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Erin Burnett Outfront
Suspect: Thought Murder Of Kim Jong Un's Brother A "Prank"; Dow Closes At Record High; Trump Takes Credit For Boom; WH Turmoil Follows VP Pence On First Overseas Trip; Secretary Of State Tillerson's Hotel 20 Miles From Other G20 Leaders; Trump Asked Multiple Times About Anti-Semitism; Secret Service Investigating Incident Involving Trump Motorcade; Iranians to Trump: "We Are Ready to Fight". Aired 7-8p ET
Aired February 17, 2017 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:00] BRIANNA KEILAR, SENIOR POLITICAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: All right. Brian Todd, thank you for that report. I'm Brianna Keilar. Erin Burnett OutFront starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT HOST: OutFront next, breaking news. The Dow hits an all-time high, again seven days in a row. Trump taking the credit. Does he deserve it?
Plus more breaking news. The secret service investigating an incident tonight involving Trump's motorcade, what happened, and Trump's Twitter tirade. He tweeted, deleted, tweet, retweeted. Let's go OutFront. Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OutFront tonight, the breaking news. One thing going right for Trump. An all-time high. These are the facts. Stocks hit a record today in the midst of their best streak in 25 years. It's a dramatically different headline than the ones about chaos and turmoil in the White House. Now those headlines are true, but so is this one. The economy is surging. Another fact. A survey of manufacturing is at its highest level since 1984. President Trump today taking credit at a Boeing plant in South Carolina.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Since November, jobs have already begun to surge. We're seeing companies open up, factories in America. That's what we do in America. We dream of things and then we build them.
BURNETT: The president celebrating his Boeing visit with the tour of a cockpit of the newest 787 Dreamliner, you see him in there. But does Trump get the credit or would that headline be fake news? Sara Murray begins our coverage tonight at the White House. And Sara, the economy right now is the big bright spot for this president.
SARA MURRAY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. Despite President Trump saying just earlier this week that he inherited a mess, he does have an economy with a 4.8 percent unemployment rate, incredibly low. Now, when he was in South Carolina today, he said he would spark even more job creation but he didn't say exactly how he would do it.
TRUMP: I love South Carolina. I love it.
MRRAY: Less than a month into his presidency, Donald Trump is breaking out of the bubble and getting back into campaign mode.
TRUMP: This was going to be a place that was tough to win and we won in a landslide.
MURRAY: Trump reliving his South Carolina primary win in a visited a Boeing plant today. The president trying to get back to his sweet spot as he touted his goal to revive American manufacturing.
TRUMP: When American workers win, America as a country wins, big- league wins. That's my message here today. America is going to start winning again, winning like never, ever before.
MURRAY: With the administration under fire over its Russian connections, the botched travel ban, and the ouster of Trump's national security adviser, Trump's allies say he's been feeling cooped up so, he jumped at the Cannes to get out of Washington and try to turn the focus to job creation instead.
TRUMP: My focus has been all about jobs. And jobs is one of the primary reasons I'm standing here today as your president and I will never, ever disappoint you, believe me. I will not disappoint you.
MURRAY: While Trump vowed to prevent jobs from moving overseas.
TRUMP: I don't want companies leaving our country. Making their product, selling it back, no tax, no nothing, firing everybody in our country. We're not letting that happen anymore, folks, believe me.
MURRAY: He offered few details how he would do so, as Capitol Hill is still waiting to see the framework of a Trump tax plan. It's an item on the president's agenda this weekend when he and top aides are slated to huddle with newly confirmed Budget Director Mick Mulvaney. The President hitting the road today as a key White House position remains unfilled. Trump fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn earlier this week and retired Vice Admiral Bob Harward also turned down the job.
Now Trump says he has a handful of candidates on his short list. Including acting National Security Adviser Keith Kellogg. Now, while the president will be spending the weekend at Mar-a-Lago that some are calling the winter White House, his aides insist he will still be working, he'll be going over that tax plan as well as the next steps to repeal Obamacare and we are told interviewing a few of these candidates who could become his next national security adviser. Erin?
BURNETT: Thank you very much, Sara. And I want to go to Brynn Gingras now, she is OutFront in Charleston, South Carolina which is where that Boeing plant is where Trump was this afternoon. Brynn, you spoke to people there and they had very strong opinions about Trump's message, right? Him saying things are great and I am responsible.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. Strong opinions. Really dueling opinions, Erin. Because we have both sides coming out today two miles from that plant where Trump spoke. And yes, those people in favor of the president. They said that speech, that's exactly why they voted for him because he talks about creating jobs, bringing jobs back to America, because he engages corporate America and even to what you said, Erin, because they believe he's the reason why the stocks are going in the right direction.
