Theyre rewaita repatriated. How can you guarantee that . If thats our worse case scenario, Companies Use it for buy backs and dividends, what happens . They buy back shares and dividends with get more taxes on gains and dividends and the people do what . They reinvestment in new capitol and investments. Were putting enticing rules into the system that will entice people to invest capital the next five years. Were giving people a fiveyear write off to expense. If that happens, thats fine. We know that money will get invested in the economy and drive wages, growth and prosperity. Youve been asked it twice and you didnt answer. I get your message on the middle class. This tax plan appears it will benefit the president and his family. Why not be candidate about that . I told you it will benefit the middle class. I think thats what american taxpayers care about, what they take home. They care about what they have to spend. Thats what they care about. Thats what i care about. I care about i bet you care about what you pay in taxes. Hes saying he wont benefit. It appears the way this is put together, he actually will. Gets to the idea of wealthy americans around the country which people do care about. Can you let me take you through the components that youre obsessed on for a minute. Sarah will yell at me. Im taking too long here. You talk about the death tax. That being a great benefit. The two biggest drivers for repeal of the death tax are the nfib and the farm bureau. Thats Small Businesses and farms. Those are the two organizations that spend the most time lobbying on the repeal of the death tax. Death tax has the biggest effect on them. Small businesses and farms. Wealthy americans do a lot of estate planning. They can use trusts. They can use all types of things that are legal within the tax code to makes sure they dont pay death tax. On the amt, im not going to get into deep, deep calculations on amt. But in a broad brush level, when you do the amt, once you get rid of the deductions of state and local taxes, thats the biggest addback in amt. Amt is irrelevant once you get rid of the deduction of state and local taxes. All the things youre trying to pull at, youre not looking at the plan in its entirety. They dont make sense once we redo the plan and simplify. Yes. Be. Just as a follow up question on that. You said that i cited to you the worry of groups like jim martin and the 60plus Seniors Association that youre going to drag out repeal of the death tax. That it wouldnt be immediate and you said at the time it was immediate. Is that final . Is it an immediate repeal and go off the books as soon as the new tax reform package is passed . In our out line, its immediate. The same with the alternative minimum tax . Its immediate. The only thing that phases out is the fiveyear expensing. Its a fiveyear expense. Speaking of Small Businesses, lets start negotiating. Yesterday senator schumer said democrats may be willing to work some kind of Small Business tax relief into whatever comes out of this. Where do you start negotiating on that . What offer do you want to make to the democrats . Our offers our opening offer and final offer are on the table. We were happy to start at 25 and go lower. Were happy to start on 20 and go lower. Theres the opening offer. He wants to counter something lower, were negotiable. Thank you. Thank you, gary. Boss says i have to go. Now try to be respectful of yalls time, we have tom bossert that will take Hurricane Relief efforts. Ill come back after that. Thanks, sarah. Good afternoon. As you know, President Trump has put people first and paperwork second. Hes had us pull out the stops and pull out as much federal relief into puerto rico and the Virgin Islands and weve been doing that to meet his objectives the last eight days. Im here to take questions. I know you heard reporting from sarah. And specifically on the jones act, thats been a lot of attention the last 72 hours. Critics say the white house should have moved more quickly in waiving the jones act. Lawmakers among them. Why is that an unfounded complaint . Okay. It is an unfounded complaint. Heres why. The jones act briefly stated is a rule that favors flagged vessels, u. S. Flagged vessels. If there are not enough u. S. Flagged vessels, the capacity in other words to meet the needs, then we waive the jones act. In this particular case, we had enough capacity of u. S. Flagged vessels to take more than or to exceed the requirement and need of diesel fuel and other commodities to puerto rico. What happened is i think almost 17 or 18 days of backlogged diesel fuel need to the island. It was misreported that we had a capacity problem and had to waive the jones act. Not the case. The idea is we provided as many commodities as necessary to the island. The challenge was landbased distribution. However, last night the governor called me a little after 8 00 and said at this point to ensure that the Additional Needs are met as we move forward, might be a good idea to proactively make sure that we pull out the stops just in case that capacity problem ran into the requirement problem. I talked to the president. He thought that was the right thing to do. Waived it right away. That was not too late. It was not even too early. It was just the right thing proactively. Right now, distribution is one of the problems. Hospitals are now up and running as necessary to bring the people whose lives are at risk. What percentage of the country would you say you have had a chance to explore to see how they have been impacted by this . Yeah, its hard to answer the percentage of the country. It answer it this way. Through aerial surveillance, weve seen