Transcripts For FOXNEWSW The Daily Briefing With Dana Perino 20180815

Richard west ling. He began by thanking the jury for theirs service and they always told them along with his partners they felt very proud and honored to have represented mr. Manafort in his case. He also emphasized to the jury that there are some central tenets in the u. S. Justice department system. He said for the defendant there is a presumption of innocence and that the burden of proof is on the government, the prosecution to make the case and that has to be yard the defendants guilt. He brought out at one point a chart with variations on the guilty spectrum. He said to the jury it is simply not enough in this case to decide that mr. Manafort was maybe guilty or likely guilty or highly likely guilty. The government must show that he is guilty yard. , dana. Dana what was the theme of the Closing Argument . The theme was their position that he is a serial liar. That he lied about his money. He lied to hide the money. And when the money ran out in 2016, he lied again to secure multimilliondollar loans. And the chief prosecutor did the close in an hour and 43 minutes. He told the jury mr. Manafort lied to keep more money when he had it. And he lied to get more money when he didnt. This is a case about mr. Man fords lies. He hid money in foreign bank accounts, later spent that money on personal items and real estate. He is not above the law, dana. Dana catherine, what was the prosecution trying to do regarding clean up on its star witness . Right. So, the star witness in this case is man fords former Business Partner rick gates. And there was really a key and dramatic moment during the trial when gates was testifying about manafort and how he kind of knew where the money was all the time. What was coming in and what was coming out. And then the judge in this case t. S. Ellis iii interjected and said well, mr. Gates, you were stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from your boss, mr. Manafort, and he didnt notice it. So, clearly, he was not watching it that closely. And the prosecution has been very concerned about this comment because it certainly has the appearance of undercutting gates testimony. And what we saw in their close was an everett to kind of clean up a lot of issues and sort of tie up the loose ends. They said in part when mr. Manafort chose someone, someone to lie to his accountant, he didnt choose a boy scout. The defense said that mr. Gates had his hand in the cookie jar. It was not a cookie jar. It was a huge dumpster of money in foreign bank accounts. Ladies and gentlemen, the star witness in this case is the document. So, in other words, go to the paper trail, dont just go to what gates said, dana. Dana all right, catherine, thank you for that report. You are welcome. Dana white house is reacting today as former staff oomtio omarosa manigault. Im joined by ari fleischer. I want you to listen to sound last night and watch ed henry filling in for Shannon Bream talking to Katrina Pearson and now working for the pac. Watch. If thats the truth. Why dont you tell me ed, you know, i dont know all the details of this book. I havent seen it but did i say yes, he used the n word to move the conversation along . He didnt say that last night. Changed the story. The first call that you are talking about where she is claiming that i said that was in a totally different call where she was arguing with lynn patton about the existence of this tape. Let me explain something to you. Omarosa has been using this type manipulate people. She is a bully, a pushy and dog with a bone with this tape. Dana omarosa responded to. Katrina peer sen lied one day and turned around and lied the next day. Thats really the pattern of this organization. They have a problem with the truth. Dana certainly the American People would like to have this go away. They should be working for the people of the United States. Thats what the white house is trying to do. Despite with omarosa is continuing especially over this question of whether this tape, the president saying the n word actually exists. There is no proof of that at least at this point. Well, i just cant tell you how distressing, danelna, i find this whole thing for a white house to be involved in a discussion like this with somebody like omarosa. I cant even believe thats probably the first time i have ever said that word out of my mouth. I didnt watch the show. I didnt care for the show. And for the antics. And now the show is here at the white house. I think omarosa was on her way to crashing and burning and her credibility and what she wrote. The press was doing it for donald trump. She was doing it because she wrote passages no one could bank up. Frank luntz denied saying them. Frank luntz no defender of the president. Because of her own integrity and what she did in the situation room by recording bringing a recording device into the room. Crashing and burning and when the president put out the tweet being a dog he brought her back to life and thats the biggest mistake the white house has made. Dana i wonder if you think about from a strategy standpoint its a different, right . So past president s have tried to ignore books like this. Often a president will have at least somebody turn on him or her and an administration. The president was able to help discredit fire and fury the Michael Wolfe book. Do you think maybe he feels he has to push back against her because he is the only one with another fire power to do that . Clearly he feels that way in this instance he did not need to. She was on her way out. Nobody was believing her. I dont think her book would have sold all that well. He brought it back to life with that tweet. When you have cnn and the other outlets trashing omarosas credibility because of the contradictions that she has been caught in. Npr did the same thing to her. You dont bring her back. You dont go lower than her low, because, when you do that you make yourself and own tweet the story instead of her behavior the story. He was on the verge, the white house is on the verge of winning this one and now they are losing it again because the president went too far. Dana we will see today if Sarah Sanders is going to brief any moment we will bring it to you live. Turn the page on it a lot of news including all thats happening in turkey im sure she will get a question on