deputy press secretary sarah huckabee sanders. when they were asked if they do were to help or hinder the president when it comes to the more to help portion of it. here's the run down. they said when it comes to the person who helps the president most that's mike pence. the vice president, 53% of those responded saying they does more to help when delivering the president's message. that's followed by president himself 33%, sean spicer and kelley anne conway at 28% and sarah huckabee sanders at 23%. your thought on their effectiveness. whether you agree with it or not. the numbers 202-748-8000 for democrats for republicans 202-748-8001 and independents 202-748-8002. it was yesterday that the white house kelley anne conway talk about the issues of london attack. and the president's use of twitter. here's a bit from yesterday. >> i'm not going to allow on the day and a half after terrorist did it again whether they're isis inspired. they're savage murderers every time you said russia imagine if he said isis, every time you say twitter, manuel -- imagine you say twitter. >> he's setting

. he's driving the conversation. everybody is lamenting, you know, sarah huckabee sanders, why can't we talk about something else? no, it is the president setting the agenda and he's lashing out in ways that are so -- i mean that picture that you had with the eagle hanging its head is exactly how i felt. i was ashamed, embarrassed, humiliated for the country that this is our president. it is -- it is beyond words. >> there it is, the cover of the daily news and it says, humiliation, trump's new low, sexist rant versus tv host. yeah, so there you go. amanda, i know you're concerned about how the white house is defending the president. take a look and then we'll talk. >> i think the american people elected somebody who's tough, who's smart and who is a fighter, and that's donald trump. and i don't think that it is a surprise to anybody that he fights fire with fire. the things that this show has called him -- and not just him but numerous members of his staff, including myself and many others, are very deeply personal. so to then turn and pretend like, you know, this approach is -- i gues

. which is not quite the same as sarah huckabee sanders said voters elected him to do. continuing the work done by our friends on "the lead," 750 tweets from the president since taking office. we found 206, or a bit more than one in four were about policy. almost 400 more were on meeting foreign dignitaries, holiday greetings, assorted other subjects. 84 were attacks on the press or coverage of him. 31 directly attacked a person or people. sarah huckabee sanders say we focus on the 31 or the other big concerns of the country. what she won't acknowledge is these kind of tweets are taking away from the president's own agenda. this is energy week. we've been reporting on that. we've had infrastructure week and plenty of other weeks and initiatives this white house wants to accomplish, but so far has yet to. including, we should add, any major initiative yet on cyber bullying. in a moment, a republican senator weighs in. let's go to jim acosta at the white house first. nothing resembling an apology from the president of the white house, right? >> that's right, no apology from presiden

his fbi pick, sarah huckabee sanders said, quoe, we were made aware in

speculation about mueller's future. last night, white house spokeswoman sarah huckabee sanders told reporters: "while the president has the right to" fire mueller, "he has no

secretary, sarah huckabee sanders. let's replay just a portion of the briefing. >> i don't think so. i mean, i think that the president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts by members on that program and i think he's been very clear that when he gets attacked, he's going to hit back. i think the american people elected somebody who's tough, who's smart, and who's a fighter, and that's donald trump. and i don't think that it's a surprise to anybody that he fights fire with fire. the things that this show has called him, and not just him but numerous members of his staff, including myself and many others, are very deeply personal. so to then turn and pretend like, you know, this approach is -- i guess it's kind of like we're living in the twilight zone. they do this day after day after day, and then the president responds and defends himself and everybody is appalled and blown away. frankly, if this had happened in the previous administration, the type of attacks launched on this program, the things they say, utterly stupid, personality disorder, mentally ill, constant pers

. sarah huckabee sanders will be taking the podium any moment now. we expect another intense round of questions on the travel ban, healthcare, immigration, the controversy surrounding president trump's tweets about another network's cable tv host i most likely believe that will probably lead the newser with reporters biting at the chance of asking her about them. we've got fox team coverage. we have the latest on the travel ban, but we begin with john roberts who is live inside the briefing room. let's start with the g-20 summit. >> reporter: one of the seemingly rare on camera briefings that the white house has. some news made here just a short time ago when white house officials announced that the president next week at the end of next week in germany will be meeting on the sidelines of the summit with the russian president vladamir putin. this is a chance we're told. a bilateral but not an official sitdown type of thing. bilateral polacide is what they're billing it as. no specific agenda for the meeting. the white house officials saying the president will speak with the russian pr

