Return to Transcripts main page

Don Lemon Tonight

President Trump Speaks Live in Phoenix, Arizona with Campaign- Style Rally; Strong Presence of Police Watching Protesters; President Trump Lays Out His Administration's Goal for Americans; Trump Blasts Fake News Media. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired August 22, 2017 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00] DON LEMON, CNN HOST: All right. Now there you go. Live look inside the Phoenix Convention Center and a live look outside, as well. This is at Trump rally.

President Trump walking in now expected to speak. Mike Pence, I should say, walking in now expected to speak. The president at a campaign rally at any moment now.

Of course, we're going to carry it for you live. But we've got both views for you inside and outside, whatever happens inside you'll get and whatever outside, you'll get as well.

You can see there thousands of protesters they are flooding the streets outside the Phoenix Convention Center.

I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for joining us. This is CNN TONIGHT.

The president after one of the worst weeks of his chaotic presidency surrounding himself with cheering supporters in the setting where he always seems most comfortable, and that is a campaign rally.

Amid questions of why he is having a partisan campaign rally in the wake of his shocking comments last week about the neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville.

Arizona republican governor and both senators skipping the rally tonight. And meanwhile, a growing crowd of anti -- angry anti-Trump demonstrators gather behind police in steel barricades in the streets of Phoenix as we have been showing you there.

CNN's Sara Murray, though, is live for us inside the convention center. Miguel Marquez outside with the crowd of protesters. Sara, I'm going to start with you. Sarah, I think that is the vice president talking about giving the intro to the president. That's going to take a while. But what do you -- we're expecting to hear from the man himself tonight?

SARA MURRAY, White House CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, I think everyone is going to be closely scrutinizing the president's tone at this event. Earlier today, the press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pointed to his remarks last night about unity as an indication of what Trump might talk about. But the reality is, there are teleprompters that are up, Don, as you

know, the president really fuels on these crowds. So it's always hard to say if he is going to stick to his script or if he is going to go off script.

But I can tell you from what we've heard so far, Dr. Ben Carson was up here. He was sort of swarming the crowd up for the president. And his intro was all about essentially needing to come together as a country. It was about denouncing hate and bigotry, and essentially saying that the people who are in this room are too smart to fall for that garbage. That drew loud applause here.

But as you notice, this president is a divisive figure at this point. They know it coming into this rally. One of the things we know the president has been considering, for instance, is pardoning Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a very controversial sheriff that was held in contempt by the court for defying a judge's order and racial profiling leading up to this rally.

The White House said President Trump will not do that here tonight. Don?

LEMON: I'm wondering what the crowd is like inside the room because sometimes, Sara, when there are protesters they drown out by saying USA, saying USA or chanting that. Have you seen any disturbances inside?

MURRAY: We haven't seen any disturbances inside so far. It's a large crowd. It certainly not one of the president's largest by any means in terms of his presidency or in terms of his campaign.

But I can tell you just a few minutes ago we got word from one of the producers that there are still people lined up, roughly five city blocks waiting to get in. So it's a healthy crowd of people here to support the president just as there's a healthy crowd of people out there protesting him.

Again, Don, gets to the heart of the issue our country is dealing with right now. People are very split on how they feel about this president at this moment.

LEMON: All right. Sara, I want you to stand by. An again, that is the vice president giving some introductions talking about the accomplishments of this president and this administration.

I want to go outside. Now you're not going to miss the president because we'll bring it you. I'm going to go outside to the streets now with the protesters, that's where you'll find our Miguel Marquez. Miguel, you've been there all afternoon. You're outside that rally where the protesters have been gathering. Give us a sense of the scene there. What's going on out there?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, it's several thousand protesters right now from all walks of life here in Arizona. Old, young, all races, a huge crowd. Very loud, very angry. But so far, peaceful. I want to show you what's going on here. We're at the barricade where

they separated the Trump supporters who are walking into the convention center here in Phoenix. They are shouting shame, walk of shame, and wrong side of history as they go into the convention center.