But then also you have the people who came out today who literally booed Air Force One as it flew over our heads. And they said -- one person told me, Erin, she said, you know what, I've become deaf to what the president says. It couldn't matter if he says something that actually benefited me. They just don't trust him. So, we've had a number of opinions but here is more, take a listen.
JUDY EDELMAN, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I do believe that given the fact that the man has been able to bring jobs back to the United States, keep jobs here in the United States, that he will go far. And I -- in spite of all the people who are naysayers, I think they need to give him a chance.
ELENA TEURK, DOESN'T SUPPORT TRUMP: I think whatever he says it, you know, changes from day to day and so I don't actually believe he has the vision and the ability to follow through a policy.
GINGRAS: So, certainly strong opinions of the topic. I hand here at North Charleston which was jobs today and the economy of course but even really on both sides, Erin, we heard on a number of issues that people are very passionate about. Erin?
BURNETT: All right, Brynn. Thank you very much. OutFront now, the former economic adviser to Donald Trump's campaign, Stephen Moore and the former chairman of the council of economic advisers for President Obama, Austan Goolsbee. Thanks to both. Steve, four weeks to the President Trump's term, he is taking credit for job growth, strong consumer confidence, surging stocks. Fair?
STEPHEN MOORE, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ECONOMIC ADVISER: I think there is a Trump effect here. There's almost no question about it. I mean, if you look at the stock market, after kind of a level 2016, it really started the surge after the November 7th election. I mean, there's no question about it. And it's not unusual that a president would take credit for things that happened on his watch. Now, he is only been in office for a month, so, you know, some of these motions were also -- these effects were already set in motion.
But I would say this that the big effect here, you know, over the last week, the whole media story has been owed a tumultuous week for Donald Trump and Washington and so -- but what most Americans are really paying attention to is not this kind of palace intrigue that we in Washington pay attention to but what's going on in the real economy and Trump has had a good number of weeks, so you've seen an increase in consumer confidence, small business confidence, the factory orders that came out last week were very strong for January. So, things are looking up and it's not unusual for a president to take credit for it.
BURNETT: Well, of course they're always going to take credit for it, right? I'm getting that whether that's fake news or real news to take the credit. I mean, Austan, you know, 2,300 points, that's what the Dow Jones Industrial average has gone up since Trump's election. I mean, that's pretty stunning. We are at an all-time record. And some of the things that are doing really well are not things that -- are things about the future, right? Small business optimism, highest levels since 2004. Stocks themselves, right? Those are things that do seem to be about a belief in Trump, right?
AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FORMER CHAIRMAN COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, you got a lot of things going on there. If -- with the Dow, literally almost one-third of the increase in the Dow is accounted for -- by the increase in Goldman Sachs alone and I'm not surprised that Goldman Sachs would go up in value when Donald Trump was elected. If you look at the financial sector, I think they feel very much like he's going to let them out of the -- our of the cage that they've been in and that, you know, we're going to go back to rip up the rules of the road and they can -- they can go back to the good old days.
I'm of two minds on that because I think for most of us we remember what happened the last time that we ripped up the rules of the road. If you look at the small business confidence or consumer confidence measures I find that hard to reconcile with the fact that the same polling shows Donald Trump is the least popular incoming president in the history of polling. So I think -- before you just look at some indicator like the stock market, I think it's worth at least recalling that the stock market tripled in value under Barack Obama and we did not make a habit of trying to interpret the stock market as a measure of the actual economy.
MOORE: You know, Austan, I agree with that. I mean, you don't want to judge the economy by the stock market. And in fact, you know, you're right that the stock market did very well under Barack Obama, especially after the crash that we saw in 2008.
BURNETT: Right. Of the currently low but (INAUDIBLE)
MOORE: Right. But my point is that, you know, I think what Americans are mostly looking at is not what happens in the stock market. Although, you know, over half Americans do own stock and their wealth goes up when the stock market goes up, but I think the whole issue of wages and jobs, Austan is what Americans are going to look at though. The -- you know, my attitude about the Obama years, yes, the economy did pretty well but there's really only about the top 20 percent that saw gains in income and the other -- the other 80 percent, not much. I traveled around with Donald Trump and we went to places like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and people there were saying they didn't -- they didn't feel much of a recovery.
