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CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt
Trump In Michigan As He Marks 100 Days Of Second Presidency; Trump Says Bezos "Solved The Problem" After White House Blasts Amazon For Considering Breaking Out Tariff Charge; CNN Poll: Approval Ratings For Dems Even Worse Than For GOP. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired April 29, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:03]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: It wasn't a good idea this time he made it about 9,000 feet, only to become nauseous again and require another rescue. Police say he's doing fine now, despite all of that. Unclear if he got his phone back.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: You lose your phone a lot. Do you have to, like --
KEILAR: Oh, yeah. I have a dinger on my watch and my husband makes fun of me for it.
SANCHEZ: Would you go back up a mountain for it?
KEILAR: Hell, no.
SANCHEZ: Would you throw your hand into a porta-potty the way that our producer Michelle's sister did?
KEILAR: No, I wouldn't do it. No, absolutely not.
SANCHEZ: Yikes.
THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT starts right now.
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: It's Trump's day one versus day 100.
Let's head into THE ARENA.
The president says he'll focus on the economy as he returns to battleground Michigan to mark his 100th day back in office. And his polls show voters have turned on his tariffs and his handling of the economy. And they're fearful about what's ahead.
This hour, a key economic official at the White House, Kevin Hassett, joins us live to face questions about the president's trade war, a new deal in the works and unexpected -- unexpected conflict with Jeff Bezos and Amazon.
And Democrats in Congress are watching their ratings tank in a new CNN poll as their party demands action against Trump. We'll get reaction from Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Ddingell of Michigan. (MUSIC)
HUNT: Hi, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. Welcome to THE ARENA. It's Tuesday, April 29th.
It is the 100th day of the second Trump presidency. Perhaps you also feel like it's been a lot longer than that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": It's officially been 100 days of Donald Trump.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: I'm so tired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All kidding aside, let's take a second to say the one thing that no one seems willing to say out loud, even as they say it privately, seemingly no matter which party they're from -- Donald Trump's second opening act has been shocking. One shock after the next.
Now, whether you think any of its good or bad is obviously going to depend on where you sit. But in this moment, it is worth taking stock of just how much has changed and how fast. Part of this, for me anyway, is that during his first term, when he did so many things that at the time were so shocking, it seemed that absolutely nothing was shocking anymore, could be shocking anymore. Of course, it was all capped off by the events of January 6th.
Then Donald Trump left town and the shocking thing became the idea that the President could watch as the capitol was sacked. He could fly into exile at his Florida club. He could face prosecution on multiple fronts and then be reelected with a mandate more sweeping than the one he had before.
But let's come back to the present. Bottom line, he did win the election. The polling showed Americans thought Joe Biden was just too old and they were really unhappy with how hard it was under Joe Biden to make ends meet. And so, they gave Trump another chance.
So, the question that we find ourselves asking today, 100 days in, is this is Donald Trump giving Americans what they want? Or is he giving them far more than what they bargained for? Because so far, it has been a massive shock to the system. It has been shocking to see students apprehended on the street to watch the government tell us that they won't bring back a man, that they deported by mistake. And it's been shocking to learn that little kids who are U.S. citizens are being deported with their noncitizen mothers. And again, this all depends on where you sit for the Trump administration.
All of that is likely the point. It has also been shocking for us and for the rest of the world, to watch President Trump talk about making Canada the 51st state. Apparently seriously, to talk about annexing Greenland, and then to do this with Vladimir Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Your country is in big trouble. Wait a minute. No, no, you've done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I know.
TRUMP: You're not winning. You're not winning this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Of course, that was just weeks before we were all shocked. No one more shocked, probably, than Jeffrey Goldberg himself, that the national security adviser had, added the editor of "The Atlantic Magazine" to a single group chat where the secretary of defense then shared plans for missile strikes.
That was all before April 2nd liberation day.
[16:05:03]
Trump applied a tariff shock to our economic system, so severe that the market for U.S. treasury bonds, the very bedrock of our global financial system, the bedrock that allows us here in America to sustain a massive federal debt without enduring collective universal misery. That market was shaken, shaken enough for another shocking thing to happen Donald Trump reversing himself on tariffs, at least a public partial public acknowledgment that he was wrong.
And in a world where everything is so shocking, where the shock is the point. This is the part that has the potential to change the game into shocking ways. This economic set of shocks.
