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Source: Infighting & Rivalries with Trump Staff; How Trump's Communication Style Works for Him; Tech Companies Join Fight Against Travel Ban; U.K. Mosques Open Doors to Fight Bigotry. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired February 07, 2017 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: And I'm Isa Soares in London. Ahead this hour, the latest twist in the court battle of the Donald Trump's travel ban, as some families are reunited and others wait in wonder about what comes next.

VAUSE: Also, Russia demands an apology after a cable news host labelled Vladimir Putin a "killer", during his interview with Donald Trump.

SOARES: And then later, Trump vs. Tech, Silicon Valley heavy weights joined the fight against U.S. President's travel ban.

VAUSE: Next up, for the U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration the ninth circuit court of appeals. Three judges will hear arguments on Tuesday on whether the temporary stay issued on Friday should remain in place for all the other legal challenges play out. Bringing more details now from Sara Sidner.

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, the three panel- judge here telling the parties involved that they will have to have their oral arguments ready by 3:00 p.m. California Time, 6:00 p.m. East Coast Time. So, the case can go forward. Those oral arguments will be available to the public - they will stream it live on their web site.

Meantime, there are plenty of families here on pins and needles waiting to hear what the court decides.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: The scenes of tearful reunions from San Francisco to Washington D.C., as people from seven predominantly Muslim countries rushed back into the United States.

AHMED ABDULLE, SOMALI FATHER: Even though my family already came here, we feel for all those who are still in limbo.

SIDNER: After being temporarily banned by Donald Trump's executive order, hundreds of visa holders are trying to legally get into the U.S., after a federal judge temporarily stopped the President's travel ban.

Washington and Minnesota sued the Department of Justice, arguing the ban discriminates on the basis of religion and harms the states irreparably. Federal Judge, James Robart, a George W. Bush appointee took up the case.

JAMES ROBART, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON FEDERAL JUDGE: That the state has met its burden of demonstrating that it faces immediate and irreparable injury, as a result of the signing and implementation of the executive order.

SIDNER: And with that, the travel ban came to an abrupt halt. Albeit, only temporarily as the court hears the merits of the case. President Trump, quickly responding to the order in a series of tweets writing, "the opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law enforcement away from our country is ridiculous and will be overturned." The Department of Justice is appealing to the ninth circuit court of appeals, the DOJ asking for an emergency stay to put the ban back in place while the case goes through the court system.

RORY LITTLE, UNIVESITY OF CALIFORNIA PROFESSOR OF LAW: They make what argument that is quite unusual, they say that they're harmed - the harms of the public if you will, is the process of judicial review. The harm is that the court intervened, and issues a stay; you don't usually see that as harm, our constitutional process is supposed to let judicial review happen almost always.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: What the Department of Justice also makes; some very strong arguments about the President's authority to protect the borders and to keep out anything that is a danger to this country. They also think that the federal judge overstepped his bound, because his order affected the entire nation. John.

VAUSE: Sara, thank you. Joining me now, CNN's Senior Political Analyst, Ron Brownstein; and Civil Rights Attorney, Brian Claypool. Brian, first to you, could there be a compromised here in the works? The Department of Justice seems to be willing to at least allow those who already have visas, who've been inside this country, who maybe outside the United States to not be affected by the ban at least temporarily.

BRIAN CLAYPOOL, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: John, I think that's the right thing to do, and remember, there're two issues - there're two issues at the fore-front here. The panel of three judges in the U.S. ninth circuit; they're only handling one of those issues right now. Remember, there was a temporary restraining order issued by a United States District Court Judge Robart.

That means, in fact, that the executive order issued by President Trump has been suspended. And that's what these - the three judge panels going to rule on tomorrow. And my prediction is, that these three panel-judge is going to uphold the suspension of the execution of this executive order: pending judicial review of the constitutionality of the executive order. And that gets into the second part that hasn't been adjudicated yet, and that is going to be at the core of this issue of whether what you just asked me, is whether people who for example have visas from one of these seven countries who are currently in the United States. Are they going to be required to leave the country, eventually?

[01:05:11] And my guess on the second issue, John, is it might be a split decision - it's going to be a tough decision for this panel on the constitutionality of this executive order, because if people are here and they're on a visa; both under the first amendments, under the establishment clause; and under the 14th amendments - the equal protection clause. An argument can be made that you cannot discriminate against these folks based on a religion, and we cannot create a law that unduly favors one religion over another.

