcement here. Relationships are important. Working with communities are critically important. You have to have an immigration policy that reflects the will of this nation, and im afraid the president is moving in the wrong direction. What he should be doing is coming to congress, worth with comprehensive immigration reform. Our immigration system desperately needs change. The senate got it done three years ago. With the president s leadership, you could pass comprehensive immigration reform, and that would be in everyones interest. I want to ask you, senator, about the threats against jewish Community Centers across the United States. Dozens of them, the vandalism that we saw at a Jewish Cemetery in st. Louis. You heard the president mention the threats while visiting the africanamerican History Museum this morning. He called these actions, the spate of antisemitic threats horrible and painful. Is the president reacting from your perspective strongly enough . What he said just recently is what the president what i would hope the president of the United States would do. He was slow to getting to this issue as you know. Theres been efforts in the past where the president could have been much more articulate against hate issues and he was not some of his own speech was not what i would want from the president. However, what he said in many regards to recent episodes of antisemitism is the type of leadership you need from the president of the United States. Our leaders must speak out very strongly against any intolerance, any hate type conduct. We have to treat it very seriously. Its not only criminal, but it also leads to the type of behavior in our community that make communities unsafe where, starts with leadership. Have you seen in your home state of maryland, senator, theres a significant Jewish Community in baltimore outside of washington in suburban maryland elsewhere in the state. An increase in these antisemitic incidents . I know theres great concern in the jewish communities of maryland. They have increased significantly. Theres attention to security. They are concerned about these threats, and theyre treating each one of these threats with the seriousness it deserves. Local Law Enforcements also spending a lot of their resources on protecting not only the Jewish Community, but other minority communities against the potential violence coming from hate speech. Yes, we are very concerned about it. Senator, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you. Coming up, only moments away from the White House Press briefing. Live pictures over there. You see the electric turn. The press Secretary Sean Spicer, he will go to thlecturn and ansr reporters questions. Well have that coming up. Plus she was warned, but she persisted. Right now protesters are gathering outside at an event in kentucky for the Senate Majority leader mitch mcconnell. He recently called on his fellow republicans to address frustrated voters directly. Will he follow his own advice . Well discuss that and have an update for you when we come back. Ras triple action joint support for improved mobility and flexibility, and 20 better comfort from one tiny, mighty pill. 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Specifically the president s response to a rise in antisemitic incidents across the United States. Lets discuss that and more. Cnn commentator former democratic congressman steve israel is joining us and cnn senior political commentator, former republican senator Rick Santorum is with us as well. During a visit to the National Museum of africanamerican history, the president called the threats against jewish Community Centers across the country, in his words, horrible and painful and a very sad reminder of the work that must still be done to rout on the hate and prejudice and evil. Critics have been calling on the president to speak out against antisemitism. Congressman israel, how important was it for the president to make this specific Statement Today . Oh, it was vitally important, wolf. The president not only has the bully pulpit, he has the moral high ground. Look, this is an administration that seems to be good at denying itself some lay outs. It should have been said earlier and have been easy. We ought to welcome the statement that the president made today and hope that he will continue on a sustained effort to tell those who would threaten jewish Community Centers and topple grave stones at cemeteries that ts unacceptable behavior in the United States of america. I know you welcome the president s statement as well. Yes. New day earlier today and, senator, you wanted the president to make this statement. Heres the question, though. Why did it take so long . He easily could have said Something Like this when that israeli journalist asked in the News Conference, at the press conference when that orthodoxed American Jewish journalist asked him the similar question the next day. You know, he didnt. I dont have an answer now. I didnt have an answer then. Its defuddling. This is a guy who has really supported the jewish people of israel, has been very forth right about doing everything he can to support the jewish state. He is a grandfather to two jewish kids. Three. Excuse me. It doesnt make any sense to me why he did it, and i would make the argument as i tried to this morning, theres been a rash of antisemitism going on in College Campuses now thats growing. I saw a report earlier that 45 increase yearoveryear