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What to Expect in President Trump's First Week; Adviser Walk Back Comments on Trump Income Taxes; White House Attacks Media for Accurately Reporting Crowd Size; Falcons To Face Patriots For NFL Championship; Trump Promises To Create 25 Million Jobs; Hillary Clinton Tweets Her Support; Obama Hits The Golf Course; Trump Teases Media With Obama Letter. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired January 22, 2017 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:03] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. It is 11:00 on the East Coast. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you live tonight from the nation's capital where there have been major developments on the second full day of Donald Trump's presidency.
New tonight we have learned that the president has invited top congressional leaders from both parties to come to the White House tomorrow to discuss his agenda. The news comes on the heels of the White House confirming early discussions about moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that would be both significant and controversial.
Earlier today President Trump spoke by the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a call the president described as, quote, "very nice." The focus of the call CNN has learned the Iran nuclear deal and the civil war in Syria.
The other big headline today, President Trump's White House counselor walking back remarks tonight that she made this morning, saying that the president would not release his tax returns even after that much- cited audit is complete. Kellyanne Conway now telling CNN the president remains under audit and has not changed his view. Still, though, no clarity on whether he will or won't release those tax returns.
All of this as Donald Trump gets ready for his first full week as president. CNN senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny has a look at what is ahead and what we can expect -- Jeff.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Poppy. President Trump ending his second full day in the White House on a different tone and a different note than he did his first full day at the White House. He appeared in the East Room of the White House to swear in some of his top advisers as they took their oath of office and he talked about how this moment is a moment for them to enact his agenda, not necessarily based on party or ideology. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As I said during my inaugural address, this is not about party, this is not about ideology, this is about country. Our country. And it's about serving the American people.
We will prove worthy of this moment in history and I think it may very well be a great moment in history. So be proud, be very proud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: By saying we will prove worthy of this moment, a different tone entirely from only one day ago when he was talking about crowd sizes, blasting the media for how they reported his inauguration, picking fights up and down the line. He sounded different today, advisers told me that was intentional. He was reading from a prepared remarks, prepared speech today in the White House. That is the president that they hope will appear in public as this week goes forward, as he has a big list of agenda items including some executive actions perhaps tomorrow morning.
But, Poppy, that is one of the challenges here. Will Donald Trump be candidate Donald Trump or the President Donald Trump? And we have seen in just two days it is a very distinct difference -- Poppy.
HARLOW: It is indeed, Jeff Zeleny. Thank you so much for us at the White House tonight.
When the president meets Democratic congressional leaders tomorrow he could face a skeptical audience when it comes to getting his agenda passed.
Let's talk about what is ahead with my panel. Robert P. Jones is the CEO and founder of the Public Religion and Research Institute, "New York Times" contributor Wajahat Ali is with us, Alice Stewart is with us as well, a Republican strategist and former communications director for Ted Cruz, and CNN political analyst Josh Rogin, he's a columnist as well for the "Washington Post."
Josh, your take on what Jeff just reported. Which is two very different tones that we've heard from the president-elect to focus more on things like crowd sizes, et cetera yesterday. It changed in tone today. What do you make of it?
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's a rollercoaster, OK, and it's an unpredictable one at that. One minute he's very gracious, one minute he's charming, one minute he's mean, one minute, he's erratic, one minute he's narcissistic. All right --
HARLOW: He's not -- he's not no-drama Obama. But he's his own man.
ROGIN: He is his own man and that own man is all over the place, OK, in two days. And yes, we should praise him when he does good things and criticize him when he does bad things, but this whole rollercoaster of unpredictability is really unsettling. Not just for voters, not just for journalists, not just for foreign leaders, but for everybody. So, you know, at some point, what I'd like to see -- I don't know if we're going to see it - sort of a let's stop somewhere. Let's have a tone for this administration. Let's see what the agenda is. Let's see the plan to get it implemented --
HARLOW: Josh, you are asking for something that the president never showed once during the entire campaign.
ROGIN: That's right.
HARLOW: I mean, I am sort of confounded by the fact that -- well, he won, and I am sort of confounded by the fact that people keep thinking he's going to change now.
ROGIN: No, I'm not saying he's going to change. I'm saying that now he has more responsibility. And he -- that --
HARLOW: You're saying now he should change?
ROGIN: No, I'm saying that now he should settle on what he wants to do and what he wants to be. So not change, just pick one of the identities and stick with it.
HARLOW: What say you, Alice?
ALICE STEWART, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR SEN. TED CRUZ: I think assuming that he is going to change just because there is a president in front of his name is a big mistake for anyone. For the media or the citizens.
[23:05:02] But, look, I think the tone and tenor will always be the same. The -- what people need to focus on are what are his policies, what does he promised on the campaign, and what does he said he's going to do. And he's made it quite clear and Vice President Pence has made it clear, the promises they made on the campaign they expect to follow-through, and we're already seeing that with their high priority on repealing and replacing Obamacare, as well as -- we heard In the speech yesterday, America first, and that is critically important.