that. Before i let you go, i know you have been tweeting about the allegations against Keith Ellison. He won his race last night in minnesota to become the candidate to run for attorney general in minnesota. I just want you to look at what tom perez, the head of the dnc said about al franken last december. He said senator al franken should step down. Everyone must share the responsibility of building a culture of trust and respect for women in every industry, workplace and that includes our party. Fast forward to this month, the dnc statement on ellison allegations is these allegations recently came to light and we are reviewing them. All allegations of Domestic Abuse are disturbing and should be taken seriously. You think there is a double standard here . Massive double standard compared to the way rob porter was treated with a huge amount of press coverage for ache sanctions against rob porter the former white house staff secretary. All the previous instances all organizations have to respond. He is the cochairman of the Democratic National committee and the dnc took 48 hours to Say Something and even then what they said was they are going to punt and not say anything yet. And basically the press let them get away with it. If this had been at the rnc, this would have been a feeding frenzy where the press demanded an answer from the rnc. And Keith Ellison still enjoys his job as deputy koch chairman of the dnc. Dana now wants to be in charge of the Law Enforcement in minnesota. All right. Well keep an eye on that and keep in touch with you. Ari fleischer, thank you. Thawncts thank you, dana. Dana todays news brief something just minutes away. We will take you there live. Clergy Abuse Victims speaking out after a report identifies hundreds of predator priests. One of them got a job at disney world after multiple investigations. We will talk to one of the investigative reporters who broke the story of clergy abuse in boston these are people that these priests ruined their lives and they still, at 83 years old, still affect them. Needles. Essential for the cactus, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz xr. A oncedaily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. Xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. Xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. Dont start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. Tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. Your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. Tell you doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. Needles. Fine for some things. But for you, one pill a day may provide symptom relief. Ask your doctor about xeljanz xr. An unjection™. Dana disturbing new details emerginged in the sex abuse scandal. Hundreds of priests in pennsylvania stand accused abusing children over a 70 year period with Catholic Church leaders there reportedly covering it all up. We should emphasize that while the list of priests is long, we dont think we got them all we feel certain that many victims never came forward and thats the dies cease did not create written records every single time they heard something about abuse. Dana joining me now is a member of the Pulitzer Prize winning spot line team which sex abuse coverup. I very much admire your work, sir. Were you surprised about yesterdays announcement. I have to say im not that surprised. The report of the grand jury is devastating. Its horrible. But its no surprise to those of us who have been covering this issue for a long time. The story was very much the same. Almost exactly the same in boston, in tucson and los angeles and its the same globally in ireland, australia, capito chilly, this a systemic problem in the Catholic Church. Dana do you admire the pennsylvania effort to pull this together and expose trgets tremendous effort on the part of the grand jury and the part of the attorney general. I think if there were more reports like this around the country we would get to the bottom of clergy sexual abuse in america. Dana do you think there is more about where this came from if there are other states that should look into it and i also want to know do you think that there should be a national investigation, something congressionally mandated Something Like that. Yeah, think would be a good idea maybe in the way that the Royal Commission investigated child sexual abuse in australia. I think Something Like that would turn up more revelations. I have no doubt about it. Dana you spoke, to of course, at love the victims. I want this point this out one of the things that happened priests were moved on, moved over hopefully that will get rid of the problem. But the victims never got restitution. Meantime one of them was promoted for a job at disney world. Listen to this. Desdespite knowing that he was a sexual predator writing im quite sure that the diocese will be able to give you a positive reference in regard to the work did you during your years of service here as a priest. With the reference, ganster was hired by disney world and worked there for the next 18 years. Priests molested children have transferred to other diocese, sometimes to other countries. They get recommendations for jobs. This is absolutely typical. This is part of the way the Catholic Church covers up the horror of child sexual abuse. Dana actually the Catholic Church saying there is no coverup. Give them a chance to say what they had to say. Listen here. There was no coverup going on. And i think that its important to be able to state that. Why have over the course of the last 30 years for sure been transparent about everything that has, in fact, that has been transpiring. I think that point needs to be made. Dana what do you think of his statement there. Well, if there was no coverup. How come we are hearing about this for the first time after all these years . Of course there is a coverup. Dana do you believe that maybe he believes there wasnt. Does he truly believe that or weighs lying . I have no insight into his state of mind. I will say bishop after bishop. Cardinal after cardinal all over the world has done Everything Possible to deny this is a problem and cover it up. Dana does that go all the way up to the pope. I dont know if it goes all the way up to the pope. The globe pot slight team uncovered this story and the vatican has done very little. Dana one the victims James