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Trump Claims Credit for Favorable Jobs Report; White House Daily Press Briefing. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 05, 2017 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[13:30:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Manufacturing also a notable category, Brianna. 6,000 manufacturing jobs created in the month.

When you look at the last three months, you've seen job creation. The same time last year, you saw manufacturing job loss. So many economists, Brianna, are crediting Donald Trump and his rhetoric, if not his policies, for causing some job creation in the manufacturing sector Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Christine Romans, thank you so much.

President Trump has promised that he would be the greatest jobs producer God ever created. That still remains to be seen. Today's jobs report certainly cannot hurt.

I want to bring back our panel now. We have Jeff Mason, Mark Preston and Nia-Malika Henderson.

This is the thing. If something good happens, and it's on your watch, you kind of get credit. But how much can Donald Trump in reality claim this as a win?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Completely, right? I mean, you know, there is -- obviously, Obama should get some credit as well. President Trump will take all the credit. I don't think Obama, his job numbers were horrible at this point. He probably was blaming Bush at that point. But, yeah, give him the credit. I think he's had a good show of it in terms of what the stock market is doing, what consumer confidence is looking like. Certainly, in terms of how people feel about the economy. I think a lot of people rightfully credit him because he is talking the economy up and these job numbers show there is confidence and people are hiring.

KEILAR: They're optimistic about the future. We'll see.

I want to talk real credit, where does he deserve credit? If you're looking, Jeff, at the top two or three things you think he gets credit for, what would those be?

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: I think the big success has been getting Justice Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, this health care vote yesterday, and I would add, as an outlier, the relationship that President Trump is building with President Xi of China. I think that's going to have lots of ramifications going forward for this administration and both countries.

KEILAR: What do you think?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANAYST: A couple of things. I would say that the fear that he is instilled in the business community in order to try to get them on board to what his plan is, I do think he deserves credit for that. Quite frankly, he is in office so he deserves credit for the job creation because he's going to get blame when something bad happens under his watch. I also think, quite frankly, and while liberals and Democrats will hate me saying this, is his use of the executive order to put through his campaign promises that he says would help spur business. That's arguable. We can have that debate. But the fact of the matter is he hasn't been afraid to pull out that pen and sign a piece of paper that he thinks is going to put the country in the right direction.

KEILAR: What do you think? You've been watching.

HENDERSON: I think real victory for him is that he's been able to remain himself, using Twitter in the way that he wants to use it. The sort of interesting relationship with the truth that he has. He hasn't really paid much of a political price for it. His base is still largely with him. I think it's also sort of a victory that the resistance movement is still a theory. There's no victories yet. They couldn't do it in Kansas. We'll see what happens in Georgia. And then the economy as well with some of these good numbers coming out on him being able to take some of the credit for.

KEILAR: He has a finite amount of time here as we head into what will become a very political season for the midterm elections. Right, Jeff? It seems sometimes like that 100 days is sort of an artificial short amount of time to get a lot done. Maybe it says this is what's important to me, I'm showing you my priorities. How much time does he really have to get things done before the works get a little gummed up?

MASON: I think it's interesting how he handled the 100 days. He said it was a ridiculous milestone, and yet, it was clearly so important to him to have certain things on his list that he could check off. So they worked really hard that week to show what he had achieved.

It's hard to say. If you look at President Obama's first couple years, he had about two years to get policy through. He got health care through at the end of the that two-year period. I think with President Trump, you're right, we'll start seeing the political season really heat up this fall in terms of the midterms already, which is early. We've got tax reform that he wants to get done. He'll probably start working on that really hard this summer. He's still got several months, but he doesn't have a lot more time than that.

KEILAR: We forget how quickly capital can run out and Donald Trump started with a little less than our incoming president.

PRESTON: His approval rating is 44 percent after 100 days. I guess what's surprising is his base has stuck with him so tightly at such a high number. His number with his base isn't like high 60s, 70s. It's almost --

(CROSSTALK)

MASON: Even as he changes his mind on some of the products.