And what he's doing with the executive actions, a high priority on securing the border. And these are priorities he made in the campaign. Whether it be might erratic or not necessarily the tone we have with Barack Obama, it is going to be the way things are going to operate.
HARLOW: So Obamacare, you know, something that not only he has said time and time again he wants to repeal, he has been really in line with his party on that. They all want to repeal it. Just what's the replacement going to look like. It's different, though, when you get to something like building the wall. That is a place where he doesn't have all of the support of those in his party. Was this a smart move to first focus first and foremost on repealing Obamacare and getting his party on the same page with him?
ROBERT P. JONES, AUTHOR, "THE END OF WHITE CHRISTIAN AMERICA": Well, it certainly placed, you know, red meat for his party. I mean, there's no doubt about that. I mean, starting there. But what's interesting about it is that what we're seeing is -- we're going to see more of this, too, as people start -- if we start looking at 20 million people losing their coverage, you know, we're already seeing support for Obamacare and Trump's favorability numbers looking about the same with them going in opposite directions, so it could be that if we see real fears on the ground, just could backfire very quickly if they don't have the replacement in place or if it just --
HARLOW: Paul Ryan said they would. I mean, he said --
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: Well, we'll see. I mean, they've been saying that for years. We haven't seen a replacement plan that's really concrete.
HARLOW: Well, he said we're not going to repeal it with nothing there.
JONES: Yes.
HARLOW: You are not sure?
JONES: Well, you know, I'm really not sure. So, again, we've gotten so many messages on this. We're going to repeal it, then we're going to replace it, we're going to do it all at once, and we're going to do it right up front. There's no -- no one, I think, too seriously thinks this can be done in a matter of weeks.
HARLOW: One place -- let's talk about unity for a moment, shall we?
WAJAHAT ALI, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, AFFINIS LABS: Let's.
HARLOW: Because --
ALI: Because of Donald Trump.
HARLOW: Watch out, there's one place where I think there -- they definitely could -- both sides could come together and that's on this infrastructure plan.
ALI: That's right.
HARLOW: And this desire that the president has to spend up to, you know, trillion dollars on an infrastructure plan. A number of Democrats support it. Actually, you know, some Democrats may support it more than some Republicans who don't think the government has any business spending that much money on an infrastructure plan. Are you hopeful that they can come together on that?
ALI: On one aspect yes, with infrastructure. Because we saw the inauguration speech, apparently it's American carnage. The infrastructure is falling and crumbling, we're living at despotic future, oh my god. It's like a bad sci-fi novel. But hopefully with this plan for infrastructure investment, I do believe that we will get a lot of Republicans and Democrats on the same side.
And I just want to say, I do hope that President Trump changes. I want him to change. I don't want him to act presidential. I don't want alternative facts. I want facts. I want him to act presidential and tweet presidential. You know, the bar is so low that we here on CNN are giving him props for reading a teleprompter without going off script or without demonizing a minority. That's how low the bar is. So yes, let's hope that our president unites the country including 300 million Americans, Mexicans, women, Muslims and even those who voted against him.
HARLOW: Is that a fair assessment, Alice?
STEWART: I think, look, Donald Trump has been and always will be Donald Trump, and I think those that say they want him to act presidential, I think it's an exercise in futility.
ALI: But he's our president.
STEWART: The success of him whether in the business world or in the campaign world is that he is a man -- he is very clear with what his goal is and he works hard and accomplishes it. That's why people voted for him. He outlined what his plan was to make America great again and he followed through and is already making steps to follow through on his promises. His style was not a secret on the campaign trail and people voted for him.
HARLOW: However --
STEWART: And I think that's the thing to keep in mind.
HARLOW: However, one promise he is not apparently following through on is to release his tax returns. Let's listen to what Kellyanne Conway said this morning when she was asked if he will indeed release them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: The White House response is that he's not going to release his tax returns. We litigated this all through the election. People didn't care. They voted for him. And let me make this very clear. Most Americans are very focused on what their tax returns will look like while President Trump is in office. Not what his look like. And you know full well that -- President Trump and his family are complying with all the ethical rules, everything they need to do to step away from his businesses and be a full time president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: OK, Kellyanne Conway said the American people don't care. They do care. 74 percent of them told CNN in our polling just last week that they do think he should release them. It's not the number one issue to them but it matters to them.
But, Josh Rogin, also equally as important is the fact that we actually don't know now, because Kellyanne Conway just told CNN and Jeff Zeleny denied -- sort of walked back those comments, saying actually our position from the campaign has not changed, saying the president is still under audit and has been advised by accountants and lawyers not to release his tax returns.
[23:10:17] ROGIN: Right.
