We got a surprise this afternoon. Or i thought it would be a live at the white house. Theres the White House Briefing. Theres going to be a briefing today scheduled to start in 30 minutes. The first one in more than a month. The sixth briefing of Sarah Sanders since september. President trump tweeted last week that he told sanders dont even bother with the briefings that much anymore. The White House Correspondents Association responded. More ahead. First, the standoff over President Trumps border wall continues even now. Because the president told the wall street journal the odds of congress coming up with a deal that he can accept are less than 50 50. The Parent Companies of the journal and fox news share common ownership. President trump signed a bill on friday night youll remember that reopened the federal agencies until just until february 15. So now hundreds of thousands of federal employees are going back to work after missing two paychecks because of the longest government shut down in american history. So might it happen again . We have team fox coverage. Mike emanuel reporting from capitol hill. First, john roberts reporting from the white house. Shep, good afternoon to you. The conferrees will be meeting wednesday with expects on ice, border protection, other organizations. People that say there needs to be a barrier on the border. Customs says they need something to slow up people so they have more time to respond and apprehend them. The case that the white house is making is, look, democrats have said in the past that they have voted for on at least two occasions since 2006 and 2013, even nancy pelosi who you see there on the screen, voted against the security fences act of 2006 but wanted democrats to vote nor a border barrier in the past. The question the white house is asking is, will they listen to the experts in this field and do what theyre asking for. Heres the acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney on Fox News Sunday. We go to the democrats and say look, are you telling the people the truth . When you look at your constituents back home and say you agree with the president , that we have to do something about security at the southern border, are you telling them the truth or doing something that is politically expedient . This is a chance for them to let their actions speak louder than words. The president not optimistic that theyll get a deal in 18 1 2 days. The president telling the wall street journal in an interview, i personally think its less than 50 50. You have a lot of very good people on that board. Board refers to the conference committee, the Bipartisan Committee trying to hash this things out. I also had a Fox News Sunday yesterday. Democratic senator joe manchin, the only democrat to vote for the president s border proposal in the senate last week. He told me he thinks the white house could get more democrats on board if they were to do more on this issue of the democrat recipients. Manchin is talking about a path to status, maybe a path to citizenship. So far its something the president is resisting. Shepard so this White House Briefing that we didnt know about that was scheduled this afternoon, are we expecting to hear anything on the state of the union . What do you know about this . Well hear a lot about a lot of topics. For the state of the union, were not sure when that will happen just yet. Heres what Mercedes Schlapp said about it earlier today. We know its not tomorrow. We are our offices are working with Nancy Pelosis offices to set a date. Obviously when she first rescinded the invitation, which was the fact of saying there was a security concern or asked for a delay in the state of the union, there were no security concerns. We have a great story to tell. The president is looking forward to addressing the american people. The date being talked about is next tuesday. That would be february 5 though. If theyre going to have it next tuesday, they better announce it soon. Theres some people that believe, listen, maybe we shouldnt have a state of the union until this is all resolved. That would be after february 15. The white houses position is nancy pelosi said well have the state of the union when government is back open. Government is back open. Lets have the speech. Shepard john, the last briefing was a week before christmas. It was a long time ago. December 18. We were surprised to see that Sarah Sanders was briefing this afternoon. The president made the case that the briefings with Sarah Sanders are not necessary because the information gets out some way anyways. The president tweeting the reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the podium much anymore, the press covers her so rudely and inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press. I told her not to bother. The word gets out anyway. Nobody will cover fairly anyway. The White House Correspondents Association said a short time ago, i learned the reason why they are having to briefing this afternoon is the Treasury Department is about to slap new sanctions on the Nicholas Maduro regime, try to freeze and dry up his wealth and source of funding. We expect the treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin will head off the briefing which is supposed to happen in 25 minutes. Well see. Shepard john thanks. Much more reporting on the crisis in venezuela where were told that many people are having very hard times feeding their family. The government shut down will cost the United States economy about 3 billion. There will be no wall. That