Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Happening Now 20170201

Plus, james mattis embarks on his first overseas trip as secretary of defense while laying out a new spending plan to expand and upgrade u. S. Military might. And remembering an american hero. Chief special Warfare Operator William Ryan Owens killed in the first counterterrorism rate of the Trump Administration. It is all happening now. Jenna we begin with a fox news alert on another busy day in our Nations Capital as the new Administration Takes shape. Welcome to the second hour of happening now, i am jenna lee. Jon i am jon scott. The president s nominee for the Supreme Court heads to capitol hill today, neil gorsuch meeting with lawmakers and Vice President mike pence as they vote to approve tom price of secretary of health and Human Services and bangor Steven Mnuchin as treasury secretary without democratic support. There nomination now goes to the senate for. For it. Meanwhile choice for secretary of state Rex Tillerson also moves closer to confirmation after some democrats crossed party lines to approve him this week. There probably will not be the scene kind of bipartisan support for mr. President three trumps Supreme Court nominee, he will Tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell to go nuclear, that is a reference to changing the rules on any filibuster attempt. We have Fox Team Coverage on all of the action for capitol hill, we begin with Kristin Fisher life at the white house. About an hour ago, our john roberts asked President Trump if Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell cannot get the 60 votes needed to defeat a democratic filibuster of his Supreme Court nominee, would he encourage them to invoke the Nuclear Option, the controversial procedural tactic that would require only 51 votes. Today, President Trump said without hesitation that if he needs to go nuclear, do it. If we end up with that gridlock, i would say if you can, you should go nuclear because that would be an absolute shame that a man of this quality was caught up in the web. I would say it is up to mitch, but i would say go for it. Last night, President Trump said he felt that after defense of our nation, the most important decision a president can make as the appointment of a Supreme Court justice. We now know that decisionmaking process started back in november with a list of 11 judges, expanded to 21 before being narrowed down to six finalists, but as soon as he sat down with neil gorsuch at trump tower, the white house says the president knew he had his nominee. Today, gorsuch is being escorted around capitol hill by the Vice President had lunch with Senate Majority leader which mcconnell paid this is where the action is going to be for the next few weeks and something gorsuch alluded to in his remarks last night. As this process now moves to the senate, i look forward to speaking with members from both sides of the aisle. To answering their questions and to hearing their concerns. Democrats are concerned that gorsuch is a clone of the late justice Antonin Scalia, which of course is exactly why so many republicans love him. Jon Kristin Fisher laying out the battle ahead, thank you. Jenna also having now, the president s cabinet coming together but the Senate Panels approving several nominees, but the democrats are lining up, they say, for a fight over the president s Supreme Court pick. Chief Congressional Correspondent mike emanuel has more on that battle brewing on the hill, what are the expectations . Speak out congress is raising for a difficult confirmation process for the Supreme Court nominee and a really testy time here on capitol hill. Judge neil gorsuch is making the rounds here in the senate, stopping by various Senate Offices including one visit a short time ago with colorado senator cory gardner. Democrats are saying 50 votes is the 60 votes is the appropriate threshold while republicans are praising gorsuchs qualifications in appealing democrats to do the r. You lost the election, dont lose your mind, you will look like an idiot. There is no good argument that trump cannot pick anybody because of what happened to garland. I voted for sotomayor, i tried to play a very fair. Initial reaction on capitol hill is a gorsuch will face difficult challenges ahead. He will get some bruises and the confirmation process, but the initial rate is they expect him to get through to the Supreme Court. Jenna from that, we have to look of the nominations as well of other cabinet nominees, where do we stand right now with cabinet votes . Up next is a big one, that is for Rex Tillerson to be the next secretary of state. Tillerson is expected to be confirmed later this afternoon after he convinced some republicans that he is the appropriate person to be americas top diplomat, confirmation vote expected next hour. Earlier, they were approved in their respective committees, Jeff Sessions, Steven Mnuchin, and dr. Tom price for health and Human Services. The finance committee changed its rules to get past a democrat boycott. This is just another way of roughing up the president and his choice of nominees. We had a full hearing here, i stayed until the last question was asked, had multiple rounds per theyve been treated fairly. We have not been treated fairly. Also today, some sparks flew in minnesota democrat senator al franken criticized texas republican senator ted cruz who was not even in the room. But when describing this history, senator ted cruz misrepresented what happen. So i would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight. I objected that senator disparaging a fellow member of the committee here in his absence. He should be here first of all pure secondly, he disparaged me, senator. Let him make his case then we will come back to you. I object we are here to talk about the president nominee, not our colleague. I object to disparaging a colleague on this committee and particularly in the colleagues absence, it is just untoward, and it is inappropriate. I object. The senate is typically a clubby place, but these are not typical times. Jenna indeed, thank you very much. Interesting to see that exchange paid meantime, childhood friend of judge gorsuch fondly remembers him from long