(CROSSTALK)

PRESTON: Well, President Xi is an example. He calls him a currency manipulator and then pats him on the back. I agree with you on that. The fact he's able to flip a switch and say something never negative about somebody and then something positive and it's accepted, it's amazing.

KEILAR: His supporters seem to feel that that's smart, that there's gamesmanship and --

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: He's a great negotiator.

KEILAR: But it defies that flip-flopping criticism that so many politicians would get. His ability to 180 is something that his supporters think is a good move.

[13:35:11] HENDERSON: Yeah. And he said, you know, that he is flexible and he can change his mind and people change their minds. It's a very human thing, right? That he changes his mind. I think the sort of intensity, as you say, of the attachment that his supporters feel for him, that's going to be a hard thing to shake. I think they're going to give him a real long, long runway.

PRESTON: His unpredictability is very scary and world leaders are scared about that and Republicans on Capitol Hill are scared about that.

KEILAR: We'll keep talking because as we understand we have a two- minute warning here for the White House press briefing. And we are awaiting the deputy press secretary.

So tell us about this, Jeff, because this is the first time that we will have heard from Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and it could be a different brief be than we see with Sean Spicer.

MASON: She has a different style than Sean Spicer.

(LAUGHTER)

That's certainly true. She has briefed before, just not with the cameras rolling. She briefs on Air Force One. She's done off-camera briefings. She's in the middle of everything. So she knows what she's talking about. But the stylistic difference will be very interesting --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: What is the difference. If you were to describe Sean Spicer as "fill in the blank," how will you describe her?

MASON: I think probably Sarah is a little less combative than Sean, but I don't she will not be --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: She's tough.

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: It's interesting how she frames this week. In some ways, this is the best week of Donald Trump's young presidency, with these job numbers, with the House bill, the health care bill coming out of the House. We'll see what kind of cheerleader she is for the boss.

PRESTON: It will be a lot of smiles at that podium today. No question about it.

We should tell our viewers who she is. She's Mike Huckabee's daughter. She has appeared on CNN many, many times.

KEILAR: And there she is.

PRESTON: And there she is walking out right now, so.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Here we go.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: As I mentioned yesterday when we spoke, Sean is on Reserve duty with the Navy, so you guys are stuck with me for one more day. Thankfully, for each of you he'll be back on Monday.

Yesterday we heard from the president, vice president and other administration officials and House Republicans about our historic first step to repealing and replacing Obamacare. As they said in the Rose Garden, this isn't a victory for any one politician or political party. It's a win for the American people. Democrats always claim that they're in favor of choice when it comes to health care, which is weird to me because Obamacare is the opposite of choice. Obamacare imposed one-size-fits-all will of so-called policy experts in Washington, D.C., on states, instead of allowing those closer to the communities to tailor their health care system to the needs of their people. The American Health Care Act returns flexibility and accountability back to the states where they can make informed decisions about their own populations. We look forward to seeing the Senate take up the bill in short order so that we can move even closer to giving the American people the health care system they deserve.

We've got a few things going on as usual here in the White House and across the administration. This morning's jobs report showed that the president's economic agenda of serious tax reform, slashing burdensome regulations, rebuilding our infrastructure and negotiating fair trade deals is adding job across the country. We added over 2,000 new jobs in April and unemployment fell to a 10-year low. We saw expansion in the sectors of the economy the president has had a particular focus on, construction, manufacturing, and mining. We've made some very important progress over the last 10 days realizing a bold plan for tax reform, moving the health care bill through the House, and funding our government. The president and his entire team will continue this laser focus on creating jobs for hard-working Americans and growing the U.S. economy.

It's also Cinco de Mayo, an opportunity for us all to celebrate the extraordinary contributions that Mexican Americans have made and continue to make. Yesterday, at the president's personal request, the vice president joined Labor Secretary Acosta, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, and many others for a celebration reception. The vice president closed his remarks by echoing the president's promise to show great heart as we move forward with real and positive immigration reform, and sharing the story of his own grandparents who themselves took a chance by leaving Ireland for the land of opportunity and freedom.