is according to the report from the congressional budget office. It comes at the top democrat in the senate says he plans to back a bill that would prevent future government shut downs. The Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer says he wants to make sure it never happens again. Hes named the bill the stop stupidity act. They can name them anything they want. They chose this name. Republicans have come up with a similar bill that theyre calling the end government shutdowns act. Mike emanuel reporting on both from capitol hill. Hi, mike. Shep, good afternoon. Members of both party as agree that government shut downs are a lousy idea. You have virginia senator mark warner, Ohio Republican senator rob portman. Both of them have pieces of legislation to try to prevent future government shut downs. Facing a february 15 deadline, a key lawmaker says its time to dial back the rhetoric and get back to work. The government should never close down. I would help that the i will always vote to open the government period. I hope the speaker shes taken her position, the president has taken his. Now step back and let the Congress Come up with a result and allow it to happen. Some newly elected members of congress sound eager to deal. What i tried to do is not draw any lines in the sand. I want to vote to have border protection, have border security, reduce the flow of drugs and illegal immigration. Sure, i wouldnt rule out barriers in places where its appropriate. The temperature here on capitol hill feels a little lower for now, shep. Shepard what are some of the congressional leaders saying up there, mike . A top House Democrat says now that government is reopened, hes willing to talk. Hopefully he will stick to that position that hes taken. Now in the past we have supported, as you know, enhanced fencing. Thats something that is reasonable that should be on the table. The number 3 House Republican says democrats must signal what theyre willing to support. If the democrats are going to use their majority in the house of representatives to block the funds that are necessary to security the american people, then they wont have their major the very long. I think certainly were in a situation where the president said we have got to get this money to secure the border. We have to get this money for a wall. The democrats refuse continuously to come to the table to negotiate. Negotiations start wednesday and time is precious, shep. Shepard mike, thanks. For context, the democrats say theyre all for border security, they just believe theres smarter ways to do it than with a wall. They want drones, enhanced security, lots more help at the points of entry because its the points of entry where President Trumps own government says 90 of the drugs coming into the country come. Not through an area where a wall would be. At the points of entry. So they have offered hundreds of millions of dollars on that. Human rights expert and her team from the United Nations have started to meet with officials in turkey over the killing of the washington columnist jamal khaishoggi. She melt with the foreign minister today. State news say she will meet with the Justice Minister and the prosecutor. U. S. Intelligence officials have concluded that the count prince of saudi arabia ordered the killing of khaishoggi. It happened at the saudi consulate in october. Theres said to be an audio recording of him being tortured and chopped up. Saudi officials have denied the princes involvement but charge 11 others with his murder. Roger stone arrived moments ago. Once again, hes not ruling out a sort of flip. Ahead, what President Trumps former adviser says about whether he might cooperate with the russia investigation. Roger stone speaks. It happened moments ago. Well have that. Even about whether he might testify against the president. Answers coming. Plus, the president reportedly said this russia thing was all over. That was two years ago. Chris christie speaks on comment about the laugh that he had and the president s reaction. Thats coming up as our reporting continues. As we wait for the White House Briefing to begin minutes from now. Liberty mutual accident forgiveness means they wont hike your rates over one mistake. See, Liberty Mutual doesnt hold grudges. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise their rates because of their first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Oh oh oh ozempic® announcer people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of onceweekly ozempic®. In a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. Oh under seven . And you may lose weight. In the same oneyear study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. Oh up to 12 pounds . A twoyear study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. Oh no increased risk . Oh, oh, oh, ozempic® ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Do not share needles or pens. Dont reuse needles. Do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or Family History of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. 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Its two stagefilter. Doesnt compare to zerowaters 5stage. This meter shows how much stuff, or dissolved solids, gets left behind. Our tap water is 220. Brita . 