VAUSE: You, Ron, there's been so much criticism in a way this executive order has rolled out, the implementation of it, of the lack of consultation with many the departments involved. There's also this growing list of state which are now suing the Trump administration. With regards to these states taking legal action, is that the way forward over the next four years? Is that what politics would look like in this country?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST AND THE ATLANTIC SENIOR EDITOR: I think, absolutely. I mean, no question, you know, we saw this really developed under President Obama. Where the Republican controls states, the Republican Attorneys Generals systematically winning the court. On many of this initiative; the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act; the clean power plant to deal with climate change; transgender bathroom guidance, from the Department of Education; and most relevant to this case, the effort by President Obama to extend the legal - tax that he provides to the dreamers.

Young people who were brought here illegally by their parents to adult - undocumented adults, who had citizen children. What happened in that case was a coalition of Republican states led by Texas, filed suit a single district court judge just as any states ruled against the event action on a nationwide basis. It went up to the fifth circuit, which it says conservative in appellate court circuit, as the ninth circuit is liberal, that decision was upheld by the conservative justice's judges there.

And anyway, the Supreme Court who didn't take it up and ultimately President Obama was sell-made, and that is the risk, that President Trump now faces with the ninth circuit which is probably the most liberal of the circuit. 2-1 Democratic appointees over all, and potentially, at the end of that line a divided Supreme Court. So, I think yes, the answer is that clearly, the political competition is not only in effect - a horizontal, an executive against Democrat in Congress. It is now vertical, where you're going to see Democratic controls states moving very aggressively to try to resist this Trump agenda and affect the to open a second front against them.

VAUSE: Brian, we saw over the weekend that Donald Trump lashed out the judge who ordered the initial stay, calling a so-called judge warned that National Security compromises. We'll that kind of thing, will that make it harder for the Department of Justice to win this case?

CLAYPOOL: Well, I think it does make it a little bit harder, and also, it's not a prudent thing to do, John. Remember, President Trump has a business background. I think his heart's in the right place here by the way, and I really do think he wants to improve security throughout the United States. But we're not in a boardroom anymore, you've got to deal with two branches of Congress; you've got to deal with - remember, the U.S. Constitution. There are parameters within this presidency. There are boundary lines within being the President of the United States.

You can't simply look at the federal judge and say, "hey, you're a so- called judge, you're not a good judge because you're not agreeing with me. You're fired!" This isn't the way to handle, in my opinion, the beginning of a presidency. I think, President Trump, has to try to do for example: why does any go and work with Congress on creating new more effective laws at vetting. Immigrants and refugees coming from every country across this world, not just seven Muslim nations.

VAUSE: Well, there are a lot of questions for the Trump administration, a lot of challenges this week as well. Right now, the Senate Democrats are refusing to yield the floor that holding an all- night in protest against Donald Trump's choice for the Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos. This is what Democrat Senator, Elizabeth Warren, said a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH WARREN, UNITED STATES SENATE DEMOCRATIC: We need just one more Republican to stand up for the children of America, to stand up for public education, to stand up for college students, to stand up for basic decency, and honesty in government. Just one more Republican.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ron, I already have two, as Elizabeth Warren said they need one more to block her nomination, are they going to get in?

[01:09:45] BROWNSTEIN: Probably not, but not - impossibly not. You know, it has been since, I believe 1925, was the last time a President's Cabinet nominee was reject on his own party who control the Senate. But the fact that the Democrats are taking this all-night stand it is - indicative of the same dynamic that we've talked about a moment ago, with the all of these Democratic Attorney Generals filing suit against the Trump administration which is that, under the pressure from their base in this moment of intense polarization and the Democrats are being driven toward a position very quickly - a total opposition to Donald Trump. And having much less leeway than they had expected that they can choose when to work with him and when to fight with him.

You know, we talked about this before. It took about 600 days into his presidency before Barack Obama reached disapproval from 50 percent of Americans in Gallup polling; for George W. Bush, it was about 1200 days; Ronald Raegan, 700 days; George H.W. Bush, 1100; it was 8 days for Donald Trump. And it has been consistently over 50 percent disapproval since. And that is driven largely by unprecedented levels of disapproval from voters of the opposite party, in this case over 80 percent of Democrats who see what that - how that affects the behavior?

