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CNN Live Event/Special
President Trump Speaks at Rally in Pennsylvania. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired April 29, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:00] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Qatar, which is pretty tough. So just as an example of media, take the totally failing "New York Times."
(BOOS)
TRUMP: Pretty soon they'll only be on the Internet. The paper is getting smaller and smaller. You ever notice? Starting to look like a comic book. It's getting -- but I will tell you because I watched and I used to be in the real estate business, they sold their beautiful "New York Times" building in Manhattan, a cathedral to journalism, such a beautiful, beautiful building, for around $130 million. And a group that bought it later sold it for approximately $500 million. And now they live in a very ugly office building in a crummy location.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Next they buy the "Boston Globe" newspaper with losses for $1.3 billion, invest millions and millions and millions of dollars to get it going, and in the end they sell it for zero. They give it away. And then they write nasty editorials and op-eds telling me how I should be handling world events and our country. Tell me.
(BOOS)
TRUMP: But that's what we have. They're incompetent, dishonest people who after the election had to apologize because they covered it, us, me, but all of us. They covered it so badly that they felt they were forced to apologize because their predictions were so bad. Do you remember their predictions?
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: They lost a lot of people because of the way they covered. So here is the story. If the media's job is to be honest and tell the truth, then I think we would all agree the media deserves a very, very big, fat failing grade.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Very dishonest people. And not all of them. You know, we call it the fake news. Not all of them. You notice now they're using -- everybody is using the word fake news. Where did you hear it first, folks?
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: By contrast for the last 100 days my administration has been delivering every single day for the great citizens of our country, whether it's putting our coal miners back to work, protecting America's steel and aluminum workers. We love that steel and aluminum. Or eliminating job-killing regulations. We are keeping one promise after another and, frankly, the people are really happy about it. They see what's happening.
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: But to understand the historic progress that we've made, we must speak honestly about the situation that we and I inherited because, believe me, the previous administration gave us a mess.
(BOOS)
TRUMP: For decades our country has lived through the greatest jobs theft in the history of the world. You people know it better than anybody in Pennsylvania. Our factories were shuttered, our steel mills closed down, and our jobs were stolen away and shipped far away to other countries, some of which you've never even heard of.
Politicians sent troops to protect the borders of foreign nations but left America's borders wide open for all to violate.
(BOOS)
TRUMP: We've spent billions and billions on global project after another, and yet as gangs flooded into our country we couldn't even provide safety for our own people. Our government rushed to join international agreements where the United States pays the costs and bears the burdens while other countries get the benefit and pay nothing.
(BOOS)
TRUMP: This includes deals like the one-sided Paris climate accord.
(BOOS)
TRUMP: Where the United States pays billions of dollars while China, Russia, and India have contributed and will contribute nothing.
(BOOS)
[20:05:15] TRUMP: Does that remind you of the Iran deal? How about that beauty, right?
(BOOS)
TRUMP: On top of all of that it's estimated that full compliance with the agreement could ultimately shrink America's GDP by $2.5 trillion over a 10-year period. That means factories and plants closing all over our country. Here we go again. Not with me, folks.
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: Those are the facts whether we like them or not. The dishonest media won't print them, won't report them, because the Washington media is part of the problem. Their priorities are not my priorities, and they're not your priorities. Believe me.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Their agenda is not your agenda. And I'll be making a big decision on the Paris accord over the next two weeks. And --
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: We will see what happens. But they're all part of a broken system that has profited from this global theft and plunder of American wealth at the expense of the American worker.
(BOOS)
TRUMP: We are not going to let other countries take advantage of us anymore because from now on it's going to be America first.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And I have to --
(CHANTS OF "USA")
TRUMP: And I have to just interject because as you know I've been a big critic of China and I've been talking about currency manipulation for a long time. But I have to tell you that during the election, number one, they stopped. But more importantly just to show you the dishonesty, so we have currency manipulation by China, but China is helping us possibly or probably with the North Korean situation. OK. Which is a great thing.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And I met with the president of China at great length in Florida. And we had long, long talks. Hours and hours and hours. He's a good man. Now he's representing China, he's not representing us, but he's a good man. And I believe he wants to get that situation taken care of. They have tremendous power and we'll see what happens. But the media said Donald Trump refuses to name China a currency manipulator.