the entirety puerto rico. Some southwest and southeast sections are sparse. The mountainous interior is where were trying to get in with rotary winged support. Back to the jones act. We had enough capacity in u. S. Flagged vessels to get the commoditiesner. We ran into the priority challenge of distributing landbased commodities to the people. Thats a challenge or function of two problems. First, capacity of the locals in the state were diminished because those people are victims as well that work for the state and the local authorities. Secondly, the debris and downed power lines had to be pushed out of the way. We have the resources to do that now. Thats the challenge remaining. The central interior is going to be reviewed and looked a to make sure we get the needs of the people met. Had the governor no requested protectively a waivener the jones act, would you have seen a compelling reason to suggest it . Maybe a historical note of relevance, sometimes well see the carriers request the waiver. So youll have foreignflagged vessels or u. S. Vessels Carrier Companies call us and say please waive it. Theres an issue. We didnt get any carrier requests. Once the governor calls and says we need it, we should listen and the president agreed. Is this overhyped in simple terms . Misunderstood. Some critics think it was a price issue. I dont know how the markets price these things. It was bought and paid for by the u. S. Tax payner a humanitarian effort and its a wise investment to save lives. In this case, we have the u. S. Virgin island citizens, puerto rican citizens. Its the right thing to do. Capacity is the issue. Lifesaving requirements, thats the need. We had the capacity met. In the middle. Okay. Tom, the need is immediate. With all the challenges that are coming, what are the conversations about with air dropping in certain areas . People are talking about running out of water and food in hours or minutes. What is happening with that conversation . Once again, an issue of housing. Were hearing about ships, cruise ships. What else is going on . So a number of things happening. With respect to distribution of commodities. That is the biggest challenge right now. The restoration of power is a big challenge. Ill tell you why. Energy here, electric power is supplying the hospitals that are providing medical care to the wounded. So theres a duel priority going on with emergency power and then blocking, clearing, pushing out the roads to get commodities delivered. Theres still a shortfall there. That is drivers for all of those trucks. So were pushing personnel to augment state and local authorities to continue to push the commodities. What you saw today is some reporting of some loop footage of some trucks on ports in docks. Were moving the trucks quickly and prioritizing what needs to come off first so we can get generators wouldnt air drops circumvent that, having to rebuild infrastructure and move things away . If air drops are under consideration, im not aware of it, but i would promote it if its faster get food and water to people. We have a onestar general, general kim, in place who is in charge of ground force operations to make sure theres one person in charge. If he recommends air drop, we air drop. Weve been told that they need helicopters to evacuate people from remote areas. He says theres people burying family members in front yards. Communications are badly needed. They look at apocalyptic conditions between 48 and 72 hours. Theres a little disconnect from what im hearing here and what theyre telling me there. Can you explain the difference . Yes. If thats accurate, it needs to be remediated immediately. I believe im confident we have enough resources martialed and deployed forward. As ive explained in the past, weve had to augment and change our Business Model in the field. We did that thursday. You saw the effects over the weekend. We have to augment the local and state authorities not just at the top but all the way out through the lower level. Theres federal officials identifying the requirements and augmenting the state level to validate those requirements. From the federal side providing them. Were in every stage of the identification, validation and provision of requirements and delivery of them to people in need. A couple things here. People seeing 28 and 48 horizon problems where they dont see feed and water. That food and water will get to them before the deadline arises. I have no doubt. We have over 10,000 people there now and theres more on the way including aerial support. U. S. S. Comfort. Theres 12 coast guard cutters, three United States navy ships. Six commercial ships with supplies in route. This is as of 5 00 a. M. Theres more since. Seven additional ships to house responders. We have commodities distribution exceeding millions. So its all moving in today and distribution problem is being unclogged. If theres somebody being buried in the front yard, thats terrible but its not the norm. Right now weve seen 16 fatalities confirmed from the state authorities. No fatality is acceptable. If that number increases, that will be a devastating blow. Were doing everything we can to prevent that. Loss of life from the storm is one thing. Loss of life that is preventible is another. Senator rubio just back from the island. He said theres significant logistical concerns. He says theres no clear command control between local and federal agencies. He said its all led by dod. Is that option on the table . Its being undertaken. I was with the senator in puerto rico. What hes identifying there is something that we had a solution for. So hes identifying a traditional problem. Normally fema and the