president trump is optimistic that a trade deal is possible when he meets with the chinese president this weekend. that from national economic advisor larry kudlow at the white house briefing. he and john bolton gave a preview of the g 20 summit in argentina. also at the briefing, sarah sanders took questions on the migrant caravan at the southern closuresm auto plant and the president's review of the recent climate change report. sarah: good afternoon. later this week, the president and first lady will travel to

argentina for the g-20 summit. this is a key opportunity for the president to show his commitment to economic competition and free, fair and reciprocal trade. while at the g-20, the president and delegation will interact with many leaders including bilateral meetings with the president of argentina, the prime minister of japan and chancellor of germany and a working dinner with the president of china. to speak more about the g-20, i'd like to welcome to the podium director of economic council larry kudlow and following him, national security advisor ambassador john bolton. after the remarks, both will be able to take your questions on the g-20 and other questions and i'll be back up to take other questions on the news of the day. larry: thank you, sarah, thanks, everybody.

let me walk through some quick things. then i want to mention some things the president talked to us just a little while ago. as sarah said, g-20, not actually the g-20 when we count it out properly, as ambassador bolton points out, it's much more than the g-20. in terms of u.s. positions, we'll use this as an opportunity to talk about our measures of tax cuts and deregulations and reskilling and job training and so forth that have generated significant economic growth and prosperity. that includes women's economic empowerment. as sarah mentioned, free, fair, and reciprocal trade and trade reform. there'll be discussions on infrastructure, finance, an also the u.s. emergence as the dominant energy power in the

world today. actually. in terms of the much-discussed meeting, it's going to be a dinner meeting between president trump and president xi and representatives from both sides. it will be bilateral. i want to just mention what the president told us a short while ago and that is in his view, there's a good possibility that a deal can be made. and that he is open to that. he is open to that. having said that, some caveats, as always. certain conditions have to be met with respect to fairness and reciprocity as we have said many times. for example, issues of intellectual property theft must be solved.

force technology transfers must be solved. significant tariffs and nontariff barriers must be solved. issues of ownership have to be solved. the president will probably reiterate his view, we want a world ideally of zero tariffs, zero nontariff barriers, and zero subsidies. now whether they can get through all that remains to be seen but that's the president's point of view. as i said just a little while ago. u.s. is coming to the summit in very good shape. our economy is quite strong. it's growing at 3% over the past year. second quarter was 4.2, third quarter 3.5, perhaps to be revised upwards, a very strong holiday season so-called black friday very strong. we've had tremendous investment, business investments, energy investments, oil prices and gas lean prices coming down that helps consumers of course.

we're in very good shape. china not so good. i'm not here to critique or second guess the chinese economy but most observers believe china to be in a slump where the united states is in a strong, solid position going into this summit. however, again, to repeat, president said there's a good possibility that we can make a deal. and he is open to it. but on the other hand if these conditions i mentioned a few moments ago are not met, not dealt with, the president has said look, he's perfectly happy to stand on his tariff policies. which, 10% less, $200 billion, scheduled to go to 25%, that's not a certainty but that's the schedule, and he's said as recently as yesterday or the day before, if need be, if things don't work out in this

u.s.-china summit meeting, he will invoke another $267 billion in tax. tariffs. that may not be the first choice. i'm just saying that's his view. if we can't get something done and things have been moving very slowly between the two countries, until the president himself called president xi and said let's restart, let's try to get things going again. and then since then he's made positive comments about that. so, we will see. as i said, the key u.s. goal is around growth and prosperity. our economy is in good shape, theirs is not. i'll just leave it right there. john, do you want to add to that? do you want me to take some questions? you sure? ok, good. let me take some questions and try to help out on this. reporter: i'd like you to address some concerns recently from representatives in italy

and france and germany saying we're backing away from the national stage to make sure russia will be the dominant economic force in europe and the middle east. could you address those concerns, a, and b, could you tell us a little bit if you can about the layoffs at g.m. larry: g.m. layoffs -- regarding the russian story i'll leave that to my longtime colleague, john bolton. i met with berry yesterday about the cause of the layoffs. it's a great disappointment, the president indicated his own disappointment. he believes, as frankly the prime minister of canada believes, that the usmca deal was a great help to the automobile industry and to auto workers. and by the way they made those statements separately.