110. Seriously . But zerowater let me guess. Zero . Yup, thats how i know it is the puresttasting water. I need to find the receipt for that. Oh yeah, you do. Shepard breaking news. A look at Reagan National airport. President trumps former adviser, roger stone, has been talking to reporters as he wants to do. Roger stone talked about whether he would i guess hes going to get out of the car. This is live. Hes leaving now. This is a live look. Hes back up a little bit there. He spoke about whether he would cooperate with the special counsel Robert Muellers russia investigators. He answered, he said ill tell the truth about everything that i have. Earlier roger stone said he had no intention of cutting a deal with robert mueller. He also did not rule out cooperating. Fbi agents arrested stone in his home in florida on friday. Prosecutors charged him with obstruction, witness tampers and off he goes there from Reagan National. Stone says the indictment is fabricated. He has a hearing tomorrow in d. C. Phil keating works florida for us and is live there. Hi, phil. Hi, shep. The russia investigated defendant has landed there at Reagan National. 20 to 30 minutes ago. This after a long weekend of deflecting questions of will he cooperate were muellers team to say hes not going to lie. Take a look at the video. We had a camera there at reagan. The stylishly dressed roger stone, including round black shades, strolled through the airport. Very comfortable in front of the cameras. He likes to be on television. The longtime political adviser and friend of trump true from ft. Lauderdale for his arraignme arraignment. We were there friday in ft. Lauderdale as stone walked out to a screaming crowd and busted out a classic Richard Nixon victoria pose. He has the nixon face tattoo on his back. Thats when fbi agents pounded on his door and arrested him. He said this is crushing his financing business and consulting business. He said hes trying to raise millions of dollars with the roger stone Legal Defense fund. This is what he posted. Attached to the email is this picture of stone with the words believe in something, even if it means mueller will frame you, just do it. This morning on his way to the airport, stone decried the way he was arrested with heavy hands on friday saying it was with more storm than used against bin laden, el chapo and pablo escobar. And President Trump believing firing Michael Flynn had ended the whole russia thing. How do we know that . We learned it from Chris Christie. He led the president s transition team. Christie said the president told him the day after he fired flynn that the whole thing was over. Christie writes about his account in his new memoir tidaltidal ed let me finish. Trace gallagher has more. The reason that Chris Christie said that President Trump thought firing then National Security adviser would end the Russian Investigation because flynn is the only guy that spoke with the russians. Christie said that jared kushner, who christie criticized, believed that flynns firing would end the russia talk. Heres christie on abc. Watch. I just laughed. I said, mr. President , its unfortunate that i have to tell you this, but having done this myself, were going to be talking about this on valentines day february 18. They laughed out loud. Jared told me i was crazy. Christie goes on to say that trump needed the right people around him but instead found himself saddled with riffraff, Michael Flynn and scott pruitt as epa administrator, not ready for prime time Jeff Sessions as attorney general. He went on adding, there were too few Kellyanne Conways and a boat load of sebastian gorkas. Shepard christie thought he would be Vice President . He said he doesnt think trump was surprised by his answer. Christie said he was eyeing v. P. And attorney general saying that by june of 2016, the short list for v. P. Came down to himself, former House SpeakerNewt Gingrich and mike pence. Christie said trump called him one day and said, are you ready . Ready for what, christie replied. He said you know what, said trump. Christie said are you asking . He said no, i want to know before i make my final decision. He thinks at the 11th hour, jared and ivanka block him to be chosen. Christie said he chose mike pence because he was straight out of central casting. Shep . Shepard thanks. A live look at the dow. Stocks were all today. More than 300 points at one point. Well have a live report from the New York Stock Exchange explaining whats going on. Are you addicted or are you kids addicted to the internet and technology . Coming up, the new report and the signs that researchers say theyre finding that are almost exactly like the symptoms of someone addicted to a drug. And how to treat it and how to know if you have it. All coming up. Place, the xfinity xfi gateway. And its strengthened by xfi pods, which plug in to extend the wifi even farther, past anything that stands in its way. Well almost anything. Leave no room behind with xfi pods. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Click or visit a retail store today. Shepard now internet addiction. I mentioned this at the top of the news house. What are the signs . Mood swings. You act secretive. You lose interest in things you found enjoyable. The exact same kinds of behaviors that doctors associate with drug addiction. Recently they say theyre popping up more and more frequently as signs of internet addiction. Social media and all the rest. Analysts say that the internet can affect your brains reward system. Kind of like the way that drugs and alcohol do. Gerri willis is here. Now theres Treatment Centers. Theres Treatment Centers where they will isolate your teenagers since they spend the most time on the internet. Shepard i dont know. And try to break what theyre describing as an addiction that changes