from last year continues to grow. Its being perpetrated not just by the propalestinian groups on College Campuses, but also from progressive groups. This is a sweet spot for the president to be in, and i just am amazed that he hasnt hit on not just whats happened in the Jewish Centers but whats happening on College Campuses. You want President Trump to be hitting that bds movement, the boycott sanction thats going on around College Campuses. I think maybe part of it is theres so much going on at the white house. Its all new. He is trying to get a lot of things done. To me this is an area that really deserves some focus, and can actually substantiate a lot of the concerns that he has raised about, you know, what is going on with religious tolerance in this country, with religious freedom in this country, and the role that muslims are playing on College Campuses to stifle opposition voices. Its not just muslims on College Campuses. Yes, it is. Theres a lot of theres a lot of liberals. Theres some liberal jews that were out there promoting this as well. Let me let congressman israel go ahead and react to what we just heard from the senator. Look, first of all, we should not be politicizing antisemiti antisemitism. It is not a matter of the left. It is not a matter of the right. It is a matter of an act of hatred against the jewish people. What does concern me is this. Not just that the president took so long and i gra he with the senator. He took way too long. They were wrestling with using the word jewish in a statement condemning antisemitism. They wrestled with using the word holocaust in a statement commemorating holocaust remembrance day. What concerns me is the tone and tenor that we saw leading into the inauguration. You rnl, im reminded about the very last the closing commercial that the Trump Campaign ran just days before the election where they used really inappropriate language where they talked about a global power elite and those people who are controlling the levels of power and they use those words superimposed over people like janet yellen and george soros and George Blankfein where, those are dog whistles. We have to be careful when we use that kind of tone bh we engage in that temperament because they become amplifiers to people who then feel empowered. The president , therefore, has an obligation to disempower those people. He did it today. He has to keep doing it. You want to react with that . Look, this campaign from the very beginning, the Trump Campaign, the Trump Presidency is always about going about the elites in wall street, the elites in the media, the elites in washington d. C. I dont think thats a dog whistle. I think thats consistent with Everything Else that has been talked about, which is trying to elevate working men and women in this country who have gotten a raw deal from wall street from washington and fight for their interests. I wouldnt read too much into that. I dont think thats fair to do so. Congressman, i just want to be precise. You dont believe, do you, that the president of the United States is antisemitic . I wasnt saying that or suggesting it. I wasnt implying it. I was saying that when theres a tone in this country and the environment that we have, that makes it all the more important for the president of the United States to use the bully pulpit, to use that moral high ground to condemn those who feel empowered by the climate we have and do it quickly and do it in a fullthroated way. The fact that he didnt do it, he would be criticized, but the fact that he did it today, we should welcome it and ask him to continue with the sustained message denouncing antisemitism and antisemites whenever and wherever they rise. And he did he will pay a visit to the Holocaust Museum as well. Why do you believe, senator, there has been these threats against jewish Community Centers, dozens of them now, over the past several weeks. The des incarceration of this Jewish Cemetery in missouri. To be honest i dont know other than we see thrash of antisemitism breaking out and in europe. Its in a very bad way. We see a lot of that. I wish i could tell i dont know if we have any evidence as to who is perpetrating that. No one has been arrested. No one has been arrested. Its hard to speculate where its coming from. It could come from it could come from propalestinian or promuslim or could be some deranged people. I dont know who is actually doing it. You could speculate all over the place. You could see swastikas painted at jewish Community Centers. That is clearly an antisemitic incident that we dont know who is doing it, but im curious what you think. Look, again, i do not want to make antisemitism a matter of the left or the right. Antisemitism was, in fact, being expressed and manifest in a very increased way with on College Campuses through bds. That mostly came from the left. Right now you could make the argument as you analyze these incidents that its coming from the right, propelled by the altright movement and propelled by some of the stuff you read in bre breitbart. Its less important than the president s power and his moral authority to condemn it quickly. He didnt do it quickly. He said what he had to say together. He needs to keep saying it. Ill give you the last word, senator. This is an area that i think is President Trumps sweet spot. He should focus on it. Be a champion of it. This is a way to start blunting some of the criticism that he is getting that he is not distancing himself from the far, far right, and this is a great way to do it. Rick santorum, steve israel, guys, thanks very much for joining us. Once again, take a look at the live pictures coming in from the White House Briefing room. Minutes from now the press Secretary Sean Spicer will field questions from reporters, likely to discuss the president s upcoming executive orders, recent threats to jewish Community Centers across the country. Presumably also his new National Security advisor. 