HARLOW: Could it be troublesome that we and the American people can't get a direct answer on this?
ROGIN: Yes. Yes. So, OK, they're working out the kinks, the messaging machine is not functioning on all cylinders. All right. That we saw that in the press conference. Hopefully that will get better. I'm not predicting change, I'm just like giving them the benefit of the doubt, that they could get better. But on the taxes, I mean, what about all the years he wasn't under audit? Remember when he was asked about that in his one and only transition press conference, he was, like, yes, I've heard that.
HARLOW: Not only he said he would release them, Alice Stewart, but so did Mike Pence and so did a lot of people speaking for him, so if he doesn't or if this is indeed what Kellyanne Conway said, that no, they've decided they are not going to, he's not just putting himself in a difficult position, he's putting other people in a very tough position who vouched for him.
STEWART: Look, I am one I think he should have done that in the campaign. I think the American people and the voters and the press deserve to see a full disclosure. That didn't happen. But at the end of the day, people still voted for him. With those questions in their minds, they still voted for him. And I think the fact that we still have not seen him and there's still not a clear answer on this, I don't expect to see them. But I think there are more important things, really, on peoples' minds. I think they are concerned, truly, as Kellyanne Conway said, about their own taxes, about their jobs.
They are concerned about Obamacare. Paul Ryan assures the American people they're not going to pull the rugs out from underneath them. But they're not sure about that. And those are the things that are on people's mind, and I think this is just a distraction, and anyone who's holding their breath for them is going to be blue.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: I just don't think --
ALI: I don't think it's a distraction.
STEWART: Why?
ALI: Because 50 percent of his base actually announced according to both "Washington Post" and the CNN poll that this is important, they want to see his tax returns. And also, on day one of his presidency, constitutional scholars who are about to do a lawsuit against Donald Trump this week allegedly say that he is in violation of the Constitution based on the Emolument Clause and also because he has not divested from his international operations with hundreds of millions of dollars of funds.
STEWART: No, that's not true. ROGIN: Right.
ALI: From foreign aids that we don't know about. This is so important because you have a president who might -- who might or could use and abuse the presidency to benefit himself.
HARLOW: All right.
(CROSSTALK)
STEWART: Point of fact, that's not true. It's not a violation of the Constitution.
ALI: Allegedly it is. Constitutional scholars say so.
STEWART: No, that's not true.
ROGIN: If he is getting money from foreign governments through his shady business deals, that's a violation.
HARLOW: Right. If he --
ALI: And the Trump Hotels.
HARLOW: If he is, and he has said he's not --
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: He said there will be no more foreign deals during his presidency. He's also put it in control of his sons. Look, something like this has never been done before, right?
STEWART: Right.
HARLOW: I mean, history is being written here. I do want to also address what has happened to the media in the last 24 hours. Let's listen to his White House spokesman, Sean Spicer, attacking the media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That's what you guys should be writing and covering that this -- instead of sewing division about tweets and false narratives. The president is committed to unifying our country and that was the focus of his inaugural address. This kind of dishonesty in the media, the challenging the bringing out our nation together is making it more difficult.
There's been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable. And I'm here to tell you that it goes two ways. We are going to hold the press accountable as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: All right. He's talking about the reporting on the crowd size. I'm just going to pull these up. You're going to look at two images, one is an image of President Obama's 2009 inauguration. The National Mall there. The other is President Trump's inauguration, on the other side of your screen.
This is what Sean -- this is what was reported by the media and shown, et cetera, Sean Spicer said and CNN fact-checked five things about the crowd side that were not factual within the course of five minutes.
Alice Stewart, you know, there's been reporting that the president wanted him to come out here, wanted him to say this, you were a communications director for Ted Cruz.
STEWART: Right.
HARLOW: If you were ever asked to say something that you believe was not factual, what do you do?
STEWART: You stress the importance of being factually correct with the media, and I can honestly say none of my bosses I've ever worked for have ever said here's some information that's not true, go out --
HARLOW: So what if Ted --
STEWART: But here's the thing --
HARLOW: What if Ted Cruz asked you to say and we can pull this up again, that the picture on the right had more people than the picture on the left?
STEWART: Look, here's a thing. This is not a battle I would pick. Clearly this is one that the Trump administration wants to flush out with the media, and this stems from a series of what they view as factual inaccuracies and misrepresentation of the facts by the press and this is something they want to nip in the bud, on the front end, and clearly that is what Sean Spicer was trying to do. And this is an important issue for them, many people don't agree, but this is -- and they are trying to put a flag in the ground.
HARLOW: Clearly.
STEWART: Holding the press accountable.
HARLOW: Robert, are they fighting -- is this administration fighting what voters would deem an important fight here?
[23:15:03] JONES: I can't see it. I mean, the two words I've got for this entire weekend for Donald Trump are missed opportunity.
ALI: Right.