federal government provide aid to the state and they work it out with the local authorities. What weve identified here as of thursday and you saw it implemented over the the weekend, a lack of capacity coupled with this several hundred miles away divided by an ocean island problem. So what weve done is provided federal authorities, largely guys in green and female Emergency Managers to stand next to the municipality leaders, whether theyre mayors or local electric authorities leaders and being augmented by federal forces. Weve addressed the challenges by augmenting them with federal staff. Thats something that wasnt necessarily apparent to the senator as he got there. He identified a problem. It was a problem already being fixed. Its one he probably wasnt able to see at the municipal level for two reasons. One, he didnt get out there to them. And two, there was a communication problem of grave import that persists to this day. That Communications Problem is tied to the electric power restoration problem. If i could before i take the next question, let me explain why and how the power restoration process is unfolding. We put the u. S. Army corps engineers in charge of power restoration. Theyre in charge of a lot but not everything. The people of puerto rico are strong and competent. Theyre in charge and thats the best way to handle things. Where they have diminished capacity, were taking extreme steps. So a direct federal assistance order was given. A Mission Assignment was given. Ive heard others on tv quibble whether its a mission or not. Make it clear, the u. S. Army corps of engineers has been given to restore power on puerto rico. He has some priorities. His priorities are temporary Power Generation right now. Thats the big diesel run generators supporting hospitals and lifesaving capabilities. Two, permanent generation. He will restore the power on the south of the island. Three, transmission. The big power lines. Next, the capillary power lines to the homes. Im sure the people of puerto rico he see the army corps. If air drops would help, why are they not happening . Is it a military issue . Its my belief that the State Government and the municipalities have identified the fastest route available being ground based. If thats not the case, im confident but i want to make sure i dont step in between something that i can be far removed from. If the Ground Force Commander has identified an air drop mission, i endorse it from here. I wouldnt question his judgment. It was my reporting from earlier today they identified the fastest to be through groundbased means by clearing first and delivering second. They needed Security Forces and they applied them. Theres a Security Force for each of the drivers to feel safe. Several aid flights have gotten out of south florida and deliver food and water without logistical problems. Theres reports of mismanagement coming all the way from the president. How do you respond to that . Im not certain who youre talking about. Theres point of criticism to go around. Im confident he said the problems that youre having logistically are of your own making from not taking action sooner and bringing in the military sooner. First, i thank the mayor for providing aid. Hes wrong in this case. I challenge him to go down and get a better understanding on what weve done, what weve been doing and how blown away youll be when you see the picture. Im certain the mayor has had some positive experiences. I wouldnt be critical personally. Probably like with the jones act, hes not informed on the question. How long will it take to get supplies through and why it is theres 10,000 containers in the port of san juan . To my point, were getting a lot of supplies through. Maybe its misreporting. The president referenced some of the debt and economic problems that puerto rico has been struggling with for some time here. When you talked about the lack of capacity, are you faulting local officials for a lack of preparedness . No. Let me be clear. When i say capacity, im talking about the capacity problem of people being victims that would otherwise be the first responders, repairers and managers of the municipal government functions. So what were doing is trying to restore baseline municipal government functions because they have been affected. Their homes are destroyed and families put in peril. Thats the capacity problem im addressing. When you talk about money, the Island Authority in general, puerto rico was 72 billion in death. Theres a restructuring underway. The congress weighed in. That 72 billion is being handled through bankruptcy proceedings. How is that impacting it . The president brought it up. I think the president i know the president brought it up in terms of recovery. Heres how it affects the response. It puts the island in a position where they dont have the Financial Resources to meet the cost share requirement for all of these goods and resources, personnel and material flowing. In the president acknowledged that, realized that would be a problem and he took the step of doing a 100 federal cost share adjustment to pay for this from debris removal, to debris pushing, power restoration, the army corps of engineers and all the emergency protective measures, police, fire, ems, tuck drivers. All of those things. 180 days. Six months for the Virgin Islands and for puerto rico until we can get our hands around this. All of those functions and missions are all 100 federal cost share. We dont want anybody worried about people. We want them worried about people. Two more questions. I wanted to follow up a little bit as youre starting to envision down the road. Any sort of bailout might be part of this sort of broader recovery package that you look for in the supplemental. On that supplemental, i know the first one will be relatively soon. Capitol hill says it could be sooner. As my colleague, mr. Cohn alluded to, were willing to negotiate with according if theres a better idea. Its important to understand that fema just got a 7. 