and yet g.m. comes in right after the deal, by the way that deal will be signed in argentina with the u.s. and canadian representatives. so there's great disappointment there. there's disappointment that it seems like g.m. would rather build its electric cars in china rather than the united states. we are going to be looking at certain subsidies regarding electric cars and others, whether they should apply or not. can't say anything final about that. but we're looking into it. again that reflects the president's own disappointment regarding these actions. ms. barry told me on he other hand, want to be completely fair here, her business, it may be possible to transfer workers to other plants in texas and michigan. i'm not an expert on general motors, i'm not an auto analyst, that's what she said but obviously there's a lot of disappointment and anger. i've heard it, again, from mr.

trudeau, from president trump, from democrats and republicans. reporter: do you think it's going to adversely affect our economy coming into the christmas season and after? larry: no, look, i don't want anybody to get laid off. i want workers to do well and worker wages to do well and they are. that's one they have great things. there's a certain amount of pessimism i'm reading about, maybe it has to do with really a mild stock market correction. let's not forget a couple of weeks ago, on this very point, we had 250,000 new jobs which was a blockbuster number. nobody really expected it. was 3.1% yearly gain in wages, 3.7% unemployment rate, these are spiffy numbers by any benchmark, any metric. holiday season layoffs from g.m., brutal. brutal, all right. very disappointing.

will it affect the overall economy? i don't think so. i do not think so. reporter: the question of the tariffs, if these talks with president xi go nowhere and we move forward with this escalation of tariffs you've described which correct me if i'm wrong would be the biggest addition of tariffs that we'd see in your lifetime, what will the impact be on the u.s. economy? reporter: that's a long period of time you mentioned. my lifetime. reporter: what will be the impact on the u.s. economy if we see tariffs goes up to the degree you described? larry: you know, we'll see what happens, ok. i don't want to presuppose anything. president's going to make up his mind after the meeting. i will say this. our economy is in very good shape right now. when you multiply through whatever numbers you want to use, $250 billion or tack on

another traunch which may or may not happen at a 10% tariff rate or more, it's really just a fraction of our economy. ok. just a fraction of our economy. i'm not suggesting that there aren't winners and losers in that game. it's a complicated game. but on the other hand, i think we are in far better shape to weather this than the chinese are and i want to say one more thing. i appreciate your characterization. i am a free trader. but you have to ask yourself, this is what president trump has been talking about, is it free trade when there's clear evidence of unfair and w.t.o. illegal trading practices by china for several decades? is that fair? is that free? is it free when intellectual property theft occurs or when chinese ownership of american

companies force transferance of technology from american companies to chinese companies, is that fair? or high tariffs on agriculture and industrial supplies? is that fair? so president trump is the first president in i don't know, at least 20 year, i'm including democrats and republicans, who not only has made this case but continues to make this case forcefully and take actions to defend american workers and our overall economy. other presidents in both parties have raised the issue and then walked away from it. and president trump obviously doesn't intend to. you know, this is under the heading, i think, for him of promises made, promises kept, something he's talked about for several years and he now continues. if china will come to the table or in this case the dinner

table, with some new ideas, new attitudes, new cooperation, as the president said there's a good possibility they can make a deal. he's open to it. so nothing is written in cement or stone. but again, for a free trader, where's the free trade? and for several months now since i've been here, the president and i talked about this, you know, we'd love to see a world of zero tariffs, zero nontariff barriers and zero subsidies. we'd love to see that world. unfortunately, we don't have that world, particularly with respect to china but not only china. and so he's taking actions that he thinks will get us closer to that world. yes, please.

reporter: another g.m. plant question. when the president said they better damn well open a new plant quickly, was he just expressing frustration, or does he have a plan in mind? larry: i'm going to leave that to him. reporter: i want to ask you about what the chinese ambassador to the united states said, his thought was that there would be a real risk to the global market, if there was no deal. that they could become fragmented, as well. how big are the stakes if you cannot reach a deal? larry: look, the ambassador makes a point. now if he would do his part or his government would do their part, then we can all make a much better point. that's what president trump is saying. i mean, i'll read you the quote again. there's a good possibility we can make a deal and he is into it.

