Transcripts For FBC The Intelligence Report With Trish Regan 20170530

Were on it, but first here as we await sean spicer, it will be interesting to see what he has to say on all this. I want to bring in republican representative ron desantis, member of the House Committee and oversight and government reform, a Committee Following the russia investigation very closely. Welcome, congressman. G to have you back on the program. Your take on the Washington Post allegation. The media has been doing a lot of the stories where theres a lot of smoke, really not fire or facts but a lot of smoke, and i was struck by the kushner report because for months now theres been a narrative that there was some type of illicit collusion between the Trump Campaign and the russian government, but then the fact that they may have tried to backchannel during the president ial transition is curious because if they were colluding during the campaign, why would they then need this backchannel during the president ial transition . Inosure what to make of it, i think some of the reports that have come outave ended up being discredited once you put witnesses under oath. Idea of a ba channel is in and of itself problematic. Trish i want to ask you and i hear your point, in other words, if there was shenanigans going on between the trump team and russia, one would have thought they established that backchannel perhaps already, but in this case, they werent looking for one until they were in the transition process. Thats if they were actually looking for it because we dont know entirely what to believe in the narrative. Assuming that this report, if we were to assume this report is correct, let me ask you, congressman, how unusual is it for members of an administration, especially during that transition phase, to set up some kind of backchannel and why would you do it . Well, it was done with barack obama, both with iran and with russia. Its been done with other administrations going back to jack kennedy for sure. Why you would do it . Looks, they had a view they could have better relations with russia. A lot of us on congress see putin as a threat and dont think that would likely be fruitful but that was a position they had, and i think they were trying to establish relationships across the globe, and we dont know what other conversations were had with other countries during this period, im sure they were reaching out to dozens of countries. Theres nothing illicit about doing that. What you have to show is that there was some type of bad purpose to those communications, and, of course, theres zero evidence that there was a bad purpose at this time. Trish okay, one of the complaints has been why would jared kushr try to set up the backchannel via perhaps the Russian Embassy itself . In other words, one of the things that came out it was suggested and not clear whether this is Jared Kushner, nothing is clear, i should preface this by saying nothing is clear, but per reports the russians were suggesting the communications take place at the embassy or Jared Kushner was suggesting the embassy, does it expose naivete on his part to think you could have this going on . Are you saying this is par for the course and what is done . I think that using russian facilities would not be par for the course. I would definitely advise against. That of course, we dont know whether that was something he suggested. Other reporting suggesting it was the russians who brought up that. So that would not be the way to do that. Im not sure thats what actually happened. Theres a lot of different innuendo with the pieces. I think we will get the facts because there are investigations going on, and i just look back at all these stories, when people tend to get under oath, a lot of the smoke ends up clearing and not a lot of there there, this could be another example of that. Trish who do you think would be motivated to leak this, representative . Who do you think would be trying to damage Jared Kushner right now to put the story out into the atmosphere, shall we say . Well, theres been a concerted effort to leak information against the administration writ large. You go back from the fisa releases with general flynn to releases involving president ial communications with foreign heads of state. So its hard to know what the motivation for whoever leaked this was, but this is basically been par for the course. I think its a real problem because the president is trying to conduct Foreign Relations and if they cant be certain that when they have the Certain Communications that its not going to be leaked the next day, you know, thats a problem, so you saw that with having conversations with the leader of the philippines and the russian folks, and so this is kind of one part of that, and i think its been an overall problem for the administration. Trish certainly, you are right on that. Theyve got a big issue with the leaks and hes got to get control over it or hes never going to get anything done. Because there are all these distractions in the media on a daily basis, and now targeting his soninlaw. Thank you so much, representative desantis, good to have you here. Thank you. Trish joining me now american representative resident capri cafaro, Fox News Contributor Mercedes Schlapp and hugo gurdon. Good to have all of you guys here. Thank you. Trish what is the lefts take on this right now, capri . Do you think that where theres smoke theres fire in this particular case or do you think the media is spinning itself out of control . You never know, im sure there is media spinning themselves out of control but i think this individual, i think, thought it was going to be a good time for him to go, and now maybe in that case where, there is smoke theres fire. Trish forgive me, perhaps i wasnt clear, i mean in terms of Jared Kushner. Oh okay. Trish mike dubke, of course, the communications chief there who is resigning, but in terms of Jared Kushner, in other words, were being told that this is actually