The Donald Trump supporters then flipping off the anti-Trump protesters and taunting them as they go in. It is -- it is as divided as it was on November 9th, 2016, if not more. A very, very loud and vociferous crowd. I can tell you we have seen some anti-Trump gun carrying individuals.

This is an open carrying state. And there are several, maybe a dozen or so people that so-called John Brown society out here. There was also antifa was out here, which is a militant anti-fascist group, they said they were out here just to support the people out here tonight.

[22:05:00] But this crowd has only grown and seems to be going nowhere. Phoenix police in a difficult spot. They are treating this like a major event such as the Super Bowl. They have all hands on deck. They have all police agencies on deck. And they are even the National Guard in the event they need them.

It is not clear how long this crowd will be there. The president still hasn't spoken. It is my sense that he will probably stick around till after and they will see what happen.

I would tell you that the Phoenix police have come out just in the last few moments in very heavy gear. They're now bringing out police officers on bicycles. Really ringing this convention center with everything they have. Don?

LEMON: All right. Miguel, stand by. Because I just want to update our viewers. This is the Phoenix Convention Center. On the right side of your screen you're looking at the protesters and our Miguel Marquez is there and explaining to us what's happening.

Miguel says on one side of the street, you've got the Trump supporters, on the other side, you got the protesters. They're separated by a street and barricades. It seems to be hundreds, if not thousands of people waiting to get in and thousands of protesters there, as well.

And then on the left side of your screen, you see the vice president and also the HUD secretary there on stage, Ben Carson just spoke moments ago. And I think that is -- is that Billy Graham Jr. there behind, right. It looks like him. Again, our monitors in the studio are very small. You're watching on a big TV at home. I don't have that luxury here.

But anyway. So, there you're looking at it. And that it's been some concern about the timing of this particular protest coming just weeks, not even two weeks after the incident in Charlottesville where one life was lost and so many were injured because of these racist anti- Semitic white nationalist protesters there. And so he's introducing the president of the United States now. The

president is walking up. We have our characters here. David Chalian is here, April Ryan. Scott Jennings, Bakari Sellers, political contributor, Maria Cardona, and republican strategist, Rick Wilson.

We will all listen to the president's speech and then analyze it but as he is coming to the stage, David, what are the chances that the president, President Trump from last night on the teleprompter will show up?

DAVID CHALIAN, POLITICAL DIRECTOR, CNN: Zero. I would imagine. I don't think that there's a chance for that. What I do think that we need to watch out for is the President Trump that shows up tonight at this rally, as you noted a venue he loves, feels at home in. Does he bring any of the sentiment that he expressed?

I get that the theatrics will be different, it's a campaign environment, not a speech about Afghanistan for mire as last night was. But all the talk that he had at the top of that speech that clearly alluded to Charlottesville and he's trying to do some clean-up work, the idea of unity and love and peace, does he bring that sentiment tonight or is this goin to be purely red meat for the base which for him has been exploiting divisions.

LEMON: "God Bless the USA" is playing as the president enters the stage and is shaking hands of course, with the guests on the dais. And again, he's going to take to the podium in just moments as he is going to discuss obviously immigration, the border wall, border security.

But what will be interesting to David's point is if he talks unity, especially in light of all of the criticism he has gotten from his reaction to what happened in Charlottesville, the terrible, terrible tragedy that happened. Charlottesville two Saturdays ago.

So, now everyone let's listen in to the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

(MUSIC PLAYING GOD BLESS THE USA)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Wow. What a crowd. What a crowd.

(CROWD CHEERING)

[22:09:56] And just so you know from the Secret Service, there aren't too many people outside protesting. OK? That I can tell you.

(CROWD CHEERING)

A lot of people in here, a lot of people pouring in right now. If they can get them in. Whatever you can do, fire marshal, we'll appreciate it.

And I want to thank our great Vice President, Mike Pence for the introduction. As well as my friend Dr. Ben Carson. And thank you to a very, very special man, Franklin Graham, Reverend Franklin Graham for leading us in prayer.

And thank you to Alvida King, the niece of the great Dr. Martin Luther King. It really shows you that America is indeed, a nation of faith. We know that.