from sarah huckabee sanders, this time talking about how engaged the president is. >> the criticisms and the criticism that has been out there that the president has not been fully engaged on this one, your response to that and if you could detail his level of engagement for us. >> the president has been very engaged in the process as have multiple pmembers of his administration and he made a lot of calls directly to members. he had roughly 46 members of the senate here yesterday. they had a long, lengthy good productive conversation. we're going to continue doing that just like he did with the house. he was engaged in making sure that happened and he is somebody that we said before i would never under estimate this

moment. we're getting live pictures from inside the white house briefing room. sarah huckabee sanders, the deputy white house press secretary, she will handle the briefing this hour. there surely will be plenty of questions about president trump's reaction to the london attack. and his twitter rant today on the travel ban and on london's mayor, we may also hear more about the possibility of the president's using executive privilege to possibly try to stop the testimony of the former fbi director james comey who was fired by the president. comey is set to testify thursday morning before the senate intelligence committee, his first public comments since being fired by president trump. let's get back to london where hundreds of police officers are trying to track down anyone associated with the deadly terror attack. as the mayor of london calls on the public to help police do their jobs. >> we recognize that terrorist actually want to destroy our way of life and harm us and attack us. we've got to make sure we don't let them succeed. all of us have to work together to keep our city safe. the

the white house with sarah huckabee sanders. we will bring you that with highlights in a few moments. first, let's hear more of what mika and joe had to say this morning on msnbc. >> i'm fine, my family brought me up really tough, this is absolutely nothing. i think for me personally, but i'm very concerned as to what this once again reveals about the president of the united states. >> calls, texts, and e-mails, we're okay. the country is not. >> nbc kristin welker is at the white house, does the white house feel any differently today than they did yesterday or do they still feel like it is a fair battle. >> i think they will continue to dig in, katie. that is for sure. we saw that earlier today when top officials were before the camera and president trump was back on twitter today, effectively saying that some of what mika and joe were alleging on the show today was false. striking that he went back to twitter even after that bipartisan backlash. saying these types of tweets are be neneath the white house. sarah huckabee said he was elected because he fights fire with fire.

morning about msnbc host mika brzezinski. this is what sarah huckabee sanders, the spokeswoman at the white house said earlier on fox news. here's what she had to say. >> i don't think that the president's ever been someone who gets attacks and doesn't push back. there have been an outrageous number of personal attacks. not just to him but to, frankly, everyone around him. this is a president who fights fire with fire and the president, again, isn't going to be somebody who's bullied and allows people, himself and those around him to be personally attacked. >> reporter: so i suspect, wolf, we'll hear the same from sarah huck babe sanders when she take the podium in less than a half hour. steve mnuchin may be making a policy statement, from what we understand, this afternoon. wolf, they can come out, issue policies, talk about proposals and the president's agenda. sarah huckabee sanders complaining we don't pay next attention to the president's ajend dgenda and policies. of course, you know, when the president issues tweets like this that are repudiated by the likes of the house speake

-- who is it? sarah huckabee sanders today. bracing for all kinds of questions on this one. >> reporter: that's right, and if you thought that there was always, you know, intense coordination going on here in terms of what days are on camera and what days are off camera, this would be one of those cases where they probably would prefer to be off camera but no, sarah huckabee sanders, from what we understand, up until the last second, will very much be on camera here when she walks out to the podium here. hopefully in a few moments to take questions from reporters. the treasury secretary, steve mnuchin, will be here as well. he'll be talking about some sort of policy announcement. we'll have more details on that shortly. but make no mistake, this is a day where they would probably prefer the cameras to be shut off because undoubtedly, brooke, a lot of the questions in this room, and i would suspect right off the bat, will be about the president's tweets, those appalling, offensive tweets earlier this morning aimed at mika brzezinski and the white house is not at this point o

