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Trump's State of the Union; Iowa Results Show Buttigieg with Narrow Lead; Senate Expected to Acquit Trump; Coronavirus Outbreak; Pelosi Calls Trump Speech A Manifesto Of Mistruths; Trump Awards Medal Of Freedom To Rush Limbaugh; International Response To State Of The Union. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired February 05, 2020 - 02:00   ET

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

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): I'm John Vause at the CNN Center in Atlanta where it's just gone 2:00 am on the U.S. East Coast. It's 11:00 pm out west. Wherever you are, thank you for joining us.

And we begin this hour with a split-screen moment in America. As the president was delivering the most partisan State of the Union address in memory, Democrats continued counting votes in the Iowa caucus. The long delayed results have been slowly trickling in.

Right now with 71 percent of precincts counted, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, maintains a narrow lead over Bernie Sanders. The big loser still in fourth place, former Vice President Joe Biden.

CHURCH: Meanwhile, Donald Trump delivered the annual address to Congress, taking center stage for 78 partisan minutes, starting with a presidential snub for the House Speaker and ending with a not-too- subtle insult from Nancy Pelosi.

VAUSE: And in the moments in between, the president appealed mostly to his base, talking about the economy, immigration, his border wall, socialism, abortion, judges, guns, school prayer.

And then there were the major TV moments, like the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, for conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. And, of course, there was the usual Trumpian hyperbole.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our borders are secure. Our families are flourishing. Our values are renewed. Our pride is restored. And for all of these reasons I say to the people of our great country and to the members of Congress, the state of our union is stronger than ever before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Speaker Pelosi was not having any of it. After Mr. Trump snubbed her offer to shake hands before the speech, she returned the favor several times, introducing him without using the words "high privilege and honor," standing and clapping only when someone was honored and ripping up the paper copy of his speech at the end.

VAUSE: Not very subtle.

Joining us now from Los Angeles, Ron Brownstein and Michael Genovese.

CHURCH: Also Democratic strategist Caroline Heldman and political radio host Joe Messina.

VAUSE: First, though, we'll begin with Michael.

Judging by what we saw a few hours ago, the State of the Union, what, best described as two toddlers having temper tantrums in a sand pit?

MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Both the Speaker and the president were a bit snarky. It started with the snub. It ended with the tearing of the speech. That's partly because I think we all knew that it was going to be a highly partisan speech. And both sides were highly partisan.

But this was I think one of the president's better speeches. I think he hit most of the key points. It was really two speeches. The first was listing his accomplishments. And he has some accomplishments to list. The second was red meat to the base, throwing at them all of the key things that will highlight why they should be energized by him.

CHURCH: And, Ron, I want to turn to you now. Of course, in his address President Trump boasted that the U.S. economy is the best it's ever been, due to his policies.

Can he claim all those successes?

And what about his flip-flop on pre-existing conditions?

How does he get to own that, given he's trying to take those very same protections away now in the courts?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, it's interesting, Rosemary. I thought the speech actually was a good preview of what the economic debate is going to be in the general election here in the U.S. because, on the one hand, voters are very satisfied with the economy, three-quarters of Americans saying the economy is excellent or good.

And President Trump's approval rating on the economy is up to the mid to high 50s, which is a very robust number for an incumbent president.

On the other hand, the share of Americans who approve of the way he's handling health care is under 40 percent usually in polls. And when people talk about their day-to-day economic concerns, the cost of health care, in particular, the cost of prescription drugs, is right at the top of the list.

If the economy may be his greatest policy strength at the moment, health care is his greatest policy vulnerability. And I think you're going to see an argument play out through the rest of the year about which one of those weighs more in the minds of voters.

[02:05:00]

BROWNSTEIN: It was quite telling that, when Democrats at one point got up and started chanting, you know, 3, 3, 3, after H.R. 3, the bill that passed the same week as they impeached him in the House to lower prescription drug prices and which may prove more consequential, at least in the battle for control of the House than the impeachment vote itself.

CHURCH: Right. And, of course, we will have a lot more from the State of the Union later this hour with CNN's Nic Robertson, live from London, while in Abu Dhabi CNN's John Defterios will join us.

And Ron and Michael will also be staying along for that.

VAUSE: The president addressed Congress from the same room where 48 days earlier Democrats voted to impeach him. In the coming hours, though, he'll be acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate. And his approval rating with Gallup is at an all-time high. So, too, his approval for the handling of the economy.

