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Spicer: G.A. Congressional Race "Big Loss" For Dems; Spicer: "It Is A Fact" U.S. Ships Are Headed to N. Korea; White House To Review Iran Nuclear Deal; Trump: "No Admin Has Accomplished More". Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired April 19, 2017 - 12:30   ET

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

SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, a few things on that.

Number one, we're not done. We've got a little ways before we hit the 100-day mark.

[12:30:00] So I -- I think what you've seen out of this White House is -- is a very robust agenda of -- of activity.

There's a lot of executive orders that I think the president's been pleased with, not only what they've done -- or what they will do, but what they've done.

I think when you look at immigration in particular, we see a very significant drop at the border. I think on jobs there's been a lot of activity that we've been very proud to see American manufacturing and job creation.

But then there's pieces like what we did today, that I think that if you're a veteran who's served our country, to know that you have additional options to get health care in a timely manner -- or -- not just a -- but a geographically friendly manner, so you're not driving hours, is very helpful and a strong symbol of how we treat our veterans.

There's a lot of things that I think the president's done on veterans, on immigration, on regulatory reform. As I've mentioned here, we're now at a dozen Congressional Review Act pieces of legislation that have been signed that have had, I think, a very positive impact on -- and will have a very positive impact on job creation.

When you -- and I've noted before to you that -- that only one had ever been signed in history before. That's a pretty significant achievement for this president.

And obviously when you look at the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, it's another significant one.

But there's -- there's a lot. And again, we'll obviously spend some time talking about this next week. But I think we're very pleased with what the president's accomplished. And, you know, as he noted yesterday in Wisconsin, the amount that he's done overall has been significant.

QUESTION: Sean...

SPICER: Zeke?

QUESTION: Thanks, Sean. Two for you on two separate topics.

First, on the potential for a government shutdown (inaudible) is the president -- the budget supplemental that the White House requested about a month or so ago included boosts to defense spending, cut other -- other discretionary spending, non-defense, included funding for the wall.

What is -- is the president going to insist that the C.R. that will necessary to keep the government open after next weekend will -- will include all of those priorities? Or does he -- would he accept a, sort of, flat C.R. that would just continue the debt (inaudible)?

SPICER: Well, obviously -- yeah -- we're having -- those discussions have been ongoing with House and Senate leaders as we approach this deadline.

But as you correctly point out -- I mean, the president's priorities are very well known, what he wants to do in terms of both military and homeland security...

QUESTION: (inaudible)

SPICER: ... but -- but I think that to start negotiating in public would probably not be a very prudent thing to do as we get closer to that deadline. So I just -- respectfully, we're days away. You'll have plenty of time to see what's in there.

Richard (ph) -- I'm sorry.

QUESTION: (inaudible) another topic, sorry.

Late last night the Presidential Inaugural Committee released its list of donors at the end of the filing period. It included, you know, (inaudible) money obviously. It took lots of money from corporate donors, many of them who have business before the administration.

Is the president who ran on the "Drain the Swamp" slogan concerned about the -- the perception certainly, but also any -- or the potential for any real conflict of interest between some of those -- some of those donations coming into -- you know, supporting his inauguration?

SPICER: No. I mean, I think this is just like a campaign, in the sense that you have the -- there's full disclosure -- you know, there's disclosure on this for a reason: so that you know what's happening.

I think funding the Inaugural Committee has pretty much been a nonpartisan activity that has gone back -- every administration -- going back through administrations. So this is -- this is a time- honored tradition. I think a lot of Americans and companies and -- and entities are proud to support the inaugural, and -- and I think that you've seen that over time, the people who have been -- there are a lot of people who -- who really take pride in helping us show the world a peaceful transformation of power.

Richard?

QUESTION: Thank you, Sean.

I just want to go back to what (inaudible) said yesterday...

SPICER: You want to go back?

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: It's -- the -- the president said about the -- the issue with the -- the local dairy producers, dairy farmers, that the White House was going to work on that very hard...

SPICER: Yeah.

QUESTION: ... admittedly -- actually starting today...

SPICER: Yeah.

QUESTION: ... that's what he said, calling Canada and asking for solution. Has the White House been in contact with anybody in Canada, in Ottawa?

SPICER: I'll have an update for you, hopefully at some point on that.

But I -- I'm well aware of the president's comments on that. I think it's a very important issue for people in Wisconsin and -- and the president looks forward to following up on that.

