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New Day Saturday
North Korea Test Fires Missile After Trump Warning; Pentagon: North Korea Missile Test Fails After Lunch; Trump On Missile Test: North Korea "Disrespected" China; White House Blames Obama Administration For Flynn Security Clearance; Trump's Contract With Voters; How Do Trump Voters Feel Now? Aired 6-7a ET
Aired April 29, 2017 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:00:06]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: North Korea has just launched another ballistic missile.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not looking to pick a fight, but don't give us a reason to have one.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a chance we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Obamacare, we're going to repeal it, we'll replace it. We're going to get something done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The American health care act -- it's important to work together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have the votes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now I'm a no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As of now, I'm still a no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best thing I think to do is to pull this bill. I will not sugarcoat this. This is a disappointing day for us.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Who knew that health care could be so complicated? We will build a great wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no way that Mexico can pay a wall.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: The wall is going to get built.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So help me God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: The newest member of the United States Supreme Court. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm humbled by the trust placed in me.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I got it done in the first 100 days.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: The first 100 days out of the nation's capital.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Of course, we do.
PAUL: Happy Saturday. We're so grateful for your company. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. It is day 100 of the Trump administration and President Trump says that being president is tougher than he thought. We'll talk about that assessment in just a moment.
But North Korea is determined to make life even more difficult for the president this morning after firing yet another ballistic missile.
PAUL: This is the 10th missile test since Trump took office. The Pentagon says this latest exploded soon after launch, but according to one former State Department official, the message from Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un is very clear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: This is Kim giving us the finger, giving China the finger, giving the U.N. the finger after what happened today. There is no question about that. I think the timing is absolutely planned and pre-ordained in his mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: This morning we have our team of correspondents covering this around the globe. CNN senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, is following the reaction from the White House. David McKenzie is standing by in Beijing, but first, let's go to Will Ripley live inside the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. Will, good morning.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Victor. Here in North Korea even though the rest of the world has been talking about this missile launch still no official acknowledgement by the regime that this even happened which means pretty much every North Korean aside from rocket scientists and Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un have no idea because they only announce successes inside this country.
But the message that North Korea was sending with this missile launch to the rest of the world, very clear. Even though the missile by U.S. assessment only flew about 22 miles, exploding over North Korean territory, it was as that analyst said it was a missile finger to the United States.
Because the kind of missile that they tested is the kind that North Korea could eventually use to launch and sink potentially an aircraft carrier like "USS Carl Vinson," that strike group approaching the waters off the North Korea Peninsula.
North Korea remains defiant despite mounting international pressure calls for them not to test missiles or nuclear weapons. But officials on the ground here say they will push forward despite what the world thinks.
They say that the United States, which is engage in joint military exercises is hostile and that they have a right to develop these weapons they feel to protect their national sovereignty. That's the view from here. For the view from the White House, here's Joe Johns.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: The White House reaction to the missile launch was very much muted, overall leaving the impression that they were trying to downplay it. The president of the United States himself tweeted about it indicating in the first place that North Korea had disrespected the wishes of China's president with the launch.
The president's words that he used to describe this was bad with an exclamation point. There was a bit more from the National Security Council's K.T. McFarland indicating that this launch was cause for concern.
Nonetheless, she was asked at one point with an interview with CNN whether this was provocative, given the fact that the secretary of state had chaired a meeting at the United Nations. Of course, she said this was one of those situations that North Korea had always been provocative. Now to David McKenzie in Beijing.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Joe Johns. Here in Beijing, silence. That's to be expected because China has said repeatedly THAT it wants to calm the situation down and there has been strong words at the Security Council from the foreign minister saying that really the only solution to the North Korean crisis is for all sides to ease off on the rhetoric, to stop military moves of any kind and, in fact, to get to the negotiation table and talk.
[06:05:01]There's little sign right now, though, that U.S. administration is opening the door to talks that North Korea will play ball with that, but North Korea has been ignoring China's pleas for years. So there is a sense that they are primed to wait this out, this current missile test and push towards more diplomacy -- Christi, Victor.