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Go long. Live pictures from the who us. Sean spicer will soon start answering questions from reporters. He will make some statements first. Once the News Conference begins, well have live coverage for our viewers here in the United States and around the world. In the meantime, theres much more to discuss. Joining us our chief political analyst gloria borger. The National Political reporter for the Washington Post and our cnn political reporter eugene scott. Today the president addressed recent antisemitic incidents here in the United States calling them horrible and painful. The comments came during his visit to the museum of africanamerican history. He also spoke about racial discord in this the United States. This, too, is a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, intolerance, and hatred in it all of its very ugly forms. Why do you think those televisions exist, why do you think theyre still so deep, so persistent . I think its just ageold. Its there is something going on that doesnt allow it to fully heal. Sometimes it gets better and then it busts apart, but we want to have it get very much better, get unified, and stay together. But youve seen it. Were oftentimes it will be much better, and then it blows up. Part of the beauty of what you are doing here with the museum and the success of the museum, the success is very important because its doing tremendous numbers of people are coming in. I think that really helps to get that divide and bring it much closer together. If not, perfect. Gloria, did the president go far enough in his remarks today . Well, i think he started, and i think its a conversation that needs to continue because, as you know, in last weeks press conference, when the president was asked about it, you have been talking about it earlier today, he kind of deflected the question about his own personal views on things like antisemitism, and i think when you have the attacks around the country that weve seen today, when you have the rise of White Supremacy or the vocalism of White Supremacy, i should say, to speak out forcefully about it but not be backed into a corner to talk about it. This is something a president ought to want affirmatively to speak out lookout and clear every opportunity he gets. What i would say is i hope this is the beginning of that kind of conversation, and it was a first start. What did you think, eugene . I spoke with voters, and they are not quite applauding speaking out, and thats expected. The reality is the building is an example of what can happen to a group of people if president s and lawmakers do not put measures in place to protect them, and i think many of them would like to see President Trump be more aggressive and implementing policies that are meeting the needs of black voters in americans. Mark preston, why did it take the president , do you think, so long to specifically address these recent incidents, these antisemitic incidents. He did say very forcefully they are horrible and painful. I think its hard for us to be analyzing donald trump and look at his soninlaw, his daughter, his grandchildren who are all jewish, and we talked about how much he loves his daughter and how much he has put so much confidence in his soninlaw and then turn around and say he is antisemitic. I dont think he is. I think he is inartful, and quite frankly, i dont think he likes being challenged. I dont think that donald trump enjoys having somebody tell him what to do. In many ways this could be one of those instances, but i would expect that its one of these instances where he feels his critics backed him into a corner, and he was going to do it on his own terms. You spent some time reporting on this. What do you think . It appears that i think one of the things were seeing is the president growing into this job, which part of the job is to be a leader on moral issues. Its something that whether its antisemitism or another issue, i think he is still aus judging to the fact that he is going to be seen as someone who has to be proactive in calling out hate and calling out acts of intolerance, and thats something that is going to be a standard that he will be held to. That clearly is something he was not prepared for in this issue. The incident at the press conference in which he sort of shouted down that reporter and told that reporter to sit down when he was asked about it. I think the Administration Knows it was very damaging and theyre seeking to turn the page on this. Lets turn the page right now. Talk about another issue thats going to presumably come up at the sean spicer News Conference. The new deportation orders that are going into effect and the second revised version of a travel ban affecting at least seven mostly muslim countries. Theyre still going to be included. We anticipate that coming in week as well. And i think what the administration is trying to do in giving background briefings on all of