Ray Dalio, the billionaire hedge fund manager, just wrote this, quote: We are on the brink of the monetary order, the domestic political and the international world order is breaking down due to unsustainable bad fundamentals that can be easily seen and measured, which leads us to the second shocking possibility that Americans may actually be turning on Trump after he's dominated our politics for a decade.
Our new CNN poll shows a significant majority of Americans, 57 percent, have negative feelings about the rest of the president's term. Of them, 41 percent say they feel afraid. Afraid. So, let's go back to the question at hand. Is this what Americans wanted when they elected Trump, or did they not buy this shock to the system? Is this shock to the system simply too much.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Worried about Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security. He did say that he wasn't going to cut them. Give him some time. And I'm hopeful. But, you know, I think that if he doesn't come through, he's going to have a lot of people turning on him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: A lot of people turning on him. Of course, Trump voters that he was talking to there.
Let's get to CNN's Alayna Treene. She's live for us at the White House.
Alayna, we are about to see the president in Michigan. But he did talk a little bit before he got on the plane to head that way. What have we learned?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. Well, first of all, I think one of the striking things is what we've heard from him and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent today, which is essentially that they believe a deal, a trade deal with India is very close. The president said India is coming along great. I think we'll have a deal with India.
That was as he was getting on Marine One to start heading toward Michigan, of course, where he's going to mark his first 100 days in office. And that's the same thing we've been hearing from other top economic advisers that some of the first economic deals they anticipate striking with other countries will come from allies in Asia, like India, also South Korea, Japan. But they do believe India could come together in the next several days. This administration is definitely under pressure to show kind of proof that these deals are working, that the tariff pressure that the president had first applied on these other countries will spurn real results.
But then the other thing he addressed as well is some of the reporting that we broke today, which was this debacle over Amazon. First, it came when one report from "Punchbowl News" said that Amazon was considering showing the cost of tariffs right next to its prices on its website. I was then told by two senior White House officials that the president called the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, to complain about this. One of the officials told me essentially that he was pissed, that's a quote. He said, why should a multi-billion-dollar company pass off costs to consumers?
And then what was really remarkable is that shortly after that phone call, we learned that Amazon was backing away from that story. And Amazon spokesperson told me, quote, this was never approved and not going to happen. CNN asked the president, how did that call with Bezos go? Listen to his answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: How did your call with Jeff Bezos go?
TRUMP: Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was terrific. He solved the problem very quickly, and he did the right thing. And he's a good guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: So, you heard the president saying he did the right thing. He's a good guy. I mean, one, I think it just is emblematic of the relationship between Jeff Bezos and the president, one that if we were talking about this case back during his first term, would be completely surprising given they had a very fraught relationship then.
But in recent months, Bezos has really been trying to make inroads with the president. I'm told whenever he's in Washington, D.C., he often visits the West Wing to meet with Donald Trump.
And so today, when the president read a story about Amazon that he didn't like, he called up the founder. And we saw later Amazon back off. Really a remarkable moment. I think that played out in the White House today -- Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Alayna Treene for us from the White House -- Alayna, great reporting by you and the team.
And joining us now to discuss more is the director of the National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett.
Kevin, I'm so grateful to have you on the show. So, thank you very much for being here.
I do want to start with some of this news from the president where and we also heard Howard Lutnick, the cabinet official, say that there was an unnamed deal that was close. The president was talking about India.
Can you just tell us in a clear way what deal are we close to? And where do things stand with India? Is that the deal in question?
KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Yeah, I mean, there are multiple, multiple deals that are extraordinarily close, especially with our Asian trading partners. Secretary Lutnick and Bessent and I were in the Oval yesterday discussing it with the president.
And we've seen sketches of deals. I'm not going to put, you know, deals that aren't signed in front of the American people until the president is ready to do that, and the foreign governments are ready to do it. But the thing that I can say that I've been astonished at is how much access to foreign markets U.S. producers are going to have because of these deals. The president was really impressed with the status of the negotiations, but especially impressed by the fact that finally, they're putting the American worker first and they're opening up their markets for our products in a way that nobody ever thought was possible.
HUNT: One big focus, of course, Kevin, is this question about auto tariffs as well. And there has been an order in the works, of course, president going to Michigan today. Has the president signed the issue -- the order on auto tariffs?
