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Trump's First 100 Days; Democrats Try to Find their Footing; Trump Foreign Policy Alienates Allies; Lawmakers Face Angry Town Halls. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 29, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:53]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country.

CROWD: Never. Never.

CARNEY: Never.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Canada's prime minister is vowing to never give in to Donald Trump after his party secured a victory in yesterday's election.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING. It is half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.

As we said, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney holding on to his seat after an election that was overshadowed by President Trump. Now, in Carney's victory speech, he delivered a defiant message to the U.S. president, saying Canada will never yield to his threats.

And the Justice and Homeland Security departments have been told to begin identifying states and local governments that could end up losing federal funding unless they cooperate with immigration enforcement. It comes after the president signed an executive order Monday calling for a crackdown on sanctuary cities.

And in just a few hours, President Trump will head to Michigan for a rally marking 100 days since he started his second term. It will be his first rally since retaking the White House. Michigan was one of the swing states that Trump flipped in 2024.

So, why is this milestone such a big deal for an American presidency? It's basically an informal nod to the first 100 days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term in 1933. In that time, FDR signed more than a dozen major pieces of legislation into law as he worked to rally the nation out of the depths of the Great Depression.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT (March 4, 1933): That the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, FDR was looking to calm fear in the U.S. in his first 100 days. Today, some senators and President Trump's own party, frankly, seem to be fearful of themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): We are all afraid. OK. It's going to stay (INAUDIBLE). I'm oftentimes very anxious myself about - about using my voice because retaliation is real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Also worth noting, while not many major pieces of legislation have been signed since he took office the second time, the president has issued more than 130 executive orders. The White House is calling them promises made, promises kept.

Joining me now to put all this history in context is Tim Naftali, CNN presidential historian and former director of the Nixon Presidential Library.

Tim, thanks for being here with us this morning.

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: My pleasure, Audie.

CORNISH: I want to start with that - that clip of a Republican senator - or independent senator from Alaska - Republican Senator Murkowski talking about being afraid because you've described this second term of Trump as with retribution as its organizing principle. What do you mean by that?

[06:35:00]

NAFTALI: What I mean by that is that President Trump, as a candidate, promised that he would use the power of the federal government, the enormous power of the presidency, to seek retribution, to seek revenge. He said to his supporters that he was doing it on their behalf. But in many ways it seemed like it was for himself that he was doing this.

And in office, he has sought to use federal power to go after perceived adversaries in government and in the private sector. He's gone after universities. He's gone after law firms. He's gone after media organizations. He's - he's gone after federal members of the court. He has gone after America's closest allies. And he has used the most dangerous, difficult, mean-spirited language in each case. And that's what I meant by the fact that this government is a government of retribution and revenge. Unlike Franklin Roosevelt, who sought to banish fear from the public

space, in a sense, Roosevelt was arguing, at the depths of the depression, the only way for us to come together and for our economy to work is for people to believe again in their national institutions, to have confidence in them. Donald Trump is making a different argument. He wants to tear down national institutions. So, his approach to government is the complete opposite of Franklin Roosevelt.

CORNISH: I want to talk more about that because some of the agencies that FDR put into place are still with us today, FDIC, the SEC. These were - there were so many he launched that they were - it was like the alphabet soup of agencies, right? That's what they called it.

But Trump is also bringing to fruition a long-time Republican wish list of dismantling The New Deal. Can you talk about that? Because it feels like a huge part of this first 100 days.

NAFTALI: Well, you know, there is no doubt that government, at any level in our country, could be more efficient or effective. There is - there is nothing sacred about an agency.

What is so striking about this president's approach to reinventing government - I mean, after all, that term comes from Bill Clinton - was that he hasn't followed a plan. He has endowed a group called DOGE with power to dismantle at will without trying to save those elements of USAID, for example, or the Department of Education, that have lasting value, not only at home, but in our efforts to create allies and security abroad.

So, it's this - it's the meat cleaver approach, which is not logical, that the president has taken, which makes his attempt to make the federal government more efficient, unprecedented.

CORNISH: Tim Naftali, CNN presidential historian, thank you so much for being with us.

NAFTALI: My pleasure, Audie. Thank you.

CORNISH: So, as Democrats have been trying to find their footing since their election loss in November, where do they go from here?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): It's been 100 days of hell for American families.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Look, there is no tariff policy. It's just all chaos and corruption.

SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): You want to cut waste? I'll help you do it. But change doesn't need to be chaotic or make us less safe.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): We started this by talking about John Lewis. It is time for good trouble, necessary trouble.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): We believe that in every state of this country people are prepared to stand up and fight back.

GOV. JB PRITZKER (D-IL): These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back.

I want to talk about those last couple voices because each represents a path. The Bernie fighting oligarchy resting on those activists and their activism path. And you also have someone like Pritzker coming out, giving that big speech.

Cory Booker, doing something. And then one more person I want you to hear, which is Gavin Newsom, who's entered my world of podcasting, to try and reach across the aisle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Not one person ever in my office has ever used the word Latinx (ph). And I'm like, what - what are people talking about?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you say no men in female sports?

NEWSOM: Well, I - I think it's an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So -

NEWSOM: It's deeply unfair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you -

NEWSOM: Trump's for you. She's for they/them. Devastating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And, again, in -

NEWSOM: Devastating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Devastating.

Is there a place for a pro-life Democrat in the Democrat Party?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I mean, there should be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK ROCHA, SENIOR ADVISER, BERNIE SANDERS' 2016 AND 2020 CAMPAIGNS: There's some real choices that's fixing to happen. And you can separate folks that are fighting back from folks that are fighting to become president in 2028. And the way I'd separate that is to cam - I'm always a consummate campaigner.

CORNISH: Yes, how do you - how can you tell? Because I think everyone's running. ROCHA: There are going to be a lot of us. It's going to be a full

employment for Democratic consultants. Thank you for having me.

CORNISH: Yes.

ROCHA: I'd also like to say that, there's something very important that we miss sometimes, because we love talking about battleground states, and Isaac has seen this in primary states early days, is that you have to win a primary before you win a general election.

[06:40:10]

And with Democrats, you have to go talk to the base. And it's the only time that the base really has ultimate power is to say, who's going to be the nominee, a la even Donald Trump and his base because that's how you win a primary. Then you have to redo your strategy to actually win the general election.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: I think part of what we're facing here is we don't know what the situation the country is going to be in by the time we get to the primaries. But right now, and I was in new Hampshire on Sunday night when Pritzker did that speech.

CORNISH: Already, Isaac? Oh, you're - you're part of the problem.

DOVERE: And first - here's what I will tell you. I was there for the same New Hampshire dinner in April of 2017, and the keynote speaker then was Joe Biden, who said, I'm not running, but we all know how that turned out.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOVERE: So, look, what - what they are doing I think that is that unites a lot of them, whether it's Bernie Sanders or Pritzker, is trying to speak to this frustration and anger that we see in that CNN poll we were talking about a couple minutes ago, and have people feel like they are at least seeing that reflected in their political leaders.

CORNISH: Yes, that seems like a low bar, but, yes.

DOVERE: Well, and - but it's a - but it's not the way that a lot of Democrats approached the beginning of the Trump term.

CORNISH: Ashley, last word to you. Push (ph).

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: No, I just was wondering why AOC wasn't on this, because I actually think that she's the one that's doing the best in regards to - obviously, she's attacking the president. The president is not running in four years. I mean that's what you have to talk about right now. But she also is filming professional - every one of her speeches is done like professional, professional, almost like a campaign, like a presidential campaign. And she's raising money. She also is connecting with young voters, and she's connecting with women.

So -

CORNISH: And Republicans hate her.

DAVIS: Exactly. But, you know, remember Hillary Clinton -

CORNISH: But - but - and -

DOVERE: And you see that gap between the base.

CORNISH: Yes.

DAVIS: Remember Hillary - remember that Hillary Clinton wanted to run against Donald Trump in 2016 because it was like the worst candidate. Is she - does she do something over the next two years to really try to make herself maybe a little bit more likable? Not with Republicans, but with independents.

CORNISH: Yes. Yes. That's the important vote here. Group chat, stick around. We're going to be talking more up next on CNN THIS MORNING from Greenland to Gaza, Canada to Kyiv and beyond. President Trump's dramatic reentrance onto the world stage has upended the global order. Is the world safer for it?

Plus, Amazon takes on SpaceX. It's a 21st century space race with billions of dollars on the line. Group chats hanging out. Stay with us.

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[06:46:40]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (February 4, 2025): The U.S. will take over the Gaza strip.

