Washington, DC - 31 March 2017

1. Cutaway of news conference

2. SOUNDBITE (English): Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary

(on Trump meeting with Chinese president) "I think we need to have that meeting with President Xi (Jinping). I'm sure there will be a lot of discussions about our economic relationship and so I don't - we are days away from that, and let's see what those - I just don't want to prejudge. We're days away from it, and I know there's a lot of issues that need to come up."

3. Cutaway

4. SOUNDBITE (English): Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary

(on Syria) "There is a political reality that we have to accept, in terms of where we are right now. We lost a lot of opportunity the last administration with respect to Assad. And I think that our statement that both US Ambassador (Nikki) Haley gave yesterday and Secretary of State Tillerson reflects the reality that it is now up to the Syrian people. I mean, we had an opportunity and we need to focus on, now, defeating ISIS."

5. Close of reporters

6. SOUNDBITE (English): Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary

(on Rep. Nunes:

"You seem to be really focused on who showed up where and what door they went in and how it happened. To answer your question, yes, it's appropriate for a member of Congress to contact someone who has contacted him according to some of these reports. I don't know the answer to that, but if you're asking me, is it appropriate for a member of Congress to come over here - as Chairman Nunes has said himself, he wasn't hiding or roaming. He was asked to come over here by an individual. He came over, which happens daily. He was asked to go somewhere, he went there. He is cleared and nothing that is inappropriate... exactly the opposite. What he did, what he saw and who he met with was 100 percent proper."

7. Close of reporter

8. UPSOUND (English) Reporter, off-screen: "Did the chief of staff know that he was on the campus? Did he approve..."

SOUNDBITE (English): Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary

"So, OK, but you're playing cute there. You're doing two things. One is, you're talking about the Oval Office and the other is the campus. Right? So, no, the Chief of Staff does not know every single person who is on the 18 acres on any given time."

9. Wide of reporters

10. SOUNDBITE (English): Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary

"But if there was a meeting, and in that case, we all sat back here, he made the announcement, and again, you're leaving out a key part: he actually briefed the press before he told anyone. We all found out, you, me, everyone else, that he was coming down here after he held a news conference with your colleagues to say he was coming down here based on stuff that he had found that didn't have to do with Russia, that a whistle-blower source had given him."

11. Close of reporters

12. UPSOUND (English): Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary

"I think Mike Flynn and his legal counsel should do what's appropriate for Mike Flynn."

13. Close of reporter

14. SOUNDBITE (English): Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary

(on Trump's tweet) "Again, he (Trump) didn't say 'Congress should grant'... right. And I think, what he means is he supports Mike Flynn's attempts to go up to Congress and be very clear with everything that they ask and what they want."

15. Mid of reporters

16. SOUNDBITE (English): Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary

"I think that what the President - not what I think, I've talked to the President about this... yes... and the President is that he wants Mike Flynn to go and be completely open and transparent with the committee and whatever it takes to do that, he is supportive of."

UPSOUND (English) Reporter, off-screen: "Even if he doesn't obtain immunity?"

SOUNDBITE (English): Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary

"He (Trump) wants him (Flynn) to... I mean, I don't, again, I want to be clear. He wants him to do what is necessary to go up there and talk to the committees of jurisdiction to get this matter behind us."

17. Wide of reporters

18. SOUNDBITE (English): Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary

"I'm not entirely sure of the process of whether the Congress does it or DOJ (Department of Justice) or both, in this case. But the point that - I get it - but the point, but the bottom line... no, what he is instructing is Mike Flynn to do everything he can to co-operate with the committees that he's asked to look into this."

19. Spicer walking away from podium

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump wants former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to testify to Congressional investigators looking into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Flynn offered co-operation in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

A spokesman for Representative Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the panel has not offered an immunity deal to Flynn.

President Donald Trump tweeted that Flynn, his former adviser, should ask for immunity because he's facing "a witch hunt."

Spicer said the President wants Flynn to testify in front of the committees, and there are no concerns that Flynn could implicate the President in any wrong doing.

Spicer also deflected questions about how Representative Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, got to see intelligence reports.

He also said that there is a "bit of reality on the ground" about how the US should approach the Syria conflict, and that the White House believes there is a "need to de-escalate violence and have a political process where Syrians will decide their own future."

Spicer would not comment on whether Syrian President Bashar Assad should step down, saying it is a decision for the Syrian people alone.

In London Friday, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis suggested that Assad's status is not the most important question for the time being.