I think a lot of Democrats of all levels along with the remarkable string of protest that we have seen. And I believe they have - they are feeling the posture for the Democratic Party is being set in the streets -

VAUSE: Sorry to drop on this, very quickly, we also have the White House pushing back on this, you know, "Times" story which talk about confusion and disarray within the White House. Here's one line from the story, "when Mr. Trump is not watching television in his bathrobe or on his phone, reaching out to old campaign heads and advisers. It was sometimes set of to explore the unfamiliar surroundings of his new home." Here is the response from White House Spokesman, Sean Spicer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That story was so riddled with inaccuracies of lies. That they owe - they owe the President an apology for the way that that thing was - they were just literally blatant factual errors. And it's unacceptable to see that kind of reporting or so-called reporting. That is literally the epitome of fake news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What part of the story that detailed -

SPICER: That's just detail - I mean, there are - you start at the top. I don't think the President owns a bathrobe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Scatter the top, he doesn't own a bathrobe. Ron, bathrobe -

BROWNSTEIN: I'm not - I'm not seeing a bathrobe but as Maggie Haberman, who wrote the story, noted, he tweeted about it - about, you know, an hour after she spoke about it on "ANDERSON COOPER", which kinds of underscores the point of how much a television is watching. They certainly seen that pattern on others - those are two top notch reporters. I don't know what specific details, Sean Spicer is partaking but, you know, until proven otherwise, my money is that they probably had it right.

And look, the reality is you do have different power centers in this White House; Reince Priebus, Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell are one government kind of the conventional Republican establishment government, trying to pass bills on Congress. And you have Steve Bannon, and those in his circle, who really are trying to re-divide American politics, along new lines that are more familiar or kind of the populist nationalist movements in Europe.

Well, you read Maria Le Pen's declaration of candidacy the other day in France, that sounded in awful like - on of a lot like the kind of rhetoric that Steve Bannon is trying to introduce. So, there are different - there are different strains in the White House. They can hold them together but clearly moments like this in immigration ban when they co-apart.

VAUSE: OK. Ron, thank you very much. And Brian, thank you for being with us, as well. I appreciate it.

CLAYPOOL: Thanks, John.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

SOARES: Now, Russia is calling for an apology from Fox News, after host Bill O'Reilly referred to Vladimir Putin as a "killer". It happened during an interview with President Trump over the weekend if you remember, where he once again, defended Russia's President. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: Will I get along with them? I have no idea. There's a possibility -

BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL THE O'REILLY FACTOR HOST: Because he's a killer. Putin's a killer.

TRUMP: A lot of killers. We got a lot of killers. Why? You think our country is so innocent? You think our country is so innocent?

O'REILLY: I don't know of any government leaders that are killers.

TRUMP: Take a look at what we've done to. We've made a lot of mistakes. I've been against the war in Iraq from the beginning.

O'REILLY: Mistakes are different than -

TRUMP: There's a lot of mistakes. OK, but a lot of people were killed. So, a lot of killers around believe me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, O'Reilly responded the Kremlin's demand on Monday night saying, Mr. Putin may have to wait. Sit tight, a while longer for an apology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: Apparently, the Putin administration in Moscow demanding that, I, your humble correspondent, apologize, for saying old Vlad is a killer. So, I'm working on that apology, but it may take a little time. Might want to check in with me around, 2023.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Before we get to 2023, Clare Sebastian joins us now to discuss this. And Clare, we know the Kremlin want to, said his comments - O'Reilly's comments were indeed unacceptable and an insult. They clearly want an apology, they didn't get it. So, what has been the reaction to those comments from Bill O'Reilly.

[01:14:54] CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Isa. I mean, that comment we've seen is very incendiary over here in Moscow. It's still early in the day for any official reaction to the latest statement from Bill O'Reilly, but it's certainly sad to say that this has been very closely watched - those comments. Staying very high on state T.V. news bulletin this morning; it's the top read story across several Russian online news outlets that we've looked out. So, it's being closely watched, a lot of people very interested in this here. But I think, the key point to make in all this is that the Kremlin is alienating between what is the busiest spat with Bill O'Reilly and Fox News and separating that from the Trump Administration.

When we asked them to be asked of the Kremlin Spokesman for his reaction to Mr. Trump's reaction to Bill O'Reilly when he said that, you know, the U.S. is not so innocent either. The Kremlin said that they would rather not comment. So, you know, President Trump has made it his mission throughout the campaign and since not to verily insult President Putin and the Russians clearly affording President Trump the same curtsies.