your brain, your gray matter. What does it do and why do they think its an addiction . It releases dopamine, serotonin just as taking some kind of drug might. Shepard the likes that you get are changing the way you think. The likes and the hate whatever, its all affecting the way you think and the way your brain works. Exactly right. Changing the configuration of your brain, if you can believe that. People say we have these centers for people getting treated for the addiction. Its not surprise that this is probably at 1211 avenue, the shepard yes. 93 of the people. Were talking about here, 92 of teens report going online every day. The proportion of American Homes with broad band is growing. Up 6 . More people have access to the intern internet. Its an issue in china. Parents say children are asocial, pulling away. Theres not uniform agreement on this. Shepard who knew. This could be the new new thing. A bad one for teens. Shepard potentially a bad one for all of us. I know its changed my eyes. Yes. Shepard especially 50 something. You look up and its hard to go reading this to reading the t l teleprompt teleprompter. We spend time reading news out of this thing. Theres no interaction. Shepard seven hours of screen time a day for me. Wow. That is a lot. Shepard its insane. It is. And i think shepard how long do the treatments take . I heard theres a 28day program. There is called reboot in ohio. They have a gym, they have all kinds of ways of deflecting teens attention away from the screen. The little screen. Trying to get the kids to interact. I dont have to tell you, people that spend seven hours a day or more with the screen, they lose the ability to really talk to people and interact with them. You know, one thing to search on google. Its another to have a conversation with a source. Shepard especially kids. Theres the one that is just staring for hours. Or the gaming. I mean shepard not judging, just observing. It happens. And we dont know what the longterm consequences are. You can see women with their little babies. Giving the baby the phone. Shepard give them the screen. That will shut them up. Right. Shepard we put luccia in her crate. Shes a dog. She likes it. Sorry i laughed so hard. Shepard she goes in. Ready for bed. When is luccia coming to the set . Shepard i dont know. Were not much in dogs in the house. I guess dana perino. Yeah, come on. Shepard i dont think the workplace is the the right place for luccia. Ill show you a picture. The stocks are off. You notice that . Brutal. Shepard a live look at the dow. Down more than 300 awhile ago and fell after two Major American Companies warned slow growth in children is hurting them. Its american companies. Deidra bolton is live at the New York Stock Exchange. Hi, shep. The two companies, caterpillar and nvidia. Industrials are lower by caterpillar saying they missed the Fourth Quarter earnings and this year theyll earn less than what analysts were expecting because of lower demand from china. Chip maker nvidia saying the same thing. So that companys news the stock is down 15 . The news is bringing down the tech sector. I want to highlight why this is so important, especially this week. 20 of the s p 500 companies will be reporting this week. Nvidia forecasting what we may hear from apple, facebook, amazon, microsoft. Its a huge week. Of course, in addition to earnings, u. S. China, a trade truce possible or not . Well know towards the end of the week. If fed as well. Shep . Shepard thanks. Firefighters in new york city rescue add woman from an elevator after she got stuck inside for the entire weekend. Happened in manhattan at a billionaires townhouse. The woman a family employee. The family reported out of town and realized just this morning that she was stuck in there. Trapped in tell investigator for 60 hours, all alone, no food, no water, nobody knew. Police say she is stable. The White House Briefing set to begin any minute now. News to get to while we wait. Including crisis in venezuela and a report that President Trump talked about the idea of using military force in venezuela. Plus, theres word the United States and the taliban are now closer to a deal than ever. Which could eventually bring all american troops home from our longest war ever in afghanistan. The deal with the taliban still to come. I didnt really know anything about my Family History. Went to ancestry, i put in the names of my grandparents first. I got a leaf right away. A leaf is a hint that is connected to each person in your family tree. I learned that my ten times great grandmother is George Washingtons aunt. Within a few days i went from knowing almost nothing to holy crow, im related to george washington. This is my cousin george. Discover your story. Start searching for free now at ancestry. Com shepard i mentioned the White House Press briefing. Its beginning right now. President trumps leadership, the United States economy is growing at record levels, putting the president in a strong position to fix trade concerns with china. On thursday, the president will meet with the chinese vice premier who is here this work for continued talks. President trump is committed to achieving greater Market Access for u. S. Exports and better treatment for our farmers, ranchers and businesses. Fair and reciprocal trade with china will boost longterm growth in the United States but globally. As the president said last week, the United States proudly stands with the people of venezuela who have spoken out against theco runt and illegitimate regime of Nicholas