1 billion appropriation on october 1. Were going to ask for that in the form of an emergency supplemental to provide money into the funds that does this lifesustaining effort and even early Recovery Efforts. Whether we have to address or should address at that point the existing 72 billion of debt and how its been restructured is something that ill have to take my lead from deeconomists on and the budget hawks. I think the best idea for us would be to focus on process. The electric Power Authority and the water authority, those are the two concerning elements that have to be rebuild and under proper management and under proper rebuilding codes and standards to make sure they make it through another hurricane. Were going to put federal money in it and do it wisely. The president believes in that. I dont think we have to address the debt restructuring issue in the next go around. If we do, President Trump is up to that challenge. The supplemental will have to come in the next two to three weeks. Over to director mulvaney. Why has it taken eight days and a three star general it didnt require a threestar general three days ago. We had a threestar general from day minus 8 and day minus two and all the way till today. We Forward Deployed a onestar general to take care of ground force command once we realized the problem of Logistics Distribution had outstripped the capacity of the affected municipal government. That threestar general was there and running and coordinating operations as an extension of norad and Northern Command. Weve made improvements to martialing of resources. The threestar command structure that he lacked back then has been put in place and has been in place for this respond out of san antonio and augmented by a Northern Command structure thats been pretty robust and forward leaning here. Theyve done vocal authority and not waiting for paperwork. They dont way for a governors request. Perhaps misunderstood. Now the change move here on day eight is to take the threestar general and put him there, physically in the field. I dont anticipate he will be there long but he has to have his eyes on it and makes sure hes comfortable with the interaction with his forces and the governor. Its a different Business Plan model in the felled and because its unique and its an island, 1100 miles away from the nearest land in florida. Once hes satisfied or would expect the threestar general to receive back to his appropriate command structure. For now he and his onestart subordinate command will be there and well get more people the next coming days to try to address this significant problem and significant need. If thats okay, thats my last question. San antonio is thousands of miles from puerto rico. Was it a mistake looking back to not have this threestar general on the ground earlier. Not at all. That doesnt effect it. The way we stage equipment and handle area command and field operational command. This is textbook and its down well. I have every confidence well handle it the best way possible. Peter, if i could, john, thats my last question. If i can, im going to end by saying please say a prayer for the people of puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands and for the 10,000 plus federal workers and volunteer workers, men and women that are helping those in need. Honestly, this is something that will require weeks and months of patience as we restore power, get food and water and return to normalcy. Thanks for your time. Proud of puerto rican people and the governor has our confidence and faith. Thank you. Thank you, tom. Were running long today. Im jump into questions and try to take a few before we have to cut off before the day. Is the president taking steps to crack down on tom price . As the president said yesterday, hes not happy with the actions. Were looking at the issue. Theyre conducting both internal and an i. G. Full review to be clear also, the white house does not have a role on the front end of approving private charter flights at the agencies. Thats something that were looking into from this point forward and have asked a halt to be put at hhs on any private charter flights moving forward until those reviews are completed. Does secretary price expect to keep his job in this separation . I think the president has addressed this yesterday. We are going through this process. Were going to conduct a full review and see what happens. I have two things. The first, the president has six times the last couple days said that the senator is in the hospital. Thats reference to senator cochran who is not in the hospital and the reason this is relevant question is the question said they have the votes for the healthcare bill to pass. Can you tell us what senator hes referring to and if it is senator cochran, why if the votes exist the senate isnt voting on that now . Look, our understanding is the senator was physically unable to be here this week to participate in a vote. Were glad that hes recuperating. The point that were making is we have the votes on the substance, but not necessarily on the process, which is why were still confident that we can move healthcare forward and get it done in the spring. Obviously the president didnt support roy moore in the primary but hes moved to warmly embrace him since then. What im wondering, judge moore has had a a