Meantime, Democrats, it seems, are struggling to count people in a room.

So Joe, to you, is this the high water mark if not the high point for the Trump presidency so far?

Does it get any better than this?

JOE MESSINA, POLITICAL RADIO HOST: Oh, it's going to get much better than this.

VAUSE: Why did I know you'd say that?

MESSINA: You're going to see the economy get even better to the point where we'll be able to let more people into the country that want to work here because we don't have the people now to fill the jobs that we have. He's going to finish building the wall.

I'm going to tell you something. It's easy to sit there when you're looking at it from a different set of lenses and talk about all his -- all his issues and all his problems. But the reality is he's done a lot of what he said he was going to do.

You brought up health care a few minutes ago. I think it's rich to bring up health care and talk about how much of a problem it is when some of the people I know were paying three times the amount in premiums when it was under the ACA. So it needs to be fixed. It needs to be changed. And I believe that

Nancy Pelosi runs the Congress. I think she can help with this.

CHURCH: Caroline, turning to you, if the Democrats can't even successfully organize their own Iowa caucuses, how can they convince America's voters that they offer a better way ahead than President Trump?

CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think you bring up a good point, Rosemary, that they have an uphill battle. And I think that perhaps Democrats have been thinking that because perhaps Trump is the least popular president in modern history that this is going to be a cakewalk in November.

I think tonight, you know, the third State of the Union address that Trump has delivered, where he actually looks presidential. And I don't think he does 364 days out of the year. He does a lot of erratic things. He violates the norms of the office. Some would argue the Constitution.

But this one night of the year when he knows that he has probably 20 million viewers, he absolutely acts presidential. And what he did tonight is he essentially stole the mantle of environmentalism. He stole the mantle of being good on health care when really what he's doing is gutting environmental regulations. He is gutting health care, pre-existing conditions.

The fact he's claiming credit for that really shows the length to which he is going to go to, to frame the issues that matter most to Americans, despite the fact that behind the scenes he's actually not supporting those policies one bit.

VAUSE: For Democrats, everything that could go wrong in Iowa on Monday night did go wrong. Here's a short list. There's probably a lot of other things we could add to it. But having said that, you can read it as we talk.

Joe, in 2012, the Republicans declared the wrong winner from their Iowa caucus. On the night they called it for Romney. Days later it was Rick Santorum they said won. Days after that Congressman Ron Paul emerged the winner. I guess there were problems last time between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

Is this the last we'll see of the Iowa caucus?

MESSINA: I don't know. That's a good question. People like consistency. They like things they're familiar with. I looked it up before I got here. And 15 of the last winners of the Iowa caucus did not go on to become president.

When you look at those numbers and you look at what they're doing, this is what they're comfortable with. I'm not so sure they're going to change it anytime soon.

CHURCH: And, Ron, I wanted to turn to you because the results from Iowa, so far at least, show Pete Buttigieg just in the lead ahead of Bernie Sanders. Here's what Buttigieg said earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), MAYOR OF SOUTH BEND, IND., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It validates for a kid somewhere in the community, wondering if he belongs or she belongs or they belong in their own family, that, if you believe in yourself and your country, there's a lot backing up that belief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: A very emotional point there in Buttigieg's speech.

But Ron, Democrats have and had previously viewed Joe Biden as their best bet for beating President Trump. That view appears to have been abandoned within the party, certainly in Iowa.

It's just one state, though, right?

But if Buttigieg does become the Democratic presidential nominee, what are his real chances of beating President Trump?

BROWNSTEIN: That's several steps down the road, Rosemary. First of all, I mean, to the point of the previous question.

[02:10:00]

BROWNSTEIN: You know, the Iowa caucus is a caucus because it is a way to evade New Hampshire's law requiring it to be the first in the nation primary. That is sanctioned by the Democratic Party, Democratic National Committee in Iowa, that lead opposition.

I think they're going to face enormous pressure to not have these two 90 percent white states lead off the process for an increasingly diverse party, especially after this historic debacle this week.

Look, to me the biggest story out of the Iowa caucus was that none of the Democrats yet is big or broad enough to pull away from the others. It is entirely likely that the margin of the share of the total delegates won by the winner will be the smallest ever for a first place finisher in Iowa.

It was the first time five candidates reached double digits for Democrats in the Iowa caucus. And it reflects the reality that they are all operating -- they've all consolidated different parts of the party, different pools of the party. But no one really, I think, looks nearly strong enough to pull away from the others.