this and talking to journalists about it is they are trying to correct the way in which the initial travel ban was rolled out, which was chaotic and confusing, and is now in the court system. They want to kind of reverse that. I think what we know so far is that this is going to be very different from the immigration orders of president barack obama with one exception, which is i think the dreamers looking at this initial reports will be okay, and that is a big that is a big deal. It may not make some of the president s supporters happy, but the president has said, look, i have a heart. Im thinking about dreamers. It looks to me from first blush that they will be okay. Lets talk about that for a second because the dreamers these are the children that came here as young kids, raised in the United States. Their parents came here illegally and presumably theyre going to be okay, but what about their parents . Are they going to be separated from their parents . Theyve been here for 15 or 20 years too. Thats a big question. I dont know the answer to that. We do know that people who are convicted of serious crimes, you know, criminals, will be gone. I mean, they wont be just first in line to be gone. They will be gone. There will be expedited removals of people that come across the border very quickly. Not just within 100 miles, but also further out, and also if you have been here for two years you can also be deported very quickly. What were going to see is the hiring of more immigration and customs agents, and they will in some cases act as Police Officers and border officers, so it will be a very, very different environment. Which is what President Trump said he would do. Eugene, theres a lot of nervous tension out there around the country as a result of these new deportation rules that are about to go into effect. What are you hearing . Well, im hearing from voters in arizona that theres some concern about how the administration is going to go about determining who is a criminal and who has actually broken the law. Theres concern across the board regardless of lawmakers being republican and democrats about breaking up families. What will come of all of this still isnt clear. It does look like the administration will be more sympathetic to dreamers. To what extent, we dont know yet. Were standing by for the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Momentarily were told that he will walk in his aides will walk in first, mark. This is a sean spicer, he has to get ready for some pretty serious tough questions right now. No doubt. Certainly he has been away from the podium for a few days. Were used to seeing sean and taking questions. Theres no question theres a lot coming down the pike right now. This immigration stuff is very complicated right now. Not only the enforcement of immigration that we saw this morning with these new memos that were put out, but we will see that executive order that will happen probably in the next 24 to 48 hours, which will explain to us how they plan to keep people out from these seven countries. Those are two big things. Listen, we also have donald trump next week who was going to appear before congress. He is going to give his speech before a joint session and theres a lot on there to talk about as well. Thats exactly one week from today. Primetime next tuesday nice night. Theyll be addressing a joint meeting of the u. S. Congress. This is a moment that one month into this new administration right now where theyre trying to reset and the new National Security advisor by almost all accounts was a positive development for this president. Yeah. Clearly a personnel victory in the lines of this selection of a Supreme Court nominee. Someone who is getting praise from liberals and conservatives alike across the hill and among the National Security apparatus. I think that brings a bit of relief to those who were anxious about who was going to fill this post and exactly what was happening at the National Security council right now, which has gone through a lot of upheaval in the wake of flynns departure. I think this is something that the administration is breathing a sigh of relief about today, that they can really chalk that one up to a big win at a time when as mark noted, they have a lot on their plate to contend with. This was seen as a major positive development after Michael Flynn was effectively fired by the president. Now there are a lot of people suggesting that the National Security Homeland Security team, the leadership seems to be pretty positive. Yeah. There are a lot of people who say that, look, you know, between kelly and mattis and the new nsa, you have a terrific team, and i think there is less known about rex tillerson, but people also breathed a sigh of relief that when mike pence went to speak abroad, he said we are committed to nato, and we are also committed that if russia misbehaves, you know, we will take that on. I think the question foreign leaders still have is does mike pence speak for the president of the United States . Who does speak for the president of the United States . I think there are people who believe that he has installed a first rate National Security team. Theres administrator theres a new leader on the job. He was speaking to employees, staff members, officials there just a little while ago. I think we have a clip. Regulations ought to make things regular. Regulators exist to give certainty to those that they regulate. Those that