HASSETT: Yes. In fact, I got an update on this. And so perhaps I'm breaking a little bit of news, but I wanted to know for sure that the executive orders were signed while he was traveling to Michigan. Of course, signing them on the way to Michigan is in part what he's up to because it's all about getting workers back to work in the places where we make things in America. And so, yes, the two executive orders on autos were signed. I was informed, I don't think I was informed incorrectly by someone on Air Force One.
HUNT: So this obviously all of the activity on tariffs has particularly focused as well on China because the volume of goods that come from China is so high. There have been serious questions about the way that talks are continuing between the U.S. and China, because, of course, the Chinese have denied speaking to U.S. officials. Has -- and let's -- let's kind of go through this a little bit, layer by layer, has the president spoken with President Xi of China about this?
HASSETT: The president is clear that he's talked with President Xi. But what those conversations might entail that obviously, that's up to the president and President Xi to reveal. But I can say that the president has asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to lead the trade negotiations with China as the top economic official, as the treasury secretary is the heir to Alexander Hamilton. He's exactly the right person for this job, and we're looking forward to making progress and reporting on progress soon.
HUNT: Has the treasury secretary spoken with his counterpart, his Chinese counterpart, recently?
HASSETT: The treasury secretary will inform you about those matters in the fullness of time.
HUNT: Okay. Can you give us any shed, any light on officials that you may have spoken with in your role? And can you really clarify for us? You say that Bessent is doing at China. Do you know the list of other countries in his portfolio as compared to Howard Lutnick, who, of course, has been talking out there, talking about what we think is this deal with India and what you may be involved in. There's a little bit of a lack of clarity on who's doing what.
HASSETT: Okay. So, first, I'll make it clear that as director of the National Economic Council, I'm not engaged actively in negotiations because that's what Secretary Bessent, Secretary Lutnick and Jamieson Greer are doing. That's what the president has assigned them to do. And he's allocated the jobs amongst them in a way that some of the things Republicans, some of them are not public.
But, you know, Jamieson Greer has negotiated -- has gotten 19, I believe, written offers on the reciprocal tariffs. Secretary Lutnick is working really, really hard on the 232 tariffs, which are the ones for national security. And Secretary Bessent is working with our Asian counterparts and making an enormous amount of progress, all of them.
And the trade team is 100 percent behind the president's policies. And I'm there, but I'm not an active negotiator.
HUNT: Fair enough. And I appreciate you providing that clarity that you were able to provide there because, again, it has been, of course, a little bit confusing, still remains a little bit confusing.
But let's -- let's change gears. I want to talk to you about Jeff Bezos. Of course, the president there discussing his phone call with Jeff Bezos. Pretty remarkable that a U.S. company that wants to be transparent with consumers about why they're paying the prices that they are, would then be said to be political is this political interference in the free market?
HASSETT: No, no, no, no. First of all, I got to say that I'm really glad to have a president that if he notices something that needs to be fixed for American workers in the U.S. economy, then he can pick up the phone. They pick it up right away, and then he gets to the bottom of it.
[16:15:02]
The bottom line is that if we charge a tariff on a foreign country, then if they have inelastic supply to us, then the supplier in that country is going to bear the tariff, not the U.S. consumer. And the idea that Amazon is going to say that the tariff is passing through to the consumer means that they don't understand economics. And so, you covered it as a debacle. I did think it was a debacle for whoever's doing economics at Amazon, because they were assuming something that's contrary to basic economics about who bears the tariff.
And it was correct for Jeff Bezos to apologize for it and to correct the record that Amazon, whoever did it, made a big mistake. I wonder if they'll have a job tomorrow.
HUNT: We're -- we're looking at live pictures right now of the president landing in Michigan. So, of course, obviously, if he starts to make comments, Kevin, I'll have to ill have to jump in and cut us off. This does appear to be the governor, Gretchen Whitmer, meeting him, clearly very windy day there in Michigan.
Kevin, the administration, the president has acknowledged that there's going to be some short term pain here. And while I understand the argument that you are trying to make about who pays the cost of tariffs, every other Republican in the decade I spent covering the Hill was very eager to tell me that tariffs were a tax that were paid by consumers and not by anyone else. And the reality is, that's part of the pain that Americans are likely to bear.
So I think my question to you is if at the end of the day, its companies that are passing this along, how much short term pain are voters willing to endure?