Biden I think was staggered and you could see it coming. I spent the last week at his events. They were small. His energy was low. But his best constituency, African Americans, haven't weighed in yet.

So it is possible Democrats have a long way to go until they find a candidate to oppose Trump, at a point when, you know, Trump's approval has been rising slowly but steadily given the increasing -- under the push of the increasing optimism about the economy. VAUSE: It turns out if someone wants to launch a thousand conspiracy

theories, ruin their own credibility, cast doubt over an entire election, there's an app for that. And Democrats in Iowa are sorry. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TROY PRICE, IOWA DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRMAN: The reporting of the results, circumstances surrounding the 2020 Iowa Democratic Party caucuses, were unacceptable. As chair of the party, I apologize deeply for this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, Caroline, I apologize. That's good.

But how about I resign?

HELDMAN: He should absolutely resign. This was a rookie mistake. You put out a new app you haven't properly tested under the cloak of secrecy. When people finally do download it on Monday night, they find that they get a warning that says, look, maybe you don't want to download this app because it wasn't coming from an app store, which caused a lot of people to close it down.

Just from top to bottom, all of the issues with this technology are things that could have been prevented, had someone simply had a little more experience. So I think at the end of the day, he should resign.

This absolutely hurts the party. It's opened it up so that Republicans are now floating a lot of conspiracy theories. It's playing into this fear about things being rigged against Sanders in 2016. So it's incredibly harmful to the party.

CHURCH: Joe, I do want to go back to you and to the State of the Union address, where President Trump pledged to protect patients with pre-existing conditions. That's not even factual. He's currently in the courts trying to eliminate coverage for pre-existing conditions. So he can't claim that.

How do you explain that to voters?

MESSINA: Well, look, it's like everything else when they're laying down legislature, trying to work through things. These bills aren't clean. They never have been clean when they come through.

I've been screaming from my own radio show that the bottom line is I would like bills to show up with one issue on them.

So if we're talking about medical issues, pre-existing conditions, which ones are we talking about?

What conditions exactly is he trying to get thrown out or is he trying to keep in?

And the Republican legislators have said they will keep it in there, they will work to make sure they maintain pre-existing conditions.

VAUSE: A couple hours from now, it looks as if President Trump will be acquitted in the impeachment trial in the Senate.

And, Michael Genovese, we heard from one of the swing voters if you like, senator Susan Collins, basically saying that she will vote for acquittal, believing that Donald Trump has learned a very valuable lesson from this and will be more essentially contrite moving forward.

Really?

GENOVESE: Well, there's a first for everything. You know, basically the Republicans have been saying guilty but so what. There's a big so what. It matters greatly. Presidents need to be controlled. They need to be under the rule of law.

And I think in this case, especially you see a lot of Republicans scrambling because they know that politically they need to support the president. And yet they know that on the basis of the evidence, as Alexander said, the House Democrats have proven their case. We know he's done wrong.

But so what?

CHURCH: All right. We'll wrap that panel up. Many thanks to Caroline Heldman, Joe Messina for joining us there. Of course, Ron and Michael, you're going to stick around.

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VAUSE (voice-over): In the meantime we're going to take a short break. When we come back, (INAUDIBLE) information on the state of the union (INAUDIBLE) mention of awarding medals, giving away (INAUDIBLE) or family reunions. How Donald Trump remade this year's State of the Union in his own image. (INAUDIBLE) just ahead.

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CHURCH (voice-over): Plus the U.S. and other countries are racing to get their people out of China as the Wuhan virus spreads. The dramatic new steps China is taking to slow the outbreak. That's next.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Well, China is reporting another massive spike in the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. It's confirmed more than 3,000 new cases in Hubei province, raising the number of people infected worldwide to more than 24,000. Nearly 500 have died.

Meantime, other countries are ramping up efforts to get their people out of Wuhan. Two more flights carrying hundreds of Americans left China just hours ago, bound for military bases in California, just like another flight did last week. Those on board face a 14-day quarantine.

VAUSE: And Japan has quarantined almost 4,000 passengers and crew on board a cruise ship docked near Tokyo. One passenger, an 80-year-old man, reported feeling ill; later tested positive for the virus. Since then another 10 cases have been confirmed on board.

And proof it seems that China is willing to do whatever necessary to contain this outbreak.