lot of controversial comments about being guy to equal to beastality and muslims shouldnt serve. Why should those comments not qualified him him from a president ial endorsement . As we said many times before, im not going to get into back and forth on political endorsements from the podium. Im not going to weighin on a specific race ahead of time at this point. Matthew . I want to follow up on that. As you mentioned, judge moore homosexualality should be illegal. He said Keith Ellison shouldnt be in congress because hes a muslim. Without asking about the specifics of the race, doesnt trump share any of those views that i just mentioned . If not, why does he think this person is fit to be a u. S. Senator . Not that im aware of. I have not taken a deep dive on every comment that the Senate Nominee has made. I certainly know where the president stands on those issues and wouldnt see any parallel on the two of them on that front. Are there any beliefs a candidate could hold or action as candidate could take that if he was still a republican the president wouldnt endorse him . Im not going to get into the hypotheticals that a candidate may or may not have over the time that the president is the president. I know where the president stands on certain issues. Thats what i can speak about, not somebody that is a candidate for another office that is not here. I didnt get tom did not call on me. Im going to ask a question i want to understand. He mentioned in response to what senator rubio was saying asking the pentagon to be in charge, that the pentagon is in charge of a lot but not everything. I dont understand why its not in charge and what the response is. Were continuing to work with state officials including governor who as tom said we have confidence in, but were supplementing and augmenting that with federal resources including over 10,000 federal employees and one star general there on the ground. Why is not one entity in charge . He said many people were in charge of different things. Why is one person not in charge . I believe one person is in charge of different parts of this process. The governor is still the governor of puerto rico. Were continuing to work with them, being in Constant Contact and we have one person in charge of the federal component of that. That would be the onestar general on the groundworking with state officials. I know you said the white house doesnt approve charter flights ahead of time. Generally speaking, given the focus of the president on cost savings, like you said, not just draining the swamp and want people to spend money in better ways, is a guidance about flying commercial and how they should be travel something. Were looking into that when it comes to military aircraft. Thats a part where the white house does play a role. On that front, the Trump Administration has actually authorized far fewer flights for senior government officials than the Obama Administration did during the same time period did. So were looking at ways to bring that back under the places where the white houses that that direct control and authority, which is under military aircraft which we cut back significantly. On the growing war of comments, i know you dont want to talk about from the race. But from the podium do you want to condemn the sentiments that the president does not share . I would certainly say we dont agree with those comments in terms of whether or not im going to get in the back and forth over another candidate, were here to focus on the president. One more question on secretary prices flight. On one of those flights, Kellyanne Conway was flying with him on the private flight. Are you looking at that specifically to see i didnt say we were not aware. I said we dont authorize those private charter flights. Were doing an internal review at hhs of all private charter flights as well as an i. G. Review that will be conducted of all of them. Julie . As the president is watching this coverage in puerto rico, is he satisfied with what he sees as a response there . Is he satisfied in what hes hearing from his advisers or would he like to see things moving along faster as people on the ground have asked for . The president wants to continue to do everything we can to protect the safety and security of the people both at the u. S. Virgin islands and puerto rico. Tom spoke in depth about that process. Thats our focus and thats what were continuing to do. People first, paperwork second. The president has empowered all of his agencies to go forward with that mindset. Thats what were going to continue to do. I saw that the president was here with an event for the first lady. Did he have a chance to talk about the issue of his private jet or has he had a oneonone conversation about that . When you said the white house ordered a halt on that, is that administrationwide, every agency or specific to hhs. I dont know that they spoke today. I know that they have spoken about this issue previously. I dont believe the president saw the secretary at any point today though. Following up on that. Does anyone believe that they were empowered to go on private jets . We have the hhs secretary, the epa administrator, the treasury secretary took a flight on a private jet and an itinerary available commercially . Is there something that the president has said not at all. The president is clear about his position by stating very clearly that he is not thrilled with the airplane use at this point. Two things. I just want to understand the review process here of price and others. Theres an i. T. Review. Is there a white house component . Is anyone for hhs specifically, theyre conducting an internal review as well as an