Vansickle abused by a priest in 1981 in erie. There is statute of limitations that has run out on his case. Im sure you are familiar with that he said this is a murder of a soul. We dont have statute of limitations on the crime of murder. We dont go after victims and question their repressed memories or recovered memories. Dhoots sound like what you heard when you were in boston covering that story . Oh, sure. This is a problem all over the United States where have you very narrow windows where people can follow lawsuits. The thing about child sex abuse is that the victims, the survivors often do not have the psychological wherewithal to report this until they are in their 30s or 40s. By then the statute has expired there are some states, including massachusetts which have reformed their statute of limitations for this reason. Dana tell me about you said it was 16 years ago that your coverage first took place. What did the state of massachusetts or the city of boston do to try to repair relationships between the church and the clergy and bringing the congregation together and healing that community, if they have . Well, its tough. And i think the healing is not complete. And there is a chance that it never will be complete. You know, massachusetts political leaders took action to require priests who know about child sex abuse to report it to the authorities. The archdiocese itself has taken a great many measures to prevent child sexual abuse. For instance, everyone who works with children in the archdiocese has to undergo a Police Background check. Dana of course, this is pretty unpleasant topic to talk about. A lot of people dont want to hear it. Dont want to have to deal with it from your perspective, you work for spotlight and you try shine a light on things. Where do you think this story goes from here . Is there a lot more work to be done from an investigative reporting standpoint . Oh, sure. I think there are clergy sex abuse investigations to be done all over the world. I think where the story goes now is the vatican. We have had crisis after crisis, scandal after scandal. I am thinking particularly over chili where all the bishops have resigned. Pope francis is beloved for many good reasons. When it comes to the issue of child sexual abuse in the church, he seems to have a very large blind spot. Dana mike, its a pleasure to meet you and thank you for being in new york today. Its great to be here. Dana looking live inside the Briefing Room at the white house where press secretary Sarah Sanders is set to take questions. Legislature is looking typically peach the states entire high court. I will talk to mr. West virginia Chris Stirewalt about. So crazy things that got them into trouble. It is certainly historical whats happened here. Under the justice the court had a loss of trust in the public that court has now been undertaken all these impeachment what does help for Heart Failure look like . The beat goes on. It looks like emily cooking dinner for ten. The beat goes on. It looks like jonathan on a date with his wife. Ladiladi. 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Hes only going to be here for like a week. Like a month, tops. Oh boy. Wifi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. In many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40s. This election is probably the closest in america. But the numbers are just not there unless we would go to extraordinary measures. Kansas is too important the people of kansas is too important. Dana colyer handing the to kris kobach. Lean republican to fossaup. Joining me now fox News Politics editor Chris Stirewalt. Chris, i want you to listen to kris kobach who was on earlier today to this race and how he plans to win it watch. I think the country is in the mood for a change and not in the traditional mood for a change where people are rejecting the siting president. I think each day its own Battle Ground there does seem to be a current where a lot of candidates like me establishing the establishment and shake things up are winning these elections. That tells me there is a Common Thread through a lot of these races. Dana shaking things up and now he is in a race that is considered a tossup by the Cook Political Report. Could it really be that red kansas could be actually a tossup for the governors race . Oh, heck yes. We have to remember there is a little more back story here. Look, kobach is a very controversial figure not just he was sort of a driving force behind the committee that the president put together to try to prove he didnt lose the popular vote that didnt work out. Is he controversial figure. Is he a leading figure on hard line immigration distances across the country. He has gone and counseled with people in arizona, virginia, other places to try to put in to effect hardest line possible about finding and corralling and deporting illegal immigrants. And it makes him a lightning rod and makes him very popular with as he says many of the president s supporters who want to see that there are a lot of those in kansas. It also makes him a divisive figure in places like suburban kansas city, et cetera, et cetera. There is that part. But then there is also this. The republicans are not in good owner in kansas Sam Brownback had to leave. He had a radical approach he took the State Government there about taxes and other things that blew up. It put the republicans in a bad spot. They were trying to moderate. Kobach is coming back and he is now the republicans are going to double down. Its going to be hot, a hot, hot shooting war out there. All right. Well we have to get out there and see whats going on. Let me ask you about these other races there was a primary yesterday there were other changes that the Cook Political Report did. Im looking up here big beautiful board easy to read. Three districts lean from republican to tossup and one district moves from likely republican to lean republican. But one bit of good news i guess for the g. O. P. Is that carlos can seat tossup to republican. We havent seen too many changes go that way. Cobello must be doing something right in his district. He is. It does not look like he is necessarily going to get the kind of challenger that could be ideal to make that race competitive and kabello is a savvy politician good at what he does. Knows his district and how to play it. He is things are looking