GOOLSBEE: Well, I would say that I disagree with that. You know, if you look at the actual data on wages, the last year's wage gains were the biggest for the middle class on record that we have been keeping track of that. And I get the feeling if you look at what Donald Trump's doing, you know, we just had the Super Bowl. Barack Obama saves us from depression, he's been the starting quarterback for seven years and with 30 seconds left in the game and they're way ahead, they bring in the backup.
BURNETT: Wow. That's the --
GOLSBEE: And he's going around saying, I won the game. He didn't win the game. Look, we had a crisis --
MOORE: I was hoping, Erin, that Austan would give Donald Trump a little bit of credit in this interview.
[CROSSTALK]
BURNETT: But seriously, Steve, here's the thing. Donald Trump, whatever -- let's say you want to give him credit. Here's the thing, he can't take credit until things actually come to fruition. Optimism is one thing, right? But let's see what actually happens to those small business profits. I mean, here's the thing. He has done a lot of meetings, right? You know, he's met with the airlines, he's met with the retailers, he's met with everybody. Tech companies. And here is what he has said after each one of those big meetings in recent weeks.
GOLSBEE: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They're all talking about the bounce, so right now everybody has to like me at least a little bit. But we're going to try and have that bounce continue. The auto industry just left a week ago. They were here in the same room. And they're very happy with what we're doing and everyone is. You're going to be so happy with Trump. I think you already are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: There's a lot of, you're going to like me, you're going to be happy, but he hasn't put anything on the table yet, Steve. Nothing. There's no tax plan. There's nothing on the table yet.
MOORE: Wait a minute, Erin. I worked on the campaign and I worked on the tax plan. We do have a tax plan. That was going to be -- there are going to be some nuanced changes to it but I mean, everybody knows what Donald Trump wants to do on taxes. He wants to lower taxes for families and he wants to bring America's highest in the world --
BURNETT: So, is he going to put his plan -- is plan on the table? I mean, he hasn't done anything to congress, right? This is -- this is so far all talk.
MOORE: Well, I think one -- but one reason for that, Erin is that they've been focused on Obamacare, which is another high priority for Trump. But I would make this point to both of you. You know, I think the reason you're seeing a bit of a bounce in the step of the economy since the election is that Trump ran a kind of pro worker, pro- business platform, and you know what, businesses want pro-business in Washington.
And I'm not saying, look, Austan, I agree with you, we got to make sure that regulations are in place to safeguard, you know, safety and other things like that but the -- just basically saying we want America to be competitive in the global economy, that's a very positive thing. And I think businesses are responding in advance of some of these policies.
GOLSBEE: I'm not against that.
BURNETT: How much time does he have, Austan? Before he has to have legislative victories in congress?
GOLSBEE: Well, I think -- I think two things. One, I don't think he has much time. Most of what you get to do as president you do certainly in your first year and probably in your first just few months. So, I think the more they just kind of sit around and sign vague executive orders and don't actually put out details of what they want in a tax plan, the more danger they have that they're just not going to be able to do it.
BURNETT: All right.
MOORE: I agree with you on that. And that's I've been frustrated with the pace of -- I want to see these things -- I wanted them to rush out of the gate like secretariat. And I agree with you, Austan, I do think, you know, a president has a bit of a honeymoon period though I would say, the press hasn't given him much of a honeymoon. But you got to get the stuff done quickly. Most presidents, Erin get their agenda passed in the first, you know, six months. And Austan, as you know, President Obama got his stimulus plan done one in the first month and a half or something like that.
GOLSBEE: Yes. In the first month. It was done by this point.
BURNETT: Right.
MOORE: Yes.
BURNETT: Well, he did come out of the gates like secretary of state when it comes to the executive order that got shot down in court. I mean, there all that kinds of things that were secretariat-like, just not the ones you want. All right. Thank you.
MOORE: Very distracted.
BURNETT: Thank you. And next, the secretary of state not staying with other world leaders for a conference in Germany. Wait untiL you see where he's staying. Is it a simple logistical error or something much bigger?
And an incident involving the Trump motorcade on the way to Mar-a-Lago tonight, the secret service investigating. We're live in the ground for that. And on a much lighter note this evening, we're going to introduce you to the guys responsible for Saturday Night Live's Newest Star. The high powered podium.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, the Vice President, Mike Pence arriving in Europe on his first trip overseas seeking to reassure key U.S. Allies on issues like Russia that are dogging this administration. The senior administration official talking about the trip using the word, reassure and reassurance, three times, this just after the Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson's first major meeting in Germany with the G20. Michelle Kosinski is OutFront. And Michelle, the vice president seeking to reassure as I said, reassure, reassurance, reassure, but the President of the United States doesn't even have a national security adviser right now. How convincing can such reassurance be?