[02:20:00]

VAUSE: Officials in Macau have asked all major casinos to shut down for at least two weeks, possibly longer. It's a decision not taken lightly, given the semi-autonomous region is the world's biggest gambling destination. Steven Jiang is live in Beijing. But we begin with Kaori Enjoji, live in Tokyo.

What's the latest on this cruise ship?

It seems a cruel twist of fate that one person who has tested positive, he's allowed to go to the mainland for treatment; everyone else, not so fast, you're stuck on board.

KAORI ENJOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, that's not the only thing that's odd about this operation for the cruise ship. It used to be parked here for the entire day but now it's had to go out to sea to release sewage, so to speak. That's a technicality.

But getting back to your point, there are more than 3,700 people on board. They've only tested a fraction of those people, some 270 plus, and they've only gotten the results for a handful of those, about 3 dozen.

And as you pointed out, 10 of those tested positive for the coronavirus. So those 10 people that tested positive were removed from the ship earlier on this morning and they were taken to nearby hospitals in Kanagawa Prefecture, which is a little bit south of the capital, Tokyo.

We still don't know what they're going to do with the rest of the patients, who are not showing symptoms. And what's happening right now is that they are out to sea. I'm told by the authorities here that the ship will be coming back to Yokohama port here tomorrow morning at the latest to refuel.

There are a lot of passengers, a lot of people, who have been here for the last two days almost. And this is a two-week cruise that has ended very, very badly. The government has said, as you pointed out, that they will remain on the ship in quarantine for two weeks, presumably going by the standards set forth by the WHO.

But you also have to wonder what's going to happen after these two weeks. If they aren't showing symptoms now, will they show symptoms once

they're released on board?

So there are a lot of question marks about this operation and I can tell you that citizens here in Japan, they know that there are 33 cases that have been detected from the coronavirus in Japan alone. That is the largest number outside of China.

And I can tell you that citizens are growing increasingly nervous and increasingly anxious about whether or not the Japanese government is doing all that it can to contain this virus -- John.

VAUSE: Thank you, Kaori Enjoji, live for us at Yokohama port.

CHURCH: Steven, let's go to you now in Beijing. Of course with the rapid rise in the number of people being infected by this virus and, of course, those dying from it as well, what measures or what new measures now are being put in place across China to try to contain the spread of this?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Rosemary, that is increasingly a pressing task for the authorities here because this virus, its spread really shows no sign of abating.

Outside of Hubei, the epicenter, now we know at least six other Chinese provinces are reporting more than 500 confirmed cases within their borders, including in Zhejiang (ph). This is an eastern Chinese province near Shanghai. They have almost 900 cases.

That's where in this province at least two city governments have implemented very draconian quarantine measures that we previously had only seen inside Hubei, basically requiring all residents to stay home at all time and allowing each household to send out one representative every other day to buy groceries.

But also in other parts of the city, in other parts of the country, I should say, authorities are trying to replicate these strengthened screening and surveillance measures beyond the transportation hubs.

Increasingly you see these measures at residential compounds, office buildings, very strict access rules, only residents or people working in these buildings allowed in after their temperature being checked.

And also they're kind of relying on this strategy of turning the masses into coronavirus detectives or spies, keeping their eye on people around you and reporting any suspected cases to the authorities, sometimes with the tap of a finger because now you can do it on your smartphones within social media apps -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: That is a little disturbing, I have to say. Steven Jiang, many thanks to you.

And Kaori Enjoji.

VAUSE: A night fill with partisan discord, big boasts and false claims. We'll have more on the State of the Union a la Trump style. (MUSIC PLAYING)

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[02:25:00]

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VAUSE: Just coming up 2:28 here on a Wednesday morning. Welcome back to our viewers watching us in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Vause at the CNN Center.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for staying with us.

VAUSE: The long delayed results from Monday night's Iowa caucuses continue to trickle in; 71 percent of the precincts are reporting in and Pete Buttigieg is leading the crowded field of Democrats. He's followed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden.

CHURCH: Now all those candidates are vying to replace the current president Donald Trump, who delivered his third State of the Union address Tuesday. He spent the night touting his policies and taking credit for the booming American economy.

Notably, he did not talk about his impeachment trial, even though the Senate is expected to vote on the issue Wednesday and more than likely acquit him. Throughout the night, tensions between the president and Democrats were clearly visible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But as we work to improve Americans' health care, there are those who want to take away your health care, take away your doctor and abolish private insurance entirely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Michael Genovese is staying with us, he's president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University.