Now think of this, think of this. Right? Now we have to have a little flexibility. So I meet with the president of China and I say, could you help us out with North Korea? You know, you give them 93 percent of their different materials that they need and their food. You have a lot of power. We have a great relationship. And then the media said, why didn't he call Donald Trump, and why didn't Donald Trump in a meeting say you're a currency manipulator?
So here's the story. Listen, Mr. President, will you help us out with North Korea but, by the way, you're manipulating your currency. It doesn't work, right?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: So -- so instead of -- you understand. So instead of saying that, let's see what happens. I honestly believe that he's trying very hard. Not an easy situation for China, believe me. Not an easy situation, but we have somebody there who is causing a lot of trouble for the world. We have China who is really trying to help us. You've seen they've sent back vast amounts of coal coming out of North Korea. So let's see what happens. And I think it's not exactly the right time to call China a currency manipulator right now. Do we agree with that?
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: But they never say that. They say why didn't he do it?
[20:10:03] So I promise you in my inaugural address 100 days ago that now arrives the hour of action. And we've, believe me, started from day one. And that is what we've delivered. 100 days of action. In fact those people and others are exhausted. They've never seen anything like that. They've never seen anything like this.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We are ending the off-shoring and bringing back our beautiful, wonderful, great American jobs.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We are eradicating the criminal gangs and cartels that have infiltrated our country. You're reading about them all the time. Some of you have big problems with them. Thank you for that sign. "Blacks for Trump." I love that guy.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Blacks for Trump. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, man. That's great. That's really cool. I appreciate it. And we're taking steps to renegotiate or cancel any agreement that fails to protect American interests. Here are just some of our great achievements from the first 100 days, and I will tell you in addition to that we have built such strong foundations with the leaders of foreign countries. And we're set to rock. But we have great relationships with Germany, and Japan, and China and so many others, the UK. Such great relationships. That's part of the process. We've appointed and confirmed a brand new justice of the United States Supreme Court.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Justice Neil Gorsuch who will uphold the Constitution and the right of Americans to govern their own affairs. And the last time a new Supreme Court justice was confirmed in the first 100 days was 136 years ago in 1881, and I was devastated to hear that because I thought I'd be the only one to have done that.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: A long time ago. To protect our jobs and our economic freedom, I immediately withdrew the United States from the horrible, disastrous, would have been another NAFTA but worse, Transpacific Partnership.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: That would have taken your jobs in Pennsylvania. That I can tell you. That was a total hoax. The TPP would have been a tremendous disaster for our country, and we are not going to surrender Pennsylvania jobs ever again. We have done that once before. It's not going to happen.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We've just launched an investigation into foreign steel dumping and aluminum dumping throughout our country. We are reviewing every single trade deal and wherever there is cheating we will take immediate action and there will be penalties.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And we have with us tonight secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, and one of the great, great people on fair trade and good trade, Mr. Peter Navarro. Thank you. Thank you.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And we will renegotiate NAFTA and if we don't get a good deal and a fair deal for our country, and I've been saying for a long time we'll either renegotiate or we'll terminate. I announced the other day we were going to terminate, everybody said we'll terminate. Two people that I like very much, the president of Mexico, the prime minister of Canada, they called up. They said, could we renegotiate? I said, yes, we can renegotiate. So we'll start a renegotiation and hopefully it will be fair for everybody.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And if it's not a fair deal for our country -- because you have to understand, we have been on the wrong side of the NAFTA deal with Canada and with Mexico for many, many years, many decades.
[20:15:05] We can't allow it to happen. So we're going to renegotiate and if we can't make a fair deal for our companies and our workers we will terminate NAFTA. OK?