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: Well, he can try. I mean, among allies there has been worry, skepticism, there has been in some cases disgust, for example, over the travel ban and there's been inconsistency. I mean, for example, they see one member of the president's team like the secretary of state say things like, we'll consider working with Russia, if certain contingencies are met, but then, you know, they turn their head and see President Obama -- sorry, they'll see President Trump on television making headlines saying we would love to do a deal with Russia.
And saying things that just aren't consistent. I think the good thing for Mike Pence is he's going to be talking to NATO Allies even though President Trump during the campaign said NATO is obsolete and that allies might have to defend themselves, he's since changed his tune and now we've heard the administration say multiple times that at least they are committed to NATO.
BURNETT: And, you know, speaking of the world order, the Secretary Of State, Rex Tillerson at the G20 staying at a sanitarium, 30 minutes away from the rest of the world leaders. I mean, The G20 meeting is a major event, known well, well in advance, right? That the state department would have planned for regardless of who the secretary was. Does it speak to a lack of coordination within this administration?
KOSINSKI: I think it points to a lack of everything being in place and you see that throughout. I mean, there are people in top positions who are political appointees but who had decades of experience and, you know, were here for obviously multiple administrations asked to leave before those positions could be filled by the new administration. You have people here within the state department who aren't sure what the policy is even going to be.
So this is a little built of disorganization, although the state department says, look, Tillerson has been in office for two weeks and we didn't book it until we knew that everything was going to be in place. But it points to maybe them not being 100 percent certain he would be confirmed.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Michelle. OutFront now, the Council of Foreign Relations President Richard Haass, author of A World Of Disarray, American Foreign Policy and The Crisis Of The Old Order, he also of course met with President Trump during transition. You know, Richard, the Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson staying at a sanitarium 30 minutes away from where the players are at the G20 and, you know, Bloomberg describes it as, you know, diplomatic security agents in a parking lot, elderly people in wheelchairs coming for their spa treatments. I mean, is this a logistical issue or is it reflective at all of a state department that's behind the 8-ball right now? RICHARD HAASS, PRESIDENT, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Well, it's a
logistical issue on the surface but underneath it all I think it reflects two serious things. One is the lack of support at the state department. Rex Tillerson is essentially home alone. There's no staff. He wasn't able to get the deputy he wanted, so that's one issue. Second of all, it highlights the basic issue of the relationship between the secretary of state and this White House.
No secretary of state can be successful if the world does not think he speaks and speaks authoritatively for the president. And let me just say, every day that goes by with this sort of thing happening, Erin, it begins to create doubts and doubts are poisonous for the ability of a secretary of state to be effective.
BURNETT: And, you know, Tillerson hasn't taken any questions on this trip as you know, Richard, he doesn't have a deputy as you pointed out. He hasn't had a press conference since he took over. How much time does he have? I mean, he is someone that does lend gravitas and credibility world leaderships to the Trump administration, but as you point out, the runway is short.
HAASS: Well, the president has to empower his secretary of state. The president has to go out there and show that the secretary of state speaks for him, that the two of them -- there's no daylight between them. It would also help if the -- there was a national security adviser in place in this because we don't really have an administration to speak of when you start talking about national security. So these are early days, it's only what, less than a month since the administration began, but they can't count on the world remaining a calm place or a relatively calm place.
Sooner or later, a real crisis rather than one generated by the administration itself is going to -- is going to come into their in boxes and they had -- they had better be up and running and ready for it.
BURNETT: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a very important visit, obviously, this week. And Trump was asked twice about anti-Semitism in America. Here at his press conference is how he answered a Jewish reporter's question yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TURX, A REPORTER FOR A SMALL ULTRA-ORTHODOX JEWISH PUBLICATION: What we haven't really heard being address is an uptick in anti- Semitism and how the government is planning to take care of it. There are people who are committing anti-Semitic acts or threatening --
TRUMP: He said he was going to ask a simple, easy question, and it's not. It's not. Not a simple question. Not a fair question. OK. Sit down. Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you've ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism. The least racist person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He didn't answer the question. What do you make of that response?
HAASS: Well, in what was an odd 77 minutes that was on the short list of odd moments. I thought it was a slow curve and I thought the president (INAUDIBLE) it would have given him a simple opportunity to denounce anti-Semitism to say that it has no place in American society. What I couldn't figure out is whether he simply misunderstood the question, he didn't -- he didn't get it all. You know, I know there are those reading into it and say that he politically didn't want to say certain things.
