What happened at the White House press briefing - Oct. 20, 2017
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Friday said it was unfortunate if President Trump's call to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson was misinterpreted, but did not say the president would call again.
The woman who raised Sgt. La David Johnson described Mr. Trump's call to Myeshia Johnson "disrespectful," adding to the controversy this week over the president's calls to Gold Star families. If the "spirit" of Mr. Trump's call was misunderstood, "that's very unfortunate," Sanders told reporters in the White House briefing room. Sanders described the president's comments as, "very sympathetic, very respectful."
Sanders did not say whether Mr. Trump authorized the mission that led to the deaths of four soldiers, including Johnson, in Niger. The Department of Defense and FBI are looking into how their deaths occurred. Sanders said "we won't rest until we get some answers."
How to watch today's White House press briefing live:
- Date: Friday, October 20, 2017
- Time: Scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET
- Who: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House press secretary
- Online: Watch live stream on CBSN, or in player above
Potential briefing topics:
- Gold Star controversy: White House chief of staff John Kelly's stirring statements in the White House press briefing room Thursday still has not put to rest the controversy over President Trump's call to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and questions linger about how Johnson and four other troops died in Niger. The FBI is now involved in determining what happened.
- Budget deal: The Senate passed a $4 trillion budget blueprint on Thursday night, by a 51-49 vote.
- Tax cuts: President Trump is trying to ram his tax proposal through Congress, although it's unclear if the administration will be able to reach its goal of getting such legislation signed by the end of the year. The president has promised the "biggest" tax cuts in U.S. history.
- Obamacare deal: Two key Republican and Democratic senators joined in announcing a plan Tuesday aimed at stabilizing America's health insurance markets in the wake of Mr. Trump's order to terminate Obamacare subsidies to insurers. At first, Mr. Trump approved of it, but later changed his mind about supporting the plan.
