Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Katy Tur 20171018

And she said, he didnt even remember his name. The president defended that call on twitter, saying the congresswomans account was totally fabricated and that he has proof. Later, he was asked about that proof. With the woman, with the wife who sounded like a lovely woman, did not say what the congresswoman said, and most people arent too surprised to say that. What was the proof, mr. President . Let her make her statement again and youll find out. Let her make her statement again and youll find out. So what really happened on that call, and is the president now politicizing the death of a u. S. Service member . Lets get to our reporters who debriefed this. Haley jackson, whos inside the briefing room, hans nichols is at the pentagon, also with us, reporter for the wall street journal and eli stokeles and reporter for the the washington post, eugene scott. Lets start with you, hallie, congresswoman wilson tweeted right after donald trump said that, i still stand by my account of the call between donald trump and myeshia johnson. That is her name, mr. Trump, not the woman or the wife. Hallie, earlier i was watching you on with craig and you made such a good point, that initially this was not a question a few days ago about whether or not hes called any of these families. It was a question about the status of what happened in and he made it about who called whom. The word call i dont think is in the original question, but remember it was about the president s Public Statement or lack thereof about anything relating to the ambush in western africa that killed the four americans. That is what sparked what is now, i think, day three of this news cycle, frankly, of the discussion about the president s outreach to families. Family and what exactly happened in that phone call, in that conversation. You have heard, and, katy, youve displayed the tweet. Congresswoman wilson not backing away from her initial statement. You heard the president several times in the west wing say let her make the statement. She knows its not true, let her say it. She said it and said it is true. She said what im saying, i stand by. The president says he has proof, that, in fact, she is wrong. Weve asked what the proof is, we dont know. I imagine that will be a question to Sarah Huckabee sanders, but i would point out the president promised proof in the past and most of the cases the proof has not materialized. Haley jackson, hold on for us, Roger Goodell has come out to address the player protests. Lets listen. Both chicago and philadelphia for doing an extraordinary job to raise the bar. They have set a new standard for the draft, created a new experience for our fans that we think will be extraordinary, and we are confident dallas will raise that bar even further, so im happy to introduce Charlotte Jones anderson, who is going to give her view of what to expect in dallas. Again, the ownership was very supportive and were very excited to be going to dallas next april for the draft. Charlotte . Thank you. Well, behalf on the dallas cowboys, city of dallas, city of arlington, and the city of frisco, we are so excited the nfl has given us this opportunity to host the draft in april of next year, and we have had so many great Civic Leaders in dallas and across, from arlington and beyond, that have really done a lot of hard work here, hopefully giving a lot of ideas of the staff at the nfl, peter and his team, and we really think we have come up with an incredible idea and concept that will really make at t stadium shine, but also will deliver a unique experience that is unlike anything you have seen thus far at the nfl draft, but i think this is what the draft process is all about. It allows the cities to show their unique personality and hopefully invite not only fans from all over our region in dallas and the metroplex and beyond, but those from out of state, that we welcome them to dallas, to arlington, to at t stadium to show their fandom and be a part of the draft in april. Youll see a different variation of it when you get there. A lot of those surprises are in store and will be released throughout the next few months. Again, wed like to thank those that worked hard on this and the nfl for giving dallas and the city of arlington and at t stadium an opportunity to host the draft. Thank you. Any questions for charlotte before she goes . Okay. So we had a very productive set of meetings in new york here over the last couple days. We had reports from various committees, including the competition committee. Very excited about the season we have ongoing right now. We reviewed the six weeks that are played to date and the margin of victory, we talked about the penalties per game. We talked about our game presentation and the changes that weve made and how thats worked. Talked about focus on officiating. All very positive excuse me, positive feedback on the game. We also spent a great deal of time talking about our partnerships. We extended our partnership and expanded a partnership with ticketmaster that, we think, will be very fan friendly. It will give our fans a better opportunity to buy tickets on a secure basis and on greater platforms, which we think will be very positive, and as always we have a report on health and safety and initiatives there and the impact thats having on our game. Lastly, we had a special visitor today, the commissioner of the nypd, jimmy oneal and his chief of police, terry monahan. We have been and i specifically have had conversations with them for several months, so this has been quite a while in the making to try to understand how we can continue to expand the relationships between our clubs, our players, our communities, and the nfl. And he was very helpful in giving us insight into what their initiatives are with the nypd and initiatives in other parts of the country, which i saw firsthand down in miami last week and philadelphia recently. The relationship between the players and our communities and our Law Enforcement is very important to us. So that was very helpful. And yesterday i made a brief comment about, came down to see you, sure there will be more questions about the meeting with the players and owners yesterday. We also spent a great deal of time with our owners alone today discussing our efforts with our players. I would tell you that theres a great deal of support for the efforts that our players have identified. Not only support, but a recognition these are important issues for our communities. They are american issues and certain things that we really want to as clubs and as a league