BLACKWELL: All right, David, thank you so much. Let's bring in our panel now, Maria Cardona, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist, Kayleigh McEnany, CNN political commentator and contributor for "The Hill," Sara Westwood, White House correspondent for "The Washington Examiner," Eugene Scott, CNN politics reporter, and Clarissa Ward, CNN senior international correspondent.
PAUL: All righty, full house here. Clarissa, I want to start with you. In the last 24 hours, we have full condemnation on North Korea from President Trump, from Rex Tillerson, from the prime ministers of the U.K., from Japan. Is this launch a reaction to all of these comments in the last 24 hours?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's a little difficult to speculate as to exactly what prompted this missile launch. It may take probably, and I would have to defer to a military expert some weeks to actually t-up a missile launch. But I think it's certainly a response to the kind of rhetoric that we've been hearing more generally over the past week.
I think what is a little concerning to people and allies in the international community, when you look at the U.S. response, is that we're seeing a division within the administration between the type of rhetoric that we're hearing from President Trump who just yesterday told Reuters there's a chance of a major, major conflict with North Korea.
And the rhetoric that we're hearing from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, which is much more nuance, much calmer, saying we're not seeking reunification, we're not seeking any military action or regime change we're seeking denuclearization.
So are they playing good cop, bad cop thing or is there a lack of coherent strategy underpinning the reaction to North Korea. That's what have people a little bit on edge I think.
BLACKWELL: Sara, yesterday the president tweeted that this launch was disrespecting President Xi but this came right after Rex Tillerson's comments at the U.N. Disrespecting the U.S. as well I'd imagine, but the president didn't frame it that way.
SARA WESTWOOD, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Right. And his North Korea strategy has centered around putting pressure on the Chinese to bring Pyongyang to heel so that is in keeping with how he approached the North Korea problem all along.
He knows that China has the most economic and diplomatic leverage with North Korea and he's hoping to keep the U.S. out it as much as possible by trying to get the Chinese to deal with it and he's vaguely threatened with the Chinese that if they don't take care of it, the U.S. and their allies will.
PAUL: What has to happen for China to align with the U.S., do you think?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think -- I think first of all, a little bit more of an understanding from this administration as to where China is. I think one of the most jaw- dropping moments so far and there's been many in this administration, is when Trump admitted that he actually didn't really understand the relationship between China and North Korea until the president of China explained it to him.
And then he's like oh, I understand. After a ten-minute conversation that he had with the president of China. And so I think that what underscores a lot what has people on edge this administration doesn't really seemed to have a strategy.
Because from the top down, at least certainly from Trump's perspective, there's a huge lack of understanding of what the reality is, not just with China but with what is going on in that area in the world at the moment.
So I'm hoping that Tillerson and the military strategist and Haley and all of his team that actually do have some experience in this are the ones who are going to actually be talking the mantle in terms of what our strategy is moving forward.
BLACKWELL: But we are hearing some discrepancies between, you know -- the vice president told Dana Bash that there would be no conversations with North Korea and then we heard from Rex Tillerson on NPR that yes, there's a possibility we will talk with North Korea.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I would argue, she speculated there's perhaps a good cop/bad cop scenario going on. That might be the case. I would dispute what Maria said, I think there has been progress on the China front.
You look at China, they cut off coal imports and threatened to cut off oil exports. They even said according to Rex Tillerson that perhaps they would even levy sanctions if, in fact, North Korea did do a nuclear test.
Now they just did a ballistic missile test not a nuclear test, but those are some changes on the China front and those are significant, I would argue, forms of progress that could really make progress in the North Korea front.
BLACKWELL: What's the fruit there? I mean, if China is putting pressure on the North Koreans, who had two attempted tests, missile tests in two weeks, what's the fruit of what we're seeing, the pressure the president put on China?