TRUMP (February 13, 2025): So I think Canada is going to be a very serious contender to be our 51st state.

TRUMP (January 20, 2025): Greenland is a wonderful place. We need it for international security.

TRUMP (January 20, 2025): China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didn't give it to China.

TRUMP (APRIL 8, 2025): If the talks aren't successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger.

TRUMP (February 28, 2025): Your country's in big trouble.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: (INAUDIBLE) can I - can I also -

TRUMP: Wait a minute. No, no, you've done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.

ZELENSKYY: I know. I know.

TRUMP: You're not winning. You're not winning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, it's been 100 dizzying days since President Trump moved back into the White House, but we're going to take a closer look at his foreign policy agenda. Some of the things he's threatened to do, like take control of Gaza, develop it into the riviera of the Middle East, annex Greenland, turn Canada into the 51st state. And while that talk goes on, his team is actually being involved in a lot of discussions, for example, with Iran, also with Russia and Ukraine about ending the war there.

And in a recent interview with "The Atlantic," the president summed it up this way, "I run the country and the world."

So, let's break this down. We have CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier, who always helps me understand things.

And first I want to talk about who has been maybe a significant figure in Trump's foreign policy, Steve Witkoff. I kind of feel like if he's not on the ground, nothing's actually happening.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes.

CORNISH: We're not talking about Trump's secretary of state or anything like that. Can you talk about how that's been received by the world or the difference?

DOZIER: Well, people understand that Trump trusts his family and then he trusts a very close group of people who are like-minded around him. Witkoff is in that vein. He is another property developer. He has done business with some of the same people that Trump has done business with, including in Russia. And he is a wheeler dealer. So, Trump trusts his style of doing business, which includes breaking rules and throwing away past norms, because Trump was really frustrated the last time around when people from the State Department, et cetera, would tell him, well, this is the way it's always been done.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOZIER: And you can't change it and it means nothing much will change. And so he throws that out and brings someone in who's like, yes, all rules are broken, let's - let's throw the rule book out and see what we can do because we've got - we're not constrained by what has been done before.

CORNISH: For the longest time we were hearing about MAGA like populist movements around the world that were coming to the forefront. And an interesting dynamic has happened with Trump returning, which is like you see in Canada, that movement just took a major hit because of Trump and the things that he's been saying. How have other countries started to see Trump? Like, what's the mood among world leaders about how they're going to deal with him? We know what Canada thinks now. They're like, it's over.

DOZIER: Yes. CORNISH: They called it a betrayal.

DOZIER: Well, diplomats were dreading him coming in, but those that I've spoken to recently say it's so much worse. It's a supercharged version of Trump one in that he is sort of unfettered. No one's telling him, sir, you might not want to do that.

CORNISH: But are they ready? Like, are they coming in with strategies to deal with him?

DOZIER: They have figured out that you flatter his ego. You listen to the angry rhetoric.

[06:50:02]

You don't respond to - angrily to that. You figure out what he actually wants or what you can offer him, and you don't take him on head-on in public because -

CORNISH: It feels like that's a description of what China's doing.

DOZIER: Indeed. They're like, they let - they let him kind of go all over the place with his statements.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOZIER: And they just - they just - in cricket you call it the blunt bat or the blunt, you know, you just -

CORNISH: Yes. And Xi Jinping is like, no thanks to a public meeting.

DOZIER: Hold - hold to your position.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOZIER: But meanwhile, if you're - but Xi Jinping has the markets, et cetera, to protect him. Other nations, weaker nations, have to figure out, is there something I could offer him in the Oval Office, you know, like -

CORNISH: Yes.

DOZIER: Britain offered the visit to this special state visit that had never been done before. People have been following that model.

CORNISH: They've been coming up with carrots.

DOZIER: Exactly.

CORNISH: While he's coming up with sticks.

DOZIER: Exactly.

CORNISH: One of the things that's been interesting is with the gutting of federal agencies and the destruction of certain ones, USAID, Voice of America. What intrigued me is these were tools that past presidents used as so-called soft power.

DOZIER: Yes.

CORNISH: You want to make sure that the water is flowing in some third world country where you don't want a terrorist group to fill in the gap of services. You want to have your propaganda tool, you know, reporting about what's going on in the world. Trump's nixed all that. So, can you help me understand?