quite common, in administration after administration has established the backchannels, but when you see the headline. People are freaking out. And i think that they are doing this and i think that democrats, particularly those that rllare trying to latch onto any opportunity to take down President Trump are seeing this as this is you cant get any closer than Jared Kushner. He is a husband to ivanka trump, a Senior Adviser, and so somehow they can pin the russia issue to Jared Kushner, they think that theyre just one step closer to creating some kind of, you know, solid argument that donald trump somehow was involved in rigging the election or trying to continue to. Trish but in the last segment, nothing is clear. And by the way, mercedes, when you look at this information, there are many different places it could come from, it could come from the russians themselves, by the way, who might want to stir the pot a little bit and unsettle things. When you heard all of this, what was your first instinct on it. Do you think that this was people trying to feed the fire when it comes to the media frenzy about this administration . Every day the Mainstream Media focuses on the russia story and tries to make the links between President Trump, his team and russia, is one less day that President Trump is able to talk about his legislative agenda and the work he wants to do for the American People, and so it becomes a very big distraction for this white house, but i do believe as congressman desantis said that there is really nothing there, they have not proven any evidence of collusion between the russians and the Trump Campaign, and yes, do i believe that the russians want to create chaos in our democratic system . Absolutely. We saw it during the election and steeg play out as well, where youre seeing the contradiory sties of whether kushner wanted a Backchannel Communications or not. Something that we know has happened in the past with president s jo they want to create the chaos, hugo, the democrats and the media are helping them out. In other words, i think theres another group of people there. The Hillary Clinton holdouts that want to see the chaos. They do not want to see the administration succeed . Absolutely. Clearly the longer as mercedes was saying, the longer people are focusing on scandal and intrigue and nefarious goings on or alleged nefarious goings on, the longer we dont get on with the agenda. Everyone should step back and say the smoke actually may be the fire. The russians wanted to undermine american democracy and sew mistrust in it. The russians helped trump somehow steal the election and those on the other side saying, wait a minute, you are undermining the democratic decision of the country and trying prevent donald trump from getting on with his agenda. So the russians have succeeded. All this smoke is what they wanted. Trish its a very good point. Let me ask you, mercedes, about Jeff Sessions and weve gotten reports that he did meet with the Russian Ambassador but never disclosed that information. Why not . Is that just, once again, i go back to how business is done, or deliberately try and hide something. No, i spoke with the department of justice and its very clear they asked specifically, sessions asked specifically to the fbi if he neededo list all the meetings. You have to understand the senators are constantly meeting with foreign officials, ambassadors from different countries. They said does he need to go back and list all of the meetings. He did not. They said no. He did not list all the meetings. What about the guy that ran the russian bank that Jared Kushner met with. Perhaps sean spicer will be asked that question right now. Good afternoon, i hope you all had the opportunity to pay your respects to the brave men and women who have given their lives for our freedom yesterday on memorial day. I want to begin by recapping the historic incredible trip the president and first lady concluded. It was an extraordinary week for america and our people. In just nine days, the president traveled across europe and the middle east and interacted with nearly 100 foreign leaders. It was an unprecedented first trip abroad. Four months into this administration, and it shows how quickly and decisively the president is acting to strengthen alliances to form new partnerships and rebuild americas standing in the world. Weve never seen before at this point in a presidency such sweeping reassurance of american interests in the inauguration of a Foreign Policy strategy designed to bring back the world from growing dangers and perpetual disasters brought on by years of failed leadership. President trump started in saudi arabia, beginning first foreign trip as president , in the nation, custodian to the hutu holiest sites in the islamic faith. The president was greeted on the tarmac and received by the kingdom and leaders throughout his stay. President s address to the leaders of more an 50 arab and muslim nationsas a historic turning point that people will be talking about for many years to come. He did exactly as he promises in his inaugural address, united the civilized world in the fight against terrorism and extremism. The president was very direct in calling on the leaders of the region to drive out the terrorists and the extremists and isolate the Iranian Regime that supports so much of this violence. He let American Allies know exactly what to expect going forward, what he called, quote, a principled realism rooted in common values and shared interests. Laid out the case in persuasive detail why the muslim world must take the lead in combating radical realization, and concluded if the nations go forward, quote, unified and determined to do what if takes to threaten and ruin our world, the president s historic speech was met with universal praise. Former cia director jim woolsey called it a courageous speech. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said we have to look back decades to, quote, find a comparatively dramatic moment in the history of u. S. Foreign policy and former democratic representative jane harmon said she, quote, loved the idea hes going to the found of all three major religions. Countless arab allies praised the president s leadership on the visit. Pralsisi, said this is the beginning of a turning point in the relationship between the United States and the arab and islamic world. King salman and other key allies gave extraordinary speeches at the summit, underscoring how much President Trump has done to rally the world against terrorism. We cannot overlook the significance of so many leaders of muslim countries coming together to fight extremists. This was a historic event in that regard alone. King salman shares the president s determination to, quote, renounce extremism and work on countering terrorism in all forms and manifestations. King abdullah agreed it demands coordination and Global Action at every level. He stated we are all accountable for our commitment to fight radicalization in all forms. The visit also included Historic Economic Development deals to the United States totaling well over half a trillion dollars in the creation of tens of thousands of american jobs. These deals include an immediate 110 billion investment which will grow to 350 billion over the next ten years in defense cooperation from saudi arabia that will further enable muslim troops to take on a greater role in fighting terrorism. President participated in the launch of a new task force to block terror funding in the gulf. The opening of a center for combating extremist ideology and 30 commercial deals that include Companies Like lockheed martin, raytheon, boeing, ge, dow, honeywell, emerson, alcoa and cisco among others that will result in additional 270 billion of saudi investment in american businesses and american job the president then went to israel where he was received with incredible warmth. He strengthened americas unbreakable bonds with israel, made the firstever visit by sitting american president to the western wall, and gave a highly praised address at Israel Museum as part of the continuing effort to rally nations together in the fight against terrorism and common enemies. The moving address spoke of a future which, quote, children around the world will be able to live without fear, dream without limits and prosper without violence. He said i asked this land to promise to join me to fight our common enemies to pursue shared values and protect the dignity of every child of god. The president also visited yadveshem. He met with Prime Minister netanyahu and Prime Minister abbas which they agreed they are prepared to work towards. He discussed leaders of cooperation against terrorism. Prime minister netanyahu said, quote, for the first time in my life i see real hope for change, and leading israel publications wrote trump carried out a semi revolution. From israel the president traveled to rome where he met with pope francis at the vatican. They had a very productive conversation about combating isis and other terrorist groups, protecting religious liberty and numerous issues. The president and the first lady were incredibly honored by the visit. The president attended the nato summit in brussels where he boldly stood up for american taxpayers by calling on other nato countries to pay fair share on a speech delivered with the leaders of all of natos countries, all present. Hard working americans saw a leader represent them and their security on the international stage. President also urged nato to adapt the alliance to effectively combat terrorism. The members stage unanimously agreed on the priorities, the secretarygeneral was extremely complimentary of the president s work to dramatically strengthen the alliance by getting Member States to increase contributions. Finally the president traveled to the g7 summit in sicily where they discussed how to better promote prosperity and security for each of the countries. Meetings were marked by outstanding success that we see reflected in the communique that was issued. They include a commitment to fostering a true level playing field. G7 leaders endorse the right to control borders and endorsed in the communique, the policy outlined by President Trump to seek resettlement of refugees as close as possible to home countries so they can be part of an eventual rebuilding. This language on migration and refugees was a major shift towards the shift of the president. The g7 formally also condemned the use of chemical weapons and needless to say the president s leadership was critical in setting the priorities for the nation. In addition, the president met with Prime Minister abe of japan, they agreed on enhanced sanctions with respect to north korea. The president concluded trip with address to the servicemembers and families at naval station to thank them for service on memorial day weekend and deliver another strong message about the unity in the fight against terrorism. Then yesterday President Trump spoke at Arlington National cemetery. This is an extraordinarily successful and historic nineday trip the president took. He accomplished the return of a Strong America to international affairs, took real steps towards peace in the middle east and renewed our alliances on the basis of shared interests and shared burdens. The trip sets the stage for a much more safe and prosperous nation here at home and Peaceful World for all. Were back at home now and the president and his cabinet are moving full steam ahead on the president s agenda. His plan for the most significant tax reform continues to progress, led by secretary mnuchin and director cohn. The team held meetings, secretary mnuchin met with the house ways and Means Committee, republican and democrat members, the Freedom Caucus and the republican study committee. The Vice President also discussed tax reform with leaders on capitol hill. Providing opportunity for Business Leaders and job creators to give us inputs on what reforms are