HASSETT: No, no, it's talking about it as pain is just absolutely incorrect. And the way to think about it is if you think that when China entered the WTO, it's going to be so good because you're getting all these cheap Chinese products in America that you would expect that Americans would be better off, that their standard of living would go up.
And what we saw was, after China entered the WTO for 15 years in a row, real wages declined. They were down $1,200 over the next 15 years because the cheap goods were overpowered by the reduction in labor demand and the really bad wages.
HUNT: I get the -- (CROSSTALK)
HASSETT: President Trump came in with these -- let me finish this. President Trump came in in the previous term, and he pushed policies just like these that were supply-side, that created jobs for Americans. And real wages went up by $6,500 in the next three years, $6,500 per year. And that's more than you got for the previous 16 years.
And so, what he's doing is he's taking the policies that work for the American worker, and he's just doubling down on them. And the idea that that's pain is just incorrect. He's got his eye on the horizon and it's going to be better than the first term for sure, because these are stronger policies now, now that we have even more conviction, even conviction on the Hill.
We met with the congressional leaders, Scott Bessent and I yesterday, and everybody is 100 percent behind the president's agenda and especially behind right now, the reconciliation package that's going to deliver -- deliver big tax cuts for American workers and onshore a lot of jobs.
HUNT: I mean, just look, just to be clear, I understand that. No, it's okay. I appreciate it. The -- you're making the long term argument, which absolutely voters also tell us they want to give Trump a chance, right?
When we go -- we've gone to -- our John King was out talking with swing voters and they will say, well, this might work. You know, some of them are willing to give him a chance. Again. Thats why I said the short-term pain of this, because we also have Apollo Global, the chief economist there, said that we are facing potentially COVID like shortages within months because of container ships that are parked in Chinese ports.
Like, are Americans going to tolerate that?
HASSETT: We are not seeing any evidence of COVID-like shortages. That the bottom line is that we had a jobs report, the last jobs report that we had, we'll get the next one on Friday, was way above expectation because American employers are creating jobs in America again. If they create jobs in America, then Americans have wages in their pockets.
And I don't think the Americans want to give President Trump a chance because they like the way he looks on TV, although I think he's great on TV. They're giving President Trump a chance because they know that his policies worked for them. They looked at their wallets and they voted for him, and they're looking in their wallets after President Biden's inflation. They're saying, wait, what happened?
And president Trump's going in and he's going to fix the problem and he's fixing it already. I don't think you need to talk about short term pain. The last jobs report was fantastic.
HUNT: So, before I let you go, you also mentioned, of course, the reconciliation bill and which of course, is we often shorthand it here for our viewers as Trump's agenda on the Hill. Some people call it the tax cut package. There has been a suggestion that some Republicans in congress may be open to raising the top tax bracket rate, or rather, allowing it to revert back to where it was before the Trump tax cuts to make that highest tax bracket rate higher than it is right now.
Does the administration want Republicans on Capitol Hill to raise the top bracket rate?
HASSETT: No, 100 percent not. President Trump has made it clear that he doesn't think that that should be on the table. So, it's 100 percent not on the table to do that, but what is on the table? I could just say, because Secretary Bessent and I, after meeting with the president, met with the majority leader of the speaker of the House and the rest of the team up there on the Hill, and it was astonishing the agreement.
And you would have to concur that it's astonishing this pace at which the tax bills are moving forward. Last time, we didn't really get it until the fall, and here we are looking at maybe early summer, everything being passed. And that's really what President Trump has been able to accomplish this time because everything is working so smoothly.
You mentioned at the beginning it was one thing I disagreed about that, that you think what we've been doing is shocking. I don't think you should be shocked, because what we've been doing is exactly what president Trump promised he would do during the campaign, and now he's delivering for all of us.
HUNT: All right. I will say, like -- you know, we can agree. We can agree to disagree on the level of shocking.
HASSETT: Look --
HUNT: I think that your timeline on Capitol Hill is --
HASSETT: I'm not shocked.
HUNT: -- very aggressive. And I think if you talk to, like, Thom Tillis, he might -- might share that particular assessment. But we'll see.
HASSETT: We'll see.
HUNT: Why don't we come back in June and we'll talk about it. We'll see where we are.
HASSETT: Even before.
HUNT: Okay. Kevin Hassett, thank you. I really appreciate it.