better for him. Yes, for republicans nationally, the trend line is a negative one. There has been sort of hoping against hope amongst republicans that somehow the narrative would change. But, i would point you to the arrest of the congressman from western new york, Chris Collins and another point that you just start to seat drum beat when it comes to talking about corruption, when it comes to talking about healthcare, when it comes the democrats just have too many avenues to follow to come hard against the republicans, make it stick and it starts to feel like a year where the g. O. P. Is sinking. Dana we will see. Of course, we have to get to that labor day before people get home and start paying attention. Its not every day, chris that a state would impeach all of its Supreme Court justices, all in one fell swoop. But West Virginia has done. So listen to one of the former justices, robin davis. I feel profound grief for the state of West Virginia, given the current state of affairs. What we are witnessing is a disaster for the rule of law the foundation of our state and the indeed our own society. Dana you know more about West Virginia than anyone else i know, so what the heck is going on out there . Well, whats going on is that this dates back to back when i was covering the West Virginia Supreme Court court of appeals which was a long, long time ago. And they were had some of the beginnings of these problems back then. Spent too much accountable to no one. And sort of this imimperialist reasoned group. The step to throw everybody out, i dont know whether that was the right choice. But, the Supreme Court the outrage in a state like West Virginia a poor state like West Virginia, at the lavish spending and hun and on for redecorating and shower and installation of this and the thousands of dollars for framing and all of this stuff it, made people angry. And republicans in the legislature wanted to show they could get some results. My expectation is not all will be impeached because it seems like they are committed to going through Due Diligence and process on this as the trial proceeds. I would imagine we will probably end one a couple remaining out of the original five. Three are gone already. That leaves just two. We will see how this goes. Dana when you redecorate your office dont add a shower. That would be one thing unless you are not paying it for yourself. I havent hung my pictures yet. Dana President Trumps nominee Brett Kavanaugh meeting with joe donnelly and meet with Heidi Heitkamp of minnesota soon. This is a huge deal and accomplishment for President Trump if Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed and he is expected to be. So the story seems to kind of being fizzling because the democrats dont seem to have a lot to fight against here. Well, from their point of view, they have plenty to fight against, and from their point of view they have lots that they can inflame and arouse the Democratic Base with. But the truth is, the senators who are the most vulnerable, the senators who are the hardest position, people like donnelly, people like heitcamp have the most to say really in an election year. When they go to Chuck Schumer and say look, you are not helping me by having this be a scorched earth battle, i need to show that i can compromise and that i can accommodate. Im in a red state. Those vulnerable candidates have a lot to say because democrats know that their chances to take the senate are very thin this year. They need everything to go their way in order to retake the senate, and that gives those red state senators a lot to say when they go to Chuck Schumer and tell him help me out here, dont make me look like im a total jerk. Dana thats a pretty low bar. In washington. Dana Chris Stirewalt, thank you. You bet. Dana were waiting for the White House Briefing where we expect more questions about omarosa. We will take you there as soon as it starts. Plus, turkey blaming its economic problems on america as washington pushes for the release of an american pastor. Welcome hi there. So, what do you look for in a vehicle . Sleek designs. Performance. Dependability is top on my list. Well then, heres some vehicles that deliver on that. Woah wow. Oh jeez thats our truck its our truck and theyre our cars thats my chevy chevys the only brand to earn j. D. Power dependability awards across cars, trucks and suvs three years in a row. Awesome. Im proud. Its like a dynasty. Its impressive. With who we are as people and making everybody feel welcome. Ordering custom ink tshirts has been a really smart decision for our business. I love the custom ink design lab because its really easy to use. They have Customer Service that you can reach anytime. Tshirts help us immediately get a sense of who we are as a group. From the moment clients walk in, theyre able to feel like part of the family. [spokesman] custom ink has hundreds of products for your business and free shipping. Upload your logo or start your design today at customink. Com. Dana fox news alert. We are awaiting a White House Briefing about to start any minute this as Senate Republicans setting their agenda as they return to washington hoping to set the tone that will allow the g. O. P. To retain its majority this november. Alexandria bolton writing in the hill of Mitch Mcconnells plan for the next few months. Not an agenda to sow political fights and base. Task of congressional leaders especially before a midterm election. Instead meant to show voters especially swing and independent voters that Senate Republicans are a study hand of the levers of government. Im joined by collin reed Senior Vice President of definers affairs and boston columnist and senior seeingman former fugitive governor joe corzine. Thats a mouthful. A lot of the formers. Dana sara sanders is stepping to the podium so i am going to see if you can stick around. We will go to sara sanders now. As the head of the executive branch and commanderinchief, i have a unique constitutional responsibility to protect the nations classified information, including by controlling access to it. Today in fulfilling that responsibility, i have decided to revoke the security clearance of john brennan, former director of the Central Intelligence agency. Historically former heads of intelligence and Law Enforcement agencies have been allowed to retain access to classified information after their