SOARES: And Claire, in the that interview with President Trump where he defends President Putin, showing once again their relationship back into focus. Having said that, we've seen pretty mixed message, I think, it's fair to say, from this administration. So how does Putin make sense of this?

SEBASTIAN: Well the Kremlin is - and you know, high ranking officials that we've heard from over the past week, Isa, have been keeping things rather close to their chest, maintaining a very steady tone. The Foreign Minister had comments and published in an Austrian newspaper over the weekend saying, they're just going to wait and see really how key members of the Trump Administration define the Foreign Policy objectives. But it's safe to say that there are some key issues that could come between them, Ukraine is one. Russia has made public statements in the last week saying that - accusing Ukraine of escalating the violence and Eastern Ukraine has a way of garnering sympathy and perhaps even money out of the new U.S. Administration.

And then there's the issue of Iran. The Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, saying in that same call yesterday that he disagrees with the White House specification of Iran as the number one terrorist state. Iran, a key ally of Russia, a fellow backer of the Assad Regime and Syria. So, it remains to be seen how the U.S. and Russia will work together as both sides have said they want to do on fighting terror in Syria while at the same time, Russia and Iran are such close allies in that region, Isa.

SOARES: Claire Sebastian for us this morning. Thanks so much Claire, John?

VAUSE: Well Isa, a territorial dispute in the East China Sea could test President Trump's relationship with China. Up next, we've sighted Mr. Trump's Secretary of Defense's taking and why.

Also, a vote on West Bank settlements in Israel's power man is being labeled legalized theft by the Palestinians. Details after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:19:52] DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Hey, I'm Don Riddell with your CNN WORLD SPORT headlines. They New England Patriots have been celebrating their astonishing Super Bowl Success the day after coming from behind to be the Falcons in Houston. MVP Tom Brady says he thinks teammate James White should have won the award instead of him. White isn't complaining though. He said a string of individual records in the game, including the most amount of catches and points. He's been celebrating at Disney World in Florida. The Patriot's Homecoming Parade is scheduled for Tuesday morning in Boston.

I'm sorry to report a very sad death in the world of Rugby. One of the icons from South Africa's 1995 World Cup winning team, Joost van der Westhuizen has died after a long battle with Motor Neurone Disease. Van der Westhuizen played scrum-half and the Springboks lifted the sport's biggest price, 22 years ago. It was a triumph immortalized by Nelson Mandela, presenting the trophy just a year after the end of Apartheid. He was 45 years old.

Barcelona are looking to maintain momentum in the Copa del Rey. They will look to continue their dominance in the second leg of the semifinal after beating Atletico Madrid 2-1. But the win at home would not be a full-grown conclusion as there'll be missing name.

Barca arraigning for their fourth streak to Copa del Rey. Final goes from Suarez and Messi were enough to win them the first leg.

That is a quick look at your Sports Headlines. I'm Don Riddell.

VAUSE: Welcome back everybody, you're watching NEWSROOM L.A. I'm John Vause in Los Angeles.

SOARES: And I'm Isa Soares in London. Now, the relationship between China and the Trump Administration is being tested. Some bi- territorial dispute in the East China Sea. Three Chinese Coast Guard Ships sailed on Monday, near chain of islands that Japan controlled. China also claims those isles. Our own David McKenzie joins us now for more from Beijing. And David, what more do we know at this hour about China's actions near these islands.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Isa, what we know is that China, both according to the Chinese and Japanese side, have three of those coast guard ships around those disputed islands in the East China Sea. Now, Japan refers to those islands as the Senkaku Islands, China as the Diaoyu Islands. And according to the Japanese, the Chinese had their vessels in Japanese territorial waters for some time. Now, this wouldn't be the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last time that the Chinese have done this, but it does show that they're trying to make a point from their perspective that they feel these are their islands by sending in those coast guard ships and simply racketing up the pressure, maybe to extreme tension between the two countries around this Arctic, you know, significant connections between the incoming Trump Administration and Japanese officials, Isa. SOARES: Yes, we know the U.S. Defense Secretary, James Mattis was

their last week. Have we heard from U.S. Administration after this incident?

MCKENZIE: Well, right after the incident? No, we haven't even heard anything specific but right in the middle of the context of this happening, we had a phone call, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, between the new Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson in the U.S. discussing with his counterpart again reaffirming the U.S. - their longstanding affiliation, very close ally with Japan. And also, saying that this Senkaku Island issue, quoting the way they refer to the islands, is something that the U.S. would stand by Japan in case of any, quote, "Unilateral actions."

