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Patriot And Falcons Get Set For Super Bowl LI; Appeals Court: No Travel Ban For Now; Obamacare Replacement Could Take Until Next Year; Trump Defends Putin; Trump: We Expect To Cut A Lot Of Dodd- Frank; Kentucky Town Places Hope For Jobs On Trump. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired February 05, 2017 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00] HINES WARD, RETIRED AMERICAN FOOTBALL WIDE RECEIVER: There's no word to describe the fill in the plan and one of the biggest games of your life. But I could tell you this, on the bus ride over here. You could hear a pin drop, because it was so quiet, because all the players were focusing on the big game.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: So much excitement Hines Ward, thank you so much, we're running out of time. I am Boris Sanchez we thank you so much for watching us, we'll send it up now to Poppy Harlow in New York. Thanks again for watching.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everyone, top of the hour. I am Poppy Harlow in New York. So glad you're with us this Sunday evening. We certainly have a lot to get to - get right to breaking news. The president lashing out on twitter after an appeals court denies a request to reinstate his travel ban. The President tweeting this, just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens, blame him and the court system. People are pouring in bad. Also the president is tweeting and instructed Homeland Security to check people coming in to our country very carefully. The courts are making the job very difficult. Both sides have until tomorrow to file their grief's, supporting their side of the case. How it will all play out if anyone's guess folks this will likely go up to the nation's highest court. Our Suzanne Malveaux begins our coverage this hour in Washington. Suzanne, they have a deadline of tomorrow, for both sides to file this brief, then they'll finally hear the case on the merits, then what?
SUZZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Poppy, it's really interesting, this is just after the first two weeks in office. President Trump is now preparing for a constitutional showdown of the lifted travel ban by the executive order can stand. Now what has happened so far, Federal Appeals Court, early this morning denied the U.S. government's emergency request to resume the ban. So what this means is that the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge James Robart who suspended the ban, well that now remains in place. Trump spent the weekend disparaging this judge, with his tweets calling him a so called judge who made a ridiculous ruling. Now what we are looking at as lawyers for Washington State and Minnesota must file legal papers, this is by 3:00 in the morning or 10 hours from now, the Justice Department has to reply by 6:00 tomorrow evening before it goes to a three-judge panel. So Poppy, we're not the only ones who are actually working this weekend. There are lots of other legal minds that are trying to sort all of this out.
HARLOW: They are and also making news, the president sitting down for that one-on-one interview with Fox News's Bill O'Reilly, talked about a lot of things. Made a headline certainly on Obamacare, and it seems like the plan to roll out a replacement is much slower than what he promised on the campaign trail.
MALVEAUX: That is right, because he was talking about just days in taking office of just literally blowing it up and replacing it with something brand new and now President Trump seems to be trying to lower the expectations for repealing and replacing the affordable care act, Obama care right away, he gave this revised timetable today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY, THE O'REILLY FACTOR SHOW HOST: Can Americans in 2017 expect a new health care plan rolled out by the Donald Trump administration, this year?
DONALD TRUMP, THE 45TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the process and maybe it will take until sometime into next year, but we'll certainly going to be in the process. Very complicated Obamacare is a disaster, you have to remember, Obamacare doesn't work, so we are putting in a wonderful plan, its statutorily take a while to get. We would be putting it up fairly soon, I think that yes, I would like to say by the end of the year, at least the rudiments, but we should have something within the year and the following year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Republican lawmakers last week said it is more about fixing Obamacare not creating something entirely new and Poppy, just a little bit of color on how Trump is spending his Super Bowl Sunday, we're told he is watching the game at the Trump international golf club in West Palm beach, Florida. He is friends to Tom Brady, he is with the Patriots of course, so he is for that team, predicting a win by 8 points so, we will see. I have my eye on the Atlanta Falcons.