government service. So that they can consult with their successors regarding matters about which they may have special insight and as a professional courtesy. Neither of these justifications supports mr. Brennans continued access to classified information. First, at this point in my administration, any benefits that senior officials might glean from consultations with mr. Brennan are now outweighed by the risk posed by his erratic conduct and behavior. Second, that conduct and behavior has tested and far exceeded the limits of any professional courtesy that may have been due to him. Mr. Brennan has a history that calls into question his objectivity and credibility. In 2014, for example, he denied to congress that cia officials under his supervision had improperly accessed the computer files of congressional staffers. He told the council of Foreign Relations that the cia would never do such a thing. The cias inspector general, however, contradicted mr. Brennan directly concluding unequivocally that officials had indeed improperlycongressional staffers files. More recently, mr. Brennan told congress that the Intelligence Community did not make use of the socalled steele dossier in an assessment regarding the 2016 election. An assertion contradicted by at least two other senior officials in the Intelligence Community and all of the facts. Additionally, mr. Brennan has recently leveraged his status as a former high ranking official with access to highly Sensitive Information to make a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations while the outburst on the internet and television about this administration. Mr. Brennans lying and recent conduct characterized by increasingly frenzied commentary is locally inconsistent with access to the nations most closely held secrets and facilities, the very aim of our adversaries which is to sow division and chaos. More broadly the issue of mr. Brennans security clearance raises larger questions about the practice of former officials maintaining access to our nations most sensitive secrets long after their time in government has ended. Such access is particularly inappropriate when former officials have transitioned into highly partisan positions and seek to use real or perceived access to Sensitive Information to validate their political attacks. Any access granted to our nations secrets should be in furtherance of national, not personal interest. For this reason, i have also begun to review the more general question of the access to classified information by government officials. As part of this review, i am evaluating action with respect to the following individuals. James clapper, james comey, michael hayden, sally yates, susan rice, andrew mccabe, peter strzok, lisa page and bruce ohr. Security clearances for those who still have them may be revoked and those who have already lost their security clearance may not be able to have it reinstated. It is for the foregoing reasons that i have exercised my Constitutional Authority to deny mr. Brennan access to classified information and i will direct appropriate staff of the National Security council to make the necessary arrangements with the appropriate agencies to implement this determination. With that, i will take your questions. Jonathan . Sarah, a question i. Ed to ask you first a followup on that. It seems like everybody that you mentioned has been a political critic of the president. Is he going after his political opponents with this . No. If there were others that werent that we deemed necessary we would certainly take a look and review those as well. Okay. I want to ask you something about something the president s attorney said. Rudy giuliani said of special Counsel Robert Mueller needs to write the damn report so we can see and it rebut it and he said if its not written within the next two or three weeks, quote we will just unload on him like a ton of bricks. Is the president okay with his attorney threatening the special counsel in this way . Certainly we have made clear we would like to see this wrap up for questions specific about comments by mr. Giuliani, i would refer you back to them. Was that authorized by the president . Once again for questions specific about the investigation, particularly comments from rudy giuliani, i would refer you back to him to address those. Jeff . Sarah, following up on johns question, how is this announcement by the president , how can americans not interpret that as a getting back against his critics and isnt it also a attempt to curtail their free speech tore criticizing them for being critical on television. Not at all. The president has a constitutional responsibility to protect classified information and who has access to it. And thats what he is doing is fulfilling that responsibility in this action. This is actually specific to mr. Brennan and the others are currently under review. Is this the kind of precedent set for future president s when his administration is out of office and why are there no republicans on that list . Once again, if we deemed it necessary, we would certainly look into that and be happy to look into those. Justin . I wanted to talk about turkey but just along what jeff said i guess the reason people would say this argument credibility there is obvious examples of Administration Former National Security advisor admitted to lying to the fbi. Why is this only a list of democrats critical administration and why should americans have confidence that you are taking this seriously if there is not a single republican on that list. Again, certainly we would look at those if we deemed it necessary and well keep you posted if that list gets updated. On turkey, turkey announced today they are going to put tariffs on about a billion dollars of american goods. Im wondering your response to that if there is any discussion internallably retaliation towards that continuing to escalate this . The tariffs from turkey are certainly regrettable and a step in the wrong direction. The tariffs that the United States placed on turkey were out of National Security interests. Theirs are out of retaliation. Im not going to get ahead of anything on what we may or may not do in an effort to respond but certainly we dont support turkeys decision to retaliate against us protecting our National Security interests. An Appeals Court in turkey today denied pastor brunsons appeal