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Our directors will put brand new Pennsylvania steel into the spine of America.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) TRUMP: We've ordered billions and billions of dollars in unpaid duties to be collected at the border from countries that break the rules, and that just started. There's going to be a lot coming in.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We just want fairness. And I followed through in my promise and issued a new government directive to buy American and hire American.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: In just these first few months we've created 99,000 new construction jobs, 49,000 new manufacturing jobs, and 27,000 new mining jobs. Who are the miners here? The miners finally, we're taking care of our miners.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We love our miners. And we have over 600,000 new jobs and, by the way, the stock market since our election is through the roof.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I believe from the point of election -- isn't it too bad that the Obama administration gets a lot of credit for those couple of months but -- it's all right.
(BOOS)
TRUMP: Because we're doing fine. But they get credit for that because people started going wild with the stocks. But I believe we have a record from the time we got elected, from November 8th, we have a record, an all-time record, for the biggest increase in the stock market. So I'm very happy about that.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We've removed the shackles on energy exploration imposed by the last administration lifting the restrictions on the production of oil, shale, and natural gas, and very importantly for Pennsylvania we have ended the war on beautiful clean coal and we are putting our great coal miners back to work.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We love our miners. I'm also very pleased to say that we have finally cleared the way for the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines. 48,000 new jobs.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: They couldn't get their approvals. We got them their approvals in 24 hours. One day. And I want to tell you the heads of those two companies, they didn't know what the hell happened. They said, how did this happen? They should go to bed and say their prayers. But that's going to be approximately 48,000 jobs.
My administration has also scrapped a job killing regulation that was threatening our autoworkers. We want more cars made in the USA and that's going to happen.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We've create add new rule that requires that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated. And we have signed massive executive orders clearing up the environmental bureaucracy. We're going to have jobs and you're seeing them already. We've also been very busy on the legislative front which we have gotten no credit for and yet I am signing away. I've signed 29 new bills, a record not surpassed since the Truman administration.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: This includes 13 regulations to eliminate intrusive federal regulations, the most ever signed in our history.
[20:20:08] In keeping our promise to our veterans I've signed legislation to extend veterans choice and David, the head of the Veterans Administration, is here with us tonight. David Shulkin.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: It's been an incredible job. And we've increased by 42 percent the approval for veterans using the choice program. I've also created an Office of Accountability at the VA. Our message to federal workers is clear. If you fail our veterans you will be held accountable. First time.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: To create accountability across government, I've issued a five-year ban on federal officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service. Good? I've got a lot of people in my staff who are not exactly happy with that one, but that's OK. An I've issued a lifetime ban on federal officials becoming lobbyists for a foreign government.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I've imposed these bands for a simple reason, it is time to drain the swamp.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And that's what we're doing in Washington, D.C. Perhaps in no area have past governments sold out special interests and foreign lobbyists more than on the issue of immigration. Year after year you pleaded for Washington to enforce our laws. As illegal immigration surged, refugees flooded in and lax vetting threatened your families' safety and security. Your pleas have finally been -- don't worry. We're going to have the wall. Don't worry about it.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: You know, we've done so well at the border a lot of people are saying, oh, wow, maybe the president doesn't need the wall. We need the wall to stop the drugs and the human trafficking. We need the wall. In just 100 days. We have taken historic steps to secure our border, impose needed immigration control like you've never seen before, is that true? And properly screen and vet those seeking admission into our country, they are going to come in because they love our country. We're not taking them otherwise.
We are operating on a very simple principle that our immigration system should put the needs of American workers, American families, American companies, and American citizens first. I appointed a great military general, John Kelly, to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Since my election we've already achieved an unprecedented 73 percent reduction in illegal crossings on our southern border.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: The greatest reduction in the history of our country and we just started. The world is getting the message. If you try to illegally enter the United States you will be caught, detained, deported or put in prison and it will happen.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: As I campaigned across the nation, I met with the grieving mothers and fathers of children who had been killed, viciously killed, violently killed, by illegal immigrants, and I made them a promise we will protect American lives.