want to not only support, but also be a part of and try to help lead with our players. I think those are the key issues. I would tell you, though, just on one other issue, that we spent a great deal of time talking about this morning was how much we believe everyone should stand for the National Anthem. Thats an important part of our policy. Its also an important part of our game that we all take great pride in, and its also important for us to honor our flag and to our country and we think our fans expect us to do that. And so that is something that we continue to focus on this morning, but really talking a lot about the opportunity that exists with our players to try to go and really make a difference in our communities in a positive way. So ill let you take questions. In regards to your statement yesterday, the president this morning tweeted both you and the league have disrespect for the country. Is he wrong about that, and if so why . Well, as i just said, we respect our country, respect our flag, respect our National Anthem. I think you look at our clubs and what they do on a daily basis, look at our players and what they do and how they participate in that. We all feel very strongly about our country and our pride, and were going to continue to do that. [ inaudible question ] well, listen, i understand. Were focusing on what we can do and what we should be doing as an nfl. I think we have a great opportunity here with our players to really Work Together and to try to help and make differences in our community. Things that we all believe are necessary to do, and thats what were going to continue to do. Should stand at attention, helmets in their hand. Its not a rule, but its in the policy. So why not make it a rule . Ratings seem to be down. [ inaudible ] i think one of the things we need to keep the focus on is, again, we believe that our players should stand for the National Anthem. Thats an important part of our game and our moment, and we believe in that. I think we also have to keep focus on we have about six or seven players that are involved with this protest at this point, and this is something that what we tried to do is deal with the underlying issue and understand what it is that they are protesting and try to address that matter. And so let me finish, if you can. So the important thing for us is to be able to do that and take that opportunity to make real differences in our community and that is really whats going to ultimately be the important aspect for us long term, because this is a long term issue. We need to make sure we do that in the right way. Would you agree the image is suffering i understand our fans feel about this issue and we feel the same way about the importance of our flag, about the importance of patriotism, and i believe our players feel that way. They will state to you and they have stated to everyone publicly they are not doing this in any way to be disrespectful to the flag, but they also understand how its being interpreted, and thats why were trying to deal with those underlying issues. Thank you, roger. Jim trotter here, espn. Right here in the middle. Middle, right here. You said you want the players to stand and theres been no change to the game operations manual. My question is, what happens if an owner who still feels that he can discipline a player for taking a knee, what response will we see from the league if that were to happen . Well, jim, we just had two days of conversations with our owners, of which this was a fair amount of the conversation, and i think our clubs all see this the same way, that we want our players to stand, were going to continue to encourage them to stand, and were going to continue to work on these issues in the community. Well address issues. I cant deal with hypothetical issues right now. Well deal with those issues when they come up, but for us right now, thats our focus. Roger, roger, over here. At this point, what have your sponsors and the network said to you about this issue . What do you feel the effect is on your business right now of this mark, we have a report on that, too. Listen, we know how important this is to our sponsors, partners, licensees, its important to us also. So we all share that and we certainly are in great contact with them, we understand the issues, we want to make sure they understand our perspective and if they can help us, we want them to help us in those issues, but all of this is part of the ongoing effort and understanding one another and making sure that we do the right thing in our communities and the right thing to support our players, but also do the right thing to make sure we get back to football and in the meantime people understand how important our country is and how important it is to make sure that were doing things the right way to honor our country. Roger, roger roger, Byron Barnett from whdh in boston. What is your reaction to the lawsuit filed against the nfl by the Aaron Hernandez family and the allegation that the nfl doesnt inform the players about the risks of cte . Listen, this is a matter of litigation, so thats something thats going to work its way through the litigation. I think theres been a great deal of focus on this issue of brain trauma. Weve been through a great deal of litigation on this issue and settled a major case on concussions, so well let the lawyers handle that and deal with it. Yes . Roger, ron mott, nbc news ron mott, nbc news. When you talk about supporting your players, what form or forms will that take . Because some people reasonably presume if players felt that this league were truly on their side and supporting them in these causes and concerns, they would not take a knee, so how is this going to manifest Going Forward . Sticky political and social debates. Okay, im not were not afraid of the tough conversations. Thats what were having with our players. Thats what we had yesterday to make sure we understand one another and understand where they are coming from. And i think out of those discussions they understand that the owners and the nfl really do care about their issues and what we can do to make the communities better. And so i think thats what dialogue is all about and listening and understanding, so that we can get that kind of understanding between different parties, and thats what is complex about this, but thats why its also really important to do, because i think thats where real change really happens and thats the opportunity for us in our communities. Ask for anything yesterday from the league . Weve had discussions with them for over a year, and i think we have a very good understanding of the