Sarah i would like to start the briefing today by addressing a topic i know all of you are preparing to ask me about, and that is tax reform. [laughter] couple of you got it. It will be introduced by the house ways and means committee, this is the product of months of open process in the house. The Committee Plans to mark the bill next week starting on monday. The house is likely to consider the bill the week of november 13. In order to stay on pace, we want to see a house bill passed by thanksgiving. This is a very aggressive timeline, but families and businesses can plan for 2018. We look forward to the details of the tax bill being released on wednesday. I want to take a step back and explain what we want to do. This story has been floating around the internet for a while. It is important to keep in mind that the numbers are not exact and also im not encouraging any drinking, so file that away. Thats mostly for my parents. But i think youll enjoy it. Say 10 people go out for drinks every day, for our purposes, say theyre reporters. The bill for all 10 comes to 100. If these 10 reporters pay their tap every night the way we pay our taxes, it will go Something Like this. The first would pay nothing very the fifth would pay one dollar, the sixth would pay three dollars, the seventh would pay seven dollars, the eighth would pay 12, and the ninth would pay 18, and the richest would pay 59. That is what they decided to do. The 10 reporters drink in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until one day, the bar owner threw them a curve ball. Since youre all such good customers, im going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by 20. Drinks for the 10 reporters will cost just 80. The group wanted to stay still pay their bill the way we pay our taxes pay the first forward unaffected. The first four were unaffected. What about the other six . How could they divide the windfall so everyone would get their fair share . These are the reporters and they are concerned with parents fairness. If they subtracted that from everybody share, than the fifth reporter and the sixth reporter would each end up being paid to drink beer. So the bar owner suggested it would be fair to reduce each mans bill by a higher percentage, the poorer they were. By doing that, they continued following the principle of the tax system they have been using. So the fifth reporter now paid nothing. He got a 100 savings. The sixth now paid two dollars instead of three dollars, a 30 3 savings pay the seventh now paid five dollars instead of seven dollars, a 28 savings. The eight now paid nine dollars instead of 12, a 20 savings. The ninth now paid 14 instead of 18 which was a 22 savings. The 10th now paid 49 instead of 59, a 16 savings. Each of the six was better off than before and the first four continued to drink for free. Once outside the bar, the reporters compared to her savings. I only got a dollar said the six reporter. She pointed to the 10th reporter and said he got 10. Yes, thats right, exclaimed the fifth, i only save 1 too. Its unfair he ceyed 10 times more. Thats true shouted the seventh, why should he get 10 back when i only got 2, why do the wealthy get all the breaks. Wait a minute, yelled the first four in unison, we didnt get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor. The nonreporters yelled at the the nine reporters yelled at the tenth and made him feel bad. The next tonight, the 10th man didnt return for drinks. The nine had their beers without him. When it came time to pay the bill, they discover they no longer had enough money between them all to even cover half of the bill. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes will benefit the most. Tax them too much and attack them they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is friendlier. This is a silly story but it illustrates an important point. Our tax cuts and reforms will create a fair system that works better for everyone. It will make our country the friendliest in the world for American Families trying to build a better life for their selves and their families and American Company seeking a competitive edge. I will be happy to get that story to everyone so you can get the numbers later. I know that may be an oversimplification, but i think it paints a very good picture of the tax system. With that i will take your questions. I would like to get white house reaction to the indictment of Paul Manafort and gates. Specifically, we have heard a couple tweets from the president. If you can help me understand, when he says why arent crooked hillary and dems the focus, is the president saying that special counsel mueller should be investigating Hillary Clinton and the democrats, and is he going to roll out firing Robert Mueller . If you can help me understand, sarah ill address the last question first, the president said, i said last week, theres no intention to make any changes regarding special counsel. Todays announcement has nothing to do with the president , it has nothing to do with the president s campaign or campaign activity. The real collusion scandal has everything to do with the Clinton Campaign, fusion g. P. S. And russia. Theres clear evidence of the Clinton Campaign colluding with russian government to smear trump. Weve been saying theres no collusion and nothing in the indictment today changes that. Specifically about the campaign . Sarah it has nothing to do with the campaign, it is his failure to tell the truth. But it is the clearest evidence of ties between the russian officials an the campaign. Sarah the Trump Campaign was not engaged in these activities paid they took well before the