I'm not prepared to go there. Again, I just thought it was something of a missed opportunity to stay what needs to be said that there's simply no place for anti-Semitism in any aspect of life in this country or anywhere else.
BURNETT: And he -- because, you know, he did seem to take it personally, I'm the least anti-Semitic person that you know. You know, he made it about himself. It's obviously something that on all of these issues something he tends to do.
HAASS: Well, again, I thought it was a missed opportunity but, you know, one thing I could -- I could bet Erin, he's going to have another opportunity because anytime our president does that kind of a thing with the sensitive issue, you know and I know that some other journalist is going to revisit it.
BURNETT: Your name, Richard, has been mentioned as a possible deputy secretary of state. I spoke to Elliott Abrams this, he talked about his meeting with Rex Tillerson and President Trump and said he actually said he thought President Trump was engaged in the entire conversation, obviously that didn't work out. President Trump found out that Elliott Abrams criticized him and wouldn't allow Rex Tillerson to hire him. If you were offered the job, given what you now know, what you've seen this week with Elliott Abrams, what you see with the national security adviser, would you take the job?
HAASS: Well, again, I'm a great believer that you don't turn down jobs you haven't been offered, but don't get me wrong, I'm not interested in that position. More broadly, I think that before you take a senior level job you've got to be comfortable with the conception of the job, you've got to be comfortable with the sort of policies you'll be asked to represent. You've really got to be in alignment. And, you know, anyone who's read my recent book, anyone who's been reading me on social media or watching me on shows like this, Erin, will know that I'm -- in many areas, many important areas, I'm not in sufficient alignment with this president and this administration so far to accept a senior position.
BURNETT: You know, Richard, there are some who say that the United States is less safe right now, and when you look at foreign policy or the lack thereof, right? We don't know what the foreign policy of this administration is, right? There is no Syria policy thus far, in his position on Israel policy has completely flipped. He was for settlements, now is saying that he is -- a deal -- wants a deal on that front. You see it with China and whether there's a one-China policy or not. You see it with North Korea. Do you think the world right now is less safe than it was one month ago?
HAASS: Well, the one thing I think the administration did that may have made the United States and the world less safe was its position dealing with refugees and the whole homeland security issue. More broadly though, by move eight way from so many established positions, we've created real doubts in the minds of our friends and allies about whether we are dependable, whether we're reliable, whether what has been the case remains the case.
So I don't think it's that we're in the short run less safe but what worries me, Erin is we're setting in motion dynamics and trends that over months or years will reduce U.S. Influence and will mean that a lot of traditional friends and allies increasingly go their own way. And they may defer to powerful local states, they may decide to take matters into their own hands and maybe think about developing nuclear weapons or simply making more independent decisions. We're not there yet, but I think we are setting that kind of historical trend in motion.
BURNETT: All right, Richard Haass, thank you very much.
HAASS: Thanks for having me.
BURNETT: Provocative words. And next, the president today tweeting, deleting, tweeting, retweeting. What is the one word that was so important for him to take out? He actually censored himself? And the Trumps in Florida, Eric and Don Jr. though are in Dubai. How much is it costing you right now for all of that to keep them safe?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:31:25] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news: the Secret Service tonight investigating an incident with Trump's motorcade. We are learning it appears an object was thrown at the vehicles today. It took place at West Palm Beach as the president was en route to Mar- a-Lago.
Our Athena Jones is traveling with the president.
Athena, what are you learning about the incident?
ATHENA JONES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Erin.
That's right. This happened about a mile from with we are now. We're now on Palm Beach. This was in West Palm Beach, as you mentioned. That's over the bridge from Palm Beach, which is an island.
Secret Service are investigating. It appears someone threw a rock or threw something at the motorcade. The Secret Service and local law enforcement paid particular attention to a rock about the size of a baseball that was lying in the grass on the edge of the road, about 6 to 8 feet from the edge of the road. They took pictures, I believe we have video of it.
And there was also another object that was a piece of wood about this big. It's unclear, we should note, whether either of these objects actually struck a vehicle in the motorcade. That's something that they're still investigating. The Secret Service and local enforcement going around to the businesses around that intersection to take a look at video that these businesses have. We just spoke to the man who runs a gas station at that intersection and he has several cameras with several angles and Secret Service was still there reviewing that video.
So, we're awaiting more word on what went down on that. I should note, of course, the president travelled in a limo called The Beast that is armor plated and able to sustain quite a bit of force but this is still potentially concerning -- Erin.