Again, as I mentioned, China does this pretty frequently. They did it more than 30 times last year with the Coast Guard. They're forced to have instances where they've sent military aircraft into that area and it has got, at times, pretty too close to comfort for both sides. And the potential point accident is certainly there, Isa.

SOARES: Yes. And David, explain to our viewers around the world why these islands we're looking at, why they're so as fiercely disputed? Why so much interest?

MCKENZIE: Part of it is pride, and part of it is history. Certainly, the Japanese have direct control that would say, all the islands in this round, at least since 1972. There has been a longstanding discussion and disagreement between the Japanese and the Chinese as to who had these islands. We look back way into the 1800s wherein Japan overtook the islands - these uninhabited islands, it must be said, during a final time - Japanese war.

[01:24:57] So, ever since that time, they've had this ongoing dispute that flares up periodically both in terms of military action and in terms of public protests particularly here in China. They do have this military issue. China declared an Air Defense Identification Zone which we can see here on this map, as well as Japan, already having a zone over this disputed territory as well as other countries in territories. What this can mean is that if China decides to send a military aircraft into that zone and Japan responds, you could have a very real chance of an accident happening and wittingly, drawing the U.S. into a conflict, Isa.

SOARES: David McKenzie there for us in Beijing. Thanks very much, David, John.

VAUSE: Isa, Senior Palestinian Officials says a controversial vote in Israel's parliament amounts to a land grab literal of thousands of settle homes in the West Bank. We got details now from Ian Lee.

IAN LEE, CNN CORREPONDENT: This sweeping new legislation legalizes in the eyes of Israel. Dozens of outposts across the West Bank. These small settler communities built on private Palestinian land are home to thousands of Israelis. The controversial law states, Palestinians will be compensated for the loss of their land. Government Minister, Miri Regev, prays the passing saying, tonight, we've made an historical move. This is the first step towards complete regulation which is applying Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. Judea and Samaria being the old biblical terms for the West Bank.

The international community widely condemns all outpost settlements as illegal. With more land now in the hands of settlers, the concern is what this means now for the two-state solution? Many in the international community will see tonight's developments as making a viable Palestinian State more difficult. PLO Executive Committee Member, Hanan Ahsrawi, condemn the law saying, Israel is authorizing the unlawful act of land theft and its illegal settlement activities which are a war crime under the Rome Statue of International Criminal Court. And a grievous violation of International Law.

In anticipation of the Knesset vote, U.N. Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace, Nikolay Mladenov, warned the law would have far- reaching legal consequences for Israel and greatly diminish the prospect for Arab-Israeli Peace.

It's not over yet, expect this law to go before the Supreme Court of Justice. The Israeli NGO Peace now has already said it would file a legal challenge to the law. Experts predict it will be struck down on the grounds that Israeli's Knesset does not have the right to legislate over land that is not part of Israel. Whatever the future holds, tonight's passing is a huge victory for Israel's settler movement. Ian Lee, CNN, Jerusalem.

SOARES: So to come right here on CNN NEWSROOM, President Trump has a favorite way to communicating. You've guessed it. It's a 140- characters or less. Coming up. The pros as well as the cons, of the Twitter Presidency.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:39] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Isa Soares in London.

Let me bring you up to date on the main news headlines we're following for you this hour.

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: While the lawyers argue the status of President Trump's travel ban, his top advisors are trying to move beyond the infighting and rivalries inside the White House.

Sara Murray has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump's top aides are taking aim to insist everything is going smoothly in the West Wing.

KELLYANNNE CONWAY, TRUMP SENIOR ADVISOR: We're a very tight group. We all live in the foxhole together.

MURRAY: In a whirlwind two weeks, Trump has delivered on many of his campaign promises.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll begin on immediate construction of a border wall.

(APPLAUSE)

MURRAY: But he's done so with chaos churning in the background.

The president faces backlash for putting chief strategist, Steve Bannon, on the Principles Committee of the National Security Council.

(CHANTING)

MURRAY: And a rocky rollout of Trump's travel ban was panned even by his close allies, who say he wasn't well served by his advisors.

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R), NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: The president has a structure inside the White House with three folks who are predominantly in charge of operations at the White House, Mr. Bannon, Mr. Kushner and Mr. Priebus. I think anyone who looks at this knows that it could have been and should have been done better.