QUESTION: (inaudible) on this point?

SPICER: I think I just -- all I will say is that the president is going to make sure that we -- we follow up on that.

David Jackson (ph) -- I'm sorry.

QUESTION: Very quickly. He said that on NAFTA he wants very big changes or we're going to get rid of it once and for all. Are we at that point, like very big changes or...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: Let -- I think we'll see what pans out in the negotiation. But I think there's an opportunity -- can I just...

(CROSSTALK)

(UNKNOWN): You need some help?

(LAUGHTER)

SPICER: I think I got this, but thank you.

Maybe...

(UNKNOWN): (OFF MIKE)

SPICER: All right. Thanks, man. I'll see you in a minute.

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: Hey, Sean, can I follow on that?

SPICER: Hold on one...

(LAUGHTER)

All right. That was cool.

(LAUGHTER)

Real quick -- how do you follow that?

Just to John Gizzi's point, I just want to make sure I note that -- that we will be reaching out to the Vatican to see if a meeting -- an audience with the pope can -- can be accommodated. We'll have further details on that. Obviously, we'd be honored to have an audience with His Holiness.

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: David? I'm sorry, I called on David first.

QUESTION: Thanks, Sean.

What's the White House's reaction to the deportation of Juan Montes? He's a DREAMer from California...

SPICER: Right.

QUESTION: ... and apparently the first one to get sent back.

SPICER: I -- I think there's a -- that -- the -- that situation is -- is evolving right now. There's a lot of things that are being looked at in terms of the -- the circumstances surrounding that. And I would -- I'd ask you to stay in contact with the Department of Homeland Security.

QUESTION: Didn't -- didn't President Trump say he didn't want...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: I -- I -- again, I think that I -- I don't want to comment right now, in the sense that there are some circumstances regarding that, I think, that need to come out or -- or be further looked into. And I think getting ahead of that could be an issue.

So, I just -- respectfully, I would say that -- that I don't want to rush to judgment. I think there's a lot of -- of additional details that are coming out about that issue. And I -- and I think the Department of Homeland Security is probably the best place to -- to get updates (inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: I'm -- OK, Helen (ph).

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: Two -- two things -- two topics, and one of those is a follow-up. But I want to ask about GA -- Georgia's 6th here (ph).

SPICER: (inaudible)

QUESTION: It's two quick ones on that.

Is the president planning to campaign for the Republican challenger there? Will he go to Georgia to pick up (ph) the vote?

SPICER: I don't know.

If -- if needed, I think the president's going to make sure that he does everything he can to -- to maintain majorities and -- and further the party. But we'll see if we're needed.

QUESTION: Is he expending too much political capital on a race that Republicans should be winning easily?

SPICER: Well, I -- I -- you know, it's interesting. I -- I thought that some of the coverage was a little intriguing as I watched it. Suddenly the -- the -- the Democrats went all-in on this race. They spent over $8.3 million. They said on the record that they were -- their goal was to win this race. They lost.

And the -- the reaction has somewhat been -- you know, that they almost won. No, they lost. They made very clear what their goal was in this race. They spent $8.3 million and threw everything, including the kitchen sink, at it, and lost. And so...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... there's still two months left, though, right?

SPICER: No, the -- not in terms of what their stated goal was.

They said that their goal last night was to win the race with over 50 percent. They spent $8.3 million. They didn't run for a runoff. They ran to win last night, and they lost.

And so, anything short of describing that as a loss is -- is -- is sort of inconceivable to me, in the sense that that's literally what they said their goal was to do.

And they said, "We want to win Tuesday night with over 50 percent." They came up short of their goal. They put all the money that they had in there, they've put all their firepower, and they came up short. So it's a loss. And that -- there's no other -- Mara?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) follow up on David...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... that second topic (OFF-MIKE) on deportations. And I'm not speaking specifically about this case, because I understand that you're referring over to DHS. But there seems to be a little confusion, so if you can clarify

What is this president's position on undocumented immigrants living in this country who have not committed serious crimes?

SPICER: I think the president's priorities on immigration have been very clearly laid out: that first and foremost, he wants to make sure that people who have committed a crime or pose a threat to -- to public safety are -- are dealt with first and foremost, and that we would continue to address immigration going forward.

That's...

QUESTION: But -- so, what is the...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: And -- and I -- I...