JONES: I mean, that is what I think. He had this huge opportunity and I think even being Donald Trump, not asking him to change, but he had the seeds even in the inaugural address where he said, look, I'm going to give government back to the people, but if you're going to give government back to the people, transparency has got to be one of the biggest things you stand on, right? So with not releasing his tax returns, which by the way, 6 in 10 white working class Americans and 7 in 10 red state voters want him to do, that's pretty big. And then this fight, you know, over things we have photos of, you know, from multiple sources, not just from one place, and it's just not a fight that I don't think he would pick. And he's undermining a real chance, I think, to, you know, show a bigger -- a bigger Trump, not a smaller Trump, but a bigger Trump.
HARLOW: Josh, this comes at the same time that -- you know, the public doesn't love the media, right?
ROGIN: Right.
HARLOW: Recent poll -- I think it was Gallup showed 32 percent of Americans have a real trust in the media.
ROGIN: Yes -- no, I think the media has to do better. We have to up our game, we have to be more airtight. That's going to be our challenge for the next four years. To be tough and fair --
HARLOW: Right. Because a reporter -- a reporter for "TIME" inaccurately reported yesterday that the --
ROGIN: Right.
HARLOW: That the bust of Martin Luther King Senior --
ROGIN: But that's --
HARLOW: Wait let me just finish.
ROGIN: Yes.
HARLOW: Was removed from the Oval Office.
ROGIN: Sure.
HARLOW: That was not accurate.
ROGIN: But he admitted it and corrected it quickly, and that's what the media does.
ALI: And apologized for it.
ROGIN: And apologized for it, and mistakes will happen. And that's much different than putting out falsehoods and defending them as alternative facts and then being upset about it, OK. If you want to have a good relationship with the media it's got to go two ways.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: Alice --
ROGIN: Does the Trump administration really want a good relationship with the media because that means they've got to give and take.
STEWART: 99 percent of the press, 99 percent of the time are good and get their facts straight, and I think the world of the press corps we have in America, God bless America for them.
ALI: There's a but coming.
STEWART: But there are times when our facts is easily --
HARLOW: Checked.
STEWART: Checked and corrected, and with the Martin Luther King, that could have easily been checked. But by the time it's tweeted out there, other people take it, re-tweet it, write a story on it, the toothpaste is all over the counter and you can't put it back in the tube, and that's the problem. You can apologize once on a tweet, but once it's out there it's impossible.
HARLOW: And then Josh said we all need to be airtight.
ALI: None of us have ever seen a press conference like that and for a reason. The fact that that was the first press conference where he came out like Luke Abrosi, huffing and puffing, admonishing the press -- I had a friend, this is an important point. She -- Lena Albibi (PH), she was watching. Her family is from Syria. She looked at that and said wow, this is what happens in the Middle East. That's not a compliment, by the way, and the fact that he made such a big deal lying, he lied and said this was the biggest crowd ever, ever to be at an inauguration, to ever witness an inauguration. No, number one, it wasn't, you saw the photo. And number two, the TV ratings were higher for both Obama inaugurations, and number three, the riders on the subway were also more for the Women's March than for Trump inauguration, another lie.
The fact that this is what Trump made Spicer say shows how insecure he is about sizes, whether it's hands, fingers or the crowd.
ROGIN: And what do they say about the women's march?
HARLOW: I've got to leave it there, guys.
ROGIN: Absolutely nothing.
HARLOW: I have to leave it there, guys.
ALI: They got nothing about women's march.
HARLOW: Actually that's not true. Donald Trump tweeted twice about it today. But I got to leave it there.
Coming up, live in the CNN NEWSROOM, President Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and it included an invitation. When will Netanyahu visit the White House? We have that. All of this as the brand new administration reaffirms a pledge to move the embassy -- the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. We will take you live to Jerusalem next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:21:27] HARLOW: The White House tonight saying it's in the beginning stages of talks to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It is something President Donald Trump promised to do during the campaign. Palestinians already protesting the possible move and critics worrying that it could damage any hope of achieving peace in the Middle East.
Our Ian Lee joins me now tonight from Jerusalem.
We've seen -- we're looking at right there, we've seen these protests from Palestinians. How are Palestinian leaders reacting to this news?
IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, we heard from Saeb Erekat, who is the chief Palestinian negotiator, before this phone call saying that if they moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem that the Palestinians could revoke their recognition of Israel as well as revoke all agreements with Israel. We're also hearing from the Palestinian president as well as King Abdullah of Jordan, going against this. They believe it will harm the prospect of Middle East peace. And King Abdullah has said that he's going to work with regional partners and international partners to make sure this doesn't happen.
Donald Trump is riding a bit of a wave of popularity amongst Middle East leaders who thought Obama neglected them, and so this could damage that relationship with Arab capitals around the region. But we are hearing from Israeli officials, Israel is very much for moving this capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. We heard from the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, he said that POTUS announcements sends a clear message, Jerusalem is Israel's indivisible capital. We are here to help bring the U.S. embassy home.