it.nd he is open to but certain conditions, you know, have to be met. certain things have to be changed. and the president again in the spirit of promises made, promises kept is going to defend, you know, the interests of american workers and ranchers and small businesses in the economy writ large. let me just add one other point to this. the rest of the world agrees with us. we signed at the u.n., for example, the trilateral agreement. with the e.u., the united states, and japan. worth looking at that document. which outlines, you know, what they call nonmarket abuses. re: china. just recently, before the shanghai conference where president xi was supposed to give an important speech, i'm not sure there was much new there, but in any case, just before the conference, with no prodding from the u.s.a., the french and german ambassadors to

china wrote a very tough piece going after, again, nonmarket unfair nonreciprocal trading practices. there's broad-based support for the american position here which is china should change its practices. and come into the community of responsible trading nations. they can do that. they're a major economy right now. it's not like they were 25 or 30 years ago. we would welcome it, the president has said he's happy to make a deal, but they have to take certain actions and give certain assurances. so you know, -- reporter: will you spend the g20 getting that support from other countries around the g20? larry: i'm sure we will. we have in many other forms. yes, please.

reporter: tariffs are in effect a tax on imported products that are paid for by the consumer. so does the president realize that these escalated tariffs are going to be paid for by the american citizens? larry: he realizes the ramifications. as i said earlier, given the strength of our economy, given the size of our economy, we are in position to deal with this and handle this very well. that's the key point. and i'm not so sure about china. i'll leave that to china experts and so forth and so on. the benefits, let me just look at the other side of the ledger. very important. the benefits of true free trade globally will be enormous. if we go back to the idea of zero tariffs, zero nontariff barriers, and zero subsidies, if china plays by the rules, even

the wto rules, and all of that needs reforming, in our judgment. but they're violating those rules. if we do have a free trading system, or we move in the direction of a free trading system, a true, free trading system, we will benefit, they will benefit and the rest of the world will benefit. free trade throws off enormous benefits when it's done properly and consistently and in a reciprocal manner. that is a key point. that's a key point the president emphasized and he's absolutely right. i think of it as possibly a long rainbow here, and at one end of the rainbow is a pot of gold. you open up that president you have prosperity for the rest of the world. we're not there yet. we can get there. the president is reaching out. but we'll see how that works.

reporter: thank you, sir. earlier you mentioned oil and gas prices as evidence that the president's economic policy is working. you mentioned the u.s. becoming the global dominant energy player. but only days ago, the president said that it was necessary to let saudi arabia and its crown prince get away with ordering the murder of a "washington post" journalist because saudi arabia ensures low gas prices. which one is it, sir? larry: i'll let ambassador bolton handle that question. i'm trying so hard to swim in my own lane. and i think john will help out with that whole discussion. we'll get him up here. we've known each other a very long time. you're on, john. [laughter] john: delighted to be here. [laughter]

i don't have much to add. sarah gave you the list of bilaterals, i may update it a little bit because we're trying to fill every minute of the president's schedule. she said he's going to meet with president makri, the host government of argentina, he'll meet with president moon of south korea, with president erdogan of turkey, with the prime minister of japan, that'll become a trilateral meeting with the prime minister of india, and then the president will meet with president putin and have a working dinner with president xi. reporter: does the president have any plans in the works to meet with the saudis while he's there? john.

john: no. look, the bilateral schedule is full to over flowing at this point so those are the ones i've listed that he'll be meeting with. reporter: i have a question about the border tensions right now with the u.s. and mexico. the u.s. launched tear gas canisters into mexican soil and i am wondering if mexico has given the go-ahead before that happened. and, what is the u.s. doing to mitigate tensions with the incoming administration there? john: i don't think that's a subject of the g20, but i can say that secretary of state pompeo who will be attending the g20, and therefore, will not the accompanying vice president pence to the inauguration on saturday, december 1. secretary pompeo will fly overnight from argentina to mexico and will meet with the new foreign minister of mexico on sunday, december 2.