i. G. Review. The white house is looking at more of an overall not specific to that department because theres already two reviews taking place there. The president said he would donate personal funds to harvey relief. Did he make any donation to puerto rico . I havent talked to him specifically about that. He didnt make a donation to harvey relief. He made a donation to relief organizations. The red cross and many others that are a part of all of the hurricanes that weve experienced the last several weeks. So those organizations are not limited to a specific, nor are the donation as specific storm. They go to those organizations that are helping aggressively and intensely in the Recovery Efforts in the u. S. Virgin islands and puerto rico as well. We saw Steve Scalise with that emotional remarks in the House Chamber today. Did the president speak to him to welcome him back . I know they did speak today. I dont have many details. I know he certainly welcomed him back and reminded him that we will continue to keep he and his family in our prayers. And given the disaster in puerto rico, is the president delaying his trip . As of right now, we feel comfortable with the president taking a trip. If there was any indication that it would halt relief efforts, we would reconsider and pull that trip back. But right now it would be helpful for him to be there. Has Jared Kushner or any other staff member taken a private plane ride since their joining this administration or be given access in some fort to ride along with somebody else . Im not sure about those two specific individuals. I have to look. Id like to ask about cuba. Theres recordedly withdraw of family and staff there. At this point, im not going to get ahead of any potential action that may take place there. I dont have anything new to add. Cuba says it warned the u. S. Against taking any hasty actions in response to these incidents targeting diplomats. How does the u. S. Respond to that . We havent taken any action right now. When we do that well let you know. I can assure you our goal is on the focus of what is best for this country, not what is best for cuba. Jo john. The president has said that players that kneel during a National Anthem ought to be fired. You yourself have said from the podium in response to a very critical tweet by an espn anchor that that individual ought to be fired. You said it was a fireable offense, which brings me to secretary price. His extensive use by these private jets, why is that not a fireable offense is my first question and has he offered to reimburse the government in any way for his use of those private jets . I think thats something that we would determined once the reviews are complete. In terms of reimbursement, im not sure. Ill get back to you. On the issue were understanding that many of the nfl players are still very upset with this back and forth i think so are many americans. More americans than nfl players. Can i finish my question . Sure. Many nfl players are very upset. Many people had different ideas and opinions on this. When the president weighed in, the nfl said were going to be united. Theres an anticipation that it could grow even more see this weekend. What is the president anticipating, what should we expect him to say about this . Its now the nfl against the president. I think the president has made very clear. This shouldnt be about the nfl being against the president. This should be about our country coming together to support the flag, the National Anthem. Theres nothing wrong with having pride in the United States. This president has been very clear on that and hes not going to back away from that. Its not about having pride. They said theyre patriots, they love this country but theyre challenging the system and theyre looking at history like the challenge of the system when it came to womens rights issues as well as civil rights. What does the president say when you look at history and see how people love this country and wanted to challenge the system to make it better . If were going to look at history, we should look at the thousands of americans that have given their life to protect that flag, that anthem. We should be celebrating those people. I gave you a chance to answer. We should be looking at every way we can to celebrate our country, bring it together, not looking at ways to divide it. The president is talking about what were for, not about what were against. Certainly this administration will always be for protection and celebration of the flag and the National Anthem. Thats not going to change. To clarify on that. I dont think theres much to clarify. I think it was black and white there. People are very divided on this issue. Its a racial issue for some people. The question is, when the military issue is brought in, the military goes and fights for the freedoms of this nation. These players are saying theyre thankful for the military service to allow we all are. Is there some type of confusion here or is this us versus them kind of scenario . This shouldnt be. Its not an us versus them. This should bring our country together. These are symbols of what our country stand for and should be the opposite of what that is. This should be a unifying moment when the National Anthem plays. All americans should salute the flag and the anthem and be a part of the process. The president said he believed nfl team owners are afraid of their players. What does he mean by that . Probably the backlash of the players and the stance theyre making. Not wanting to create that conflict within their team. The president is here to lead the country. He feels very strongly about this as do most americans because