types of things that they are interested and how they can get support from the nfl to do that, and we want to do that, and thats that could be in the legislative matters, that could be in the community with can we participate in ridealongs and make sure we understand whats going on in different communities across the nation, because the problems in one market is different than the problems in another market. And so that evolves the clubs and the players getting together and making sure we truly understand whats going on in those markets, and thats where we see a real impact. All right, roger, i want to ask you a businessrelated question to the league. One of the things weve seen in the polling this week, gallup had numbers that showed the popularity of pro football started to come down, but also show theres a big political divide, whereas, you know, republicans identifying as pro football fans down 50 , democrats only 3 . Does it directly speak to the anthem protests, but whats your reaction to those numbers and what, if any, steps can be taken to reverse that trend . Well, we believe doing the right thing is what you ultimately have to do, and i think listening to our players, understanding our players, trying to address those underlying issues, and making our communities better is where the real opportunity is. And that long term is going to benefit us, and so thats what our focus is and how were going to deal with it. What about the split, though, between the parties . I dont think that surprised anybody. What were trying to do stay out of politics. Were not looking to get into politics. What were looking to do is continue to keep people focused on football. Commissioner, youve been talking about maam, just a second. Thank you. Commissioner, as you said, youve been in discussions now for over a year. More discussions over the past day and a half or so. Realistically, can you tell us and tell the American People how close you are today to resolving this . Well, i think the fact is that we have about a half a dozen players that are protesting. We hope and were going to continue to work to try to put that at zero. Thats what wed like to do, but we want to make sure that were understanding what the players are talking about, and thats complex. And weve taken the time. I personally have taken the time to go on those ridealongs and figure out what are the things in our communities that our players are expressing and our clubs are a much better understanding of that over the meetings the last several weeks to hear directly from those players and do the tough work to try to understand what is it we need to accomplish together. And thats whats thats what i think is really the opportunity and whats really happening. Yes, judy . I cant hear you, judy, im sorry. Roger, did you come out of the meetings with the owners with an understanding that teams that have indicated they would discipline their own players for not standing will not discipline them . No, we didnt discuss that. It wasnt necessary. We had a real focus on making sure that all of our teams understood the kind of dialogue that took place, the kind of things that they were interested in getting support from, and there was complete support for the nfl, each club supporting their players, and continuing the dialogue that theyve had on the club level. I would tell you theres unprecedented conversations and dialogue going on between our players, between our owners, between our club officials, between the league, and that is a really positive change for us, and we think ultimately is going to pay dividends. Commissioner, you talked a lot about having productive meetings with the players. You, personally, do you understand what they are protesting, and can you explain your understanding of that . Yes. They are very clear about it, and they are actually incredibly knowledgeable, articulate, and they spent the time to go into the communities and talk about that. And so they really truly understand it. They are talking about criminal justice reform, whether its bail reform, whether its talking about sentencing, mandatory sentencing, they are talking about changes that, i think, will make our communities better. There is bipartisan support for across our nation, and that need focus. They are talking about what we can do to support them to aff t effectuate that change, which again is very, very positive. They are talking about equality issues. Making sure we do everything we can to give people an opportunity, whether its education or economic and what we can do to effectuate that, and we believe with the players that we can help them, we can support them, and those are our issues, national issues, american issues that are important to deal with. Roger, twopart question here. Number one two questions . Do you mind . Have you at all communicated with President Trump . Do you have any plans to communicate with President Trump . Second question is a football question. Pace of play, how happy are you with just the fact it seems like the games are going quicker this year . Yeah, i have not, to your first question. To the second question, were very pleased with the pace of game changes. Weve seen in particular what i call the doubleups, and that bothered me so much on the commercial format. Weve seen, i think, its close to 90 reduction in that this year, which i think is good for our finance. I think its good for the experience of watching an nfl game, whether in the stadium or on television or on another platform, and we said all along this wasnt about reducing the length of games, it was the pace of the game. And so the 40second clock as an example we put in after the pointafter touchdown and after the touchdowns have had a real impact. Centralizing replay and bringing the surface tablet to the sideline so the official can all of that sped up what we considered downtime, time thats not, we dont believe, is attractive to our fans. So were happy with it. Only six weeks, got a long way to go, but were continuing to see what we can do to keep pushing that, because we believe its good for the experience. Nfl commissioner Roger Goodell saying that basically they are not going to make it a rule for the players to stand during the National Anthem. Yes, it is nfl policy, but they wont make it a rule. So, the nfl players who want to do so can continue to do so. Also asked whether or not he understands why they might be doing that protesting in that way, and he explained his answer right there. Got a few people joining us to go through this, mark, also writing a book about the nfl right now, which is timely. Also with us, mike lupica, sports