So very controversial, this move, this potential move of bringing the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
HARLOW: We know that on this phone call today between President Trumps and the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, there was a big invitation extended to come -- for Netanyahu to come to the White House next month. Do we know if he will make the trip?
LEE: Definitely, Poppy. This is something that's been a bit of talk of the town here in Jerusalem about Bibi going over -- Prime Minister Netanyahu going over and talking to President Trump. They have a wide range of issues they've got to discuss. The war in neighboring Syria, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians as well as the Iran nuclear deal which Netanyahu says is a bad deal and would like to see it changed. But this meeting between the two really is probably going to set out the future, what the path between -- the path forward for Israel and the United States, what that relationship is going to look like, Poppy.
HARLOW: All right. Ian Lee, live for us in Jerusalem. Thank you for the reporting.
And let's talk more about this and this plan, this embassy move, and just the broader context of this new relationship clearly between the leader of Israel and the new leader of the United States.
Elise Labott is with us, our global affairs correspondent.
So nice to be with you and not remotely from New York to Washington.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Really good to be here.
HARLOW: Big picture here, a lot of talk about the embassy but there's much more at stake here.
LABOTT: That's right. Absolutely. And I mean, we're so focused on the embassy because there's been so much back and forth.
HARLOW: Right.
LABOTT: And President Trump during the campaign said so much. But there's so much more that these leaders need to discuss, and when you talk to Israeli officials and even when you hear Cabinet secretaries, and in Israel talk, this is not the most important issue in the relationship. Israeli officials have said the threat posed by Iran and trying to maybe overturn or strengthen the Iran nuclear deal.
[23:25:07] The violence in Syria and the civil war and how that affects Israel with Hezbollah and other groups, and also improving Israel's relationship with its neighbors. This is what Israel talks about its priorities. Yes, they want Donald Trump to move the embassy and they've welcomed it, but they say that, you know, this is not the most important issue, and I bet when the prime minister comes here, and he's expected to come early next month, that's really not even going to top the agenda -- Poppy.
HARLOW: What changes now? Because I know that the relationship between President Obama and Bibi Netanyahu, not good on a personal level, but it didn't affect the amount of financial aid that the United States gave to Israel whatsoever. What changes do you think materially in the relationship between the United States and Israel under President Trump?
LABOTT: Well, obviously the tone is going to be much better.
HARLOW: Sure.
LABOTT: You know, President Trump and his advisers, and David Friedman, who's expected to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel if he's confirmed, very pro-Israel, talking about, you know, no daylight between the U.S. and Israel, and that they're going to really take their cues from Israel about what it wants the U.S. to do --
HARLOW: Well, better from the -- you say better, better from the Israelis' point of view?
LABOTT: Well, certainly better from --
HARLOW: But if you're a Palestinian watching this --
LABOTT: If you're from -- the Palestinians, they're very concerned but, you know, obviously they are going to get the short end of the stick. I will say I talked to some Palestinian officials and they say, actually, it could be better in the sense that if Prime Minister Netanyahu trusts President Trump a little bit more, perhaps he could, if he wanted to, gain some concessions from the prime minister to say listen, I have your back on this, you know, Prime Minister Netanyahu didn't feel that the U.S. had his back on the Iran deal.
HARLOW: Right.
LABOTT: Also didn't feel that he had his back at the United Nations with that very controversial vote on settlements. Palestinian officials don't know what to expect. You know, President Trump has said that he wants to make peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He's going to put his son-in-law in charge, and he's called it the ultimate deal.
HARLOW: Yes.
LABOTT: The man who wrote "The Art --
HARLOW: Of course he wants it.
LABOTT: The man who wrote the "Art of the Deal" wants to make the ultimate deal.
HARLOW: What role do you think Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, could have in all of this?
LABOTT: I really don't know. He has said that he's going to be the one to make Mideast peace. You know, obviously Jared Kushner has a long history with Israel, not sure he has such a very long history with Arab states and the Palestinians, which are all going to be so important into getting some kind of comprehensive peace plan that look, it's not only going to make peace between Israelis and Palestinians but is also hopefully going to get peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, so there's so many pieces in place.
The Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has very -- hasn't been confirmed yet, has very good relations with Arab leaders and so hopefully he could play a part in this. You know, not only Jared Kushner, but ban Steve Bannon, the, you know, kind of senior adviser, counsel if you will, to President Trump, is supposed to take a big role.
I think they're just starting to talk about this.
HARLOW: Sure.
LABOTT: So when you talk about moving the embassy, what Arab diplomats are hoping is that this will be in the context of something larger, a larger strategy for the peace plan.
HARLOW: Yes.
