We also talk about health care and employment issues facing veterans. Washington journal, live beginning at 7 00 a. M. Eastern wednesday morning. Join the discussion. At the White House Briefing today, incoming press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders addressed news reports about President Trumps involvement in writing a statement about donald trump jr. s meeting with a russian attorney. Reporters asked her about the russian sanctions bill. This is just over 20 minutes. Good afternoon. In about an hour, the president Small Business administrator Linda Mcmahon and his daughter for a special event highlighting the role Small Businesses play as major drivers of our economy. Around 58 Million People are employed by Small Businesses around the country, accounting for nearly half of the United States employment. That is 58 million individuals whose families count on Small Businesses to keep food on the table, Central China college, or save for the future. Thats why we have an entire agency led by an incredibly successful businesswoman dedicated to promoting Small Businesses. During the last administration, Small Businesses saw themselves under assault from a federal government that seemed determined to pile on regulations and compliance requirements until it became impossible to keep their doors open. Obamacares mandates settled many with Health Care Costs they cannot afford, and these Business Owners have seen new additions to the tax code that have forced them to spend additional time and money. The president is committed to ending these policies and unleashing the american economy. Along with our partners in congress, we will deliver tax reform that provides relief for middle income individuals, a more competitive model for businesses, and simple gave simple application for everyone. We will continue the president s plans to eliminate regulation that disproportionately affect Small Businesses. We look forward to hearing from Small Businesses about how the Trump Administration can continue to be an advocate for them. We will keep it short today, and i will take your questions. About thed to ask comments senator Lindsey Graham made this morning. He said, there are no good military options when it comes to north korea. Would the white house be supportive im sorry. Would the white house be supportive of destroy north koreas program and north korea itself . Im getting a lot in instruction. I keep hearing someones phone talking or something. With the white house support the option against north korea to destroy north koreas program or north korea itself . The president obviously has been very outspoken about how he feels about north korea. We are weighing all options, keeping all options on the table, and as we have said, we are not going to broadcast what we are going to do until that happens. Im sorry. Destroying the country like Lindsey Graham says. That is not what i am saying. The present has been outspoken about the need to stop north korea. We have been focused on stopping the nuclear program, stopping the missiles, stopping the aggression. That continues to be the focus, and we are keeping all options on the table in order to do that. Is the president trying to change the narrative in regard to changing the statement for don junior . That donatement junior issued it true. There is no in accuracy. The president weighed in as any father would taste on the limited confirm based on the limited information he had. This is a discussion of no consequence. There was no followup. It was disclosed to the proper parties, which is how the New York Times learned about this. The democrats are doing everything they can to keep the story alive and in the papers. The president and american first,voted on america not russia first, and that is the focus of the administration. Can you clarify the degree to which the president weighed in . He certainly didnt dictate, but like i said, he weighed in and offered suggestions like any father would do. I will follow up on that. Was he aware at the time that don junior had a meeting that was based on the pretext that he was promised information negative about Hillary Clinton . Like i said, the statement that was issued was true, and there were no inaccuracies. The bigger question is, everybody wants to try to make this some story about misleading. That is thing i see misleading is the years worth of stories that have been fueling false stories about russian collusion and a phony scandal boast on Anonymous Sources based on Anonymous Sources. You guys are focused on a meeting that don junior had of no consequence. When the democrats colluded with a former government Foreign Government like ukraine, the dnc money from a Foreign Government, and if you want to talk about a relationship with russia, look no further than the clintons. Hillary clinton allowed 1 5 of american uranium reserves to be sold to a russian friend. They lobbied against sanctions on russias largest bank and failed to report it. If you want to talk about having relations, look no further than there. If you want to talk about somebody whos been tough on russia, look at President Trump. Those things are not good for russia. Clear,tinctions are very and you guys have clear, and you guys have a narrative that does not exist. Hey, guys. Lance, go ahead. To follow up on what you were talking about, there is a report out today based on a lawsuit that was filed that says sean spicer met with the Campaign Donor to push around this story that seth rich, this low ranking dnc staffer who was murdered, was two questions. Sean put out a statement; he said it was just a brief meeting. He said the guy didnt know the president. The lawsuit alleges that the president knew about it and had an influence on the story. Did the president know about the story, prepublication, and did he have an influence on the way the story was written . Sarah the president had no knowledge of the story, and its completely untrue that here at the white house involvement in the story. And beyond that, this is ongoing litigation, and id refer you to the actual parties involved, which arent the white house. To follow up, does it disturb you that the press secretary, for the president of the United States you just gave this incredibly passionate pushback on