they'll have a full conversation about all the issues in connection with the border. reporter: what do you expect to be on the agenda for the president's meeting with putin? reporter: i think all the issues that we have on security issue, on arms control issues, on regional issues, including the middle east, i think it will be a full agenda. athink it will be continuation of their discussion in helsinki. reporter: what about ukraine? reporter: thank you so much, ambassador. some questions about brazil. he's going to meet with the new incoming president from brazil. what, on trade, is one other priorities? for the past few years, brazil had a trade surplus with brazil -- reporter: united states had a trade surplus with brazil. reporter: because of that president trump complains about brazilian protectionism. what should we expect related to trade relationship when brazil, then you brazilian government?

should we expect more cooperation or more tariffs like those on steel and aluminum? and another one on venezuela, i know it is another party of the -- priority of the meeting. what kind of cooperation are you expecting with the new brazilian government? will you discuss sanctions? john: the meeting with president-elect bolsonaro came as a result of president elect trump's call on election night to congratulate president elect bolsonaro. they had a really outstanding phone call, i think they developed a personal relationship, even remotely. president trump is the first foreign leader to call the president-elect of brazil, so following up on this, without it would be helpful to the united states to hear from the president-elect what his priorities are.

what he's looking for in the relationship. from the perspective of the united states, we see this as a historic opportunity for brazil and the united states to work together in a host of areas, economics, security, and a range of others. so i'm really looking forward to hearing what the president-elect's priorities are, try respond to him, try to tell him a little bit about what president trump's views are and hopefully when president-elect bolsonaro is inaugurated on january 1, the two leaders can get off to a running start. i'm just there to prepare the ground for them. reporter: you tweeted earlier today about a case involving american families being held in china. have you talked to the president about this case? if so, what has he told you? and will he bring this up with president xi?

and will the release of the families be part of the trade deal? john: and have discussed the question of american hostages, and people being wrongfully held with him on a range of subjects. i do not to get into what his reaction was, i don't think those should be public. this is a matter of real concern to us. i think given that the range of issues president xi and president trump will be covering, it's entirely possible that would come up. reporter: back to the meeting with president putin and president trump. will president trump condemn russia's aggression in ukraine? does the u.s. consider it an act of war? and has he spoken to putin or por sean coe about what happened? john: ambassador haley spoke for the united states yesterday on the -- at the u.n. security council and we'll stand on that. reporter: you mentioned the bilaterals with the turkish leader, who has been critical of the u.s. position.

can you expect that this will affect the relations with the u.s. ally. and to follow up, the audio intelligence of the killing of khashoggi, have you heard the tape, and it does it conclusively point to the crown prince ordering the killing of jamal khashoggi? and one final one, -- john: am i supposed to remember all these? reporter: i'll prompt you. finally, is it true the white house is blocking gina haspel from speaking to senators about that? john: no i haven't listened to it. i guess i should ask you why you think i should, what do you think i will learn from it? do any in this room speak arabic? unless you speak arabic what are you going to get from it?

reporter: an interpreter could tell you. john: then i could read a transcript. reporter: so you do not think it is important as a national security adviser? john: i am just trying to make the point, everybody is asking why haven't you listened to the tape? if i don't speak arabic, what will i get from it? tell me the other questions? the man in the back. reporter: the argentinian authorities captured 2 suspects last week and brazil is permitted going to follow in the american footsteps and put them on the terrorist list. also, the sanctions blocking the formation of the new government, help me put all this together, is it going to be in the g-20?