LABOTT: You can't do it in a vacuum because that's just going to cause a lot of violence in the region and it will make some Palestinians very unhappy.
HARLOW: It's going to keep you busy.
LABOTT: Going to keep me very busy.
HARLOW: Elise Labott, thank you. So nice to have you on.
Coming up, live in the CNN NEWSROOM, to sports and a dancing very, very happy team. His team, the Atlanta Falcons, they are going to the Super Bowl. We are headed live to the field in Foxborough, Massachusetts, home of the New England Patriots, the Falcons' opponent, to find out who a former Super Bowl MVP thinks will be the NFL's next champion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:30:00] HARLOW: The Super Bowl is set and its NFL royalty against a team that hasn't played in the big dance in 18 years, the New England Patriots, it will be their record ninth appearance of the Super Bowl in just two weeks. The Atlanta Falcons is who they will meet there, just their second trip to the big game. Let's talk all with two-time Super Bowl Champion and CNN's sports correspondent Hines Ward. He is live in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and was at the AFC championship game. Show me your rings, do you have two Super Bowl rings?
HINES WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I do have two Super Bowl rings, but I did not wear my rings, I didn't want to give bad luck to my Steelers, but I don't know, maybe I should have changed that way. Well, hey, this is the seventh - I would say, this is the seventh - oh, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, I'm ready, I'm ready for, you know, this was the seventh Super Bowl appearance --
HARLOW: I was just going to say, I was just going to give - go for it.
WARD: Oh ready? This is the seventh Super Bowl appearance for Tom Brady and Coach Belichick, and we all know that Tom Brady did not play well in last - in the last game in the divisional game, but it's rare to see him play bad in back-to-back games, but tonight Brady at the age of 39 showed us why he is still the king of the mound. He played flawless, Poppy, and put a beat down on my Steelers. I had my head down the whole way in the media room, but the start of the night, though, goes to wide receiver Chris Hogan. I mean, he was the unsung hero, he has 180 yards receiving, two touchdowns, and this is his first year with the Patriots. So, just think, he's only played one year of college football. He was a lacrosse player, and Poppy, let me tell you, there's always that one player that no one is talking about who comes up big in the big game, so, that just happens to be Chris Hogan.
HARLOW: So, I'm very sorry about your Steelers, my friend, however, we must move on, and as you look in your crystal ball, and as you look ahead, as you look ahead to two weeks from now, who's going to take it away? Is this going to be a ninth - a ninth game and a sixth victory for the Pats, or is this going to be the Falcon's time?
WARD: I think it might be the Falcons. You never know. I mean, they're playing good right now. The falcons, they played the last game in the Georgia Dome and went out with a bang, led by MVP candidate, Matt Ryan, he showed everybody why he belongs in that conversation of elite quarterbacks. I mean, Poppy, he put on a passing clinic against the Packers' defense. And I mean, that he was almost flawless, ended up throwing for close to 400 yards and accounted for five touchdown passes in this game. Now, this one was all Falcons, they put a beat down on the Packers and they slowed down the Red-Hot Packers, blew them out, 44 to 21. I can't wait to see the Falcons, doing their dirty bird again. This is the second Super Bowl appearance by the Falcons, the City of Atlanta has only one major championship, and that was back when Atlanta Braves did it back in 1995. So the Super Bowl was all set. You've got the Falcons they'll face off the New England Patriots in Houston February 5th. I can't wait, it should be a good one, though.
HARLOW: Hines, I know you were complaining or shall I say whining about how cold it is out there, so why don't you warm up by doing a little - what did you call it, the dirty bird?
[23:35:02] WARD: The dirty bird. Hah!
HARLOW: All right. That made my night. Hines Ward, thank you very much. And on a personal note -
WARD: No problem.
HARLOW: -- thank you to my entire team in the control room in Atlanta for working tonight for about 24 straight hours instead of watching the game. Thank you all. Quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: President Trump ran on a platform of jobs. He promised the American people he would bring back jobs lost from overseas to global trade and automation. In fact, President Trump promised to create 25 million jobs through his America first doctrine of buy American and hire American. That's a pretty tall order. 25 million jobs would be the most ever created under any single president. How could he accomplish it? Our "CNN MONEY's" Heather Long is with me from New York tonight. Heather, thank you so much for being here. I know you dig into these numbers daily. This would top the 20 - the nearly 23 million jobs that were added under President Bill Clinton's terms. And that was during the boom of the 90s. Could Trump reach 25 million?