. >> sarah huckabee sanders is minutes away from taking questions, sheer what she said earlier today. >> the president fights fire with fire and will not be allowed to be bullied by liberal media, hollywood, or anywhere else. >> i get that, but is that necessary? >> i think what is necessary to push back against unnecessary attacks on the president. >> melania trump's press secretary echoed that statement with this statement. as the first lady has stated publicly, when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back ten times harder. msnbc issued a statement saying it is a sad day for america when the president spends him time believing, lying, and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job. let's take a look beyond those tweets. there are real implications for this country and his presidency, a recent piece in the washington post points out how trump's tweets are giving foreign intelligence agencies invaluable access into how he works. information that could be used to manipulate him. nayta, you said his twitter feed a s a gold mine for foreign agencies. what does it give

white house defending this? >> the white house did try to defend this today. sarah huckabee sanders came to the podium on camera today and said this was the president's response to elites in the media and this is more of what she had to say. >> i think the american people elected somebody who is tough, smart and a fighter. that's donald trump. i don't think it's a surprise to anybody that he fights fire with fire. >> now sarah huckabee sanders made other statements but she said the president has not encouraged violence at any time. that is not the case as you and i both know. the president did encourage violence. he talked about how he could shoot somebody on fifth avenue and get away with it. i was at rally in nevada in 2016 where he said he wanted to punch a protester in the face. so the white house tried to explain the president's actions and tweets today but a lot of people are not buying it. >> has he come out to say anything about his shocking tweets? no apology or response? >> it's a remarkable day for the president to be dealing with this. he welcomed president moon to the white

press briefing set to start a few minutes from right now. >> jenna: sarah huckabee sanders holding up briefing today. we are going to bring it to you live when it begins, we are covering all the news on "happening now" ." >> enough is enough. when it comes to taking on extremism and terrorism, things need to change. >> the u.k. under attack again. terrorists slamming into pedestrians, the prime minister calling for a new strategy to combat terror. james comey set to testify before the intelligence committee, what will he say about his conversations with president trump regarding the russia investigation. and how one climber defied the odds to make history in yosemite national park. it's all happening now. ♪ >> jon: we begin with president trump's latest push for a u.s. travel ban. this an the wake of the deadly terror attacks in london. >> jenna: the president calling out the justice department on twitter this morning. he is also asking the doj to seek a copper version of the order. both versions have been blocked by the court. >> jon: we have fox news team coverage today. former

fired him. that's the word from sarah huckabee sanders. james comey is set to testify this thursday before the senate intelligence committee. all of this after sources close to comey said president trump asked him to stop investigating michael flynn. president trump fired director comey last night and later admitted that the russia investigation was on his mind when he made that decision. chief white house correspondent john roberts live on the north lawn. >> a lot of wagering whether the white house would allow comey to testify or whether they would invoke executive privilege and prevent him from testifying. it probably would have been a conversation covered by executive privilege but enforcing it might have been difficult. it's possible the president could have done it had he wanted to do. as we opened the briefing, a question i asked sarah huckabee sanders evoked a final answer. >> he's scheduled to testify thursday. there's a question as to whether or not you will invoke executive privilege or if you will allow him to testify. >> the president's power to exert executive privileg

the wayside. they will have less for tax reform. trish: i will jump in. sarah huckabee sanders to see what she will say on health care and a few other things. >> regarding a recent announcement on sanctions. always i will be back to answer your questions. >> thank you. today the trump administration is continuing its efforts against the government of north korea. despite multiple u.n. security council resolutions imposing international sanctions, the government of north korea continues its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. today treasury's financial crimes enforcement network has found the bank of dandong to be a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern under section 311 of the usa patriot act. this bank served as a gate he way for north korea to access the u.s. and international financial systems, facilitating millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in north korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. the united states will not for such action. this requires u.s. banks to insure the bank of dandong does not access the u.s. financi

house. as much as sarah huckabee sanders wanted this to be about something else and today should have been other things. we've got travel ban. we've got health care. this morning for some reason the president decided to tweet a very, very personal attack at joe and mika. i want to read they will. i did not put them up earlier but i think it has reached a level of importance. the president said i heard poorly rated morning joe speaks badly of me. don't watch anymore. then how come low i.q. crazy mika, along with psycho joe, came to mar-a-lago three nights in a row around new years eve and insisted on joining me. she was bleeding badly from a facelift. i said no. >> i think you hit the important point which is that the president really stepped on his own message today. he is about to give a speech about energy. moments from now. instead, this is what we are talking about. why? because there has been widespread condemnation of that tweet that you just read on capitol hill and beyond from a number of republican who's are concern that had they say it is beneath the office of the presidency