does the administration see that as a new set back or maintaining the status quo . We feel that turkey, and specifically president erdogan have treated pastor brunson, who we know to be a very good person and a strong christian who has done nothing wrong very unfairly, very badly and something we wont forget in the administration. Move on, jake, go ahead. Thank you, sarah. The administration has put up a robust defense on pastor brunson at the same time there is tens of thousands of christians in north korea who have been imprisoned almost exclusively because of their religion open door u. S. A. Considered north korea to be the number one country when it comes to persecution of the christians. Is this something that the administration has also been looking into. Certainly we would like to see any individual persecuted for their christian beliefs or imprisoned le released. We have been working with north korea on a number of fronz. Thats certainly something we would like to seal them change their behavior. [inaudible question] something we would like to see. Second question. Reduced by over 90 . A brief u. N. Report suggests as many 30,000 members exist in whats the will president s take on this u. N. Report and what would the consideration consider overall victory against isis . We would like osee every Single Member of isis defeated across the globe. I think that would be the ultimate victory. John, go ahead. Sarah, closing argue. S are taking place across the river in alexandria for the tax fraud trial of Paul Manafort. And in mid june the president said that he felt badly for mr. Manafort and that he believes he is being treated unfairly. Is the president still friends with mr. Manafort . When was the last time he spoke with mr. Manafort . Im not aware of any recent conversations that they have had. He believes is he being treated unfairly. I think the president has made that clear in his previous comments. I dont have anything to add beyond that at this point, blake, go ahead. Sarah, thank you, you just said a couple minutes ago that the increased tariff levels with turkey were out of the National Security interest. When the president announced it on twitter last week or earlier this month, he said, quote at the time he said our relations with turkey are not good at this time. A suggestion there being that this has to do with the pastor that is being held in turkey. Simply put, if pastor brunson is allowed to leave turkey, do those tariff levels go away . Is that kind of the deal that could be in place on the table . The tariffs that are in place on steel would not be removed with the release of pastor brunson. The tariffs are specific to National Security. The sanctions, however, that have been placed on turkey are specific to pastor brunson and others that we feel are being held unfairly. And we would consider that at that point. Sarah. What in the interest of National Security, what has changed over the last month or so with turkey that you are justifying National Security. Again, the president has been clear about the steel and aluminum industries. Steel particularly in this case that those are industries that must be protected. We must have the ability to reach certain levels of manufacturing those products here in the United States. For the purposes of National Security. John . Thank you, sarah. I was going to ask about turkey but based on your opening statement, i have to put out that the attorneys for former director comey and former Deputy Director mccabe say that their passes were automatically deimagine advertised the day that they were separated from their offices mr. Clapper and general hayden said they do not use the pass at all. And also, its my understanding from an historical standpoint this would be the first time the president himself we moved the passes from anybody, that has normally been done by agency heads or immediate superior people. Have you considered all of these things in the process you say you are going to perform . Again, the other individuals, those are being reviewed. Thadetermination will be made at a later date. Those that have already been revoked it would be for the purpose of reviewing whether or not they should be reinstated or not. Major . Sarah, i just wanted to understand you outlined two areas of either contradictory or erroneous testimony from brennan. Is that the only standard by which this administration concerning he should have his security clearance revoked . Again, i laid out the reasons in the opening statement. Specific to director brennan. The others are currently reviewed. I dont have any specific comments at that point. Is that the standard . If you give erroneous testimony. You have to correct at a certain date in the future. If you work author this administration, for example, does that mean you could lose your security clearance. My understanding this is being looked at on casebycase basis which is why each individual is being renewed and determination made. Does this administration have any evidence to believe or evidence to suggest brennan has misused classified information or monetized access to it as was alleged earlier by this administration. Again, i have laid out the reason for the decision that was made on this specific inintans. Would will continue to review the other. Absence of you not saying those things you didnt find any evidence then. No i wouldnt make any assumptions. Im telling you what the decision was based off on in this case. Andrew . I wanted to follow up on a question yesterday about afghanistan. Today there was another [inaudible] killed 37 people in a school. Military base in the north has been overrun by the taliban. They have also seized parts of the [inaudible] why do you think President Trumps strategy in afghanistan is working . As always, were going to continue to review and look at the best ways to move forward. I will leave it to the department of defense to get in to specifics about tactical situations on the ground. What i can tell you is that were committed to finding a political solution to end the conflict in afghanistan. Were exploring all avenues for dialogue and close coordination with the afghan government. Were going to continue to do it. We have announcements our changes in the policy we will certainly let you know. Peter . Sarah, to follow up on the turkey question if i may. Are you guys do you guys assess