[06:10:08]EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, I think the fruit that China would like to see from the president is just a calmer tone and less provocation, at least from their perspective in dealing with a very complex nuance issue that involves a lot of world leaders and experts trying to get North Korea to respond well and appropriately in a way that does not harm anyone else and that moves everyone together in terms of responding more diplomatically to the issues affecting all of us.
PAUL: OK, so Clarissa, we're watching the missile test, but I think everybody is bracing for is another nuclear test. Is that the red line that if crossed then what does the U.S. do?
WARD: Well, we don't really know exactly what President Trump's red line is. He seems to be more than willing to use military force. In fact now every problem seems to be a nail for him because he felt there was some -- he had some political support after the strikes on Syria. So we don't exactly know what President Trump's red line is.
Beyond that we don't know really what the young Mr. Kim's red line is either and that's what has people very nervous because his father while undoubtedly an unpredictable character was not as erratic, was not an unknown commodity.
We've seen him quite clearly trying to assert himself both internally and internationally. We know he is willing to go quite far. This is one of a dozen tests this year alone. So clearly he has an objective in mind.
The question is that objective to get people to the negotiating table to try to extract more aid, more concessions, as it has been historically, or is he potentially more of a magnet. Is he willing to cross that line?
I don't think anyone knows the answer. That is what is so deeply disconcerting about saying we're doing away with strategic patience, but we don't really know what we're doing in with. We're not bringing in a new policy.
PAUL: Yes, no doubt about it. OK, everybody stick around. We have a lot more to talk about. President Trump promised to take on corruption and collusion in Washington within his first 100 days as president even signing a contract with the American voter, here it is, saying so. Is President Trump draining the swamp?
BLACKWELL: Plus the divided states of America. CNN travels the country finding out what voters across the spectrum think of the president's first 100 days in office. This hour, how happy are his most staunch supporters?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you think Trump is doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he's doing good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not regret having voted for Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One hundred days in, I'm not pleased.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[06:16:56]
BLACKWELL: Let's talk now about the Trump administration and Russia after now 100 days of denials, recusals and resignations, but still no end in sight when it comes to the allegations for the Trump administration.
The Defense Department is now investigating former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. But President Trump is doubling down on his claims that he's not to blame here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PRESIDENT TRUMP: I do feel badly for him. He served the country. He was a general. Just remember, he was approved by the Obama administration at the highest level, and when they say we didn't vet, well Obama, I guess, didn't vet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: There are currently four separate congressional investigations into Russia's influence over the election and the Trump administration. We're back with our panel right now.
Let's talk about Flynn real quickly here. I want to ask, Kayleigh, was it the right thing to do to pass the buck to the Obama administration in this case?
MCENANY: Look, I think what President Trump was getting at is a broader point that he actually should have brought up earlier. You know, folks are acting as if Mike Flynn was just some random person Donald Trump grabbed off the street to be national security adviser, but he was appointed by Obama as director of --
PAUL: But it still speaks to the administration's vetting or not vetting of him.
MCENANY: Sure, but he's making the point this was someone who was checked out. He received a national security clearance, decorated lieutenant general, 33 years in the U.S. Army. He is just making the point this is someone who I thought I could have confidence in because Obama at one point had confidence in him.
PAUL: But Obama fired him as well.
MCENANY: Obama did fire him but apparently according to Flynn the firing was because Flynn was raising the flag saying terrorism is a problem. We should be looking into groups like ISIS and there was a fundamental ideological disagreement. I don't think Obama fired him over purported Russian connections.
BLACKWELL: I mean, that's Flynn's account to hear of his own firing. What do you make of this, Maria?
CARDONA: I think it shines the light even in a brighter way to whether there is something to hide with Trump and the administration because every time that he deflects I think is indicative, why are they doing that? Why are they not embracing a full on investigation? Why aren't they saying yes people should be concerned about what happened here. Let's find out.
You're right. Flynn was not somebody that they just picked off the street. He did work for the Obama administration and he was fired to your point, Christi, which should say huge red flag here. This is probably not somebody that any administration should have as their national security adviser.