HASSETT: Great. Nice to see you, Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Our panel is standing by right here in THE ARENA. We have a lot to talk about. We'll get their thoughts on the other side of the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Pope?
REPORTER: Yeah.
TRUMP: I'd like to be pope. That would be my number one choice. No, I don't know. I have no preference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Anyone surprised President Trump cracked that joke? I'm not. He was just leaving Washington, D.C. for Michigan, where he'll soon speak to mark his 100th day in office. In those, as we were discussing before, fast paced 100 days, President Trump, who is, of course, already the most ubiquitous world figure without the title of pope, has fundamentally transformed the world order in nearly every sense. We were just walking through all of it.
My panel is here, CNN contributor, "New York Times" journalist, podcast host Lulu Garcia-Navarro; White House reporter for "The Wall Street Journal", Annie Linskey; CNN political commentator Xochitl Hinojosa, and former campaign manager for Donald Trump, Bill Stepien.
Welcome to all of you. Thank you so much for being here.
Bill, I'm going to start with you. I want to get to -- Annie is our beat reporter on the set. And she has kind of borne the brunt of the pace of what we've seen.
But I actually -- I do want to start with you to kind of help us understand a little bit of and, you know, obviously covered the whole campaign. We all, we all did. We watched what Donald Trump promised.
And I take Kevin Hassett point that some of it should not be shocking to people because the president told people what he was going to do, but that doesn't mean that the scale and scope of it is not different from, I think, what many, some, certainly some voters are telling us this is beyond what they thought that they were more than what they bargained for, right? They wanted him to lower their costs, make their lives a little better. This is a lot.
But especially the sort of foundational shaking of our economic system seems to be something that wasn't necessarily bargained for. Do you think we should have bargained for it?
BILL STEPIEN, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I think it's a sad state of affairs if were surprised that someone who campaigned on exactly these things is doing these things. There is nothing he's done or said that is different than the campaign trail. This is to a T things he campaigned on. HUNT: Even like 145 percent tariffs on China, right?
STEPIEN: I mean, look, first term he doubled collected tariffs and despite COVID wrecking our economy, the stock market jumped 67 percent. So, things take time to settle. I know we're not a patient populace, but things take time to calm down and settle, just like they did during the first term. I'm going to take him at his word that he can deliver again in the second term, like he did in the first.
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, the other problem is that he also promised to bring down prices, and that is one of the reasons why Democrats lost. People were not feeling the economic gains. They believe that Trump, who is known as a deal maker, he likes to talk about cutting deals like maybe this man can actually get us to a place where I am doing better in my life.
And right now, based on polling, CNN polling and across the board, people are not feeling that. For the Republican Party, one big caution is Democrats had their similar thing, which was the withdrawal in Afghanistan. After that, Joe Biden could never really come back.
And I do think that this is one of these moments that if the American people don't feel lower prices and how this administration is impacting them for the better, then I think this hurts Republicans in the long term.
HUNT: Annie Linskey, you have been in the Oval Office a number of times, I believe, for the Zelenskyy meeting. Correct me if I'm wrong. You have seen this up close. You understand kind of the difference in pace between the Biden administration, the Trump administration.
What stands out to you? What are you reflecting on at this 100-day mark?
ANNIE LINSKEY, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yeah, yeah. I mean, the pace -- I definitely relate to the idea of aging in office. I feel like I've aged quite a bit in the last 100 days. But setting that aside, I think when you look at the major pieces that Trump has unveiled and the major changes that he has made, one through line for me is the concentration of power in the West Wing and in the White House.
And I think that's true when you look at the tariffs, suddenly the president is making these deals. It's true when you look at DOGE, suddenly the president in the West Wing is making decisions that congress is used to making. It's true with immigration. It's been true also with institutions like the universities and quite frankly, even law firms where the president has sort of expanding his power even beyond government into private entities.
[16:35:05]
And you saw a little flavor of that with Amazon today. So to me, that has been the sort of theme that has drawn together a lot of, you know, the turbulence that you described in the beginning. LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah, I -- you know, I hear
Republicans a lot talk about, you know, promises made, promises kept. He campaigned on this. He certainly did. There is no question. And that people shouldn't be surprised.
However, what I'll say is, this most people hear one thing and expect another. So, when you say, I'm going to put tariffs on, what they hear is my life is going to be made better. Theres going to be more jobs and there's going to be more money in my pocket. They don't actually get into the minutia of what that actually will look like.