whether the liquidity situation in turkeys Financial Sector is a risk in light of the fall of the lira . Its falling line a quarter in the last three or four days. Certainly we are monitoring the situation with respect to the turkish economy and the decline of the lira. Turkeys economic problems, those are a part of a longterm trend. Something of its own making and not the result of any actions the United States has taken. Sarah . Thank you, sarah. One of the individuals that you listed on that list of clearance that is under review is bruce ohr. Is he a current employee of the department of justice. Sign stead of putting him under the review, does the president believe he should be fired. I dont have any personnel announcement on that front. Why would you put a security clearance under review which would render him unable to do his job and not just fire him. Once again i dont have any Personnel Announcements on that front. We are looking into that specific matter. Peter, im sorry i called on you earlier. Thank you, sarah, people who criticized the president publicly on tv or criticisms are they at greater risk of losing their security clearances than people who stay silent . Again, this is looked at on case by case basis and do an individual review and make that determination. Thank you, sarah, question about return of lawmakers on capitol hill and a followup very quickly. Now that theyre back, can you sort of lay out the white house strategy for moving forward with its agenda . We have talked about wall funding. We have obviously a lot of people are very curious about the kavanaugh nomination moving forward. Dak andaca and other issues. Is there a strategy in place to work with lawmakers now that they are back . Certainly we have continued ongoing investigations on a number on l discussions we have happy that the hearing dates have been set for justin kavanaugh. And we look forward to being confirmed. My very quick followup was first of all you didnt mention anything about a possible shutdown. Is that still something that the president is continuing and my followup was going to be on the farm bill there are a great number of people and great number of states that are curious about this work requirement to usda is trying to implement. In some places they already have it. They say you have to work. In other areas you dont have that requirement. Is that something the white house still supports . Something we still support in terms of a shutdown i dont have any announcements on that front. We certainly still want to see a lot of things happen. We would love for congress to actually do its job, particularly when it comes to immigration. We have a completely broken system and we would like to see them work with us to fix it. Thank you, sarah. I dont have any updates for you on that front now. Catherine. Omarosa Manigault Newman is antiamerican staff in the west wing. She actually didnt work in the west wing but go ahead. No staff has been appointed [inaudible] can you tell us exactly how many africanamerican staffers there are in this building and is it a priority in the administration to reflect the diversity of the country . Certainly as i addressed yesterday, we value diversity, not just at the white house but throughout the entire administration. And were going to continue trying to diversify the staff. We have a large number of diverse staffers from various background both race, religion, gender. How many africanamerican staffers are there in this building. Look, im not going to go through and do a count. The same way im not going to do a sit down and count on the staffs that are in your news organization. 13 of the country is africanamerican. And we would love to diversify our staff and continue to do so. We do think its important. Were going to continue to work to make that happen. Rick hill. Sarah, thank you very much. About the election last night, we are seeing the democrats embracing a more diversity choosing muslims, also candidates transgender candidates. Rejecting president s agenda. So my question is what do you think will be the impact of his agenda and also this recent controversy about race and minorities on the election in november . Again, i think people are looking at the policies that the individuals rim plementing and how those are going to affect those communities and whether or not its actually going to help individuals. People across this country. Thats what we are looking at. Thats what we are focused on. Thats what we are going to do take one last question, amman . One on harleydavidson the president commented earlier in the week many harleydavidson owners plan to boycott the company if manufacturing moves overseas great. Is the president of the United States endorsing a boycott of an Iconic American Company here . Look, the president has made his feelings on that very clear. The president s focus is on making sure that we get good trade deals. And that we keep business and industry here in the United States. Does he want to see a boycott of harley. I think he would rather see them put all their Companies Back here in the United States and build all of their great within machines here in this country. Thanks so much. Guys. Dana that was Sarah Sanders White House Press secretary. Deciding to not actually sit there and take some questions about omarosa. She led with some news. Lets bring back Chris Stirewalt fox News Politics editor. A while ago President Trump suggested that he might take away the privilege of having a security clearance from former Administration Officials from previous administrations. Today Sarah Sanders led the briefing by in particular there will be the one for john brennan which will be revoked. John brennan formerly at the cia and dni said this last night on twitter its asounding how often you fail to live up to standards decency steams like you wont understand what it means to be president nor to be a good decent. So disheartening, so dangerous for our nation. John brennan saying that about our president last night. Then, we dont have the sound yet but he was on msnbc presumably the president saw him complaining about President Trump last night deciding to take this action today. Your thoughts, chris. I mean, who cares seems like too strong of a phrase. But this is definitely chief ochiefofchaffthis is who cares. Maybe brennan can start a go fund me page like peter