And so the fact that they ignored that and now trying to pass the buck I think gives even more suspicion not just to the American people but to everybody doing these investigations into possible collusion between the Trump administration or campaign and the Russians and they should go the opposite root and embrace a full on investigation. The fact they haven't done that I think speaks volumes.
PAUL: Sara, it's interesting, I thought had the Trump administration not hired him, would we even be having this investigation into General Flynn? Would we even know about this?
WESTWOOD: No, I don't think we would. I think if General Flynn had continued his life as a private citizen this seems like maybe a relatively minor infraction that might be routine among former military officials.
[06:20:10]But I think the Flynn situation is a great example of how the Trump administration has in a lot of ways made the Russian controversy worse for themselves simply by not being forthcoming at the beginning and then only reluctantly answering questions once new information comes to light.
It's important to note none of these collusion allegations have been substantiated so far, but the Trump administration hasn't helped itself by dodging at every point.
BLACKWELL: Clarissa, let's broaden the shift we've seen from the president, from the campaign to now. If Vladimir Putin likes Donald Trump that's a good thing to now where this is the worst the relationship has been. He talks again of cold war stances. This reset is going the way of the Bush reset and Obama reset that the president is now learning relationship is not just person to person.
WARD: I think the Russians were always a little bit cautious with their expectations because they know how the cycle of history has usually treated the Russian-U.S. relationship. But there was a moment of optimism early on. There was excitement about the disruption to the U.S. election.
You were hearing rhetoric from the Trump administration about potentially recognizing Crimea, about potentially lifting sanctions. You had sort of a lot of Russia insiders, whether it was Paul Manafort or Michael Flynn.
So it did seem that potentially there was a moment in time there where you could move the relationship in a very different direction. Ultimately, the Russians have seen the writing on the wall, they know the Trump administration is under a huge amount of pressure to try to engaging some major damage control with regards to all of these Russian allegations.
And some might argue that the Trump administration did just that when they bombed those Syrian -- that Syrian airbase because it took the pressure off of them internally and it put a lot of pressure on the relationship with Russia. The Russians right now are thinking, OK, this relationship is probably not going anywhere positive in the near term future.
PAUL: So Jason Chaffetz said that Flynn may have broken a law. If he did, Eugene, literally break a law what does that mean to the Trump administration if anything else for optics not just with the U.S. but with Russia and the world?
SCOTT: Well, based on the president's most recent comments, what it seems to me for the Trump administration to him is that it's Obama's fault. The reality, though, is that he's going to be held accountable for the people he brought into the White House and not just for what he did but for Michael Flynn's action.
We have Texas lawmaker on "NEW DAY" yesterday saying at the end of the day it's not Trump's fault primarily or President Obama's fault primarily it's this person, Michael Flynn's fault for what he did, his own actions, and he has to be held accountable for that.
BLACKWELL: Kayleigh, to you, it seems that there's a reluctance on the part of the president, on the White House to take up the true mantra that the buck stops here. Not just here but in other arenas as well. Does that concern you? Do you think that there should be a point? Maybe you don't agree that there is a reluctance on the part of the White House to claim that?
MCENANY: Look, I don't think there's a reluctance. I think what is motivating President Trump with the Flynn situation is loyalty. We've seen him praise Flynn even as he fired Flynn, we've seen him praised Flynn as recently as yesterday.
The president does not like throwing people under the bus that were on his side particularly in the foreign policy establishment. There's no one on his side from the get go. Mike Flynn was the one guy along with perhaps Carter Page who stuck their neck out.
Now we're seeing why they stuck their neck out to help Trump because they have problems of their own. It would bar them from being involved with other candidates going forward. I think he's reluctant to throw people under the bus.