HARLOW: I bet no surprise there. Thank you very much and good luck to both teams tonight. All right a lot to get to with our panel, CNN Political Commentator and Washington Post for the New York Ryan Lizza and Penny Nance, president and CEO of concern women for America the author of the book feisty and feminine, (inaudible) for conservative women. Nice to have you both on. And Ryan, let me begin with you, so the president certainly acknowledging the reality of how things work in Washington and that it's going to take a little time, if you want to repeal and replace Obama care, saying it might not even happen until 2018, completely different than what he said about Obamacare, and frankly the Iran deal while he was on the campaign trail saying he would rip them up on day one.
[17:05:00] RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: To me, I don't think either of those are necessarily bad things, when someone who has never been a politician before, never served in any kind of office, actually adjusts to the reality of the job, realizes that his campaign rhetoric was simply wrong or unrealistic, and with respect to the Iran deal, realizes that you wouldn't get anything better if the United States --
HARLOW: He said he didn't acknowledge the things Ryan. He didn't say actually, you know, he didn't say I had it wrong on the campaign trail.
LIZZA: that is a very good point. You are right. He is not exactly admitting a mistake, but he is adjusting, but I'm quick to criticize Trump when he does something I think is wrong, in these cases where is he is actually adjusting to reality, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, whether he admits it's a mistake or not. The fact, though, that after seven years of talking about repealing and replacing Obamacare, it's a little surprising that neither the president nor the Republicans on The Hill have a detailed plan. As you know, he told Bob Costa in the "Washington Post" recently that he had a plan that would be eminently released, but that turned out not to be true.
HARLOW: Penny let me ask you this, because this tweet that just came out from the president saying that if anything happens to this country while this stay is in place for the travel ban, it is the justice's fault. I mean President Truman had a sign on his desk. The buck stops here, now the president is saying it's on you. You're a big supporter, what do you make of that?
PENNY NANCE, CEO CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA: Well, listen, first off, people who voted for President Trump, very much wanted him to take care of the issue of National Security, and he is attempting to do that. The ninth circuit is the most overturned circuit in this country, they're the most liberal. And I fully suspect that this will be overturned and it will be dealt with. The idea of coming to this country is --
HARLOW: My question to you, Penny, is do you approve of the president -- this is a judge, by the way, a Washington state federal judge, yesterday he questioned the legitimacy of saying you're a so-called justice, now he is saying it's your fault if anything happens in this country.
NANCE: Well I think he's passionate about the idea that he wants to protect America and he is very frustrated, as are many people with what is happening within the courts, particularly in the ninth circuit. Yes, this is a surprise. We know Donald Trump, he is very clear about is feelings and that is not going to change, by the way, this is the thing that Washington doesn't get, that is the very thing that endeared him to the American people. So we can sit there and scratch our heads and say, well that, doesn't seem very president, whatever, the American people like that the fact that he is very clear and he is very passionate.
HARLOW: Look Penny. That is an important point. I spent a lot of the last week in Kentucky hearing that exact thing. Ryan I want to get to this. Republican members of congress are reacting and not holding anything back in how they're reacting to what the president said in that interview with Bill O'Reilly, putting the U.S. on -- making a moral relativism between the United States and Vladimir Putin's Russia. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Will I get along with him? I have no idea.
O'REILLY: But Putin is a killer.
TRUMP: We have a lot of killers, why, you think our country is so innocent?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: All right in response, just with Marco Rubio tweeted when had a Democratic political activist, been poison by the GOP or vice versa, we're not on the same - we are not the same as Putin. And then John Kasich tweeted this. America has been a beacon of light and freedom, there is no equivalence with the brutal regime of Vladimir Putin. A lot of folks were quiet about the travel ban, but they were loud about this. Do you think a lot of Republicans in congress see this as sort of a safe space, to take on the president of their own party?
LIZZA: I think they're deeply troubled, because they have seen Trump remake the image of the Republican Party with respect to his policy toward Russia over the last year, 180 degrees from where it's been. A lot of -- a majority of Republicans, especially on the hill, believe in a more values base foreign policy, they want the American president to talk about American exceptionalism and they're tearing their hair out right now, because Trump refuses to say anything negative about Russia and he refuses to talk about the United States and the way it operates in the world as anything that is more special or unique than some of our adversaries, and to a lot of Republicans, like Marco Rubio, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, that is deeply troubling. His vice president is doing the same thing, on CBS today, he was asked if the United States morally superior to Russia.