[20:25:15] Your family member will not have died in vain.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Last week we opened an Office to Support the Victims of Immigration Crime called VOICE to make sure that no American victim is ever again ignored by their government. Not going to happen anymore.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And many people are now talking, as I just said, and using this tremendous early progress on the border to say we don't need the kind of safety that we really do need, including the wall, we need safety. We need cameras. We need all of the things that we're going to be putting in and we need the wall and we will build the wall as sure as you are standing there tonight. We need the wall.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(CROWD CHANTING "BUILD THAT WALL")
TRUMP: We'll build the wall, folks. Don't even worry about it. Go to sleep. Go home, go to sleep, rest assured. That's the final thing we needed. We need it. And if the Democrats knew what the hell they were doing they'd approve it so easy because we want to stop crime in our country. Obviously they don't mind illegals coming in. They don't mind drugs pouring in. They don't mind --
(BOOS)
TRUMP: Excuse me, MS-13, coming in. We're getting them all out of here. Members of Congress who will be voting on border security have a simple choice, they can either vote to help drug cartels and criminal aliens trying to enter the United States like frankly the Democrats are doing or they can vote to help American citizens and American families be safe. That's the choice. Who do you want to represent you?
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Unfortunately Democrats in Congress have no leadership. They're rudderless. Senator Schumer is a bad leader.
(BOOS)
TRUMP: I've known him a long time. Senator Schumer is a bad leader, not a natural leader at all. He works hard to study leadership. When you have study leadership, you've got problems.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: And his policies are hurting innocent Americans and making it easier for drug dealers to enter our country. Schumer is weak on crime and wants to raise your taxes through the roof.
(BOOS)
TRUMP: He is a poor leader. I've known him a long time. And he's leading the Democrats to doom. It's sad to see for our country what's happening to the Democrat Party. At the heart of my administration's efforts to restore the rule of law, has been a nationwide crackdown on criminal gangs, and that means taking the fight to the sanctuary cities that shield these dangerous criminals from removal.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: The last very weak administration allowed thousands and thousands of gang members to cross our borders and enter into our communities where they wreaked havoc on our citizens. As you know the blood thirsty cartel known as MS-13 has infiltrated our schools, threatening innocent children. We've seen the horrible assaults and many killings all over Long Island, where I grew up. We have seen the vicious spread of transnational gangs into all 50 states and the human suffering they bring with them.
[20:30:08] I've been with the parents. I've seen the parents. It's devastation. A very respected general recently told me MS-13 are the equivalent in their meanness to al Qaeda. My administration will not rest until we have dismantled these violent gangs, and we're doing it rapidly, and we're sending them the hell out of our country. We're sending them back home where they belong.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) TRUMP: One by one we're finding the illegal immigrant drug dealers, gang members, and killers, and removing them from our country. And once they are gone, folks, you see what we're doing, they will not let them back in. They're not coming back.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: In this effort to restore safety to our country we are going to strongly support the incredible men and women of law enforcement. I just signed an executive order directing Attorney General Jeff Sessions to combat crimes of violence against our police and the Department of Justice is now prioritizing the prosecution of criminals who attack officers of the law.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And we are also working round the clock to keep our nation safe from terrorism. My administration has taken historic steps to improve screening and vetting for those seeking visas to enter the United States. We have seen the attacks from 9/11, to Boston, to San Bernardino. We have seen the bloodshed overseas. You look at what's happening in other countries. We already have enough problems to worry about in the United States which we love so much, we don't need to be admitting people who want to oppress, hurt or kill innocent Americans. They're not coming in.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So let me state this as clearly as I possibly can. We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(CROWD CHANTING "USA")
TRUMP: So I have a question for you. You've been to a lot of rallies. You're seeing a lot of rallies. First of all, is there any place like a Trump rally in all fairness?
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So I did this a little bit during the rally, haven't done it in a long time. Who has heard the poem called "The Snake"? So I have it. Does anybody want to hear it again?
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Are you sure? Are you sure? OK. So let's dedicate this to General Kelly, the Border Patrol, and the ICE agents for doing such an incredible job.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: All right? This was written by Al Wilson, a long time ago. And I thought of it having to do with our borders and people coming in, and we know what we're going to have. We're going to have problems. We have to very, very carefully vet. We have to be smart. We have to be vigilant. So here it is, "The Snake." It's called "The Snake."