Finally, on a much lighter note, I wanted to make sure to note that everyone at the Department of Interior is having their first ever bring your dog to workday, becoming the first federal department to go dog friendly. According to Secretary Zinke, having dogs in the workplace can help reduce stress. So if anyone is up for a field trip later, let me know because that everybody here could use a little stress reliever.

With that, I'll take your questions.

John Roberts?

[13:40:11] JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, FOX NEWS: Sarah, welcome to the podium.

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Thank you.

ROBERTS: On the process --

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Does that mean you're going to be super nice today, right?

(LAUGHTER)

ROBERTS: On the process of getting the American Health Care Act through the Senate, there's some talk that they may have to go back to the drawing board. As you know, it was an awfully heavy lift getting the AHCA through the House. Does the president expect that the process in the Senate could be even more difficult?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, I think that the one thing that you can be sure of is to never under estimate this president. I think he's shown time and time again when he's committed to something it's going to get done. He's made no secret he's committed to reforming the health care system. You're going to see that process take place. We're not going to get ahead of the legislative process. We expect there to be some changes. But we expect the principles and the main pillars of the health care bill to remain the same.

ROBERTS: It sounds like there could almost be wholesale changes here. And is it possible for the -- I know this is a little bit of hypothetical, because you don't know where this is going -- but if the Senate makes substantial changes to what passed the House, is it ever going to get out?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Again, I think we're focused on the big principles of the health care bill, lowering costs, creating environment, flexibility, giving states the ability to make decisions within the health care system. We don't expect those things to change. Again, I feel like there will be some changes. That's part of the process, the legislative process. We fully anticipate that to play out. But we expect -- the big piece of this is the fact that Obamacare is simply unsustainable. Democrats know that. Republicans know that. The American people know that. We have to have change. That's what we're going to get. We fully anticipate that to take place.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sarah, the Senate tends to be a more deliberate body. How patient is the president on this? He obviously has other priorities he's working on, tax reform, infrastructure. Does he feel there needs to be an artificial deadline perhaps on when this bill needs to go to conference, perhaps by the Fourth of July?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Not necessarily. The president is focused on getting it right and not getting it fast. We saw the mistakes Democrats made by trying to force and rush this through. We're taking the appropriate steps to make sure the American people get the health care system they deserve. That's the president's commitment, not an artificial timeline.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is it fair to say this should be called Trumpcare at this point?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I said this yesterday. But we're not focused on labels. What this president wants to be remembered for is not the name that's put on it but the person that got rid of Obamacare and put a system in place that actually worked for the American people. That's the type of legacy he'd like to be focused on, is being the president that actually reformed health care to benefit Americans instead to bankrupt them. Call it what you want but we're calling it reform and we're calling it a system that works.

Kristen?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: To follow-up on the question about timeline, John Cornyn said, Senator Cornyn said we're not under any deadline. I heard you say in your opening remarks said you expect the Senate to take this up in short order. Are you on the same page in terms of the timing?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Absolutely. We expect them to take it up meaning take up the conversation. Again, this is a process. We haven't put a timeline or deadline. We want to get it right, not get it fast, and that's the focus.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You know it could take months. Is that OK with the president? Is he willing to wait that long?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, again, we want to wait to get it right, not to put an artificial deadline. The administration has not laid out a time frame on when we want this to happen. We want to make sure it gets done correctly.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Just to ask you about some of the criticism, the AARP says this amounts to an age tax and other medical organizations have expressed concerns that those living with pre- existing conditions will in fact see their premiums go up. So can you guarantee the Americans people living with pre-existing conditions, seniors, that they won't see hikes in their premiums and what they pay for health care?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: One of the biggest priorities of this health care plan and this health care bill, particularly for the president, was ensuring that people with pre-existing conditions were protected. The final bill added an additional $8 billion to go a step further to provide another layer of protection for --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I understand that. But they call that a Band- Aid. They say it's not enough money.