before his Supreme Court nomination. To think about that blows my mind that i knew this kid when he was 12 years old. My mom and his mom shared a carpool. Our family lived about a block apart. I dont know how many middle schoolers like to talk about government and politics and stuff when they are 12 or 13 years old, but apparently he really did. He was may be the only kid in school who walked around and cowboy boots. Jenna [laughs] nice to have that color, a little more personality about judge gorsuch at least when he was young. He expands life on our Nations Capital at a young age when president reagan selected his mother to be the first woman to head the Environmental Protection agency. Jon when i was a younger man, she was average 8 active in colorado politics peers as you just heard, some democrats are already opposing the president s Supreme Court picks, but it is just the tip of an increasingly large iceberg as an incredible amount of change and conflict comes to capitol hill. The New York Times writing today President Trump made clear in his fiery inaugural speech that he was going to challenge the washington establishment. The establishment is quickly pushing back, creating a palpable air of uncertainty and chaos in the opening days of his administration. Joining us now, adam hodge former Communications Director for the Democratic National committee and spokesman for the constitutional responsibility project. Also pete snyder, former g. O. P. Candidate for Lieutenant Governor of virginia and a fox news contributor. Chaos, pete, is it that bad already . Oh, my gosh, not at all. Heres the thing. You read these hysterical headlines in the media, you see Chuck Schumer cried. These are folks who say, time and time again, they just want washington to work but the dirty little secret here is no one wants washington to work. Think about it. Democrats, Chuck Schumer does not want to get the president s cabinet in there. He doesnt want judge gorsuch to sit on the Supreme Court. Democrats are going to do everything they can to obstruct. Then you look at the media paid the media doesnt want washington to work. They want more click bait, they want better ratings, and chaos is the way that is done. This is a democrat and a media spend deal. Jon adam, what about that . What you have is the members of the United States senate asking really sincere and tough questions about the nominees that trump has put forward that quite faintly raised a lot of questions about whether he would be the kind of champion for the working class he said he would be on the campaign trail. That is why you see members of the senate asking these tough questions and really digging into all of the folks who mr. Trump has put forward. Adam, i am sorry, but tweets went out and press releases went out before the nominees were even and that Democratic Senators were going to block hi him. That is because you heard mr. Trump put his litmus test out way back during the actual campaign. How can you judge someone before the judge is named . We had an idea of his background speak of the background you would not like. His background raises serious question is about whether he would be the type of independent voice we need on the court, and given the real big Dumpster Fire that the first 12 days of the trump had administration has been, the constitutional challenges they have already put forward, there is a question about whether judge gorsuch can be the independent voice they need on the court, and that is why the senate is going to ask a really tough questions in the next weeks ahead. Jon this president was elected in part because he promised to drain the swamp, wanted to blow things up in washington. Isnt he effectively doing that . Than he put forward the ceo of exxonmobil to be the secretary of state which is a dominate lee mack dynamite pig. Other nominees that are completely antithetical to the rhetoric he espoused in the campaign p of the American People see right through it which is why wasting millions in bands of americans take into the streets to raise their voices tnd you will see that continue about mr. Trumps nomination to the Supreme Court. Jon pete, your chance. You are dead on that donald trump promised that he would be, to quote miley cyrus, a wrecking ball and washington. That is what is happening right now. But he is also being incredibly effective. The speed and sheer magnitude of some of these executive orders. I am an entrepreneur, but two one meaning getting rid of two regulations for everyone that washington puts out is going to change the life of smal business people. He is being wildly effective, but he is being a wrecking ball and taking no prisoners. Jon hang on just a second, adam. I want to play some sound from your fellow democrats, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer. Within the last hour, he was on the senate floor extolling the virtues of requiring 60 votes to skip over the procedural bar in the debate on the Supreme Court nominee, listen to this. 60 votes is the appropriate way to go. Those who say at the end of this process that they are only two possible results, that the senate will confirm this nominee or the republicans will use the Nuclear Option to change the rules of the senate are dead wrong. That is a false choice. If this nominee cannot meet the same standard that republicans insisted upon for president obamas Supreme Court nominees, 60 votes in the senate, then the problem lies not with the senate but with the nominee. The answer should not be to change the rules of the senate, but to change the nominee. Jon adam, you well know it was harry reid who changed the rules of the senate. It used to take 60 votes to agree on just about anything in the u. S. Senate, then harry reid changed the rules and lesser nominees, federal judges, appalachia just and that sort of thing can be approved with 51 votes. Now all of a sudden, Chuck Schumer says its very important we maintain that 60 vote threshold, what is going o on . When the rules were changed during the last time, it preserved for 60 vote threshold for members of the Supreme Court. Senator schumer is absolutely right. We should have a nominee to the Supreme Court who gets broad bipartisan support. Quite frankly, i think