DOZIER: Well, having been on VOA, I've got to say, we didn't do propaganda, we did news. But writ large, that was about spreading the idea of America and America as guarantor of, you know, POX (ph) americana, guarantor of peace around the world and setting the standard for democracy. Trump doesn't see the value in that. He doesn't see the value in this soft power stuff.

CORNISH: Or he thinks being a strong nation is what's going to do it.

DOZIER: Exactly. Being more autocratic. And I've had one diplomat express the same feeling I've gotten from a bunch of them. They said, look, it used to be that America was that shining city on the hill that people wanted to emulate or travel to, to study in. And now we're watching things like the humiliation of President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, someone who was totally dependent on the U.S. for survival, and thinking, America has changed.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOZIER: It used to be -

CORNISH: And that they never want to be in that position.

DOZIER: It used to be a different idea. Now it's just like Russia and China, another country that will be pushy and throw its weight around to get its own way.

CORNISH: Kim, thank you so much. I appreciate this. I appreciate you being here this morning.

DOZIER: Yes.

CORNISH: CNN global affairs analyst.

Now, welcome back to you who are with us because it's eight minutes till the top of the hour. Here is your morning roundup.

So, the U.S. House passing a bill to crack down on deep fakes and revenge porn. It targets those who share someone's sexual images without their consent. Even the AI generated ones. And it boosts protection for the victims. It's now headed to the president's desk.

And thousands without power, farms destroyed and a barn demolished as strong storms blew across Minnesota on Monday. The National Weather Service also reported hail nearing three inches in diameter in some areas. That storm system is actually heading east today, and almost 65 million Americans now under the threat of severe weather. And there's this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freeze. Miami Vice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: It's a new - it's a new space race. Amazon trying to keep up with SpaceX. Now Amazon is launching its own internet satellites. Twenty-seven of them went into orbit on Monday. They'll eventually circle the globe nearly 400 miles above the earth.

But that was actually a clip because there's going to be a new "Miami Vice," which honestly is the real news. The director, the same one who did "Top Gun: Maverick." Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell starred in an earlier "Miami Vice" movie in 2006. That actually earned more than $163 million.

All right, Congress is back in D.C. this week. Many lawmakers are, frankly, probably happy to be in Washington for once so they don't have to face down these town halls, which have devolved into furious shouting matches. Sometimes its Republican lawmakers. Sometimes it's Democrats. All are facing tough questions about their role in the president's second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we would like to know what you, as the people, the Congress, who are supposed to rein in this dictator, what are you going to do about it? These people have been sentenced to life imprisonment in a foreign country with no due process.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, 84 percent of Americans support voter ID. That's the reality.

CROWD: Bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, everybody, hang on. Let's let her get to it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stick up for us

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), you don't get to take away our rights. You don't get to (INAUDIBLE). You don't get to do (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, group chat is back.

I wanted to talk about our first 100 days. Like, we, the voters. Some of us have been going to these town halls and making our opinions known and saying we are not happy in this moment.

[06:55:05]

Some of us are really struggling with this economy. And I want to get a sense of like how you're thinking about how all this has been received.

DOVERE: I think it goes back to what we were talking about earlier, the anxiety and the churn that people feel. It's about the -

CORNISH: But the White House is saying be patient. This is just about patience.

DOVERE: Yes, but - patience is something that voters, that human beings don't usually have a lot of. And the idea, whether it - honestly, it's about talking about long term criminal justice reform or economic reform. When you say, you have to deal with the pain for a while so that in a while from now it will be better, people never respond well to. And we saw it as a backlash to some of the things that happened and how it played into the election results last year. I think we're seeing it play out in different ways now.

ROCHA: Voters are way more simple than that. Voters are like two-year- olds. What are you going to do for me now? I want it now.

CORNISH: No, it's not. No. I'm going to judge you on this.

ROCHA: Do it.

CORNISH: Because I feel like lawmakers and politicians, they're so dismissive of our lived experience. Like, people are frustrated out here, you know?

ROCHA: This is the point I'm making is, they won't help now. I'm hurting now. I got to make rent now. Don't tell me about your plans or make me wait for this thing. It's going to get better in time. No, no, no, I want mine now. I pay my taxes every week.

DAVIS: But that's why I think people also that we think issues that are important. When you go out into the actual real world of this country, they're thinking exactly like that. But here's what bothers me. There's so much anger. And is it - what's it from? I mean is it really the anxiety or is it just because of all the 24 hour news cycle, all the social media, that you're just getting so much information?