necessary to allow us to grow jobs and the economy. This morning, the president met with Environmental Protection Agency Director prewitt. One of the topics the president s upcoming decision on the paris climate accords. As i told you overseas, this is the subject the president is spending a great deal of time on and one he spoke to the g7 members about during the meetings. He wants a fair deal for the American People and will have an announcement shortly. Also today, the president s trade representative ambassador lighthizer, having meetings with some from the vietnamese government ahead of tomorrows visit between the president and the Prime Minister. U. S. Trade representative will update on the meetings this afternoon. Ambassador lighthizer will be speaking at the chamber of commerce gala this evening for the vietnamese Prime Minister. That speech should be available via the u. S. Chambers facebook page. During speech, ambassador lighthizer will highlight the relationships with vietnam over two decades while underscoring and addressing the challenges presented by the recent sharp increase in trade deficit with vietnam. As the president made abundantly clear, unfair trade practices hit workers through a robust and varied trade agenda strengthening relationships with partners like vietnam through american businesses throughout the world. With that, ill take your questions. Reporter to the issue of the russia probe, im wondering, sean, if you can tell us when the president knew, whether the president knew that Jared Kushner was seeking to establish that channel of communications at the Russian Embassy through the russian government and if he didnt know at the time, when did he find out . I think that assumes a lot. Mr. Kushners attorney said mr. Kushner has volunteered to congress at the meetings and will do so in connection with any other inquiry. Reporter did the president discuss it . Im not going to get into what the president did or did not discuss. What your question assumes is facts unsubstantiated by Anonymous Sources that are being leaked out. Reporter have they approved of the action . Youre asking if he approves of an action that is not a confirmed action. That being said, secretary kelly and general mcmaster discussed in general terms, backchannels are an appropriate part of diplomacy. Reporter did the white house im not going to get into it. Your question presupposes facts that have not been nfirmed. Francesca. Reporter the president retweeted article based on an anonymous source that said there was an effort to set up a backchannel, that it was a russian who suggested it and it was to talk about syria. Was the president not confirming that there was an effort in the fact they just said. I think what i said speaks for itself. Reporter but you said that first of all that the article was based on Anonymous Sources. Which it is. Reporter but the fox article that the president retweeted was based on Anonymous Sources. Why is the source more credible than the one in the Washington Post article . Theres two issues at hand. One is the statement that jareds attorney provided. The second is whether or not the dossier that is largely discredited in the first place, most of the publications refuse to publish it in the first place. Im not going to get into confirming stuff. Theres an ongoing investigation, john. Excuse me. Reporter thank you, sean, i had two questions, first the president for the second time in a month retweeted his desire for the senate to reduce the votes to pass anything to 51, which would effectively scuttle the filibuster for legislation as it has been scuttled for nominations. Is this something he discussed with the majority leader mcconnell or any of the Senate Leadership before he tweeted it . The pace of the senate has been longstanding. The filibuster is up to senator mcconnell. The frustration with the pace of the legislation and the obstructionist tactics that democrats employed, whether its his cabinet nominees or other pieces of legislation is well documented. Reporter he wants to scrap the filibuster entirely . He wants to see action done, john, thats what the president wants. Whether its the delays the democrats posed to nominees. Or pieces of legislation. He wants action, wants to see things moved through the house and the senate. Especially when you have a majority support and people stop playing games. Reporter i want to mention that before he left to go abroad, the president praised philippine president duterte for his action against drug dealers and dealing with them. Various human Rights Groups have condemned president duterte saying a lot of the executions of drug dealers have been done without trial. Does the president stand by words of praise for the philippine president. The president recognizes the need to combat drugs and believes in human rights with several countries, one of the reasons hes reviewing the cuba policy, et cetera. He wants human rights as something hes discussed in private with several countries. Zeke . Reporter tomorrow is the deadline for the obama waiver. Has the president made it clear whether or not hell sign another waiver . No. Reporter and [inaudible] in the next 24 hours . When the president has a decision to make, well let you know. Repr nd the isis review is one with the afghanistan review, the status of those, you mentioned the paris will be here this week, what about the other two . I think on the afghanistan review, hes reviewing that from his department of defense. When we have an announcement, well let you know, sarah . Reporter thanks, the president said on sunday he thinks republicans should, quote, add more dollars to health care and make it the best anywhere. What does he mean by that . Theres a lot of savings coming out of the repeal and replace effort, were at 119 billion we saved through the president s efforts, and i think health care has been something that the president s been very clear on throughout his time as a candidate, well throughout