HUCKABEE SANDERS: That's not the only piece of it that has coverage for pre-existing conditions. The president wanted to focus on those most vulnerable, whether people with pre-existing conditions or the unborn. He was certainly focused on protecting the most vulnerable.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can the president guarantee those Americans --

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: This is like 12-question Friday.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But can those with pre-existing conditions and older Americans be guaranteed they won't see hikes?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: That's the whole point of the bill to lower costs across the board. not just for those with pre-existing conditions but to create competitions so you have lower premiums, to give states flexibility. That's the entire purpose of reforming this system is to have lower costs. So, yes, that would be the goal and certainly, again, the priority of the president.

Margaret?

[13:44:23] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Really interesting, and I thought surprising story in "Politico" saying that there's a plan by the Trump administration to gut the national -- the Office of National Drug Control Policy. I'm just wondering if you could tell us, is that report correct and why is the thinking --- obviously, he cares about the opioid addiction problem. We've talked about that. What would be the reason for gutting that office? To move it somewhere else?

I've got a French election question also.

(LAUGHTER)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, my first piece of advice would never be to use "Politico" for a source of your story. But when it comes to the opioid epidemic, I think he's been clear this is a top priority. I certainly wouldn't get ahead of a conversation about the budget. We haven't had a final document. I think it would be ridiculous to comment on a draft version of something at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Would you loosely address the idea that he's contemplating a substantial cut to that office and to move that sort of work outside of that office?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I'm not going to comment on ongoing discussions. Again, there's not a final document. When there is, we'd be happy to discuss that. I think the bigger point is the president has made very clear that the opioid epidemic in this country is a huge priority for him, something he has certainly very focused on tackling, and something that I think was ignored by the previous administration that won't go ignored in this one.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I've got France, French elections, does -- we know President Obama has a dog in the fight. Does President Trump have a dog in the fight? If so, who? And if not, does he have a prediction on who's going to take it?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I haven't had the opportunity to have a conversation with him about whether or not he supports any particular candidate. But I can tell you that the president will work with whoever the people of France decide to elect. That's a decision that they need to make. The president's committed to working with leaders across the globe to combat a whole host of issues and would do that with whoever the people elect.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Could you just address -- two questions, I should say, not 12 though. The president's comments yesterday, does he really think that Australia's government-run universal health care system was better than ours?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I think he was being complimentary of the prime minister, and I don't think it was much more than that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I want to ask you about this case out of Maryland. As you probably know, the prosecutors have dropped the rape charges against the two undocumented teens accused of attacking the classmate. This White House was vocal on that case. Sean Spicer said a big part the president has made illegal immigration and a crackdown a big deal because of tragedies like this. Did this White House unfairly jump to conclusions in this case?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: We're always looking to protect the American people. Sean was speaking about what he knew at the time. I haven't had a chance to dive into the latest on that, but we will and get back to you.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you want to retract anything that the White House has said so far?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I'm not going to retract anything without further information --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you talked to Sean and does he have any regrets about what he said?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I have not talked to Sean. He is on Navy duty where you don't carry your phone around very often.

(CROSSTALK)

I talk to him every day but I haven't yet today. When I do, I will certainly ask him.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: On that question, is there a general danger that the White House through its rhetoric is animating too many people to jump to conclusions against immigrants and in the process diminishing the entire immigrant community, whether they are law abiding or not?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Not at all. The president has been incredibly outspoken against crime in any form, fashion, certainly from his joint address to his speech last week on the Holocaust Remembrance Day. This is a law-and-order president. He's focused on restoring law and order. We see we've seen a spike in crime rate starting in 2015, across the board, not any particular sector. I think that's why he campaigned and talked so much about needing to restore law and order in this country. It's why he's focused on securing our border, stopping drug trafficking, human trafficking. Those are thing that have been a priority for him. I think the reason is because he places such a high value on that. And I think to call into question his rhetoric to be anything other than somebody who has condemned hate and violence in all of its forms is simply just a complete misrepresentation not only who the president is, but of what he's also -- what he said.