columnist for the new york daily news, and back with us, political reporter for the washington post, eugene scott. Mike, lets start with you. What were your takeaways . First of all, you know, goodell didnt take a knee today, but he didnt exactly stand up either. This idea that the anthem is, quote, an important part of their game. No, its not. And he has to let people stop defining this debate. Its not about the flag, its not about the military, its not about love of country. Dissent is about as american as the flag, and every time he goes through all of this, i want to ask the same question. Whats more unamerican, taking a knee during the National Anthem or a guy like kaepernick who cant get a job in his chosen profession because of his social beliefs. Do you think hes cowing, Roger Goodell is cowing to donald trump . At least he didnt mandate today the players have to stand, and hes right. This is now down to a half dozen players. We probably wouldnt even be talking about this if the president hasnt roused the base one friday night in alabama. All im saying is, they would be on a terribly slippery slope if they let owners suspend guys for taking a knee or if they try to pass a law. This, quote, rule that they have about standing with your helmet under their arm, katy, reminds me of pirates of the caribbean. Its not a rule, its more like a guideline. Mark, he might not be cowing to the president , but the fact he even had that press conference, the fact they were having a meeting about this is because donald trump came out there and went on a tear how he felt the players are s. O. B. S, the ones that kneel. Important to point out this is a contained issue. The Colin Kaepernick thing happened last year, six players kneeling, trump did his thing in alabama. It receded again, pence did his thing two weeks ago. Football fans want to watch football. I think thats one thing that the players, owners, and certainly the commissioner do have in common here, and what hes cowing to is some degree of, you know, bland normalcy, and hes very good at that here, but i dont think i didnt see him cowing to any political agenda. Hes saying, though, hes encouraging his players to stand. Could that be interpreted as i better stand . No, i dont think so. I think encouraging is a sort of fudgy word. I think its intentional. I think mandate would get him in all kinds of trouble, i think players would want to rebel against it. I think this leaves very much the door open for the president to continue to tweet about how there should be a rule, how there must be a rule, and continue to allow the president to make this a political football, so to speak, and were going to be back to square one. Youre of the political world, of washington, writing a book on the nfl. Tell me what its like to see these two topics converge. Well, its terrific for self interests, my book. Essentially the sbook about the threeyear history of the nfl and last sector of the narrative is my political world, so its a sweet spot for me. You know, essentially football has mimicked a lot of the same culture wars in the political world for a long time. There has been kind of a dispute over theres been a racial divide, kind of a gender divide, kind of a coastal elite divide versus the rust belt sort of football, you know, heartland divide, and essentially football has been the best Reality Tv Show going in america for many, many years. Politics caught up to it 15 years ago. Especially this cycle. Especially this cycle, and trump has brought it all together. The nfls Approval Rating, i guess, has plummeted since donald trump has gone on this tear. What does that say about who watched the nfl . Is that the way to even ask this question . Its funny. People have their Approval Rating based on how their team is doing largely. I mean, i think ultimately this is measured in ratings and in profits and it doesnt appreciably look like the nfl is taking that much of a hit, but ultimately, you know, theres a center here it will return to and people ultimately will love football. Eugene, why does the president of the United States have a stake in this right now . Why does he care so much . Right now the president is the leader, clear leader, of many of the culture wars happening in society. He got to the white house by creating, you know, or at least furthering the difference and the gap between people in the heartland and what he would consider urban coastal elites. I think its very important to highlight that hes tried to frame these athletes as millionaire athletes, complaining, whining, wealthy millionaire athletes. Goodell just communicated he understands that being a millionaire athlete does not protect you from racism or Police Violence in this country, and he explained it in a way that many of his supporters, people who are also supporting trump, perhaps could understand. As he also explained, many of these athletes have spoken repeatedly about the reasons for their protests, and i think goodell said he went on rides with these athletes into the communities and places where they see just systemic injustice based on race taking place. I think the question at this point is will the president , the President Campaign saying he will visit baltimore, detroit, chicago once he entered the white house, this would be an opportunity to actually do that. Yeah, absolutely. Nbcs ron mott was at that press conference. Ron, you asked goodell about the players. Explain his answer. So, i asked the commissioner what the players asked for, if anything, in this meeting. Its one thing for the league to listen to their grievances and concerns about these social and political issues and another for the league to say were going to support you. He didnt really have an answer. I was perplexed by that. He said they want to have a better understanding, the owners and league office, about what the players are kneeling about and he says they have been having this conversation for the past year or so in depth and going on ride alongs with police in certain cities, but when i asked him, you know, how involved is the league willing to go to get into what can be very sticky situations and conversations that the country has struggled with, obviously, for a very long time, and that i didnt really get the answer that was clear to me, because just a few answers later he says that the league is not interested in getting into politics. So, im a little confused, quite frankly, about what exactly the league is going to do when it says that its going to support players if its just a matter of listening to them. Well, theyve done that for a year and still have players kneeling