BLACKWELL: Well, everybody, thank you so much. Taking down corruption and collusion, President Trump vowed to drain the swamp. But is he living up to his own promise? We'll take a look at his contract with the American voter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:28:27]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Obamacare we're going repeal it, we're going to replace it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now I'm a no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As of now, I'm still a no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love being a no.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We're very close -- we're going fight this terrible rule.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So help me God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I got it done in the first 100 days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Day 100 of the Trump presidency other than in Washington. So glad to have you with us here. Despite the president calling the 100- day benchmark ridiculous, the president does say his 100 days have been the best.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: My fellow Americans I truly believe that the first 100 days of my administration has been just about the most successful in our country's history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: President Trump based the agenda for much of his 100 days in office on the promises he made in a contract he struck with the American voter including cleaning up the, quote, "corruption and special interest collusion in Washington." But is he actually draining the swamp?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL (voice-over): It was then Candidate Donald Trump's contract with the American voter. Three detailed action plans that the campaign promised the Trump administration would pursue starting on day one. He signed the contract in October and framed it as the rationale for his candidacy.
TRUMP: On November 8th, Americans will be voting for this 100-day plan to restore prosperity to our country, secure our communities, and honesty to our government.
[06:30:00] BLACKWELL: At the top of the list six measures which the campaign promised would clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, D.C.
TRUMP: First, a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BLACKWELL: The White House has not offered a proposal on term limits.
TRUMP: Second, the hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce federal workforce through attrition exempting military, public safety and public health.
BLACKWELL: During his first week in office President Trump signed an executive order freezing hiring but the freeze lasted only 78 days. Earlier this month the Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney announced that it was over.
MICK MULVANEY, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET: We'll end the hiring freeze today. We'll start allowing agencies to start hiring in a smart fashion. Some of them will have to continue to get smaller. Some of them will get bigger consistent with the president's budget.
TRUMP: Third, a requirement that for every new federal regulation two existing regulations must be eliminated.
BLACKWELL: The president kept this promise. On January 30th he signed an executive order reducing regulations.
Promise four, a five-year ban on White House and congressional officials becoming lobbyists after leaving government service. A January 28th executive order on ethics reform addressed White House officials but not congressional officials. In that executive order the president also fulfilled promise five, a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.
TRUMP: Six, a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.
BLACKWELL: The president has not enacted that ban.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: So you see there's some promises kept, some not kept, at least not yet. The question now, where does the president go from here? Our team of political analysts and commentators standing by.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[06:35:24] TRUMP: We're going to make America great again. It's going to be easy. It's very easy to be presidential. I have great people. We have top, top smart people. But it's so easy to do. We have drugs. We have debt. We have empty factories. That's going to end. That's going to end. So easy. So easy to solve. Believe me the jobs are coming back, folks. That's going to be so easy. This is so easy.
I want to jump start America and it can to be done and it won't even be that hard. Folks, I'm going to do so much about it. It's going to be so easy. It's going to be so easy. You know, being presidential is easy. Much easier than what I have to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And then, Kayleigh, we hear from the president this week -- let's just take the whole panel, everybody is here.
Then he says, oh, this is actually tougher than I thought. MCENANY: It was a candid admission and a truthful admission, and I
think that's why Trump supporters appreciated about the president is that he is realistic. He is, you know, real. That was a candid moment. Any other politician would have said, look, I wasn't perfect but it's going to be perfect --
BLACKWELL: But did he mislead them, though? Did he mislead them going and saying, oh, health care is going to be easy, the wall is going easy?
MCENANY: He's an extraordinary confident person. If you have --
BLACKWELL: OK. All right.
(CROSSTALK)
MCENANY: He's a very confident person.
PAUL: All right.
CARDONA: I have a different take.
BLACKWELL: I know.
(LAUGHTER)
CARDONA: I think that this is -- I agree it was a candid moment. But it also lays bare that I do think he completely misled his supporters and they bought it. The majority of the American people didn't buy it. The majority of the American people didn't vote for him. That's his approval ratings are now some of the worst of the first 100 days of any president. And I think what his problem moving forward is, so hopefully he's gotten some humility. It turns out that if you want to be good at governing and politics and policy, you have to have some experience at governing and politics and policy.