Well, I'm thrilled to be back in Phoenix, in the great State of Arizona. With so many thousands of hard working American patriots. You know, I'd love if the cameras could show this crowd because it is rather incredible. It is incredible. It is incredible.

As everybody here remembers, this was the scene of my first rally speech. Right? The crowds were so big, almost as big as tonight, that the people said, right at the beginning, you know, there's something special happening here.

And we went to center stage almost from day one in the debates. We love those debates. But we went to center stage and we never left. Right? All of us, we did it together.

You were there at the start. You've been there every single day since. And I will never forget, believe me, Arizona. I will never forget.

(CROWD CHEERING)

And I'm here tonight to send a message. We are fully and totally committed to fighting for our agenda, and we will not stop until the job is done.

(CROWD CHEERING)

This evening, joined together with friends, we reaffirm our shared customs, traditions and values. We love our country. We celebrate our troops. We embrace our freedom. We respect our flag. We are proud of our history. We cherish our Constitution including by the way, the Second Amendment.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(CROWD CHANTING)

We fully protect religious liberty. We believe in law and order and we support the incredible men and women of law enforcement. And we pledge our allegiance to one nation under God. You always understood what have Washington, D.C. did not.

Our movement is a movement built on love. It's love for fellow citizens. It's love for struggling Americans who have been left behind and love for every American child who deserves a chance to have all of their dreams come true.

From the inner cities to the rural outposts, from the Sun Belt to the rust belt, from east to west and north to south, our movement is built on the conviction that every American from every background is entitled to a government that puts their needs first.

(CROWD CHEERING) [22:15:01] It is finally time to rebuild our country. To take care of our people and top fight for the jobs our great American workers deserve. And that's what we're doing.

(CROWD CHANTING)

After our amazing election victory, the forgotten men and women, remember we used to talk about the forgotten men and women before the election? Guess what. They're not forgotten. Anymore, right? Anymore.

No, they're not forgotten anymore, folks. Fact, they're trying to figure you out. They're saying the obstructionists, how do we get them to vote for us? I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

We believe that every American has the right to live with dignity, respect for America demands respect for all of its people. Loyalty to our nation requires loyalty to each other. We all share the same home, the same dreams, and the same hopes for a better future.

A wound inflicted upon one member of our community is a wound inflicted upon us all. You saw last night. You saw last night. Did anybody watch last night? Yes. When one part of America hurts, we all hurt. And when one American suffers an injustice, all of America suffers together. We're all together.

It's time for us to follow the example of our brave American soldiers, and I was with a lot of them last night, Fort Myers. No matter where they come from, no matter what faith they practice, they form a single, unbreakable team. That's what we are. We're a team. As a nation, we're a team.

They're all united by their devotion to our country and to their mission. It's time for all of us to remember that we are all on the same team. We are all Americans, and we all believe right now in America first.

And it's happening and it's happening fast. I see all those red hats and white hats. It's all happening very fast. It's called make America great again. You see what's going on. It's coming back very fast.

We want every child to succeed, every community to prosper, and every struggling American to have a chance for a better life. What happened in Charlottesville strikes at the core of America.

And tonight, this entire arena stands united in forceful condemnation of the thugs who perpetrate hatred and violence.

But the very dishonest media, those people right up there with all the cameras.

(CROWD BOOING)

(CROWD CHANTING)

[22:20:10] So, the -- and I mean, truly dishonest people in the media and the fake media, they make up stories. They have no sources in many cases. They say a source says there is no such thing. But they don't report the facts.

Just like they don't want to report that I spoke out forcefully against hatred, bigotry and violence and strongly condemned the neo- Nazis, the white supremacists and the KKK.

I openly called for unity, healing and love and they know it because they were all there. So what I did -- so what I did is I thought I'd take just a second and I'm really doing this more than anything else because you know where my heart is. OK?

I'm really doing this to show you how damned dishonest these people are. So here is my first statement when I heard about Charlottesville. And I have a home in Charlottesville. A lot of people don't know.