This would be like no other State of the Union and this raucous presidential support from the very beginning was a sign we're in for a ride.

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VAUSE: Just what every child wants but tonight, there could be only one winner, a decent, high-quality, publicly funded education.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I can proudly announce tonight that an opportunity scholarship has become available, is going to you and you will soon be heading to the school of your choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:30:00]

VAUSE: But wait, there's more. A surprise Medal of Freedom for conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I will now ask the First Lady of the United States to present you with the honor, please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We should note, the highest civilian honor in the United States. To finish that off, of course, a military homecoming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I am thrilled to inform you that your husband is back from deployment. He's here with us tonight. And we couldn't keep him waiting any longer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You get a card, you get a card, everyone gets to run to you. Why didn't George Washington give out when he delivered his first State of the Union?

BROWNSTEIN: By piece of paper because he didn't deliver at first. He delivered a written address. So look, you know, to me, what was most interesting about this speech, obviously, you see the two big assets the President has, which is a unified Republican Party and a strong economy. Those are the two big assets he has going to the election year.

But I think the speech was very revealing of his conception of the job. And we talked about this before. I don't think he sees himself as President of the United States of America. I think he sees himself primarily as the president of red America. And in fact that a core of his political strategy is convincing red America that it is under siege from elements of blue America, coastal elites who disdain them, allegedly, and immigrants and minorities who threaten them, allegedly.

I mean, giving Rush Limbaugh the Medal of Freedom, you know, on live national television was really kind of the act of the president of red America. And that vision, that kind of separatists and kind of very polarizing vision, I think, is a large part of why this election is on a knife's edge despite the fact that as we talked about in the last half-hour, three-quarters of Americans are describing the economy is excellent. Normally, you'd say a president is cruising to reelection in that circumstance.

Trump could certainly win the electoral college vote. He could certainly, you know, squeeze it out. But he is -- he is operating on a knife's edge because the way he is comport himself as president has alienated so many people who are otherwise satisfied with the way the economy is going, the way the stock market looks, the way that 401(k) stand.

CHURCH: And, Michael, there were the usual false statements about Obama's economy. Biden responded in real-time tweeting this. "Our administration brought the economy back from the brink of depression, save the auto industry, and made healthcare available to millions of families. Donald Trump gave billionaires a tax break."

So Michael, how does the President get away with taking all the credit for the economy? Will he get away with it?

GENOVESE: Well, he may very well. He has an experience -- he's an experienced entertainer. He knows how to put on the show. And you saw the second half of the State of the Union Address was a really well managed, actually almost a game show. But the President was literally handing out prizes to that young African-American girl, you're going to go to school. And come on down. Here's the military family reunited.

It was well-staged. It was entertaining. But do people see through that? There were so many guests that we're so used sometimes even perhaps as props, that you have to wonder to what extent he's able to pull the wool over the eyes of all the American people.

VAUSE: After the State of the Union, Nancy Pelosi was asked why she ripped up the text of the President's address to Congress. She said because it was the courteous thing to do -- the courteous thing to do considering the alternative. She did not actually spell out what the alternative was. But Ron, does this mean the days of where they go low, we go high are momentarily over?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I do. I mean, look, I mean, you know, what we're seeing in the impeachment trial is just a complete partisan divide to the point that Republicans are simply unwilling to impose any kind of sanction or really almost any scrutiny on the president. And I think the State of the Union was, you know, an unprecedented level of partisanship, starting with the four more years chant at the beginning.

I mean, no one can pretend that we are talking about a country that is kind of rowing in one direction. I mean, the safest prediction about this election is that 49 percent of Americans are going to be absolutely terrified about the result and fearful that the America that they believe in is, you know, is at risk, no matter which side wins. And that kind of is, to me is the long-term trend.

I wrote a book 12 years ago called The Second Civil War, and we are so much deeper into the water of, you know, this kind of -- these kinds of divisions that I don't know where this ultimately ends up, but I think the clear direction is higher and higher.

CHURCH: And Michael, a week that started with the Iowa debacle, then the partisan State of the Union Address, we'll likely end with the acquittal of the president in his impeachment trial. All in all, a great week for Mr. Trump. How did the Democrats prove they have a viable alternative after all of this?