His disdain for people who have lived and worked in Washington and dedicated their lives in public service was so clear during the campaign and it did work for his supporters, but he now has got to understand that he's got to surround himself with people that actually know what is going on.
The most recent poll on CNN says that the majority of the American people believe that the White House team that he has put together is not a good one and I think it's reflecting what is going on or the lack of what is going on in the first 100 days.
PAUL: OK. Speaking of which, the senior administration official yesterday told CNN that Secretary Tillerson is planning to cut 9 percent to 10 percent of the State Department, which could have put to about 2500 jobs. So it seems like there's a collusion of intent here. One person might say hey, he said he's going to create jobs. Why are they taking them? Another person might say, oh, he's just draining the swamp. How do they move forward with messages that seem to collide? SCOTT: Yes. This is something that a lot of people want to know
right now especially considering just the number of foreign affairs issues occupying the headlines right now on top of the fact that there are significant numbers of positions that are already not filled in this administration and whether or not they can continue to do more and move forward on these issues that seem to be concerning everyone with even less remains to be seen.
There's certainly some doubt that they are handling situations well right now. How well they can do it with even fewer people is not clear.
BLACKWELL: And, Sarah, you know, every president, right, learns on the job. I mean, every new president is learning things they didn't know before. But this president there have been, some would call them flip-flops, some would call them shifts, some would call them, you know, coming to the realities of the job.
[06:40:06] His supporters, where do they see this? Because you got the CNN poll that says 96 percent, they don't regret voting for him.
SARAH WESTWOOD, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Right. I think there are a few sacred issues that if President Trump were to significantly alter his position his supporters would revolt and that would be when it comes to enforcing immigration laws. That would be when it comes to trade. There are other issues that his supporters don't really care about that he flip-flops on. Some of these foreign policy issues, whether he is more of an interventionist or more of a non-interventionist. That's kind of a flip-flop but his supporters don't care. And a lot of voters don't really pay attention those nuances that much. They really pay attention to those concrete issues.
President Trump, he was always someone who is a little more pragmatic than he was ideological and so that lends itself to being a little bit malleable on these issues but that could be expected as someone who was ideologically flexible.
PAUL: But a lot of people voted for him because they saw him as essentially the savior of the economy. Am I over the top in saying that? I wondered because that's what they believed. Now with this tax proposal a lot of people came out and said look, this is a tax cut proposal, not a tax reform proposal. To that you say what?
MCENANY: Look, I would say I would default to the Reagan years, where there was mass prosperity, 92 months of post-war growth. It was a tremendous success. In large part due to tax cuts. Others would argue. I think tax cuts are a job saving mechanism.
One thing I want to point out, though, a little footnote to what Sarah said, is that the populist element of his base will revolt if pre- existing conditions provision, for example, come out a very popular part of Obamacare, the 26-year-old provision allowing you to stay on your parents plan. These are very popular elements. And there is a real risk that the Freedom Caucus is going to try to drive the president away from his base in that regard, and it would be very, very bad for the president if that happens.
BLACKWELL: Go ahead, quickly.
CARDONA: So on trade I just wanted to see what you thought about this because he now is saying that he's not going to renegotiate NAFTA at least for the moment. So do you think that he's going to pay a price with his supporters?
WESTWOOD: Well, I think the flip-flop that you're referring to is that he earlier this week was threatening to possibly --
(CROSSTALK)
CARDONA: To pull out.
PAUL: To pull out.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
PAUL: But that he will renegotiate.
WESTWOOD: Renegotiating is consistent what he said on the campaign trail. And so I don't think that he's walked away from his NAFTA position.
CARDONA: But this is one of the issues. Right?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
CARDONA: Like, he says something today and not even tomorrow, Victor, but in an hour he perhaps could say completely something 180 degrees opposite.
PAUL: Keep us all busy.
BLACKWELL: We're going to talk more about NAFTA and the health care plan for repeal and replace throughout the morning.
Thanks you, everybody for being with us this morning.