campaign ever even existed. Can you explain what George Papadopoulosrole was. Sarah it was extremely limited. It was a volunteer position. O activity was ever done in an official capacity on behalf of the campaign. What about the outreach acing the Campaign Officials trying to put together sarah the outreach that was repeatedly denied . And we are not going to take any action on that . Can you explain what happened with the outreach . Sarah he reached out and Nothing Happened beyond that. That shows his importance to the campaign and what little role he had in coordinating anything officially for the campaign. I wanted to ask about mr. Muellers investigation. The president has called it a hoax and a witchhunt. Ast week, you indicated that you believe that mr. Mueller is wrapping up his investigation. I have heard similar things coming from administration officials. Do you still believe mr. Mueller is in the process of wrapping up his investigation . Sarah we still expected to conclude soon. Paul manafort was high ranking in the campaign at one time. I would like to know what the president s rerelationship with them is now, do they still talk . When is the last time they had contact . Sarah they havent spoken in several months. The last known conversation was back in february. As far as anything beyond that with paul im not sure. I was there a call . Sarah i know there was initial contact after the president was sworn in here at the white house but nothing directly with the president. Thank you, sarah. On march 31, according to the affidavit by mr. Papadopoulos, he attended a Foreign Policy meeting. The president was there. He said that he talked about how he the russians wanted to talk to the president. What did the president think when he said he wanted to arrange a meeting between trump and putin and how did other people in the campaign react to that . Sarah im not sure the president recalls specific details of the meeting. Again, it was a brief meeting that took place quite some time ago. Thats the one time that group ever meet. Beyond that i dont know anything. As you mentioned, mr. Manafort and mr. Gates were named in this for things not having anything to do with the campaign but with alleged Money Laundering regarding other business. Now under those circumstances, would the president consider or rule out pardoning either of them . Sarah i havent had any conversations with him about that. I think we should let the process play through before we start looking at that. Papadopoulos was referring to Jeff Sessions at the time who was overseeing trumps Foreign Policy advisory committee. What does this mean for Jeff Sessions . Sarah again, somebody on a volunteer committee im not shower how that would impact the attorney general directly. Fwiven what we have learned over the last few hours, can you say when the president was first aware that russia was behind the hacking and was in possession of emails, what they considered to be damaging emails about the Clinton Campaign they were trying to get to the Trump Campaign . When was he first aware of that . Sarah im not sure of the specific date when that took place. I would have to look into that. Does the president regret having hired Paul Manafort to be his Campaign Manager . And is he and the rest of the white house concerned that this issue will distract from tax reformed on other domestic policy and Foreign Policy . Sarah were not worried about it distracting because it has nothing to do with us. It is action that took place outside of the campaign or campaign activity. As far as if he regrets hiring him . Sarah i didnt ask him that specifically. How can you describe mr. Papadopoulos as having a limited role when theres a photograph of mr. Papadopoulos sitting at a table with the president. Sarah the president has thes of photographs with millions of people. And he the president sfoke about him. How is it not collusion when George Papadopoulos who is in contact with various people who are promising dirt on Hillary Clinton, a series of events that closely mirrors what occurred with the president s own son. Russians in pursuit of information damaging about the clintons, how is that not collusion . Sarah this individual was a member of a volunteer Advisory Council that met one time over the course of a year. And he was part of a list that was read out in the washington post, id hardly call that some sort of regular advisor or as you want to, you know, push, that hes like a Senior Member of the staff. He was not paid by the campaign. He was a volunteer on a, again a council that met once. He was pursuing information from the russians. He was a volunteer. Thats something youd need to ask him. Im not here to speak on behalf of the thousands of people who may have volunteered on the campaign. Believe it or not, i have a question on this but also on tax reform. The president called on congress to investigate Hillary Clinton is he confident theyll do that . Sarah thats a question you have to ask congress. There are enough reports an information out there that seems to suggest it might not be a bad idea. Has he spoken to congressional lead her sarah i dont know if he has had a member of congress say anything. Where does the president stand on the idea of phasing in the Corporate Tax cut society would reach 20 sometime around 2022 . Sarah the president has made it clear its his priority to make sure thats where we start with the tax plan currently he laid out what his principles are. As of right now that hasnt changed and we dont anticipate it will. When you say George Papadopoulos had no official capacity what do you mean by that . Sarah i mean he was a