"On her way to work one morning down the path along the lake, a tender hearted woman saw a poor half frozen snake. His pretty colored skin had been all frosted with the dew. Poor thing, she cried, I'll take you in, and I'll take care of you." The border.
[20:35:05] "Take me in oh, tender woman, take me in, oh, for heaven's sake. Take me in, oh, tender woman, sighed the vicious snake. She wrapped him up all cozy in a comforter of silk, and laid him by her fire side with some honey and some milk. She hurried home from work that night and as soon as she arrived she found that pretty snake she'd taken in had been revived. Take me in, oh, tender woman. Take me in for heaven's sake. Take me in oh, tender woman, sighed that vicious snake.
"She clutched him to her bosom, you're so beautiful, she cried. But if I hadn't brought you in by now, oh, heavens, you would have died. She stroked his pretty skin again and kissed him and held him tight. But instead of saying, thank you, that snake gave her a vicious bite. Take me in oh, tender woman, take me in for heaven's sake. Take me in, oh, tender woman, sighed the vicious snake.
"I have saved you, cried the woman. And you bit me, heavens why. You know your bite is poisonous and now I'm going to die. Oh, shut up, silly woman, said the reptile with a grin. You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in."
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(CROWD CHANTING "BUILD THAT WALL")
TRUMP: Does that explain it, folks? Does that explain it? Keeping America safe also means rebuilding our defenses. Under the leadership of General Mad Dog Mattis and he is doing great.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: He's doing great. And by the way, he is the man that recommended General Kelly. I said, Mad Dog, you've got to give me a great general for the border. He gave me a great general, General Kelly.
We have begun the process of rebuilding our military and restoring full readiness. We are also protecting taxpayer dollars. I've already saved more than $725 million on a simple order of F-35 planes. I got involved in the negotiations.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And there's billions of dollars to be saved on that and many other things. We've also stepped up the fight against ISIS and we will not stop until ISIS has been destroyed.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) TRUMP: At the same time we've strengthened our friendships and alliances all around the world. For instance we were very proud to quietly work with the Egyptian government last week to ensure that an American citizen, a beautiful young woman named Aya came home after being in an Egyptian prison for the past three years.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: She was going to be there for another 28 years. President Obama worked diligently for three years, didn't get him out. I met with President el-Sisi and it worked out and he was great about it. He was great about it. And not only did the court system in Egypt and the president let her out but they let out her husband and they let out a total of eight people that were innocent and they're all back here right now.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Now they won't include that in the 100 days but I'm proud to have done it. And she's a happy young woman. Believe me, she's very happy. I said, how tough, Aya, was it in that prison?
[20:40:03] She said, you don't want to know. That was a tough prison.
We're also getting NATO countries to finally step up and contribute their fair share. They've begun to increase their contributions by billions of dollars but we are not going to be satisfied until everyone pays what they owe. And I've been complaining about that for a long time. And it's a lot different now but they still owe a lot of money.
Over the last eight years America's average military and defense spending was double what all other NATO countries spent combined. Not fair. As we work to get other countries to pay their fair share abroad we will continue our rebuilding at home. We're rebuilding everything including, by the way, our great military. We will have the finest military that we've ever had at any time in the history of our country.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Last week my economic team outlined one of the biggest tax cuts in American history even bigger than that of Ronald Reagan. We are proposing major tax relief for the middle class and lowering the business tax from 35 percent all the way down to 15 percent.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And you will see companies expand, companies come back into our country, companies not leave our country anymore because taxes and regulations are so onerous you will see what happens.
Let me also be very clear in saying that we are going to save Americans health care and repeal and replace that disaster known as Obamacare which is dying, dying, dying. Obamacare is dead anyway, folks. They always like to compare, well, what about -- Obamacare is dead. It's gone. The increases were massive last year. They're going to be bigger this year. And the insurance companies are fleeing.
One of the top people in the insurance industry said Obamacare is in a death spiral. There's nothing they can do. So they can't compare something to it because it won't be there very long. Believe me, can't be there very long. It's not working. It's been a failure.
Under Obamacare we have seen double and triple digit hikes in premiums, and many Americans left with only a single insurer to choose from and now many of those insurers are fleeing also. You have places like the great state of Tennessee where I left two weeks ago where half of the state already has no insurance carrier. And many others.