PAUL: After 100 days in office the question is, as we were talking about, how regretful if at all might some of Trump's base be? CNN is crossing the country to see how the president's supporters feel about what he's done thus far.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How do you think Trump is doing?
GREG WESTON, FARMER: I think he's doing good.
QUINTON POSEY, TAXI DRIVER: 100 days in? I'm not pleased.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:45:12] PAUL: All right. In today's "Staying Well," we're going to see how hiring a wellness coach could really make a difference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBBIE NURMI, WORKING MOM: What led me to seek out health coaching was this very daunting career change. My son has had multiple surgeries and the economy crashed, and my mom had health issues. The anxiety seems to hit me when I'm trying to sleep in the middle of the night. I just wake up.
MELANIE PRASAD-DELANEY, HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACH: What are some things you can do on a daily basis that would be part of that self- care?
Wellness coaching is really about the whole person.
NURMI: Getting on the bicycle.
PRASAD-DELANEY: Helping them see a vision for themselves.
NURMI: I'm so stressed out and so busy, it just led me to become unhealthy. Here's how I'd like to eat but I'm not.
PRASAD-DELANEY: What are those things that are going to happen or open up from losing the weight other than that number on the scale? Shifting that perspective. How can I do the things that truly bring me joy and recharge me?
NURMI: I'm trying to figure out foods that are satisfying and make me feel good. She just said OK what's in the circle of your life. And she said, you know, what I notice is I don't see you in there. And I thought, wow, she's right. There's not a Debbie wedge. It makes me feel like I will get there. I feel optimistic and hopeful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: 48 minutes past the hour. So grateful to have you with us here for the 100-day milestone. CNN crisscrossed the country to talk to voters and throughout the morning we're going to bring you their assessments thus far.
BLACKWELL: CNN national correspondent Martin Savidge spoke with Trump's red state supporters as part of our special series "Red, Purple and Blue, The First 100 Days."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Ashville, Alabama. The sun has been up for three hours and Greg Weston has been up for six. He's a farmer. What he grows, he and his wife, Brandi, sell on an old gas station on the edge of town.
Around here, the only thing redder than the maters is the politics. The county where Greg and Brandi live voting 89 percent for Trump.
(On camera): How do you think Trump is doing?
WESTON: I think he's doing good.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): They like Trump even though his first actions haven't really helped them. Trump's tough immigration talk has made it harder for Greg to find migrant workers to harvest his crops.
G. WESTON: They can't get the food, then you're in trouble.
[06:50:03] SAVIDGE: Then there's Trump's efforts to replace Obamacare, which Greg and Brandi are on.
(On camera): Why do you like about -- why do you like it?
G. WESTON: Well, I pay $88 a month for me and my wife, where I was like, before Obamacare come in, I spent like $660.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Obamacare is working so well Brandi feels guilty. She says she knows people who can't afford their private insurance or they can't get insurance at all. She's OK with Trump's efforts to replace it.
BRANDI WESTON, FARMER: It still doesn't make sense to pay so little and still the poor people get nothing.
SAVIDGE (on camera): You think you should pay more?
B. WESTON: Yes. In other words, yes.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): In Birmingham, it's also another long day for Quinton Posey, a cab driver. In the past, he's voted Democratic. But in 2016 voted Trump.
POSEY: The thing about a businessman is there is action, and it's not policy.
SAVIDGE: Black Trump voters are rare in the South, only about 9 percent. Quinton's even more rare since he is black and gay.
(On camera): One hundred days in, how do you feel he's done?
POSEY: One hundred days in, I'm not pleased.
SAVIDGE: Really?
POSEY: I'm not pleased.
SAVIDGE: What don't you like?
POSEY: He's a little too brash. Is that the word?
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Quinton hasn't seen as much change as he expected and he worries about what a Trump budget might cut.
(On camera): I mean, do you wish you hadn't voted for him?
POSEY: I don't wish I had because -- I mean, according to the alternatives, I don't have any regrets.
SAVIDGE: Right, you were not going to vote for Clinton?