on sundays and thursday nights and monday nights. So well have to see where it goes from here. The president , as you mentioned, is keeping the fire sort of going here with his tweets, and the first question was why not just tell the players this is a work order now, you are protesting on the job using our airtime. That product on television belongs to the nfl, not the networks who carry these games. Why didnt the league decide to do that and he says thats not quite where they want to go at this moment, but it could be heading that way at some point. Mike, what does happen next . Take where ron was just ending. Katy, if it continues to be a half dozen players doing this, i dont think its going to sink the National Football league. I continue to believe that dissent is as american as the flag in which the league and the owners are wrapping themselves, and, you know, youre in the sports world today, but you exist in the political world. Dont you think its kind of amusing that the president will be talking about the nfls Approval Ratings . Yeah. Thats true. The president s Approval Rating hovers in the 30s. But lets take it even farther back, and mark, youll be good at this. Were talking about patriotism and dissent and what the meaning of the First Amendment is and what the meaning of the flag is and is it disrespectful to not stand for the flag and does the flag exist to allow people to protest, gives them their rights. Also the president coming out today and getting in a fight with a congresswoman about the death of an american soldier. Were politicizing, this country seems to be politicizing the death of an american soldier. I just want to know where are we right now . What is going on . Is nothing taboo, is nothing sacred . Of course not. This has been one of the recurring lessons of trumpism over and over and over again, and i think what this football kerfuffle shows is he just loves nothing more than to hurl himself into the middle of the most raw and sensitive and delicate culture issues, usually with racist subjects is it a culture war thing . Race is a subtext. Hell rub every nerve raw until everyone is really, really tired, and ultimately i dont think people get smarter on these issues. Yes, we should have a debate about whether you could ask every american do they believe in the flag standing for free speech and the First Amendment, probably 90 would say, sure, absolutely, thats what our soldiers fought for, and then you would ask them, you know, should or must players stand for the National Anthem, you know, maybe 60 would say, yes, we would like them to, mandate, who knows what word theyd use, but yeah, again, this is a debate in which people say, okay, awareness is being stoked. I dont think awareness is such a holy grail here. Ultimately, this is not a terribly sophisticated debate and the president is sort of leading it. Just kind of silly that were talking about standing for the flag when we have so many terribly important issues to talk about right now, and the president has so many big issues on his plate. So many things that hes trying to push through congress. Health care, weve got north korea with nukes, the iran deal, soldiers dying, they are still not sure what happened there. Theres so many giant things and getting into the nitty gritty and diminishing the nfl for their ratings, it just seems so petty and small. Hold that thought, though, were going to take a quick break. We are still waiting on Sarah Huckabee sanders and the White House Press briefing. Were going to bring that to you live. Shes no doubt going to get asked potentially about the nfl, also about the phone call the president had with the widow of la david johnson. Were going to the white house next. Stay with us. Ing Edge University counts on centurylink to keep their global campus connected. And why a Pro Football Team chose us to deliver fiberenabled broadband to more than 65,000 fans. And why a leading car brand counts on us to keep their Dealer Network streamlined and nimble. Businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink. 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Everything. Whats in your wallet . Eras. Theyre defined by accomplishments. By victories. By those with the resourcefulness, the ingenuity, and the grit to help ensure the next energy to power our dreams, will be american energy. Reminder, were waiting on the White House Press briefing, the first time Sarah Huckabee sanders will take questions this week, it is wednesday, and comes after criticism of his call with the widow of an american soldier killed in niger. The president is saying a florida congresswoman fabricated her account of that call. Here he was a little bit earlier. Didnt say what that congresswoman said. She knows it, and she is now not saying it. I did not say what she said, and id like her to make the statement again, because i did not say what she said. Nbc News National correspondent Peter Alexander is at the white house. Hans nichols is at the pentagon, White House Reporter for the wall street journal and msnbc analyst, eli stokels and Mark Lebovich of new york times. We started this conversation before Roger Goodell came out, but the president right there saying he wants the congresswoman to compete her claims. She did, she tweeted i still stand by my account of the call between donald trump and myeshia johnson, thats her name, mr. Trump, not the woman or the wife. So what happens next, peter . Are we going to see that proof . Its a good question. Im sure its something Sarah Huckabee sanders will be pressed on as soon as she begins the briefing, expected to start moments from now. Now two weeks ago, Dustin Wright among them, his family serving in the armed forces 200 years, first in the family to die in the line of duty and sergeant la david johnson, father of two, but instead based on this back and forth between the president and this congresswoman, the democrat from florida, all of a sudden the conversation has been focused on the president s words, whether hes sufficiently sensitive and sort of the politicization of gold star families in this country. Of course, this comes after President Trump was taking questions in the rose garden on monday, when he volunteered the idea that, in effect, president obama and other president s didnt make calls to the families of the fallen. We know thats not the case. He later would clarify, but bottom line is he hasnt backed down on this issue and its one, obviously, thats drawn this white house away from the topics it would prefer to be focusing on among them health care, of course, and tax cuts. And eli, does the white house regret