john: i expect in the bilateral meetings, depending on the country, there'll be substantial conversations about the counterterrorism efforts where we participate together. that's something that may well come up in brazil with president-elect bolsonaro, and i think it's one of president trump's biggest priorities to extend cooperation against terrorism, whether it is hezbollah or hamas or others. so entirely likely it could be a subject. reporter: going back to the jamal khashoggi issue, being informed about an issue is part of, i guess, what is national security. but in the midst of it why not -- i'm going to go become to that question again, why not get a translator to understand, hear what happens? you could find out a little more

than what they've told you. john: people who speak arabic have listened to the tape and given us the substance of what's in it. reporter: and you trust those. john: i don't speak arabic. reporter: i know, but with a translator, you could hear that emotion. a translator could also convey what happened. john: i am very satisfied that we know what the tape picked up, it was factored into the president's decision, and he announced his position very clearly. reporter: as economic security, national security, this should be in your lane. john: i was going to defer to larry, but -- [laughter] reporter: will see if we can keep it in your lane. the talks with china, late this morning, this idea of some sense of optimism going into this saturday night dinner with xi, is it based on any notion that xi is going to suddenly say, you know, this idea of intellectual

property theft, forced technology transfer, i don't know what we were thinking, it was a bad idea, let's level the playing field and start again? john: i think president trump has developed a positive relationship with president xi. they've met, they spoken over the phone. obviously, both carry into any discussion like this, their national interests. i think it's instructive. i think the chinese side believes the same thing. to have the two leaders exchange views in the presence of their senior advisors, and not with the expectation that at this meeting there'll be some substantial agreement coming out of it, but that there would be an indication a kind of way ahead that the advisors could then pursue. sarah is so eager to be here in -- here to answer your questions.

sarah: i was going to give him one more, but i think he is already gone. [laughter] sarah: as you know, the new president of mexico will be inaugurated on saturday. to represent the united states in mexico city, the president has asked vice president mike pence to lead a delegation including the second lady of the united states, karen pence, secretary of energy, rick perry, diplomat john kramer and assistant secretary of state, kimberly breyer. lastly this morning, we learned the sad news that three u.s. servicemembers were killed and three wounded when an explosive device detonated in afghanistan. the wounded service members were evacuated and are receiving medical care. we extend our thoughs and prayers to the loved ones of those killed and to those recovering. the united states is grateful for their service and forever in debt to their sacrifice. now i will take questions.

reporter: the guardian is reporting today that manafort met with julian assange. i wonder if you know if the meeting took place and if you remain confident in the white house's repeated denials no campaign officials were involved in discussions. sarah: we certainly remain confident in the white house's assertion that the president was involved in no wrongdoing, was not part of any collusion, the things that have to do with mr. manafort, i refer you to his attorneys to address that. reporter: given that the president said this morning that -- mueller is ruining peoples lives, is he considering a pardon for paul manafort or for others who have been prosecuted? sarah: i'm not aware of conversations about any pardons. reporter: if i could follow up , he also said this morning that robert mueller is doing tremendous damage to the criminal justice system. if that is true, is he considering picking up the phone

and calling his acting attorney general, and saying, fire robert mueller? sarah: i think the president has had robert mueller doing his job for the last two years. and he could have taken action at any point, and he hasn't. let that speak for itself. he has no intent to do anything. reporter: children and adults who were affected by tear gas fired by troops at the u.s.-mexico border. he talked about that yesterday, but what we did not hear from the president, was any expression of regret, that there were children. does the white house regret the fact that children were affected by tear gas? and that the situation took place? is there any investigation under way to prevent this from happening again? sarah: certainly the white house

would never want children to be in harm's way in any capacity, whatsoever. however, why we are continuing to encourage people to follow the law and go to ports of entry. law enforcement officials have used appropriate nonlethal force to protect themselves and prevent an illegal rush across the border. let's not forget that this isn't the first time that nonlethal force like this has been used. in fact, tear gas was used on average once a month during the obama administration for similar circumstances. in fact, they were actually for far less circumstances because they didn't have the same numbers in the mass rush we are seeing in this caravan take place. certainly no one wants women or children or any individual to have this happen, which is why we encouraged them to follow the law and go to ports of entry. reporter: is the white house ruling out any interaction between the president and the saudi crown prince? sarah: i wouldn't say we've ruled out any interaction.

i know the president's schedule is pretty packed and has a number of sessions that he'll be involved in with the g-20 as well as a number of bilaterals, so i don't think there's time for anything additional. as for whether there's any interaction, we haven't ruled that out. we will keep you guys posted. reporter: yesterday in mississippi at his rally, the president asked a question about mike espy, how does he fit in with mississippi. i mean, how does he fit in? i guess, suggesting that he doesn't fit in. mike espy's great grandparents were slaves in mississippi, what did the president mean by that? sarah: due to the fact that that's an election taking place today, i'm not going to comment on anything that is taking place in mississippi. reporter: does the administration have a position on the government of ecuador continuing to provide asylum to julian assange?