his presidency to make sure the American People get the care and accessibility they need. He understands how Important Health care is and the bottom line is understand people have quality, Successful Health care. Reporter does it mean cost share in reduction payments, what does he mean . The bill is in progress, obviously its in the senate right now. And hes willing to do what it takes. Reporter following on zekes questions, afghanistan is the country with the longest war. How much more american does he think its a winnable conflict . The conflict, he wants to defeat isis, al qaeda. He wants to defeat threats to defeat terrorism. I read to you throughout the trip that was the common thread. Uniting the muslim world, talking about it with Prime Minister netanyahu and president abbas. Talking about it even with the pope that wherever he went on the nineday trip, protecting our country, protecting the worlds people was at the front of that discussion, and i think he wants to do whatever he has to do to make sure our country and people are safe. Thats why hes asked for the review. Reporter the president tweeted over the weekend that it was going, quote, very well. You used the word progress. However, republicans on the hill tell us the president tweeted today maybe they should reverse the filibuster rolls. What is it going very well at this point in time . I think the reception that secretary mnuchin and others on the staff have gotten from leadership from the ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance committee, et cetera is going well, obviously, in the business community. As i mentioned to the previous question, part of the reason hes frustrated with the senate rules is when there is a majority of key issues in the confirmation progress, he thinks its standing in the way of progress that the American People have asked for. The president will be meeting with two candidates this afternoon. Both chris ray and john pistol. One the president feels as though he met with the right candidate, hell let us know. But he will meet with candidates today and continue to do so until he finds the right leader. Are they the two finalists at this point . The president is the ultimate decisionmaker. When he makes a decision as to who the he believes is best to lead the fbi, he will let us know. Katie. The president tweeted it was going well. Does the white house still believe that tax reform and health care is going to get better . Just so were clear, two separate issues. One is the talks secretary mnuchin and the staff have had with respect to the president s tax reform proposal is extremely welcoming. I think the president in general finds it frustrating the way some how the senate operates. And, again, im dating this back to the hold up that they had on some of these unbelievably well quantified nominees. So theyre not were not we dont want to mix this two issues together. But i think he feels very encouraged by the reception. Secretary mnuchin had talked about while that was a goal that were going to continue to work as hard as we can to get it done. But we have a bold agenda. s agenda is in full swing. [question off mic] how important is that relationship to the white house and the president and the American Public . I think the relationship that the president has had with merkel he would describe is fairly unbelievable. They get along very well. Heas l orespect for her. They continue grow the bond that they had during their talks in the g7. And not just germany but the rest of europe as an important american ally during his conversations at nato and at the g7, the president reaffirmed the need to deepen and improve our transatlantic relationship. And how did he view that she felt that europe could no longer depend on the United States. Well, thats not what she said. Since youre misquoting, let me read what she actually said. She said the time when europe could rely solely is in the past. This means working in friendship with the u. S. , uk, russia, and other partners. Thats great. Thats what called for. He called if on additional chairing. Secretary of nato said the president called whats moving him in the right direction. The president is getting results. More countries are stepping up. Theyre burden sharing. That is a good thing for them. Its a good thing for nato, and its a good thing for america. Scott. Has the president been meeting with lawyers, especially about defending himself [question off mic] im not going to dignify partisan accusations of Anonymous Sources and alleged unsubstantiated. Its so im not even going to the president has a lot of meetin. Theresident has a decision on anything, well be sure to let you know. First, welcome back. When you were all gone, of course we understand what happened in montana with now congressman, i think its a misdemeanor charge of assault. Will this administration take a stand against violence against reporters . It will take a stand on violence against any individual. You all have been the ones come out screaming against fake media. Would you support legislation of real reporting, such as this asked you before. We have a constitution, brian, that supports the first amendment. Anyone in this country the freedom of expression, we support that. The second question. When you say youre going to try to defeat isis and alqaeda, what are you doing to eliminate the abject poverty that is the breeding ground for the terrorism . As we mentioned before, his National Security team is together a holistic solution to isis. Well have something on it when that is complete. You said back channel is i didnt say that. Secretary mcmaster commented more on that. Add more to that. How is it appropriate that someone whos a private citizen not sworn in as an official of the u. S. Government to conduct some diplomacy with a foreign official . Again, i would refer you to secretary kelly and mcmaster said how they can be important to diplomacy. But at a time, there was no one who was close to the president