QUESTION: ... I guess my question is those who have not posed a threat...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: Right. And I -- I think that they -- that, as I said, I mean, the goal and the focus has been on people who pose a threat to national security or -- or in some other way in violation.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

SPICER: I -- I...

QUESTION: ... people who have not posed a threat...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: But -- but that's -- I -- I -- again, and I was...

QUESTION: ... said it was confusing today (ph).

SPICER: I -- I would respectfully suggest that, in this particular case, the facts are not completely out yet. So, I -- I'd rather not jump to judgment on -- on what's happening.

QUESTION: But there's...

(CROSSTALK) QUESTION: I'm not going to belabor the point, but...

(CROSSTALK)

SPICER: Mara?

QUESTION: Thank you.

Just -- I just wanted to get a little more clarity on Iran. Is the -- the president determined to pull out of this agreement, as he promised during the campaign? Or will that decision be determined by this review?

SPICER: I -- I think part of the review, the interagency process, is to determine where Iran is in compliance with the deal and to make recommendations to the president on the path forward.

QUESTION: So he might or might not decide to pull out?

SPICER: I think that's why you undertake or...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... this -- this decision has yet to be made?

SPICER: That's why you do -- he's doing a review.

QUESTION: OK, because that was his campaign promise.

SPICER: I -- I -- right, and I understand it.

And that -- the point that I'm making is that he asked the interagency process -- the interagency team to conduct a review, as the secretary laid out in the letter last night.

Anita?

QUESTION: Sean, two questions on one issue.

My colleague who's in -- currently in Colombia has learned that the president met with two former presidents of Colombia last weekend in Mar-A-Lago. And I think it was set up by Senator Rubio's office.

And, sorry (ph), two questions.

One -- well, first, some people there are saying that it's to undermine the -- the current president's visit next month -- before he comes here next month. So, two questions.

One, why was that not released publicly to the press, to the pool at the time?

QUESTION: And secondly, can you talk a little bit about the point of that visit? And do you all stand by the Colombian (inaudible)? SPICER: Yeah, I'll be glad to look into the circumstances. I -- I don't have anything for you at this time, so I will get that something and then read it out...

QUESTION: Are you saying that didn't happen?

SPICER: No, I'm just saying I'm unaware of the circumstance.

QUESTION: So can you get back to me on the policy issue?

SPICER: I can.

QUESTION: But why not release that if that's the case?

SPICER: Because, again, I don't know that it's the case, and so until I know I think it would be tough to answer the second question.

Thank you guys very much. We'll have an event for you tomorrow. Take care. Have a good one.

[12:40:46] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Sean Spicer leaving the briefing room. A couple headlines. Number one, doing a patriot side and Rob Gronkowski crashed the briefing, poked his head in right there before Sean was done. But there was also some policy discussed beyond the policy of patriots tied in Rob Gronkowski.

He talked about the Georgia special election and called it a big loss for the Democrats that despite the fact that Democrats got very close to winning a district has been in Republican hands since 1978.

On the North Korean aircraft carrier, the Carl Vinson that is now headed to North Korea, the White House Sean Spicer disavowed any notion that they were dishonest about it saying, you know, we said it was headed there eventually, even though it was headed in a different direction at the time. And then there were questions about the Iran deal, a letter the Secretary of State sent recently and basically certifying that Iran is complying with the deal. Sean Spicer says the President has ordered a review of this.

Let us talk about this briefing. Where to begin? Maggie Haberman, let's start first -- let's clean up North Korea if we can first of all because I think this get to the issue of honesty which is an issue that we all face with this White House maybe faces questions about it more often than others. Sean Spicer said, you know, when the administration including the military and the White House talked about the aircraft carrier heading to North Korea, we were right because it's going to get there eventually. Well that's like saying, you know what, I'm going to be 70. I mean, not tomorrow but eventually, I'm going to be 70.

MAGGIE HABERSMAN, THE NEW YORK TIMES: And that's a real if for me in terms of getting to 70.

(CROSSTALK)

HABERMAN: Look, I think that we have seen -- I'm making this all dark right now. We have seen a reluctance by this White House to ever acknowledge being incorrect or being inaccurate or making a mistake. But this was -- it was one of the strangest stories. I don't know of another way to describe it. But when it became clear over the last, you know, 24, 36 hours that this was not true. This is a White House that has been fond of misdirection. This is the White House that has done intentional things like this. This does not appear to be that way.