sarah: i'm not aware of anything official. reporter: another question on that, if i may. will you from the podium call on the ecuadorian government to confirm whether or not some sort of meeting may have taken place between paul manafort and julian assange at its embassy? sarah: we encourage the process to continue to play out but i'm not going to get engaged in the specifics of that case. reporter: it's implied a potential new deal with mexico is a done deal, tweeting that migrants will stay in mexico as they wait for their cases of asylum to be processed. how far along are talks with the new mexican administration about the so-called remain in mexico policy? sarah: those conversations continue. we won't have a final decision until the new government actually takes over which will happen on saturday and on monday.

we expect the new foreign minister from mexico to meet and sit down with white house administration officials in the department of homeland security, secretary kirsten neilsen, and continue to try to finalize those questions. reporter: tomorrow secretary pompeo and mattis will brief the full senate on the murder of khashoggi. why is the leader of the u.s. intelligence agency not joining them, specifically gina haspel, who many senators thought they'd hear from. sarah: ambassador bolton commented on this. i'll direct you to them. reporter: the president yesterday when asked about the economic forecast said he didn't believe the climate assessment report released last week. the takeaway for many people is that the president doesn't feel a responsibility to lead in this country or the world on climate change and preventing the calamity that your administration forecasts. do you agree with that view?

and if not, why not? sarah: the president is certainly leading on what matters most in this process, on having clean air, clean water. in fact, the united states continues to be a leader on that front. even obama's undersecretary for science didn't believe the radical conclusions of the report released and you have to look at the fact that the report is based on the most extreme model scenario which contradicts long-established trends. modeling climate is an extremely complicated science, and it is never exact. the biggest thing we can do is focus on making sure we have the cleanest air an cleanest water, and of the president is certainly leading on that front. reporter: the president is about to go to buenos aires and meet with all the leaders of the world's industrialized nations, and developing nations as well. is it a good opportunity for him to sit at the table and say, folks, this is what my administration is reporting, this is the time to act in concert to prevent what my administration has forecast?

sarah: once again, we think that this is the most extreme version and it's not data driven. we'd like to see something more data driven. it is based on the modeling, which is extremely hard to do, when you are talking about the climate. our focus is on making sure we have the safest cleanest air and water and the president will do exactly that. reporter: sarah, president trump early in january 2017 met with the big three automakers and said he wanted to make the u.s. a more attractive place for companies to manufacture products by lowering taxes and regulations. what does the action by g.m. say? sarah: it's disappointing to see that g.m. decided to lay off these workers. the president has been extremely committed to bringing manufacturing jobs back to the united states, which is why since he took office we've seen 400,000 new manufacturing jobs created in the united states. it's because of his policies that we've seen that growth.

this is not about the president, it's about the fact that they're making a car, frankly, that many people don't want to buy. hopefully they will make adjustments, and make changes and bring those workers back. reporter: getting back to paul manafort and the special counsel's office saying he's violating the terms of his plea agreement by lying to investigators, would the president recommend that mr. manafort offer full cooperation to the special counsel's office? sarah: we can only speak to what our role is in that process. not only has the president but the entire administration has been fully cooperative with the special counsel's office, providing hours and hours of sit-downs as well as over four million pages in documents. we continue to be cooperative but we also know there was no collusion and we're ready for this to wrap up. reporter: if i could, a followup. the president doesn't believe the warnings in the climate report. the president doesn't believe the cia about khashoggi.