BURNETT: Absolutely. And, Athena, the president also launching a new strike tonight against the media and this is interesting. He went out on Twitter, OK, shocker, tweeted, but then he deleted his tweet, that's unusual, then he edited it and sent out a new tweet and all of this seems to be about one word.
JONES: Exactly. Let's just spell it out. The president has already said he's at war with the media, his chief strategist Steve Bannon has called the media the opposition party. Clear how he feels about the media. If it wasn't clear from yesterday's press conference, it's clear today on Twitter.
He tweeted, the first tweet was "The fake news media failing New York Times, CNN, NBC, and many more is not my enemy. It is the enemy of the American people. Sick."
You see that word there in all caps. He deleted that tweet and tweeted again a few minutes later, apparently wanting to include more news organizations, which required him to edit himself. Edit out that word sick. That second tweet he said, "The fake news media, failing New York Times, NBC News, ABC, CBS, CNN, is not my enemy. It's the enemy of the American people."
So, he very much wanted to make sure he got every news outlet he could into that message.
I should mention about an hour after that second tweet he said that -- he tweeted again quoting Rush Limbaugh, who according to the president said his press conference yesterday was one of the most effective press conferences I've ever seen. The president then adding, "Many agree yet fake media calls it differently. Dishonest."
I would expect we'll hear more of that kind of language tomorrow's rally -- Erin.
BURNETT: That's right. He's got that big rally. Athena, thank you very much.
OUTFRONT now, Kayleigh McEnany, contributor for "The Hill", Keith Boykin, former Clinton White House aide, and Nia-Malika Henderson, our senior political reporter.
Kayleigh, I'm sure "The Washington Post" is shocked and happy to be left off of that tweet. But in all seriousness, he's had a great day, Kayleigh, right? He has all these headlines about chaos and turmoil, which I pointed at the top of the show, those are true headlines.
[19:35:01] But the headlines about the stock market and the economy doing well are also true.
He had this big moment at Boeing. He has all this, and then, what does he do? He goes off on Twitter about the fake news media and, you know, had to drop the word sick which I'm sure was heartbreaking for him because he had to add in more news organizations.
OK, Kayleigh, seriously though, why not capitalize on the fact that he had a good day at Boeing? He looked presidential. Everything was going his way.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure. He's an equal opportunity critic of the media by including more news organizations. But, look, you know, I think the media's views and attack on the media, an apoplectic kind of negative banter, and I would fully expect that. You know, it's a personal attack on the media.
But I think the public at large views the media with suspicion. The media has its lowest Gallup approval rating in recorded history. So, I think when he attacks the media, he highlights the coverage, he encourages viewers to view the media and their coverage with discerning eye, particularly when there are gaps in the facts like for instance over the Flynn transcript and left wing commentators inserting speculation, wild speculation.
So, I think when he calls out the media it encourages the public to scrutinize the coverage, to scrutinize the press and it is a win. It supplements his broader economic message with another message that I think is equally is important.
BURNETT: Of course, Keith, while Kayleigh may have some points, I have to say, Kayleigh, I will disagree with you on one crucial thing. The enemy of the people is something that would bring down an institution that makes our country great. So, trying to say the media is the enemy of the American people --
MCENANY: You're right about that.
BURNETT: I mean, that is deeply concerning to me.
But, Keith, what is your view on the effectiveness of this? As Kayleigh points out, to a lot of people who like Trump, this is what they want to hear. This is effective.
KEITH BOYKIN, FORMER CLINTON WHITE HOUSE AIDE: It is what his supporters want to hear but not what the American people want to hear. It's not effective. It stepped on his message today at Boeing.
He has no message discipline. He did the same thing last year with the convention on the Benghazi day. He stepped on that message with his FOX News interview.
This guy is unhinged and he can't stay focused. The problem is his job now as president is to unite the country. And he has not done nothing, one thing since the election to unite the country. He's still attacking the media. He's attacking celebrities.
He's attacking everybody except Vladimir Putin, by the way, and this is supposed to be the time presidents have their highest approval ratings. Kayleigh talked about Gallup approval ratings, well, Donald Trump has the lowest Gallup approval rating for any president this time in history. That's not a good start and it's entirely his fault.
The campaign is over. It's time to start acting presidential and I don't think he's capable of doing it.
BURNETT: Nia?
(CROSSTALK)
NIA MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Go ahead.