volunteer on the campaign and a volunteer member of an Advisory Council that met one time. His activities were entirely of his invention, no one asked him to do these things . Is that what youre telling the American Public . Sarah he was a volunteer member of a council that met one time. Now there are two episodes in which People Associated with the campaign, George Papadopoulos is a member of a Foreign Policy or military advisory committee, sought dirt on Hillary Clinton from people representing themselves as either linked to or associated with the russian government. Is that a coincidence . Sarah the only interaction im aware of that deals with this individual was him reaching out and being repeatedly denied. Thats all i can tell you he asked to do things. He was basically pushed back or not resmonded to in any way. So any actions that he took would have been on his own and youd have to ask him about those. I cant answer. That same kind of meeting at trump tower. What explaining the campaigns later involvement with those associated with the russian government or said they were to get dirt on Hillary Clinton later in the campaign. Sarah we addressed that they took one meeting. Nothing came of it. Does that indicate a pattern of trying to obtain information . Sarah a patter a pat herb of trying to obtain information about your opponent . You have a meeting that took place versus millions of dollars being spent to create fake information. Compare those two, apples and oranges. What the complinton campaign did, what the d. N. C. Did was exchange money. They took a meeting. Those are far different and one, is pretty common practice to take a meeting. The other is actually paying money for false information. Thats a big difference. I have two questions for you, but first if i can follow up on your comment about the dossier,s than issue many Senior Level Administration officials have pointed to during these questions about the special counsel. Has the white house asked the department of justice to look into this . Sarah not that im aware of 78 have you spoke within the president . Sarah yes, i have. Can you give us information about his reaction to the news, how did the president respond to the news about two people who did work for his campaign . Was he disappointing that Paul Manafort received this news today . That he was being charged on these 12 counts . Sarah he responded the way the rest of us in the white house have, without a lot of reaction cause it because it doesnt have anything to do with us. We are now talking about two of the most Senior Member os they have campaign at a pivotal time through and incruding the r. N. C. Last year who are under federal indictment. Sarah for something outside of the campaign. They allegedly did not conduct in the campaign. Doesnt it speak to the president s judgment that he would have these people having allegedly committed these crimes in the years leading up to their role . Sarah you make it sound like they were regular offenders that have been in maximum in massive amounts of trouble. They were seasoned operatives, worked on a numb of campaigns, Paul Manafort was brought in to lead the dell galt process. The president has no regrets . Sarah i didnt ask him that. What leads you believe the Mueller Investigation will conclude soon . Do you believe there could be more indictments . And on another subject, welfare reform, the president talked about this a couple of weeks ago, ive been trying to find out what is the focus, how do you plan to implement welfare reform . Sarah we havent made any specific announcements when it comes to welfare reform. Those are ongoing conversations and were looking at ways to improve the system but Nothing Specific to roll out at this time. What was the first part . What leads you to believe that this will conclude the Mueller Investigation . Have you been given a heads up . What . Sarah those are indications we have at this time. I cant go any further than that. Indications from who or where . Sarah i cant go any further. You dont believe therell be nor indictments at all . Sarah youd have to ask Robert Mueller. Youre saying its going to conclude soon . Sarah we do believe it will be concluded soon. I dont have anything else to add on a specific time frame. In march, the president called George Papadopoulos an excellent guy. Does he still believe papadopoulos is an excellent guy . Sarah he was he was referring to the council, going through the list of name, complimentary of the people vol teering on behalf of the ampaign. A Campaign Supervisor told him i would encourage you to make the trip to russia. How does that the that not constitute the campaign encouraging him to make contact sarah im not aware of that conversation, i cant speak to that. Is there any concern at all from this administration, trying to drill down on what was asked earlier that two people who worked for the president are now under indictment. One has pleaded guilty he promised to hire only the best people. Is this an example of the best people . Sarah this goes back to, these were activities that took place outside of the scope of the campaign. I cant comment on anything. But are these the best people to hire . Sarah the president hired Paul Manafort to hand they will delegate process which he did. He was dismissed not too long after that. Last week the administration opposed a judges position to allow an undocumented immigrant to have an abortion. Whats the white house are action to that decision to allow her to have an abortion. Sarah i cant speak on that at the moment. I didnt ask him. Id like to ask about a different topic. For the briefing, the cour