HARLOW: Yes and he dodge it.
LIZZA: You can ask 100 Republicans and they would say yes, maybe it is not the greatest question in the world, but it's just a standard talking point.
[17:10:05] HARLOW: Let me get Penny's point on this, because I wonder, Penny, do you believe Marc -- Marco Rubio tweeting that, do you believe that sincere or is it just posturing because remember Marco Rubio tweeted that but then last week he voted to confirm Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State after he pushed Tillerson to say that he believes Putin is a war criminal in the confirmation hearing.
NANCE: First of all, let me say, I'm gratified, deeply gratified to see liberals talking about more relativism. That is a new subject for them. So thank you and the other issue is the fact that...
LIZZA: That is not a new subject for me. Ma'am, hold on a second.
NANCE: Come on. I didn't interrupt you. Please don't interrupt me. Stop. Stop. Stop.
LIZZA: Please don't do personal attack on me. Thank you very much.
NANCE: I wasn't even talking about you.
LIZZA: Go ahead now.
NANCE: I would love to talk, but you talked over me, like over a woman, which is disrespectful. Let me just say --
LIZZA: It is disrespectful to come on air and accuse me of not caring about moral relativism.
NANCE: I don't even know you. Let me answer the question.
LIZZA: So don't make accusations like that.
NANCE: I am talking about an issue that is very important and you're speaking over me. Let me get to my point.
LIZZA: You were making a point that I cared about moral relativism.
NANCE: You're just yelling at me on air.
LIZZA: I'm not yelling at you.
NANCE: May I speak? May I?
LIZZA: Please, go ahead.
NANCE: Ok. Thank you. I was going say before I was rudely interrupted that I think Putin is a thug.
LIZZA: No. It's rude to come on air and say things that are incorrect, and if you're going to do that, Yes, I will interrupt you.
LIZZA: Are you going to correct me on air or you just want to continue the (inaudible).
HARLOW: You know Penny, you said something, he is defending himself, and now I'm out of time guys. Ryan Lizza, Penny Nance, thank you very much.
NANCE: Whatever.
LIZZA: Thanks Poppy.
NANCE: Whatever.
HARLOW: Coming up, families reunited at American airports, people who would have been detained by the president's travel ban. We'll talk about the legal challenges the government is facing trying to put it back in place. How will this all play out? That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:15:11] HARLOW: People from countries on the president's travel
ban list have been arriving in the U.S., not knowing when that ban may be reinstated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have no president with the president, but I wish he did not leave this instruction, because we are not terrorists.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know there are people here. They are very supporting and then everybody is (inaudible) with the government. I don't know what is happening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: That is in Boston. But we have seen similar scenes this weekend at airports across the country, including New York and Chicago and other big cities that have a large number of international arrivals. Laura Coats is a CNN International Analyst, also a former Federal Prosecutor. She is here to help us dive into all of this. So, Laura, let me just read a really important part of this emergency motion of the Department of Justice. The key line, courts are particularly ill equipped to second guess the president's prospective judgment about future risks, unlike the president, courts do not have access to classified information about the threat posed by terrorist organizations operating in particular nations. How do you expect the court to view that argument that they have a lack of access to cross that information that the president has?
LAURA COATS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANALYST: Well this is the government's ace card, right? The idea here is according to try to know the courts are going to balance between this opposing infringement of the establishment clause of the first amendment of the constitution and weigh that against the presidential prerogative and duty to ensure that we have safe national security, concern and no concerns. Now what they did just now, listen, we are telling you, we are showcasing and broadcasting to the court that the basis for the court -- the executive order was that fact that there are national security concerns, and what it does is shield the public from being be able to say, really assess whether or not they're valid. If it is classified information, it takes on that playground feel of I can't tell you, I would have to kill you, right? That is the problem here. The courts know that they have to review the classified information to be able to assess, whether this is speculative, hypothetical or whether this is a real threat to the nation. If it is not, it won't hurt its constitution.