Maduro. Maduro must allow for free, Fair Elections in according with democratic principles to speak more about u. S. Policy towards venezuela and to take your questions, id like to welcome National Security adviser, master john bolton, secretary of the treasury Steve Mnuchin and larry kudlow. After that, ill be up to take other questions of the day. Thanks. Thank you very much, sarah. As you know, on january 23, President Trump officially recognized the president of the Venezuelan National assembly, juan guaido at the interim president of venezuela. Venezuelas National Assembly invoked article 233 of the countrys constitution to declare maduro illegitimate. The people of venezuela have had enough of corruption and economic hardship. Since then, 21 other governments in the region and across the world have joined the United States in recognizing guaido as venezuelas interim president. Today and ill turn the podium over to Steve Mnuchin, were going to announce sanctions against the Petroleum Companies in venezuela, the stateowned oil monopoly. We have continued to expose the corruption of maduro and his cronies and todays action ensuring they can no longer loot the assets of the venezuelan people. We expect and secretary mnuchin will go into this in more detail, todays measure totals 7 billion in assets today and over 11 billion in lost export proceeds over the next year. We also today call on the Venezuelan Military and Security Forces to accepted the peaceful democratic and constitutional transfer of power and to a certain extent, this has begun. Weve seen venezuelan official and military personnel heeding this call. The Venezuelan Defense attache in washington recognized president guaido a few days ago. In the past hours, the First Consulate in miami, scarlet salazar, has also declared for interim president guaido. I call on all responsible nations to recognize interim president guaido immediately. Maduro has made clear that he will not recognize guaido or call for new elections. Now is the time to stand for democracy and prosperity in venezuela. I reiterate the United States will hold venezuelan Security Forces responsible for the safety of all u. S. Diplomatic personnel, the National Assembly and president guaido. Any violence against these groups will signify a gave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response. Now let me give the floor to Steve Mnuchin that will describe the sanctions were imposing. Thank you. Today treasury took action against venezuelas stateowned Oil Companies to help prevent the further diversion of venezuelas assets by former president maduro. The United States is Holding Accountable those responsible for venezuelas tragic decline. We will continue to use all of our diplomatic and economic tools to support interim president guaido, the National Assembly and the venezuelans peoples efforts to restore their democracy. The oil company has long been a vehicle for embezzlement, corruption, for venezuelian officials and businessmen. Today the designation will help prevent further diversion of venezuelans assets by maduro and will preserve the assets for the people of venezuela where they belong. The path to sanctions relief for the oil company is through the transfer of control to the interim president or a subsequent democraticallyelected government who is committed to taking concrete and meaningful actions to combat corruption. Todays actions follows my determination that persons operating in the Venezuelan Oil sector may not but subject to sanctions. Today ofac also issued a number of general licenses that authorize certain transactions and penalties for limited periods of time to minimize any immediate disruptions and support of ongoing humanitarian efforts. Citgo assets in the United States will be able to continue to operate provided that any funds that would otherwise go to the oil company instead will go into a blocked account in the United States. Refineries in the aide have already been takening steps to reduce the reliance on imports from venezuela. Those imports have fallen substantially in recent months. We have also issued general licenses to ensure that certain european and caribbean countries can make an orderly transition. We call on our allies and partners to join the United States in recognizing interim president guaido and blocking maduro from being able to access funds. Thank you. Id be happy to answer questions. Ask mr. Bolton. You mentioned significant response. How do you define that . Were not going to define it. We want the venezuelan Security Forces to know that the opposition and most importantly american personnel are not harmed. This is an unequivocal statement on our part. Is there any circumstance under which American Forces would get involved . The president has made it clear on this matter that all options are on the table. You explained theres some actions being taken here to mitigate the impact on the u. S. Oil market. Can you walk us through those and explain how u. S. Oil imparts from venezuela will be affected and what will happen with the money and where you think that will have some impact on the oil market globally . Sure. We will be releasing faqs with the general licenses to explain a lot of these issues. Effective immediately any purchases of Venezuelan Oil by u. S. Entities, money will have to go to blocked accounts. Now, ive been in touch with many refineries. Theres a significant amount of oil add sea that has been paid for. That oil will continue to the United States. If the people in venezuela want to continue