HEATHER LONG, CNN SENIOR WRITER: This is going to be very, very hard to do. No doubt about it. As you mentioned, it would be the most that any president -- it would be more than double. The 11 - just over 11 million jobs added under President Obama, so in my mind, Trump is really drawing an economic red line here to say this is what he wants to deliver for America and for his supporters, it's a great economic legacy. So, how in the world can he do this? He has three key policy plans under the economy. And the first that we talk a lot about is cutting taxes. Cutting taxes for you and I for individuals and cutting taxes for corporations. So that reaganesque approach, that if we cut taxes, businesses will want to invest more here, and they will hopefully hire more and create a lot more jobs here. [23:40:02] The second thing we're starting to see it happen already
this week is trade. He wants to renegotiate trade deals including the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, that we have with Mexico and with Canada. So that's a little bit more questionable, how that will play out on the job front. Because some of our jobs do depend on our exports and our trade with those countries. So will that help or hurt is a bit of a question mark. The final part that a lot of people do think could help grow jobs is, he wants to do a big - a lot of spending, he even talked about in his inaugural address, to spend a lot of money to repair roads and bridges, help that infrastructure, and that could create some jobs.
HARLOW: Is upwards of a trillion-dollar infrastructure spending plan, which by the way some democrats are absolutely in support of, but he's got roadblocks. What are the biggest challenges, roadblocks, that he, you know, it's going to be tough to get around to reach 25 million?
LONG: There's a lot of roadblocks. I mean, obviously, congress has to go along with a lot of these plans, but I think the bigger one from an economic perspective, is that a lot of jobs are not just being lost to people. A lot of American jobs aren't just going overseas to Mexico or China, which he focuses on a lot. A lot of these jobs are being lost to technology and robots. I spent last weekend in Lordstown, Ohio, in a big GM auto factory there. That factory used to employ 15,000 people in the late 80s and early 90s, now it employs just over 3,000. They're still producing a ton of cars, but those cars are being made by robots.
As one worker said to me, you know, he works on the trunks of the cars, and he said, "There used to be a human, when I started working here a couple years ago who physically put a spare tire in the trunk, that job is now done by a robot." So you know, Trump has to fight against this big push towards automation.
HARLOW: And I think it's important for us to remember, the market rally that we have seen in the stock market post-election is not correlated necessarily directly to a jobs rally that we may see.
LONG: That's definitely true. President Obama was great for the stock market. The stock market nearly tripled under President Obama, now we did see some good job growth towards the end of his presidency, but the market was going up a long time before we started to see that job growth. So, just because the market is optimistic, doesn't mean Main Street is going to benefit.
HARLOW: Yes. Although, it does give businesses confidence, when they have confidence, they spend, they hire, so you can see that correlation. Heather Long, tonight's (INAUDIBLE) - thank you --
LONG: That is the biggest - right.
HARLOW: Thank you very much. We have to leave it there. On that note, President Trump today announced that he will begin renegotiating NAFTA when he meets with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We will be meeting with the President of Mexico who I know, and we're going to start some negotiations having to do with NAFTA. Anybody ever hear of NAFTA? I ran a campaign somewhat based on NAFTA. But we're going to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration, and on security at the border.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: That was another big campaign promise that he hit hard in his inaugural address, put America first. That is music to the ears of many, many people who have lost their good-paying U.S.-manufacturing jobs. Let's with all of this with Scott Paul, he is President of the Alliance of American Manufacturing. Nice to have you with us.
SCOTT PAUL, ALLIANCE OF AMERICA MANUFACTURING PRESIDENT: Poppy, good to be with you.
HARLOW: So just diving into NAFTA, he said he's going to meet with Justin Trudeau and President Pena Nieto of Mexico and renegotiate this. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says 6 million U.S. jobs right now are dependent on trade with Mexico. It matters for U.S. jobs if you just scrap it.
PAUL: It does and I think that if you just repealed NAFTA there'd be a big downside to it, just like repealing the Affordable Care Act would have devastating consequences. There used to be a thoughtful replacement to NAFTA. And I think all three countries agree that it could be modernized. And it was negotiated more than 20 years ago when an era where we didn't have smart phones or digital technology or anything like that. And also, in an era where these countries weren't facing as much competition from Asia and from China in particular. So there may be opportunities, but you're right, I mean, I think, in the heartland in particular, you know, NAFTA is a -- can do a curse word. People do not like it. They respond this really quick -- they expect some action.
HARLOW: And you can - you can understand why. If my job got replaced by a robot, I'd be pretty ticked off, too. But it's not just NAFTA, it is automation. And that is not going to change. And one thing that I - you know, I think it's very important to note, is that Andy Puzder, the guy that Trump has tapped to run labor -- be the Labor Secretary is the CEO of a fast-food restaurant. He said about automation. How much he likes automation in his restaurants. "They're always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there's never a slip and fall or age or sex or race discrimination case." He said that to Business Insider this year. How is that going to shake out when it comes to these jobs?
[23:45:11] PAUL: It's - I mean, technology, automation, they are facts of life. We do not want to turn back the clock on that. That would be a huge mistake. At the same time, if you'll --
HARLOW: That would set America back. PAUL: That -- it would set America back. Absolutely. At the same time, I think that there can be a future where you have the robots and you also have the manufacturing jobs. Let's take a look at Elon Musk and his investment -
HARLOW: Right, Tesla (INAUDIBLE) is invading California.