they certainly agree with him as weve seen not just in the public support but also in public polling on that very specific issue. [question inaudible] i believe they spoke yesterday morning on this morning. Well have a read out or that. Follow up just quickly on the nfl thing. I may not be the brightest guy in the room. You said it. My question nobody else argued either. I really dont understand. I understand that hes saying you shouldnt stand up. If a guy is sitting there going i dont want to stand up, he still recognizes he has a First Amendment right not to, yes . Its his opinion. Or is he asking to us carve out an exception to the First Amendment for freedom of expression . The president has been very clear and he feels strongly when the National Anthem plays, people should stand up. I have a second question. The second question was in regards to the private emails. That have gone out. Has the president and his staff on that, is he concerned about them using private emails for public business . The white house has been clear and instruction all staff to full ply comply with president ial records acts. All staff has been briefed on the need to preserve those records and well continue to do so. Brian . Last question. Were running out of time. He talked about senator cochran and the healthcare vote. He said that senator cochran was not able to be here this week. Senator cochran was going to come if there was a vote. Was the white house not aware . That was our understanding, as i said. The senator was physically unable to be here this week. Were glad that wasnt the case. Thanks so much. Well be in the office the rest of the day and happy to answer questions. The white house wrapping up their daily briefing. Almost an hour long. Im Trace Gallagher in for shepard smith. We had Sarah Sanders and we also had the white House Homeland Security adviser as well as the chief economic adviser handling various topics. A lot of questions about the crisis going on in puerto rico after hurricane maria. The white house defended its decision to wait to waive the jones act and let more ships deliver supplies. The island is devastated. Were talking about power being out almost everywhere. People dont have enough food, water. They dont have enough cash. The jones act bans foreign ships from transporting supplies between the u. S. Ports. Just yesterday the president said this were enough american ships to deliver aid to puerto rico but the white house said the president made the decision after a request from the islands governor. Lets bring in john roberts live at the white house. John, the white house is trying to really make the point here that they have enough ships to bring the goods and supplies to and from puerto rico. What they dont have is the ability to distribute those goods across the island. Yeah. Good afternoon to you, trace. I talked with people from the National Security council about this in depth this morning. The big problem is that so many of the roads in puerto rico are impassable. They have bulldozers in the streets now. They have backhoes trying to clear them. Thats why they have had that backlog in ports and places like san juan in terms of not getting the containers full of supplies out. The nsc was firm about this idea that theyve had no problem with capacity in terms of getting things to the actual island. The president had not declared any kind of waiver for the jones act because of the fact they had enough ships to get supplies in. When the governor called the white house yesterday afternoon to ask for the waiver, the white house thought it was prudent to do so. I asked tom bossert about that as to whether or not if they didnt have that request from the governor, whether they would have looked for a waivener the jones act. Lets watch that exchange. Had the governor not requested protectively a waivener the jones act, would you have seen a compelling reason to initiate i wasnt recommending to the president that he waive the jones act until i got the governors request. When the governor calls and says i see on the horizon, i think we should listen to him. So the National Security council thought there was no problem in terms of capacity. They acted out of caution when they got that request from the governor as well as tom bossert saying the president will seek an emergency supplemental to provide more relief for puerto rico. Stand by. I want to get to geraldo. Im not sure if you heard john roberts conversation there. Is there an improving system in place now of trying to get the supplies, the water, the food across the island . I do not see it, trace. I have to be honest with you. Id love to report that everything was flowing freely, that everybody was coordinated, that everybody was getting relief where they need to. That is not the case. The relief effort has been chaotic, its been spotty, its been underwhelming to say the least. Theres ad hoc acts where they appear to be doing the right thing. Behind me is the vessel adventure of the seas, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship that has been sent to evacuate employees of the Royal Caribbean company. Theres evacuees, tourists identified by the ministry of tourism stranded in their hotels. Even here the situation was chaotic. People scrambling, elbowing each other, fighting. This is one mom that can relate her experiences on the pier here trying to get on the adventure of the seas. People are fighting for water, fighting for diapers, for pampers forks anything they can find. We dont have water, running water. We dont have electricity. We need help, a lot of help. Were not honestly theres no help coming for us yet. Thats why she and