MURRAY: While Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged some missteps.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDNET OF THE UNITED STATES: Sometimes the usual niceties of Washington informing members of Congress were not fully implemented.

MURRAY: It's all part of a learning curve for Trump and his team.

Advisors say the president didn't realize how controversial it would be to put Bannon on the Principles Committee.

(CHANTING)

MURRAY: And with the travel ban now embroiled in legal challenges, Trump has tasked Priebus with ensuring future items are done smoothly.

TRUMP: Reince is fantastic.

MURRAY: But sources tell CNN the Trump administration is putting more energy into downplaying reports of staff fighting than actually solving tensions that persist between Priebus, Bannon and others in the West Wing. Those tensions may put the GOP allies in Washington on edge but there is little sign they bother the president.

This weekend, he tweeted, "I call my own shots, largely based on an accumulation of data, and everyone knows it."

Trump is often the driving force behind the cycles of chaos, then calm --

(SHOUTING) MURRAY: -- that were too common in his presidential campaign.

The big challenge for his team, moderating the impulse to act first and deal with the fallout later.

Sara Murray, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:35:16] SOARES: Adding to the controversy surrounding the early days of this administration, is the president's Twitter habit. As you may have heard, the president tweets quite a bit.

Joining me here in London to talk about this, Marian Salzman, the CEO of Havas P.R. North America, and the author of "Agile P.R."

Thank you for joining us, Marian, here in London.

He is a prolific Twitterer, isn't he?

MARIAN SALZMAN, CEO, HAVAS P.R. NORTH AMERICA & AUTHOR: He is. He is a massive broadcaster as well. 24 million people following. My full admission, I wake up in the morning and I turn on CNN and I look at his Twitter feed. I shouldn't do it, but I want to hear what he has to say.

SOARES: But some of his tweets have caused him a bit of trouble and raised eyebrows. Let's show viewers a couple. The first one basically saying, "Any negative polls are fake news, just like CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting." And the second one, which is the one we were talking of in the break, "The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned."

How do you interpret his communications style? He is speaking to the masses and people love to hear from him.

SALZMAN: I think the average American probably does perceive it as being candid, as being his clear thoughts -- not clear but being his thoughts. It's his way of expressing himself without going through you, the third-party intermediary, who he claims to have lack of trust. He figured out how to broadcast directly to the people in exactly the words he wants them to hear. I assume there's not a lot of foresight but a lot of clarity into what he was thinking at that moment. This is our first real-time president and he is writing his copy in real time.

SOARES: When you're speaking to executives or CEOs, are any of them trying to replicate this style? And what advice are you giving them?

SALZMAN: People are trying to replicate his reach. They want a direct dialogue to the people who matter to them the most. They're trying to get around having to worry about getting past the networks or newspapers gatekeepers. There's also recognition you can be a little less careful today. You do want to be strategic. And in fairness to our president, he is hitting his key message points. He wants to undermine the judges making the decision around the travel ban. He wants to undermine the media. He wants to tell us polls don't matter because his unapproval ratings are what they are. We need to start counseling our clients to also take charge and own the message and the medium. That's the difference is owning the message and owning the medium today.

SOARES: Sometimes owning the medium can go quite wrong when he says this is a so-called judge. He's a so-called judge, he's judges that he himself will be putting in place, isn't it?

SALZMAN: You and I may be offended by that, but he has made the point, which is he has undermined the decision that particular judge in the ninth circuit made. I don't agree with the message he's trying to convey but I think, as a messaging maven, he has rewritten the rules.

SOARES: This agility in the way you communicate, what is he doing right? And in that case?

SALZMAN: He's taking risks. If it fails, he reboots himself. If he doesn't get it right the first time, he will go back and correct the tweet, he'll change the message, he'll fine tune the message. He is working in real time. He is not letting other people set his time lines. He is owning the time line. And I think he is also using secondary and third parties to reinforce what he's saying. Again, I may not agree with him but he has all of his people out there using traditional media to reassert the message he is conveying through Twitter.

SOARES: Are you seeing other prime ministers or presidents around the world having that Trump effect rubbing off on them in terms of the way they communicate?

SALZMAN: I have been invited to sessions with other -- I'm not going to say world leaders, like the president of the United States, but other leaders and major NGOs who want to understand how to do it. But they are scared to death because they have an approvals process. They have had four fact checkers working with them. Again, we have moved away from the era of hard facts and we've moved to a softer, more generalizable way of speaking. I think a lot of people are aware of it. I don't see others jumping into. But as you are seeing the rise of the new candidate that is the best way to circumvent the system.