[02:35:10]

GENOVESE: Yes, I think the President's riding high and he has reason to crow a bit. The Democratic response that you saw from the governor of Michigan was almost small ball. It was (INAUDIBLE), it was believable, but it was small ball. The Democrats have to give us a reason to vote against Donald Trump.

There's a two-stage process. In stage one, you evaluate the incumbent and say, do I want to go with him or against him? And right now, I think the American public is in an impasse. They don't know if they want to support him. But in order to make that second step to vote against the president, you have to have something to believe in, something to vote for. The Democrats thus far has have not given the American voters something positive to vote for.

VAUSE: I was wondering because every time don't Trump seems to be in the clear and on a good run politically, he tends to then shoot yourself in the foot. And I'm just wondering if you know, awarding Rush Limbaugh the Medal of Freedom, which is, you know, the highest civilian honor in the United States, you know, it's awarded by the president to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the security or national interests of America, to world peace, or the cultural other significant public or private endeavors.

You know, that is not Rush Limbaugh no matter how you slice or dice it. Is this something that could potentially blow up in his face? I mean, it's already been called disgusting by some that Limbaugh walks away with this. You know, I know that he's been diagnosed with cancer, it's all very sad, but he doesn't -- he doesn't deserve you know, this medal, this award.

BROWNSTEIN: It's hard by conventional standards to say that he does sympathetic as you might be to a situation. But in fact, I think that what you mentioned is the reason why President Trump cannot sustain kind of a political run is precisely because of the instinct that is at play in giving the award to Rush Limbaugh, which is as I said before, he sees himself fundamentally as the president of red America, and that he sees himself as defending red America.

He tell -- he tells -- his core message to his audience is that they are under siege from forces that would undermine the America that they believe in, whether it's elites above, whether it's minorities coming over -- or immigrants coming over the border, and I alone can protect you. And then ultimately, you know, he is not someone who's going to run through 2020 on are you better off than you were four years ago, which is kind of part of the message tonight.

It was the other half of the message that is ultimately going to dominate, which is, you know, Democrats are coming for your healthcare. They're socialists. They're going to kind of transform America and make it unrecognizable. And ultimately, that is just too polarizing for him to ever establish a comfort zone.

And yes, the economy is this enormous tailwind for him. The headwind that he faces simultaneously are doubts about his values, some of his policies, and the way you comport himself as President. Don't forget that even though the country is divided 50-50 on whether he should be removed from office, a majority consistently says that he abused his power in Ukraine. And that's the kind of behavior that really crystal realizes the concerns that are keeping this election on the knife's edge despite the strong economy.

VAUSE: Yes. It's been an interesting night and actually a couple of days, to say the least. And Ron and Michael, thank you so much for sticking around. I know it's late, but we appreciate you being with us.

CHURCH: Thank you so much. Well, how is President Trump State of the Union Address being received outside of America? We will get some international reactions after the short break so do stay with us.

[02:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Our message to the terrorists is clear, you will never escape American justice. If you attack our citizens, you forfeit your life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Donald Trump there at the State of the Union just a few hours ago. And we continue to follow reaction to his address to Congress.

CHURCH: Yes, and for the latest on the international response, we're joined now by Nic Robertson in London and John Defterios in Abu Dhabi. Good to see you both. So Nic, let's start with you. How is the rest of the world reacting to what the President said in his State of the Union Address?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Silence for the time being.

(CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: Do they care?

ROBERTSON: One of the -- you know, I think one of the big takeaways here is that the President doesn't have much to say about Europe, you know, a continent and a trading blog that has been threatening to slap some pretty serious tariffs on. There was really no mention of them there.

You know, biggest criticism, no surprise for Iran. What we heard from the President before, essentially that, you know, the economic sanctions on Iran are working and it's really up to you Iranians to come forward and ask for relief on that. And, you know, checking the Twitter account or the foreign minister Javad Zarif of Iran this morning, there's been no response, and that may take a little while.

You know, his -- what he had to say about the Middle East peace plan begging that up, that he fails to mention that, you know, that the Palestinians have rejected it. So I don't think we're going to hear much from them on that this morning, either. You know, the reference, if you will, to Europe was NATO and he said that he got NATO to contribute $400 billion more.

Well, that's, again, like a lot of what we hear from President Trump it's hyperbole, it's not strictly true. NATO nations have contributed an additional $130 billion at the end of last year. It will be $400 billion by the end of 2024. So yes, there's -- I don't think there's anything that's got anyone jumping out of their beds this morning and capitals around the world saying, oh, my gosh, we're going to have to rebut and push back on this. It's more a question of, OK, is this really the guy we're going to deal with for the next four years as well?