what has been disappointing for a lot of democrats is the pick trump put forward does not meet that test, and i think that is why we really need to understand whether judge gorsuch will be the type of jurors to looks out for all americans, not just the wealthy and powerful. Jon we just heard Lindsey Graham from south carolina, he is ideologically opposite of Sonia Sotomayor and elena kagan but he said he voted for them and president obama put their names forward. Sure, and adam did not answer your question but the simple fact of the reason Chuck Schumer is saying this today when he said something completely opposite when he was harry reids deputy is because they lost an election. They did not expect that there would not be a president Hillary Clinton pair they did not expect they would not be the majority in this senate, now that they are out of power completely, they are trying to do anything to block Donald Trumps picks for his cabinet and Supreme Court. That is just it. They change like the weather. Jon we have to wrap it up, thank you very much. We will be right back. Well this heres a loadbearing wall. Well go ahead and rip that out. husband yeah . Its going to cause a lot of problems. Totally unnecessary and it triples the budget. husband mmmm. Wouldnt it be great if everyone said what they meant . The citi® double cash card does. Earn 1 cash back when you buy, and 1 as you pay. Double means double. Jenna fox news alert, news from our former Vice President joe biden who sent out a release just moments ago endorsing former labor secretary tom perez to head the Democratic National committee, the dnc. As you might know, the dnc is without a leader, and there has been some stiff competition to see whos going to take the ball, but joe biden coming up to date to say he supports tom perez, civil rights lawyer from the rust belt, they have that uncommon for a geography a little different background as tom perez served as labor secretary button is coming from joe biden. We will keep you posted if we hear from anyone else. Jon this fox news alert on another computer malfunction causing travel nightmares for airline passengers. This time hitting one of europes largest transportation hubs. This latest tech meltdown follows one of Delta Airlines over the weekend and has a lot of people asking what is wrong with these systems . Amy kellogg is life in milan, italy, she has the latest. I just spoke to air Traffic Control and amsterdam, and that is, of course, connected to the airport that is one of europes piggy busy is pure they said it was a problem with computer hardware, but frankly, they dont know what caused it. The problem has been resolved, but still, it was a terribly disruptive day. Over 150 flights were canceled. It was not a crash of the entire system. What happened is they noticed that the air control systems were not functioning as normal, so what they did was they switched to a backup system they have while they fixed the problem. That is why they had to limit flights going in and out, but they still did have planes coming and going. It was just that many were canceled, many were disrupted, and of course amsterdam is the hub for klm airlines. It has been resolved for now but the question remains exactly why this seems to be happening with greater frequency, it comes just days after the major problem with delta which suffered a computer disruption leading to the cancellation of up to 300 flights and something called a ground stop. Again, due to a system outage. They lost power at an Operation Center in atlanta and august, that was also delta appear that affected computers which led to the cancellation of 2,000 flights over three days. United had a computer glitch itself the week before, canceling 200 flights. These problems and of costing airlines tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars, one analyst blamed the Tech Infrastructure which he says is increasingly getting old and also patched with different systems as new software gets built on old software or this happens also when companies merge. Again, the problem at Schiphol Airport, the air Traffic Control that works with Schiphol Airport has been resolved, but we are expecting even through the evening there will be further disruptions and finally, again, airlines are very tightlipped about exactly what went wrong for obvious reasons, for security reasons, but another point that has been made by people who know the industry well and follow it is that increasingly, we are so digitalized and systems are interconnected that one problem down the line can lead to something very, very grave quickly. Jon amy kellogg in milan, thank you. Jenna the new secretary of defense leaving for his first overseas trip. We are going to tell you where james mattis is headed ny, we are also learning more about the raid that resulted in the death of Navy Seal Ryan owens and the intelligence recovery that is being compared to osamas compound. We have a press briefing, i understand for the first time, skype questions will be asked. We will we will be watching for that when we come back. Wif good bacteria. 400 likes . Wow try phillips colon health. [he has a new business teaching lessons. Rodney wanted to know how his business was doing. So he got quickbooks. It organizes all his accounts, so he knows where he stands. Ahhh. Thats a profit. Way to grow, rodney visit quickbooks. Com. Jon defense secretary james mattis is making his First Official trip overseas. Mattis departing from joint base andrews earlier today to head to asia to meet with counterparts and japan and south korea on a number of issues. Meanwhile, mattis is ordering a Pentagon Spending plan that calls for amending this years budget, keeping up with President Trumps promises to expand and upgrade our military. Jenna we will watch for details on that, as we get more details on the raid targeting an alqaeda compound in yemen. Our correspondent has these new details, jennifer . We have now learned that the navy seals managed to grab a laptop, about ten cell phones, thumb drives, documents in a couple bags full of material, almost as good as the reference to the bin laden raid. Senior military sources tell us the seal team gathered a large amount of intelligence a sizable