SOARES: That's exactly what we've seeing in Europe, with the rise of populism, the more direct and open and frank and conversational medium.

(CROSSTALK)

SALZMAN: And they are talking to you and they're talking to you. They're not talking to a box. So, you feel measure intimate, even it is truly isn't. But it's the real time also. It's the idea of I'm not afraid to make a mistake, so I'm telling you the truth. A mistake and inaccuracies are not the same thing.

SOARES: We could talk for hours on this.

Lovely to have you hear. Thank you very much.

SALZMAN: Thank you.

SOARES: John?

[01:39:55] VAUSE: Plenty to talk about in Donald Trump's tweets, but we'll take a short break. When we come back, Silicon Valley stepping into the legal battle against President Donald Trump's travel ban. Why tech companies are supporting the fight. That's next, after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: You are watching CNN. And I'm Isa Soares, in London.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause, in Los Angeles.

Silicon Valley is part of the growing opposition against U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban. More than 100 tech companies are joining forces in the legal battle against the order.

CNN's Kyung Lah explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, in a rare coordinated legal move, 97 tech companies have filed a brief with the ninth circuit court of appeals. This is a number of companies, recognizable ones, like Apple, Google and Intel, to startup companies. And what they have said in the brief is that they feel that the executive order violates immigration laws and the Constitution.

And this brief signals the deep level of animosity that Silicon Valley has to the executive order. Many of these tech companies are established by and run by on immigrants. They rely on immigrants, in many cases, as their employee base and they have seen their own employees pushing their CEOs, having protests on the front lawns of their corporate offices, pushing them to do something more definitive. So, this legal brief is one definitive move.

We also saw a public definitive move. During the Super Bowl, there were a number of commercials that celebrated multi-culturalism. Many were paid for by tech companies that signed on to this brief. It's a clear sign that the opposition that these companies will spend money to make that point. Many of the companies are based here in California, a progressive state, a state that, in many cases, plans to lead the opposition to the Trump administration -- John?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Kyung, thank you.

Now, Lori Schwartz, co-founder of StoryTech, joins me for more on this. Lori, has there been anything like this before where the tech

companies have come together with a great deal of urgency and speed to oppose an issue and a U.S. president?

LORI SCHWARTZ, CO-FOUNDER, STORYTECH: No, this is an absolute unique moment in time. And the number is up to 130 companies. And it came together swiftly as well. This is a really unique situation.

[01:45:01] VAUSE: Some of the companies, the richest and biggest technologies in the world. How much leverage will they have with this lawsuit?

SCHWARTZ: I think they'll have a lot of leverage. They are multinational companies. They are employing hundreds of thousands of people in this country. They also represent some of the greatest technology I.P. globally. They're what Trump would quote as being some of America's greatest. So, I think they will be very powerful.

VAUSE: These companies, in the past, tried to stay out of politics. How vulnerable could they be to a personal tweet or backlash from Trump supporters who agree with the travel ban?

SCHWARTZ: There is power in numbers, right? We're talking about 130 companies. While he may be able to impact a company with a singular tweet, it is going to be very difficult for him to impact all of these companies, and we're talking about Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Pinterest. All big popular, highly used, big brands in the technology space. I think it's going to be very difficult. These are all fan-based companies, too. These are companies that people love, brands that people love. So, I think it's going to be difficult for him to knock them down in that traditional way.

VAUSE: After the election, we saw the tech CEOs heading off to the Trump Tower and meeting with the president-elect. They talk about a positive, constructive meeting. Is there a sense now that maybe that meeting was smoke and mirrors?

SCHWARTZ: I think there is a philosophy for some to stay in there to try to effect change. We have Elon Musk, who is still staying attached to Trump with the hopes to impact policy. But then you have someone like Travis, from Uber, who, from pressure from his own company and the public, had to step down from being in Trump's group. So, I think it's going to be a little bit of both. You're going to have some folks who stay in there to see if they have impact. And I think that Elon Musk really believes that getting in there and partnering is going to help impact policy. We'll see. He might be the type of executive that can do that. And Trump likes to surround himself with great minds and popular people and folk heroes in a certain way. It's going to be an interesting mixture, I think.

VAUSE: An interesting mixture, absolutely. We have been saying that a lot lately.

(LAUGHTER)

Lori Schwartz, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.