VAUSE: Well, OK, our Nic Robertson is calling the election right now. Donald Trump another four years, another term. Thank you, Nic.

ROBERTSON: That's the fear around the world, John. That's the -- that's the reality around the world. That's what people fear may happen.

VAUSE: Actually one term an aberration, two terms affirmation. But John Defterios, to you. Let's stick with Nic's language that you know, the U.S. president can sort of be described best as a serial exaggerator, be it about job creation, the economy he inherited, his crowd size, nothing off-limits. What is interesting if you listen to what he said tonight, and there's a lot of exaggerations in there, increasingly it doesn't matter. The falseness of hyperbole, it's all sort of baked in, right, and we see that play out once again.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: That's a good way of putting it, John, because he clearly has his own narrative, that's under this moniker of rebuilding America. Yes, the unemployment rate is at a 50-year low. It's running at 3.5 percent to close out 2019. But it's misleading to suggest that he took America from the Dark Ages.

In fact, in the last three years of the Obama administration, they created eight million jobs. In the first three years of his administration, it's less than million jobs. So what he's trying to do here is talk to his base, number one. Number two, is try to extend the economic cycle, which usually last on recovery seven to eight years. We're in the 10th year here right now.

[02:45:13]

And he's doing so by running a record budget deficit of $1 trillion. He admitted spending better than $2 trillion on military spending, which is good for jobs and the rest, but the growth rate is not strong. Everybody has accepted the fact that America is doing great. Actually, a 2.1 percent is the slowest growth in three years.

So he has this narrative saying, we're doing great. He's willing to take China to the mat on trade. That first round didn't deliver a great amount of goods. He says he's raising money for the Treasury. That's misleading. It's costing the consumers a lot more money. And finally, a weaker China is not good for the U.S. economy or the

global economy. It's the weakest it's been and better than 30 years. And I would argue -- I wouldn't suggest that relations with China has he said are better than they are. In fact, during the coronavirus, the Chinese were complaining, they thought the U.S. was being alarmist.

So again, there's Donald Trump's narrative to his base, and what the rest of the world thinks right now. It is growing but not spectacularly.

CHURCH: And, Nic, I do want to bring you back and take you up on that point. You were saying that the world is quite nervous about the prospect of another Trump term. That reflects back on the Democrats as well, like, given what we saw Monday with the Iowa caucuses. There must be a sense that there is no one in that lineup who can go toe to toe head to head with Donald Trump and can beat him.

ROBERTSON: Yes, I think this very much goes to what John was saying there, John Vause, which is, you know, once can be an aberration, but twice would be an affirmation. And that would be a real reality check for the world, that they would have not only to deal with President Trump for another four years, but you know, when you look at the way that Europe is already concerned about the strength of the Transatlantic Alliance, that relationship, that -- what that means for the defense of Europe, what it means for the economy of Europe.

The real concern is that if you -- if Donald Trump stays in power, then those concerns now become real realities that have to be dealt with. And Europe has to make a course correction that it cannot rely on the United States in the way that it has in the past economically or in terms of security. We're not there yet, particularly on the economy, of course, but in terms of security, that is something that is getting discussion in European capitals.

So, you know, when European leaders and other leaders look at what happened in the Iowa caucuses, yes, that sort of shambolic start, if you will, to the campaign process. The election process on -- for Democrats is a concern. When they listen to visiting politicians from the United States, and I've listened to some here in London talking at think tanks, the narrative there is that even they Democrats are expecting Trump for another four years.

So this, it resonates here and it resonates in a very serious way that the global order is changing, and that President Trump for another four years will really set Europe to thinking about that relationship and decisions, critical decisions it makes, strategic decisions. Huawei, for example, and 5G network, strategic decisions going forward.

CHURCH: All right, many thanks to our Nic Robertson and John Defterios for bringing us up to date on reaction, responses from across the globe.

VAUSE: Well, one of those directions come in. Some good analysis there from Nic and John. In the meantime, we appreciate it. Thank you. So when the app crashed and burned, it seems there's no one else to blame apart from Iowa State Democrats. Details just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

[02:50:00]

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DON RIDDELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi there, I'm Don Riddell with your CNN World Sports Headlines. Another day, another win for the Liverpool Football Club, but this one looked a little different. Manager Jurgen Klopp rested his entire first team for the FA Cup fourth-round replay against Shrewsbury. Klopp himself wasn't even there for the game.