POSEY: I'm not going to vote for Clinton.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): In Des Moines, Iowa, I find another surprise named Alberto Alejandre, a 32-year-old public school teacher who teaches Spanish to inner city kids.
(On camera): Who did you vote for this go around?
ALBERTO ALEJANDRE, SCHOOL TEACHER: I voted for Trump.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Born in Mexico, he became an American through an amnesty program in the '80s. Yet voted for a president who has called Mexicans criminals and threatens mass deportations.
ALEJANDRE: Here we are, 100 days after he was sworn in, and he has not acted against innocent, undocumented workers.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Some would disagree, but what's certain is that Alberto feels good about the administration so far, including on immigration.
ALEJANDRE: Being in America, to begin with, isn't a right. It's a great privilege.
SAVIDGE: Madison County, Iowa, famous for its bridges and home to a man many feel personifies America, John Wayne.
Brian Downes knew the dude and found similar qualities in the Donald when he met Trump at a campaign event.
BRIAN DOWNES, TRUMP VOTER: Meeting him, that made a huge difference. Yes, made a huge difference, because he's somebody who we really felt like one of us. I had that feeling.
SAVIDGE: The big campaign issue for Brian was the same as Alberto.
DOWNES: Borders, immigration, and I think that national security is all part of that.
SAVIDGE: And like Alberto, Brian is pleased by Trump so far.
DOWNES: I think he's doing great.
SAVIDGE: And he also admits that Trump's had to deal with a bit of a learning curve.
DOWNES: And he has as much has admitted, I didn't know it was going to be this complicated.
SAVIDGE: From the birthplace of John Wayne, to a scene right out of the old west.
John Flocchini family has been raising buffalos since the '60s. Today, the Durham ranch has more than 3,000.
JOHN FLOCCHINI, DURHAM RANCH OWNER: They're a great story. I mean, they have a great comeback story, you know?
SAVIDGE: Wyoming may be the Cowboy State, but here, coal is king.
At a King Kong scale, Wyoming produces 40 percent of America's coal, dwarfing West Virginia and Kentucky. There's also oil, natural gas, and wind.
MAYOR LOUISE CARTER-KING, GILLETTE, WYOMING: We are the energy capital of the nation.
SAVIDGE: Here, if you're not mining or drilling, you're selling to those who do. This past election, only one issue really mattered -- jobs and energy. And yes, that's two, but in Wyoming, they're one and the same.
Jeff Dale runs a business running industrial generators. He voted for Trump saying Democrats were anti-energy.
JEFF DALE, BASIN ELECTRIC POWER: The path that we were on was definitely crippling this industry. So there are too many regulations and too many hurdles.
SAVIDGE: That could explain why Wyoming was the reddest state of all.
Michael Wandler's family owned business has been repairing monster size mining machinery for decades. He voted for Trump and says things have been improving ever since.
MIKE WANDLER, L & H INDUSTRIAL INC.: Business is better now. We had our worst year since 2008 last year. It's better now. We feel like it's going to be 10 percent better, maybe 20 percent better this year.
STACEY MOELLER, COAL MINER: A spot at the table.
SAVIDGE: Stacey Moeller is a single parent, a grandmother, and a coal miner. She operates a P&H 4100 electric shovel, that's larger than her house.
(On camera): One mistake and you really could do a lot of damage.
MOELLER: Yes, yes. We don't make mistakes.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): She also voted for Trump, even though she was reviled by his words and actions toward women.
[06:55:04] MOELLER: And I was offended but it was not about me. It was about the people I work with and the people I love. And I had to make a choice that was bigger than me, so I did.
SAVIDGE: For Stacey and all the voters I talked with, Trump was not a perfect candidate and is not a perfect president. They voted for him believing he would make their lives better and 100 days later, they still do.
Martin Savidge, CNN, Wyoming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Our thanks to Martin Savidge. And later this morning we'll hear from voters in swing states and in blue states. How do they feel about President Trump's first 100 days. Stay with us.
PAUL: Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