us for focusing on russia. Does it disturb you you just sped right past this does it disturb you that theres an allegation out there and a lawsuit, and sean spicer admitted meeting with these two individuals, that this was discussed in your white house . That this particular sarah he met with members of the media. I dont find that to be a strange thing. He met with a member of the media that was pushing sarah you guys are all members of the media. He was pushing a story that was later retracted because it was false. He met with that reporter and he met with a Campaign Donor. Does it disturb you . Does it say anything about this white house, if you entertain that kind of story . Sarah it doesnt bother me that the press secretary would take a meeting with somebody involved in the media about a story. None of that was disclosed. They had a conversation and that was the end of it. You guys come to us with stories all day. Ive taken meetings with the majority of the people in this room. I dont always know the nature of the story of which youre coming to talk to me about. But its my job to talk to you, to listen. And im responding. The president didnt have knowledge of this story. The white house didnt have any involvement in the story. And beyond that, its ongoing litigation that doesnt involve anybody in the building, and so id refer you to the parties that it does. Sarah, i have two questions for you, because i want to follow up on something you said yesterday, after my first question. You were on that flight back from the g20. Did you advise the president to be truthful in that statement that he was helping sarah i wasnt part of the conversation regarding the statement. You were not in the room at the time, or in the area at the time . Sarah i was in the air. I was on the plane, but i wasnt part of the conversation, so i cant speak to anything beyond that part. Yesterday, you said that the president was joking about his comments, putting suspects heads telling Police Officers they shouldnt cover their heads in putting them in the car. Was he making a joke about Police Brutality . Sarah not at all. I think you guys are jumping and trying to make something out of nothing. He was simply making a comment, making a joke. And it was nothing more than that. Sarah, whats so funny . Whats funny about that, sarah . Should he apologize for that joke . On that same issue, the head of the dea wrote immediately after the president made those remarks to officers of the dea telling them to disregard them, and saying he had an obligation to speak up when something wrong happened. Sarah it wasnt a directive. It was a joke. Theres a very big difference. So why was that not clear sarah olivier. Has the president signed the russia, north korea, and iran sanctions bill . Sarah im sorry, has he signed it . Yes. Sarah he has not. But as we put out a statement earlier this week, he will. And well let you know when the details and final plan whats the delay . Whats the delay here . You guys have had this since friday. Whats holding him back . Sarah theres Nothing Holding him back. Theres a review process, a legal process. Theyre going through that, and hell sign the bill and well let you guys know. Margaret. Thanks, sarah. I had two questions. The first is, theres a really interesting story out, just before the briefing began, by defense one, talking about air force one, and it says that the u. S. Air force has found an alternative to get the price down, as President Trump wanted, and that was to buy a pair of boeing 747 jetliners that were abandoned by a bankrupt russian airline. Can you verify the accuracy of the story . Do you know if thats correct . Sarah i cant at this time. Thats something id have to check into and get back to you. Ok. And then i also wanted just sort of an update on the new chief of staff, general kelly. Can you talk to us sort of, in broad strokes, about the calls and outreach that hes made so far to leadership in congress, folks outside of congress, any governors, that sort of thing . Can you talk to us broadly about the message that hes sending and the people that hes talking to both inside and outside of the administration . Sarah i know hes spoken to a number of members of congress as well as a large number of individuals within the staff. Hes taking time to get to know everyone here in the building that he hasnt met previously through his other role. And working through setting up new processes and kind of setting the tone, i think, for a white house that, under his leadership, will be very focused on the president s agenda, as weve been doing the last six months. Were going to continue on that track and were going to do that under general kelly, and were very excited to work alongside him in that process. Hallie. Sarah, on the president s agenda and im just sitting here and i heard you list off a list of reasons of why you think that the media should be focusing on democrats and not the president. And not to belabor an obvious point, but Hillary Clinton is certainly not in the oval office; donald trump is. And there seems to be a trust deficit that is being created with some on capitol hill. And i want to tell you what Lindsay Graham said this morning on the today show. He says, if this is true this Washington Post reporting it was a bad decision by the president , which will make us ask more questions. When you get caught in a lie about one thing, that makes it hard to say well just let the other stuff go. Is this what is hurting the president s legislative agenda, this credibility issue on the hill . Sarah i think whats hurting the legislative agenda is congresss inability to get things passed. Can you elaborate on that a little bit, sarah . Because clearly there is a concern from some republicans that the president is not always being as truthful as he could be. How does he plan to address that . Sarah i think by being truthful and transparent as he has every single day. Go ahead. Thank you, sarah. Id like to return to north korea. With north korea continuing to escalate nuclear tensions, can we expect any actions from the administration to ratchet up pressure of actions on china . Sarah as weve said, were not going to broadcast movements on things like that before they take place. But were going to continue to work