SCHWARTZ: A pleasure.

SOARES: Tea, biscuits, as well as a friendly conversation about Islam. Mosques in the U.K. open their doors to fight bigotry. We'll talk to a prominent Muslim leader after a very short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:50:53] VAUSE: Welcome back to NEWSROOM L.A. I'm John Vause, in Los Angeles.

SOARES: I'm Isa Soares, in London. The time is 10 minutes to seven.

More than 150 mosques here in the U.K. opened their doors to non- Muslims on Sunday. Their goal was to defeat the fear of Islam and to create ties with their communities.

Mohammed Kozbar joins us now. He's the chairman of Finsbury Park Mosque and the vice president of the Muslim Association of Britain.

Mohammed, thanks very much for coming on the show.

Talk to us about the idea behind this open day.

MOHAMMED KOZBAR, CHAIRMAN, FINSBURY PARK MOSQUE & VICE PRESIDENT, MUSLIM ASSOCIATION OF BRITAIN: Last Sunday was a historical day for the Muslim community. A great achievement. More than 150 mosques and Islamic centers opened their doors at the same time on the same day for their neighbors and friends and wider society to come and find out more about Islam and the Muslim community. It is about engagement and integration. It's a great achievement. We are proud about that, actually. When Muslims, under pressure from all over the world, the United States, what happened in Canada recently, and what's happening here in Europe, to get this very positive event, actually, around the U.K. is a great achievement.

SOARES: How much is the rhetoric we're seeing in the United States over, as well the travel ban, how much has that formed an upon in yourself to create this and lead to this, this open day?

KOZBAR: This has been for a few years. But this year was very important for us. Having tea and biscuits is more effective than building walls. It's very important now to get together united and try to avoid division. Because there is a lot to ask between the communities, the Muslim communities and the wider societies, more than divide us. And this is one of them, which open our doors to the communities and break these barriers and clear the misconceptions about Islam.

SOARES: Do you worry about this rhetoric we're hearing from the U.S. and the policies that are being set in place? Some people say Islam is being vilified. How do you see it?

KOZBAR: It is worrying, obviously. When you ban people according to their religion or their background, it is quite worrying. And, therefore, I think what we've seen so far from the American people is quite great, actually, just to oppose to that. And we've seen the last few days what's happened as well, to just lift this ban. It's great. I mean, we appreciate that. And we think this is democracy. This is the real democracy. And we hope this won't happen again. And we don't feel this experience again, and not just in the United States and elsewhere. We have seen the far right is rising, unfortunately, since -- I mean, it's happened in America and elsewhere. And we hoped that such an event like a Visit My Mosque Day will make Muslims more engaged with the wider society, and people from the wider society come to the mosque and see what's going on as well from in their eyes, away from hearing from the media which is sometimes, unfortunately, is very negative coverage.

SOARES: You said it was a Muslim ban. President Trump says this is not a Muslim ban. You believe it is?

KOZBAR: Yes. Seven countries that are Muslims, there is no one single other country that is not Muslims, and the people who are targeted are Muslims. So, it is a Muslim ban, basically.

SOARES: So when you hear when -- when we hear the comments and policies from President Trump, what do you tell your worshippers? How do you try to make sure that those who go into your Mosque that you can protect and shield them, and give them context into what is happening around the world?

KOZBAR: It is time to engage more. It is time to reach out to our wider society and wider community to explain about Islam and Muslims in the West, in particular. Because there is, as I said, a misconception about that. It is two ways engagement and two ways integrations, actually. When we invited people to the mosque, on Sunday, we went -- many mosques went to their local churches and synagogues and temples. Because it is two ways, actually. We want, as well, to know about our wider society and other faces. I mean, as a local mosque, we went to our local church at St. Thomas last Sunday and visited them, around 20, 25 people, to learn more. And it is two ways engagement. This is what we are telling our community. You need to -- now is the right time to engage positively and not to feel that you are a second-class citizen and so on.

So, we are proud to be British, we are proud to be Muslim and we can do both. And this is what we are encouraging our community.

[01:56:01] SOARES: Thank you.

Mohammed Kozbar is the chairman of Finsbury Park Mosque.

Thank you very much.

That is all we have time for this hour.

I'm Isa Soares, in London.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause, in Los Angeles.

Stay with us. I'll be back with Isa with more news right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:11] VAUSE: A live look at the floor of the U.S. Senate, where it's just gone 2:00 a.m.