Here's the first, can't believe they haven't figured that one out yet. Now they know. Now they finally know. But I just -- I don't want to bore you with this, but it shows you how dishonest they are. And most of you know this anyway.

So here's what I said really fast, here's what I said on Saturday. We're closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia. This is me speaking. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. That's me speaking on Saturday.

(CROWD CHEERING)

Right after the event. So I'm condemning the strongest possible terms egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence. OK. I think you can't do much better, right? OK. But they didn't want to put this on. They had it on initially but when they talk, he didn't say it fast enough. He didn't do it on time. Why did it take a day? He must be a racist. It took a day.

(CROWD BOOING)

Dishonest people so here's -- here is me. I hope they're showing how many people are in this room but they won't. They don't even do that. The only time they show the crowds is when there's a disruptor or an anarchist in the room. I call them anarchists because believe me, we have plenty of anarchists. They don't want to talk about the anarchists.

So, this is me. It has no place in America, I'm talking about hatred, bigotry, and violence. It has no place in America. What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives.

No citizen should ever fear for their safety, security in our society. And no child should ever be afraid to go outside and play or be with their parents and have a good time. This is me speaking.

(CROWD CHEERING)

Here's further. This is on Saturday. The first one. I did this three times. We have to come together as Americans with love for the nation and true affection. Really and I say this so strongly, true affection for each other. I didn't say true affection for you and you. I said for each other, all of us. All of us. All of us.

(CROWD CHEERING)

But they don't report it. They don't -- they just let it go. Above all else, we must remember this truth, no matter our color, creed, religion or political party, we are all Americans first. We love our country. We love our God. We love our flag.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(CROWD CHANTING)

Then I went on. This is my first statement. And they said, remember, they said well, he wasn't specific enough. Why wasn't he more specific?

[22:25:07] So in my second statement, I got really specific. And they said, why did he do it faster? I'm telling you, folks, look -- look, I know these people probably better than anybody. And a lot of people have a problem with it, because look, what happens with them, if they're doing a story about me, I know if it's honest or false.

If you're reading a story about somebody, you don't know, you assume it's honest because it's like the failing New York Times which is like so bad. It's so bad. Or the Washington Post which I call a lobbying tool for Amazon. OK? That's a lobbying tool for Amazon. Or CNN which is so bad and so pathetic and their ratings are going down. Right?

(CROWD BOOING)

Right?

(CROWD CHANTING)

But all the networks, I mean, CNN is really bad but ABC this morning, I don't watch it much but I'm watching in the morning and they have little George Stephanopoulos talking to Nikki Haley, right, little George. And he talks about the speech I made last night which believe it or not got great review, right?

They had a hard time. They were having a hard time because it was with soldiers. We were somber. We were truthful. We were doing -- we were saying things, and it really did. So he talked about it for like that much. Then he goes let's get back to Charlottesville. Charlottesville. And Nikki was great. She's doing a great job, by the way.

So now, I say we have to heal our wounds and the wounds of our country. I love the people of our country, the people, all of the people. It says I love all of the people of our country. I didn't say I love you because you're black or I love you because you're white or I love you because you're from Japan or you're from China or you're from Kenya or you're from Scotland or Sweden. I love all the people of our country.

(CROWD CHEERING)

So I said, here's my -- this is, by the way, folks, this is my exact words. I love all the people of our country. We're going to make America great again. But we're going to make it great for all of the people of the United States of America.

(CROWD CHEERING)

And then they say, is he a racist? Is he a racist? Then I did a second one. So then I did a second one. Don't bother. It's only a single voice and not a very powerful voice.

(CROWD CHANTING)

How did he get in here? He's supposed to be with the few people outside. How about -- how about all week they're talking about the massive crowds that are going to be outside. Where are they? Well, it's hot out. It is hot. I think it's too warm. You know, they show up in the helmets and the black masks and they've got clubs they've got everything. Antifa.

(CROWD BOOING)

So on August the 14th, so that was it and I said all people, I love all people, everything, right? Now I figure I'm going to do it again. I'll be even more specific. So I said based on the events that took place over the last weekend in Charlottesville, I'd like to provide the nation with an update because that was right after the event, the first one, right?