amount of Sensitive Information was seized. Analysts are still sifting through it, there were a lot of however. One Seal Team Six member was killed as we member it, six other Service Members were wounded and a 70 million aircraft was lost. Im told the commander took a tough decision during the decision and approached the compound the hard way which is when the gunfire erupted. The only way to judge the missions success, i am told, will be the final analysis of the materials gathered. The pentagon said a number of women took up fighting positions and shot at this seals who returned fire, killing some of them. The u. S. Military is investigating reports of civilian casualty. The dignified return of chief petty officer ryan owens is occurring this afternoon. He, of course, is the navy seal killed during the firefight, 36 years old from peoria, illinois, owens had deployed at least eight times since becoming a seal in 2002. He was previously awarded two bronze stars with valor. President trump called brians family yesterday to offer his condolences. Three of his sealed teammates were also wounded in the firefight in yemen. Three others were injured when the crash landing happened. They have been sent in to the wooded seals baby aircraft was later destroyed in an air strike. I am also told that special Operation Forces from the United Arab Emirates where part of the raid on the alqaeda compound in yemen. Jenna give very much. Going to bring a now jonathan, Vice President of research at the foundation for defense of democracies and a former terrorism analyst at the treasury department. Some of the initial news we have about this raid, but for our viewers who might think, alqaeda, yemen, we have been focusing on ices in syria, so tell us about the importance of yemen and the state of alqaeda today. I think the question of alqaeda is perhaps the most crucial which is as we have kept our focus on isis, alqaeda has grown stronger. It always has had a structure that has made it very dangerous, and that is it operates and affiliate groups scattered groups around the middle east, the one in yemen, the Arabian Peninsula is among the stronger of those affiliate groups, in it has long posed a threat to the United States. The situation in yemen has really been chaos since the arab spring. Youve got alqaeda operating there, but youve also have the iranians, you have the rebels who are backed by iran, and you have the various nationalist forces fighting over there. It has really become a great area. An area where terrorist groups can operate with relative impunity and in so alqaeda has taken advantage of that anna perley been plotting an attack against the United States, and it looks like this raid may have disrupted that. Jenna what do you think this tells us about our war on terror under President Trump . I think the sense is that is expanding and is not only going to be against isis but also alqaeda. Its also interesting to note president obama had really relied on drone strikes, was loath to put bootstraps on the ground, this seemed to be a daring raid where the president was unafraid to put boots on the ground, special forces to be able to get intelligence because obviously if you had a target withdraws and destroyed, you cannot get the laptop or those cell phones which is what apparently the special operators were able to pull out of yemen the other day. Jenna important to get those details, hopefully we do not get too much from anymore. As you sit in the past, sometimes is better to keep as much information classified as possible all things considered. There is some tiein to other news, we have these missile tests from iran that are happening. Iran is active in yemen as it is in so many parts of the middle east. What do you think is important to point out about irans activity, not necessarily in relation to yemen but what we see looking at the big picture in the middle east right now . Iran has been very busy over the last couple days, just targeted a saudi warship with those rebels i mentioned in yemen. Apparently, they caused some casualties. At the same time, iran launched a Ballistic Missile. It was the 12th test it has launched since 2015 since the nuclear deal was signed. Essentially, iran was trying to take advantage of the debate that was taking place here where our attention was placed elsewhere. I think they tried to take advantage of just they chaos that has been going on here in the United States with domestic policy. Jenna youre saying the debate in respect to immigration policy, iranians have been known to watch what is happening here stateside, the news cycle, and as you mentioned act one way or another based on that. I think this was the equivalent of a friday afternoon news dump before a threeday weekend. They just see what is going on here and think they can probably get away with it. Really what they are trying to show if they were able to do this under obama because obama refused to respond to these missile tests. They did not think perhaps that the trump of initiation would be prepared to do so. The administration did raise this at a special session and the United Nations yesterday, our new Ambassador Nikki Haley condemned the iranians, and now theres going to be an investigation into exactly what happened. We can just tell you this is the 12th test that has taken place since 2015, and hopefully this is a sign that u. S. Policy is going to change it and we are going to try to hold iran to account and perhaps even bring our International Partners with us in condemning iran and perhaps even placing new sanctions on it. Jenna interesting, we will see where it goes from here, a key thing to watch great, great tag on the program as always. Jon if you are tuning in to catch the White House Press briefing, it is delayed by just a bit. Supposed to start a couple minutes ago, but now we are told sean spicer should be taking the podium and about 15 minutes, at least that is our latest guidance from the white house pretty can see the press corps is assembled they are. These Daily Briefings which are always interesting in, well, the sparks fly, it should take place about 50 minutes from now. We will have it for you live when it begins. Mmm friend of yours . Thats frequent heartburn. Its