But if I were North Korea, if I were Japan - Russia, if I were China, I would be like, look at that country being divided right now. And it's anger.

CORNISH: And they do talk about that.

DAVIS: Yes.

CORNISH: You know, I want to play one more thing, which is a protester outside of an Elon Musk protest, because I think he's another consequential person in this time. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK NEAL, PROTESTING ELON MUSK: It's - we're out because we want Elon Musk out of our government and out of our lives. I mean, who is this guy? The world's richest guy comes in and just starts taking a wrecking ball to our government? No way. And so, you know, here's Tesla. It's not a - it's not like a franchise. It's not owned by some local businessman. It's owned directly by him. So, this is the perfect place to tell him to stop it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIS: But also that turned in - that goes back to my anger. That's fine. He's protesting. And he's protesting peacefully. But the people that were destroying the cars and destroying the dealerships that he - I mean, like, that's just wrong.

CORNISH: But, Ashley, I don't want that to obscure - that is a very real and serious issue. I don't want that to obscure the content of what this person said, which is very plain. He was like, yo, this random rich dude is going to do x, y, and z. I think people are responding to what feels arbitrary. They don't actually feel like they're witnessing even strategery. They feel like they are witnessing a little -

DOVERE: I mean -

DAVIS: It's a blast from the past.

CORNISH: It's a blast from the past. (INAUDIBLE) I saved it.

DOVERE: And they're getting the raw end of it, right?

CORNISH: Right.

DOVERE: And that Elon Musk, with everything, all the jobs that he's cut, his - he's doing just fine.

CORNISH: And then he goes on X and posts pictures of the robots he wants to have in his future factory.

ROCHA: Rarely do I - rarely do I leave the bubble of D.C. But I got in my Jeep and drove out to Tysons Corner on Saturday.

CORNISH: Well, where do you get the hats then?

DOVERE: Yes.

ROCHA: I have them mailed in from Texas.

And there was folks standing on the side of the road in Tysons Corner, to your point, not destroying cars, but just holding signs saying, Elon Musk has your Social Security Number. This is going back to both of y'all's points. I'd never seen that before.

CORNISH: Right.

ROCHA: Or folks just standing out there because they're anxious, they're angry, they're all the things.

DAVIS: You don't think that's organized?

ROCHA: I do not. I -

CORNISH: But if it's organized, isn't that the point?

DAVIS: No, I mean like organized from George Soros.

CORNISH: I mean, my thing is coming out of the Tea Party era, when people thought it was astroturf, the Tea Party turned out to be very real.

DAVIS: Yes.

CORNISH: And we live today with its politicians in the highest form of government.

DAVIS: Yes.

CORNISH: Astroturf or not, movements can happen.

DAVIS: No, they do. That's where I go back to my AOC comment. She has the capability of having a movement.

CORNISH: OK, we're going to keep an eye on it. What is the thing we are looking forward to the next day or two? You don't have to do the next 100 days.

Chuck.

ROCHA: With these failing numbers, Congress is in play. And watch if anybody actually has the backbone there to start speaking up because these numbers could be the difference between losing four seats or 40 seats. And I think the Republicans in Congress, I bet, are getting tired of this.

DAVIS: Well, 552 days from that.

ROCHA: It's early. I give you all of that. I give you all of that.

DAVIS: Not counting or anything, for me.

No, I'm watching what the House can - the speaker, Johnson, really move through this week and next, this budget, and what the committees and the cutting will do and the messaging. If I were Democrats right now, I'd be talking about Medicaid all day long.

CORNISH: I think we can make that happen for you. We'll bring you back next week.

Isaac. DOVERE: I always talk about politics. I will give you a little pop culture thing. We're in the final season of "The Handmaids Tale" that was - that debuted.

CORNISH: Look at you. Yes.

DOVERE: In the first year of Trump's first term. And it has been a window into some of the anxiety, how it's playing out, obviously in a very dark, imaginative way.

[07:00:06]

CORNISH: Yes.

DOVERE: And how they now reflect what's - what, obviously, it was finished filming a while ago -

CORNISH: Yes.

DOVERE: But since Trump won and how - how it shows that sense of what's going on.

CORNISH: Yes, and how anger can turn into a movement, for better or worse.

You guys, thank you so much. We talked about so much today.

I want to thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish. And "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.