An update on ongoing federal response to the horrific attack and violence that was witnessed by everybody. To anyone who acted criminally in this weekend's racist violence, you will be held fully accountable. Justice will be delivered.

(CROWD CHEERING)

[22:30:03] That's what I said. Listen to that. I said that, but they don't show that. They don't show it. They talk -- they'll take one thing like seriously, he was late was the best thing. He was late.

So I said to anyone who acted criminally in this weekend's racist violence, OK, then I go, we must love each other. Show affection for each other. And unite together in condemnation of hatred, bigotry and violence. We must rediscover the bonds of love and loyalty that bring us together as Americans, right?

Then I said, racism is evil. Did they report that I said that racism is evil? You know why? Because they are very dishonest people. So I said racism is evil. Now, they only choose, you know, like a half a sentence here or there and then they just go on this long rampage or they put on these real lightweights all around the table that nobody ever heard of and they all say what a bad guy I am.

But, I mean, did you ever see anything, and then you wonder why CNN is doing relatively poorly in the ratings. Because they're putting like seven people all negative on Trump and they fired Jeffrey Lord, poor Jeffrey. Jeffrey Lord.

I guess he was getting a little bit fed up and he was probably fighting back a little too hard. They said we'd better get out of here. We get him out.

And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs including the KKK, neo-Nazi, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold true as Americans.

Now let me ask you, can it be any better than that, in all fairness? And you know, I mentioned that, but to the best of my knowledge, when there was a big problem, Barack Obama never said it took place because of radical Islamic terrorists. He never said that, right? He doesn't have to say.

(CROWD BOOING)

You know why? Because they have a double standard. Because the media is totally dishonest and they have a double standard. You've never heard them say that. And in fact, if you use the term you get criticized. But with me they wanted me to say it and I said it. And I said it very clearly but they refused to put it on.

Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike the very core of America. These are my words. This was on Monday, August the 14th. See, Saturday, you had Monday. I was going to do one of these every week but you would never get it right.

In times such as these, America has always shown its true character. Responding to hate with love, division with unity and violence with an unwavering resolve for justice. Then I finished. I said, we will defend and protect the sacred rights of all Americans, all is capitalized times five.

Not just you, and we will work together so that every citizen, every citizen, in this blessed land is free to follow their dreams and their hearts and to express the love and joy in their souls. OK, now, I mean.

(CROWD CHEERING)

So -- so they were having a hard time with that one. Because I said everything. I hit them with neo-Nazi. I hit them with everything. I got the white supremacists, the neo-Nazi. I got them all in there. Let's see. KKK, we have KKK. I got them all.

So they're having a hard time. So what did they say, right? It should have been sooner. He's a racist. It should have been sooner. OK. So it should have there. So then the last one on Tuesday, Tuesday I did another one. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. It has no place in America.

(CROWD CHEERING)

But they also said that he must be a racist because he never mentioned the driver of the car who is a terrible person, drove the car. And he killed Heather and it's a terrible thing. But they said I didn't mention. So these are my words.

The driver of the car is a murderer. And what he did was a horrible, inexcusable thing. They said I didn't mention. And then they asked me just to finish it. They asked me, what about race releases in the United States?

[22:35:05] Now, I have to say they were pretty bad under Barack Obama. That I can tell you. But they asked me the question. And I said, well, I think jobs can have a very big and positive impact. I think if we continue to create jobs like I've done over 1 million since I've been in office, way over 1 million.

I think if we continue to create jobs at levels that I'm creating jobs, I think that's going to have a tremendously positive impact on race relations. I do. I do.

And the other thing, very important, I believe wages will start going up. Because we now have the lowest unemployment rate we've had in 17 years. So you're going to see wages go up, right?

(CROWD CHEERING)

They haven't gone up for a long time. I believe wages now, because the economy is doing so well with respect to employment and unemployment, I believe wages will start to go up and I think that will have a tremendously positive impact on race relations.