And I think people, to use your word, have been shocked by how quickly things have been done and also how little consensus there's been. If you think about the fact that he has made so many executive orders, but very little has been passed through the Congress.
So, this is, as you were saying, something that is very, very, very much centered around Donald Trump.
HUNT: All right. We -- unfortunately, we have to go. We're keeping an eye on the state of Michigan, where Donald Trump is going to speak live. We're going to look at what voters are saying ahead of the rally tonight, and we're going to be joined live by Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:35:48]
HUNT: All right. Live pictures from the Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan. This is where the president is speaking before the Michigan National Guard. We're going to listen to that. Bring you any news? Of course, if he takes questions, we're going to bring that straight to you.
But in the meantime, let's talk to CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny. He's in Warren, Michigan. The president is going to be speaking there tonight to mark 100 days.
And, of course, Jeff, this state really encapsulates perhaps more than any location, why Donald Trump ended up becoming president in 2016, why he's president again. And I know you spent the day talking to Michigan voters.
What are they saying about the beginning of this presidency?
ZELENY: Kasie, there is no doubt that Macomb County, just north of Detroit, really the heart of the blue collar, working class automotive workers, but also so many supply chains that feed into that. This was the heart of the Trump base, the MAGA movement, if you will. A generation or two ago, they were. Reagan Democrats.
But talking to voters here now, Trump supporters and detractors alike. Yes, the supporters like what they see on immigration, but there is much more concern about the economy. But this whiplash of on again/off again tariff proposals, the president again putting a reprieve on some of the automakers -- some of those auto tariffs coming in, there being met with support by some and questions by others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm somebody who's interested in politics and I feel exhausted from it at some point. But I will also say that, you know, maybe for the first time in four years, I don't have a feeling of dread.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is he going to get there from here to there? I think he needs to do a better job of explaining how that's going to be done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: And that was John Wallace right there. We talked to him in Mount Clemens, Michigan, here in Macomb County.
Kaise, he was very interesting, really spoke to echoed what several Trump voters have said. He voted for Trump three times. He said he has no regrets, but he has deep concern about the uncertainty that these tariffs have created. He has deep uncertainty and concern about the financial markets, retirement accounts, et cetera.
So, as we hit this 100-day mark, we didn't find as much buyers' remorse among some Trump voters as just wanting him to do better, perhaps wanting him to do somewhat less in terms of the chaos that they've seen.
But on the economy, the anxieties of the economy is something that is very, very real here. Our polls have shown it. Our conversations did as well -- Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Jeff Zeleny for us in Michigan. Jeff, thanks very much for being with us.
And joining us now to discuss further is Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan.
Congresswoman, it's always wonderful to have you.
And, of course, I think most of our regular viewers know this, but for people who don't, you are someone who just really understands the dynamics of your state, the voters in your state, and why, you know, when Hillary Clinton was running against Donald Trump, you thought she wasn't going to win and you weren't necessarily listened to.
I'm really interested to know what you think, since you do spend so much time with your voters back at home, what it is you are hearing from those voters in Michigan who have gone back and forth between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, and whether they are still giving Donald Trump a chance on these economic policies that are, of course, really deeply affecting the automotive industry that Michigan so relies on.
REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): So, Kasie, I think Michigan is a very complicated place right now. What jeff talked to you, told you about in Macomb County and some of the union halls is very much what I hear. I go in, I've had workers come and tell me, finally somebody is doing something and they feel very strongly. NAFTA destroyed their jobs and Donald Trump's fighting for them.
But I also hear a great deal of concern, worried about their job. There have been layoffs. People are on temporary layoffs.
[16:40:01]
And they're very much concerned about increased prices from what the tariffs are going to do to their daily consumer costs.
The industry itself, the supplier industry, the dealers, they're just playing. They don't want to be a ping pong ball. They don't want to get in Donald Trump's -- they don't want to be a target. They don't -- they want certainty. They want to be successful. They want to keep this industry strong.
And you cannot overnight just, you know, snap a switch and build a new plant. And the tariffs for the last few months have been total chaos. You don't know what's going to be in place three weeks from now. There are new plans being that will be talked about today, but businesses, all businesses small and large, need certainty and they don't have the certainty right now.
And I also want to say, while were talking about that piece of the business, we also have a lot of anger. The town halls and I have done many because I don't hide. People are really angry.