with our allies, continue to work with our partners. And again, the goals are to stop the nuclear program, stop the missiles, stop the aggression with north korea. Were going to continue looking at the best options and ways to accomplish that. Can you say what some of those options might be . Sarah not at this time. John. Sorry, john gizzi, you had your hand up when i first went back thank you, sarah. Sarah im happy to go to somebody else named john. You said yesterday that i think you said yesterday that there would be no reshuffle in the cabinet, meaning general sessions would not move over to the Homeland Security. Is that correct . Sarah correct. And does that also mean that secretary of state kris kobach, the vicechairman of the president s commission on electoral integrity, would stay in his position and not be considered for Homeland Security . Sarah im not aware of any movements for him. But as always, when we have a personnel announcement, id be happy to share it with you. Jon decker. Since were in the johns thank you, sarah. I was hoping just to follow up on north korea. I was hoping you could clarify the administrations message that it has for north korea. The other day, the president said, when asked about north korea, we will take care of them. We will take care of everything. And a little bit ago, the secretary of state, secretary of state tillerson, said that the u. S. Is trying to convince north korea that the u. S. Is not your enemy. So which one is it . Is the president focused on north korea as an adversary, or is secretary tillerson correct that the u. S. Is trying to send this message that the u. S. Is not north koreas enemy . Sarah look, like i just said a few minutes ago, the big priorities here, which weve laid out i think this is the third or fourth time ive done it just today is to stop the nuclear program, stop the missiles, stop the aggression. Thats what were focused on in regards to north korea, and were going to continue pushing on that, and continue working with our allies and partners to accomplish that and do what is necessary to achieve it. Are they an adversary . Does the president sarah look, i think in some ways they get to decide by the actions that they take. If they want to stop their nuclear program, stop the game, stop the missiles, stop the aggression, then i think we may be able to find ways to move forward. But those are the priorities of this administration. Dave. Sarah, thanks. Secretary mnuchin had a meeting on the hill this morning with Senate Leaders about the debt ceiling. Apparently, according to reports, they didnt get anywhere. Obviously this has the potential to affect the stock market rally that the president is so pleased with. Sarah i think the whole country is pleased with it. Yes, thats true. Do you have any reason to believe at this point that youre going to get the debt ceiling issue done by the end of september . Sarah look, to ensure that we have robust Economic Growth and promote fiscal discipline, the Trump Administration believes its important to raise the debt ceiling as soon as possible. Over the past two decades, members of congress and president s from both parties have raised the debt ceiling 15 times, and we look forward to working with congress to ensure that full faith and credit of the United States government. Sarah. Sarah april. Thank you. Sarah since you said my name so politely. [laughter] thank you, sarah. Sarah somewhat sarcastic. Me being sarcastic . No, never. Sarah go ahead, april. All right. Sarah, when it comes to this joke that the president said on friday, you have Many Organizations you have police organizations, the naacp, and the american citizens share theyre upset about this. Could there be an apology from the president . And what does he view as reasonable when hes not joking, when it comes to use of force from police . Sarah i would have to ask on that specific question. But do you think that the president is remorseful for what he said because of the outcry from friday . Sarah i think the president supports our Law Enforcement and he supports the protection of the citizens of this country, and he wants to empower our Law Enforcement to be able to do their job. I dont think theres anything beyond that. Zeke. Thanks, sarah. First, following up on oliviers question, he mentioned that theres a legal review of this legislation, but the white house has already said that the president will sign it. So what is the nature of that review, if presumably there was some review before putting out that statement . Sarah as with any very particularly complex piece of legislation like this is, theres a legal review. And once we sign that, well work through and put more of the details of that process out. And separately, one more for you. Last month, the president delivered a warning to congress a couple of times not to take vacation in august. What is the status of the president s august plans . Does he plan to leave washington . For how long . And what will he be doing during that timeframe . Sarah well continue to keep you guys updated on his august schedule as those details are finalized. Andrew. Thank you, sarah. The coast guard commandant says that he wont turn his back on transgender troops, which would seem to preclude adherence to the president s directive on twitter. Does the white house consider that hes refusing to follow an order . Sarah i havent heard those comments or had a chance to speak with any about it, but i know that the goal is to work with all of the relevant departments, primarily the department of defense, to lawfully implement that new policy. Sarah, you just told april that you would have to ask the president if an apology would be appropriate. Are you saying you will ask him and get back to us . Sarah no, i said i would have to in order to answer that question. Well, could you please . Would you . Sarah ill let you know if i do. Also, on general kelly you said yesterday that everybody is now reporting to the president through him. Is that an accurate characterization . Sarah right, like i said that general kelly has full authority in the white house. So does that mean nobody can wander in to the white house on their own . Is he going to post somebody outside the oval office . Sarah i dont think anybody can wander