always lurking around. But im safe. I took my prevacid®24hr today. I didnt. One pill prevents the acid that causes heartburn, all day, all night. Prevacid®24hr. My insurance rates are but dad, youve got. Allstate. With accident forgiveness they guarantee your rates wont go up just because of an accident. Smart kid. Indeed. Its good to be in, good hands. Jenna fox news alert, taking you back to washington, d. C. , where we await a white house briefing, press Secretary Sean Spicer almost certain he be questioned about the show down brewing over the president s Supreme Court pick, especially after President Trump said he would come if he had to, urge the g. O. P. Leadership to go nuclear as democrats block his nominee. Ed henry is live in the sabine court with more of that. Good to see you, youre right, go nuclear essentially means change the senate rules are at least the president so that it would only take 51 votes, a simple majority to get President Trumps first Supreme Court nominee through the senate. Currently, you would need 60 votes, a filibuster basically by democrats, which they are signaling they are going to do which is why the president has already suggested maybe republicans will have to change things around. The bottom line is judge gorsuch is someone who conservatives are really cheering right now because he is only 49 years old from colorado, they expect to have him confirm and in the judge for a long time, he is much in the mode of the late Antonin Scalia who he would be replacing here on the high court. Meaning and originalist, some who believes in a strict interpretation of the constitution, does not believe Supreme Court justices should be making laws on the bench, instead should be enforcing and not making new ones, but a short time ago, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer was suggesting they would filibuster the nomination while republicans like ted cruz say to give him a chance. We democrats will insist on a rigorous but fair process. There will be 60 votes for confirmation. Any one member can require it. Many democrats already have. And it is the right thing to do. Judge gorsuch is someone who has built a reputation, a proven record on the court of appeals for a decade of being a principled constitutionalist judge, of taking a humble approach to being a judge and simply following the law, following the constitution, upholding the bill of rights. Part of the anger democrats have is they are still smarting from the fact that Merrick Garland, of course president obamas final Supreme Court nominee, never even got a hearing let alone a floor vote in the senate. Republicans saying it was a much different situation because that was a lame duck president trying to get someone on the court in an Election Year which is extremely rare and that this is a much different case because you have a new president who just won an election and has the right to get his people on the court. Jenna thank you. Jon for more on this, lets bring in barbara smith, former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Samuel alito and also worked in the White House Office for president george bush and breanne is the chief counsel for the Constitutional Accountability Center and former log for Supreme Court Justice Stephen buyer. Welcome to both of you. To you first, democrats are expressing some concerns, may be a lot of concerns about this nomination. How about you . There are a lot of reasons to be concerned. There are a number of troubling aspects to judge gorsuchs record of siding with corporate interest and corporations over individuals, trying to hold them accountable when they violate the law. Attention for not respecting federal civil rights protections, once passed into law by congress and running in antipathy to the role of the court as a form for vindicating individual rights and protections guaranteed and the constitution. This nominee has a very heavy burden, the burden of showing he has mainstream views, he will put law over ideological preferences and critically that he is independent of the president who appointed him. Its worth keeping in mind the context in which this nomination comes which is days past the announcement of the president s of muslim ban, firing of the active attorney general for seeking to not defend that band, we have to make sure judge gorsuch is not share the frankly authoritarian views of the president who nominated him and respects the Critical Role of the court as an independent check on a legal action by the executive branch. Jon because words matter, it is worth pointing out it is not a muslim ban, it is a travel ban, and it is temporary. I just want to go to you, barbara, what is your view of judge gorsuch . I have to fundamentally disagree with that analysis of his record. I think judge gorsuch has fought long and hard and thought about what the rule is of an applet judge, he is a originalist, and that means he reads the text of the statute or constitutional provision that comes before him then neutrally applies the facts of the case to that law. I think that is the kind of justice we want to see on the Supreme Court. I think his qualifications are unchallenged you know what you can say he is not extremely well qualified to sit on the court given his view of the role of a judge. I just dont think it is fair to level substantive purges on him based on what you think his view of particular issues might be because the fact is we dont know. When he is an acknowledged fan of the writings of the late Antonin Scalia, the man he would replace. A conservative justice replacing a conservative justice, what is wrong with that . The key question is will he follow all of the constitution or just the parts of the constitution he particularly likes . It is also worth keeping in mind the promises that candidate trump made throughout the campaign which he was going to apply a litmus test to his nominee, that he would make sure that his nominee would vote to overrule roe vs. Wade, have particular views on guns, religious liberty, that is very unusual and very troubling. Jon hilly clinton said the same thing regarding litmus test on roe vs. Wade. Litmus tests are a problem no matter what candidate articulates them. The question for any