So that was my words. Now, you know, I was a good student. I always hear about the elite. You know, the elite. They're elite. I went to better schools than they did. I was a better student than they were. I live in a bigger more beautiful apartment and I live in the White House too, which is really great.

I think, you know what? I think we're the elites. They're not the elites. So the point is, and I didn't want to bore you because you understand where I'm coming from. You people understand. But the point is that those were three different, there were two statements and one news conference.

The words were perfect. They only take out anything they can think of and for the most part all they do is complain. But they don't put on those words and they don't put on me saying those words. The media can attack me but where I draw the line is when they attack you, which is what they do when they attack the decency of our supporters.

(CROWD CHEERING)

You are honest, hardworking tax paying and by the way, you're overtaxed but we're going to get your taxes down.

(CROWD CHEERING)

You're tax paying Americans who love our nation, obey our laws and care for our people. It's time to expose the crooked media deceptions and to challenge the media for their role in fermenting divisions and yes, by the way, and yes, by the way, they are trying to take away our history and our heritage. You see that.

(CROWD BOOING)

And I say it, and you know, we're all pros. We're all like we have a certain sense. We're smart people. These are truly dishonest people. And not all of them. Not all of them. You have some very good reporters. You have some very fair journalists but for the most part, honestly, these are really, really dishonest people. And they're bad people.

And I really think they don't like our country. I really believe that. And I don't believe they're going to change and that's why I do this. If they would change, I would never say it. The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media itself and the fake news.

(CROWD CHEERING)

That's so funny. Look back there. The live red lights they're turning those suckers off fast, I'll tell you. They're turning those lights off fast. Like CNN. CNN does not want its falling viewership to watch what I'm saying tonight, I can tell you.

[22:39:57] I mean the advantage I have, the advantage I have is that we do have a big voice. And you know, they're always saying like Twitter or social media. If I didn't have social media, I wouldn't be able to get the word out. I probably wouldn't be standing here, right?

I probably wouldn't be standing here right now. If I don't have social media, I probably would not be standing. And do you ever notice when I go on and I'll put out a tweet or a couple of tweets, he's in a Twitter storm again. I don't do twitter storms.

You know, you'll put on a little tweet. I'm going to be with the veterans today. They'll say Donald Trump is in a Twitter storm. These are sick people. You know the thing I don't understand? You would think, you would think they'd want to make our country great again. And I honestly believe they don't. I honestly believe it.

If you wanted to discover the source of the division in our country, look no further than the fake news and the crooked media which would rather get ratings and clicks than tell the truth.

I mean, the New York Times has written some stories, how about this. The New York Times essentially apologized after I won the election because their coverage was so bad and it was so wrong and they were losing so many subscribers that they practically apologized. I would say they did.

They say, well it wasn't really that much of an apology because they were losing so many people because they were misled and I figured this is great. And for about two weeks I got good coverage. Then they reverted back and they're worse than ever before. You know, it's like one of those things.

The Washington Post is terrible. But these are dishonest. But let me tell you. You have some great honest papers. You have some great networks. I must tell you Fox has treated me fairly.

(CROWD CHEERING)

Fox treated me fairly. They've treated me fairly. Hey, I'll let you know. You know what? Some day they might not treat me fairly and I'll tell you about it, OK? But they've treated me fairly. I don't mean all good. I get plenty of bad on Fox, too. But at least it's within reason and Hannity, how good is Hannity. How good is Hannity?

And he's a great guy and he's an honest guy. And Fox and Friends in the morning is the best show and it's the absolute most honest show. And it's a show I watch. Not only does, boy, those cameras are going off. Wow. Why don't you just fold them up and take them home?

Those cameras are going off. Wow. That's the one thing, they're very nervous to have me on live television because this can't happen. And now, you know what? I'm a person that wants to tell the truth. I'm an honest person and what I'm saying you know is exactly right.

(CROWD CHEERING)

Not only does the media give a platform to hate groups, but the media turns a blind eye to the gang violence on our streets, the failures of our public school, the destruction of our wealth, at the hands of the terrible, terrible trade deals made by politicians that should have never been allowed to be politicians.