With an average age of just 19 years, and 102 days, it was the youngest team the Reds have ever fielded, but the kids came through with flying colors, edging it with a late own goal. It turns out that it was a masterstroke by the manager because the kids won the game, and it means the Reds are into the fifth round. The first team players got some much-needed rest in order to focus on more important battles later in the season.

Meanwhile, the young Norwegian striker Erling Haaland has scored yet again. And what a season he is having after lighting up the Champions League with RB Salzburg. He's now playing for Borussia Dortmund in Germany and he just cannot stop scoring. Against Werder Bremen in the German Cup on Tuesday, Haaland scored his eighth goal for the club. That's his eighth goal in just four games since arriving in Germany.

The 19-year-old is averaging a goal would you believe every 20 minutes. But unfortunately for Haaland, it was all in vain today because Bremen won the game 3-2 there into the quarterfinals. That is a quick look at your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddell.

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VAUSE: Just coming up to seven minutes before the top of the hour. We're following three major political stories right now. After a major delay, results are trickling in from the Iowa caucuses. Right now, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has a narrow lead over Bernie Sanders.

CHURCH: Plus, President Trump delivered his State of the Union Address Tuesday night. It was a carefully crafted reality show where he laid out the blueprint for his reelection campaign and traded snubs with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

VAUSE: And in just a few hours, the U.S. Senate resumed Trump's impeachment trial where he is expected to be acquitted. An untested app was a major issues is being blamed for the vote in Iowa -- vote- counting in Iowa for taking so long.

CHURCH: Yes, Democratic candidates had already moved to the State of New Hampshire for next week's primary before any results were released. Our Alex Marquardt has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Excitement and expectations for the first of the nation caucus quickly flaming out as concerns grew over no results.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: What's taking so long?

MARQUARDT: The prime suspect, the new app in its first big rollout by the Iowa Democratic Party, Designed to make reporting caucus results fast and seamless. It was anything but.

BILL BRAUCH, PRECINCT CHAIR, IOWA CAUCUS: Some of them couldn't install it. Some of them could not bring it up and use it. I didn't hear about anyone else having the keyboard issue. I had. But there were a variety of other issues.

MARQUARDT: The chair people in charge of the caucuses loaded the seemingly simple app onto their personal cell phones. It was supposed to tabulate voters and delegates for each candidate. One county Chairman told CNN there were problems already last week as they got ready. Some caucus chair said they were confused. Others reported errors and being unable to report the results.

Precinct captains flooded the phone lines. Many left on endless holds on the overloaded backup phone system, often giving up. Today, the party chairman issued a statement saying, "While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data. We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. The applications reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately."

THERESA PAYTON, FORMER CIO, WHITE HOUSE: I would give everybody an A for the idea. I would give them a failing grade for implementation. When you see things like that, that tells you it's a systemic failure and you can't just blame it on the app.

[02:55:09]

MARQUARDT: The company behind the app called Shadow apologized on Twitter saying, "We sincerely regret the delay and the reporting of the results of last night's Iowa Caucuses and the uncertainty it has caused to the candidates, their campaigns and Democratic caucus- goers."

State and federal officials insist there was no foul play, no hacking involved. But the Department of Homeland Security which plays a crucial role in securing the presidential election says Iowa Democrats didn't take them up on an offer to test the app for flaws.

CHAD WOLF, ACTING HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY, UNITED STATES: So our Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has offered to test that app from a hacking perspective. They declined, and so we're seeing a couple of issues with it. I would say right now we don't see any malicious cyber activity going on.

MARQUARDT: The chairman of the Iowa Democrats said he wasn't aware of the DHS offer to review that app. Now, a software from that same company, Shadow, was also supposed to be used in the Nevada caucus on February 22. Now, the Nevada Democratic Party says that won't be used despite tens of thousands of dollars already spent. The chairman saying they're evaluating the best path forward. Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.

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VAUSE: Well, Thank you for watching. That is it for us for this hour. At least me anyway. I'm John Vause at CNN Center.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. Early start is next for our viewers in the United States. And for everyone else, I'll be back with more news in just a moment.

VAUSE: Are you OK without me?

CHURCH: Yes.

VAUSE: You'd be all right?

CHURCH: Yes. I think I'll be good.

VAUSE: OK.

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