justice is whether they will faithfully apply the text and history of the constitution. Given what we have seen from judge gorsuch, there is a need to look very seriously at his record and also to know whether he has made promises to the president and whether he will, when cases come to them, take them as they come, look at what the law requires or whether hes going to pay his ideological preferences first. Jon the justices we have sitting now, barbara, justices interpret the law and very different ways. Sure, and i think if we want an answer to the question how well Justice Gorsuch interpret the law, we can listen to his own words from his speech just last night where he said he was acutely aware of his own imperfections and would be faithfully applying the statutes he is interpreting the constitution as it is written. I take them at his word that he is the kind of judge that will do that, and i think to add a little levity to the conversation, they are something we can agree on is we both loved to see a justice on the Supreme Court sitting with his former boss Justice Kennedy as a former Supreme Court clerk myself, that would be an incredible thing to see for the court and for both of them. Jon it will be interesting assuming he is confirmed, and that is not a given. Barbara smith, breanne, thank you very much. Jenna we just got through the most wonderful time of the year, now we are moving toward not the most wonderful time of the year which is tax season. Coming up, went to expect tax reform to arrive on President Trumps desk and how the changes may affect you. Also we are awaiting the White House Press briefing as we watch it could be coming soon, this is part of the present team, in they often give us a two minute warning. This is delayed, as you mentioned, a few minutes, so maybe they did not give us the warning again. Jon those are the folks who file and just before sean spicer. Jenna he is stepping to the microphone. Press secretary spicer last night the president was honored to announce judge neil gorsuch as his nominee to serve as the next justice of the Supreme Court. It was an unbelievably phenomenal evening. Any delay after being announced, judge gorsuch was honored to meet with more rain and father scalia, some of you have reported come his first call after coming back behind the podium was to Merrick Garland who has already come out to say that judge gorsuch deserves a fair hearing. In less than 24 hours, judge gorsuch has already received a widespread praise from across the political spectrum it has been called an inspired choice with sterling academic credentials, brilliant legal mind and a steadfast commitment to constitutional principles. During his long career in public service, judge gorsuch has enjoyed bipartisan approval, having previously been confirmed by voice vote to the u. S. Court of appeals for the tenth circuit. In fact, 12 current Democratic Senators including minority leader Chuck Schumer, senator dianne feinstein, senator leahy were all in office when he was first confirmed without opposition in 2006. With as many as eight democrats like senator s and thought, durbin and mccaskill supporting a full hearing and vote for judge gorsuch, there is no question he is a widely respected jurors to deserves toy decided on by the United States senate. Now that judge gorsuch has been officially named, hope you will allow me to talk for a moment about how exceptionally qualified he is to succeed the late, great Antonin Scalia. Judge gorsuchs academic record is impeccable, and as he said last night, the president holds education in the highest regard. Judge gorsuch graduated fight captivated from columbia, cum laude from Harvard Law School and attended oxford as a recipient of the prestigious scholarship. Like justice scalia, the cornerstone of his judicial philosophy is fidelity to the text. He believes that judges should not base their decisions solely on sorry, i am a screwed that went up. He believes his decisions should be based solely on the loss in the constitution, not their own policies, preferences or personal feelings. He will be a reliable and principled voice on the bench preserving equal justice under the law, regardless of background. I would note, i think, this is a caveat, but to my understanding, i think he would be the first justice that would serve with a somewhat heat for on the bench, so it would be a first when he is confirmed by the senate. Now onto the issues of the day. Today is february 1st which means we are kicking off black History Month. The president has events planned throughout the month, starting today with a listening session that occurred early this morning with africanamerican leaders in the roosevelt room. The meeting also included some of the ministrations africanamerican appointees. Later today, the president will issue a proclamation. The u. S. Postal service kicked off the mud by issuing the Dorothy Height forever stamp, the 40th step in their black heritage serious peer dr. Hite led the National Council of negro women for four decades and was awarded the president ial medal of freedom by president bill clinton in 1994 and the congressional medal of freedom by president george w. Bush in 2004. Excuse me, 1994 and 2004p president obama delivered her eulogy in 2010 and President Trump is now proud the post office is honoring her incredible legacy as a civil rights icon. At events throughout the entire month, we will celebrate the contributions of courageous africanamerican leaders from Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass to Martin Luther king junior and clarence thomas. Africanamerican history is american history, and this month is a great reminder of that. Continuing with todays schedule, the Vice President went to the hill with judge gorsuch to meet with lawmakers for the First Time Since being named last night. On the hill, the Vice President met with majority leader mcconnell and the staff spearheading judge gorsuchs nomination will also meet with other senators like hatch and gardner. With a judge gorsuch on capitol hill, its a good time to talk about the confirmation process. Neither of the two Supreme Court justices that president obama nominated were subject to the 6e filibuster. They received