HARLOW: They are also weighing really two parts of the law, statute 1182 that gives the president a wide discretion when it comes to issues of immigration and national security. And another part of the U.S. law that basically says you can't discrimination against people coming in to this country including refugees, because of where they're from, or looking at the establishment clause, because of their religion. Which part of the law will carry more weight?
COATS: Really the establishment clause is going to carry the most weight here. They're kind of part and parcel to the constitutional bedrock principle that we don't discriminate based on national origin or of course religion. The issue here of course is that they're focusing on the section of the executive order that says, refugees are banned for 120 days, but after that time, Homeland Security can decide and give preferential treatment to the minority religion in a particular place. You know the United States based on the establishment clause is denominationally neutral. It can advocate for let alone prefer particular religion and that will carry the most weight. The congressional statutory authority that was conveyed to the president does have a lot of weight, but the first amendment will carry a greater amount of authority for a court to work with.
HARLOW: Your bet on whether this makes it to the Supreme Court?
COATS: All in, this will go to the Supreme Court.
HARLOW: We'll be watching. Laura Coats, thank you, appreciate it.
COATS: Thank you.
HARLOW: Coming up, if you didn't know, it's Super Bowl night, but not yet, so don't change your channel yet, the countdown to kickoff in Houston, Former Super Bowl MDC Hines Ward is live for us. Stay there.
HINES WARD, RETIRED AMERICAN FOOTBALL WIDE RECEIVER: That is right, Poppy. We are about an hour away from the big kick off here in Houston. I tell you what these guys are feeling before one of the biggest games of their life. That is coming up next after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:22:54] HARLOW: Well today's the day when professional football is not just for sports fans, it belongs to friends and family who gather around the chips and dip and debate which team is going to rise up, I think my team in Atlanta will rise up, what do you think, which ones score, which one fumbles and of course, what is GAGA going to do during the halftime show. Let's talk about it all with Super Bowl LI with former Super Bowl MVP and CNN Sports Correspondent Hines Ward, hello my friend. It is countdown time to the big game. You have been there before. You have lived this, what's going through the players' minds right now?
WARD: Well the players, they take the field high, taking the field, you have that excitement, because this is the Super Bowl, you have the celebs on the sidelines screaming your name. Let me tell you. When I was out there on the field, I got exhausted. I was trying to put on a show in front of all the superstars on the field. I ended up dehydrated. I ended up throwing up in the bathroom, because of the nerves of playing in the Super Bowl. This isn't just an ordinary game. This is the biggest game in your life, Poppy.
HARLOW: You still got to be MVP, so, I mean, it couldn't have been not that bad, my friend. We're just over an hour until kickoff, what's the atmosphere like where you are? Looks like a beautiful day in Houston. WARD: Great day. We have a little bit of showers, but a lot of
excitement is building up for the big game. The crowd is starting to go inside the stadium. And our very own (inaudible) caught up with three former NFL stars in one of the free game parties to talk about the two quarterbacks that will take the field.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE MONTANA, HALL OF FAME QUARTERBACK: When it comes down to it, it doesn't matter. Tom stays the same. He is going to put the ball where it needs to be. That is what's the most fun about watching tom.
WARREN MOON, HALL OF FAME QUARTERBACK: I consider Joe Montana, the guy you just interviews to be the best of all times, but if Tom wins his fifth one today in seven tries, I have to give him that thumbs up of being the best of all time.
EDDIE GEORGE, 8 YEAR NFL VETERAN: He is had an outstanding year, if you're a football fanatic like we are, we know about it, but for the most part, people are just now finding out how good Matt Ryan really is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[17:25:11] WARD: Now Matt Ryan, he just won the MVP, Tom Brady, I played against this guy and I don't bet against Tom Brady. This is what he shines bright. He lives up to the big stage, Poppy so I'm going to go with the New England Patriots just because I think Tom Brady is that good.