that this is the conversation that is being had right now . Do they regret that its a political spitting match between the president and now a congresswoman over the death of an american soldier . Well, katy, im going to take issue with the question, because there is no the white house, theres President Trump, and he does not regret this at all. You can tell from the way he responded to the questions today in the pool spray when he didnt back down, didnt offer any more words of empathy to the family. He just defended himself and continued to do what he always does, which is continue to press. Now, john kelly, we understand that john kelly, who hasnt been seen or heard from since his own gold star family himself, he and his wife lost their son in 2010, theyve been politicized, too. We havent heard from kelly. It depends who you talk to inside the administration, but this is an administration thats always responding to the president. They are often inside the west wing and just as reactive a posture as we are in the media, not knowing what this president is going to do and the story about the conversation, while still secondhand, we havent heard a recording, all we can do is step back and understand the travesty of this being politicized to the point it is being politicized by the president and perhaps by others. You have to sit here and look at it in the pattern of behavior that weve seen from this president , whos really been willing to go after gold star families like the khans last year and whos been willing to sort of push his own version of reality about these private conversations out into the public, not expecting or really caring that the media is going to fact check the things that he says. Whats the danger here, mark . What do we as a society lose when things like the death of a fallen soldier are so easily politicized . I think the danger is just numbness, just the recurring sort of trauma of seeing what used to be these sacred, you know, generally very private moments, intimate moments, turned into these, you know, complete carnivals, he said, she said it, you just know the White House Press briefing is going to be all about, okay, wheres the proof, you know, Sarah Huckabee will either answer theres a tape or theres not. Or she wont answer at all. Or she wont answer at all. Look, this is a family that lost their son, you know, widow who lost her husband. Its hard i guess the danger here is were talking about this at all in this context. And not talking about what in the world may have happened or may have not happened in niger, and hans, good point to go to you about, since youre there at the pentagon. What do we know so far about that mission and do they have any idea as of now how it went so wrong . Well, they know the intelligence wasnt up to snuff, because this was something that was totally unexpected. This group of green berets were ambushed. They were on whats called a key engagement meeting, meeting with tribal elders, they werent out there training, advising, assisting, they werent looking for contact, and this was the 30ish mission theyve had in the last six months. They thought it was going to be a quiet area. Katy, whats happening right now, there are a variety between investigations into the cause of death and also fact finding on just what went wrong, from intelligence, to planning, to whether or not they should have known that isis, looks like this was an isisaffiliated group was that close and could spring this kind of sophisticated ambush. They are gathering information. Secretary mattis stopped by, spoke to us on friday and gave us a sense in the chaos of battle things always go wrong. He said something along the lines if you want certainty and guarantee in my line of work, go by yourself a General Electric toaster. Katy . When weve spoken to people in the past, people who have worked for past president s and when theyve dealt with the death of an american soldier oversea, its been a highly personal thing for them. Nicolle wallace was talking about how deeply it affected president bush. Weve heard from president obamas aides talking about his reaction, as well. Peter, any sense from the white house that it affects this president in the same way, or that hes taking the same sort of responsibility as the commander in chief for putting these men and women into harms way . Yes, it is, you could say, what they signed up for, but ultimately he is the one responsible for having our soldiers overseas. Without any doubt, this is the gravest of president ial obligations, those phone calls, the letters, the visits with the families of americans who have given their life fighting for this country. We heard from the president this week saying, as you would expect him to say, that its one of the most difficult parts of this job, that its very sad, as he described it. Its a very tough time for him to participate those moments, but he said he likes to call everybody, he likes to call all the families. We know, in fact, that isnt the case, the Associated Press speaking to several families saying they havent heard from the president since he came into office on january 20th, but it isnt a question about this president whos been criticized for his lack of an empathy gene, for lack of a better phrase there. How does he view himself as the consoler in chief . Obviously, there was criticism when he first went down to the hurricane zones, first at harvey, he wasnt in houston, but visited one of the areas nearby closer to the coast where the storm hit and folks said he didnt have a chance to focus on the victims, instead focused on himself. Its a question that fundamentally sort of dogs this president throughout the first eight, nine months of his presidency. Talking about look at the turnout when he went down initially to harvey and then in puerto rico talking to a family and saying goodbye to them by saying have a great time, and then tossing paper towels to a group of people inside a church and then when he was criticized about it responding by saying everybody was having a great time and saying how he has been complimented for his Emergency Response down there. Bringing it back to himself so much. But mark, lets broaden this again. The congresswoman is the one that took this a step further yesterday. By coming out and saying that she was appalled by how the president spoke to the widow of sergeant johnson. She made this a public fight. She made this a public thing. Is there an argument to be made that she was out of line in putting this out there . I think there probably is. I think at the very least she gave the president cover to sort of make this partisan . Make it partisan, put it more in a political sort of grandstanding debate and say she started it, and, i mean, you can say theres remove between actually going after the widow, going after the family, and he can say, well, this partisan democratic congresswoman is, you know, the one whos actually stirring this whole thing up. Having said that, i mean, it does require not that far a step back to realize what are we talking about here. Is this something that needs to be litigated on twitter, and that needs to be the subject of, you know, a daylong debate on, you know, shows like this. Well, were going to hear more when the White House Press briefing starts in a moment. For the time being, mark, thank you for being here. Peter, thank you, as well, eli, and hans. Gentlemen, appreciate it. Were going to have senator tammy duckworth, a veteran herself, come on and discuss this in just a moment. Before that we want to go to attorney general jeff sessions, who is on capitol hill today giving testimony and he was saying that he was warned by democrats sorry, he wasnt saying this, but he was warned by democrats on the hill, dont duck our questions. Almost immediately, though, sessions raised the specter of executive privilege. He insisted that he could not disclose confidential conversations with the president. Still Democratic Senators continued to press the attorney general on all issues related to russia and possible collusion with the trump campaign. I asked you if youd had any contact with the russians, and you answered emphatically i just wanted to say that the entire context of all your questions dealt with interference in the campaign by the russian officials. Specifically, did you meet with any russians . First it was i did not have communications with russians. Which was not true. Then it was, i never met with any russians to discuss any political campaign. Which may or may not be true. Now its i did not discuss interference in the campaign, which further narrows your initial blanket denial about meeting with the russians. Well, let me just say this without hesitation, that i conducted no improper discussions with russians at any time regarding a campaign or any other item facing this country. Sessions testimony is his first appearance before that committee since he was confirmed to the post back in february. Youll remember thats when sessions denied having contact with russian officials, only for it to be revealed that he did, in fact, meet twice with Russian Ambassador sergey kislyak, a russian official. The revelations forced sessions to recuse himself from the russia investigation. Meanwhile, two more former trump staffers find themselves under the microscope in the ongoing russia probe. Politico reports that former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer met with special counsel Robert Muellers team on wednesday. He was reportedly questioned about the firing of fbi director james comey and Trumps Oval Office meeting with russian officials. And the Senate Intelligence committee has turned its focus to Michael Flynn jr. They are asking for an interview and documents from the son of trumps former National Security adviser. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has now taken the podium, so were going to listen in. Shes going to be asked a number of things. Should be an interesting one. To defeat isis. With the stunning fall of mosul in june and now isis nearly eradicated from raqqah, its clear isis is crumbling syria. This eminent victory by the Global Coalition and our brave Service Members comes at a high cost particularly to the Syrian Democratic forces who suffered many casualties fighting to liberate their own country from the liberation of isis. Instead of caring for the humanitarian needs, isis utilized money stockpiled to finance terror attacks across the world including against many muslims. As coalition and our Partner Forces closed in around them, isis used civilians as human shields and killed those who attempted to flee. Isis barbaric acts have left many scars across the region and we remain committed to supporting stabilization efforts and local Security Forces in liberated areas through a political transition in syria. Unfortunately, the Syrian Regime and its supporters hinder the efforts to liberate raqqa. Instead of focusing on fighting isis, the proregime forces attacked our partners and attempted to block them from liberating the Syrian People from the brutality of isis. We know isis and its destructive ideology will remain a threat driberation of raqqa marks the beginning of a new phase in the syrian conflict. As we and our partners take away the ability of isis to plot and carry out attacks from territory they control we will continue too seek the deescalation of violence in other battlefields across syria. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we will be welcoming governor orsello talking about rebuilding efforts and work hand in hand with leaders in all areas of our country affected by natural disasters in recent months. President trump repeatedly said, we stand with fellow citizens and are here ho help get them back on their feet. With that, i will take your questions. Quiet. John . Sarah, the president stated earlier today he would not allow Insurance Companies to pad their pockets with money from the federal government. The white house has concerns about the Alexander Murray bill. Can you articulate . We said all along we want something that doesnt just bail out Insurance Companies but actually provides relief for all americans and this bill doesnt address that fact. We want to make sure thats taken care of and think this step, a good step in the right direction. This president certainly supports republicans and democrats coming to Work Together, but it is not a full approach and we need something to go a little further to get onboard. Can you articulate specifically what the white house is concerned about . Some of the things outreach dollars making sure some of the things the president has stated before, he wants to lower premiums. He wants to provide greater flexibility. He wants to drive competition. He likes the idea of bloc grants for states. A lot of the ideas hed like to see in a health care plan. The president s tweet from this morning. What group does President Trump said congresswoman wilson is not telling the truth. Are there recordings of the phone call . No. But several people were in the room from the administration on the call, including the chief of staff general john kelly. The president also said that he has called every family of someone whos died. Is that true . The