They're as angry at Democrats as they are at Republicans. They're concerned about the uncertainty. They don't want to know what's what -- they don't know what's going to happen. They want to see people fighting.
They're afraid for their liberties that we take for granted as part of our democracy, due process and freedom of speech. They're worried about the economy and they're just worried.
And a lot of people who didn't vote last November are now saying, oh, they're consequences. Michigan is Michigan, and there are a lot of intense, passionate feelings right now.
HUNT: Congresswoman, I'm glad you mentioned that people are unhappy with Democrats as well. This new polling that we just put out today here from CNN shows that 72 percent of Americans disapprove of Democratic congressional leaders. That's ten points more than the 62 percent who say that they disapprove of Republican congressional leaders.
And this, of course, has been the subject of much debate already in the party about how to push back. And I wanted to play something for you that the governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, said at a speech in New Hampshire. Of course, the longtime, maybe not future, but longtime first in the nation, primary state.
Let's watch this and we'll talk about it on the other side. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JB PRITZKER (D), ILLINOIS: We need to knock off the rust of poll- tested language, decades of stale decorum. It's obscured our better instincts. We have to abandon the culture of incrementalism that has led us to swallow the cruelty and the callousness with barely a cowardly croak.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Congressman, do you think he's right? And why are people so unhappy with Democrats.?
DINGELL: So let me you know, I went back and read the op-ed I wrote for "The Washington Post" in 2016 when I was right. And you will recall, widely denounced by everybody when I said Hillary was in trouble and she wasn't going to win.
And I think -- I respect the governor. And by the way, I don't think New Hampshire should have a lock on going first. And it's why we need a middle of America state that reflects the diversity to be the --
HUNT: Ask them first (ph).
(CROSSTALK)
DINGELL: Yeah Well, I don't care. It can be another one, but I'm not giving up that fight either.
But, you know, I go in union halls, I go to farmers markets, I go in schools, I go on college campuses, I meet with the veterans. I make sure I'm in those places every single weekend.
Democrats don't do a good job of listening. God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. We need to hear what people are telling us. We can't let ourselves get caught in these issues, that people try to put us in a corner on.
People are worried about the economy. They're worried about issues at their kitchen table, about whether their job is safe, whether they can buy a home, whether they're going to be safe. They can educate their kids, go to the doctor when they're sick, afford the medicine they want, and have a safe and secure retirement. That's what we need to be talking about. Thats what they want to talk about.
And we need to be authentic. We need to just be talking. I don't like all these fancy words either. My pollster always -- my -- I don't believe in polling. You know what I've said about.
HUNT: You have a pollster. They probably yell at you a lot.
DINGELL: He does. He's always says that he's glad that I didn't attack him by name. And I you know, it's -- but we got to get out there and just be where real people are and listen to what they're saying. And by the way, I'm not sure Republicans are really in those real
places either. I think Donald Trump -- I mean, that's why I said he'd win in 2016. He understands people's fears and he plays to them.
But now, by the way, a lot of people are afraid again, where are we going? What is happening to their retirement accounts? What is going to happen to their health care? I have a lot of people crying.
HUNT: All right. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, it's always a pleasure to have you. Thank you very much for being here. I hope you'll come back soon.
DINGELL: Thank you.
HUNT: All right. Coming up this time, not a perfect phone call, but a good one.
[16:45:02]
Who the president is talking to and about this time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D), MICHIGAN: Well, I hadn't planned to speak but I'm -- on behalf of all the military men and women who serve our country and serve so honorably on behalf of the state of Michigan, I am really happy we're here to celebrate this recapitalization at Selfridge. It's crucial for the Michigan economy. It's crucial for the men and women here, for our homeland security and our future. So thank you. I am so, so grateful that this announcement was made today, and I appreciate all the work. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:50:00]
HUNT: Pretty remarkable moment right there that just happened. President Trump is at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan, and they needed more money than they had in order to stay open.
And, what was playing out there was another interesting interplay between the governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and the president of the United States, Donald Trump. She, of course, a likely candidate for president in 2028.
How do we get here? You may remember this moment in the Oval Office where Governor Gretchen Whitmer was unexpectedly invited to a meeting where reporters were covering. He was -- Trump was signing executive orders that she said she later didn't agree with. They were taking on two Biden officials or former Trump officials, I should say, Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs, in a personal way.