we regulate ought to know whats expected of them so that they can plan and allocate resources to comply. Thats really the job of a regulator. All right, mark. He was not overwhelmingly confirmed by the United States senate. It was pretty close. Almost completely along party lines, if you will. He has a tough job ahead of him right now. He has a tough job ahead of him. He is going to an agency that he has sued. I think 10, 11 times unsuccessfully, i might add, when he was the Oklahoma Attorney general. Somebody that environmentalists think that he is aernt environment in many ways, and he is going to go in and he is going to oversee the roll back of regulations that affect our environment. We saw just last week that donald trump here he is. Sean spicer, walking up to the microphone. Hey, good afternoon, everyone. Its been a little while. I hope you missed me. Absolutely. Weve got a lot of talk about today. Lets get right to it. First off, i want to acknowledge the tragic plane crash that occurred in australia that that took the lives of five individuals, including four americans. The president s thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims, and the u. S. Embassy and consulate are ready to provide necessary and appropriate assistance. Moving on the president was honored to announce that Lieutenant General mcmaster will be his National Security advisor. General mcmaster served his nation in the United States army for over three decades, including during Operation Iraqi freedom, Operation Enduring freedom, and desert storm. The president met with many distinguished and qualified candidates for the position, and he has said that he will continue to consider many of them for other positions within the administration. He is especially pleased that lute napt general kellogg will remain on as the chief of staff. The president is proud to welcome general mcmaster to the team. We have full authority to structure the office to seat to his desires. Its his ultimate mission to protect the american interests at home and abroad. This morning secretary kelly and the department of Homeland Security released memos regarding the implementation of two of the president s executive orders that are designed to protect the homeland. These two memos provide explicit guidance to dhs staff on how to carry out two executive orders signed by the president on january 25th. One dealing with interior enforcement, and one dealing with Border Security. Perhaps most critically the president is empowering dhs to carry out the immigration laws currently on the books. Of course, dhs gave a full briefing on these memos this morning, but just to briefly summarize a few of the facts. The memo regarding the executive order enhancing Public Safety in the interior of the United States outlines several practices and policies in order to strengthen the efficient and fateful execution of this countrys immigration laws. That includes hiring more ice agents and officers as well as Additional Mission support and legal staff necessary to support their activities. This memo also directs the i will grags crime engainment office within ice fulfilling another Major Campaign promise of the president. This office will facilitate the engagement with victims in their families to insure that their questions and concerns regarding Immigration Enforcement efforts are addressed. The memo regarding the executive order Border Security and Immigration Enforcement improvements outlines the steps that dhs will take to secure the nations southern border, prevent further illegal immigration, and to repatriate Illegal Immigrants swiftly, consistently, and humanely. This includes immediately identifying and allocating all sources of available funding for the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of a wall along our southern border and hiring of additional personnel, including 5,000 additional cvp border agents. Again, i would refer you to dhs for further comment on these specific memos. There are fact sheets and q as on the dhs website that address many of the intrick assays and areas within the areas of the executive orders that you might have questions on. Also this weekend, the president had calls with the president of panama and the Prime Minister of trinidad and tobago. Readouts of those calls have been provided. The president s team this weekend also had a very productive meeting on the president s plan to repeal and replace obama care and insure that it is replaced with a system that works for all americans. Back to the president today in honor of black history no, the president started his day by visiting the National Museum of africanamerican history and culture. The Museum Opened last september and has quickly become one of wash wishs most visited attractions. The was joined by a group of individuals that included his daughter ivanka, doctor ben carson, and his wife, senator tim scott, alveda king, the niece of dr. Martin luther king junior, Museum Director metropolitany bunch, dr. David scoreton, the director of the smithsonian, as well as others. The president commented several times during his tour about how impressed he was with the museum. Some of the exhibits that he was particularly drawn to included the section on Harriet Tubman that featured a shawl that was given to her by Queen Victoria in the late 1800s. The section of the museum that featured the courageous contribution of africanamericans that have made to the United States