bipartisan support because republicans, despite some political and philosophical differences, viewed them as mainstream and qualified. Judge gorsuch should receive the same fair treatment. Also this morning, the president met and the roosevelt room with representatives of outside groups to discuss george gorsuchs nomination including the national right to life group, paula white of the new destiny christian center, Wayne Lapierre of the National Rifle association, concerned women of america, american values, one need at the National Federation of an appended businesses, top of the United States chamber of commerce, grover, americans for tax reform, leonard leo, federalist elite my federalist society, Susan B Anthony list, and Maura Blackwell of leadership institute. President trump told the group that his decision on the Supreme Court court is among the most important decisions you will ever make as president. He praised judge gorsuch for his academic and professional achievements and lifelong devotion to the law. The attendees think the president for making such an inspired choice and for delivering what was, for many of them, their number one issue in the campaign. They committed vocally to supporting judge gorsuch throughout the confirmation process and express their desire for the senate to move swiftly to give him a fair hearing and vote. The meeting closed with the president inviting the group and the oval office and several candidates and attendees really enjoyed that honor. Rex tillersons tenacity, expansive and broad understanding of geopolitics will become an Outstanding Team diplomat to the United States and the president is looking forward to the full vote of the senate on his nomination. Later this evening, the president will participate in a standing ledger state of affairs a strategy meeting with his team who have been working closely with congress to enact the president s agenda. So far between the Vice President and staff, we have had as many conductive conversations with members of both parties and both chambers at on a variety of issues from trade to the president s nomination for his cabinet and now the Supreme Court. Now starting this week on our ledger state of affairs team will also conduct extensive outreach on behalf of judge gorsuchs nomination process. Clearly this administration has made reaching out to congress a type priority top prior to, but you know where im going wip democrats in the Senate Continue to use every tool at their disposal to try to get away from the president s attempt to make America Great again. Yesterday, Senate Democrats again refused to even participate in Committee Votes for senate designees tom price and Steven Mnuchin who moved out of the committees with zero democrats present here they also boycotted epa designated appointee, they are doing their constituents and our country a disservice by resorting to these childish tactics. The president s cabinet nominees will be confirmed on the floor of the senate once democrats actually allow them to get a fair abode. In other cabinet news, the attorney general designate senator Jeff Sessions was voted out of committee today. We look forward to his full vote as next attorney general. Additionally, secretary of state Rex Tillerson is expected to receive a vote by the full senate this afternoon. Finally, veterans admission secretary dr. David shulkin will go before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs at 2 30 this afternoon. A few more things before i open up for questions. In terms of the schedule tomorrow, the president will attend the National Prayer breakfast and have lunch with harleydavidsons executives here at the white house. The president will also meet with senator hatch, wyden, congressman neil and congressman brady, for further guidance on all those meetings coming soon. A few personnel announcements, today the president sent the following nominations to the senate. Rachel of iowa to the associate of attorney general, Stephen Ingle of d. C. To be assistant attorney general, and the Deputy Attorney general. On another note, yesterday we talked about recent reporting concerning the president s executive order protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry. I want to draw your attention to some polls that have come out on that subject. For all of the hysteria around the implementation of this order, the American People as a whole are very supportive of the action the president is taking. A new rasmussen poll finds that 57 which is a clear majority of likely u. S. Voters favor a temporary ban on refugees from syria, iraq, iran, libya, somalia, sudan, yemen, until the government can do a better job of keeping these individuals out who pose a threat. Eight routers poll found that 60 of americans believe the United States should limit the number of refugees into the country and the safety of the American People and the security of American Homeland are the president s top priorities. Most americans agree with the steps he is taking to keep our country safe. Further today, the United Arab Emirates foreign minister voiced his support for the president s decision to take our National Security so seriously. The foreign minister also added he believes the restrictions are not based on religion but on the structural problems faced by these nations. I know there was a question monday regarding iran and their firing of a missile, attack on a navy vessel. I would like to introduce National Security advisor general Michael Flynn to provide a quick update. Good afternoon, everyone. Recent iranian actions involving a provocative Ballistic Missile launch and an attack against a saudi naval vessel conducted by iran supported by motets underscored what should have been clear to the International Committee all along about irans destabilizing behavior across the entire middle east. The recent Ballistic Missile launch is also in defiance of u. N. Security Council Resolution 20 to 31. Which calls upon iran not to undertake any activity related to Ballistic Missiles designed to be capable of delivering Nuclear Weapons including launches using such Ballistic Missile technology. These are just the latest of a series of incidents in the past six months in which the forces that