strzok and be console him through the period of not having a security clearance. That he doesnt use. Remember, in all of this stuff, none of these people are using their security clearances. They have the security clearances. People keep security clearances for the period of time that they are given them. They are renewed on a regular basis. But you keep them after you leave in case the administration wants to call you back so that can you help them look at something. You cant just go walk in and say i would like to seat following documentation about north korea missile placement, no. You have it so that if the Current Administration wants to bring you back that you can do it. Right. Do you think they are going to invite any of these people back to consult with the Trump Administration . Heavens to betsy no. Dana the accusation, chris, is that they were using their security clearances to make money based on consulting contracts. So if you get called back over to the cia or doing consulting work for a defense contractor this would prevent you from being able to know classified information. You know, look, i agree, i dont think its that big of deal. I dont even think that you necessarily need to have security clearance at large. You could do it on a casebycase basis if you are called back in for that consultation. I imagine that the people who have been critical of the president who are now having their clearances revoked will probably not stop being critical of the president because of this. I will give you the last word. And it will, in fact, elevate their platform among those places where they are already being heard that will give them victim status and then they will make more bleeding noises and the white house will make more bleeding noises and it will drown out other important things. Dana i will tell you what she did do. Only one question about omarosa in that briefing. You got it. Dana i have got to hand it to her. Bring back collin reed and shellie holiday a reporter for the wall street journal and you were here to talk about Paul Manafort. Ville talk about this shelby, john brennan and others, do you think theyll be bothered by this. Yes, i think they will be bothered by it very symbolic move as somebody in the press briefing brought up. The president doesnt usually take away security clearances. That is handled way below the president. This seems very retaliatory. One thing interesting is Sarah Huckabee sanders cited a list of reasons why this was happening. One of it had it to do with russia. Retaliatory in that sense. Brennan is on tv talking about the russia investigation. When you look at the pattern of firings and measures taken like, this it did race some questions about the pattern of trumps behavior. Is he trying to silence his critics and make this investigation go away . Thats one of his biggest problems right now. He cant just stop tweeting about it, making moves like this that just keep adding to this pattern. Dana he does have the right to do it. He has the power to do it, collin. Of course. Dana omarosa put to the side today and, you know, its not necessarily the way to lead with the great Economic News going into the mid terms but it is a way to change the news cycle. Certainly. Time after time throughout his time in office, President Trump has shown the ability to move on from unhelpful subjects like omarosa on to more issues like this that will rally his base. Remember, dana, one of the things that we dont know going into the mid terms is whether or not that coalition of voters who supported President Trump will show up for republican candidates up and down the ballot when he is not there and for better or worse this issue will unite the right. Thats the wrong term but get them fired up. Dana you have to fire up your base. I was listen to joshs podcast against the grain. Alyssa was in there a you republican member of Congress Told her sometimes you have to scare your base into wanting to vote. Especially when their guy, donald trump isnt on the ballot. Dana let me ask you this because we have one minute left, shelby, the manafort trial, the Closing Arguments are today. How long do you think the jury deliberations will take and what else could happen in terms of evidence at the end of this trial. It does seem like the jury will not return a verdict today. They have to listen to the judge go through instructions. So probably tomorrow or friday. Its unclear how quickly they will move. But they have seen a lot of evidence. Its a very complex trial. There is a lot of paperwork, a lot of evidence. I dont know if anything new will come up, but they will be looking at different documents that may show intent. Paul manafort intentionally lying about his rental property or his income in order to get more money dana sending emails to rick gates who was the prosecutors star witness saying i want you to do this. He asked rick gates please convert a pdf file into a word document. Thats because Paul Manafort doctored that document and wanted to get more money in loans. So, yeah, all cinds of emails like that. I think they have a lot of evidence to consider. Dana there is a second trial he goes to next month whats that one about. Thats a big one. Thats about obstruction of justice, failing to register as a foreign agent. He has been indicted alongside constantine, his sidekick and maybe more important in the grand scheme of things here. That trial is in september. And its unclear what well see from that trial. I mean, there is a lot of talk about manafort flipping, but he is not showing any signs. Dana doesnt look like it. He will not take a plea deal. Dana thank you for joining us. We appreciate it Sarah Sanders just announcing at the white house the president is revoking security clearances for former Administration Officials, especially that of john brennan, pointing him out as the big example. Shep will have more for you. Im diana perino, here is shep. Shepard breaking news on fox news. An extraordinary announcement from the white house. The white house taking a step to revoke the security clearance from the former cia director, john brennan. Hes been a firm critic of the president. The president s actions, his governance, conduct and his statements. Most recently john brennan spoke to Lawrence Odonnell on msnbc. I think donald trump has pulley sullied the reputation of the office of the presidency