to sell us oil, as long as it goes into blocked accounts, we will take it. Otherwise, we wouldnt buy it. We have issued general licenses. So the refineries in the United States can continue to operate. So i expect in the short term very modest impacts on the u. S. Refineries. Weve been working with then closely on these issues. Can you walk through what will happen in advance . Theyre hearing about this now. You know, i generally say, we have obviously we made a press release recently. I think weve indicated certain things. So we had not disclosed to anybody these sanctions in advance. A lot of people have been preparing for this the last month. With the blocked accounts, what would be the mechanism, what would be the timeline, if there is this peaceful transfer of government . How would the money go back . Would guaido be the operating person to take it back if hes put in power . So let me just comment that in general, okay . As we said in the past, the purpose of sanctions is to change behavior. So when there is a recognition that the company is the property of, the rightful rulers, the rightful leaders, then indeed that money will be available to guaido. We will be working with them on the money in the blocked account and whether that can be used for them. Could you explain to the country what Strategic Interests in the United States in venezuela now and the immediate future . What is at stake for us and why this significant response in abeyance of this transfer of government is achieved . We think stability and democracy in venezuela are in the direct National Interests of the United States right now. Under the Chavez Maduro government, Civil Society in venezuela is disintegrating. The economy is in the state of collapse. Something in the range of three million to four million refugees have fled the country for neighboring countries and the United States. Authoritarian regime of chavez and maduro has allowed penetration by adversaries of the United States, not least of which is cuba. Some called be the country now cubas whale, reflecting the grip that cubas military and Security Forces have on the maduro regime. We think that is a strategic significant threat to the United States and others as well, including irans interest in venezuelans uraniums deposits. This is a country rich in oil resources. Theres to reason that the resources shouldnt be used for the economic benefit of the people there. Theres no reason nor the poverty and the starvation and the humanitarian crisis. Can i ask both of you, the United States has talked a lot about a potential embargo on sales of oil and also stopping selling of oil products to venezuela. Why havent those been considered yet . There will be as part of this limitations on selling oil products as part of the sanctions. As regards to an embargo, we wont comment on that today. We dont comment on future actions. Thank you, mr. Secretary. Mr. Maduro seemed to anticipate the actions that youve announced today in the briefing room. He warned that citgo is the property of the venezuelan state and he said were the only ones that can decide its fate. What is your response to mr. Maduro . Again, the property of the venezuelan people. The proper and rightful leaders of the country. So we agree with that. Hes not the proper leader of the country at this time. Ive said, these are valuable assets were protecting for the benefit of the venezuelan people. The question about the impact on the market and answer to about you said it will have a modest impact what do american drivers have to know about the impact at the pump if any at all . Theres been a big reduction in the overall price of oil. Particularly since we instituted the iran sanctions. Weve been careful making sure the costs dont impact the american consumer. Gas prices are almost as low as they have been in a very long period of time. These refineries impact a specific part of the country. As you said, were comfortable that they have enough supply that we dont expect any big impact in the short term. Do you think it emboldens your position . You think the United States can take advantage of the low gas prices on the hole . Does that increase the United States leverage in this debate . Were determined whether its in the case of iran or here to use sanctions to use them in the right way. Were very comfortable that weve coordinated with department of energy on this mechanism. Thank you, mr. Secretary. Theres been reports theres an estimated 25,000 cuban troops in venezuela. Troops or secret police, which is a clear violation of the oas charter, chapter 4, article 21 about troops of another country in a sovereign nation. Will the United States raise a complaint, if nothing else, with the havana regime as you know, secretary state pompeo addressed the oas General Assembly a few days ago. We expect other meetings of the oas on this and related subjects in the coming days. Because as both secretary mnuchin and i have said, we know what the legitimate government of venezuela is. Its our mission now to make a full reality in venezuela. What the people of venezuela themselves want. Do you have confirmation of that number . If you dont mind me turning your attention to the talks that will take place at the end of the week. The talks with china. In your opinion, where does all of that stand right now . Are you comfortable with progress thats been made in the last couple weeks . Larry kudlow has said that the talks the next couple days will be determinative. Is that your assessment . Weve had very good conversations with