So, she had to put out that statement, and she didn't want her photograph taken. Quite a difficult moment for anyone. Donald Trump also spoke about Whitmer just a few moments ago and had
praise for her. Let's watch that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Governor, who has done a very good job. She came to see me. That's the reason she came to see me, by the way, to save Selfridge. And she was very effective, along with some of the other politicians and some of the military people.
They love this place. They love what it stands for. All the victories they've had here over the years.
So I want to thank Governor Gretchen Whitmer for bringing it also to our attention very strongly.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And, you know, I'm not supposed to do that. She's a Democrat. They say, don't do that. Don't have her here.
I said, no, she's going to be here. She's done a very good job, frankly. And she's -- she was very much involved with -- with the Republicans. They worked together on saving it. And it was not easy.
So I want to thank you very much, Gretchen. Good job. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Annie Linskey, really interesting, very much, you know, about the past and the future presidential primaries.
LINSKEY: Absolutely. I mean, you in that moment, you're seeing both politicians getting something out of the exchange. I mean, Gretchen Whitmer is showing that -- you know, Donald Trump won her state. So, she is showing, you know, that she can get along with Donald Trump and has no problem working with him when it makes sense.
And then, you know, Donald Trump is about to go to Capitol Hill, and he certainly may need some Democrats. And he -- we've been talking a lot about his poll numbers. He's showing the sort of more charming, personable side of himself, the more forgiving side of himself in that moment. So, both sides.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: 2028. I mean, this is -- and this, by the way, will be used, for both sides. This will be used by Democrats who want to run against her saying, look, she bend the knee. She went to Trump. Look, she was even hiding in the Oval Office.
And then there are people who will be using this as an example of she's a dealmaker. She worked with him and as a way to win over soft Republicans. So, you know?
HINOJOSA: I think this is a good thing for her. CNNs polling also shows that people are very frustrated with politics nowadays. And if she can show that she is getting something out of this administration, when many of the people who will, if she decides to run for president, who will be running against her, are going to be potential former mayors, cabinet officials and senators who can't say that they have the track record that she does in a battleground state.
And so, she can come out of this saying, I delivered with a Republican president, a Republican Congress, and I have done X, Y, Z. Yes, her opponents will absolutely --
HUNT: Let me say, I'm not clear how that's going to go in a primary.
HINOJOSA: Yeah, that's fair, that's fair. Thats fair, that's fair.
STEPIEN: I know it's smart for him. I'm not sure it's smart for her. If -- we're talking about Trump's poll numbers before, do more of that. Get out of D.C., stay with troops, deliver for a swing state. Stay with a Democrat female governor. Do more of that.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah, I don't know -- I don't know what Democrats are going to be in 2028. They might be furious and they might not want to be seeing, Gretchen Whitmer with any -- with Trump.
HUNT: All right. Coming up next, what, in the last 100 days has made you and our panelists say, I'm sorry? What? We say it every day here. We'll bring you that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:58:52]
HUNT: All right. To wrap up today, we wanted to ask the panel what was the moment in these past 100 days that made you say, I'm sorry? What?
Lulu, you first.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It started at the inauguration. All the tech titans lined up there celebrating with him, having their spouses there when even members of Congress didn't. That said, to me, it was a different thing.
HUNT: Annie?
LINSKEY: For me, it was when Elon Musk, the guy who spent $250 million of his own money trying to get successfully getting Trump elected, had to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit many believed was frivolous.
HINOJOSA: Hegseth sharing classified information on Signal twice, and he still has his job. Shocker.
HUNT: I'm sorry. What?
HINOJOSA: I'm sorry. What?
STEPIEN: It's not Gulf of America or his head on Mount Rushmore or Greenland or paper straws, or the signs on the White House lawn.
It's that the Democrats keep taking the bait on the distractions. It's amazing to me.
HUNT: Are you really surprised?
STEPIEN: Not really.
HUNT: That's what I thought.
All right. Jake Tapper is standing by for THE LEAD.
Jake, nice to see you. I don't know if you want to add to our little chat here, or I'm sure you're about to cover the top 100 days.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, THE LEAD: We're going to cover the top 100 days. I can't -- I can't outdo your panel. They did a great job there.
But thanks so much. We'll see you back in THE ARENA tomorrow.
HUNT: We'll see you soon.