military, and the president was particularly pleased by the mohammed ali exhibit with the quote i shook up the world prominently displayed. The president also enjoyed viewing for the first time with doctor a dr. And mrs. Carson. Similarly alveda king, who had never viewed the exhibit on her uncle, the president was honored he was able to share this experience with the two of them specifically. The president further expressed his appreciation for the tour and said he looked forward to returning again. His desire is to honor the immense contributions of courageous africanamerican leaders throughout our country by building a more unified country dedicated to liberty and justice. This afternoon the president will have a routine cla cla it isfied briefing in addition to his president ial Daily Briefing that he received earlier this morning. Then this evening the president will have dinner with the Vice President. Im sure that they will discuss the Vice President s recent trip to europe. The Vice President was an incredible representative for our nation and the president during his time where he reit it are aed our support for european allies and unified pursuit of the noble ideas of freedom, democracy, and justice and the rule of law in discussing how to do more to encourage all nato allies to meet their financial obligations and commitments. During his speech before the munich Security Council on saturday, the Vice President conveyed the administrations unwavering commitment to europes peace and prosperity. Especially remembering the tens of thousands of americans who gave their lives to defend those ideals during both world war i and ii. These shared sacrifices are the backbone of our alliance and our mission of security through strength. During this time in munich the Vice President also met with nine world leaders. The Vice President and these leaders discussed the issues most pressing to them, including the escalating violence in Eastern Ukraine and the role of nato in the fight against isis. The Vice President also met in brussels with the president of the tusk Vice President tusk of the council of European Union and nato secretary the nato secretary general. As a candidate for office President Trump called attention repeatedly to the fact that for too long many of our other nato allies have not been sharing the financial burden. The president looks forward to working closely with nato to advance our shared object is, a strong nato means a safer world. The United States looks forward to working with our partners in naturo to achieve just that. Looking ahead to the president s upcoming schedule, tomorrow he will meet with secretary of state tillerson, fresh off his trip to germany for the g20 foreign minister summit. Theyll discuss the president s Foreign Policy agenda and the secretarys Upcoming Trip to mexico. Thursday morning he will have a listening session regarding job creation and the Manufacturing Sector with ceos and Business Leaders from different industries. On friday he will deliver remarks to the conservative Political Action conference and we are just one week out today from the president s joint address to congress. The president will continue to work closely with his team to craft a speech that lays out his ambitious policy agenda that will benefit all americans. Plans are currently in the works for pre and postaddress activities for the president and his staff and well have more updates as the week goes on. Befor. It is a concern to him, and i think some reporters he has deep respect for the first amendment, for the role of the press. I have addressed this multiple times in people to say and do what they believe. It is incumbent upon people to get it right, and in that case it wasnt even attempted. It was a jump to conclusion by many to say that there must be Something Else going on. In fact, we were able to provide a very, very clear ticktock as to what had happened. Jessica. That happened last week, and in the letter they said in part we can no longer serve a president whose policies create outlooks that are diametrically opposed to our principle and charge. Whats the white houses reaction, and do you plan to appoint your own members to this council . Those members of that council were political appointees of the obama administration. The terms are set to expire this year. Its not surprising in the sense that they were appointees of barack obama. They were going to have their terms expire. Again, i get it. Most political appointees from other agents and whatever would automatically reside because of the term of these individuals. They would carry through until later in the year. I dont think its surprising that people who are appointed by barack obama to fulfill his agenda suddenly understand that there is a new administration in town and didnt want to stay on board. We will make sure that we appoint people to the task force. Its important. Its been something thats provided guidance to multiple president s in the past, and we will continue to do that. Shannon. On the Statement Today about the antisemitic act, what specifically is a president going to do to address that issue, and along those lines the reports earlier on that he was considering changing the mandate of this countering Violent Extremism Programs to focus on islamic groups, would you leave the scope of the program to also consider are you talking about the travel executive order . No, no, no. This is the countering Violent