No, I mean, on the one hand, it does bind his supporters together. This is what they want to here. This is what they're used to hearing. Donald Trump has to have a foil. It's Donald Trump and FOX News and Rush Limbaugh versus everybody. So, that's what we're seeing.
But I do think his attacks on other institutions like the court hasn't worked out well for him, his attacks on the intelligence agencies as he calls them, hasn't worked well for him. And as well I think American presidents have used the idea of the freedom of the press as an argument why America is an exceptional country. This idea that Bannon has floated and that Trump clearly agrees with, that the media is an oppositional party is not in keeping with what I think tradition that American presidents have used in terms of thinking about this country.
So, I do think it's dangerous taking away that argument. It's also just kind of silly and a waste of time. CNN was here before Donald Trump was president. We'll be here after "The New York Times", "The Washington Post," all of these great media outlets. So, it's like at some point, he sounds like a broken record, even as tried to sort of amp up the rhetoric.
I think it just kind of like what else you got, Donald Trump?
BURNETT: I mean, Kayleigh, is there something to be said there for -- look, Steve Bannon, I get. He wants -- he came from the opposition, this is how he sees the world, OK? I understand that. But Donald Trump doesn't have political experience, so maybe he doesn't understand the job of the media is to speak truth to power. That is our job.
When you are in power, we are going to look, we are going to find, we are going to make sure. That is our job. He doesn't seem to get that.
MCENANY: Yes, Erin, I agree entirely about the importance of a free press. It is crucial to a democratic society. There is no doubt about that.
But I think what President Trump is frustrated with is like Keith said President Trump hasn't done one thing to unite the country, that is patently false. Yesterday when the media was very into Trump's press conference, rightfully so, it was a very big moment, they did so at the expense of what actually was a unity moment, having coal miners in the White House, rescinding regulations, helping this ailing industry, he's issuing an order on HBCUs, historically black colleges and universities.
[19:40:04] These are unifying acts. But left wing commentators ignore them or disparage them or act as if they've never happened.
BURNETT: All right. We're going to leave it there for now. I thank all of you for tonight.
OUTFRONT next, President Trump's third straight weekend at Mar-a-Lago. His adult sons opening a golf course in Dubai. And all of that, by the way, a lot of that is on your bill. Melania meantime still spending most days in Trump Tower. You'll get the numbers.
And President Trump talking tough, putting Iran on notice. What does the average Iranian now think about that?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump, he's just talking. I think he's just talking and he doesn't have anything to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news: the Secret Service investigating an incident involving President Trump's motorcade in West Palm Beach, Florida. This as the first family is receiving an unprecedented level of security, from trips to Mar-a-Lago, to the first lady still leaving in New York, to the first children overseas in Dubai today. The price tag for security is becoming a big number, huge, in fact.
Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[19:45:01] TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cost of protecting the jet-setting first family could be epic starting with the president, vice president, their wives, confidant, children and grandkids, over 20 people from the get-go.
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: That's unprecedented. It's not unattainable to protect them all. It's just unprecedented.
FOREMAN: CNN security analyst Jonathan Wackrow says the equation is complicated by the Trump family working out of so many places -- the White House, the Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida, several private residences in and out of D.C., and Trump Tower in New York, which the first lady calls home.
Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy. JOSEPH CLANCY, SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: When I go into Trump Tower,
the restaurant is full. The Starbucks is full of people. So, the challenge is to allow those businesses to continue to operate but in a secure manner.
FOREMAN: In the works, permanently hiring out a whole floor for security operations.
(on camera): To give you a sense, that would be 13,000 square feet of prime New York real estate at a four-year market value of $6 million, although the president could give his team a deal.
(voice-over): Another worry, most of Trump's children are grown and involved in business, meaning lots of travel. "The Washington Post" puts the Secret Service hotel bill for his son's trip to South America at $100,000. And two sons are opening a golf course in Dubai this weekend.
CLANCY: I would say the most challenging trips for us are the foreign trips.
FOREMAN: Every time a president takes off, up to 300 people go along. Teams for personal security, counterassault, intelligence, surveillance, emergency response, military support, transportation, communication, staffing and more. Price tag is hard to pin down, but a government study found a three-day trip by President Obama in 2013 cost taxpayers $3.6 million.
So, will the total be tens of millions, hundreds?
WACKROW: It's hard to forecast what the cost is going to be.
FOREMAN: Other presidents have raised security challenges with their lifestyles and travel. Bill Clinton's vacations in Martha's Vineyard, George Bush's retreats to Texas, Barack Obama's holidays in Hawaii.