HARLOW: You're just saying that because the president said that the Patriots are going to win, come on Hines.
WARD: I won't defy his way, Poppy.
HARLOW: All right. Thank you, my friend, have a great time tonight.
Coming up for us, back to politics, a former senior economic advisor to the president weighs in as Democrats say that President Trump is not keeping his promise to the middle class.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't mean to be disrespectful, this guy is a fraud, this guy ran for president of the United States, saying, I, Donald Trump are going to take on Wall Street, these guys are getting away with murder. Then suddenly he appoints all of these billionaires.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:30:00] HARLOW: An executive order signed by President Trump on Friday did not garner as many headlines as others, but it is significant. It's an indication that his administration plans to try to rollback laws put in place after the financial crisis at a check on Wall Street. This move probably is expected from a Republican President following President Obama, especially giving government concerns of GOP concerns of government overreach, but what's more surprising about President Trump doing it is he is the one who ran an anti-Wall Street platform. He is the one that stuck up for the little guy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I know Wall Street, I know the people on Wall Street. We're going to have the greatest negotiators in the world, but at the same time I am not going to let Wall Street get away with murder. Wall Street has caused tremendous problems for us, we're going to tax Wall Street, we are going to get rid of certain things that they shouldn't have.
It is a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class. Stripped our country of itself wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: That was one of his final campaign ads. But here's what he said on Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We expect to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank, because frankly I have so many people, friends of mine, I got nice business you can't borrow money, because the banks won't let them borrow because of rulings and regulations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Stephen Moore is with me, he is the Chief Economist for the Heritage Foundation a Senior Economic Advisor to the Trump campaign now CNN Senior Economic Analyst. Welcome to the network.
STEPHEN MOORE, CNN SENIOR ECONOMIC ANALYST: Hi Poppy, great to be with you, by the way congratulations on your moving over to the mornings, I can't wait to see you.
HARLOW: Thank you. I won't get much sleep tonight, but thank you very much, I appreciate it. How do you square the two, candidate Trump sticks up for Main Street and hits Wall Street? President Trump says Jamie Damon is going to help me change the banking regulations and the CEO (inaudible) and by the way, we're going to pull back this regulation, which is it?
MOORE: Well I will make the case to you, Poppy look. Some of the financial regulations make no sense, no question about it. We want to protect consumers, but Dodd-Frank just went too far, and by the way, this was a promise that Donald Trump made during the campaign, he said I am going to roll back Dodd-Frank, there's no surprise here, it's another promise kept. But here's the reason why I think it's actually important for the little guy and to the little banks, because the ones who actually prospered the most under Dodd-Frank, have been precisely the huge banks, like bank of America and Wells Fargo and Citibank, what's happening across America, you can see this when you travel to the little towns, that the small community banks are being bought up, being swooped up by the sharks of the big banks, because these regulations are so expensive for small businesses, they can't afford it.
[HARLOW: You are referring there is a Harvard study that was just on the list in 2015 and they got this higher capital requirements, it's harder for those smaller banks to lend however, you also have the bigger banks, you know the federal reserve during a survey and they found that the bigger banks right now are lending just as about much in the latest reading in 2016 as they were in 2007. The question is, then why are the heads of the biggest banks, the ones who advice on how to reshape this.
MOORE: Look, I am not going to defend who is telling Trump to do one thing or another, but I will say this. You know remember the famous movie, it's a wonderful life with Jimmy Stewart, everybody seen it, right. That is the small bank down the street that knows everybody in the area, and can make those small loans that make communities possible. When you get the big banks come in, the evidence is irrefutable here, Poppy, we have seen a big consolidation in the banking industry, and if we stay with that prank and we stay out on this (inaudible) we're not going to have community banks anymore.