Extremism Program that again, i think were getting ahead of ourselves there. Theres nothing to announce on that front, and secondly, to the first part of your question, i think the president is going to do what he has talked about since election night. Its through deed and action, talk about how we can unify this country and speak out against, you know, hate, antisemitism, racism, and he is going to continue to do that. I this i that he will show you over the course of months and years through what he does in terms of his policies and his speech that he is going to be a president that brings people together, that unionitis them and then speaks very, very forcefully against those who are seeking to do hate or to tear people down because of their religion or their gender or the color of their skin. I mean, those are all things that i think the president is two questions, if i could. The next big piece in the immigration profile here that the white house is going to be the new executive order. Is the president confident that this one will pass legal muster and if he is, what gives him that confidence . Well, i think we first i want to be clear that we feel confident that were still going to prevail on the case. The merits of the case. I think that as was seen in the case of massachusetts, once it is fully adjudicated, we will prevail because the authority is granted to the president to do what he has to to protect the country. I feel very, very confident about where were going to go. The second track that he has made clear as well is until that occurs, were going to have a dual practical system and were going to make sure we implement a second executive order that is tailored to achieve the same goals but in accordance with what the court said. Weve been very working very closely with the department of state, the department of Homeland Security, the department of justice and the team here at the white house to make sure that the next step achieves the president s goal of protecting the country and does so in a way that recognizes the concerns of the court had until we prevail at a later time. Its a dual track thing. Will this administration send american terror suspects picked up overseas to Guantanamo Bay for interrogation . Im not going to i am not going to discuss that right now. As the president has said very clearly, we dont telegraph what were going to do. I think he has made very clear, though, that he believes that Guantanamo Bay does serve a very, very healthy purpose in our National Security and making sure we dont bring terrorists to our seas. Im not going to get into what we may or may not do in the future. Again, im just not i want to give you a chance to respond to something because i think that the president s remarks and your clarification about where he stands on antisemitism is clear, but after that statement was made by the president , there was a strongly worded one released saying these remarks, while received are a band i haid on cancer within the Trump Administration saying that there is look, the president has made clear since the day he was elected and, frankly, going back through the campaign that he is someone who seeks to june iunit country. He has brought a Diverse Group of folks into his administration both in terms of actual positions and people that he has sought the advice of. I think he has been very forceful with his denuns yaciat of people who attack people because of their religion, because of their gender, because of the color of their skin, and its something that he is going to continue to fight and make very, very clear that he has no place in this administration, but i think that its ironic that no matter how many times he talks about this that its never good enough. Today i think was an unbelievably forceful comment by the president as far as his denunciation of the actions that are targeted towards jewish Community Centers. I think he has been very clear previous to this that he wants to be someone that brings this country together and not divide people. Especially in those areas. I saw that statement. I wish that they had praised the president for his leadership in this area, and i think that hopefully as time continues to go by, they recognize his commitment to civil rights, voting rights, equality for all americans. On that were starting early with the two questions. Sorry. The southern poverty i think youll want to respond. Southern Poverty Law Center said that the number of antimuslim groups in the u. S. Has tripled between 2015 and 2016. During the time of the campaign. Is this message within the administration antisemitism is not allowed, xenia phobia is not allowed, antimuslim sentiment within the administration. Has the president been forceful about that particular issue . Zbl. I think that the president in terms of his desire to combat radical islamic terrorism, he understands that people who want to express a peaceful position have every right in our constitution, but if you come here or want to express views that seek to do our country, our people harm, he will fight it aggressively well, whether its domestic acts that are going on here or attempts through people abroad to come into this country. Theres a big difference between preventing attacks and making sure that we keep this country safe so that there is no loss of life in allowing people to express themselves in accordance with our first amendment. Those are two very, very different, different