So Obamacare is a catastrophe created exclusively by the Democrats in Congress and they know it's no good. They know it's not working. And by the way, we're going to get something great. We're going to get the premiums down, we're going to get the deductibles way down, we're going to take care of every single need you're going to want to have taken care of but it's not going to cost that kind of money. We're going to bring it down. You're going to see it. Premiums down.
We will repeal and replace Obamacare. You watch.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We're going to give Americans the freedom to purchase the health care plans they want, not the health care forced on them by the government. And I'll be so angry at Congressman Kelly and Congressman Marino and all of our congressmen in this room if we don't get that damn thing passed quickly.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: They'll get it done. We know them. They'll get it done. In all things we are returning power to the people where it belongs. We're going to defend the Second Amendment.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And your right to keep and bear arms. We are going to bring education local and we are going to end Common Core.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We are going to stop federal overreach and defend the God- given rights of every American family. Just imagine what we could accomplish if we all started working together to rebuild this nation, the nation that we so dearly love.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
[20:45:10] TRUMP: Our jobs will come back home, our dying factories will come roaring back to life. It will be a beautiful thing to watch. And this is what's going to happen in the United States of America, and it's going to happen soon, and it's actually already happening.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Cities small and large we'll see a rebirth of hope, safety, and opportunity. America's children will be taught to love their country and take pride in our great American flag.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And other countries, and you see that happening, will finally treat America and our citizens with the respect that our country and our citizens deserve.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: It's time for all of us to remember that we are one people with one great American destiny and that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And we all share the same glorious freedoms of our magnificent country. We are all made by the same Almighty God.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: As long as we remember these truths, we will not fail. We will never fail. We are Americans and the future belongs to us. The future belongs to all of you. So with hope in our souls and patriotism in our hearts I say these words to you tonight on 100 days of devotion, hard work and love for our great country, together we will make America strong again. We will make America prosper again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again.
Thank you. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump finishing up a 58-minute speech in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, marking his 100th day in office.
The speech began with a 10-minute attack on the media. And then what followed was a several minute attack on the Obama administration before laying out some of the things that his administration has done and then going back to some of his campaign themes from last year.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. It was 12 minutes into this big rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that the president really got to jobs and to the people of Pennsylvania. The first 10 minutes plus spent attacking the media, actually saying what grade, what rate should the media get in its first 100 days. It was -- it was stunning.
BERMAN: Yes. Exactly. Before you judge me, judge them first. We are joined -- well, actually, let's go right now to Jeff Zeleny.
HARLOW: Yes. BERMAN: Who was at this event. I want to get a sense, Jeff, of what
it was like to be in that room. This was a crowd that clearly they were in love with this president. These were the people who propelled him to office last November 8th, and they were out there again for him tonight.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Poppy, the only way to really describe this speech, I believe, is to call it a campaign rerun. It was exactly a vintage Donald Trump speech from the campaign from one of these rallies that brought him to the White House. I mean, if you thought back you might be thinking we're living in 2016.
He rarely talked about anything different, and it was, you know, filled with attacks on the media, like you said, filled with one grievance after another, almost like a therapy session there. And also filled with some protests.
[20:50:03] There were several protesters throughout the evening. So many at one point the police seemed to be having a little bit of a hard time keeping up.
Again, you know, by and large, the 99 percent of the people here were devoted, loyal Donald Trump fans. But boy, the White House signaled to me a couple of days ago this would be a forward-looking speech. They said he would be talking about what he wants to accomplish going forward. I did not hear much of that at all in this. He was speaking by teleprompter some of the time, but he clearly went off that prompter a lot of the time talking about, you know, his media bashing and other things.
There was a bit of news in there. He said within the next two weeks he would decide what to do with the Paris climate agreement. It is one of those Obama sort of era decisions that he is going to decide to stay or leave the Paris climate accord. He talked about China in a very different way. He said that President Xi is a good man and he did actually explain why his view has shifted on that because of North Korea and the threat of North Korea.