HARLOW: I want you to react to how Senator Bernie Sanders put it to Jake Tapper this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: I don't mean to be disrespectful, this guy is a fraud, this guy ran for president of the United States, I, Donald Trump, I'm going to take on Wall Street, these guys are getting away with murder. Suddenly he appoints all of this billionaire, his major financial advisor comes from Goldman-Sachs, and now he is going to dismantle legislation that protects consumers. This is a guy that ran for president, who said I'm the only Republican, I'm not going to cut social security Medicare, and Medicaid, and then he appoints all of these guys, who are precisely going to cut social security, Medicare and Medicaid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Does the senator have a point?
MOORE: It sounds pretty disrespectful to me to call him a fraud. I think Donald Trump the first two or three weeks he is been in office, he is done all the things he said he was going to do, he is building the pipelines, by the way who's going to benefit from that? Bernie Sanders, middle class, working class people...
HARLOW: But he ripped Wall Street and then he surrounds himself with Wall Street. [17:35:00] MOORE: Ok he has a point there. And there a lot of Wall
Streeter's in this White House and I'm not going to refute that, Poppy, and the optics of that are not good, I'll agree with you. But let us look what he is doing and he is keeping promises, a lot of the thing that Bernie Sanders doesn't like, you know for example building these pipelines or some of the roll back on some of these regulations that really strangle businesses, if you can't get credit, and this is what small businesses Poppy have been complaining about for five or six years, even with low interest rates, the businesses can't get credit. If they can't get credit, they can't go out and expand their businesses and that means fewer workers working. It's just a chain of command.
HARLOW: Before we go. This is something that is not getting enough coverage, because another thing that the president signed on Friday, giving memorandum that sets the stage for reversing the fiduciary rules. This is a rule that mandates the brokers in this country after the best interest of their client. Instead of just doing what makes them the most money. That seems like common sense, that was not the law until this happened. Who does it benefit?
MOORE: No. Actually that is not true. That actually is not --
HARLOW: This makes it a law that they have to do with the best interest of their clients. What feature the argument for reversing that? Why does it make sense now?
MOORE: I am going to correct you. There already were laws on the books that basically prevented these people from having conflicts of interest. And look, I do think that we should be tough on these brokers that are making bad deals for their clients. But you know there's only one group that has benefitted so far from these regulations and that is the trial lawyers who want to go out -- what they're doing is any time a stock goes down and a guy's portfolio goes down, they run to a trial lawyer.
HARLOW: The consumer financial protection doesn't help anyone but the lawyers?
MOORE: The lawyers are the ones who are making all the money on this. I mean Look, sometimes your stock portfolio goes up, sometimes it goes down and what is happening is every time there's a downturn in the market, people are blaming their broker for it. And you are not going to have a viable financial system in that case. I want protections for consumers. This one went too far, the people that are screaming the loudest are the trial lawyers.
HARLOW: You can be beat up today Stephen Moore, obviously there's a lot of response to that, we're out of time. Come back, I hope you join us, John and me in the morning. Thank you so much.
MOORE: I hope so too.
HARLOW: Stephen Moore, welcome to CNN.
MOORE: Thank you. HARLOW: All right coming up, we're going to take you to the heart of
Donald Trump country, Beattyville, Kentucky. A town that has been struggling with poverty not just for a few years, but for decades and they have bet a lot on President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Do you think most of America really understands --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
HARLOW: What you live through?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think most of America is where we are and that is why the election went the way it did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:40:49] HARLOW: Tonight we take you to Beattyville, Kentucky, many in that town have been without jobs and without hope, not just for a few years, but for decades. But for the first time, in a long time, we found they're full of hope and their hope is President Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very hopeful that the jobs will come back because of Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm most hopeful for opportunity and job growth in our area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hopeful that we will have job in Kentucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to keep people here. Give us a future.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That we have fresh meat in the White House.
HARLOW: It's hard to find more natural beauty than the rolling hills surrounding Beattyville, Kentucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just love it here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is beautiful here.
HARLOW: To say folks here are proud of their town is an understatement and they are no fan of the recent headlines about it.
This is Beattyville, Kentucky, one of the poorest, predominantly white towns in the country. More than half of the people here live in poverty and rely on food stamps. Less than 100 miles from here is where President Linden Johnson declared the war on poverty just over 50 years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This administration here today, here and now declares unconditional war on poverty in America.