And CNN is told just protecting Vice President Biden's family took nearly 50 agents.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: I mean, that's stunning. I mean, when you think about it, it's stunning.
OK, unprecedented is clearly the word. Does it mean unprecedented bills to taxpayers, right? I mean, that's who pays for this.
FOREMAN: Well, that depends on what kind of pattern they settle into over the long run. This could be a lot more than Barack Obama, but not necessarily. If they settle down and they just deal with New York and D.C. and Mar-a-Lago mainly, then that may not matter so much, because remember, President Obama, he made various trips across the country, all of which cost a lot of money out there.
The bottom line is President Trump is not doing anything wrong. These are just the challenges in the modern world of guarding a president and those challenges can be very expensive -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Tom Foreman.
And next, Jeanne Moos on "Saturday Night live" giving new meaning to the bully pulpit.
And anti-Americanism in Iran, intensifying since the election of Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are ready to fight. All of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:51:50] BURNETT: New tonight: a stern warning from Iran to President Trump. The president's controversial travel ban has sparked outrage, anger that we are now seeing play out first hand.
Frederik Pleitgen is OUTFRONT from Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): "Death to Donald Trump, death to America", these protesters chanted at the recent Iranian revolutionary day in Iran. On top of the usual anti-American chants in protesters, many depicting the new president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are ready to fight. All of us. From the child, from the baby to the oldest one in Iran.
PLEITGEN: Some three weeks into Donald Trump's presidency, the anti- American rhetoric and criticism is intensifying.
Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, mocking Trump, calling him a political newcomer after the U.S. hit Iran with fresh sanctions following a ballistic missile test Tehran conducted in late January.
President Trump saying Iran's leadership, quote, "needs to be careful" and that all options including military actions are on the table.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump, he's just talking. I think he's just talking and he doesn't have anything to do. And he can't do anything.
PLEITGEN: As pictures of Trump and Israeli's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broadcast around the world, Iranian officials are balking with one top official attacking Israel's influence on the Trump administration.
"We think the decisions in the early stages of the Trump administration are influenced by delusion and propaganda," he said, "like the Israeli lobby which is determined to damage the recent nuclear agreement."
While Iran continues to taunt the U.S., posters like this one mocking American sailors who were captured by the Revolutionary Guard Navy last year popping up in Tehran, there's also this, posters thanking Americans protesting President Trump's travel ban.
Still, many here fear they could be headed for a major conflict with the new administration after a relative warming of ties during the Obama years.
Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Kermanshah, Iran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And tonight, it is becoming America's most famous podium, right? You know the one I'm talking about, right? As we said, something that gives a whole new meaning to the world bully pulpit.
Here is Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When President Trump stood behind a podium and asked a reporter --
TRUMP: You OK?
MOOS: -- it reminded us of another podium and a fake reporter asking the same question.
REPORTER: Just mentally, though, are you OK?
MELISSA MCCARTHY AS SEAN SPICER: Are you kidding me? Are you --
MOOS: Melissa McCarthy as Press Secretary Sean Spicer drove her "SNL" podium into immortality, the world's most famous motorized podium.
So, did you have to teach Jenny McCarthy how to drive a podium?
MARC PETROSINO, CO-FOUNDER, MONKEY BOYS PRODUCTIONS: We did. It was a lot of fun.
MOOS: "SNL" gave this small Pennsylvania company Monkey Boys Productions less than 48 hours to create the podium. "SNL" first suggested rigging a Segway, but that was deemed dangerous.
[19:55:04] So, they took a motorized wheelchair, removed the seat, and built a podium on it out of foam and wood. McCarthy controlled it with a joystick.
In her first rehearsal, McCarthy's driving was a little bit tentative.
PETROSINO: It's nothing you've never done before, but once she got the hang of it she was playing around having a great time, trying to run people over.
MOOS: Of course, even non-motorized podiums have mishaps.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Whooo!
MOOS: Hillary's collapsed. And Obama's --
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We cannot sustain -- whoops. Was that my --
MOOS: Yes, your presidential seal.
OBAMA: All of you know who I am.
MOOS: Podiums are always getting abused, by coaches.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well --
MOOS: Makes McCarthy seem almost gentle.
But when you take the podium, try not to take it with you.
The then-prime minister of Italy tripped on a mike cord at the White House. Silvio Berlusconi decapitated the podium but kept talking.
When your podium acts like a bully --
PETROSINO: We've been calling wit the bully pulpit.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
MCCARTHY: Live from New York, it's Saturday night!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Thanks for joining us.
"AC360" with Jim Sciutto is next.