PAUL: Tesla, solar city -- that's right. And the new battery plant, 6,000 people working with robots. So if we get policy right, if we get tax code right, if we get some of the trade policy right, there will be an opportunity for new manufacturing jobs. They'll look a lot different than those manufacturing jobs from the 50s.
HARLOW: But they'll be - they'll be better-paying jobs, too, because they're going to take a higher skill set, and you've said for the President to do what he wants to do, he has to be what you call a dynamic thinker. And he needs to focus on a macroeconomic policy. Not just tweeting at Carrier, tweeting at Ford, tweeting at GM. It's great to see any jobs coming back or staying here. But what macroeconomic policy does he need?
PAUL: Were in fierce global competition. And so, every government decision impacts a manufacturing firm or any other firm that's in that kind of global competition. So tax policy matters. How low the rate is, what are the incentives to invest in America? Trade policy matters. Are you - and this is where I do agree somewhat with Donald Trump and the criticism. I think we negotiated some terrible deals for the United States. We need to reconfigure those deals with China and Mexico, in particular we also need workforce training and we need infrastructure investment because when we spur that demand, it makes our economy more efficient, people love getting to their jobs quicker. But it moves our goods to the ports faster. It makes us a more efficient economy, and bipartisan support. Yes.
HARLOW: All of that. And look, and I think that's the one bipartisan thing you're going to see probably happen on the Hill. We'll see how big it is. Thank you, Scott. Nice - so nice to have you on.
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[23:50:02] HARLOW: For a second day today, Hillary Clinton showing her support of the Women's Marches around the globe (AUDIO GAP) nominee retweeted an article from Slate, just a few hours ago that showed images and videos of the huge crowds. Here's what she wrote, "Scrolling through images of the women's march is awe inspiring, hope it brought joy to others, as it did to me." During the marches yesterday, Clinton tweeted her support and expressed her gratitude in real time. One tweet read, "Important as ever, I truly believe we are always stronger together." Meantime, here on the nation's capital, we just witnessed another piece of history, the peaceful transfer of power from one President to the next. Our Fredricka Whitfield spoke with some of the people who travelled a long way here to be part of Donald Trump's inauguration. And she asked them what they expect and what they hoped to see from the President in his first 100 days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, the President-elect of the United States, Donald John Trump.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: How does this compare to other inaugural occasions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been unbelievable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As I've been to every inauguration since Ronald Reagan, and just the crowds and the people, it just -- you have to have a sense of feeling. You get goose bumps every time you come to one of these things, so --
TRUMP: I, Donald John Trump --
WHITFIELD: What do you expect in his first 100 days?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're going see a lot of activity. And that's what he sort of promised through his campaign. That's what he's promised, you know, since the election, that he's going to get to work. He's a businessman, he knows you got to, you know, you got to take action, you got to do what you said you're going to do. So, you know, like him or not, I think you're going to see a lot of activity, and you're going to see a lot of things happening.
TRUMP: This moment is your moment, it belongs to you.
WHITFIELD: He said this moment belongs to you. What was your interpretation of that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I just think, you know, like he said throughout the campaign, you know, that, sort of, the government left the people behind and it sort of like, "Hey, he's giving the government back to the people where it belongs." And you could just hear to the crowd when he said that. It's just like a murmur to the crowd. I think that's what people want. They want to take the -- you know, take our government back. And that's what he's giving back to us.
WHITFIELD: And what are you hoping to see in the first 100 days?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just the first 100 days, what his promise as far as bringing work back here to the United States and all of us working together.
TRUMP: God bless America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Fredricka Whitfield, thank you for that. Coming up, new video of former President Barack Obama, his first weekend away from the Oval Office and I guess media is not leaving him alone. He's on the back nine. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [23:55:00] HARLOW: It has become customary for the outgoing U.S. President to leave a message for the incoming Commander in Chief. Well, President Trump got just that from President Obama, he showed that letter from President Obama this morning at the swearing in ceremony of White House senior staff. But will he share what the letter said?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I just went to the Oval Office and found this beautiful letter from President Obama. It was really very nice of him to do that. And we will cherish that. We will keep that. And we won't even tell the press what's in that letter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So no, we will now hear what's in the letter. For his part though, former President Obama spent his day, his first full day off the job engaging in one of his favorite activities, golfing. This course in Rancho Mirage, California is where he had a nice and relaxing day. As the Obamas enjoy some vacation time in and around Palm Springs, CNN managed to get the exclusive video, but apparently not a peak of his score card. Thank you so much for being with us this Sunday, I'm Poppy Harlow. The news continues with Robyn Curnow and Cyril Vanier in Atlanta after this quick break.
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