iran has trained and armed have struck saudi vessels and threatened United States and allied vessels traveling the red sea. In these and other similar activities, iran continues to threaten u. S. Friends and allies in the region. The Obama Administration failed to respond adequately to that maligned actions including weapons transfers, support for terrorism and other violations of international norms. The Trump Administration condemns such actions by iran that undermine security, prosperity and stability throughout and beyond the middle east and place american lives at risk. President trump has severely criticized the various agreements reached between iran, the Obama Administration as well as the United Nations as being weak and ineffective. Instead of being thankful to the United States and these agreements, iran is now feeling emboldened. As of today, we are officially putting iran on notice. Thank you. Press secretary spicer thank you, general. We are going to have a background briefing with nsa staff, and a c staff rather today at 4 00 in the Briefing Room with further details that will be provided on that subject. Thank you general, with that, as we start off, i mentioned yesterday i am pleased that we have expanded the Briefing Room at least virtually, and so with that as i begin to take your questions, i am pleased to offer the first ever skype seat question in the white house Briefing Room to kim from w pri and rhode island. Thank you, good afternoon. Can you hear me okay . Just this week, then mayor of providence, rhode island, began calling our capital city a sanctuary city. As we know, President Trumps executive order said the white house will begin publicizing a weekly list of these municipalities and pledges to withdraw federal grant money from them. What i am wondering is how soon we can expect to see this list and how soon should cities like providence expect to see their federal funding cuts . Press secretary spicer thank you. I think the president s goal and ending since sherry cities is pretty clear. We mentioned with these other actions that we hope to keep america safe, that is on two fronts. One that we are doing everything we can to protect american citizens, institutions and ending sanctuary cities is one of the ways we can continue to do that. Furthermore, the president has been very clear through his executive order that federal funds paid for by Hardworking Taxpayers should not be used to help find sanctuary cities. As we continue to implement this executive order and fulfill the pledge that he made, we will have further update on how that list will come out and when it will come out, so i look forward to following up on that as well. With that, david jackson. Reporter mcdavid is not here, but i will ask a question. [laughter] maybe he is on skype. The president s Daily Briefing also there is a daily intelligence briefing, can you tell me what is the difference, is he receiving it in or orally . Press secretary spicer he did receive one today, director mike pompeo was here, general Michael Flynn was here. He receives an intelligence briefing and press briefing every single day. Reporter can you get out of the renaming of it . Press secretary spicer it is marked comp offensive. We went through this during the transition period. There is a difference between the raw intelligence and analysis, and he is constantly updated by the National Security team and other intelligence officials. Every single day, he does receive an update, and on top of that come here you is receiving Intelligence Briefings from his team. Reporter s of the other does not happen necessarily every day . Press secretary spicer he does get it every day and on a daily basis meets with his intelligence team, yes. Reporter two quick questions. Press secretary spicer we are not going to do this again. Reporter is president obama being invited to any of the black History Month celebrations . Press secretary spicer not that im aware of, it is day one. We just started, we will have to get back to you on special details. We have a lot of activities as we mentioned that the president is going to do to celebrate and honor this month. This was just the first day of the month. Reporter he made that comment about Frederick Douglass being recognized more and more, do you have any idea what specifically he was referring t to . Press secretary spicer i think he wants to highlight the contributions that he has made, and i think through a lot of the actions and statements he is going to make, the contributions of Frederick Douglass will become more and more. Reporter very quickly, can you clarify what was meant by we are putting iran on notice . Press secretary spicer as i mentioned, general plan and the nsc staff will have a briefing at 4 00 to go forward. I think we want to make very clear that we felt as though their actions were both provocative and in violation, making sure they understood that we were not going to sit by and not act on those actions. I am not going to go any further than that. Reporter can i ask about the confirmation hearings. How does this president planned to get Chuck Schumer on board with his pick for the Supreme Court, neil gorsuch, when he has referred to him as a clown and accused him of fake tears . Press secretary spicer there are two things. Look at the support that has already come out. I think there are eight senators already who have talked about the need to have a vote and his qualifications pure not just the senate, but look at the widespread support that came out for judge gorsuch last night across the spectrum. No matter your philosophical view of the court, i think his qualifications for the court, academic background make him an unbelievably highly qualified person. It is not just Chuck Schumer, i think the rest of the senate as he goes hold on. I understand. I think Chuck Schumer has shown. Chuck shumer has shown that hes more interested in politics than moving the government along. I think that has troubled i would ask you. The question needs to be asked of chuck shumer why are you stalling these nominees. Theres a point in which they need to get asked why are they obstructing government at every step of the way . Theres an elment to which they need to be held accou