HARLOW: But for decades, people here have struggles, more and more as their factories have shuttered and their coal lines are closed. Now there's a sense of hope that you can feel across this town, something many here have not felt for a long time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people are happy, I mean some even ecstatic that we now can say President Trump.
HARLOW: President Trump won more than 80 percent of the vote here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody was excited. Someone told me this morning that in Eastern Kentucky there's a coal trucks are already out and about.
HARLOW: Donna Comer has been running this gas station for a decade and knows just about everyone in town.
Do you feel hopeful after the election?
DONNA COOMER, MANAGER VALERO GAS STATION: Absolutely. He is already done more in a week than Obama did in eight years.
HARLOW: President Trump?
COOMER: For the American people.
HARLOW: I'm fascinated by what gives people so much hope. What do you think it is?
COOMER: The change? The fact that they want, I believe he wants to take care of us, the little people. And he understands us better. I think he is going to quit giving money to all these countries and take care of America.
HARLOW: But for Melissa Allen, hope is hard to find. Do you make enough to get by?
MELISSA ALLENS, SINGLE MOM LIVING ON MINIMUM WAGE: Not without working seven days a week. I have worked my entire life, I have lived in poverty my entire life, there's really no hope.
HARLOW: You're young, Melissa.
ALLENS: None? Every week you got to rob Peter to pay Paul. I had my electric shut off. I have had my water shut off.
HARLOW: Do you get a sense that people are more hopeful now, because of the new president?
ALLENS: It seems like people are. But it's kind of like wishing on lost hope, because it's been this way for so long.
HARLOW: Her livelihood crumbled when one of the town's biggest employers shuttered six years ago.
ALLENS: I worked at lawn and peril.
HARLOW: A big factory?
ALLENS: Yes. I worked there for almost ten years.
HARLOW: Did you make a pretty good income there?
ALLENS: I was actually the highest paid employee.
HARLOW: But when that factory shuttered?
ALLENS: I did too, I mean honestly.
[17:45:00] HARLOW: Now taking care of her 5-year-old son Hayden, means two minimum wage jobs, working up to 60 hours a week and still relying on about $100 in food stamps each month.
ALLENS: I don't understand why minimum wage here can't be raised. I don't get that.
HARLOW: More than 43 million Americans are living act or below the poverty line. In Beattyville, the economic decline didn't come quickly. It has been a slow painful drip of job losses for decades.
So what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our industry went away. We were slow to realize that. We were the number one oil producing county east of the Mississippi at one time.
HARLOW: Plenty of money here at one time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At one time, it was the gem of eastern Kentucky. I don't blame either party, I blame a system that creates the situation where everybody says everything's wonderful, but it is not.
HARLOW: Chuck Caudill runs the local paper here. The hope seems palpable.
CHUCK CAUDILL, GENERAL MANAGER BEATTYVILLE ENTERPRISE NEWSPAPER: Well, it is, simply because back here, for the last few generations, we have been getting lots of promises and there's been a lot of money thrown on the issues.
HARLOW: Help me understand why so much hope is being placed in President Trump?
CAUDILL: His bluntness, which is very disquieting to people, is refreshing.
HARLOW: But bluntness maybe refreshing, it doesn't always equal jobs.
CAUDILL: It does not always equal jobs, but he is out and said I'm going to give you jobs. There's desperation back here.
HARLOW: Susan Lutes isn't convinced that President Trump will bring Beattyville what it means.
SUSAN LUTES, VOTED FOR HILLARY CLINTON: He makes a lot of promises, he says a lot of things that sounds great to some people who may not have as much insight into it as they could have or they should have.
HARLOW: Her concern, cut backs in social programs here.
LUTES: Those are resources that we need more of. We don't need to lose what we have.
PATRICIA COLE, VOTED FOR HILLARY CLINTON: I don't think Trump has a clue about the little man, when you're born wealthy, and everything's been handed to you, and you have everything that is in your world that is gold plated, come to our world. Come and see how we live.