But beyond that, it was just a litany of grievances, campaign classics, even telling that story, reading the poem of "The Snake," which he often did to much criticism last year. He did so for the first time as president of the United States here at this rally tonight in Harrisburg -- John and Poppy.
HARLOW: Jeff Zeleny is there. And let's pull up that photo, Jeff Zeleny tweeting a photo of one of the supporters holding a sign that is incredibly telling. A sign that says, "My president skipped the dinner to give us our desert," and that's what the president walked out and said. He said the Hollywood actors in Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in Washington right now and I'm here with you, the people.
Let's go to our panel, Paris Dennard, as someone who worked in the Bush White House, as a supporter of this president throughout, did you hear a message of what he called at the end 100 days of devotion and promises to these people? And, if so, why start attacks on the media and talk about a crumbling "New York Times" -- crummy "New York Times" building before you get to the job?
PARIS DENNARD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, listen, we sit around this table and we're in Washington, D.C., we're pundits, we're journalists, and we are in the D.C. beltway bubble. The people that stood out there since 1:00 this afternoon if not earlier, 10:00 a.m., to get in line to meet -- see this president, he gave them exactly what they wanted to hear.
HARLOW: He did?
DENNARD: He did. Because listen, they know what this Hollywood mixed with this media bunch of people that are there at the Correspondents' Dinner are all about. They see every night that the president doesn't get the credit that he deserves. Polls have been showing that the American people trust the White House more than they trust the media, and so he gave them what they wanted to hear.
All of this campaign rhetoric that people have been talking about is exactly why he got to the White House and he reminded them of why he got there and he reminded them what he's been doing without the filter of what he considers the biased media against him.
BERMAN: David Gergen, you've seen a lot of presidents out there on the trail, a lot of presidents out there after their first 100 days. What did you make of the speech?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you have to say, to follow up, I think he did move his base. He has solidified his hold with his base, he played to their fears and their concerns and they have very legitimate concerns. And I think he's been consistent about that. At the same time, you know, to bring your campaign speech into the presidency is something presidents rarely do.
This was -- this was the most divisive speech I've ever heard from a sitting American president. Others may disagree about that. He played to his base and he treated his other listeners, the rest of the people who have been disturbed about him or oppose him, he treated them basically as I don't care, I don't give a dam what you think because you're frankly the enemy. You're like the enemy with the press. I thought it was a deeply disturbing speech.
BERMAN: And I will note, by the way, Jeff Zeleny brought up the fact there was a protester there, which candidates get, which presidents get at their events. What you don't often hear from presidents and you did hear from President Trump in this case was get him out of here. Most presidents, even most candidates choose to handle it differently than that.
Senator Santorum, you were a senator from the great state of Pennsylvania for many, many years. What was your take on this event?
RICK SANTORUM, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, he talked about the media because he's not at the White House Correspondents' Dinner so he had to talk about the media. I mean, that was sort of the whole premise for going there was to juxtapose the inside the beltway media, you know, at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and he is there. So he has to lead with that, so I don't think that's -- that's a big issue.
And then he went on and talked about, you know, what he's accomplished and what he wants to accomplish in the future. And it was a very populist speech. I tell you as someone who represented Pennsylvania, I was hearing, you know, Governor Granholm saying, a lot of things resonated with me, you know, about trade and steel industry and coal jobs and immigration and all the things that got him elected, won him the state of Pennsylvania.
[20:55:06] He reiterated to not just his base but to the people who voted for him, I'm still working on those things. I'm still -- and I'm making progress. You may not think, you may not hear it, you hear from the media all the disastrous, you know, Trump administration but I'm making progress and here's the progress I'm making. So I thought he did what he needed to do.
HARLOW: So, Nia, tonight the White House Correspondents' Dinner, sure, it has been packed with celebrities and Hollywood elite, if you will, in the past. Many -- fewer of them there tonight. Tonight, you know, CNN, for example, is bringing journalism to you. This about the First Amendment, the freedom of the press and journalism and scholarships for these kids. So is it really not a big deal as the senator says for him to come out in the first 10 minutes and talk about fake news and attack the media before you get to the people of Pennsylvania?