the other 2,000 were leaving on this vessel. This is an island in dire need, trace, as you have been reporting. Its been devastating north to south. They are people that have not had freshwater or power now. Its over a week since this hurricane hit. It came on the heels of hurricane irma. Puerto rico is a dysfunctional place in the best of times, a bankrupt government. Now they have finally, trails, appoint add threestar general to coordinate. Thats what is sorely needed here on the ground in puerto rico. They call this the island of enchantment. This is an island that has been cursed by nature. It has been hit by these two devastating hurricanes. Now people are scrambling just to survive, trace. Help is on the way, geraldo. Coming up, more on reports that the health and Human Services secretary took costly charter flights instead of cheaper commercial ones. What secretary tom price is saying about whether he will keep his job and the response from the white house is next. Well, President Trumps Top Health Official showing confidence even after the president said hes not happy with him, health and Human Services secretary tom price reportedly took dozenses of expensive charter flights when cheaper flights were available. Heres secretary price on a News Conference on the upcoming flu season. You think youre going to be fired . I still think we have the confidence of the president and we work on important issues like flu vaccination. Lets bring in josh gerstein, the Senior Reporter for politco. A couple times the president has given the could shoulder to people when it came to sean spicer and steve bannon and whoever. But this has to be one of those things hes on thin ice. It looks that way. Usually the white house is combative when theres questions raised about one of the cabinet members or a senior official. They havent caved in on the issues before. So to have the president say well see, the white house saying theyre going to had this travel while they do a review. Sarah sanders in the briefing we saw didnt say the president had full confidence in secretary price. She said the review is underway. The words well see linger in the air art this point. What do you make of it . You think he survives or no . I think its very possible he may have to go. What the white house has to look at, theyre not interested in doing major surgery on their cabinet. Are other people in trouble like the epa chief, scott pruitt who apparently took some charter travel as well. Kellyanne conway was on one of the flights with price. They want to make sure if they have to lance this boil, its not as serious a problem that would spread across the cabinet or the administration. I want your take on taxes. We heard from gary cohn, the white house economic adviser saying basically the taxes are about lowering the rates and getting rid of loop holes. Seems like theyre having a hard time selling this to the middle class. Hes saying yeah, middle class, youre going to save 1,000. But theyre having a hard Time Marketing it. Its very true. People are suspicious that theyre going to get a tax cut that someone else always gets the tax cut. The issue of the state and local taxes being deductible on the federal return is a thorny one. I noticed cohn described that as a loop hole. And upper middle class people from the higher income, higher taxing states like new york, connecticut, california are not going to view that deduction as a loop hole and will put up a big fight, democrats and republicans. I got to go here, josh. Is this thing come down to the wire . Does this stand a chance of passing at all . I think it does. The republicans need a win here. Its very, very tough to pass tax reform legislation. Nobody has made an attempt to do it in 30 years and theres good reason why. Theres good reason but they need a victory. Josh gerstein from politco. Thanks. Im Trace Gallagher in for shepard smith. Your world with neil cavuto is next. A trip back to the dthe doctors office, mean just for a shot. But why go back there, when you can stay home. With Neulasta Onpro . Strong chemo can put you at risk of serious infection. Neulasta helps reduce infection risk by boosting your white blood cell count, which strengthens your immune system. In a key study, neulasta reduced the risk of infection from 17 to 1 . A 94 decrease. Applied the day of chemo, Neulasta Onpro is designed to deliver neulasta the next day. Neulasta is for certain Cancer Patients receiving strong chemotherapy. Do not take neulasta if youre allergic to neulasta or Neupogen Filgrastim . Ruptured spleen, sometimes fatal as well as serious lung problems, allergic reactions, kidney injuries, and capillary leak syndrome have occurred. Report abdominal or shoulder tip pain, trouble breathing or allergic reactions to your doctor right away. In patients with sickle cell disorders, serious, sometimes fatal crises can occur. The most common side effect is bone and muscle ache. So why go back there . If youd rather be home, ask your doctor about Neulasta Onpro. Neil all right. The time numbers are in. The second quarter, we grew 3. 1 . That is a lot faster than weve been growing in at least the past year. It continues to trend that if you spur the economy even more as some of these former president s did, you could get growth that could be a lot more than that. How about double that . How about close to triple that . Dont believe that . Well, well get into it in a second. It could mean trillions in added revenue to uncle sam. Good for you . Yes. Good for the government. The president has been making the push right now along with the Vice President of the United States that the tax cut package being consire