HARLOW: Regardless of party, one constant you hear, something must be done, so Beattyville doesn't lose the next generation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're losing our young people, they have to leave after they graduate. We need good paying jobs to keep them here. They don't expect to make a million dollars or something. This is their American dream, just to raise their family in a safe and small town. There's not much opportunity here, no. And that is what I worry about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When jobs leave, as I said before, it's just difficult to bring them back in with the infrastructure that we have, roads and internet connection.
HARLOW: How much do you guys trust Donald Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, I don't know yet. I mean really. I have faith that he is going to work for the people. I have faith in that.
HARLOW: Married 22 years and parents to three daughters, Harold and Leighandra Shouse share a modest home in the hills, with seven dogs and a lot of love all around.
LEIGHANDRA SHOUSE, VOTED FOR DONALD TRUMP: We were the ones that kind of fell in the crack. In our world, you don't pay your bill this is week, you pay a bill. You learn to live humbly.
HARLOW: Leighandra is an artist, Harold is a mason. He drives two hours each way to and from work because the best paying job he could find close to home only paid $11 an hour.
Do you think most of America really understands?
HAROLD SHOUSE, VOTED FOR DONALD TRUMP: No.
HARLOW: What you live through?
L. SHOUSE: I think most of America is where we are and that is why the election went the way it did.
HARLOW: Can Donald Trump help you? H. SHOUSE: Bring some jobs in here. Like the prison that is
shutdown.
HARLOW: Yes, the private prison.
H. SHOUSE: They opened it back up. When they closed it up, there's a lot of jobs people lost right there.
HARLOW: What's Trump's promise to you? What can he do for you?
L. SHOUSE: Any change from what we have had. And you know what? And I understand that Obama has done great for some people. And I'll give him that. It didn't help us. It didn't help us at all.
HARLOW: Do you feel forgotten?
L.SHOUSE: Sure, sure. I don't know why my kids have to work two jobs each. We don't want free college. We don't want everything free. We want to keep our sense of pride that we take care of ourselves.
[17:50:09] HARLOW: One day they'd like their American dream and their first vacation in a decade.
L. SHOUSE: He is said that since we've been married. We'll go to the Grand Canyon one day.
HARLOW: The day we landed in Beattyville, the stock market hit a record high. But Dow 20,000 doesn't help many folks here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the majority of the people here, the stock market is something interesting to look at.
HARLOW: Its factories like this one where Melissa and hundreds more made a decent living that President Trump has promised to resurrect. It's a promise so many here are holding on to tightly.
What gets you by every day?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hayden.
HARLOW: Do you believe Hayden can have a different life?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope he does. I really do. I don't want him to struggle like I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: My thanks to all the people in Beattyville who welcomed us with open arms. And to my team in the field who worked so hard on that story, Hailey (inaudible), CNN Politics Jack Simon and CNN Money Heather Long, we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:55:00] HARLOW: Only one city can claim the title for the most Super Bowl wins and that is Pittsburgh. Former Steelers Super Bowl MVP, CNN Contributor Hines Ward shows us what he loves about the Steel City.
HINES WARD, RETIRED AMERICAN FOOTBALL WIDE RECEIVER: This is my home away from home. I played my entire NFL career with the Pittsburg Steelers. When I come back to Pittsburgh, one of my favorite places to visit is the strip district.
How much is the strip right here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 86 Sir.
WARD: The thing I love about the Strip is it's a great place to visit Pittsburg most unique shops, food and sights. If you are out of towner, why come here?
ANDY MASICH, HEINZ HISTORY CENTER: You really feel like you're in an essential American City when you're here in the strip district. Not only has all this food and Steelers gear you can get here, but the Heinz history center is right here.
WARD: So when you're in the strip, check out my favorite, Primantle Brothers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Special order.
WARD: Hot Sausage, fries, coleslaw, delicious. Truck driver that come in, they would just put everything on one sandwich. If you're ever in Pittsburgh, come on down to the strip district. I guarantee you. You got good people, great food and you are going to have a great time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