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think it's vintage Trump and this is what we're going to see him do over and over again. He needs a foil. He can't really -- you know, Obama's foil was a Republican Congress in his last years in the White House. Donald Trump doesn't have that because he controls all the different branches of government or his party controls the different branches of government, so he needs that foil.
I mean, he did talk at some point about Democrats a little bit, Chuck Schumer, for instance, and said he's not quite a great leader and Paul Begala helpfully pointed out that apparently Donald Trump has given tons of money to Chuck Schumer in his old life and he's in a new life now. But listen, you know, I thought, you know, if you sort of pair this, yesterday he was in front of the NRA, today he's in front of a crowd of admirers, and it's almost he needs this, right. I mean, he needs this sort of feel-good atmosphere from his base.
He's been hold-up in the White House, he hasn't been out in the country as much as other presidents have been at this point. So I thought it was sort of smart counterprogramming and it was implicit that this was supposed to be kind of anti-media, anti-elite media, sort of anti-Washington event and so he very much, you know, out the back. I mean out of the front of that, you know, speech talked about that. And it's not surprising.
BERMAN: And there's nothing subtle about it.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: Yes.
BERMAN: You know, it was like look, here I am, the speech is there.
HENDERSON: Yes. Yes. Exactly.
HARLOW: Don't forget the poem.
BERMAN: Don't forget the poem. You know, look, we've heard from a lot of Republicans, and to me, we have two Democrats who've been sitting here waiting patiently, and we do appreciate that, Governor, and Paul Begala.
Paul, to you. You heard from Senator Santorum saying, you know, this plays to the people of Pennsylvania. You've run some pretty big campaigns in Pennsylvania in your --
SANTORUM: Against me.
BERMAN: Yes, against you.
PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: We were one and one. He beat my guy the first time.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: You know, so it's a complicated state which is a lot like the country in some ways, too. There are very red voters there, there are very blue voters there. But then there are purple voters, too, the type that the president probably wants to add to his camp. You know, is it -- or does --
(CROSSTALK)
HENDERSON: That's the thing, he doesn't.
BEGALA: Nia is completely right. He needs this affirmation from his base because he's a moral midget and he is a deeply insecure person. He's haunted by the fact that the vast majority of Americans, 54 percent, voted against him. He lost to Hillary Clinton in the popular vote by 2.8 million. Haunted by this. So he needs -- he's a needy little baby. What he needs as a president, though, is to unify the country. As politician he needs to expand his base. OK. If you want to be small minded he needs to expand.
The moment that -- when we're watching this, John, you pointed out, when he hollowed at that protester. That is not how a president behaves. And I went back and look. During the campaign, this is when we just finished. President Obama was speaking in North Carolina and a protester stood, interrupted his speech for minutes on and much longer than Trump. And the president of the president of the United States told the crowd, which was pro-Obama of course, stop, look at this man.
He said first he's older and he is entitled to our respect. Second, we believe in free speech in this country, it's an American value. Third he had a shirt or a hat that looked like he was a veteran. He said we owe him thanks for his service. He called that crowd to a higher, better place.
Trump isn't capable of doing that. And if we're going to wait 1,361 days and he's still going to be the moral midget that you saw on that stand in Harrisburg tonight.
HARLOW: You bring up that it reminds of when John McCain was running and that man called out from the audience called President Obama a Muslim, I believe, and made disparaging comments and John McCain stopped, and said --
BEGALA: Right.
HARLOW: That is not --
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: Hold on. Let me get the governor. Governor Granholm, your big takeaway as you're watching this a former governor of a state, what was your take away tonight?
JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D), FORMER MICHIGAN GOVERNOR: I am so, so sad for America tonight. Listening to this speech. If I think of like Republican -- I mean, Ronald Reagan would never have given such an utterly divisive speech. He spent half of that speech talking about the wall, reading that poem was horrible.
If you want -- if you want to be a leader of the entire country, I mean, there are people probably who watch this who were hoping that he would call us to something higher and he took us right into that swamp. It may not be the swamp that he was talking about on the campaign trail. But I feel like I want to take a shower. I'm so sad for this country.