(CROWD CHEERING)

And the unaccountable hostility against our incredible police who work so hard and such a dangerous job.

My administration is committed to the idea that all Americans have the right to live in safety, security, and peace. We believe in the rule of law because we know that freedom cannot exist if our people are not safe.

And how safe are you at a Trump rally?

(CROWD CHEERING)

Remember at the beginning, remember when this already started? When this started at the beginning, they used to send in thugs. They'd swing -- people are tougher than them so it wasn't always very good for them. But they would send in thugs and our people would protect themselves and then you would go home and watch this violence.

Let me tell you, see this room. You got people outside but not very many. But see this room? You're safe in this room. You're very safe in this room. A big room.

(CROWD CHEERING)

[22:45:00] The most sacred duty of government is to protect the lives of its citizens and that includes securing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws. (CROWD CHEERING)

By the way, I'm just curious. Do the people in this room like Sheriff Joe?

(CROWD CHEERING)

So was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job? That's what...

(CROWD CHEERING)

He should have had a jury but you know what? I'll make a prediction. I think he's going to be just fine. OK?

(CROWD CHEERING)

But, but I won't do it tonight because I don't want to cause any controversy. Is that OK? All right? But sheriff Joe can feel good. The people of Arizona know the deadly and heartbreaking consequences of illegal immigration, the lost lives, the drugs, the gangs, the cartels, the crisis of smuggling and trafficking, MS 13.

We're throwing them out so fast, they never got thrown out of anything like this. We are liberating towns out on Long Island. We're liberating. Can you imagine in this day and age, in this day and age in this country, we are liberating towns. This is like from a different age.

We are taking these people. They don't shoot people because it's too fast and not painful. They cut them up into little pieces. These are animals. We are getting them out of here. We're throwing them in jails and we're throwing them out of the country. We're liberating our towns.

(CROWD CHEERING)

You've seen it. You've lived it. And you elected me to put a stop to it. And we are doing a phenomenal job of putting a stop to it. That I can tell you.

(CROWD CHEERING)

After years of defending other countries' borders, can you believe we fight for other countries, we want to defend their borders, we're finally defending our own borders.

(CROWD CHEERING)

And we're showing compassion for the struggling American workers who are now starting to see the light because plants are coming pouring back into our country. And by the way, we're doing a lot of good work on that, but a lot of people are coming back in. We have FoxConn. They make the iPhones as you know for Apple. And so many companies are building now in our country.

(CROWD CHEERING) Including the auto companies who are coming back. Years of uncontrolled immigration have placed enormous pressure on the jobs and wages of working families. And they've put great burdens on local schools and hospitals.

Well, this may be good for a handful of special interests. It's unfair to working people of all backgrounds all throughout our country. We want every American community to succeed, including our immigrant communities, but they can't do that if we don't control our borders.

(CROWD CHEERING)

[22:50:00] Earlier today, I visited with the incredible men and women of ICE and the border patrol during a visit to Yuma sector. I was over at the Yuma sector. It was hot. It's like 115 degrees. I'm out signing autographs for an hour. I was there. That was a hot day.

You learn if you're in shape. If you can do that, believe me. And they actually told me, actually, sir, it's relatively cool today. Can you believe it? By the way, it's great.

And I met with border patrol and I met with ICE and these are incredible people the job they do.

(CROWD CHEERING)

In fact, General Kelly who was in charge of homeland security where people coming in down 78 and almost 80 percent. He did so good. I made him my chief of staff, right? That made sense. John -- where's John? Where is he? Where is General Kelly? Get him out here. He's great. He's doing a great job.

But we did a lot before anything happened, we did a lot. We respect and cherish our ICE officers and our border patrol agents and we respect and cherish our police officers and our fireman, and all of our uniformed service.

(CROWD CHEERING)

But during that visit I heard firsthand from the front line agents about the security threats they confront each and every day and I pledged my continued resolve to them and all of you to keep our country safe.

All around the nation I have spent time with the wonderful Americans whose children were killed for the simple reason that our government failed to enforce our immigration laws already existing laws. And I promise these families the deaths of their loved ones will not have been in vein. I promised them. I know so many of them.