But no, you don't get to grade on a curve on a fact like that and essentially say, you know, because it got there eventually and it's a big ocean after all which is sort of where this was going. The needless and corrosive desire to both never admit wrongdoing or an error while also often intentionally saying something that is not true is very problematic when, A, this is a public trust job, number one, and at some point, again, there will be some issue that is not of the administration's own making where they will need people to believe them and why would they.

BERMAN: And their allies at stake here.

HABERMAN: Exactly.

BERMAN: Remember, it's a military movement they're discussing here. All right, Georgia 6, MJ Lee, a big loss for the Democrats. It's not surprising that Sean Spicer said that but he basically said there is no other interpretation. It is only a big loss for the Democrats. There is no less to be learned here for the White House.

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Right. Clearly Sean Spicer walked into that briefing room with clear talking points calling this a big loss for Democrats and even going as far as to say that it's inconceivable to him that anyone would go call it anything other than a loss for the Democrats. But he knows -- he has been in politics for a long time. He understands and I think White House officials understand as we heard, you know, someone like Lindsey Graham saying what happened last night was definitely a warning shot to Republicans.

And I think in the bigger picture, I was so significant because there is going to shift in some ways the ways the way that Democrats think more broadly about the 2018 midterm elections and thinking about how does this change our map and our strategy, as we want to try to go into the states that are more typically Republican does that sort of broaden our map heading into 2018.

BERMAN: And then there was the issue, by the way, Sean was asked out right if President Trump is going to Georgia 6 to campaign. He didn't say yes. He said, you know, we'll do whatever is helpful but it wasn't a yes. We've made a decision to go. We'd be going down there next week. So stay tuned on that.

And David and Alex, on Iran, this is -- it started out as a technical issue. The Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, he had to write a letter to the Speaker of the House essentially certifying that Iran is still complying with the deal, the nuclear deal there. And the Secretary of State said, yes, it's true. Iran is still a state sponsor of terror but they're complying with the agreement right now but Sean Spicer just said that the President has ordered a review now of the entire situation.

We're 90 days into the administration. This is the president who said he would rip up the agreement on day one.

DAVID DRUCKER, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Yes. Look, I think what's interesting here is the President I think spoke out of both sides of his mouth on this issue which is not surprising.

[12:45:04] Because early in the campaign, he talked about the Iran deal being a deal, one he wouldn't have signed and one he thought was a disaster but hey, a deal is a deal. But since I know deals, I'll find the loophole in there and if they're cheating I'll make sure they pay for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

DRUCKER: As the campaign wore on, he changed his tune and he seemed a little bit more in the direction of ripping it up. But I'm actually not surprised that the President has moved in this direction. He is trying to deal with crisis on multiple fronts. You've got North Korea, you've got Syria.

Jawboning Iran now that he's president will require him to back up his rhetoric with action. And if you pull the U.S. out of the Iran deal, you don't actually nix the Iran deal. You simply pull the U.S. out of it.

Meanwhile, the countries that are a party to it remain with sanctions relief. And unless the President is prepared to lead the -- a U.S. effort across the world to try and corner Iran and deal with what many people I think rightly believe is a flawed deal that gives Iran a path to Obama the next 10 to 15 years, then this may be the better play but it's still so interesting coming from somebody who criticized everything President Obama did. And here is another case where he's embracing an Obama policy.

BERMAN: And again day one, he was going to rip it up on day one. The worst to deal ever signed he said. And now the Secretary of State as Iran is making good on its commitment unto the agreement under review.

All right guys, stick around. A lot more to discuss including the Patriots headed to the White House, absent Tom Brady. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:50:25] BERMAN: All right. Welcome back. In politics, 90 days can be a lifetime or the blink of an eye as President Trump marks 90 days in office. A little bit of a report card for some of his promises. The Obamacare repeal fail. Didn't happen. The border wall, incomplete. The travel ban, another fail, a double fail from the courts.

The President did withdraw from the Transpacific Trade Partnership. His Supreme Court is on the bench as we speak. Tax reform is an incomplete right now. So far, no tax plan from the White House at all. And so far he has failed or declined to label China a currency manipulator. Says he's not going to do that despite promising it. Of course, to hear the President tell it, it's been 90 days of nonstop accomplishments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days that includes on military, on the border, on trade, on regulation, on law enforcement, we love our law enforcement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: No administration has accomplished more in 90 days. I just went to the FDR museum in Hyde Park. And they have a chart there about the 100 days of Franklin Roosevelt. The Emergency Banking Act, the Government Economy Act, the Abandonment of the Gold Standard, the Securities Act, the (inaudible) of Gold Payment Act, Glass-Steagall, jobs relief. You know, the list goes on and on. That was only half of it right there.