the president doesn't believe the intelligence committee when it comes to russia meddling. why doesn't he have faith in his advisors? sarah: that is not true. the president has a great deal of faith in the intelligence community and the team around him. however, i've addressed the climate report, there's nothing to add on that. reporter: but on the jamal khashoggi, he said that that was not true, that he doesn't believe the cia. he said the other day, maybe he did, maybe he didn't, the crown prince. sarah: we haven't seen definitive evidence from the intelligence community that ties him directly to that. what we have seen a number of individuals we know are tied to that and those individuals have been sanctioned. the people of whom we have no doubt about their involvement, we've taken action on. and as he said, we will see what happens beyond that. if there's more definitive information we'll make a decision at that point. reporter: the remain in mexico meeting you talked about on monday, is that happening here or in mexico? and, is the united states offering mexico any help to

accommodate the migrants that would be staying in mexico as a result? sarah: on the second part -- the first part, whether it's here or in mexico, i'm not sure on the exact location. reporter: is the united states offering mexico any financial assistance or does it plan to accommodate migrants who would be staying in mexico? sarah: i am not aware of any financial assistance but we will certainly keep you posted. reporter: you mentioned in your list of bilaterals, a meeting with the chancellor of germany, but the ambassador did not. has that been cancelled? sarah: no. i think you were given additional updates. reporter: the president tweeted at length about the mueller report, asking if it was going to show both sides. what are his concerns about any forthcoming mueller report, and

is that report supposed to be delivered to no one else would be attorney general, and is he concerned it will become public without his knowledge? he's not concerned because he knows there was no wrongdoing or no collusion so he has no concerns on that front. reporter: if he has no concerns, why is he tweeting so vociferously about it? sarah: certainly the president has voiced his unhappiness from the beginning this has gone on, this ridiculous witch-hunt for more than two years, still nothing that ties anything to the president. we'd like to see come to a conclusion. peter. reporter: does the president believe the work of the special prosecutor bob mueller is illegitimate? sarah: sorry? reporter: does the president believe the prosecution's indictments about mueller are illegitimate? sarah: i think the president believes that what i've said several times today and several times over the last couple years, there was no wrongdoing on his part, there was no collusion by his campaign. beyond that, that's really all we can speak here at the white

house. >> last question. reporter: the president, as you are speaking, is tweeting he will be considering cutting all g.m. subsidies, including for electric cars. can you explain why he says that will help american workers? why that would not end up backfiring, as we have already seen, and who the president has consulted for the decision? sarah: i don't know if there is a specific timeline. he is looking into what the options might look like. he wants to see american america, build cars in not build them overseas and he's hopeful that g.m. will continue to do that here. second question. reporter: on afghanistan. the president on thanksgiving day told u.s. troops that we are winning the war in afghanistan, which contradicted what the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said, that it was a stalemate. does the president today still believe after we saw over the weekend, that we are winning in afghanistan, and why?

sarah: certainly any time you have a loss of life, particularly by an american service member, it is a horrific tragedy and something that no president wants to see, certainly not during their administration. and the president wants to make sure that the battle we're fighting takes place there and not here. he's going to continue consulting with his national security team and make decisions on how best to move forward beyond that. [indiscernible] sarah? announcer: this weekend we go to riverside, california with the help of our spectrum cable partners. we will explore riverside history saturday at noon eastern.

on book tv. hosts a variety of citrus and has been at the front of research since the early 1900s. these are called australian single lime. when i cut it in half with my up, thed opened it juice comes out like little bubbles. you can see the seed. -- seeds. they look like caviar. we exploreand sunday the historic mission inn. in may of 1930, president

teddy roosevelt was in southern california. frank miller, the man who built him to cometed here. he spent the night in the room. it was historically known as the presidential suite for many years. working with our cable affiliates, we explore america. here is a look at the live coverage wednesday. on c-span, the houses back at noon eastern for legislative business. on the agenda, several bills, including one that would direct the commerce secretary to conduct a study on the development of interconnected devices in the u.s.

on c-span2, theresa may takes questions from members of the house of commons at 7:00 a.m. eastern. and then the senate returns to continue the debate on the nomination of karen kelly. administratora sits down with the washington post to talk about environmental priorities for the trump administration. hearing house oversight on the management of federal prisons and the justice department. a couple of headlines from wins thehide smith mississippi runoff. in aindy hyde-smith racially tinged senate campaign. here is my caspi with his concession speech. and then you will hear from cindy hyde-smith speaking