Matthew?

[13:50:11] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thanks, Sarah. Back to health care, we talked about how there will be changes in the Senate. You said the White House is open to that as long as the principles remain the same. I was wondering if we could get more specificity on what principles and how they are represented in the current House bill. For example, is a state's ability to waive essential health benefits and the pre-existing conditions protections that the Freedom Caucus negotiated so hard for, does that have to stay in the bill for the president to support it?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, again, I think that the biggest piece of that is to allow states that flexibility that the people that are closest to the people getting care are the ones helping make that decision.

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, I'm not going to litigate the details from here, but that's part of the legislative process and part of the ongoing discussions, but I know that it's a priority for the president as well to protect people with pre-existing conditions.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So we heard a lot of the rhetoric about repealing the Affordable Care Act being about job creation, and you said those jobs numbers at the beginning, I think, were in month 86 straight of job growth, and we are hearing less of the talking point about Obamacare killing jobs. Does the president still stand by this was a job killer and that's the reason to repeal it or has he moved on from that argument?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I certainly think he stands by that comment.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How do you explain the consistent growth since that act was passed?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I think other things have taken place. Just because one thing may be killing jobs, that doesn't mean you can't have job growth in other sectors. Primarily, the places we saw the most growth in this jobs report were in manufacturing, coal miners, other places. I certainly think you can have job growth even when there are job-killing regulations.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Back to the comment the president made to the Australian prime minister, are you saying he didn't mean what he was saying when he said that they have a better health care system?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I'm saying that the president was complimenting a foreign leader on the operations of their health care system and that it didn't mean anything more than that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He doesn't believe they have a better health care system?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I think he believes they have a good health care system for Australia. Again, that's one of the biggest things that is wrong with Obamacare. It tried to be a one-size-fits-all. That's the opposite of what the plan is we are putting in place right now. It allows for state flexibility. What works in Australia may not work in the United States. So I think again, he was complimenting the prime minister. We are focused on putting a health care plan in place that works here.

Carol Lee (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The Pentagon said today a Navy SEAL was killed in Somalia, first in quite some time. Does the White House have a comment on that? Was the president briefed on that? HUCKABEE SANDERS: The president has been briefed on that. He spoke

directly with General McMaster earlier today. Obviously, we first and foremost want to express our deepest condolences and our deepest appreciation for all of the men and women in the military and the ultimate sacrifice that they paid, particularly this soldier and all of the others. The president has made it, certainly, a major priority to protect the men and women who protect us. That's one of the reasons that he wanted to put so much emphasis on rebuilding the military, and that was a priority for him in the budget. And again, our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to all of the men and women in uniform, and particularly this family.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can we expect a statement from him?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: From the president? I don't know at this time. I know he doesn't want to get ahead of the notification process and that's still taking place at this point.

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Abby (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The president -- (INAUDIBLE) -- taxpayers' money by working from Bedminster rather than New York City. Wouldn't he save more money by working out of the White House? Why is he making that sort of comparison?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, this is the president's first time to be back in the New York metro area, and he's staying at his private residence in New Jersey versus staying in Manhattan. Had he stayed in Manhattan, the disruption would have been far greater than being in New Jersey. The bottom line is the president is the president, no matter where he goes, and he doesn't get to control the level of cost and security that may come along with that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He does control where he works. Why doesn't he work more from the White House? He spent the last maybe 14 weekends --

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: You guys complain we work too much around here and that you're too tired. Now we don't work enough?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: For purposes of costs and savings to American taxpayers, which he raised this morning.

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Again, this is the president's first time to go back home to the New York metro area, and I think he's trying to save the taxpayers money the best way he can by taking his team and being in New Jersey instead of in New York where it would have caused a much greater disruption and much greater cost to taxpayers.