who was working an official government capacity. How is that appropriate . Again, i think that both of those individuals who are in National Security Foreign Policy have said that that can be an effective tool, generally speaking in diplomacy. Shannon. I know the president hasnt made a public decision on the agreement. I know you dont want to get out ahead of him. But on a more broad issue of climate change, can you say whether the president think so human activity is weighing on the climate . I havent asked him. Ill get back to you. Do you feel thats a decision that hes trying to make . I dont know. I havent asked him that specific question. Just real quick followup. So as part of the tweet about wanting to add more money to get Better Health care, would the president consider putting back some of the obamacare taxes that was taken out of the health bill . Would he be in support of keeping taxes in there and help pay for health care . Again, lets that negotiation is on going with the senate, and i dont want to say what the president may or may not want to do. Deborah. Angela merkels quote europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands. How did the president react to that . And will it have any affect on paris . The president believes that europe and other nato countries increase their burden sharing is a very positive thing for their own countries, for nato as a whole, and for the United States to see these individuals heed the call that he has so eloquently put out over the last several frankly well over a year. But when you look at the comments that the secretary general made, he recognizes that the president s rhetoric has had an extremely positive effect on the strengthening of nato and other countries stemming up the percent of their own gdp that theyre putting toward their Common National defense. That benefits everybody. It benefits us, it benefits nato, it benefits themselves. Will it have any effect on the obviously what he ultimately decides is up to him. [question off mic] i dont think so. I think the president is very pleased with his team, and he has a robust agenda that i just outlined that hes working with congress to achieve rebuttal with the American People. Is the white house considering changing his method at all . Well, i dont think that theres anything that we havent said before about how the president has an unbelievably qualified cabinet. Ultimately the best merge is the president himself. Hes always proven that that he is the best messenger. Not just for what he wants to articulate but the american poem chose him as their president emends the concerns and the values of the American People, and hes the best person to communicate that. [question off mic. I think hes very pleased with the work of the staff. I think he is frustrating like i am and so many others to see stories come out that are pat he will not false to see narratives that are wrong, to see, quote, unquote, fake news. When you see stories get perpetrated that are absolutely false, that are not based in fact, that is troubling. And hes rightly concerned. Can you give an example of fake news, sean . Yeah. Absolutely. Ill give you an example. Friday the president was having a great discussion at the g7 and someone from the bbc and ultimately an incoming reporter from the New York Times retweeted that the president was being rude by disrespecting the italian Prime Minister. When, in fact, you all and every one of the meetings we sit in watch the president with that one earpiece that has been used by other president s and yet the president did a great job at nato. Building stronger bonds, increasing americas presence around the world. And thats what another reporter who is joining the New York Times push out with no youre shaking your heads here. Its true. You did it. No. No. Reporters make mistakes. But that is fake. That is a fake your trip was all over the front page. Youre making it out of one tweet. With all due respect, i was asked to give an example, and i did it. I gave an answer to jim. The problem is that i think the president to the question gets frustrated when he sees fake stories get published, things that arent based in fact and a narrative gets pushed. Thats just with all due respect, that is frustrating. Im not i didnt come here with a list of things. But i think well, thank you. I appreciate it. What you get to decide whats vague and whats not, theres a lot of this stuff that has gotten pushed out based on unnamed unaccountable sources that is very troubling and when you see it happening over and over again, it is concerning, and i think the president fought very hard to bring back jobs. You have over half a Million Dollars of investment thats going to grow jobs, grow our economy. That should be a big story. The president results when it came to fighting terrorism with a big thing. The idea that were standing up a Global Center to fight extremism in saudi arabia thats uniting muslim countries. Thats a big deal. I think an overhaul of the communication of fake news. I know so now you want to go back to that. What im telling you is that the reason the president is frustrated is because theres a perfect pechuation, a false narrative, unnamed sources over and over again, and i think that is troubling. Thank you, guys, very much. Sean spicer going on the attack there, i want to take a quick look at the markets there. Were 45 points off the lows of the session nonetheless. Here with me to digest what we just heard. Mercedes, ill start with you. This is, i would say a calmer sean spicer than what we have perhaps seen over the last several weeks, although he did start to get fired up where the opportunity was to cite some fake news. But how do you think he did in terms of answering some of these estions about Jared Kushner and what he may or may not have known or done with the russians . Well, first of all, i think the press secretary is the toughest jobs in the white house. I worked when i was press secretary and the