the two president s. I think you know we sent a team over to beijing. There were significant discussions. Weve had conversations since then. Ambassador lighthizer and i are looking forward to the two days of talks. President trump is going to meet with the vice premier at the end of those. Lets remind people. We do have another 30 days after this. So my expectation is that well make significant progress at these meetings. I would just emphasize theyre complicated issues. We have a timeline of how we mapped out the 90 days. How much progress has been played . Again, theres Significant Movement and were working through very complicated issues. Mr. Secretary, i want to go back to the gas prices. I understand that youre saying the gas prices are low now. But in the midst of this, with all of this happening in venezuela, how long do you believe that this will the gas prices will move to a modest impact on the oil industry and can you quantify by how much . By cents, by tens of cents or dollars. What is the modest impact . Let me comment that in general, ive said this before, markets are not always efficient. They move in different directions. I want to be careful and not speculate on markets. I think kind of oil went up a lot right before the iran sanctions. We were surprised that it went up so much. I think you know President Trump had been on the phone with many World Leaders making sure there was ample supply. Prices came down. The u. S. A big exporter of oil. Theres a balance here. Where oil prices are now reflect the supply and demand in the market. As ive said, were dealing with Venezuelan Oil that is a rather modest part of our overall supply. Were a net exporter of energy. We are particularly concerned that there were a handful of refineries that had a dependence on Venezuelan Oil. I think they read the tea leaves. They reduced that dependence significantly along the way. Most of them have in the neighborhood of 10 or less of their dependent on Venezuelan Oil. So i dont expect that people will see an impact on the gas pumps. Sweet or sour crude . Im not going to get into the specifics of the Different Oil markets. Let me say that most of these refineries, this is about 10 or less. Theres plenty of supply at sea thats already been paid for. So theres inventories. Theres been excess oil. Im sure many of our friends in the middle east will be happy to make up the supply as we push down venezuelas supply. Let me just emphasize, the right outcome is a transition for the oil company, the right outcome for the venezuelan people is to have these companies rebuilt and make sure that they get out of poverty. Its a complete tragedy to have the humanitarian crisis in a country with very rich resources. Mr. Secretary thank you. Ambassador bolton, a question, please. On china, you just addressed the what you believe weve heard this word enforcement quite a bit is. That a priority for the administration . Enforcement will be one of the topics that ambassador lighthizer have on the agenda. This is obvious. We want to make sure that we expect when we get a deal that that deal will be enforced. I would say in the conversations we had previously with them, theres been an acknowledgement with china that they understand that. The details of how we do that are very complicated. I. P. Protection, no more forced joint ventures, the enforcement are three of the most important issues on the agenda. Has the president spoken directly with president guaido and can you start over . Has the president spoken directly with president guaido . Can you summarize that conversation . How safe does the president believe our diplomats are currently . The Vice President has had several conversations with president guaido including night before we granted the recognition. He will be meeting with interim president guaidos ambassador in the near future. In terms of american official personnel be who have been an absolute top priority for President Trump, the Vice President , secretary pompeo and myself, we have drawn down significantly personnel at the embassy. All dependent personnel are gone. We believe we are now prepared as prepared as we can be. Were reevaluating the safety conditions at all times. Thats why weve seen we presented credentials to interim president guaido. We recognize him as the legitimate president. He has asked for us to stay. We have made very clear to what is left of the maduro regime that we hold them responsible and we take their commitment to do that very seriously. Ambassador bolton, what is your assessment of the relationship between Nicholas Maduro and his military . Do you have theres fracture something do you believe the russians are playing any role in supporting the military . Our assessment based on numerous contacts on the ground is that the rank and file of the Venezuelan Military is a cutely aware of the desperate Economic Conditions in the country. We think they look for ways to support the National Assembly government. We think the junior officer ranks and the mid level officer ranks are the same. Were also aware of significant contacts between general officers of the Venezuelan Military and supporters of the National Assembly. So you may have seen a Statement Last week by the defense minister, Vladimir Padrino flanked by generals in uniform what they didnt know is how many of them were already talking to the National Assembly. One more here. Do we have a timeline where we will reassess whether or not the sanctions are working and if theres another step . Secondly, can you speak to the