(CROWD CHEERING)

One by one we are finding the gang members, the drug dealers and the criminals who prey on our people. We are throwing them out of the country or we're putting them the hell fast in jail.

(CROWD CHEERING)

We are cracking down on these sanctuary cities that shield criminal aliens finally. And we are building a wall on the southern border which is absolutely necessary.

(CROWD CHEERING & CHANTING)

Build that wall. Now the obstructionist democrats would like us not to do it but believe me we have to close down our government. We're building that wall.

Let me be very clear to democrats in Congress who oppose the border wall and stand in the way of border security. You are putting all of America's safety at risk. You're doing that. You're doing that.

Again, the border patrol today I said how important is the wall to some of the folks? I met with a lot of them and they looked at me and said it's vital. It's vital. It's so vital. And you know we have walls. I don't know if you know we're already starting to fix a lot of the walls we already have because we don't have to rebuild them and we want walls that you can see through in a sense. You want to see what's on the other side.

But we're starting to fix a lot of the walls; we've done a lot of work. But I said to them how are we doing and how important are the walls and they said, Mr. President, you have no idea. It is desperately needed. We're going to have our wall. We're going to get our wall.

(CROWD CHEERING)

And that wall is also going to help us very importantly with the drug problem and the massive amounts of drugs that are pouring across the southern border.

[22:55:01] My administration will never back down in demanding immigration control. The American people voted for immigration control. That's one of the reasons I'm here. And that is what the American people deserve and they're going to get it.

(CROWD CHEERING)

So you put pressure but believe me one way or the other we're going to get that wall. Immigration security is also a matter -- remember this -- of national security. That's why we're implementing tough new vetting and screening protocols to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country.

(CROWD CHEERING)

You look at what just happened in Spain and so many other places. We're really vetting. We're tough. Does anybody want to be soft on the vetting or would you like me? Extreme vetting. I came up with that term. That's what it has to be.

So I have a message for Congress tonight. Your job is to represent American families, American people, American workers. It's your job.

(CROWD CHEERING)

You need to represent them on the border, on taxes, on healthcare one vote, and on every other issue that effects their lives and for our friends in the Senate, boy. The Senate, remember this.

Look, the Senate -- we have to get rid of what's called the filibuster rule. We have to. And if we don't, the republicans will never get anything passed. You're wasting your time. We have to get rid of the filibuster rule right now we need 60 votes and we have 52 republicans. That means that eight democrats are controlling all of this legislation. We have over 200 bills.

And we have to speak to Mitch and we have to speak to everybody. And I want to tell you, we have some great, great republican senators. We really do and they fought like hell to get that thing approved. They fought. They really did. They really fought.

Now, even on healthcare. Because of reconciliation, which you don't know, it doesn't matter. It's a trick. We needed 51 votes but when you need 51 and you have 52 and we include the vice president, who always votes with us, he's the greatest.

But you have no margin but some of the best things in healthcare require 60 votes. So even when you say we're voting on healthcare, like across state lines, purchase across state lines, one of the most important things I've been talking about it for two years during debates.

It gives competition. Insurance companies come in. Your prices go way down. Arizona is a disaster in terms of the price increase of your insurance. One hundred sixteen percent increase. You got to get rid of the filibuster rule. You got to go to a majority. You got to go to 51 votes and if they don't do that, they're playing -- they're just wasting time.

All of the democrats in Congress, that's the only thing they do well. They do one thing well. You know what it's called? They have no ideas, they have no policies. They obstruct. That's all they do. Their word is we resist. They don't resist. They obstruct. It's all they're good at. It's all they're good at. That's all they do.

On healthcare, they have 48 democrats, we got no votes. We got no votes. And it would have been great healthcare. And by the way, would have been great healthcare for Arizona. Would have been great.

So the democrats have no ideas, no policy, no vision for the country other than total socialism and maybe, frankly, a step beyond socialism from what I'm seeing.

[23:00:06] Under their plan for America, your taxes will double or triple, your services will diminish, and your borders will be left...