into the white house on their own without secret service stepping in. Excuse me into the oval office. Can his daughter . Can his soninlaw . Can Steven Bannon wander into the oval Office Without sarah i dont think anybody just wanders into the oval office. Look, this is the white house. Hes the president of the United States of america, and there are processes but its pretty informal here normally, right . I mean, people talk to him. They dont wait to get approval to talk to him. Sarah look, general kelly is going to work with the entire team as hes been doing over the last couple days. Hes done a great job of sitting down and talking to individuals about the needs that they have, the conversations, and putting a structure in place. Theres nothing abnormal about that. Can top staff talk to the president without the approval of general kelly . Sarah i dont know that i would say approval is the correct word, but i certainly dont think its like were getting permission slips signed. But i do think that there is something to having a structured process in order just to make things run more smoothly at the white house. Whats the president s reaction to two opposition leaders being jailed in venezuela . Sarah sorry, can you say that again . What is the president s reaction to the two opposition leaders being jailed in venezuela now after the sanctions from yesterday . Sarah overnight, the regime of the venezuelan dictator maduro detained two leading opposition figures following its outrageous seizure of power through sham elections this weekend. The Vice President spoke with mr. Lopez just last week, and he and mr. Ledezma are Political Prisoners held unjustly by the maduro regime. The United States condemns the actions of the maduro dictatorship, and we hold maduro personally responsible for the health and safety of both men and any other seized by his dictatorship. Is the president already considering increasing the sanctions and perhaps going after their oil exports . Sarah again, im not going to broadcast. As secretary mnuchin said yesterday, well consider all options and keep you guys updated. On healthcare, you said earlier that whats keeping the president s agenda from going is congress and their votes. The president has said he wants to see healthcare done before anything else, and yet thats not the message weve seen from the Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell in the last few days. Can you explain the discrepancy between the president and senior Republican Leadership on the hill when it comes to what should be done next . Sarah as weve said before, we can do a lot of Different Things at one time. Were continuing to focus but theyre [inaudible] this things first. Sarah were continuing to try to push a new healthcare system. We know that obamacare is failing. We know that inaction is simply not ok. We want to continue to make that a priority. We want to work with congress to do that. We may look for other ways to improve healthcare in the meantime. Were also continuing to focus on tax reform. Weve been doing tax reform listening sessions for the last month. Weve had countless meetings with members of congress, other organizations, talking about tax reform, infrastructure. Were going to continue to focus on all of those priorities and move them forward. Will the president support Congress Taking csr payments out of his hands . Theres been some suggestion, again, among Senior Republicans that this is appropriate to do given the president s threats to stop these payments. Theyre saying they should be taken out of the executive branch. Sarah id have to get back to you on that. Can you, please . Because this is something thats being discussed pretty aggressively on capitol hill. John thune has talked about it. Orrin hatch has talked about it. Sarah im happy to get back to you about it. Thanks. Sarah peter. Sarah, very quickly on seth rich. Does the president believe the predicate about original fox news reporting that seth rich was responsible for the release of dnc emails to wikileaks . Sarah im not sure, peter. Thanks, guys. Weve got a Small Business event coming up shortly, and hopefully youll all tune in. Is first strike off the table with north korea . [inaudible conversation] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2017] transportation secretary elaine chao is the latest official to be featured in our profile interview series. She set down with cspan to talk about her goals. Her prior work as peace corps director and labor secretary, her marriage to Mitch Mcconnell, and early memories as a child coming to the u. S. From taiwan. Here is a preview. You said i prepare so much more than some of my male colleagues. I didnt prepare too much today. It is been a pretty busy day. I want to do well. Two listeners are kind to to tune in. I want them to feel it was worth their time to tune in and listen. I feel that way about everything i do. People are giving me their time and attention. I have a responsibility to justify their trust in me. I have always been so grateful to people who have trusted me, even though they have not have known me. I want to do my best for them. How do you prepare your own learning curve . Labor, peace corps, now transportation . It is a matter of being thoughtful and considerate. Comet like it when people unprepared. Spend is sot you precious, if you see the secretary, you want her full attention. Youwant her to know what are talking about. Hopefully if the principle is well prepared the discussion can be richer, more meaningful, more productive and it will be a good use of the visitors time as well. I remember when i was on the outside, i would be so disappointed if the person i was seeing didnt know what i was who i was. When i go anyplace, there are so many people who want to see me. They have been waiting maybe 15 minutes. Maybe 45 minutes. I always make a point to know who they are, what their names are, what they are doing there. I think they deserve that. That is a respect i can show them when i visit. I tried to be prepared out of respect. Cspans interview with elaine chao airs friday night here on cspan. Smallent trump spoke to Business Owners today, focusing on the importance of Small Business to the economy and the need to cut regulations. After the president we hea