administrations critics that say theyre in disarray . On sanctions, we always evaluate sanctions continuously, existing sanctions and future sanctions. Well look at the effect of them and whether we need more. Speaking for treasury, i want to thank all of the large number of government workers that came in. I will tell you as it relates to specifically the sanctions area, people have been working around the clock and we couldnt have gotten this done without the enormous support of the people that came in. So quite the contrary. We werent this disa ray. I want to thank all the people people that helped out on this. Very briefly, im going to have larry kudlow come up, give a quick economic update. A couple questions on that and ill be back up for the rest of the questions today. Thanks. Ill just say as i have for a while, that i still think the economy is very strong. I know theres some disagreements. I think as the numbers shake out, Commerce Department is reopening, were going to get a gdp report next week, a jobs report this friday. That will work out. Based on things weve talked about here, unemployment claims low. Industrial production is strong. Business investment is strong. Holiday sales very strong. I still think were on a 3 trend line growth rate. Im proud of that. I think that the program of lower tax rates and regulatory roll back and opening up energy and so forth is working and continuing to work. And i think frankly the optimists, the guys that took me over will be right. Major. You consider valid the estimates that the shut down cost the u. S. Economy between 8 billion and 11 billion. I looked at them. I think youre referring to the cbo numbers that came out today. We frequently disagree with cbo with all respect. Theyre doing the best job they can i get that. I wont acknowledge any of that right now. You know, in a 20 trillion economy, its awfully hard to make even the best guesstimates of those kinds of small fractions of numbers. Thats what youre looking at here. Lets see how it rolls out. Well get a gdp report in a week for q4. Take longer for the first quarter. As ive said many times, you have a whole bunch of very temporary factors and now that the government is reopened, the switch goes right back on. Theres certainly no permanent damage to the economy. Larry, again with the greatest respect to my friends at the cbo who disagrees with us and do not acknowledge our pro tax cuts, no, i dont really agree. Sorry. From your economic perspective, how disruptive was this . Not at all . The hardships for individuals was always the key problem here in my judgment. As Steve Mnuchin said, im glad were back to work. Im glad all the federal employees and all the people furloughed, tsa, go down the line, those individual hardships were the biggest issue. I think everybody is glad we can reopen and put those back to work. Regarding the macroeconomy, major, i dont think it was a factor. I dont. If the negotiations dont bear fruit and the government shuts down again, a lengthy shut down and reopening and another shut down, could that compound any hardship effect on the federal employees . I dont want to speculate on what ifs. We have a process laid out here. Lets see if it bears fruit. I dont want to speculate. Again, you know, the state of the economy to me, my colleagues, kevin, it looks strong. I dont think it was disrupted. Theres things written again. Ill repeat. In the aggregate, the numbers we saw, low unemployment claims, unbelievably strong same store retail sales. The industry production number from the Federal Reserve where business equipment went up for the seventh straight month. Just the scattered look at all of those data points suggests to us that were still in a very strong mode right now. I use the 3 as our longer term view. But i also think its going to pan out in the short run. So we will see. Yes. The chinese talks this week, is it possible well see frame work for a deal emerge . I dont way to say anything on that. Secretary mnuchin is correct. I dont want to make any predictions on that. These are very difficult and very important. The only comment ill make is, and ive said this before, the scope of these talks will be the broadest and deepest in u. S. China history. Weve never had anything this comprehensive. And i regard that as a big plus. How these things are worked out well have to wait and see. The president has expressed some, i would say, guarded optimism about the talks. Theyre coming with their top people and its important and our top people will be negotiating. Its encouraging to me that everything is on the table. I know thats a cliche. In trade talks it is, too. Having said that i want to reiterate, i dont recall whose point it was, enforcement issues will be very important. I know ambassador lighthizer said that and a key part of his discussion. You favor Government Contractors that are furloughed also getting back pay . Im not sure how some of them do. I think the defense related ones will. Im not sure. Im not an expert on that. Id have to go and check that. Id have to take a look at the scope of it. I honestly dont know. Dana i want to get back to the cbo. They also looked at protections the next decade in which they said the deficit for fiscal year 19 will be 900 billion starting in 2022, a trillion dollars year after year after that. 2029, 93 . Thats the gdp. They say its unsustainable. Does the white house agree with that . If its unsusstainable, does the white house plan to do anything to change it . We have a fundamental disagreement with that agency