president s the president s made contact with all of the families that have been presented to him through the White House Military Office. Families has since come forward to the Associated Press, names in these reports, who say theyve not actually heard from this white house in any capacity. All of the individuals the president has been presented with through the proper protocol have been contacted. Through that process. Jeff . Sarah, just to followup on a health care question. Is it correct to say President Trump does not support this deal in its current form . Correct. And i think he stated that clearly today. And this is a followup on another issue. He had a conversation today with Governor Reynolds of iowa. Can you tell us about that when he discussed and can you make assurances about the renewal fuel shortages during that discussion . It was discussed. They will continue to look at that process but no definitive decision made on rfs on todays call but it was discussed. Justin . Today secretary mnuchin was talking about the tax market and hard not to give tax cuts to the wealthy as part of the the cuts rates across the board. Seems like an acknowledgement of the realities, math and sort of the independent analysis of the president s tax plan that recently as a month ago the president said this plan would not benefit the wealthy . Thats not the focus of the tax plan. The focus we said time and time again, the focus and priority of the framework that the white house has laid out is to benefit the middle class and thats you would agree with secretary mnuchin, then that there may be some people that receive tax cuts that are also in the wealthy bracket, yes. But the fact is, the priority, again, remains that middle class americans are the ones that are most impacted and thats where the priority and the focus lies. Sarah what is the criteria that the White House Military Office uses for presenting names of families to the president after a casualty . Theres a process that is a standard protocol. Once a person is killed in action, the first steps, the process gibs with a d. O. D. Casualty assistance officer making next of kin notifications. After that they create a package sent to the White House Military Office. That package is then reconfirmed all of the details and the contents of the package have to be confirmed by the White House Military Office. Once that process is completed the president or other members of the administration can engage in contact. A followup on that. So are you saying if the president hasnt contacted the family members of every Service Member whos been a casualty since he came into office, its because of the protocols of that office . Thats my understanding. If theres a specific case id have to look into it, but at the whole and generally speaking thats my independentsing. A followup on this week. Why did the president wait 12 day foss speak publicly about the as i said i walked you through process. The d. O. D. Package sent to the white house arrived on thursday of last week. The White House Military Office confirmed the contents of that package on monday and the letters had been drafted over the weekend. They were sent once that confirmation was completed, and calls were scheduled on monday to be made on tuesday. I wasnt just ask be about the family but why he didnt make public rashemarks. Is the president satisfied he wants to know everything about the situation itself in natcher . Pentagon sources described it as interpreted a lowrisk mission. The ambush was a big surprise. There was no air cover. 30 minutes from french air cover to arrive. Questions about the speed of the evacuation, and having perhaps thats something to do with whether or not these military personnel survived or not . Is the president satisfied he knows everything he needs to know about this particular raid, rules of engagement and everything about it . I believe theyre still looking into the details of that, but i dont think the president can ever be satisfied when theres loss of life from men and women in the uniform. Is there anything he wants to know more about this than hes learned so far . I cant get into the specifics in i cant get into the specifics of the details of the raid at this point, but, again i dont think you can ever use the word satisfied with the process when theres a loss of life for someone in the military. Anddeborah . I have a las vegas question. Is the administration looking into banned bump stocks or does the president think congress should do it . Were certainly still looking into and having a review done of that process, and when theres an official policy position ill make that announcement. How long do you think that will take . John . Thank you, sarah. Two questions. When the Alexander Murray bill came off in the rose garden monday there were questions about whether it would have contained federal funding for abortions, and these concerns have been raised by several prolife lawmakers on capitol hill. Will the president rule out signing any kind of measure that includes funding for abortion . The president stated that he would like to see a Health Care Bill that does not include funding for abortion. Will he rule out signing one that does . I believe that that is probably something that would be a priority for him, but in terms of negotiating what that Health Care Package would look like, im not going to do that from the podium today. Im going to try to take one question fa day to get to everybody. The question about Roger Goodell, commissioner of the nfl earlier today said all players should stand during the playing of the National Anthem. Error this week there was no change in policy as it relates to the nfl bandaiding all players in the nfl stand for the National Anthem. Does the president believe that hes winning this argument, or has won this argument, as it relates to what he said about whether players should stand for the playing of the National Anthem . I think its certainly a step in the right direction. As weve said many times before, the president supports standing for the National Anthem, saluting the flag. And honoring those men and women in uniform that fight to protect it. Sarah thanks does the president feel as a matter of principle that it is not adequate to simply send a letter of condolence to the family of a slain Service Person . As president bush and president obama typically did . And does he feel it was not adequate for president obama to have sent a letter to general kelly but not call general kelly on the death of his son . I dont think that theres anything that any president can do. Theres never going to be enough that a