following immediately by white house spokesperson sarah huckabee sanders. >> it is not normal for a grown man to be so consumed with such vitriol. >> yeah. i saw it a little bit ago. i don't see that as an appropriate comment. >> that saddened me because it is beneath the dignity of the president of the united states. >> this is the president of the united states. you don't do things like that. you don't attack women. we are half of his constituency. >> i don't think you can have someone be personally attack and just sit back. >> you heard house speaker paul ryan in there as well. sarah huckabee sanders went on to say she does not believe the insults are out of turn. the president had been personally insulted so nothing wrong with the way he came back. i want to read you a statement from mnbc. saying it is a sad day for america when the president spends his time bullying -- also upset because they say it distracts from the agenda they are trying to move forward here in washington. >> thank you. more white house coverage in just a few minutes. and that includes the newly reinstated t

the senate will not be easy. sarah huckabee sanders, deputy white house press secretary with me in the studio. nice to see you. >> great to see you, too, bill. >> bill: welcome to your adopt the town. what is the surprise. >> if i told you it wouldn't be a surprise. it would be like telling you what you are getting for christmas before christmas morning. we couldn't do that. >> bill: does the white house know something we need to know now? >> i think the big piece here is that the president knows this is something that has to be done. this something republicans have been talking about, campaigning on. and, frankly, it's becoming something that is just impossible to ignore. obamacare is simply collapsing around us. you have got states every day that are losing coverage, carriers pulling out. nevada is now i think 14 counties will be without coverage. that is simply unsustainable and something we can't allow to continue. i think both republicans in the house and senate know this. the president certainly recognizes it. and as we have said all along, never underestimate this president.

, certainly, there was no reason given by sarah huckabee sanders in that briefing as to why he waited this long right up against this congressional deadline. i will say that the last point you just made, brooke, i think is a good place to pick up, which is a clear break between, as you noted, jeff's reporting a trump associate who spoke with president trump this week saying he should regret this if he doesn't and sarah huckabee sanders saying he doesn't regret it. so there is a divide between those around him that speak to him, associates of him, who believe he should regret this, that this was an error to do this and clearly as the deputy press secretary said, his own thinking on this. >> so, he does regret it, dana, and apparently over the obsession -- the way he frankly is trying to play with everybody. >> last week saying, you know, i'm not going to tell you now that there are tapes. i'll let you know another time. basically like tune in for the next episode. and then today, he did what he did. i mean, it's obvious that he is trying to have fun with this. the problem for the presi

-- spicer was put do the person for the briefing, it turned out to be sarah huckabee sanders, and also two i.c.e. workers talking about kate's law. so that is the first part of the briefing. the second part really focused on health care and syria. on the health care front, sandered pushed back against a notion that the president has not been deeply engaged in trying to get senators on board with the republican version. she talked about the fact that he was working the phones. the push back on that is what he was he doing beforehand. i think we may have sound of sar sarah huckabee sanders talking about it, the second headline here today was on syria. i asked her a cup questions about syria particularly in the wake of nikki hailey who earlier today on capitol hill panlted a picture that assad decided not to take action or launch another chemical weapon's attack in the wake of that stern warning that came out of the white house the other day. i pressed her on that. i asked her if that was an accurate depiction. she said she was not prepared to say that effectively didn't want to go beyond

yesterday when deputy press secretary sarah huckabee sanders pointed out that some of trump's loudest critics are behind so much big news. that's kind of neat. playboy has a white house correspondent. it's like national review having a stringer at hooters. here's brian karem. >> your claiming everybody right now with those words. this administration has done that as well. why in the name of heaven, anyone of us is replaceable. and if anyone of us doesn't get it right, the audience has the opportunity to turn the channel or not read. you have been elected to serve for four years at least. there's no option other than that. we're just asking questions. you are here to provide the answers. and what you just did is inflammatory to people all over the country who look at it and say, once again, the president's right and everybody else out here is fake media. everybody in this room is only trying to do their job. >> greg: es. of course, when someone in the media does this, then the rest of the media falls in love. drool away chris matthews. >> i was very impressed by that. what got you. wha

, no one at the white house was budging from that message, <sarah huckabee sanders/ deputy white house press secretary> "i think the president's statement via twitter today is extremely clear. i don't have anything to add beyond the statement itself."today's white house briefing was off=camera ... that has become increasingly common, along with a reluctance to interpret the president's words. "you guys asked for an answer, he gave you one. he said he would have it to you by the end of this week which he did. and beyond timing of that i can't really speak anything further." this all goes back to the probe of kremlin meddling in the presidential election ... the secret russian meetings of former national security adviser general michael flynn ... and finally, whether the president fired his f=b=i director to block that investigation.just days after the firing, the president tweeted, "james comey better hope there are no tapes of our conversation," "did the president intend to threaten james comey with that tweet?"