[13:55:15] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thanks, Sarah. Earlier, you mentioned this morning's big jobs report. You also cited the president's tax plan as one of the reasons for that job growth. Are you saying the tax plan that hasn't passed yet was responsible for creating jobs in the month of April?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: What I'm saying, I think we saw from the very beginning the minute that the president was actually elected, even before he took office, you saw consumer confidence go up. We have had meetings with countless CEOs, small business owners, people that are involved in job creation, come in and tell us that they are much more confident in going out and hiring people, building their businesses and growing the economy because they have a president who actually cares about it and is focused on it like this one is. So I certainly think the environment that he is creating is much more friendly, not just ---

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Not just through the tax reform system but by laying out those priorities, they know what's coming down the line. They have confidence in this president like they didn't in the previous one. But it's not just that. It's getting rid of all the job-killing regulations we have seen through executive orders and, again, a focus on rhetoric, of creating jobs. That certainly has added to that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Still on jobs, Apple announced this week it's creating a $1 billion fund to spur manufacturing job growth inside the United States. Can you tell me what communications the White House has had with Apple either before or after that announcement, if any?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I'm not aware. I will have to check and get back to you on that.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sarah, does the president still intend to sign the spending bill today?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Yes. I believe actually he signed it just within the last hour.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Would he ever consider using -- President Obama, for example, got criticism over the years for adding signing statements to legislation to indicate where he disagreed with the bill he was signing. President Bush did the same thing on a number of occasions. Does this president intend to use that option?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I'm not aware of that. That's something I have to check on and get back to you.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sarah, thank you. You were talking a minute ago about states wanting flexibility. Do you know which states are likely to seek a waiver on pre-existing conditions?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Not yet. That was something that probably HHS would have a better handle on. I would refer you to talk to them. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sarah, I was going to ask you, before the

summer travel season kicks off, we are seeing more of these airline incidents. We saw Delta apologizing for what happened from that Hawaii flight. We saw what happened with United. Earlier this week, the Senate and House had some CEOs on the Hill. Does the president want DOT or FAA to work more closely with the airlines to maybe better establish what passengers can expect if they are going to get kicked off a flight or what the rules should be? Would this be something where maybe the government can clarify what the law should be?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I haven't had that conversation. That's something we certainly would have to look at.

But what I could tell you is that I don't think anybody in the administration thinks the handling of some of these passengers is probably a good thing. So we want all people across the board to be treated with the utmost respect, whether that's on an airline or anywhere else. I don't know that that's a government regulation that should weigh in to do that. Hopefully, that's just common decency but it's certainly something worth taking a look at.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thanks a lot, Sarah. Now that the House has health care reform off its plate, they are likely to take on tax reform. Does the administration have a position as to whether or not the legislation that ultimately emerges from the House Ways and Means Committee should be deficit-neutral?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: You know, that's something that we would probably have to look at and I'm not ready to comment right now.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- on the health care reform legislation that the Senate will soon take up, will the administration play a part in what that bill looks like or are you going to essentially be hands-off and let the Senate do its work?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I think we made very clear we will be hands-on in this process. It's a priority to fix a very broken system. Obamacare is a disaster. And this isn't a president that does things hands-off. He's fully engaged on the House side. I expect him to be fully engaged on the Senate side and make sure we get the bill the American people deserve.

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Francesca?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you, Sarah. It's two-question Friday. I got two questions for you. The first one on Syria. About the de- escalation zones they are talking about establishing, the administration has said there's reason to be cautious about those. Could you elaborate on that and explain what some of the reservations are for those de-escalation zones. And also, how that plays into the safe zones the president has endorsed?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: The president has expressed a desire to achieve peace in Syria. I think that's the broader mission. We are looking at all ways in order to achieve that. And we haven't laid out any specifics any further than that at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: OK ---

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Two questions. I forgot.