media shop, and its very challenging. And in particular under this administration, it becomes like a combat zone between the reporters and sean spicer. So i think the key for the press secretary is not to have to make additional news. Its just to deliver the president s message of the day, the activities that are happening, and then move on and not allow the emotions to play out. So i think his handling of the kushner situation is exactly what needed to happen. I think its very clear that weve seen time and time again back Channel Communications occur between, you know, the United States and foreign governments. But with the case of the media, this Mainstream Media is so obsessed with the russian narrative that that is where theyre going to go every single time, and theyre going to is the president thinking russian vodka, that would be a story. That would say he would have ties with the russians. So its very its interesting to see how, you know, he i think he handles it in the right tone to basically say this is what we were a little surprised that sean spicer mentioned that, which i should point out reputable news organizations were not going about. To serve your point, mercede the media is so hungry for anything, theyre trying to connect the dots because capri, they know the answer; right . To them and to a lot of them democrats that wanted Hillary Clinton in the oval office, something had to have happened. Something nefarious had to have happened because god forbid how on earth could donald trump be the president of this country . So theyre looking for any little thing and, you know, something that may or may not be a fact of a particular case. Somebody gets blown up in a way that i would argue is not necessarily healthy for where our country is now. Nor question about that, trish. I think theres obviously something happening here where democrats and maybe the media however you want to, you know, put that together, Mainstream Media democrats, and i say this as a democrat. But i see whats happening here is that it is becoming more about politics and less about the nation. So we need to make donald trump look like he has done something wrong because we need to derail the agenda, we need to create an excuse for Hillary Clintons loss, and i say, and i say this all the time democrats need to come to the table with solutions. Thats why we have three branches of government, why we return to regular order. You agreed that you dont like donald trump. I keep saying that the democrats turned into just the anti and i think thats the wrong move. And that is not going to give us electoral victories in 2018. We i always say democrats dont win elections, republicans lose them. And its because we have not been able to find our voice. We cannot be antidonald trump, regardless of how we feel about the way he presents himself on twitter or some of his policies, regardless of how we feel about donald trump, we need to present ourselves as a viable alternative that makes americas lives better. And if donald trump is not successful in his agenda and the jobs arent coming in and the market goes down or whatever the situation may be, nafta doesnt get trish you and i have seen eye to eye on this in the beginning in that the wrong candidate was run. The democrats bet on the wrong horse, shall we say. And you cant just give something to someone because maybe its their time. The problem Hillary Clinton had and frankly the democrats continue to have, hugo, is that they have always been the party of the working class. And they abandoned that working class. They became the party of the elites of hollywood of the cool kids, of the 0. 01 of the population thats transgender. In other words, they lost touch with their working class roots and, you know, i dont know if just being antitrump is going to get any of that back. It certainly isnt. And, in fact, i think quite a lot of the antitrump attacks is actually strengthening him. Cementing in place some of the support that he has from this people. Hillary clinton did ignore, and weve discussed this before where she didnt go to several states. And her husband, who is obviously an extremely successful politician and won twice and remains popular was begging the campaign to go to places like michigan and the indurial midwest, and they ignored him. So, yeah, they took this votes for granted and now they lost him. Its very important whats missing, and i think it was a bit missing in sean spicers briefing was this economic message. Bring jobs back to america. Thats what this trump voters who are not committed to a Democratic Party or Republican Party want to hear. Travel to these rust belt states communities who are longing for this message and talking about how hes going to create economic growth. Its a great message and already we started to see some improvements in the economy, and i think that, you know, the psychology of all of this, you cannot underestimate. When business owners, they look at a guy like that in the white house, and they say he gets it. He knows what its like to have to deal with all the red tape and the regulation and to deal with an environment such as we were dealing with that seems so hostile. Granted, donald trump is the opposite of that. Yet the challenge of being the chief executive, of the United States of america is that it also comes with the Necessary Evil that you have to youve got to appease different parties; right . And different faxes. And if youre used to kind of just getting your way, is that a very steef learning curve . I think its largely President Trumps largest challenge. For better or worse, he was a chairman of a company, a privatelyowned company, it came from a Family Business from his father which he learned in the process of building his own empire. So unlike someone even like Rex Tillerson who was the ceo of exxonmobil who had to answer to shareholders and board of directors, donald trump really only had himself to answer to. And that is a stark contrast to what its like