Alex Burns, Sean Spicer was just asked about legislative achievements from this White House. There really haven't been any legislative achievements. Anytime he asked the points to the Supreme Court and points to regulations and executive orders.

ALEX BURNS, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Right. And, you know, the Supreme Court, that's a significant win. That's a real win. I think that, you know, if you were to sort of scale that list of, you know, pass/fail grades, you would really have to make, you know, in order of importance, you would have that Obamacare repeal fail as like this size and everything else as like this size, right? It's not just that they haven't repealed yet. It's that I sort of -- it blew up on the runway right on the launch pad. So they're just nowhere in terms of getting that done which has been the defining cause of the Republican Party for nearly a decade now.

I think that, you know, it's something that's hard to grade as a sort of pass/fail thing. But he haven't even staffed up his administration. Yes, the cabinet hasn't been fully confirmed, the sub-cabinet --

BERMAN: U.S. attorneys?

BURNS: Not even been nominated. He hasn't pick people for U.S. attorney jobs. I remember, you know, we had a conversation five months ago now talking about of the slow pace of the transition, how they really going to have to pick things up or we'd still be talking about just filling positions in the second year of the administration. That could seems like inevitability now.

BERMAN: And, yes, you covered healthcare nonstop. You know, Alice, we're just talking about the fact that Obamacare repealed and happened the White House keeps dangling this notion we're getting closer. It could happen very, very soon. Might it happen very soon? LEE: Well, right now we have no indication that either the White House or members of Congress, Republican members of Congress are making any real headway on this front especially now that they're in recess and they're really facing and confronting the blowback from having attempted to do this once from their constituents.

I thought it was very interesting that President Trump was talking about health care and then moving on to tax reform in his speech yesterday because when you talk to Republican members of Congress on Capitol Hill and especially talking to them during this health care debacle, their biggest fear was that this health care effort blowing up in such a dramatic way would hinder the party's efforts going forward on any big pieces of legislation including tax reform. Because one, it really sort of highlighted the big divisions within the party and, you know, raised questions about how do we bridge this philosophical gap.

And two, there's no real political momentum now to do something else in addition to health care reform. So, the President can go out there and talk about everything he wants to do but he has to sort of, you know, confront the realities that this is going it be a big challenge for him.

BURNS: And this is sort of where you can tie together the President's legislative agenda with this Georgia election that we've been talking about, right? If the President over the next couple months is going to ask Republicans in genuinely tough districts, districts that are closer than that Tom Price seat in Georgia to walk out on a limb --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

BURNDS: -- for a tough vote on health care, tough vote on tax reform. He really, really needs Karen Handel to pull out in the race and end up looking pretty strong at the end of the day.

HABERMAN: He's treating it all the way he treats everything through the prism of the campaign, the prism of his business which is a loyalty test. So I was thinking about as you were talking about the Georgia district, he has remained in campaign mode. The campaign mode was essentially the Trump cult of personality. And he has continued to govern in that way and you just cannot govern in that way for many reasons.

We have not seen this President as I was looking through the losses column that you were listing. He did what we have never seen a president do in modern history which is -- there was no outreach whatsoever to the people who didn't vote for him.

[12:55:08] There was no outreach whatsoever to understanding people who were not with him and trying to bring people together. He has remained in campaign mode to the point of not staffing up the administration with a lot of people because they were critical of (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: David, you have 10 second. DRUCKER: And the most important thing about the failure of legislation is that what the President was supposed to be good at was deal making and negotiating. Maybe he didn't know government --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.

DRUCKER: -- maybe he didn't know policy but he could put together deals. And so far he has not been able to deliver on that. And that could hurt him overtime heading into 2020.

BERMAN: Incomplete on any and all these. Guys, thank you very, very much. That does it for us on "Inside Politics."

The New England Patriots headed to the White House right now. We saw Rob Gronkowski there moments ago. All this picks up after a quick break. There's Rob Gronkowski.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPICER: All right. Thanks, man. I'll see you in a minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Much more from Rob Gronkowski and Wolf Blitzer coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)