in washington having to deal with the gridlock that is the house and the senate and the groups. Ive always said the fact that he was a businessman, thats really one of his big selling points. Because i appreciate what he has done, what he has created, the hurdles and obstacles he has overcome to be such a success. But at the same time, its different being the ceo of your own private company than the ceo of ge where you have board of directors and shareholders and everyones. Hes used to saying jump and people say how high . But he has not understood the constitutional position of the government. He has to win people over. And one of the characteristics of his administration so far has been the roll out of policies, whether it was the first travel ban or waiting for the cbo score of the Obamacare Repeal and replace. And they havent got all their ducks in a row. What happened as a result of that is the democrats have been able to control the messaging, and he needs to realize that he needs more in place than just his decision. Trish i have to leave it there. We have a lot more coming up, everyone. Including new intel that were getting right now on the new fbi director, so stay tuned. The whole team is ba aft this you always pay your insurance on time. Tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . News flash nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 509 on auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™ Liberty Mutual insurance. Trish White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer just wrapping up his first press brfi since the president left for his overseas trip i want to go to blake burman, he was there live at the white house, he was in the briefing, and he has more details on who might be next fbi. Hey, there, blake. In the middle of all the things going on here at the white house, the president coming back from his first foreign trip. You might forget before the president left for that trip, he was almost narrowing in on his fbi director, but that all blew up a little bit when the top candidate Joe Lieberman had withdrawn his name from consideration. Well, the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer telling me moments ago that there are now two candidates that will be interviewing with the president here at the white house today. One name might be familiar to you to you, the other probably not. That first candidate, john pistol. He was the former head of the Transportation Administration about four years under president obamas watch. And then before that, he was the deputy can director of the fbi appointed during the george w. Bush years and then worked there during the years of president obama as well before he left to the tsa. The second candidate, an attorney here in dc by the name of chris ray. A former litigator at the department of justice who now is interviewing for one of the biggest jobs in all of washington, d. C. However, the press secretary spicer would not definitively say when the president might make up his mind. Watch. Where does the fbi director stand john pistol. Is he at the white house interviewing today . Is he the leader candidate at this point . The president will be meeting with two additional candidates this afternoon. Both chris ray and john pistol when the president feels as though hes met with the right candidate, hell let us know. But will meet with candidates today and coue to do s until he finds the right ader. The with it finalists at this point . Are they the two finalists or two of a. The president s the ultimate decisionmaker. And when he makes a decision as to who believes is best to lead the fbi, he will let us know. So, trish, one of the Big Decisions President Trump will be making we believe soon. Another one the white house Secretary Sean Spicer would not say which way he may be leaning. Fbi, taxes,s firstborn trip just a little bit what you saw in that briefing there. A whole lot of stuff going on, of course. Let me ask you this, blake. Are you getting any sense that people are sorry at all, regret the fact that comey was fired the way he was . Thats a good question. You know, we really havent heard from folks on that end. Theres been some reporting out there that Jared Kushner was the one who kind of led this. But, no, on that end, no. And the focus really here, trish. Trish it just makes you wonder if theres any retaliation, where exactly all of this is coming from. Anyway, blake, thank you very much. Well be right back app ready to. App ready to. In 12 weeks. Yeah. The world of fast food is being changed by faster networks. Data, applications, customer experience. Which is why comcast business delivers Consistent Network Performance and speed across all your locations. Fast cnections everywhere. Thats how you outmaneuver. Thithis is the new new york. E . Think again. We are building new airports all across the state. New roads and bridges. New mass transit. New business friendly environment. New lower taxes. And new University Partnerships to grow the businesses of tomorrow today. Learn more at esd. Ny. Gov trish reach out on twitter, facebook. You can follow me on twitter at trish regan, and well go from there. I always love hearing the feedback. Tell me what you thought of todays show and what you think of all of these links. Liz claman, over to you. Liz we have some breaking news on uber. We do get that for you in a second. Its just hitting the tape. In the meantime, a shakeup at the white house as two new candidates for fbi director emerge. These after effects from the president s first trip abroad are lingering. Press Secretary Sean Spicer just wrapped up that Daily Briefing moments ago. The markets are off the lows. He didnt say anything that frightened, but heid address the White House Communications director as well as the two men meeting at the white house for the fbi role this afternoon, including former tsa director john pistol. Spicer also addressing reports that Donald Trumps soninlaw and Senior Adviser jared